Saturday sleeve seaming

I’ve reached the point in the Hitofude directions where it is time to seam the sleeves.

The lace pattern has a rhythm that I have found both therapeutic and in keeping with the slow fashion movement.

Now for the ingenious part of the sweater construction….after the sleeves are seamed, the sweater then gets a ribbed waistband and a skirt is knit onto that, creating a seamless garment.

Writing continues apace, and despite some full moon Friday the 13th family drama, I’m on target for my goals this month.

How about you?

 

Core pieces 1&2

Here are the first two pieces of my 2017slow fashion core wardrobe.

1 is a Hitofude cardigan, knit in Scrumptious yarn from Fyberspates. With a 45% silk and 55% Superwash Merino content, this promises to be an elegant everyday classic cardigan.All of the supplies for this project were procured at YarnFolk.

2 is a pair of classic khaki, navy and cream striped pants. I’ll be using the Pants No1 pattern sown in the last post, although I do not think I will crop them as short as they are designed. I have a favorite pair of chocolate brown moleskin pants that are JUST the right length, so will riff off of those. Fabric was purchased online from ImagineGnats.

You’ll notice that both of these pieces are neutrals. I’ve spent most of my yarn/fabric hunting and gathering career collecting purple/green/blue bits that make my heart sing, but in terms of wearable pieces, I really need some basic CORE wardrobe staples. This is the year…

Goals for 2017

As promised, here are a few more of the patterns I intend to make clothing from in 2017 as part of the slow fashion movement.

I have also planned a Storm at Sea quilt and have a few cardigans in the knitting lineup for the upcoming year.

Writing goals include finishing the edits and revisions to the 2016 NaNoWriMo book and getting two other books out to editors and agents.

By far the biggest goal is to become more proficient at promoting my own work by giving talks at conferences relevant to the subject matter of my books.

Wishing you and yours a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year in 2017!

 

My Creative Process…

I spun the wool for this project, fully intending to knit a dolphin.

Really, I did.

When I was ready to knit, a pattern popped up in Ravelry for (wait for it…)

THIS!

It is an excellent pattern, very clearly written, but I left it at home after I had completed just a portion of the creature’s face.

I was impressed by the math of the shaping, and thought I remembered most of it, so I just happily kept knitting, scribbling down my math and checking it twice…

I was writing a section of the new book which involves seals that might be mistaken for mermaids if one is so inclined, and then we went out for a sail and I came face to face with the most marvelous seals, and my brain apparently set about recreating THOSE creatures…

which is how I ended up with this:

As a good luck gift for a friend with a lovely new boat….

A Mermaid Seal.

Which is to say, that if you are like me, and you trust the creative PROCESS and ignore most of the rules along with way after you have learned them, sometimes

MAGIC happens.

 

You have to start somewhere…

As promised, I have started the hunting/gathering phase of the goal setting for the New Year.

Voila, the first pattern and fabric have been chosen:

The pattern is Dress No 2 from Sonya Philip at 100 Acts of Sewing. She is a great inspiration to me, as both a style icon and an artist.

Fabric is by Kaffe Fassett , a wonderful artist I have had the great good fortune to take both knitting and quilting classes from over the years. He is a genius, and encourages his students to “work like there is a War on!” which is advice I’ve pinned to the wall in my writing cave.

Thread for constructing and embellishing the dress is from the collection of shiny things I’ve acquired, like a magpie.

The intent of this dress, is to wear it to a reading of my latest book.

Which I’d better get back to revising and editing.

I’m at the stage in the process where, years ago, I would have thrown in the towel. Probably with a whiney, overly dramatic, “I’ve worked so HARD on it, and now there’s still SO much work to do…It is a Sisyphean dilemma I’ll never solve.”

What I’ve learned since then (the hard way) is that the only way to solve those dilemmas is to simply Keep Going. Work through it, not around it. Dive back in and do the work….like there is a WAR on!

Does this resonate with you?

Setting goals

I’m a list maker, a goal setter.

This blog was primarily set up as a link to the slow fashion movement, which I admired, albeit from a safe distance. (Also known as procrastinating by scrolling through Instagram and Twitter…)

“Look at all of those lovely outfits, made lovingly by hand…”

Ahem.

So, just to formalize things, and to kickstart my brain into actually SEWING instead of just thinking about it…did I mention that I am an over thinker? No? I always forget to put that on my resume.

One of the characters in my latest novel has taken the handmade pledge, and seems pretty happy about it. People compliment her on her “Interesting” fashion choices.

So, technically, this little adventure down a rabbit hole (did I see a squirrel?) is Very Important RESEARCH for a novel.

Right.

I hereby declare that 2017 shall be the year of actually sewing my own clothes that are wearable, functional, and relatively sustainable. Although it is tempting, I am not going to weave the cloth myself from flax grown in the backyard. (Reminder to self: Setting limits is an important part of actually Getting Things Done.)

Breaking down the Big Goals into easily achievable small steps (critical for success):

1. Pick six patterns that work for a capsule wardrobe.
2. Don’t pretend I am going to be wearing fancy dress up clothes with hand tailored details that the dogs won’t appreciate from under the desk while I am writing.
3. Start with the fabrics in the stash.
4. Set a reasonable amount of time aside each day to do some sewing.
5. Reward myself by wearing my handmade clothing out into the world to procure coffee, chocolate and other essential supplies.
6. Blog about it.

 

Rediscovering the joy and delight of creating with fabric

I’ve been sewing for five decades. At first, it was all about the joy of creating something for my dollies out of scraps of fabric from my grandmother’s sewing basket. I sewed my own clothes in middle and high school. My very first job was sewing on an industrial sewing machine in a hot attic. It was all about speed and deadlines. Piecework.

I’ve created many quilts and sewed countless Halloween costumes over the years as my children were growing up. Again, usually on a tight deadline, after everyone was in bed. Last minute, get er done sewing.

Lately I’ve been learning about the slow fashion movement. Fibershed and other projects by talented artists, passionate about knowing where their fashion, fabric, and fiber comes from. Alabama Chanin’s journey fascinates and inspires me.

I’m ready to get back to the joy and delight of creating with fabric. This blog will keep me accountable and hopefully create some new connections along the way.