almost summer...

weekly wrap-up/finished object(s)/current projects 

on the needles
still plugging away on my socks, or sock, i should say. ugh. still have 1 more to finish after this is done. enter 2nd sock syndrome. not because i can't finish... more than likely because i won't want to! anyway, i was plugging away so intensely on my sock, that i blew past the instructions to stop decreasing on the heel! per usual... i ripped it back (i think about 7 rows, "think" because i'm trying to forget) and continued in my normal fashion. it wasn't as painful because i had a podcast to keep me company :D

on the spinning wheel
i forgot to upload a photo from my point & shoot camera from a couple weeks ago, so this particular "before" shot of my recently finished handspun was floating around in the memory card ether. anywho, this is what i planned to share on the last post. the before and after shots, and why it is important to wash your spun yarns after they are plied.

before washing; lots of active twist; very coily

this is actually the first time my yarn came out super coily like this. i plied this yarn just a bit more than what i've done in the past as my goal is to use this yarn for socks and i want them to wear well. after i took this yarn out of the bath, i snapped it once in each direction and hung it in the shower to dry. it hung loosely in a relaxed open loop, but there were still strands that were coily and not totally relaxed, so i added 2 plastic hangers to the bottom of the skein, and placed a hand towel on the hangers to add a little bit of weight to the skein to help straighten it out. the results were amazing. it's like magic!

nicely relaxed

twisted into a hank

so the moral of the story is, try to make it a habit to wash your plied yarn (or singles) to help set the twist and give your work a polished, finished, professional look. as i said before, these are the little details that take a project from a$$ to class!

color wonderful! the stuff dreams are made of.

in other spinning news, i've been flirting with the idea of spinning this beautifully, hand-painted braid of superwash merino from alchemy fibre arts. flirting and admiring from afar (really far) is really all i have been doing. i'm imagining it becoming a really fun pair of simple socks. it really needs to be socks, right? navajo-ply for sure to preserve the vibrant colors, and i don't really want to ply these colors with an existing yarn that i have, although i may do just a tiny sample to see what that looks like, but maybe when i start to knit with it, i could alternate rows of this, with rows of a solid yarn for a fun noro-esque colorful striping effect and to make the colors pop more. see... still flirting and admiring, i'm sooooo not ready to spin this!

honestly, yes i'm a little intimidated, and it really feels like too much work for me to think about. color has always made me a little uncomfortable for reasons unknown, so this is no surprise. as much as one may study and understand color theory, sometimes there are still surprises which one cannot predict when you see how certain colors react with each other! also... this is a one-of-a-kind braid... you know what that means.

so instead, on a whim, i decided to finally spin a braid from my corgi hill farm stash. i've been stock piling fiber from this fantastic vendor who kills the color game (gorgeous, saturated color) and all the while, i began believing that her fiber was just too pretty to spin. it is, but i need to get over it! i grabbed the first chf bag at the top of my fiber bin and started spinning it anyway. just jumped right in without a plan, spontaneous.

so this is what i'm spinning now...all kinds of goodness that would make a leprechaun weep.

so far so good... after i started spinning, it donned on me that i hadn't figured out what i wanted this to be... so i decided to do a 3-ply and focus on color management, i mean, this shouldn't be a problem here considering this is a green-scale, monochromatic braid, but i'm still working with about 3 or 4 shades of green, and it would be interesting to practice only spinning with a certain color, rather than letting adjacent colors blend into the drafting triangle and mute the colors or heather them out. so i'm playing with that. i'm also trying to make spinning a regular habit and build up my endurance... more on that later.

oh... did i do this already? show progress shots of my spinning journey?
it's hard to remember what i've posted, you know... because i ramble. i tag my posts, but i usually don't reference back to old posts unless i'm having a deja vu moment and want to link to it in a post (and avoid re-writing the experience). i did look at past posts the other day as i was trying to remember which spinning wheels were in the running for becoming my next 2nd wheel. calm down... i'm still in the beginning stage. lets just say, i'd love to have another wheel (a stay-at-home wheel) and i love the wheel that i have. i'm not trying to replace her, because she is perfectly fine and makes wonderful yarn happen. i'm not getting a wheel now, as in right this moment, but again, i am back in the research/planning/budgeting phase checking out my options.

i met my personal goal which was to have something spun every month after purchasing my wheel. basically, my feeling was if i produced a skein a month, it would clearly mean that i stuck to spinning and it wasn't just an activity/hobby i picked up on a whim. makes perfect sense, right? i'm up to about 7 skeins of handspun now, and i'll have at least 3 more by summer. i'm coming up on my 1 year spiniversary with my girl renaissance, and as i did with dog number 1, i eventually found her a companion. it's nice to have a companion, right? :)

to answer my earlier question (ohhhh how i distract myself) of if i posted progress shots, the answer is no, unless i didn't tag the post "spinning" (which is absolutely a possibility!). so i'll do it now. basically, it's just a picture of encouragement to those out there, who may be a little intimidated, or who may be feeling a bit discouraged with the spinning process, or [fill-in-the-blank]. it's to show that things do get better with patience, practice, and lots of cursing. i'm also doing this because i am sifting through a massive folder of past photos and i am realizing i missed out on sharing some of these photos! i took them, so why not share them?

so, from left to right... 

the creamy white skein is my first 2-ply yarn out of polwarth which is by far the most luscious fiber i've spun to date. it was very lofty and forgiving, with quite a long staple length, if i remember correctly it was between 5-6". even the d.h. hopped on the wheel and spun some of this, so his bits are in here too! but notice here, and it's hard to see on this photo, but this skein is all kinds of wonky. folks like to call stuff like this "art" yarn - maybe to make new spinners fell less bad about their product - but the reality is it is beginner's yarn. it doesn't need to be called anything else. it is what it is! it wasn't my favorite, although i enjoyed learning experience i gained from it.

i kept all my skeins because i like to track my progress. it's encouraging to see where i came from. it's humbling and it's a nice reminder to not be so hard on myself. look at what things used to look like, is what i tell myself often. ok, the second skein is another 2-ply (yup... there is a pattern here), but this time with black BFL (bluefaced leicester). see... already getting better; a little more consistent. the teal blue skein is 2-ply merino (much better looking) and the final skein is 2-ply merino/silk/yak. out of these skeins, the last skein was by far the most enjoyable to spin with - it was easy as hell to draft after several adjustments to the way i was spinning and the wheel itself to get used to spinning such a slick fiber, but it was a pleasure and again... look at the progress. my yarn looks better each time. well, better to me, and that's what matters.

anyway... my skeins may not be "perfect" in the eyes of a more seasoned spinner or someone who may do this as a profession, but the point is, these skeins are usable, they are yarn, and i made them myself. there is something very satisfying about this whole spinning thing... it's relaxing, it's challenging, it allows one to customize a knitting/crocheting/weaving experience by taking control of said fiber and prepping, dyeing and/or spinning it the way that best suits the project intended. it is work (some days way more than i'd like to admit), but at the end of the day, it's up at the top of my list of the best instant gratification activities ever. i've been bitten, and there is no turning back. greeting from the rabbit hole.

on the sewing machine  
well... not on the machine, but i did have something briefly draped on my mannequin last week.

the makings of a summer top. i haven't draped in almost 10 yrs and i forgot how much fun it can be. i finally broke down because it's almost summer and i'm still stuck with a very limited amount of weather-appropriate, comfortable clothing. my dilemma with clothing is that i want a custom fit and something that is flattering on my curvy body. and honestly, the reality here is that i know what i want so i might as well just buckle down and do it myself because i can do this (i finished a 2-yr fashion program) and i've made clothing before. the problem i run into is that because i have to customize a pattern so much, it becomes a daunting and unattractive task; i usually just want to walk away from it and do something that requires less thinking, so to speak, like spinning or knitting.

so with that being said, one morning i woke up and was like... you know what, let me drape something. and i did. i scratched my head for a few minutes as i was trying to figure out my approach, and then i just went with it. without a plan, just experimenting and letting my brain remember how i used to do this. i stopped draping this top because in addition to falling short on fabric, it really needs to be draped with the intended fabric - jersey. draping it out of muslin gave me the gist of what i needed to do, so from this point on, i've stopped with the above top and will start a second draped summer top very soon. this time, one that i've sketched/planned out, rather than an impromptu drape like the one above. and this time, muslin will actually be a good idea. 

odds & ends 

what i love this week
tour de fleece! it's that time of year again, and this time i get to participate! yay! last year i had a couple of spindles that i was too impatient to use, and i ended up purchasing a wheel shortly after the tour ended! talk about great timing :P

the tour starts july 2 and ends on july 24, with two days of rest on the 11th and the 18th.

the tour is essentially a great way for a spinner (whether on a wheel or on a spindle) to set a personal goal or challenge for themselves and use this block of time to complete it. i believe the overall feel is to really push yourself with these challenges; the same way that the participants in the tour de france push physically push themselves. i think it is also a fun way to put those new year's resolutions back in check, in case if you've fallen off.

i've set a personal goal of spinning one hour a day. achievable and simple. on the "off " days, i plan to wash/set any plied yarn that i may have. i'm excited, as i like to set personal goals anyway (something about checking things off a list makes me really warm and fuzzy inside), and i also really enjoy the process of prepping  - digging through my stash and choosing the fibers i want to spin, how i want to spin them, and which project i will have in mind for the finished yarn (mostly socks!). prepping also gives me a chance to dig through my stash and do an inventory on the types of fibers/colors i have accumulated, assess what i'd like to see more or less of, and also what i may consider de-stashing. de-stashing of course, to make room for more!

and that leads me to the other fiber event that has me pretty excited - black sheep gathering!

Mission Statement: The Black Sheep Gathering is an annual event during which participants exchange their knowledge and appreciation for handcraft fibers and the animals that produce them.

Goals: The Black Sheep Gathering strives to provide an environment dedicated to education, cooperation and participation, an atmosphere of fellowship and fun, and celebrating natural colored animals and their fiber.

i will be on vacation/anniversary with the hubster during bsg, and we will be making a trip to check out the festivities, which include workshops (both free and paid), a sheep show, wool & mohair show and judging, sheep-to-shawl competition, fleece sale, fiber arts displays, and lots of vendors for shopping! i am hoping to purchase my very first fleece (or 2) as well, which is exciting and i'm sure will be an experience in and of itself.

i'm really excited to see this whole process of sheep to fiber in hd, listening to the judges discuss the fleece of the animals, participate in the activities, shop for goodies, and most important meet new potential friends.

anyway... you know i'll be posting more info as the event gets closer.

until then...
health and happiness to you all!

I'm still standing...

Yeah, yeah, yeah...
I didn't forget about that little patternmaking project that I was working on eons ago. It's still there. On my drafting table. Totally out of site :)

Here are some updates...
I'm on part 3 of the muslin-making process - making the 3rd muslin and praying it fits! Three's a charm, right?

I've done 2 fittings so far, each producing more work after it was all said and done. These are not the kind of weekend projects I typically go for. It's supposed to be stress-relieving, not stress-inducing! I'm not sure what's going on, but it was like I was doing alterations on a garment 2 sizes too large. I've been pinching out fabric like crazy, and the excess fabric still keeps coming. Where it's coming from, I have no clue! Honestly, it's probably still the leftover bust adjustment from the first draft. But I refuse to be defeated!!!

Anywho... I've ignored this project for a couple of months now, and this week, I plan to wrap it up, so I can move on to other things! The weather has been all over the place, and I'd like to have a few garments done by the end of the year. Wishful thinking maybe... but I have to set a goal for myself or I'll never get anything done!

More to come...

So far, so good... kind of.

I made it to the next level. Now onto step two!
[Sorry in advance for typos/grammar probs. I'm friggin exhausted!!! Patternmaking is no joke!]

Step Two - Developing the Block -

I don't want to spend a lot of time detailing patternmaking. I know it's not for everyone, which means this post will probably bore many to tears. Feel free to ask questions along the way though if you'd like. I'll do the best I can to answer. I'm giving myself a bit of a refresher course at all this as well, so we'll re-learn together.

Really quick, let me explain what a block is. A block is an original pattern (minus seam allowances) which is used to develop all other patterns. A complete block includes (but is not limited to) a bodice (front and back) and a skirt (front and back). Only one side is made (typically the right side), and you'll cut 2 of that piece or cut one  on the fold (fabric is doubled, folded at the center front (CF) or center back (CB)). From these basics blocks, you can manipulate them into just about anything your mind can imagine.

Here is draft one of my bodice (remember "we" only do 1/2 the body): [paper does not photograph well!]

Ok, so everything looks good on paper. It always does. But before I cut my pattern onto muslin, I had to make an extra adjustment - a bust adjustment. This is the part I've been dreading. I tried to put it off for a few days because I knew it would be drama... but, it wasn't too bad. I followed the bust adjustment below:

And again, it always looks soooo easy on paper. Just a little nip here, and a little tuck there, just follow the formula and it's all good, right? Wrong. It's never that simple (for me).


So here is my adjustment. It was a little wonky at first, as I slashed and spread in the wrong direction : | In my defense, I had total pattern overload when I was doing this, and I should've stopped once I felt the drowsiness coming on, but of course, in typical me fashion, I kept going until it was done! What a massive dart! :O

So, everything looks good on paper... but the reality is, I have to put it on muslin and test it *sigh* So here that is.

And again, the above muslin is only 1/2 of me for right now.
The next round will be a full mock-up which will look like a top (that ends right at the waistline).

And here that is - a view from the side front, and back:

I skipped the photos of the non-marked up muslin, because it was HUGE. Seriously overshot.

Even with the minor "tucks" made above, you can see it's still hella bunchy. Again, paper is one thing; 3-d is a whole other monster. There are all these ridges/hills/mountains, etc that need to be accommodated. When I took my measurements I tried to be as accurate as possible, and I had the d.h. re-check most of the measurements, but of course, there is always room for error. I re-checked measurements again while I tried on the muslin (the d.h. helped, took the above blurry photos lol, as well as did his best to pinch in my back adjustments - what a trooper!) and the #'s were still pretty spot on after the adjustments, so I think all the extra fabric came from the bust modification. Something didn't quite work out right on that lol. We overshot my waistline, which is why you see me wearing the tape. I just grabbed whatever was around for that. That tape will be my new waistline, so all the fabric below that will be trimmed off.

So to sum it up, what you are seeing above is additional adjustments (pinching out the excess fabric) and red lines which should help smooth out the final mock-up, fix my armhole and neckline. The key is getting a well-fitting bodice without it being too tight. My bodice has about 1/4" ease all around which felt relatively comfy, but I still tried to make it fairly snug around the bust area. I stretched and flexed as much as possible while wearing the muslin, paying close attention to how the back of the bodice felt. I do love tailored clothing, but I love breathing just a bit more ;)

Now here's the thing... I've never done this before on myself. I've done this on mannequins (easy!) and on other people before (not too painful), but NEVER on myself. This was a very trying process. I mean, I drafted the damn thing up after spending a fairly decent amount of time on just measuring alone, and then I spent another hour or 2 (or 3) translating the measurements and hoping and praying that they would work out on paper and they did, kind of hahahaaa But my reality check was sewing it up, per usual. I know I will end up sewing at least one more muslin before it is just right (yes, I'm one of those people), but that's why I took extra time with this step, pinching out fabric to make sure it was as close as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My next step is to take these adjustments, re-draft them on paper, and cut/fit another muslin. I will also re-work my darts in the front and back to make sure they are symmetrical and look good aesthetically. After the bodice is done, I will work on the skirt. I was going to cheat and use the skirt block from my last patternmaking class, but I felt guilty and decided to just do the whole thing myself.

Once all the adjustments are made, if everything works out correctly, then the paper pattern can be put on a harder/stiffer paper. I think it's manila paper, but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, that hard pattern is the final block, and that will be used to make everything else. I can't wait till I'm there!!! I want some clothing STAT! I'm having a good time though. This whole process is pretty exciting :D I'm totally dorking out over here on this!

So until next time!

And it begins...

It's been a little over a month since my last visit. So here we go.

Have I shared how much I dislike clothing shopping nowadays?
I don't know exactly when this happened. I'm sure, those of you who know me personally, probably don't know either. I just kind of "fell off." It's a total contrast to the fashionista I was/or thought I was in high school and in the earlier parts of college. Maybe it's an understatement to say that I'm probably just a little bit jaded. Or I grew up? Nah. Things got too predictable for me. And once things become predictable, I get bored, and move on to something else.

So, as if I haven't tortured myself enough, I'm going to be making my own clothing because I'm finally fed up! Argh!!! I'm not just going to Joann's, picking up a pattern and making it work. I'm going to make these damn patterns from scratch. My own personal patterns, with my dimensions, fitting my lumps and bumps and everything in between, from scratch! Sometimes frustration can be the best form of motivation.

So why now? Well, I have all the tools I need right here to get it going, so why the hell not? I also love a good challenge. I love the feeling I get from having worked hard for something, rather than something just being dropped into my lap with little to no effort. And most of all, I'm tired of complaining (and sick of hearing myself complain) about not having any clothing that is my style! Not having clothing that is well-constructed! Not having clothing that is age appropriate! And not having clothing that fits right! Poo!

I understand the challenges I'm up against, and I'll share them, whether you want to read them or not :P This blog (hopefully) will be my motivation; a way to keep me in check by tracking my progress. I may not post weekly, but at least I will be documenting the journey. That's what it's all about anyway, right? (Is that a total cop-out?) :D

Ok, blah, blah, blah. I could ramble on and on, but I'm trying hard to self-edit. [Note: I actually deleted 4 paragraphs here... rants, of course ;)]

So on to patternmaking. Step One - Taking measurements.
[Check out my Flickr page to see my notes on what is in the photo]



My advice here is to make sure you have someone who can help you with the back measurements! The back, although you might think it won't be a big deal, WILL be a big deal. I took all the measurements myself, but had the d.h. double check a few areas. The key to successful patterns is accuracy!

Pattern #2, or more prattle... you decide.

Second assignment - Shirt
I'm just gonna toss this out there...
I have a tumultuous relationship with making shirts.

They feel tedious and monotonous to me... there are so many friggin' pieces that you have to remember to make, and of course, there is so much double and triple checking or 'trueing/truing' that you have to do to make sure the pieces fit together. Not to mention all the possible lumps and bumps that you have to remember to adjust when you are fitting - that is, unless your chest and back are the same (if you are 13!). And don't get me started on sleeves.

The finished product, if it works, makes me warm and fuzzy for a hot minute, but then I remember all the drama it took to get to that point, and I start hating shirts all over again. Same goes for pants.

So for our final project, being obtuse as hell, I picked the red one to duplicate because it's got lots of stress-inducing nonsense beautiful details on it:



The image is from an old Glamour magazine (I think Fall '07 or '08) and the dress is Gucci. Actually, both dress are Gucci.

I'm gonna skip showing you the pattern on this one.
Who cares anyway?! We want to see the end result! It's the American way!!!

Here's the muslin... (which I should've ironed)
Tweaked just a bit from the above image - same pleated front but wider pleats, tweaked collar, omitted the ruffles/pleats within the collar (I'm a masochist... but not THAT crazy), widened the placket, added additional fullness in the puffed/gathered sleeve and a similar yoke. The back has pleats and a yoke as well (was that redundant?).

 

Because I get really nitpicky *cough((anal))cough* when things I've made sit in front of me too long, I had to tuck this away after my teacher saw it and approved it. She liked it more than I did, but that's how it always is for me.

But I will STILL be making a few 'minor' corrections to the pattern. For sure on the sleeve, it's just too much/too big, even for me ;) When I tried the muslin on, it reminded me of a leg of mutton. That's totally NOT the look I was going for. And the collar/placket area is kind of [really] bugging me... I really want to extend the collar all the way to the waist and just add buttons or hooks to the bottom portion of it and belt it (like in the original picture), but I know in my head at least, that it won't lay right. And I'll get docked for not having both elements... like I care!? ;) I also have to remember, if it comes out ok, that I will probably wear it [in the privacy of my home, of course ;)]... so I have to pull back in the modesty department ;) I keeps it PG-13.

I'll be working on this, this week(among what feels like 300 other things) in a lightweight cotton fabric as it's due on Friday. And of course, I'll post pictures of it when it's finished [3 months after the fact].