grumpy

We really try, at our house, to make a point of not working on weekends. When your work is a family business it's easy to let personal and business blend together to where the business side completely takes over. I struggle with it a lot and still find myself mentioning phone conversations over dinner or suddenly remembering some great idea late in the evening. You know. It's hard to shut it off sometimes. So on weekends we try to take business completely out of the picture and focus on family and personal.

But with all the rain we had recently, we were having trouble finding a sunny workday to photograph the fall patterns, and we finally resorted to working on a sunny Saturday afternoon to get the job done. None of us wanted to be at the studio that day, so I had to laugh when S handed me this note as we were setting up:



Todd wasn't the only one feeling grumpy. My least favorite job is pressing the samples and styling them for the photographs. The mannequin shots are much simpler than the flat shots because it's such a challenge to eliminate all the folds and get the clothes styles lying flat nicely . It all takes much longer than I want it to (I've got plenty of other things I'd rather be doing), and although I've learned a few styling tricks I still get frustrated after a while of fiddling with that one fold that refuses to go away, or the underarm that doesn't lay flat. (Shooting women's clothing flat is the worst--all those curves!)

photo by S

But S wan't grumpy at all. She managed to keep herself busy while we were working, starting out by styling a mannequin with her all-time favorite dress (the Jump Rope, complete with accessories from her dress-up box) and then moved on to positioning and re-positioning her dolls and toys, shooting photos all the while.

photo by S

After that she sat down with the iPad, and I wasn't paying much attention beyond a general awareness that she was making faces for the camera. When I picked it up later I was surprised to fine over 100 photos saved. Here are some of my favorite creative (and disturbing) self-portraits taken by the kiddo.

photos by S

Next time maybe I'll ask her to be the stylist when we shoot. She clearly has more patience for fiddling than I. But she'll need to learn to iron.

By the way, if anyone need to borrow a two-headed 6-year old, or a cyclops 6-year-old with a very pointy head, I think we may have one around here somewhere. She's quite charming!

catching up

S and I found these books at a shop the other day. We liked them so much we bought two: one for each of us. They're basically just sketchbooks, but with specific drawing suggestions on each page for things like a tennis racket, the leaning Tower of Pisa, the wild blue yonder, a technical diagram, footprints, and my favorite--luminescent plankton. We work on a page or two a night, just a fun activity to do together.

S draws a mean string quartet, doesn't she? Some of her quartet members dance instead of playing an instrument.

Since I've been such a bad blogger lately, here is a quick list of random bits to bring things up-to-date:

• we launched a new brand a week or so ago. Lisette is a collection of sewing patterns and coordinating fabrics for women's clothing. You can learn more about it on the website.

• Remember when I mentioned the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire a while back? Well, you can watch a documentary about it at the PBS now.

• S and I have discussed it at length and decided that, were we to be given a third arm, we would like it to be located on the top of our heads to hold an umbrella when it rains. We're still negotiating additional legs and eyes.

• my book is out!

• When I'm working on fabric designs I often spend hours staring at a computer screen, and sometimes I'll "watch" old movies and t.v. while I'm working--meaning I'm mostly listening while my eyes are otherwise occupied. Lately I've been watching thirtysomething and enjoying it almost as much as I did when it first came out. Do you remember it?

I'm sure there's more, but I'll think of it later.

seaworthy

One of the many advantages of being an author for a top-notch publisher like Stewart, Tabori and Chang is that I sometimes get copies of other books they publish. (This is especially nice since many of my favorite craft books are STC Melanie Falick books--if you're going to get free books you might as well get the ones you like, right?.) So when Wee Wonderfuls arrived in the mail the other day, Tsia and I immediately dove in. She picked four or five (!) projects she wanted me to make for her and, after a lot of discussion, finally narrowed her selection to two dolls.

I'd never sewn a Wee Wonderfuls pattern before, and it was a pleasure to make the mermaiden. It takes a little patience, but the doll is assembled in a unique and clever way that I suspect eliminates potentially fussy bits. The hair and fin are each assembled separately from the doll's body, and then you sort of tuck them all together and discretely stitch the pieces to join the doll. I had loads of fun with it.

Hillary introduced the project by asking "Who says mermaids have to glitter and sparkle?" I wholeheartedly agree, but a certain 5-year-old is still very keen on pink and fairydust. So I used some leftover sequins and pearls from a few years ago when I repaired a vintage beaded sweater. It took a couple of evenings, a little practice, and several French films on Netflix (it's tricky to sew sequins and read subtitles, so my French skills got a good workout) to cover the front and back fin entirely. But it was a fun diversion, and I think the resulting doll will be a great stocking stuffer for the kiddo.

S keeps asking when I'm going to finish her mermaid doll. I hope she forgets about it before Christmas so she can be surprised.

Here she is, swimming away, sequins and all...

Next on our toy-making list? Margot the topsy-turvy doll. Although personally I'm itching to make Melvin or Marian.

taste test: ice cream for women

We had a lot of requests for the Ice Cream Dress in adults sizes after we released it last spring. I get it. It's a really cute pattern. And I think it could work in adult sizes, but I'm still on the fence about it.



Maybe I need to shorten it to a blouse length instead of a tunic. Maybe it's just a little too full yet. Maybe it's just a little too smock-y for women--especially women with curves (which I, admittedly, do not have, but I still don't like how it looks on me). I know it might help if I wasn't wearing it with a full skirt in these photos, too. It just doesn't seem like the most flattering cut for most women.

So I think it really does work better for children.

(I enlarged the pattern while we were in Vermont. I didn't enlarge it the way it should be done, or the way I would do it if I were going to professionally develop the pattern for women. I just sort of eyeballed the grading and we made muslins before cutting our real fabric. Again, it's ok. But I'm not sold on the idea. More on Vermont sewing here and here.)

we especially need the ice part right now

Every summer Tsia picks out a new pair of Salt Water Sandals. In years past we've gone for yellow, but this year it's all about pink. Oh, is it ever about pink. In fact, her new pink sandals sparked a trend at school, and at least three classmates bought the exact same shoes before the end of school. (The flood of pink sandals caused some confusion, too, and on at least one occasion sandals were accidentally swapped and little girls went home wearing the wrong size.)


Anyway, Tsia also recently outgrew nearly all her clothes, and I had promised a dress from Heather Ross's unicorn fabric so the newly empty wardrobe happened to coincide with her beloved pink sandals and Heather's orange unicorn fabric. I knew I wanted to make an Ice Cream Dress from the fabric but was struggling with my color options: If I coordinated a solid color trim to the unicorn print I would need to use brown or yellow, and they both felt too 1970's with the orange. The dress also wouldn't have matched the sandals very well. And if it wasn't pink it might not get worn, unicorns or not. So we left the fabric's color palette entirely and chose a solid pink cotton that matches the sandals precisely. I love how it looks.


I finished the dress over the weekend, and it's overdue for a washing after having been worn many days in a row. Which seems to mean that the dress is a success.

All these hot colors felt right with our recent record-breaking hot weather, too, but thankfully it's starting to cool off a bit.

By the way, there's an Ice Cream Social being held over at Badskirt and one flew over later this month, if you're inclined to join in. I can hardly wait to see what everyone makes!

you may have heard

We made a happy textile-related announcement over at Oliver + S yesterday.

I'm excited to tell you more about it after it debuts at Quilt Market next month.

handmade #4

For Tsia: new flannel PJs. Size 5 so they're extra long to account for the way flannel continues to shrink for a few washings and because she just keeps growing. Made with my favorite print from Sandi Henderson's first fabric collection.


An extra pair of PJ pants were made because, well, accidents happen. The ability to make more than one pair of matching PJ pants is certainly another advantage of sewing them yourself, yes?

scarf, revisited

I feel like we're taking a trip through the disdressed archives a bit over the last few days. First the mitten ornaments and now the baby scarf, this time made a little bit wider for a bigger kid.


The original scarf still fits her well, but I continued to increase stitches for a few rows this time so it covers a longer neck. I'm thinking maybe I'll make one for myself next--you could really make this to fit anyone!


By the way, here's a little help if you have trouble remembering or trying to decide which stitch increases and decreases to use. I can never remember, and it's nice to have the visual with a description.

we're ready

These days there's only one item on my To Do list immediately after Thanksgiving: to get the advent calendar up. Beyond that, I'll do anything to avoid Black Friday, and I figure we've got all month to do all our additional decorating and shopping. I'm in no hurry.


So Tsia and I hung up the mittens, and just when I was wondering what to put inside each one, Tsia asked for her leftover Halloween candy. (I was fairly certain she had forgotten it...?) She managed to find something in the stash for each mitten, which even saves me the that part of the task. Oh to be four, when a single leftover Pez candy for each day on the calendar makes you perfectly happy!


The pattern for these mitten ornaments is available for free download over at Oliver + S. Last year I made one mitten every day, so Tsia received a mitten each morning when she woke up, with a small gift inside. But they also make great ornaments, little gifts or decorations on gifts, so have fun with them!

book week: Cal Patch Design-It-Yourself Clothes

I wish Cal Patch was older than me and wrote Design-It-Yourself Clothes about 15 or twenty years ago, because when I was 23 years old I would have stalked her. I think she's probably relieved this was not the case, but this is the book I went hunting for when we first moved to New York and I wanted to make my own patterns. Nothing like this was available back then, and if you've been wanting to design and sew your own clothing you're going to love it.


Since this book wasn't available back when I wanted it, I purchased a set of patternmaking textbooks at FIT instead and was immediately overwhelmed by them. Terms were used and not defined, previous experience (or classes) were assumed, etc. I quickly realized it would have taken at least two of me to get started: one to stand still and the other to take measurements and do fittings. It also would have required many hours of work just to get started. I didn't know where to begin.


Later I went to school for fashion design and it all became clear, but that didn't make the whole process any less complicated and time-consuming. I did eventually manage to develop my own set of slopers, but it shouldn't have taken more than a year of fashion education to develop the skills to make simple skirts and blouse patterns for myself. (Fortunately, the advanced education was been put to good use elsewhere....)

Anyway, I really like Cal's approach to making patterns. Instead of following the more traditional (and convoluted, although very technically worthwhile) route, she shows you how to draft a pattern using a set of measurements you take from your body. You'll still need to test the pattern (she explains how to make a muslin, or prototype, which is a simplified version of the garment used to adjust the fit before you cut your actual fabric and spend a lot of time sewing it), but with her method you've removed several steps and brought yourself that much closer to having a sewing pattern.



Having said all this, however, I need to add a few cautions before you run off to get the book and whip up a fall wardrobe for yourself. First of all, patternmaking takes time. Just drafting the pattern is rather time consuming, but it's the fitting and adjusting (and fitting and adjusting) and then determining how to assemble the pieces that really takes a while. So don't get the idea that you're going to stitch together a suitcase full of clothing for yourself before the holidays. Start with a simple project (the books start with knit tops, but I would suggest starting with a woven shirt since knits can be a little tricky to sew with good results) and take your time. Enjoy the process. From start to finish, drafting and finishing one garment might take you several weeks or more than a month. On the other hand, if you stick with it you'll have a pattern with which you're really happy and can sew again and again.


Additionally, in order to adjust your muslin and get a proper fit from your pattern you're going to need to learn how to make adjustments to the pattern. A number of good books have been written about this topic, and I would suggest that you purchase one or two because proper fit isn't always intuitive, especially if you're a little curvy. Either that or find a friend who has lots of experience with alterations and adjustments, because fitting something on your own body can be frustrating or impossible. (And boyfriends or husbands aren't always helpful or willing assistants. Trust me on this.)

You'll also need a solid grasp of garment construction in order to make good use of this book. The sewing instructions in the book are minimal (I'm sure space was a consideration here, plus the title says "Patternmaking" and not "Patternmaking and Sewing"), so once you've finished drafting and fitting and correcting your pattern you'll need to understand how to assemble the pieces. I would recommend that you practice by following a few sewing patterns to develop a solid understanding of construction techniques before you attempt this at home. (In other words, this is not something to attempt immediately after you've finished a beginning sewing class. Give yourself a little time to develop your skills before you attempt this book.) Once you have a good grasp of the steps you need to take and the ways to make a garment look finished, you'll have fun designing and making your own clothing.


(On a side note, I was amazed while reading this book to find how similarly we both feel about a large number of issues and areas. For example, I've never seen anyone else apply bias binding using the same method that Cal and I prefer. So I feel especially good recommending this book because we obviously think along the same lines in many areas.)

book week: sewing reference

I've been on the hunt for a really good sewing book to recommend, and I'm very picky. I don't like the books that start with a few pages about the tools you'll need and then immediately start talking about sewing patterns and how to use them. Are you kidding? I'd never teach you how to drive by showing you the controls of the car and then telling you we're going to drive to Chicago on the freeway for your first lesson, and in my opinion giving someone their first sewing lesson with a sewing pattern is akin to that long-distance beginning driving lesson. I feel strongly that your first few projects need to start very slowly, teaching you how to operate a sewing machine, how to stitch a straight line with an seam allowance (what's a seam allowance, anyway?), how to backstitch, etc. If you start with a sewing pattern you'll quickly be overwhelmed and frustrated. So there. (But that's just my humble opinion...)

My favorite book for many years now has been the Bishop's Method of Clothing Constructions, but I only like the reprinted 1966 edition because it contains what is called "torn projects" in which you learn to sew by using simple fabric rectangles to make basic projects like an apron without a sewing pattern. The book builds from there and is an excellent resource for many garment sewing techniques, even if the projects themselves are a bit dated. You can still find the book at used bookstores, but I wanted to find a new book to recommend. The Sewing Bible, by Ruth Singer, fits the bill.


It covers all the basics, showing you how to sew a seam and the variety of ways to finish a seam allowance:


How to stitch and clip curves:


How to stitch and turn corners:


And it delves further into a wide variety of techniques, if you want to learn how to do a particular type of finish or want to perfect a particular method:


I was surprised to also find more elaborate fabric manipulation techniques like this section of various ways to pleat fabric. Calvin Klein used some of these methods in recent collections:


It also contains quite a few project for a wide variety of skill levels, and it's not at all like driving to Chicago since the projects vary in difficulty and gradually expand on basic sewing skills. It's a sizeable manual (300 pages), and it also makes a terrific reference book. I've been keeping it next to my workspace at the studio so I can refer to it when I'm writing instructions, and it's come in handy on several occasions already.

behind the scenes

This was the scene at the studio yesterday morning as the fall patterns were delivered. Here is the truck pulled up to our loading dock/freight elevator:


And that's Giulia behind the delivery once it was maneuvered into the hallway for staging before moving into the studio:



Four giant pallets containing 80 boxes full of patterns and weighing 1.5 tons. Fun, yes? An excellent example of why we don't run this business out of our home, that's for sure.

it's 90 degrees outside

The summer heat is finally here, which means it's a great day for one of these.



Free pattern from Oliver + S. Enjoy!

baby boom

I could swear babies come in bunches. There seem to be waves of babies around us, and this is one of those high tide occasions. Lots of friends have recently welcomed little ones into their lives.


I'm not able to custom make baby gifts for all our friends these days, but some dear friends who live overseas recently had their first child and I really wanted to give them something special. One of the great things about simple patterns is that you can spend more time on the details, so I made them some Bedtime Story Pajamas in a beautiful men's shirting fabric and constructed it with French seams so the inside would look as finished as the outside.

There's something about high-quality shirting fabrics. Even the sound of the fabric when the sewing machine needle hits it is so satisfying. I don't mind spending a little extra when I find a really great Italian shirting in the garment district. Just a yard or two, and then I always have something terrific to reach for when I need it. And it doesn't take much fabric when you're making clothing is such little sizes!


I've just finished sewing the label into this little outfit, and it will be making it's way to London tomorrow. Meantime, I'm making my way to Vermont for a few days of additional sewing time. See you next week!

summer pjs

Isn't four just a great age? Everything is exciting and worth talking about. And talking and talking about. My goodness, the talking just doesn't stop. I remember hearing my sister tell my nephew, "My ears are tired, so you can keep talking but I'm not going to listen for a little while." Which I thought was about the gentlest way to let a kid keep being a kid without stifling him and without losing your mind in the process.


Anyway, last night Tsia got all excited when I asked her if she wanted to go outside in her pjs for some photographs before bedtime. And barefoot, no less! This was an adventure, and it was worthy of a full discussion during our ride down in the elevator, all about why we were going outside wearing pjs (no, I was fully dressed) and without our shoes.

Well, being photographed when you're four is more about making goofy faces and silly poses than smiling and standing still. I'm fortunate I got something blog-worthy out of our evening adventure. These are the Bedtime Story PJs made in a size 4 for summer. The fabric is double gauze from Seven Islands, our neighbor at Quilt Market. I chose it in part because the pattern comes from the weave itself. I adore how those little white dots on the purple are actually part of the fabric construction. The dots are threads from the second layer of gauze on the inside of the pjs. The two layers are connected only by the threads that cross each other at regular intervals, which means that the inside of the PJs are the opposite of the outside: white with purple dots. Fun, yes?


I almost wish I had lengthened a size 3 instead of making a size 4, just because Tsia is such a skinny kid and the fabric is so relaxed and drapey. In an ordinary quilting cotton the size 4 would have been fine. So I guess this is a good example of how the fabric you select can dramatically effect the final garment. But the double gauze is great for summer, and she's been sleeping very comfortably is these now that the weather has warmed up and we're getting some sun at long last.

backpack patterns on sale!

I'm still here, just working to catch some deadlines. The fall Oliver + S patterns are almost sent to the printer, and I'll be so relieved when they've gone.

In the meantime, we're offering a special summer sale on the crazy-popular Day in the Park Backpack Tote pattern. If you've been waiting to make one of these, here's your chance: they're 50% off for a limited time!


This is a good pattern to try if you're relatively new to sewing. I designed it for my students who had finished the beginning class and were ready to try sewing from a pattern. The instructions are very clear and detailed, and there are lots of fun little details like a simple zippered pocket at the inside of the bag.

You can see many other finished bags in the backpack Flickr group if you're looking for a little additional inspiration.

drawn and painted

We're eagerly awaiting the fall pattern illustrations from Dan today. I approved sketches a couple of weeks ago and, as always, he did a terrific job. Still, it's always exciting to see the final painted versions. I'm consistently amazed at the detail he paints in such small scale.


Since it was a beautiful warm and sunny weekend, Tsia and I found a nice grassy place under a tree today and parked ourselves for a little magazine reading. We were pleasantly surprised to see more of Dan's work in the two issues of High Five she happened to be reading.


Sadly, he wasn't so well represented in my old copy of Vogue. Maybe I'll switch my reading selection, after all.

striding the line

I’m in the middle of writing one of the most labor-intensive sewing instructions I’ve written so far. The pattern itself won’t be difficult to sew, but perfecting all the pattern pieces and writing a very clear set of instructions can be incredibly challenging. The harder it is for me, however, the easier I hope it will be for our customers. And this is going to be a good pattern. I’m really excited about it.


I usually love my job, but there’s a point during the development of each pattern when I think to myself, “This is never going to work. What have I gotten myself into?” It’s a panicky feeling, but I’m gradually learning that it always works out if I give it time. Before having S, I designed very complicated outerwear with zipper garages, gussets, and all sorts of crazy technical details. The next time you go to a sporting goods store, look at the ski jacket shells (by which I mean, the outermost of the various layers you can assemble—the waterproof, breathable one). That will give you an idea what I’m accustomed to doing, from sourcing the fabrics to choosing the zipper pull. It’s the masochistic side of me that adores the pages and pages of elaborately detailed drawings which comprise a design packages of this nature. I think that quality lends itself well to writing sewing instructions, too, but sometimes I need to remind myself that I can do it.

Today I was thinking about my first day of design school. After years of sewing for myself and watching my Mom sew for us, it was quite a shock to enter the classroom. Our wonderful, almost-retired Italian draping professor gave us a polite dressing-down, telling us to ditch the pincushions and the cute little sewing scissors. What we needed was a box of stainless steel straight pins (no glass heads, please) and a pair of (giant-looking) 10” or 12” shears. And home sewing machines? Hmph. We should invest in an industrial sewing machine. (Industrial machines, by the by, weigh a ton, sit in a tray full of oil that keeps the machine lubricated, and only stitch straight stitches forward. I never bought one, even though my 60+ year old Singer nearly didn’t make it through the strenuous workout I gave it that year.)


Now that I have experience with both home sewing and working in the garment industry, I find that I bring a little bit of both to my current work. I still dip into a bowlful of steel pins regularly (which drives everyone crazy because we’re constantly finding pins on the floor at the studio and at home), but I keep a cute little pincushion (with glass-headed pins!) near the sewing machine as well, for when I sew more delicate fabrics or have the luxury of a little more time to spend. I still love my dressmaking shears, but I also still use a home sewing machine. I don’t own a serger (or merrow machine, as it’s called in the industry) because I suspect that many of our customers don’t own one either. It would make life much easier and make my sewing go faster, but I like to write patterns using the same sewing methods our customers use because I think it helps me to write a more accurate and realistic set of instructions.

It’s a funny combination, but it works.

easter dresses

This is the dress that always comes to my mind when I think of Easter dresses. My mom made it for me when I was 2, I think. It had a matching cape, and my parents have photos of me hunting Easter eggs while wearing it.


The fabric is a cotton poplin with flocked dots on it. I always thought this was Swiss dot until I requested Swiss dot at B&J a while ago and discovered that Swiss dot is actually a semi-sheer and very light-weight fabric (like voile). So I don't know what you would call this fabric, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. And that's a shame.

My sister brought this dress into the city last weekend when she came for a quick visit, and seeing this dress made me so happy! I didn't know it was still around. It's a miracle it survived five girls and still looks this good.

Obviously it's a bit too small for four-year-old S, so a new Easter dress was in order. This one gets to rest and will just be admired by me for a while instead of being worn.

So here's what S will be wearing for Easter: a Birthday Party Dress in silk dupioni. You can read more about it (and the inspiration behind it) at the Oliver + S blog, if you're interested.

over at Oliver + S

I nearly failed to mention that the spring patterns are in! I'm over at the Oliver + S blog all week showing some of the samples we've made from the patterns and talking about the details a bit.

I'll be back on Thursday with a little surprise for you, too.