Autumn Outerwear

“Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….. Ouch!

What the…?! Aww, how cute.“

That my friends was the creative bug biting me in the bum!

I’m inspired now to knit the Leaf Beret, Green Thumb Fingerless Gloves, and the Indygo Junction Trench Topper (view 1).  The knit objects will be made of a lovely Silk Merino by Yarns Northwest in a Sky Blue.

As a result of finding the right yarn for the hat & gloves, I’ve discovered an interest in making my olive velveteen coat again.  I’ve had this fabric for 5 years now.  I bought it at Haberman’s in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit, on a business trip.  It’s so soft I find myself petting it as I walk by. Hmm… just like in the store.

Well, I’ve been spinning and knitting like crazy with little patience to sit and sew.  Odd, huh? You’d think knitting/spinning would require more patience than sewing.  But, I go through phases.  Sometimes it’s knitting/fibers and nothing else.  Other times, nothing but sewing will do.  And still others, it’s back to the drawing board.

But right now, it’s all about finishing projects.  I find I’m especially inspired to finish a project I bought the yarn specifically for.  So, rather than buying yarn, then finding a pattern, blah blah… you totally know what I’m talking about don’t you my knitting nuts?  Such a challenge when you buy the yarn first!  Well, now that I have yarn to go with the projects, it’ super easy to kick off and push to complete.  There are no mental “loose ends” of, “If I don’t have enough…” or “Is gauge ok…” or “Will it look good in this yarn…”  I’m already 35% done with the hat and I just started a few days ago.  I’d say that’s an accomplishment in and of itself.

One other thing I’d like to mention is that I don’t know if I’d have felt mentally ready to accept new garments into my closet if I hadn’t already gone through my 5S-ing. While I haven’t posted results (2 car loads full of stuff to GW & VV), my mind & closet are open to new possibilities rather than stuck in old fashion or ways of dressing.  It’s quite a lovely feeling to know that cleaning & eliminating helps kick off the creative process or rather urges the creative bug to bite! 😉

Purple Fishies

I’ve been tweeting about dying fabric, specifically purple fish (fishies!).  I started out with this navy blue fabric (still hunting for the original pics) with orange fish on it.  Meh!  Not really my thing, but it was going to be a pair of pillow cases.  But, it got tucked in the stash and each time I pulled it out, I just couldn’t get inspired.

So, as part of my “use the stash” efforts (currently ongoing with the FiveS effort), I decided, “What the hell!  Life’s short, I’ve got some cool cotton fabric on hand with gold paint.”  So I picked up some Rit color remover and attempted to remove all color except the gold fishy outlines (they’re actually koi, but I think it’s funny to refer to them as fishies).  Um, no.  That didn’t happen as expected.

If you look at “Step 2” noted in the picture, you’ll see it’s kind of brown.  Oh boy, that did NOT thrill me.  It wasn’t even a nice earthy brown.  This is the orangy brown you get when you CANNOT pull all the color out of the fabric.  Overdying on this color produces muted and muddy tones.  Not the brilliant Tye-Dye like ones.

But, I pushed on.  I pulled out my Intense Violet Dylon pack and went to town.  The results, are in “Step 3”.  This was a natural fiber dye on a seemingly all cotton fabric.  But, what I realized is that this fabric wasn’t taking the dye fully.  It came out kinda pinky (which I expected), but much lighter.  So, I dug in my box of dye packets and found Violet iDye Poly.  Because, let me tell you, I was not done with purple.  Funny, because more than 2 years ago I was overdying a skirt and all I wanted then was purple too!

So after the Rit color remover and the Intense Violet Dylon and the Violet iDye Poly I’m left with is “Step 4”, dusty dirty purple fish which remind me of cool nights in the desert or of gypsy travelers.

More to come later when I actually turn this into something wearable!  I’m still pondering which side to use and it’s final purpose.  Who knows, it just may be a turban for MedFest! 😉

Nothing to Wear!

What’s a girl to do?!  Summer is in full swing and all I can find to wear are sweaters and long sleeved shirts!  I’ve NOTHING to wear. Why should you care?  Because I am going to blog about how I solve this lovely problem.

Plan

1. Five-S my closet  (Sort, Set In Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain)
2. Evaluate gaps in clothing needs (what’s missing?)
3. Design & Sew clothes

Execution

• Total Duration: June – September
• Total Projects: TBD based on closet evaluation & available resource hours
• Total Resources: one (just FuFu)
• Resource Availability: 10 – 20%
• Materials: Clothing, Fabric, Patterns, Notions

The Closet

First, I will remove everything from the closet section by section.  I will sort all the clothing into piles (keep, donate, rags, unsure).  As part of Five-S, you must first remove everything, then put back only that which is used or absolutely needed!

Criteria for removal:

• If it has been there since last summer
• not been worn more than a few times last summer

I find there are articles of clothing I love and wear over and over again. I used to stress that some nasty person at work would tell me, “You wore that yesterday.”  But, have come to realize, who the HELL cares? It’s MY life and I’m going to wear what makes me happy!

Design & Sew The Clothes

I’ve a room full of craft crap and fabric supplies. Now what the heck am I going to do about it? Let it sit there & rot? Um, no. My supplies are delicious to the touch and most make me happy just looking, or yes fondling the fabrics. Don’t tell me you haven’t fondled EVERY thing on the rack before buying – even with clothes. (You do, even when you think no one’s watching, you do.)

I also happen to have some amazing vintage and contemporary patterns. I must make use of them or pass them along to someone who will. For what is the point in having something if you don’t USE it!? I’m tired of collecting and buying. I want people to SEE the fabulous creations I design. And, more excitingly I want to energize you into making something for yourself!

Design Steps

• Looking at favorites, I will determine an overall wardrobe which will suit me for a 2-4 weeks. I feel that will allow me enough rotation for the season without feeling like I have to do laundry all the time so I don’t wear the same thing twice in one week.
• Next, I will determine if there’s a gap – more cardigans? more T’s? What basics are necessary? Do I have enough pants?
• Next, I will determine what styles/patterns I want to make and which fabrics to use. I will determine if there are any necessary notions or linings that I must purchase before I start the project. In this case, a project is defined as 1 article of clothing, start to finish.
• Then, I will execute said projects one at a time. The goal is to have a finished article to wear for the summer season. As such, it is more important to finish each project before moving on.

I LOVE to start new things. So, this will be a great and fun challenge for me.  I usually allow myself a great deal of freedom in one area of my life where I can start and not finish things to my heart’s content. But, that my dear’s is not what I’m creating as a rule for this particular challenge. Limitation, which spurns creativity, is one of my self imposed limitations.