2015 Top Fives

Thanks to Gillian's #sewingtop5, or else I would never get around to summarizing and reflecting on my creative year! Sometimes having assignments (even if they're purely self-assigned) is really helpful. First, let's look at my selfish sewing:

Row 1: Batman Beyond jacket applique, Galadriel, red lace dress (unblogged), and undies.
Row 2: Tunics, lounging clothes, and a cat blouse.
Row 3: Black sweatshirt and leopard pants refashion, cat tunic, striped dress and cardigan.
Row 4: Old-timey jodhpurs, two Walkley dresses, and a bomber jacket.

Not as much as in years past, thanks to SHB. Speaking of SHB, though, look how adorable he is in his mommy-made wardrobe!

Left column: Blue cat suit and hobbit costume.
Middle column: Terry McGinnis jacket, Blue Sun and biohazard shirts.
Right column: Kumamon, The Cheat, and scientist shirts.
Not pictured: Warriors pajamas.

I didn't make anything for him in the latter half of the year until Christmas, so it's kind of weird to see all these pictures of him from so "long" ago! I can't even remember what it's like to have a non-mobile baby. Besides garment sewing, there was also a lot of crafting, most of it geeky:

Pyrography: Hobbit-themed cutting boards, The One (Teething) Ring, Map of Thorin and Totoro boxes, Tolkien ornaments (not pictured).
Geeky sewing: Adult and baby versions of the Palantir/Eye of Sauron, Firefly-themed playset, hammerhead sharks, Smaug and Bilbo pillows, drool guards, aviator hat, toy bin, and Christmas decorations (not pictured).
Miscellaneous: Eye of Sauron headpiece, baby quilt (not pictured), Eye of Sauron ornament (not pictured).

Not bad, all things considered! And because I always like a nice chart...

I love that there are enough Eyes of Sauron to warrant its own category. I mean, I made more Eyes of Sauron than pants this year! Also, now that I look at the legend again, it looks like I made 10 SHBs this year, not ten garments for SHB. Oops.

And now, on to the reflection portion!

Top Five Sewing Hits:

1. My bomber jacket: looks so real, relatively easy, goes with everything, and is just warm enough for most NorCal days. 
2. SHB's The Cheat shirt: it fit when he was five months old, and it still fits now at 15 months, albeit as a 3/4 length sleeve shirt. But it's a good barometer for who was in college at around the same time I was, because those people recognize The Cheat and love it. 
3. The adult Eye of Sauron, Smaug, and Bilbo: people who come over to our house love the former two, SHB loves the latter. 
4. The So Zo undies: I made three pairs, and they're always the ones I reach for first. Every time I realize that all three are in the wash, I become sad and dissatisfied with my RTW ones, and swear I will make more. Unfortunately, sewing undies is not nearly as fun as new things that people can actually see.
5. Baby quilt: I made a personalized quilt for the daughter of one of my dearest friends in San Diego. Her baby was a long-awaited answer to prayer and while I'm sad I can't see her as often as I would like, I wanted use my skills to wrap her (literally) in love. I'm kicking myself that I never took a picture of it, though! This is what happens when I cram in my sewing in the three days before getting on the plane. 

Top Five Sewing Misses:

1. Birthday shirt for my brother: never finished because I realized that I had cut the sleeves wrong, and then I messed up the tower plackets because I was trying to finish it in a hurry. Stuffed it all into a bag and put it in the closet to stew. 
2. SHB's blue cat outfit: too big when I made them, and when they fit again it was summer and there was no way he was going to wear a fleece outfit. 
3. The tighter Walkley dress: I used a much less stretchy fabric than my first iteration, so it ended up too tight when I applied the same alterations. 
4. Drool guards: right after I made them, SHB stopped wanting to be carried in the Ergo. 
5. Jodhpurs: they were really a wearable muslin, but I'm still disappointed. Since it's based off of a 1910s draft, they are ridiculous in the crotch/butt region. Also the fabric is kind of hideous. 

Top Five Non-Sewing Highlights:

1. SHB turned one! He is now ridiculously fun and a wriggling handful, especially since he can inevitably run faster, reach farther, eat more, and sleep less than I expect. He is generally a really happy guy, though, so I can't complain.
2. Mr. Cation and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in June. Things keep changing fairly drastically every year (a lay-off, living in four different cities, business school, buying a house, having a baby) but we're still very happy and love and appreciate each other more. 
3. Okay, I know this is actually sewing related, but I costumed my first show! It was an amazing, intense, stressful, and wonderful experience, and it really deserves a whole blog post. At some point. 
4. The LOTR Symphony Extravaganza: it was lovely to revisit Middle Earth and wear fun costumes again!
5. This is a little silly, but seeing Episode VII: Mr. Cation said to me as we sat down in our seats that we had been waiting our whole lives for this movie to come out (Episodes I-III didn't count), and I realized that it was kind of true. I've loved the original trilogy since I first saw it in elementary school, then loved all the novels in middle and high school, and after the disappointment of Episodes I-III, I had kind of given up hope in the whole Star Wars franchise. Episode VII brought back all the giddy excitement for me, and even more so because of the oh, I don't know, actual fleshed out character and storyline of a strong heroine? I am so excited for 2017!

Top Five Reflections:

1. Rest is so important. When I was waking up five or six times a night and then carrying SHB for all his naps, I was an awful person. I snapped at Mr. Cation, couldn't be arsed to care about anything, and couldn't figure out why I hated my life. Scratch that, I knew why I hated my life, but couldn't see any way around it. Thankfully, SHB now sleeps through the night most of the time (and has for about half a year now!) and can nap in his crib (even if that's only once a day for 60 minutes), so I'm feeling much better about life. 
2. Creating is so important. Even when I was sleep deprived and grumpy, I would occasionally give up sleep to sew (although this was pretty rare), craft (less rare -- all the pyrography is evidence that it takes less brainpower than sewing), or at least research/dream about future projects. That excitement kept me going. 
3. Community is so important. Because I work part-time, I kind of get the worst of both worlds: I feel stressed about the work I need to get done, but because I have to rush home for nap time I have no time to actually connect with co-workers who get what I'm struggling with; I'm always teaching during prime mommy-and-me class hours so it's hard to connect with moms who can commiserate. (I also get the best of both worlds, in that I get to spend a lot of time with SHB, but not so much time that I'm bored out of my mind; I get to work with students without having to do the extra, unrelated stuff like lunch duty or staff meetings). In the last year, some of the most encouraging people in my life have been people I've never actually met. Mikhaela and Clio, who co-hosted the SHB Sew-Along with me, were my moms-in-the-trenches friends who could empathize about the lack of sleep and time to sew; at least as many emails were exchanged about parenting as were about the sew-along, and once the month was over I missed that comaraderie. Gillian, Brooke, Becky, and countless other IG sewcialists helped me feel like I could make meaningful connections even when I hadn't talked to another adult all day. All of you more experienced moms with older kids kept me going with your reminders that this, too, shall pass, and one day I'll have a teenager who doesn't need to constant attention (although they may still need feeding every two hours). 
4. Stash is so important. Hah! No but really, when I was costuming the play, I was so glad to have a stash of fabrics and patterns that I could use. It saved me so much time and money to have a stash to pull from. And whenever I was feeling blah and uninspired, fondling fabrics helped me dream again. 
5. Letting go is so important. I know we're all supposed to be KonMari-ing everything, but it's still hard to let go of me-mades that don't fit right or fabrics that you no longer love. I've donated a lot of stuff to make room for SHB's stuff, and you know what? I can't even remember what I donated anymore, so I obviously don't miss it! Besides letting go of physical things, I'm also letting go of any self-imposed obligation to sew a certain amount of stash or percentage of my/SHB's wardrobe. I know I already said this last year, but I need to remember that just because I can, doesn't mean I have to. 

Top Five Sewing Goals:

1. Costume another show, but without stressing out myself and my family this time: I've learned a lot about what to do and what not to do, so hopefully the next one goes better! (I know I keep alluding to this theater costuming thing, and I promise a blog post is coming.)
2. Get back into the Historical Sew Monthly. I pretty much dropped it while growing, hatching, and raising SHB, but I really miss it. My modern wardrobe doesn't really need any more items (even though I'm sure I'll continue sewing for it), and historical sewing lets me spend lots of time researching and planning, which I love. 
3. Make more outerwear and/or menswear. See above re: my wardrobe not needing more items. Except underwear, because I really need more pairs I like. No bras, though. I am not going down that rabbit hole!
4. Find more opportunities to wear the costumes I've sewn: because they're really too nice to stay hidden in my closet. Okay, that's not really a sewing goal, per se. 
5. Take more classes! Figure out corsetry! Research historical fashion! Learn ALL the things! This is the same as last year, but I love learning. It needs to continue. 

Whew! That's it! Happy New Year!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

It's funny looking back now at my 2014 resolutions. I had all these grand plans for practical, historical, and costume sewing, but pretty much none of them happened, because almost exactly two weeks after writing that post, I discovered that I was pregnant with SHB. While I stayed the same shape during first trimester, I was so tired that all I did was read through all of the available Game of Thrones books. Second semester, I was more energetic, but I had no idea what my body was going to look like so I didn't sew too many garments, settling instead for outfitting SHB's nursery. Third trimester was a total flop as I felt like a whale and was busy with moving. And of course, once I had SHB, things got busy in a totally different way. Still, I've got a nice collection of year-end wrap up posts going on this blog, and I like the process of summing up and reflecting.

Let's take a look at what I was able to accomplish by way of finished garments and objects:

Garments, from left to right, top to bottom: Ballister Blackheart cape and Dr. Blitzmeyer lab coat, Ursula lite, Mother Gothel, neck corset, waterfall cardigan (unblogged), BHL Polly #1 and #2, maternity tops #1 and #2, Rambo cardigan thing, wedding guest dress (unblogged), Totoro maternity top, Mr. Cation's birthday shirt (unblogged), cat onesie (no sewing, just drawing), whale bibs, baby jacket.

Finished objects: manatee plushie, Nimona cats, marine-themed color pencil drawings and paintings, hammerhead shark plushie (unblogged), whale lovey, marine-themed mobile, Totoro bouncer, taxidermy narwhal, marine-themed quilts and Giants quilt, taxidermy blobfish, various doorhangers, and dragon-ish accessories.

I also did some Christmas-specific sewing; something about having an SHB makes one want to do stereotypical things like hanging stockings:

Mr. Cation gets the normal one, mine is covered with cats, SHB's has hippos, and Walnut's is obviously the fish one. 

Not nearly as prolific as other years, but not bad, considering. There's no way I'm gonna bother with tallying up stats like hours, average cost per project, types of garments sewn, etc. though. Instead, I'm jumping straight into the reflecting.

Thanks again to Gillian for hosting the Top 5's this year!

Top 5 Hits:

• My bustier top, used for my Ursula costume. I loved the process of making such a fitted, complex garment, even if it was occasionally stressful since I had to finish it in time to be graded. Unfortunately, almost as soon as I finished it, I didn't fit into it anymore (still don't, thanks to breastfeeding-sized boobs, but hoping that changes after weaning!). 
• My Mother Gothel costume. Again, totally impractical but it was comfy and a fun way to announce my pregnancy.
• BHL Polly tops. I made three versions of this top and they served me very well as my belly expanded. 
• SHB's quilts. They were seriously fun to dream up and seeing him play around on them is so sweet. 
• That's it. I really didn't sew a lot this year, so I don't even have five things! Although I guess the last "two" are really six, so that's fine. 

Top 5 Misses: A couple of these are unblogged because I just couldn't be bothered to take pictures. 

• Simplicity 1804. I made this during third trimester hoping it could be a work dress, but I chose an awful fabric (red mystery knit that was warped, weirdly stiff, and had no recovery) and had the same issues with the back that Aleah had. By the time I had fixed it, I had no interest in wearing it anymore. I tried it on a couple weeks ago, after it had had some time in the closet, but now it's both too small in the chest and too big in the waist. Fail. 
• Rambo cardigan-thing. Not really drapey enough to be a cardigan, but not structured enough to be a jacket, and it doesn't match anything in my non-maternity wardrobe. Plus Mr. Cation thought it was weird. 
• Baby mobile. I made this before we moved, and after we got settled into our new house and figured out where we were putting all the baby things, I realized there was nowhere to hang a mobile. I ended up taking the squares off the mobile and just showing them to SHB, but even then he found them interesting only for about a month, and he's moved on already. 
• Mr. Cation's birthday shirt. This is a little sad, because I spent a lot of time making up the pattern and then sewing the shirt. Part of it is my fault, because I was so tired by the time I made it (third trimester + sweltering summer heat + no AC in our apartment) that I just made it short-sleeved so I wouldn't have to deal with cuff plackets, and short sleeved shirts are just not as practical. Part of it was the timing, as pretty much right after I made it, it was too warm to be wearing collared shirts, but by the time it was cool enough to wear it, SHB had arrived and ain't nobody got time for nice shirts when there's baby spit up all over everything. 
• At least I haven't got a full list of misses, either. 

Top 5 Highlights: 

• I had a part in making a human being. I think this is self-explanatory. 
• Mr. Cation and I bought our first house! Again with the obviousness of this highlight.
• I had some pretty fantastic internet exposure. My Nimona cosplay was featured in Publisher's Weekly (and I got to meet Noelle Stevenson!) and Lee Pace tweeted my Party King Thranduil cosplay.
• I had some of the best students of my career in my AP Chem class. It's rare to have kids so fun, diligent, bright, and kind. They even threw me a surprise baby shower, which was totally touching. 
• Again with the four items!

Top 5 Reflections: 

• When they say that having a baby changes everything, they're so right. I don't have time to do all the things I want to do; sometimes I have time but am too tired; a lot of things no longer seem worth doing. 
• Switching back into buying RTW clothes was both easier (wow! it only took five minutes to acquire a new outfit, as opposed to five hours!) and harder (my goodness, why does nothing fit right?!) than I thought it would be. I thought long and hard about trying to go me-made for my maternity and nursing wardrobe, but in the end decided I'm not going to beat myself up about being too tired or not having enough time to do so. Buying RTW is not ideal, but it's not the end of the world, either. 
• Following on the heels of the above reflection, my time is too valuable to spend doing things I'm not excited about. Especially now that SHB is in the picture. 
• One of the governing principles that Mr. Cation and I go by in order to decide what to order when eating out is could we make this ourselves? If the answer is yes, then we don't bother. I used to try to do that with clothes, but let's be honest, cooking is a lot faster (generally) than sewing. Just because I could make camisoles and underwear doesn't mean I want to (or have to). As Gillian herself said, no guilt.
• Holding onto a stash is often portrayed as a negative thing (especially when I was running the Stashbusting Sewalong), but it's not all bad. I used several craft items this year that I had been holding onto for years, and I was glad that I had them! Now if I could just keep that up for fabric...
• Oh look, I made it to five for this category. I was beginning to worry that this was going to be a Top 4s list. 

Top 5 Goals:

• No guilt sewing. Do it because I want to. I do what I want, Thor. This includes stashbusting -- no sewing things I'm not passionate about anymore just because they were once higher in the queue. 
• To that end, actually sew things. Some days I just waste time on Pinterest and don't bother with doing irreversible things, and then suddenly I blink and a week has gone by without any creating and I'm a grumpy bugger and I don't know why. Except I do know why. 
• Figure out how to take sewing classes again. I really loved learning last school year with my textiles, pants, bustier, and other miscellaneous classes. I'm not really sure how it's going to work with SHB in the picture (and no family help), but I think just recording this will help me to remember that continuing education is a worthwhile goal. 
• Enjoy SHB. This has been really hard, as I don't think very young babies are that fun in the moment. There's a lot of monotony and selflessness, but then suddenly I blink (I'm doing a lot of sudden blinking here) and he's grown out of his 0-3 month clothes and I'm tearing up wondering where my tiny little newborn went. I'm still not sure how to go about trying to enjoy something that I don't really enjoy, but I'm willing to bet that this is more important to figure out than say, trying to enjoy grading papers. 
• Spend more time with non-SHB family. After spending so much time taking care of SHB, I really just want to be alone (OMG Walnut why are you jumping in my lap *again*). But there are other relationships to be kept up, and while alone time is important, I'm willing to bet (I'm also doing a lot of imaginary betting) that nobody on their deathbed wishes they spent more time doing selfish sewing or pinning costume ideas instead of spending time with family. 

Let's hope that this year my plans, vague as they are -- note the lack of specific garments! -- don't go awry. 

A Summary of 2013 Sewing, Plus Stashbusting Wrap Up

There's just something about making lists that's so appealing to the J in me. Thank goodness for Gillian's Top 5 prompts, because that means I get to make five lists! Also because it's a convenient way to sum up the year in sewing. Sew so here goes:

Top 5 Hits: Favorite Creations -- Most Worn or Most Loved

1. Elaine's wedding dress: I'm pretty sure this is self-explanatory; although Elaine only wore her dress for the one day, it was a labor of love and an expression of our friendship. It's also easily the most complicated thing I've ever sewn. 
2. Eowyn/shieldmaiden costume: Again, only worn once, but this is the dress that I always wanted when I was younger and dreaming of being a warrior princess. 
3. Party King Thranduil: Gack, why is it that this year's top makes are all so impractical? But again, despite its being relegated to the costume closet, and the very uncomplicated pattern, it is too fabulous and I loved wearing it so much.
4. Perfect pants: Finally, something practical, but only just barely, seeing as how they are covered with flocked damask print. These pants were a few months in the making, but they were worth it!
5. Pirate coat: Yikes, another non-everyday item, and one I haven't even worn officially yet? But every time I see it in my sewing room I feel warm fuzzies, knowing that, like Eowyn's dress, this is one garment I've been longing to be able to make for myself for years. 

Top 5 Misses: Sewing Fails, UFOs, worn once, or complete disasters

1. An attempt at remaking my Spiderman dress from another sheet: I didn't ever blog this because it was such a fail. I never wore it, not even to take pictures. This was really sad, considering that the dress I was trying to recreate was one of my top fives last year. 
2. Dotted Anthro top: I just didn't like the fit on this, so I just donated it after I took pictures. 
3. Strapless dress: Let's face it, I'm never going to be comfortable in a dress that depends on a knit tube top to hold itself up. I did go back and add straps, but then I never wore it because it was too cold by that point.
4. This other DIY Anthro top: It's not that I don't wear it, but it's just not my favorite. The colors aren't really me, and the sleeves make it impractical for layering. 
5. Regency sheet dress: Not super accurate in terms of look or material, and never worn again. Sure, there are other things I've only worn once (or not at all!), but I still have positive feelings toward them. 

Bonus "fail": I originally categorized the accidental Aladdin pants as a fail, but then I went on to wear them all summer because they were so dang comfortable, and then they came in handy on my firebending costume. I take back all the mean things I said about it!

Top 5 Reflections: What did you learn about yourself or sewing this year?

1. I really like free things. That is why I ended up reviewing so many Japanese sewing pattern books.
2. Unfortunately, that meant I was sewing things that weren't originally my idea to sew. I guess it should come as no surprise to me, then, that those garments just feel "meh" to me. Considering how much less time I have to sew these days, I just can't afford to sew things I don't actually want to sew.
3. Not really a revelation, but more of a confirmation: I REALLY LIKE MAKING COSTUMES. Like, a lot. The garments that had the highest time-invested-to-positive-feelings ratios are almost all costumes. 
4. There's no need to buy fabric all the time! This year, I bought much less fabric than in previous years, and new fabric was only purchased because I "needed" it to complete a costume or project by a deadline. Of all the items I sewed this year, only 15% required non-stash fabric. I did still acquire some new stash, but most of it was free (and therefore doesn't count in my mind!) or so incredibly cheap, like <$1/yd, that it was too good to pass up. Granted, there were only two purchases like that this year, totaling less than $15. Because of this self-imposed no new stash rule, I've really changed my mindset toward acquiring new fabric. No longer do I stalk the thrift stores looking for sheets to stash; things are purchased only with a specific, immediate, project in mind.
5. I really love the sewing community that's sprung up! Last year, I felt like I was getting to know people via their blogs and comments; this year that feeling has multiplied thanks to Twitter and Instagram, along with real life sewing meetups. I love that there are so many likeminded people with so much knowledgeand experience and good advice right at my fingertips. 

Top 5 Inspirations: What motivated you this year? 

I don't have too many new inspirations this year, but if I had to pick a couple, I'd say:

1. Deadlines: Having set dates that things need to be finished by (whether for HSF, the Stashbusting Sewalong, or costuming events) really helped me to be ultra-productive. I've always worked best under a deadline, and this year there were a lot!
2. Chances to dress up: Call me a big kid, but I really, really, really like getting to wear a costume. It got to the point where if there was anything remotely costume-permitting (movies, and not even midnight showings! school spirit days! going to a museum!), I was all over it. I don't know what it is about pretending to be someone else, but as an introvert, it's one of the few times I like being the center of attention. Even when I made "normal" clothes this year, they tended toward the costume-y, like my Carmen Sandiego coat or my Slytherin bolero. 

Top 5 Goals for the New Year:

1. Continue not buying RTW if I can help it: In 2013 I only bought 5 items: leggings, a fleece thermal top, a cardigan, and socks. Mostly these things strike me as not being worth the hassle of making them myself, or because I don't know how to knit (yet). The fleece top was something I could have made myself, but I was in a hurry to get something warm to wear under Thranduil since it was a midnight showing in December, and I didn't have time to make something. Leggings, I do want to attempt this year, since Cake Patterns released the Espresso. 
2. Continue not acquiring stash if I can help it. Now that I'm in the habit of shopping my stash, I want to keep going! More on this to come. 
3. Make more pants. Making jeans has been in my sewing resolutions for a couple years now, and there's really no reason not to, now that I've perfected my pants block. This is especially urgent now that my two favorite pairs of jeans have started developing holes. 
4. Make difficult things in a sustainable way. Prior to 2013, I didn't really sew anything that required prolonged attention; I was churning out dresses like a machine, each requiring about 5 hours. Now that I've had a chance to sink my teeth into some really involved projects (like the shieldmaiden dress, wedding dress and pirate outfit), I find that I enjoy these multi-part outfits that take a whole work week to complete. I still want to make a complete rococo outfit, Victorian outfit, and Titanic evening gown, but doing so will be a challenge this year between school and school. I tend to work best when I have a huge block of uninterrupted time, like four straight days of sewing, because mentally detaching and re-entering the real world is really difficult for me. Sewing in short bursts is more sustainable for my current life stage, but it will be a challenge mentally, since I tend to think "oh I only have an hour, so I might as well just waste it on Pinterest."
5. Make more things for other people. I didn't sew anything for Mr. Cation this year, despite making it a resewlution last year. I did sew a wedding dress for my best friend, a couple of things for my sister, and some plushies for others, but I want to do better. I don't really need to make more clothes for myself, and even though I'm sure I will anyway, I want to make it a bit more balanced. My mom wants me to make pants for her, and Mr. Cation needs a nice wool coat, and I still want to perfect a shirt block for him. We'll see if that happens. 

Phew! That's a lot of reflecting! And the reminiscing isn't quite over yet, because I've still got my stats of 2013 to show: 

Compared to last year, number of garments sewn (37 total) has decreased significantly in most categories, except for costumes, headgear (costumes require matching bonnets, turbans, and hats!), and outerwear. (There were definitely less squids and bow ties for cats, which obviously needs to be rectified in 2014.) I used less of my own patterns, but increased in my use of non-Big-4 patterns. In lieu of vintage patterns, I opted for using historical instructions to create patterns to fit me, so that's not quite my own pattern, but also not quite the same as a pre-printed pattern. I went back to sewing with wovens, mostly because stretch fabric is inappropriate for historical and/or fantasy garments, but when I used wovens for everyday clothing, a significant portion of it was either a stretch woven or cut on the bias, allowing for less closures than in previous years.

Other stats:

• The average time spent per garment approximately doubled, from about six and a half the previous year, to about twelve hours in 2013. Most of this was due to the fact that I was making so many complex costumes, and of course the wedding dress and pirate coat pulled the average up a lot. The amount of time spent sewing overall decreased slightly, from 491 to 447 hours. 
• The average cost per garment increased from $6 to $10. This doesn't include the wedding dress, because hello, wedding dress. Again, the increase is mostly because of involved costumes that require yards of trim or lots of buttons. Without factoring in the wedding dress, my me-made clothing (and costumes) this year cost $369, but 2/3 of that was materials already in the stash, so it wasn't actually money leaving my wallet. 
• I sewed a total of 108.5 yards of fabric into garments this year, averaging 3 yards per garment.
• I continued sewing with non-traditional yardage, using over a dozen sheets, a tablecloth, and a placemat. 
• I participated in many more sewing community events: the Historical Sew Fortnightly (despite petering out in the second half of the year, I still completed 12 items!), Jungle January, Sew Grateful Week, a sewing challenge with GingerMakes, the Sew Weekly Reunion, Red October, pattern testing for Lolita Patterns (while not really an event, it was fun knowing that other ladies were sewing the same thing, albeit secretly), and of course, the Stashbusting Sewalong!
• Not sewing output related, but I took my first "official" sewing classes! I didn't get to do too much sewing in the latter half of the year due to being a student again, but I learned loads (and I hope you did too)! You'll be pleased to know that I got straight As this semester in both textiles and pants. Actually, you probably don't care, but hey, 4.0 is a number and this is a list of numbers. 

Whew, that's a lot of tallying and calculating. If you've read this far, thanks! And if you're just here for the pictures, like previous years, I've collected all of my finished garments of 2013 here. Unfortunately, I'm not fancy enough to have them be clickable links to the original post...sorry :(

We also have several sewn non-garments:

And now, to wrap up this absurdly long post, let's talk about the Stashbusting Sewalong. When I look over my original list, I didn't use up even half of the yardage I hoped to use, but I did end up using other stash fabric that hadn't been listed. Actually, 29 of my 37 garments utilized stash fabric, using up $248 in the form of 74 yards of fabric. I had originally listed about 70 yards of fabric, so I think I can still call this year a success! Of course, let's not think about how many more hundreds of yards I've got stashed...

EmSewCrazy and I have plans to continue this challenge in 2014, but it'll likely take a different form...stay tuned for more information! In the meantime, how have you done with your pledges? Leave a comment telling me how many items you sewed from stash fabric, and how many yards of stash you busted. We're planning on some fun little prizes for the most successful stashbusters!

Top Fives of 2012, Resewlutions for 2013

It took me long enough to get this together, but I'll blame the going-back-to-school doldrums. Last year, I did a wrap up of everything I'd sewn in 2011, but the thought of doing so for 2012 is way too overwhelming. Summary lists sound doable, an image map not so much. Many thanks to Gillian for the idea of making a top fives list instead!

Top Five Creations:

1. I think #1 has to be my dolman sleeve top pattern: the first time I've had a multi-size pattern that other people found useful! And of course, I've made up multiple versions myself, all of which get worn regularly. 
2. My not-a-Renfrew tee pattern: it's been the basis of so many tops and dresses, it's ridiculous.  
3. For most-worn me-made item that's not a top, my bias-cut Spiderman dress wins. It's comfortable, it's geeky, it's fairly subtle as superhero dresses go, and it fits nicely under my favorite cardigan. I also love my Roaring Twenties dress, which is made from the same pattern, but that one is less versatile because it doesn't go with any of my shoes or cardigans. 
4. My one and only pair of me-made pants: that one make gave me so much confidence, but for some reason I haven't tackled pants again. Time to remedy that in 2013!
5. I resolved to make outerwear in 2012, and I finally squeezed it in near the end of the year with my fleece toggle jacket. Like pants, a jacket is one of those things where I didn't know if I'd be able to pull it off in a more-or-less professional-looking manner; I was horribly afraid that it would turn out like a bad home-ec project, but I totally love my jacket and wear it all the time!
6. Okay, I know I was only supposed to choose five, but can I give a shout out to my two complete costumes of 2012? I love my steampunk outfit and hobbit maid outfit and am so proud of myself for making complete ensembles. 
7. It's only the first list, and I'm already breaking the rules -- I want to give a grand prize to my Girl on Fire dress, which was featured in a stylized photo shoot and for which I won a costume contest. Is it silly to give a grand prize to myself?

Top Five Sewing Fails:

1. The springy sheath: at least it died a good death, as it contributed to my hobbit maid costume!
2. The too-successful Peggy dress: still lingering in the closet, unworn. I suppose I should cut off the skirt and make something else out of it, but I just feel so meh about it. I guess I should just admit I'll never get around to it and donate it...
3. This green top: never worn, too ugly to even donate, just ick. At least I spent relatively little time on it and the fabric didn't cost me anything?
4. This 1930s top: unflattering, and I spent quite a bit of time on it and it seems a pity that I used up a fabric I liked on a top that doesn't get worn. 
5. Unfortunately, once I was really honest with myself, this giraffe dress had to be included. There was just too much fabric being gathered into too little elastic, and the heavy polyester made it unsuitable for hot weather. It was well-made enough that I didn't feel bad about donating it, though, so at least it's not taking up space in my closet!

Thankfully, none of my costuming pieces ended up as fails!

Top Five Lessons Learned:

1. Choose the right fabric for the right project: Four of my five fails were due to poor fabric choice, and most of my just middling makes are classified as such due to fabric choice. They still get worn, but they could've been better. Although sewing with bed sheets is a noble endeavour, I think I need to be real with myself and admit that there are some projects where I need to use "real" fabric. 
2. Knit dresses have a much better chance of being worn. Even though I love my fitted bodice woven dresses, it's hard to beat the comfort of stretchy fabrics. 
3. Even though dresses are supposedly complete outfits, they're still unlikely to be worn if they don't go with any of my cardigans. I get cold too easily for sleeveless dresses to be standalone items. With that said, I need to either invest in cropped cardigans, or make less full-skirted dresses, since they look pretty silly with cardigans that end at the hip. 
4. Let's get real here -- I don't wear cotton sundresses in the winter. If I want to be able to wear me-made when it's cold, I need to spend more sewing time on pants and outerwear. 
5. Making costumes is one of the most gratifying uses of my sewing time, even if they only get one outing. When I consider the amount of pure pleasure produced from a finished garment, it's the costumes that have the highest yield. I used to feel guilty about spending time on impractical things, but thanks to Stephanie's insightful spin on costume sewing, I feel much better about this. 

Top Five Blogs/Bloggers That Inspire (in no particular order):

1. Tanit-Isis Sews: She was the second blog I ever followed, and it's largely thanks to her that I started my own blog! Taran always has such helpful things to say, and honestly, it's her writing about her daughters that makes me feel like having a SHB isn't the world's worst thing. Also, she remains the only sewing blogger friend that I've dreamt about. Is that creepy or what?
2. Four Square Walls: I'll keep it simple...everything Andrea makes, I want to steal from her. I can't even count the number of times I've said something along the lines of "I never used to like ____, but now that I've seen your version I'm rethinking everything." I probably sound like a broken record to her!
3. The Dreamstress: Leimomi makes me feel like I might actually be able to tackle historical costuming, but she also inspires me not to compromise on accuracy. Of course, nothing I've done so far has been remotely accurate, but she makes me feel like I at least want to try!
4. My Happy Sewing Place: Debi was the one who made me feel like the sewing community really was a community, a place where one could make virtual friends that would encourage and support one another. It doesn't hurt, either, that she's a huge Tolkien fan too!
5. EPBOT: Jen of CakeWrecks fame writes another blog about girliness, geekiness, and goofing off, which are some of my favorite things. She blogs honestly about being a geek girl, books, steampunk, craftiness, etc. Not sewing-related, but still excellent stuff! She's a crusader for the acceptance of geek girls, and she inspires me to reach out to my nerdy students. 

Top Five Goals for the New Year:

1. Not buy new fabric or patterns at least until we move. Meg the Grand's resolution reminds me of how much stash I need to bust, and if I don't want Mr. Cation to be totally exasperated when we move, I need to get cracking. My exceptions: necessary notions in order to complete a project (buttons, zippers, elastic, etc.), and something for a Regency gown. I've got a Jane Austen ball to go to at the end of January, but I legitimately have nothing suitable in my stash. 
2. Make pants! Specifically, at least one pair of jeans, one pair of work trousers, and one other pair. 
3. Participate in the Historical Sew Fortnightly. I've got plenty of modern clothes, minus the pants situation, so I can concentrate of costuming. Besides a Regency gown, I've got dreams of more Downton-esque outfits, something for the Gatsby picnic, a chintz 18th century gown, a Victorian bustle dress, and something appropriate for Dickens Fair. 
4. Sew for Mr. Cation. I want to perfect a button-up shirt pattern, and maybe tackle pants for him? MakeMyPattern has what looks like a good starting place for that. 
5. Continue not buying RTW. I did really well on that in 2012, only buying one pair of pants, one cardigan, one long-sleeved shirt, and two pairs of tights: five pieces, which was my allotment for the year! I'm going to stick with a five RTW piece quota, since that seems to be a reasonable compromise. I don't think I could go with none at all, to be perfectly frank. Maybe that's blasphemy for the hardcore sewists out there, but I guess I'm just not that hardcore!

I actually did decently with my 2012 resolutions. Even though I didn't make the historical costume or bias cut dress I originally had in mind, I think I got close enough to the spirit of the resolutions. And while I didn't clean out my fabric stash, I made a good faith effort on my knit fabric stash!

To wrap up this post, I'll close out with a couple of pictures of my first sewing project for 2013: Squidnetto, made out of the fabric remnants leftover from making Squidney. Squidnetto is only a yard long (as opposed to four yards!) and is a gift for Squidney's owner's girlfriend.

Squidnetto's got the normal stuffed animals eyes and unstuffed tentacles. After the difficulty of trying to turn such narrow tubes, there was no way I was going to try squeezing in stuffing too! The rest of him was much easier to sew, though, since I wasn't trying to wrangle so much fabric. Even though he was only here for a short time, he made good friends out of the cat sprites, and they were sad to see him go. 

Thank you to all of you who had such nice things to say about Squidney...and here I was wondering if I should even bother posting all of his posed photos! 

New School Year Resolutions

Walnut is not impressed with the bow he has to wear
for back-to-school pictures.

Last August, I posted my resolutions for the beginning of the new school year. Well, yesterday was the first day of school (which is why it's been relatively quiet over here), so I guess it's about time to post a new project list! I did pretty well on last year's list, all things considered...some of the projects I just lost interest in and never started, like the halter dress or bookcase quilt (although I suppose I did start a scrap quilt, just never finished it). Some projects were so long overdue that it seemed pointless to start, like scrapbooking my honeymoon. Some projects were so huge that I couldn't think about starting them, like the t-shirt quilt. A lot of my checked-off projects only made it via the letter of the law, and not the spirit -- tea-dyeing lace comes to mind, since what I really intended when I wrote it was to dye something some vibrant color. And then of course, some items on the list were overwhelming successes, like making waaaay more than three vintage dress patterns!


Well, with last year's successes and failures in mind, it's time to make a new list of projects! This school year, I would like to make:

• More cake. I'm leaving this vague on purpose, so that I don't have to feel bad if I don't make some arbitrary number. 
• Something with bound buttonholes. 
• Jeans. I think this technically falls into the cake category, but jeans are so huge (in my head, at least) that I think they deserve their own item. Specifically, I want to make skinny jeans with topstitching and fancy back pockets and everything.
• A coat or jacket of some sort; really, I just want to make some kind of outerwear. I've got some red wool, but I may save that for when I actually know something about tailoring. I've also got some coral twill that is a bit light, but would make a fantastic summer blazer. I know, I know, by the time I get around to it, it won't be summer anymore and coral will no longer be in. 
• A set of 1912 outfits, specifically a day dress, a suit, and an evening gown. 
• Something to wear for the Gatsby movie. It's time to conquer bias-cut chiffon and all those interesting points and seams!
• Costumes for myself and Elaine for the OneRing.net's Hobbit party. They'll actually be LOTR costumes, but I don't think anyone will mind, right?
• A Loki-inspired cosplay outfit for Thor 2. Something along the lines of these pins.
• A steampunk-y leather arm bracer like this, to hold all my little sewing tools.
• A more or less 18th century gown with panniers. Kind of The Duchess-inspired. Notice that these items are getting more and more impractical/involved/unlikely.
• Heck, as long as I'm at it, I would like to learn to build furniture so that I can make either an AT-AT or dinosaur-shaped raised cat bed for Walnut.

Well, that list list less specific than last year, but more ambitious. I also didn't even pretend to try finishing my stash. Let's see how far I get! Does anyone else make new school year resolutions? Does anyone else even think in school years anymore?

Projects I Want to Make in 2012

My husband and I just went over our New Year's Resolutions, which include normal things like working out more, eating less meat to lessen our carbon footprint, and learning to cook new fabulous meals. We also had some less normal ones, mostly related to our hobbies. For example, my husband wants to have a better kill-death ratio in MW3. Um. Right. I have sewing ones, and while I posted a list at the beginning of the school year, a second semester/new actual year list is called for. I've made some progress in both my Check the Technique list and actual projects list, but I thought I'd add some. I considered not writing about them here, but if I don't post it for the world to see, I may never get to them.

• I want to make a qipao for Chinese New Year. This may be the scariest resolution of all, considering that I have no fabric, no pattern, no idea of how to make one, and CNY is coming up quickly: January 23! Actually, let me rephrase. I want to make something vaguely resembling a qipao, that may or may not actually open at the top, and is probably not brocade. But it will have a collar and frog buttons and side slits!
• I want to make a corset. A real one, not like this leather pretender. I want to use coutil and a busk and steel boning and everything. Richard the Thread is only ten minutes away from me, and we would like to leave LA in 2013, so it's this year or never. 
• I need to tackle pants. At first I was going to say jeans, but I'll settle for pants. And none of this elastic waist jersey knit business either; these need to be real pants with a zipper and a woven fabric. I won't go so far as to say a front fly or lining, but yeah. 
• Make a 1930's style bias cut dress. I'm scared to death of those slinky fabrics and ripply bias seams, but it's time to follow my own advice and just do it.  
• I want to make a historical costume. I have a king sized sheet with a chintz pattern that I think would work nicely for a colonial-era dress, but no pattern. Dare I hack one?
• I'm going to make a coat. I already have the wool, the lining, and the pattern, but I just need to summon the courage.
• Use up my fabric and pattern stash, within reason. I have some fabrics that I don't feel up to working with yet, skill-wise, and some patterns that will probably never be used because of the style. I need to stop buying patterns at Joann's just because they're on sale, and limit it to only getting unique styles that I can't hack from my existing patterns. I just looked at my pattern stash and realized I have at least five fitted bodices with the two side darts and two front darts. If I want a different neckline, I can figure it out on my own. Also, I'm going to learn from Sarah at Musings of a Seamstress and save all my sewing-related receipts this year as a record. Gaaah, how scary. Maybe that'll teach me to be better about it!
• I'm pledging to not buy retail clothing this year unless it is underwear or maaaaybe jeans. Or an emergency. Okay, fine, I'm limiting myself to five non-underwear RTW pieces, and I better try dang hard to find it in a thrift store first.  

Those are pretty scary, all written out like that. Let's not think about it too hard yet. Have a picture of Walnut on my latest project instead.

On second thought, he looks pretty scary here.

Projects for the New School Year

As someone who's always been involved in school in some way or other, it's always seemed a little odd to me to make New Year's Resolutions in January. After all, as a student or as a teacher, my time for new beginnings and fresh starts is the beginning of the school year; therefore I've historically (ha! as if I have that much history under my belt) written resolutions in late August. When I was in middle school and more academically-minded, my resolutions were to make all A's, or place in the city-wide Mathcounts competitions. In my boy-crazy high school days, my resolutions usually had to do with becoming so poised and amazing that I would attract the attention of my crushes. Yeah, I'm embarrassed by high school me. As a teacher, my yearly resolutions were about making sure not to let any students slip through the cracks, or getting some curriculum project done, or effecting certain changes in how the school was run (that one usually didn't happen).

Having just picked up sewing last spring, last August was the first time that I made sewing-related resolutions. I apparently wasn't very optimistic about my skills, because all I had on my list was:

1. Learn to insert actually invisible zippers -- check, several times!!
2. Make a pleated skirt -- check!
3. Make a circle skirt -- check!
4. Make a fitted skirt or dress -- check!
5. Make a full-skirted dress -- check!
6. Learn to shir -- uhhh, no.
7. Make something wearable without a pattern -- check, several times!
8. Refashion something -- check, many times over!
9. Dress up for Comic-Con -- check!
10. Deplete my fabric stash --ha! hahahaha! That's funny, last year me!

All in all, a pretty good year.

Since I already have a list of techniques to tackle, here's my list of actual projects to make, not all of which are sewing-related. I want to go back and retry my earlier artistic endeavors and see if I still love them. If not, time to give away the accessories associated with those hobbies. The process of packing has reminded me I have way too many art supplies.

1. Make steampunk costumes for myself and my husband for next year's Comic-Con check, but only for myself, and I didn't end up going to Comic-Con
2. Paint my old chem lab goggles and Nerf guns to match the steampunk costumes check and check!
3. Get the patterns for, and make, the Pendrell Blouse, Lonsdale Dress, and Crepe Dress
4. Make a twirly dress from some gorgeous lace-looking and sea-foam jersey I have in my stash
5. Make a better nautical-inspired dress than my first attempt kind of
6. Sew up at least three vintage patterns (I though about making this five, or even ten, but then decided to be realistic) definitely check!
7. Use my woodburning tool for something, anything! check!
8. Draw a set of Dixit cards for my friend Sam before she leaves for Bulgaria
9. Make something that wouldn't look entirely out of place at a Gatsby Afternoon, even if I'm not going
10. Finally do something about all my shirts from college retreats and CCS and CHS and make a t-shirt quilt
11. Attempt to use up some of my fabric scraps and make a bookshelf quilt
12. Make a white dress and then draw all over it with my new fabric Sharpies more or less
13. Dye something check!
14. Finally carve the rest of my linoleum blocks and print either a dress or tote or something check!
15. Make a cool dorky necklace that holds my miniature set of gaming dice check!
16. Make a vague knock-off of the Cirque A Line Anthro dress with my IKEA hippo fabric check!
17. Make a halter dress
18. Make a strapless dress check!
19. Finally scrapbook my honeymoon...
20. Make a Regency-era dress so as to be able to attend a Miss Haseltine's Drum, a dance event actually in Culver City!
21. And just for kicks, I'll say deplete my fabric stash again O_o

I'm sure I'll think of other things to add to this list, but at least this gives me some focus.