mermaids

Most twist top patterns should come with a warning label, “Extreme plunge ahead.”  Given my build, such a daring neckline did not seem like a good choice.  Jalie patterns are sized from little bitty girls to Rubenesque women.  I felt confident that I fit somewhere in that vast range.  Though it is something I could easily draft myself, the “modesty panel” further encouraged me that this pattern had potential. 

I traced off my usual Jalie size.  The pattern is designed with a low scoop in the back.  A tie is added to hold the shoulders in place.  In the words of Tim Gunn, this is “overdesigned.”  It also seemed a bit on the saucy side for a middle school teacher.  I just raised the back neckline.  I also lengthened the sleeves to full length. 

Jalie directions are not overly detailed, but adequate to get the job done.  The illustrations are quite helpful in figuring out the twist portion.  The sewing is actually quite simple.

The neckline is a bit low, but such is the nature of twist tops.  Fortunately, the neckline really hugs the body.  There is absolutely no “peek a boo” factor when I lean over.  This is very important when working in a middle school.  There is a little ease in the waist area, providing a bit of camouflage for any tummy fluff.

Jalie 2788 is one of those “memorable” patterns.  I don’t want more than a couple of these in my wardrobe.  The ruffled trim is cute, but a bit fusy for me.  You definitely want to use a thinner knit.  Heavier fabrics would cause too much bulk at the twist.  FOE would work well for the neckline finish.  The modesty panel could be in a contrasting fabric to give the illusion of a cami underneath.  A little lace would really reinforce that concept.

Oh, the fabric….it is a crepe-y type knit from Mood Fabrics.  Due to the seam down the center front, stripes or a very obvious print would be tricky. 

Ideas come out of the blue and zap me like a bolt of lightening.  Sometimes I think I am slow because the idea seems so dreadfully obvious once I think of it.  Anyway, I finally came up with a solution for the Ottobre dress I was pondering a couple days ago.  In my defense, this week has been too busy to even remember my name, much less troubleshoot a pattern.  I think I have a remedy for the slippery silk charmeuse binding issue.  Hopefully reality will be as fabulous as the image in my head.  Stay tuned……

I am working on design #7 from the 02/08 issue of Ottobre Woman.  It is a sleeveless dress with a shirred waist…very simple, very cute, looks very comfortable.  The fabric of choice is one of the yummy silks Hubski bought in China.  The silk charmeuse will drape beautifully and be scrumptious for summer.  The armholes and neckline are bound with bias strips.  Silk charmeuse and bias strips should not be in the same sentence.  I have done one armhole and I am not pleased with the results.  Using tons of starch to give the fabric more stability has helped.  So, now I am pondering alternatives to the bias binding.  FOE is my favorite binding material, but not appropriate for this project.  I may experiment with cutting the bindings on less of a bias.  If this were a cotton or linen, this dress would go together in a snap.  The silk is beautiful but definitely has a diva complex. 

This post is long overdue.  Sometimes, I have the attention span of a gnat.  I think about things I want write about, but when it is time to write, those thoughts fly right out of my head.  I am trying to get better about jotting things down when the thought strikes.  There is just too much bouncing around in my head at any given moment.  Geesh….there I go again…distracted from my original thought…

If you are looking for some great sewing podcasts, check out Lori’s at Sew Forth Now.  She covers a wide variety of sewing topics.  She has snagged interviews with some “sewing celebrities.”  Lori has a delightfully easy manner and conducts a great interview. 

Way back in the early days of Lori’s podcasts, she asked me to do an interview.  I am not a sewing celeb or expert on anything, but I did give Lori’s editing skills a workout.  :)  It was a little weird being interviewed over the phone.  The interviews I have done in the past have been in person where I can talk with my hands.  Not being able to use my hands or draw pictures is like asking me to lose fifty percent of my vocabulary.  Nonetheless, it was fun.  I think it gave Lori a chance to figure out the whole podcast thing.  We talked about organizing sewing stuff, one of my favorite topics.  Click here if you want to hear it. 

I generally play podcasts on my computer while I am tracing pr cutting out.  I can’t listen to them while I am sewing because the sewing machine drowns out some of the interview.  I definitely cannot listen to them while I driving because I get so caught in listening to the interview that I forget to pay attention to the road.  (The same is true of books on tape/CD.)  Fortunately, my commute to school is less than 3 miles, so I barely have time to listen to whole song much less a long narrative. 

If you pop over to Sew Forth Now, tell Lori “Hi” for me. 

Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk

I am dreadfully late with this review because it took forever to finish this book. It was not a “page turner” by any stretch of the imagination.  Arlington Park is yet another novel about disgruntled middle class mothers.  There was nothing new in terms of plot.  The characters lacked depth and interest. 

Quite honestly, I get tired of the whining. These women live in nice houses, have healthy children, and husbands who, while not perfect, try to provide a good life for their families.  They think their lives are boring because they have bought into the myth of “having it all.”  Motherhood is not glamorous, but it does have its rewards if one chooses to see them. 

Rachel Cusk does have a pleasing writing style.  She brings the setting vividly to life.  However, her character development is superficial.  It would be fun to see what she could do with a more interesting topic.  The story of the unhappy housewife has been done to death. 

Here are photos of the silk Hubski bought in China last month.  I might cut into one of them this week.  Squeee!  It is my goal to *not* save these for a special occasion.  Why can’t a girl wear silk on a weekday?  Now, it is just a matter of deciding which Ottobre pattern to use.

Hubski, C, and I played Scrabble tonight….on line.  We were on three different computers in three different rooms.  Despite the geekiness of it all, we had fun.  We chatted on IM while playing, but Hubski was able to sneak in a little work between turns. I did a little organizing in my sewing room.  We tried to convince J to join in via the laptop, but he was busy reading.  Isn’t it sad that we have enough computers with access to the internet for the whole family to play at once?  Believe it or not, we do not own an actual Scrabble board.  How did that happen?  A normal family would go out and buy a game board.  I am thinking, “Why have more clutter when we can just play on line?” 

It is day three of the soft sculpture project with the 8th graders.  They are doing a fabulous job.  Ms V worked with them on sketches and designs for a few days.  On Tuesday, I came in to start sewing lessons.  46 minutes of hand stitching on a practice piece is rather dull when one has a design that is itching to become reality.  Nonetheless, they were troupers, patiently practiced their stitches and listened to lots of directions.   Some last minutes adjustments had to be made to some designs.  It is far easier to draw details on paper than it is to recreate them in fleece.  It was hard to tell them, “That just isn’t going to work in fleece.  Let’s figure out another way.”  Eventually everyone came up a with design they liked which could actually be produced with the materials at hand.

Yesterday, the students selected their fabrics and began cutting.  They were so focused.  There were some more design consultations.  I worried about a few because they seemed less than enthused by the whole process.  A couple were clinging desperately to entirely too completed designs.  However, when the bell rang, no one wanted to leave.

Today, it was exciting to see their creations taking shape.  I was impressed with how quickly some of took to sewing.  Ms V and I are so pleased with the work they are producing.  Some of the boys seemed a little put off because I used the word “cute” a few times too many.  Tomorrow, I might borrow a phrase from Project Runway’s Christian and the students their projects are “Fierce!”

Mending is not one of my favorite jobs, but this sweatshirt was too cute to be tossed just because it was wildly attacked by scissors.  In defense of the scissor wielding fiend friend, the neck of the sweatshirt was too tight.  She thought is she just cut a little slit it would have that deconstructed look and not strangle her every time she wore the sweatshirt.  It is unclear how the little slit suddenly went off at 60 degree angle. 

So I had two goals to achieve.  The askew slit needed to be repaired or covered up or made to look intentional and the neckline needed to be enlarged.  Needing time to come up with a solution, I tossed it under my sewing table for a few days.  (Besides, I was busy cutting the fleece for the soft sculpture class.) The sweatshirt happen to fall near a piece of brown knit I had pulled for a project in the near future.  Hmmm…the brown knit was very close to the brown in the design. 

I unstitched the hood to the shoulder seams.  Then, I added the brown vee shape to the front.  The hood was now too wide for the more open neckline, so I trimmed away the front edge of the hood.  The edges of the hood were then bound with the brown knit, which I think helped to make it all look more intentional.  C said if I really wanted to make it look intentional, I should also trim the kangaroo pocket and/or the cuffs with brown.  I politely declined the suggestion to do anymore unstitching.  Thankyouverymuch. 

Ms V was very happy with the outcome.  She is a huge Wallace & Gromit fan, so I was happy to save her beloved sweatshirt.  I asked her to please consult with me before taking the scissors to any other articles of clothing. 

It’s 40 degrees and raining.  What happened to spring?  Tomorrow is suppose to be more of the same.  It’s that annoying little misty rain that seems too light for an umbrella, but soaks through your clothing.  Yuck.  I was working on a cute dress to wear this week.  It doesn’t look like it will be warm enough to wear it, so I lost my enthusiasm.  Instead, my friend and I went to look at new clothes dryers, then stopped by the bookstore for a warm beverage and a browse.