January Check-In

I started this blog at the end of 2017 to chronicle the year leading up to my 50^th birthday, and to document my progress toward my goals.

So far I’ve mostly blogged about sewing but other stuff has happened too. Like shopping. I fell off the wagon to the tune of 5 yards of wool double-knit that popped up after months of an online wool double-knit drought. (Whither Vogue 8151?)  

Still, I’ve discovered that an amazing thing happens when you don’t shop: you don’t spend money and that money will be available for other things later on. Buying less is critical to buying-less-but-better. Eureka.

Shopping aside I’m trying to be mindful of my consumption in general. I’ve stopped reading all but a few “style blogs”—a lot of content aimed at (and created by) women over 45 preaches self-actualization via eyebrow pencil and handbags and it’s not doing me any good.

However I’m still consuming cookies on the daily, which *is* doing me some good.

Do you have any 2018 goals? How are they coming along?

FO: Tamarack Jacket

This was the Beef Wellington of garment projects. I left nothing to chance: Muslin, test quilting, two practice welt pockets, basting basting basting. And I consulted every tutorial I could get my hands on: sewing in interfacing, shortening a separating zipper, installing a separating zipper.

I'm mostly happy with the result, especially since I had to "true" some of the edges after quilting. I've long wanted to make a Chanel-esque jacket and after the quilting on this project I can't decide whether it's feasible or totally insane.

But back to the Tamarack. I lengthened it by 5 inches or so, and installed a separating zipper instead of hooks or snaps. Main fabric is Moda Grunge in Onyx, lining is Alexander Henry, bias trim is Wright's, pockets are Kona black, and batting is Warm and Natural.

Lining is "Sisters of the Golden Temple"

Chevron quilting on the back

The quilting design is a deliberate imitation of Isabel Marant's Coby coat:

Karen has touched on the murkiness surrounding home-sewn copies. I'm rationalizing my actions with this quote from Yohji Yamamoto:

“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself.”

I did not find myself, but I did affirm my love of textured neutrals.


Now on to make nine 2018!

Progress!

Grainline Tamarack
Pockets have been welted; binding has been applied; seams have been sewn and finished. Time to stop freaking out and install the zipper already.

Indicum Sweater
The first of my #2018makenine projects. Oh, the short rows. Nearly finished with the yoke, and feeling like some kind of color work genius what with the corrugated ribbing.


2018 SVE
"Seasonal" aisles everywhere are hawking red-foiled candy bars so it must be time for the Secret Valentine Exchange! One of Sanae's "Important Points" emphasizes using materials that you already have on hand, so my indigo-and-nature-loving recipient will get gifties made from these:

This is kind of a departure for me--I usually only have 2 projects going, max: one sewing; one knitting. 2018 is off to a wild and crazy start.

My Year in Color

Emily Quinton of Makelight has developed a free tool that will analyze your 2017 instagram feed and provide a  graphic "report" of the predominant colors in your posts. Apparently my feed had a chronic sinus infection last year.

What is this palette reflects is *a lot* of resources (time, energy, money) spent on a project that sits abandoned in a basket. It was fun to work on in the moment, but I'm not particularly motivated to finish it (mostly because it would require at least $100 in additional materials and 15+ hours of sewing). In retrospect a coloring book or a jigsaw puzzle might have scratched the color-and-spatial-reasoning itch.

I doubt that I'll document my every project on Instagram, but I'll keep my color map in mind as I ask myself how I want to look back on 2018.

Car Kntting

Appliqued knitting bag (CF's Ebb pattern)

Three mornings a week I have a free hour between dropping off my daughter at her high school and going to work. I usually spend that time knitting and listening to podcasts. (Up First and The Daily, so that I can sit in the car and agree with myself.) 

While my Tamarack percolates (awaiting welt fabric and a 27" zipper) I've started the first of my make nine projects, the Indicum sweater. The neckline has a corrugated ribbing trim so I rifled through my drawer for my yarn guide. 

I'd never used it before, and I was pleasantly surprised! I knit continental and this little gadget actually keeps the strands separated. (Respect to all the knitters who carry yarn in both hands to do color work). "Picking" the yarn towards the bottom of the "vee" (close to the needles) helps with tension. For < $2 you really can't ask for more than that. 

Do you do color work?  What's your preferred method?

Time's Up

I didn't watch the Golden Globes. But yesterday I weeded through the online and radio coverage, a thought-provoking mix of righteousness and black couture gowns. At times my cynical side found it hard to distinguish pageantry from advocacy. Thanks to women like Lauren O'Connor, standing up against sexism and harassment now promises risk-free brand equity for Hollywood's elite.

As Gabrielle Union suggested in an interview last month,  we need to pass the microphone. 

So I was heartened to hear Oprah Winfrey (no stranger to branding, I know) thank "...all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue."

Women like Christie Van and Miyoshi Norris from the Ford plants in Chicago. And the women of color in Alabama who bailed out our collective butts last month.  It's 2018, and  if we want to see a new day dawn then we better follow their example and get it in gear. 

Make Nine 2018

My IG handle is @plain_jane_doe_45

After I finish my Tamarack.....

First Row:

Jalie Eleonore pants. I own the pattern and have high hopes based on the many positive reviews I've read. Fabric? Who knows. Unable to think past the muslin.

 

Indicum pullover. This is the only project for which I have materials, Knit Picks Capretta in cream. The three sweaters I own are all cardigans, so this will get a lot of wear. 

Grainline Lark tee. My go-to pattern has been Deer & Doe's Plantain, but the fabric really needs to have *just* the right drape. I'm thinking this design will work with the snappier knits that are more widely available.


Second Row: 

100 Acts of Sewing Pants No. 1. I made a pair of these in black eyelet last summer and they fit right out of the envelope. I'll make at least one more pair, this time in peppered cotton or brussels washer.

Blueprints for Sewing A-Frame Skirt. Leaning towards denim, inspired by the skirts in the new Eileen Fisher collection. I own one skirt and this will be a much-needed addition.

A Verb for Keeping Warm Prism dress. Maybe double gauze? I own one dress, of the cocktail-y variety, so an "everyday" dress will be another gap-filler.


Third Row:

A Verb for Keeping Warm Endless Summer Tunic or 100 Acts of Sewing Dress No. 3 . Looking for a casual "uniform" for our blistering summers.

A Verb for Keeping Warm Nell shirt. Yay, popovers! Boo, buttonholes! A fear I really ought to confront. Next year! Looking at Brussels washer.

TBD. Contenders, all knitting: Rondeur, Kitty's Chemise, Jasseron, Turtleneck Jacket. 

One Week In

The first week of 2018 has been a productive one, no doubt thanks to the spring-like weather (minus the dusty nap-inducing winds that we'll get in March).


Eating/Health/Fitness
Christmas cookie consumption down via attrition; jogging up thanks to the warm temps that are simultaneously morale-boosting and frightening given that it's January. My heart aches for the residents of Boston whose cars are trapped in chunks of ice due to lack of global warming. But I digress; this is the fitness part of the check-in! We received four boxes of chocolates as gifts (3 lbs total). I appreciate the built-in portion control.

photo: Buffetts. 

Shopping 
I'm inordinately proud that I haven't, which reveals the frequency of my habit and suggests that I better keep my arrogance in check. The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao, yada yada.


Creating 
I've been working on useful things, per my goal of balancing product and process. I finished quilting my Tamarack jacket and made two practice welt pockets. I'm in it to win it and am whipping out the rhyming cliches. When my interfacing arrives I'll insert the pockets into the garment itself.

I also cast on some fingerless mitts to wear in my cold office, if it ever gets cold again. And I did two swatches for my Indium pullover.

How's your 2018 been so far?

visible mending: gray cardigan

I picked up a great vintage cardigan back in October. It's 100% merino with a substantial drape and smart pockets. Recently I snagged it on the edge of drawer and it developed two teeny-tiny holes (the larger was ~ .5").

Inspired by the works of Tom of Holland and Celia Pym, I decided to make this my first visible mending project.  (Recommended: a tutorial from everyone's favorite white-collar felon.) I used a variegated perle cotton, size 8.

I feel comfortable wearing the finished product out on errands, but not necessarily to my casual-ish non-profit workplace (although the head of the organization would probably think it was cool). I'm not exactly sure why that is. Maybe because my two relatively small repairs look like, well, repairs, instead of the deliberate-seeming ornamentation I've admired on holey-er garments like this one:

photo: Rebecca Earley

Or maybe I just need to own the look instead of waiting for a plague of moths.

Would you wear visible mending to the office?