How far does your yardage go?

I'm pretty cheap. Let's just get that out there. I could say frugal or treehugging, but cheap is truer.

I'll drop $$$ on a nice glass of wine, fresh cherries, even a ridiculous artisanal hot dog (oh Bay Area). But I save money almost everywhere else by being CHEAP. I also don't like waste.  

SO- I've been obsessed with nebula fabric ever since I saw this: 

Aah!!! Gorgeous!! I thought about buying a scarf to sew with...and then about Spoonflower...but no, those are not in my price range. But Girl Charlee, she knows my style. Some of their fabrics are kind of crappy. We should get that out there. This might turn out that way...but for now I'm showing you how much outfit I squeezed out of two yards of magnficently printed nebula fabric.

Piece 1: everyday tee from Meg McElwee. Why is everyone releasing t shirt patterns right now? This is the best one and you get a craftsy class with it. Win!!

Piece 2: signe dress!! As I was cutting the tee shirt I realized that this soft amazig fabric needed to be a dress I could wear every day this summer. Ta daaa:

Maria Denmark's signe dress!!

Piece 3: Then I made matching undies. They're  soft and lacy and undies! Zoe's is close, but I made this pattern from a fave rtw pair.

Piece 4?? Nope :(

It obviously pays to have some TNT patterns around. And notions. But that's what you get for 3 years of obsessive stitching, and yeehaw!

What's your record for items/yard??

Sinbad & Sailor Dove tee

Today is woven tee day. 

I have made a couple of Grainline patterns' Scout tees, but am always doing something fiddly to bring in the back (CB seam, sneaky darts, etc). Full bust with a flowy shirt back combine to make me look like a teepee- not so flattering! So i bought I'd try out the Dove "fitted" tee from new kids (??) Sinbad & Sailor. I love the saucy back slit too. 

Here's my super scrap-busting version with plaid shirting, linen, and lace. No attempt at pattern matching due to fabric limits (make do and make).

Everything fit together like a dream! If it weren't a "muslin" I'd definitely French all the seams and might also set the sleeves flat. As it was, my machine bunched the lace of the arm heads just enough that I didn't have to fit them. Woo. 

Chucked the facing for a bias bound neckline, and I'd do that again too because I find facings are always flopping about and yuck.

I'll try it on in the mornin to suss the fit. In the meanwhile- have you tried this puppy? Were you as impressed as I am?

UPDATE: the fit was TERRIBLE. You can see that it's very wide and squat - that didn't work for me. I took in the side seams about 1/2-1" on each side, then let out the hem. 

It seems like the back slit is a way to make the shirt work in a fabric that doesn't move- and because it goes so high it's really revealing. I may add a button or two around the top of the slit to keep the top in place. a windy breeze almost revealed my whole torso without it! 

Finally, the armholes are really tight. I'll adjust that if I take this on again. Which I will probably do because the bust fits really nicely and I am a glutton for punishment/complicated projects with low payoff. 

Tell me- did you fix these things already? Or could you tell before I could that this top was a no-go?

Xoxo r

i want more tv like The Great British Sewing Bee

i used to say that I wished TV would do more public service- that rather than nasty new pizza invention commercials, a friendly person would announce things like "it's stone fruit season! cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums are in season now for the next 6 weeks or so - go enjoy them!" or "do you remember how tornadoes form? check this out:..."

overdone meme. but what if?!!?

The Great British Sewing Bee is taking reality competitions, unreasonable timelines, discriminating judges and a wacky host, and making it Dream TV. Here's why:

The contestants hang out and support one another. For REAL. Over tea and salumi (just guessing about the salumi).
The producers are not creating excessive bitchy drama. They are watching nice people deal with stress from a somewhat shortened distance. When sweet Jenni started crying at her station, we didn't cut away to her in a confessional set, crying for us to stare, the camera actually PULLED AWAY. Instead it focused on Lynda, who saw that her competitor was suffering, and put down her work to check on her.

"it's ok luv. There's not time (pats back)"

The contestants TEACH EACH OTHER how to do the challenges!!!

"lets discuss nap, Mr Handsometailorsmith"

But what is most unique is that it's educational. For viewers AND contestants. The judges say what they're looking for. They say why they want what they want. They teach us how to sew a bit, and teach us what to look for in our own work/clothing. And then the wacky cool-haired host goes out and Does Real Research, like With Historians and Such. Capital letters are fun. That's so great. Rather than creating BS drama by recruiting crazy people for the Bee, the producers leave the nice, and diverse, group behind to go out and teach their audience. I love it.

Koolhairhost is So Sweet Too!

I've been switching back and forth between Project Runway and TGSB (to make the Bee last longer, honestly) and the differences are so stark. The ProRun contestants are bratty, the judges are very critical, praising a nice garment when they see it, but we never learn what they're looking for until a designer has already done (or not done) it. (did you see this Marchesa semi-doc? I loved it), And then rather than hearing how they made their things or what made them want to do what they did, we watch them squirm on that stupid runway while Heidi says "susie.......you.................................are.........................................in." Boring. Show me the sewing and the clothes!!

"we'll miss you, luv!!"

On the other hand, the "you're out" part on TGSB is so fucking sweet. Coolhairhost says "this is the dreadful/horrid part" and the person's name. Then everyone says how great that person is/was to hang around with and the show is over. Quick plug to check out some sewing tips at bbc.co.uk/sewingbee and we'll see you next week.

SHOW ME THAT, PRO RUN. More clothes, less suspenseful pausing. In fact, I'm really looking forward to reading Suzanne's "what did we learn this week" series when Pro Run comes back. Does sharing the watch with other sewists does make it more educational and inspiring?

Are you watching? What do you love?

xoxox bex
thanks to Jenniffer Taylor for sharing her images
read her story here http://www.jenniffertaylor.co.uk/blog/episode-5-the-great-british-sewing-bee-jennis-story

Toss your stitches for art

http://lisasolomon-musings.blogspot.com/2014/04/i-need-help-again.html

I'm in. You too?

Lessons from Me Made May

1st lesson: I need to exercise more!
Taking just a week of selfies showed me that it was time to get active. I've been teaching and on my feet for 6-8 hours a day, but not yoga or running as much as I should. That feedback was hard to take (as a sewist I measure myself constantly, but somehow...), but easy to act on. I've been working out 3-4 times a week and am feeling much fitter and hotter (http://instagram.com/p/ozMRzjvhcn/). ;)
reader- how can i post images here from instagram? ??

2nd lesson: I'm making what I like to wear.
My funds have been pretty tight for a couple of years since quitting PR and moving to education, so if I wanted to wear something I had to make it. Done! MMM made me focus on solid color tops to coordinate with my flashy bottoms, which means I have a new black tee and a new acid green tee to make eveything else infinitely more wearable.

3rd lesson: I reallly reallly really wanted a Saturday/Farmers market dress.
My darlingdonne was a hit and made me a sewing friend at the farmers market, but honestly it feels dumpy (even after i raised the hem 3-4" from those pics) and I stretched the v neckline on the right side so i don't love it as much as others do. Enter Linen! Laurel! AAAAYYYYY-men. I finished the neck and arms with piping because WHY NOT. I've been wearing these every weekend since and they are so easy to style and wear. I don't even wash them - just rinse and hang because linen fell from heaven in a divine state.

4th lesson: The stash is shrinking due to ruthless busting.
I'm making silk "muslins" at this point, to get rid of those "too fancy for today" fabrics that just sit there. It forces me to learn silk skills (thanks, Thread Cult!) and relieves the guilt of hoarding. Sewing is to reduce my impact, right?

5th lesson: I am SO FORTUNATE to be doing this here (in the SF Bay area). There's an awesome meetup group that makes me feel connected even if i barely ever make it (see first year teaching), the world's best sewing store next to the world's best grocery store about a mile from my house and they are both locally owned. There are lots of other scrappy and mystifying resources around, and of course, the people are ridiculously awesome. My meetup isn't octogenarian quilters (that would be fun sometimes but you know), it's Beth! and Meg! and a bunch of other people who will probably blow my mind when I finally meet them. Also Katrina, my latest art/craft crush, who I met at an art crawl last month and whose art got me focused on foxes. My finally-found spirit animal!

Please send fox fabric. 

So there we have it. What did you learn? What shall we sew this summer?

xooxoxxoo bex