Biting off more than I can chew! April 26, 27, 28, 29,........

I saw this pattern on Ebay and I immediately thought about my friend Gina back in Canada - she loves "retro"!  Based on the photo, it looked pretty straightforward (ha!)

Not being a particularly creative person, I figured white with blue trim would be lovely!

The following photos show the dress at various stages of failure :-)  The first photo is just pinned so that I could get a feeling for what the final product would look like.

Honestly, I didn't really like it - it was just too "hello sailor" for my taste; however, I wanted to keep going because I was still a beginner and I thought that maybe a practice-run would be a good learning experience. 

It was approximately at this point that I gave-up.  Not only because I was completely flummoxed by the instructions, but also because I realized that my choice of fabric was simply awful.  A fairly heavy white cotton, and a ultra-fine blue polyester that melted when it even looked at an iron!  

So... I stopped.  I will go back to this pattern one day!  (it is now October, 2015, and I think that I have enough experience to make it through, at this point!  I might try soon!)

Shout-out to Amy at Snapped Garters, who made this dress with a GORGEOUS fabric selection!  I am so inspired to try again now!  :-)

April 21, 2015 - the awful See & Sew and the multitude of bags

I went on to Ebay and picked up a couple of easy patterns.

See and Sew 3880 and Simplicity 1153

I bought some elegant fabric for the S&S3880 view A - white with an embroidered purple edge

Unfortunately, I have decided to not post any pictures of that dress.  It was... horrible!!   The first time I made it, I thought maybe I was just too inexperienced (even for a "yes its easy" pattern!), but I have since made it a second time and now I know that it is just an awful pattern.  The lining is unfinished and only 10cm (covers a small portion of the bodice... so on white fabric you can see the line of the lining half-way along the bodice!).  The squared edge of the neckline simply doesn't square (at least, if you follow the pattern pieces; I didn't try to customize it).  The shoulder straps don't end-up with a nice finish... basically, it's just a horrible pattern, and the only pattern I have ever thrown away!  Garbage!

The Bag pattern, however, was much more fun!!  I found some interesting fabric in one of my (many!) local textile shops - black with a white zipper-motif printed on it.  Very bag-looking material, and because it was in the leftovers bin, it only cost me $4-5.  

The pattern is straightforward - a primary "boxy" main bag, another panel for the side pockets, two rectangular strips on each side of the zipper, and then 6-8 long rectangular bits sewn together at the ends to create the strap.  The strap is sewn to the sides of the bag over the side-pocket piece, resulting in three separate pockets on each side.  That's all!

The sewing process isn't particularly enlightening, so I wont describe it.  Just a few pictures of the final product.  I have now made this bag about 5 times, in various colors and in various sizes.  The size of the pattern is a bit smaller than you would expect - about 35cm on the longest axis of the bag.  The pattern, however, is easy enough to made bigger!  Also, it's quite easy to add a lining (even after the bag is finished!  Just copy the same pieces as the bag itself, turn the bag inside out, and sew a second time along the top seam).   One problem with making the bag bigger is that it doesn't have enough rigidity to hang properly from the straps, so if I were to make it again (yet again!) I would add some heavy interfacing to give it a bit more body.  

Here are a few of the finished products, in both black and yellow (same fabric print)

For the last one, I approximately doubled the size of the bag, and decided to change the handles from fabric to a white chain metal.  (I just folded the ends of the handle fabric under to make the loops that hold the chain).  You can see that increasing the size of the bag does NOT give you nice results!  It's just too... floppy!  :-(   

Lesson learnt!   Next project!

April 24, 2015 - Eva tries the skirt

Did it fit?

I brought the skirt to work for Eva, and surprisingly enough, it fit!  :-)

It's interesting how this half-half design provides very different looks!

Thanks Eva!

Day 2 - Confeccion de prendas de vestir

April 17, 2015.


In addition to the sewing machine (the SY machine, from Ikea - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60208974/), my friend Eva also loaned me a book:  Confeccion de prendas de vestir.

Now that was a challenge!  Not only learning how to sew from-scratch, but doing so in Spanish!  LOL!  But... I do like a challenge!  So I pressed-on.

The book is actually quite good.  It walks through most of the basic techniques - stitching, basting, interfacing, various approaches to hemming, inserting zippers in a variety of ways - and explains the situations where you would chose one or the other approach.   The latter half of the book contains patterns (download to print-at-home) and the patterns refer back to the earlier instructions so that you can look-up the details of each technique required by each pattern.

I spent a couple of days reading the book, cross-referencing the instructive parts with some YouTube videos to be sure that I understood the Spanish :-)  then I picked a simple skirt pattern from the end of the book, put it on paper, and cut it out (only 4 or 5 pieces).  I then returned to the fabric store, picked some old curtain fabric out of their bin (less than 1 Euro!) and sat down with the Spanish instructions for the pattern.

Okay, I am faced with a zipper in my very first pattern!  So I watched a few YouTube videos, read the instructions again, and got started...

My first darts:

Assembled except for the back seam and zipper:

Finished!

I was actually quite proud of myself at this point!  It's not pretty, of course, because it's just rubbish curtain fabric... but it's a skirt! ...it even looks like one :-)  With my appetite whetted, I popped out to the fabric store (this time, a fabric store for clothing) and picked up a few pieces out of their "remnants" bin in order to repeat this success using "real" fabric.

At this point, I should talk a bit about my friend (and colleague) Eva.  One thing that you immediately notice after a few meetings with Eva is that she has a passion for colors!!  (She actually has a bit of a color ritual... but I wont give away too many of her secrets!).  When she initially loaned me her machine, the deal was that, as soon as I was capable, I should make something for her!  As such, when i went to the fabric store, I had colors and designs in my mind... the next "edition" of this skirt had to be colorful and interesting!

Long story short - on April 18th I created this:

In the next post - Eva models the skirt!  (yes, it fit!!  :-) )

The Beginning - April 12, 2015

Hello readers!  Welcome to my "Midlife Crisis Ceative!"  

My purpose in creating this blog is to document my exploration of a new hobby - sewing!   What do I expect to post here?  I'm not sure yet.  Among other things, lessons learnt, reminders-to-self, do's and don'ts, and frequent requests for help and advice from more experienced sewers.  I don't know where I will go with this blog,  but for some reason I simply felt that I wanted to document my sewing journey... if only for my own enjoyment later!  :-)

So, here is my first post - The Beginning, April 12, 2015...

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I'm an odd duck!

For many years I have been collecting sewing-related things, without ever trying to sew! Sewing patterns for dummies (4 different patterns!), a book on "efficient sewing" (published by Singer)... a myriad of things that, for some reason, I thought I would eventually have a reason to use. For at least 10 years I carried them around, moving them from city to city, even from country to country! ...unused...

Then, one day in early April, 2015, at the age of 47, I was having lunch with my friend Eva. I said "Eva... I think I am going to buy a sewing machine and start sewing!" She was surprised (to say the least!) I then showed her the pattern that I had just purchased on EBay - Vogue 2890:

"This is for motivation,", I explained, "one day, I want to be good enough to make THAT!" Ever-supportive, Eva told me not to buy a machine, but rather that she would loan me hers for a while "just to see if you are really serious". I accepted that offer, and on April 12th I brought her machine home and set it up on my kitchen table. I then went to a fabric store ("Tejidos" here in Spain - this one specialized in fabrics for the home) and dug around in their leftovers bin for a few pieces to practice on. I spent about 3 euros, including thread, and rushed home to try the machine!

 My first line :-)

My first seam :-)

Okay, good start!  I can sew a line!

The next thing to do was to hunt for the "Sewing patterns for Dummies" packets that I had been carrying around for years... I selected the one with patterns for bathroom accessories, and decided to make the tissue-box cover.   Here is my first "object":

Nothing to write-home about, but I really enjoyed making it! 

And that was my first day of sewing! Future posts will follow my journey from "absolute zero" to... well.. wherever I end up!

Wish me luck! :-)

Mark