Mad Men Challenge 2: I'm In!

It's time once again for Julia Bobbin's Mad Men challenge! Technically, it's only her second year hosting, but hopefully it becomes a tradition.

Last year, I participated, and I made this dress inspired by Betty Draper, and it turned out... okay. It was the second thing I had ever made and I didn't use a pattern, so it fit a little strangely. Also it fit strangely because I used an invisible zipper, and I hadn't quite mastered them yet. I suppose I should go back and re-do it so I can actually wear it out, but I'm sure that will come in time.

This year, I feel like there are so many options, and I'm not quite sure what to make. Off the top of my head, these are the outfits that might be fun to make:

LOVE this jacket.

Hmm, so many great choices! I'm going to have to go through my stash and my patterns to see what the best options for me would be. Of course, I think rewatching the series for inspiration might also be a good use of my time! ;-)

Are you making anything for the challenge?

Sewing Updates and Inspirations from 1950s Segregated South

You guys, big things have been happening. And by big things, I mean I've actually been sewing instead of focusing on other things like I've been doing for the past few months. Remember when I mentioned a dress I was making back in September and gave up on in October? I finally finished it. It's hanging on my dress form (that I got for Christmas!), and just waiting to be photographed... when I get a proper camera. Camera phones just don't cut it.

I'm also taking a break from designing dresses. I've designed two so far and generally I love them a lot, but it's such a headache when something goes wrong. My next few dresses will definitely be from a pattern. Plus, I've got so many amazing vintage patterns, why wouldn't I use them?

Also, because I've got so many vintage patterns and because I owe so much to the blogging community, I'm participating in Sew Grateful and doing a giveaway, so check back in the first week of February to enter!

But now I want to share with you some amazing photographs I discovered on Messy Nessy Chic, an amazing blog that finds the most amazing, random news out there. I grew up in the south, and while it's certainly not segregated anymore, most places, especially Memphis, the city I was raised in, are hyper aware of racism and are still struggling with the aftermath.

Most pictures of the white community in the 1950s show smiling faces, happy housewives and families, and most people agree that the fashion from the time was outstanding.

Most pictures that I've seen featuring the black community from this time are in black and white and usually show the struggle blacks faced against whites. While that's very, very important and something that should never be forgotten, I was blown away by the pictures below for a few reasons.

First, they're in color. Second, the dresses and hairstyles of these women and children and gorgeous. Third, I felt awful noticing the dresses and hairstyles as the "Coloreds Only" signs were also glaringly prominent, but that was exactly the point photographer Gordon Parks was trying to make: by photographing this family in this way, he created empathy and challenged racism by demonstrating that "the aspirations, responsibilities, vocations, and rituals of the Thornton family were no different than those of white Americans." (via NYT)

Check them out, and hopefully you'll feel as inspired as I do.

Check out the New York Times story, with more pictures, by clicking here!

Attempt #1 of the Macaron Coin Purse

Have you guys seen those macaron purses? The tutorial is floating around on the internet and can be found at  Craft Passion.

Aren't they adorable?

I had the lofty idea of making these for people this Christmas, and putting something cute and clever inside for the lucky recipient.

I bought supplies to make several, but I kept putting it off. I was terrified of hand sewing, you see, so I changed my mind and bought/made gifts for everyone, except for this one macaroon purse for my sister.

Of course I put it off until the night before I was supposed to fly home.

And... it's okay. It shows my lack of hand sewing skills, I think.

I changed a few things from the original tutorial. Mostly, I made it plushy inside and out, rather than hard. It increases the storage potential of the pouch and makes it soft and nice.

Of course, plushy also makes it lopsided.

My sister likes the concept, but not my colors so I'm bought some nice purple fabric with birds and hearts on it and I'm going to try again. Hopefully it will be better!

And perhaps not so much like a strange monster.

End of the Year Review: Crafting, Knitting, Sewing

I wasn't going to do one of those year end reviews because I don't think anyone cared. Plus, I didn't think 2012 had been that great to me, sewing or otherwise.

But then I started thinking about everything I've accomplished and I was completely wrong! It may not have been the bang up year that I was hoping for, and I may not be close to where I want to be in life, but I certainly accomplished a lot!

On a professional level, I worked on some pretty amazing jobs. I was lucky enough to be able to be fairly picky about what jobs I took, and as a result, I only worked on fantastic jobs, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. I also worked on jobs that my friends created, and I ended up loving all of those as well. Slightly unsatisfyingly, I've been brainstorming this past year on what I want to do with my life, and I think I've finally got the answer, though since it involves a career change (and more money to go back to school), I'm not sure it can happen anytime soon. But we'll see.

On a personal level, my boyfriend and I moved in together and our relationship is much more solid than it was a year ago when we were still figuring things out. I suppose figuring things out in any relationship never goes away, but we're closer to being on the same page. We need more conversations, but we're slowly planning our future together, and it should be exciting.

On another personal note, I was sick for much of the year, and I finally figured out (in October) that it was my stupid birth control going haywire. I'm not sure if it malfunctioned or if my body just started rejecting the hormones, but I'm now feeling MUCH better, and hopefully that'll lead to a more productive 2013.

OH AND I GOT TWO ADORABLE KITTENS!!

Now for my creative review, I feel like I grew leaps and bounds in 2012.

I never considered myself creative. Perhaps I'd even go so far as to tell people I was the opposite, not so much because I couldn't come up with grand ideas - I've always had a rich imagination - but because I couldn't carry through. My writing is fairly juvenile and anything I wanted to create physically ended up a terrible disaster.

One of the biggest things holding me back was my belief that if someone else could do it better, what was the point in me doing it?

Clearly this is wrong. Do I need to explain this to anyone? Because I could write a whole post on it if necessary.

So now I'm creating, my results and other people's creations be damned. And my results just keep getting better and better!

(Also, not all of my 2012 projects are up yet on the blog so the list is a little incomplete! I may update this page throughout January - or maybe not...)

Crafting:

Generally I like the idea of pinwheel, but not how it's been carried  out. Perhaps I should paint over it and try again?

Ditto with this pixelated one. I loved the idea behind it, but it seemed rather lackluster once completed.

 I also tried my hand at crafting clothing. The skull tshirt was nice in theory, but I'm too pale and small to wear a white, oversized tshirt. I am still interested in this concept, but perhaps with more fitted, darker clothing.

Onto the good parts of crafting! While not technically a skill I learned this year, I did learn it December 2011 so I'm counting it! Memory candles are perfect for everyone. You can put anything on them, and I chose to put nice memories on most of mine and hand them out as gifts. Of course, I didn't photograph THOSE, just this one with my sister and mother in our 80s glory.

I consider gardening to be like crafting in that I've never really been good at it. But I do love plants, so this year, I grabbed my plants before they could die, and put them in jars. Terrariums are fairly simple and look beautiful. I can't wait to make more next year!

Does this count as crafting or sewing? Does it matter? I took a plain bulletin board and figured out how to make it pretty. Or at least, prettier. I just love the cover around the bulletin board, and I'm so glad my mind is now working in ways to conceive of this idea!

Knitting:

I love sewing and crafting (who knew?), but they can be very solitary activities. Obviously crafting begs people to come over and help and have fun, but it can be difficult in NYC to cart around a huge box of supplies from house to house. I was very hesitant to take up knitting because it seemed so awful and I was sure I couldn't get the hang of it, but it's fairly easy, I have a new, productive way of hanging out with friends, and I don't have to make the awful projects if I don't want to. I've only been knitting for a month, so these are some of my basic beginner projects.

My first two projects were the cat blanket and the bunny filled with catnip. You get no close ups of the blanket because of all my mistakes, and there are no features or embellishments on the bunny because I was 100% sure the cats would rip it apart within a day. They did not. (They also love the blanket.)

Because they loved the catnip bunny so much, I made another toy. I do have 2 kittens after all, so 2 toys are necessary. Enter: the mouse filled with catnip.

I decided, beyond cat accessories and the usual beginner project of scarves, that coffee cozies were my best chance of learning to knit so I made quite a few.

Enlarged XO cable knit coffee cozy (with hot chocolate inside!)

His (basketweave) and Hers (XO cable) cozies

Sewing:

The real reason you're here, I'm sure. This was the year I properly learned to sew. I had taken a costume class in college (aka 6 years ago), but I had never drafted anything or really even completed an entire project, unless you count the doll's dress I finished for my final project. And since it was so long ago, I was pretty much relearning everything all over again.

My very first skirt! It turned out nothing like the pattern, but I love it anyway and wear it all the time.

This was the second thing I tackled this year, for the Mad Men Sew-along, and I consider it a failure. I loved the fabric, so I bought the dress incredibly large with the goal of fitting it to me. Technically, it fits much better than before (when it was a tent), but I had never worked with linings or invisible zippers before this, and it didn't turn out as well as I think it would if I re-did it. It hangs in my closet, utterly useless. Perhaps I need to move it to my projects bin in the house...

Another failure was this purse. Generally it looks cute, but something went horrible wrong with the straps and  they're slowly coming apart. The lining also had issues and doesn't exactly fit. Nor did I insert it correctly... It was meant to be a mock-up of what the purse could be, but I felt very uninspired afterwards and did not attempt again.

Hello oversized bow that I still don't know what to do with!

 Luckily I got my act together once the warmer months arrived and started cranking out nicer things!

Instead of tossing, I tailored this dress and continue to wear it all the time. Also, mandatory pics of Grayson and Franklin.

This was supposed to replace the dress I was going to toss (above), but then I ended up keeping both. They're different enough that I don't think it's too strange that I have 2 yellow sundresses in my wardrobe.

Self drafted 1920s inspired dress

1950s vintage dress

 And then I started nesting and churning out home decor:

Curtains

More curtains

Not quite home decor, but I feel like baby things should be in a similar category. I made these for a baby shower, and my gosh, baby clothes are so tiny (and tough to sew)!

Baby things!

Whew, so that's it for 2012.

I'm looking forward to see what I can accomplish next year. My mother purchased a dress form for me for Christmas, so I can't wait to put that to great use.

Already I'm working on a (replacement) purse for my sister, another jersey dress for spring/fall, a knitted sweater, more curtains, and probably more curtains since I'm getting asked to make them for other people. I really want to make a few more everyday dresses for my wardrobe, a swimsuit, and a cloak for next winter.

Hope everyone continues to have a great holiday! Happy New Year!

Finished: His and Hers Coffee Cozies

If you're looking for the knitting pattern, the page has been moved. Please go here for the PDF.

 

Notice: These knitting patterns are based on the cozies I previously completed from Twisted Fibers Designs, whose website and ravelry page have been down for over a year. These are my versions of the patterns based on what I remember.

These are both really quick and easy basic cozies, and I really love them. They're really perfect for gifts or if you like sitting in front of a window/fire during the winter.

I first knitted these as a beginner and I found them terribly hard and confusing so don't be put off if you're also new and can't get the hang of it - it's the perfect project to learn how to cable, knit, purl, and switch back and forth between them all.

The "his" is the basketweave cozy and the pattern is easily adapted if your mug is larger than mine.

The "hers" is a cabled XO pattern with a cute border around the edge.

Both can be adapted fairly easily and certainly one is no more masculine or feminine than the other. You know, just in case you weren't sure. :-)

If you're looking for the knitting pattern, the page has been moved. Please go here for the PDF.

Finished: Catnip Mouse

If you recall, one of the first projects I finished when I first started knitting was a little bunny filled with catnip. It was very simple, and I didn't do any of the details because I was pretty sure it was going to come out all wrong.

My cats loved it, despite the fact that the bunny had no eyes or ears. I wanted to make a second toy since I have two cats, and I was planning on construting a mouse pattern myself.

But then I thought, why on earth should I torment myself on coming up with a pattern when I'm sure there are plenty of free and easy mouse patterns out there?!

I found this post in the Guardian for a basic mouse pattern. The mouse is supposed to have stripes (and eyes), but what beginner has time/yarn for that? 

I'm still working on finishing my second cat blanket so I started the yarn from the other end of the yarn ball and did this in a few hours!

I know what you're thinking. That poor, pitiful looking mouse. If he wasn't made out of yarn, I'd kill him just to put him out of his misery.

Well, it doesn't matter! The cats loved it!

This is the only shot I could get of them playing with the mouse. Franklin thought I was going to take the mouse away, so he carried the mouse around, constantly running from me, while trying to find a safe place to play.