Monthly Archives: January 2013

home care, winter

A Media Fast

Last night I decided to take a little “media fast,” prompted by Apartment Therapy’s January Cure. I’ve been watching a little too much bad television lately (I am totally obsessed with Vampire Diaries), and spending way too much time pinning wedding dresses and whatnot on Pinterest. The timing seemed right to take an evening away from the screens. No scrolling through Etsy on my phone. No watching TV. No Pinterest. No blogs. I didn’t even check my email.

Instead, I made excellent progress on a new shirt that I’m sewing. If I finish it tonight, I can bring it to Seattle this weekend! I made dinner, and didn’t feel rushed during the process. And I read, an actual book.

It was terrific. I lit a candle and our apartment smelled lovely, I cleaned up my sewing gear so it wasn’t cluttering our table and distracting me while I read. It was quiet and cozy as Sean and I both sat on the couch and read our respective books.

The evening seemed to stretch on much longer than they do when I’m watching TV. That was an added bonus. And I slept SO well, and felt really rested when I woke up.

Here’s to more frequent media fasts, especially during the work week, when I’ve already spent the entire day sitting in front of a screen.

sewing, winter

The “Kiss Me Deadly” Skirt

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I have always wanted a perfect black pencil skirt. These are so hard to find if you’re shaped like me, with a small(ish) waist and a, ahem, rounder backend. So I knew making a pencil skirt would be near the top of my sewing list this year. I tried one last year, but the pattern wasn’t quite right, and I didn’t finish my seams, so it it eventually started falling apart. Wah wah.

Anyway, when I got Gertie’s awesome book, I was pleased to see a pencil skirt that looked like just what I wanted: a nice high waist, and a great taper down to the knees. It had to happen, and I had a few yards of a nice black ponte knit that would be just right.

Continue reading The “Kiss Me Deadly” Skirt →

goals, home care, winter

The January Cure: Getting a Fresh Perspective

This month, Apartment Therapy is hosting The January Cure, a month-long project encouraging readers to take a good look at their homes and make meaningful changes that will improve their living spaces. I got a bit of a late start, but I’m all in. 

I’m about to air some dirty laundry. Well, it’s not technically laundry, though I have some of that, too. I’m about to show you the messiest, most disaster-prone part of our small apartment. Are you ready?

Our Spare Room Disaster Zone Spare Room Disaster Zone, another look

 

This is our spare room. It’s very small. In fact, in the original layout of the house, it wasn’t a separate room at all. The owners built up a wall and a pocket door, turning this into a very large closet room. When we rented the house I was excited that we’d have another room, where I could work on projects and maybe set up a little cozy reading nook. Intead, this room has basically become storage.

We (ahem, ok, I) have a lot of stuff. I have a lot of books. I have crafting supplies. I am a sentimental collector, so yes, I have years and years worth of letters from friends, newspaper clippings, papers I wrote in college. Owning all this stuff makes living in a small space challenging, and this room is proof of that. We clean it up, and within weeks it’s a disaster zone again.

I really want to get this space under control and make it useable. So when the January Cure encouraged me to get a fresh perspective in a problematic space in our apartment, you know where I went.

In this perspective-getting project, the Apartment Therapy people encourage you to sit in a place where you can get a perspective on a room that you don’t normally have, and to just sit and observe. Imagine the space empty, mentally removing whatever clutter or mismatched objects might be there. Figure out what does work and what doesn’t work in the space, and make note of the changes that you envision for the space, so you can move forward with clarity.

I immediately realized how many things in this space can simply be thrown away. I quickly thought of other spaces in our apartment (both in closets and just in other rooms) where some of this stuff could go. For example, my studio photography lamp can go into a corner in the dining room area. Not only will it fit better there, without feeling like it’s just taking up space, but it might encourage me to actually use it more often. I realized that buying more pretty storage boxes would really help with some of the clutter, and that those big plastic storage bins (we keep our camping gear in them) can go into another closet.

So, I’m hoping that in about 30 days time, this room is in much better shape, and I can’t wait to show you.

I’ll keep posting about the January Cure, too, so check back in to hear more about what we’re doing to cure our tiny apartment.

sewing, winter

My Polka Dot Sorbetto

Black and white polka dotted tank to on a blue dress form

 

A few months ago I was wandering through Britex. Frankly, their remnants are about the only things I can afford in that place, and I ended up coming across two beautiful pieces of silky rayon polyester, one a rich blue floral, and the other the black and white polka dotted print you see above. I knew sewing with silky rayons would probably make me want to tear out my hair, but I couldn’t resist them.

I decided to use Colette Pattern’s free Sorbetto pattern for the black and white. It seemed like a simple pattern that wouldn’t cause me too much grief, and it is totally my style: not too fitted, drapey, with a single interesting detail that makes it not just an ordinary top.

This was my first time putting together a garment pattern that I downloaded from the internet, and it wasn’t as daunting as I expected. After taping all the pieces together, I traced it off onto pattern paper, which was much easier to work with than printer paper.

The slippery rayon did prove crazy challenging in the cutting arena, and also when I first started sewing it. But I learned a few tricks that eventually made it easier, and finally accepted the fact that yes, I did need to buy a new needle and some special thread for sewing something so delicate and thin. Using a size 70 needle and some softer rayon thread made a huge difference. In the future, I’d also like to find some spray-on stabilizer, but I couldn’t find any this go around that wasn’t also adhesive. I’m not sure if spray starch would do the same thing.

I attempted to make bias tape out of the polka dotted fabric, because I really wanted the bias finish around the neckline and armholes to match the blouse. But with the slippery fabric, and it being my first attempt at making bias tape, that didn’t happen. I don’t LOVE the grey bias finish, but I don’t hate it, either, so I think it’s fine. The next time I make this top, though, I want matching bias tape.

Finally, I did have to make a minor pattern alteration: I graded the pattern out at the hem a bit to better fit my hips. I knew that if I left it as is, it would be constricted at my hips and wouldn’t hang as nicely. I’m really glad I did that, because the shirt fits very comfortably.

All in all, I ended up really liking this top. I have to wear a camisole under it, because the fabric is fairly sheer. But I wore it to work yesterday and received several compliments. I’m a little afraid of washing it, because I’m still not that great at finishing seams. But we shall see.

The Facts (I’m stealing this idea from The Sew Weekly for my sewing posts)

Fabric: Polka dotted rayon polyester from Britex ($15)
Pattern: Colette Pattern’s Sorbetto Top (free!)
Notions: Bias tape ($3), size 70 sewing machine needles ($5), rayon thread ($5)
Year: contemporary
Time to complete: Including a terrible errand running trip in the rain to buy bias tape, about 5 hours
First worn: Jan 9
Wear again: Definitely.
Total cost: $28, including notions that I will use again

goals, health, winter

Happy New Year’s Cold!

Sick Bed Side Table

 

We had a whirlwind of a holiday season. Between Sean’s family and my family, and a surprise visit from some of our very best friends, plenty of wine and cheese and mashed potatoes, and, oh yeah, celebrating our engagement, we both ended our vacations feeling a little run down. I was definitely ready for some serious fresh-start, new-project, cleanse-and-cure January action.

I love January. I love resolutions, and goal setting, and starting over again with a fresh page. This year, due to the aforementioned whirlwindiness, I got kind of a late start, but I did some reflection. I thought about all the exciting things that are coming up this year, the things I accomplished last year, and the things I want to learn and do this year. I starting making plans for refreshing our apartment, refreshing our diets, refreshing my friendships, and all that other wonderful New Year stuff. I was going to spend this weekend sewing, and cleaning our apartment, taking down Christmas ornaments and stocking our pantry and refrigerator with a crap ton of vegetables and fruits and whole grains.

Then I got totally sick. I knew this was coming. I had been telling Sean for the previous week that I could feel it, hovering. I knew my immune system was not in optimal condition, thanks to all that wine, and cheese, and those mashed potatoes. Saturday afternoon, I did manage to finish sewing a cute polka dotted blouse (pictures soon!), before I succumbed, and found myself on the couch sneezing and coughing, where I have been ever since.

My instinct is to feel frustrated that my January Goals are being pushed even further back. I am ready to start cleansing and curing! I’m ready for projects! I want to clean! But my body wants other things entirely.

The thing that I realized, though, is that I don’t need to rely on some arbitrary day on the calendar, or schedule set by someone else, to get my fresh start on. My goals can be achievable on my own timeline, one that will allow me some rest and recuperation first.

That fresh start will still be waiting for me, once I’m done coughing and sneezing, and I can breathe through both nostrils at the same time. In the meantime, I’ll be in bed, watching Vampire Diaries and catching up on some of the reading I didn’t get to do on vacation.