AAAHHHH Where has my year GONE?!!

OMG - Where on earth has an entire 8 months gone to?!  Or for that matter this entire year?  How is it that the older I get the faster time flies?  So wrong!!

My goal for 2011 was to complete one sewing project per month.  While I knew that was ambitious, my real quest was just to get accustomed to building regular time for sewing into my schedule, knowing that practice yields results!  Yet each time I had a sewing set back - whether a fitting problem or a construction issue; I let the discouragement derail me.  Instead of pressing on...I opted for easier pursuits.

So... just what did I accomplish since planting tomatoes back in March? (which by the way yielded great results in their new location - just before brutal summer heat set in).

1. Started a little black dress - was going so well until I tried it on; only to realize I did not make the "short torso" adjustment I know I have to make.  Sure enough - too tight across my hips without the adjustment.  I did take it apart and may get around to fixing it.  (it would only take a small adjustment to the upper part of the skirt).

2. Started a knitted afghan in a pattern I worked VERY hard to figure out that produces a chevron/wave effect (still in progress).


3. A crocheted baby blanket for a sweet girlfriend. FINISHED! (needed a success under my belt!)

4. Started a new dress in black rayon, decided to self-line my bodice.  This turned out to be a top I couldn't make "turn right-side out"!  So back to the fabric store, and started over with more fabric.  So far I have re-sewn the top but haven't gotten to the point of turning it right side out yet - - I'll get around to it...promise!

In the meantime - it's been dance, dance, dance - Blues, Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Foxtrot, Waltz and Two-Step.  Which is where most of my time investments have been directed.  Also started taking Krav Maga back in March which has been a huge confidence booster and provides an awesome workout. 

So, the end result is I have sort of lost my sewing mo-jo, but have really, really enjoyed dancing and learning how to kick butt!  Oh well.... there's always next year right?

1. A fitting issue



2. A knitted chevron



3. A successful crocheted baby blanket!

4. Construction issue...stay tuned

'Toes in the Dirt!

We interup this sewing season to make room for GARDENING!  After what feels like the longest winter on the planet (it wasn't - it just felt that way!) it seems that not only has spring arrived just a little early but it has that sense of being here to stay.

So on that glorious note I took a bit of a risk and tilled up my garden plot to make a place for tomatos. Four Celebrity plants and four Better Boy.  If all goes well I should have glorious tomatos just a hair before the summer season officially hits on June 20th. 

Of all the things I love - and there are many, I am crazy for the glorious abundance that defines summer.  Fresh vegetables, sweet and juicey fruit, tall glasses of frosty home made lemonade, iced tea with mint from the garden. On and on the list goes.

Planting tomatos today is my welcome statement - welcome glorious, tender, hopefilled spring that always, always to the eternal praise of God, melts into my favorite season - summer!

Sweet Satisfaction

I can't even express my joy over finishing this dress (Simplicity 3833).  My dad bought me a sewing machine when I was sixteen along with a dress pattern and some fabric.  My sweet girlfriend (whose name happens to be Joy) and her mom taught me a few basics and I was off and running. 

In my sewing naivete I was fearless in the projects I dived into. It wasn't until I got a little older and began to realize that how a garment fit and all the little finishing details like topstitching, interfacing, drape and so on really did matter. After that realization sewing lost its joy as one garment after another did not meet my new eye for perfection.

A few years ago I read the book, "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell in which he dissects what makes one person achieve phenomenal success over someone else who aspires to but doesn't.  In case after case it turned out that practice, about ten thousand hours, made the difference.  It wasn't talent nearly so much as drive and desire - combined with logging in practice time.

So after YEARS of avoiding garment sewing, I just decided I would get started putting in my "ten thousand hours" making garments.  I decided in advance I would not get mad or frustrated if something I made wasn't perfect.  So...after a number of failures, each of which taught me something - here I am wearing something I made that I would actually wear out in public!

JOY! 

Sundress Season is Just Around the Corner!

I  had definitely planned that my next sewing project would be a wool pencil skirt I had cut out 2 weekends ago after a failed skirt attempt using the same fabric.  However that was back when it was still cold outside and working on a wool skirt made all the sense in the world.  Happily though I live in Austin where the weather is known to change minute by minute!

So who can work on wool when the weather shouts triumphantly that Sun Dress season is just around the corner?  Not me it turns out!  So when this Saturday handed out some well needed rain and much warmer temps I ran for one of several recent pattern purchases - .99 cents at JoAnn's!  A very cute Simplicity pattern for a 1960's retro dress.  I decided to use a rayon print that was also a hand-me-down freebie.

While I'm not finished with it, I am very happy with how it is turning out.  I need to put on the facing pieces for the neck and armholes, but I am already seeing it on with a cute pair of sandals as I sing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" at the top of my lungs.  "I wanna be the one to walk in the sun! Oh girls just wanna have fun!"

Tying Up Loose Ends

This is my first ever knitted afghan!  My inspiration for the project was a picture from a Martha Stewart "Living" magazine. It was a December issue with great ideas for Christmas. In one of the photos was a little girl snuggled in her bed with a similar blanket.  The resouce guide and a bit of internet research told me her blanket could be purchased for a mere $300...  !!!

I really, really liked the photo and could tell from the picture it was done in a knit stitch with a ribbed trim, easy enough and I knew I could use the practice of some serious repetition!  So...what's a girl to do but run by Hill Country Weavers on Congress Avenue, show the sales girl my magazine photo and ask for help copying the object of my desire.  She helped me pick out very large circular needs with a 30 inch connector and some great yarn choices.  I bought the needles but sadly couldn't really afford their yarn - but I snuggled alot of it before leaving with my prized needles!

Next stop was JoAnn Fabrics where I settled on "Wool-Ease Chunky" yarn in an oyster color and headed home eager to start on my project. Well... that was at LEAST two years ago - quite possibly three! 

What began with a lot of enthusiasm faded as my project got too big and heavy to be portable. Then it was too hot to work on during summer...and so on.  I get so excited about starting something new and love the thrill of finishing well, but oh how hard it is not to get bogged down in the middle!  I sense that 2011 is going to be the "Year of Tying Up Loose Ends".  I am embarassed at how many projects I have started and are in various stages of completion.  Why do I do that? 

My goal for 2011 is one completed sewing project per month.  It may turn out that the projects I finish are the ones I have already stated - - Which reminds me...I have a quilt top I finished several years ago that also needs completing.  I think I'm headed there next!

Skirting a Delima

This was suppossed to be my first "real" completed sewing project of 2011.  Simplicity's It's So Easy W 2410.  Cut out and sewn up in January 2011.  It was cut out and started in January 2011, but finished Saturday, February 5, 2011.  All was going well until I hemmed it up.  Hemming gave it a permanent "bell" shape at the hemline due to the weight of the fabric.

The wool I used was given to me several years ago - so no expense there.  The pattern is CLEARLY suited for lightweight fabric AND if I had read the pattern envelope it would have confirmed what my eyeballs already knew.  AAARGGG = why do I do this kind of thing?  I want to be successful in my garment sewing endeavors and yet I take risks that I know I shouldn't.  Then get discouraged at the time and effort I put into a projectt hat is unwearable.

LESSON - READ ALL THE DIRECTIONS BEFORE STARTING!!

Sew - after sweet success finishing up the "Shopper" bag from Indygo Junction, I cut out another pattern for a pencil skirt out of my free wool.  Yes, I did read the pattern envelope first to confirm my fabric was a match for my pattern!  This is Simplicity 9825 and is my "Februray Project"  Pencil Skirt - February 2011 Project   Considering the first week of the month is already gone and I'll be working next weekend AND February is short several days...I have my work "cut" out for me!  Sew...stay tuned to see how it all turns out!

"Shopper" Bag from Indygo Junction - Finished!

I am REALLY trying hard to live up to my goal for 2011 of one completed sewing project per month.  Had cut out a skirt from a cute wool fabric that was given to me several years ago. I used Simplicity's "It's So Easy" W2410 and was doing fine until I hemmed the finished skirt, causing it to retain a permanent bell shape at the hemline - definately very unflattering! 

So...rather than completely reinvent the wheel, I decided to finish up a large, quilted tote bag I had started around Thanksgiving 2010.  IT TURNED OUT SEW CUTE!!  Even my son was impressed with the results!  So - while it wasn't a truly January 2011 project started and completed within the month of January 2011 - it will have to do for starters!


Bonus - have enough free wool left over to try the pencil skirt pattern I just bought last weekend, so on account of the Super Bowl today, I had an empty house and cut out the pattern and the skirt.  Looking forward to my next sewing adventure!

Score One for the Cook to Be!

Found my car turning into the parking lot of 1/2 Price Books this week under its own volition - - and man did I score BIG TIME! 

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume Two - first published in 1970 by Julia Child and Simone Beck - for $16!!  It's in mint condition.  I'm having visions of mastering the art of braising foods - tasty beef, suculent pork and moist, flavorful chicken.  I've only flipped through a few pages, most notably the meat and the bread section.  Julia is endearingly sweet in her comments of encouragement to keep pressing on if things don't turn out well the first time.....she's exactly the teacher I need since my cooking is abysmal at best-

Also found Ina Garten's book on French Cooking for $7.98!!  Is it just me or are heavenly forces trying to tell me that learning to cook French food will actually manage to teach me to cook well after all these years of avoiding it or doing it poorly.  We'll have to see!  Looking forward to trying recipes from both books.  I LOVE a great book find at a bargain price - THRILL!

Project #1 and I'm on my way!

Had the day off this Monday and after getting caught up on chores - you guessed it - I got out a skirt pattern I knew would work (or was pretty sure it would).  Up to now I have been sewing a size 10 pattern and would be puzzled at why my garments fit so poorly.

After taking a private sewing lesson this summer, I learned how to check the pattern pieces for finished garment sizes.  That information which is printed on most pattern pieces along with the amount of design ease added in helped me know (before cutting out) what size would work best for me and if I needed to alter the pattern first.  Shaunna showed me how to alter patterns to make them more "petitable. This lesson preceeded by a great class I took LAST spring on altering commerical patterns from Austin School of Fashion Design helped me feel a little braver about tackeling alterations.

So...half a month into the new year and I have my first project cut out! I'm using this pattern on a wool fabric I was given by a friend years ago.  I'm so excited to see if I really can turn out at least one sewing project each month.  Of course I have a bag 3/4 done from back before Holiday madness set in - and an apron I need to cut out and sew up for my best friend - it is her VERY tardy Christmas present.  This is where the real challenge is - not can I find inspiriation, or get projects started but can I get them DONE?!  We'll see - for now I'm off and running....

Promise to Myself for 2011

Good morning Kris - this is your heart speaking to you, I've kept quiet for as long as I could, though I thought perhaps my fidgeting would get your attention. I would like to announce to you that 2011 IS my year! The "Year of Your Heart" and I will not be denied.

Your heart has been engaged in meaningful and necessary activities for several decades, and I applaud you for that. I am so proud of the person you are and are continuing to become, I am pleased that you are taking me with you into the next season of your life and not leaving me behind. It makes me so happy seeing you pursue more recently a few things just for you, outside of being a mother and the other roles you play. I want you to know that I soar when you dance and I thrill when you try new things.  Let's keep moving forward together.

2011 is the year that we continue to pursue writing as a calling - sharing the Life we have discovered, it's the year we continue to grow in the skills we want to master, knitting, crocheting, cooking (dear girl you need some serious help here! So engage your friends!) and lastly - SEWING! 

I need you to know that I burn to see myself in you wearing darling dresses and skirts that we worked on together.  So with eleven and a half months in this year - let's get cooking!  Er I mean sewing!

How about a new dress just for salsa dancing? And what about some skirts that would twirl as we Texas 2-Step - maybe a few that look good with a new pair of cowgirl boots? A few sundresses to wear as we walk barefoot around town and shopping for plants to go in the garden and spice up the lawn? My creative juices are flowing and I am bursting with energy and enthusiasm to get started - all I need is for you to make the time and give me the use of your hands and skill sets! 

Goal: 1 completed sewing project each month.  I know I know - perhaps unrealistic with so little spare time but let's make a go of it - you heart is in the desire to make it happen. Meet you in the sewing room!

Love - your heart