Motivation

...such an aggravation. ahhhh see what I did there? ;)


I've read sooo many blog posts about getting one's sewjo back. Some people like to find small, easy projects when they're lacking inspiration; some pick out an extra icing-ey, fun, in no way practical project that they can just let their imagination run wild on; others give themselves a break from sewing to recharge their drive. I can't seem to make any of these techniques work though.

Sometimes I sew for a week straight, night and day. And sometimes I don't sew anything for months at a time. It's just like I'm overrun by motivation one hour and the next it's left me in the dust, wondering why I wanted the damn project in the first place.  I'd get so much more done if I worked consistently instead of in random spurts.

I will be the first to admit I'm not the best at scheduling my time, and I'm sure that doesn't help. Many bloggers I read suggest setting time aside consistently to sew, but if I don't feel like sewing, I have a really hard time getting myself to do it. I have no problem getting myself to go to work when I need to, and heck, I can even get myself to do my homework pretty consistently. But if  the sewjo ain't there, progress ain't happening. Also, my creative brainwave levels peak really late at night. Call me an extreme night owl. So lots of times I feel like sewing at 12:30 in the morning, and the next thing I know it's 4:30. And then I sleep in way too late the next day.

Another thing that bugs me about my wishy-washy sewtivation is that deadlines usually ALWAYS kick my ass into gear. School projects, applications with deadlines, all that crud: I pretty much always wait till the last minute before (most of the time) somehow pulling it off pretty well. But with sewing...let's just say that there are a few gifts that were supposed to be done months ago that STILL aren't a reality yet. It really annoys me not just because I haven't done the sewing but because, duh, they're gifts that I haven't been able to give to their recipients.

these dresses NEED to happen by my cousin's baby shower!

I have noticed that if I get as far as cutting out a pattern there's a pretty good chance that I'll see it through. But I have so many plans that haven't had a chance at being the real deal because my motivation took a sabbatical.

If you have tips for me, I'd love to hear them. And if you feel like wishing me luck, that'd be greatly appreciated too, seeing as I want to finish a jacket, make a dress, and whip up a few baby dresses as gifts by early July. AND sew a few things that would be good for my upcoming semester in Spain. HELP!

Coach Tour Dress Knockoff: Gift Reprise

 

I made another Coach Tour dress knockoff! I decided to make my oldest sister a dress a looooong time ago but the good news is I finally finished it and gave it to her, and she wore it to work and didn't fall apart! So that's pretty great ;)

 

 When I told her I would make a dress for her, she requested one that looked like my Coach Tour knockoff. The first fabric I got for this was double knit, like my original, but I didn't buy enough and couldn't fit it. Dur. I got this jersey and hoped it'd work, and I think it does. It's looser than my dress is, but that's ok because Liz moves around alot (she works in a kindergarten classroom).

 Oh, and it has pockets, which I think might be Liz's favorite She is enraged by the skimpy pockets-to-dress ratio found in most RTW.

Oh, and last night Liz and I made crayon art! I think it turned out rather great, if I may say so myself :D

World Traveler

 Hey look at that, it's summer! So far I've spent it laying around the house, fishing, and playing a ridiculous amount of Settlers of Catan. I've been sewing a bit too, but I actually made this dress last June. I'm bad getting pictures of my makes, ok?! I don't have a tripod and I feel weird asking people to take photos for me :P

 So this is my world traveler dress. My sister got a dress pretty much exactly like this at our Plato's Closet. When I found this fabric at my college town's thrift shop I knew I would make it into the same style dress as Ally's. My fabric is a different pattern, but it's the same weight and the print definitely gives off the same vibe, if that makes any sense.

 Ally's dress has a black slip attached underneath the main dress, and I'd like to get around to getting/making a similar one. I'm wearing a white slip underneath the dress in these photos. It doesn't look bad, but I think a dark slip would be better.

 I self-drafted this puppy, and am pretty proud of myself for that. It's a really simple design, so I made cutouts on the sleeves for a little bit of interest. I used bias strips to bind the neckline and sleeve cutouts, and since the fabric is so floaty and I knew it'd be hell to work with, I mixed instant gelatin mix with water and put let the bias strips sit in it for a while, then dry. Stiffened the fabric up perfectly! And I have a ton of gelatin for some reason--I think I found a face mask recipe that uses it--so I'm totes going to use this trick for the rest of forever. I gathered the waist with some clear elastic thread stuff. I'm not sure if it's actually meant to be used for sewing purposes or if this is a legit technique, but it worked and that's good 'nough for me!

 "Wait I have to take another picture, this one looks like you're smelling your armpit"

So this is the pattern (you need to cut 2 of them) :) the top is your wingspan; cut a hole in the middle for your head and one on either side of this for the arm cutouts. The vertical measurement is how long you want the dress to be. And then you just gather it below the bust to your waist measurement (a shit ton of gathering. seriously.) I tried it on before gathering the waist and it looked HIDEOUS lol. Like some kind of ethnic robe muumuu monstrosity.

I Never Thought I'd Be In This Kinda Situation

 I feel so honored right now. Do you know Annette Tirette? She is awesome, makes wonderful clothes, makes her own GIFS, and on April 1 she posted a post in which she named ME as a giveaway winner. 

I need to pause the story here to explain that I love the online sewing community; even though I sew very sporadically and off-and-on, I read sewing blogs pretty much every day. I don't care at all that most of you guys are older and wiser than I (I don't mean any offense in this at all; I'm just saying that I'm in a different stage of life than most of the bloggers I follow) because you make the most amazing things evah.Not only that, but you seem like awesome individuals too. And another thing I love about the sewing community is how much you love giveaways! I've entered so many, even though I'm hesitant to comment on all those official blogs--me? Little old me communicating with you sewing deities?? Intimidating!

So entering blog giveaways; I've done that before. But WINNING one?? No way!! When I emailed Anneke, I even mentioned how I wanted to make sure that this happenstance wasn't an Arpil Fool's joke. Do they have April Fools Day in Belgium? Idk.

But it wasn't a fluke! I won something! And seriously, it made my whole week. I was so damn excited!! I knew that shipping from Belgium to Iowa would take a while, but when I returned to school to start Mayterm, that wonderful little package slip was in my mailbox :) Behold:

 

 3 meters :) I couldn't really see the red stripes in the blog post, and it kind of reminds me of my high school plaid uniform skirt, which is made up of these colors. This scared me for a second, but  the difference is that this fabric actually makes the color combo look nice, so I'm not worried.

When I saw that I won, I immediately thought of making it into a Colette Hazel, but now I'm feeling the totally irrational need to make it into a romper. I've haven't worn a romper since I stopped wearing diapers, so I think it'd be pretty dumb of me to test the trend out on super special Annette Tirette fabric. What to do, what to do...

Oh, and not only did Anneke send me the fabric, but also a handwritten not with a Flight of the Conchords sketch (reinforcing my suspicion that this lady is amazing) and some BELGIUM CHOCOLATE. Best. Day. EVER.

Circle Skirt Dress

 

      A few weeks ago I found this awesome floofy circle skirt at the thrift store across the street from campus. I go there way more than I should because they have a bin of sewing notions for 50 cents ;)
It's a really long skirt; it hits me almost at my ankles. This doesn't look very flattering on me but I loved the print so I got it anyway, paid $4.25 yo!
     Then I had the idea to wear it as a dress. It was really tight though, turns out my waist and upper chest collarbone area aren't the same size. So I ripped the waistband off and turned it into a belt. I put elastic on the skirt's waistband to make sure it stays up. So now I have a pretty strapless dress and I could theoretically wear it as a skirt still!

 Student Senate hosted a formal, so I actually had someplace to wear the dress! I made boyfriend take cheesy homecoming-style picture with me :D

                                                                          Titanic!

I really meant to get some pictures of it on the hanger, but I never did, and now I'm at home on break and the dress is still at school. And I wrote this post at least two weeks ago, so I'm calling it good and posting.

My Dad Made Me a Box!

Don't you love getting new things to aid you in your hobbling? I sure do!

And for once I got something to HOLD my sewing gear instead of adding to the pile!

AND it was a Christmas present!

And my dad MADE it!

 One night in mid-December, I was holding my sewing box when the bottom fell out of it. 

It looked like something from out of a carton--the bottom just fell, followed closely by my sewing tools.

But it's cool because now I have this lovely to keep all my thread neatly stored in!

(The rest of my tools are still chilling in a Maurices shoebox)

My dad's awesome, y'all. He even put my initial on the front!

And varnished it all glossy!

And it kind of reeks of varnish but I'm okay with that :D 

Because now I have a wooden briefcase-y box for all my thread needs!

When Sewing and Zelda Collide

Three cheers for me for finishing a Christmas present finally!

Let's just overlook the fact that I still have about 4 more to make, because I warned everyone

that they might end up being Easter presents

 Numero Uno is a jacket AI made for my boyfriend. I finished it at the beginning of last week.

Can you tell it's supposed to look like Link's outfit? I'm not into Zelda but boyfriend very much is.

No pattern for this one! I just traced one of boyfriend's jackets that I have custody of.

The hood ended up tiny though so I recut one making it just about as big as my fabric scrap would allow because what use is a defunct hood for an adventurer like Link??

what if you get caught in a rainstorm 

or have to conceal your identity

or have a bad hair day?

I made a stencil from wax paper and fabric painted the TriForce logo onto the back and it 

DOESN'T EVEN LOOK TOO BAD

 Sadly I don't have any good pictures of the hoodie on its owner, but I took plenty before I gifted it ;D

Don't the sleeves look really badly proportioned and thick? I was so scared it wouldn't fit.

I was so concerned I made boyfriend try it on with his eyes closed when it was half constructed

Thankfully it fit

He asked if it was a poncho

In other news I don'[t know where my camera is; I probably left it at home, 5 hours southbound.

So pics here are from my dumb phone (opposite of a smartphone)

I'm determined to borrow a camera from either my school's Art or Comm Arts department

I think I pay this place enough to be able to borrow a camera