William Blake mosaics and a fine fine blog suggestion

It's a holiday week in the US, and while it's got a shopping day in it, I would like to give you a present.

Please, enjoy this other person's blog, specifically:

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/11/27/in-william-blakes-london/

It's an avalanche of photos of mosaics concerning William Blake, but it's mostly a fine fine exhibition of art in an unlikely location. Just the kind of art I adore.

Photo by the gentle author of Spitalsfields Life

And generally,

https://spitalfieldslife.com/

And in honor of promotional sales events 

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/10/15/tim-hunkins-fulfilment-center-machine/

and the machine in action

https://youtu.be/Nr4fdXtRJXQ

Wrap And Go Pants

In the wilds of Capitol Hill hipness, unironically worn wrap and go pants, a stealth photo with apologies. I took a photo of the pants, not you in the pants.
Is that okay?

It has a scarf top option!

You can tie all your clothes on!

reissue in 2017

I've got another copy of this pattern knocking around here somewhere.

I am updating old posts with dead photo links. It is taking me awhile, as I tend to get bogged down in the "what is missing - OOOH LOOKIT THAT!" rabbit hole of pattern photos. As I've said, this blog is more a storage facility than newspaper or newsletter. 

Yes, I made a corduroy dress. Fight me.

Pleased to say that I saw this 1991 pattern online, and remembered I HAD one in the stash already (from Value Village (stifles sniffles))

I even knew where it was.

The sleeveless version looks a lot like the Sewing Workshop Veranda dress

Or vestments

This is a table runner. You don't fool me one bit.

This is for vestments.

Okay, so this dress probably isn't built for corduroy. In fact, I know it's not. All of the suggested fabrics have the word "lightweight" before them.

But when have I ever let that sort of nagging detail stop me?

Should I?

Probably

I did not take a lot of process photos, as it blew by. It has few parts, drafted precisely and goes together quickly.
Remember when pattern pieces always went together?

Because the cut on sleeves and the style made everything too big (if you make this, read those finished measurements: there's about 11 inches of ease in the bustline between the size and the finished garment), I unpicked the seams (seams I had prematurely top stitched, as I tend to do) and took them in about 5/8", which makes it wide enough but not as ginormous as above.

My tum is getting all the glamour shots this week (similar exposure on Turner dress, another post shortly)

  

Unpick

Re-sew

Corduroy stands up mostly on its own (attaching the bodice to the skirt)

Snap rehearsal. I'm not crazy about any of them, but buttonholes in the corduroy Ophelias sorta broke my buttonhole will, so we are snap snap snappy (or pop pop poppers)

Yellow and greenblue....or greenblue and yellow? Decisions. This is its real color. I overdyed a camel corduroy to warm it up, and it's nice and caramel in person.

I pondered a bias trim in the seams. I mean, I was taking them apart....and I still have bits of the reversible polka dot shirting from District Fabrics. I can milk yardage until it cries, baby!

But I went rick rack. Which is brown, but refuses to color correct from purple (which is its brother color). Also vintage rick rack, preshrunk just in case.

It's a bit nicer in person

It is a wide load of a dress though; more like a jacket as shown on the envelope. The original has ties to take in the excess width (oh man, I still need to deal with the Ophelia flappy side ties). I honestly don't think it needs any more snaps for functional wear (although it may get some more purely for decor) as it is a pullover, not a step in.

It will need a little more revision before I wear it for photos.

And if it doesn't behave, it will turn into a jumper.

Or what others call a pinafore.

Just like Lyra. 

The Middle of the Night // Creation Myths and Rituals

Stolen from Seamwork again.

I take my inspiration where I can get it.

I feel compelled to point out that Ms Tharp is a taskmaster who does not suffer much.

I'm putting REG in here because I love him.
Deal with it.

My sewing ritual is more of a unruly thing that i am trying to change.

For the last..... twenty-two years, I have been someone's on-call, in house mother.

The sons have both been out of the house for the last year, but those years have burnt a few habits into me, habits I would like to break.

That is: I can't start doing anything creative until after bedtime. 9pm.
And this is annoying, as I have other hours I could be doing this stuff in.

As much fun I have at the expense of them, I do get inspiration from the Seamwork/Collette emails, and the idea of the sewing ritual reminded me how I have been avoiding my problem with it.

Yes, I'm going to illustrate this with GIFs.
I consider writing stuff down as a form of "I will do what I said I would do", and I can think of no better scold that Dwayne Johnson. Mr Whupass.

A friend of mine and I passed a can of Whoopass (shown below) back and forth as a  "get 'er done" reminder to do what we had said we would. We finally opened it, and it was piss yellow and ghastly as hell. Ice cold would be the only way you'd get er down.

https://bevwire.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/jones-whoopass.jpg I no longer have the can, but you can be sure I looked for it for twenty minutes because this blog isn't getting down slowly enough

My sewing process, my 'creative' process doesn't really start until after dinner and the dishes have been done and the kids are in bed.

But the kids do that somewhere else now. There's no reason for me to wait.

But I still can't get going until about....9pm. Even on days where I have the whole day to work on a project for me, I just can't get the juice going until the sun comes down.
I'm writing this at 10:15pm. and editing it at 6:16pm a day or two later, while I'm cooking dinner.
Or burning it, I should say.

It soaks out pretty well, though. We ate the not-burnt stuff in the middle with a lot of peanut butter and coconut milk mixed in. Tasted just like peanut butter with coconuts.

Luckily I can start earlier if it's a work project. Hemming would not get done in time if it only happened from 10pm - 1am. Same thing for costumes and mending jobs.
And now it's 10:19pm.

I keep a notebook on me at all times. I find no matter what time it is, I can do some good thinking with a pencil in my hand, and I am getting a little better at spreading that creative time over the day. Instead of opening up the phone, I open up the notebook.

I am also trying to make myself keep office hours in the cave. 
Which, like Vegas, is open 24 hours.
It could be some of the hours during the day.
However, I did spend time letting dinner burn making this a pretty GIF of worthiness.

I am not worthy but he is.
This is clearly a work in progress.

 ---------------

Mary had to lean way over to stoop to my level.

I had a wonderful time chatting it up with Mary of PDXSquared at Seattle Frocktails yesterday evening; I was an honorary Stumptowner. Mocktail consumed, runway applauded, and bus stop right outside of event location was for my bus route. Practically perfect night for me.  Mary and I have never met in person before, and it's super nice to put a person to a social media account. 

@Pimpslapped does the twirl