Spooky Basket: Small Solutions, Big Differences.

I know I haven't been sewing much lately, but that doesn't mean the acquisition of new sewing gadgetry has halted. In fact, it would be much the opposite... it seems the amount of buying such finery has reached "plunderer" levels of audacity.

To begin, back when I purchased Ophelia, I had a nagging suspicion that eventually I will either gain lots of weight or sustain it, so I preemptively bought the Fabulous Fit kit along with her. Funny enough, I had lost enough weight after the initial post that I was a "model" 12 all around and sustained it up until this point-- so my pad kit just sat in my closet taking up $75 worth of space (ouch) in the meantime.

"You sure about this, momma?" "Momma, these smell funny"

There was a bit of confusion during the ordering; choosing the size for the dress form, because some people say get it according to how much you want to increase and the box says to get it according to the dress form you currently have... the former sounds more correct to me from the perspective of increasing to get to a certain size. I don't know, but in the end I took my advice from those who've tried it... and it still ended up being the one recommended on the box: I have a size 12 dress form, and I needed to increase below the waist up to a 16-18, so a size medium set of pads is what I purchased.

Let me just state that you need a partner and at least an hour and a half to play around with these pads... because they can so very easily go awry with the wrong measurements and a biased perspective. I learned that I thought my butt sat a little higher and a little bigger than Ophelia's: this was not the case, though I wished it was ahahah! I thought the front of my thighs were a little larger, also turned out not to be true. The only thing that my eyes saw correctly was my stomach pouch, or what I like to call the "fanny pack".

It turned out to be the only pad I needed to place onto Ophelia, fancy that. Seems like a waist of a nice kit (*rim shot*), but if it'll get me the right fit I'm happy. These pads seem generally very handy should I ever have the need to custom fit someone else, so I am not entirely critical on myself for having spent the money on this pad set that I don't think I will ever use in its entirety for myself. Honestly, though... if I didn't see future use besides fitting me alone, I would have just given her the ol' Frankiestein mod job.

Take from my experience what you will, but I say if you've never found a dress form that fit at all right and your fit issues are quite extensive, then this is a great set for you to address it all on any dress form you have-- it even fixes some vertical fit issues like high or low bust line points and dowager's hump for example. For people with average body sizes like myself, that your variations are only inches apart from the form but everything sits relatively in the right places, best just to stick with padding your form up with batting, because it's still accurate but vastly cheaper.

Next items are pattern material and a roll-a-pattern rotary marker.

The usefulness in these is appreciated by those, like myself, who find the idea of cutting into master patterns shuddersome-- if you're cutting at a small(er) size, the larger sizes go to waste. Sure you might've only paid a dollar, maybe even less... eventually there will come a time when you no longer want that pattern and you could pass it on in pristine condition; one day it too will be considered vintage! Not just that though, no one ever stays the same size throughout their lifetime... but a favorite pattern might remain a favorite decades later, so it's nice to be able to accommodate for any changes easier with the range of sizes available on the pattern.

Anywho *steps off soap box*.
I purchased these from Nancy's Notions as a bundle here, and it is about the only place I know that offers a decent amount of pattern material with a handy marker tool for such a great price. Most other places offer the material by the yard/meter or in 25 to 50 yard bolts for exorbitant amounts.

Seems like the kind of thing that should be even cheaper than muslin and even batting, and yet it isn't in most cases for whatever reason. It isn't stronger than muslin, it's more like dryer sheet material though it is still strong enough to endure some pretty rough handling and pinning heaps better than paper tissue in comparison; it is still see through for the purposes of copying a pattern with much less hassle than using a tracing wheel with transfer paper onto muslin. I now use this for my final drafts after I finish all revisions from my master patterns, but will continue to use cheap gift tissue paper during the redraft/redesign process since it would not be nice to waste this material, hehe.

I haven't "officially" used the rotary marker, though it seems like a pretty ingenious little trinket.

I like that they made it refillable, because I would hate for this entire hunk of plastic to be disposable-- though I got the very bottom of the marker bit off and revealed the felted ink well bit inside, so I wonder about the possibility of "filling" it back up with ink when the time comes to replace it.
I have played with it a bit on a pad of paper, and its got a very gentle flow of ink, doesn't need much pressure to get a very crisp black line; I worry that the ink will bleed onto the master pattern with such thin pattern material, which is why I haven't actually used it yet... though that could be because it's still so fresh from the box. That could change as it begins to run/dry out.

Next items are the notions that just didn't make my cut; I tried and tried and they just don't deliver for me.

It looks like three but it's really two and a half.
The bottle of fluid and "pen" is a fabric folding pen by Clover; it claims to do precisely its namesake... fold fabric (without the need of an iron).

I read and reread the instructions, looked at different online video demonstrations but none of it seemed to make this pen and its fluid work, and I wasn't using anything too different from cotton. Maybe my batch of folding fluid is faulty or maybe it's just that it only works on cotton and cotton blends, heh.

Next is another Clover item, which disappoints me because I am typically a fan of anything from Clover. This one is even on Nancy's top 10 notions list! It's the Clover desk needle threader. I have a vintage one I bought from the thrift store oh so many years ago, but it's green and this is purple... and you know me when it comes to purple tools!
Later I find out the brand of the original threader I have still exists in some shops and even comes in purple! Here. Seems like a hefty price to pay for a simple needle threader that I already have, but I live by my 1950's INFILA... it would great to have it in purple, haha!

Unfortunately, this Clover one is more trouble than its color is worth. It doesn't give me a range of needles to thread unlike the INFILA; larger than a size 5 sharp doesn't even fit into the slot. On top of that it only threads oval eyes, which is fairly typical for hand sewing needles, but there are round ones out there and on the off chance I get them I want to be able to thread them quickly too, heh.
I like using Bohin's size 8 sharps for my basting and hand stitching which seems just small enough that it doesn't always catch and thread that needle in a jiffy. The range seems to be between sizes 5 and 7. For how much it costs, it's not worth it at all unless of course you stick strictly to the sizes it can thread, as someone who has a wide range of needles for various purposes it just doesn't cut it... but it's cute nevertheless.

I really did want these to work because I like the idea of them quite a bit and would definitely use them if they worked as advertised and/or had a wider range of use.

Till next time, my ghouls!

Mortem's Tricks or Treats: Simplicity 8019

Since my last post, I have begun to experience what others have dubbed life.
I am actually living, as any homosapien must do-- it's exhausting and wondrous... and of course expensive, heh.
The life of a hermit has not been entirely for my benefit, though I did live exceptionally comfortable and embedded within my means.

The most exciting though of all the happenings is the joyous and infinitely desired news of all, news of my mother's official remission! I believe we've doused ourselves with a healthy dose of hope after that. We're drenching ourselves in all the relief that is possible for such news, while still having two feet planted on the ground about such matters.

That being said, with some emotional weight off my shoulders, and as little as the year progressed, I have been able to make leaps and bounds with my bat fit goals already, but I wanted to break this little pause I've taken from blogging this time with the one and only sewn project I've done for what is now behind us in the current year.

That's right, I've been up to my ears in things to do that sewing has actually taken a back seat... for now. So sewing productivity may be down, but it is certainly up in other equally important affairs.
What began as a simple visit to the fabric shop to find something for my pattern, literally turned into an opportunity for work-- but before all that, it was the simple gesture of revising my sewing list that was the catalyst to what is now yet another way for me to give back to the shop I now work at all the money I earn from it hahah!

I figured I better adjust what kinds of garments will be on that list, as I estimate by the time I get to finish all of them I might be well enough into the hot and humid summer months that anything for cool weather will be a completely moot point; the hot weather lasts just too long here, and I'd hate not to be able to wear what I finish right then for that length of time. Two of the patterns have been with me since the time I lived in Hellbrook (aka Holbrook, Arizona)-- it's about time I start working from where I started with this now gargantuan collection of commercial patterns!

Anyway, even from my own point of view I sometimes ponder how my brain functions; making a list is a methodical thing to do... and yet, somewhat surprisingly, I didn't start at the beginning of that list.

In a very similar fashion, much of the inner machinations of my creative laboratory work much the same way; I can't begin with a chaotic space, so I first clean every nook and cranny before every project... yet during the process I don't quite mind the torrent of scraps and thread strewn about.

I digress (immensely). I started with a retro reprint of a button up skirt: Simplicity 8019; originally printed in the 70's, and reprinted sometime in the past year or two. It took a while to get this one done, in fact it wasn't officially "done" until last week! Talk about procrastination; for myself, that is a highly irregular pause between start and finish that wasn't deliberate. I called it done before actually being so, because I had simply but to sew on buttonholes and buttons to call it complete.

At first, a halloween print was crying out to me... but I remembered one of my bat fit goals; to ease up on making everything from Halloween prints and use more "mature" fabrics, as was once the case. I took to the fabric store and found a beautifully (mature) purple and black plaid. I found some nice black buttons that I assumed I would still love by the time I got to that point. This was not the case.

I cut out a size 14 at first which brought me to the realization that I gained weight; so I graded up to a 16-- still not quite enough. Finally, I landed on 18. I wanted it in view C which was a midcalf length, but on me it would look more like D-- I had to go all the way up to A for me to have that mid calf length I wanted, with some of the bottom hem unused for just a touch more length to make it right. Yeesh, I'm short!

During the process of matching my plaids up on my pattern pieces, something stopped clicking with my choice of buttons; I no longer wanted these black with crystal rhinestone ones.

It felt at that moment in time, like a frenzy had overtaken me... and before I knew it, I had purchased dozens of new buttons in an attempt to satiate whatever hunger overtook me.

What inevitably won were little metal skull shank buttons that I failed to properly take a photo of. I guess I wasn't fully over the concept of adding some Halloween flair to my stuff!

I put off sewing on the buttonholes until I was sure which buttons were the "perfect ones", because it was no longer an easy task to pop and sew a buttonhole; I decided to take the plunge and try the contraption I was so afraid of using since its acquisition; my Singer Buttonholer.

I'm not gonna lie, this thing is as scary to work with as it is to look at; I broke four needles just troubleshooting it with the machine, heh... but once the trial and terror part was over, I was able to produce the best buttonhole I have ever witnessed made!

I was a lazy bum and didn't contrast the thread for your guys' sake, and yet clearly there's a huge difference between the top, which was made with my Brother (not unlike many other of its ilk manufactured after the 80's and forward), and the bottom which was produced with the singer and the buttonholer gadget. The only problem I've noticed is that the keyhole templates don't go any smaller than 7/8th's of an inch-- which is the benefit of the sliding buttonhole foot of any everyday machine these days: any size, any time, quick, painless, and sufficient for most needs.

However, I needed something with a little more umph for this project, since the design and weight of the fabric would swallow up the button holes my Brother made.

Back to the pattern, it was very easy to dish out; I sewed two others up as a mock up before I got to making my final garment. No significant adjustments were made-- any width sizing issues I had were simply because I was trying to shortcut my way out of actually having to remeasure myself for all the weight I gained hahah! The vertical length was something I simply wasn't paying attention to when I made the two mock ups before the final one; so really pay attention to that finished length measurement on the packet. I know it seems obvious to mention it, but a lot of people including myself tend to gloss over it, heheh.  Next changes made were simply design changes,  I extended the grain line markings so it would be easier to match my plaid, and to create a directional focal of the waistband.

You'll have to excuse the wrinkling-- another momentary lapse in foresight. This was moments after a cat nap after work in my clothes and on my way to class! Heh.

The top button looks so misshapenly sewn in this photo, and yet this was the best shot I got of the buttons... still hard to see them. Boo! I wish I still had a functioning camera, instead of my phone. Seems like the kind of thing I should invest in.

Till next time, my lovely ghouls!

Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm: A Secret Code Carved.

The past week was a strange mixture of elation and a touch of melancholy; I spent the last 10 days accompanying my husband on one of his training workshops out of town which was held in Phoenix AZ, in an attempt to allow myself to "get out more" for the new year. I was listening obsessively to Pagan Poetry by Björk that it turned into my unofficial theme song.

I took the opportunity to plan the weekend with one of my friends I met while living in Holbrook; we packed as much into the weekend as humanly possible-- we took a tour at Taliesin West, watched a piano duel, tasted a cheese platter, went to the zoo, rode a camel, fed giraffes, experienced a "4D" theater, shopped at the mall, and I tasted sushi for the very first time. Actually, there were a lot of firsts this past weekend, now that I think about it... You see how tiny the rock I lived under was? It gets even smaller, trust me.

The spider rolls were my favorite

That's right, up until the past weekend I had never tasted sushi or anything like it at all. To be frank, the idea of sushi sounded repulsive-- raw fish? Kinda crazy, I thought. However, seeing as I am forcing myself out of the proverbial box, I said to hell with regression.
I have never been so totally wrong about something in my entire life; it was, without a shadow of a doubt, the single most exquisite dining experience I have ever had. The explosion of flavors and sensations were borderline intoxicating.
And I used chopsticks... awkward, but certainly new and refreshing for me!
It's funny to have such an experience in a place that was slightly commercial, heh. Regardless, I certainly can't wait for the next time I have sushi again!

At the zoo, I took the opportunity to get up and close to the large animals; again, up until that point I have never even seen a horse up close.

So, they were offering camel rides... I heard the familiar voice that told me that they're all dangerous, and that's why I've never tried going up to animals unless there was several hundred feet or reinforced glass between us. I ignored that voice again and rode the camel. It was surreal.

The giraffes were ready for snack time, so we did that too; I would have never guessed that a giraffe's tongue is almost dry-ish and spiky, like a cats. I was guessing it was more similar to a dogs, slobbery and slimy. It took several snacks to get a few good shots because it kept nabbing it from my hands rather quickly, hah-- what a tongue!

After the weekend with my friend, I settled into the next hotel with my husband and that is when I found out Bowie had past; it set a rather melancholy mood for the next couple days, as he was an inspiration to us all. I stewed a bit in that gloom and grabbed my sketch pad, and began to draw...

There are few things that inspire art like loss does... it sounds like such a cruel reality. I'd like to think it is through the creation of art after loss that we as artists carry the memory of those we respected and appreciated during their life.
In one of his last videos, Blackstar, there was a scene of the floating headless skeleton drifting towards an eclipsed star-- I kept thinking, and thinking about it after the news.

I don't know why I decided to reattach the head... I simply felt like I needed to after the news. Progress stopped Wednesday after deciding I needed to give it an india ink and watercolor wash for the background, while adding the finishing touch to it-- all which required masking fluid, which I didn't/don't have a designated brush for yet...
I do have plans to finally go shopping for more supplies tomorrow-- I'll need it all for the watercolor class I signed up for coming up the week after next, heh.

There is definitive change coming in 2016, and it is felt indirectly through the passing of some of our greatest and most beloved icons. Though is saddens me to see them go under the nemesis cancer, it is a reminder to continue living life with little apprehension, and a surplus of passion. Death doesn't care about tomorrow's and some other times.

Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm: Developing The Horizon.

A new year a new canvas, right?
When I look back at 2015 it's not with a particular reverence; last year was a giant listless fog. I may have been my most productive in my sewing room, but there was a passion lacking in my efforts; I seemed to have misplaced it along the way to now.
As I went through 2015's archives, I frowned some. I lacked something, and it just got worse over the year.

I remember when I lived with my mother I had this insatiable hunger to create; there was nothing I didn't wish to dabble in, and my mother encouraged and supported each endeavor-- whether it was jewelry making, film photography, painting, sculpting, creative writing... I tried and loved so much!

And now, now I'm an adult and my running excuse is that I would rather focus on a sole hobby then spread myself too thinly.
I've had enough of that excuse, I haven't felt any growth as an artist and have reluctantly cringed at the word. That is not right; I remember being a teenager and attempting to find my artistic niche through a plethora of mediums... and looking back at that time, I believe I resembled an artist closer then, than I ever have in my adult life.

So you know what, I decided to get back into the things that made me happy: 2016 will be the year I resume my position as a jack-of-all-trades (circa 2003), for whether through pyrography, sculpting, or sewing... I have always loved manifesting my heart and dreams through my hands.

To ring in the new day of the new calendar year, I bought some flower wire and mosaic tiles to reacquaint myself with one of those long lost friends; these supplies are cheap and abundant, perfect for the purposes of practice unlike the costliness of actual jewelry wire and cabochons. Oh beloved wire work... how I have missed you.

I realized that you can most certainly forget how to wire work (lol), and this is especially true of your flesh. My index fingers were a nice shade of purplish red having worked 5 pendants in a night-- the best of the bunch being the two pictured. I practiced different forms of wire weaves and twists. Rebuilding my skill set means rebuilding the savage callouses I used to don.

I practiced on the less pretty pieces in my bag of tiles; I set aside the pretty ones to practice a little painting on. I used acrylic paints and then took a thick sewing needle and scratched out finer details.

I am going to glaze them with a layer of modge podge dimensional magic to prevent the design from being worn off... once I buy a bottle that is, heh.
When I eventually feel at home with wire again, I will purchase some black wire and make what I hope is going to be some pretty snazzy pendants.

After painting these couple of tiles it also got me to thinking about painting in general, too. Last year I purchased a palette of watercolor cakes from Micheal's which I used to paint a witch as a part of a Halloween swap, and I haven't touched it since.

In the eerie hours of yesterday's morning, I busted out my pad of paper and began sketching one of my furry muses... little Khan. I had no particular goal for the sketch, I merely doodled for lack of a better word.

Khan seemed content sitting at the table and creating with me; what a sweet little tot. We stayed up just basking in all the supplies I had dug out. I had bought a bottle of masking fluid from walmart to experiment with some time ago, and this piece seems like the perfect one to try it on. However, I don't want to use any of my new brushes for the stuff, so this drawing will have to wait for the color wash and inking until I can buy some rubber tipped brushes.

I don't think he sees a resemblance.

After a few days of just playing with art supplies it is clear what I need for myself in 2016, and it is with all of this in mind that I was able to compile what I will achieve in the coming year.

Expanding Myself:

• Take a watercolor class: I'd like to make friends while learning and expanding myself. Watercolors is something I've always had an interest in going to a class for, so it clicked together-- now that there's a community art school at my disposal with which to fulfill this desire.
• Begin learning how to crochet: I taught myself how to knit, so why not crochet? They say it's easier to catch on to... so we'll see. I've managed a chain stitch and a very rudimentary edging finish to some knitted pieces.
• Continue learning tatting: I had the basics down with a shuttle once upon a time, my momma even found me some vintage ones that seem really neat but I never used. I have let up on my education so I don't remember how to do it. A little ironic because I had purchased some tatting needles because I was lead to believe it was easier and more intuitive than the shuttle.
• Sew more in solids and luxury materials: I've been feeling trapped in the materials I've been using in my sewing. As cute and awesome as Halloween prints are, I think it's about time I resume making more decadent pieces of attire for my closet. Pieces that have a little more maturity and class in mind; laces, velvets, and dark colored solids will be incorporated into my future projects.
• Sew a waist training corset: I've made fashion corsets in the past, all for friends. I buy fabric for corsets I keep saying I'll make for myself and it never happens because what I actually want is to delve into legitimate corsetry.
• Explore the city: while I lived in Canada, I had the luxury of a pretty boisterous art community, and a nice range of live jazz lounges to pick from. I took that for granted; moving South of the border, there hasn't been a lot of art and music of my tastes for me to experience because of the rather small and rural nature of the places I have lived in. I've gotten so used to not having places to go to that I even forgot what it's like to go out for something other than going to and from work and the grocery store.
• Self-date: My husband refuses every one of my invites to see things that seemed cool. I missed a myriad of events and historical sites for years because he didn't feel like going or it wasn't his thing, and in return I didn't want to go alone so I stayed home sulking. Yet, when he desired to go to sporting events I went along despite absolutely abhorring everything but the food. I wonder how I got used to this... I used to go on self-dates all the time while I lived in Canada; it's time to get that independence back.

Refining Myself:

• Purge my wardrobe: having a hobby in garment sewing, one has a tendency to accumulate an inordinate amount of clothing. I feel it's about time to let go of pieces I've had for years years and haven't worn even on an irregular basis.
• Maybe get a haircut: I've been sporting long locks for many years now... perhaps it's time to change it up a little? This is one I constantly say I'll do and never actually do it lol, that is why there is emphasis on the 'maybe'.
• Invest in platform shoes and boots: I no longer like stiletto heels. I mean they're pretty and I'll probably keep my absolute favorite pairs (ones passed down from my mother), but it's torture and as I get older the less I can justify the pain I endure for the sake of vanity. Totally not saying heels are wrong for every woman, though... just so we're clear, heh.

I am just fed up of wishing and hoping things will change or I'll eventually get a chance... Nope. I am legitimately fed up of my stagnation; it's gone on for too long now.

Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm: Meanderings and Goals.

The wheels of time doth turn and churn, and like always I've been blind to its unrelenting passing.
Like Frankenstein to his monster, I tend to my creations to the detriment of everything and everyone around me-- I barely notice how many days go by before the next post. Typically by that time, days sometimes weeks have gone by.

November was pleasantly productive, I finally and once and for all finished that Whovian scarf that had so long haunted my WIP pile since its conceptualization that fateful day. I finished the bat peplum blouse, another notch on a trend I've been effectively obsessing about since 2013! I still haven't had enough, there is more yet to come.

I overhauled my entire fabric stash and came to the startling conclusion that I actually don't have a baby stash-- it's actually a huge stash that comfortably sits around very high triple digit yards on a given estimate. Scary-- so I took away all the excess that I could comfortably rid myself of... granted, it might not have seemed like much, but I have never fought so hard against my fabricaholic tendencies.

Carnage during the "great purge".

I went through my 200+ sewing patterns and retired many I'll never sew, and a few I can part with altogether. This has made sewing them all in my youth a feasible goal. I cleaned every nook and cranny, and redecorated the entirety of my sewing room; by god did it feel great!

Oh but how time has had it in for me this December.
Things have gotten slow once December arrived on the calendar. I mean real slow. So slow, my body aches with atrophy.
Ok, so I'm being dramatic... I've not felt this listless since I lived in Holbrook, AZ.

Some of you may remember how I combated this feeling; I used to make lists to keep me focused and busy. I decided to go back to doing that-- it helped a lot.

Since I really want to work through the remaining patterns and use (instead of hoard) my fabric stash, I thought it might be nice to target those especially with Roses and Vellum hosting a wardrobe sew-along. What better time to making it all happen-- as opposed to the smorgasbord of crafts that was once how the lists were.

So with my goals and intentions set, it's time to make it sew!

Sew long, and prosper.

Spooky Basket: Something Pretty For When All Else Fails.

I had trouble deciding whether I wanted to post about my kind of gloomy non existent plans in an attempt to join Professor Z in her Gothidays blog event, or curate a Freakshow Films post around one of my favorite filmmakers Jan Švankmajer who I've been seeing quite a lot of recently, or write about how I think Christine McConnell is a much better pinup role model than Dita Von Teese is... lol.

Well... I could't decide.

So naturally, I've turned to my sewing room which has recently welcomed some new members-- all consequences of the act of the "treat yo self" movement... *shiftyeyes*

In October, Tula Pink announced her new hardware line of rainbow steel awesomeness that included 8" shears, a surgical steel seam ripper, and some tweezer snips. I preordered them, of course.

I ordered my set from The Crafty Cora on Etsy. I had trouble locating a shop that would answer my pleas, and this shop was quick to communicate and happy to take orders. They came to me in mid November, just as the doctor ordered, heh!

The tools are far prettier than I could have expected! True to the nature of Tula Pink (one of my favorite fabric designers, weird I know), they're very bright and colorful-- they easily beat out my Gingher shears. To be honest, I am not sure why I ordered the ripper and the snips too... I don't like either method of snipping or ripping lol. I'm just as bad a gadget-aholic as I am sew-aholic. 

I did worry about one thing when it came to the shears since there was no real description of the blade; luckily my worries dissipated when I slid my finger across the blades... 

If there's one feature that annoys me, it's micro serration. I don't know why they add this to so many sewing scissors-- it's the worst idea, in my opinion. Once they go dull (and they do, despite the claims of otherwise) you can't take micro-serrated scissors to get resharpened without completely ruining them. You can tell if you have micro serration just by looking at the blade-- it would appear as a tiny pinking pattern. Likewise, you can feel it-- a blade that isn't serrated will feel smooth and kinda dangerous to slide your finger across.

Shortly after, Black Friday sales were kicking in online and I saw two deals I couldn't pass up; I was in the neighborhood for a new iron, even though there isn't anything mechanically really wrong with my Rowenta. It doesn't sputter, and I kept up the maintenance well-- it's just that, even at its highest temp it wasn't hot enough and didn't steam enough for my liking anymore.

Entrer le Oliso TG1100.

I used one of these in the quilt shop I worked at back in New Mexico, so I knew it packed a punch in the heat and steam department. It's a little weird that it doesn't need to be propped up like any other iron, you keep it on its plate and it jumps up with little legs on its own. Cute, and actually pretty intuitive if you think about it; like so many who sew, we've all been victim to the "hot plate graze" every now and then. It glides better than any iron I've ever owned, and best of all... it's purple!

That being said, I nabbed it for $100 flat (including shipping); it's a lot for an iron even on sale, and I don't think I would have spent it if I didn't know what I was going to expect from it... but I had a gift card to use so I "treated myself" to it. My second choice was the Smartfill by Maytag; I did a bit of research and this maytag is probably the best one if you find yourself on a limited budget but in need of a decent iron for your sewing-- current price on amazon being under $40!

Finally, along with the Oliso, I ordered myself...

A thread tower. Yup.

Probably the most gratuitous purchase of this post, it comes with 80 spools of all purpose Guterman sewing thread in a rainbow of colors (some of which I probably will never use lol), and can hold 3 of each color. It's on a lazy susan mechanism, and spins rather quietly and gracefully dons my Ray Bradbury inspired Halloween Tree. I guess since there's nothing else to say about the tower, I might as well tell you all my favorite brands of thread. They are as follows in order: Mettler Metrosene, Gutermann, and Maxi Lock.

So if you're thinking about splurging and spoiling the seamster in your life, any one of these might put a huge grin on their face-- and don't forget to stuff their stocking with good thread (not coats & clark), high quality sharps (John James needles are great quality), and perhaps some 45 mm rotary blades (make sure to ask the brand of their cutter so you can match the blade!). Trust me, they'll love it.

Mortem's Tricks or Treats: Simplicity 1590

I am not a fan of winter. The sudden change wreaks havoc on my body, and around the time of my last post I've been laid out sick to my gills-- my body can't decide if it's allergies, a cold, or just overly socialized. Probably a combination of all.

There is so much to update since last I posted! A crazy whirlwind of tiny but significant events... for starters, I've gone back to making lists of the projects I want to complete by the end of the month-- they were such great successes while I was living as a hermit in Arizona, why should it not be so while I am a hermit here in Texas? Even as I was rhetorically begging for my life to end from the symptoms of whatever ails me, I managed to complete so many of the projects on my rather ambitious list in November. The first of which was: 

Simplicity 1590

It occured to me after the last bat dress that I was making too many dresses, and I do realize that makes me sound mad as one can't really have enough... but, and I know this may sound silly, but part of the reason I have been constructing all these commercial patterns is to facilitate the sewing bug, as it's not an easy one to dive into like other addictive hobbies, and if I knew what blogs were when I was starting off I'd probably read into people's experiences like I do today. Anyway, I greatly digress.

Notice anything new, maybe? hehe...

I have a few peplum top patterns that I had trouble deciding to craft because it was indeed a peplum and a top that I wanted, and then it occurred to me that this particular one is a goldmine of useful skill building. It encompasses many, if not all aspects, of intermediate sewing level methods: bust darts, front darts, back darts, tuxedo style collar, buttons... all of which need intermediate tools like a button gauge, tailor's board and a pressing ham, knowledge on what interfacing to use... the list goes on! I say again, it's a goldmine!

I definitely recommend this particular pattern if you're looking to build upon your skill set with these tools to improve the look of quality in your work, or even to refresh yourself in case its been a while. Plus, it's hella cute for anyone.

I chose view B which includes all of the above details, and for the fabric I chose a Chillingsworth blender by Andover Fabrics and a dancewear material for the collar. Two particularly difficult materials; Andover fabrics is notorious for either over starching their cottons or they create them with a heavier weave then I can observe... I prewashed this material twice and there still seems to be residual stiffness, which is apparent by the tenacity of the folds created with simply pressing center folds in. This would by why they tell people not to construct garments with quilting cotton... but you can't find these kind of awesome prints in fashion material, so it makes it hard to heed that warning. Anyway, the dancewear might've seemed like a bad idea for a collar no less, but after observing the construction of t-shirt quilts while working in a quilt shop, I was convinced a t-shirt backing interfacing would work.

It did. It completely removed the stretch of this ultra stretch dancewear, while still retaining some of the natural drape. See? Quilters and garment constructors can learn from each other!

The blouse comes together in a total of 3 AHS: Freakshow episodes-- not so long. I almost hit a brick wall in the exact place where there seems to be a consensus where it is badly written in the instructions. The attachment of the peplum; other than this part, it's all very intuitive. I had debated creating a video on just this section, as people seem to have trouble preventing a bubble where the tie and peplum seam meet. 

I think the problem might be that either people haven't made the initial reinforcement in the corners, or they clipped into that seam after the peplum has been jammed into and attached to that seam-- which it seems to suggest from what I can tell. During the mock up, I simply clipped first then attached the vertical seam and followed through into the front dart when I stitched it up-- and voila no bubble, no pucker. That might've made things worse since I am not the best at verbal (written) direction...

I was a little lazy when it came to the tie-- I chose not to create it out of either of my fabrics. Instead, I used a black cotton lace that I had received in a lot of vintage notions in an ebay auction; I purchased it primarily for a tailor's clapper since I had never seen a clapper alone for how little I paid for the entire lot! Quite a find.

Finally, I finished the hem using a narrow lace ribbon... another momentary lapse of will-- I just didn't feel like turning under the seam so to hide the overlocked stitches lol.

I am also letting Ophelia model it alone, since the state of my face and body has been in a constant state of redness, puffiness, oozing liquid, and exhaustion since the beginning of November, heh.

My final notes on the pattern other than what I mentioned, it turned out to be a touch tighter than anticipated-- doesn't seem to be much integrated ease... or maybe it's because I've just been horribly swollen and bloated, since it doesn't appear to be tight on Ophelia who has been my identical measurements before being this sick lol.

As a side note, if you're thinking of using this amount of specialty material, do bear in mind that it probably can't be tossed in with the regular wash without horrible consequences-- my blouse will have to be dry cleaned.

More updates as I get better! Spook ya later, ghouls!