Category: sewing

Summer!

From my book SUMO COLORS – I was thinking of my parents when painting Mt. Fuji, which is in the Shizuoka prefecture where they live

A while ago I had mentioned that if all goes well, I will be traveling to Japan this summer. Unfortunately, all has not gone well and the trip won’t be happening. The reasons are innumerable, and I won’t bore you with the details. I’m disappointed, but we’re tentatively looking into going during winter break. Has anyone traveled to Japan during the holiday season? Will it be too cold for a wimpy west coaster like me? My parents live in a village at the tippy top of a mountain in Shizuoka (not on Mount Fuji) and the single lane road sounds like it might be icy and treacherous in December. Sigh…we’ll figure something out.

I have a summer ahead of me with virtually no deadlines. I worked diligently during spring and I can see the finish line for my next book (out in April of 2024!). Any changes to the book should be minimal at this point. Plus, I submitted all the preparations required for Creativebug for the time being (I’ll have some fun updates on that front next month! If you want to try out Creativebug for 2 free months and get 50% off for life, click here). Furthermore, I’m in limbo for some other projects and don’t have to think about them until the fall.

It feels weird.

But also marvelous. I’ve been intentional about creating a lighter workload for summers and winters and even though it’s difficult, I decline a lot of opportunities to avoid over-scheduling myself. I’m plagued by FOMO, but it’s worth it because I feel like I’m taking care of my future self. Slowly, slowly and with much experimentation (and mistakes) over the years, I’ve managed to structure my deadlines in a way that feels sane. I have only one more year left with K before she goes off to college and I’m making the most of it. I don’t want to look back and lament that I was too busy to spend time with my beloveds.

With all this extra time, in addition to bonding with K, I plan on reading copiously. Book recommendations would be much appreciated! I’m an omnivorous reader and no genre is off-limits. I do tend to gravitate toward books described as “big-hearted” and “charming,” but I can get down with the grittiest of murder mysteries, the cringiest of self-help, the densest of sci-fi/fantasy tomes, the loftiest of literary fiction. Even kids’ books, graphic novels and mangas are fair game; we’re huge fans of Spy x Family in this household. Do tell if you’ve read a book that captivated you.

I’ve also decided that this is the summer when I finally make a significant dent in my fabric stash. I called it “Destashival” back in 2019 and I’m going to make good on it, my friends. Things went a little off-the-rails during COVID and two sewing books (Animal Friends to Sew and Sewing Love) turned out to be insufficient in terms of reducing the mountainous textiles that I own. In fact, I went a little crazy and added to the fabric supply as I progressed on the books…no bueno. Muy no bueno. Let’s not harp on past transgressions, however, and here are some sketches of things I’d like to stitch up:

I’m going to self-draft all of these:

– I sewed a jumpsuit a couple of years ago and though it’s somewhat see-through and wonky, I love it. In warmer months, I wear it all the time and want to fine-tune my pattern

– I really, really want a flirty, twirly summer dress with thin straps

– I adore hoodies and thought, why not make one in linen? After all, so much of what I wear is made from linen

– All of my wide-legged pants are tired-looking these days, so I need to replace them

– I’ve been resorting to wearing M’s t-shirts as nightwear, but want cute PJs with a matching top and bottom

– I’m going to focus on interesting details for tank tops

– Protecting my skin is a must! I wear hats every day and though I liked the Lotta Jansdotter ones I made, I’m going to tweak the pattern more.

Ever since I started sewing, my goal has been to be able to sew anything. I’m fairly confident that I can make most things, but there are still a giant number of techniques and things I haven’t tried or have only attempted once or twice. Maybe I’ll give zero-waste sewing a shot — is zero waste sewing even possible? 

You know, there’s a side benefit to developing this skill: should the apocalypse that my prepper husband has been predicting ever come to pass, I’ll be ready. Sewing can come in handy in so many ways when the world is melting down, don’t you think? In a pinch I could whip up a backpack for survival items or a tent or some other apocalypse-friendly paraphernalia. Of course, there’s the conundrum of how I would lug my sewing machine and supplies if we have to scamper through the wilderness to escape zombies or what-have-you. I suppose I’ll have to whittle a needle out of wood and use my hair or vines to stitch…leaves?

Anyway.

I’m continuing to practice digital painting. Check out the flowers below — pretty much indistinguishable, right? Digital painting tools have come a long way since the first Photoshop brushes I sampled over 10 years ago. Procreate, in particular, is incredible and I’m having so much fun trying a myriad of brushes and making my own! Love, love, love.

Basically, I’m doing all the things I normally do, but for pure FUN. Summer is for play, and play I will! 

Until next month take good care, my friends!

P.S. Happy Fourth of July to those in the U.S.!

New Creativebug Classes + Get two months free!

Hello, hello! January has been a full month. I’m working on my next book and a scad of other exciting projects, I’ve been dealing with health issues (luckily I’m getting better), and I’m reorganizing/streamlining so many areas of my life. I lift the curtain and share the details of these types of things with my lovely Patreon group, and I like to mention bits and bobs here on the old blog too.

The online world has much to say about how this is around the time that New Year’s resolutions sputter and die. Has that been the case for you? I don’t really make resolutions anymore — my focus is to create habits that I want to keep for the long haul…preferably for as long as I’m breathing. When I think in those terms, I’m far less militant and punishing with my goals. “I’ve got time, and a little something is better than a whole lotta nothing,” I repeat to myself over and over and over.

Anyway. Creativebug classes. I’ve taught a bunch of them in the last couple of years (and more in the works!), and I’m thrilled to announce that quite a few classes were released this month. Most are based on sloper-making and projects from my latest sewing book, Sewing Love. Perhaps you prefer video-based instructions? Or maybe you like to learn from different modalities to solidify your skills (I do)? If that’s the case, check out the Creativebug classes. I even have a special code for you to get 2 months free and 50% off for life HERE. There are so many wonderful classes on this platform, it’s definitely worth signing up!

Click HERE for a little video promo. I still get twitchy about seeing myself in photos and videos, but hey, promotion is a good thing when I deeply believe that learning how to create clothes for ourselves to fit our own unique, beautiful bodies is powerful and enriching.

I better get back to my book illustrations. I am having so much fun painting this one, though of course I always love painting book illustrations. I’m being conscientious about doing it at a steady yet leisurely pace. I promised myself not to overwork, which as you know, is my default mode. I definitely overdid it in 2022, and I paid the price with aforementioned health issues. Once I’ve got the illustrations in good shape, I have some sewing projects that I’m super excited about. More on that soon!

Photos and video courtesy of Creativebug

 

June Round-Up


Hello, my friends! We just survived an epic, record-breaking Pacific Northwest heatwave (108 degrees on Monday) and I’ve never been more thankful for our scary-and-fit-for-a-horror-movie basement that remained at least 15 degrees cooler throughout the onslaught of scorching temps. For some reason, I always associate heatwaves with that bit in The Great Gatsby when the characters are all resting on tasteful settees or davenports with white curtains billowing about. My own situation was decidedly the exact opposite of that — we sweated up a storm in a dark, airless, bunker-esque room.

Katara, our cat, was flopped on her side the entire time. She refused to go down to the basement and stubbornly stayed in the sweltering upstairs levels, If she could speak human, she would have said, “I’m done. Stick a fork in me.”

Heatwave notwithstanding, I had a decent output in terms of illustrating and sewing. I’ve now posted on Instagram every week for six solid months, and my friends, it’s time for a break. I’ve decided to delete Instagram for the month of July to fully unplug. I wanted see if I could consistently produce illustrations and sewing projects without making any excuses and the answer is clearly yes. This was meant to be a personal experiment just for me because I’d always been a procrastinator and excuse-maker and I didn’t want to be those things anymore. I’m glad I’m creating this new level of trust with myself.

Next week we’re heading out to visit family in Michigan and we’ll be celebrating M’s and K’s birthdays later in July. We have camping trips and outings planned and really, I just want to enjoy a few weeks without the constant pull to produce, produce, produce, which is probably both my strength and downfall. I do have a few deadlines, but compared to the sewing book deadlines, the current projects on my docket are easy-peasy.

So here are the illustrations and sewing projects from June:

SEWING PROJECTS

I quickly made the reversible ironing board cover for the sewing book photoshoot, and I’m so glad I did! It’s not that I minded ironing before, but now it feels inexplicably special to be pressing fabrics and sewn items on a custom cover. There’s a quick tutorial on how to make it here.

The flutter-sleeve tops are self-drafted based on an old Anthropologie top, and I’ve been wearing them a lot. I started sewing a lot more for K these last few weeks and she’s been requesting cropped, puff-sleeve tops as teenagers are wont to do (I’m told). The first top was a flop. I drafted it but it didn’t fit well, so I tried out the Tudor Blouse pattern by Stitch Witch Patterns, which was recommended to me via IG — social media can be wonderful at times. K loves both her button-down and wrap Tudor tops!

ILLUSTRATIONS
I used Spoonflower to test a couple of my repeat patterns (the bunny and birds), which was fun. I originally had the idea of getting fabric printed regularly but didn’t realize that shipping would take so long…I may just add my designs to Spoonflower and see how the mock-ups look — how amazing that the mock-ups are instantly created on the Spoonflower site! In general, I’m having a blast practicing seamless patterns and I’m really loving my morning routine of painting simple watercolor illustrations.

More details on my Instagram feed here.

I hope you all had a lovely June! As I mentioned before, I turned fifty this month and after much contemplation, I came to the conclusion that my fifth decade is simply about being unapologetically myself. Aging is marvelous and I wish I’d had more examples of people expressing that. No matter, I’ll be that example. Aging is awesome, y’all. It really is.

Alright, I’ll be back at the end of July with a quick update, and my weekly Instagram postings will resume in August. I’m looking forward to taking this break and to come back refreshed and raring to go! I also have exciting updates later this summer! xoxo

May Round-Up

Hello, my friends! Happy Memorial Day! How’s it going? May was such an exciting month for me. For the last couple of years, I’ve been giving tons of attention to my next sewing book, which has been postponed time and time again. The publication date has been pushed out once more to August of 2022 (most recently it was slated for Spring of 2022), but I’m gleeful because we completed the big photoshoot last week! I have a smaller photoshoot this upcoming week, and I’m avidly preparing for that right now, but the amount of mental space that’s cleared up since completing the photoshoot last week is staggering.

So many wonderful people have been involved with the book and I will do a proper and effusive acknowledgement of them all when it’s closer to publication date. It takes a veritable bustling town to get a book production chugging along! What you see above is a quick mock-up that I submitted for my book cover, but this idea didn’t make the cut.

I’m super proud of myself that I kept up my weekly sewing and illustrating amid the overflow of behind-the-scenes photoshoot goings-on. Sure, there was one week that I was sewing only for the photoshoot, but I figure that totally counts as weekly sewing.

I still have a little more to go to get ready for the upcoming photoshoot, so I’m going to sign off with a round up of May’s illos and sewing projects, but I will be back next month with some musings on turning 50-years-old. My birthday is in a couple of weeks and I have HUGE thoughts and feelings about it.

As always, I’ve included more info about each project in my Instagram feed.

ILLUSTRATIONS + SURFACE PATTERN DESIGNS:

 

 

 

WEEKLY SEWING:

This month was all about self-drafting patterns. I have a rather big goal for the rest of the year that I will share next time…

Wishing you all a lovely June! xo

April Round-Up

Hi, hi, hi! How are you, my friends?

April has been a packed month, and the countdown to the photoshoot for my next book has begun. I have 3 weeks to get all the prep work done, which involves a lot of sewing and figuring out props and coordinating schedules. I’m getting more and more excited!

As you can imagine, my days are full and will continue to be extra full for at least another two months as I wrap up all the details of book #8 (yes, #8!!!! I’ve published 3 kids’ books, 2 sewing books, and have 2 more kids’ books that are whirring through the printing press as I type this). So I’m keeping this blog post short, and let’s dive in!

I dipped my toes into sewing a little bit out of my comfort zone for the month of April:

Clockwise from top left:

Butterick 6024 in off-white handkerchief linen – Pintucks still intimidate me, but I’m getting better at ’em!

Tank top from Pattern Magic in pink batiste – I botched this one, but tried my best to salvage it

Lodo Dress by True Bias in a double-knit from JoAnn – Such a comfortable dress! I’ve worn it a few times already.

New Look 6556 in a bamboo/Spandex knit from Drygoods Design – A simple tee with a twist: asymmetrical hem and draped side. It reminds me of something that I’d seen at Anthropologie many moons ago.

Wattlebird Jumpsuit by Common Stitch Studio in a light weight reddish/brown twill – I’m not much a jumpsuit gal, but something about this design really appealed to me. It’s not teenager-approved (K thought it looked weird and hazmat-suit-esque), but I like it!

As always, you can see more details on my Instagram feed.

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Since the pandemic started, I’ve firmly established a daily art journaling habit and I’m noticing that I’m getting faster and faster at painting. Paradoxically, when I notice how rapidly I’m slapping watercolors onto paper, I try to deliberately slow down. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m turning 50 this year, and I just don’t have any desire to speed through life. I want to savor everything, you know?

Anyway, I had fun painting these:

 

I was lucky enough to contribute to DAWN, the newest edition of Making Magazine. I made cute little house shoes and here’s a quick snap of one of the many samples that I shipped to the good folks at Making:

These are so easy and quick to make, and the DAWN issue of MAKING is absolutely lovely.

Alright my friend, that’s a wrap for April and I hope to have some updates about the photoshoot or at the very least more sewing and watercolors to share next time! Have a wonderful month!!