Late July Round-Up

It sounds like I'm talking about something to do with wild horses, kind of like Pony Penning Day, doesn't it? But no, it's just the links I've found interesting this last month, only somehow August started without letting me know. Not many are about sewing this time, actually...it's mostly just science and geekery. Consider yourself warned. 

• [UPDATED: Totally forgot to add this one in!] I love that Tina not only makes lovely clothes, but has a socially conscious brain as well...having had my fair share of being called "Oriental," all I can say is YES. THIS. 
• You probably already follow Trena, but if you don't, or haven't seen her review of Overdressed, go check it out. I totally agree with her assessment that part of the reason for fast fashion is our culture of shopping as entertainment. I used to be one of those people who shopped out of boredom or (unstated) social pressure -- and I've always lived in cities with great museums, for heaven's sake! Even now, I feel weird when I'm not churning out garment after garment. The fact that I've spent the last three weeks on my Promaballoona dress is downright bizarre.
• I'm not really a writer (minus the blogging), and I'm not an academic (minus the teaching), but I do love reading good prose; this article challenges academics to write more attractively.  
• Speaking of good writing, I wanted to send this article to all the students I've ever taught who protested when I docked them for poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation in lab reports -- just because it's a science class doesn't mean you can get away with alot, or mixing up they're/their/there, two/to/too, and it's/its. (I'll confess that I giggled a bit when I looked at where the URL cut off the title of the article. I wouldn't hire people who use poo, either.)
• The intersection of classic children's lit and Harry Potter: Maryline and a Wizard School in Scotland. If you've ever loved Madeline, this is a spot-on reimagining with the same style of drawing, but magical.
• More Harry Potter, but with science: this brilliant explanation of how wizarding genes might be inherited (hint: it goes beyond Punnett squares). I really, really, really wish I had this when I was still teaching genetics for AP Bio.  
• An Asian woman doing vaguely steampunky and definitely eco-friendly things with real science? Awesome. 
• As someone who has a hard time making friends in general, and definitely had few girlfriends as a child, I appreciated this blog post on being friends with other women.
• Part of my having such a hard time making friends with people has to do with my being a huge nerd, and while the definition of geek is slightly different than nerd, I still identify strongly as a geek girl. As such, I've really appreciated role models like Felicia Day, as well as the women who are passionate enough to cosplay and go to cons. It seems that this summer has had more than its share of anti-geek-girl social media rampages, but I'm so glad there are people out there who not only aren't threatened, but also support us. And having had a somewhat scattershot record of geek-outs myself (dinosaurs! Star Wars! X-Men! Sailor Moon! Batman Beyond! the Civil War! Zombies! Steampunk! JoCo!), I am all for the idea that anyone can be a geek. I like wearing my Superman dress, even if I haven't been reading/watching his antics since before I was born. I remember feeling so welcomed into sewing geekery when I first started sewing blogging, and I would hate for anyone to feel like they couldn't participate in geeking out about xyz just because they didn't meet somebody's arbitrary standards.
• On a lighter note, I laughed so hard when I saw this series of photos of black cat auditions in Hollywood, circa 1961. I'm pretty sure Walnut would not have stood for this malarkey, even though he's certainly good-looking enough to be a movie star. 

Doesn't he look like he could be in one of those classic odalisque paintings?

June Round-Up

Can the year really be half over? School has been out for a while, and I should probably revisit my school year resolutions list, but in the meantime, have some random links that tickled my fancy this last month:

• This Cowbirds in Love comic. Cats and Star Wars and clever punning all in one! It doesn't get much better than that. Incidentally, if you enjoy punny comics about geekery and science (Sanjay is in med school, I think?), CiL is awesome.
• I know this article about JoCo is super old (at least in internet terms), but I still found it relevant, even if I'm just a sewing blogger. I'm really sewing for myself, but I still love seeing what my readers have to say about a particular project. Whenever I finish a big/popular project, I'm kind of ruined for a few days, trying to figure out what to do next.
• Trying to come up with inspiration for That's Sew Cinematic, I started wondering if there were any big Chinese-American film stars besides Lucy Liu. I don't know how I missed ever hearing about Anna May Wong, but wow, what a lady! Her story is heartbreaking, her outfits fabulous, and now I'm off to the library to find her films.
• If I could, I would just dream up and make costumes like this for a living. These are astoundingly gorgeous and just out of this world. 
• I've always thought hatting and millining were the same, so this article was a helpful clarification. And now I kind of want to take a millinery class!
• This little newspaper clip on preparing to sew made me laugh. I do not try to look my most attractive when I sew! If my husband comes home in the middle of sewing, more often than not I'm in my unmentionables for quick-and-easy fitting. I like Gertie's suggestion of wearing a lab coat, though!
• For those of you in VPLL's 1912 project, I stumbled across this pdf download of a book on Edwardian-ish-era underwear! It includes instructions on drafting corset covers and the petticoats and the like.
• For those of you who are into fashion history, I really enjoyed this slideshow of extinct birds dressed in fashions from the year of their demise. Of the birds, I only recognized the great auk, but I was able to place the approximate era of most of the actual fashions. Also, did anyone else think of this gown when they saw the Carolina parakeet? I know it's the wrong year, but it's remarkably similar.

By Brian R. Williams, from here.

• I really enjoyed reading Brooke's account of what it's actually like to work as a costumer. It's the kind of job I think would be amazing, and it turns out it is, but just with a lot of less amazing times in between the amazing ones. Which is kind of a lot like teaching, actually. 

I've finally finished my most recent sewing project -- a shirtdress! Unfortunately, San Francisco has reverted to its usual gray, overcast, faintly drizzly self, so I haven't been able to get pictures yet. I might have to just suck it up and freeze, though, like so many of you have to do to get Sew Weekly challenge pictures. Please forgive me for being a wuss...living in SoCal for so many years has spoiled me.

Lastly, thank you all for your kind reception of my mom's account of her time as a garment factory worker! My parents are out of town this weekend, but when they return I'll be sure to let her know you all appreciated her story. The fruitfulness of trying to explain blogging and subscribers again to my dad is still questionable, though...

May Round-Up of Things

I was going to call it the round-up of awesome, but none of these links are actually about suits or Barney Stinson. So here are some things that caught my eye this month, not all sewing-related.

• I don't know how I've never seen this page before now, but it has an excellent collection of illustrated, detailed sewing technique guidelines.
• Amy of Sew Well made the awesomest jeans ever. I mean, check out the topstitching on the pockets! I look forward to seeing what C will be. I also look forward to the day that I will make my own awesome jeans. No word yet on when that will be. 
• This tutorial from Esz of Kitty's Drawings on how to make a belt without turning fabric is the best, as I hate turning fabric tubes. And I love belts, so it's only a matter of time before I get up the gumption to locate some belt buckles.
• Leimomi the The Dreamstress posted an excellent series of adorable photos of her cat, Felicity. That girl is beautiful. I'm pretty sure that if Walnut wasn't neutered (or an ocean away), he would totally have a crush on Felicity. I love seeing pictures of other seamstress' cats in action, so that post was as good as Cute Overload.
• Speaking of cats, I seriously cried reading this post from Winston's ex-owner. I don't know what I would do if someone said I couldn't see Walnut again. If you love your pet and need a good cry (or masochistically enjoy having your heartstrings tugged), read it with a tissue handy.
• LiEr of ikatbag had this excellent series of lists about things a competent seamstress should have under her belt, as specifically applies to her daughters, but also useful for adults. She also muses on what qualifies a seamstress as "beginner" or "advanced," something I myself have wondered. I've been sewing for two years-ish, and I've never made an evening gown or jeans, but I have made hand-worked eyelets on a tabbed pair of bodies. What does that make me? I wish there was a syllabus like in ballroom dancing, e.g. bronze level means you've mastered the natural turn and reverse turn, and silver level means you've got the reverse corte under your belt. I'm pretty sure tailoring your own coat is gold level sewing. 
• The Animaniacs was a staple of my Saturday mornings for a good while, and Pinky and the Brain was a family TV-watching event, so I loved this article about them on Mental Floss. Especially the video of every single "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
• This brilliant article comparing being a straight white male as the lowest difficulty setting in a game totally inflamed certain people, but my husband and I both thought it was an excellent metaphor. 
• The NY Times wrote about the effect that clothes can have on self-perception. I have felt the same way wearing my lab coat, despite not being a doctor. I still remember how heartening it felt as a first year teacher to don my coat, and feel slightly more authoritative and competent, despite being only three years older than some of my students. Incidentally, I also feel both geekier and happier when I wear my superhero/geek dresses.
• These articles are pretty old, but I only just came upon them this week thanks to a link from one of my former students. I was never a huge fan of Tom Bombadil, but I will never look at him the same way again. Even though I know these are just speculations (with their sets of issues), I love entertaining ideas like this. Also, I'm really glad I read these articles in broad daylight...if it had been midnight, I'm sure I would have been totally creeped out; I got the shivers as it was. Also, the author of the first article also wrote a piece about R2 and Chewie and their secret roles in the Rebel Alliance...I'm pretty sure this is now going to be my head canon since it makes Episodes IV-VI so much more interesting. 
• Tomorrow, Colleen Atwood's Snow White and the Huntsman opens in theatres! Oh, it's not hers? Because I'm pretty sure her costumes are the only reason why I'm going to see it. Seriously, check out this slideshow of her work in it...it's mind-bogglingly beautiful and intricate and everything costume design should be. And if you don't mind spoilers (I, for one, can enjoy movies a lot more when I know what's going to happen), this post also has a lot of excellent pictures and description of the costumes.

Also, this May marks the college graduations of many of my very first students ever. I still remember stepping into Room 16 for the very first time, being totally petrified of these sophomores, and wondering how I was going to teach them the basics of chemistry. And here they are seven years later, going off into the wide world, some of them with chemistry degrees (!!! was that my fault somehow?!), and I feel both proud and old.

This picture was taken during the Grand Canyon trip my very first year of teaching.
Are these kids really old enough to be done with college? They look so young here!

The beginning of June also means it's time to start packing up for the move to San Francisco. I don't know how I'm going to decide what to bring from my fabric/pattern stash. I'm thinking of bringing a couple of big projects (tentatively the VPLL #4016 dress, the The Duchess dress, the skeleton dress, jeans, and my Little Prince quilt), and maybe some embroidery. However, I will be leaving my machine and Cecily, which makes me slightly sad. It's funny how you get so attached to something as simple as a sewing machine, but I know all the quirks and tricks of mine, and even when I use someone else's exact same model (all of the people I've taught to sew either have the same machine as me, or are learning on my machine), it's not the same. If any of you have ever moved for just a couple of months, how did you deal with the sewing aspect of it? How did you decide what to bring, or did you even bring anything?

It's Here, It's Here, That Shocking Time of Year

Shocking as in, I can't believe that it's already May! It's May, it's May, the month of yes-you-may! The time for every frivolous whim, proper or "im!" Does anyone else like that musical? My dad introduced me to it when I was young, and while it's not my favorite musical, it does make me feel awfully nostalgic to remember my dad trying to inspire us with the ideals of Camelot.

Anyway, here is my list of interesting reading from last month, not all of it sewing-related:

• I'm sure everyone has already seen Tilly's analysis of the real cost of sewing, but here it is again anyway. I don't think it's very true of me, mostly because I cut a lot of corners when it comes to fabric choice. I mostly sew with thrifted sheets, and even when I make clothes from "real" fabric, it's from the discounted bin and is less than $3/yd more often than not. I also use the really thin, worn down sheets as my lining fabric, so that also saves money. Lastly, my patterns are always bought on sale at Joann's or thrifted; rarely do I use a pattern that costs more than a dollar. That said, I think my spendthrift ways do limit me in terms of what I can sew; I have yet to find a gorgeous silk or sturdy denim in thrift stores or the sale section of a fabric store. 
• Sue at Sewin' Steady posted about the odd embarrassment that comes with talking about one's me-made clothing. Personally, I get weirded out (but in the best way possible!) when people I am only good acquaintances with talk about how they read my blog. Sometimes I forget that my audience isn't just other sewists (who presumably have something to gain by reading my prattlings about fit and sewing techniques) and my closest friends (who don't sew, but read my blog out of pity because they don't live in TCOCC and want to hear about my life). I also get concerned when people find out I sew and then they ask if everything I'm wearing is made by me. If that's you, and you're reading this, I don't make screenprinted tees and jeans.
• Trena the Slapdash Sewist posted about the pricing on wedding (and RTW) dresses and concluded that non-sewists don't understand how much work it is to sew clothing. Having looked at the prices of lace and silk myself, I agree with her analysis. And I'm embarrassed by the fact that a mere two years ago (right before I started sewing seriously), I was outraged at having to pay $400 for alterations to my wedding dress. Now, I look at the lace appliques and the several layers of skirt (and with some experience sewing with chiffon and silk, and knowing how freaking annoying it is to take apart and alter a well-made garment) and think that my alterations lady really gave me a very fair price. It's akin to random solicitors who see my Star Wars dress and ask if I can make one for them for $30.
• In a similar vein, this older article on Etsy about the history of the cheap dress was also fascinating, especially as I toy with the idea of opening an Etsy shop. And even as a sewist who values (and makes) well-made, custom-fitted articles that will stand the test of time, I'm still tempted to go crazy at the sale racks at Forever 21 and H&M. When my sister and mom come home with adorable nautical-striped acrylic sweaters, my resolve to buy only five items of RTW clothing this year is severely tested. 
• Not sewing-related, but still close to my heart: a blogger for Tor posted about the lack of diversity in D&D characters. I myself play a purple-eyed, silver-haired eladrin, but I definitely noticed his points when I flipped through my manuals. If there were Asian-ish characters, I don't know that I would play them (for fear of dragon lady/geisha association baggage), but it would be nice to have the option to reject them, you know?
• Dressed in Time posted a brief catalog of odd-but-beautiful implements of yesteryear. I am totally going to be on the lookout for asparagus spoons now when I go thrifting!
• In case you need some cute in your life: this video of a kitten drinking milk has the best noises ever recorded in the history of the world. If I didn't have a vocal cat myself, I wouldn't have believed it possible. And then there's this book of art depicting life for Darth Vader and Luke had the former not been an absentee parent. I love the references to lines from the movies!
• Lier of Ikatbag had the chance to meet a legendary weaver, and graciously shared her experience with teh interwebs. I am always so impressed by people who are absolute masters (mistresses?) of their craft; I know I don't have that kind of dedication at all! I am more the type to try dabbling in everything (jack of all trades, master of none is totally me) and end up with half-assed attempts at all sorts of crafts. I did actually try tapestry weaving for a quarter when I was in college, and managed to produce this sad sampler:

At one time I entertained the idea of wearing this as a bizarre sort of scarf; now I just keep it in a drawer.

I don't remember what any of the terms are anymore, but I do remember that it was really tricky to keep the tension?
width? looseness of the weave? more or less even. The bit at the right was my very first section,
where I obviously had no idea what I was doing and made everything way too tight. 

Eventually I lost interest and returned my rented table loom, but I have so much respect for people who do this for a living! I also can't even imagine cutting into fabric you wove. Have any of you ever tried weaving? Are you multi-craft dabblers, like I am, or do you just have one or two crafts that you strive to perfect?

March Round-Up of Awesome

The first awesome thing is all my lovely friends and followers who voted for me in the Whimsic Alley costume contest! As of Friday night, I had the most "likes" on my photo, but I'm still waiting for an official announcement before I do any celebrating.

Not entirely related: Now that it is well and truly spring, CSA boxes are super productive again! Walnut is nonplussed by the giant leek we brought back from the farmer's market.

Other awesome things that caught my attention this month:

• I am super excited that Avatar: The Legend of Korra is out! I haven't had time to watch the first two episodes yet, but I can't wait til I can sit down and reenter that world. Related: this article about why ATLA is perfect for steampunks.
• This article about 1911 sewing stitches is perfect for VPLL's 1912 project! They also have a very basic, fuzzy, hard to decipher pattern for a 1912 evening gown that I am itching to try. I've got the perfect slate blue-green chiffon for making Lady Mary's evening gown, and the pattern is remarkably similar, but I am held back by 1) hope that the 1912 project will release an actual evening gown with a clearer pattern and instructions, 2) too many other sewing projects higher in the sewing queue (where would I even wear such an evening gown if I made it up successfully?), and 3) my inability to figure out where some of those pieces go/how they function. Anyone have any clue?
• I totally laughed at this article that I'm sure many of you have seen already; I just love that the Dowager Countess is the only one who gets portrayed by a cat. Also, I totally thought Mr. Bates = basset hound even before seeing this article.
• I really appreciate this post written by a friend of mine about what she's learned from fashion bloggers. Natalie always has really thoughtful posts about body image and relating positively to oneself, but this one particularly resonated with me because I feel the same way when I read other sewing blogs. For example, I adore Oona's style; I don't think I could ever pull it off, but I absolutely love it on her.
• Awesome sewing: I was so impressed with Poppykettle's suit; I swear, one day I will make myself a suit that amazing. And seeing Tanit-Isis' daughter's bear for her teacher's baby made me incredibly happy, because I know how incredibly difficult and occasionally thankless teaching can be, and seeing other people appreciate their teachers warms my heart. On a totally different note, Meg the Grand has been blowing my mind this month with her dresses; I absolutely love her Couch of the Irish dress (she is my hero: a sleek green dress from upholstery fabric?) and Sassy Secretary dress (I knew it; I should've just gone with Joan as my inspiration). Also on the Joan-imitation front, I am in love with Adey's rendition of this dress. I really wanted to make this dress, but I don't even know where to begin with those sleeves.
• Sewing pictorial: Steph at 3hourspast posted a pictorial for lace insertion. This will come in handy for Edwardian blouses for sure! 
• Kind of sewing related: Justine at Sew Country Chick summarized the major blog cliques, which I found both amusing and informative. She totally pegged the whole chevrons and Silhouettes thing. I don't fit into any category in particular, as I'm all over the place, but it was fun to see her breakdown nonetheless. 

Now that we're entering April, I am pleased to say that it's National Poetry Month! I'm not an English teacher, but I do love a good poem. I miss the days when Elaine and I were roommates and would stay up late reading poems to each other; it seems that there is very little time/space for poetry in the modern world (or at least in my life; I don't know about yours). So I'm going to try to post one of my favorite poems every day (along with my regularly scheduled sewing/project blogging) for the month of April.

Elaine and I used to read each other angsty poems all the time (we were college students longing for true love and full of feelings), so in tribute to that, and to the month of April in general, one of my favorites of Sara Teasdale's:

I Shall Not Care

When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Though you shall lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.

I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough;
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now. 

This poem (unsurprisingly) actually has very little to do with my current stage of life, but when I was suffering from unrequited love as a melodramatic teenager, I thought it was the best thing ever. I still love that she manages to capture that sentiment so well, even if now it just makes me think of the poor late Lavinia Swire and how Matthew was so horrible to her.

Everyone knows that x's for eyes and a tongue sticking out signifies dead. Also, look how silent and cold-hearted Matthew looks here! {picture, Lavinia cartoonified for deadness by me}

End of February Already!

I think I read somewhere that the older you get, the more quickly time seems to pass since each year represents a smaller and smaller fraction of your overall years lived. Like when you're five, a year represents, well, a whole fifth of your life, so waiting to turn six seems like ages. Makes sense to me...and also February is an especially short month. Anyway, here are some links I've enjoyed this last month: 

• I really appreciated this blog post about conquering knits from Lladybird, because even though I started sewing on knits, sometimes I fall into a wovens rut and get scared of knits all over again. Her post contains lots of helpful hints about sewing stretchy fabrics successfully. 
• Made by Rae posted about Pinterest and photo copyrights. I don't have kids whose faces I want to hide from teh interwebs, and I don't think anyone is pinning photos of Walnut, but it's definitely a good question for those of us who create things. I'll be interested to see what Ben's reply is. 
• Simple Simon & Co. talked about lessons learned from sewing. I can totally identify with all of these! Especially #5, as I can be quite a perfectionist, and therefore quite hard on myself.
• I don't think I ever had thoughts about the word "dainty," as broached by Peter at Male Pattern Boldness, but my mom definitely tried to impress on me the Chinese equivalent, being 斯文, that is, polite and gentle and refined and cultured and, when used to describe a female, ladylike. Which if you lump that all together, is essentially "dainty" without the frills and ruffles. I like that a lot better. I may not always be ladylike, but I would like to always be the rest of those.
• Not sewing related, but I appreciated these thoughts about how the Asian-American identity intersects with faith. Having grown up in a Chinese church, with very very Chinese parents, sometimes it's tricky sorting out which of my values are Chinese church culture, and which are actually biblical. My ethnicity definitely influences how I interact with God and people, and it would be foolish to deny it.
• Extant Gowns is a blog dedicated to showing photos of vintage, nay antique gowns. If you're in the 1912 project, trying to make your own version of Lady Mary's wardrobe, or trying to sew up a gown for a Titanic party, this is an invaluable reference. These are real pictures of the insides, the details, the construction when possible -- all the stuff I'm interested in seeing. 
• Boing Boing linked to this dictionary of vulgar language from 1811; I knew a few of the words from reading historical fiction, but a lot of them were new to me! For example, words for talking about the bust area: apple dumplin' shop and cat's heads! Readers, let's start talking about a small apple dumplin' shop adjustment, or full cat's heads! 

And lastly, I was so thrilled to see that my little fake-torials* have been helpful to other sewists out there! Monika made this lovely, lovely dress from my maxi dress directions -- doesn't she look so glamorous? And the talented Liz actually referenced my cutout dress directions to make her V-Day dress! Have you used any of my fake-torials to make your own projects? I'd love to see pictures!

*fake-torials = fake tutorials. Fake, in that I don't realize until afterwards that I might want to make a tutorial out of my steps, so the photos aren't always complete/the best, and then I get embarrassed about actually calling it a tutorial.

Just so that this isn't an entirely pictureless post, have another gratuitous Walnut photo:

Walnut is a quality vegetable (he does nothing but sleep all day),
he wakes up fresh 'n' natural (not quite: his salmon breath is anything but fresh, but at least it's natural?),
he was organically grown (he grew up on a raw meat diet as a kitten!),
and his fluffy coat will keep him warm even when refrigerated (not that we've ever done such a thing).

February Already?

I feel like Sir Anthony right now.

It's already been February for two whole days! I can't believe how quickly 2012 is going by already!

Right. Um. Flailing aside, here's my roundup of some of my favorite things from teh interwebs from the month of January:

• This thoughtful article from Wearing History about the importance of making things with your hands. It expresses perfectly how I feel every time people say, you made that? Oh but I could never do that! You just have to start somewhere!
• Even though I haven't used the Consulting Dressmaker service, I am really excited that it exists. One day, when I actually try something really hard and complicated, I will rest assured that Steph will solve all my problems.
• Like maybe when I tackle things from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library's 1912 project. My pattern should be available for download any day now!! I am crossing my fingers hoping it's something Lady Mary would wear.
• Speaking of Lady Mary's outfits, this awesome collection of all the screencaps ever from Downton Abbey. I can look at every costume now! Like in the above picture: I had no idea that the back of that very popular dress made little chevrons.
• Okay, last DA link, promise: this xkcd comic about the most common male mistake regarding DA.
• Totally random, but this company will put a picture of you on a dinosaur for $50.
• Just kidding! I have a few more hours to decide if I want to order these perfect-for-DA shoes from American Duchess. 
• Not strictly DA-related, so I'm letting this one slide: this is an AMAZING collection of photos of the insides (boning in the waist! a million hooks and eyes! circular weights!) of an authentic Edwardian gown. This lovely lady bought one and generously shared the kind of pictures that seamstresses want to see, not just the pretty outsides shown on museum websites.
•  The official LOTR Lego!!! Pictures of the minifigs (falsely articulated, I'm assuming), and sneak peeks at the actual sets. AAAAHHH CANNOT WAIT. I think I will need every one of these. And then I'll have to make space somewhere on my bookcase to display them all.

I also just received my Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion 2:1860-1940 this week, and I'm totally in love. Thanks to everyone who recommended it to me! Also thanks to my generous husband, who gave up a lunch hour to take a survey in order to get a $25 Amazon gift card, which is just enough for the book! Seriously, this guy is way better than Handmade Ryan Gosling.