Somebody Buy Me Some of This NOW

How much do I love the news that Canada now has an official tartan? (This one pictured above, obvs). Called the Maple Leaf Tartan, it was designed in 1964 by Toronto garment maker David Weiser ahead of Canada's centennial celebrations (we were 100 on July 1, 1967).

Apparently 11 of the 13 provinces and territories already have their own official tartans. But finally we are unified — from sea to sea to sea (yes, we've got three. Suck it, America) under one big red, green and yellow kilt.

Winter's almost (please?) over, so the time for tartan is nie done. But I still want some of this for next year. If anyone knows where to get some, let me know.

UPDATE: You can buy Maple Leaf Tartan in various forms (from cotton flannel to 100% wool) at Tartan House Canada (Tagline: "Every Body Looks Good In Tartan!"). The prices vary depending on content.

Also, British Columbia's tartan is pretty nice too:

 

Find your province's official tartan at Wikipedia

Sergio!

 

I learned to drive on a car with a standard transmission, which is unusual, I think. Most young people learn automatic transmission first, and then move on the more challenging stick-shift once they have the basics down. Am I right? Anyway, my boyfriend of many years taught me how to drive on an '85 Ford Escort that was only happy at certain speeds, none of which were the usual speed limit. After teaching me how to effectively cut corners on the Island Highway (I grew up on Vancouver Island, which is hilly — thus the roads are winding), he coached me on how not to freak out like a maniac every time I was at a red light on a hill, which happens often on the hilly island from which I hail. For the first six months I drove (I might still do this if I ever actually drove, which I don't because I live in New York City), I played a panicked game of Chinese Fire Drill every time I was forced to stop at a red light on a hill. Endlessly patient, he'd try and try to assure me that I wouldn't actually roll back far enough to hit the bumper of the car behind me. But after screaming "Why are they so close? They're too close!! Too close!!!" over and over, I'd get out of the car and go around to the passenger side so he would have to switch with me and take over the wheel.

But then I borrowed a friend's automatic for my driver's test (in Ucluelet, B.C., a teeny town on the West Coast) and I was just fucking amazed at how easy it was! I had to parallel park on a hill, which is pretty much the hardest thing to do in a standard. But on an automatic everything seemed easy. Turning the last corner on the way back to ICBC (British Columbia's DMV equivalent, for you American readers), I got my only 5 demerits, for apparently not shoulder-checking before the turn, which I still believe was bullshit because I am OCD about shoulder-checking due to a huge fear of hitting a cyclist, and that the tester just didn't want me to have a perfect score. I should have told him that the only reason I was able to get a perfect score was the fact I learned on a stick-shift and was accustomed to so many more challenges.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at here is my new serger. Sewing with it is like making the switch from standard to automatic.  It takes like four fewer steps to do everything. It's so easy (if you study the manual sufficiently) and saves so much time. If you can afford it (mine was only $219 US on Amazon.com), get one. I have much yet to learn, but so far I have:

Finished seams on this peach silk blouse that is still a work-in-progress:

 

Used it to gather ruffles and do shirring:

AND...drumroll please...sewed a rolled hem, which I think looks very nice on this silk (see the edge of this ruffle and the sleeves):

I'm not one for naming appliances. But if I were, I'd call it Sergio. But only so I can post this video from Jon Hamm's appearence on SNL:

Work In Progress, Plus How You Fit a Sewing "Room" Into a 1-bedroom Apartment With Three Residents

If you're wondering how to fit a sewing room into a one-bedroom apartment that you share with a grown man and a toddler (the only one among us who gets her own room, lucky bastard), here's how you do it: in between the bike-parking area, the stroller holding pen, about five feet from the front door, the kitchen, and just about everything else. In short: it's a good thing my child can be trusted with pins and scissors.

I consider this photo at left a public service announcement to all those people who are made to feel badly by looking at the lovely homes owned by curated by other bloggers. (You know who you are.) My boogers are full of teeny little fibers that float around my apartment because my sewing space is located in our home's central nervous system. When my child runs back and forth in her fancy shoes with her best friend "Camila" (a real friend who is also an imaginary friend she plays with when the actual Camila has better things to do than gallop back and forth across our apartment), she stops just short of my sewing machine pedal. When my husband needs to ask me where the butter is, I can point to it with my free hand. My family is very, very lucky I am long on patience.

And yet I will manage to find room somehow for new things like my Brother serger pictured above. I just bought it from Amazon.com after a depressing experience trying to buy one used from Craigslist. I love it and wish I had bought one years ago. It's saving me lots of time already (and patience, which I can instead dispense to my family constantly underfoot).

For example, this peachy silk blouse I am working on (pictured in pieces at right here) — I can use the serger to make gathers lickety split, finish seams and hopefully (if I can figure it out) make rolled hems. fancy! This is the blouse I'll be making with the same pattern from my last top and to go with the navy and peach skirt you can see on my dressform here.

I have some cooking to do now (darn family, always needing to eat food) so it's time for a break.

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So I realized I never actually addressed HOW you fit a sewing room into a one-bedroom apartment in this post (as the title suggests I should).  Here's my addition:

In point form:

-Shelves. Lots of them. But be careful not to kill yourself or your partner mounting them. IKEA shelving should come with complimentary marriage counselling.
-Hooks. Lots and lots of them. Get everything up on the wall, but within reach. I string things between hooks, hanging pattern pieces from the cord.
-I stand while I sew, with my machines on my drafting table. Otherwise I would need two tables of different heights. Not gonna happen unless we start eating our dinner off our bellies like cute little otters.
-Just give up on the idea that you will ever have a tidy and cute home like you did back when you had two bedrooms all to yourself in Winnipeg (and for less than half the rent we pay for one bedroom in NYC). I digress.

Attempt No. 1 at Pattern for Silk Top

 Can you even believe how nice it was in New York City today for, like, five whole hours? The rain is coming, but we had enough time to hit the new playground and snap some pics of me in this top I just made (at Scavengers, the local antique shop).

This blouse (in an Alexander Henry printed cotton) is actually the "muslin" for a pattern I'm working on for a silk blouse to wear with the navy and peach silk skirt I made for school recently (scroll down to a few entries back and you can see it). Though it's not made of muslin, and I'll definitely be wearing it for its own merits, making a mock-up is so important when drafting your own patterns. Among the changes I will be making to my draft: a much bigger ruffle, a slightly longer peplum (that's the little skirt-like thing below the waist), and the sleeves...well, I'm not really sure what to do about the sleeves, but they will be different for sure on the next attempt.

 Shot of the back. Pretty shirt, but what would Tyra say (WWTS)? That I LOOK LIKE AN AMPUTEE! Quelle horreur!
My husband says this picture is inspirational — because I sew so well for a lady with two stumps for hands.

Menswear-style shirt

So our assignment this week for patternmaking class is a menswear-inspired buttoned-up, collared, cuffed and placketed shirt. So many elements (10 pattern pieces to draft, then cut and sew). And so not something I'd usually wear. But looking at Elizabeth Hurley here in a photo from her Estee Lauder campain (this is the photo our prof put up on the board), maybe I should give the white collared a go. She makes it look darn sexy, right? I don't think it would look like that on me, however.

Realistically, it will probably look a little more like this:

 

Boring! And stuffy too, right?

Waitaminute though: this is cute:

 And so is this (though girlfriend needs to tuck the rest of her shirt in before the photoshoot:

So the verdict is, roll up the sleeves, and make sure there are pockets. Check and check. If you need me, I'll be busy as hell trying to get this thing done in a week!