Polka Dot Overload | Sewing, knitting & vintage projects, tips, tutorials and cartoons!

Polka Dot Birthday Giveaway: You! On a Vintage Pattern Envelope!

2012-05-30T23:26:00.000-04:00

Hello dear readers! In honor of reaching 200 followers—well, 226 now!—and my 32nd birthday (that's Friday, June 1st!) I'd like to offer a somewhat unusual sewing giveaway.

The prize: A simple digital color cartoon illustration of YOU, on the vintage sewing pattern envelope of your choice--maybe one you've already sewn, maybe one you want to sew, maybe one you won't ever sew, but just LOVE to fantasize about.

The deadline: entries due by midnight EST on June 6, 2012.

The background: As much as I adore vintage sewing pattern illustrations and their changing styles over time, they're all a bit, well... unrealistically tall and skinny. (Not to mention uniformly white.) I've always had this vague plan for doing a series of "Real People on Vintage Pattern Envelopes," drawings and I started to have a bit of fun with that idea in my 1940s red dress showdown and my header illustration for We Sew Retro:

The qualifications:

This giveaway is a bit special (estimated value: $125?), so I'd like to reward a loyal blog follower who has come back at least a few times (or who plans to read the blog regularly), as opposed to a random giveaway seeker who is brand-new to the blog.
I will draw five entries at random, then choose my top favorite based on the items described. Extra points for creativity, style, fun fabric and accessory choices, long-time readership, etc.

The rules: To enter, please...

Follow this blog (better yet, already be a follower!).
Leave a comment describing the vintage pattern you'd choose, in what type of fabric, with what sort of hairstyle and accessories. (For example: A red rayon 1940s dress with peplum, hair in victory rolls and red wedge sandals.)
Tell me what you'd like to do with the drawing (put it on your business card? post on your blog? print for your mom?)
Tell me why you like to read my blog.
Make sure your contact info is obviously available in your Google profile or leave an email address.

Details and disclaimers:

If you enter, you will have one week to send me a clear full-length photo of yourself, a decent image of the pattern envelope you'd like to be pictured on, and a photo or description of the fabric(s) you'd like it to be made up in, plus inspiration images for accessories and hair. The fabric does not have to be accurate period vintage—it can be as wild or weird as you like..
You understand that these reference photos may be published on this blog in the giveaway followup post.
I will provide you both with the pattern envelope art image and a separate image of yourself in the dress, sans envelope, like so:
I estimate I'll have the drawing done in 6-8 weeks (not that the drawing will actually take that long, I just have a ridiculously busy life at the moment).
Copyright for the standalone drawing stays with me, but you have unlimited usage rights (on your blog, business card, wherever) as long as you attribute it.
Because the idea is "Real People on Vintage Envelopes" please keep in mind that I am not going to make you look taller, or skinnier, or more or less X, Y, or Z--I will pretty much stick to your actual fabulous outlines as delineated in whatever photo you send me.
I will send you a rough sketch as part of the process, but reserve the right not to make many/any edits or changes to the sketch or final.

Remember: giveaway entries due by June 6, midnight EST!

And with that, I'm off to ink this Downton Abbey-esque vintage-inspired "pattern envelope" art I'm working on for the Consulting Dressmaker for her Sisters of Edwardia blouse...

Cardigan & sock progress + San Francisco yarn shopping

2012-05-21T23:36:00.000-04:00

It may not look all that impressive, but somehow in the midst of illustration commissions and traveling and work and a toddler sleep strike, I've been making slow but steady progress on my two knitting projects--switching back and forth between them at random as needed when boredom begins to creep in.

The above is the first two bits of my Georgina cardigan, which should eventually look like the chartreuse view below:

What's actually impressive about this is that I had the patience to knit a stockinette swatch and a lace swatch and block and dry them before diving right in... I have always foolishly skipped this step, which is why the first sweater I knit for myself ended up donated to the Goodwill, and the second sulks in my "to-fix" drawer.

As for the Waving Lace socks, they're more than halfway there, and I'm desperately trying to fend off an attack of Second Sock Syndrome:

As I began to knit I was skeptical of my grad-dying efforts--I used "sock blanks" from Knit Picks and dipped them in a dye pot bit by bit, but the effect seemed more stripey than gradual...

But in real life, the sock top is definitely a very dark turquoise gradually fading to a very light turquoise at the toe--hard to see in photos, but just trust me!

And I wasn't able to fit in any fabric shopping whilst in San Francisco earlier this month, but I happened to be staying a short walk from the lovely Imagiknit yarn shop, which had a fantastic and huge selection of yarns (compared to say, a typical closet-sized New York City yarn shop) ... this is just a tiny glimpse of one room, with natural and locally dyed yarns on display, in true California style:

Most importantly for me, they also had a toy corner to distract my toddler from pulling said yarns off the shelf while I browsed.

Though little Z did help me pick out some nylon-blend darning wool to support my new sock-mending addiction:

In the end, I forced myself to buy yarn ONLY for my next project--a pair of Doctor-Who-inspired Tardis socks (because I am OBSESSED, though perhaps slightly less so than Meg the Grand), which should turn out something like this:

Source: ravelry.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

But all this time away from my sewing machine is beginning to make me itch. As soon as I finish my final sewing-related illustration gig, I am SO making another Jalie scarf top... or a Ginger skirt (the pattern finally arrived after being on back order for ages)... or those high-waisted jeans I've been craving...

What do you wish you could be sewing right now, but can't find the time?

P.S. Due to my hectic life lately I have totally lost control of all my sewing-related RSS feeds and it is bumming me out. I have over 1,000 unread posts, and my attempts to just target even my top top top favorite blogs for catchup have completely failed. I'm thinking it's time for a "Mark All As Read" amnesty here.

Sewing Through the Decades Illustration for We Sew Retro!

2012-05-18T08:40:00.000-04:00

Our family is off on another little trip for a few days (to Boston for my grandmother's 90th birthday party and my husband's 39th birthday), but in the meantime, I did finish up one of the sewing illustration commissions I was working on!

It's a timeline cover photo for the We Sew Retro Facebook page. Here's a screenshot of the art in action:

I had so much fun working on this (even though it took me ages longer than I estimated), deciding what outfits to dress each of them in (SO hard to choose) and on their hair and makeup. (Can you tell that 1960s seamstress woman is pregnant? I originally was working on a more rainbow-bright color scheme (1970s seamster dude originally had a bright orange plaid jacket) but it looked like a box of crayons so I muted it down.

More details later! Hope you like it!

Adjustable Wedding Dress for a Mystery Bride (with a Mosquito Net Veil)!

2012-05-14T23:47:00.002-04:00

The challenge:

Design and sew a wedding dress...
In less than three weeks.
For a bride you've never met and can't measure or get measurements from. So: ADJUSTABLE.
With little to less money (i.e. what you can scrounge up around the office). CHEAP CHEAP BEYOND CHEAP.
In your spare time between working, parenting, and having a life and trying to finish a bunch of freelance illustration projects.
Also: Make it funny to humanitarian aid workers.

I've mentioned before that I have an awesome job, working in marketing for the emergency medical relief organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). It's generally very serious humanitarian business, but once a year at the afterparty for our annual general assembly, some of us put on a little skit with sketches, music, dancing and costumes.

And this year, part of our skit involves a wedding—and somehow, I found myself volunteering to make the dress. Even though we're not quite sure who will be playing the bride, so I somehow have to design it to fit ANYONE. (I'm also supposed to come up with some kind of over-the-top bridesmaid outfit for myself, which I'm still puzzling over).

Funnily enough, I just checked out a copy of Susan Khalje's Bridal Couture from the library (via inter-library loan, after a LONG wait--it was NOT easy to come by):

Source: susankhalje.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

I actually used to own a copy back in the days before it went out-of-print... but after I realized I didn't actually have the chops to make my own wedding dress, I up and sold it. Which I am so kicking myself for now, since it seems to go for like, $300 used (even though you can buy as a CD book now).

But somehow I doubt I'll be using any of those fancy techniques. Instead I'm planning to make a T-shirt wedding dress out of some extra MSF T-shirts from around the office. I actually have a pattern for one, the Tying the Knot dress from Megan Nicolay's Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt...

Source: trythisathome.net via Mikhaela on Pinterest

...But I think I'll go even simpler here. The bodice will just be a tube with tons of elastic shirring and a gather to make the sweetheart neckline, and the skirt will be a separate tube of T-shirts, with a flounce in back and a red ribbon sash (and maybe an elastic?) to gather the waist. I won't bother with hemming. EASY, right?

The accessories are obvious: a "mosquito net" veil, elegant yellowish surgical gloves, a stethoscope "necklace." Haven't figured out the bouquet yet--I might just make it out of paper flowers, or maybe surgical masks?

Let's hope so, because I want to get on those Jalie jeans... and I have the Cambie dress coming in the mail... I am such a bad pattern-buying-past-capacity-for-pattern-sewing girl.

I used to be really into T-shirt refashioning, though it doesn't appeal so much these days--I'd take oversized old punk rock and thrift store Ts and turn them into darted, fitted tops... here I am in 2004 with one such:

I even once hosted a T-shirt refashioning party using the Nicolay book and it was a lot of fun, though my T-shirt transformation didn't turn out wearable (tip: use super-soft thin old T-shirts, not thick unyielding scratchy thick T-shirts).

So: do you fancy T-shirt refashioning? Have you ever made a T-shirt dress? Conversely, are you so super-fancy you actually made your own lovely wedding dress (NOT from T-shirts)?

P.S. Bonus photos: Masheka rode in the 42-mile TD 5 Boro Bike Tour on May 6, raising $1,370 for MSF in the process. Here's little Ms. Z hugging her daddy halfway through the ride:

And here's a photo of us from last year heading out to an AIDS rally with the MSF office. We were protesting in support of scaling up access to AIDS medications for people living with HIV worldwide. I made Z a matching onesie with an iron-on T-shirt transfer.

On my sewing table and in the mail

2012-05-07T00:46:00.001-04:00

Oops, did I say "sewing table"? I meant "drawing table"--or more precisely, computer desk, since I draw directly into my Mac. I'm back from a fabulous trip to San Francisco but there will be no sewing until I finish a few exciting sewing-related illustration projects.

A little sneak peek of one is above--part of what's shown is final inks, part is a sketch, and none of it has been colored yet. (My toddler's sleep has been all wacky due to travel--hoping she'll start going to bed before 11 p.m. again soon!)

You may already have seen PART of the other--I'm doing a little illustration for one of my favorite bloggers, Stephanie aka The Consulting Dressmaker of 3 Hours Past the Edge of the World fame... so here's my flat line art for her lovely Downton Abbey-inspired Sisters of Edwardia blouse:

Source: craftsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

While on vacation, I deliberately ignored my Google Reader, so I am only just now catching up on all YOUR sewing awesomeness (Me Made May isn't happening for me, but I'm loving it vicariously). But I did follow the continuing comments on my frustrated post about natural-waisted jeans, "In Defense of Mom Jeans", and I totally recommend taking a read--a lot of you feel really strongly about high vs. low waists, and the discussion is still going!

Which brings me to what's coming in the mail. After multiple fabric shopping fails, I finally caved and bought the infamous Jalie 2908 stretch jeans pattern, which do have a higher-waisted (if not totally natural-waisted) option, plus I can make jeans for the little Z girl:

Source: jalie.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

I don't know if I'll go for a boot-cut, though--think I'll do them straight, or even skinny. We shall see!

I also finally bought the Colette Ginger skirt... I was buying the Jalies from Pattern Review anyway, and I have just the denim for it.

Source: colettepatterns.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

I'm somewhat embarrassed to realize that I own quite an expensive and large collection of Colette Patterns, including the handbook and Macaron, Ceylon, Crepe, Sencha, Parfait and now Ginger... but NONE of them have ever made it past the muslin stage (though admittedly, I muslined/altered several of them while pregnant, then realized they would look better with like, a waist.) Let's see if I can change that up.

Oh, and here's what my knitting looked like the day before I left for San Francisco--a half-finished grad-dyed-by-me Waving Lace sock, and two carefully washed and blocked swatches formy chartreuse Georgina cardigan:

I don't have pictures yet, but the sock is now almost-done (though it of course needs a twin sister, argh!) and I've cast on and gotten a good ways (er, a few inches) on the lacy center of the cardigan.

So: what's your most expensive pattern you've never actually sewn?

San Francisco bound!

2012-04-25T22:44:00.001-04:00

Masheka and I on our last trip to San Francisco, in 2007

Great news, everyone! We're taking an actual family vacation (before the little one turns two and can't fly for free) for a week to one of our favorite cities, San Francisco, where we'll be staying with friends, relaxing, hanging out... and NOT scrambling to sell comic books in a crowded convention hall like the last time.

I was sad to discover that the famed Alameda Antiques Fair I keep hearing so much about on the Sew Weekly (cheap vintage fabric! sigh!) won't be open while we're there, but we're hoping to check out the Treasure Island Flea and the Gaultier exhibit at the de Young.

I'm debating whether I even want to mess with fabric shopping, since I finally have my stash down to a point where it fits in all my drawers... though I'm sorely tempted by some of the discount fabric sources that Debi and Clio have blogged about from their trips there, like Fabrix and Scrap.

And then there's vintage shopping... please stop me now.

So no sewing for a bit, but I hope to make some knitting progress on my chartreuse Georgina cardigan (swatched, but not started) and my blue Waving Lace socks (just turned the first heel)...

In other news, I finished a soft blue washable wool "foolproof" baby hat for a pregnant friend, but can't decide if matching mittens are a good idea:

And I started watching Downton Abbey and am officially addicted... even with all of you talking about it, I just didn't give it a shot until I started doing a few 19-teens-fashion-related sewing illustration projects (which you'll see very soon!) More on that later.

So, if you've visited San Francisco--what are your favorite haunts? Any favorite places to take small children?

A Brooklyn Sewing Meetup & Swap!

2012-04-24T23:42:00.000-04:00

Really, is there anything MORE fun than sitting around relaxing on a Sunday evening with a bunch of talented seamstresses, eating delicious food, talking sewing (and even knitting) plans and projects and sipping bubbly drinks? How about swapping FREE fabric and FREE patterns?

Seriously, I had such a fabulous weekend. I took my daughter to see the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, a cartoonist friend who had just been announced as a finalist for the Pulitzer came to visit my husband and me ... AND I went to an awesome Brooklyn sewing meetup and pattern/fabric swap.

Now, I've been attending the monthly Brooklyn BurdaStyle Sewing Club meetups on and off since 2010 (see "Meet the Brooklyn BSC!"), and they are always a blast. BUT to add even more fun this time, we had several new attendees ... and they may be familiar faces to some of you!

From left to right:

Dina holding the beautiful eyelet lace wrap dress she made for her bridal shower (sorry, I forget the pattern number, but she tried it on for us and it fits her perfectly... I do know she got her eyelet fabric at Mood).
Lee (of Sew Weekly Contributor fame) wearing her gorgeous handwoven Indian cotton circle skirt.
My daughter Z, having a blast in her Kit Cat Cute corduroy overalls, and admiring...
Wanett, aka Nettie, aka Sown Brooklyn (also of Sew Weekly fame), wearing her "Quick & Dirty Cowl" (her free tutorial here), and holding up her fabulous "Luck of the Concrete Jungle" dress.
Me, with bedraggled caught-in-rainstorm hair, wearing my Jalie scarf collar top and triumphant wide-legged (and highish waisted) trousers, and my recently darned handknit socks--and holding Z's Tomten jacket.
Our wonderful hostess Valerie wearing her lovely new voile print blouse.
Liz and her super-awesome plaid Simplicity 2176 sundress.

I was worried Wanett and Lee might think I was a stalker when I commented on their blogs out of the blue asking them to come to the meetup... but they both braved a horrendous downpour to share their fabulous sewing projects and plans--and some tasty baked goods!

At our meetup we:

Went around the table taking turns sharing our latest sewing and knitting projects and plans... sharing triumphs and fails alike and trading advice.
Talked super-nerdy sewing talk about serging and hem finishes and bodice alterations and waistband interfacing.
Watched Z run around in circles squealing in joy (she had so much fun she didn't even eat the dinner I brought her).
Ate yummy food.
Sipped sweet tea and prosecco.
Swapped patterns and fabric.

I was really glad of the swap, as I had some really nice fabrics sitting in the stash that deserved a better home--a good-quality gray wool pinstripe suiting that is too neutral in color for me, a purple stretch crepe that was just one too many purple fabrics for me, some lovely rayons and cottons (including one that didn't work for my Mad Men dress dickey but was so awesome it deserved some love). I also gave away quite a few of my 1960s a-line and drop-waist dress patterns, since that's just not my silhouette.

As tempting as the array of free fabric and patterns (including some Vogue designer patterns and some vintage patterns) were, I forced myself to take only one piece of fabric and two patterns--all for Z, not me:

All in all an awesome night--thanks ladies! And now I'm super-motivated to get going on my next spring sewing project!

Anyway, if you're interested, drop me a line. Our club is very welcoming--we even have a member who comes in from Manhattan. And you DON'T have to only sew BurdaStyle patterns, of course--many of us do, but all sewing at all levels is welcome!

So, the question of the day: how often do YOU get to hang out with other sewing-obsessed people in real life (if at all)?

P.S. Here's my daughter admiring some cherry blossom petals at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens:

Oh, and speaking of my daughter... when I went to go wake her up this morning, I found her standing in her crib smiling, wearing a red polka dot sunhat and purple polka dot shorts (OVER her pajamas) and saying "Polka dot! Polka dot!" I'm so sorry I didn't get a picture!

In Defense of: "Mom" Jeans, "Granny" Panties + "High" Waists

2012-04-23T22:56:00.000-04:00

High Waisted Denim Love by m1khaela featuring highwaisted jeans

"But you don't want to wear MOM jeans, do you?"

Said my mom, to me, after a frustrating hour-long jeans try-on-a-thon at our local Old Navy. I had just rejected yet another pair of "classic-rise" jeans that weren't even making a serious attempt at approaching my belly button (or covering the stretch marks), and I was about to cry.

My sole pair of halfway-decently-fitting jeans are falling down and falling apart, and I had searched high and low for a pair--just ONE pair--of jeans that might replace them, even if that meant trying out the skinny jeans trend.

Well, maybe I do want "Mom jeans" (minus the stonewashing and pleating, anyway). Because I'm sick of jeans labeled "high" or "mid-rise" resting five inches below my natural waist. What conspiracy decided that "modern" jeans should sit barely above the hips, requiring tunic-length shirts to awkwardly hide exposed bellies, and belted tops to emphasize a natural waist that could just as easily be emphasized by a well, waistband?

I am perfectly fine with my post-baby belly--stretch-marks and squish and all--because I couldn't begrudge anything having to do with the birth of my amazing wonderful little girl. But that doesn't mean I covet the muffin-top look, and I would much rather the emphasis be on my waist than my belly, thank you very much.

And as a vintage lover, I reject the idea that a low-waisted jean is inherently superior (though it certainly works awesomely for many, of course). Seriously, when and how DID this happen? If you look at any pants or skirt sewing patterns from the WHENEVER up to the 1980s, they pretty much rest on the so-called "natural" waist:

1930s:

Source: evadress.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

1940s:

Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

1950s:

Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

1960s:

Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

1970s:

Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

Oh wait!

Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

Yeah, there you have it--the hip-hugger jean (and that pattern envelope girl is even striking a pose worthy of Tant-Isis, queen of the low-rise jean!). Perhaps we can blame the 1970s? The natural waisted jean had a brief revival in the 1980s:

Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

And then somehow, somewhen--in the 90s?--someone permanently decided that it was more modern to ignore the laws of logic and gravity and figure flattery and decree that natural waists were not only outdated, but UGLY, PASSE, and FRUMPY, retraining the eyes of millions over time until we could not but be horrified and terrified by so-called "Mom jeans." This (admittedly hilarious, thank you Tina Fey) Saturday Night Live video didn't help:

So where does this leave me? Frustrated and jeansless, pretty much. (And that Craftsy Jean-ius class wouldn't work for me, as I have no jeans I'd even want to copy). I even went to American Apparel, but their high-waisted jeans did NOT work for me, and seemed quite a bit more 80s than 40s or 50s:

American Apparel jeans

And speaking of natural waists--what's a girl supposed to wear with her high-waisted jeans, pencil skirts and so on? It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to find cute, reasonably priced high-waisted underthings... in fact, most of these are actually retro swimwear bottoms from Modcloth:

Not Your Granny's High-Waisted Panties by m1khaela featuring a retro high waisted bikini

So, readers, some questions for you:

How do you feel about natural-waisted women's trousers and panties? Do you think they can be sexy, or do they automatically scream "FRUMP-VILLE" or "80s" to you?
Do you have any favorite sources for high-er waisted jeans and panties--or do you prefer to make them yourself?
Have you ever been accused of wearing "Mom jeans"?
If you DO prefer low-waisted jeans--tell me why?

Done! Scarf-Collar Floral Knit Top (Jalie 2921)

2012-04-21T23:16:00.001-04:00

My Jalie scarf-collar floral top: quick, easy and satisfying. Now officially my favorite top I own! Wore it to work Friday and received two unsolicited compliments (by which I mean, they were given without me blurting out "I-made-this-top-what-do-you-think?!" first).

Inspiration: After three of my four secret sewing doubles (Katie, Elizabeth AND Kristin) made fabulous versions of this top, I knew I had no choice in the matter.

Sketch:

The pattern: Jalie 2921, the ever-popular scarf collar top.

Pattern Description: Close-fitting (negative ease, baby!) v-neck knit top with various sleeve length and scarf collar options. Front is 2-piece.

Pattern Sizing: Includes wide range of sizes, from toddler girls to plus-size adult woman. I made the S (34" bust) overall, but as per Katie's tips traced the size V (37") for the bust and front sleeve armhole (to adjust for my 37" bust).

Even with the full bust adjustment, there's still about 3-4" negative ease across the bust--just enough to make it fitted, but not enough to distort the side seams when I wear it (unlike all my RTW tops!). The waist (which I tapered back to the smaller size) has a few inches of positive ease--I'm not sure if that's good (hides squishy post-baby belly?) or bad (too boxy, if something so fitted can be called boxy).

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Sure.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Not really, because the illustrations aren't very clear. I relied on bloggers who had been kind enough to show the process.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Love the close form-hugging fit, love the v-neck, love the tie neck. And it's a great basis for a TNT pattern!

Fabric: Poly (ITY?) geometric floral jersey from Metro Textiles in NYC, with a fun 1960s vibe to the print. It's one of the many not-quite-right fabrics I bought for the dickey of my Mad Men dress. $6 for 1.5 yards, I believe, and I still have enough left for a sleeveless top. It's really awesome and soft and substantial and has a great drape and cling to it. Sadly, like most of its polyester sisters it does NOT press, so the hemming was a bit difficult.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Did a cheater width FBA (see above link in sizing), and added half an inch to the length, too.

Construction notes: All seams done on serger, and the hem and sleeve hems topstitched on my conventional sewing machine with a twin ballpoint needle.

I usually stabilize knit shoulder seams with an inch-wide strip of self-fabric cut along the vertical (i.e. with much less stretch), but I tried to do something new and use clear 1/4" elastic. It was a disaster--the shoulders bunched up and gathered awfully--and I had to unpick miles of serger seams and go back to my tried and true method.

Successes:

My first truly successful non-maternity knit top EVER.
One down on my spring separates plan!
It is super awesome and I love it.
I have a TNT top pattern!!!!

Room for improvement?:

In my excitement I completely forgot about pattern matching and pattern placement, mistakenly treating this as a small-scale floral...when it actually is a medium-scale floral with quite a big repeat. This especially sucks because it has a center front seam. And I really shouldn't have put the lightest area right over the belly.
I don't know about all the positive ease at the waist--I might make the next version with zero ease.
Hello major swayback issues! (though I'll probably often tuck this in).
I sewed the little hole that the scarf is supposed to be pulled through shut... and when I tie it the inside of the V of the neck flips/droops forward a bit.
Undecided on how I feel about the sleeve length--maybe cap sleeves would be better on me.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Oh yes and yes and yes and super yes. This only took me three evening stints to do (one to alter and cut the pattern, one for the serging, one for the topstitching) and I bet it will go faster next time.

Wear to: Work, home, weekend, date with husband, playground with daughter... Everywhere!

Conclusion: I'm so glad I decided to take a break from my misery-inducing alteration-intensive Mad Men dress and make a quick fun spring knit!

Full outfit details:

Top: me-made, tie-neck knit blue & green floral top (Jalie 2921), in ITY knit from Metro Textiles in NYC
Corduroy skirt with flounce: Anthropologie (gift from Mom when I went back to work after baby)
Tights: Spanx brand reversible tights (my favorite--they're super sturdy and one side is black, the other is dark brown)
Chartreuse heels: Gentle Souls, from forever ago
My daughter is wearing a dress and leggings from Old Navy. But where are her shoes?!

How's your seasonal sewing going?

I Sewed a Snuggie! AND a Body Bag.

2012-04-20T08:01:00.000-04:00

Inspiration: The Snuggie, the Forever Lazy, and the modern body bag.

Pattern Description: Large polar-fleece monstrosity has powers to eat you alive, make you cry, snuggle you tenderly.

Pattern Sizing: Fuzzy fleece sadness has no sizing, envelops all people equally.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? The very question offends, as this miracle of engineering was the product of months of exquisitely intellectual design.

Were the instructions easy to follow? You mean the ones I made up in my head? Cut hole in middle of giant piece of fleece, insert over head, finish edges, add centered zipper, stand back in horror.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Like: fuzzy and warm. Dislike: saps will to leave couch.

Fabric Used: 4 yards black stretchy polar fleece from Fulton Fabrics in Brooklyn, $4/yard. Zipper was $2-something.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Left bottom edges unfinished.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? In all seriousness, this thing took a surprisingly long time to construct, as the seams were so long and my toddler kept trying to pull it off the sewing machine by the ends.

Conclusion: I'm a costume designing STAR. Time to sit here by my cell phone, waiting for Hollywood to call...

Video background details:

"Just Give Up." Because Snuggies and Forever Lazys are for Liars.
Written and Directed by Stephanie Bencin (pictured above with Z, who was totally fascinated by all this.)
Starring The Prom.
Siobahn Thompson
John Milhiser (shown in first photo)
Sasheer Zamata (shown in above photos--her love of vintage and thrift styles recently featured in Time Out New York)
Stephen Soroka
Justin Brown
Amber Nelson
Costume Designed by Mikhaela Reid

P.S. In case you're jealous, but don't have my amazing advanced skills of "designing" large terrifying fleece rectangles with centered zippers and neckholes...

Source: simplicity.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

Seriously, where do you think I can get some of that crossword puzzle fleece?

Polka Dot Blog Crush: My Secret Sewing Doubles (and Yours)

2012-04-18T08:37:00.000-04:00

What could be better than a magic wire dress form that exactly duplicates your shape?

How about some fabulous and prolific sewing bloggers solving your fitting challenges for you?

I follow a ridiculous number of sewing blogs, and I learn so much from fabulous sewists of all shapes and sizes... Still, I will admit to get especially excited by alterations-related posts by fellow sewing bloggers who are also struggling to fit:

large busts with narrow frames (30F and 32G girls, raise your hands--and be careful your RTW shirt buttons don't pop off in the process!)
bonus points for super narrow shoulders
extra super duper bonus points for extreme nursing-related cup-size fluctuations

Which brings me to this week's...

Polka Dot Blog Crushes: My Secret Sewing Doubles

In no particular order:

Lladybird. This badass seamstress is all over sewing (and knitting, and embroidering) fitted, girly, fabulous vintage-inspired hourglass awesome of all kinds, with an awesome pottymouthed, nose-ringed flair. AND she wears the same bra size as me (32DD/E), so I was SO excited to see her recent rundown of Bombshell muslin alterations:
Source: lladybird.wordpress.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest
Kadiddlehopper. Katie is both a pediatrician and a doctor of fabulous large-busted sewing (a title which I have just made up). She makes an out-of-control number of perfectly-fitted tops and jackets and dresses, and I'm currently using her full-bust-adjustment (FBA) tips for my Jalie scarf top. From what I can gather, we wear approximately the same standard pattern sizes (12 up top, 14 below) AND she's also a nursing mama. Score!
E Made This. Elizabeth and I were pregnant around the same time in 2010*, and I just adore following all her lovely sewing adventures -- everything she makes is stylish, beautifully made and well-fitted, and she even knows how to make perfect jeans! She is all over FBAs and narrow shoulder adjustments, too.
K-Line. Kristin's sewing obsessions, experiments and ruminations are a delight to follow, and she is currently busting her butt to perfectly fit Gertie's Starlet Suit Jacket. She is also a purveyor of manifestos on bust size and bra fitting, which I whole-heartedly endorse. (I'm not sure of the origin of her blog title--Kristin, can you fill me in?)

*Back when I was pregnant, I used to similarly obsess over bloggers tackling maternity alterations. None of those bloggers are currently pregnant, but Megan Nielsen's DIY maternity blog is a great resource, Inder-ific is sewing for her bump and even Peter has been getting in on the preggo sewing action.

By the way, I hope you all know that women with cup size of C or more should usually choose patterns by HIGH bust measurement, not full bust, in order to properly fit the upper chest and shoulders? That is why, even when I had a 42" bust at my most pregnant, I got the best bodice fit in patterns with a bust size of 34 (with huge full bust adjustments and pregnant tummy adjustments required) -- and would have been lost in ill-fitting misery had I chosen a size 22 pattern instead of the size 14.

So, readers, I ask:

What's your main fitting issue, and who are YOUR secret sewing doubles? (For example: Cidell of Miss Celie's Pants mentioned recently that she has the exact same lower shape as Trena of the Slapdash Sewist).
Are there any other prolific narrow-framed FBA-ers out there I should be tracking? (Full disclosure--I have a high bust of 33-34", and a full bust of 38," wear a 30F or 32E bra... and current measurements are 38", 28", 38".)

UPDATED TO ADD: According to this fascinating article from the the Guardian UK:"Why are British Women's Breasts Getting Bigger? "in recent years the average bra size has expanded from 34B to 36D"--and there are more and more women with narrow band and large cup sizes. Theories as to why range from hormones in the environment to better nutrition. Another interesting quote:

"There's been a huge growth in the small back, larger cup lady, particularly among young girls," says Julia Mercer, head of fit and technology at M&S's underwear department. "The younger girls just seem to have bigger breasts now."

Which means I probably have more doubles than I even realized!

Me-Made MAY-be 2012: What I MIGHT wear, if I DID participate

2012-04-16T18:00:00.000-04:00

Do you think it's a problem that the majority of the me-mades that actually fit me are Halloween costumes? Above: me in 2005 as Julia from Orwell's classic 1984. Unfortunately everyone just though I was Rosie the Riveter. (Oh, and my then-boyfriend now-husband as Teen Wolf, of course).

I LOVE the idea behind Zoe's Me-Made Challenges--challenging ourselves to actually wear what we make, and to find new and fun ways to style our said makes.

But when I called up the Goodwill to ask for all my old wadders back, they just couldn't seem to locate my wobbly-hemmed sequined tank top, my medieval golden gown attempt or my shredded punk rock T-shirt dress.

Seriously, I've sewn or knit more than enough garments over the years to squeeze in at least one me-made per day... if only they (a) all still fit me, (b) were in perfect condition and (c) were actually appropriate for summer weather. (I actually do wear almost one me-made thing every day in the colder months--knitted hats, fingerless gloves and/or socks).

But I'm not going to dash out as many simple me-mades as possible in the next few weeks just to meet the challenge, because I have vowed to only sew what really inspires me, what I really enjoy and want to make. I sew for fun, people. FUN ALL THE TIME.

Anyway, the pitiful inventory of already-me-made things I MIGHT be able to wear in May:

4 skirts

My Sew Grateful colorblocked skirt--a wool jersey blend, but it's lightweight enough, and I've darned the hole in the tissue-thin navy section.
My reversible (counts as two!) shirred skirt--though I probably should take in the side seams, me being about 50 pounds lighter than when I first sewed it and all:
My $2 polka dot polyester skirt:

1 pair of pants

My triumphant wide-leg trousers... but they're corduroy, and wouldn't work for any hot May days. And I seem to have shrunk a bit since I made them (I blame my teething, nursing-crazed toddler).

1 cardigan

My flutter-sleeve blue cotton-silk cardigan... but only if I can do some serious surgery on it first... it's really a baggy mess. I knitted it to fit me PERFECTLY with plenty of negative ease and some enthusiastic short-row bust shaping, but neglected to factor in just how much cotton knits grow.

1 pair of socks

My freshly-darned Monkey Socks. We DO set our own rules for this challenge, right? So can minor garments and accessories count?

3 pairs of maternity underthings

Again, do accessories and minor garments count? Because really, these could be my secret weapon. I certainly can't photograph how they look with the outfits, but if I could count these, it would allow me to wear things like my beloved thrifted sundresses that would otherwise be off limits.

1 apron

The oldest me-made I still own and use. Does throwing it on whilst cooking count for the challenge?

And some MAYBES

I've just (as in, last night) FBAed and cut out the Jalie scarf collar top from my Spring & Summer Separates sketch, and see no reason why this shouldn't work out... and maybe I'll get to the others, too.
And then there's my Joan dickey/bow dress--yes, it's wool, but I do hope to finish it soon (I'm on muslin 2)... maybe we'll get a cool day or two:

Too bad I sold my Battlestar Galactica uniform on eBay--restyling it for work would have been quite the challenge!

So, what do you think readers? If you were me--would you just sit this one out? Or would you wear your Stepford Wives polyester lace dress costume to the office?

Cheating on Sewing

2012-04-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Accomplished: the stripey purple Tomten toddler sweater hoodie. Not Accomplished: getting toddler to stay still in front of a plain backdrop for a proper photo.

Readers, I don't want to scare you, but I've been having dreams about yarn. Big, soft, luscious skeins of snuggly soft wool in bright colors, falling from the sky and turning into magical socks, cardigans, scarves, shawls, hats... Well, I'm not sleeping well, and it's kind of a problem. I recognize well the usual signs of obsession I dedicate to all things sewing.

The other day I found myself pulling ALL of my back issues of Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting off the shelf and just sitting with them in a pile on the floor daydreaming (which is something I normally only do with Threads and BurdaStyle). I've even been reading knitting blogs instead of sewing blogs on my iPod Touch as I lie in the dark nursing the toddler off to sleep.

I think it was the thrill of FINALLY finishing Z's Tomten jacket, which ended up taking FOREVER (five months, because I only knit on the subway and during lunch breaks) thanks to the gigantic hood and huge armholes and, well, huge EVERYTHINGness of it all:

This yarn-o-mania might also have been triggered by the excitement of planning my next big project, the Georgina Cardigan. Which I HAVE definitively decided to knit in chartreuse, specifically this Swans Island Organic merino (nonsuperwash) "Spring Green" worsted wool (from Purl Soho):

But please don't be concerned. I may be feeling the lure of the loop, but sewing is my entree, and knitting will forever remain a side dish. Mainly because too much knitting aggravates old repetitive stress issues I used to have. I actually gave up knitting entirely for a year, and when I started up again, I kept it GLACIAL and SPORADIC, and sold most of my dashed yarn dreams on EBay.

Anyway:

Pattern: Tomten jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. An awesome modular classic EZ pattern, but beware the giant arms, they require half as much yarn as the hood and body combined. Note: No details are included on how to insert the zipper. In the ancient copy of Knitting Without Tears I learned to knit with, so: FREE.
Yarn: Berocco Vintage Chunky (50% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 10% Nylon). I used 6 skeins, and I almost ran out at the very end. I chose it because of the colors, and it's nice enough, but I hate that it's only 40% wool and am not sure if I'd ever use again, especially on a kid (acrylic = flammable, wool = magic and flame-retardant). Paid for with a gift certificate from the hubby, so I'll say: FREE.
Needles: Size 9 circulars (used to knit flat).
Notions: Separating plastic YKK zipper from SIL Thread, $3.
For full details and notes on how I inserted the zipper (shorter version: by hand, with a backstitch, took AGES) and hid the color changes (or at least, started hiding color changes halfway up when I realized my "who cares, it's a kid's jacket?" attitude was lacking), see the Ravelry project page.

The too-tight hat: still too tight

In other cheating on sewing news, thanks to an excellent suggestion from a commenter here, I decided to block my too-small 18 Seconds to Sunrise blue cowled alpaca hat in hopes it would grow... and it did!

But after wearing it for two days, I have decided that while it is no longer "PAINFULLY tight," I would still call it "ANNOYINGLY snug." We'll see if I ever get around to correcting.

Darning methods compared

Finally, as promised, I did indeed darn my first pair of socks, the first socks I ever knit, in fact:

I used the traditional weaving method on the left (Knitting Daily tutorial here), with less-than-amazing results--the patch is obvious, thick, and not very stretchy, though it has a certain Dickensian charm.

For the sock on the right, I used the duplicate stitch method (HJS Studio tutorial here). It was maybe SLIGHTLY more time-consuming, but much neater and stretchier, and it just blends in way, way better. No contest, really.

But whatever: they had big scary holes in both heels, and now they are whole once more. And from a distance, both methods look just fine, and warrant a heel-clicking of joy:

I can't wait to darn EVERYTHING now: more socks, holey sweaters, and my Sew Grateful colorblocked skirt.

Or can I? Tonight I traced the patterns for my spring and summer tops, so maybe this fever is passing. And I'm even thinking I might be able to get back to my Joan dress, now that I'm over missing the deadline so badly.

So readers: do you ever cheat on sewing with other hobbies? How long does the madness usually last before you come to your senses?

Vote for Lowell Textile History in 3D! (and my amazing mom)

2012-04-12T23:54:00.000-04:00

One of my mom's award-finalist 3D models of Lowell, Massachusetts: the Boott Mills complex on the Merrimack River. Part of this section is used as a museum dedicated to the history of the textile mill era in New England

Readers, my mom—and my textile-history-rich hometown, especially its schoolchildren!—need your help.

I may have mentioned my amazing mom Beryl Reid a time or two or three zillion. My mom is the kind of woman who can do ANYTHING. When she's visiting I might come home from work to discover she's reupholstered all the furniture in fabulous fabric with lovely piping, sewn up 67 cloth diapers and a bevy of baby carriers, repaired the bookshelf, designed several dozen intricate three-dimensional building models to appear on Google Earth and done some intense genealogical research--all while my daughter was napping after a fun-filled trip to the Central Park Zoo.

Well, maybe not all in one naptime. Anyway, I bring her to your attention once again because her Lowell collection--200+ three-dimensional models of buildings in my hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, which you can see on Google Earth--is one of only 6 finalists worldwide in Google's "Model Your Town" contest. Guys and gals, this is a really big deal! And she needs YOUR vote to win! (You can vote here--make sure to click on her set of models before voting, or it'll accidentally vote for a different set).

What's the sewing connection? Seriously, it doesn't get more textile-tastic than Lowell.

Lowell is a national historic park. Really, my hometown is a park, dedicated to American textile history. Everywhere you go, you'll see canals, old mill buildings, working trolleys, giant spindle sculptures... and that's because (from the park website):
Source: teachingamericanhistorymd.net via Mikhaela on Pinterest

Lowell’s water-powered textile mills catapulted the nation – including immigrant families and early female factory workers [Mikhaela note: the famous "mill girls"] – into an uncertain new industrial era. Nearly 200 years later, the changes that began here still reverberate in our shifting global economy. Explore Lowell, a living monument to the dynamic human story of the Industrial Revolution.
Today, Lowell is the home of the American Textile History Museum and the New England Quilt Museum.
Our minor league baseball team is called the Spinners, and the logo is... a spindle. Yes. We are serious about textiles.
Typical class projects and field trips for Lowell public school students include: learning how to spin, weave and quilt.
Knitters take note: until recently, Lowell was the manufacturing home of Classic Elite yarns... sadly their production has moved overseas and the Hub Mills factory outlet store I used to frequent when I was learning to knit is gone to a nearby town, too.

Also, if my mom wins, the prize is a donation of $25,000 to the Lowell public schools—very fitting, since my parents are both retired public school teachers, and my brother and I both attended the Lowell public schools. Lowell is a large, diverse working-class city made of up immigrants and their descendents from many eras, from the Irish workers who originally worked in the mills in the 1800s to Cambodian refugees who resettled in Lowell in the 1980s. And the schools could really use the funds.

So, please take a look at the contest--and if you like my mom's models of Lowell...

...please vote for her!

P.S. My husband and I had our wedding in Lowell, in a park right by one of the old boarding houses the mill girls used to live in:

Wardrobe Rescue: The Mending Pile Attacks!

2012-04-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

Source: knitpicks.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

It's a thingie, it's a whatsit, it's a ... darning egg!

Can't blog much tonight folks, because I'm busy DARNING my socks. It's all very 1940s of me, don't you think? Could I be MORE glamorous?

Seriously, I've been doing quite a bit of sewing these past few days (despite an awful cold virus that has been making myself, the mister and the toddler totally miserable) but none of it has been the exciting Big Reveal kind. Just a lot of patching and mending and button-replacing and, as of a few minutes from now, SOCK DARNING.

Although I generally avoid my mending pile like the plague, when I actually force myself to attack it I really enjoy fixing those little things that will bring a garment back from the dead to wear-ability land. I know some people would rather replace T-shirts and socks rather than fix them, but when it's one of my husband's really nice arty silk-screened tees or one of my snuggly pairs of expensive (or handknit) wool socks, I'd rather fix them.

Anyway, for my repairs I generally refer to this frighteningly-illustrated book I picked up on deep discount many years ago, Jan Saunders' Wardrobe Quick-Fixes:

But sock-darning is a whole new venture for me. I don't actually own a darning egg like the one pictured above, so I'm going to try and use an orange (my local knitting shop even recommended a lightbulb, but I don't want to accidentally embed shards of glass in my heel). Wish me luck! I'm using the "Darn Those Socks!" tutorial from HJS Studio:

Source: hjsstudio.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

So are you a make do and mender, a regular fix-it guy or gal? Or do you prefer to move on and let your holey socks go to the great holey sock basket in the sky?

Cardigan Conundrum: Which Color? (NOT Chartreuse Again)

2012-04-06T00:35:00.000-04:00

So if you didn't already guess, the winner of my Sweater Girl Showdown: Shrunken Cardigan Edition was Brooklyn-based knit designer Alexis Winslow's lovely Georgina!

Oh, and if you haven't already ogled the pattern on Knit Darling, check out the fancy lace back view:

Source: knitdarling.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

I've already purchased the pattern on Ravelry, and now I am left with the problem of yarn and color choice. My initial thought was chartreuse, because I am OBSESSED with chartreuse cardigans... I have one in wool, one in silk, and one in cashmere--plus a UFO sewn one in doubleknit--and I probably wear them more than any other sweaters I own, as evidenced in these three garment photos from my pregnant days:

But perhaps I need to branch out a bit, color-wise. I'm leaning towards periwinkle or blue, though I do have a soft spot for bright pink--like chartreuse, it seems to go with everything in my wardrobe! Check it out--I'm wearing pink AND chartreuse in both of these photos from 2007 (the one directly below is by Márta Fodor):

The two non-chartreuse cardigans I wear most often are this old thrifted red wrap cardi shown here in 2006 (when I still took photos in my bathroom with the mirror):

Speaking of ancient bathroom photos--I didn't even crop my laundry bag out of this one! Cashmere chartreuse cardi I still wear all the time, shown with my me-made blue wool tweed skirt:

And here's my trusty thrifted periwinkle cashmere cabled cardigan, which looks way better in real life now (and fits much better now that I'm not pregnant):

OK, enough already. I'm also self-debating over yarns and fibers. I don't know if I want to use a solid color yarn (to better show off the fancy lace and ribbing and eyelets and suchlike) or a subtly variegated semi-solid yarn... most of the yarns I was ogling were semi-solids but really, I think this might do best in a solid.

Anyway, this is the fun part, right? Now I get to go to my local yarn shops and feel up the squishy wooly wares and dither back and forth and... for as long as the toddler will tolerate, anyway.

You might have noticed I'm not even CONSIDERING a neutral color, because I find that I almost never wear the few neutral cardigans I own. That's just me, though--if your favorite sweater is gray or black or brown, I salute you and your yarny neutrality!

>So, fellow sweater girls (and boys?)--what's your go-to cardigan color?

P.S. In the meantime, I'm making socks (Ravelry project details here)! From yarn I dyed myself (ages ago), in a lovely super-bright ombre blue. In the Waving Lace pattern by Evelyn A. Clark from Favorite Socks, which looks super-complex but is really easy to follow/memorize:

P.P.S. Guys, I was ALMOST up to 200 followers... I was at 199... and then I suddenly dropped back to 198! Maybe I offended a die-hard sewist with all this knitting talk? (not that I care!)

P.P.P.S. Happy Easter and/or Passover! (We'll be doing both here).

Sweater Girl Showdown: Which Shrunken Cardigan to Knit?

2012-04-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

Which curve-hugging vintage-inspired cardigan to knit? Decisions, decisions!

Now that I've finished Z's Tomten hooded sweater jacket, I'm so excited to make a shrunken spring cardigan for myself to go with my spring wardrobe separates. I'm a die-hard sweater girl--I wear a colorful fitted cardigan almost every day (with a rare blazer thrown in here or there), and there are so many awesome vintage-inspired super-fitted negative-ease knitting options to choose from...

I kind of got lost in the black hole of the Ravelry pattern browser, but I eventually emerged with:

Four Top Contenders:

Source: ravelry.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

1. Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan by Stefanie Japel from Fitted Knits.

Pros: I already own the book and the yarn--bought both ages ago when I first pondered making this sweater.
Cons: I might look like I have balloons stuck in my sleeves.

Source: knitdarling.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

2. Georgina Cardigan by Alexis Winslow from her website Knit Darling.

Pros: When I look at this pattern I want to say "Beautiful sweater, where have you been all my life?" That shawl collar! The plunging neckline! The fabulous lace and ribbing! And while I had never previously heard of this designer... she is seriously awesome. I'm also totally crushing on her chevron-patterned Delancey Cardigan, and ombre-striped Nora sweater dress. AND she's from Brooklyn. And wears glasses.
Cons: This looks to require some serious gauging and blocking precision, and few Ravelry-ers (Ravelers?) have gone before me. Also: yarn will need to be purchased.

Source: erikamadeit.blogspot.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

3. Miette Cardigan by Andi Satterlund from her website Untangling Knots. (Photo above is a lovely Miette knit by Erika Made It, as Andi prefers no Pins from her site)

Pros: Love the scoop neck, the little lace touches around the edges, the super-short length (less knitting!) and the serious bust dart shaping. Another designer I was unfamiliar with, Andi seems to have a range of awesome vintage-inspired feminine knitting patterns... you may have seen Lauren's awesome in-progress Agatha. Also: Miette is a free pattern!
Cons: Again, new yarn and some serious fitting precision required.

Source: woollymammothknits.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

4. Peggy Sue Cardigan by Linda Wilgus from her website Wooly Mammoth Knits.

Pros: Such an adorable vintage style--I love the figure-hugging waist cables and the short sleeves. And it's free!
Cons: It's DK weight (i.e. slower to knit than the Georgina or Miette), and I'm not sure if it would look too prim on me when buttoned up.

So... can you guess which one I chose? It should be pretty obvious from the sketch (all my knitting friends guessed immediately).

The Yarn Contenders

I also need to decide on yarn--one thing I know for sure is that it will be wool or a wool-dominant blend! The last spring cardigan I made for myself (Pam Allen's Flutter Sleeve Cardigan from Interweave Knits)-- I knit to the 36" bust size with correct gauge...

And yet it sagged and stretched to fit me even while 37 weeks pregnant--you can imagine it is rather baggy now (perhaps a little sweater surgery is in order?) ... that's what I get for knitting with a cotton/silk blend.

After years of knitting with lots of cheaper KnitPicks yarns, I'd like to try something a bit fancier, especially since these cardigans don't require tons of yarn. Like madelinetosh tosh vintage 100% superwash merino wool, maybe in Forestry:

Source: yarn.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

Or Chartreuse:

Source: jimmybeanswool.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

And then there's Berocco Ultra Alpaca (50% wool, 50% alpaca), at about half the price of the above, but not available in nearly as many fun or bright colors. Perhaps in Periwinkle:

Source: yarn.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

Or how about Dream in Color Classy Spring Tickle?

Source: eatsleepknit.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

Or Malabrigo Rios in Lettuce?

Source: yarn.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

And then there's a whole bunch of other yarns I've been pinning...

Luckily I've got a pair of socks in progress, so I can take my time on the yarn decision, and hopefully buy it at a local yarn store like Knit-A-Way or Brooklyn General.

Which cardigan would you knit? And if you don't knit, am I tempting you?!

P.S. Speaking of chartreuse cardigans, I'm considering attempting to resurrect my half-sewn McCall's 5529 doubleknit cardi-jacket (with peplum!) from the UFO pile--it's super huge since I started making while pregnant, but maybe I can cut it down to a smaller size?

P.P.S. If you enjoy these showdown posts, see also "Sheath Dress Showdown: Colette Edition" and "1940s Red Dress Showdown: Du Barry Edition."

Sea-Inspired Spring Separates + Sweet Sweet Piping

2012-04-02T22:29:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's the finished sketch of some simple, sea-colored spring separates in blues and greens (and neutrals, too). Some of you already spotted the 3hourspast Bow Tie Tee Hack, and the ever-popular Jalie scarf collar top (for whose purchase I blame K-Line and Elizabeth). Also tentatively planned--Simplicity 3688 1940s trousers (as seen on Debi for OWOP) in a nubbly linen blend that barely survived my last stash purge, and a simple denim skirt--maybe in Simplicity 2058 (or Zoe's beloved Simplicity 2451).

These fabrics and patterns are a mix of stash and new--the most recent additions being the blue/green poly jerseys I bought while hunting for Mad Men Challenge dickey fabric, and the Jalie scarf collar pattern.

And I did indeed bake cupcakes this weekend--Cartoonist Husband and I threw a little Parks & Recreation "Treat. YO. Self."-inspired cupcake party. We made three varieties of dairy-, egg- & nut-free cupcakes (so our food-allergy-cursed toddler could have her first ever taste of cupcake):

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Piped Blue & Purple Buttercream (a little melty by this point)

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Banana "Buttercream" Frosting

Vegan Cookies & "Cream" Cupcakes--the tastiest and most popular of the bunch (fun fact: Oreos contain no dairy or eggs, because they are NOT real food)

I'm not really a dessert or baking person, and I hadn't made cupcakes since I was a kid... but they turned out awesome and delicious. Z just loved the half cupcake we allowed her, and smeared the frosting all over her face and my dress. All the recipes were from the excellent Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

It was the first party we'd had in our apartment since Z was born, and I'm proud to say the place is now clean enough that I may start varying my sewing photo backgrounds a bit more.

I also blocked Z's Tomten sweater and bought a separating zipper, but I'm still a bit daunted by the insertion/shortening process.

So, are you planning any simple, quick spring & summer separates... or are you working on more long-term fancy projects?

Sketchbook: Spring & Summer Separates

2012-03-29T22:51:00.003-04:00

Recognize any of these patterns?

I of course reserve the right to sew--or not sew--however many or few of these items as I want. In whatever order or disorder. If I feel like it.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone! I plan to bake cupcakes, color in the above sketch, block my completed Tomten sweater--and retackle my Mad Men muslin. Maybe.

(And thus concludes my shortest blog post EVER. Do I win anything?!)

OPAT Work Outfit: A Vintage Dash-About Dress

2012-03-28T22:54:00.000-04:00

Don't worry--OPAT isn't some awesome blog challenge you haven't yet heard of and need a button and a deadline for RIGHT NOW. In fact, it's the opposite.

OPAT stands for "One Project At a Time", and it's my anti-challenge to myself to relax, stop beating myself up, and just enjoy whatever I want to sew--and can sew--in the time I actually have to sew it. To stop measuring myself against the Sew Weekliers and professional seamstresses and just relax.

Which is what you all have been kindly telling me to do (see "I WANT to Make This; I SHOULD Make That"), and I am now needing to tell myself. Elizabeth kindly reminded me that "should" can be a really painful word. And I especially loved StephC's comment:

When I was a teenager, I had a job pulling coffee at a popular coffee shop.. I'd get so upset on Saturday mornings, the place would be packed with people in need of a caffeine fix, they were usually rude once they got to the counter, and I'd try to make three orders and once and mess them all up...
My boss said to me- "Don't look at the line. Take a breath, make the first drink. Then take another breath, and make the next one. Only look at what's in front of you, keep moving, and you'll get there in the end." Stuck with me, it applies to so many other things...

This SO resonates, because I had a similar job as a teenager, working as an ice cream waitress. And there was one hot July 4th where I stood at the window scooping ice cream cone after ice cream cone for 8 hours straight without stopping whilst wearing a giant straw hat and a plastic lei... and then there was the time I worked at UPS loading giant trucks and one package after another would come shooting down the belt and I had to keep calm and just stack them one at a time and I was wearing steel toe boots and...

OK, not sure where I was going with that.

And so the above outfit--a quite typical Mikhaela work outfit for my awesomely casual nonprofit workplace--contains no actual me-made items. And I'm OK with that, because seriously, people -- this isn't a high-stakes competition. Unless we want it to be, and at this point in my life -- where sewing is what I do to RELAX in the evenings -- I do not.

I'm also ok with the crappy non-natural lighting for the same reasons.

Anyway, the outfit:

"Dashabout" vintage (1970s?) floral cotton sundress with shirred elastic back, princess seams, half-circle skirt, thrifted for $14 in San Francisco years back. I at first assumed it was homemade due to the unfinished seams, but it has a little label inside reading "Dash-About." It's super-comfy and I've even gone (light) hiking in it. (See also "Some of My Best Dresses.")
Pink silk tank, ancient Ann Taylor
Turquoise cardigan, ancient Ann Taylor
Faux-leather navy belt--required as the dress is a bit big in the waist.
Turquoise necklace, lent permanently by my mom.
Print bag that can hold the universe (or a breast pump or books or a large knitting project), Brooklyn Industries, gift from my mom. (discussed here).
Orange peeptoe heels, Tsubo, a birthday gift from my husband in 2010 (blogged here).

I should note one thing I'm NOT wearing here--makeup, which I rarely wear in real life but almost always wear for photos. I recently had a freakout when I discovered that the FDA found lead in many brands of lipstick, including my beloved Revlon lipsticks, and I started reading up on all my beauty products on the Skin Deep database, and... well... any recommendations for natural toxin-free makeups in cute colors (especially bright red lipstick) but NOT containing sesame or nut oils would be awesome.

Oh, and here's the dress in natural light, shortly after I first bought it seven years ago (that's my sewing cabinet in the corner):

And now another night to relax, knit and watch old Fringe DVDs with the husband. I'll get back to my Mad Men Challenge dress... when I feel like it. And no sooner.

So: what are you doing to be kind to yourself lately?

I WANT to Make This; I SHOULD Make That #1

2012-03-27T00:08:00.000-04:00

I WANT to make this 1940s Du Barry silk dress (far left); I SHOULD make more pants. (And panties, too).

After a Mad Men muslin marathon last night (comments still excessively appreciated!), I'm taking the night off to...

Unwind on the couch and finish knitting my Toddler Tomten jacket. (Just two more rows to go!... plus the sewing up. And the blocking. And the zipper insertion. Right.)
Fantasize about all the lovely (but much quicker and simpler) things I will allow myself to make once my Joan dress is done...

Peter at Male Pattern Boldness recently brought up the issue of practical versus "fantasy" sewing--and how apt that he chose panties as the ultimate in practical sewing!

Because if I was really sewing what I need, that's what I'd be making. Seriously. Why is it completely impossible to purchase high-waisted cute and colorful cotton-spandex blend panties (except on Etsy, of course)?! I self-drafted (er, copied from RTW with SERIOUS tweaks) some a few years ago...

...and sewed three pairs in fun stripes and colors, like this:

They are still my favorites today, and they're barely loose (which is weird, since I was, like 55 pounds heavier when I made them). And at least they cover my belly, unlike EVERY single pair of RTW panties in any even reasonably fun colorway.

But anyway (I am obviously completely incapable of pithy fun blog posts with lots of pictures and few words, sorry!). The point is:

I WANT to sew a Bombshell dress

(Yes, I enrolled. Have not sewed a stitch, but the videos are AWESOME). ...in this wax-print cotton fabric from the stash:

I SHOULD make some basic knit T-shirts

... like these ones I made while pregnant:

I WANT to make my graffiti-print Colette Pastille or Macaron sheath dress:

I SHOULD make more wide-legged pants

maybe Simplicity 3688 in this linen blend, with sailor buttons... I know I'd wear them constantly, and I can use the ones I made recently for fitting help...

I WANT to make a floaty bias-cut retro-inspired polkadot dress

Maybe Burda 7951:

I SHOULD make nursing bras for sleep/lounging

... like this Ezi-Sew 110 one (from ELingeriA) languishing in the stash (1 cup size too big, but close enough for sleeping):

I WANT to make the Starlet Suit Jacket

... (er, yes. I enrolled. again. I do NOT wear suits ever)...

I SHOULD make a cute nightgown

Mine is holey, pilly and wretched...

I SHOULD make a sunhat

My head is so big I can't buy them RTW, and I am SO very pale... how about one of these Vogues?

Source: voguepatterns.mccall.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

I SHOULD recover my hideous sofa...

I even bought the fabric weeks ago--if Fabric.com ever decides to actually ship it to me...

Source: fabric.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

I SHOULD sew myself a colorful canvas handbag...

I SHOULD get to that pile of mending I need to do ... and the refashion pile... and the UFO pile...

And this could go on. For decades. As evidenced by a screen shot of my Google Docs project queue:

And by my over-enthusiastic pinning of patterns, vintage inspiration and favorite projects by sewing bloggers who do a whole lot more actual sewing.

But you know what? I'm just going to take a deep breath and take things one project (or two, or three) at a time. And whatever I make... I'm pretty sure it'll turn out just fine and I'll love it just plenty.

Especially if it has stripes or polka dots on it.

So tell me--how do you balance sewing wants and sewing needs?

Mad Men Muslin #1: Giving Up on the "Wearable Muslin"?

2012-03-26T09:20:00.000-04:00

Good: bodice not terribly ill-fitting. Bad: shoulders like, two inches too wide. Ugly: serious gapping problems, remedied here with carefully placed pins.

So here's my Joan Blue Bow Dress (previous posts here) bodice muslin for the Mad Men Challenge, with one sleeve. I made it up in a rayon/poly/lycra blend doubleknit I bought ages ago for $3.99 or something from Fabric.com--the fabric has almost identical stretch and recovery to my blue wool doubleknit (at least, I THINK/HOPE it does).

So, oh fitting Oracles--what sayeth these wrinkles? Will I be in business with a few simple alterations, or am I really in for it?

Here's my sketch again, if you're not completely sick of it by now:

Muslin back view:

Is that all that annoying wrinkling just swayback, or also because I'm shorter-waisted than the pattern? Or is it because the waist is too tight? Hmm....

Side view--what the heck is going on with these diagonal wrinkles? (Also, yes: I have NO BUTT. It is completely 2-dimensional back there.)

The shoulder and sleeve have issues (other issue: accidentally put sleeve seams on outside):

Gapping isn't so bad now that I've pinned up a bit of the bottom:

I really hate this part of sewing. I always doubt my ability to read the wrinkles, and I'm afraid I'll over or underfit, and sometimes I just get really, really confused as to what the actual fitting issues are and what are, say, poor posture issues or weird photo issues. That said, I adore a well-fitted garment (isn't that why I'm sewing, after all?), and I know this effort will be worth it.

So, the good:

It's not way too small. I cut two-inch (I know!) seam allowances out of unfounded fear. The pattern is in a bust 34" (my high bust measurement), and my full bust is 38", but there was plenty of ease built in. Though I'm surprised the waist is even close to fitting--the pattern measures less than 26" in the waist, and my waist is a good 2 inches bigger than that. Hurrah for knits!
The bust darts even seem to generally be in the right places. Shocking! Though perhaps they are a smidge to close to the "bust apex."
This v-neck bodice is totally flattering, no?

The bad, and my tentative plan of alteration attack.

The shoulders are ridiculously wide on me. I always have this problem with set-in-sleeve styles--I have super narrow shoulders.
- The fix: a narrow shoulder adjustment. At least 1 inch...
The waist is too long. It's at least an inch below my natural waist.
- The fix: shortening the bodice by a bit.
The sleeve is too loose. Probably as a result of being made up in a knit, albeit a stable one.
- The fix: take in the sleeve at the underseam.
The waist might be a smidge tight? There seems to be some pulling/wrinkles at the front overlap.
- The fix: unbaste side seams and pin to fit?
Something really awful and bunchy and wrinkly is going on at the back waist.
- The fix: I don't know! Maybe this will go away when I shorten the bodice... but it might also be too tight? And I KNOW I have swayback, as all my RTW things bunch like this, so I probably need a swayback adjustment, too. Not that I've ever done one. Err...
There are some weird diagonal wrinkles on the side.
- The fix: ???
Bust darts end too close to "apex"?
- The fix: End a bit farther from "apex?"

At this point I think I'm going to give up on the wearable muslin concept. While I think I COULD easily alter this to fit, it would take up precious sewing time I don't have. Plus I think it'll be easier to adjust if I just give myself permission to draw all over this thing without fear. Most importantly, I have limited closet space, and a gray dress just isn't ME (or Joan, for that matter).

I think I'm also going to give up on altering the pattern to be more like the inspiration dress--I'm not sure that I want to invest time/energy in widening the V and drafting my own shawl collar here. I am going to make a bow belt instead of the plain belt, though. It is a bow dress after all! And I will lower the neckline on the dickey, too.

Bonus: my entire fancy muslin-wearing outfit (that's a RTW doubleknit pencil skirt from Target). Fairly certain Joan does NOT wear stripey wool knee socks with heels.

So what do you think? Is my assessment on-target? Any help with interpreting these photos is much appreciated.

P.S. One of the essential rules of fitting is wearing the same undergarments you plan to wear with the finished item. I don't normally do shapewear, but I know Joan always wears a long-line bra and girdle... so I tried to approximate that look with some weird Spanx thing that comes up to right below my bra. BUT I COULDN'T BREATHE. So half of these photos are with that thing, half are without. Oddly enough, the fit issues were mainly the same either way.

Sewing is FUN. IT IS.

2012-03-25T14:23:00.002-04:00

Yes, sewing is ALWAYS a big old party of fun awesome magic happiness. And that is why I am completely NOT at all bothered that:

The Mad Men Challenge Joan Bow Dress muslin photos I had hoped to share with you for advice are USELESS (see above) because although I did take the trouble to wear them with a pencil skirt and slip, I neglected to pin/baste the front overlap.
Which is more evidence that I probably won't make the Mad Men Challenge end-of-month deadline, giving me flashbacks to the time I didn't finish my baby shower dress in time for my baby shower two years ago, despite frantic last-minute hand-sewing on the Amtrak.
Two of the four inexpensive bright cheerful vintage bags I just bought on Etsy to try and broaden my handbag wardrobe turned out to be cracked and peeling pleather (the seller was very nice about it and will refund me, but BUMMER):
All y'all are sewing like, 10 things a week and I'm still barely averaging 1 garment/month. My goal, as you recall, is 2 per month--one for me, one for Z. If we pretend I will finish my Mad Men dress on time, I've completed three for me and one for Z.
I got re-bra-fitted at my local Brooklyn lingerie shop* yesterday and discovered I had dropped TWO cup sizes. I went because things were a bit loosey-goosey (toddler is still nursing, but maybe somewhat less?), but I wasn't expecting that drastic a drop. And although that means I am once again a 32E (hello WAY easier FBAs and better-fitting off-the-rack), much good that does me because in a fit of "my body will never be the same again" angst, I trashed all my expensive well-made pretty brightly colored 32E bra collection while pregnant. So I now own ONE really well-fitting 32E nursing bra, a lacy underwire Anita-brand number:
Source: lindasonline.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

... and a host of giant loose unsupportive 32G, 32H and 32I bras. Plus a big stash of bra fabrics, patterns and notions I've been too busy to tackle. Hmmm...

But I'm not bothered, because:

My Mad Men dress, late or not, is going to be awesome. And I think the muslin may even be wearable. I'll rephotograph it properly tonight once I attach one sleeve, but I think it needs very little tweaking--the shoulders are slightly too wide, the horizontal bust darts are too low, and there's some swayback action happening too... but overall, it's pretty close.
While at the bra shop* I also got this awesome supportive Panache Claudette tankini with built-in underwire bra (available in D-K cup, FYI). I did want to sew a swimsuit, but I'm gong to be taking little Z for weekend swim classes at the Y that start very soon and there just wasn't time. It DOES show the stretch marks a bit if I raise my arms, but SERIOUSLY, I cannot be bothered to care, and no one should be inspecting my belly that closely:
Source: panache-lingerie.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest
I'm sitting here (next to my sweet napping toddler) in my wide-legged corduroy Trousers of Triumph. I wear these things at least two or three times a week and they are SO comfortable and cute. Which goes to show that slow, careful sewing can really pay off. I can't wait to make another version in linen with sailor-style buttons for summer!
After buying four or five fabrics that didn't quite work for the dickey of my Joan dress (too polyester, too stretchy, not quite right color, not-quite-right print)--and after super awesome reader Jen B. (do you have a website? let me know) even mailed me some fabric she found that was really really close but didn't end up working with my blue doubleknit... I finally sucked it up and braved the Project Runway-inspired hordes at Mood. And there, amidst a teetering pile of just-in $14/yard silk print closeouts, was my Perfect Silk Print:

The cutter accidentally gave me 1 yard (I had asked for 1 1/2 to be safe), and it's got runs/cuts in one end, but I really just need the 1/2 yard. I think I'll underline it with some blue silk charmeuse I have for opacity.

So yes. NOT worried/bothered by anything at all. Sewing is all fun. Whee!

How's your sewing awesome fun party going this weekend? No worries at all, right?

*Iris Lingerie on 366 Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn, featuring Iris Clarke, the BEST bra fitter ever. She even converts regular bras to nursing bras and she has a great basket of toys for keeping toddlers occupied.

Blog Awards: Like Zombie Bites, But Sweeter (Infographic)

2012-03-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I began to notice signs of an outbreak in the sewing blogosphere. One after another, my favorite blogs were being taken over by blog award memes of mysterious origin, and answering questions about their favorite colors, numbers--and even, oddly, days of the week.

And I noticed something even odder about the rules for these awards--which required they be passed on to not one, not two, but as many as 5, 7, or even 15 other bloggers.

Please indulge me in a little amateur epidemiology here, as I say: gals (and guys), that math just DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. So I pulled out my handy calculator (er, spreadsheet), confirmed my suspicions and put together a little infographic to illustrate it.

Diary of a Sewing Blog Outbreak

It reminded me of nothing so much as a zombie outbreak. Your average slow zombie can maybe infect five bloggers, but one of those fancy fast ones could probably take down at least 15, especially in the early stages of decomposition.

I'm fairly certain there aren't actually 38.4 billion sewing blogs out there, but we haven't been quite this overrun because many sewing bloggers (like me, er, sorry!) take a bit of time to acknowledge these awards, or don't pass them on. It's basically a digital chain letter.

Now before you accuse me of being a cranky killjoy (you might have a point, it's been a rough week!), I have actually really enjoyed reading everyone's awards posts, because they've led me to a lot of awesome new-to-me sewing blogs to add to my overloaded Google Reader. And silly as some of the questions and rules for these things are, they are a nice way of spreading the sewing blog love and learning random facts about my favorite bloggers beyond their taste in sewing patterns and fabric.

And I really did feel super-special and happy to recently receive a number of sweet awards from some of my favorite bloggers recently, so I WILL play along and answer some of the accompanying questions. Just for fun!

The Versatile Blogger Award:

Elizabeth (from E Made This), Laura Mae (from Lilacs & Lace) and Tina from Down the Retro Rabbit Holeeach sent me a Versatile Blogger Award.

First, big hugs to the awesome Elizabeth, whose been a (digital) friend of mine for two years, since we both were pregnant with our youngest (or in my case, only) little ones. This woman can sew beautifully fitted clothes like nobody's business--coats, pants, jeans, blouses, you name it, mostly while the little ones are napping. She's currently soliciting participants in a really cool sewalong called "The T-Shirt Project", making knit tops with awesome details (like PEPLUMS)--I am too limited in my sewing time to join but YOU all should!

And wow, if you have even the slightest interest in vintage sewing, I really hope you are reading Lilacs & Lace. Laura Mae is a fellow polka-dot and peplum devotee, and she makes the most amazing and inspiring beautifully fitted vintage-inspired garments, documented in lovely photoshoots. And she wears awesome shoes. Seriously, check out the back detail on this suit dress.

I didn't even know about Tina's blog before, but I'm so excited to become a regular reader and follow her fabulous vintage sewing adventures. I completely agree with her assessment that "if we knew each other in real life, we'd be friends. The sipping tea (or maybe martinis) whilst sewing kinda of friends." Tina reads a ridiculous amount of books, and maybe at an even slightly faster pace than me (I sure as heck didn't read the first three Game of Thrones books in two days, though it was close).

And as per the rules of this meme, here are seven non-sewing facts you probably don't know about me:

My first job in high school was working for minimum wage as an ice cream waitress. (Note: I am lactose intolerant, so this was torture.)
When I was 17, I tattooed myself with a (sewing) needle and ink. I had this really complex artistic concept in mind involving spirals and circles, but I got indecisive halfway through and stopped, so I have just have this weird squiggle thing on my ankle.
My first job out of college was designing financial information graphics for The Wall Street Journal.
My fondest childhood ambition was to be a science fiction writer.
My favorite music in high school was punk rock--and still is, because I can't be bothered to pay attention to new bands. The bands most often in rotation on my iTouch or Pandora are: Billy Bragg, the Buzzcocks, Le Tigre, Bikini Kill, The Dead Kennedys, Johnny Cash, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith.
I am really passionate about LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights--especially transgender rights. For nine years I drew angry political cartoons for Bay Windows, Boston's LGBT newspaper (old cartooning blog here, old gallery here, even older gallery here).
I work in marketing for Doctors Without Borders/Médècins Sans Frontières USA. Every day I feel grateful for the amazing opportunity I have to raise money to help save the lives of people trapped in crises where few other organizations will go. Recently when I interviewed a midwife who had just come back from Chad, she told me some stories of women and babies she had cared for who would otherwise have died--for the lack of really basic medicines that cost like, 75 cents per new mother--and I cried. Trust me, you would have too. (By the way, my husband is riding for Doctors Without Borders in the 5 Boro Bike Tour, and even a small donation can make a huge impact).

I'm not going to bite 15 other bloggers though--it would just be too hard to choose my favorites like that. Instead I plan to more regularly feature my favorite blog crushes by category.

The Sunshine Award

The Sunshine Award gets the award for most inane questions. BUT it brings me lots of sunshine and happiness because it comes from the fabulous Liza Jane of liza jane sews, who should get the award for best awards acceptance post for her lovely photos of a day in her life as an elementary school art teacher.

My parents are both (retired) public school teachers, and I pretty much spent all the time I possibly could in art class, so to me Liza Jane is a rock star. Everything she sews is artistically-designed, bright, fun and inspiring like this dress influenced by her students' artwork. I also love her experiments in drafting and in sewing for kids.

Oh, and those inane questions. Rather than answer them myself, I'll tell you how my 21-month-old daughter would answer them:

Favorite Colour: Green. In fact, EVERYTHING is green according to her.
Favorite Animal: Cats. With sheep a close second. (The apple doesn't fall far, etc.)
Favorite Number: 1 (or "uno!" as she prefers it).
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink: Breastmilk.
Facebook or Twitter: Google Plus. Seriously, she hijacked my mom's iPad and was posting all over the place before my mom realized.
Her Passion: Music and dancing.
Getting or Giving Presents: Getting.
Favorite Pattern: The Ottobre Pupu Overalls I just made for her.
Favorite Day of the Week: Saturday and Sunday, because Mommy's home all day.
Favorite Flower: All flowers are equally exciting to her. "Flower!"
Favorite celebrity role model: Elmo. Or possibly Béyonce. She loves them both.

The Liebster Blog Award

And finally, big thanks to the awesome Neeno from Sew Me Love for passing on the Liebster Love. This awesome seamstress is PROLIFIC and makes the most adorable dresses in eye-blinding vivid colors--my kind of girl! Again, I'm new to her blog but already obsessed.

Phew! I'm all awarded out. If anyone else has ~~bitten me with~~ given me an award I somehow missed, I apologize!

P.S. In case you were wondering my opinion on zombie-related media:

Books: Love love love adoringly love Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Really enjoyed Colson Whitehead's Zone One. The Zombie Survival Guide is OK. I read all the Walking Dead comics and wish I hadn't, because they gave me nightmares, the outlook in them is too bleak, and I don't like the way most of the women characters are portrayed.
Films and TV: Love Shaun of the Dead, Fido (really odd film set in a retro 50s-esque suburbia where zombies are ill-treated servants), both 28 XXX Later movies. Was able to watch most Romero movies once but couldn't do so again, and certainly can't watch their remakes again (too scary/upsetting). As for the Walking Dead: NO. I can NOT watch that terrifying thing.

P.P.S. Oh, and about that photo at the way tippy-top of this post--that's me and my friend Mary (the fastest woman in Brooklyn in the recent NYC Marathon, go Mary!) dressed as zombies for a Zombie Purim party some years back. You can't tell in the photo, but I'm wearing a gorgeous vintage black cutout velvet dress with a bow and a PEPLUM. More on that dress soon as I'm trying to add straps to it...

5 Magic Awesome Reasons to Sew With Wool! (+ 2 Ways to Wash It)

2012-03-20T18:27:00.000-04:00

Wool: sexy, hypnotic and magical! Don't be scared!

So last night I was leisurely handwashing the soft, blue and luscious Christian Dior doubleknit wool fabric I'm using for my Mad Men Challenge dress in a basin of tepid water and Eucalan...

And as I squeezed it very gently with my hands, that delicious lanolin smell wafted up to my nostrils and I thought: "Wow! I can't believe I ever was afraid of wool!"

In fact, before I started knitting with better-quality soft merino wools (thanks to the inspiring words of Elizabeth Zimmerman and The Yarn Harlot), I not only feared handwashing wool garments, I thought I was actually allergic to the stuff.* I even sought out acrylic and cotton yarns OVER wool. For real!

So in case you are still struggling with wool-o-phobia, I present (in random, arbitrary, unscientific fashion):

5 Reasons I Love Working With Wool

It keeps you warm but lets your skin breathe.
It resists odors, stains and bacteria, and rarely needs cleaning.
Wool kicks water to the curb and keeps you toasty and dry, absorbing up to 30 percent of its weight in water before even feeling wet. This is why I wear wool socks almost every day (except in the summer).
It comes in gazillions of beautiful colors and weights and styles to suit any taste. Slinky sexy soft merino wool jerseys, nubbly gorgeous sturdy tweeds and plaids, thin tropical wools, flattering drapey crepes...
It has amazing springiness and recovery and takes fabulously to pressing and steaming and shaping and fitting and tailoring (see Joan photo at top--do you think cotton can do that? I don't think so!)

Bonus Reasons For Crafty Mamas to Love Wool

Wool makes baby pee vanish. Like magic! Wool diaper soakers make the best cloth diaper covers because the lanolin in the wool does some weird tricky thing that actually just makes the urine go away as it dries. Really! (Not that I'm going to let Z pee on my Mad Men dress, mind you.) When Z was a newborn, I used the awesome and quick Sheepy Soaker pattern to make the below:
Wool fights embarrassing breastmilk leaks. I ONLY wear merino wool nursing pads (which I could have made easily, but bought--mine are LanaCare and OnGuard brands). I have a few pairs, and one dries while the other is in use. They are soft, warm, absorbent and dry, fight bacteria and don't feel cold and clammy, and can be easily handwashed as necessary.

2 Ways to Wash Wool

Handwash with gentle wool wash and tepid water. I use this method for all handknits and all my wool sweaters and wool knit tops. It's SO easy. Seriously. Just: fill a basin with tepid water, add a dash of wool wash (the real gentle lanolin-containing kind, like Eucalan, not Woolite or any harsh chemical ones) gently squeeze through, let soak 15 minutes, roll gently in a towel to remove excess water, lay flat to dry. DONE. No rinsing required!
Pam's Dry-Clean-free Fast & Easy pre-treatment method. I haven't tried this yet, but many sewists swear by it, and I love that no dry cleaner is required! Though I'm not clear on whether occasional dry-cleaning would still be required once a garment is actually worn--my guess is yes.

And as they used to say on Reading Rainbow, don't just take my word for it!

Nothing beats wool. It's an extraordinary material—annually renewable and recyclable—with infinite potential. It can be wispy and sensual when it wants to be, it can be gruff and powerful, it can put out fires and keep families warm at night, it can be stepped on, sat under, rained on, and wrapped up in again and again.
--Clara Parkes, author of The Knitter's Book of Wool

So: do you fear--or embrace--wool? And why? What's your favorite source for buying wool fabric?

*Mohair, on the other hand--that stuff turns my skin bright red in SECONDS. Yowch!