W.H.Y.

So who the heck gets rid of all their clothes so that they can start fresh with clothing of their own making?  In the middle of winter?

Me, apparently.  And hopefully anyone who wants to refresh themselves with one of their main hobbies (not necessarily just sewists.)

Late last year, my husband decided that he wanted to get better at illustration, so he dedicated himself to illustrating at least five days a week.  This was an inspiration for me to pursue my passion as well.  For me, the easiest way to do that was to get rid of all my clothes or I would never be comfortable wearing my own constructions in public.

In general, when I have a full set of factory-made clothes, I wear those more often because the craftsmanship is often better (mostly because they have industrial equipment).  But, it stuck me in a trap.  I don't wear my own clothes because the craftsmanship is not as good, so I don't make clothes as often so my craftsmanship doesn't get any better.  Oooh, check that out for a vicious cycle.

So, in order to improve my craftsmanship, I need to sew!  So I sew so so now.  So soon my sewing will be super.

I like to throw a challenging piece in there every once in a while.  Vogue has some incredible designer pieces that really push skill, technique, and focus to the limit.  Just like weightlifting, if you don't push your limits every once in a while, your muscles will never get any bigger.

I've been trapped in my old clothing.  Most people have never seen me outside of jeans and a t-shirt.  They are good for covering your naughty bits, but they tend to remove personality from the wearer.  So it's great if you want to blend in.  I'm at a point in my life where I need to stop blending in and jump into the fray!

I need to stand out.  I finally have something to say, and it needs to be said to everyone.  I AM awesome.  And dammit, YOU are awesome, too!  Figure out what your passion is and make time for it, even if it is half an hour a day.  Get rid of your distractions and toys and you'll have a renewed sense of joy for those 'hobbies' that you always wanted to pursue.  And by 'hobbies' I mean your true life goals.  DO what you love and the happiness will follow.  DON'T let someone else's ideas of how you should live your life get in the way of your happiness.

There is one sure way to reach your goal: KEEP AT IT!  Don't let it slip away or you will have little but that uncomfortable puddle of regret in your gut.

I believe in you.  Believe in yourself.

Tell me please: what hobby or goal will you pledge to dedicate your time to?

A Look Inside

I don't have a huge sewing space, so I have to make the most of what I have.  Also, I need to be nimble and flexible because my only large cutting space is on the floor.

I try to keep everything tidy because there is little that is more frustrating that having your work space constantly covered with stuff.  From this angle, you can see my big wire-frame shelf.  This one is nice because it fits big plastic totes.  I don't have any up there at the moment because they are all out of the way in the attic.  Except for that rogue one in the bottom left-hand corner.  The table has an open space for working.  I also use the ironing board as a work space sometimes because it's higher and doesn't hurt my back to hover over it.

Note the most important thing in this room:  right above the window on the right it says PEACE.

In the opposite corner, you can see the non-wire shelf that holds all the tiny things that would normally fall through the holes in a wire shelf.  There is a thread organizer, which I find indispensable.  There is a plastic drawer cabinet up on top that holds all manner of notions.  This kind of doubles as 'me' storage and display.  I've won a few awards that I keep up there.  There's a vase that my friend gave me as a gift for being in her wedding.  It holds a beautiful bouquet of zippers.  There is a picture of one of my nieces up there somewhere.  You know... those things you love to have but don't want to display because people will think you're full of yourself.  Yeah, I display those proudly to myself.

This is me trying to be artistically inclined with my sewing machine.  It's a good sewing machine.  It does nothing fancy but it gets the job done.  And like any machine, you get to learn its quirks by listening to the machine spirit.  (I do not actually communicate with the machine spirit.  That is a Warhammer 40k reference.  You really just get to know how to troubleshoot your machine and learn what needs to be fixed based on what the symptoms are.)

This is my iron in all its artistic glory.  And that behind it is the color of my wall.  Because I read somewhere that purple inspires creativity.  That is all.

So there you have it.  That is my sewing room.  I hope you enjoyed the tour!

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Enjoy the time of year where you can make a change in yourself and no one will think twice!  Ride the renewing energy of the 2012!

As promised, I have photos!  Ma-in-law took some pictures at our family holiday gathering, so I got to pose a little and have some fun!

Yay, I like this shade of blue on me.  The pattern is birds with patterned birds.  While most likely intended for quilting, I didn't really care because it was a pretty color and a pretty pattern.

Here's a closeup for a little more detail on the fabric:

Not that you can see much with my arms in the way.

This is Butterick pattern 4045.  Very quick, very easy.  The only thing that took longer is that I did french seams on the side to keep fraying to a minimum (or nonexistent in this case).

Good things about this pattern/garment:

• Super-easy to make
• Ties in back so that you can faux-fit it to any figure
• Easy to throw on in the morning if need be
• Casual or a slight step above casual

Things I could use a tweak or two:

• Dart shaping doesn't always work well for ladies with large busts, so this bunches and pulls a little bit around the neckline/chest area.  I have this problem with most things I make, though.
• The pockets are deceiving: they are great to put your awesome stuff in, but only when you're standing up!  When you hop in the car and sit down, everything will slide out of your pockets and under the seat!  I think they are placed too low on the dress.  If I make another, I would move them up a little.
• When tying the ties, if you happen to have a barrel chest and a slimmer waist, a lot of fabric bunches up in the back.
• This does not go really well with sneakers, so I need to go shoe shopping.

But what the heck, I'm not doing haute couture yet.  Yet.

Got any New Year's Resolutions, Non-Resolutions, or Challenges of your own for 2012?