Couture Weekend was a bust

One thing about owning a business is that it is like a 2 year old. It runs your life. You love it, but don’t be naive about who runs the show. I made one dress on Couture weekend and the rest are in pieces. My imagined 3 days of couture dressmaking fell by the wayside, I could almost hear Apron Company laughing its butt off at me.

On the other hand, orders went out. Phone calls were answered and the boring mundane things like accounting were not dismissed. I was dismissed.Well, my plans got dismissed.

But I am undeterred. I will add personal achievements and journeys to my schedule. The Dolls, of which I started as my very first product when I was a teen, are creeping slowly out from under piles and boxes. I love them. I really, really love them.

In my Doll days, I use to have a following. It was the first time anyone described me as an artist. There were people that collected them. I still love them. And I have found that as I age,  living a life devoid of what you love is a life that just plain…. isn’t as awesome as it could be…:)

So Dear Dolls and Dresses, I will keep you in my day one way or another, even if you only get 15 minutes, your presence will be there.

And one awesome thing about making art for a hobby. You don’t have to give a crap about sales!…HAHA! Dolls and Dresses can be just that, the dolls and dresses that I make because I want to. when I want to. and how I want to. If something sells, wonderful, isn’t that nice, but if they don’t, who cares? It’s the art and the journey that I adore.

And having that in place is important as it keeps me fresh for everything else I do…like designing Aprons, my other love.

 

Golden Leaf Gown Front

Above is the one gown that got completed on Couture Weekend. And lets not forget to notice the photography! Not bad for someone with no real time experience, just a Canon Rebel and Utube how to’s…:)

 

Couture Weekend

As we grow, we morph to what surrounds us. We can stay true to ourselves but who that self is,  like it or not becomes altered in ways we didn’t expect.  Sometimes we become what we don’t recognize; amazing, good or surprisingly bad.

I remember being young and craving to sew (who craves to sew?….:)…me.)  I remember having no money for fabric. On the other hand, I remember having fabric and no time, or no peace.

I know now that the pieces of you that lay passionately inside you exist decades later, you just have to be still and listen…. or play Led Zeppelin 4 to bring them out.I live in a peaceful place now. I have fabric and a studio that nurtures me. I can hear what I want to say and maybe the courage to say it.

This weekend I have declared Couture weekend. I have fabric that called out to me so I purchased it and brought it home. I have peace. I have stillness and can hear the bits of me that so long ago ached to express themselves.

I have my favorite music, when I was young, Led Zeppelin 4, available for free on UTube, gorgeous fabrics and a quieted soul waiting to seep from my fingers.

Couture weekend awaits.

When is it about me?

I sew for a living. I design for a living. And I live in the same few outfits. Which actually I find designers don’t dress themselves very well. I remember the first board meeting I ever went to, an establishment I won’t name that was build on the talent of artists, it looked as if few owned a hairbrush and everyone, yes everyone, showed up for board meetings in old worn jeans and black sweatshirts or tee shirts. You would think black was the official color of artists.

This was explained to me by someone with a degree from a Parisian art school, “artists see outward and not inward” I was told. Partly true, I thought, as a dressmaker I can dress others better than myself. That’s true.

I realized, I have no interest in what I wear except how it feels, but I can dress anyone else. Thus the board meeting was filled with messy hair and black clothing. I felt like I had found my people.

But now I do need clothes, so I collect fabric. I buy pieces that go together and will make a great pairing. But then I have orders to fill, errands to do and the basket grows.

VERMONT APRON COMPANY 132

But soon it will be summer and the wonderful collection of browns won’t apply to the joyousness of spring. Its February, I have maybe 8 weeks at best.  I tell myself to at least get the skirts done, that wont take more then a few hours. The tops will be easier to do then as it will feel like I am halfway there.  Now if I can just apply my creativity to my personal needs instead of solely to my business.

*Sigh*

 

 

 

The Great British Sewing Bee

I love The Great British Sewing Bee. Oh My word, this is perfect for me. Project runway is wonderful but here in the Sewing bee are regular home sewers. I could have coffee with these people and remind me how much I miss having sewing friends. This is the show for home sewers. It really is my favorite show of all time. I hope it never ends.

Making a Prairie Dress

I need to make a Prairie dress for background dress form. I can make one quicker than buying one and having it shipped.  I love doing this kind of work. In the real world of fashion, I have no idea what I’m doing. Meaning, I have no language or vocabulary or official technical training. I just have Grammy’s voice, ” Put it on and pin it in place.” So I start with the bodice.

 

 

Starting a bodice

I  pin the fabric in place and cut a 1/2 inch past the seam marks for seam allowance.

Pinning Darts

I tuck up fabric for darts and pin them for pressing and stitching.

Pinning waist darts

Matching both sides is a good thing. I pin midriff darts the same way as bodice darts. By the way, I can sing along with most show tunes while I work with the dog still wagging her tail, until Julie Andrews comes on. She is the James Brown of show tunes. Meaning, never Karaoke a James Brown or Julie Andrews tune. It will never be a good thing. I need music to work, usually classical, broadway, jazz, celtic, anything stings, or anything Botti or YoYoMa… or Alison Kraus, of course Buble…..ok…. back to dressmaking. I’m glad you can’t hear me belt out Les Mis.

Cutting the waistline

I left fabric long enough to make a decision about waistline shape and placement. That way I will have fabric hanging there for playing. Here I need a traditional look, this is when I have to do what we need me to do and not what I want to do.  So traditional, straight across the waist it is. So I cut off everything except a 1/2 seam allowance for a proper waist. Not fun or exciting but meeting the need of the moment.

 

Tidying up my hand cutting

My amazing hand cutting is not always perfect so I fold the bodice in half and clean it up. Not exactly Project Runway….:)….. I’m told this is Back Alley dressmaking…let’s face it, this is what women did in their homes for centuries before we had Project Runway.

Cutting out a back bodice

Here I am using the front bodice to guide the shape of the back bodice. Armhole needs to be a little wider and an inch on a back seam for the zipper. “Wouldn’t it be quicker to use a pattern?”, I have been asked. Nah.

Completed Bodice

I forgot to shoot the sleeve cutting process. It’s pretty much hand cut roughly as well. But now the skirt… the question is how long should it be? Simple answer, it needs to be longer than the aprons that it will display.  Putting one on will help the measurement process. Once you have a finished bodice, the rest is easy.

Apron determines length

It’s already looking pretty good, I’m inspired to make a matching bonnet….:).. A bonnet with old looking lace. …. not now though…..Now I can see the skirt needs to be cut at 36″. So I cut 2 fabrics widths a yard long each.

Hand gathering

 

I stitch a machine basting stitch but hand gather. I have to hand gather. Nothing beats that. Especially since you want the outside hip area to have less gathers and you can’t adjust like that on a machine.

Hand gathered skirt ready for the bodice

My lovely hand gathered skirt pieces ready for the perfectly prepared bodice.

Stitching the skirt onto the bodice

Stitching the skirt to the bodice is the best seam for me. It’s when I get my first glimpse at what the dress will look like when finished.

Prairie Dress front

I machine stitched a straight hem. And voila! I love it. It’s perfect for what I need.

Prairie Dress Back

Here is a shot of the back. It’s pinned where the zipper needs to go. I will put one in later. (seamstress are laughing everywhere). No one will notice in the photos.

Prairie Dress with Petticoat

Here is the final dress with a light petticoat underneath.

And we are done and ready for pictures!

Thinking of it, this same process may work for the wedding line.

 

Susannah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quilting

Triangles, squares, rectangles and really anything that falls from the scissors edge, our hands lift gently, lining up edges and place them beneath the presser foot. Our hands hold still as our foot takes over with its marriage of electrics and mechanics that stitch the fabric together. Seam done, our foot stops and our hands remove our new assembled cloth. Our eyes choose another piece, then hands, then foot, then hands again and the piece grows….it grows into something expected and unexpected, something we will take pride in and something that will teach us what will need to be better next time.


In the end we step back and look over what we have created. I am always a bit amazed what comes from the union of our eyes, our hands, one foot and a pretty sharp scissor.
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The evolution in my quilting soon took a turn for vintage or the contemporary pretense of it. The faded rose at each corner made all the difference. I tied the layers together not yet owning the ability to hand quilt. An art that deserved it own time and undivided attention.
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My Vintage pretense masterpiece only found home near the old door, with the old candlesticks. I never did dare to actually pour that cup of tea.

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I got bold and brought one outside where neighbors might see, I wondered what it would look like in the sun. The house trim matched and the chairs were the perfect accent. Even the plant stand in the background seemed to join in the chorus of color.

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I was getting tired I think and thought bigger pieces meant it would make up faster. It didn’t work that way. They left less room for error. I didn’t like the final quilt as much as I might have, had I taken the time it deserved. I hung it in the sun, it somehow deserved such a nice sunny day.

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I think I began to embrace color organization with more zest than I knew I had, Once outdoors, I was matching quilts to porch furniture and lawns.



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My favorite photo. I liked the marriage of color in the landscape and in the quilt; the blacks, the greens and the accent of the sun dancing off the white on white floral that brightens everything.


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Thank you for visiting.

~Susannah

Doll Clothes;Dresses of Our Keepers.

What is it about Dollclothes?
No matter how old we become, there is kinship with the dolls of our childhood. There is comfort in their prescense and comfort in the clothes they wore. We all have them tucked away somewhere; Barbie’s gown, Betsy’s blankie, someones lost shoe, all bring tugs to our heart. And why not? It’s deserving. These pieces of stuffed muslin, cast plaster and vinyl were our first friends, the first receivers of our whispered dreams, the first ears to hear our cries and displeasure at the world around us. No one knew us, like our Dolls. They carried our heart and feelings until,well, it wasn’t that we outgrew them…no, none of us did. We simply became too old to carry them publicly. So we quietly, thoughtfully, and regretfully began to set them aside. But they remained our keepers. They are the ones who still and will always be there in the night ready to listen, always agreeing, while wearing the prettiest dress we never did get around to ironing and silently accepting whatever hairdo we graced upon their heads. They remain our first best friends and keepers of our early secrets. Here are a few of the outfits I have made for someone’s Best Friend.
~Susannah