At Last...

Sigh!  It is more than a little embarrassing that it took me this long to get my post for the Skirt challenge done.  I seem to be losing steam.  sigh again.

Here is the Skirt!  (I feel as if there should be some momentous music cue....or perhaps an ominous one!)

I just made a simple tailored skirt.  I originally intended to put some welt pockets on the front but chickened out as I did not have enough fabric to match the print on the welts.  (When looking for an excuse, you will always find one.  It may not be a very good one, but it will be an excuse nonetheless. heh)  I was also worried that they would gap as I am not as experienced with that style pocket as I ought to be  Of course, how one is supposed to get better if there is always a convenient excuse.....

As you can see, rather than a traditional kick pleat in the back I set in in the side.  I wanted it closed so nothing would show.  When I set the fabric in to the seam I was pleased with the proportions, forgetting that I was going to put a big hem in it.  So now every time I look at the pleat it seems....um, stumpy.  I am very pleased with the funky jewelry finding I added for art's sake though. :)

In a funny side note, I carefully remembered to add the little bits in the side seams where my sloper said I need a bit more room, only to find that it was COMPLETELY wrong.  Sigh!  You see, since Ruth still had my sloper pattern I just used the "fashion" version of the pattern and it had the ease already added.  sigh again.  So Now I need to go through and trace off the seam line that I actually used on the skirt and draw it on the pattern so I can remember the adjustment.

I also put into practice the "lapped zipper" I learned how to do from our zipper month.  Be proud of me, it is PERFECT. 

Now on to bigger and better things?  perhaps. heh k.

April's Dare? Pockets....any type you can justify. hehe

After some discussion during the meeting, it was decided that we should all to some pockets.  So there you have it.  If you must, your pockets can be on a flat piece of fabric, but try to put it on something that can be used/worn.  After this month when everyone is feeling virtuous and accomplished because we got our skirts made, I have realized that having "something to show for yourself" is an excellent motivating principle.

Having said that, I am not sure what I will make with pockets this month.  (Especially since I wussed out and didn't put pockets on my skirt like I planned.  sigh!)  Happy pocketing, ladies.

Pockets set in the seam
Patch Pockets
Welt Pockets
Shaped or Applique'd pockets

What other sorts are there?  Post examples..... k.
P.S. I will get my N to take pics of my skirt so I can do my post about it this evening.  Wish me luck. 

Some Skirt Links.

http://www.daciaray.com/?p=334http://susanstars.com/howto/make_aline.php
http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/06/20-minute-simple-skirt-tutorial-and.html

and a big collection
http://craftstew.com/sewing/free-skirt-patterns

I wrote up mine, and MAN that is hard.  Maybe it will work best if you try to hear it in my voice as you sew....ugh!
http://boxpleat.blogspot.com/2011/03/ks-3-panel-vintage-skirt.html

Good luck and happy sewing. k.

March Dare: Skirts!

March has only one requirement: On April 4th you must WEAR a skirt that you have made in the month of March.  This means that if you aren't sure how this is going to work, you may want to leave yourself time to try again before then! hahahaha

You may make any type of skirt you'd like, from a full gathered skirt with a waistband to a slinky knit with elastic and anything in between.  It does not matter what kind of skirt you make but you are going to have to produce a wearable product by the deadline.

Last month's participation was a bit lacking and I have thought a lot about what went wrong.  (I should say here that Miss Joanna was not lacking at ALL and she deserves all the kudos we can give her!)  I decided (right or wrong) that the problem with the assignment to baste up your fitting pattern is that it was just a STEP.  It is much harder to make time in your schedule for things that aren't really going to result in anything concrete, anything finished...so now we are all stuck with this challenge!  Are you happy now?!??!  (I have to point out that I didn't even do a blog entry for last month. ;(  sigh!)

Just kidding.  Skirts are a great way to feel accomplished and warm up your skills....what skills, you ask?  Well, you could practice your lapped zipper that we worked on a few months ago.  Make a skirt with a waistband.  Learn the settings on your sewing machine for knits.  If you are still stuck doing your fitting shell, do the SKIRT part and make a tailored pencil skirt.  Your skirt can be as fancy or as simple as you want it....it doesn't have to have piping or pockets, linings or embellishments....but it could.  Challenge yourself and make something fun for Spring. 

(And if you didn't finish the first fit on your fitting shell, you really need to get on with it.  We can't move on to design until we have a basic pattern for your bod.  I know people got sick this month, but try to get things done early in the month this time.  It will happen again, something always comes up.  If you are ready with the fitting shell and want some help with alterations before the next meeting, let me know. ;) k.

Welcome 2011

This month for our dare we are actually going to....well, dare ourselves!  This month we are plotting the BIG project.  Everyone here has been feeling a need to feel INSPIRED, to find something she really wants to do and then to do it fully. 

In the course of the discussion (which included some great things like organizing/maximizing your work space and your calendar time) we decided that this year we will try to make a dress....from scratch....well, from sloper.  That means of course that we all need a decent personal sloper.  (A sloper is a basic pattern that FITS perfectly and is the basis for every design.  With a good sloper and some creativity...and a little patience I suppose...you can make any design your heart desires.)

This project will also include all the skills mentioned during the meeting of things we OUGHT to work on this year.  SO there will likely be hemming, buttonholes, sleeves to set etc.

So the first challenge of the new year, and the requirements for January?  You need a good basic pattern that can be made to fit you just right.  (I found a "good" one at http://butterick.mccall.com/b5746-products-1984.php?page_id=155  It is "good" because I have never tried it, but it seems like just what we are going to need and happened to be on sale when I saw it.)  You also need to bring a pic (or post if it is a digital image) of your dream dress.  And the final thing to bring for the DRESS is a dress that fits you well, and/or your list of gripes about the way things off the rack tend to fit you.

And a last little bit: we are going to try to do a little general fabric education...so bring a found piece that we can examine/discuss and potentially destroy. hehehe k.

Completed!

After the meeting when I issued the dare, I went to my office and made up a list of things that ought to be completed.  The list was VERY long.  Very long.

When the month was over I had accomplished a surprising amount.  Not a LOT of what I had written....that list remains long and will probably always be...but a lot of productive work none the less.  Here it is in no particular order.....

This small panel of flowers was put together back when Cursed Quilt did  hexagons and by behest.  You can see that these AREN'T hexagons but go together with the same technique.  I have a little template set that I bought and used up bits of a jelly roll of solids.  As an exploration it was productive but then just sat around as it is both an odd size and an odd shape.  For Completion, I decided on borders and an eventual home: my Mother-in-Law's house as Christmas Present.  I love the way it turned out with a few exceptions I will NOT mention. ;)

Here are a few of the flower center details that I like.  All in all, a pleasing completion and one fewer thing in my multiple work boxes!

I also finished the "Presentation Cases" (which are pillowcases, really) for our Quilts of Valor which are nearly ready for sending out!  WooHoo.

I also made a variety of other pillowcases (with help from Nicole and Karen) that got sent off for donation.  31 in all not counting the QofV ones.  I hope they find good homes.

Now the last thing I have to report is that this Dare has done what nothing else has been able to do in more than a year....get me back to WORK.  Here is a pictorial (and not a good one at that) of what I accomplished in the month...a work that continues, I am pleased to report.


10 Dresses, all new draft or first check patterns (plus a skirt and top.) In the pattern pic, the top row are checks, the middle are new drafts during the month and the bottom are new drafts since the end of the month to show how the work continues. I will post the dresses on my blog someday soon so you can see the details (and prices) but since the Holidays are upon us, I think that can wait. Besides, I have a quilt to bind, a pattern to check and at least two more designs to draft! (And I have already put in one zipper for December!) k.

November's Dare: Completion!

One of the themes that showed up regularly in the suggestions is this: "Easy Gift Ideas."  Now, I think I am a terrible person, but I NEVER (well almost never) make gifts.  I think this is mostly because of the deadline issues.....which I am not good at.    Of course, I wasn't sure that "Easy Gift Ideas" matched really well with the kinds of things I am trying to use for the Dare....not quite open-ended enough, and yet also a little too "specific."  Except that people wanted to do it.... 

So, the challenge for this month is two-fold.  The first required part: You must finish SOMETHING.  I don't care what it is, or how long it took you but you must have something to show for yourself by the first Monday of December.  You should also post a blog post about it.  (And I am giving you all the eye....look over at the Labels list on the side....I know you can see that ALL, well most, of the posts are tagged by me.  Will it help if I ask nicely?  Please will you post your projects?  Pretty Please? heheheh)
The second required part is that you identify, whether online or from your own brain at least one (but perhaps hundreds) project that is easily "completed."  We are looking for those projects that can help you feel accomplished on a day when nothing seems going right.  Projects that give lots of bang for your buck but that won't sit on the work table forever.

When you link to projects, please be sure to give credit to the actual designer (especially if it is YOU!) and if you try it, show us pics of yours.  You don't have to try all of the ideas you post (although ideally it should be a great item to be completed), just share some of the fun things you can find out there!

For the December meeting we will practice with zippers.  (Everyone sounded like that might be a good skill to review/learn.)  If you have zippers, bring them, if not we will try to have some available.  Also, bring pins, practice fabric and your sewing machine if you can.  And ask around to see if anyone knows some good tips and tricks for successful zippers.

Now go out there and finish something!  ANYTHING!  and then blog us about it! k.

October's Dare: Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Hahahah I got you there.  But the truth of the matter is, that IS the dare.  Here it is:

SONNET 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved. 

Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds....You have a thing in your closet, you know you do.  That thing that was such a good piece, seemed like such a good idea, just needed a little....yeah, you know the one.  This month we will take something that we do not love, for whatever reason large or small, and alter it.  I hope your projects don't have to be borne out even to the edge of doom but we all know that we need some good "disaster" entries to start us off on the right foot.

Feel free to post your ideas, frustrations and miracles during your brief hours and weeks.  Be inspired, be inspirational. (And don't delay until too late like this month! hehehe)k.

Meetings and Warnings.....

So the first Monday is almost upon us.  If you are like me you have procrastinated the day of your repentance....or at least of your Embellishing until it is nearly too late.  Whether you are coming to the meeting (Monday around 9 a.m.  at my house, please email so I know who to expect) or planning on posting your adventures online, please make it happen this weekend.  The new challenge will be issued on Monday and I want us to have made a good showing for our first outing. :)

(Speaking of Outing, those of you who haven't done your introductions had better get on with it!  Put your name and "introductions" in the post label section.  You should label your discussion of your own work with "embellish" for September, and possibly the word September as well as you name and any other appropriate labels for your techniques to help others find it in future.)

If you need help getting started posting, let me know and we will see what we can do.  If you have been meaning to sign up and haven't yet, get over to "The Rules" and send me an email so I can get you on the authors list. ;)

I hope everyone has lots to report....good and less good, by way of adventure for September. k.

September's Dare: Embellish

To start off with something easy, this month's challenge is to explore a new technique or product for embellishing.  You may apply this challenge to something ready-made or incorporate it in to another sewing project you have planned.

In case you are stuck for ideas (although I suspect that every last one of you <so far only Carolyn...hehe> already knows exactly what you have been contemplating...but not justifying...trying out!) here are a few I thought of...... (add your brainstorms by comment to this post.)

Embroidery of all kinds: silk ribbon, machine, decorative stitches on your machine, needlepunch (which I tried for the first time this summer :)

Applied decoration: beads, rhinestones, fabric applique's, jewelry findings, nailheads.  (You know, on the 5th floor of Dongdaemun.....)

The secret is to explore some new idea, try something new.  Once you have tried it out (success or not), be sure to post your adventures so we can learn together.

The physical meeting will be held October 4 at my (k.) house.  We will discuss how we will go forward from there with the "meeting part."   The October Dare will be issued on that day as well (and I promise to post it right away in case you can't make it.)

Blog posts should all be up before the meeting, but can be posted throughout the month-long dare.  You aren't restricted to only one, that is more of an "at least" guideline.  If you don't know how to post/upload pics etc, please let me know and I can talk you through it.  You should also feel free to post links to techniques/ideas that you like from other sources.  Be sure to give appropriate credit when posting the work of others (and get permission if you can.)  Be sure to include appropriate "labels" for your post: the month, the dare, your name (or initials) and pertinent keywords for what you tried.  That way, 6 months from now when you need remember how to do that beading technique, or you can't remember who has the wool-felting tools, you can look it up by keyword in the archives.

Me?  I think I may use some of the 40,000 nailheads I bought, or maybe I will do some eyelets with my new setter.  (In case you were wondering, I have the supplies for all sorts of things......go ahead, ask.  I bet I have it....oh, except for a hot fix gun for rhinestones. hehehe) k.