Changing Shapes

In case you were wondering, I haven't done any garment sewing for a few weeks. We had a bloody inter-species riot among the non-humans of the household: The Angry Terrier bit the foot of The Noisy Parrot. The OCD Chihuahua and The Meek Cockatiel disavow any knowledge of the incident. The injured party is quarantined in the sewing room for his safety. There's not much room to move around in there, so I've put off any sewing projects for the time being.

That gives me an opportunity to look through my pattern collection, which is large. I don’t want to specify exactly how large; let’s just say it’s in the hundreds but it hasn’t yet reached the thousands. Why so many? I don’t know. Why do we collect anything?

I do sew some of them, but mostly I enjoy looking at the artwork. Pattern envelopes have provided a near-perfect record of changing fashions - for the everyday woman of average means - since the late 19th century. The hairstyles, accessories, and sometimes odd poses add so much to the flavor of each decade of style reflected in the drawings.

I have a number of patterns from the 1960s, which I think of as a lively, youthful decade, and most of the patterns reflect that. They also reflect the cyclical nature of fashion - from structured, fitted garments to loose, unrestrictive clothes and back again. These patterns come from the time when the tiny waists and huge skirts of the late 40s through 50s were being replaced by A-lines and straight shift dresses.

Like these:

The waists are not fitted, just crimped with a belt

What do we call these? Is it a shift, or a sheath? Or a chemise?

Some fun details

I know from experience that these are not flattering to my pear shape, but the stick-like ladies on the pattern envelopes look just adorable in these dresses.

Here are some two-piece versions

It was probably quite a relief after girdles and long lines to slip into these waistless dresses. Just toss it on and go.

The same silhouette, but fitted at the waist.

Do you remember these dresses? Did your friends and family wear them?



Katrina

Cool Beans

I do love me some green beans. But my poor little bean plants haven’t been happy with the cold weather. They started off well, and I had high hopes. Here they are at the end of November, with little pods already growing.
But then we had a series of very cold nights, plus some windy days, and I think the plants may have had too much to deal with at once. Even the wonderful rains we had a few weeks ago did not seem to perk them up. The plants are yellowish, droopy, and producing very little.

I picked these yesterday.

I also got one very good harvest a couple of weeks ago.

There are lots of tiny pods still on the plants, but I don’t expect them to develop unless the plants decide to perk up. I’ve given them a bit of fertilizer, and increased the watering. Maybe they will come back to life and give me some more beans – fingers crossed!

Katrina

Starting the Year with Work in Progress

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you are all well-rested and ready to dive in to whatever 2012 has in store for us. I am still finishing a few projects from the holiday week, including this embroidery sampler.

I haven’t done any of this type of stitchery since my early teens, so I decided to get some practice before starting on intricate designs or anything I wanted to display.

My taste in stitchery patterns varies widely, and I love many of the designs coming from companies like Urban Threads and Sublime Stitching.

Urban Threads (some designs are on sale until tomorrow - Jan 3!)

Sublime Stitching - great retro designs

They have retro, punk, steam, fantasy, pinups and zombies…truly, this is not your grandmother’s embroidery!

For my first little test run I figured it was just as easy to download some free clip art and transfer it to fabric. If you google “coloring pages” or “mandala” you will get thousands of clearly outlined shapes of varying complexity. This one is a comparatively simple lotus mandala I downloaded from one of the coloring page websites.

I used a red heat-transfer pencil to trace the printed design and then ironed it on to my fabric. It transferred well enough, but gave me a barely-visible pink line to follow. My poor old eyes don't need that much exercise! Next time I will try a dressmaker’s carbon and hope for a darker impression. If that doesn’t work, it’s on to the Sulky transfer pen.

The fabric is 14-count Aida cloth, which looks as though it would be ideal for a cross-stitch project but is a bit coarse for some of my stitches. I’m uncertain about what types of fabric are best suited to embroidery for framing. I would not want to try sheeting or muslin, as the threads are so tightly woven. Broadcloth might work but it is generally quite flimsy. Canvas is clearly too heavy; I’d probably gouge my fingers trying to push the needle through. Linen is supposed to be best, but I think the weave can be quite uneven. Do any of you stitchers have a favorite embroidery fabric?

My stitches in this first effort left much to be desired. My chain stitches were all different lengths. I could not get my cross stitches even; they are at different angles and sizes all over the design. French knots are not as complex as I thought, but take an incredible amount of floss. I accidentally changed colors halfway through the green petals, and didn’t even notice until I was finished! The biggest surprise was how easy it is to do the satin stitch. My satin stiches are lumpy and thready instead of satiny, but I like the handmade look of them. No machine embroidery for me!

I probably have a few more days on this project, then I can pick my next design.

What are you putting your creative energy into these days?

Katrina

Unresolved

Calvin and Hobbes Dec 30 1995

The end of the year already! This one went by in a blur, with no real standout moments. In past years, I’ve had a graduation, a milestone birthday, a retirement, a baby niece, or some other life event to mark the digits in my memory. 2011 was a year of many strange illnesses, as well as financial and employment struggles, for both me and my loved ones. Nothing terribly traumatic, but nothing I need to remember, either.

It is nice to look forward to the turning over of a new year, even though January 1 is an arbitrary selection of a day distinguished only by the calendar we happen to use. On that day, we all take a deep breath (or a handful of aspirin, depending on the previous Eve), and plunge back into life. My deep breath will be expelled with the wish that we will all be much healthier in the coming year. If you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.

Calvin and Hobbes Jan 2 1995

I, like Calvin, am from the no-New Year’s resolution tribe. I make changes as I see fit throughout the year, and don’t see the point in forcing myself to do something when I’m not ready, just because it’s a particular day of the year. Especially in January, which in my experience is a gloomy time when you need all the emotional crutches you can find. I quit smoking (28 years ago) in April, because it was just time to do it. I chose to leave an unhealthy relationship and make a better life (16 years ago) in June, because I suddenly had the strength to do it then. I vowed to restrict my compulsive spending (3 months ago) in October, because my financial situation was weighing very heavily on me. In all of these cases, it was very fortunate that I didn’t wait until January to make a change.

That’s not to say that I don’t slip and backslide and fall into bad habits again, just as many people do with their lists of resolutions made on January 1! If I had a nickel for every exercise program I’ve started and then abandoned...

I would love to know whether you make resolutions and whether you’ve had success with them.

Well, whether you are a New Year’s resolution person or not, I wish you a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and a wonderful 2012.

Katrina