EDITING

The PURGE continues! I've dropped 1 bag of goodies at the Depot and 1 bag of kid stuff at Bananas. There's 1 bag each of books and clothes to donate in the car and 1 bag of clothes for resale waiting for the right day. I have 1 bag of fabric for the fabric swap this weekend...which means I've purged what - SIX bags of stuff.*

i use my pockets for bloomin.

that's 60% to my arbitrary goal. Not bad for one week! Maybe i should do ten bags a month? hahahhahahhahahah...ok moving on.

one day i'll photgraph it in the light so you can see it SHINE. 

Now i'm editing what's still in my wardrobe. I got Laurel happy this year and made 3. this one i made with all the frumpy options- long sleeves, heavier fabric, hmph.

silky satin binding? that's POSH.

  So I shortened the sleeves and took it in 2 inches in the back. LOVE IT. gold!!!! METALLIC LINEN WINS.

this dress is...still an experiment. (it's the ESP dress from Decades of Style). There are like NO reviews online. That is a bad sign.

I did my standard "take it in 2 inches in the back" again and it fits...but it's not my style at all. TBD...

i like how i look like a sleepy doll. zzzz.

This dress was CRAZY but also dumpy.

love this shot. it's not me. it's "effiesmakeupbox". thanks Effie!

I loved the crazy. So I chopped it and now it's a top!

and took it in on the side seams (i bought it at a store but there was only a size bigger than i wanted. I went for it because PEGASUS). Now, happpppily there is a really long leftover piece which needs a home.....

This thing...I dunno.


It feels kinda softball dykey for me. That's not really my style. I took off the collar but it's still kinda funny.

hey, flowers!

I may make the neckline v-necked? dunno.

I copied some great pants that came in the mail but didn't hold up for a test wear. I'll make them in a less saggy fabric and get super snazzy for work.

I made these tops from such beautiful fabric but both  look dumb on me.

cowl = cute, drops LOW

the pattern is in the bin and the fabric is being repurposed (time to try this one out whuuuuutttt)

it doesn't look dumb in the picture somehow. Hmm. 

AND I made unders to replace a few the ones I just shove aside when I'm getting dressed in the morning. love them.

I dunno folks...am i going clear (like this howling pegasus)?? watch out, travolta. 

lets make a deal - don't give me things unless they're flowers. good?
xoxo
bex


* Wait a minute - i also dropped at least 1 extra bag of recycling...does that count too?

I can do anything: yep, i made JEANS!

I made the jeans.

I took the easiest route, and damn that made a difference: I bought the kit (it's sold out now but i think she's working on round 2?)! Threads, needles, great fabric, pattern, buttons, rivets, and zippers already picked out. Each of those pieces would have been A Decision and gawd I hate those.

I skipped some interfacing cause I was at my mom's house and she didn't have any.

MAMA DON'T CARE.

I cut a size 10 in the low waisted stovepipe version, cause those are my measurements. Then I took it in at least a size (added 1/4 to 1/2 inch on all seam allowances), and an extra 1/2" in the back crotch (my assets are more prominent up top). I'll start somewhere between 6-8 next time.

flat butt adjustment STAT

Heather suggested taking out a triangle in the upper thigh to match my shape better, but I got hung up on the geometry of that and didn't do it. I will next time! I did take a lot out of the yoke- an extra 1/4 wedge at the top of the center seam, and wedging into a 1/2" extra SA on the waist. I imagine that makes a different triangle slice, right? Yes. Trust. But DEFINITELY smaller pockets next time. Yikes.

Then I skinnied the legs just cause.

Whoops, I broke mom's machine with the topstitching (and then left the next day sorry mom!), but my machine did just fine. (For my notes, tension up to 6 on topstitching thread.) I love flat felled seams! They're so champ-looking. High tens for professional looking insides.

How cool is this pocket fabric? Looks legit, right? Button = fun. as does Red thread! So fun. Bar Tacks, all kinds of things.

I feel like I have all the jeans I need for now, but still fabric for another pair. Maybe next fall, or once a pair I have wears out. At the same time, I'm trying to PURGE EXTRA CRAP from my world/life/tiny apartment/psyche, so making for the sake of making has no appeal.

Right now I'm really into the cigarette line, and LOVE my uniqlo jeans with the ankle zips, so if that keeps up I'll treat myself to another pair later in the year (assuming some other pair - Gap please - gives up their slot in my closet. hmm. i could just make that happen couldn't i. tangent!).

So do you agree, is it true? Am i a ninja? And what's your ninja skill, hmm??

xxoo 4eee
bex

priciest project ever: lumberjack shirt

i bought this fabric on black friday.

i don't usually shop on black friday but give me a break man!

then i made the best shirt ever ever ever.

flat felled seams.

made in oregon thread woven plaid wool flannel.

post-yoga sunday AM hair and makeup, photos from kid perspective. Thanks, kiddo.

bias yoke, baby

made in chicago modern lumberjack pattern.

made in china shiny shiny "pearl" snaps (real life always comes in doesn't it).

anyway. made in Oakland, made in Virginia. made by me.

to do list: a seasonal feature

Just a list, pals. :)

• Post finished pendleton shirt
• finish ginger jeans, assess and record fit
• wallet for Kristina
• SECRET 
• more unders for me - in process
• unders for Katey the hair genius - in process
• figure out ESP dress fit and make one
• a short sleeve winter laurel to wear with tights! 
• oh yeah, that grey chambray...another archer?

MERRY NEW YEAR! May your year have rivets, pearl snaps, and all the cool notions you dream of!
xoxo
r

pattern testing: Lou Box Top

i love testing patterns. It makes me feel like I'm part of the in crowd and like somebody out there in sewing world sees me. All my friends and family know i tear up the sewing machine like nonstop
(and most of them have benefited from the obsession), but out there, in #sewcialists land, do you know me??***

So when Beth picked me as a tester for her super clean super simple "the modern simple top i've been looking for" Lou Box Top, i was hella stoked. I've made a bunch of Scout Tees, but they always needed after-the-fact adjustments, and just didn't feel very feminine. (Beth hasn't released the pattern yet, but hang tight! It's a goodie!)

I chose some silk i bought at Stonemountain a couple years ago one day i played sewing hooky (ahh the days before 85 kids counted on me every day). Silk is a PAIN IN THE ASS

Even with starch. So much starch. I use this stuff in the huge bottle. (omg that link! who knew Mary Ellen was so prolific in her efforts to make ironing less odious?)

The wovens version includes a button tab back, just to be pretty. (I think this button was harvested from one of my mom's awesome 80s dresses. HOT.)
 
very swingy. I used french seams everywhere, and navy silk crepe binding. I forgot to clip my curves (even though the directions said to do it) and so the neck sticks up a little! DAMN.

Anyway, isn't it cute? can be made knit or woven, and so simple either way. I bet a simpler fabric would take about an hour top to bottom.

Til I take that on, I'll keep it classy in my silks.

What are you wearing? Are you famous about it?

luv
bex

*** welllll, the ladies at the fabric store saw a stack of my in-process undies yesterday, that was fun. :)

Patience

I took an epic "get away" walk today. I lost one of my favorite fingerless cashmere gloves, and I found my theme for the upcoming year: patience. 

It's not my strong suit...but my "show up; get a better butt" motivation from 3 years ago is probably due for retirement. It has served its purpose, happily. 

Cue GnR! Night night my loves. 

did you hear about f3rguson?

I teach boys of color. They are 0scar Grant, M1chael Brown, Trayvon M4rtin, you get the idea. They all wear hoodies and have swagger and they are mostly brilliant (i think most 12 year olds are brilliant, which is why my job is great).

So today we had a walkout - or anyway we participated in the #handsup nationwide walkout in solidarity with boys who've been killed by police aggression. But as deeply as I care about these kids and the madness that's happening in my country, I am not the most articulate speaker on the issues.

I don't want to tell children of color about racism. I don't want to pretend I know what they live. I don't know what the kids know about the killings, and I don't know if they're oversaturated or hungry to discuss it. In Oakland it seems to go both ways.

But still. It was a national event and I wanted to let the kids know I live in their world too. And that I'm angry and scared too. So I asked B00ts Riley. He happened to be in my classroom this morning. Because Oakland.

The kids wrote private notes to themselves about the value of participating in an action like that, or they made signs to hold for the on-campus photographers (their friends and teachers with smartphones). And then they prepared for a lab using electrolysis. And then they went to math class.

I never really know what to do in this job. But caring a hell of a lot goes pretty far.