Making a Mess of Mood With My Fave Sewing Bloggers!

You know how on Project Runway they give the designers a half-hour to choose their fabrics at Mood in NYC's Garment District? 

Well yesterday it took four sewing bloggers four times that long to pick out a single print. (But, I believe, we had 10 times as much fun doing it). Witness:

In the end the consensus was on two prints, to be used together. I'm not revealing here what they were — this was not my challenge after all. Oonabaloona dared Gingermakes (both Mood Sewing Network bloggers, so they have the luxury of shopping monthly at this incredible, three-floor fabric store. Jealous much? Yeah, me too) to let her choose the fabric for her next project. If you know Oona's work, then you know she's a print-mixing Sewasaurus Rex. Put her in charge of your next project and you could just end up in this (please don't adjust your computer monitors):

We made quite a mess, and in the end I don't think Gingermakes was too apprehensive about the challenge. I can't wait to see what she does.

Nettie of Sown Brooklyn was also on hand to offer her honest critique of Oona's sometimes-very-out-there choices. It could have easily ended up too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen, but civility reigned:

Peter of Male Pattern Boldness popped by to direct me to the lovely blue cotton flannel he used to make Michael a shirt a while back (I've been wanting to buy some ever since — for a shirt for Ryan). He ran away at some point because he prefers doing his fabric shopping in dives. But lucky for us, he made some time later for Color Me Beautiful consultations over lunch:

Meanwhile at home, my daughter was apparently playing "going fabric shopping and then sewing a dress to wear to a wedding" with her dad. Here's the garment she made, sent to me via BlackBerry (very avant garde, non?):

It was a wonderful day, and I came home with a bag full of goodies: the blue plaid cotton flannel and pearly snaps for Ryan's shirt; a bird-print cream and grayish-purple silk chiffon for a top for me (I already bought Pattern Runway's Pussy Bow Blouse pattern to use with it), and all the cheap poly satin, tulle and trimming I need to make my daughter a Cinderella dress.

(I should note when I showed it to her, she sighed deeply and said, "Well, I guess it's OK if you make me a Cinderella dress." WTF, my dear daughter? Apparently she's into the arrow-slinging Merida — from the Disney movie "Brave" — now. When will I ever learn?)

Hope you're all having an amazing weekend too!

What We've Been Up To This Holiday

The Wisconsin string art I made for my husband, in its new home on top of a bookcase

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas/White Anglo Saxon Winter Privilege Night (anyone else on here a Schmidt fan?). We really did. My husband has had the entire week off and we've been making the most of this time together; he starts his new job Jan. 2, and it will be back to rare sightings as he works hard to prove himself. 

In the days before Christmas I was hurrying to finish illustrating this book that I wrote for my daughter. It's about a raccoon who's unfairly accused of stealing an egg. In order to clear his name, he has find the real culprit with the help of his friends: fox and squirrel. Lucy was pretty delighted with the book, though she solved the mystery much earlier than I thought:

I also once again made a Yule Log for our Christmas Eve celebration with friends. It's made with chocolate cake, chocolate mousses, and chocolate ganache. The mushrooms you see are made of meringue and cocoa. It's an amazing dessert, worth writing about. But there's always a point in making it when I scream, "I'm NEVER doing this again!" and everybody in my family runs away as fast as they can. It requires so many steps — like a whole day of prep, baking, whisking and assembling, and the crucial rolling of the mousse-topped cake is a difficult task I always mess up. I'll probably make it again next year. That's how good it is.

On the eve of Christmas Eve, we went to our friends' apartment for a little party. It was a little late to bring along a kid, but I campaigned hard for us all to brave the bus ride to Washington Heights. And it was an amazing night thanks to our friends, performers both, who are so generous with their talents. My four-year-old was ready to join the circus after a night spent spinning plates, juggling, and watching our friends perform their hilarious faux hypnotism act. Matt also made everyone pipe cleaner mustaches: 

It's so worth breaking routine for making memories with friends.

On Christmas Eve we went to our good friends'  apartment in Inwood, where we ate some traditionally American dishes as well as Dominican food, and — of course — the Buche de Noel (Yule Log) cake. We sang carols, cuddled their baby, and tried to keep the excited energy to a manageable level for these two:

Soul sisters

 My kid was the most gracious gift-getter this Christmas. Everything was amazing. All of it was her favorite. She was all smiles for the entire day, no tantrums, no whining. A Christmas miracle:

Yesterday we went skating at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. It was definitely weird for this Canadian to ice-skate in the shadow of the elevated 1 train. There were more people hanging on the boards than I have ever seen. But at $13/person I can understand why our neighbors here in the Bronx aren't making skating a regular winter activity. It was more than we could afford, but we did it anyway, and it was so worth it. Lucy took to it like a true (half) Canadian. 

I haven't sewn a thing these past few weeks, which causes me a little guilt, but there's an alleged blizzard coming our way today, so I may take a few hours to get deep into the new Craftsy.com class I started before the holidays hit. It's Kenneth King's "Jeanius" class, which is all about how to reverse-engineer your fave jeans/pants. 

I've been watching the videos, trying to figure out what jeans to use for this project. I don't actually have a pair that I like, which is definitely a requisite for finding an item to copy. Fortunately, before Christmas I shopped for some new clothes, and found this perfect pair of tuxedo-style cropped cigarette pants (I don't yet have a pic, or else I would show you what I mean by that description). 

They're by W118 Walter Baker, which is not a brand I have ever heard of, but they are divine. I'm pear-shaped but they magically balance out my frame a great deal. I feel really good in them. They're not jeans, obviously, but the method Kenneth King teaches in the Jeanius class can be employed in copying pretty much anything, I think.   

That's the update from here. I hope your holidays have been just as fun!

Introducing our Semi-Annual Family Christmas Music Video!

Hey Blog buddies! I have a special gift for you today: The semi-annual Paulson-Beaubien Family Christmas music video! (That's me and my crew, just in case that's not clear). I'll spare you the details until after you watch it (but knitters and embroiderers should watch for some handmade offerings):




Our family got the best early Christmas present earlier this month: a full-time job for my husband, thus completing his career change and ending our year of self-sacrifice. (Can I get a "WOOHOO!"?)

That said, it doesn't start until January, so we'll be enjoying another lean Christmas this year. But I didn't want to forgo giving completely (I know what you're thinking: make stuff, dummy! But the cost of shipping adds up to more than we can afford; we both live far from our families and closest friends, and I've learned that even a nice batch of homemade caramels can end up costing you a fair amount when they all have to travel 2,000 miles).

A video seemed like something we could share widely to bring joy to our family and friends, without spending any money. And I knew grandparents especially would love to see Lucy. (We did it once before, in 2009, when Lucy was just one. I still love watching that video, even if my drumming was pretty poor.)

The concept was mine, but Ryan and I wrote the song together (a super fun thing to do with a bottle of wine on a Saturday night). I did nearly everything else, including video editing, making embroidered titles AND a knitting project gone wrong (purposefully, I swear). Lucy was quite obliging, though somehow she manages to yawn in the middle of a good take, making it look like she's just so over it. Four-year-olds. What are you gonna do?

I hope you enjoy the video. Feel free to share if you do (like the song says, it's easy to re-gift this Christmas song!).

Merry Christmas!

Cardboard Skeeball!

I've been on a blog hiatus (reading them as well as posting; I miss you guys!) due to an extended vacation to my home on the West Coast of Canada followed by a summer of single-parenting due to the fact my husband comes home only to sleep these days, he's so busy with work and school.

Neither am I sewing, which pains me greatly. (I did manage to successfully alter my best friend's wedding dress on a borrowed machine back at home though!)

The one creative thing I have managed time for these past few weeks is this skeeball game I crafted from cardboard and hot glue for my kid's fourth birthday party. It's nearly life-size, and features faux lights made from water balloons. I studied photos of skeeball games to get the bump just right (without it, the ball won't bounce up into the hole). It worked perfectly. I wish we got some video of the kids playing with it before it was destroyed (inevitable considering it was made from cardboard and four-year-olds hopped up on birthday cake are as good as your worst drunken party guest. They took particular delight in pulling out all the balloons and stomping on them until they popped. I hope none of our neighbors have PTSD; it sounded like a shooting range in there for a while).

I believe there was some interference going on there. Note all the "lights" were smashed by the time the parents got to play

I know. How could I have "no time to blog" if I had the hours to make a cardboard skeeball game? It didn't take me that long, and I loved it. If only "making shit with cardboard" was a viable career option.

Guilty Pleasure: Fashion Star!

This is REAL, people!

There's a lot to like about my husband, not the least of is his proclivity to enjoy the same TV shows I do. When Project Runway is in season, I save each episode to watch on his one night off each week, because I don't want to miss his commentary, which is an entertaining to me as Michael Kors' similes. If he watched the new episode of Mad Men without me, I would divorce him and expect no less from him if I stray.

And the latest show we're learning to love together is Fashion Star. If you haven't seen it, allow me to describe it for you in the words of my husband, Ryan: "It's like Project Runway, without the talent," and "It's everything I imagine L.A. to be, TIMES 10!" and: "Nina Garcia would be vomiting in her mouth if she could see this!"

I'd say it's actually like Project Runway meets The Price is Right. There's a live studio audience (though they never really show it in its entirely, which makes me think it's actually 40 production assistants and a clap track). And to disguise the fact that B-list models are strutting down the runway in Sears-worthy shirt dresses, there's plenty of smoke-and-mirrors. And lasers. Bubbles... faux palm trees. Top 40 tunes. And bikini-clad dancing girls! (See the photo below; that's a runway show!).  Also: completely non-sequitor performances by LMFAO? It's just insane.

Contestants are grouped in 3's for their runway shows, which are followed by a critique from the mentors (Jessica Simpson, Nicole Ritchie and John Varvatos, who are all actually sweetly supportive and quite likeable) and — then! —the lasers flash, and intense reality show music crescendoes as they turn to the "buyers":

This part is interesting because these three people above represent Macy's, H&M, and Sak's, respectively. Following each runway show, they have the chance to bid on each contestant's piece. The highest bidder "buys" it for their store, where it's available immediately after the show ends. (The winner of Fashion Star will have their collection sold in all three stores.) That dude on the right? He does not suffer fools gladly.

At the end, the bottom three designers face elimination, ultimately at the hands of the buyers, and are told "You are NOT our Fashion Star (TM)!" Hysterical. What's not to love?

OK, two things drive me crazy about this show: 1) the format doesn't give equal weight to all contestants. Just when you think you have a handle on it, they slip in these strange re-caps that breeze through a runway show without showing you the details. C-mon! If you can't show me all of the runway shows, you're editing it wrong! 2) There's an utter lack of transparency. Where do they get their fabric? Who are those people flitting about in the background? Are they sample-makers? Paternmakers? If so, that's ok. After all, in real life designers don't sew their own samples like they do on Project Runway. But why don't they address that fact? It's kind of skirted around....they show them sweating it out over a drawing or a pile of fabric, and then cut to the runway.

Shorts. We don't really know who made them. But whoever did inspired a bidding war between Macy's and H&M, resulting in a $120,000 order from my least favourite contestant. Want your own pair? You can buy them at Macy's for $59. (But don't, ok? That Ross guy is irritating.)

And if you want to sew your own version of these designers' winning creations, McCall's is selling a line of Fashion Star patterns. So far there are just four, including this one:

McCall's version

I think this was the former schoolteacher Kara Laricks' dress, also available for sale at Sak's (Poor Kara; she always looks like she's one deep breath away from fainting):

Sak's version

 And here it is as it walked down the runway:

Fascinating. So far there aren't any patterns I'm clamoring to buy, but you never know. We're only three episodes in, so there's plenty of time for you to jump on the Fashion Star bandwagon. Who do you think will be the Next Fashion Icon (TM)?

These Things Make Me Happy

It's spring in New York, which means my eyes are red and itchy, and asthma is settling deep into my lungs. A new study indicates depression and allergies are linked, especially in women. Also, suicide rates spike in spring as the pollen count climbs. Blerg. One thing that stuck out to me in the study is that people reported crying more frequently during allergy season. I can relate. Last spring I cried every night for weeks because my symptoms were not helped by any medication, and just got worse and worse as time wore on.

This year I've found eyedrops that relieve my symptoms (Bepreve), and am taking a homeopathic gemmotherapy tincture. Allergy season is much later because winter in the East was so long, so I can't really tell yet whether the homeopathic remedy has helped — or whether the pollen season has yet to peak. I'm prepared though for when it gets bad: I bought a mask, which I wore today for the first time. Luckily it takes a lot in NYC to earn a second glance. People don't really care what you wear here.




Anyway, to combat allergy-related depression, I am watching the above video daily. I just love the Beastie Boys. Last night I made my husband (who missed most popular culture between the early '80s and late '90s because he was raised in an oppressively conservative church) watch 40 minutes of Beastie Boys videos. At the end, he said: "I don't get it." It's lucky for him that I only just found this out now — and not before we got married.

Other things that are making me happy today:

Awwwwwwwww!

AND (drumroll, please) I fixed my trousers! They're almost done. See?

Yes!

 First I ripped off the waistband. What a mess:

 Then I put the pants on, inside out, and pinned down the side seams until I had a good fit. I blended into the original side seam at the knee:

 Then I sewed along my line of pins, and serged the side seam to finish it:

And then I took a little off the waistband at the side seams (because the waistband is curved and I didn't want the shape to change), and sewed it back on. You can see it's pinned on here:

 

I still have to topstitch the waistband, and then make buttonholes and sew on buttons. But check out that fit! I am stoked. These pants are going to look so awesome with my allergy mask.

I know you were all hoping to see the long form copy of my birth certificate today, but my scanner isn't working so you'll have to settle for a few pics from my weekend trip to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Also: I have nothing much to post about because I have been busy dealing with orders from my Etsy store, homework (those damn pants, which are too big and I'm not really sure what to do about it at this point. So that means I will get yet another B+. My prof is a hard-ass marker. Though I managed to get a couple As at the beginning of the semester (plus she asked me twice if I "was in the industry"!), it's been solid B+'s for the past few weeks. I did my best. Somebody please tell me B+ isn't so bad. 

I've also been enjoying cuddling with my lovely girl again, even though she deserves a spanking because she didn't miss me at all while I was away, apparently.

Friends are the best

This little fucker ran right over my legs as I was lounging in a beach chair.

And the Winner is...

Big Bird!

No, just kidding. But Big Bird was the most popular answer to my question, probably due to the fact so many of those who answered have toddlers at home. I personally would like Elmo to carry me around for a day — so I could watch that tiny red monster suffer like I have through countless rounds of "La, la, la, la, lah, la, la, la...Elmo's World!"

Anyway, the real winner is Lisa (last name rhymes with "winner") from Winnipeg! I'll be sending her the doll carrier tomorrow. Her son just started walking a while back so he may not be quite ready for the doll carrier just yet, but I'm sure it will get put to good use eventually.

The winner was chosen at random using this random number generator. (It paid to make that 2nd entry on Facebook/Twitter):

 

A special shout-out should go to Briony for sending me this picture: 

 

It's Mark Ruffalo in GQ magazine, which is apparently for straight guys — because straight guys love looking at photos of Mark Ruffalo making his "come hither to my hirsute den of baby-making" pose. Huh?

Doll Carriers Coming Soon!

I've been working oh-so-hard these past few weeks on two things that are 100 % related to this cuteness:

I'll soon be posting a free, downloadable pattern and tutorial for the above doll carrier (pictured above on Lucy who had so much fun running around in it yesterday). AND (this is a first for me!) I'll be opening my own Etsy store soon to sell doll carriers for those too lazy to make their own. Kidding, of course. I friggin' hope you're all too lazy to make your own.

Both (pattern and purchasable carriers) will be available with lots of time before the holidays.