One block down, 29 to go...

I'm really, really disappointed and disheartened right now.

Firstly, I had a real fight with the pattern, because the pattern I found on-line didn't match. I had to redraw it. That took a day.

I cut the first pieces, did my first try on English paper piecing, and sewing curved seams. Perfect. But it took two days, because I was procrastinating... So - I used about 3 hours the first day to baste the pieces for the first square (36 pieces), and 2 hours to sew them together, remove the papers and iron it.

I made the paper pieces of ordinary copiator paper, and it works very nicely.
I baste with thread and needle and just sew through all layers, and when I'm done, I remove that thread easily.

So. This morning I started with chlorining the lightest piece of fabric of the second color. Ok, that takes a little bit more explaining. I bought pre-dyed cheap sheets, and bleached 3/4 of it with chlorine. Or I asked my husband to do it. One of the colors went perfectly, the other one didn't. So I have tried to fix it, first by trying to get the lighter middle color darker with food dye, then I decided to lighten the lightest with another chlorine wash. And it's still not good enough.
And I could cry.

Now I need to decide if I shall go on with the project, with part of the fabrics (about 1/4 or less) not "perfect", with the idea of that "done is better than perfect", or will I scrap the project, because I don't have enough time, and it's stupid to waste all that time to make something that won't be good.

*sigh*

Well... my husband says it's ok.
And I know my family appreciates crafts, and one will be able to see the craftmansship, and it will be a good quilt, even when it won't be as pretty as I wanted it to be.

But right now I just want to cry and burn everything and never go out and meet anyone ever again.

And I'm still loving the a-hole, who betrayed me, rejected me and abandoned me. :´(

But I am surprised to find out how easy paper-piecing is. 

So, finally...

I gathered enough courage to start doing this, the Double Wedding Ring Quilt.
I have managed to get the fabric washed and dyed and ironed, and I fear I have way too little of it... and I assume I have to change my plans considering the stuffing of this quilt... But - that day is at least two weeks away, so I don't need to think about that today.

Anyway, I was here happily procrastinating starting this job, because I thought I already have adequate patterns and I know enough how to sew quilts, having done a couple... Ha! I had to tweak the pattern a little, and there was some problems with dyeing, too, and all kind of things like this take time.

Also, I noticed that I don't have time to make this quilt two block a day. I need at least 3-4 days to quilt it, because it is big, and then I have to sew the blocks together into a top, and that takes some time, too... knowing me, I will be doing it by hand, and even though I am a quick sewer... Eh... I know it's a correct word for someone who sews, but it is also the word for... well... sewer :-D Ok, I'm a quick seamstress. :-D I sew quickly.
Anyway, I need to make at least 3 blocks every day, and starting today. And it's already 6 P.M. I don't think even I can manage making three 40cm by 40 cm blocks, english paper piecing, double wedding ring, in the 4-5 hours there are left of the day. :-D

Well, well... if I don't have time to make this for the wedding, they'll get a gift card of it, and that's that.

But... I'm still terrified of cutting fabrics :-D

Half a year later...

Still the same year.

I am planning on making a Wedding Ring Quilt to my nephew as a wedding gift.

Here's a free pattern, but I'll be making one in size 240x200 cm - that's the size of a double duvet. I think it's nice for a wedding :-)

So it will be like this: 5x6 blocks, each 40x40 cm2

It will have black background and different shades of purple, fuchsia, burgundy and blue, and have dark grey backing. And I'll stitch it, too, if I have time.

What is the name of this edge?

This is a dress with scalloped edge.

But what's the name if the edge looks like this:

zigzag edge?

In Finland I call these "zigzag scissors". In English they are "pinking shears".

Sawtooth edge?

Serrated?

Dentate?

Swallow-tailed?

Indented?
 Denticulate, jagged, notched, ragged, scored, serried, serriform, serrulate, toothed? WHAT?

13/1-20
Today I found the answer to the question. It's "pointed scallops"

And then a little inspiration

and not just whining. "Crones don't whine", I read, and I have to agree. So - I whine, therefore am I not a crone :-D

Lovely Beth has been talking with me and mentioned Jillian Moreno who creates knits for soft and curvy girls. :-) So I have found some projects for next summer :-)

Some other projects that I'm interested in are these leather bracelets.

I'm really in to bracelets right now... The problem is that... I don't use jewelry. I love it, I love making it, but I don't use it.

This "upcycled" little pin tin.

It's even better than the little plate, because the magnet works better through the thin tin... though the plate is better as it has edges...
I am working on my sewing room . We are re-purposing our... walk-in closet, I suppose one could call it. It's just 1,20 wide and long (4 feet), so it's not that big, but there's room for the sewing machine table and some shelves, so that I don't need to pack the sewing machine up and down every time I need to use it.
I'm also making myself a duct tape dummy, and I need a foot for it... that project is also waiting.

Then it's these magazine baskets.

I found the newspaper "wicker" three years ago and have been experimenting and learning to weave baskets. That project was put aside for some 2 years for... hmm... circumstances. But now the circumstances have changed and it's time to continue with my basketry.

And then I'm knitting my next dragon shawl. I made one already, but... I used some homespun 1-ply wool, and... I don't like it.

I hate being fat!

I saw some really pretty patterns at Ravelry...

Caro Sheridan's Vodka Lemonade 

(Vodka Lemonade is Thea Colman's pattern)

Maria Olsson's Myrtle
(Myrtle is Snowden Becker's pattern)

Nora Caughan's Cabled Cardi

But these ladies are not size 52. 42 if even that. "Medium", what ever that means. (Most women are size US 12-14)
These pretty things won't look as pretty on me. The lines will be wrong, the pattern won't have right proportions... what looks good and nice and interesting and pretty on smaller women, will look... just wrong on me.
And what is even more saddening, is that *I* will look bigger than I am, fat and... just wrong.

And it will take more yarn, making it more expensive and time consuming for me to knit,
and the finished work will weigh more, making it more bothersome for me to knit and support the weight on my needles,
and possibly even quite a lot of twitching the pattern. Some designers do acknowledge that not every woman is size S-M-L. The two first ones are available to size 52 (US22) - chest 48", but Nora's pattern isn't even available that size.

I got "The New Atkins" from my mother, and in it I read about a woman, about my age and size (4 years younger, 4 kilos heavier) who manages to reduce her size from 56 to 38 in six months.
Yes, please! It would be really nice to be size 38 next winter... (I assume the sizes are the Scandinavian sizes, as the book was in Finnish... now, it was translated, so it's possible the sizes were somewhat misleading, nevertheless, the steps between sizes are the same, so if it was continental 56 to 38, it would be Finnish 54 to 36... I am Finnish size 52. So - if it works with me as it worked with her, I'll be size 34 in October. Now, I will be happy if I'm size 42. I think I was that size when I was 16.)

*sigh*

It seems I really need to learn Russian.

About scrapbooks and journaling

It's a week to Ostara. I haven't done anything. *sigh*

I waste time at Pinterest. Someone said it's like getting the best magazine at home, a new issue every day, and so it seems...
During my 27 weeks at Pinterest (27 weeks... Half a year... 190 days. Hard to believe it's such a short time!) I have pinned 56.000 things... some of them are doubles, even triples, but most are unique pins. That's about 300 new ideas A DAY! No wonder I feel like I get an amazing new magazine full of ideas for arts and crafts, every day!
There's no way I'll ever manage to DO something with those ideas! Or realize even a fraction of them!
That idea is partly scary, partly wonderful... I mean, there's so much to do in the world, I won't ever need to think "Oh, what would I do now?" (Not that that has ever been a problem :-D)
And with that many ideas - and many more emerging every day! EVERY DAY, GET IT? - why would anyone feel the need to protect their ideas? We are seven billion people on this planet, and on the internet about 10% of them, and about half of them use English, where ever on the planet they are. All one needs to do is to visit Pinterest - or any of those hundreds of Pinterest copies - to get plenty of ideas to fill blogs and magazines... It's so amazing, fascinating, wonderful...

Anyway, I'm saying this to speak about a discovery I made today. It probably has been obvious to everyone actually pottering with art journals and scrapbooking, but those two are becoming so close each other that it's hard to see where one ends and the other starts.
I felt I needed to create a new board, for art journaling. I had previously had that in my scrapbooking board, because I like the more artistic scrapbook pages, with journaling and not just photos. And while I was moving the journaling pins to the new journaling board, I noticed that "Project Life" is more journaling than scrapbooking, even though it is sold as scrapbooking...

This newspaper scrapbook, "a treasure trove" of information, 

catalogs University of Utah events from the turn of the 20th century to the 50's and 60's

And then I started thinking about the original scrapbooks - the albums where people were collecting articles from newspapers and magazines about something - or someone - they were interested of. The scrapbooks that were made in the beginning of scrapbooking as we understand it today, you know, those are actually photo album pages, with added flair and color, not scrapbooks...

Windsor Historical Society about preserving family memories

I love that! Think how wonderful that photo album would be if people had actually written when the photos were taken, of whom, where, why and what was the situation...
How I love reading my mother's recipe collection, when I find small traces of her everyday life between the pages... like a receipt or a sliver of a package used as a bookmark... how it would be even more wonderful if she had written "Found this recipe in Ladies Magazine on June 1963, made it for John's birthday, we loved it."

Pin it, make it, blog it, link it, share it...

Sounds like a good idea...

I haven't been writing much to this blog lately. I have been recovering from a very bad heartache, but now I'm better, and getting interested in things again. So - hopefully I will be updating my blog a bit more often.

Yes, pin it, make it, blog it, link it, share it... at least the three first ones.

Yes, I'm talking about Pinterest. I went, saw and was hooked, and have been pinning since then. It's more addictive than Polyvore, and I was there like 24/7... But - Pinterest. Someone said it's like getting a new idea DIY magazine filled with the best ideas EVERY DAY.

It was at Pinterest I found the corset making challenge.
No, I haven't got any longer with it, because we were supposed to move, and everything was packed down, and then we were not supposed to move, but it still isn't clear, so nothing has been packed up... and we have been living in boxes for some three months now, and I hate my husband, just a little, right now...
And myself. I could make the decision just as well as he, and want to make it just as little as he does, so none of us makes the decision... and we keep living in boxes.

Well, Ostara is coming closer, and there are things I want to do.

It's less than four weeks left... how the time flies...
I started thinking about Ostara already at Imbolc, and I thought it's too early.
Then it was 30 days, and I thought... well... if it was Yule, it would be like 24th of November, and that's too early to think about Yule.
Now it's less than four weeks. It's time.
Now.
Not tomorrow.
Now.
And I'm not ready!!!

LOL

The same thing every year, every Sabbath. And, funnily, somehow it's all done when the day arrives.
Though, "all" means like 1/4 of all the grandiose plans I had. ;-)

I want to make a December Daily. I love Ali Edward's idea, and I would like to make one for Ostara. March Daily? Spring Daily? 

I am still envious to all those "Project Life" gals with their fancy schmancy scrapbooking and cardmaking thingies, pretty papers, stamps, washi tape and gadgets.
Sure, I can paint and draw and design my own stamps and papers and patterns and everything. I know how to make washi tape with my own pattern, and all... but it's all the same! Everything will have my mark on it, just as clearly as if I had stamped my logo on everything.
And I don't like it.
I would like to not need to.
I wish I was rich and lived in USA in a city with a shop with everything I can imagine to want in it. 
No, I don't.
Or, I do wish I was rich, but then I would get all I can imagine to want from internet :-D

I need to learn to use my lovely, beautiful, new camera. :-)

I wish I had some vintage chocolate bunny molds... I wonder how those are made... I think there should be some sort of original, on which you press the tin against, to create the mold...
I wonder what material the original is... Metal? Clay? Wood? 
I wonder if one can soften hard plastic with hairdryer so that it can be forced to become a mold... 
(Huh... apparently you can. Make the original of clay and transfer to plaster. Make the clay original as whole, and take the plaster copies in halves. And think about the details. They should be quite shallow and open, so that you'll get the plastic off the plaster and the chocolate off the plastic, whole and nice. But, yes, you can make your own chocolate molds.)

A couple of years ago I had planned my Ostara very well, to the last corner of our home. And I really mean "last corner". It went so far I had planned on making Ostara wrapping paper to give the cook books an Ostara covers, so that they'd match the rest of the kitchen...
Yes.
Mad.
MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAA!!!!

Oh, and then I need to think about the countdown calendar...
Now, that's something I REALLY should have thought earlier, as I planned on MAKING the fillers...

Oh, and I want this couple as my Ostara "elves on the shelf"...

So... pin it, make it, blog it... Ostara 2013 Pinterest Challenge...

The Historical Sew Forthnightly

 

My ideas for this challenge:

#0 Starting simple

I think a Regency chemise is a simple and quick thing to sew. 

#1 Bi-Centennial

A Regency dress from 1813

#2 UFO

I have the 1911 corset :-D Though... I don't want one. So... maybe make the 18th-century stays I made the pattern for. Maybe use some of the materials for the 1911 corset for the 18th-century stays.

#3 undergarments :-D

Like, that's what I have been making :-D
Let's make the rest of the Regency undergarments. That's the stays and the petticoat.

#4 Embellishments... 

Hat. Let's embellish a Regency bonnet.

#5 The Common Woman... poor people. Hmm...

#6 Striped

Well... I found something "peasant-y" :-D

This is "Strawberry Girl" by Nils Schillmark, painted in 1782. Her clothes are most likely homespun, -dyed, and -woven linen. I have wanted that "skjörttröja" for some 30 years now :-D It is very easy to make, and very comfortable. And I think it's rather pretty. 

#7 Accessories...

I think I want to make gloves.

Specifically these gloves.

I think I could use them in my Mylady Winter cosplay.

#8 By the Sea

Well... what about these three bathing beauties?

I was thinking about the Victorian knitted underwear

#9 Flora and Fauna

I could paint my 18th-century frock fabric. 

#10 Literature

Milady Winter cosplay, of course. Though there's a lot to choose from here :-) I could make Irene Adler cosplay also. 

#11 Squares, Rectangles & Triangles

Eura dress has been on my TDL for a long time now... I love the "no waste" folk costume patterns. 

Another "no waste" pattern I need to do is the 16th-century Trossfrau shirt. 

I am also very interested in South-East Asian traditional costumes like Hanfu and Hanbok. They are very much sewn from geometric straight-edge pieces. 

#12 Pretty princesses... Hmmm...

You know, we all have the Dream Project... I have a very ambitious one, to make all the Queen Elizabeth I's portraits in costumes... especially the Rainbow Portrait. 

I am obsessed with that snake. And the colors are absolutely amazing, as well...

But not for this. 

So what... hmmm... I think Queen Maud of Norway was one of the best-dressed royals in world history. (With my very limited knowledge.)

Empress Sisi of Austria was also famous for her style and beauty, likewise Henrietta Maria of England. I could choose her and make the Mylady dress... But... hmm... I'll think about this, later.

Maybe Queen Margrethe I's golden gown? 

#13 Lace and lacing

I think I'll make it easy for me and make another corset :-D

I could also make the Trossfrau dress.

#14 Eastern Influence

The 1895 tea gown, for my Irene Adler cosplay.

#15 Colour Challenge White

Yeah, underwear :-D That stuff is always needed. (I could also make that smocked underdress for the tea gown.)

#16 Separates

This will be the cartridge pleated skirt.

#17 Robes and Robing

That would be my Robe anglaise retroussée à la polonaise, now when I have painted the fabric ;-)

#18 Remake, reuse, refashion, reshape, repurpose...

That would be my Jane Austen gown I'll be sewing from a modern skirt and shirt. 

#19 Wood, metal, bone...

The Renaissance frame purse. There will be metal in the frame and also in the gold embroidery.

#20 Outerwear

Now, I'm pretty sure there's a lot I should be doing, but let's take one of the Dream projects; this 1911 Paul Poiret coat with Raoul Dufy fabric - and let's make fake fur, too.

#21 Green

Huh. I could (finally) make the Eura costume. 

#22 Masquerade

This is actually the Halloween fortnight :-D I think I'd like some sort of Victorian masquerade costume... like Worth or something. :-D

Here we have Worth's Eve and Snake, a demon with fancy flames on her skirt, and Hecate. I also found an amazing Storm at Sea costume, with wild waves and ships in distress on the skirt, and a couple of furies, with wild hair and snakes and things :-D 

#23 The Thanksgiving theme

There's so much generosity around :-) I want to thank the whole Costube, the costumers of YouTube, those who make historical clothes and those who make cosplay things, the clothes historians who share information, and those who review costume movies and series. I want to thank all the makers of YouTube, especially those making tutorials. I have learned so much from YouTube videos, so I am grateful, even though some of the YouTube features and policies suck.

#24 Re-Do 

Let's decide this in November, OK :-D 

#25 One metre challenge... oh... (You could easily do 1 yard challenge, it's about the same)

A lot of things to do with 1 yard of fabric. 

- parasol cover

- hat

- bag

- mask

- hoods, cowls, gollars, collars

- scarfs,

- handkerchiefs

- gloves, mittens

- belt

- socks, stockings

- spats

- muff, cap, and muffetees (wrist covers)

- apron and sleeve covers

- underwear

#26 Celebrate!

Now... this should be some sort of silver dress for New Year's Eve... I kind of like this Mary Magdalene by Carlo Crivelli, with her embroidered jacket and star skirt. It reminds me of Skandinavian folk dresses. We don't see much of the rest of her outfit, as her cape covers her lower body. We just see her toes covered in white, could be soft shoes or stockings :-D But that jacket is amazing. All that heavy gold embroidery. Her hair is amazing as well, and that necklace is very interesting.

First fitting of the corset

1911 corset sew-a-long

I'm really, really disappointed.

If you have been reading my posts, you know I was really sad about needing to add 2 1/2 inches to every pattern piece, because I'm twice as thick as the woman the pattern was made for.

Now I have sewn the mock-up.

It's way too big.
I need to take in EVERY SEAM for at least 1/2 inch and it was like a skirt on the hips. The lacing edges were together.

Again, I look at the images of the "adding/removing fabric", and it's just a minor adjustment. I need to... do the whole f-ing thing again,

Yeah, sure, I'm not quite as fat as I thought I was. But...
Oh, and I know I should have measured the hip on the pattern and not widened it quite the 2 1/2 inches, because I know I'm an apple and most patterns are made for pears. Pears with long waist and small boobs. Like the individual this pretty pink thing was made for.

So... I'm scared that the long bones are too long for me.

I also noticed that I had read wrong the list, and I don't have any 1/2 inch wide bones.

I'm so not happy right now.


I have been procrastinating sewing the mock-up, because I'm so uncertain, so afraid, and it would have been nice to have some confirmation and encouragement, but... I just feel like a complete failure.

Sure, I'm sewing myself a corset. Yay, me. :´(

Diary of a corset maker... (procrastinating...)

Monday 1st of October:
I have finished the pattern, and try to gather courage to sew the fitting sample. But, I haven't received my package from UK yet, so I have no bones and no busk... so...
Yes, I know. Excuses, excuses. *sigh*

Wednesday 3rd of October:
My package arrived and I fetched it.

Thursday 4th of October:
I washed my denim.

Friday 5th of October:
I hanged my denim to dry.

Saturday 6th of October:
I ironed my denim. I can't make my mock of that. The fabric is too nice.

After a couple of hours procrastinating I decided to use some old sheets.

I hate cutting. Or not hate, I'm scared of it. I really, really dislike doing it, because it scares me. It doesn't matter that it's the mock copy, and the fabric is not worth much. Doesn't matter. I'm sure I have made some grave mistakes, and the mock copy will be nasty and twisted and I won't be able to transfer the corrections to the pattern and my corset will be awful and it's all waste of time, money and effort, and I'm going to hell for being a bad seamstress. With all my education and all.

Now I have cut the mock copy and I need to sew it. I'm scared. I don't want to... I'm going to do something wrong and everything will go wrong and it will be awful and... God will strike me down with a fiery hammer for not being good at sewing corsets.

Yes, it's my first one, what's your point?

I'm a bad, bad person and I'll go to hell.

Big-Ass Book of Crafts

Ok.

In Finland there's something called "käsityö" and something called "askartelu". The difference is the skills required to do the things.
If school kids can do it with a little instructions - like, let's say, punch holes, melt plastic and glue stuff on stuff, it's "askartelu".
If you would actually benefit of professional schooling to create good quality items people would pay for, because they can't make them themselves, even after reading the instructions in a book or internet, that's "käsityö".
The lexicon says that "käsityö" is crafts. Handwork, needlecraft, handicraft.
"Askartelu" is pottering or hobby crafts.

To me the difference is great and important.
To have these thousands of people, usually women, pottering about with paper, felt, cardboard and plastic and other kindergarten crafts, and believing to be craftswomen...
I'm sorry. I am. You are not. You are a potterer.

Sure you are creative, sure you make wonderful things - sure, you are more of a doer and maker than I am, who do practically nothing, but you are not a craftswoman.
Sure, you gather skills as you potter about, and some of your creations are actually very good. But you are not a craftswoman.
Sure, this is just my opinion.

I was really excited to see "Big-Ass Book of Crafts". I have Asperger's and one of the usual characteristics is to collect as much information and data as possible. And there are two of these "Big-Ass Books of Crafts"! Yupee! I'm in heaven! Yes, I want!!!

Until I went to Amazon.com to see what it is.
Oh, yes. Glueing things on things. Making things of garbage, like TP rolls and PET bottles and plastic spoons. Taking things and making new things of things by... glueing things on them. Pottering.

I am very disappointed. I was running to a smorgasboard filled with my favorite dishes to see it was some re-heated stuff I don't like.
So, excuse my rant.

I'm sure the book is lovely, and there are a lot of people out there who love this book. And the ideas are great and it's wonderful people are creative and make things. It really is.
I still think all those potterers are more makers than I am, and I truly envy their enthusiasm and productivity. I wish I had just 10% of it.
Oh, and I know some real craftswomen love this book, and I envy them that too. I wish I could see past my strict and, actually, rather limiting definitions.

Doctors IX, X, XI, XiI

I wrote this 2020 :-D

Ninth Doctor is even more straightforward :-D

Black, worn leather jacket, black shoes, black pants, low v-neck dark t-shirt. He has worn black, dark green, dark burgundy, navy and probably some other very dark colors.
Now, as far as I know, ladies didn't have leather jackets in the 1880s, but I found this, "Ladies' pleated jacket", from 1883. Good enough, I say :-D

Then my doctor, 10th. Now, he was wearing the brown pin striped suit and a navy suit, different shirts and ties. He also had this lovely long coat and converses :-D

Tennis shoes - canvas shoes with rubber soles - were introduced in the 19th century, so I can have those :-D

These shoes are from 1892. Yeah... Unused, tucked away for 100 years, but they were made 1892.

So - here's a traveling coat Tissot painted 1880 and 1881.

Illustrirte Frauen-Zeitung 1880: 

Walking or indoor dress with basque bodice with added peplums and pleated skirt. 

Walking dresses 1880

A ladies' button down shirt from 1880s.

The Eleventh Doctor isn't that much different, again. A button-down shirt, bowtie, tweed jacket (he wears a vest every now and then), shortish pants and boots, suspenders, and a fez. Also, he has a dark green long coat. And a fez. Fezzes are cool.

He also wore a bit of everything, but mostly black. Often the long velvet coat and black pants and boots. I kind of like the hoodie, and that splash painted sweater... it looks like the space :-D

knitted spencers; first from 1848, the second from Godey's lady's book for 1861

And then the 12th doctor

This is something quite different, again... her long coat is light now, with darker cording, it has dark grey lining with hoodie... looks almost as another coat under the light one. She has a rainbow striped shirt (occasionally also a rainbow scarf), teal pants (look almost like men's pants that have been turned up... ?)