I Love My Body

Australian book cover from Guardian Faber Publishers.
Click publisher link to take you directly to their site.

There's a new book out written by a former Australian Vogue editor Kirstie Clements about the world of modeling. In a nutshell, it writes about how runway models torture their bodies to stay slim.  The book is called The Vogue Factor, and it's currently available on Amazon. I think more of these kinds of books need to be published and given ample publicity to help debunk the so-called glamor-obsessed commercial fashion industry. I love beautiful things, and fashion is one of those beautiful things, but I am reminded every time I see a fashion cover or a runway model this: "How high is the cost?"

About three or four years ago, I cancelled all my fashion magazine subscriptions. It wasn't a protest against emaciated cover models, but because 70% or more of the magazines were and are about advertising. I know it is their bread and butter, but advertising can be an evil business because behind those perfume ads, it's all about the money for every one. Watch Mad Men to see a fictional (but how fictional really?) portrayal of the corruptibility of American media.

I posted on my Google+ community today about teaching our daughters (and even sons) how to sew because it can empower them to appreciate their bodies by customizing their clothes to look and feel good on them. Yes...let the high-fashion designers continue to inspire us with their creativity but bring that inspiration closer to home...to our very own cutting tables. People are taking charge of their food by growing it themselves, why not as much of our own wearables and have some creative fun at the same time?

Tips On Making Our Bodies Look Good All The Time

We're all shaped different.  Some of us are short, tall, apples, pears, triangles, and squares. But whatever shape we think we are or are not, I've found some basic rules when it comes to fashion that really applies to everyone.  Everyone? Yup, everyone.

Good fit is the key.  
Don't buy clothes that fit us poorly. Get the most comfortable piece, and then get it tailored or altered to fit. If you're sewing the garment, then, there's no problem at all. Measure the largest part of your body. (For me, it's my waist. I check patterns to make sure they fit my waist first, and the rest I can take in, make shorter or longer.) Oh, by-the-way, big clothes just makes us look bigger and tight clothes makes us look a little bloated in the wrong places.

For women: wear a well-fitted bra.
I don't wear well-fitted bras all the time. I like my girls to be loose and free the majority of the time. But when I'm wearing a nice outfit or have a date with my husband, I will put on a bra with good support. A good bra makes EVERY outfit drape better, and can make us look five to ten pounds lighter. I own two good bras: a nude strapless, and a regular nude underwire.

Cap sleeves can make a chubby arm look thinner.
I learned this ages ago. I didn't like the tops of my arms as much when I was younger, but I'm mostly used to them now. I think it's a little too fleshy looking in general. Adding cap sleeves or any sleeve will create a more slender looking arm. Make sure there's no pinching in the arm holes, then we're back to item number one on this post (see above).

V-Necks make everyone tall and thinner.
I tend to purchase a lot of v-necked pieces because I know that the shape elongates my neck. If you don't believe me, try on a few things with different neck shapes and take a picture of yourself. Wear a good bra too!

The right hem line will make your legs look great.
High heels also makes our legs look great, but I hate wearing them. Next best thing is to make sure that the hems of your blouses, skirts, and dresses are proportional to your body. I like my blouse to fit right above my hips (if I am not tucking them in), and my skirt or dress lengths to hit an inch or two above the knee. Yes, there will be times when fashion will dictate our hemlines, but I'm speaking about the "classic" hem line. Oh, but a little drop-waisted top or dress can hide the post baby-bulge too.

A-line skirts are good for our bodies.
Hands down...it really doesn't matter what size you are. This is just a great cut. Not sure what an A-line skirt is? Do a search on Google, and check out the images. Feeling bloated? Ate too much over the holidays? Wear an A-line skirt and all your worries will fizzle away. This guideline extends to dresses too. Just a quick sentence about hosiery, if you ladies still wear pantyhose, nude is the best color.

Dresses and skirts look better than pants.
This has nothing to do with women's liberation. Skirts and dresses just hide more. So if you want to look a few pounds lighter at your next event skip the pants. If you must wear pants, then wear pants that have no pleats...kind of a no brainer...I'm just say'n.

Clothes with darts can be our best friend.
I hate sewing darts. But they make my girls look better, my back and hips more (or less) shapely. Look at quality, tailored clothing...those pieces are meticulous about darts. This is really a repeat of item number one.

Monochrome dressing makes us look taller and thinner.
If you wear a floral skirt with a solid blouse, you might look heavier on the bottom, unless of course it's intentional. Dressing non-monochrome can help us in the reverse as well. Small busted and wide hips? Floral top and a dark solid skirt will balance your proportions. I wear a lot of black...just a city thing I think. But I'm starting to get a lot more colorful these days, especially when I care more about looking "fun" than looking thinner. It's just a basic rule of thumb when it comes to dressing in one color.  I might add that, it doesn't have to be exactly the same shade, various shades of the same color can have similar effects. I don't even want to justify another item by reminding folks that the darker the color, the thinner you look...that's just given right?

Cuffed pants stunt our growth.
We don't need to eat badly for this to happen, we can wear cuffed pants, and it will happen instantly.  I will admit that I love the look, but in reality, the cuffs cut us right at the ankles. I am not tall enough to carry it, and "good-for-you" if you are five-feet-ten-inches or taller...in that case, please milk those cuffed pants to death. On the flip side, pants with a little flare like bootlegged jeans can make our hips look smaller. Straight legged pants are always more pleasing than tight fitted pencil pants. I don't need to write about leggings right or worse, jeggings.

Just a little final tidbit about the shoes.
Yeah, if you wear similar color shoes with your pants, you can get your legs a bit longer (granted that you're not wearing cuffed pants), but who really does that these days?

With all these points written and committed onto the WWW, I want to now recant everything. At the end of the day, none of these things really, really matter. But just in case there's a day where it might, I hope the information was useful.

Sewing Room Update: Better Organization

Practice muslins and tag board patterns hanging on the back of the door.

I love to sew but like many people, even the most obsessed, finding time in a busy schedule is really challenging.  Last December, I started a sewing Meetup group that has now almost 100 members in my local area.  We've had three sewing events, and a couple of outings. Each event included more new members, and the momentum seems to be there. But every month or so, I get members who leave the group for the same reason: no time.

I sew because it clears my brain. This has been the best benefit for me mentally.  It's like a different exercise for the brain, and affords me to use my creativity. But with a busy schedule, I've had to put a few rules into place.  This is what I've done so far to keep me productive:

Organize! Organize! Organize!

These are my favorite shelves that house all my sewing and some knitting gear.  I use little clear plastic bins to house my notions.  My ironing space is directly underneath.

I put all my machines on the same table so there's easy access to sewing.  All the machines are plugged in and ready to go. Not everything on the desk is mine. Some of my husband's paperwork and files are still there.  It's the least I could do since I took over his space.

Last Summer, I took over my husbands space out in the work room.  He really wasn't using it any way, and I needed it more than he did.  I will admit that most people do not have this kind of spare real estate.  I  didn't for years until we moved here, and if and when we move again, my space availability might change.  But I'm enjoying it while I can.

I can't work in clutter.  I know everyone's different.  Every couple of months or so, I do a more thorough cleaning, and regroup some of my supplies, and put things back where they belong so I can find them again. Doing this regularly has really saved me tons of actual sewing time.  I throw away fabric cuttings, try to organize the tables to create more work space, and return some of the tools back to their dedicated baskets. When my cutting tables are cluttered, I don't want to sew or start on a new project.  It is as simple as that.  I get discouraged just looking at a table piled high with patterns and the like.

Everything Within Arms Reach.

I have a lot of little trays and baskets scattered around my sewing room.  One near my cutting table, a portable basket I can move from table to table with my most frequently used tools, another one right by my sewing machine, and a toolbox that is filled with anything I need for travel or school projects.  It seems excessive, but it's not really.  Instead of storing all my "extra" or duplicate supplies like tailor's chalk, scissors, threads, needles, and other tools, I put them in different baskets so they are always handy.  I hate having to get up and walk across the room to pick up things I need.  Face it, sewists tend to have too many gadgets or multiples of the things we love.  Why keep them all wrapped up in its original packaging?  Break everything out and scatter them around your work space to make everything more efficient.

Basket at the sewing machine table.

Tray for the tall cutting table.

Additional tray for drafting and cutting at the work desk.

I've had this Art Bin for 20 years and it still stores my drafting
supplies.

Same Art Bin opened with three trays 

 Taming My Stash...

This is challenging.  I avoid frequent visits to the fabric store.  I give myself budgets, and purchase things that I plan on using within the same season, or at least within the same year. If I'm holding something I like, and I say to myself, "This might be great for a top for my daughter," I put the thing down and move on.  Having self control over fabrics, especially when they are on sale is a problem.  Having too much fabric that I'm not using is also a problem.  Fifteen years ago, during one of my big moves, I cleared out several boxes of fabric that I was no longer using. I put aside two boxes of things I really loved and couldn't part with.  The reality of it is, I only really cared about ten percent of my stash.  I like to spend a little more money on better fabric these days so I make sure I use them, and I limit how much I buy.  I can honestly say that I love every piece that I've picked up except for one: a synthetic jersey piece that I got fairly cheap to try my hand at making a bathing suit. Okay...I'm also not going to beat myself up over bad fabric decisions either.

I just cleared out this shelf for fabric.  It's filled with all my current pieces and my patterns in a basket at the bottom.  There's still room for more, but I'm going to try to use up every thing in here this year.

Another shelf filled with extra fabric that I have collected.  This is my main stash.

These are the only "floor" storage bins.  I have a plastic bucket filled with my old stash, but it's only about 1/3 full now, a couple of bolts of fabric, and the white baskets on the right house all my yarn for knitting.  I try to limit my yarn stash too.

I have a couple of wire racks attached to my ironing board, a perfect place to store my rolled paper,  and light fabric rolls.

Storing Patterns

I don't have a great system, but it works.  I have a small chest of drawers that I store already cut up patterns, patterns waiting to be used, or patterns that I want to re-use again soon.  Eventually, I will clean out all the drawers so I can keep other sewing supplies in there.  Right now, the other drawers just house paper, and some fabric.

Keeping My Scraps Almost Tidy.

As I sew and collect scraps for testing, and other little things, I throw them in a designated basket that's easy for me to rummage through, re-organize and re-use.  This was one of those easy "ah-ha" moments in my sewing room.  Very useful. 

Spring Lace Dress

Hooray! I finally finished one of my Spring projects!  It was one of those sewing projects that I thought would only take me a weekend to finish.  A month later...here I am.  There were a lot of "firsts" for this dress.  It was my first attempt at using a Burda Style pattern that I downloaded from the internet.  The initial taping of the pattern together was a pain. But I do like the fact that my paper (standard copy paper) is more durable and easy to re-use.

The dress was made from a cotton lace that ended up having a lot of stretch.  I pre-washed and dried it in the dryer and it still came out soft and held its shape.  I found the lace fabric at the 50% off table at Hart's Fabric in Santa Cruz.  (Score!) The lining is a very unusual bright pink cotton, and had a lovely weight to it (almost like a light linen), but it didn't stretch as much as the lace.  This was going to be a potential fitting problem.  I had never really worked with lace before or stitched a contrasting lining that would be a major part of the dress design.

Because this is a pullover dress, I needed to make sure that the lining was going to fit over my head and my chubby little body.  A couple of ladies from my Google Plus community saved the day by suggesting that I cut the lining on the bias, and then make long slits on the side.  I did exactly these two things, and the lining fit perfectly.

I used Burda Style Wedding Dress #104, and of course made quite a few changes.  The dress had a lot more ease than expected.  It ended up being a couple of sizes too big for me after cutting, and the finished product is still a little loose.  The back is supposed to be two panels sewn up the center back, but I made it into a single panel because I thought it showed off the lace more and designed a key-hole cut out instead of the original seam opening at the neck.  I think mine looks better.  :-)  I also made the sleeve shorter, and I did not put in the pockets because I was afraid the added weight would make the lace stretch.  Happy Spring sewing!

Here's a close-up of the dress so you can see the contrasting pink lining better.