I have a Youtube Channel! How times change!

I've come an incredibly long way since starting this blog back in 2004. I've gone from being too shy to show my face on the internet, to having a Youtube channel! My channel is about a yearlong style experiment that I started earlier this year. It already has several videos up for your consideration, on the subjects of style, fashion and sewing. Here's my first video in which I talk about why I started my channel (though I also wrote a little about that below):




I do hope you enjoy my videos and maybe consider subscribing if you like that sort of thing. The most recent is my first one I made with proper video editing software -- not just an app with the most basic features like I was using before. The other day, I finally sat down and taught myself how to do it, and I'm quite proud of myself:



Making the thumbnails (the cover picture) is also quite fun!

Writing this post has gotten me thinking about how much things have changed since I started hanging out on the internet back in 2004. For many years, I was too shy to share my face (let alone my whole body!) on the internet. I was incredibly self-conscious about it. For example, I was into knitting and crocheting hats for a few years. I couldn't convince anyone I knew to model them, so I bought a head model from Ebay just so I could share them online. (I still have her -- her name is Hedda!)

I often found myself in a ridiculous situation where I wanted to sew clothes, but I was too self-conscious to share them on my blog. I wanted to share everything craft-related here, so if I didn't feel I could share it, I didn't make it! It was a piece of topsy-turvy logic that seems funny to me now. (...and yes, I ended up with a big stash of fabric I never used!)

Joining Instagram a few years ago changed things immensely for me. Seeing other people with similar body types to mine helped me to come out of my shell. I started posting photos of my face, and later, my whole body. I began to enjoy fashion more when I saw the possibilities, after having given up on it years earlier. I wanted to make my own clothes again, like I used to when I was a teenager. I did make a skirt last year, but I was so out of practice and made so many mistakes, that I was too embarrassed to blog about it. Here's a picture of it anyway:

The stars must have been aligning early this year, when I had a strong urge to get my fashion/style house in order, and saw this video about a 365 day style challenge. I decided to do one of my own! I'm not usually that impulsive (maybe it was a pandemic thing), but there you are. At first I was going to document it through my blog like I've done with so many projects before, but I became increasingly convinced that it wasn't the right format. It can be hard to describe something so personal -- and sometimes complicated -- in writing. Some things are just easier to talk about. About a month after I started, I decided I may as well try documenting it in video form, and started a Youtube channel to support that.

I've learned so much from starting this project -- not only about fashion and style, but about making videos. It's been a steep learning curve, fun, sometimes frustrating, but always satisfying, and I hope there are many more videos to come!

Unfinished Crafts, June 2021

Plushy Letters : O

Continuing the plushy letter theme from my last post, I started a Plushy 'O', as it seemed the second easiest letter to design after 'I'.

Floral Skirt

I started this skirt a few months ago, and it's almost finished. I just need to finish the bottom hem, and I'll probably add some of this lace to it. To be honest, it's deep Winter here now, and this is a rather summery skirt, so I'll probably put it aside until the season comes around again and work on other things in the meantime.

Grannyland Blanket

This is such an easy go-to project to grab when I'm feeling the urge to craft, but don't want a lot of brain-work to do. I realised a while back that the overall blanket will look better if I edge each square in the same colour. I finally got around to purchasing some wool for the purpose. I don't know why I chose red. Black is too common for this purpose, and I'm already making another blanket with white edgings. I thought about the primary colours and red just felt like the right one. I've started the epic task of adding one row of red to each of the 36+ squares. To be honest, I'm still not sure what dimensions I want the finished blanket to be, so there may be more squares before this thing is through!

Art Projects

The last two projects are ones that I'm doing under my artist umbrella, rather than 'private' craft projects. They're both still in the early stages, so I won't talk about them too much now. They both involve a lot of cross-stitch, bead embroidery, knitting and other crafty details, so I thought I'd mention them here at least.

Take care and keep on crafting!

Craft Goals for 2021 - My Make 9!

The Make 9 craft challenge has been around for a few years now, but with everything that happened last year, I had completely forgotten about it. Even when I was reminded by seeing other people's goals popping up here and there on the internet, I hesitated. It just seems strange to plan for the future these days. Finally though, last week I felt an urge to work on some craft projects again and thought, maybe I'd like to do a Make 9 anyway!

(The accompanying pictures aren't really relevant, they're just nice backgrounds from photos I found on my phone!)

I deliberately made the goals very vague. My interests tend to change rapidly and without warning, so I wanted goals that would accommodate anything I was interested in at any given time. I did take the chance and looked through my current and planned projects list to add some to the grid. I made sure to choose some smaller projects, with the awareness that I'm starting 6 weeks late. Here are my thoughts:

1. something I want - probably my next sewing project: a skirt from a blue/silver floral fabric I bought recently. Hopefully it will be more successful than my last sewing project!
2. something I need - a pair of shorts, because I need them. Not sure what fabric to use yet.
3. a gift - a secret project! Ideally I'd like to have it done by the end of March.
4. a long term project - Green Plushy Monster. It's not that long term, I guess, maybe 18 months. But he only needs some arms and maybe a fuzzy hairdo and he'll be done.
5. a small project - to finish off: Trollen Braid. Over Christmas I had a mini-obsession with making trollen braids (a new-to-me craft). I started 2 and I'd like to finish at least one.
6. for a festive time - future project: Christmas garland. I bought some supplies to make a Christmas garland a couple of years ago and haven't gotten around to putting them together yet. It can sit on the back burner until close to the end of the year.
7. spliced - Lace Gilet - an experimental work in progress at the moment. I bought two lace dresses and want to try to splice them together into a gilet (sleeveless cardigan thingy).
8. altered - pants enlargement. I bought some pants online and they were a bit small, so I'm planning a way to make them fit.
9. decorated - Tablet Weaving piece. As I talked about earlier in the year, I taught myself tablet weaving. My enthusiasm slowed down a bit on the third piece, but I'd like to finish it off and find something to use it for.

Of course, this may change at any time!

I Made a Skirt : the Novel

Here is the story of my skirt. I made it myself, and it's a tale full of twists and turns, anguish and triumph.

Prologue --

Every now and then, I want to get back into sewing, but then usually nothing happens. Last year I got to the point of actually buying some fabric. (Actually, it was the year before last, now I come to look it up!) I even had plans in mind for each of the five pieces I bought, but I ended up putting them aside again.

This has been happening for enough years that I've started to recognise it as a pattern -- every Spring and Autumn (the transitional seasons: interesting?) I get really excited about fashion and sewing, and plan to make lots of garments and cute accessories. I sometimes, as in the above case, even buy supplies, because you can never have too many craft supplies, right? Then I talk myself out of it for one or all of the following reasons: it's too hard and complicated, I don't have the skills and I'd screw it up, it wouldn't look good on me, I have no occasion to wear it, or the worst, I'd never wear it because I don't want to draw attention to myself.

I'll write more about that another time, but for now, let's tell this skirt saga!

I haven't sewn in nearly 10 years, so I thought I'd ease myself into it by making something simple -- a skirt with an elastic gathered waist. I was pretty sure I could cope with a ruffle as well. My first mistake was not measuring properly. I cut out a rectangle that was supposed to be my hip measurement plus 10 cm for some ease, and sewed it into a tube. I tried it on and realised it was way too big straight away but thought, she'll be right mate, the waistline will be gathered anyway.

Then I lost motivation and put it away for a few months. (This will turn out to be a recurring theme and is why documentation is so important!) By then I had forgotten it was way too big. I measured out some elastic for the waistband, forgetting that you need to make it a bit smaller than your waist measurement, otherwise it's too loose. I tried it on and it nearly fell off. So I unpicked the elastic and cut it shorter. I put the project aside for a while more, and by then I had forgotten that I'd already adjusted the elastic, so unpicked and re-sewed it again. The elastic was now too small!! But I had other issues...

Because the skirt itself was too big, the fabric was very bulky and made my waistline look much much bigger, as well as ruining the line of any top worn over it. I needed to reduce bulk around the waist, especially the front, so I sewed some big darts into the sides (at least I could remember how to do that, hah!). There was no need to add elastic all the way around the waist because the skirt was now much more fitted, and only needed the teensiest bit of staying-on power. So I cut a short strip of elastic (about 25cm) and just sewed it on at the centre back. Now I had a smooth area across the front.

Even though it looked totally awful and amateurish, I was determined to finish it ... after taking a couple of months off. Next thing was to add the ruffle around the bottom. I had made sure to order enough fabric for a good ruffle, so I cut the strips needed for this and sewed them into a big circle, twice the width of the skirt itself so it'd be nice and floofy. I measured the bottom hem of the ruffle all the way around (all 400+cm of it!), and folded and pressed it in place with an iron, before sewing a nice-looking hem. At least I got that right! Then I sewed it to the bottom of the skirt, and did an extra line of zig zag stitching to keep it neat.

I tried on the skirt -- and it sucked! It was longer than I'd wanted, and while the ruffle was indeed very floofy, the fabric is too heavy for that kind of treatment. The weight of it pulled down on the whole skirt, and it not only felt heavy to wear, but didn't look right either. As well, it was doing that thing where it hangs down lower in the front (do all plus size people get that problem, or is it just me?). I had forgotten that I need to adjust for that when making skirts.

I was so unsure of my own judgement that I put a poll on instagram asking for opinions: was it: too floofy, too long, both of the above, or just fine. I got about an even number of responses for all 4 options, so I had to decide for myself in the end.

I knew I had to do something because I couldn't stand it the way it was. So I cut the ruffle off, and cut about 12 cm off the bottom of the skirt. I sliced into the ruffle fabric and removed about 1/4, then sewed it back into a ring, ready to re-attach to the skirt.

To fix the low-hanging front problem, in the past I always adjusted it at the waistline, but I'd already had too many waistline issues, so I decided to try cutting the bottom edge into a curved shape along the front. Then I sewed the ruffle on again (which if you're a sewist you'll know is not the quick and easy feat that it sounds like!). I tried it on and guess what?! I had sewed the ruffle on inside-out! I didn't notice the whole time I was pinning it on, or the whole time I was sewing it! I took photos of this mistake but I was so disgusted with myself that I deleted them. Thankfully I had decided to try the skirt on BEFORE securing it with zigzag stitch, otherwise it would have been even more of a nightmare! As it was, I spent a nice Friday evening with a glass of wine and my quick-unpicker, who I decided to name Buffy to preserve my sanity a little bit.

After many tea breaks and lie-downs, I sewed the ruffle on for the THIRD time. After carefully checking it again, I did a final zigzag stitch along the ruffle seam to secure it. I was so excited at the thought that this was the final seam of this project, I can't tell you! However, the universe didn't want to release me quite yet. I ran out of bobbin thread and had to refill the bobbin. Then I ran out of upper thread and had to find a new (almost matching) thread. Then not long after installing it, the new thread snapped! I had to thread it again! All for one seam, though thankfully it won't show on the outside so no-one will notice all the stops and starts and slight colour variations.

Better, no?

Another thing I'll note: In the beginning I had tried to save time for myself by aligning the edges of the pieces up against the bound edge (selvedge) of the fabric, therefore theoretically meaning that I don't have to secure the edges with zigzag stitching or pinking shears, but it turned out to be more effort than it was worth and didn't really help at all. I had to secure it with zigzag stitch anyway and the thick selvedge edge just added bulk in most places.

I still don't really consider this skirt as 100% finished. I'd like to fix the darts in place with fusible webbing (I have some, just need to find it), and maybe add some lace to the bottom edge if I'm ever feeling brave enough.

There's the full saga of my Faux Patchwork Skirt, the first garment I've sewn in 10 years. It was pretty excruciating, I have to admit, but I have a feeling it's somehow broken a barrier and enabled me to think about what else I can make in the future. I ordered some more fabric this morning from a new-to-me shop and I'll report when it arrives!

It was extremely windy when I took these photos, so the skirt looks uneven, but it's actually just being buffeted by gale force winds. =D

Mostly for my own reference, but in case anyone is interested, here are the specs:

Fabric: quilting weight cotton ; Michael Miller "Indian Summer"
Length: 2.5 metres
Bought from: Kawaii Modes 4 U (purchased in 2018 - no longer available)
Cost: $42.15 (I'm glad I didn't remember how much it cost, or else I would have been much more upset and precious about this project than I already was!)
Pattern: n/a

First Sewing Project in Years: Face Mask

For some reason I've had a strong urge to sew recently, after literally years of umming and aahing and putting it off. Occasionally I'd buy fabric but not use it; I'd just stash it. I know why I was procrastinating -- I'd lost the manual to my sewing machine and was worried I'd forgotten how to use it (re-threading the bobbin is the trickiest part). Worse than that, I was worried that my 25-year-old machine no longer worked!

With all of that on my mind, I have no idea where the strong urge to sew came from, but I got out my machine and gave it ago. I'm happy to report that the machine still works, and I made up my own 'manual' by sketching the bobbin and how the thread is arranged in situ. In fact, it seems to work even better now than it used to. Perhaps it's the patience of age which makes me run the machine slower than I used to?

I found a half-finished project from a few years ago. It was a pouch but I couldn't remember exactly how I was going to make it. When I saw this Face Mask pattern from The Stitching Scientist online, I thought it would be a good easy project to practice with. Not to mention current.

I went through my smallish stash of scraps until I found a piece of fabric large enough:

I thanked my past self for washing them years ago, though they did need ironing. Thankfully I also found some nice elastic in my findings stash. I cut out the pieces according to the pattern. I made the side bindings 1cm wider than the original, because I wasn't quite sure how that part worked, and I thought it better to be safe than sorry.

After sewing the front and back, and gathering the side pleats:

After inserting the elastic and sewing on the binding:

I'm really glad I have my pinking shears. They make it so easy to prevent fabric from fraying without having to muck around with double seams, etc. I got pretty confused about how the binding is finished off, and I think I fudged it a bit, but it still looks okay, I think: (Actually, I neatened it up a bit more after taking this photo.)

The finished product! Can you see me smiling at you?

It's a little loose around the nose, but a dart or shirring would fix that. Or use a shaped version, many patterns for which can be found online. And remember -- this type of cloth mask doesn't protect you from catching a virus.

Then I asked Husband if he would like one, and he said yes, and even offered up a spare Star Wars pillowcase that he had to make it from.

I matched it with some blue fabric I had on hand, which I think is left over from a sheet that I made into a skirt (maaaany years ago). I followed the same process but forgot to insert the elastic! Thankfully I realised straight away and was able to fix it without too much fuss.

Finished!

He looks awesome, huh!
I've already started work on my next project -- a skirt. Updates soon!

101 Things in 1,001 Days #2 : One Year To Go

I've just realised that I only have 1 year left to go in my second 101 Things in 1,001 Days project! A year seems like a long time but hardly any time at all, simultaneously. I don't know about you, but when I'm in this situation, it's tempting to start thinking about all the things I won't have time for, so I thought I'd have a look at some things I can/will do in the next year.

#10 Create a Pleasing Garden
This plan is going very well, thanks to some planning, hard work and visits by various tradesmen. I have a general plan for the garden overall, and more detailed plans for some areas. As the weather is cooling down now, it's too late to plant any new plants, so I can focus on helping the ones I've already planted through the Winter, and installing some other stuff that you normally find in a nice garden. Husband and I have discussed the kind of outdoor furniture we want so we can actually spend time in the garden next Spring.

A 'before' shot!
#56 go overseas
This is (hopefully) happening! Husband, my Mum and I are going to Europe for a month at the end of this year, if everything goes according to plan. It's been 10 years since I last went overseas; here's a picture of that:

#69 Make Cheese
I'm completely obsessed with dairy products lately, for some reason, and I've already been experimenting with making yoghurt and some strained yoghurt variants (blog post coming soon!). Actual cheese is a lot more complicated, but I'm feeling an urge to give it a go.

#36 Do The Sketchbook Project
This is a new project. I swapped out an item I didn't want to do anymore and replaced it with this one. Sometimes that happens when new things crop up or I just lose motivation to do something I originally put on the list. The Sketchbook Project is an organisation in the U.S. that has a library of artist books. For a fee, you can purchase a book, fill it, and then send it back to them, where it will be held in the library forever. Many of them have been digitised and you can view them online. It's a rabbit hole that can amuse you for hours on end.

#38 Finish Duplicating my Blog
My poor blog has been through a lot in the 15+ years it's been around. A couple of years ago I started a project to transfer all of the posts from LiveJournal to Blogger. Halfway through that, the photo hosting site I was using decided to start charging an exhorbitant fee for their services. I wouldn't have minded if it was reasonable, but it wasn't. I downloaded all of my photos from that site (15 years' worth!) and re-uploaded them to Blogger. That took a really long time, too. I only have one thing left to do, and that's post a re-direct notice to my original blog so people know that it's not actually dead.


#39 finish Konmariing my emails
When I first started this project a few years ago, I had over 5,000 emails. I created a series of sub-folders for emails that need actioning, to read, links to online shops, courses, etc. Every day (or 5 times a week at least), I worked to reduce it and now there are around 100 emails. I can't seem to reduce it any more though, no matter how hard I try. I've unsubcribed to countless newsletters but I still receive 10-20 emails a day. I really want to try and find a solution so I can end this project, but I have a sinking feeling that it will be ongoing. Perhaps it's more realistic to find a way to minimalise the amount of time/work I spend on it.


#87 Sew 5 Garments
For some reason I've been intensely into sewing in just the last week or so, after a slump of many years. I made a face mask as my first, 'ease in' project, and I'm currently working on a skirt. This is the fabric I'm using. Again, a blog post is forthcoming!

#74-#78 Various Reading Goals
The obsession I had with reading for the last few months has abated a bit, but I still think I can tick off a few things. One of my goals was to read 5 books from LibraryThing's top 106 unread books list (based on the tags people use in their catalogues). I've read 2 already so I'm well on the way.
Another goal was to re-read the Harry Potter series; I don't feel like it right now but as the weather starts to cool into Autumn, it might return.
I decided a few years ago to re-read Dickens' A Christmas Carol every Christmas, just because it's a good reminder to be nice to people, and it only takes a couple of hours.

These are the books I had earmarked for my most
recent reading challenge -- I read less than half!

#62 Make 12 New Recipes from my Cookbooks
I have a tendency to go straight to the internet when I need a recipe or to check how to make something. Between us though, Husband and I have over 100 cookbooks, and we've moved them to a special bookcase near the kitchen, so it would be a shame not to use them! I've already made 2, so I have a bit of a way to go, but I love food and cooking so it seems reasonable. (Actually, I made lemon juice cheese from my cheese-making book a few weeks ago, so if that counts, it's 3.)


#101 write a New 101 List
There's almost no doubt that I'll be doing a third 101 Things in 1,001 Days, so this one goes without saying.

Top Secret Project #1

Well, hello! The last few weeks have been a little bit nuts. There's just been way too much ... life ... going on to be doing much crafting. But it's mostly been the good sort of life, so I can't complain too much.

Here, finally, is the reveal of Top Secret Project #1:

Yup, it's a ring cushion! Yup, I got married! Surprise!

It was a very small and no-fuss wedding with very few of the normal accoutrements, but for some unfathomable reason, I became fixated on having a ring cushion. And on making it myself. And on incorporating all of my favourite crafts into it. I had very little time, though!

I mulled over a few different designs in my head before making a crocheted backing (which I showed off a few posts ago). I wanted an embroidery on the front, but didn't have time to execute it, so Boy** suggested that I buy a vintage piece. The doiley I bought had a lovely piece in the corner, but when I cut it out, it didn't fit in well with the crochet piece I'd already made. I fixed that though, by sewing it to a brown fabric backing and edging the border with some lovely lace. I added some beads and flower bits from my stash, and some ribbons to tie the rings on to. (A blue one for Boy and a pink one for me, of course!) Lastly I stuffed it lightly and hand-sewed the crochet square to the back.

So there it is.
I had thought of re-purposing it as a pin cushion after the wedding, but I did notice that the vintage fabric really showed up pinholes from when I pinned it together to sew it. So perhaps that's not such a good idea after all. I'll see what I can do.

---

** Or should that be Husband now, instead of Boy??

Those Old Things?...

Recently I mentioned that I had some old sewing projects kicking around that I was sure would surface when I was moving house. Well, I found them! Five of them. I can't be bothered going into too much detail, so I let the pictures speak for themselves. Heh.

(( In the order that I found them... ))

I'll probably ditch most of these projects, but I don't have the brain power to think about them properly at the moment, so I'm delaying making a decision.

Things I Made and Did

Monday! Hmph! Tonight when I got home from work, I was so determined to do something crafty that I went ahead and got out my sewing machine! I had a few minutes of panic when I couldn't find the foot pedal, but thankfully I remembered seeing a tangle of cords in the bedroom last week and there it was! I'm itching to get into so many sewing projects, but I haven't actually sewn in years, and I started with something simple - some fabric bookmarks!:

I made them as gifts for my lovely customers. I had a sale the other day! My first in about 4 months, so I'm very chuffed and feeling in the mood to go that extra mile. Although there's one bookmark which is so wonky, I'd feel bad about even giving it away for free! So I'll keep that one for myself. A girl can never have too many bookmarks!

Also, this is something I started about a month ago, but was too lazy busy to take any photos. It's a couch cover. A big project! It's very loosely based on a bedspread I saw in a magazine (it was a while back and I can't remember which one now). I made up the pattern myself, and at first the squares turned out a little bit wonky! See the wrinkles:

But as you can see from the 'after' picture, I took out a few stitches on each side, and they sit nice and flat now. Here's a pic of two sewn together. I've made 4 1/2 so far.

I'm quite prepared for this project to take a year or more. But then - if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth it, would it?

Book Review: Jane Austen's Sewing Box

Jane Austen's Sewing Box explores the Regency Period crafts mentioned in the novels of Jane Austen. Craft work was integral to women's lives at the time, and so is referred to frequently in all of her writing. A knowledgeable yet entertaining introduction explains the perception of women and their role in society of the time. The sewing of clothes and manchester for themselves, male relatives and impoverished neighbours was known as 'women's work', and every respectable woman was to be seen with a work basket prominently placed in the home. 'Fancy work', as decorative embroidery was then known, was an acceptable activity to perform in front of guests, and allowed a woman to show off her skill and wealth - having the leisure time to work on unnecessary items was a sign of status in society. There is also a section on materials used at the time and how they were made, which is indispensable for anyone wishing to make truly authentic period pieces.

There are 18 projects, covering sewing, knitting, netting, glass painting, and papercraft, all of which are based on actual craft projects or handmade items mentioned in Jane Austen's novels. An introduction to each one, with quotes from Austen's writing, explains the item's context in womens' daily life. The projects are rated Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, and those that contain mixed crafts (e.g. sewing and embroidery) are specified. Some projects, such as the Cravat or Muff, are not very practical and would appeal more to an enthusiast of the period. Others, like the Embroidered Work Bag or the Huswife (a pouch for keeping sewing tools in) would be very handy even today.

The first thing that struck me about this book was how beautifully designed it was. Period wallpaper and fabric designs border every page. The liberal full-page close-up photographs of furniture details and luscious coloured fashion plates could be construed as filler, but to me it had the effect of immersing me in the aesthetic of the time.

The second thing that struck me was the vagueness of the instructions. They're accompanied by hand-drawn diagrams, but not every step is illustrated. There are very few templates; instead we are told to cut a rectangle with an oval at the top 10cm high, for example. Personally, if I had to hand-draw that myself, it would look rather wonky. Some of the embroidery patterns require enlarging on a photocopier, whereas they would have easily fitted into the book at life size. To me, this detracts from the authentic historical feel of the creative process.

Despite the fact that some projects are labelled Beginner, I would not feel confident at all following the instructions if I had never tried that craft before. I have never done netting for example, and even though there are diagrams, I found myself at a loss. Perhaps it's a case where it would all fit together once I started, but I don't like working that way. By and large, the finished projects are photographed with either artistic blurring or from an odd angle or both, which make them of no use for the struggling crafter needing a visual reference. There are also a few errors - in Paper Flowers, for example, the materials list includes ribbon, which is not actually used in the construction.

Regardless of these flaws, I found Jane Austen's Sewing Box a delight. The mixture of history lesson and literature appreciation is highly readable, and I'm very enthusiastic about trying some of the projects, even if they do need a bit of nutting out. The Carpetwork Cushion (aka Tapestry work or Needlepoint) caught my eye in particular, and I think I need about 10 Huswives. I have a sudden urge for everything in my life to be floral.

I wonder what Boy thinks of that?