Me Made Monat Februar and: Entschuldigung

(Scroll down for English...)

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Wie Ihr wisst, bin ich ein großer Fan der Me-Made Monate und habe schon zwei Mal bei Zoe mitgemacht. Jetzt hat die wunderbare deutsche Bloggerin Catherine einen Me Made Monat Februar angeregt, an dem ich teilnehmen werde - wie immer in der Hoffnung, mal was Neues genäht zu haben/mich originell zu stylen/gute Fotos zu machen. Ähem. Oder einfach nur dabei zu sein.





Aus diesem Anlass und an dieser Stelle jetzt die längst fällige Entschuldigung, dass ich nicht (auch) auf Deutsch blogge. Was kann ich sagen? Ich bin einfach zu faul dafür und schon froh, wenn ich irgendeinen Post (geschweige denn zweisprachig... gut gestylt... ordentlich fotografiert...) fertig bekomme. Und insgesamt nehme ich an, dass von denen, die hier lesen, mehr (auch) Englisch als (auch) Deutsch sprechen.


Falls Euch das sehr stört, hinterlasst mir bitte einen Kommentar - vielleicht bin ich nicht mehr zu faul wenn ich weiß, dass jemanden meine Ergüsse auf Deutsch wirklich interessieren!

(Erster Tag des letztjährigen Me-Made May.)

(First day of last year's Me-Made May.)

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As you know, I loved participating in Zoe's Me-Made May/Self-Stitched September. So imagine my happy dance when reading that lovely German blogger Catherine has initiated a Me-Made February of her own. I'm in!


And here's my overdue apology to any German-speaking readers who find it less comfortable to read English than German. I'm afraid I'm just too lazy to write my posts in both languages, and I assume there are more English-speaking readers than German-speaking ones.


Does anybody out there really, truly care? Leave me a comment, I might just change my lazy ways!

Boy's Romper Ottobre 4-2010-4

I never made baby clothes for my children. When I decided to sew more, very consciously, to offset some stressors in my life, DD was almost two, and DS four years old.

So, when some friends and their 6-week-old baby boy announced their visit recently, I decided to right this situation and make something for baby. I loved dressing my babies in footless rompers/overalls, so when I saw a pattern for one in last year's Ottobre I decided to make it up.

The fabric is a very soft small wale corduroy, lined in cotton lawn, with contrast piping and an elephant appliqué. The piping was a first for me, and while I really like the effect, my suspicions were confirmed that piping only works when sewing quite exactly. Which I usually don't.

The elephant appliqué was inspired by a girl's tunic I saw on the Boden website. Ottobre has a pattern for a bunny appliqué which is also very cute.

I have one gripe with the Ottobre instructions: They tell you to close the front leg seams, which to me means left and right. The left seam needs to be left open though for the closure, which I overlooked while sewing in a hurry. Seaming plus piping plus two rows of topstitching equals quite a bit of cussing when unpicking.

Other than that, it's a very cute, nicely drafted pattern. Knowing that Ottobre runs wide I made up a 62 in width, 68 in length. Sigh. Now for more babies to sew for!

Sentimental (Quilt) Sewing

Our son is moving out.

That didn't come out right. DS is seven years old, and he is moving out of the bedroom he has shared with his sister for the last five years.

His new room will be upstairs. Up until now we have pretty much lived in each other's pockets. The shared bedroom was so small the living room had to double as a play room. The dining table did triple duty as a sewing table and desk for homework as well as having to be cleared off every few hours for a meal.

I probably complained a fair bit, but to be honest I also enjoyed our close quarters. Now DS and DD will have their own rooms, and I will even get a new office/sewing room right under the eaves. There will be days we will be on three different floors. I will get used to it.

Anyway, DS getting his own room called for some sewing. And what embodies sentimental sewing better than a quilt?

I have no patience for small scale patchwork. The whole quilt is about 2 meters by 1.3 meters, the pieces roughly 25 cm (10 in) square. It is still a scrap quilt, though, including fabrics from the last fifteen years.

The print I used on a pair of his sister's pants. The diaper bag fabric from when DS's cousin was born.

The curtain fabric from DH's and my first shared apartment. The small scale print I used for his uncle's napkin-and-tablecloth set.

The set of prints bought for his aunt's beach bag.

The seaside fabric bought on the island we spent so many vacations on. The striped ticking I made a beach bag for DS's godmother from.

Interlined with an old flannel sheet of his Grandmother's. Quilted in the ditch (sort of), hoping it will hold up!

We tried out the quilt on his "new" bed (that served me well during my student years at university, ah memories...), and the room started looking like home.

My Grandmother's Needlebook/Resolutions

My grandmother was born in 1899, in a different century and a different world; Germany still had a Kaiser.

She started working as a child, had her first real job at age 14, and did not have much in the way of wordly goods. But she had five daughters and a treadle sewing machine. When my mom sees me sewing before a holiday she remarks how her mother would try to make all her girls new (or re-made) dresses and used to sew into the night before Christmas and Easter.

My grandmother was 71 when I was born; I never saw her sew, but she always had to do something, be productive with her hands, and she showed her love with one handknit sweater... and socks... and mittens after the other. I still have the last sweater she knit me; she died in 1986.

My mom who hoards everything found and gave me this needlebook. She thinks it must have been made by one of my older cousins as a school project-cum-present for my grandmother. A special little thing.

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I've been thinking about resolutions for the coming year. While I'm impressed by other sewers' technique and ambition, my reasons for sewing are a bit different, so this year I'll try to resolve accordingly.

This is why I sew:

• I'm a very intellectual person; I could spend days immersed in books, and my job aside from the kids is purely brain work. I need to balance myself with a craft I do with my hands, and a tangible outcome.



• I enjoy the creative process, choosing fabric and pattern, and making something beautiful.



• I choose to busy my hands and occupy my mind with tasks that are doable instead of worrying about things I can't influence.

So my resolutions for 2011 are:

• Balance. I have many people, interests and obligations in my life. Sewing isn't no.1, but I'd like for it not to take a back seat either.



• Spending my sewing time wisely for the maximum of enjoyment (whether that is practival or not).



• Keeping at about the same level of output and wearability; I'd say the kids and I like and wear about 80 % of what I make a lot, so I'd like to keep it there (and in the process wear more and more made-by-me stuff!).

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Here's a little recap of last year's resolutions:

1. Keep at about the same level of productivity. Done.

2. Limit sewing children's stuff, ideally to one outfit per kid per season, or special occasion wear. I sewed comparatively less for them, more for me, so I consider this done as well.

3. 30 minutes of sewing a day, on most days. Not really. I hope this improves when I get my own sewing room.

4. Sew more mix-and-match garments, either by sewing neutral colors, and/or simpler patterns, and/or several garments planned as a wardrobe. Hm. Not sure about that, but I'll keep it for 2011!

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I hope your sewing year is off to a good start. Happy sewing!

Happy New Year!

... and this and that. A lot of sewers do end-of-year recaps; I didn't last year but might now since I'm a bit dissatisfied with my own output. Although I know it's for all the right reasons. Sigh.

(Christmas present no. 1)

So this was 2010:

Garments for me: 12
Garments for children: 9
Other: 4 tote bags, 3 pillowcovers (not blogged), 2 hats, 1 costume

Altogether: 31 items


UFOs: 3 (Christmas dress, navy skirt suit I haven't blogged about)



To compare, my output as put on this blog in 2009 was:


Garments for me: 7
Garments for children: 19
Other: 2 capes, 2 costumes, 1 table runner, 2 bags, 1 hat

Altogether: 34 items

UFOs: 2 (blouse, chanel jacket)




- Okay, 2010 didn't compare as badly as I'd expected. I think my dissatisfaction has to do with two things: First, I didn't make much during the last quarter of 2010 (except for my Christmas crafting extravaganza). Second, I made quite a few involved projects (three coats/jackets) that took some time and energy but didn't translate into "I made a lot"! -



As you've probably read between the lines, I didn't finish my Christmas dress in time. In the end, all that was left for sewing was the middle of the night, and I feel a bit too old, eh, tired for that. I'm not sure when I'll finish it; that probably depends on when I get another occasion to wear it (and enough pressure to sew it!).



I got 2 little sewing gifts for Christmas. Don't feel sorry for me; the fabric cupboards are full, and I have more sewing books than I can use at the moment (not to mention no space for new machines). So the thimble pictured above was the perfect, space-efficient gift! I also got a sorely needed pair of embroidery scissors. (Until now I cut my bottonholes open with nail scissors. I'm not sure you wanted to know that!)




I also received some money for personal (read: sewing) use which would be just enough for a Burda subscription that is now offered with a complimentary (at greatly reduced price) dress-form. (I hope to finish my sewing room early next year so I'll have space for it.)





It's the Prym "Prymadonna". Does anyone have experience with this dress form? My personal fitting challenges on top are mostly a long torso (do dress forms adjust for that?), skinny neck, square shoulder. I'd love to hear your input!




I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year. May the spirit of the holidays and the excitement for a new beginning carry you through the next twelve months!



(Next up: sewing resolution recap)

Merry Christmas (Dress)!

This is the sad state of my current Christmas dress.

What is taking me so long?

First, I resolved not to add to my to do-list by planning to sew another dress.

- As I've hinted before, knowing how to sew for me leads to delusions about having to DIY pretty much everything, especially during the Christmas season. I made decorations, photo calendars, a photo book, cards, gift tags, pillowcases, gingerbread houses, cookies, and we recorded a family Christmas tunes CD (complete with CD cover artwork). Phew. -

Then, I thought scrap that, after making all sorts of stuff for others I really deserve a dress for myself. I even found a suitable wool-mix crepe in our town's tiny, obscure, remnant-roll-filled fabric shop. And a real silk lining.

- When I asked about the fabric content of the crepe (I thought it felt like wool), the shop's little saleswoman cut off a small piece, whipped out her lighter, and made the famous burn test (that I'd never seen nor done). Wool with poly, she says. -

I really, really wanted to make the infamous tulip skirt dress from BurdaStyle 8-2009, but couldn't for the life of me find that magazine (which I have!). Time was slipping away from me, so I settled on BWOF 11-2008-112 and got started. I try to steal an hour here and there which might not be enough to finish by Thursday night (Christmas festivities commence early on Christmas Eve here in Germany).

What do you think, dear sewing friends?

Can I get the dress done?

And are you a creative specialist yourself (only sewing) or a jack-of-all-creative endeavors?

I would like to thank all of you, my readers whom I consider my sewing friends and who have made my year so enjoyable, and wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Teaching, Fudging and Old Dresses

This post shall be about teaching and fudging, mainly, but since I don't have pictures of either, and a sewing post just isn't all that attractive without pictures, here's a Christmas dress I made, uh, ten years ago or so?

(Sorry for the ten-years-in-the-closet wrinkles.)

It's a BWOF pattern that I made after having loved 60s style dresses for quite some time, and deciding it was time to make one. I didn't sew regularly then (although I believe this was the Christmas I cranked out the dress, a girl's tartan Christmas dress and two fleece pullovers). The interior finishing is terrible, definitely fudged, but I'm not going to show it to you!

I also have acquired two sewing students. One is my husband's niece who just turned 11. When I show up at her house, armed with pattern magazines and an idea how to proceed slowly - you know, one session to choose and copy the pattern, one to cut and prep the fabric, one or more to sew - she informs me she would like to make this (pulling out an RTW garment) in whatever fabric, today.

Thus, last session, I made my first pattern copied from a finished garment (who's the student then?), in this case a very simple shrug with long sleeves. She cut it out, sort of leaving seam allowances, sewed it together, sort of straight, hemmed it and happily wears it now. Definitely fudged, but she had fun, likes the result, and who am I to say sewing a garment should take longer than a scant day?

My other student is my age, has taken a sewing class and made a couple of garments before, and likes to quiz me on "the right way" to do the next action. Half the time I have to admit that I just sorta, kinda do it like this or like that, and yes, fudge it. She is undeterred and says that she hopes a less perfectionistic approach to sewing will mean more fun and more frequent sewing for her!

What do you think? Would you prefer a perfectionistic sewing teacher, or a more laid-back approach?