that other red stuff

You know how I said I wasn’t going to touch the red vinyl-y stuff? Well I lied. After I had caught up with cutting my fabric for the next skirt, I decided to see if I couldn’t get the sewing machine working again with some red thread. After I successfully threaded a bobbin utilizing nothing but the owner’s manual and a prayer, I got the darn thing working again.

I was going to continue with getting my skirt started, but I couldn’t find the directions that came with the skirt pattern. I think I know what my next steps are, but I really didn’t want to risk messing up.

But, I still wanted to sew something. But what?

I took one look at the vinyl red and said, come here baby.

Weeks ago I had found this simple shoulder bag pattern and figured that the sturdy “vinyl” would be perfect. And since I had so much of it, I decided to match the lining with the outside.

I went to bed with a good bit of the project started, dreamt about sewing and woke up to get right back to work. I am almost there. I’m down to the hand-stitching parts and I can’t WAIT to put the button on. Photos are coming soon, but I promised I would do transcription tonight, so you may have to wait until tomorrow.

If you’re looking for me, I’m just sewing and watching Six Feet Under.

p.s. it’s interesting to see what other people have done with this pattern (Each word opens to a different photo)
Butterfly – Fox – Preggers – Patches – Polka-Dots – Dragonfly – Fat-Quarters – Fans – Ambitious – Grey – Black-White (Looove this one) – Pink

Fuck, did I just type preggers? What is wrong with me.

next stop microsuede

So, the other fabric that I bought that I thought was vinyl is actually some strange version of suede that I dare not question. I think it was misclassified, but again, no questioning. It’s very pretty, but I think that I may not be ready for it. Yesterday at Jo-Ann’s I picked up a bunch of patterns for 99 cents each. A bargain! A couple of them I probably won’t be able to do until I am further along. (Keep in mind these patterns are classified as easy.) But, anyway, the subject of this blog entry is microsuede. You’ll note that I intended to pick up some corduroy for my next skirt. Well, they didn’t have the colors I liked. I wanted a corduroy that was almost un-corduroy, but they only had it in a burnt orange. Plus, I had already purchased red thread and a red zipper, so based on economy red was the color I would be walking out of the store with. I ordinarily don’t think of suede as something I would ever ever wear, but there’s this microsuede (you may have seen it on a sofa near you) that is extremely soft yet doesn’t scream out, “Look at me, I’m suede!” (Why did I think of Morrissey when I typed that exclamation?) So I’m going with a red microsuede.

A cautionary tale: Earlier I had told you about the great coupons at Jo-Ann’s. well, don’t believe the hype like I did. I went in and not a single fabric I wanted to buy was eligible for the coupon. Thankfully, the fabric I bought was already on sale, so I can’t complain too much. But, be warned, people, these are not like Filene’s coupons.

[moment of silence for Filene's]

I’m not saying Jo-Ann doesn’t have good sales, I’m just sayin’ their coupons aren’t all that fantastic.

Anyway.

One thing that I hope isn’t a problem. Corduroy is a natural fabric, but microsuede is as unnatural as possible. It will be interesting to see how different it is to work with polyester.

There I said it. Polyester. Blech.

Somebody who loves me will make this for me.

Hello! A sushi costume for Halloween! Make for me!

Place Your Bets – Project Runway

So, tonight is the night of Project Runway’s finale and I’m sure there are plenty of spoiler posts out there, but I will not be reading them. So, if you haven’t read them either and you are a PR fan, post your predictions in the comments. A) Will Jeffrey be eliminated from the competition and B) Who will win?

I’m going to go on record as saying that Jeffrey will get kicked off, but still gets to show at Bryant Park. (Actually, I know he gets to show because I saw photos from his show weeks ago.) I am also going to bet that B) Uli wins.

If I didn’t think Jeffrey were getting kicked off I would say he will win. Michael, the favored designer, doesn’t have a strong collection. Laura’s pieces are well-made, but I think the judges will end up thinking that they’re too matronly.

So, to recap:

A) Does Jeffrey get kicked off?
B) Who wins Project Runway Season 3?

My answers: A) Yes B) Uli

P.S. People.com has some footage from tonight’s episode that you might want to watch before you decide.

skirt

I guess I am going to have to get used to modeling, now that I’ve turned crafty. For the record, the pattern was Simplicity #4019. I got the fabric at Jo-Ann’s for too much money. Coupons are the way to go at Jo-Ann’s, fyi.

sewing is hard

When i thought i was in the home stretch of finishing my skirt, i found out i would have to do some hand-sewing on the band and bottom. After many toiling hours I am proud to report that the next day I am at work wearing my creation.

Wouldn’t it have been easier and more cost-effective to plop down 30 bucks for a new skirt? Most definitely.

Next project? Another skirt… this time in corduroy.

in the unlikely event

in case you were wondering, sewing class resumes tonight. We had Columbus Day off. The skirt will be finally done and I can move on to another project. The only thing is, I bought this red fabric that’s more like vinyl now that I look at it. I don’t really know what to do with it. But it’s red and fabulous so that’s a good thing.

Second Class Sewing

The first thing the instructor said to me when I walked into my second sewing class was, “Were you here last week?”

I think I refreshed her memory when I resumed my air of cluelessness. She got reacquainted with my skirt and asked me where my interfacing was. I didn’t know what interfacing was and professed my lack of knowledge on the subject. She sneered as if to say, how could you not know what interfacing is, you ignoramus, get out of my class. Luckily, darfur girl had leftover interfacing, so I kindly asked if I could borrow hers. Then I set to work ironing the interfacing to the top bands of the dress.

After that I went back to my section of table and waited. The instructor came back over and said, “You’ve sewn before, right?”

“It’s been a long, long time so you’ll need to show me again,” I said, as my mind flashed back to the great stuffed beaver of 1986. We walked over to one of the sewing machines and I watched intently as she added thread to a bobbin, put it in its place and then threaded the sewing machine needle.

“You’ve sewn before, right?” she asked again.

“It’s been a long, long time,” I repeated. She finished threading and was interrupted by another student putting a zipper into her garment. She helped the student and came back to me.

“You’ve sewn before, right?”

“It’s been a long, long time.”

This exchange went on at least a few more times. I thought I might lose my mind, until somehow it sunk in that I hadn’t sewn in a long, long time. She told me to grab a scrap of fabric and practice, so I did and sat at the machine and got to work. The act of sewing is probably the easiest part about a sewing class. The hard part is resisting the urge to strangle your instructor.

I felt confident about my abilities and set about sewing my skirt together. The last thing i did in class number two was pin my yokes (bands at the top of the skirt) to the skirt. It was 8:20 p.m. and I was done with sewing for the night.

When I got home I had an epiphany that I might be able to thread my own sewing machine at home, but with a busy week I didn’t have a chance to find out. Yesterday I finally had some time so I tried it out, remembering the steps my teacher had taken. I am pleased to report that I have a sewing machine up and running in my house. I don’t know what the numbers and dials mean, but when I press on the pedal, the thing stitches in a straight line so beautiful I want to weep.

First Class Sewing

My first sewing class wasn’t a disaster. But, it really wasn’t what I thought it would be, either. I was a little girl on her way to school who just found out her parents were sending her to a “montessori school” with “self-directed learning.” I was so looking forward to the idea of everyone being completely clueless about sewing – or at least as clueless as I am. However, when I got there, several projects were already in full swing. Some students were already pinning up or cutting out patterns. The teacher introduced herself to me, I signed in, and she asked me what my project was. We took out my fabric and she immediately began telling me I was going to have to buy more fabric and did I want to go over today to get it? Did I have coupons? If not, she had coupons, did I want to use them?

Cue the record scratch.

The last thing I sewed on a sewing machine was a stuffed beaver in junior high. That’s right. A stuffed beaver. So this was already starting to get a little overwhelming. I told her I wanted to work with what I had since I wasn’t planning on making something fantastic, just something that would teach me the basics.

So, we moved on. At this point I am only one of about ten students so this whole time our conversation had been sort of fractal and frantic while she jumped from student to student to see what they were working on. A woman at the other table remarked that running all over the room was what kept the instructor so thin. I simply said, “I want what she’s on.”

Students range from mid-60s to high school age. One girl is a freshman at a local college – very nice and helpful. The two other girls are in high school. I am sure we would have been friends if I were also in high school. (Can I point out that at this point in my life I feel so much older than not just high school students, but college students as well? When did this happen?) One of the high school kids wore a shirt that was supportive of Darfur in some way. They were going to be making skirts, just like me. See? BFF! One girl was using fabric from curtains she found in her attic. I am not sure where Darfur girl got her fabric. A pillowcase, perhaps. Anyway, very cute all around.

I had been looking forward to a class where I would be sitting down and taking notes. Maybe I would get paired up with a partner to do our measurements, maybe we would be taking leftover scraps of fabric to practice sew. I didn’t know that I would be plunging head-first into my skirt. By the end of the two and a half hour class I was so paralyzed with fear that I would do the wrong thing, that I just waited until the instructor ended up back at my table to tell me what was next. Honestly, she messed up the directions on my pattern a few times. A helpful woman at the other table helped me decipher the pattern’s instructions. As it turned out I didn’t really need more fabric. I probably had just picked the wrong pattern for the fabric I had chosen (it has a border running across the bottom that won’t match up because the bottom of my skirt is two pieces instead of one).

But, I have to give the instructor the benefit of the doubt. She was juggling many other people and probably did all she could to keep everyone’s projects straight. Still, I have to remember that if I want to ever go back to real school with a real lecture and all of that, I will probably have to pay a lot more money for it.

The bottom line is that the fabric is well on its way to resembling a skirt. And wasn’t that the goal, anyway?

Sewing Notions

I am more excited than I have been in quite some time for Monday to get here since Monday is the first day of my sewing class! Over the weekend I bought all of the necessary supplies as well as the fabric (left) and pattern. It was difficult for me stay simple with my pattern choice. I decided to go with a relatively simple skirt pattern and figured that the fabric choice would add drama. If I start too hard, I know that I will run screaming from the whole idea of sewing. I just know how I am with these hobbies. The only hobby I have really been able to sustain over the years is blogging, and, well, you know how well that’s been holding up lately. Wish me luck!