Sara + h

patience

This apron was an exercise in frustration and patience.  The fabrics I chose, an upholstery weight cotton print and a [very] heavy weight cotton denim, dictated that it be constructed differently than all the other aprons I've made.  There was both experimentation and a lot of seam ripping.  It began with a flat fell seam that, though not completely horrible for a first ever attempt, looked pretty damn shoddy.  Rrrrrrrrip.

From there things continued in a one step forward/two steps back Cha-cha-cha fashion.  It was an exceedingly frustrating process and one that required frequent breaks to avoid chucking the thing into the garbage.  Nearly a week passed between the start and finish of this apron rather than the few hours I'm accustomed to.  A quick project it was not.

I hope its recipient finds it a worthy gift despite its flaws.  For me, the fabric itself is the soothing salve.  The contrast stitching may be uneven in places, the ribbon used for the apron strings may not be the perfect shade of brown, and the pocket may have a pucker or two, but floral design in a muted blue/green with tans and brown...well, if it doesn't make up for all of it, it certainly makes up for some of it.

outgoing

Another apron was sent today.  A small thrifted dish that I picked up for .49 cents was included too.  I've been sending out a lot of packages recently.  You may have noticed.  [Wink, wink.]  I imagine, rightly or wrongly, that some of you might wonder, especially in light of my recent posts, why I keep expending myself in this way.  My completely practical answer is where might you imagine I should put all this stuff otherwise?

But also...

I've been productive recently because I've needed to be.  There is an element of wanting to execute an idea and then perfect it and there's also the fun of thinking of the recipient as I make their gift.  Mostly though, it's about keeping myself, my hands and my head, occupied.  In this case, the giving isn't selfless.  I'm getting exactly as much as I'm giving.  I loose nothing in the equation.  Small kindnesses for myself and others.  And, as an added bonus, I gain a bit of storage space with every package sent.

piece making :: making peace

Making continues in the midst of the emotional upheaval and disequilibrium.  It is, in fact, the one thing that feels sane right now.  The comfort that comes from making a thing.  It doesn't matter what.  And the process itself is not always peaceful.  It's often dotted with frustration and outbursts of profanity.  Even so, piece making is the one tool I have for making peace right now.  My old reliable.  I'm working on adding other tools to my kit.  For now though, this is good.

and another

I'm on a gift making roll these days, which is good.  I'm hoping to sustain the trend for all the holiday making on the horizon.  Last year wasn't pretty and I'd like to avoid a repeat of all that frantic crafting, thankyouverymuch.

This gift though, has nothing to do with all that end of the year business.  It's for some young friends who are siblings.  It's meant for them to share in their culinary and craft pursuits.  I hope the fact that there's only one doesn't make me an outcast with their parents.  It's good for siblings to share, right?  Right?  Come on.  Back me up here.

Dan took one look at this and said, "It's got it all, doesn't it?"  He was wrong though.  There's no knitting involved.  There is however a little bit of applique, a little bit of freezer paper stencil, a few vintage buttons, and some sewing.  Certainly a lot even if it doesn't encompass everything I do.

I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.  Stenciling onto the denim I used didn't yield fabulous results (I think that had something to do with the texture of the fabric) and I was worried about it looking too busy.  In the end though, the stencil looks fine and though it's hardly minimalist, I don't think there's too much going on in the design.  The real test however, will be whether the recipients like it.  I'll have to wait until the end of the week to know that.

by way of explanation

for someone

Because sometimes when you plan to write about a thing you made - a gift, an apron that you yourself designed, a series of rectangles that came together beautifully and with no almost no swearing - you then forget to include a card in the box with the thing (a recurring problem with you) and your plan for what you're going to write about changes.

Because sometimes the anemone pattern on a piece of fabric that's been sitting in your closet for over a year will remind you of flowers which, in turn, will remind you of a person.

Because sometimes you'll notice something missing, something not there, a "need" even, while looking at a photograph that someone has taken.

Because unexpected gifts are delightful to receive.

Because they're delightful to give as well.

Because.

Just because.

+ pockets

Over the course of this past summer, as my three favorite pairs of pants have been in heavy rotation, I've realized I have a pet peeve.  I dislike bottoms that don't have any pockets and unfortunately for me, my three favorite pairs of pants fall into that category.  I like them too well to just jettison them from my wardrobe but living a pocketless reality has begun to inform my making.  When I sat down to make another Twirly-esque skirt, this time for Lola, I decided pockets were a necessity.

Having only the vaguest notion of how to go about placing an in-seam pocket and having only moderate success finding the information I needed (read: a lot of pictures) online, my research required that I buy a book.  If you process information visually and are looking for a good all-around sewing reference, I recommend The Complete Book of Sewing from DK Publishing.  If pictures are what you need, pictures is what this book has got.

With the information I required in hand and having made two practice pockets, I sat down to sew.  This is what I ended up with.

I subtracted five inches (on the fold) from each of the pattern pieces like I had previously but given that I was making a larger size and that I was using a medium weight corduroy, I really needed to have cut off more.  The heavier fabric made for a bulkier gather at the waist and a bit of futzing is needed for it to lay nicely.  The heavier fabric also makes for a rather stiff drape.  Washing and drying may help some, but all in all I think  a lighter weight corduroy would be a better choice.

The only other change I'd make to this and all of the other of the larger sizes is to increase the length of the hem band.  Proportionally, it looks too small to me.

Nitpicking aside, the skirt and it's pockets function perfectly.

When you're six the quality that's of paramount importance in a skirt is a really good twirl.  This skirt has loads of that.

twirly-esque skirt

My vision often exceeds my reach and that's no more true than it is in the case of sewing.  I'm long on inspiration and short on skills.  It's all too common for me to sit down at the sewing machine with a "simple" idea only to have it end with a seam ripper and many, many pieces of thread littering the floor.  The hum of my machine's motor is often punctuated with profanity.  All of which explains why, around here, fabric and thread can lay dormant for long stretches.  After repeated failures, it takes awhile for the confidence, or at least willingness, to try again to return.

You might ask how things could go wrong with a well written tutorial such as Erin's Twirly Skirt but friends, I'm proof that the abilities of the pattern writer and those the person sewing have very little, if anything, to do with one another.  I was f'ing up left and right trying to sew this damn skirt.  I ripped the hem out no less than three times trying to get it to look as though it hadn't been sewn by a hyperactive chimpanzee.  When you're talking about a 75" hem, that's a lot of ripping.

Now, you might think with all those many, many threads of discouragement sprinkled about my feet I'd have given up, but I'm here to tell you I persevered.  The skirt I ended up with was different than the one I set out to make, but persevere I did.  Some of the elements of Erin's skirt fell by the wayside due to sheer laziness on my part and some out of necessity.  Loosing the drawstring meant loosing the fiddly-ness of one side seam (not to mention no drawstring to make) and believe me, I needed to loose all the fiddly-ness I could.  A simple elastic waistband it was.  I love you simple elastic waistband.

The change that came out of necessity was loosing a good amount of fabric.  The beautiful and ever-so desirable twirl of Erin's skirt comes from taking a large tube of fabric and cinching one end.  My problem was that cinching the 75 inch, size 90 tube down to a size that wouldn't fall off my less than agreeable three-year-old model  was near impossible.   I reduced the width of each of the pattern pieces (skirt, hem, & casing) by five inches, thereby decreasing the overall size of the tube by 20 inches and making the job of drawing in the waist to an appropriate size a whole lot easier.  My skirt is probably less twirly than Erin's but it's twirly enough.  Enough is perfect when you're sewing impaired.

-ing

Inspired by Stephanie's fridaying, here's a list of some of the th-ings I've been doing during my absense from sara + h...


noticing the frost on my windows.

fretting about where to send Lola to school next year (school choice is not for the faint of heart).

watching as my lemon tree sprouts new growth.

finishing this sock and starting and finishing the second.

baking Mav's Maple Syrup Scones.

enjoying said scones.

ironing shaved crayons and waxed paper to help Lola make valentines for all of her mates in her Children's House.

teaching Lola to stitch up felt hearts.

hoping for warmer weather.

contemplating my life.

waiting for answers.

and another thing

This time an apron.  A gift for Dan's niece.

Running crazy.  Hoping to find some calm after the last box of gifts goes out the door tomorrow morning.  In the meantime, I have to go knit a hat to go into that box.

given, received, and giving & receiving

The brilliant sun is defying my mood today.  How can it be so beautiful when I feel such immense sadness?  Life continues doesn't it?  And though things like pincushions feel unimportant today, they've been bringing me some degree of joy recently and I think it's important, especially in light of yesterday's sad news about James Kim,  to acknowledge and appreciate any measure of joy we experience.  So here we go...

::given::

These are the things I made for Kristen for the October/November Pincushion Challenge .  I made the blue cushion when I was in a serious lather brought on by procrastination.  It wasn't until I began stuffing the thing that I realized how seriously over sized I'd made it.  I used a cereal bowl as a template, for crying out loud.  What was I thinking?  It turned out well enough though that I decided to send it along anyway.  Kristen informed me that it's being utilized as a doll tuffet.  The perfect use, I think.

The red pincushion turned out less well, in my opinion, but I continue to adore the needlebook I made to go along with it.  It was hard to send that off but Kristen was a very appreciative recipient.

And how could I send off any package these days without a bath mitt?  I simply couldn't and so Kristen got one of those as well. 

::received::

These are the things I received from Jade.  I didn't allow myself to open my own package until after I'd finished and sent the things I'd made, so when I finally did open her box I laughed to see the needlebook and beaded pins.  Great minds?  The covered book also seemed appropriate as I've been meaning to experiment with making those for months.  The very simple but very pretty beaded bookmark is my favorite inclusion.

Needless to say, the chocolate was devoured almost immediately.  The tea, which I already mentioned, was relished for a little longer.  I told Jade that I was somewhat surprised to like it so much as I'm normally a straight ahead Earl Grey or English Breakfast kind of gal.  Like it I do, though.  So much so that I just forked over the cash ($10!!!) for a tin of it myself.
 

::giving & receiving::

I've been thinking a lot about how we give and receive recently.  Mostly how I give.  It's appropriate given the season and the fact that I'm making most of the gifts we're giving this year.  What sparked all my the thought though was an interaction I had with Dan.  As I packed up the things I'd made for Kristen, I asked him in an uncertain tone, "Is it enough?"  Somewhat mystified, he looked at me and replied, "It's all handmade."  It struck me then that though I (and Dan too, apparently) tend to place a greater value on the handmade, I often perceive the things I make to be of less value.  Jade did sort of the same thing when in an email to me she apologized for the fabric that she'd used, saying that she realized it was a "miss" and that she knew I'd have preferred some funky retro print but that she'd been challenging herself to work from her stash (rest assured, Jade, I find everything you sent lovely).

Is it modesty?  Lack of confidence?  Some combination of the two or something completely different?  I'm not certain.

I really do believe that ultimately it's the thought that counts.  I recognize that some degree of care is taken even when a gift to be given is purchased.  But I can also see that the rampant consumerism that I believe has swept most of the western world has corrupted the way I've come to think of and value my own work.  A handknit pair of socks is, after all, still just a pair of socks.  It's difficult for me to believe that the person receiving those socks, especially if they're not a knitter or craftsperson of some kind, will value them as a work that took a lot of care and many hours to create when you can walk into any Target and buy a pair for less than $10.  And so then I'm left with the sense that I can't just give a pair of handknit socks.  That it has to be a pair of socks and something more, that more is better.  A bit of a shocking revelation to have about myself.  Given the amount of stress I'm under with all of the holiday present making, now seems like a particularly good time to start changing the way I think.