Lying Fallow

I've spent much of the last while trying to regain the normal rhythms of a regular job. Somehow, the two and a bit years of being a student messed with my programming and I have found the transition to Federal droid exhausting. The early mornings, the meals to prepare, the laundry... The small details of daily existence overwhelmed me for a while, and leached my creativity. Sure, I did some desultory knitting and quilting, but nothing epic.

Next week, I celebrate my one-year anniversary with my new job. It's been a steep learning curve, but I feel as if I'm getting into the swing of things. The one year mark also ends my probationary period; not that I'm not good at what I do, or a slacker or anything, but it's still nice to know that I'm permanent now.

My urge to create again has been rising since the fall. I have wonderful friends who enable me in every way possible, and after some adventures at CSNF,  specifically at the Farthingale's booth, Kate and I have been stewing over corsetry.  Over the winter, we've found a wonderful and skilled teacher and arranged for lessons on how to master these complex garments.  We've had our final lesson and are close to completing our first corset, but Kate and I are hopelessly hooked.  :)

I've also decided to up my sewing skills by enrolling part-time in the Fashion Design Program at Algonquin College.  Almost everything I know about sewing I've taught myself, and it's time for some more formal education.  I'm excited about the chance to learn and grow, and have updated my sewing room (new cutting table and storage) and tools (a new serger!) accordingly.

I think perhaps I will want to share more as I embark on this journey, so with this post I poke my languishing blog and wake it up.  :)

Finally Finished

These two pairs of socks seemed to take forever, but they were worth the wait. I took pictures of these as I kayaked the Rideau canal last summer... Yeah... they're skating on it now. Glory hallelujah, they're done. (Indigo Moon hand-dyed yarn, Cookie A's Hedera pattern.)
These began as "Plane Socks", started on DPN's as I needed something to work on while flying out West. Then they became "The Socks That Never End"... and now they're simply done. I ran out of the "On Your Toes" yarn near the top but boldly kept on knitting with some Louet Gems that I had laying around... these are lovely cold-weather buddies.

Finally, in the sewing room, I've made a lovely outfit for dancing. Kate and I sat in on some of Linda MacPhee's workshops at CSNF in the fall, and Linda has made me fall in love all over again with sewing. Great patterns, clearly written, and not needlessly complicated, made in forgiving and wonderfully drapy fabrics. What's not to love?

Wayne and I are doing a floor-show at our dance-studio this Thursday... a sultry rumba to Sade's Smooth Operator. I'll be wearing this:
This skirt, Linda's "Salsa Skirt", is made out of movement itself. I think it would dance without me wearing it... I can't wait to show it off in the studio. Looking fantastic is at least half of any dance routine! (The top is just her "Model T" with funnel neck and long sleeves.)

I love this skirt so much I just ordered more slinky from Linda to make three more... I'm hoping to record our floor-show, but will only post it if it is of good quality, and if the dancers (cough*us*cough*) don't screw it up too badly. Wish us luck!

Keep It Simple

I refuse out of sheer, purposeless stubbornness principle to turn on central heating until at least November. Given that fact and the brutal fall snow storm we endured last night, it was only 16 degrees in the house this morning. DH and the girls didn't say anything... perhaps they were conserving their strength.

Given that, and the fact that I apparently can't sew anything more challenging than a button on over the last couple of days, led to some practical, fun sewing. Meet a small family of rice heating pads, complete with cushy colourful flannel cases. I'll keep a couple for me and hubby and give the SD's one each to warm their beds at night.



A quick glance out the window to confirm why these are so welcome:



On the positive side, the cool house is inspiring our kitties to try to get along. There's only so much room in front of the fireplace, and they set aside their differences to roast their noggins together for a while.



Mina, the tuxedo cat, regards Ginger with much suspicion. Rightfully so, as Ginger, the young upstart, is of a tender young age where ambushes are good fun. Mina, a somber old senior citizen of a feline, begs to differ.

As You Sew, So Shall You Rip

I'm in the home stretch on Abby's quilt. The mind-bogglingly tedious yet terrifying free-motion machine quilting is finished, and all I have to do is sew the four border and four corner pieces to the main quilt body. It's not quite as easy as it sounds, as I'm quilting-as-I-go, which means that there's two seams to be sewn for each piece to be attached.

Yesterday I carefully pinned a long side border piece to the main body. It's a large quilt and hard to handle, but I eventually got it all pinned down smoothly. I sat back for a minute for a quick quality check before I began sewing, and was glad I did- somehow I had pinned the piece on upside-down. Crud. What a lot of work gone to waste. I unpinned it and left it alone in disgust overnight.

Today I came back in to the sewing room, eager to re-do what I had to undo last night. Carefully making sure the pieces weren't upside down, I re-pinned the border to the body and did another quality check. Yup. Looked good. I sewed the straight seam, fighting against the bulk of the quilt and feeding it through the machine. A quick iron, and then another round of fighting, this time to sew the decorative zig-zag stitch that holds the "grout" in place. Full of pride, I ironed the top out and then flipped it around to admire the other side.

And realized I just sewed that damned border on backwards.

Creativ Festival (Day 2)

Today wasn't nearly as intimidating; we had a good feel for what was there, and we had made our purchases (for the most part!) so we didn't have to worry about the goodies being picked clean. One thing we both wanted to do was to have some hands-on spinning experience, so Gemini Fibers was our first stop of the day.

You could tell that the staff were there out of a sincere love of what they did. As soon as Kate and I betrayed the slightest interest, I had a spindle in my hand before I could say "sheep!", and Kate was seated at a lovely wheel for some drafting lessons. The two Judy's were extremely friendly and helpful, and fueled our burgeoning interest in learning to spin.





I caught Linda MacPhee's Slinky fashion show after that. I've always loved the drape and look of slinky, and Linda's patterns make it quick, easy and lovely to sew. Seeing great potential in the swing and drape of the fabric, I fell down hard in her booth and got several meters of fabric and a couple of patterns.



The gorgeous red fabric turned into this shirt the next day... it was like magic. I, who am so afraid of sewing garments (and making mistakes!) turned out this classy little number in two hours. (Looks much more appealing on. Just ask my husband!)



I can see a lot of slinky in my future.

The Oakville Spinners and Weavers Guild had a gorgeous tapestry that was being hand-woven at the festival. It was amazing to watch. The woman working on it, Ixchel Suarez, is quite a famed textile artist in her own right, and had some amazing work displayed there. I also learned about the World of Threads Festival at this booth, which looks like an amazing show.



(Speaking of amazing shows- don't forget the Ottawa Valley Weaver's and Spinners Guild exhibition and sale next weekend (Oct 31-Nov 2). This is always a treat for the fibre inclined.)

Rounding out our amazing weekend at the Creativ Festival was the Vogue gala dinner and fashion show. We sat with some engaging women, had a nice dinner, and got all inspired again when we watched the latest Vogue/Butterick/McCalls patterns sewn up and strutting the runway.

It was a grand weekend; I'm so glad I went. I don't know if I'll make a point of attending annually, but what a fabulous treat this was.

Ready for Everything

The buttons are on, the hem is... hemmed, and I am verily pleased with my newly recalled abilities as a seamstress.





I look so stern in this one, but it's a nice shot of the dress, and of one of our roses, which refuse to give up the fight...



Please also admire my plain-Jane knee-high woolie socks. This outfit will handle winter's worst with grace and aplomb.





And, if you're still in the mood for celebrating (I am!), help me welcome my newest baby into the family:



I may be about to join the ranks of dirt-poor students, but at least I'll have wireless Internet access and on-the-go blogging abilities. Yay!!!

All Sewn Up

I felt like sewing today... really sewing, not fussing with a quilt. This combined with my new-found determination to be the mistress of all things fibery had me pulling out a pattern and material for a dress that I had abandoned in fear over three years ago.

The pattern, a simple jumper from Butterick (now discontinued) quickly overwhelmed me for some reason and I packed it all away, with the pieces just cut out of the fabric, only one or two seams sewn. I think I had this misperception in my mind that sewing clothes was difficult... but I wasn't going to let that stand in my way today. After I had become the mistress of my knitting and quilting, I was damned if I would let a little dress stand in my way.

And as it stands right now, I have a perfectly pretty dress. I probably could have slapped the whole thing together in two days, from start to finish- no need for it to take three years. I ought to be ashamed of myself! I still need to hem it and find some pretty buttons, but dudes, for all intents and purposes, it is done, and it was easy-peasy. Either I've grown as a seamstress or just grown the balls to not be so afraid of making mistakes. I think a little of both.

Pics forthcoming after I've had me a trip to the button store. Which incidentally is the yarn store. Oh dear... :)