On Surviving the Halloween Rat Race

I recently visited the fabric store where I spent 6 years helping customers.  Halloween is, hands-down, their busiest season of the year.  Being almost exactly a week before the big black-and-orange day, I was feeling the pressure and I wasn't even making costumes or helping customers!  The tension in the air was palpable, and my mind turned to those countless interesting and harrowing hours that I spent lovingly helping people with their costume ideas. As a result, here are some of my top tips for surviving the Halloween Rat Race:

1.  KNOW YOUR SKILL LEVEL! I cannot possibly count the number of times I've helped desperate parents and party-goers who had never sewn and were attempting an expert-level costume four days (or the night before) Halloween.  It's okay to have great ideas, but be realistic about the amount of work involved and the price tag for the materials needed.  Most of the time, simple solutions to creative costume ideas are the best.  Martha Stewart's Halloween magazine special issues (and their online archives) contain excellent and easy ways to achieve very successful costumes with minimal sewing skills and commonly available items.  Even if the specific costumes they feature aren't exactly what you are looking for, quite often the techniques have multi-purpose applications.  What about the tutorial for these adorable Royal Couple costumes?  Will and Kate Middleton, anyone?

A royal costume tutorial from MarthaStewart.com

2.  BE FLEXIBLE!  More than a few people that I've helped became solidly devoted to a very particular costume idea and sallied forth with no willingness to switch things up when the going got tough.  I've heard tales of quests for raw materials sent people miles away from home at odd hours of the night for just the right this-or-that.  Unless you enjoy the chase,  it's good to keep an open mind about what might complete your costume.  If you've involved your child in the design of his or her costume, encourage them to be flexible when it comes to color choices, accessories, and other details.  This is easier said than done, I know, but most kids welcome the chance to take their ideas further and sometimes a trip to Goodwill or garage sales can spark ideas (and savings!) that you might never have considered initially.  Sometimes it's good to have a couple of costume ideas in mind - you might strike out on one and hit a home run finding items for another...  My own famous Carmen Miranda costume from 4th grade happened thanks to an incredibly grody pile of plastic fruit my mom found at a garage sale!

3.  SET A BUDGET.  This might seem obvious, especially during today's economic climate, but you'd be surprised how many occasional costumers end up spending big bucks without intending to.  Even if you are working at the last minute, take at least half an hour (or a full hour) to sit down and sketch or write out what it is you want to make, and see what you have on hand, what you can borrow, and what might get you to your goal cheaply.  Craft felt, hot glue, glitter, cardboard and paint can boost a costume without a lot of money.  Take into consideration that most costumes are only worn for a few hours at most and don't need to last for eternity; glue is okay, paper's okay, just relax! 

4.  MAKEUP IS MAGIC!  Sometimes all you need to turn clothes into a costume is makeup!  For just a few dollars plus what you might have in your own makeup stash,  the power to transform is yours.  One year I donned a sparkly vintage 1960's top and skirt that I had on hand and did elaborate cat makeup with a $4 fantasy makeup kit from Wal-Mart.  The result was the glitziest Party Animal costume ever!  Loads of compliments couldn't be wrong.  If you're strapped for cash, dress you (or your little goblin) in all black and get creative with makeup and a few strategically-place accessories. 

Monster makeup tutorial at MarthaStewart.com

5.  DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE BASIC, CLASSIC, OR OLD-FASHIONED.  So many times adults and kids go out of their way to attempt elaborate, obscure or character costumes.  I don't blame you for doing what you love...  However, if time and money matter, don't be afraid to try something time-tested and easy.  Who doesn't love a classic Vampire or Mummy?  Frankenstein is still scary and awesome, too.  Ballerinas, Red Riding Hood and Cowgirls and Cowboys are fabulous... and might be easier and cheaper than a 100% accurate Strawberry Shortcake or Cinderella costume!

6.  ADVICE FOR NEXT YEAR:  Suggestions 1-5 will get you to the pumpkin patch on time for this year.  For next year I offer the following advice, courtesy of my mother, who lovingly made exquisite (and often inexpensive) Halloween costumes for me from age 2 through about 6th grade.  Start planning your costume the last week of September and take no more than a week to decide on a couple of ideas to follow.  Start looking for best bargains on raw materials or things to repurpose as soon as you can.  If you find something (like makeup or shoes) that are perfect and about the right price, buy them immediately (no matter what time of year it is).  Pace your work so that you're not finishing things at the last possible minute - that often means doing any sewing first and pacing the finishing touches so that you are only making minor adjustments that week of Halloween.  And lastly, make time to enjoy Halloween and the days leading up to it.  Planning ahead with a relaxed and fun attitude leaves more time for fun things like making bat cookies, hayrides, and other haunting wonders. 

Work smart, be safe and I wish everyone a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happiness is a Smaller Stash

In the last month that I've been away from writing blog posts, I have been a very busy lady.  My first collection of cotton fabric has been edited and approved and sent off to press.  My home office has moved from upstairs to downstairs.  My stash of fabric is smaller... and life is good!

As a born pack rat married to a tidy person, it has taken me years and quite a lot of effort to part with stash fabrics (yarn and paper, too).  I didn't intend to hoard things, I'm just a magpie with more creativity and enthusiasm than I had time and energy to finish things.  I have been a natural and enthusiastic collector of craft materials for most of my life.  So, as I undertook the three-week process of moving my studio to the downstairs common area of my house, I made a lot of decisions about what was really important and where I wanted to focus my creative efforts and energy.  It was time to do a purge.

Every box was gone through - Scrapbook paper that I had collected in college while I was still scrapping with a friend as a social activity got savagely cut.  Excess yarn that was never going to find its way to my needles went to triage.  Outdated software manuals went to recycle... and my Mount Everest of fabric was reduced to a manageable collection of vintage gems and useful basics, with room for projects in progress.

Since I was in junior high, I've had a huge stash of fabric - most of it never got used.  It was always about 80% stash.  This time I took the opportunity to ask myself, "What do you REALLY want?"  and I answered "I want to be the lady who decides on a dress to make, then goes out and buys the fabric and finishes it before I start another one."  So far so good.  It's my new mantra. 

I know, I can sense many of you fellow pack rats and collectors out there cringing... but understand that I didn't throw away everything.  I kept important pieces, inspiring bits, and a few indulgences.  I am, after all, a collector and curator.  The major difference now is that I have space for the things that matter and a cleaner, clearer space where I can create without so much clutter. 

Blooper Reel: If Anything Can Go Wrong, It Will!

Murphy's Law, "If anything can go wrong, it will," can apply to the sewing room, even when there's an expert at the helm of the sewing machine.  No amount of sewing experience can protect you from those times when the seam ripper comes out and you smack yourself in the forehead repeatedly!  I had one of those days last week. 

Don't let this happen to you!

I've been a busy lady as of late, finalizing my first cotton fabric collection with my company in New York and finishing up my sewing pattern re-releases.  After weeks sitting at my computer fussing over graphics files, I found myself in need of a sewing day where I would attend to some samples and a new dress for myself.  Ah, they're all easy projects... smooth sailing!  I told myself.  No, that was the first clue that everything was about to go awry...

First of all, that simple dress I was going to make for myself had been cut out weeks earlier.  The pieces were stacked up, marked and ready to sew... or so I thought!  When I sewed up the bodice yoke pieces and unfurled them to give them a press for the next step, I found (to my horror!) that the flower motifs in the print made for some... floral pasties!  Ohhhh dear.  Thank goodness the yoke is lined with the same fabric and I can swap out one of the halves for a flower with a different placement!  Note to self and others:  When working with large prints that are to be placed in the bust area of a garment, check your print placement to avoid embarassment!  I set the dress aside and told myself I'd work on something else.

I had a backup dress to work on!  A nice, easy-to-alter 1940s housedress with princess seams (Decades of Style #4002).  Pieces were cut and marked, and I zipped through the front and back princess seams, only to find that the side pieces didn't match up!  Foiled again!  I called my friend for desperate help and, after some talk therapy I realized that I had forgotten to sew the side darts... once that was done, the side pieces matched up perfectly.  Note to self and others:  Always check off your sewing steps on the pattern instructions so you don't forget important details!

Well!  After two frustrating starts and getting nowhere fast, I decided I needed to finish something up to feel that I had accomplished something!  I turned to one of my quick zippered bags, which I was testing for an upcoming pattern re-release.  This would be easy... the front assembly was already sewn, all I had to do was position the strap and sew the back up to complete it.  I positioned, pinned and got it under the needle.  I sewed down one side, pivoted perfectly and sewed down the other and.... SNAP!  POP!  CRUNCH!  My needle shattered (good thing I wear big glasses when I sew) and as I grumbled and pulled the bag out of the machine, I realized that I had run out of bobbin at EXACTLY THE SAME TIME.  Note to self and others:  NEVER sew over a metal zipper stop and ALWAYS check your bobbin before you begin to sew.

That was IT.  I quit for the day. 

When multiple errors are happening in the sewing room, retreat is usually the better part of valor.  It may seem like you're giving up, but we all have days when we're not paying attention or we're tired or maybe you just don't feel like sewing. It is far better to recognize when things aren't working and come back to your work when you're fresh and ready to give sewing your full effort (barring deadlines, of course).   I'm back in the sewing room today, ready to sew and I know it'll all go well!  There will be no broken needles today... I hope!

NEW PATTERN! The Patchwork Owl Family

The original 2007 Owl Pattern

It's not exactly a new pattern, but it may as well be... The re-release of my very popular Patchwork Owl Family sewing pattern happened a few months ago and I'm still very excited about it!  What is this pattern, you ask?  Why have you re-released it?  What's the big deal about a bunch of stuffed owls, anyway? 

Back in 2007, when I was selling fabric at Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, I realized that a lot of the customers were asking for stuffed toy patterns but there weren't a lot of choices in the store.  I assembled my experience and skills and designed a pattern that would reflect my love of owls and hopefully would appeal to the varied customer base at the fabric store.  I also tried to make the owls something that a customer could easily make with common fabrics - quilting cotton and felt.  After a few weeks of rigorous testing, writing, and illustrating, I released the original 101 Owl Family Pattern, which was something of a local overnight success.  We could not keep them in the store - I was always selling more than I could make in my spare time.  This success led to a couple of spin-offs:  The Baby Owl Kit and later a kit designed especially for the clothing and accessory store Anthropologie. 

Fast forward to late 2010.  Fresh from International Quilt Market and a few years of fabric design school, I decided to update my small line of patterns and expand the offerings.  After months of looking through my customer feedback notes while I was designing fabric, I finally had a real gem:  The revised Patchwork Owl Family pattern.  So... other than a pretty new hand-painted cover and some slick graphics, what does this re-release have that the original lacked?

The 2011 Re-Release

I really listened to my customers - spoken and unspoken feedback was really important to the re-design process.  The most important change was in the back pieces.  In the original version, a gap was to be left in the curved side of the owl to allow for turning and stuffing.  While this was adequate for this purpose, many customers weren't able to preserve the curve when the gap was sewn shut.  By making the back neck seam straight and building in a turning and stuffing gap into that seam, everyone can now have a perfect curve all the way around the owl!  Plus the straight gap is easier to stuff through and sew closed at the very end.

Also updated is the front body assembly.  Previous versions of this pattern called for stitching the wings onto a body piece in an applique-like fashion.  This wasted fabric and was difficult for some beginning seamsters to accomplish, so I straightened the wing-to-tummy seams and simplified the construction. 

Almost everything else about the owls is the same, except for a lot of little details that most people might not notice.  The detailed step-by-step instructions are now lovingly drawn by hand and show every important little detail of the construction.  These illustrations are now a little larger than those in the original pattern (along with the font size) - a plus to all of us who need a bit of magnification (do you see me raising my hand and adjusting my glasses?). 

(L) A fresh basket of new owls. 
(R) The improved back stuffing gap of the revised owl design.

I hope that new and return customers will enjoy my fresh new updates to this pattern.  It's a fun project to make, and was designed to be a relaxing and rewarding project for any occasion or time of the year.  For more information or to purchase this pattern, please visit my Etsy store.

Book Review: Successful Scrap Quilts

Quilting was something that I vehemently resisted as a youngster, teen and young adult. Being far more interested in sewing fashions for my own wardrobe (and later fashions for other people), I just couldn't get into the idea of piecework or quilting... even though some of my favorite vintage fabrics appeared on random old crazy quilts around my parents' house. 

My quilting epiphany didn't come until many, many years later during my second year working at Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley, California.  Word got around among the staff that my graphic design background gave me an edge with color and composition, and I frequently found myself helping quilters solve a multitude of design problems with their projects.  Shift after shift of helping others got me thinking that I should at least throw together a couple of quilt tops for the sake of my own expertise.  Not wanting to go the traditional route, I chose the book Successful Scrap Quilts from Simple Rectangles by Judy Turner and Margaret Rolfe as a place to begin. By now it's a few years old (2002) but I still find myself pulling it off of my bookshelf time and again.

Successful Scrap Quilts is a great book for any beginner for several reasons.  Not only are all 15 of the quilt patterns executed with easy-to-cut rectangles (which is a plus), but the first several chapters cover many fundamental quilting concepts.  From color and composition to block assembly and general quilt construction, you almost don't need another book to complete your quilt top!  This book does not, however, adequately cover finishing the quilt; those are topics best covered in detail by other reference volumes or classes from your local quilt shop.

My first quilt top from this book was a Bento Box (page 84), a small 30" x 36" lap quilt.  Instead of using the suggested traditional Japanese indigo fabrics to frame the colorful central blocks, I pulled several black-and-white Japanese themed prints out of my stash to frame selections of my brighter Asian conversational prints.

A few years later I made a more traditionally colored Bento Box with Japanese indigos and other muted Asian prints.  Here are the blocks laid out to test the composition.  My father-in-law was the lucky recipient of this quilt.  I did make a small modification to the pattern in this version; instead of piecing the center of each block, I carefully cut single square vignettes from Japanese conversational cottons.  The indigo and neutral tones make nice frames, no?

As I love working with themes, I couldn't resist piecing this brightly-colored starry quilt top based on 1-2-3 What Can You See? (page 81).  I reduced the size and number of blocks to make a 32" x 45" child's lap quilt, as this quilt was made for a little girl.  It was fun and a real challenge to find star-themed and celestial fabrics in purple, turquoise, and yellow!  The psychedelic border brought the disparate colors together in a fun, slightly girly way.

Given that a previous non-quilter like myself was inspired enough by the cute examples in this book to make three quilt tops, I'll give this book a rating of excellent, especially as a book for first quilting projects.  The patterns are easy if you want to make them just like the samples, and they're easily customizable if you're just looking for a place to start your own creative project.  It would also be a great book to have around for you experienced quilters who need simple projects for gift quilt making.  As advertised, the patterns are good for scraps and collections of fabrics from your stash.

Plus, what higher rating can I give a quilting book than to say "It turned me into a quilter?"  I can think of no higher compliment or endorsement.

Have Your Color And Wear It, Too!

I love color no matter where or how it gets applied. 

Paint, paper, cake icing, fabric, Pantone chips, wallpaper, colored pencils and... cosmetics.  I love cosmetic color in all of its wonderful varied forms, from nails to eyelids to lips.  When I flip through fashion magazines, I'm often paying as much attention to the colors of the makeup as I am the color and cut of the clothes!  It's color to be worn and to transform with - how can I not love it?  As a result of this makeup fascination, I have a pretty decent collection of professional cosmetics that I don't wear nearly often enough.

Knowing this, you can understand how thrilled I was when my friends at Decades of Style pattern company brought me along to assist with makeup and styling at a recent photo shoot!  Sensing the need for restraint in order to let the clothes shine as the main star of our photo session, I brought a selection of demure glosses, blushes and eye colors that wouldn't overpower.  Difficult for me - those parrot green pots of MAC eyeshadow were there in my makeup case taunting me, but they had to be left at home! 

This session was going to be all about a sweet, timeless, natural look.  I packed lots of pretty, glowy, tawny basics like my Stila Convertible Color in "Lillium," Kevyn Aucoin Elegant Lip Gloss in "Molasses," MAC Tinted Lip Conditioners in "Plum Perfect" and "Virtuous Violet,"  and Lipstick Queen Oxymoron Matte Gloss in "Deafening Silence."  All of these are gorgeous neutrals!

At the most, I got to add a pop of lip color to Vicki, our model.  Here I am giving her a pouting lesson while I redden up her lips with a dab of  Retrofuturist Red full-pigment lipstick by Lime Crime.

In the end, it was a fun day and I was happy to lend my hands, artistic eye, and my eager stash of costmetics to such a great project.  Thanks to Christina at Meadowlarking, our wonderful photographer, for these great behind-the-scenes shots!

Next Steps In The Hawaiian Quilting Saga

The easy part of my first Hawaiian quilt block is now over; the applique process went very quickly, and as such I have started second and third pieces.  I'm now quite sure that needle-turning is one of my favorite sewing techniques - something I certainly didn't expect during my first two hours of this project! 

Next comes the more challenging part of the work - quilting the block by hand.  As this 22" block was intended for use as a throw pillow cover, I went ahead and made a sandwich of the applique piece, organic cotton quilt batting, and the backing broadcloth.

To secure the "quilt sandwich," I basted 1/2 inch from the edge all around the block.  To keep the piece from shifting or bunching during hand quilting, I also basted diagonally and in quarters across the entire square.  It was then ready to be put into my new 14" hand quilting hoop.

I started hand quilting in the center of the motif, and I'll be working my way outward to keep the work even as I go.  This is by far the most difficult part of the process for me, as I rarely sew with a thimble and as such I'm not yet used to having a chunk of metal on my fingertip.  The rocking motion of the quilt stitch is also taking some getting used to, as well as trying to focus on stabbing through all of the layers of the sandwich.  My stitches are uneven, but I'm sticking with it!  I can only get better at hand quilting the more I stitch!