I won, I won!!!!!!

I just received notice from the lovely folks at Adventures in Dressmaking and Paradiso Designs that I won their free pattern giveaway. I got to chose the pattern, which was of course the Lolita Skirt ( Pictured in my last entry). They are going to mail it to me. The MINUTE it arrives I will be whipping myself up a skirt, and of course I will post the results. I have just 4 days left until my summer break from teaching, so I will be sure to make at least one. I will also be checking around the bargain bins at the fabric shop for some cool fabrics in anticipation. Now if only the skirt could make me look as thin as the model in the picture........ Thanks again to Adventures in Dressmaking for the contest!

Embellishments

Lately I have been noticing that everything seems to be embellished. The last two t-s I bought have various forms of embellishment. Naturally a lot of these things cost a pretty penny, so what's a girl to do? Well, do it yourself of course! I have been blog surfing today and found some neat sites that can help even the most challenged embellish their own clothes on the cheap. To see some nice embellished clothes, check out Anthropologie.com. The Burda sewing website is also a daily favourite of mine, and the blog today just happened to focus an article on embellishing. Check out the blog adventuresindressmaking.blogspot.com or another good one is a site called Primrose Corner which shows you how to make a sweet flower brooch.

What I have been discovering is that there are simply not enough hours in the day. Dare I admit that while I am teaching art in high school every day I may be carrying a knitting project in my pocket, or cutting up t-shirts on an empty school desk? I can usually justify this by saying it is important for the students to see that I am interested in being creative or that by watching what I am doing student's interest in piqued. They actually get very interested in what I am doing, even if I have an alterior motive that I simply can't help but be doing something with my hands all day.

As I make another extra panel for my Alabama Stitch Swing Skirt I have also started knitting a little halter top for summer. I just couldn't help myself. I don't believe in having one project done before starting another. I usually have several on the go at once.

Happy sewing and knitting.

It's a Good Day

Ok, so today is turning out to be a pretty good day. The best news is that I scored awesome seats for the Simon and Garfunkel concert in halifax in May. I am on the floor right in front of the stage, 3 rows back! I can't WAIT!!!!! I know I am showing my age, because when I told my students about my great news their answer was "who"? I supposed there will be very few people there under the age of 35. I'm just really glad I got these tickets, because Simon and Garfunkel aren't getting any younger, and neither am I!

On to more good news, I am almost done sewing my swing skirt done in reverse applique and completely hand sewn. It's from one of my favourite sewing books, "Alabama Stitch Book." Now I am no country girl, but I can't help but love the designs and the fact that you can make everything from recycled t-shirts! You don't get much greener than that. The only draw back is that all this sewing by hand takes a really long time, but maybe it's good to have something that forces you to slow down in this age of everything done at the speed of light. It even gives me something to focus on while all the guys in my family watch sports. I hope to have a picture up in a couple of days. While the picture in the book is made with burgundy and grey t-shirts, I was forced to use grey and white because that was all I could find at the second hand store that day. It still looks great.

Check twice, cut once

Recently I bought a really nice sewing book at Chapters called "Chic and Simple Sewing" by Christine Haynes. After browsing the sewing section for over an hour I finally settled on this book because it seemed to have the best selection of patterns that wouldn't go out of date in a hurry. I was really excited to try the Classic Wrap Dress, and even more excited when I found 4 metres of really nice cotton pink fabric in the clearance section for $1.00 a metre on sale! Wow! A dress for under 5 bucks. I decided to make the largest size, which was a large, and busily cut out my pattern and began sewing for several hours. I immediately knew something was amiss when I went to try it on and couldn't even begin to get it to wrap around! My mother arrived at just that moment and was as perplexed as me. Then she asked me what size I had made. Well duh, of course I made the large. Then she said, "well what size is the large?". uh oh. had I really neglected to check that before I cut and sewed? Apparently yes I had forgotten. Upon closer inspection of the book I saw that large was actually an 8-10. Are you serious? I wear a size 16. So now I will have to grade the patterns, which I am NOT looking forward to. I downloaded some good instruction on how to do that from Threads magazine. I'll let you know how it goes. The moral of the story? ALWAYS check sizing not once, but twice.

Finished the dress

This weekend I sewed my first Burda pattern, and I have to say I was impressed. It actually fits. The neckline was a bit complicated, but otherwise it's a pretty nice dress, made from Burgundy knit, which a nice stretch width wise. My biggest complaint is hurt pride, as I measured a size 20. I was expecting a 16. I have signed up for Burda Style, which is a nice site with a lot of pictures of the clothes sewn by "regular" people. I saw one yesterday that I just have to sew. I was also impressed with the the simplicity of the directions. I could have made it in a day, but I preferred to work in spurts as I start making mistakes when I am tired. I think I am a Burda convert.

Tonight I am determined to start my latest portrait painting. Not sure if my friend will like it, as I plan to paint some blood on her blouse, symbolizing how she is wounded. She may not want to hang this one in her front room. Of course many of my pieces are not really for the front room.

Upcoming Exhibit

I am afraid I have been slacking off in my blogging. I have also been slacking off in my art. It's not slacking off exactly, it's just that there are so many other things that get in the way. It's difficult to make creating a priority with everything else that goes on in our lives, but like everything else, there needs to be time set aside for just that. Tonight my five year old is still asleep with a four hour nap so far, due in large part to his fever and sore throat. I have taken advantage of the down time to spend a couple hours at my sewing machine sewing backs onto my art quilts. In just two short days I will be hanging a solo fibre exhibit at the Amherst Town Hall. Unfortunately I have been leaving all of the little details until the last minute. I have nine new pieces that I plan to show which include felted art quilts, oil painted art quilts, and watercolor crayon art quilts. I'm kind of worried that I might not have enough pieces. I always worry about that before an exhibit. I keep telling myself that it's the quality, not the quantity that counts. I may be able to get a final one finished tomorrow night, but it's the season premiere of The Practice and another new episode of Grey's Anatomy. I know, I know. Stuck to the TV when there are better things to do. My real worry right now is that art sale that I am expected to be in. I am not nearly ready and am worried I may have to bow out at the last minute. I have been having a lot of trouble with my eyesight lately and it affects my ability to work for any length of time that I have to really use my eyes because I get a lot of pain. Anyway, my eyes are starting to bug me now so I guess it's time for a rest. Better luck tomorrow.

Crayons, not just for kindergarten anymore

Well, I have a new best friend in the textile world, and their name is Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watersoluable wax pastels, i.e. crayons. They even look like crayons. My biggest compaint was that they arrived from the states with 5 broken tips, and a $40 shipping fee!! So not cool. Naturally I have now found a canadian supplier, the same place where I order materials for my art class at school. A pack of 30 crayons was $45. A friend expressed real horror at the cost of these crayons, asking if there wasn't something a lot cheaper. For those of us into creating, we know that we get what we pay for. These crayons are truly amazing and perfect for the art quilter or textile artist. You basically color your image onto pre-washed fabric (cotton or muslin), then take a wet watercolor brush and brush water over your image. The next thing you know, you are looking at a fabulously blended watercolor painting! After it dries you can quilt and stitch paint to your hearts content. Just remember however that because it is water soluable you can't wash it afterwards, so it's not suitable for a bed quilt or a wearable item. I can't wait to give it a try, and I think today is the day. I'll post an image when the work is completed and stitched. I know I need to be cleaning my house, and I've started back to work, but a girl has to have her art time.
p.s. the cotton sweater I knit looks awful on me. I hate it when that happens!