The Evolution of Skill: Skill vs. Dreams

I’ve had some time to reflect lately, and some of this post was inspired by the amazing conversations I had with Andrea of Stitch Parade, as I had the great pleasure of meeting her this past Thursday (she wrote a lovely blog post about it here).

We had a great discussion about knowing what styles work on us; not just because of our figures, but our personalities. I thought about this a lot on my travels home that day, and have been since then. That was the main inspiration for this post.

Also, at one point in our discussion, Andrea had asked me how I got into sewing, and it made me think. That was the other part of my inspiration.

My journey to sewing has been a bit backwards. I grew up with a familiarity towards sewing (my mum is an amazing seamstress, and used to make all our clothes, as well as tailor my dad’s suits, growing up). But despite the fact I always had an INTEREST in sewing and design, I didn’t develop the PATIENCE for sewing until I was in my late 20′s, and only began teaching myself just over a year ago.

That’s partly the reason I say I’m backwards, but also because I like to dive in the deep end with things – it’s the challenging, scary stuff that really excites me! As an artist, exploring new genres of creativity is my lifeblood – so this process is not new to me, and I typically learn the skill part of things very fast and then savour the process of perfecting them thereafter.

When I first started sewing just over a year ago, I had in my mind visions of perfectly fitting, stylish, unique and high quality clothes that would reflect on the outside who I truly am on the inside. I’d studied in depth the theory and science of draping and corsetry and had fallen head over heels in love!!

I began with such excitement; so much to learn, conquer and accomplish! And even better; I’d discovered the awesomeness that is this sewing community – a boundless support system of beautiful people, endless inspiration and so much information

But with so many decisions to make I quickly became distracted… I made garments that didn’t suit me in colours and fabrics that weren’t me. What’s worse, my dreams moved faster than my skills and I found it difficult to achieve the perfect fit and finish I’d dreamed of right away (gee, what a shock! lol)

I soon came to a phase where I was creating really slowly… I just wasn’t excited about my makes. I’d learned a lot in a short time, but my garments went unworn and I started to lose my passion. They were made well, and I was proud of my execution, but I had been more concerned with making garments that would ‘fit in’ and be ‘blog interesting’ rather than garments that reflected my own style.

The first step in the right direction was making my Bombshell Dress. I made it in colours I adored, a fabric I loved, and a style that screamed ME!! The combination of advanced techniques, including having to drape the bodice cups, was absolute aphrodisiac to me… I was in heaven!

I vowed after that not to make anything else that wasn’t me… I wanted to feel excited about sewing all the time! Of course, nothing since has been quite as intoxicating as making that dress, and one can’t exactly go around wearing boned vintage dresses everywhere, but it was a turning point.

So back at Square One, I still had no wardrobe and what little I did have was getting too big, as I was losing weight. I read a post by Steph C of Cake Patterns about creating a capsule wardrobe: carefully choosing a limited colour palette and a selection of garments that could work together. It’s a smart idea, and just what I need to keep me on track, ensuring my makes fit my style and what I’ll actually wear.

Since then a wonderful thing has happened: I’m making clothes I actually wear and I’ve found myself loving the process a lot more. I love planning, I love creating and I love the fact I’m finally building a wardrobe that feels like me. I’m developing MY style, and I’m letting myself sew colours I love without apology. Yes there’s a lot of black and red. I’m ok with that. I can see my skills catching up with my dreams and its pretty rad.

So I don’t participate in community sewalongs or challenges as much – but even though I don’t sport the Seamless badge, I haven’t bought any RTW in months; and though I don’t join in sewalongs or pledges as much, I can still live vicariously through all you wonderful, colourful, spontaneous sewists out there – I’ll keep sewing alongside you though…. in my ‘boring’ blacks and solid colours and simple styles ^__^

Lots of love & happy sewing – whatever your colours and styles! ^_^

And thank you, Andrea, for your wonderful company and for the amazing conversation we shared – I look forward to next time! ^_^

Love & Loss; Fun & Games

Hello friends!

It’s been a heckuva 2 weeks or so!

So after my last post I haven’t done a darn thing in terms of project work. The last day of my job was approaching and honestly, it was too hard for me to focus, with trying to figure out finances & job searching.

Then last Friday was my birthday, and my partner and I (who are huge gamer nerds, FYI) trekked down to Seattle (just a few hours from here) to attend NA’s largest public gaming convention, Pax Prime!!

Here’s us on the bus very early Friday morning:

Pax Prime is 3 days of gaming bliss: nonstop panels, shows, parties & demos – we had a blast!

We even attended a party held offsite for a game we’re both super excited for; Dishonored – the party was a murder mystery held in the mansion of Lady Boyle; a character from the game.

It was an awesome weekend but I’m glad to be back home – I missed my kitties so bad & my fluffy one (Mama’s boy, Starsky!) still hasn’t forgiven me entirely yet ^__^

Now we’re back & reality must set in. But before I became a hobo (LOL) I had ordered some custom labels with my logo on them – very nice quality embroidered damask – and they arrived today to help cheer me up!

I love them & can’t wait to start adding them to my creations! I know this will help me really focus on attention to detail & think of my clothing as I do my design; as representing me and my quality

It’s still hot here – summer isn’t through with us yet! Hopefully I can get back my focus & deal with all the business-y stuff so I can get some project work done too!

Hope you’re all well – I’m trying to catch up on posts missed so forgive me if I’m a bit behind!

Musings of a bombshell

Hi all! I wanted to share some of my musings from my time making the Bombshell Dress with Gertie

I’ll start by saying, this class was a huge deal for me, as I only had a handful of basic garments under my belt prior to taking it, and by all accounts, had no business taking on something so advanced. But Gertie’s teaching made it very clear and understandable, and as a result, I have a beautiful garment & a whole pile of new techniques, not to mention a huge elevation of confidence in my skills!

The biggest revelation I had was how much I LOVED the hand sewing!! I loved it so much I opted to sew the zipper in by hand!! It is slow, meticulous & methodical, and made me appreciate every stitch, which I found deeply satisfying.

Although I’ve done pattern adjustments, this was also my first experience with draping/redrafting, and I really enjoyed the process, although I really do wish I had a dress form! lol

I really loved the process of adding my own seam allowance & thread tracing (another first for me!) – it’s just not possible to get this level of accuracy with regular techniques. In addition, I found the couture method of applying underlining very slow, satisfying and beautiful.

Overall I loved the precision and attention to detail, even in the things people don’t see; I hid all these pretty red details inside my dress, just for me! It also opened my eyes to how I could add couture and vintage techniques to other patterns, and not to always be so reliant on instructions.

A brief rundown on my firsts in making this dress and new skills learned:

1) adding seam allowance to a pattern without SA included
2) thread tracing
3) hand basting underlining to main fabric
4) draping/redrafting bust cups
5) shaping & structuring fabric
6) fell stitching
7) cutting & tipping steel boning
8) sewing boning channels
9) making/adding a waist stay
10) lapped zipper
11) hand picking zipper
12) installing zipper guard
13) making button holes (yeah lol)
14) making skirt vent
15) hand stitched invisible hem using seam binding

This experience has definitely taken my sewing to a whole new level, and I plan on carrying the things I’ve learned forward, to make garments I LOVE… not just passable ones ^__^

The Wave of Change… an Artist’s Journey

I have been slack in my posts and my projects lately, because as of late, I have been swept up in a tumultuous wave of change crashing through my life.

I’ve been working at the same design firm for almost seven years… which is the longest I’ve worked anywhere. This can mainly be attributed to the fact that the people I work with, including my bosses, are wonderful people – like family to me.

I have come a long way since I first started here. I took a production artist position, knowing there was no guarantee that I would ever get an artist’s chair. Eventually I was given a small job to test my skills, and it all exploded from there… to this day, where I can say I’ve earned my badges at being a skilled senior designer, packaging design expert, and illustrator.

The company is shifting and has been for some time now, though, so the opportunities for me to do creative work have been less and less, and so the inevitable has happened; I’m moving on.

There have been tears and laughter, incredible triumphs and some painful learning experiences. I am sad to see this part of my life end, but I’ve been stuck in place for a long time and I’m excited for more growth and challenge again.

I will still be working part time for awhile yet, and will retain work for them as an independent contractor, but there is definitely some big changes ahead. I don’t know yet whether I will move on to work for another firm, or open my own business and take contract work.

I’m scared but excited… I am a bit sad but I can’t help but look eagerly ahead to what awaits me. I know I will take with me the best of these last seven years, and build on them.

I am talented, intelligent, experienced and skilled… driven and passionate. I am positive, optimistic, and joyful!

I am a Creative.

the 1960′s: Mad Men & Simplicity

I have always been a huge fan of the fashion, hair & makeup from the 60′s. When I was a kid, I pored over the pictures of my mum from back then, admiring the clean lines, graphic colours, and sense of playfulness and creativity they conveyed. I proudly told people my mum got married in a pants suit she made herself: a long tunic and wide pants in cream, edged with gold braid – it was gorgeous!

I have heard about Mad Men a lot lately, and seen countless pics of that style vixen, Joan – but just recently realized it was about an ad agency!! Well hello? I’m a graphic designer so there were two undeniable reasons I should check it out.

So we watched the first episode last night (yay Netflix!) and I loved it! Hello clothes…. but also it was enthralling because of the social stigmas, and cultural differences. I found myself saying, “wow, I could never say that to a client!” or “imagine drinking with your boss in your office!” lol but the creative angst of trying to work with clients and be innovative on cue was all too familiar to me so I totally loved that.

Now to the other part: Simplicity. Not just the style element but… this!!:

I popped into the Sally Ann after work the other day on a whim and look what I found!! The Simplicity sewing book from 1969, complete with tons of detailed info and pics, as well as a hefty section on fitting, including a full section on pants:

with several detailed and photographed instructions for each fitting issue. It also covers style details, finishing, hand stitching, working with special fabrics (the era of faux fur & leather) and lining/interlining As an added bonus the center has an insert of 4 glossy full colour spreads of fashion plates:

I was giddy!

I’ll probably post more once I get a chance to read it more thoroughly as it’s a lot more detailed than most books I’ve seen, and covers a wider variety of topics.

And I’ll definitely be catching up on the Mad Men this weekend!

The Creative Doldrums

[NB: I love that word "doldrums" - it reminds me of a book I read when I was a kid, The Phantom Tollboth]

Normally, I find inspiration everywhere – in doing research for design projects, in reading other people’s blogs and seeing what they’re creating; in fashion, in advertising and in every aspect of regular life. Often I have dreams about projects i’m working on, even working out problems I’ve come across – it’s very helpful when you wake up with that TA-DA!! fresh in your mind!! LOL.

But recently I’ve been plagued with the designer’s nemesis: chronic tension headaches which turn into migraines, for me. Weekends are my mecca: the only time I really get uninterrupted to really work out problems and gain ground on any projects I’m working on, and I spent half of the last one in bed, totally non-functional, with a massive migraine.

Needless to say, this has put a great damper on my creativity, and my drive and motivation has taken a plummet this week. It doesn’t help that Pastille is kicking my butt!! Ok it’s not the pattern’s fault, let’s face it – blame it on my inexperience, but I thought fitting a basic sheath dress would be a lot more linear and logical. As it turns out, it’s a wild wild ride, friends. LOL. I’m only hoping and praying that the things I’ve learned I can pass on to the next project and maybe it won’t be such a nightmare LOL.

The bright side is that I’m visiting the chiropractor today, for the first time in years, and hoping they’ll be able to fix broken little me LOL. In the meantime, my better half kicked my butt into gear last night and made me work on Pastille for an hour. Evil man. What would I do without him?

2011 – The Year in Review, and Looking Ahead to 2012

I thought I’d take a few minutes to reflect on the year past, as it occurred to me I have been focused so much on my goals ahead that I rarely ever take time to reflect on the things I’ve accomplished.

I don’t subscribe to the traditional New Year’s Resolutions idea – what I do is make a long term list of goals, similar to my ongoing t0-do list only on a larger scale. In 2011 however, there was one big goal for me to achieve and that was:

“To acknowledge and recognize my unique beauty the way God intended me to be instead of self-deprecating. To be the best I can be the way God made me, not how society wants me: to be a beautiful healthy vessel for HIS spirit, not the world’s”

I realize not everyone has the same beliefs, but for me, in order to overcome a crippling sense of self deprecation, and debilitating body image issues, it was essential for me to focus on my spiritual nature, and the nature of my faith and beliefs. That was my main goal for 2011, and while I am always learning and growing, I think I can say I have more or less achieved that one

Once this was accomplished, I was in a place where I could focus on healthy self growth. I focused whole heartedly on my art, rekindled my desire for fashion, and to take up sewing again, and finally, to determinedly pursue better health and wellness.

Since the fall of 2011, I’ve taught myself a few new and ambitious recipes, started a painting for the first time in years, bought a serger and taught myself how to thread and use it, completed a blouse (during which I learned several new skills), started and maintained this blog, started and maintained taking vitamins again, started and maintained a regular exercise regime, and have lost ten pounds total so far (even over the holidays!)

For 2012, I have many goals in mind. I’d like to continue the things I’ve started and see them through. I also want to make a more handmade tailored wardrobe, planned carefully and made with care and attention to detail. There are many things I’ve never done and would like to try, such as making at least one jacket (i have a fetish for jackets!!), making a corset (i also have a fetish for corsets LOL), learning the fine art of correct fitting and maybe even getting it down, as well as participating in sewalongs, contests, and community challenges.

To all my fellow sewists and artists out there, I hope to see you in some of the same forums, challenges and sewalongs – may 2012 be a year of peace, growth, learning and accomplishment for all of us!!!

Princesses Don’t Wear Polyester

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved to draw. She would draw anything from animals, to her family, to the stars above. But her most favourite thing to draw was dresses. Beautiful flowing dresses, or shorter playful ones; sleeveless or halter; princess seamed, beaded, or corseted. Visions of these lovely creations poured from her head, fit for a princess. She didn’t know what these things were called, but she knew how to draw them.

Well all dreams must end, and the girl grew up and the visions blew away in a puff of smoke in the harsh face of ready to wear trends. It was the 1980′s.

Oh what an awful decade to grow up!! – at least in terms of fashion. Androgynous shapeless styles, and all kinds of horrible unflattering fits and cuts, not to mention neon colours and plastic jewelry. Ugh!

My relationship with fashion has been strained ever since. We were not especially well off so I was never equipped with the name branded armour necessary to ensure popularity. Nope, it was K-Mart or Zellers for us, and that was before they had begun to attempt to offer more trendy options.

On top of that, I am not a slender person nor was I a slender child, so that made things even more awkward. I never figured out why something I loved on a hanger looked so terrible on me. It was my size after all, wasn’t it?! (Don’t judge me; body type analysis and What Not To Wear didn’t exist back then.) I was a girl who was doomed to be miserable in clothes forever.

When I was in my early 20′s I had a brief period of clothing bliss as I was heavily into fitness training and was wearing a closet-friendly size five. That changed though, when university became a priority, and gradually, the closet went back to being an estranged, once beloved friend.

Still, over time, with age and the accompanying wisdom; with a still deep passion for style, attention to detail, quality and beautiful fabric, and a growing acceptance of my body as it is, (not what media tells me it should be) I have come to a place where those once childish dreams can live once again in my head and heart.

I hope, through this blog, to share that passion with you, reader, and to encourage others to find their personal style no matter how elusive it may seem, or how late in life you find it

Rekindling Passions

I have been struggling lately with my connection to the things that I used to define myself by: most prominently, my passion for art and design, both in my career and in my personal work.

When an artist loses faith in her creativity and ability, it can easily become disastrous for many reasons, the least of which not being able to produce ANY work, good OR bad.

So here’s where I was, and that’s bad enough when it relates to one’s personal projects, but when it begins to affect your career, you’d better do something about it… and quick.

Trouble is, how? When your work requires you to generate ideas and creative projects on a schedule, it can be difficult enough as it is to force the creative process in order to meet deadlines. At the end of the day you’re often tapped out; finding any juice left for yourself is a tricky business. But not doing so could be potentially dangerous during a creative drought – you have to push through in order to get to the other side.

My partner and I discussed this conundrum and me being emotional, felt a great deal of despair and loss – I felt as though something of myself had been left behind somewhere far away and I had no idea where or how to begin looking for it. My partner wisely suggested that I need to do something creative without pressure. He said I should just draw.

I immediately had flashes of my life as an artist: evenings as a child, sitting in the living room drawing portraits of my family… all the moments growing up when I dreamed of what could be, and drew them on paper… then blissful times in college and university in the few classes where I felt like i was not under pressure; where I felt at ease and completely in control: Life Drawing and Illustration.

I knew that this was brilliance at its most pure. It was the only thing that I could do to rekindle the passion I had seemingly lost. I have renewed hope again. I have a fresh sketchbook I went and got on the weekend to make this happen. I don’t care if anyone ever looks at it… it’s for me – a vehicle to find myself again. I’m pretty certain there’s a fresh-faced, wide-eyed version of myself eagerly waiting for me down that path and I can’t wait to reconnect with her.

A Little Musing

I have read a lot of books, blogs and articles on sewing and fashion, and it occurred to me lately that I never really got the opportunity to be a beginner.

Yes I said OPPORTUNITY. Let me explain.

First of all, I’m overly ambitious in everything I do, and I have a tendency to jump into the deep end with everything, tackling an advanced project with complete belief that I can handle it even when I have no earthly business doing such a thing, because I’ve never learned the basics like a normal person would LOL. This can work well for me because I have no hangups and no fears, so I don’t hold myself back needlessly. On the other hand, I have learned that I need to temper that with the knowledge that mistakes are OK, and it’s part of the way I have chosen to learn.

Some people take baby steps and learn to do each one well before moving on, which builds confidence and basic skills. I take giant leaps and end up fixing giant mistakes as a result, and this can be discouraging if one isn’t positive.

So the other reason I haven’t been able to be a true beginner is because I was very blessed to have a mum who is an extremely talented, accomplished seamstress, and as a result, I was quite familiar with fittings and pinnings and the whirr of a sewing machine right from babyhood. She made it look easy, thus I always assumed I could do it too, if I put my mind to it. Again, partly good, partly bad… good as an adult who’s learned temperance… bad as a teenager who just wants instant gratification.

So I always tackled projects that were much too hard for me and which my immaturity could not handle, because sewing requires one thing i did not have back then… PATIENCE. I had fluffy cloud dreams of gorgeous, perfectly fitting garments in lovely fabrics, but no concept of the dedication and patience it required to make them come to life.

*side note*  [so here's another odd observation. I have sewed with jersey, georgette, satin, silk, chiffon, linens, and other fabrics that caught my eye along the way but I have never ONCE sewn with a nice simple cotton.... isn't that weird??]

So I left off sewing in my late teens and have only thought about it in passing here and there since then (mendings, the odd project, simple costumes, etc, but no real wearable garments)

Until late last year, when I finally got fed up with the ridiculous sizing, terrible fit, and cheapness of fabric rampant in RTW these days. I have, as the saying goes, “champagne tastes on a beer budget” and I STILL have fluffy cloud dreams of perfectly fitting garments made of excellent quality fabrics that feel and look amazing. I believe that one needn’t be a Size 0 supermodel to have these luxuries…. real women deserve them too. But that is a musing for another time.

I’m probably not going to sew anything “easy” anytime soon. I have accepted who I am and how I do things, but I’m open minded enough to realize I would benefit from going back and re-mastering some of the basics, maybe with a better or more efficient method, so I’m exploring materials aimed at “beginners” with the hopes that I can pretend I don’t know what I already know, and maybe glean some new insight – go back to a simpler time and really spend the time to savour doing the little things really REALLY well.

This excites me! I am by nature a detail-oriented person, so being able to focus on the little things is very inspiring and I am feeling re-invigorated by the possibilities ahead.