 
the next phase of our fiber adventure has transpired! the lovely fiber that cris dyed has been spun into a gorgeous two-ply yarn by jill. i loved learning about her process in creating the yarn that i will crochet with; read all about it over here. guess who’s up next?
1. First skirt pattern drafted by me, 2. PB050523, 3. Purple Shirt, 4. blue twill skirt with red buttons, 5. my first dress pattern., 6. dream skirt, 7. The Basic Dress, 8. skirt pocket, 9. Photo 316
little by little, photos of projects directly– or loosely– inspired by my book are being posted in the Design-It-Yourself Clothes flickr pool. it’s so cool, and you guys are SO impressive! take a peek, join the group, and show us what you’ve made! looking at all the cute stuff people are stitching up makes me feel like a proud mama hen.
 the nice people at potter craft (my publisher) asked me to write a little story about what i do when i visit the city every month for their monthly newsletter about crafty books, projects and people, CrafterNews. how fun! happily, i complied… i felt like a reporter jotting notes and times as i ran around town. after documenting all i did and then looking over it later, it was a surprise to see how much i can pack in while i’m down there!
         
ok, so remember that forecast i mentioned last week? well, there were a few things noaa left out. like, the part about how the trees would get so laden with heavy wet snow that they would all start to break. and that thousands of breaking limbs and falling trees would invariably knock down myriad power lines. which means over a million homes without power. which translates as no heat, no water, and no phone. for several days.
     
in many ways it was like one of my favorite fantasies: house arrest with all my craft supplies (and plenty of food). for the first day i was happy as can be spinning yarn, looking at books, and crocheting by candlelight. but by the second day the temperature indoors was getting close to the one outdoors, and the complete lack of communication (no phone or radio, and mr. smith was down in the city) started to get to me. i bailed, and went to jill’s for the night, where the lights were still on.
for the most part it’s been fairly steadily back on for two days now, though while we were out today it must have gone out again at some point. but this morning a friend told me he knows someone nearby who hasn’t had power for seven days as of today. so we are among the lucky ones…
i don’t know if you’ve noticed, but i now have a hodge podge fan page on facebook. yes, i drank the kool-aid. i’m still figuring out what exactly that means (having a fan page, not drinking the kool-aid) and what i can do with it… i’ll try to keep it stocked with fresh tidbits and pics and even some *flash discounts*. so really, what have you got to lose?
 
one fine sunny saturday afternoon in january, over coffee on a patio outdoors (an extremely rare thing for january in these parts), an idea was hatched between three fiber-loving friends, designers, and etsy shopkeepers: myself, jill of jill draper makes stuff (and now jill draper blogs) and cris, of into the whirled. the seeds planted in that conversation sprouted a few weeks later, when jill came up with the brilliant observation that we are each a part of the same chain of process: cris dyes and cards fiber, jill spins fiber into yarn, and i crochet yarn into hats and other wearables. wouldn’t it be fun, she suggested, to follow the same four ounces of fiber through each of our hands and document the entire process? cris and i enthusiastically agreed that YES it would!
all three of us find it fascinating to learn about the creative process of makers. we are going to break it down as much as we can, and share with you what’s happening in our minds as our hands do their thing…
so, join me in following the fiber over to into the whirled, where our story really begins!
      
i’ve been a fan of wendy mullin since around 1993, when i first discovered her custom guitar straps and indie-rock clothes at two of my favorite record stores (we still called them that back then). i remember buying a kelly-green corduroy mini skirt, with a little faux patent leather buckle on the patch pocket, which i wore incessantly. i thought it was brilliant that she was selling her offbeat clothes in music stores, targeting her market precisely. since then i’ve followed her career with admiration (and frequented her sample sales) and was beyond thrilled when in 2006 she penned her first sewing book and began producing (with a little help from simplicity) patterns for budding home seamsters. i have been using wendy’s built by you patterns in my sewing classes for several years now, and find the customizable styles the ideal mix of hip yet wearable.
the much-anticipated release of wendy’s third book, built by wendy dresses, couldn’t have arrived at a better time. the sewing revival has spawned a new generation of stitchers with skills and sophisticated taste, but the sewing pattern industry still seems to fall short of their needs. and personally speaking, lately i happen to have a hankering to wear nothing but dresses, yet somehow inexplicably own very few.
in dresses, wendy breaks down the three basic dress shapes: the sheath, the shift and the dirndl. she also identifies five general body types (pear, boy, hourglass, athletic and average) and discusses which dresses work best for each type, though, amazingly, she asserts that every dress shape can be tailored to suit any body. there are three patterns (or really, slopers) included in the book, one for each silhouette. then there are instructions for stylizing the patterns into 25 super-cute variations. she outlines the myriad possibilities which are revealed when you combine options for every element of a dress design: necklines, collars, sleeves, cuffs, length, width and shape. if you do the math, you’ll see that in actuality you could make hundreds of unique dresses from the information in this book!
as she did in her previous books, wendy goes into great detail about the foundation of sewing a successful garment: choosing the right fabric, using the best tools, determining correct size and fit, proper cutting and marking, and how to alter the patterns to achieve the desired effect. sewing does not lend itself to skipping steps! she emphasizes the importance of making a muslin and how to resolve fit issues. she also explains required techniques specific to dresses, such as gathering, seam finishing, facings, linings and bindings, as well as finishing details like buttonholes, zippers, pockets and embellishing with trims.
some of the styles i am most excited to begin playing with are the ‘palm beach tunic’ (a printed shift with solid facings), ‘overall improvement’ (for the farmer in me), ‘american pastoral’ (reminds me of a victorian nightshirt) and the ‘lumberjack dress’ (something inside me yearns for more plaid flannel in my life). honestly, the number of dresses i can envision making from this book could keep me sewing through the next decade.
it will definitely take some time and dedication to follow through the process of altering these patterns in order to make the projects, but the effort will pay off as you build a library of sewing patterns, with interchangeable parts, that you can turn to again and again. and in turn, the closet full of dresses, designed and built by YOU, will be the ultimate reward!
just returned from my long weekend in the city, and this is the forecast:
This Afternoon…Snow. Snow accumulation up to an inch. Near steady temperature in the lower 30s. East winds around 5 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent.
Tonight…Snow. Additional snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches. Near steady temperature in the lower 30s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent.
Wednesday…Snow in the morning…then snow showers in the afternoon. Total snow accumulation of 6 to 12 inches. Highs in the mid 30s. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent.
Wednesday Night…Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow showers. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday…Occasional snow. Light snow accumulation. Windy with highs in the lower 30s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph…increasing to 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph in the afternoon. Chance of snow 80 percent.
Thursday Night…Occasional snow. Additional light snow accumulation. Very windy. Near steady temperature around 30. Chance of snow 80 percent.
Friday…Snow likely. Little or no additional snow accumulation. Near steady temperature in the lower 30s. Chance of snow 70 percent.
Friday Night…Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows in the mid 20s.
Saturday…Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow showers. Highs in the lower 30s.
 
this friday evening (the 19th) i’ll be visiting my old neighborhood and signing books (with the ever-so-stylish kayte terry) at treehouse. come by and say ‘hi’! you know siri knows how to throw a party, so there’s bound to be yummy snacks and drinks, along with all kinds of handmade loveliness. we’ll be signing from 7:30 to 9:30, and you can buy a book from me or bring in your own copy. i’ll be coming on the bus so i can’t carry a ton, so if you know you want to buy one (they’ll be $20) let me know in advance and i’ll reserve one for you.
also, it’s not too late to register for one of my patternmaking classes this weekend! i’ll be teaching at lena’s studio, brooklyn general, and home ec, so take your pick. all 3 are different classes; check out the details below…
if you are frustrated with the lack of cute, simple sewing patterns on the market, why not make your own? use your own measurements to draft patterns made to fit YOUR body! in this all-day workshop, cal will show you the first two projects from her book, Design-It-Yourself Clothes. we’ll begin with an A-line skirt and then proceed to the T-shirt of your dreams! vegetarian lunch included.
design and make your own clothes! in this 2-hour class you will learn the basic principles of making your own sewing patterns, and make a pattern for a T-Shirt that fits your own unique body. with this foundation you’ll be able to sew the projects you envision! basic sewing experience is helpful to get the most from this class.
this introductory lesson in basic flat pattern techniques will give you the basic skills to draft patterns to fit any body! we will take measurements and make a simple skirt pattern with darts, which can be customized in all sorts of ways to suit your personal style.
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about me my name is cal patch and i love making things and teaching people to make. i am working toward wearing mostly clothing made by myself, or other handmakers.
i was proudly nominated for…
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