Back to School

Today will be the first day back to school for Winter term. I pretty much spent this break sleeping, counting patterns, being sick, and going to the gym.

I'll be taking more web development classes, painting, and a couple non-credit courses: KNITTING AND SWING DANCING!

I'm pretty excited for the painting and two aforementioned classes, but I hope I don't get lagged down by some of the web development courses, well, one in particular, Javascript.

I've been doing quite a bit of cardio lately, so I decided to make my phone useful and grab an app for working on running 10k. If that goes well I've got some half marathon training on my list. I've never been a runner, but I figure doesn't it just take training like anything else?

The only sewing I did over the break was sewing some patches on gi's (worn for Jiu Jitsu, looks similar to the karate gi for an idea of what I mean) for a friend's kids.

De-Stress-Dress

Hollywood 1384 and fabric!

The end of the school term is closing in and I'm trying to de-stress by making sure I keep productive on non-school type projects too.

So here is the dress I'm starting on. I'm not sure whether I'll be ruffling (same color) or bowing.

Do you favor one or the other?

Preshrunk Today, Estate Sale Tomorrow

I've been putting off all sorts of projects because most of my stash is NOT PRE-SHRUNK!
Today I went on a bit of a rampage (I think it's because I've been sick and kind of antsy) and shrunk all of my wool. I was a little anxious about the results because I decided to go with the wet towels in the dryer method, but it worked perfectly and now I can use wool whenever I get the urge (this is a hint about a near future post on cold weather wear!) If you're feeling adventurous with your wool, I got my specific directions from the Off The Cuff Style blog. I don't have a dryer so I'm not sure how hot my towels were as much as I tried to dart across the lawn to the laundry room with expediency, my dripping towel bundle and appropriately wet shoes.

There are all sorts of rayons I am getting hand washing going on too. I have limited space for drying so it's my extended project. I did however wash my lining fabric for my plaid skirt. Remember this?:

Well, shortly it will be lined and banished to my wardrobe (not without a picture escort of course) and a new project on its way in.

Tomorrow I am going to an estate sale after being out of the loop for a while, hopefully I'll have some good finds to show off afterward.

A New Setup

On Friday my new computer arrived! It's hard to make out anything but the computer in the picture but maybe you can see a hint of superexcitedohmanican'tbelieveihaveanewcomputer in my face! I haven't had a new computer in maybe seven years (thank you financial aid!) so this is a huge change for me. I have some plans for some pdf's in my Etsy store and Right now 'It's Fun to Make a Hat' is staring me in the face just asking me to scan it. This also means some inspirational scans from all the old sewing pattern books I have from the 20s through 40s!

And first official picture of me on the blog! I went out for the day with my Mom yesterday and I'm wearing my first snood. I wish I had gotten a better shot of it but it was black and camera phones, no matter how good, only make it look like lumpy, gravy-like hair on the back of your head. I decided to be ambitious too and (while completely ignoring the beautiful plaid skirt that needs lining still) whipped up a knee length, high-waisted slim skirt out of some black cotton jersey to wear for the day.

I haven't got any action shots of going out, probably because after tasting a couple wines and cider options at the Farmers' Market, I was thoroughly buzzed(!) We did stop by a vintage shop later in the day and I snapped a two inspiration shots in the dark fitting room. Here was a gorgeous 60s Oscar de la Renta tailored top with peplum.

If I had a bit more money, it might be in my closet right now, but I have stuck it in my inspiration folder, hoping to recreate it at some point. And then there was a seafoam green sailor style dress with a drop waist. It was so cute, but the seams looked as though they might give within the first wearing (and had a price issue too.)

Alright, that's that for now!

MIA Already!

It's been a long week away from my new blogging world! And, wow, five followers already, thanks you guys, I look forward to reading your posts!

Soon, my scattered posts should be a thing of the past. My own computer broke down earlier in the year and I've been without one since. Well, I got a new one! It's supposed to be here sometime mid to late next week and I'll be able to get rolling on posting and keeping my Etsy store more regularly updated. I'm very excited!

I'm starting to get into the swing of things with school. I'm taking web development classes mostly. I used to create a lot of web sites in my spare time and so it's nice to get back to it. Plus I'm taking a drawing class for me. I'm not very good with drawing, but I've got hopes to get better at it.

Onto projects:

Remember how I was having trouble with the purl stitch? Well, I decided to go a little more modern with my approach and watched some YouTube videos.

I haven't checked out any of the other videos - and there are plenty - but this helped me make my first stockinette stitch!

I dropped a few stitches but I'm pretty proud of it!

And, in case you thought I forgot about the Hollywood Pattern skirt, I was about done and then got the notion that I should probably take the time to line it. So here's a little picture of the progress on that too (by the way, soon I will get better at this blogger layout with the pictures and all! Haha)

And I know I haven't mentioned anything about combat sports yet. Today I went to the Oregon Open to root on my friend, and fellow gym mate, Jenny. This was her first BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) tournament and the competition was really tough. She's only been at it a short while and the Beginner's bracket was 18 months or less. I think she got a lot of nerves out of the way and it was good to experience competition. I haven't competed yet because I'm a bit of a wuss about it so far. I just always want to be really prepared. Here's a photo of Jenny at the beginning of her very first match!

I have to go get my cardio in before the gym closes so I'll leave you with that. Bye guys!

First project

Here's a peep of what I'm working on currently. It's a 40s Hollywood Pattern. This is my first vintage skirt pattern, but the instructions look pretty straightforward. The only odd thing about them is that it looks as though the skirt and belt are sewn SEPARATELY AND THEN WORN TOGETHER - WHAT?! (I am definitely sewing them together)

The fabric is vintage and it feels a bit thin so I'm contemplating lining it. Anyone reading this have any tips? I've heard that this is pretty easy and I'm thinking it'd help save the skirt from an early death, especially since I'm turning it into more of a pencil skirt. I think the corduroy is too stiff to sit right otherwise.

Look out for another picture update tomorrow on progress and possibly you'll meet my sewing room...

Introducing Myself

The easiest way is to start with a name and a purpose right? I'm Nancy and I'm starting this blog, like many, as a motivator and a way to track progress (even if it's just documentation of me running in circles.)

Here we go:

• Learn to (make time to?!) sew all these vintage patterns I seem to be hoarding - I could really use a wardrobe that expresses my style more
• Really boost my combat sports training.
• Find some balance between the two

So I'll mostly be posting about vintage sewing or MMA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts.) That seems simple enough for a start.

Here's a little more background if you want it:

I currently have two jobs - both are off and on. Most the time I hang sheetrock and do drywall finishwork - the type of work that gives a girl Rosie style biceps! For my other job, I try to work toward making an (even just okay) living off of selling vintage things on Etsy. It's mostly patterns right now, but I'm hoarding dresses too, haha...Is there a pattern here?

Most of my time outside of working is spent training combat sports. I train Muay Thai, Submission Wrestling, and Jiu-Jitsu. I started about a year and a half ago but a lot of time has been recovering from newcomer injuries and, then there's been switching gyms three times, which hasn't really made for the most ideal training situation. So on the list is getting more training time in.

My sewing experience basically boils down to punk using floss to fix everything and a little sloppy skirt-making years back. I have a really big interest in 1930s and 40s style and started collecting sewing patterns midway through the year. I have a habit of getting pretty excited about the patterns and what they could become and then just being a combination of lazy and tired after practice and/or work and now school too (did I mention I just started going full time a week ago?) No more! I think posting my progress and projects will help get me on the right track with these projects.

Intro out of the way and on to the more interesting stuff...