Getting Back in the Swing

I certainly didn't intend to take a month-long hiatus, but life, as it is wont to do, often does it own thing. Having now had an entire week of evenings to do whatever I want to do with them I finally felt ready to come back.

Generally, I knit a lot and sew a little in the cooler months and sew a lot and knit less in the warmer ones. Despite tonight's frost warning, we are definitely edging into those warmer months here in Maine and the sewing bug is hitting me hard.

I made  pair of aprons back in March for my new York trip, but the last item of clothing I made was this skirt, back in December, which I don't think I ever showed here. 

Before I could jump into new projects though I made myself tackle my small mending pile first, so Saturday morning I sewed on some buttons and darned one of my handknit socks while making gardening shows on New Hampshire PBS. It was rather relaxing. Later that day Mr. Cleaver and I headed out to the theatre to watch a pair of readings and then went to try the famous fries at duckfat, which are seriously good.

On Sunday, I started (and finished!) a new sewing project, as well as put something together that was nine-months in the waiting. Both of which I'll share later this week, when I've taken some photos.

It's good to be back.

Clad in Shades of Orange and Gold

I just started my new job on Monday (yay!), but because it's full-time, it may wreck some havoc on my sewing schedule. So this may be the last major garment for a little while, or it may not. I have some skirts I want to do, but some more complex projects may be put on hold. 

This was one of those pattern-fabric combinations that I wasn't sure if it would turn out a hideous mess or something awesome. I'm pleased to say that I think it falls into the latter category. This is another Burdastyle pattern (what can I say, they're free!), the Jennifer blouse. There are 17 hand-sewn buttons and about 80 pintucks- seriously. There was a lot of detail work on this one, but that's what makes the shirt so lovely in my opinion. And I did a really good job of lining up the plaid, which is an accomplishment in itself.

On a related note, I had to take some photos of my sewing area for a project, so I thought I'd share this little snippet of my home with you all.

Oh and that stack of fabric on the corner? I'll show you what that turned into a little later this week. 

Questions & Answers

The following questions came from the blogaversary giveaway:

I’d like to know more about your sewing history. How’d you get started?

I kinda covered this in my Burdastyle interview, but basically the story is this: my mother is a fantastic seamstress and my fraternal grandmother was a home etc. teacher once upon a time and an amazing quilter, so I always grew up around it. I used to tape together my grandmother's fabric scraps into outfits for stuffed animals.

When I was in middle school I had the opportunity to take a home ec. class and I jumped at the opportunity. In the sewing portion of class we made a nine-patch pillow and a bib apron, which got me interested in sewing myself, rather than just picking out stuff for my mom to make me. I sewed a bowling shirt, which I still own and most of a doll dress, after which I didn't do much sewing for a long time.

After earning some extra cash in the spring of 2007, I bought myself my sewing machine and starting making clothes again. I've been hooked ever since. 

What photo editing program do you use?

I'm pretty low tech. I have MacBook and I use the editing tools that are free in the iPhoto program. If I can't make the picture look good with 30 seconds of editing, then it probably wasn't a great shot to begin with. I figure people have been taking amazing photos for years without the benefit of computers.

I would like to know what you wish you had time to do more of?

Honestly, my schedule's been pretty lax. For me it's not about needing more time, it's about using my time more wisely. But I wish I had more focus to do some non-blog writing. I like to fancy myself a playwright on a occasion, but I haven't put any of my ideas through to completion yet.

What are three fears you have and what are three desires?

Jeepers, um... I have an irrational fear of falling down stairs. I also fear not living up to my potential/being a disappointment and someday contracting type-two diabetes (it runs in my family). 

Three desires are to have a play professionally produced, to have kids, and to start a side business of selling patterns or items I have made.

Are you right or left handed?

Right, but Mr. Cleaver is a lefty.

Do you like blue or black ink?

Black, but my favorite teacher in high school always corrected our papers in green ink and I was always fond of that.

Do you like mittens or gloves?

Gloves, although mittens are easier to knit. I'm planning on casting on my first pair of gloves (for a friend) this week!

What kind of juice do you like?

Cranberry, though I have to have some kind of cran-apple or cran-grape blend because it's too hard on my stomach if I drink it straight.

Who won the pincushion giveaway?

Congratulations Cindy! Please email ms.cleaver(at)gmail.com with your address so I can mail out your pincushion! Thanks to everyone who commented - I love hearing from you all!

My moment in the internet spotlight

I have the pleasure of being the "featured member" this week on Burdastyle. Feel free to check out my interview on their blog!

If you're a visitor from the Burdastyle - welcome! Take a moment to look around the site and don't forget to enter in the pincushion giveaway !

It's a Mod Mod World

I really think I'm at my best when I'm sewing dresses. This dress, which is the Zoe pattern from Burdastyle, is the first piece I've done that I feel looks 100% professional, inside and out.

The pattern itself is pretty simple, with a total of seven pieces. I did have to make a few alterations to make this dress work for me though, something I'm slowly getting better at. 

I added about three inches to the length of the skirt, because I wanted it to be work-appropriate. And really, can you imagine if this was three inches shorter - yeesh! It would be positive indecent on someone of my height. I also, like many people, had to add a pair of darts down the front, because I can't pull off the "sack" look. The material is a fantastic wool or wool blend that I snagged from the remnants section of Vogue Fabrics back in my "stock-up-because-I-don't-know-what-my-fabric-store-selection-will-be-like-in-Portland" phase. It's fairly stretchy and oh so soft. I used the material "wrong" side out because I loved the slightly fuzzy nap of it - it seemed so fall/winter-appropriate that way. I think I may need to knit a black beret just to go with this dress.

And boy is it fall. The colors are peaking right now and its absolutely gorgeous - it's like the trees are on fire (in a good way).

Once again, I have to give a big shot-out to Mr. Cleaver, who helped with the photos (and it starting to get pickier with his shots :p). And here's a bonus outtake, just for fun:

In other news, I have job interview #4 tomorrow, I now own a couch, and you should keep your eyes out this weekend for that surprise.

Fall Sewing Begins

So even though I still don't have a job, I thought it might be time to start sewing some work-appropriate clothes. This little number is the Kasia skirt from Burdastyle. I loved the way this piece came together, even if I still, still managed to iron the interfacing on the incorrect side of the fabric on my first try! 

The jacket, which I swear seems a lot more like the same color as the skirt in real life, is part of the vintage jacket-dress combo I picked up a few weeks back.

The skirt is made of a mid-weight linen and the pockets are lined with royal blue cotton, for a bit of fun.  Unfortunately these photos don't really show all the details: there's some rouching at the pockets and a sailor-pants-style button flap at the front. I need to rework the waist a bit for a better fit, but this is really a project I'm very proud of, inside and out. 

As for the photos, I have to give extra credit to Mr.Cleaver for acting as my stand in as I set up the shots and hitting the shutter for me - We had a lot of fun taking these shots, which are outside the chapel at Evergreen Cemetery. And believe it or not, it was raining when we took these!

Walking

When I moved to Maine, I decided that I wanted to walk more and Mr. Cleaver agreed. We both love to stroll together, in Chicago, we'd jaunt up to Andersonville. Here in Portland, we've ended up in a neighborhood tailor-made for the leisurely stroll. Then houses are lovely to walk along and the other evening we saw some little brown bats in action at the far end of street, there's also Baxter Woods which is a 6/10 mile loop through deciduous and evergreen trees, and then there's Evergreen Cemetery.

Now before you start thinking that I've gone all morbid and spend all my time hanging out in cemeteries, I say fear not. It's just that cemeteries are some the best keep green-spaces ina lot of urban environments, if you don't mind weaving between headstones. I always loved the idea that in the early 1900s people used to have picnics in graveyards. I don't know why the shift occured, but there are plenty of people wandering the trails at Evergreen, so I'm not alone.

I also love the history of graveyards. Who were these people, why did this one deserve a monument, while this person hardly a stone at all?  What happened to the wife on the headstone listed below her husband with a birth, but no death date; and how horrible to lose someone at sea.

As an added bonus, Evergreen has a trio of duck ponds, filled with Mallards that will eagarly take your stale bread. We also saw what might have been a cormorant. I'd really loved to get a book on the local flora and fauna so I could identify it all.

And my favorite season is knocking at the door!

In a quick round-up of other news. I had my second interview on Monday, but alas, no job there, though the interview went (I felt) very well.

We found a great dresser for $10 at a garage sale this weekend, so I am no longer living out of a suitcase, which is fnatastic for one's pysche. I've also made what seems like an endless series of trips to Target and Walmart to get all the little things, like a toaster or a vacuum.

The book club is reading Watership Down, and I raced through it. I forgot how wonderfully thrilling that book is. Next up on my reading list is Richard Russo's Empire Falls, then I plan to do a survey of New England Poets - feel free to send along any suggestions.

I'm about a third of the way done with the first sleeve on my Forecast sweater and I picked up some lovely leather buttons for it on sale at JoAnn's yesterday. I'm also about halfway through sewing a Kasia skirt out of thick navy blue linen. I'm feeling very confident about my sewing on this piece, though if anyone has a trick for making sure you iron the interfacing on the right side of the fabric I'd love to hear it! I also managed to pick up a great vintage navy blue linen dress/jacket combo at Material Objects, it's an almost exact match in color to the skirt, so I can mix it up with the jacket. I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

I'm assisting my friend Peter on a reading of the play The History Boys for Mad Horse Theatre, I'm not sure the exact date of the reading yet, but I'm excited to be involved!

Our internet is supposed to get hooked up on the 23rd, which I can't wait for, and will hopefully increase the regularity of my posting. Until then - I'm off to enjoy the fall weather!

Crazy Week

Usually I try to post on Tuesday, but I'm a tad late this week and I'm not even going to cover a project I finished last week yet. It's been a crazy week:

----

Monday: We turned in our non-renewal of lease to our landlords, so there's no turning back on the move now (not that I'd want to).

Tuesday: I started cutting out a dress that I needed to finish by today (Sunday) to enter in a competition.

Wednesday: My 25th birthday was filled with beautiful flowers, food, cards, facebook messages and phone calls. Not to mention the cake Mr. Cleaver lovingly made from scratch.

Thursday: Stretched by birthday into a two-day affair with cake for breakfast, donuts with my co-workers and lunch with a friend. Picked up a copy of Alice in Wonderland at the Newberry Library book sale, and Vol II. of a beautifully bound book called Wide Wide World. Did a happy dance at the results of So You Think You Can Dance.

Friday: Spent the afternoon at the American Cheese Society's award ceremony, but sadly, had no cheese. Did some sewing. Watched Road to Perdition (it's really good - and it has Paul Newman, not to mention wonderful cinematography). Ate cake.

Saturday: Had some cake. Sewed a lot. Knitted a tad. Went to two different moving-away parties. Loathed the CTA with the fire of a thousand suns.

Sunday: Sewed some more. Embroidered the dress. Took some pictures. Uploaded them to Burdastyle and hoped I get some votes. Wore my new dress for a walk around Andersonville. Ate the last of the cake.

Did I mention I like cake?

Three Panel Apron: A tutorial

As you may recall I made a promise to a friend/coworker that I'd make me an apron, and that my first attempt didn't work out as well as I'd wished.

Well, week or two ago, I drafted out some more well-thought out plans and came up with this:

And I'm quite pleased with the final results, so I packaged it up and gave it to my coworker - who quite liked it!

I've recently gotten into posting stuff on BurdaStyle (sorta like Ravelry, but for sewers), and someone wanted to know how I made this apron. It's easy enough, so I thought I'd oblige with a simple tutorial. (Note: I only took pictures of the first half of the process so this is largely text-based)

You'll need the following:

Two fabrics, with thread to match each, as well as 10" to 20" of trim (or more depending on how you want to fancy it up).

All seams are ½ inch.

Cut list:

Main Color (in my case, the blue)

• one 21"x19" large front panel
• one 11"x19" small front panel
• one 27"x7"  waistband

Contrasting Color (in my case, the yellow)

• one 11"x13" pocket
• one 11"x19" small front panel
• two 23"x4"  ties

Press all pieces

1. With matching thread, make a ½" hem the top of the pocket.

2. Add any trim to front of pocket.

3. Pin pocket to matching apron panel with back of pocket on front of panel and baste pocket on. Press.

4. Prep ties. Hem three sides of each tie, folding over one end to a 45° angle, if preferred - if you do this make sure you make a left and a right facing strap)

5. Baste two lines of stitches inside the seam allowance along the un-hemmed side of each tie. Gather slightly.

 6. Change to main color thread.

 7. With right sides facing, stitch pocket panel to the right hand side of the large front panel. Press and finish seam.

 8.  With right sides facing, stitch the smaller main color panel to the other side of the pocket panel. Press and finish seam.

9. Hem the bottom and sides of apron body. 

10. Baste two lines of stitches along the top of the apron within the seam allowance, this will be used to gather the top of the apron.

11. Take the waistband piece and fold in half. Press.

12.  On the back half and sides of the waistband, press in seam allowance.

13. With right sides facing, place the apron body on the front half of the waist band (if you want a little extra length, you can place it shy of the fold). Adjust gathers so apron fits to waistband.

14. Sew together apron body and waistband front together. Fold waistband over the apron body and press. 

15. Slip stitch the back half of the waistband down. Do not sew the sides closed.

16. Insert tie into the opening in the waistband, with the front of the strap facing the same direction as the front of the apron. Adjust gathering to fit. Stitch opening closed, thus attaching the tie. Repeat for other side.

17. Give your apron a final press and you're done! Give to a friend or enjoy for yourself!

Please note that all patterns and tutorials are for personal use only and should not be distributed or produced for sale without the written consent of the author.

My New Favorite Outfit

I am excited:

Why am I excited? Because I made this entire outfit myself.

Remember back in the day when I said I have this dream of hand-making my entire wardrobe? Well, I just got one new favorite outfit closer.

Seriously, I love this outfit, like the time between washings is too long and I find myself sneaking the shirt out of the laundry basket in the morning before shamefully slipping it back in, because it does, in fact need to be washed.

I made the shorts right when ye olde camera died a few weeks back, and the shirt shortly following that. 

These are my first pants/shorts I've ever made ever (as in I skipped that whole making a drawstring pajama pants step). The pattern is Ruby from burdastyle. 

The great thing about the pattern is that is was free, the bad thing was that I had to print out and tape the pattern together.

Also, not always the clearest instructions. I couldn't figure out one part in particular, so my front welt pocket, well, sucks. I kinda knew if would going in and briefly considered leaving it off, but I decided I wanted to challenge myself. 

I know they're wrinkly, I took the picture after wearing them. Same with the shirt below.

The shorts are pretty basic - a lightweight blue woven material I got one sale, which I really like, but does stretch out after a few wears and needs to go through the dryer to regain its shape. I made the pocket out of some yellow gingham for a bit of fun and as not great-looking as the pocket is, it is a great place to hold my lens cap. My favorite bit though, is the buttons.

I think buttons are such a great way to add flair to something, and I think that without the button on these shorts (not to mention the teal ones on the shorts) I wouldn't like either of these pieces quite as much.

Shirt is pretty basic. The body of the shirt was from the pattern included in Sew U, the sleeves were made following the cap sleeve tutorial (just not gathered) on Wikstenmade. I was a pretty quick sew, though I am still having some trouble with the collar stand/band. If anybody has some hints for that, I'd love to hear em.

So the collars a bit funky, and some of the inside seams didn't finish as nicely as I'd like, but I still really like this shirt and plan to make a number more of them, as soon as I finish some of the other projects I have cut out, and then I'll have a new even favoriter outfit. ;)

p.s. -later this week, an apron tutorial!