Project 333: Spring Start

No Talking Tuesday today, because while I have things to discuss, I've been on sick duty since Thursday, and my brain is curdled.  I was up a lot on Thursday night, up all night on Friday night, up a fair bit on Saturday night, and finally got to sleep through Sunday night.  Birdie had a high fever for several days, plus a fierce cough, and I literally had her or Ponchik on my body nearly 24-7 until Monday.  My poor introverted self just can't take it.  So I can't write when I'm in this sort of state.  Birdie went back to school today, after five long days of difficult illness, so I'm hoping to get caught up and rested soon.  I spoke too soon.  She is still running a low-grade fever, so will be home until she can kick it for good.  I'm just hoping she makes it back to school before her spring break!!

But!  I thought I'd keep momentum with Project 333, since today is the first day of my spring rotation!!  

I carried over a few pieces from the winter, and added some new things, plus I have two more projects to complete to round out this rotation, but I have enough to get me started anyway.  I'll blog the new projects separately, but will just mention them in the list here.

Left to right, top to bottom:

Royal blue eshakti knit dress, Notre Dame dress, Red eshakti knit dress, Pincushion dress

Feedsack dress, Green Cookie Book dress

Purple wool cardigan, purple long sleeve henley t-shirt, Rosemont cardigan, red cotton cardigan

Black skirt, denim skirt (I have a green twill skirt in the works and a chambray skirt on order)

Green/blue striped breton shirt, coral breton shirt, DS Plaid Portrait blouse, navy knit t-shirt

Navy long-line cotton cardigan, aqua cotton cardigan, wool/cotton peach cardigan, kelly green cotton cardigan

Bluebird dress, Vignette dress, Tokyo Train Ride Redux dress, Yardley's dress

I'm kind of on the fence about the Portrait blouse--I made it last fall, wore it once and was totally annoyed by it, but I'm not sure if that was because of the blouse or because of the skirt I wore it with.  I'm going to try it again with my denim skirt to see if I like it better, but if not, out it goes.  Over the weekend, I found a leaf-green cotton pullover on ThredUp that I think will be a nice addition for these weeks of transitional weather.

This is the same kelly green twill I used last fall to make an a-line skirt that is now way too big.  I also am not wearing that style of skirt any longer, so it didn't make sense to try and take it in (which I think wouldn't have worked well anyway because of the size differential).  So I bought a bit more twill and cut out a straight skirt with my trusty vintage Anne Adams pattern.  I'm waiting a bit to make it.

I had in mind to make a chambray skirt as well, and have some fabric stashed from when Grey's Fabric was having their big sale last summer, but eshakti had a very similar skirt with some nice detailing at a good price, so I decided to give it a try instead.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everything right now, and I thought it might be worth something to take one project off my plate.  I figure if it doesn't look right or fit well, I'll send it back and just make up my fabric in time for warmer weather.  In either case, I might swap out the black skirt for it, as I feel like three skirts is enough for a rotation, and black can be kind of severe on me.

My last spring project is the Pots and Pans dress.  I'm a little unsure how this dress is going to work, frankly.  I bought the vintage print sometime early last year, and never made it up.  I had intended a Portrait blouse, as the fabric is the perfect length for one, but I realize now that I'm not wearing my Portrait blouses like I once was.  So I'm going to attempt a Dottie Angel frock with a contrasting solid bottom. It is actually one of the pattern options, and I've seen samples made up, but I'm concerned this is going to come out looking a bit Mod.  We'll see.  I did lay it out with the pockets and such to get a sense of it, and I think it might be okay.

I have a pair of Dankso clog/sandals, plus my brown boots and rain boots to round things out.  I'll swap out boots for sandals as it gets warmer.

I think the total number of garments in my closet is about 28 for the spring.  My winter rotation ended up with about 25, which felt about right, but I know spring has more weather shifts than winter, so I need a few extra cardigans in differing weights to accommodate that.  I also know that I almost always end up taking some things out in the first weeks of a new rotation as I realize what works together and what doesn't, so I'm sure I'll probably end up closer to 25 by the end of May. 

Project 333: Winter's End

It's the end of my winter rotation, and time for a Project 333 wrap up!  I know I said I might wait until mid-March to switch over, but I got more sewing done last week than I anticipated, and I think I'm ready for the change over now, on schedule.  Best to stick with it, I think.

Left to right, top to bottom:

Berry Tinsel dress, Midnight Sky dress, Pincushion dress, Flea Market dress

Green cowl neck cotton sweater, teal-blue button down, gray asymmetrical collar sweater, blue merino sweater, navy blue cotton shawl collar sweater

Purple wool cardigan, green Ramona cardigan, ivory wool cardigan, red cotton cardigan

Geo flannel skirt, denim skirt, rust cord skirt

Royal blue eshakti knit dress, Vignette dress, charcoal gray eshakti knit dress, Bluebird dress

I ended up in a quite different place from where I began this rotation.  I really fell out of love with my Frankenpattern in the late fall.  I suddenly found myself disdaining belts and clothing that gave me a lot of feedback around my middle.  I realized that I'm not going to wear garments with a majority of synthetic fibers, particularly cardigans.  Acrylic just makes me feel sweaty and icky all day.  

I noticed that I should really avoid wearing black as it doesn't do my skin tone any favors.  Charcoal grey, on the other hand, with its slight lavender undertone, was a wonderful tabula rasa color for this rotation, and I intend to use more of it going forward.

I returned a few items I had bought right at the beginning of the rotation, as I realized they didn't fit or suit me.  I made some poor choices in sewing projects in November (The Butterscotch Dress, the Zephyr dress, and the Northern Lights dress all went to the great sewing pile in the sky fairly early on in the rotation. I sold the plaid flannel skirt to a reenacting friend).  I realized in the end that I need to stay away from that particular shade of teal next to my face.  Plus the twill in the Butterscotch dress was just a poor fabric choice for the pattern.

  I did wear the Zephyr dress a few times, but decided in the end that I really don't care for the way it fits me.  I thought the fabric stayed too stiff (Cotton+Steel fabric tends to be very soft and softens more with time and washing).  The color was a little more black than navy and tended to wash me out rather a lot.

I also shrank out of a few things.

The big wins for this rotation were the Dottie Angel frocks, the gray wool sweater, and my three skirts.  I actually am thrilled with how this rotation ended up.  I felt like I had enough clothing in my closet for variety and warmth, but not so much that I felt I had too many choices in the morning.  I had the right sort of garments for the schlubby winter days (and I know we all have those!) but also some for those days when I wanted to look really put together.  

I plan to replace the cowl-neck sweater and teal-blue button down with a single teal-blue cotton sweater I just found on ThredUp.  The cowl neck is fine, and I did wear it quite a bit, but it is a cotton-acrylic blend, and is also too big for me now.  The teal-blue button down is nice and I wore it some (I wore it a ton last winter), but I always have to wear it with a shirt underneath because it is thin and the neckline is low; I'd really rather have one garment that I can layer with invisible layers instead.  

I am midway through knitting two pullover sweaters that I hope to finish before next winter's rotation.  My goal is to finish the green sweater for sure, and hope for the best with the blue one.  

I think my takeaway from this rotation is that less is more: one sweater will often do in place of two, a tight color palette really does make things easier, three skirts really is enough, as are eight dresses. 

 I learned how to effectively layer my clothing to stay warm this winter (silk long johns+cotton dress/tights+wool cardigan/knee socks was a winning combination and just so comfortable!)

Here's hoping for an equally great spring rotation!

Blethering on...

I really should be sewing today.  I have my spring project list to get through, things around the house to get to, Lent to prepare for, and just the general running of the household to get through.  I've got Pascha dresses to make for the girls, plus sweaters to match, and a handful of things for my spring rotation for Project 333.

But I'm not doing much of anything these days.  I've been fighting one respiratory infection after another for over a month now, and my body has just informed me that I am done.  I think I'm spending the day with BBC documentaries on YouTube and a semi-mindless knitting project.  The last week has been a fog of getting through my days, too fatigued to even shower in the morning (thank goodness for waterless cleansers!)  I have managed to knit a bit, when I am feeling slightly perky, because I can do that while sitting in a chair.

I've been thinking more about Project 333, particularly as March is looming, and I don't have my spring projects done.  I wasn't planning to have them all completed by March 1st, but I was hoping to have about half the list done.  As it is, I've completed one thing, and have two more cut out.  I think I have enough clothes to work for a while anyway.  I know I did a ton of sewing in late March and April last year, so perhaps my winter sickness fog will lift in a few weeks. I think the beauty of Project 333, at least for me, is a concrete number of garments in my closet and drawers, for a specified period of time.  It helps me keep my closet lean, and my sewing project list realistic.

Truth be told, however, I'm a little frustrated with the randomness of Project 333, most particularly in the spring and fall rotations.  The three months of those two rotations see a huge shift in temperatures.  From March 1 to May 31, we go from sub-freezing temps to 80 or 90 degree weather, plus everything in between.  From September to November, we go from 100 degree temperatures to freezing or below.  All the Seasons, All the Time!  It is hard to know how to plan those three months appropriately and still comply with the Project guidelines.  I'm a person who generally likes to color inside the lines, and follow the rules, but I think in this case, I'm going to have to break a few.  I think perhaps the person who came up with Project 333 lives in a temperate climate that doesn't see such temperature extremes in a 3 month period of time.  I'm considering waiting to start the spring rotation until later in March, and begin the fall rotation in mid-September.  I may wait to start my summer in mid-June.

This also gives me a bit more time with my winter rotation (I'm not ready to put away my pullover sweaters just yet!), and also more time to feel better and make a few more things for my spring rotation.  I'm also aware that my measurements are still changing rather rapidly, and I'm wary of making skirts that won't fit by summer.  (My summer rotation includes the two skirts I'm planning to make for spring).  My rust corduroy skirt is starting to feel and look a bit big, although it is still plenty wearable.  My focus at the moment is mostly on Dottie Angel frocks because they are forgiving, and I'm pushing the skirts a little down the list.

So that's me for the moment.  I'm off to watch The Great British Bake-Off and work on sweaters, tissue box at the ready.

Bluebird

I fear I'm going to be rather boring with my makes for a while: Dottie Angel frocks and straight skirts.  On the other hand, I actually wear these things, and they work well with my wardrobe, so there you go.  I am always interested to read about what other sewers make and actually wear, so I guess these posts are still useful.

I used some Cotton + Steel fabric (of course!) for my dress, from the Bluebird collection.  It is gorgeous, and from one of my favorite designers on the C+S team: Sarah Watts.  She designed my beloved Tokyo Train Ride fabric as well.  (Incidentally, I ordered some more of the Tokyo Train Ride fabric to make a Dottie Angel frock for the spring because I really miss having that fabric in my closet; my dress from last year just got to be way too big)

What I love about the Dottie Angel frock pattern is the lack of waist seam, as well as the general shape.  It reminds me of 1940s house dress patterns that I love.  These dresses are just so comfortable and flattering at the same time.  I also think I've finally got the details right on this one.

I adjusted the sleeve width again, to 9 1/2", with a 9" sleeve opening, which seems to be perfect for this silhouette.  My Frankenpattern needs a bit more room/coverage because of the way the bodice is cut, but this dress doesn't need quite so much.  I also realized that the back is slightly longer than the front because I cut a bigger size for the back, so I've adjusted the length on the front so they match up at the side seams.

I had feared that I didn't make the front elastics wide enough, and that it looked too baggy, but after wearing it twice, I think it is perfect.  I really love this fabric, and as usual, Cotton+Steel has knocked it out of the park.  This dress will be great for spring as things warm up as well.

I think I've decided that I do best if I plan to have something in rotation for 2 seasons in a row, but not more, even if the garment is appropriate for year-round or three season wear.   I just put my chambray dress away for a while, since it has been out since June, and I haven't worn it since December.  I will pull it out again in the summer or fall.  I find it is nice to be able to put some things away for a while and then pull them out again a few months later.

Pocketses!  I like the pocket pattern that came with the packet, but I'm going to try some other patch pocket styles on the next couple dresses, just for variety.  I have a couple of different types in my files from other dresses, and am also curious to draft a big kangeroo pocket at some point.

I wore this dress on Friday as well, when we visited the Art Museum with my parents.  The boys had off school, so we thought they'd enjoy seeing the armour and other stuff (they had a blast).  It was really cold on Friday, so my wooly beard was the perfect thing to warm up the dress (plus some silk long underwear and wool knee socks over my tights!)  I should really do a post about how to wear cotton dresses in cold weather.

Unfortunately, I've been battling a bad respiratory infection for the past week or so, and fatigue even more easily than usual, so I'm going to have a bit of a lie down before the sitter comes back with Ponchik.

Just the facts:

Bluebird dress: Simplicity 1080, Cotton+Steel fabric, bias binding

Wool cardigan sweater: Banana Republic via ThredUp

Wooly Beard cowl: me-made from 1933 pattern, Swish lava yarn

Foot Traffic Tights

Winter boots

Embroidery hoop necklace: Call Her Happy on etsy

Talking Tuesday: Glory to God for All Things

I think I mentioned briefly last spring that one thing I focused on during Lent last year was how we in the Orthodox Church understand the phrase, "Glory to God for all things."  We say it a lot, and it is tempting to feel that it is a pat response to life's triumphs as well as its trials and tribulations.  I will say, however, after observing devout people say it in the midst of terrible suffering and really mean it, I think there is something worth plumbing there.

I think there is more to unpack than one brief blog post, but I will at least start with a passage from Rod Dreher's How Dante Can Save Your Life.  I had said I would try to review the book, but alas, I think I will not get to it.  I can say that it is well worth reading, particularly with a prayer rope nearby, as the text invites contemplation and prayer.

"Dante is never going to go home to Florence.  This is his fate.  Yet he must transcend it.  How?  He must stand outside of his pain and suffering, find meaning in it, and affirm the goodness of life despite its injustices.  We know that he will create art from the experience and through it show the world the way to overcome the brokenness that led to his own exile, and, metaphorically, to the sense we all have of being alienated from God, others, and ourselves.

Each one of us lives in exile from the life we would like to have, or that we think we deserve.  Every time we feel disappointment or hurt, it is like tasting the salt of another man's bread.  Every time we suffer, it is like going up another man's stairs.  Exile is not just something that happens to refugees; exile is the human condition. 

We are lost, we are searching, we are waiting for a sign to tell us the way home.  The poet Dante had to have everything taken from him to discover how lost he truly was--and to find his way back.  This is what the pilgrim Dante is learning on his journey through the afterlife, and this is what he, to fulfill his role as the hero, must go back and tell all the other wayfarers so they may save their own lives."

~Rod Dreher, How Dante Can Save Your Life, New York: Regan Arts, 2015, p 278.

We cannot begin to know God, to love Him, to become like Him, until we understand first how very lost we are, how needful of salvation.  When we start from a place of brokenness, a place where we are lost, hurt, afraid, and then we encounter the Lord, we can begin to say, in the midst of our suffering: Glory to God for all things.  To say, this pain, this suffering is for the glory of God, even if we don't understand it.  This sickness, this hurt, this disappointment, this life, this is for the glory of God, even when we are exhausted, broken down, weary.  It is what I want to be able to say in those low moments, crawling along the valleys.  It is easy to say it when we stand upon the mountaintops, when things are easy, and life seems good.  I want to say it with full meaning and understanding in my depths, through everything.

Glory to God for all things.

Talking Tuesday: Gift from the Sea

A dear friend gave me this slim volume as a birthday present last year.  I've been reading it in fits and starts--a page here and there, mostly.  I really like it, and the format is such that you can dip into it a little at a time.  I wanted to excerpt a passage that stood out to me a while back.  In it, Anne examines her life at that moment--one characterized by a home, a husband and five children, her writing career, her art, and the ways that all those things were woven together in a rather untidy manner.  I felt I could have written this myself.

"But I want first of all--in fact, as an end to these other desires--to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact--to borrow from the language of the saints--to live " in grace" as much of the time as possible. I am not using this term in a strictly theological sense. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from Phaedrus when he said, "May the outward and inward man be at one." I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God. 

Vague as this definition may be, I believe most people are aware of periods in their lives when they seem to be "in grace" and other periods when they seem to feel "out of grace," even though they may use different words to describe these states. In the first happy condition, one seems to carry all one's tasks before one lightly, as if borne along on a great tide; and in the opposite state, one can hardly tie a shoe-string. It is true that a large part of life consists in learning a technique of tying the shoe-string, whether one is in grace or not. But there are techniques of living too; there are even techniques in search of grace. And techniques can be cultivated. I have learned by some experience, by many examples and by the writings of countless others before me, also occupied in the search, that certain environments, certain modes of life, certain rules of conduct are more conducive to inner and outer harmony than others. There are, in fact, certain roads one may follow. Simplification of life is one of them."

~Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea, "Channeled Whelks", pp 17-18, New York: Pantheon Books, 2003 edition.

The ascesis

All images via Google Images

 In the documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, Australian entrepreneur Joe Cross is 100 pounds overweight, and sets out to juice his way to health.  The camera follows him across the United States as he seeks out fresh vegetables and fruits to put through his Breville juicer and documents his reflections on his state of health and general well-being during his journey.  He loses the weight, begins eating a healthy diet, develops an active lifestyle and keeps the weight off over a period of years.  It is a familiar story in many ways.  

One thing struck me during the early days of his juicing.  Cross was in New York City, and had stopped at a juice bar that happened to be located near a burger place.  Joe sat at a street-side table, looking at the people going by, drinking his juice and watching the burger eaters have their meat.  He said something about really wanting to eat a huge burger at that moment, but that he was going to sit there and enjoy his juice instead.  He said [and I'm paraphrasing a bit], "I've eaten my burgers.  Now I have to drink my juice to get healthy." What he meant was: he'd spent a lifetime eating too much, eating unhealthy foods, spending too much time thinking about eating, that now it was time to refocus his mind, to retrain his appetites.

It struck me that his journey was a sort of (secular) ascetic struggle to retrain his passions about food.  I think anyone who tries to lose weight or has any food restrictions has to grapple with that reality at some point.  That the allergies, or the gastroparesis, or celiac disease, or whatever, the extra weight, the eating too much: it is all part of the body's being out of sync with God's intention.  That the body is part of the fallen world.  That there will always be disordered desires, appetites run amok, the constant struggle against sinfulness.

It is a hard thing to accept, the ascesis of it.  It is hard to say, "I've eaten my cookies, or cake, or burgers, or whatever, and now I have to eat a smaller amount and range of foods in order to master my body's desire to be out of sync with God."  To want to pursue Godliness over the desires of the flesh.  It is hard to realize you cannot trust your your body's signals for hunger and satiety, but rather to say, x is enough.  To not fall into disordered eating along the way.  It is harder still when the choice to follow an ascetic path is taken from you by disease and you just have to obey and say: This is the ascesis.



I find myself saying that to myself a lot these last months. Not just about food, but about a lot of things.  About wanting to use my time and energy on selfish things.  About feeling entitled to a full night's uninterrupted sleep.  About feeling overwhelmed with my kids' health problems and wondering why we have such a heavy burden in that area.  About feeling frustrated over my body's latest limitations and the ways those things are interfering with my everyday life. About feeling weak and burdensome.

I'm trying to accept that these things are given to me to bear in the service of the glory of God.  Maybe I'm to learn from them; perhaps they are useful for my salvation.  I've had my sleep, I've had uninterrupted time, and a strong body; now I have to make do with less in order to be in sync with God. Perhaps I'm just to bear it all with Spirit-given grace and dignity and get on with it.

This is the ascesis.