Author: Jess Smith

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NOLA Shawl

A while ago I told you about my fabric I bought in Seattle, and how that was going to be a thing when I traveled.

I’ve not yet done anything with the Seattle yarn, but I was lucky enough to go on a road trip with some friends last March and bought some lovely tencel yarn in a gorgeous colorway.

We visited four cities on this epic road trip, but New Orleans was the one that hooked me on the trip. I study hurricanes in my real life, so I am fascinated in part because of the geological conditions, but the fact that I hear a lot about it from my favorite food blogger who moved there, and see pieces of it (even if they might be fake) in shows like NCIS NOLA, I was pretty interested. So even though this colorway is not quite indicative of the NOLA people know, it is definitely more my style and wearable in my life. Though I did waffle over some Mardi Gras colorways.

This is not the first time I fell in love with these particular colors together. A few years ago when I was beading as much as I breathed I bought a bunch of beads in that colorway with the intention of making a necklace for myself, which has still not come to pass. Maybe soon? But I consider this colorway Van Gogh colors, since they really remind me of Van Gogh’s sunflower painting.

Officially this is yarn from the brand Prism, and its called Delicato, 100% Tencel, and this is the colorway named Sierra.

Back to the shawl.

The yarn was so soft and I was looking for a low key distraction at the time, so I decided to use it right away. I looked at a bunch of patterns, and ultimately decided on the Good Day Sunshine shawlette pattern from Knitty by Amanda Bjørge.

I really liked the pattern. I didn’t take notes as I went (story of my life), but I seem to remember having to fudge some parts of rows to get it lined up, but I don’t know if that was a careless mistake on my part or if it was the pattern (probably the former). Overall, easy to knit up and the lace kept things interesting!

And then I knit for a month or two. I finished the shawl just before a wedding I attended in early March, but because I had made an outfit with sleeves for that I didn’t need a shawl that night. Until a week or two ago, I haven’t really worn it, but that is not without precedent.

A few years ago I made the Knitty Wavedeck shawl from Kate Atherly which gets worn occasionally, but not enough to be called often. It doesn’t help that with the DK yarn weight it feels more like winter, but we haven’t gotten much winter weather, and that it ended up being more of a shawlette. And shawls are less conducive as scarfs when biking when they need to be attached to something to prevent them from falling off. I’m debating keeping safety pins with the Wavedeck shawl so I can pin it to my clothes before I start bike riding.

With this fingering weight one it’ll get more fall and spring wear, and has already proven so! I wore it three times this week, which was great. I wish the weather agreed with me wearing it though…

Shawls are so pretty, but I need to get more in the practice of wearing them. Especially since I love knitting them!

This was finished in very early summer, and other than a project I started knitting and abandoned for time, I haven’t really been knitting. I got a little bit of a start when I saw Blade Runner 2049 (so pretty) with these socks that I’ve been knitting since I saw Deadpool in theaters. I think I’m calling them my movie socks, since they’ve seen me through about 6 movies, both ugh and awesome!

What are you all knitting up right now?

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Backpack with some Awesome Whales!

Once upon a time, a girl traveled to Seattle for a work conference, and made the bad decision to enter a fabric store. Specifically this one.

You see, she had decided a year or two before that instead of knick knacks to memorialize a trip, she’d choose fabric or yarn.

Let us note, dear reader, the word “or” in that sentence. It is not the word “and.”

So what is this girl to do, but buy both fabric and yarn. Not on the same day, of course, as she has some amount of restraint, but both were purchased during that fateful January trip.

The whales you see before you are the direct result of walking into the fabric store without a hint of a plan. But aren’t they adorable, dear reader?

The whales festered in that fall hole of a place commonly referred to as “stash” for three months, set which point the girl realized that she had too much variety in her daily life to keep everything in her daily purse, and she very much hated carrying anything bigger. She used her backpack from high school a few times, but missed having easy pockets and containers for those items that are not quite junk solely because they’re regularly necessary.

So she designed her perfect backpack. When she began looking through her stash to find the perfect material for her perfect backpack, she saw the whales, and rescued them from the dank hole of stash.

But alas, this material was too flimsy for such purposes! How would she move forward?

Then she made the decision to make bags for her bike, and not knowing the quantity required, she accidentally ordered extra, which turned out to be exactly what she needed!
(Seriously, she has maybe 6 tiny scrap pieces now.)

So she constructed this perfect backpack with a lower zipper pocket for sundries, pocket sized for her laptop help keep the structure nice and sturdy, and a section that nicely fits sketchbooks and journals and lunches and maybe even dinners. Dependent on the amount stuff packed in there.

She was so happy that she managed to construct the monster that she didn’t add real closures the first day, and made a simple not quite drawstring closure later.

A couple weeks and a rainstorm later reminded her that further closures would be ideal, so she dug into her button stash until she came out with two sets of three matching buttons that matched brilliantly. So she attached some thin elastic and the buttons and they’ve held fantastically so far.

Right before taking pictures for this post she changed the cord on the “drawstring” so one can actually leverage the thing closed.

And she sewed on that handle… And seconds later pictures were taken.

Tada!

She still has over a yard left, which had been sent back the stash until the next perfect project arises!

That’s enough third person for now…

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Belladone Opposites

Remember the contest I talked about early this year?

I also picked up the Deer and Doe pattern Belladone, which I am in love with!

(Granted, I fall in love with a lot of patterns…)

But seriously, I’ve made 2.5 of these in the first quarter of the year…

The ice blue one is version 2, and the green skirt is version 1, but I am combining them for this post, along with the bonus of the skirt I made from the same pattern (Version 2.5). Because they’re all done, with almost no changes between the versions, so why not? And though I know I should make some more adjustments, I didn’t pause in between making these.

The Belladone is one of those patterns that I’ve seen around for so many years, and yet I haven’t gotten my hands on it mostly due to the shipping from France thing. And I don’t have many paper patterns from indie companies (read: none), so I couldn’t really see buying the paper patterns. But so many people have made fantastic versions, and I wanted to join the legion!

I made the cutaway back version for both dress options, and I had to make one (rather large) adjustment, which I assume has to do with my broad rounded back. I had to sew a huge dart from just underneath the overlay to the armscye. And now the back lies smoothly against mine! The hem was also “very long” on me, meaning at knee length, but I prefer my skirts to be a bit higher, so I went back and hemmed each version a couple inches.

Version 2 (which was finished first) is made from an ice blue cotton with neon slubs woven in (that aren’t visible from more than one foot away), and is fully lined. Granted, that means its mostly interlined for the bodice, and then actually lined for the skirt. Version 1 has a chambray bodice (woot for scraps!), and what I think is a cotton/poly lawn (woot for scraps part 2!). And then I made a skirt version out of the same wax print cotton that I made my Uganda dress out of a few years ago. I had just barely enough to make it happen, but it’s infinitely more wearable than the dress is, which is a great thing!

I made up Versions 2 and 3 for my this big conference in Seattle, since I don’t have much of what you might call “business casual” and then decided to alter them. The skirt only got hemmed a bit higher, but the ice blue dress got a stencil treatment. I laser cut a stencil with a vaguely floral geometric design, and I used silver Jacquard Lumiere paint to put it on the waistband. The design is not terribly visible, even though I used a Micron pen to outline it a bit, but I like the small amount of definition it gives to the dress.

Because Version 2 was fully lined, I didn’t need to bias bind the neck or armscyes, but when I finally finished Version 1, I had to bias bind them, which I did in a lovely green, and I’m considering stenciling the waistband with a gold fabric paint. We’ll see what happens in a couple weeks.

These are wonderful dresses/skirts though. They worked well for the transition from winter to summer, and so far are doing well for actual summer too! Wait until I show you my hack of this! It’s going to be awesome (judging by the wearable muslin, at least)!

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Bike Bags

Last September I bought myself a bike. I live in a college town rife with bike lanes, and I can park at one place of work, so biking onto campus makes a lot of sense.

But I am not an efficient cyclist, and my back gets really sweaty before leaving my neighborhood if I’m wearing a backpack. So after doing some research on how and what attaches to the back of normal bikes. I determined that a rack was essential, but that i couldn’t afford any reasonable bags after the cost of bike and rack.

After much internet searching, I decided to use some scrap fabric and cardboard and just make some. They were… Useful. Not fantastic, but they certainly worked. They were a basic bag shape without a lid, one for each side of the bike, and connected by a couple inches of fabric over the top the rack. I had turned the top edges under to prolong its life, but forgot to put in buttonholes to thread bungee cables through, so it was slightly torn, which only got worse over time. To stiffen the cotton fabric so it didn’t get caught my wheels, I used some cardboard, effectively making these super bad in the rain.

But I used this version for probably 6 months. Somewhat because I was too lazy to do it again, and somewhat because I didn’t have the right fabric.

In April I finally gave up looking for cute fabrics and settled on some black water resistant utility fabric.

This time I altered the bag pattern a little so that the bag bottom slanted upwards, and I added flaps to help cover the contents. I also added pockets to the back so I can add stiffener like a sheet of acrylic. I’m still working fitting that acrylic into the pockets, but i think it’ll fit if i shave off an inch.

I’m finding the bags a little difficult squeeze things in, but they’re secure, water resistant, and easy to retrieve things from when reach my destination.

Out of the same fabric, I made a cover for bike seat, and does its job even its not pretty. I’m learning not leave it on when I ride bike, though, as it often is more slippery than the actual seat, but it has helped when I had wore a skirt from a rather slippery fabric.

Alright then. That’s all I’ve got to say on this subject right now. Reasonably effective, highly useful, probably will get remade if I end up in a bike friendly town post-degree!

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The Moment

When I posted Spring Updates I wasn’t sure if I’d be posting again about this prop, at least not until I had completed the costume to go with it. But that has been postponed for a smidge, so I think its time to share!

If you don’t recognize this prop, you probably didn’t see the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode. That’s okay! What you should know is that it’s central to the storyline, as its the most dangerous weapon in the universe, so dangerous that it has a conscience, who just so happens to appear as Billie Piper’s character Rose, or rather her image, but calling herself Bad Wolf. If you find that a reasonable thing, then you should definitely join the Whovians!

Anyway…

Last October I fell in love with a (relatively) new technology: LASER CUTTING!

And when I say fell, I mean I fell hard.

The panels of this prop were the 2-7th things I ever laser cut.

So I was completely new to Illustrator, but this project (and everything I’ve designed since) has taught me so much!

Back to the prop… I used photos found on the RPF (here and here) as references, and then designed all the sides. 5 of them were reasonable, since there would good references, but the one with all the Gallifreyan was more difficult. Only half-ish was ever visible, so I made a lot of fake Gallifreyan… Which was entertaining. And some of it looks reasonable, and others… Don’t. Luckily it’s only about 12 by 6 inches of ridiculous.

And I’ll probably be one of the few that cares.

I went on a week long “bender” of designing and laser cutting. I would design something one night, cut it out the next day, and then turn around and design the next one that night!

Then came time to take them all home and paint them. All the metallics are Jacquard Lumiere paints, and I used some cheap acrylic paint for other bits.  I think I had everything painted by December. And then my project brain stalled. (In January I found myself working 2 part time jobs, plus my grad school research so everything shut down. Like this blog, for the most part.)

In March, when things had mostly settled, I found myself with the inkling to get in the wood shop to make the frame. I ended up splitting two by fours for the final product, and creating an empty cube. I spent a lot of time sanding it down and trying to get many of the imperfections out. Some of the wood I had used had some kind of black paint on it, so I had to sand it down a lot in places.

Then I made the bad decision to wood burn the frame by hand. In the show prop, it was probably laser cut, but I wanted the deeper worn look. I spent 6 hours over 3 nights working on it (from 10pm to 12am) which was not my finest decision…

I borrowed some stain from a friend, and stained the entire thing, which was a kinda messy affair. My bathroom looked like a crime scene for a few hours. The stain was oil based Zar, in color Rosewood.

Then came Easter weekend. The laser cut panels were “installed,” meaning pressing them until they fit and attempting to glue them together cleanly. I had installed a small “door” into the corner of one of the sides, so I installed hinge hardware, and used some foam board leftover from a friend’s project to fill in some gaps between panels.

I was marathoning the project at this point, so I managed to get on Tinkercad and designed the corner caps, which are essentially 3 sides of a cube with a half sphere, and printed them. For a first 3D project, they turned out unexpectedly perfect! I primed each with some cheap primer spray paint and then painted the corners grey with acrylic paint mixed with some silver Lumiere paint. Then everything got glued together and I used a clear coat over everything, from the wood to the 3d to the laser cut stuff.

But this thing is huge. It’s bigger than the actual prop, and I can hardly hold it. So it takes up a remarkable amount of floor space. So I laser cut an acrylic topper, and I use it as a coffee table!

The intention was that this would be a prop useable for DragonCon, but as I said it is huge. I think it measures 16 inches cubed. I have trouble picking it up, due purely to the dimensions, though the weight would be a problem an hour in…

I’m thinking that it might be worth it to make a smaller one. I’ve only got two months, but I think I can cut down the working time to a two week period, if I do it again, since I know all the steps, and the only real thing I’ll have to buy is stain for the frame. I would definitely laser cut the frame though, before assembly, since it was way too much time to burn it by hand…

We’ll see what that idea comes to!

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Spring Updates

Well, it’s been over a month now since I’ve posted, and reasonably down here its decidedly summer, not spring anymore. Which pains me to my core.

And I’ve decided not to apologize that it’s been so long. This semester has been busy, with two work related trips, and two part time jobs in addition to my research. Something had to give, and making things was not gonna, so the blog (and a bit of research… oops?) did instead.

Yes, I just said that I didn’t stop making things… It’s my sanity people!

But what I’ve lacked this semester is daylight and mental preparation (and a clean living room) to take pictures of the stuff. This really hasn’t changed… I intend to clean my living room soon, but I also am going to move in August, so…

What I can tell you is that I’ve got a backlog of things to post. I’m not sure that I will actually post them all. It seems pretty weird to say that, as I did post absolutely everything I made for a couple years, but now that the majority of my wardrobe is me-made, and that I’ve made or altered many things that I use in daily life, I don’t entirely need this as a reminder to myself. It’s become more of a project lookbook and a writing exercise.

Here is a picture of a prop that I recently finished, which is the culmination of so much work that I stopped counting…

Maybe I’ll write the post associated with that soon, maybe not! That isn’t even a final product, and I haven’t taken other pictures yet! I’ve got some costuming projects in the works, as I’m planning on getting to DragonCon again, so even if I don’t post much of the backlog, I’ll still have fun things to show!

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All the Onyx Shirts

Never has a pattern become tried and true in my library than with Paprika Patterns’ Onyx Top.

My first version was made out of a lace in November, and altogether was too big. I thought I had made the recommended size, and it was mostly fine in the front, but the back was really drooping, and the sleeves were way too big. (Let me interject here that I don’t quite remember, but probably chose the size based on my bust size, which tends to throw off the rest of the fitting. Because I’m lazy, and my fitting adventures are a work in progress. So don’t take this as an actual review of the sizing…)

So I took the pattern in at the shoulders, raised the armscye, and shrunk the width of the back a bit.

Then in very early January I used the Ariel skirt made of rayon (which was way too lightweight for a skirt) to make a slightly cropped version. Not the actually cropped version in the pattern, since I needed this for work-appropriate events, but an inch shorter than I’d like. I made a facing for it out of the same fabric, and unfortunately didn’t finish the facing edge (which I should do one of these days) which can cause the neckline to hang funnily, and I didn’t interface it, which I think contributed. It quickly became my favorite shirt!

Incredibly happy with this success, I also made one out of this polyester suiting with a diagonal stripe pattern… It works. I wish that I had made the facing out of a different fabric, as the neck really doesn’t lay correctly, though I did interface it, so perhaps it was just stiffer?. Maybe I can fix it later?

And then I tried to use this stone colored poly/cotton blend (I think), which had no drape. That version did not work out well. It felt very frumpy and baggy. I don’t know if it can be salvaged, but maybe with a dart of some kind. For right now its in the alteration pile, which is why I didn’t bother to iron it for the pictures here…

So that’s where I had to leave it before a big conference in Seattle in the end of January. Then I had a making drought in early February as I adjusted back to normal life, and then I made an awesome version in black rayon. In fact the same rayon from the Ariel skirt version, but in a black. I tried to remove some neckline gaping with a pattern alteration, and made the shoulders even slightly less wide. This time I interfaced the facing again, but I also made the facing the entire yoke of the shirt wide. It ended with a fantastically fit shirt, but the yoke of the shirt felt and looked a little stiff. So I embroidered it. I haven’t done embroidery in a while, but it came back pretty quick, though I’ve never done anything quite like this. I really enjoyed the vines and leaves, and the couple flowers on the back were quite fun.

I’ve got another one of the black rayon versions cut out, since the rayon had enough for another, and I think I’ll embroider it too, but I’ll get to that one soon!

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Vale

I’ve shown you this sweater before…

But that was over a year ago…

At that point, I thought I had cast on the sweater in the fall of 2015…

This sweater represents two years of my life, by the numbers if not by the proper months.

My first big sweater, and first real thing made of wool, was this gorgeous aran sweater I bought for my birthday when studying abroad in Ireland. It’s green and gorgeous, and heavy, but has a very open weave, so it’s not much good in even a small gust in wind.

I’ve been wanting one that would hold up a bit more in winter weather, and that would have a lot of cables, yet still be a loose cardigan. See, I was on a hunt while abroad for a penannular brooch, which I only found at the end of my trip in a medieval craft fair in Germany. I’ve been hoping to have a sweater that I could use it with for many many years, and this one fits that bill!

Here are the details:

Pattern: Vale sweater from Knitty.com. I had to rework the fronts a little to accommodate the yarn I had left and the fronts I wanted to have.

Yarn: Mystery wool. I got a big bag of mystery yarn from my grandmother’s belongings when she moved to a nursing home, and found a number of skeins of this worsted weight wool. Other than wool, I’m not sure what is in it, but it was pretty nice to work up!

Time: Two years off and on, but an awful lot in the past three weeks?

Finishing: Since it’s knit in pieces, I had to “sew” it up. I ended up crocheting the pieces together, since the  back’s pattern had a similar look. It’s worked out nicely!

The sleeves are a bit tight around my arms, but otherwise this sweater is fantastic and warm and wonderful! I’ve been wearing it about daily for the past week or so!

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Shifting Waters Fumeterre

Last summer I was lucky enough to win a prize in the Indie Pattern Month competition for my pattern hacked Nettie dress, and this prize included two patterns from Deer and Doe, and one pattern from Paprika Patterns! I’ve been interested in both companies for a while, since I found the folded mini skirt tutorial from the latter years and years ago, and since I tried the Deer and Doe free t-shirt pattern.

This is the Deer and Doe Fumeterre skirt, and I made it in January. And yes, this is March. I’m not fantastic at the getting posts written and picture taking at reasonable times…

I bought this awesome two tone (green and aqua) chambray over the winter holidays, and had no idea what to do with it. I remember the bolt saying Robert Kaufman (like my favorite fabric-dress combo) but I can’t find it online. It’s got some weight to it, and pretty much no drape, but its not heavy enough to count as jeans-weight denim, and I probably wouldn’t have worn it as a jacket (though it would’ve looked awesome)! Yet I couldn’t bring myself to remove it from my shopping cart. Both colors you see in the photos in this post are accurate, in different lights!

When I got it back to my house, I looked through my “catalogue” of patterns, and realized that even though it doesn’t have the drape expected for the Fumeterre, it would look so awesome!

Using the recommended size, I traced my pattern pieces, and was able to cut out the skirt with very little left over. Looking at the pattern, I decided that I couldn’t give up the chance to use the pockets, and the button band. I’m not regretting the button band idea, but I now wish I’d used only a partial button band instead (faked the lower half), since the opening doesn’t flow well due to the lack of drape in the fabric.

The pockets are glorious though! I interfaced the pockets, which does affect the drape, but they haven’t really stretched, which is ideal. They’re huge! So handy to have in a skirt, and they look pretty cool too.

The inside has a lining, though I attached each lining piece to the pattern pieces, so I suppose it’s more of a flat-lined lining than a true one. But it made it easier to deal with just a bit of lining that slinks, rather than a full skirt of slink that I would need to deal with the seam frayage. This way, I just bias bound each of the skirt seams, and ironed the seam flat. This did eat up a lot of my bias stash, but it was worth it!

(Also, I noticed the stain when I was already on vacation, and just decided to go with it… I’m going to work on it later!)

The hem is long! I’m almost 5’3″, and in my heels around 5’4″, and I shortened it by over 2 inches, and might have cut off some in advance as well. I like the length I’ve got it at now, but I’d definitely shrink it earlier in the process next time. Mostly because I’m not really a heels-often person. Though my new pair is super comfy!

One of my favorite things about this version (beyond the fantastic pockets) is the buttons I chose. The waistband button is a golden shank button, made of plastic, but so cool! The other buttons are a greenish-blueish shifting ombre color thing. They’re pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

The only issue I’m finding with my skirt, which is totally a fabric thing, is that is wrinkles early and often. It’s definitely something I’m going to find annoying as I continue to wear it, but I also know that this skirt is wonderful to wear and waft around in, and I’ll wear it until it falls apart!

This got its first real wear in Seattle for a meteorology conference, and the next big wear in New Orleans for a vacation, where the green wall pictures were taken… I’m considering this business casual, but it works in real life too!

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Top 5 of 2016

I’m joining in with the Top 5 posts again!

But I’m doing it all at once, since I’m both lazy and out of time… Since it’s now 2017 and all. Be prepared for an epically long post.

Top 5 Hits:

hits
  1. My Ginger Jeans. I have been wearing the last two, as well as my first real denim pair, pretty much nonstop for the past month. It helps that it’s jeans season, and that I don’t own any RTW pairs anymore, but the sheer amount of times these have already been worn and loved is extensive.
  2.  Plum Drop. Not only did it win me a contest in Indie Pattern Month, but its gotten a lot of wear. In summer at least! The fabric is pretty terrible, but I can always make it again in a better quality knit when this craps out!
  3. Chambray Shirtdress. This one looks terrible on camera (and yes, to the person who wrote an nastygram on my IPM post, I understand why you’d think it needs so many alterations… But it does fit well in real life. Thanks to the Monthly Stitch moderator who saw the comment, removed it, and sent a sweet note to me about it. I appreciated it, even though I never did respond…) In real life, it’s basically become my favorite dress. As soon as it comes out of the wash, I iron it, and wear it basically the next day!
  4. Amber Julia Cardigan. This one is fairly recent, but I have worn it at least once a week since I made it. And there was that one week that I may have worn it 4 of 5 workdays… I only didn’t wear it that 5th because I realized how often it had been worn…
  5. Whale of a Coat. This one is certainly the newest, but it fills a massive hole in my wardrobe, and should get a lot of wear this season and hopefully beyond. I’ve worn it in the unfinished state at least 5 times, and once now that it’s complete. It’s comfortable, it doesn’t ride up a lot when I raise my arms. I can pull my arms ahead of me easily, driving in it is a dream, etc. And it’s warm!

Top 5 Misses

misses
  1. Party Skirt. I made this early 2016, or maybe late 2015, and I wore it the one time. I’m not a fan of wearing glitter, shiny things, etc. (Though shiny things will always distract me from my focus), and I don’t know why I think this’ll be any different.
  2. Black Nettie Tees. These get worn all the time, so why are they a miss? The fabric I bought for these is so poor a quality that they took less than 6 months to become translucent (which I realized in 2016, so I’m counting it in this round up). I need to make these workhorse shirts in a higher quality fabric, so I can get an equal amount of wear without the downside.
  3. Ariel Skirt. This fabric was too light for the task at hand, so I shouldn’t be surprised that it didn’t work out overall. I want to make another skirt like this, but I’ll try a new pattern variation, and a heavier weight of fabric. Meanwhile, this skirt is going to become a shirt, if I can fit it.
  4. Handmade Sandals. These worked for my Nausicaa and Kaylee costume, but they aren’t comfortable enough for usual wear. I’m not getting rid of them for now, but they probably won’t get worn much.
  5. 2016 Goals. While I did finish 3 of the 5 goals, the two that would really have helped my sewing overall did not get completed (drafting real slopers and buying quality materials over cheap and crappy ones)

Top 5 Non-Crafting Highlights

  1. DragonCon. There are no words to describe how much this convention meant to me. For being my first and having it be so wonderful and successful, it was perfect. I hope to go back next year!
  2. Dancing. I’ve been ballroom dancing for between 5 and 6 years now, and since I started social dancing, my skills are improving as both a follow (typically the woman’s part) and a lead (typically the man’s). I’m spoiled that the ballroom and swing community around here is robust, and it’s led to both dance-friends and real friends for me!
  3. Friendships. My two best friends in the entire world I met when I was abroad. They’re my musketeers, and the three of us have never since lived within the same five hour radius since, which makes it difficult to hang out as a trio. When they were able to join me for DragonCon, it made it a wonderful experience. But since these friends live so far away, I obviously need alternative companionship. My first year in my grad program, I got close to a few people, and then most of them moved to a satellite campus (I was given a choice and the more intriguing option was to stay at the main campus), so I had a year with few close friends, though in 2016 spring I started to become close with some ballroom friends, and now I’m especially close with one. Definitely a best friend contender. It’s nice to have friends and companions with similar goals and interests! I’m definitely happier!
  4. End Date for Master’s. I’m a third year in my program, which is already slightly strange for a Master’s but now I know that sometime in this calendar year I’ll be graduating.
  5. My new bike! I’m not one for exercise, but I know it’s a big part of keeping healthy, so I opted to buy a bike that I’ll actually use to get places, so I’m not just exercising in place. I’ve made some bags to go on my back rack, and I’m looking into making long term versions, now that I’ve had a few months of wear. Cardboard and cotton do not do well in the rain… and uncovered bike seats don’t either.

5 Reflections

  1. I wear my makes when I don’t get to adventurous with them. I’m okay with trying new silhouettes, but at the same time, I’m not going to wear miniskirts, or full circle skirts made out of fabric that will fly up easily, etc. I know what I like to wear, and what I like to sew. If I stick with that and work to create variety within that, I’ll enjoy both creating and wearing garments.
  2. Costuming is a rush that I can’t shake… I had my first real experiences of wearing costumes I’ve made this year. I never really got to experience Halloween when I was younger, and I wasn’t comfortable being in the spotlight on stage, so costumes were something I made, but never really wore. Now, it’s nice to know that I can wear them with pride, and get noticed! I’d like to get better at emulating characters that I’m attempting to look like, but that’s something I may be able to work on with practice. How to get that practice, I’m not sure, but I’ll be working on it.
  3. Spending money on quality material is a good goal, but one that I’m still not quite ready to do yet. I’m still a student, so when I have the chance to splurge on quality, I want to do so, but if I have to buy cheap stuff to learn on, I’ll do it. I’m still learning myself, my skills, and my interests, so I’ll size up on a case by case basis.
  4. I’m probably never going to want to sew bras and underwear. Camisoles either. I bought the Watson bra pattern, and I’ve made up a version (that needs to be fixed… I didn’t stretch the elastic enough.). But it didn’t make me want to make another. At least not enough to make a real bra, and I’ve had an underwear pattern printed for a few years now, and I keep not making them. So I’ll never have an entirely me made wardrobe. Sometimes its good to admit that I “need help,” or rather that quality RTW still has a place in my life. Similarly, I will not be able to make Italian Wedding Soup as good as Wegmans brand, and Spaghettios are delicious on special occasions. Even though I know neither are the best things to put in my body. But sometimes nostalgia wins out.
  5. I like sharing my skills with others. When the musketeers decided to do DragonCon together, and we decided on a few group costumes, I was able to share my sewing skills with them, and help teach one and advise the other on sewing techniques and tricks. Then the makerspace in my building opened up, and apparently I’ve become the resident sewing “expert” and I’ll be teaching the intro to sewing machine classes for a bit of this upcoming semester.

5 Goals for 2017

  1. Start/finish my costuming projects in a timely fashion. I’m big on dragging out projects. And I can finish things quickly. I’m just not good at following through with it. So I have plans to make or update or finish six costume this year, and I’d like to follow through.
    1. Make a fascinator for the TARDIS, and make/obtain a sonic screwdriver, etc.
    2. Create more accessories for my Nausicaa costume. I’ve got Teto, but I’d like to make the flare rifle, the gloves, the hat, the boot covers, etc.
    3. I’m working on the prop from the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode The Moment, and I’d like to also make the costume Billie Piper wore to go with it!
    4. I’ve been working on the Cinderella ballgown from the live action version, and I’d like to finish it before summer.
    5. The movie Penelope has been a favorite of mine, despite some flaws, and I’d love to have a costume for Penelope, especially because some of it will work in real life too. I’ve already thought a lot about it, and I’ve started practicing with prosthetic making, but I have a long way to go…
    6. The Doctor Who episode Face the Raven is a hard one to watch, since it involves the death of a companion, but I love what Me/Ashildr wears in it, and I want to go all the way from a collection of clothing/jewelry to costume.
  2. Learn to smile and become more loose in photographs. I will freely admit that I was a stick in the mud in early college, and I’ve been working on becoming a more free person in life and at heart. I smile a lot, but I’ve learned (from what other people tell me, and what I see in my own photographs) that when I think I’m smiling, it doesn’t always show to the real world. Now, I’m fine with that for interactions with people. If I get to know them, they’ll start to get it. But I don’t like having to sift through all the photos I take to find the one with a smidge of a smile. It would be nice to be able to take a few and be visibly smiling in more than half!
  3. Work on props and accessories in addition to sewing clothes/costumes. I have enough clothes. Not that I’m going to stop making them, but I’m not desperate to make anything right now because of a void in my wardrobe. So if I shift my focus to making things that will help my life or my costumes to get easier or shine, that will be best overall for my life and plans. Also I got a Dremel for Christmas, and it’s so fun to play with!!! I need more excuses to get sawdust all over my dining room.
  4. Work down my stash. It’s started to overflow my space. Some of it has plans attached, some is marinating while I think over plans, and some of it is meant for muslins only. But the overload needs to be dealt with.
  5. Attempt to address fitting issues before finishing a garment. Muslins should help with this, but also fixing or attempting to remedy these issues before “declaring” it finished should help these kinds of issues from causing garments to end up on the alteration pile.

Here’s to 2017!