Overeducated Seamstresses

Hey everybody!  I'm sure you've all read it by now, but if not, go to Erin's blog for my contribution to her Overeducated Seamstresses series.  

(I have actually finally finished that 1hr skirt I was talking about.  It only took me about 1 month.)

The Juuuust About Right Top

I'm in Nova Scotia on holiday, and after an unusually lucky week of warm, sunny weather, we are preparing to be hit with hurricane Arthur.

My folks live in the country and have a wood burning stove, a well, and lots of candles and torches, so whatever happens, we'll be ok.  We've made a few shopping trips for essentials:  food, water, wine and library books.

I did manage to squeeze my serger into the back of the car for the drive home, so some quick holiday sewing has been done.  I wanted to test an old Burda pattern I have for a basic cap-sleeve pull-over top,  and managed to just squeeze the pieces on this fabric that I got at Scrap in San Francisco last fall. It's a handmade batik done over a plaid.  Totally too much for my usual taste.  More like something Oona would go for…..

…..well, what a coincidence, because it's Oonapalooza month!  Check Gillian's blog for more details, but basically it's an Oona inspired free for all.  What would Oona do (WWODTM)?  Use a tiny scrap of batiked plaid for a top, of course.  Duh.

Ignore the totally '80s illustrations, and just look at the line art, OK?

There isn't much to say about the construction of a dartless, pull-over top, but I did run into one snag:  my hips seem to have mysteriously grown since the last time I took my measurements, so there was no way this top was going to hang properly.  (The seams were straining just for this quick iPhone bathroom selfie.)  There wasn't enough seam allowance to let them out, so WWOD?  Slice into that baby and make it work.

Now I have a crop top that just about hides my Mom belly.  Here follows a typically awkward set of photos taken on my iPhone in the fading light, just before the mosquitoes came out in force:

"Go stand next to the boat".
"You mean this old dirty boat and pile of seaweed and construction materials and wheelbarrow?"
"Yeah, it's a perfect shot."
"OK………."

I was having a weird hair day, so I kept pulling it back and ruining photos.

This is my "take the feckin' photo already face". 

And this is my required outtake, making fun of Mr. A.S.S.'s photo taking stance.

I'm also wearing my jersey yoga-waisted maxi skirt that I whipped up before my rocker weekend with Clare Szabo, but that was so much awesomeness that it deserves its own post.  To follow….

Another quick post with no photos

A couple of notes before I go away on holiday:

I've always read blogs from my blog roll, even though I use bloglovin'.  Don't know why.  Just a habit from the old days I guess.  Anyway, I've decided to finally go through my loooooong blog roll and make sure that I'm also following everyone on bloglovin'.  So, if you see that I've suddenly started following you, it doesn't mean that I haven't been reading all along.  :)

I'm going car-tripping to visit family for a couple of weeks, and while my mother has a basic Singer sewing machine, she doesn't have an overlocker.  So I put out a question on twitter as to whether it was normal to want to take my serger with me.  A resounding YES was the response.  Even Mr. A.S.S. thought it made sense.  (Oh yes, I've brainwashed him well.  Muahahahahaha.)  So instead of packing the back of the station wagon with sleeping bags and tent, it will have my Brother 1034D, plus bags of pre-matched fabric and patterns.  Do I know how to holiday or what?!

I have a few unblogged projects that just need photographing, so hopefully I'll get around to it while I'm on holiday.  If not, just imagine two short skirts and one maxi.  There.  Blogging done.

Aaaargh!

This hasn't happened before, but when I was deleting spam yesterday, a whole batch of comments were deleted too!  Sorry to all those who commented on my #NYLon post….  >:(

Arise and Meet

Anyone not from the Great White North could be excused for not knowing that we hibernate.

Well, not literally.

But we do tend to hunker down from about November-May, trying to minimize our time outdoors and maximize our time under the blankets.  But when spring does arrive, boy do we break out.  From May-September it's non-stop  music festivals, street fares, film fests and drinks on the terrasses.

Source:  Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 

Source:http://tvanouvelles.ca

Source:  http://livefastmag.com/2011/08/la-belle-province/

So now that our record-breaking snowfall has finally melted, we've rubbed our eyes and emerged from our dens with only one thing in mind:  meet-up time!  Caroline of Sew-Eng has organized two events for 2014's brief active season for Montrealers.  

#1:

Saturday June 14th on St-Hubert

Fabrics Store on St-Hubert

• 12h - Pizzelli Coq, 7616 St-Hubert, 514-495-0111
  Reservation under "Caroline Côté" (10 pers.)
  
• 14h - Start shopping at KAVA going South
  Kava, 7609 St-Hubert, métro Jarry.
• 5@7 - Gainzbar, 6289 St-Hubert, 514-272-3753
  Reservations under "Caroline Côté" at 17h (10 pers.)
• Saturday itinerary in google map.

On St-Hubert, it will be the best place to find :

• Notions and threads (Kava, Notions stores, etc.)
• High end fabrics (Couture Elle, etc.)
• Vast choices of apparel, home dec, vinyl, quilting cotton, knitting yarns. (more than 20 stores)

And if you can't make that one, or need another fabric fix, there's always:

#2:  

Friday July 18th on Chabanel

SOME RESERVATIONS STILL NEED TO BE CONFIRMED. 

Warehouses on Chabanel

• 12h - Tim Hortons, 9485 St-Laurent TBC ??
• 14h - Start shopping at Cuir Boilard, 185 Louvain.
• 5@7 - Rapahël Bistro, wine bar,
  8497 Ste-Dominique (corner de Liège)
  514-807-0033 (15 min on foot) TBC
• Friday itinerary  in google map.

On Chabanel, it will be the perfect day to shop for :

• leather skins (Cuir Boilard and 2 stores at 99 Chabanel O.)
• swim/sports fabrics at the unique SuzieSpandex on St-Laurent, corner Chabanel.
• bargain priced fabrics everywhere (apparel, home dec, not much for quilting)

Quick!  Send Caro an email and join the fun before the dark winter sets in and we have to go back underground.  

#NYLon2014 has both recharged and exhausted me

Buckle up my dears; this is going to be a photo heavy post:

I can't quite remember what possessed me to barge in on politely approach the NYC ladies and demand tentatively propose that I join them in London.  It was probably twitter.  Everything starts on twitter.  In any case, the combination of one week of holiday time that had to be used before May 31st, my man being home FOR A WHOLE WEEK to look after the kids, a British Airways seat sale, and the eternal temptation that is London, I jumped in.

And am I ever glad I got to join in the best meet-up evah.  Just look at the undeniable photographic evidence:

Leaving our flat for the meet up (from Rachael's Instagram)

The whole gang at the V&A (Kitty Wong Photography)

Jennifer, me, Clio, Rachael and Devra managed one group photo (Kitty Wong Photography)

iPhone snaps from the Tea Room at the V&A (from whence we were evicted not once, but twice)

Then we broke off into smaller groups and headed to Goldhawk Road:

Racing each other to Goldhawk Road (from Rachael's Instagram)

I bought almost all my fabric at Classic Textiles and the African Wax shop across the street

Swimming ladies cotton lining, silver stretch denim, 2X liberty prints and prawn wax cotton. 

Stopping to refuel, followed by more shopping

Then we went to the pub for some food….

….and drinks….

…and more drinks…..

….and more drinks….

(The rest of the photos are being withheld to protect the innocent.)

Rachael posted a roundup with Kitty Wong's great photos, attendee names and blogs, and a google survey to share more information about yourself.  Go check it out!  

And finally, if you really want to know why I go to all the meet-ups I can, read Devra's perfect summary here.  It's not about buying fabric:  we can do that anywhere.  It's about the great group of authentic people that you get to know in real life, sometimes better than those you see everyday.

See you next year for #NYLon2015?

Another year, another MMM

I've been seeing the odd Me Made May declaration on the interwebs and thought, "Isn't that funny, since May is so far away….".  Then I realized it isn't.  Time really gets away from you sometimes.  So, here we go:  

'I, Vicki of Another Sewing Scientist, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14. I will to wear a handmade garment or accessory each day for the duration of May 2014'

Because I'll be travelling for parts of MMMay2014, as I was for MMMay 2012, it will involve a bit more planning than last year.  Last year was more slapdash, with a few skipped days here and there when things weren't clean. (Hey who's counting?)  Actually, come to think of it, travelling makes things easier, because you expect to pack 5 outfits and wear them over and over when travelling, don't you?   Good enough excuse to plan a trip every May, I say.  

Me Made May 2012

(insert photo collage of MMMay2013 

whenever I can be arsed to go back to my old, 

almost-dead laptop and put the photos 

together…..)

Speaking of getting older, I should say that I've reached my imaginary half-way point in life today by turning 44 years old.  Sounds crazy, I know, but ever since I can remember, I'd always imagined that I would live to be 88.  No reason; just an arbitrary "old age" I decided upon when I started to understand mortality.  

I've done a hell of a lot in 44 years:  I've travelled in 30 countries on 5 continents, I've spent 18 years on my formal education (and I'm probably not finished yet), I've made 2 new humans for the planet (sorry / not sorry), I've managed to find a partner that hasn't strangled me over the last 20+ years, I've made a lot of friends and kept most, and I like to think that I've helped a lot of people in a lot of ways.  

So what do I have planned for year 45 out of 88?  

Sewing-wise:  #Nylon2014 is the next big plan.  I'm deep in the planning-is-almost-as-good-as-the-trip phase.  So much to cram into 6 days!  Viking exhibit at the British Museum and couture wedding dresses at V&A!  London bloggers!  Andrew Scott at the Royal Court!  The Man Outside Sainsburys!  And I'm trying not to frantically sew new things before then, but don't hold me to it.

Science-wise:  I'll have to miss my annual parasitology conference this year, because it falls right at the beginning of my trip to London, but if all goes well, I'll have some interesting data to present at another conference sometime this year.  I'm coming to the end of my current B&MGates grant, so we are frantically trying to put together proposals to continue our research.  The eternal state of being in academia, I'm afraid.  I've been very lucky to work with such fascinating people in Canada, the US, Botswana and South Africa, and I hope I can continue to do so…..I've yet to make that big breakthrough discovery that we all imagine we'll make when we first get into a research career.  Maybe I never will.  But I have the next 44 years to try.

Cheers!