Quick update

Things are crazy busy and my camera is broken and I'm out of underwear so I am off to do laundry and then back to work.

I will admit that I miss sewing and I haven't gotten anytime to knit with meetings and everything. I am hoping for a little extra time once the kids get here and I will not be scheduling and ordering as much as I have in these first few days here on camp.

One thing that I am regretting is that because of my schedule here at camp and with my camera being broken I am having some trouble with my Me Made June '11 challenge. Today was my 1st slip up, but I was working in an icky shop full of dust, dirt and spiders. I also Don't have pictures of what I wore the last few days. Even if I can't photo document my me made challenge I will still finish it, no more slip ups for me.

Me Made June '11 Update: Day 12-15

Training is winding down for me and I finally have time to give you an update. Hopefully I will be able to update more often now that the intense training weekend is over.

Day 12

I Finally got a photo from Sunday. (Thanks Jamie!)
Top: Altered softball tee, I added the contrasting cap sleeves
Bottom: Navy blue, double knit athletic shorts, made by me!

Day 13

Top: Altered Men's Tee Tunic
Bottom: Black leggings
Braided Belt

Day 14

Top: Cotton Anchor Tank
Bottom: Go To Shorts

Day 15

Hey remember this dress? (Don't worry that's not what I wore!)

Now it looks like this! I finally finished altering that horrid pink thing. I took in the straps making it an empire waist. I also brought the hem up and finished the edges with bias tape. Ta-da a dress!

At Camp!

I am here at my summer job and its head training weekend. I am super psyched to be here and am excited to be working with awesome artists. The sad part is I will only be blogging three days a week, but I am planing on having lots of photo updates.

Tomorrow I will have a photo update of Me Made June. TTFN!

Lists and More Lists

I am very organized and deliberate when I pack. This is great having traveled abroad with a back pack and a carry on sized suit case. (One of these trips was the three months I spent in Oz.) I have a process and my packing takes about three to four days because of my process. Since I am leaving for my summer job tomorrow I have been packing and am almost done. I thought I would share a bit of my list, and my process.

For working at a summer camp you pack what you need plus a bit more, plus anything weird or fun that might come in handy. My first step is to make a list of what to pack and by what to pack I don't just mean cloths and toiletries I mean everything from linens, to knitting supplies, to the tools I take with me. Here is a sample of my master list.

Camp Packing
Cloths
-2 pair work shorts (by work I mean what I wear in my classes, I teach technical theatre and we get messy and painty.)
-1 pair work jeans
-2-3 work tanks
-3-4 work tees
-1 pair nice jeans
-2-3 pair shorts
-1 pair "other" pants
-1 skirt
-3 sun dresses (Me Made)
-1-2 rompers (Me Made)
-4-5 t-shirt (Me Made and Ready Made)
-1 knit top (heat wave)
-2 cotton sweaters (hand knit)
-2-3 pj bottoms
-2-3 pj tops
-3-4 tank tops (Me Made and Ready Made)
-2 "Nice" dresses
-straw fedora
-Rash vest
-2-3 bathing suits
-sparkly tam
-cotton tam
-2 summer scarves
-1 pair athletic shorts
-2-3 long sleeve shirts/sweat shirt

Shoes
-plaid cons
-flip flops
-1 pair of heels
-two pairs sandals

Linens
-2 towels
-1 beach towel
-2 pillow cases
-1 set sheets
- comforter
-throw blanket
-1 pillow
-2 hand towels

Tools (all in tool bag)
-speed wrench
-wirer strippers
-screw gun/ charger
-tape measure
-leatherman
-sharpies (2-3)
- Small flash light
-headlamp

Fun Things to bring
-stuffed koala
-stuffed tazzie devil
-laughing kookaburra
-squeekie chicken
-deck of cards
-deck of uno cards

This is just page one of two and a half. So after my list is made I gather up the things I need to pack, but I don't pack them just yet. I tick them off my list and then go through and decided whether or not I need 3 or 4 tank tops or if bringing my spinning wheel is really necessary (I think it is) or if I can get away with two pairs of shorts instead of three especially if I bring 1 romper and three sun dresses. This is the step I finished yesterday, which means today I will finally actually pack.

Why I Am Starting to Hate My Ready Made Clothes

Last night when I got home I changed into jeans. This seems like a benign thing to do. Go home put some jeans on, relax with the husband. What I realized though as we walked through the Italian Market was that my pants were uncomfortable and maybe not as flattering as I once thought they were. They cut into my waist line weird and the seam in the crotch was too high. I was a very unpleasant companion because of this (and I was hungry too). (It is interesting that I had my pants revelation while at the start of making my first set of pants. Which compared to my jeans are polor oppisits and I am expecting my pants to be comfy and fab all at once.)

One thing that making my own clothes has done is made me realize how hard it is to find Ready Made clothes that actually fit and are made well. I'm not even going to go into affordable at this point in time. I thought these jeans fit me, I thought they looked good on my tush, but the truth of the matter is I settled for something that kind of fit me. No wonder so many women hate to shop for themselves. Even some of my favorite things I've purchased over the years are not a great fit, I have a dress that I love and while it fits my bust it's too big in the waist, I also have a plaid button up that fits my bust, but is too short in the arms. I feel that sometimes producers of ready made clothing have proportions all wrong, or try to distill the vast diversity of the population down to a Small, Medium, and a large. How is this even possible?

How do you deal with ready made clothing? Mine was to stop buying ready made clothes all together. What fit issues do you have? What do you wish clothing producers realized about women and their bodies?

I'd love to hear your opinion.

Me Made June '11 Update: Day 10-11

I had an unexpected day off from work on Friday so what does one do when they have a beautiful day and no where to be, go the fabric store and sew! I leave for my summer job in three days and have been sewing furiously to make sure I have what I need. I guess I should start packing soon.

Here is what I wore this week end

Day 10

With a day off and plans to go out it was time to finally pull out and pull on a dress.
Dress: ruffle strap sundress.
I made this dress with out a pattern and just my measurements. I think it was a success.

On our way home from the bar Simon decided to try planking this mail box while Antea was trying to mail her student loan.

Day 11

Saturday is a lazy day or a surf day in our apartment and since the surf was only ankle high and not worth the hour drive we stayed in Philly.

Top: 1 piece kimono top (shhh I made mine in two pieces)
bottom: gray leggings from target.

I'm missing Sunday's Me Made outfit, but I will post it as soon as I have a picture. Here is what else I was up to this weekend.

I finished this sun dress on Friday. This is loosely based on Burda Style's Jane langerie top. I am excited for this dress and it's cute tie straps.

This is the second dress I finished this weekend. I really like DixieDIY's one shoulder knit dress, but my computer won't let me open the PDF so I took my measurements and my trusty chalk and I came up with a pattern that fits my measurements and my tastes. I raised the bodice section so that it was more of an empire waist, and made an A-line style skirt with no gathers. It fits like a glove, and its on of my most favorite colors, TEAL!

Now that I have the casual dress issue taken care off I am going to have a go at pants. Wish me luck!

Put A Bow On It, A Knit Bow Headband

This is a great pattern to use if you have small amounts of yarn hanging about in your stash, or if you have any yarn left over from your latest projects. It is also a quick knit if you are in need of a gift or just want something to spruce up your outfit for the day.

Gauge and fiber are up to you in this pattern, all I would suggest is that you use the appropriate needle for the yarn you choose, and if you use a cotton or another plant fiber you might want to feed some elastic into the I-cord of the head band. Just remember that the thicker the yarn and the larger the needle the bigger your bow will be.
The yarn I used was a dk weight silk wool blend I had left over from making my mom a scarf. I used a size 5 needle.

Put A Bow On It
Bow
CO 11 sts
Work in seed stitch till bow measures 4 inches
Seed Stitch
Row 1 & 2: K *P, K* repeat *to* to end of row
Bind Off
Weave in ends

Bow Center
CO 6 sts
work I-cord for about 5 rounds or till the tube measures about 3/4 inches
Bind off
Weave in ends

Pull the 4 inch piece through the small I-cord tube you have just made. Center the piece of I-cord and arrange gathers on the 4 inch piece to form a bow. Set aside.

I-cord head band
Using a provisional cast on, CO 4 sts
Work I-cord till it measures the circumference of your head minus one inch.
DO NOT bind off
Assembling the head band
Feed the I-cord through the bows center I-cord. Take out provisional cast on and graft live stitches together using kitchner stitch. Arrange bow on head band to a desirable position and look. Now you have a fab hair accessory!