My Creative Space

My, ahem, 'creative space' is a good place to have a stretch...



...and kick up one's heels.


19 weeks today. And yes, we know the sex! But I have to tell a few more people before I can blog it.

Find creative spaces with a less obstetric focus at Kootoyoo.

Maternity Refashion

Autumn really gets to me. The end of daylight savings, the ever-colder weather, the afternoons spent debating if it's worth putting on the heater.


Seeing as the weather was so dreary I got around to finishing my maternity pants refashion, or as they are known in our half-British household, maternity trousers. It's the one British term I try to fall in line with, as the misapplication of 'pants' leads to hilarious misunderstandings. For example, if I had told Hubby T that when I collected Jack from occasional care on Friday he was running around with no pants on, T probably would have demand the carers be arrested.

Back to the trousers. I used a pair of cords bought for me last year when I weighed more. As I lost weight I started to wear a belt with them, but one of the belt loops pulled off and when I tried to reattach it it ripped a hole in the trousers. They've gone unworn since October last year. Being too big for my current size I figured they'd be ideal for maternity wear. When I was pregnant with Jack I put on 20kg so it's good to start with room to grow!


I had been held up by the lack of waistband elastic in my stash, but once I had it there were no problems following the tutorial. I haven't got around to overlocking the raw edges yet because once I'd tried them on I didn't want to take them off again - so comfy! The elastic doesn't dig in at all but sits easily between bump and bum, again with room to expand into.


Megan, who wrote the tutorial and sells maternity patterns on her website, mentioned that she carried her babies very low and wished she had cut her refashioned trousers lower. Jack was a low baby so I cut the front of my cords daringly low, and they're a perfect fit!


This project is actually a good one for tackling with the self-esteem issues I have around my personal ethical clothing pledge. In my stripey polo and straight leg black cords I feel like I could be on stage with The Strokes or Franz Ferdinand circa 2004-05, back when I was living in up in London. Of course some cooler shoes would help the look, but that's not going to happen. It's also great to have a comfy option other than tracky dacks as the weather (eventually, presumably) gets colder. I felt so dowdy last week shuffling around in my tracky dacks. I have maternity jeans but they're still too roomy and wearing a belt with them gets quite uncomfortable. So now I've got something I feel marginally cool (and only six years behind the fashions) in and it feels great!

Ethical Clothing Pledge Update

Isis who worded the wonderful Ethical Clothing Pledge has asked its participants to do a review of how they're going.


I've been working with my personal ethical clothing pledge for 15 months. My first year is reviewed here and in addition to last year's aquisitions I've made myself one dress using fabric from my stash and a pattern I drafted myself. That's my only new clothing for 2010 thus far.

Now I'm starting to slip back into my maternity clothes from 2008. I'm halfway through turning my too-big black cords into maternity pants and I've bought a maternity top pattern which I'll need to buy fabric for - I don't have any quantities of jersey in my stash. I forgot, I also bought a men's shirt from the op shop to refashion into a maternity shirt. That should be enough new clothing to see me through 2010.

A greyer area is the clothing I've produced for Olive Grove. The first four kids tops I screenprinted came from KMart. The Fair Wear website has changed and is being replaced by Ethical Clothing Australia (hurrah!) and I can't find the old list of designers and shops who had signed that agreement - Target was on it, but I don't think KMart was. I bought cheap shirts so that I could test how they'd sell before spending more on sweatshop free shirts. Happily the others I've bought from Qualitops are accredited carriers of the No Sweat Shop label.

Then there's clothing I've made from scratch for sale. While I can account for the lack of sweatshop workers being exploited by Mrs Beckinsale, I can't verify who made the fabric I bought to sew my skirts. With all the fabric we use, it's safe to assume someone has been exploited along the way. I can vouch that the skirts I've sewn will survive years of wear and washing, but unless they're being bought by an ethical consumer looking to add some handmade staples to their long-term wardrobe, am I simply enabling fashion consumers? I've got to say that the customers in Olive Grove do shop there because they value handmade over sweatshops, so I'm going to have to trust their motives and believe I'm not contributing to global excess and waste problems.

I don't find not acquiring new clothing a challenge because most days, I'm at home with my toddler. No-one cares how I look and as long as I do the laundry often enough I've always got something to wear. Being self-employed means I don't have any disposable income anyway! I keep myself away from shops so I'm rarely tempted by shiny new things.

As I wrote in January, it can be hard on my self esteem to tell myself I don't need/deserve new clothing. When I'm tempted to break my pledge I usually bully myself by telling myself I've got nowhere to wear nice things, no-one would see me in them and I can't afford it anyway. There have to be more positive ways of dealing with the consumer blues, such as counting the nice things I've got or promising to make myself something new. However as the last time I bought non-maternity clothes was 2007 I don't really have anything nice left that fits, and apart from the dress I made for a specific occasion I don't have time to sew for myself. So yes, I confess it would be lovely to give myself a few hundred dollars to buy a few new pieces, and working at Olive Grove I'm well aware of the range of handmade fashion designers in the local area so there's no need to go sweatshop. But that still doesn't give me the money to do it.

So as long as I've got no money and no time I'll keep on reusing my clothes from the early to mid 2000s!

Find more Ethical Clothing Pledge updates over at IsisMade.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I'm terrible at committing to memes, but I thought I'd join Punky & Me and PivX today seeing as I am actually reading something at the moment. Plus this meme doesn't involve taking my own photos!


I'm currently rereading The Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe. Jack gave me this (with his dad's help) for my birthday last year. It's the sequel to the wonderful novel The Rotters' Club, which is set in Birmingham in the 1970s. The Closed Circle takes place mostly in London at the turn of the millenium and centres on the actions of a New Labour MP, his brother and the people they went to school with back in the 70s.

On my first reading I was quite confused because the Labour MP was a huge capitalist and very right-wing, and I didn't understand why he wasn't a Tory. It took a long discussion with Hubby T about the direction Blair's New Labour party took for me to understand the difference between the current UK Labour government and the one which had been in power for part of The Rotters' Club. Coe's books are a modern history-politics lesson as well as a great read.

The characters are very engaging and Coe experiments with different narrative styles, going beyond third person to newspaper columns written by the characters, diaries, emails and poetry. I do love a novelist who doesn't give themselves constraints. Although there is a political aspect to the novel it's mainly a 'slice of life' from this period of the characters' lives, warm and funny in the mundanities shared.

I'm not sure which of Coe's books is my favourite out of The Rotters' Club and the spectacular What A Carve Up!, which examines a fictional family empire. But I am pretty certain that Coe is my favourite contemporary author.

Wedding of the Year!

Firstly, the wedding dress:












Secondly, the photo album:




Thirdly, the best thing I've ever made, sleeping through the ceremony:

Bad timing to start a new project

I am so crap.

A few months ago I proposed to my sister-in-law-to-be (and I'll be glad to not have to type the last two bits of that moniker for much longer) that after I finished her wedding dress, I have a custom photo album made using the leftover fabric, a la Creatively Kept in the US.



She was enthusiastic and I intended to use Creatively Kept's services, even though the dress timeline and shipping from the US would mean there was little chance of getting the album before the wedding. It's on Saturday, in case it's slipped your mind.

For the last couple weeks my last thought before falling asleep has been "Must order that album and post the fabric..." But by morning the thought is gone and all the day's useful hours dissipated before it occurs again.

One reason I haven't committed to it is my idea that I can find someone local who both makes photo albums and is happy to semi-copy the concept. Only for the sake of saving on postage and the amount of time it would take to arrive - I have no desire to deprive Creatively Kept of income. I haven't found anyone likely on Made It and the dedicated bookbinders I can find on line all seem a bit above making fabric-covered photo albums.

So you know where this is leading, don't you?

I've Googled how to do it myself.

I'm not confident enough in my new bookbinding skills (ahem) to try to genuinely make the whole thing from scratch, and I don't have time to find where to buy the supplies, let alone make the entire thing before we start our drive to the country tomorrow morning. But I've found a number of tutorials on how to fabric cover an existing photo album. Most were for ring-bound albums, which is most certainly not suitable for an only brother's wedding gift, but I've found one for covering a post-bound scrapbook album.

I know very little about scrapbooking apart from there's a lot of it out there. I have said ungenerous things about it in the past. But what I'm hoping is that Box Hill Spotlight has a post-bound scrapbook album or dry-mount photo album in stock, because that's where I'm heading when Hubby T brings the car home from work. And it's just occured to me that KMart five minutes' walk away has a huge scrapbooking section and a photo album section. I'm off!

I promise if this ends badly I will pay the nice lady money to do it for me.

[Update] So it turns out scrapbook albums have slip-in sleeves for storing your scrapbook pages. Not a photo album. However I did find a jumbo (30cm x 37cm) post-bound album in KMart and they even had two packs of top-up pages in stock. Sadly it is magnetic pages rather than dry mount, but I remember from hunting for my own wedding album that dry mount can be very hard to find (especially at Northcote Plaza, even when it did have a photo shop). But the best thing about it - and I've tried to find a link so you can see - is that it's designed to be decorated at home! It's covered with brown paper and suggests you draw or paint on it, but I'll be spraying it with adhesive and gluing on fabric. I'm hoping it'll be ideal compared to albums with a glossy or leatherette cover.

Wish me luck!

Post #5 for the long weekend

I'm certain I can make it to six posts by the end of today.

I follow British comic Richard Herring's blog, which he's been writing every single day since November 2002. Not that I've been reading it that long or read it every day, but I've been dabbling since having a day job with nothing to do in 2006. He started the blog as a way of 'warming up' to his daily comedy writing and beating writer's block, which is why the blog is named Warming Up. They're not short entries either - 500+ words is normal.

Rich writes a lot about the process of creating comedy and finding his own way of communicating with an audience. Saturday's entry, written at the tail end of his 'Hitler Moustache' tour, is to me a very familiar expression by a creative person who's found their niche.

But I think part of the reason I am excited to be going home is that on this tour I have acknowledged to myself that most of the roadblocks in my career have been put there by myself. I have been presented with opportunities and shied away from them or messed them up, partly because I feared the failure or rejection more than I wanted the success. Now I think I am ready to hanker down a bit and get on with doing some writing and not feel so personally affronted if executives or publishers or audiences turn them down... A show like Hitler Moustache does not come along every year and I think it is my personal favourite thing that I have ever done... But I want to write more TV stuff and I want to write more books and I want to write more shows and it feels like, after the reviews and audience reaction and ticket sales of this year that I may have found myself in a position to do so.

I recognise this feeling personally. It's how I felt after doing my first Craft Hatch market, when sticking my neck out and applying for something I felt was out of my league turned out to be the best public reaction (and sales) I'd had. It's how I feel this week about my decision to jump with both feet into Olive Grove.

The idea of committing to paying for the equivalent of a weekly market in order to have my work in a shop terrified me. It wasn't until a week after I started that I realised making twice what I paid in rent would only be the equivalent of selling my stuff wholesale - half the money I made would be going straight back to the shop. I would have to make three or four times my rent to consider the relationship an ongoing success. This terrified me - I've often been the one at markets who stands there smiling at empty space while shoppers flock to stalls of baby clothes and jewellery and things I have no aptitude for. I decided that if I lost money - made less than twice my rent - for the first two or three months I'd withdraw.

For the first week I totted up my slow sales in the ledger very nervously. I watched what people looked at and what they bought, and in a combination of financial anxiety and customer-focussed logic I quickly made stock in the popular categories - kids teeshirts, accessories, and women's clothing.

I also pumped out as many cushions as I could, aiming to always have at least three in the shop, but every time I put them in the window they'd be sold the next time I visited. It was very hard to keep up with shop cushions, the last orders trailling in from Frankie, suffering with first trimester exhaustion for the first fortnight and being brought down with tonsillitis for the last week. I only had one healthy week in March and I'm sure I made as much stock as I did in December!

On Saturday I took my newly named Brenda skirts into the shop and added up my first month's sales for the purpose of being paid. My eyes widened as I added it up - in my first month I came $25 short of making three times my rent. I had already (almost) reached my minimum benchmark for ongoing success. How? By hard work, pushing myself into new creative areas, and using my strengths.

It is a huge step from the novice market crafter I was a year ago, only making things I loved without a knowledge of what people would like and what they'd buy (which can be two vastly different things), to taking the professional 'make what sells' approach necessary to meet ongoing financial expenses. A lot of people who romanticise the handmade movement would call it selling out.

Personally I don't think it's selling out, because retail-level crafting is a completely different animal to the joy and self-expression of making one item for oneself or a love one. As soon as you set up your first 'production line' to efficiently make three or six or twenty of something at once, you've looked beyond the small comforts of craft and into the bigger, financially risky sphere I've nervously jumped into.

There's nothing wrong with only making for self and gifts, and there's nothing wrong with making for money. Don't ever be ashamed of doing either, that you're not brave enough or have enough time to have a stall, or that you haven't made anything for your kids in months because you're developing a new product range. You don't have to have the same goals and ambitions as the crafter next to you. As long as it gives you fulfillment, be proud.

Image: the shop that inspires me to achieve - Craft In The Bay, Cardiff. My goal is to sell here one day which means I (a) have to become an established craftsperson and (b) have to move to Wales.

More Easter Crafting

I hemmed my dress and tidied my sewing room - threw out the scraps from my last six or so projects. So much better! I'm one of those people who has a box labelled 'Bits of string too short to use', but instead of a box it's yet another pile on my workdesk. All gone now!

I started on my maternity pants but don't have the right elastic, so now I've got a pair of cords with no waistband or zip. Hopefully I'll have a chance to rectify that tomorrow. I took the opportunity to finish off the six needle coptic bound book kit I bought with my Christmas money. I'd already drilled the stupid holes and folded all the pages, so I was pleasantly surprised by how quick it was to stitch together! I finished right at 'good natural light in the back room' time, which seems to be 3pm now that daylight savings is over.






Please look away from the awful holes in the first signature...


It was fun, and I'm really looking forward to tackling my next kit. Anyone volunteer to drill the holes and fold the pages for me?

Pattern Solution!

Thankyou smartbots who submitted answers to yesterday's pattern quiz, and my apologies for spending the afternoon watching telly instead of working towards showing you the solution.

Here you can see the progression of the bodice pattern from basic block to finished bodice piece:


First you can see the basic block*, with that mysterious extra triangle which Julia identified as a cowl neck. I sliced open the waist dart and closed off the side dart. As the cowl piece shifts the placement of everything I didn't bother sewing the darts in at first, and when I tried it on it didn't need them at all. The answer to the waistline question is that it's an empire waist - raised 8cm from the natural waistline. Normally I'd raise an empire waist 10cm, but I find 8cm more comfortable for maternity dresses. The empire waist is an essential element of maternity garments made from woven, rather than knit, fabric. Without it the bustline has no definition and the lst thing a preggo wants is to look blobbier than she actually is.

Next you can see the piece rotated so that the right angle of the cowl neck becomes the centre front. I have no idea why I added in a seam allowance. It does answer the mystery of were the extra pleat allowance I put in the skirt disappeared to. (That plus the non-use of the dart allowance.)

And lastly, the piece is doubled over and the grain line drawn in at 45º. Cutting a cowl piece on the bias gives it a lot more drape. Normally a cowl would have a self-facing extension, but I decided to cut another full piece to line it as the patterned fabric would conceal the seam. I considered lining it with black satin for added kick, but I didn't have any black in the house and couldn't be bothered going shopping.

The end result:


Whoops, still have the thread marks for the unused darts in there! You can see how they shifted from being under the bust point to the middle of nowhere.
As well as the wedding next Saturday (and yes, the dress is officially finished and will be delivered this afternoon), the next weekend I've been invited to a cocktail party with James Marsters (Spike), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) and Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin)**. This meant my brief for the dress was something conservative enough for a wedding in my hometown church, plus sophisticated enough that Spike will seek out my company. Because no matter how monogamous/pregnant one may be, one always wants sci-fi stars to find them intriguing and seek an introduction. That's a common life goal, isn't it?


The full effect. I'll hem about 5cm off to make it an elegant tea length. I have no idea what tea length technically is, I just call things 'tea length' when I think they're elegant! I probably could have raised the waistline another 2cm comfortably.


Fifteen weeks two days, plus a Crunchie egg for breakfast. There's a little bit of pleating over the bump. There was meant to be more but as I explained, it disappeared into a wider-than-planned bodice. The pleats vanish into the fabric pattern anyway.


Mission: cover shoulder tattoo and maternity bra straps for church wedding.
Accomplished!

I bought the fabric at GJ's for $12 a metre last time I was pregnant, with no solid idea of what to make from it. I'm pleased that it's still ended up as a maternity dress! The wedding colours are chocolate and vanilla and I know my sister's wearing a chocolate-coloured dress (which I made last year) so I thought I may as well team with the theme. I'm not sure if the bridesmaids have ended up in chocolate or yellow - we might be very matchy! All part of the fun. I hope my mum's shopping expedition hasn't also resulted in a dark brown outfit...

I'm really looking forward to sharing pictures of the three dresses - bride, my sister and myself - this time next week. And the wedding - I'm looking forward to that too!

* I should have remembered that a fitted bodice requires a fitted bodice block, not a basic block! I'm out of practice (and had to take 6cm out of the bodice after I'd sewn it together).

** I only just saw that Mary McDonnell is going to be there. I think I'm more excited about meeting President Roslin than Spike or Ianto! I can't help expecting she'll be very wise and kind and give my baby a special Kobol blessing. Which reminds me of a dream I had before we got married, about meeting David Bowie and him blessing our union. "This pleases me," he said grandly. My subconscious knows what my priorities are.

Pattern Quiz

Okay smartbots, who can tell what style of dress I've drafted a bodice pattern for? Just the type of neckline and waistline will suffice.

Answer will be provided long before all you lucky people who are off to Daylesford Makers Market get home!

Skirty!

Oblige me, if you will, by watching this quick introductory movie:


You should now be in the mood to see my incredibly 90s skirts!


They weren't intended to be Incredibly 90s skirts. The pattern was inspired by (but has little resemblance to) the linen M&S skirt I found in an op shop in Sittingbourne and wore almost every day this summer. Really, the only design feature I carried across was the fabric covered buttons.


I found the fabric at two different shops and thought it'd look good for cold weather skirts. When I cut my knee-length skirt pattern out of the fabrics, they looked a bit too much like something you'd find at Sussan. The first thing I changed was covering the buttons in black corduroy instead of the same fabric as the skirts. Much cuter.


When I'd sewn them together they still looked too conservative. What's the quickest way to turn a conservative skirt into a sassy skirt? Cut off 10cm!


Now they looked just like something Kelly or Brenda from 90210 would wear to school. So I dressed them up the way I'd wear them, back in the 90s: black babydoll tee and Docs. Now they've gone from Beverly Hills Bitch to Riot Grrl.

I'm not sure what to name them. I scribbled 'Button + Pleat Skirt' on the pattern pieces, but now I'm inclined to name them the 'Kelly + Brenda Skirt'. Or I could name one Kelly and the other Brenda. Any other suggestions?

These will be available from Saturday at Olive Grove, 159 Sydney Rd Brunswick, in sizes 10, 12-14 (alright, 13) and 16.

And now that my shop sewing's out of the way I'm spending the four day break sewing for myself. I need a dress for my brother's wedding next weekend and am starting from a blank piece of paper (which I've just realised I'm out of...). I really need to get onto Megan Neilsen's maternity pants refashion. And, alright, I should probably stop procrastinating and hem the lining of my brother's bride's wedding dress. You know when you've only got one simple thing left to finish a project? I never miss a deadline, but I will wait to meet it on the last day (which is Sunday - heaps of time!).