Finished project! Vintage Simplicity 8360

Oh hey! I was just scratching the back of my head

This is my husband's favourite actor headshot pose. The classic scratch-the-back-of-your-head pose. I think it's popular because it sets your chin at a nice angle, making the jaw line look more defined. Think I'm crazy? Here are a few examples:

Shia LeBouef is itchy

So is Jason Segal

Justin Timberlake may be running his hand through his hair...but he's probably worried about his dandruff

As you can see, I finally got my husband out for a photo shoot in his new wool knit hooded sweatshirt, sewn from the vintage Simplicity 8360 pattern I bought on Etsy from Paulassewnice (she has another copy of the same pattern available RIGHT NOW for just $4.25 US).

Hello there, little man!

An awfully photogenic man, my husband Ryan makes for a good model — especially when he accepts direction gracefully. It was a wonderful day in NYC today. Winter? What winter? 

This look says "I question your authority."

I made this hoodie to replace a gray zip-up hooded sweater my husband wore well for a couple years before losing it in Fresno, California, during a fringe theatre festival. I haven't seen a suitable replacement since, so I thought I'd try making him one. Again, here he is in the original:

After a reader found me the perfect raglan-sleeved hoodie pattern (Simplicity 8360), I bought a gray wool knit at Mood in New York City. I tried and failed to find something suitable somewhere cheaper. When I finally checked Mood, I found a perfect match for $20/yard. I needed two yards for this hoodie. Pretty pricey, but it was for his Christmas gift, after all. And the poor guy works so hard and never gets to have anything nice. Look how happy he is now (I believe this look is called "Hey! There's the bus!"

I made a couple changes to the pattern to update it for a man who likes a little more length (the 1970s pattern is a little cropped; it also has very blousey sleeves, which I took in). Instead of a drawstring on the bottom hem, I added a two-inch band. And instead of putting elastic at the ends of the sleeves, I again added bands. It's a more modern (and less feminine, I think) sweatshirt than the one in the vintage pattern. See how tough he looks in it?

Lucy also wanted to give the head scratch pose a try:

So what's your favorite pose? 

Sneak Preview of Men's Hoodie

There she is, the mostly finished Simplicity 8360 hoodie I made my husband for Christmas, though I am going to have a hard time giving it up. It's so cozy and perfect. And see that lovely custom-cut zipper that I installed not one, but THREE times to get it just right? I also altered the pattern slightly to make it more modern and less man-blousey. I took the sleeves in and added a cuff instead of elastic, plus I added a band to the waist instead of the drawstring.

I'm really looking forward to taking some photos of Ryan in his hoodie — so long as he lets me play stylist and photo director. (For an actor he sure doesn't take direction well when it comes to posing for his wife.)

Moving on, I'm really itching to get back some selfish sewing after this project. In fact I started cutting some silk for this Anna Sui Vogue Pattern, which for some reason I was compelled to buy this year:

 

I thought it would be cute in chartreuse silk, paired with black tights and a brooch at the waist. But it turns out I don't have enough fabric. And my scissors are dull. So I lost my mojo on the project already because silk is such a pain and I am easily defeated after 9 p.m. at night.

So it's back to the (dwindling) stash to see what else I can conjure in the coming weeks without spending anything on new fabric.

I should remind you if you haven't already to enter my giveaway for Violette Field Threads pattern giveaway. Even if you don't sew yourself, you should enter and then give the patterns as a gift to someone who does!  (Giveaway is open until Friday, Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. and is open to anyone, anywhere).

My Sad Etsy Husband

Now that my husband knows what I am sewing him for Christmas, he keeps asking when he gets to be my "Sad Etsy Boyfriend." If you're not familiar with this reference, check out this Tumblr that is "Dedicated to the wretched creatures abused for economic gains by their Etsy girlfriends." Like this poor guy here:

Anyway, my Sad Etsy Boyfriend so far loves his hoodie-in-progress, which is sewing up nicely and most definitely won't be sold anywhere, even Etsy. However, I have the twin problem of it being too short (it's a '70s pattern, so the cut is just a little different than I'm hoping to achieve), and I bought a zipper that's too long. So I'm going to attempt a 2-inch band at the bottom instead of turning it under and adding a drawstring like the pattern recommends (which will take care of both problems, hopefully). Oh, and my other problem is I don't have enough fabric left to cut the band with the grain running north-south. So I'm going to cut it east-west and hope for the best. There will be less stretch that way, but I think I can make it work. Here's the hoodie in question. The knit wool fabric is amazing (which it should be for $20/yard):

This is a close approximation of what the hoodie will look like on me when I borrow it

Love the stripe that shows in the hood!

So that's what I'm working on today. Oh, and a bunch of writing too, which should probably be my priority because Christmas is yet weeks away — and my deadlines are much sooner. Procrastination is a sport for some of us though. And sewing is how I put things off. Also reading stupid things on the Internet (like Sad Etsy Boyfriends, naturally).

Living Within Our Means This Christmas — and Hoodie-in-progress

This newly created "Cyber-Monday" shopping event has me so rankled this week. Maybe it's because our family doesn't have money to burn again this year, so it's just easier for me to take the moral high ground than dwell on all the things I wish we could have. But it's also because it seems Occupy Wall Street and its brethren have taught us nothing this year.

The day after the day on which we are supposed to be thankful for all that we have, we are encouraged to head out, elbows up, and spend our money on new shit, which I guess we will be thankful for next year on the third Thursday in November (if it's not broken by then or we can even remember it). And now on the Monday after that, we're expected to ignore the work that piled up over a four-day weekend and shop online too. Blah, blah, online sales on Cyber Monday are up 33 per cent over 2010. That apparently means .... what? That the recession is over? That it's not over so people are desperate to save money as they strive to provide a Christmas experience commensurate with non-recession years, which means shopping only sales?

If we spend beyond our means and end up paying interest on credit card purchases, the banks have won. If we do our alleged civic duty and "stimulate the economy," rather than save money for our futures (albeit in an economic climate that favours spending over saving: hello, interest rates?), then the banks have won. If you pepper spray other shoppers so you can get your desperate mitts on a discount Wii, then the banks have won.

I can empathize a little with the pepper spray lady. I have recession fatigue too, and could really use a break. I obviously don't know that all the people jostling for cheap electronics are struggling financially, but I bet most people with the cash to pay full price for the latest Nintendo product aren't willing to jeopardize their own safety for the sake of saving a few bucks. Don't hate the players, hate the game.

We've been so good about not buying new things unless we truly needed them over the past three years. But after a while it catches up to you. Everyone needs new boots eventually, and there are some things you just can't make yourself. And I can't help but feel guilty when someone gives me a gift and I can't afford to return the sentiment in a tangible way. Even handmade gifts require you to spend money on supplies. And for us, with both our families so far away, the cost of shipping is a major added expense.

My plan this year is to make candy and chocolates for everyone to whom we would like to send gifts. My daughter will get one toy from us, plus I'm hoping to illustrate a story I wrote and have it printed for her as a book. And, of course, I'm still working on this gray wool hoodie for my husband (sewn from vintage Simplicity 8360):

Front of hoodie-in-progress

I'm kicking myself right now for buying the wrong length separating zipper, which means I will have to hit the Garment District sometime soon.

Anyway, tell me how you're saving money this Christmas? Has recession fatigue turned you into a cheapskate Scrooge, too?

The Perfect Men's Hoodie Pattern!

 I'm not sure I'd let my husband leave the house in shorts that cut so close to his, er, upper thigh. But that hooded sweatshirt on the chiseled hunk to the left there is the perfect pattern for the sweater I'm planning for Ryan for Christmas (he's knows about it now because there are no sewing secrets when your studio is located in a popular thoroughfare of your apartment). Thanks to travelling_soo for pointing out this pattern to me after my previous post about the dearth of good men's sewing patterns. I found it on Etsy.com through seller Paula's Sew Nice. She's got loads of vintage patterns in the $5 range. It has yet to arrive, but I found some lovely gray wool knit fabric this weekend, so I am itching to get started (yes, pun intended).

I tried and failed to find something that would work at one of the divier fabric shops I frequent in NYC's Garment District. But after scuttling back and forth along 39th street and down to 37th, and finding only cheap, thin and (ugh!) ribbed knits, I was worried I wouldn't find anything that approximated this knit hoodie he loved and lost long ago:

 

I finally succumbed to shopping at Mood, knowing that I'd find something in the store's exhaustive selection. Of course, you pay for it: $20/yard for this gray wool knit (a faint stripe, but no ribbing, praise be):

And what's that to the left there? Why it's more of the super-soft coral striped jersey I bought at Chic Fabrics on 39th Street during the summer ($5/yard). I used it to make this adorable dress here:

They still had some at Chic, so I bought a few yards to make some underpants from Emilykate's pattern I amended, plus I picked up some underwear elastic at Daytona Trimmings on 39th Street. I bought more than I need of everything, so stay tuned for a giveaway this week! That's all for now!