analog me

paying attention

I find that as I repeat a project I have to start adding innovations. Otherwise, I don't concentrate my mind moves off to other jobs, my hands go on autopilot, and mistakes are made.

Adding pockets and gathers were the innovations that helped me keep me mindfull of my sewing through the first half of making my newest Gingery skirt.

But when I started assembling the skirt (which I had done 3 times before) I started daydreaming, put the zipper in wrong, which led to waistband problems, and then ripping, sewing, swearing, ripping, and, finally, I opened a beer. This made concentration difficult enough that I had to slow down and pay attention. Then, I finished it up. Hmm maybe this is Oona's trick?

I have one more Ginger planned.

I'm going to add piping, pockets and something else guaranteed to keep me on task:

Hippos!

 

Messiness has its rewards

Sometimes when you have fabirc and zippers and patterns laying all over your room, and then you scoop it all up and dump it in a chair, the disorder leads to a previously unimagined combination.

Batik fabric from Ghana+Big metal Zipper salvaged from a jacket+Ginger pattern=

Exposed Zipper Ginger! I never would have thought of that if I had tried.

I only had one yard of this fabulous fabric I bought from a textile artist from Ghana a couple years ago. She made the print by carving a pattern in styrofoam, dipping it in wax, printing the fabric with the wax and then dying the fabric. The wax resists the dye, making the pattern and then she removes the wax and washes the fabric, so it's a pretty involved process. Because it is all hand stamped, the fabric doesn't really have regular repeats.

I've decided the Ginger pattern actually needs a couple of tweaks. See how the center front is wrinkling? I think that an A-line skirt like this needs the front to be a bit more scooped out at the top. My other blue Ginger does this too. It's a liitle thing, but I'm going to fix this and some of the corners that really should be 90 corners where they intersect with the waistband.

Then I'm going to see if my messy room has any other interesting combinations to be made.

Anyone else ever have a happy accident like this? 

Portrait of a Dragon Lady

I was in a historical museum this week and met this woman. I can't decide whether she is horrible— or just what I aspire to.

Yes, the artist named the portrait of his aunt "Dragon Lady."

At first she looks like one of those terrifyingly formidable ladies of a certain age. But I'm also attracted to a tough cookie who didn't let anyone pull anything over on her.

I suppose I was attracted to this picture because the documentation of my Me Made outfits results in a lot of photos of myself that have a Dragon Lady element. I always delete them in favor of the happy looking me.

I really enjoyed your comments in response to my last post in which I pleaded for help with the photography of my outfits. But it's pictures like this that make me realize that the difficulty of taking self-portraits goes beyond simple logistics. There is the problem of which self one wants to immortalize. 

So here I am looking not very fierce. (But I am going to try for a dragon lady look later this week.)

I designed this color blocked T-shirt to use up smaller pieces of jersey I had leftover after making a long-sleeved Purple T-shirt and a sort of odd skirt. I'm going to try and make a tute for this as it's a great style and utilizes smaller lengths of fabric. Those are a pair of Jalie Jeans, and I swear that is just water on my stomach. I gave up on the hem for this and left it raw. I think I actually need a coverstich machine because these hems always kill me. 

Next up, my navy Blue Ginger, a kimono T and an old liberty skirt turned into a scarf. This was a great outfit except I was desperate for pockets. 

My darling dumpster dived the bench, but we can't sit in the center as it is cracked. Like the lady below.

Believe it or not, this was the only photo of this series in which I didn't look like Dragon Lady. Instead I look like someone in a Garden for the Insanely Overenthusiastic. I made all my clothes except the socks and bra on May 1.

Of course I wore clothes on other days too, but it was more of the above: jeans, t-shirt and sweater.

There was more big excitement! I bought my first pair of shoes in over a year. 

Sadly, there is not a huge selection of women's Steel Toe Utility Shoes. Happily, this makes the decision-making process painless if extremely unfashionable.  What's next? Hi Vis fashion perhaps? No, a great new Ginger skirt. . . . 

May Day Pledge

Of all the online events that I have joined over the years, two have really made a difference in my life. The first was signing up with the now-defunct Wardrobe Refashion group several years ago, realizing that I could live without buying new clothes and making my first internet sewing friends.

From Wardrobe Refashion I found Zoe and her now-famous Me Made May ( or was it March?). The challenge of wearing self-made clothes for a month made me think a lot more about actually wearing my self-made stuff, instead of just making it and then hanging it up in the closet and reverting to the "uniform" of RTW.

Have you ever been at a sewing store and looked at all the customers buying fabric and patterns and wondered why no one seems to be wearing anything beyond obviously store-bought jeans and T-shirts? Then have you looked down and thought oh crap, I am one of them !  I want to integrate my sewing self with the getting dressed self more often--and I want it to be fun.

Do you suppose the ladies in this 1951 Singer store were wearing Self-Stitched Clothes?  

The inspiring part of MMM, has been seeing other people's individual garments evolving into outfits and even a style. Yes, I love the reveal of a new skirt, but seeing it styled different ways throughout a month is—for me—the most interesting aspect. 

So yes, count me in and this time it really will be a major challenge because I start a new job contract on May 1. I'll have to dress for some different situations while being pretty nervous about not sticking out in my homemade clothes. Yet, I know that my confidence will only be boosted by knowing that I made part of each outfit with my own damn hands! So,

I, Sigrid of Analog Me, do sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear at least 2 me-made garments each day for the duration of May 2012'

And, I'm going to try and ENJOY taking those photos of my outfits.

Oh Crap, It's Camera Time again.

I need some help here. I have to admit, I have never gotten to the stage where I can actually enjoy taking what my son calls "selfies." This is going to be my real challenge, enjoying the self-portrait aspect of documentation. Any advice? Maybe an adoring young male photographer at my feet? Well, asking my teenage sons to do that has had mixed results in the past.

Crochet interlude

Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy making fabric with a hook and a ball of thin yarn.

Fabric unplugged.

It is pretty rare that I think, " I need a lacey shawl." But once I finish, its  just the thing I want wrap around my shoulders. 

I have so many ideas of things I NEED to make or do right now, so I am enjoying just making something one stitch at a time.