Hallelujah!

The coat is done.

Let us rejoice. With alcohol.

(More soon...)

Flowers and Sweetheart Necklines

In case you don't know about it (which would be shocking!), there's a fab blog called The Blue Gardenia, and its got the best giveaway evah! In truth, there are lots of great giveaways and I love them all, but this one kicks some serious ass.

And in a totally weird twist of fate, one piece of the giveaway (yes, it's a bundle of goodies), is the very dress that Gertie will be making in her next sew along.

It's my opinion that you should a) run over to The Blue Gardenia and leave a comment and then b) check out Gerties New Blog for Better Sewing and hope for the best. At a bare minimum, you'll have some great hours reading two fantastic sewing blogs.

Denise (write of The Blue Gardenia) has also captured an audience of sewists - and people who love design - with her "Sewing Spaces" feature. It's the basis of the post I wrote a while ago, wherein I profiled my sewga room. It's so voyeuristic-good to see the sewing studios of many sewing bloggers of note. And it's a great opp to learn about new sewing blogs too...

What a Difference A Day Makes

You'll have to give into my latest moment of fantasy and optimism (and schizophrenia, apparently) as I near the end of the coat project.

Yesterday I bought the Oct./Nov. version of Vogue Patterns - how about that awesome orange suit on the cover - and I felt truly excited about the prospect of sewing some new things.

Everyone's been talking about the mag's new editorial policy (which is to say "something other than ads and crappy photos of outdated styling"). Let me concur. It makes the experience enjoyable.

I mean, how often have you flipped through Vogue Patterns and thought - oooh, I want that, just like that! - as if it's Elle. You may have thought: Hmmm, if I use a different fabric and I modify it a bit and I try to ignore that hideous felt, I can get with that.

Well, the times may be a changin', or so we can hope.

I felt for the first time yesterday, as I looked at the garments, that I can actually sew my own wardrobe.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert, or even experienced, but I have proven to myself in the last year (yay 1-year sewiversary to me!) that I have: the patience to read a pattern, the fortitude to handle the unexpected, the grit to stick with a project for months, if necessary, a great space in which to create, an organized archive, systems that work, a fantastic community of sewists and blog friends who help me to stay motivated (that means you, btw), a really good eye, a love of fabric, the ability to create things that fit me well and awesome taste.

Really, I kick ass.

And I'm modest.

In truth, if I ask myself why I sew, it's not to be stressed by outcomes or to further empower my (very out-and-proud) critical self. It's for love. For love of beautiful textures and the alchemy of turning fabric into garments. For love of the potential, wrapped in each pattern envelope - a metaphor for the potential within me. And for enjoyment.

So I bought this pattern (and a few others), recognizing fundamentally, that a shirt is just a shirt - when it's not busy changing my life.


Yeah, it may be fancy looking on paper, but if Vogue Patterns says it's AVERAGE, really what can go wrong??! :-)

So, has anyone made this? If yes, what did you think?

OR, Let's say you never intend to sew a thing in your life, if you found this in a store, would you try it on?

A Thousand Miles Journey Starts with a Single Step

OK, so I'm more or less at the stage that Gertie calls "finishing touches". I'd itemize the 7-10 things I've yet to accomplish (a couple are "optional"), but they'll either bore you or freak you out. Why do that to you, gentle readers??

You might be thinking, Sheesh Kristin, only 7-10 more things and the coat is complete. Wow, that's amazing, that's so close. Why complain'st thou? (or some such query, articulated less middle-English-ly). And it wouldn't be a stupid thought, after all, given that I started with - oh - 8 zillion things on the list.

But, as Sal so thoughtfully commented a while ago, it's my blog and I'm can complain if I want to :-)

The thing is that every single step I take becomes, at least in my own mind, more meaningful. I know that's not a productive philosophy, but it is understandable. If I fuck up now (not that I'm going to, mind you, please hear me Universe and Sewing Goddess) I will have done a LOT of freakin' work.

Moreover, it's not even that I worry about fucking it up. It's that I'm tired of it. And I've still got to learn how to do a variety of new things including: finishing the bound buttonholes (I thought they were finished?!?!), pick stitching the lining to the coat, affixing belt buckles and under stitching (by hand) the lapel and front facing edges.

And then there's the fact that I'm not sure I like the finished product.

You can see how I'm plodding on.

Update: After I wrote this I did a couple of hours of work on the coat, affixing the sleeve lining to the fashion fabric, basting the lapels and front facing edges, and positioning my ribbon over the hem (getting ready to sew it on). I've also been thinking a lot about how to finish the bound buttonholes (after re-reading posts on it and asking questions). So my misery (and nervousness) has abated somewhat. Nonetheless, thank you for listening and continuing to offer your feedback. Your comments give me so much to think about and I really do follow a lot of your advice!

OK, This is Just Whack

Seriously?!

Photo: Fashionista. You should read the article about this one piece monstrosity here.

I don't know what's weirder: that Scandanavians came up with this (I have a secret prejudice that posits all things Swedish are perfect) or that it's actually taken off in England.

Let me give you my feedback straight. Unless you're into plushie play, just say no. Actually, even if you are into plushie play, there are ways to dress for it more flatteringly.

Scrambling

A propos of the tremendous learning opportunity I've had in making the Lady Grey coat, this process has been entirely worth while (life changing, even) on the basis of hand stitching technique alone.

I'm not too proud to tell you that I was afraid of hand stitching. It struck me (ha!) as tedious, painstaking, finicky and hard. Instead, it's meditative, painstaking, finicky and sort of hard, but not really. (That's quite an improvement on my initial impression!)

Here's the thing. I'm a left handed person in a right-handed sewist's world. I sew, depending on the tutorial I'm watching or the book I'm reading and the state my brain is in, with either hand. In truth, I find it harder to re-scope the right handed instructions for left-handedness than to just sew with my non-dominant hand.

I should mention that I'm considered ambidextrous according to those inconclusive tests. I do most everything with my right hand (except write). My dominant eye, ear and foot are on the right. Nonetheless, depending on the moment, I do choose to sew with my left hand and, if the technique is new to me, I have no precedent to follow. Once my brain is clicked into left- or right-sidedness, it's almost impossible for me to switch. I mean, I have to walk away for quite a while till my brain resets itself. Weird, I know.

I wish there were a book called "Hand Sewing for the Left-Handed Sewist". I would SO buy it. Of course, most sewists are women and most women (by a huge majority) are right handed. In fact, the segment of self-identified, left handed women in our population is 1%. How many of them sew, I wonder?? So, something tells me that book doesn't exist.*

Patty smartly suggested that I turn the garment upside down (she read somewhere that it works). Problem is, I generally can't figure out when I'm sewing the wrong way around to begin with. I'm telling you, peeps, my brain doesn't operate in a particularly linear fashion. What's up or down??, really, I say.

So here's today's question: Are you a left-handed sewist? Do you know of a book about left handed tailoring? Did you just switch over to the right-hand?

Or - if you aren't left-handed (the likelihood, after all), do you enjoy hand stitching? Hate it?

*Update: Apparently, there is a book. Guess it doesn't hurt to check before writing the post. PS: Looking at the photo on the cover, my brain winces. I can't figure out if that's the way I want to thread my needle. Maybe I'm a right handed sewist, after all???

Which Do You Want First?

The good news is that the coat is really starting to look like a coat (thank God). Dare I say it myself, it is very nicely constructed (at least so far).

The lining is not super shiny, it just doesn't photograph well...

The belt kicks ass - I really like how it works in this fabric!

The bad news is that I don't like it. I mean, I do hope I'm going to change my mind. Seriously. Like more than you can possibly imagine.

Why don't I like it?

It looks completely contrived on me. The lapels and collar are just weird on my frame - too big and too small all at once. I feel the thing is too big through the body and too small in the shoulders?!

OK, I know it doesn't have buttons yet. I haven't pick stitched the lapels. I haven't tacked down the lining in the sleeves and at the bottom. When I tried it on I was sweaty and tired and I wasn't wearing a bra. These things may influence my thoughts about (and the fit of) the finished product.

One thing that really does bother me about the pattern is that the lining pieces are not accurate. I, like Gertie and others, need to go out and buy lace to affix (somehow, though I don't know yet exactly the method) to the bottom of the lining to obscure the interior of the coat. Not only don't I love that look, but I really don't appreciate the extra time, effort, learning and expense that's going to put me through.

Can you tell I've had enough of this?