A Sewasaurus' Dream

I got back to SF from Hawaii yesterday to find the most amazing package waiting for me:

Caution! Danger! Warning! Keep Out! 

Seriously, you guys, could this sheet be any more perfect?? I love me some dinosaurs, and I was totally obsessed with Jurassic Park when I first saw the movie; throw all of that onto my yardage of choice and you get a squealing Cationess. Many, many, many thanks to Devra, Oona, Sonja, Christine, Wanett, and Lauren for thinking of me at your super-fun NYC sewing blogger meet-up! If only I could traipse around with you all and meet Kenneth King...in the meantime, I'll be more than satisfied with trying to decide what to make from this. Any ideas, dear readers, about what silhouette/pattern would do this sheet justice?

My mom, upon seeing this picture: Why didn't you blow dry your hair
so that you wouldn't look so messy? 

Oh and hey, did I mention that I got to go to Hawaii for spring break? Mr. Cation and I decided to take advantage of the fact that this is the last spring break we'll ever have together, because once he graduates, well, I hear they don't have spring break in the corporate world. I've been in school for so long (whether as a student or a teacher), I don't even know how to function without a week off in spring and two weeks at Christmas, never mind the two whole months of summer break! Anyway, since our last two trips were to the UK, Mr. Cation demanded suggested that we try a vacation someplace tropical, where there aren't fifty museums and castles to be seen. Normally, I wouldn't go for someplace with quite so much sun and outdoor activity, but I'll confess, Leimomi's posts about Hawaii singlehandedly changed my mind. I know, I must be the only person in the world not initially excited about going to Hawaii.

Please don't hate me for saying that I prefer the V&A to this. 

Well, somehow I managed to drag Mr. Cation to several historic locations/museums, so that more than made up for all the lying around on the beach. Actually, we spent very little time on the beach; mostly we just ate really good food.

Mission Houses in Downtown Honolulu. We couldn't take pictures inside, but I got really excited to see the Regency and Romantic era clothing and textiles that they had on display. 

Mr. Cation: I thought this was going to be a beach vacation. Why are we at a historic cemetery?  

The history lessons continue at the Pearl Harbor Memorial...  (can you believe how blue the water is??)

...and at the Bishop Museum. 

Kahili on display in the gorgeous Victorian building from the above photo, where all the Hawaiian historical artifacts are housed. Thanks to The Dreamstress, I knew what I was looking at, and the significance of it.  

Also at the Bishop Museum: a lava pouring demonstration! At 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, we could feel the heat from where we sat. If I had seen this earlier in my life, maybe I wouldn't have been so dismissive of earth science. 

I'm pretty sure that drinking from a coconut is a required activity for tourists.
Hey look, it's my pleurosis tee, with nautical linen pants -- hello, button overload!

Red velvet + milk tea + cherry cola shave ice as big as my head.
About five minutes after this picture was taken, the extremely top heavy ice tipped over. Mr. Cation and I tried to catch it with our hands (not our brightest moment), but alas, we were left with a sad mess on the sidewalk and hands that were covered in brownish-red drippy chunks, not unlike this picture of Sherlock. It looked like we had reached into someone's abdomen and tried to pull out chunks of intestine. 

Unrelated to anything: I saw this sign while walking around and totally thought it was a store called "Complex Ions." Got really excited until I realized that "Complexions" probably made more sense.

And to wrap up this miscellaneous assortment type post: congratulations to Emily Allred, winner of the Drape Drape book! Please contact me at cationdesignsblog [at] gmail.com with your mailing address so that you, too, can start pointing at random objects!

Sew Grateful Week + Giveaway

Many thanks to Debi for hosting Sew Grateful week every year to remind us how much there is to be grateful for in the sewing blogiverse! I feel like I've written pretty extensively fairly recently about how glad I am to have discovered sewing, and what sewing and the online community have done for me, so I won't rehash that here. I still wanted to reiterate, though, that I am still so incredibly thankful to Mr. Cation and my friends for their support, Walnut for being cute, and all of you out there who are encouraging and informative through your own blogs and your comments on mine. This community is a pretty special place, isn't it?

Walnut gives his best coy look. Dawwww...

There are some pretty amazing giveaways going on, and while I can't compete with say, a book on  tailoring or a new Colette pattern, I can throw in an assortment of goodies for multiple winners!

#1: The Sophia Trench Coat pattern by Serendipity Studio, uncut, sizes XXS-XXL. It's a raglan-sleeve coat, so it should be easier than one with set-in sleeves. I originally bought it as part of a coat-making class at my local sewing shop, but I ended up not being able to make the class dates. I still have the pattern, though, so this would be a good beginner coat project for you if you're looking for one! Here's an example of a less loud version of it.

#2: McCall's 7385, a raglan-sleeve knit dress pattern in petite. It's from the eighties, which was not the best era for fashion, but I liked the stripe/chevron version they picture. And again, since it's a raglan-sleeve, it should be an easy first dress. Don't forget the personalized instructions by Palmer & Pletsch!

#3: McCall's 9071, a 1967 sheath dress pattern with some cool seaming, in size 16 (bust 38). I originally got this as part of a whole packet of patterns, but the bust is much too big for me.

#4: Butterick 4790, a reprint of the 1952 walkaway dress, uncut, sizes 8-14. I'll be honest, it requires so much fabric I'm unlikely to ever make it up, but it's definitely a cute retro dress!

#5: A 1965 Simplicity sewing book. I came across it in one of my thrifting adventures, and while it's not in pristine condition, the information in it is still good. There are sections covering pattern and fabric choice, alterations for fit, step-by-step illustrated instructions for how to put together common items like dresses, skirts, blouses, and men's shirts. There are also sections covering useful things like types of fastenings, embroidery stitches, seam finishes, basic tailoring, etc.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment saying which set you would like. I'll even go so far as to say you can enter for multiple items if they all strike your fancy! And just out of curiosity, tell me what's your least favorite fashion era -- mine is, in fact, the 80s, which might explain why I'm giving away the second pattern! I'll close the giveaway on Sunday night at 11:59 pm PST and announce the winners on Monday.   This giveaway is now closed! Thanks for entering!

One more gratuitous cat picture. Sometimes I look at Walnut and think it's just unreal that he's so fluffy.

Before the Blog: Easiest DIY Maxi Dress Ever

Guess where I am!

I swear this really happened. Walnut
just went over and sat down like that.

I know I said I was going to show off my finished UFO, but even though the dress is finished, I don't have any pictures yet. Blame Jeremy Lin for starting his basketball game right around the golden hour before sunset. There was no way I was going to ask my husband to step away from watching a Chinese-American guy play in a groundbreaking game to take pictures for me. Goodness, what's happening to my blog? First I mention COD: MW3, now basketball. As if my search results aren't already skewed enough, what with having made a Team Fortress 2 sniper vest in the past.

Anyway, I thought I'd share some pictures and a fake-torial for a dress I recently wore to the Getty Villa instead. Since the Getty Villa collection is mostly Greek and Roman art, I wore my most Grecian-column-esque dress. This was the actually the first dress I made when I started sewing, right after two elastic-waisted skirts. And let me tell, you, this was even easier than the elastic skirts. It's really an awesome beginning sewist project, especially since it's so simple to get such a glamorous result. Every time I wear this, I get compliments on it, my husband loves it, and it is SO EASY. So even though it's a little late for the Sew Grateful week tutorials round-up, here are my instructions anyway. Mind, though the waist is very adjustable (it's entirely dependent on your having a nice wide belt), the length is based on my height, which is 5'5". If you're significantly taller, you'll need to cut a longer piece of fabric.

I love how maxi dress can make one look so tall and columnar.

I made a super long tie so that I could have a huge bow at the back.

You'll need a drapey fabric, preferably a stable jersey knit, a long sturdy ribbon for the tie (or make your own super long tube of fabric), and the aforementioned belt to complete the look.

Yikes! There's a typo (write-o?) in here: it should be 54" x 24", not 44". Thanks to the Sewing Princess for pointing it out!

That's it! And in the spirit of full disclosure, I got the idea from American Apparel. I was just browsing their store, feeling a little heady with my first sewing successes, and I looked at the Le Sac Dress and realized it was just two rectangles sewn together. I thought, I can do that! And I can make it not scandalously short, too! So I dropped by my local Yardage Town, found this lovely soft black and white bamboo print jersey knit in the remnants, and snatched it up. An hour later, I had a new dress.

Please don't look too closely at my horribly non-parallel lines of topstitching, though.

I love these super fast projects that have disproportionately awesome results. Granted, this kind of dress is also just made for SoCal weather, but if you're taking a beach holiday, try it!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be at the Getty Villa, wandering around, looking at a great art collection...

...enjoying the beautiful architecture and marble floors everywhere...

 ...and the fantastic statuary. I just couldn't resist once I saw the crazy eyes on the statue.
I am a serious, mature adult who knows how to appreciate art, I promise.

Sew Grateful Week: Non-Humans

Okay, this is a little silly, but there are some non-sentient items that make my sewing possible, and they should get their recognition too. Besides the obvious, like my sewing machine and scissors and seam ripper and pins and all.

Probably #1 on the list would have to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This is also probably (hopefully) the only time I will ever mention violent video games on this blog. But really, it's so great that husband and I both have hobbies that only require one person, and the other person has no interest in participating. This means that we both get our nightly fix of fun without feeling like we're depriving the other person of entertainment. I get to sew, he gets to shoot imaginary people.

Second on my list is Netflix streaming + the iPad2. This combination means that my information-hungry brain, which has a hard time uni-tasking (watch a movie while my hands are idle? horrors!), can learn while my hands and right foot are busy sewing. The only thing is, I can't watch visuals-heavy shows, like Downton Abbey, while I'm keeping an eye on my seam allowances, so I tend to choose documentaries. Most of those are talking heads, along with some bad "historical" reenactment, so I'm not missing much if I don't look at the screen. Thanks to PBS, National Geographic, and History Channel shows, I feel like I'm making up for not taking AP Euro or AP World in high school. In the month of January alone, I managed to learn about the Dark Ages, Auschwitz, the Salem witch trials, Jamestown, the ill-fated Greely Arctic expedition, conquistadors, and the colonization of Africa. Previous months have included castles, human sacrifices, medieval dragon legends, and the Civil War (and possibly all three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender...*shifty eyes*). So maybe it's not the most complete history curriculum, but hey, I've got to start somewhere in making up for three years of high school history classes spent passing notes and staring at cute boys.

You no can haz teh interwebs. Feed me first.

Lastly, I have to thank Teh Interwebs. Without the wealth of information, tutorials, and blogs out there, I would never have been able to get to where I am now. I have my one sewing book, the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, but honestly, I'm more likely to look online for information. I'm especially grateful for the Burdastyle and Sew Weekly communities, and individual bloggers who've helped and encouraged me. Gosh, this is sounding like an acceptance speech. So, in conclusion, it is with great happiness that I accept the Rambly Blogger Who Doesn't Know When to Shut Up Award!

And as obvious as it might seem that I left Walnut out in my list of thank yous, I'm telling you, it's purposeful. This guy deserves no thanks for choosing to make biscuits on slippery fabric that took forever to get on-grain, or depositing tufts of his hair on all-black, super-staticky lining. I swear, he can decide to release them just like hens laying eggs.

He decided to take his bath here within three seconds of my setting the dress down.

Oh, I'm sorry, did my needing to finish that dress disturb your daily ablutions? Forgive me, your majesty. Carry on.

Yur new pattern book iz perfik place 4 mah butt.

Oh, cats. Getting in the way of silly hoomins since 8000 BCE.

Also, I just realized I lumped the real people/bloggers out there into the non-human blog post. Oops.

Sew Grateful Week: Friends and Family

Besides being grateful for my mom, who started me off sewing, I'm grateful to several other people who enable this whole making-my-own-clothes thing.

Hey girl. You want those Astorias? Put them on my credit card.
{idea. photo.}

First off, my husband. I know I rag on him occasionally for being skeptical about some of my fabric choices, but really, he's the best. He's the first to point out to people that I can make my own clothes; when people comment on a me-made item I happen to be wearing, he'll always pipe up with pride, "Did you know she made it herself?" He's also the one to thank for my improved picture quality of late, being both the sponsor of the new DSLR and the wielder of such. It's so much easier than waiting for a bright enough day so that I can catch the light coming in the dining area windows! And of course, he shows his support in so many other little ways, like doing up hooks and eyes when I can't reach them, giving his honest opinion about frumpy versus vintage, putting up with going to fabric stores on vacation and carrying bags of fabric, and being the "bad cop" and dragging Walnut off my fabric when I'm in the middle of a tricky pinning situation. And let's not forget buying me my sewing machine in the first place. Best Christmas present ever.

Last year's extravaganza.

Next up: my friend Elaine. She is my costuming enabler. Seriously, no one else in the world wants to do these things with me. Or at least no one else I know of in my vicinity. Except that Elaine's not even in my vicinity! She drove all the way from Tucson just for our first SD ZombieWalk in 2010, and we've only been getting more elaborate since. We're making grand plans for someday when we're back in the Bay Area together and can attend the Edwardian Ball. Sometimes she makes fun of me for saying "I could totally make that," but her belief (and her mom's belief) in my creative abilities were what kept me going as a beginning crafter in high school. She's never anything but gracious about being gifted with my random DIY output. And one day, she's going to let me make her wedding dress. Now if that's not trust, I don't know what is!

And then there's someone I've mentioned before many times: my sheet supplier, Shayna. She's the one who gave me the sheets for my Star Wars Dress, Miss Lavender Goes to Hawaii Dress, Betsey Johnson Floral Explosion Dress, and Seamstress' Rendering Dress. Also my ill-fated mannequin cover UFO dress, but that's not her fault. Anyway, she is also super-encouraging; she's probably one of the nicest people I know. For example, she even confessed recently that she didn't read the summaries of my finished dress posts, you know, the boring part about techniques and pattern drafting and such. I think it's so sweet and indicative of her kindness that she felt like she had to apologize for that. Anyway, sneak preview: she said she found some Spiderman sheets for me...I can't wait to pick them up! Also, I somehow don't have any pictures with her; this is a situation that needs to be remedied ASAP.

She captured perfectly the old-timey
science illustration look that we wanted.

Then there's my sister, Emily. She is seriously the most creative person I know: she did the graphics for our wedding invitations, she's a budding metalsmith, makes crazy-cool anatomical art, and is the person who introduced me to zombie-walking in the first place. She's my partner in crimes against the craft world, fellow lover of NPH, and knows just as many Little House quotes as I do. And many of my downright funnest projects are the ones that involve her. She inspires me to be more creative every day.

Last but not least, I am so grateful to my dad. He doesn't sew a lick, nor does he like costumes or even SF/F (he's the ultimate realist: he only reads nonfiction books about non-made up universes), and he frowns upon spending money for unnecessary things (i.e. more than three sets of clothing). But! He's also the one who taught me to be rational, to analyze what aspects of x can be translated into y, to mentally take apart a made item and make it for yourself. The ultimate DIY-er, he taught me to use a drill, put in new tiling, and build a useable product just from an idea and some well-planned sketches, all before I graduated from elementary school. Some of my fondest childhood memories are the times he built us a tree swing, a seesaw, and dual-level tree house in our backyard, all from wood scraps and other things lying around the house. My can-do attitude is largely attributed to him. Even my inspiration for turning cardboard boxes into furniture comes from him -- one time he built us a castle playhouse from several refrigerator boxes. Also, despite being such a rational scientist type, he's always been the quirkier of my parents. So if I love hippos and giraffes on my clothing, it's because of him. And of course, he was the one who introduced me to Star Wars.

I love this shot of us during the traditional father-daughter dance, to "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof. These are the hands that held mine as I learned to drill, the hands that I held in a death grip when I learned to ice skate. Did I mention that my dad also introduced me to musicals, opera, classical music, and Impressionist art? He was my first example of a Renaissance man. {photo}

It's especially fitting that I'm thanking him during Sew Grateful Week, because it's his birthday this week, too. Happy birthday, Dad! Thanks for teaching me so, so (sew), much.

Sew Grateful Week Giveaway

Let's start off Sew Grateful Week by thanking Debi for coming up with such a great idea! So much of my sewing is all due to other people's generosity; the week before V-Day is the perfect time to be thankful. I'll blog later this week about specific people I'm grateful to, but I want to start out the week by saying that I am so (sew) grateful for the fantastic sewing community that I've found online. Becoming more serious about my sewing and blogging coincided with moving to The City of Culver City, and while I'm making friends here, there's something special about connecting with people thousands of miles away over a common love: sewing. You guys have been so great with encouragement, fitting tips, and understanding the excitement of creating one's own wardrobe. Who else will geek out with me over fabric deals, vintage patterns, and cool notions? I've been really fortunate to not have had any snarky comments, so I'm going to continue rejoicing in the love and acceptance of my own corner of the sewing blogiverse.

I know I just hosted a giveaway not too long ago for reaching 100 followers, but I'm going to do another one. In the last few weeks, somehow another few dozen people have found my blog worth reading, which is still incredible to me. So in honor of 150+ followers, Sew Grateful Week, and the woman who originally started me sewing, I'm giving away a vintage 1971 dress pattern, Simplicity 9333, in Size 14, Bust 36. Its envelope is a little torn, but it's complete, uncut and still in factory folds.

Simplicity 9333; ©1971; Young Junior/Teens' and Misses' Midi-Dress or Blouse - (Designed for Knit Fabrics Only): The midi-dress V. 1 or blouse V. 2 & 3 with back zipper, high round neckline and set-in sleeves may be worn with self fabric tie belt or purchased belt. V. 1 & 2 with long sleeves has roll type collar. Collarless V. 3 with short sleeves has optional top-stitching.

Why a 1970s pattern, when that era seems to get very little love in the fashion world? See, it's all thanks to my mom that I'm even doing this. She taught me to use our old Singer, which has unfortunately gone to its well-deserved rest since then. She started me off with a bean bag, and twenty years later, here I am drafting my own qipao pattern! If I remember correctly, she learned to sew when she was in her teens, right around the 70s; her good friend's father was a tailor, so she learned to make her own shirts, dresses, and pants. She says she's never made a coat, though, so I guess I'll have to figure that out on my own. Anyway, since she was making her clothes in the 70s, this pattern is actually close to something she might have worn. And to be honest, I'm coming around to 70s patterns. The 80s and 90s, though, that's another story.

Giveaway Rules:

1. Leave a comment telling me who started you off sewing, and what your first project was. 
2. I'm going to have to make this giveaway North America only, unfortunately! This month's budget doesn't allow for overseas shipping. 
3. Same as last time: it goes without saying, but you really should be a follower of my blog. I'll assume that you're a follower if you leave a comment. Also goes without saying, but I hope you really intend to sew up the pattern! Please don't win it just so you can turn around and sell it on Etsy or use it as kindling or make a craft project (does anyone else feel slightly horrified by this?). 

I'll close the giveaway at the end of Sew Grateful Week, on Sunday, February 12, 2012, at 11:59 PM PST. You'll need to court the spirits of random.org, and look for the winner on the following Monday. 

Just for kicks, have a picture of Walnut, pretending to be ear-less.

I swear I didn't pose him that way. Also, his belly looks incredibly fat in this picture, but it's really just furry. If you press your hand down on him, three inches is just fur.