Slowly, slowly ... a little bit of sewing

Today I took a break from my regular schedule to kick back and do nothing.  Which, in my corner of the universe, seems to involve prepping sewing projects.  Self, really?  On the other hand, as I've mentioned before, I don't craft much when I'm writing, and sometimes I really just itch for a lovely dive into the tactile, beautiful, satisfying world of garment making.

Pictured above, left to right: the makings of a refashioned Archer (with a peek of my all-time-favorite Liberty print), a quilt for a friend, a summery Alder.  Grainline Studio appears to be my pattern company of the moment!

It was nice.  Nice to putter - slowly, slowly, never hurry never rest.  Nice to sink into the intricacies of cutting and ironing and prepping projects for the machine.  Nice to think about my friendship with the woman for whom I'm making the quilt (we go back to 14, which is over half a lifetime ago, eep!).  Nice to think about the coming season and what I'd like to make - not too much, a couple garments, enough for my evolving style, things that will work well in a streamlined wardrobe.

I used to feel this great big rush to craft.  Get something up for the blog, work my way through my stash.  In the last year or two, my financial situation has fluctuated quite a bit and so I now think of my stash as a lovely place to shop for fabrics that I currently can't afford to purchase.  (I do splurge now and again, but for the most part, stash shopping it is!)  Fabric choice really is important to how much I like the final product.  And I think that's something that sewing my own wardrobe, and my current slow-clothing approach to garment making, has gradually cultivated, namely an understanding of what is most important to me in the making process and final product.

In two of the financial management/simple life books that I own, the author talks about the "fulfillment curve" and finding that sweet spot that defines "enough."  For me, this question applies not just to money but also to crafting and the size/composition of one's handmade wardrobe.  Just how much is enough?  What elements comprise enough?  What are the pieces that bring me the most joy and satisfaction, are the most important to me, and how do I try to focus on those in the moments when I do spend crafting?  Given that my time for crafting is now somewhat limited, I find it increasingly important to hone in on these "high impact" areas.  If this hobby is going to be an escape, a creative outlet, a way for me to kick back and relax, then I'd certainly like to maximize my chances of finding just that when I do finally clear off my table and haul out my sewing machine.

After a good number of years and experimentation, I think I've hit upon the formula that (currently) works for me.  Quality fabrics in colors and prints that I enjoy, and that also play well with the rest of my wardrobe (a great way to avoid wardrobe orphans!).  Silhouette, style, and degree of ease that work well with my lifestyle and personal preferences (I hate tucking in my tops, which not only rules out certain blouses but also certain types of skirts and pants).  At present, patterns that are neither too fiddly/fussy nor too complex.  And there are certain types of garments that I enjoy sewing more than others (pants = ugh, dresses = yeay!) so I am perfectly content to focus on the ones that I like and then hit up the thrift shop for the rest.

And most importantly?  Take it slow and take it easy.  Part of this means thinking hard about which project I really want to tackle next.  Could I see myself wearing it once/week for the upcoming season or two?  Am I in the mood for something simple or something more involved, for a new pattern or to dig out a TNT, for fiddly fabrics like silk or easy fabrics like cotton or wool?  Part of this means accepting that I'm just slow - I probably crank out a finished object every month or two, and I need to be OK with that.  Part of this means working with fabrics that I absolutely love, which are paired with patterns that I'm either reasonably sure will be a good match, or else willing to leap into that hideous/fabulous territory that I seem to love so much.

And part of this means accepting that the current pared-back state of my wardrobe (which I actually quite love, and which really is not "pared back" at all when one considers how 90% of the world lives!)  My parents were up recently to visit, and my mom seemed a bit surprised that all my clothing actually fit into one closet.  Ha, I'm not that bad, am I?  I guess I am.  Was.  Whatever.  I guess this is part of locating "enough," too.  Some days I feel quite bored with the clothing I have on hand, but the flip side of the equation is that it only takes one or two new garments to suddenly make me feel like I have so many more choices and a nicely refreshed wardrobe!  Which is a great feeling to have.

Here's wishing all of you a beautiful spring, happy moments spent in your leisure activity of choice, and the permission to occasionally chuck responsibility and instead opt for that very thing that your heart, or soul, most craves ...

Recently

Hello hello!  Spring is officially here, Portland flirts with sunny days betwixt sprinkles and showers, and life marches happily forward in this little corner of the universe.  Returned from an East Coast work/pleasure trip last night, and was struck by the remarkable change my life has undergone in the past year.  The changes I've sought out in the past year.

Meanwhile, I tiptoe towards the holy grail of sewing - for me, that's pants - by completing the runner up in that category of intimidating makes (at least for me).  Coats.  This one took me 3 months; I took it slow, it was my first foray back into sewing since moving, and I was feeling no rush.  A learning project for sure!  But I adore wearing it.  There really IS something to be said for making the cakiest of sewing cake, those utilitarian garments one wears constantly.

And how basic is a navy wool peacoat?  Swoon.  I had a brain fart and cut it with the nap going sideways, and the camel hair in my blend is thus already starting to pill, but honestly, I'm still pretty darn happy with this make.  I'd love to use the pattern again (V2873, OOP) perhaps in corduroy with contrast plaid lapels?  Because I am obnoxious like that :).  Hideous or fabulous, baby!  I've also got my eye on the Minoru.

But first, pants, because I've only got 2 pairs of jeans - one that's half a size too small and requires some minutes of wriggling dancing, post-wash, before I can comfortably sit in them, and one that's been darned in several places and needs several more patches.  Thurlows, I'm looking to you!

As you can see, I've also been knitting, rather unexpectedly, to a theme.

At a Baltimore museum with one of my best friends.  This place has the awesomest sense of color!  The exhibits were so much fun.  There was one that kept John and me laughing for a good 5 minutes, starting with the reindeer coming out of toilets, and right on through the nutcrackers with aliens emerging out of one side of the body.  The Nightmare Before Christmas on LSD.  Really, Baltimore gets such a bad rap, kind of like Oakland.  I personally have always loved my visits there.  A quirky, laidback city with down to earth folks.

Saying goodbye to another of my best friends from grad school.  Kristy's headed back to Taiwan, and Wei Jie is probably returning to Singapore ("Sing" as she calls it) next year.  Asia trip 2015 is all I can say!  Once I dry my tears, that is.

Oh, and I finally unearthed this quilt top that I started when I was 16, and finished piecing it, then sandwiched it and have begun hand quilting.  Wool batting, mmm, perfect for PDX winters.  So squishy and lofty and soft and warm.  Had been slightly tempted to leave it until I turned 32, as I could then call it the quilt that took half my life, but at the rate I've been going, it might not get done until then all the same!  Haha.  Besides which, I've really been digging the blue side of the spectrum for the past year or so, which, as you can see, were perennial favorites in early life, as well.  A return to my roots.  Which is really how I feel.  So much more like myself.  So it seemed fitting.

And how's writing?  Well, good!  Thank you for asking!  Right before my trip, I whisked myself away to a cottage situated on a 230 acre nature preserve, to read through my book draft in 1 go.  Between you and me, internets, I got about 60% in and then my brain rebelled, so I hope there was nothing important in those last 40K words!  LOL.

But it's good.  It gave me the chance to evaluate What are you, book, and what do you want to be?  And I think that I am finally, maybe, starting to see the contours of this story.

It usually takes me about 3 drafts to know what my story is about, another 2 to get all the pieces roughly in place, and then another 2 to refine and polish and fix things up.  Assuming no drastic changes, of course.  Most people raise their eyebrows when they hear this, and you can just see them thinking, though they are too polite to say it, Why, woman, would you put yourself through that???  Because it's a bit like what I imagine motherhood to be like - watching characters (or ideas) begin to define themselves, emerge, and blossom, in ways you both anticipate and cannot imagine.  But then you also have a hand in the process, in the artistry of the form of the story, even if the substance is not entirely in your hands.

And the beauty of writing memoir is that it asks you to revisit and reunderstand seminal moments in your past.  Which, given the deep bout of reflection and soul searching I've done in the past year, has really grounded me in myself.  The timing has been perfect.  Or perhaps this book has been a catalyst of sorts?  Likely these have been intertwined, cause and effect muddied.  Regardless, the result has been so, so worthwhile.

May you experience a beautiful spring!

Works in process: fluorescent

Is this enough color for you?

Nope? How about now?

Clapotis #4 (in progress)

Think my knitting productivity will be going down, once I switch to a job that requires I drive to work (instead of public transport-ing it.  This will be the first time in my life that I have a car.  Until now, I've managed to get by without one, by picking jobs/locations where I didn't need one.  It's cool.  One of these years, I might even get a TV.  Or a smart phone.  I've already had my arm twisted into climbing back onto Facebook --- but I am not Liking anything or anything like that, Mark Zuckerberg, you find a different way to make money off me and my friendships.)

Couldn't help but snap this photo.  Bright + bright + bright, anyone?

I told a coworker that I'd teach her to knit.  But then I handed in my notice!  So I am knitting the scarf for her instead.  This is another Clapotis in Tosh Sock in the Terra colorway.  I adore this yarn in this colorway (clearly, if I am not only going Unselfish Crafter, but doing an exact duplicate)

My coworker (a MD, naturally) told me my legs look jaundiced when I wear these tights.  I have to agree.  I sometimes trick myself into thinking that if i wear them with boots, that makes it better, but maybe it just makes it worse.  That's OK though.  They're still one of my wardrobe essentials.

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Slow progress

Apologies for the radio silence!  Life's been busy recently.  I've done more socializing in the last 4 days than I do in about 4 weekends ... and just as I've been hankering for a deep dive into some sewing projects!  (Knitting's felt too ho-hum lately, after my great binge this winter and long hiatus this spring)

Coffee with a friend's friend in the Mission
Renegade!
Dinner with a friend, we've been batting ideas around about a film he wants to produce
Launch party for a coworker's friend's linen and bedding line

Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the lingering days of summer!

This weekend ...

Dove into some Sparkly sewing ...

Had friends over for tea and sweets ...

What I'm Working On Right Now

Finishing up a knitting project (could I be on a roll here?).  And maybe thinking about tackling a refashion.  Doesn't that fabric make you think of the 90s?  It certainly makes me think of a particular classmate of mine from elementary and middle school.  If it wasn't for the fact that we didn't part on terribly good terms, I might even name the finished garment after her, that's how much it screams her name to me.

Starting up a new blog.  For awhile now I've been thinking that I would like to write more about creativity, writing, the power of meditative activities and reflection, the process of striving to live life as a better person, more connected to others, to a larger community, to the earth, and to myself.  I really like the community that I've found here, and while I think those topics are ones that resonate with many of you, somehow it didn't quite feel right to shift this blog in that direction.  So I'm running a little experiment with myself to see how it works balancing the two!  I appreciate any and all feedback of course :-).  Especially for those of you who like my more introspective posts, you may find more of that there.

Enjoying following people's MMM posts, even if I don't always comment!  I have not been doing terribly well photographing my informal playing-along-ness, so I will just do 1 roundup at the end of May ...

03.04.2012

I am at this irritatingly unendingly "in progress" stage with everything that I'm working on, including a couple knitting projects that clearly need to be ripped out for the fourth time, or ones that just don't seem to end. But on a cheerier note, what a beautiful weekend! One of those stunningly blue-skied weekends that makes the rest of the country hate California so. Yesterday I rock climbed with some colleagues and then hopped over to the Pier to get some ice cream. There is nothing so satisfying as an ice cream cone on a beautiful day after a good workout. Today I got dim sum with my parents and cousin, and biked down to the Lake where I sat and journaled and enjoyed watching the dogs chasing one another and the little children toddling about. Why are they so adorable when they can't quite walk properly?

My roommate, just now, was telling me about an upcoming Jewish holiday where you dress up, in costume, to express parts of yourself that are hidden. For her, she decided, this was anger and sex, so she was going as a dominatrix (is that how you spell it?) "I mean," she said, "I don't really feel angry a lot. But do I really not have a lot of anger? If I'm experincing the full spectrum, I should." So anyways, she's been assembling her costume: black heels a mile high, black corset, black gloves and whip, red lipstick - the red, the one spot of color on her entire body. Notice my lips. Hear me. Actually, she was originally going to go as a diva --- "But then I found the corset, and my friend - of course, my male friend - was much more into the idea of a dominatrix."



I think that's such an interesting concept. How often do we really think about those parts of ourselves that remain unexpressed, maybe neglected or maybe willfully suppressed, and give them voice, permission, to come out? I remember after a particularly draining fight with my ex-boyfriend (we were international long-distance at the time), I wrote him this email explaining that "It's not that I want to keep things from you, it's just that there are parts of my personality that I don't particularly like and try to keep from other people." And he replied that he didn't want to seem cold, but that didn't seem like a very healthy approach in his mind. If it's part of who you are, isn't it better to embrace that part of yourself and live as a whole person, than try to suppress a part of you that is just a natural part of your person? And as much as I hated him for being right, I knew he was right. What he said did make much more sense to me, and it's an idea that's stuck with me ever since.



The other night I was out on a date with a guy I met online and he commented, within the first 30 minutes of our conversation, that I seem like a happy person. Now, to me, I don't think of myself as an unusually happy person. Then again, he's recently divorced with a young daughter, but even with that grain of salt I suspect that I have a number of friends who consider me to be a happy person. It's not that I'm not happy or that I don't have frequent moments of great bubbling joy and optimism, but my interior world is also filled with plenty of fretting and worrying. But putting together these 3 anecdotes, I wonder if, for me, worrying and fretting are my "down" side to the random, hand-clappingly amused, buoyantly childlike enthusiasm that is the sunnier side of my personality. So really, not that there's nothing to be "done" about the worrying, but it's not something I ought to try to "fix" about myself. It is what it is, I am who I am, just trying to learn to manage these sides of the self instead of repress them.

2.20.2012

Well. I had hoped to photograph some FOs this weekend to show off to you, but found myself flattened by the stomach flu. Friday night on the way home from work, I not only threw up multiple times on the bus (luckily I was carrying my knitting around in this holey plastic bag and just had enough time to yank the knitting out of the bag before it began), I also had to stumble off my train halfway home to throw up multiple times on the platform, and then another upheaval after I got off at my trainstop at home. My roommate found my under the blankets in fetal position. He kindly bought me Gatorade, ginger ale, and bananas. Man, Gatorade never tasted so good (it has since reverted to being disgusting) I spent Saturday limp in bed, listening to Harry Potter audiobooks on YouTube, with just enough energy to rouse myself every 10 minutes to hit "next." But last night I found myself craving CHICKEN (after a steady diet of saltines and Ginger Ale) and took that as a good sign.

So instead, here are some knitting UFOs I've been chipping away at, off and on these past 2 days, when I've had the energy:


I did have grand plans to finish up my dress this weekend, but life gets in the way sometimes. I tend to ask a lot of myself, forgetting to celebrate what I've accomplished in the rush towards getting on with the next thing, forgetting that sometimes what I've done already is a lot in itself. Recently, since August really, I've been asking myself to be more forgiving of myself, to not pack it all in so tightly.

It may sound silly, but sometimes I felt like I was letting down the people who follow my blog if I didn't produce "enough" - would they find it boring? Would they not like me anymore? Maybe I "needed" to make this and then that and fill this quota (1-2 garments per month? But that sounds so slow!) I think that's what I found so disturbing about Tilly's post way back when. Not only did it feel very personal - here's the reasons I don't follow your blog anymore, and the reasons your blog doesn't measure up - but it didn't give much room for people to evolve and their blogs to evolve with them. Because for me, part of being nicer to myself means not pressuring myself to make more things just for the sake of having something new and shiny to showcase. One small step backwards for ayenforcraft, one giant step forwards for Jessica.



Tied in to all of this is the realization that I need to actually carve out dedicated relaxation time for myself. Maybe this comes intuitively to most people; to me, it does not. It was actually something of a revelation. But after not one but three massage therapists, over the course of 6 months, told me that I have a very, very tight back "and should really come in here more often!" (my wallet protested that it would prefer to spend my small self-pampering budget on yarn or fabric, never mind that bending over crafts projects may very well contribute to knotted shoulders, sh!), I skipped on over to Amazon to look for some self-massagers (teach a man to fish ...) and found this intriguing little Accupressure mat which I've been using almost nightly since it arrived, and sometimes in the middle of the night if I've woken up and can't get back to sleep.

See those plastic spikes up there? Yeah, ouch! That was my first reaction. But wow. The description tells you that it may take a couple minutes to get used to the poking sensation, but gradually it will shift into a warm tingling sensation as blood begins flowing into your back (it's supposed to improve circulation; increased circulation = increased healing and decreased stiffness)


The interesting thing is that some nights, as I'm lying there, I find myself tensing up in reaction to the pricking of the plastic points. It's almost a reflexive self-protective stance against the initial discomfort. Yet it is precisely those nights that I do tense up that it takes the longest for the "warm tingling sensation" to kick in. When something in life is hard, our first instinct is to tense up and face down the challenge. But it's not healthy to continually wind ourselves up more and more tightly, and sometimes we have to let pain into our lives in order to get through one period and on to the next phase of our lives. Repression is not resolution, and often the fastest way to get past a situation is to go straight through it.

Does anybody else ever wonder if making clothes will just be yet another phase in their lives vs. a hobby that will stick for the long run? Lately I've wondered that more and more. I think it has filled a really strong creative need in my life for a number of years now, and I have no doubt that I will probably always tinker with my clothes in some capacity. I also know it has shifted my personal style in distinct but also subtle ways, but I don't know that I will always feel the need to fill my wardrobe with items that I made from scratch.

Has this merely been a creative vehicle to help me through to the next stage? I do know I have many other creative interests, but I also know that I've always loved expressing my personal style. I guess this is what my dad calls "the fog of war" (in reference to the McNamara documentary/film of the same title) - patterns emerge only in hindsight, in the moment they are all hazy shades of gray, the merest hints of shapes and patterns. I have no regrets, of course, merely gratitude that I had a creative outlet not only allowed me to express myself and learn something new, but also let me write and find community with wonderful, likeminded folk.

My next sewing project

I think I mentioned before that my sewing inspiration is driven by details? Details and fabric. I would like to try making more dresses this year, and this project is the happy amalgamation of four bits of inspiration that have been floating around my brain for some time.

(Orla Kiely dress Winter 2011/2012 collection; Sunni's incomparable dress; a crinkly textured masculine plaid that I found in the sale section at Stonemountain & Daughter's; and what I believe to be an Isaac Mizrahi dress that I found off the Dress A Day website possibly circa 2007?)

Basically, Sunni's standing collar + the gigantic sleeve bows + Orla Kiely's shirtdress top with boxpleat skirt + masculine plaid = my next project. I've had it 90% cut out for a week and a half but was stalled on the actual stitching. We'll see how long this takes me. Long, I'm guessing. It's a frankenpattern/guessing at dimensions project with lots of detailing, and we know how I like to plod through my details! In my brain though, it's really going to work. Fingers crossed.

Tinkering with the mustard sweater

Whelps, peeps, progress has been made, and dash it all if I haven't gone and recorded my progress to share with you, to boot!


Missing sleeves, but I couldn't help but get excited over the fun part - clustering the flowers around! Those buttons will be a pain, I'll probably use snaps and I hate sewing buttons and snaps onto the same piece of real estate - anybody got any suggestions? Plus I keep buying snaps and then forgetting where I've stuck them. I can remember where they were in the crazy landlady's house, but dashed if I can remember where I decided to store them here. I remember thinking I needed to be all efficient and economical with space, but cannot recall the ultimate decision I came to. Go Team Of One.


Becky commented on my prior post: This looks like it could be epic. (Sorry Roo it's not a hat ... although I wouldn't put it past me to use these flowers for a hat!) I burst out laughing when I read that comment, then thought - well why the heck not? The lady clearly knows my style. Epic? Bring it on baby. Hence making about 3x's as many flowers as I'd originally envisioned (I still need to make some more). I only hope this looks as good in person as it does in my brain ... but 'tis promising so far ...

Here you can see the cardigan refashioned:


(Forgot a "before" photo, sorry folks! But you can imagine what an oversized Mens sweater looks like.)

I designed it to be worn closed but I almost like the look open better. Makes me think I might refashion another cardigan to be worn open like this. No fiddly closures to deal with!

Next up: the fun and unfun parts. Making more flowers, arranging them and being asymmetrical and epic and Anthropologie-esque and all ... but then the sewing of buttons and snaps and of course, handsewing all the dang flowers onto the cardigan. Must remember to not go so overboard with my mustard flower garden that I cannot do practical things like sling a purse over one shoulder when wearing this cardigan ...

Progress

Every evening I stitch up a couple of these ... in preparation for a coming refashion ...

A plan for October

Well, it's certainly been like **crickets** around here, hasn't it? I've been on a little internet diet of late - trying not to switch on my computer at night - which has felt great but has had the unintended side effect of dampening down on the blogging front.

My original plan for October involved this stack of fabrics:


I rarely sew full outfits, but for once was hit by a wave of inspiration to stitch up something that would all go together. After I pulled this stack out, though, and mulled it over, I realized that the reason I never wear pale gray blouses is that they wash me out terribly. Especially in winter. And since this would have layered under a sweater and involved so many ruffles that nothing could possibly layer under it, I've had to stick the gray back into the stash to let it mull over what it would like to transform itself into (it currently lives as a very large Mens button-down).

The sweater refashion and murky-lavender-not-quite-gray-skirt-in-eyelet are still in the works for Fall, though. We'll just have to see if they make it for October.

Speaking of the FO graveyard, I've really been trying to cut back on those projects that give off hints of "meh" before I get too far into them. Life's too short!

On my crafting table right now ...

Stitching up some prezzies ...


And a refashion ...


Among other half-finished, long-languishing projects ...

Blouse Sloper, Part 1

As Ali mentioned, we took a class together over the long weekend to make a bodice sloper. Rather than learning to draft from scratch, the teacher brought in standardized muslins that she customized to our bodies. We then transferred those alterations back to a flat pattern, and were ready to get started!

So I headed home and pulled out a thrifted mens shirt, a cotton/poly blend in a vibrant blue, and got to work muslining out my new sloper.

Not bad. Not sure what's up with the rippling at the bottom, possibly due to the fact that I was basting this together at 6AM on 3 hours of sleep (another restless, insomniatic night), or perhaps my lack of ironing? It has about 3" of ease at the bust, which I like for a loosely fitted blouse look. I do, however, feel like a bit of a rectangle in this.

(I think I cut this crooked - for once, it's not my slanted posture!)

Oops, missed a button! I decided to keep the buttons in the back for a vintage-esque look. I'll probably swap them out for buttons a different color. I like the fact that I don't have my usual swayback issues. I'm wondering if this is because the sloper is cut such that it does not decrease in at the side seam towards the waist - instead, all the back waist shaping is via darts. I've never seen that done before! However, I have something of a broad back and well-built deltoids, so I'm wondering if I should really be leaving all that waist shaping to darts.

Think I need to scoop out a bit more at the front darts in the blouse bottom? I need to lower the front darts by about 1" as well. And, my nice muscle-y arms are going to require wider sleeves and more of an armscythe scoop-out, as my arm movement is currently rather restricted in this current iteration. In all, not bad. I'll tweak about a bit more and show off the results - soon, I hope, though of late "soon" for me as meant "weeks" and not "days".

Finally, in honor of Me-Made-June (I'm not participating formally, but I'm with you all in spirit!)


Handmade shrug, refashioned dress. Shoes DIY'd ala Mom. When I bought these flats, they were nude -- nude, as in, the exact same shade as my skin. SO not attractive. So she dabbed brown shoe polish on them and now they are 1 shade darker than I am. Much, much better. (If you were curious, we bought them with the intention of darkening them. They looked so ... sickly ... at the store.) That Mom, she is the queen of DIY improvisations, is she not?

It runs in the blood. She may have no desire to sew her own clothes anywhere, but she's still got the spirit.

03.27.2011 Smorgasboard

Ahhh ... I hope you've been enjoying your weekend! I know I've been enjoying mine! It's been so quiet and mellow here. I've done all sorts of household-y errands-y things like grocery shop and buy cleaning supplies, sweep and mop the kitchen and common areas, tidy up my room and run a couple loads of laundry, fold clothes, start on my taxes, and in a bit I'll cook up some food for the week. In between, spouts of sewing and knitting while March Madness plays in the background.

Do you watch college basketball? I really only watch the March Madness tournament each year, but I love how it's more tactical and less "shock and awe" than the NBA, the way luck can be such a large element - due to the nature of single elimination tournaments, small things can make a big difference, like whether or not a key player draws a couple early fouls, the randomness of somebody having an "off" game or if they're on fire. I'm also totally one who talks to the TV screen - "Rebound!!!" or "You have to go inside, those 3-pointers aren't working today!" or "DON'T FOUL HIM!!!" or "Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice" ...

My roommate, the one I've only known a couple months, keeps saying to me, "Really??? You're interested in/do X? I totally don't see that!!!" X, in this case, being basketball, or watching sports in general. Which is funny, because if you knew me in high school I'll bet this would be no surprise, I was terribly into sports in high school. Probably if you asked those friends who knew me then if they thought I'd be into sewing and knitting and stuff, you'd get that same "Really??? I totally don't see that!!!" reaction. Even though both have always been "me" maybe they're just more apparent at different stages in life.


But anyways as I was mopping the floor today, I was thinking with some amusement that here I was, "slaving" away, whereas my other roommate would probably just hire a cleaning lady and be done with it. Not that I have anything against hiring a cleaning lady persay, but for me personally, I don't exactly feel like I have the finances to afford a cleaning lady. Or rather, I suppose I could hire one if I wanted to, but I don't mind cleaning and I'd rather save the money towards something else. I've seen plenty of people my age make that time/money tradeoff ... and I wonder if we're an odd generation, or maybe I'm the oddball in my generation.

My parents were up for dinner last night, and they were remarking about a comment that some GenY'ers had made in some article that, "We don't have enough discretionary income to save for retirement!" Wrong, said my parents, first you put money away for retirement, and anything that's left over is discretionary, not the other way around. I don't think we're a particularly financially literate generation, although to be fair I think financial literacy has gotten a lot more complex than it was a couple generations ago. I still remember reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and how they cut a slit in the bottom of a tin can, flipped it over and nailed it to the floorboards, and then deposited a nickel in the can each night to save towards buying a house.


For people in my generation, I feel like it's hard not to look around at our peers and feel like we, too, would like to be out making Starbucks runs each morning, that we "should" be able to have dinner out with friends a couple nights a week, lunch out with coworkers a couple days a week because it tastes so much better/is so much more convenient than leftovers, that if everybody else is out partying on the weekends or whooping it up in Vegas then why can't we skip out of town on the coming 3-day weekend too? Or buy the latest trends because they're all over magazines, or just pick up something new for each birthday, trip, and other major life event because that's what we've always done. It's all over TV and we think we see that in our peers, and so we think it's "normal" and then it feels like if we do not "have" this lifestyle ourselves, we are somehow deprived. Or maybe this is just how it is in the big cities, but I've noticed that vibe for several years now in the various places I've lived.

As I have to keep reminding myself, spending up to the very limits of my paycheck actually has a twofold effect. I'm not saving anything, and I'm acclimating to a heavy-spending lifestyle so that pretty soon I'll feel tied to a certain income level, handcuffed to a job because it'll provide that standard of living. As tempting as it may be to buy, buy, buy, I have to keep reminding myself that by not spending so much, I'm actually buying freedom and flexibility -- so that I could take a lower-paying job if it meant doing something I truly believed in, or divert on an unconventional detour for awhile and trust that it will be OK. "Investment towards my future," I keep reminding myself. "I'm investing in my future ... by not buying that now." It works sometimes. I keep trying.


My latest sewing project. I do realize that all these fabric and yarn purchases might just be in violation of the "investing in my future" mandate I've given myself. Sigh. That's, like, the next frontier and fodder for another post.

OK. I'll leave you with a couple favorites from the past 2 weeks of MMM. The rest are up on Flickr.

03.17.2011
Olive green tights were my piece of green for the day! Scarflet is only handmade component of this outfit. Love the juxtaposition of the thrifted dress and the expensive suit blazer. An admittedly short dress for work standards, I probably won't wear it in again.

03.24.2011
What are your fallback "look"s that you go for when you're tired? For me, I have certain color combinations that I gravitate towards - purple and green, purple and orange, green and orange, one of the abovementioned with gray and/or brown or just plain brown. Although, oddly enough, I don't have all that much green and orange and purple.

03.25.2011
As my friend says, I look like I'm wearing a doilie!

Preparing for MMM'11

The cardigan and the cowl.

Fiber #32 // Green-Eyed Monster

I seem to keep misnumbering my handknit projects. Ah well. Here's my latest for your viewing pleasure. Fiber #32 // Green-Eyed Monster.

Remember how I threatened to make myself one? Well ... I did!


Yowza. How's that for an awkward modeled shot? Is it just me, or am I looking older than I did a couple months ago? I think work has been stressful! Or matured me.

Anyways, I basically followed the Selfish Seamstress' instructions except I made mine narrower and shorter. In retrospect I can see why she advocated for a wider and longer scarf, but I hate feeling like I'm choking on my scarves, so I tend towards the long and narrow ones. I have to say, this is one sweet scarf. Definitely looking forward to working it in MMM'11!


Speaking of MMM, I have decided to not go crazy over making myself new stuff for the month. In fact, I have resolved that between now and then, I will be more than happy if I make/finish:

1 cardigan (already 85% done)
1 dress (erg ... I am going to attempt a swayback alteration and to fiddle with the bust size, so I have been procrastinating this one)
1 cowl
1 skirt (already 60% done)

October Wardrobe Refashion Challenge II: in progress ...

Apologies all for the teaser in-progress shot, but this week has turned out much busier than I thought it would be. Hopefully back early next week with a final product. Until then, happy weekending!

October Refashion Challenge

Given the current state of funds that can be allocated towards crafting, and given the slow rate of crafting in general that is going on around here, I thought I'd turn my attention to that towering (though recently culled, so towering manageably instead of precariously) stack in the refashion pile. Specifically, I'm challenging myself to refashion one garment per week for the month of October，and furthermore commit publicly to posting my finished project every Friday.

If I'd planned ahead I'd have had one done for you last Friday (the first) ... but that's OK! Four Fridays left, which means four guaranteed finished projects for your viewing pleasure this month. I'm excited - I actually have a stack of 4 sweaters I'd like to work on, but we'll see if I get to all of them.


First up ...