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Cordovan leather buttons….I was thinking these might be the answer? Help.
If so….if these are the ones…. then I will try to finish blocking this bad boy and forge ahead. Oh, and I will stitch up that last hole, because I only have 3 buttons.
Well, the first draft is just okay. I wish I had mocked it up a bit more thoroughly with the muslin before excitedly using the nice fabric (of which there is none left). But, that point is moot.
The good things:
- I like the overall form
- I like the intention
The not so good things:
- Draft quality (part of the basting gave way on one of the pleats, sloppy stitching)
- It’s a bit small
- The relationship of the strap to the bag does not flow
- The strap needs to be a bit wider
- It looks a bit unfinished, it needs to be a bit more tailored
I must interrupt my bag explorations to tell you about a sale at Fooey. It makes no sense to me! $10 for darling cordurouys? $7 for long sleeve T-shirts? Insanity, I say!
It’s been a lazy day of buying fabric and figuring out a new staple bag design. I love purses, handbags, and totes. I have a serious problem in fact. But my everyday, around town, need-my-hands-free bag is a plain cotton satchel that I carry messenger-style. It’s very plain. I’d like to add some pleating and folding to the design for a little volume. I’m inspired by Amy Butler’s Frenchy Bag (and I see as I write this very post that she has another new bag pattern that is pretty close to what’s in my head, minus the long strap), but it’s little too popular and it would not work with a shoulder strap. So, I pleat. And tuck. And muddle along.
Today’s features so far are Fast Times at Ridgemont High (I can not believe Sean Penn and Forest Whitaker!) and Bottle Rocket. Bottle Rocket is easily in the top 5 of my all-time favorite movies.
I’ve seen these in blog land, and now the time has come! I was tagged by Manda (thank you!) and it’s a good first meme for me since some of these are questions I have not really asked myself.
Why did you start your blog: Well, an number of reasons come to mind. At the same time, I’m still figuring it out. When we moved to Boston 6 years ago, and I left most of my family and friends behind in Chicago, it was a very difficult adjustment for me. The people, the place, the lifestyle, all of it. I was in a dark depression for about two years, a not-too-unfamiliar state for me. MP was in Grad School and so I took it upon myself to reach out and try something new. I earned a Black Belt in Taekwondo, made new friends and committed to trying new things. I hosted craft days and built up a nice group of friends. But, because Boston is a transient town, people eventually moved on when they were done with school, or internships or grants….scattered across the country and globe; back to home states and cities. I walled myself back up and lost myself in making clothes and gifts for my sister. I decided I would start sharing those things in a blog, to reach out to others that have similar interests. A way to connect, grow and experience new people and ideas.
How did you come up with your blog name: Mostly from my husband. He tells me all the time that I am a Creature of Habit. He’s always commenting on my inherent unease with sudden changes. It’s an inside joke for us that is so, so true.
Do your family and friends know about your blog? What do they think about it: My Mom and sister know. And a few of my internet friends know. My family and friends are very, very kind and supportive. At the same time, I don’t like to tell people about it, I just want it to grow (or not grow) naturally.
How do you write posts: Mostly I just sit down and write them out in the heat of the moment. Once in a while, if I know I will not be around during the week, I will put one in the can. But that’s only happened once or twice. I’m still figuring out how comfortable I am with all of this, and tend to be a little nervous.
Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments: Um, no. I feel like this question just jinxed me. Great.
Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do care, how do you increase traffic: I have checked my stats when I read a post somewhere else about stats (again, still discovering the greater potential of both WordPress and Flickr, slowly) because I get nervous and think I should know my stats. And then I decide it doesn’t really matter. I am quite happy and content with the people that I know read it and comment now, and I feel like if it grows slowly it will help me to get to know the other people reading it.
What kind of blogs interest you: Blogs about making and ideas. Blogs about discovery. Blogs that seem to have a unique perspective…. And I like it if the people are funny.
What do you like and dislike about blogging: I like that it’s fluid and leads in every direction. I have found my way to amazing stories, beautiful photographs and interesting people from around the world. When I think about it, for instance while I walk home, it blows my mind…I think about the blogs I’ve read and that the people are little dots all over the globe, and my little laptop allows me to zoom in very close and see what they are up to, sometimes I even say hi.
I dislike that communication is tricky for me and it’s difficult sometimes for me to be clear and be myself (as I am not very outgoing in ‘real life’). I also can not stand to see friends going through tough times, it leaves me feeling helpless
I just ordered (and received) some new summer print fabrics from Reprodepot. They are from Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern and Kaufman’s Carnaby Street collections. No official plans yet, but I’m fairly certain I am going to carry on with kimonos. And bags.
It’s funny, making the kimonos made me realize how into reversible items I am. I like to see the finished side and the flexibility of the patterns I choose. The bags I’ve always made are reversible….and little pouches…..I’m sensing a trend.
More photos here.
It all started with a very flattering request from a friend of my sister. A simple, reversible cotton kimono. I’ve made a few for gifts out of fleece or felted wool (you know, non-fraying fabrics) but the cotton was new to me. Spring/summer kimono wraps….great idea. Making it reversible would ease my stress of not owning a serger. Brilliant!
After a little conversation on Friday afternoon about the intended recipient, I carefully selected the fabrics and started on my merry way as soon as I was home that evening. I found an old pattern from this toddler kimono coat that I thought I could make work with some modification to fit a size 3-6 months. I pressed the pieces, and made a muslin pattern in the smaller size and cut out the fabric. Then, I decided I hated the fabric selection and needed to NOT start this on a Friday night. Instead, I hung out on iTunes downloading all sort of new summer music to kick off the season.
So, let me set up the context for you: Saturday morning comes…..the birds are chirping, the forecast is 70 and sunny. I sneak out of bed, make a mug of tea and sit in the window sill with my bird book, camera, and binoculars. I can’t see any of the birds, so I identify them by sound……I got about 5 or 6 of them. While I’m enjoying the birds, I’m burning a mix CD for my sister of new music, which bring me endless joy. Julie and I are Children of the Mix Tape Generation. We love them and completely bond over our mixes. So, that is an entire project of its own and I’m just smitten with my selections for her. It’s sunny, warm, the smell of grass is in the air, good music, hot tea, and new fabrics! Everything is coming up roses.
MP gets up and we go get the kitty we’ve agreed to cat sit. Spike is 19 years old, suffering from thyroid disease and kidney failure…..he also seems to not hear so well and perhaps his eyes are even failing. Let’s say he’s “high maintenance”. And though I am on the Dog Team, I love this cat and I set my allergies aside to take care of him. Before we had Lottie, this cat meant the world to me and we have a strong bond to show for it. However, since we’ve had Lottie, every time we take care of him he continually beats the crap out of her to a point where she is now afraid of cats, in addition to being afraid of dogs. Back to the context of my sewing…….Lottie decided this was the weekend to fight back- she put her paw down, so to speak. So, while I’m happily kicking off my crafts, the windows are open, a spring breeze is blowing, great music is playing, the cat and dog square off in a terrible scuffle which scared the life out of me and cracked MP up. Luckily, we have a large sliding glass wall that bisects our loft – we put kitty on one side and dog on the other. Problem solved, temporarily. We decided to leave him alone for a bit and went for our mid-morning walk at Fresh Pond.
When we returned, I happily got down to it. I’m shoving Lottie off my cutting surface (aka ‘the floor’) and making some progress. We had friends coming over for dinner at 7 so I put a little pressure on to be done by 6. I had the pattern and newly re-selected fabric ready to go and cut it all out in a whirlwind. Sewed the kimonos together and started the binding. I thought it would be great to have the binding be reversible too…. but the combination of not eating anything, the dog/cat situation, doing laundry in the background, and rushing resulted in one mistake after another. I had to keep ripping off the binding (because it was thicker, it was fighting me) and starting over. I put the ties in the wrong spots. I broke a needle. I was running out of the shot cotton color I’d chosen. So much for stopping at 6, I charged on. After a few bellinis and a Red Sox game (sigh) and friends
The next morning, there it sat. All I could see were the mistakes, one after another (don’t drink and sew). I tried fixing it, taking photos of it… in the end I realized it was a stupid design to begin with for a reversible kimono. All of the ties made it look like a baby straight jacket. I had a brief, tearful breakdown when the realization struck that I should start over and I told MP I had no idea what business I have sewing (or making anything for that matter) and who would ever want, let alone pay for, anything I made. He sweetly tried to offer suggestions but I knew the truth.
I started again with new shot cotton and a modified pattern. I think it will work much better as the number of ties needed was cut in half. And even though MP was playing with electricity and a hammer drill in the other room, and the dog/cat situation had me on eggshells, it all went much more smoothly. I made all of the binding at once (lots of ironing, I believe I lost the fingerprints on my index fingers) while MP had the circuits flipped to install the ceiling fan. Irritatingly, the wiring is oddly done in our loft such that the outlet my machine uses is on the same circuit as the fan switch on the other side of the space, in another room on an opposite wall. Go figure! Happily, I decided I liked the second kimono colors even better and once I had power again, I forged ahead. I even managed some little pants to go with it (lightweight denim).
I think if the fit is successful, I will make a bunch more. In hindsight, it was kind of a fun little adventure. I imagine a reversible cotton voile kimono for the beach! Good grief.
More photos here.
I can’t wait to post about the new reversible kimonos…..I just have to gather my thoughts to explain the total insanity that went along with it. Remember when I posted that clip about the Anal Retentive Chef? Well, suffice to say, it was in full effect. Reversible kimono? Sure, no problem. Reversible binding to go with it? Well……buckle up.
