So last week I shared my introduction to mandalas, and I thought it’d be cool to share how I draw mandalas!
This week I’m sharing how I draw them by hand, and then next week I’ll show you how I do it in Adobe Illustrator, the process of which could be adapted for other programs!
First I gather up my supplies, including a protractor, a compass, a pencil, a ruler, an eraser, and some kind of inking supply (I’m using a set of Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens).
Then I’ll draw out two perpendicular lines, trying to center it (and typically missing the center).
From there, I can use my protractor to mark out various angles from the center cross, and then I’ll draw them in with my ruler.
Next I’ll use my compass to draw concentric circles out from the center. I tend to make a bunch of guides randomly assorted and then build the design around it, so I try to make at least five circles to give a good base.
Then it’s time to build out a structure. I make a general pattern, like these boundary circles and the arch patterns, and I’ll continue this all around the mandala.
After the structure is done, I’ll decide on the details and start to fill out the mandala. I’ve been partial recently to dots, parallel lines and swirls. In this one, the swirls turned into caricatures of waves, and I think it made a neat pattern!
And then the mandala is complete! Sometimes I’ll choose to color it in, but for this one, I really liked the simple black and white look!
I made a pen roll and a flour pouf this week out of scrap fabric, and the pouf is even filled with scrap!
This week I’ve doubled down on packing up my apartment in for a move in a week, and I’ve found fun things,, like one of the fingerless gloves I made in high school, and taken steps to destash others, like the millions of knitting needles I’ve collected over the years!
Here’s some mandalas I’ve made this week!
And here’s some other things I’ve drawn! The castle on the left is actually a castle for ducks in Portugal in Pena Park. I didnn’t know it while I was drawing iit, butt investigating the image further led me to this very cool fact!
I had a moment at work over last summer where I said the most artist-y thing I could imagine myself ever saying. “Oh yeah, I’ve been kinda getting into circles.”
It was just the funniest thing, in hindsight at least! Who doesn’t like circles?
But a couple days ago, I came across the make I was working on in that moment, and it prompted me to think over my connection… with circles.
When I was young my parents would bring us to art museums with sketchbooks and colored pencils, so I did a lot of (what would now be considered) abstract art. They weren’t all recognizable.
My uncle had made what I would call “Doodle Art” for my grandmother when I was in elementary school, so by the time I hit middle school I was doodling in the margins of my math work… Sorry math teachers!
Unfinished, and there’s the water stain… It went through about 20 pages…
I just pulled out some of my sketchbooks from high school, and I found some cool squiggle doodles I was working on back then, so I have proof that I was doing circular-ish stuff back then!
Then when I was in college something magical happened. I was introduced to mandalas in a spectacular way! My college invited a group of Buddhist nuns to our campus to make a sand mandala.
Credit to Trinity College
Every day or two I would stop into the black box theater on campus to watch the incredibly intricate mandala develop and to watch the thought and the concentration that these nuns put into this beautiful work. Even though I missed the organized events due to school and work, I felt connected to the mandala every time I took off my shoes to pad into the theater and observe the work as it progressed.
Alright, let’s cut to April 2017, when I desperately needed to make a wedding gift for May, and I decided I would laser cut coasters, but then the question became, “What am I going to put on the coasters?”
Pinterest did not let me down, and I saw so many cool ideas, but the mandalas stood out to me. And that was when I started to draw my own!
For most of the time since then, I’ve drawn in an eighth or sixteenth of a circle pie slice, then taken a picture of it, and redrew the entire thing in Illustrator.
When my pie slice was drawn up, I’d then flip and rotate and flip and rotate (etc) until I had a full mandala. There might be a little bit of clean up, or combining of paths and such, and then I had a finished design!
I’ve put these digital mandalas on coasters, on ornaments, on magazine boxes that I use for organization, on digital websites for downloads, on coloring pages for download at my Etsy shop, and most recently on fabric!
About a month and a half ago, I decided it was time to try doing these mandalas by hand, just like the nuns I had observed six years before (except… with paper and pen instead of sand). I bought myself this compass, which is weighty and will accept a mechanical pencil or slimmer, and used a protractor, and so far I’ve drawn about 10 entirely by hand!
Here’s a couple videos to show you my sketching, inking, and coloring process!
So saying, “I’ve kinda been getting into circles!” is not true… It looks like I’ve been loving circles for a long time!
Basically frosting is the stuff like party dresses and bright green coats and silk pajamas and stuff. Cake, on the other hand, is black t-shirts and jeans and workwear.
On a side note, frosting is so much more fun to post about… its pretty, the details are memorable, and you don’t have to blow out the picture to see any design details on your black on black on denim garment… Whew, I did not know I had that many feelings about the three or four black t-shirts I’ve made.
This came around about the same time that I told myself that I was definitely this time going to finish my latest costume… Which was also a long tabled costume. And I did! Not by the deadline, but eh… Only like two days afterwards?
I’m hoping to get a post on my Cinderella dress sometime in the next month or so…
So I knew that I had a whole bolt of tulle that I wasn’t going to use, and then I made a plan, in theory to help motivate myself to finish the Cinderella dress… It didn’t help.
I would use the tulle to make an awesome poufy skirt, then either make a woven T-shirt out of a gorgeous fabric or a camisole out of something pretty, and then a lace shirt on top!
Knowing this, I got around to finishing up my Cinderella dress, then nearly immediately got to cutting out the tulle circle skirts… I got up to about 15 before I was happy with the opacity. Now, I didn’t finish the skirt… I just left it out on my dress form for about the next 3.5 weeks…
At some point in early November I made a trip to my local fabric store and picked up a yard of this lovely (and practically neon) lime green silk cotton twill. And proceeded to use it for an unintended purpose, and made a camisole out of it.
This was definitely after I’d written a post about not making Ogdens out of anything very stiff… Maybe not posted, but definitely written. So I made one out of twill. Not my finest moment.
Overall the camisole turned out nice. It’s not one I’d wear on its own in summer, but when worn with a black sweater, or with an overshirt, it looks quite pretty. I lined it with scraps of some undyed rayon lawn from these projects.
But then I remembered it was winter, and I had been making most of these pieces while completely covered in blankets… at my sewing machine.
So I decided to continue on and make the lace shirt? When I really wore this outfit in the real world, I definitely wore a sweater.
I used my trusty Onyx top as the pattern, and used up the very last of this lace. I did have to piece the lace together on the back (and maybe the sleeve?) in order to complete the top.
Basically I laid one scrap on top of the other, lined up the pattern so it matched on the top and the bottom, pinned them until they wouldn’t shift in an earthquake, and then carefully sewed the pieces together.
Then I finally realized that I’d not finished up the skirt, so I cut out the waistband from some old stone colored mystery fabric (on the Sunday I used in my previous post) and the next week I sewed up the waistband and attached it to the skirt.
I had a quick photoshoot before work one day (though I only wore the camisole with a sweater to work… Not the skirt), and froze while I was trying to show off the garments. So there wasn’t a lot of smiling, because I was cold and rushing, but I do love the garments.
The next week I wore this entire outfit to a ballroom dance, and though I looked and felt cute, I discovered one incredibly important thing.
The skirt is ridiculously itchy and uncomfortable. So itchy, even over top of a slip. My refrain for the night was “So itchy!!!” and I also found that it takes up the entire seat area in the car and spills over into part of the console… But can I repeat, itchy?
It’s possible I’ll make some kind of underskirt, but it’ll be in time out for now…
The other two pieces are awesome, and I’m enjoying pulling them into my wardrobe.
So that’s my #sewfrosting outfit! It’s very bright, and not something I’d wear regularly, but it also is quite a cute little gumdrop ensemble! I’m glad I have pieces that I can wear in real life that’ll remind me fondly of this challenge.
Sometimes you need a little frosting to make you appreciate cake!
Today I thought I’d share some of what I do when I have a completely plan free day… Which is a strong way to say I’ll show you how I procrastinate. On projects. With other projects. All day long.
Let’s start by explaining the project I started out wanting to do on the Sunday in question (for context, it’s the one after Thanksgiving).
When I’m itching to start a project, I try to pause, and go through a couple questions:
What do I need to make?
Do I really need it, or do I just want it? (Not a dealbreaker, just a consideration)
Do I already have the materials?
Do I have the time to complete it before/around other obligations?
In this case, I needed some long sleeve tees. I’d donated a bunch last year in my move since I wore them so infrequently, but now that it’s winter again, I realized it was time to make some long sleeve versions. So I really needed to make one. And I already had the material, a soft warm plum colored rayon jersey, with a little spandex if I remember correctly. Finally, I had all day to complete the project. (Which made it the perfect project, but also didn’t work out terribly well).
When I picked up the fabric from my shelf, though, I remembered that I had wanted to make a nightgown out of this cool blue stretchy not-lace fabric, so I pulled that out.
After I decided on my plans for the day, it was time to make some tea. This is some Harney and Sons tea that my brother gifted me a few years ago.
With tea in hand, it was time to get to work!
I pulled out my Nettie hack for T-shirts from my traced patterns, when I realized that the front was still marked in pencil, so I needed to stop and write out the name in some marker.
In pulling out that pattern, though, I saw the tap pants pattern, and remembered that I needed a pair for #sewfrosting challenge. I pulled out some appropriate fabric at this point. I did realize at that point that I wasn’t getting to the not-lace, so I put that away again.
Then I remembered that I needed to draw my third watercolor insect for my self-guided monochromatic watercolor fantasy insect challenge. So I did.
Next I cut out my tap pants, then the t-shirt pieces.
Let’s pretend I put a filter on it… That’s totally why it’s grainy.
And stopped for a cookie break.
For the #sewfrosting challenge, I also was sewing up a tulle skirt (you saw it in my 2018 misses post), but I needed a waistband for that, and I’ve learned that straight waistbands don’t cut it for me, so I started drafting a curvier waistband for my Belladone pattern, and traced the rest of the pattern while I was at it. I’m converting to tissue paper versions of my patterns, so this was in line with that endeavor. And then I cut those waistband alts out of some stone colored fake linen.
Yeah, totally a filter. Not because a dark object in front of a light window and an inexperienced DSLR user.
Another cookie break!
With all the pieces for three projects cut, I then got distracted again, this time by the silk cotton Ogden cami I had just made earlier that weekend, which I have yet to properly blog. I had big plans of embroidering the neckline, which were later dashed, but I hooped it up just in case.
This was when I realized, over lunch, that I had planned to do Gift Guides, but had no pictures yet. And while I was at it, I could take some extra pictures of my old pattern storage, and my new pattern storage (since the transition was still in progress). And if I cleaned up the room I could take pictures of the craft room for a post. And if I took a shower I could take pictures of my Suki Kimonos for a post. And while the sun was good I could take better photos of my embroidered clothing.
This batching of pictures is something I do a lot, since it’s hard to count on the sun behaving enough in winter to be out the next weekend.
So that’s when I decided to put my cut pieces of fabric for my shirt and tap pants away in my vintage suitcase, and leaned into the photography.
Sometime during the afternoon I decided to bake bread, and right after it was fully dark outside, the bread came out of the oven. I enjoyed a small pretzel loaf, not much bigger than a roll.
Finally, I spent the evening doodling and watching tv.
*
Just in case you thought I hadn’t finished the projects, I did in fact finish the tee, about two weeks later at work, while I was watching the floor. It allowed me to serge all the seams, so that one is not breaking anytime soon. The tap pants were completed later in the week, in order to finish the frosting challenge on time.
I am capable of following a list, but if I don’t have a list prepared, this is pretty typical!
So, now that you’ve got a play by play on my distractional tendencies, I gotta ask: do distractions enrich and shape your life as well?
For me, a post about goals starts with a review of the previous set… But last year I didn’t make any, so I’ll just review some stats and facts!
I posted 34 times in 2018, and ran two series: a Gift Guide series in late November, and a series about my Alanna the Lioness costume.
In August I purchased my own domain, and moved my previous blog here, and built up the website as you see it! I imagine it’ll be under constant revision, but I like where I’ve ended up.
For 2019, my goals are going to be a little more specific than in years past.
Make another pair of Flint trousers. They’re the most comfortable things I’ve worn in awhile.
Determine what to actually sell on Etsy. As in, what I make that can sell.
Finally dye, make, and embroider the fabric I bought to make more Onyx tees. Maybe change up patterns if I feel like it; after all I have 10 yards to work with…
Share more of my art on the blog. I’ve been sharing a lot on Instagram, but I’d like to post about it here too.
Loosen up and breathe. I’m looking for a job right now, so I’m super anxious, which is no way to start off a new chapter in my life. Taking this time to breathe and open up to new experiences is what I hope will help bridge the gap.
And that’s where I’m at!
Hope you all had a great New Year’s and I’ll see you later tomorrow for regularly scheduled programming!
I hope you all had a lovely week, and happy holidays if you were celebrating! It’s almost the new year, and the perfect time for my non-sewing highlights of 2018.
Started my Etsy Shop
August was a crazy month for me, as I prepped for DragonCon, the fall semester, and created my new website! But during this time I also decided to open up an Etsy shop to sell some of my designs in coloring page form. I’m still trying to work out what I’m going to sell, but I’m proud of what’s up there already!
2. Working (pretty much) full time at a makerspace
This year I was employed by my makerspace for six months full time, and it was an amazing experience, and solidified my goals for my future (at least in the near term).
3. Visited Austin TX in January
I got the opportunity to visit Austin, and I loved it! Also, I got yarn and made this awesome shawl!
4. Dedicated craft room
This might not happen again in the near future, so I documented it for me and you!
5. Got all excited over art again!
Sketching and drawing casually has been a thing I’ve done since I could hold a pencil, but just the past couple months I picked up watercolors and alcohol markers, and it’s been invigorating having some more ways to express my artistic side! Right now the best place to see this work is my instagram!
Hey there! Without further ado, here’s my top 5 sewing/crafting misses of 2018!
Tulle Frosting Skirt
This thing is itchy. I made it for the #sewfrosting challenge, and though I was wearing a pair of long slip shorts underneath, the fabric itched through my tights everytime I sit. It may get a new life as a petticoat, but first I need to fix the itch…
2. Lunchbags
I typically bring my lunch to work every day, and I’ve been using bento boxes for the past four years or so, which means I need some kind of bag to carry them. My current one is great, but the two or three iterations I made previously were not great for the purpose.
3. Ashildr’s Cardigan
I made a cardigan super last minute for a DragonCon costume that was just terrible. I realized that my fabric was a rib knit way too late, and that the right and wrong side were different colors, and it was just a mess. I didn’t even get pictures of it, I was that discouraged. I’ll be using the fabric that is still in cardigan form at the moment exclusively for cuffs and other authorized rib knit uses from now on.
4. Lathe Work
I’ve been learning how to use a small wood lathe for the past few months, and I’ve been making pens… What I’m finding, though, is that I break about twice as many pens as I can complete. If not more… I’ve finally hit my groove, but the picture above is my carnage… At some point I’ll show you the successes!
5. Wasting the first half of the year
Between August 2017 and June 2018, I had a tiny tiny bedroom in a house, and didn’t have room for some of my bigger crafts, but I didn’t spend that time working on smaller things, like calligraphy and knitting, and I regret that a bit. I was feeling a bit rundown and overall had some burnout, and I think some of that small craftwork would’ve helped me feel a bit less overwhelmed.
So those are my sewing/crafting misses… Tune in next Friday for the highlights and reflections!
Starting this past May, inspired by Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow, I started tracking the clothing I wore each day. There were some days that I skipped (due to pajama days, or forgetting), and some days when I wore multiple outfits (like day time dress, and going out dress). If you’re into data and very light analysis, read on! No worries if you want to skip this post, though…
I collected this data using a Google Form, which I tailored directly to my wardrobe, so that most of my summer clothing was included in the form at the beginning… I’m on iteration 3 of this form, since I had to make major changes a few times, but the data in this analysis covers input from all three versions, verified for consistency.
Today I’m sharing the first six months of my tracking, from May to October, which covers summer and very early fall here in North Carolina. I recorded 182 outfits over the 184 days of this half of the year. Another note: I spent all but the first month of this challenge working in a shop environment (think woodshop), so even though it was super hot outside most of the time, I wore jeans most days, and wore sweaters and shawls because air conditioning is often waaaaaay too much for me.
So let’s start at the top. It’s no surprise to me that I wear more separates than I do dresses (84% to 16%). Let’s get dresses out of the way then!
I wear more woven dresses than I do knit, which does make sense based on the quantity of dresses I own in each category. In this period I wore three different knit dresses (Rust Nettie at 57.1%, Plum Nettie Hack at 14.3%, and my a red lace Dandelion at 28.6%).
For woven dresses, I’ve got dresses based on five patterns (as seen above), and what surprises me most is that the single dress I’ve made out of the Ogden cami got proportionally more wear than any other pattern.
And it follows that it was also the dress that got the most wear. What surprised me after that was that my 2018 Birthday dress got so much wear… Sometime in late July/early August I washed it with some freshly dyed fabric, and it was stained on the back, despite a couple of color catchers. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with it. I’m thinking about dyeing it, but I’m not sure what color to try out. Now that I’m wearing sweaters consistently always, because of winter, maybe I can wear it again until I decide. These dresses are both super comfy, and I put pockets into both, which makes them so cool!
I do wear a fair amount of skirts, though. It looks like my top three skirts are from the three different types that I enjoy wearing. My two tone cotton Fumeterre skirt wins out. It’s a favorite on rainy days that need some brightening up. Then, my Uganda Belladone skirt and my grey Suiting Skirt are tied for second, both of which are comfy and have pockets. Actually all three fall into that category!
And now we’ve gotten to the trouser category… In this category is everything with two tubes of fabric and a waistband… So leggings, culottes, shorts, and proper trousers. I wear jeans a lot, so it’s not surprising that the two top options are the Ginger jeans I made a few years ago. My bootcut ones have been worn so much that I have a repair to make in the back thigh, and I’ve already repaired one pocket and the other needs it… The chambray Flints are shorts, which I wore when jeans just weren’t an option, so they pop up a lot. And then the charcoal Flints were around for less than half of this period, and they almost made it to the same amount as the shorts! Those pockets!
According to my tracking, I don’t wear knit tops as much as I wear wovens, but I still wear a good amount. My black Nettie tops hold out on top, and that’s because 76.5% of the time I wear knit tops, I wear Nettie tops. TnT forever!
My woven top selection is a bit more mixed, but the ones that get the most wear are black… In that regard I’m pretty consistent. I love all these tops, but it is easy to see what my top choices are…
For sweaters, my Julia sweaters get the most wear combined, though it doesn’t have pockets. So my Navy Susanne wins out when I don’t wear a dress with pockets, and Julias win out overall. So many Julia sweaters…
And finally, my shawls/scarfs. I have three, and it is incredibly clear which I prefer. My Austin shawl is wonderful, and I adore it!
I’m honestly not sure what to do with this data. I’m glad I have it, and it’s useful to review it, but it told me a lot of things I already knew. I like pockets, I like comfort, and my favorites are highly represented. If I’m going to move cross country, I know what to declutter?
Have you ever tracked your clothing use? What do you do with your data?
