Losing my Mayake Mojo

I am ashamed to say I have had a UFO on the go since Christmas.

The last time it happened, I chucked everything in a cupboard, never to see the light of day again. I can't do it this time as Lisa of the fabulous White Tree Fabric has generously given me the fabric and pattern and given me the chance to document the process.

I have sewn and unsewn seams, re-arranged my fabric and still ended up with a mess. Let's rewind and give you the back story.

In September, I wrote briefly of my amazement at being given a chance to sew an Issey Mayake pattern with some beautiful cotton lawn. As is usual with Issey Mayake patterns (I was an avid Mayake sewing fan in the early Eighties) an enthusiasm and origami mind processes are required.

Several cut rectangles later, I was ready. I was good, I read the sizes on the back of the envelope and  cut it size 12-14. Then I got flu. Then I got flu again and before I knew it, it was Christmas. So over Christmas, with the aim of making the top for New Year's Eve, I got cracking. 

The pattern is made up of 5 rectangles with a lot of spare fabric - I did end up using some of this, but I will explain that later!

The large rectangle has to be carefully marked and then cut down the middle between 2 points. Easy if you mark it correctly - I have been using Frixion pens recently, as the marks disappear when ironed (but always test - not everyone is happy using them) so this was a grab-your-ruler-and draw-that-line kind of moment. And this is where the origami fun begins. If you do not mark ALL the pattern markings onto your fabric, you are on a road to nowhere (hmm, I think that would make a great song title, don't you?).

Hmm, did that small rectangle really go there? This is supposed to be a size 12-14 but barely fit my 18 year old skinny-minny round the hips.

I grabbed the seam ripper and started again - fold left front across the....what? Put the zip where?

You really need either a live model to make this on or a tailor's dummy, so I bought myself a tailor's dummy (good excuse, huh?) as one daughter headed back to Uni and the other got her head down for A Levels. 

Ooh, now this was better - I sewed the side panel in and then the side seam and......hang on, where does that bit go? The side pieces were too small to make a flattering side panel - too short on one side, not wide enough on the other. I even checked the pattern pieces for sizing, to make sure I had cut correctly - I had, so this was another mystery.

Needless to say, it all ended up back in pieces and draped on my tailor's dummy before my epiphany moment - but that is for next time!

5 Things I Love About Knitting

Knitting runs in my family. It's a skill that has been passed down from generation to generation. My Grandma taught me to knit. She started me off with big needles and some thick petrol blue yarn. I 'knitted' two large rectangles over a period of weeks which she sewed together to make into a tabard. I wore it with pride. Note that 'knitted' is in inverted commas. That's because I now realise that what I actually did was grapple and fight with some yarn and needles, it wasn't what I now know as knitting. I pulled the yarn too tight, fought to get the needle into the stitches, had more or less stitches at the end of each row than I started with. But Grandma patiently and skilfully unpicked rows, picked up stitches and 'fixed' my mistakes. More importantly she gave me the encouragement to continue. And continue I did.

If you haven't given it a whirl, then you really should. There are lots of knitting groups around these days with expert knitters happy to pass on their skill - Google 'Knit and Natter' and see what you find.

Here are some of the reasons I love to knit:

1. It's therapeutic. Getting into the rhythm and hearing the clickety clack of needles is actually quite relaxing. It's good for your brain too apparently - Albert Einstein allegedly knitted between projects to relax and calm his brain. If it was good enough for Albert.....

2. I'm not bilingual. Foreign languages are gobbledygook to me, I just can't learn them. You either can or you can't.....and I can't. However, I can read, speak and understand knitting fluently. It really is like another language - psso, c4b, sl1p, k2tog, yfwd etc etc then throw in parentheses, brackets, asterisks, double asterisks - if you can't read a pattern, then you are basically screwed.

3. Knitting is totally portable. I also work with leather, but can only do it when I'm in my work room as the numerous tools and materials are too big/heavy/impractical to carry around. But stick your needles and ball of yarn in your bag and you can knit 'on the move'. What a pity they won't allow needles on aircraft as it would be the ideal way to pass the time on a long haul flight.

4. With a simple ball of yarn and a couple of needles you can make fabric - brilliant! And combine that same single ball yarn with different stitch combos and voila, you can create texture, patterns, bobbles and twisted cables. Work with multiple balls in different colours and you can let your imagination go wild and make intricate designs, pictures, words - the possibilities are endless! Change to circular needles and you can make seamless 3D fabrics - wow!

5. Knit a gift for someone and they'll keep it. My friends daughter is in her second year at Uni. When she was born I knitted a matinee jacket and bonnet. It took ages as there were hundreds of stitches and each row was in moss stitch. My friend loved it. And she still has it. Highly unlikely she kept the mass produced outfits from Mothercare that she was also given. It's easy to go and buy a present, but making something takes time and shows how much you love the person you're giving it to.

Case in point - here's a pic of my dad from the 1960's wearing a cardigan featuring Canada geese, lovingly knitted for him by mum. It took her ages! He wore it, kept it (even after they divorced) and when he died my sister took it. She still has it. I wonder if Mum ever imagined it would still be around 50 years on?

Posted with Blogsy

A bit of Vogue Pattern Sewing - happy days

I recently became a member of White Tree Fabric blog team (you can read my introduction by Lisa below) and they generously gave me an opportunity to select a sewing pattern of my choice, make it and tell you about my trials and tribulations.

In the 1980s, when I first started sewing, I was introduced to Vogue Sewing patterns. Mainly the Vogue Designer range. They seemed expensive but you got a woven label stating this was a Vogue Designer Original so I was hooked! I never had a bad pattern or instructions - and so my decision was made, I browsed the Vogue patterns and spotted an Issey Mayake design.

Ah, Issey Mayake - my friend and I made many of his patterns in the 1980s (good job that Facebook didn't exist then - the evidence would be available for all to see). I found him to be a study in fabric origami and the reviews of the pattern I have chosen make it sound like nothing has changed.

I have selected to make the tunic in pattern V1309 and some Cloud 9 cotton to make it in. Black and white isn't me but luckily blue & white is.

As you can see, it is dramatic and my husband says 'very 1980s' but that is good with me.

So I will pre-wash my fabric and get cracking!

My White Tree Fabric bio: http://www.whitetreefabrics.com/news/alison/ 

5 things I love about sewing

I am a computer nerd, using & maintaining computer systems at work. I avoided Home Economics at school, loved fixing my old cars. I've never considered myself as having much of a creative streak.

But everyone has a creative streak, in some shape or another.

Sewing patterns appeal to the techie in me - pieces that go together in a certain order, in a certain way, allowing a 2D piece of fabric to become something 3D. 

I like seeing a detail on an item of clothing and working out how it was made. But I do not have the creative juices to come up with original designs except by combining details from various sources.

But fabric? Designs made by super creative people!

It is a tool and as such I am amazed at the designs made by clever clogs like Tula Pink and Amy Butler. And I mean clever clogs in a good way - talented, talented people.

Colours that go together.

Textures that can make a garment zing.

All from the creative vision of designers.

I can make things that no-one else has.

I can make things for other people in colours and combinations they want.

Not creative? Think again!

What I love about my bionic gear bag

As is normal for crafters, we use items daily without even thinking about it - items we have made as well as tools for crafting.

I am at the point where I cannot imagine not having my bionic gear bag to hand. Let's call it a BGB, saves me mis-typing it (and my spellcheck still hasn't quite learnt what it is that I am trying to type).

My sister is the seamstress, I am the leather crafter, hand stitching all the leather items in our Etsy shop (scissorsistas.Etsy.com in case you haven't seen it). She wasn't 100% happy with a specific BGB she had made (no idea why, I cannot see what is wrong with it) so I snapped it up and stuffed it full of my leathering tools.

I kept ringing her up, telling her how much I loved it. Telling her how much it was perfect. Telling her that I used it every day. She stopped taking my calls about it after a while!

And what is it about a BGB that means once you have one you won't be able to manage without one?

Compartments. Lots of them. I can keep my knives and blades safely zipped in their own place, so no fear of cuts when rummaging round.

A 'tray' to stop stuff rolling off the worktop. My awl is a perfect example. If I had a pound for every time it's fallen on the floor...... No problem now I have a BGB.

I can craft 'on the move' and have all my gubbins safely stashed in my BGB. No more Quality Street tins or carrier bags.. The BGB is pretty damn neat and super stylish. Better than a Lidl bag for life.

It's like a tardis. It's astonishing how much 'stuff' I can fit in there. This is what I have stashed in there at the moment:

Dressmakers scissors
Shoemakers knife
Snips
Small scissors
Tin of leather needles
Pack of Stanley knife blades
Stanley knife
Tub of pins
Ribbon
3 pens
4 pencils
Beeswax
Linen thread
Awl
Bone folder
Roll of double sided tape
Pricking iron
Edge crease
Parcel tags

It goes on. And yes, I can zip it all up. It really is like Mary Poppins carpet bag. Buy one and see for yourself. 

Scissorsistas.etsy.com

Inconvenient Timing

After 6 months, we are starting to see more regular sales in our Etsy shop. It is great - the other week, each morning I checked my notifications and had an order nearly every day. And they have gone around the world, mainly the USA. Who would've thought that!

But I go on holiday next week, leaving 50% of Scissor Sistas behind to run the show. Which she is more than capable of doing but what if we sell out of something and need some more making? She is the leather guru, knitting maniac and in charge of supplies and posting. I only sew and do the Social Media. I tweet like a tweeting fool (apologies to our followers who sometimes think I am tweeting like I've had too much caffeine) and hope that I keep our items for sale visible.

Despite being real-life sisters, we are 80 miles apart and stock has had to be sent across the Pennines, to and fro, to cover holidays. We need to build up more stock, we need to extend our stock lines but cannot continue to have to sent it around to ensure we can meet potential orders. When she goes away in September, do I have to try and run the ribbon printer?

So I need to sew more duplicates. I need to stop drinking tea and do more sewing.

And go on holiday without worrying that it is an inconvenient time!

<script>
  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
  })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

  ga('create', 'UA-65729374-1', 'auto');
  ga('send', 'pageview');

</script>