May 2014 – eternal magpie

New mannequin, new photos

Please excuse the grainy Instagram snapshot and the incredibly messy sewing room, but this is the first glimpse of my new mannequin. Isn’t she lovely? Much more sophisticated than my polystyrene heads.

The arrival of the mannequin has led to a day of product photography, which (as it turns out) is rather difficult. Especially when your “studio” is two pieces of wallpaper propped up on the bed, and a reflector that’s quite difficult to wrangle at the same time as the camera! Still, these photos are a definite improvement on the previous ones, even though they do still need improvement themselves. Work In Progress, and all that.

I wanted to showcase the last few bow ties, as I’ve added a coupon code to the Inexplicable Emporium. Simply enter “FATHERSDAY” when you check out, and you’ll receive 20% off your order. This is valid until June 15th – but don’t forget to allow enough time for your parcel to arrive in the post!

I’ve also re-photographed all the cloche hats (some with greater success than others), to try and make them look a bit more tempting. I’ll finally be able to work on some new hats soon, as the lace I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived! Although I had a slight incident with a vegetable slicer at the weekend, which means I can’t do any hand sewing until the hole in my thumb has healed a bit more. Oops.

(By the way – the code “FATHERSDAY” works throughout my Etsy store, not just on the items that your Dad might like. So if you’ve been coveting a hat, you can take advantage of the offer to buy it at a bit of a discount.)

I do love this pink and purple one. If somebody doesn’t snap it up very soon, I think I might just have to keep it.

Dress Success!

You remember that whole work/life balance thing that I was talking about the other week? It seems to have toppled over slightly. It happened not least because I was working towards an Inexplicable Emporium stall that took place at work, at our Museums at Night event. The combination of making sure I had enough stock ready on time, coupled with staying out long past my bedtime, and then compounded by an extremely hectic day off, have led to me hobbling to work today with my walking stick, because I was simply too exhausted to stand up all by myself. Oops.

But! The event itself was a fantastic night out, we sold enough stock to make all the effort worthwhile, and I managed to finish my new dress in time to wear it. Phew!
(Note to self: NEVER wear those shoes again. Beautiful, but so uncomfortable. Ouch.)

The pattern is Advance 8065, a shirtwaist dress from 1956, in an extremely modern-proportioned size 18½. Next time I need to shorten the back bodice ever so slightly, but otherwise it’s an absolutely perfect fit. And after wondering whether I’d ever wear it again after the Vintage Night, the answer is a very definite yes! The dress was so comfortable, and so easy to wear, that it’s actually going into my work wardrobe rather than my Special Occasions pile.

I only made one alteration to the pattern, and that was to eliminate the side zip. Because the bodice front matches up with the side front skirt seam, it was easy to simply leave that seam open a few inches, add a placket, and then close it again with snap fasteners. Next time I’ll add two more buttons, but I needed to get this one finished in a hurry and didn’t have time to hand-stitch two more buttonholes!

In fact, I enjoyed wearing this dress so much that I may have already bought the fabric for another one… to match my niece’s Christmas dress. Because honestly, how could I resist a navy blue dress that’s COVERED IN BEES, with buttons to match?

Surprisingly popular!

This little pile of felted flowers (complete with grainy Instagram filter – I’m “inexplicableemporium”) is waiting to go to work with me on Saturday evening, where I’ll be having a stall at our Museums At Night event. Well, that was the plan, anyway! The two green were ones were made by request for a friend, and the blue one sold on Facebook this afternoon, to another friend who’s also ordered a waterfall jacket that I’m really looking forward to making. Thankfully I still have seven hair flowers to take with me, plus another nine brooches the same size that are just waiting for the pins to be sewn on.

This is the size of the smaller flowers – about 7-10cm (3-4″) across, and quite deep. It’s attached to a bobby pin that has a little round pad at the top, which holds it firmly in place. The pad sits in between the flower petals and the centre ball, so it’s completely hidden and very secure.

This one… well, first I was going to keep it. Then I sewed it onto a comb, and remembered that combs really don’t stay put in my hair. But I was worried that it would be too big, so I popped this photo onto Facebook to ask for some feedback. Apparently it’s not too big at all, a friend has claimed it for her own, and I’m in the process of making half a dozen similarly-sized ones to take to the Vintage Night tomorrow!

And this, again from Instagram, is a selection of the flowers I made yesterday. I’m hoping that there’s enough of a range of colours to appeal to lots of people, although from the response I’ve been getting to the photos, I’m hoping that their popularity isn’t going to be a problem!

Oh gosh, that sounds smug, and it really isn’t supposed to. In fact, I’m a little bit overwhelmed about how supportive and enthusiastic people are being. I’ve seen links to my Etsy store shared on forums, received offers of collaborations, and everyone’s just generally being lovely. I think I’m gradually starting to whittle down my making into things that I’m really happy with – so the fact that other people are happy with them too is the icing on the cake!

Satisfying Saturday

Now this is what I call a bargain. Paul and I popped into our local church’s fair on the way home from the Post Office, where I managed to pick up this excellent book for the princely sum of TEN PENCE. I had a quick flick through, and suddenly the mysteries of dart manipulation seem a lot clearer. Once the Vintage Night’s out of the way, I feel inspired to draft myself a new bodice sloper and do some experiments!

And this, the product of about a week’s knitting (on and off) is the yoke of a Miette cardigan in a lovely mottled pink yarn with a sparkly strand running through it. I’d thought that seeing everyone else’s photos from Me-Made May would make me want to rush out and buy lots of sewing patterns. Thankfully that’s not the case, but seeing lots of different versions of this cardigan did make me want to cast on immediately! It’s a cropped style, which is good for me as I’m very short-waisted, and also good as I don’t really have enough yarn for the pattern. It’s supposed to have three-quarter length sleeves, but I’m definitely going to end up with short ones. Once I’ve finished the body, I’ll knit the neck and front bands. Then I’ll know I can use all the remaining yarn on the sleeves – assuming there is some!

I don’t know whether I’ll get it finished in time to wear it as part of Me-Made May, but I’m going to give it a good try.

(Oh, and both of these photos are also on Instagram. If you’d like to follow me there, I’m “inexplicableemporium”.)

Waterfall Jacket pre-orders

Who remembers this jacket, that I made last August? I’d very much like to make some more, but in order to buy the fabric I’ll need to take pre-orders.

Don’t worry – your jacket doesn’t have to be orange! Though it does work best with wool or wool-blend loosely woven fabrics, like this one. The front, neck and bottom edges are not hemmed, they’re slightly frayed to show the nature of the loose weave. (Don’t worry – they’re also stitched along the edges, so they won’t unravel.) The sleeves are trimmed with a small cuff.

These jackets are pretty much free size, as there are no shoulder seams to fit into, and they don’t fasten across the front.

Fabric Land suiting or t-shirting
If you’d like a jacket made from any of the suiting fabrics on this page, the cost will be £65
A plain cotton jersey version would cost £55
Or you could have a patterned one from this page, or this one, for £60
(The lower part of the sleeves can be made in a contrast colour, if you like.)

Organic Herringbone or Linen
If you fancy some heavy organic herringbone weave (scroll all the way down!), that’ll be £140
Organic herringbone or linen with flowers or swallows print will be £165

Organic cotton jersey
A lovely soft t-shirt style cardigan in a wide choice of colours can be yours for £120

Harris Tweed
For a really sumptuous jacket, why not go for genuine Harris Tweed? It’ll cost £235, and it will come complete with a Harris Tweed Orb label, to confirm its authenticity. It’s available in a stunning range of colours, from very traditional heritage weaves to incredibly bright modern shades.

If you’d like to choose your own fabric, I can advise you on what would be suitable, how much you’d need to buy, and how much the resulting jacket would cost.

UK Shipping will cost an extra £11, as I’ll send them out by Special Delivery.

If you’d like to pre-order a jacket, all you have to do is let me know which fabric you’d like to go for, and I’ll put together a custom Etsy listing for you.

You can either pay the full amount up front, or you can pay a 50% deposit. Again, let me know which, and I’ll create the Etsy listing for the correct amount. This will allow me to order the fabric and make a start! You’ll need to allow up to four weeks from the date of your payment, as I need time to order and receive the fabric and actually make the jacket!

You can contact me by leaving a comment below, sending an email to claire@eternalmagpie.com, or by sending me a message on Facebook or Twitter.

I really like making these jackets, and my orange one has been very popular (orange-ness notwithstanding!), but unfortunately I currently lack the funds for buying the fabric to make more that I can pop into the Etsy shop readymade. Hopefully these pre-order options will work out!

It’s not all work, work, work…

A question I’m asked fairly often is whether I plan to eventually give up my job and work full time for myself, making and selling things. If you’d asked me a few years ago, the answer would have been a resounding yes! I’ve had a couple of periods in between jobs where I was lucky enough to be able to work for myself full time, and whilst I did enjoy it, the pressure of needing to bring in a steady income coupled with the isolation of being alone at home all the time made me, quite frankly, go a bit bonkers.

For the past five years I’ve been volunteering and subsequently working at The Museum of English Rural Life, in a whole host of different capacities.

Chicken-wrangling, during a visit from a local farm…

Dressing (approximately) as a Victorian, for a Dickens at Christmas event…

…and bonnet-wearing, with colleagues, for #museumselfie day on Twitter, in the photo at the top!

As Learning Assistant I had access to the most fantastic supply of materials, so I could work with the Toddler Time group, and with families to make all sorts of things…

… like this “pomme pomme” for Apple Day!

This paper puppet, inspired by our life-size straw effigy of King Alfred…

…and these adorable little Christmas trees. Recycled cardboard tubes and paper plates are an extremely versatile mainstay of toddler craft projects!

Admittedly I’m not working with the toddlers at the moment, having asked for a small cut in my hours to try and get my health back on track. But I am still working as part of the Visitor Services team, which means mostly half-days on the front desk meeting and greeting visitors to the museum, helping to look after the shop, and being on hand at lots of different types of events. I haven’t stopped working on the craft projects completely (I’m currently putting together a printing activity for our Village Fete), and I’m lucky enough to work with a great team of colleagues – many of whom I now count as friends.

Of course, we all have days when we wake up in the morning and think, “I wish I didn’t have to go to work today”, especially when the making is going well, and I don’t want to have to take a break from a particular project. But having a steady part-time job gives me just enough income that I don’t have to rely on my artwork to pay the bills. This alone is incredibly liberating, as it gives me the freedom to experiment with different projects without having to worry about whether they’ll sell. It also gives me enough time to actually do the work, as well as being fantastically inspiring! Since being at the museum I’ve learned to make felt, to use a drop spindle and a spinning wheel, and been privileged to work with lots of other fantastic artists. There are tools and textiles in the collections which are endlessly fascinating, as well as tremendously knowledgeable colleagues to talk to. The garden is beautiful, and there’s always something different going on.

There’s a school of thought which suggests that the only ways for an artistic type to actually earn a living are either by teaching, or working part-time for somebody else. At the museum I get to do a bit of both, and a lot more besides. What more could I ask for? I used to think that my eventual goal should always be to end up working solely for myself, making a living from my artwork and sewing. It turns out that having this balance suits me much better, and I hope it can continue for many years to come.

(And thanks to the marvels of Modern Technology, this should magically update itself while I’m at work today!)

Me-Made May, Days 2-6

May 2nd – Grumpy-looking and in the rain. Applied a weird filter to the photo because it has a peculiar streak right across it.

I hate this cardigan. It’s gone all floppy, it’s difficult to wash and dry, and it isn’t warm. I keep it because it goes with everything I own, and I have a cardigan shortage. If I hadn’t been focussing on things I’ve made myself, I’d have worn a plain dark grey cardigan that my Mum knitted for me about twenty years ago.

Dress: Self drafted, loose fitting linen dress with square yoke and deep ruffle at the hem
Petticoat: Self drafted, elastic waist with ruffle at the hem and eyelet lace trim
Cardigan: Eve, in Colinette Giotto (ravel.me/eternalmagpie/e2)
Shoes: Fairysteps

May 3rd – a bit over-excited in a shoe shop!

I just about never wear this jacket, because polar fleece (which it’s lined with) makes me go a bit hot and bothered. This was the first time I’d worn it with the matching psychedelic print belt (identical to the shoes!), and I quite liked it. The bow stayed put, and the belt didn’t slip around even without belt loops to hold it in place. (Yes, I bought the shoes. Obviously.)

Yellow Submarine jacket, Butterick 5254, blogged here:
eternalmagpie.com/blog/2009/10/09/yellow-submarine-jacket/
I may have got a little over excited when I found a pair of matching Vans this morning! 😀

May 4th – a bad selfie that doesn’t even really show the t-shirt. Never mind.

This was a real stretch to wear something me-made. I tend to wallow about in jeans and t-shirts when I’m not at work, and those are all bought from shops. If I hadn’t had this top lurking in the back of the wardrobe, Sunday would have been a me-made fail.

Refashioned t-shirt – removed the sleeves and neck binding, turned a small hem to the outside. Shaped the side seams to make a flared tunic.
(Also: ancient jeans, new Beatles Vans.)

May 5th – why do I always look weird in photos?!

I hate this cardigan as well. I love the shape of it, but it’s hard to wash and dry, and because it’s chunky yarn its own weight stretches it at the shoulders. It went bobbly almost immediately, and it sheds more hair than the damn rabbit. I heartily do NOT recommend Rowan Polar. (Thankfully I think it’s discontinued now.) I need to re-knit this in a different yarn. Or at a lighter gauge. Or both. The bloomers I love, and I’m especially pleased that they couldn’t have matched the dress better if I’d bought them together!

Dress & slip: Phase Eight (drastically reduced in Debenhams because one strap had come adrift from the slip – nothing a few stitches couldn’t fix.)
Cardigan: Cate in Rowan Polar (ravel.me/eternalmagpie/c1)
Bloomers: adapted from a pyjama pattern (eternalmagpie.com/blog/2013/07/11/blooming-lovely/)
Sandals: Think!

May 6th – I really need to clean my mirror!

I like black and grey stripes. Can you tell? I also like loose, floppy, soft, comfy clothes. Particularly when I’m not feeling well, which is quite often. Every time I wear this cardigan I think “I must chop off the giant ridiculous hood so it’s less bunchy at the shoulders”, and every time it goes in the wash and comes out again and I’m so keen to wear it that I don’t have time to take the scissors to it. I really must get around to that. (I made the stripy part of the sleeves wrong too, so I can’t push them up – the stretch goes lengthways instead of sideways. Oops.) I need to make more cardigans like this. I need to make more leggings too, as these keep falling down. I’m a bit larger than I was when I made them, and they’re a really good heavy jersey with lots of lycra, but they just won’t stay up!

Top: (underneath) New Look – the shop not the pattern company! 😉
Dress: Vintage Vogue 2787 in viscose jersey (eternalmagpie.com/blog/2010/08/19/vogue-2787/)
Leggings: self-drafted
Cardigan: self-drafted
Shoes: Conker (conkershoes.com)

General observations…

I don’t know why I thought cutting in a fringe would be a good idea, my hair seems determined not to stay put. Maybe I’ll just grow it out again.

Now I’ve found a handy place to balance the mirror, hopefully the photos will improve.

I should probably smile more. Except that I’m not a very smily person, so smiling at the camera just feels really fake and weird. (And all you can see is TEETH.) But then the one photo of me actually genuinely smiling is definitely my favourite. So I should probably smile more, whether I like it or not.

I’m enjoying looking at other people’s photos and noticing the variations between people who obviously sew things that they want to wear (like leggings, jeans, t-shirts) and those who sew because they want something fancy (like novelty print dresses, jackets, some vintage patterns). I need to find a better balance in this myself – or find a way to wear the fancy stuff more often.

Thanks to a suggestion from Mim at Crinoline Robot, I am now keeping track of Me-Made May via a spreadsheet! As well as noting what I actually wore, I’m also colour coding each item depending on whether it’s handmade by me, handmade by someone else (e.g. my Conker and Fairysteps shoes), was bought or given to me second-hand, or was bought new but is made from organic cotton or in an otherwise ethical manner. So far my biggest “bought in a shop and not even slightly ethically produced” culprits are underwear, jeans and t-shirts. (I do own some organic and Fair Trade tees, but most of mine pre-date me starting to care about that. Which I suppose is ethical in a different way – wearing your clothes to death instead of just chucking them out on a whim.)

I’ve also cast on a new cardigan, as I clearly have a lack of cardigans that I actually like! The one that keeps coming up over and over again in other people’s photos is Miette, so I’m now knitting a pink sparkly short-sleeved one. I don’t think I’ll get it finished before the end of May, but I think it’ll overtake the stripy tank top that I’m sick of wrestling.

So, erm, could try harder? Is that the general consensus? Also, I think it’s a bit weird that I put so much time and effort into choosing patterns and buying fabrics and making clothes… and then I really don’t care at all about what I actually wear every day. Making decisions at 7am is hard.

Fitting in some sewing

It’s not going to be all Me-Made May all the time around here – I’ll post a round-up every few days. In the meantime, I’ve been doing a bit of sewing from my extensive stash of increasingly small pieces of fabric.

These are a series of sash belts, very simple ones that you can just tie around your waist. They’re all one-offs, and you can find them in the Etsy shop.

I have more belts planned for the future, as soon as my order of d-rings and rivets arrive. With the help of some organic cotton and some hand-made felt, hopefully something interesting will emerge.

These are headscarves, designed principally for the 1950s Night that’s coming up at work in a couple of weeks. Again, in the Etsy shop. I need to go back to the fabric shop for a small piece to make one of these to match my own dress. I’m not totally convinced that this kind of headscarf will suit me, but if it doesn’t look right in my hair I can always tie it rakishly around my neck.

And finally… a huge pile of zipped pouches! These have been sitting on my shelves staring at me since Christmas, so I can finally stop feeling guilty about not having sewn them yet! These are all multiples – eight of the Eiffel Tower print, three dancing skeletons (so cute!), eight skulls & roses with a plain red lining, and two with black & red stripes inside. All, you’ve guessed it, in the Etsy shop.

In fact, while I’m throwing Etsy links at you, you might like a little something in return! If you’ve never shopped on Etsy before, you can get £5 off your first purchase by following this link. You don’t have to spend it straight away, you can claim it as credit to use whenever you like. It doesn’t need to be in my shop either, the link should work throughout Etsy. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably mention that if two people use the link to make a purchase, I get a £10 credit to spend myself.)

Also in the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably say that I don’t know how many more of these zipped pouches I’ll be sewing. There’s no doubt that they’ve been popular, but I don’t really like the production line method of working that’s necessary to sew them up quickly, and now that my stash is depleting… well. I’ll have to think about it. I want to concentrate much more on organic fabrics and haberdashery, but organic cotton zips are much more expensive than nylon ones, which pushes up the price of a little pouch by a significant amount. We’ll have to see.

These are the last that I have planned for a while though, so if you want one I’d go for it sooner rather than later!

Me-Made May: A Scruffy Start!

Oh dear. The Me-Made May Flickr group is filling up with all sorts of lovely smart people showing off their finest hand made clothing for the occasion. And then I go and post this.

Typically, yesterday I was wearing an almost entirely me-made outfit. Today, not so much.

Trousers: Black cords with buttons on the pockets, John Rocha for Debenhams
T-shirt: An ancient black long-sleeved Hanes men’s skinny fit, from back in the days when we used to print t-shirts. (Though this one’s always been plain.)
Jumper: Me-Made black fleece cowl-neck tank top.
Bracelet: Honey & Ollie, with added dangly bits
Glasses: Gok Wan for Specsavers. (I need an eye test soon, which almost certainly means I need new glasses. I’m avoiding that possibility because I love this pair so much and they’ve been discontinued.)

I took the photo at work, in the very untidy cloakroom, because I don’t currently have an accessible full-length mirror at home. I suppose I should remedy that, if I’m supposed to be taking pictures of myself for the rest of the month!

I did have one other bit of hidden me-made goodness though, which was my favourite socks. I love wearing handmade socks, there’s just something so warm and comforting and lovely about them. And yet I only own two pairs, because I keep knitting things for other people at the expense of my own feet! I think I need to be a bit ruthless, and just treat myself to a few new pairs of socks. It’s not as though I have any shortage of sock yarn (a new skein arrived today!), just a shortage of time. (I’m a slow knitter, so socks take ages.)

Comments from the Flickr group have so far been polite, with the key observation being that I look “comfortable”. Which I am, because that’s the entire point of the clothes that I make for myself! Living with fibromyalgia being the literal pain that it is, comfort is of paramount importance. If I want to have enough space in my brain to be able to get on with my life, I need to reduce my external sources of pain as far as possible. Which means comfortable clothes, at all times.

I do think I need to up my game from today’s outfit though. Otherwise “comfortable” could all too easily be synonymous with “frumpy”, “boring”, “shapeless” and “scruffy”. I may well be all of those things in myself, but I don’t necessarily want that to be reflected in my clothes!

Month: May 2014

New mannequin, new photos

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Dress Success!

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Surprisingly popular!

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Satisfying Saturday

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Waterfall Jacket pre-orders

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It’s not all work, work, work…

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Me-Made May, Days 2-6

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Fitting in some sewing

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Me-Made May: A Scruffy Start!

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