Tools of the Trade

Today I realized I bought something totally useful, 2 years ago - before I really had a use for it:

Fashionary Sketch Book

It was a great idea then. It's a great idea now and it's much more popular (also somewhat more pricey than it used to be). Note: You don't buy it on Etsy anymore.

The croquis template provided on each page is terrific - not to mention the reference materials sections (which are increasingly useful as I try my hand at art as well as craft). The template shape, however, is incredibly long and slim. Happily, the page is dotted so lightly with the trace lines that I can use them simply as a guide.

To complement the sewing cache, earlier this week my latest gift to me arrived by post:

Jordana Paige Crafter's Tool Butler - I bought the aubergine colour.

Let's just say, this thing was a stupid splurge as - by the time I added the unreasonably-inflated shipping - the price went up 30%. American businesses need to stop charging this way. I'll go to any lengths, at this point, to get an item elsewhere because I feel RIPPED OFF. If you're an American vendor, take heed: We Canadians actually still spend money. Don't make it hard for us.

Alas, the needle holder not stocked anywhere in TO and I wanted it, so Ms. Paige wins this round.

It's quite nice. Not sure if I'll love it in the course of time, but I needed a solution and I don't tend to like most of the knitting accoutrements out there. They always seem to scream homespun. At least this one is taking a stab at modern. Vegans rejoice: It's fake leather.

You'll note I haven't been knitting. It's weird, but I don't seem to function in the knitting and sewing head spaces simultaneously. They both take so much focus and they're very different activities. No doubt, knitting is much harder on the body. So while I've got some sewing enthusiasm going, and while I can still stand to recuperate from the physical toll of last fall's knitting, I will make sewing my primary craft for the next little while.

Weekend Update

A couple of notes as I head into a day of tracing, cutting and prepping (maybe even sewing?)...

Blue Ruby Slip Update: I wore it last week and I was amazed by how terrifically it stood up to a day at work. The silk completely kept static at bay - despite my wearing it with tights! The lace was much stronger than I imagined it would be. A part of me thought this thing was going to fall apart on first wearing but it went back on the hanger at the end of the day, barely even creased. This is the only bias cut thing I've ever worn, as far as I can remember. It's certainly the only silk, bias cut thing I've worn and it does feel strange to move in it. One feels the angle of the fabric - not off-puttingly, but it's unusual. At any rate, don't be scared of delicate looking lace. Chances are, if you pay enough money for it :-), it'll hold up to its function.

Croquis: I'm having some technical difficulties with digitally drawing outfits onto my croquis (aka I totally suck at it in a serious, disturbing way) and haven't yet cracked the code. I've had a really busy time at work which is mentally tiring in the off hours, so I don't know how and when you will be seeing the version of the palette that shows P.Cro. wearing the items I intend to make. I may have made some of those garments by the time I figure out the digital drawing!? I don't see that as a problem. These are separate skill sets and I'm not going to put unnecessary time constraints on myself. For now, the sewing gerbils have moved into the domain of sketching.

Tailoring: It seems, in my work role, I have a new need for jackets. I suspect that my next project, after completing the Spring Basics Wardrobe, will be to find and make some suit jackets. I don't want entire old-school suits. I'm looking at separates - even if they're constructed in the same fabrics i.e. pants and jacket or skirt and jacket - because I was there in the 90s and I'm not prepared to go back. I don't care if you're an investment banker - times have changed and one can be as creative with professional-wear as she chooses to be (IMO). Edgy creativity and elegance/formality need not be mutually exclusive. I can't wait to see how I pull this one off :-)

Update on the update: No sooner do I decide to delve into the suit jacket that I read about Craftsy's new Sew Retro course (taught by everybody's favourite sew-alonger Gertie). Here's the promo of the soon-to-be-released tutorial:

Sew Retro: The Starlet Suit Jacket:
Gretchen Hirsch is back with another Craftsy Sew Retro class! This time she’s going to show you how to make a suit jacket to knock ‘em dead!

Um, who loves starlets?! Who loves retro? Who needs suit jackets? (I have no idea, but something tells me this will be 40s-inspired. Wonder if I'm right...) Let's just say I've already signed up in my mind.

Croquis, Anyone?

I'm either enlightened or fucking crazy to be sharing this sketch of myself with the world:

Welcome to the ultimate vanity project.

I'm in the process of creating a more complete version of this with all of my horizontal and vertical measurements, but I thought I'd save you from it. :-)

I can scarcely report the 8 zillion steps involved in creating this. How I wish I could make fab digital sketches of myself wearing different items, like this. As it is, I don't know what use this will be to me in terms of adding clothing electronically, though I can print it out and sketch clothing ideas on top of the croquis.

Let's review this for a few moments, shall we?

I think it's time for a rousing chorus of "Fuck Barbie". Seriously, this is an accurate outline of me, apparently and, while at first I was shocked, now that I've spent 12 hours staring at it intently, it seems just fine.

What stands out most? My arms are freakin' long. I've always known this, but it's really writ large, huh? Obvs, my breasts are large and my shoulders narrow, but I'm a bit surprised that my waist isn't narrower. In my view of myself, it's very waspy :-)

Let me also say that I don't think it matters what this picture shows. When I'm walking around in the world, my essential self shines through. And it is hot, thank you very much.

So, what do you say. If you could twitch your nose and have your own croquis, would you do it? Do you find it reductionist? Let's discuss.

FBA Continued...

Today has been an interesting day. I was derailed by all the things I meant to do by lots of things I imagined I might do someday - namely the construction of a croquis.

This sketch of oneself is becoming quite popular, all of a sudden, it would seem. In the last couple of weeks I've read no fewer than 5 accounts of how to, and why and what. In truth, my husband has been doing the heavy lifting on the project. He's already spent a few hours trying to create a vector diagram from a photo of me, using Inkscape. The reason our aim is to do this, rather than hand sketching a close-cropped picture, is that the end result will be scalable. (Also, it's kind of cool to create an image the likes of which one sees assembled on high-tech computers in action films; you know, like when they're trying to create a composite of the bad guy.)

Why spend the time and effort? Really, why not? At the end, I'll have a customized me-shaped sketch onto which I can draw fun designs that will suit my particular shape. Why should I consider my next outfit in relation to a figure that's 5'8", long-waisted and boob-free? I hope that this will be the next step on my journey of self-taught fashion design.

If the dress form fiasco hadn't already cured me of vanity, lord knows, this little project would achieve that objective in a flash. I have become so comfortable with body as an object, it's bizarre. More and more, I am pointedly aware of my every asymmetry, of convexity and concavity as it applies to me. Now I just find it all technically interesting. Sort of like doing an FBA...

Apropos of that, I've completed the Sherry-prescribed version of the Ruby Slip FBA and compared it to the one I attempted last week. Both versions add 1.5 inches to the original pattern bust dimensions. The one I "developed", for whatever reason, feels like the right one to cut first. (Fortunately I have enough fabric to try both versions, if required.)

Both FBA-altered paper pattern pieces are very similar in the side back piece. However, my version of the front piece is, intriguingly, wider all over, and specifically by 1 inch at the under bust vs. Sherry's. I didn't realize that till I compared the two of them today. So glad that Sherry reminds sew-alongers to increase the under bust dimensions an equivalent amount to any increase in bust width.

As such, I added 1 inch to either side of the front skirt and tapered to the waist notches. (I didn't defray the total 2-inch amount over the entire size of the skirt i.e. front and back, because I really do want the increase at the front.) The front bust piece is longer in Sherry's FBA version, and overall it is quite a bit slimmer. I have a full upper bust so I sense I need more width at the top of the piece. It just doesn't look like the Sherry-version, as it stands currently, is going to provide the volume I need, despite the addition of width at the side of the front piece where it meets the side back piece.

Man, if you don't sew - hell, if you don't adjust for a full bust - that paragraph must have been totally painful.

I really have no idea of how this is all going to play out. That's the fun and anxiety of sewing. This may be the best thing I've ever figured out on my own, or it might be a mere stepping stone to the next version. Potentially a frustrating one.

Nonetheless, I will keep on.

Today I've also cut the Ginger skirt, version 2 and pulled out the pattern and fabric to make another pair of Clovers. I'm so tempted to alter them into culottes, I just don't know if I'll be able to stop myself.

Any thoughts on croquis? Have you done one? Has anyone done an FBA on the Ruby Slip yet? Thoughts about Clovers or Gingers you haven't had a chance to chat about yet? Please let's talk!