Knit-Nerd-Rant

So the belly dance has continued apace, and thanks to the recent discovery (via random Pinterest link) of a great tutorial on creating cabaret belly dance tops , I've finally gotten up the courage to create my own.  While I"m not ready for performances, I'm hoping that by the time I do get there, I'll have an awesome costume ready to go. This one features some really fun purple lame fabric found at a recent blow out sale form Bits of Thread, and the beads so far are from previous projects. I'm really excited about it! Was talking with my mother earlier and she noted that when my dad started back into his old cycling habit, he warned her that he would be enthusiastic/obsessive, and that didn't end up getting anywhere hear close to describing reality. So at least I know where I get it from! I'm also working on some simple baby blankets for the newborn ICU where the soon-to-bee mother-in-law volunteers.  So there's a lot of crafting going on up in h...

So things have been crazy lately - lots of work, lots of trying to fit in some social life, I've taken up a belly dance class (after about a decade of no training), and I've been working on a new cross stitch design for my Etsy store . (Spoiler, it's going to be starring Grumpy Cat!) Another reason for the radio silence is that I have finally finished up a quilt that has been sitting in my craft closet for AGES. Years and year ago, I found some really funky faux fur fabric on sale - just about a yard and a half. I could never figure out what to do with it, but eventually settled on using it as one side of a quilt.  I found some similarly colored old t-shirts that I had planned to incorporate into some quilts, and started piecing together the patchwork. Also, a couple years ago, I had found at a yard sale an old quilt frame. I've done 2 quilts before this project, and both ended up being bears to work with once I had the patchwork layer done and was on to q...

A friend posted on Facebook a link to a really interesting blog post about how the industrial age has changed the way that we create clothing - from fibers to construction to use - that really made me see my own sewing in a new light.  This friend has gotten into historical re-enactment in a big way (late medieval - early Renaissance, to be specific), and so has a particular skill with 16th century Italian women's wear. Anyway, the post was by an Australian woman known as Skud, titled " Why is it so difficult and expensive to make your own clothes (or have them made)? The discussion about pattern making particularly intrigues me.  Most, if not all, of the clothes that I make are essentially rectangles - many formed into modified tubes.  Skirts are tubes with added pockets, waistbands, zippers, and a few other fun bits added, and shaped with darts. The only black-tie formal dress that I own is made of a tube for the body, then another tube opened at the sides to create...

This is actually the back of my latest skirt, all lovely wool from the bits of thread collection, and it's fully lined. I rarely do true linings, so I'm pretty proud of it. It's the same basic model as the others - tube with darts at top and a slit at the bottom of the hem, but I added an actual waistband this time. That is all.

  So here are my new skirts that took up much of my weekend.  The first one (shiny one to the left) was made from this fabulous vintage fabric found at a rummage sale at the Silver Spring Stage , where is also the same event where I found the couch that the skirt is laying on.  It's hard to capture by photo, it's a gorgeously shiny deep grayish-teal.  The second one I found at the fabric shop of Bits of Thread a few days ago.  it's a buttery smooth wool with royal blue/indigo and black houndstooth that's just fantastic.  It's real houndstooth, not any wimpy print.  (For those in the know, houndstooth is a big deal for Alabama football fans, so this is just a little extra fun.) I've found that with my ... ahem... ample figure (honestly, from the waist down, it's mostly solid muscle from a childhood spent playing sports and dancing), a pencil skirt is generally the way to go.  And luckily, it works out that the way my proportions are, I can s...

Alright, so how's the old score card? Sew 3 new skirts that are office-appropriate Fixed one skirt that was too big, and made 2 skirts from scratch (details and pics to come). Given how much work the blue/black houndstooth one was, I'm calling this one achieved. Watch my current Netflix (Melancholia) Nope, still need to do that, since it's one I wanted to watch with the boyfriend. Go hiking! Instead decided to go for a 5k run on Saturday morning, and that's about all the weather wants to permit. Forecast has been showing rain out through Friday. Boo.  Thought about a muddy hike, but just didn't have the energy. Clean the apartment A bit... Do laundry Find the fridge light bulb (Someone accidentally un-plugged the fridge, making me think that the light had burned out, since it was still cool and so I removed the light bulb thinking that I needed to replace it. I put it down somewhere and have completely lost track of it.) In my genius, I tota...

So, yesterday after work, I met up with a friend to go to Bits of Thread and boy did we have entirely too much fun!  It's a small sewing studio that does classes and workshops for different levels, and it also has a great stash of reclaimed, vintage, donated, and random fabric. Most of the pieces I found were less than 3 yards, which is perfect for what I need.  There were a few fabrics that came in larger sizes, but not many.  Lots of great scraps, vintage notions, fantastic buttons, it was like going through the attic of the coolest grandma on the planet and finding some of her amazing and soft and hideous old fabrics, pattens, and random bits and things.  It's pretty much available only by appointment, so call ahead to make sure someone will be there.  When we arrived, there was a new instructor leading a class who didn't know how to ring up purchases, so I swung by today after I got out of work early.  Go check it out for yourself if you are in the ...

So, with the long weekend stretching out before me still a day away, I'm gathering a list of things that I want to do over the 3 blissful days: Sew 3 new skirts that are office-appropriate Watch my current Netflix (Melancholia) Go hiking! Clean the apartment Do laundry Find the fridge light bulb (Someone accidentally un-plugged the fridge, making me think that the light had burned out, since it was still cool and so I removed the light bulb thinking that I needed to replace it. I put it down somewhere and have completely lost track of it.) Knit (specifically the socks from yesterday's post) Make pancakes with the blackberries that thawed in the night of the wimpy freezer and re-froze into a solid mass of frozen-berry-goodness (see fridge light bulb story above) Limit my poking around online so that I can actually get things done! Find a way to get rid of the collection of old books I need to give away, and find a way to get them to any related location Perhaps some...