Books, walks and dressmaker forms

Finished Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements recently and enjoyed it. Basic premise of Things Not Seen: a boy wakes up to find himself invisible. Now I'm curious to check out Frindle, which is apparently the author's best-known book.

I've fallen behind in watching B5 because I've been spending more evenings reading, sewing, and doing Urban Tapestry prep for Balticon. Other recent reads: The Complete Serger Handbook, Sewing With Sergers, Quick and Easy Sewing with Your Serger, and New Techniques for Wearable Art:.

Plus I've been browsing for useful sewing-related sites. I've fallen in love with PatternReview.com. Lots of info and recommendations about sewing patterns, including user reviews, plus everything else to do with sewing and sewing machines.

The site also has a great online community for newbies as well as experts. Hugely inspirational!

Meanwhile in my Virtual Con Walk, I've nearly reached St. Catherines.



While passing through the village of Vineland (which gained notoriety in 1956 when it was revealed that radioactive material was found in one of the landfills), I decided to take a tour of John Howard Cellars Of Distinction. John Howard's home (see photo below) is really a castle! His recently launched Megalomaniac wine series won design awards last year.


Photo by Paul Joyce.

His wines have intriguing names like Narcissist Riesling, SonOfABitch Pinot Noir and Vainglorious Cabernet Merlot.

Sadly, virtual wine tastings aren't nearly as satisfying as real-life wine tastings.

Today I'm going to do some more experimenting with my new serger. Poring over the user manual (have I mentioned before how much I love user manuals?), I've discovered that my machine can do three-thread overlock stitches...I just have to figure out how to remove one of the needles. I figure it's something I need to learn anyway since serger needles wear out pretty quickly.

Also going to sew with a knit fabric for the first time! For non-sewers: knit fabrics are different from cotton because they stretch, so are supposedly a bit more complicated to sew with. BUT one of the things that I keep reading about sergers is that they're good with knit fabrics so hey, I want to try!

I went to the mega-sale at Fabricland yesterday. One of the clerks (who was there when I went to claim my serger prize) there asked me if I was understanding my serger instruction book okay, and I updated her on my serger adventures. :-)

Didn't buy much fabric (I've decided that I need to use up the stuff I have before getting more) but I did put in an order for an adjustable dressmaker's form. I was thinking of making my own as well as frequently checking eBay, but couldn't resist the mega-reduced price.

They didn't have my size but said they're expecting more in next week. I figure I need to get a form that's my size or smaller; I can always add padding to fill the form out to match my shape, but I can't shrink a too-large form.

Jeff thinks that I should store the form in our sunroom, dressed up like a headless person.

Hey, just think of the possibilities at Hallowe'en! :-)

Some of you probably are thinking that I'm crazy to consider buying a form after only having been sewing for, oh, a month. But believe it or not, I'm already realizing how useful one could be. I can't really expect Jeff to wear my dresses and skirts -even if he could fit in them- while I pin up hems, for example.

It's also going to be much easier doing alterations and fittings if I don't have to try doing them on myself while I'm wearing the clothes. Plus putting on and taking off clothes repeatedly is a major pain -- one of the many reasons I hate clothes shopping.

Plus...(brace yourself)...I'm getting all kinds of ideas for clothing designs. Bizarre, I know, considering I've never really cared about fashion. But as I'm fingering the fabrics in remainder bins and sale racks, I keep imagining all the cool stuff I could do to turn old t-shirts and plain dresses into something more interesting, patching together different-textured and different-coloured bits into artsy vests. Cutting up old sweaters and making new ones.

I have a lot to learn. I can only use so many clothes myself, of course, but it's the sewing and creating I love much more than the actual wearing, so maybe (once I get better) I could start putting some of my creations for sale on Etsy.

But of course I'm getting ahead of myself. First I need to learn the basics so that I'm able to accurately translate the ideas in my head into real life. My "Beyond Beginners" sewing class starts in a few weeks, so that should help. Meanwhile, thanks so much to everyone who has been giving me advice and tips! It's been hugely appreciated.

Speaking of tips, I've added some advice to yesterday's post from starmalachite.

Have a great weekend, everyone!