Best Of: Gee's Bend - The Architecture of the Quilt

Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt

I mentioned this book briefly in my Around the Traps post about quilting the other week but it deserved further attention. Gee's Bend: The Architecture of a Quilt, has been on my dining room table for over two weeks now, and I can't stop looking at it. At breakfast. At lunch. When I'm having a cuppa. And I know this is a big call but I want to say that this is by far the best craft book I have ever purchased. No matter what type of crafter you are - you will find inspiration in here.

I'm going to let my (slightly dodgy) pictures do the talking but I think but I need to say that these pictures do not do the quilts justice. There is a subtlety to the fabric choices and colour and wear is just incredible, and which you can only see by looking at the real images. And that these are only a small smattering of what is in there (I haven't even included my favourite). AND then there are the stories about the quilts and about the lives of the women who made them ,which just makes the whole book so much richer. 

I am totally in love and know this book will inspire me for many years to come. 

You can buy it from the usual places and you should. Or if you are joining me for #stash_less then I'd suggest you ask for it for Christmas ;)!

I'd love to hear your comments if you have it or have seen it or would like to see it.

Felicia x

Stash Less - Taking Stock

The series where we talk about having a thoughtful stash.

So last week I talked about identifying the reasons why we stash. Which was an incredibly useful way of figuring out how to create change - I loved your comments too - but this week for me was all about getting practical. And the first step was looking at what I actually have, and seeing whether I could figure out practically how I purchase, what I purchase, and if possible figure out why. 

And it was really interesting. What I found was many many things I have purchased without thought. Many things where I'm not quite sure why I purchased them. For example, I have two metres of BRIGHT YELLOW linen that is of a skirt weight. I don't really want a bright yellow skirt…..and I don't remember ever wanting a bright yellow skirt. I can't for the life of me figure out what it was for, especially as 2m would be a lot for a skirt?  

My stack of rainbow linen. Including 2m of yellow. I worked out that this stack alone is worth over $300. 

And a stack of blue linen. And some grey linen. And some stripes. 

I'm not sure if my stash is large or small. I know it isn't huge, but in a way that isn't that relevant. What is relevant is it's thoughtlessness.

So here is what I have learned: 

1. I buy yarn in smaller than useful batches. I like a yarn, I think it is pretty and I want some. I don't want to buy a sweaters worth (as that would be excessive ;)) so I buy a little. And a little isn't that useful. So it sits there. Three balls of wool over and over.

This chest contains my yarn stash. 

The bright stack. And the Nani Iro I often avoid using. That gorgeous black down the bottom is about 6 years old.

2. I buy bright fabrics that catch my eye in a store, but they aren't what I want to wear, and they aren't what I want the kids wearing, so they sit unused.

3. I don't use scraps because I keep buying for the next project, so I always have something new and shiny to play with. Therefore I am super inefficient with fabric. I have lots of pieces of 0.5m or less. Lots. 

4. I have a massive mending pile. And again, it sits there because I often have something new to play with, instead of working with what I have. 

5. I avoid using fabrics and yarns I really love. I'm worried that I won't love what I make. I'm worried that if I use it for one project I won't be able to another (classic opportunity cost avoidance). I'm worried that I haven't thought up the "perfect" project.

Avoiding getting started on the new colour work cardy. I really want it to be perfect so I'm just not starting. Good plan hey?

6. I keep some of my supplies in sweater form. I have made many ill-fitting sweaters over the years as I have been practising in the gap. And instead of accepting that mistakes are how you learn, and addressing the fact that they will never (EVER) be worn, I leave them in the cupboard as monuments to learning. And that is being generous to me and my motivation. I've started addressing that this week. 

I'd love to hear about your stash - what it looks like and why.

Felicia x

Previous post: Stash Less - Why we stash!

Note: I wanted to clarify, in case you have missed earlier posts (or I confused you) that I'm not saying I want to go stashless. I love having a stash. I believe in a stash. But I want to have a mindful stash. I'm saying that I want to reduce my stash and reduce my stashing behaviour - so I want to stash less often, As Kasia said in the comments last week "if I'm not making just collecting, I'm basically hoarding right?" I don't want to be a hoarder. 

Best Of - City Gym Shorts

So I was supposed to be writing about something else today but I made shorts yesterday and I am so excited about them I had to post. These shorts. Wow. No I know what you are thinking….they are just shorts but seriously. How. Cute. Are. They. 

These shorts are the possibly the biggest bang for your buck sewing project I have ever made. And here is why….they are;

• Free - the pattern is free and you can find it here on the ever inspiring Purl Bee. They are called the City Gym Shorts and it is a free pattern for kids size 2 right through to womens size 46 hip. Who doesn't love The Purl Bee?
• Fast - super fast. I think they took me about an hour per pair.
• Cheap - They can be made from scraps as they need tiny amounts of fabric and look great in two fabrics so you only need a small amount of each one.
• Long lasting - what I mean by this is that you can make them two sizes too big (which I love doing for small people as they grow so damn fast!) and they still look ace. They would look better obviously if they fit her but they still look super cute. The photos show size 8/9 on a 6yo who is nearly 7. 
• Beautifully finished - for how truly simple these are, and for how easy and fast they are to put together, you get a beautifully finished garment.
• Cute - I mean come on! Kid legs in floral liberty gym shorts are possibly the sweetest thing ever.

So a couple of quick notes.

1. Part of why these flew together was that I don't pin at all - right up until attaching the waist band! You do need to pin the waistband. If you are an advanced beginner then give not pinning a try. Even the binding. Just go slow around the corners and you will be fine. The worst that can happen is that you need to unpick a bit. With a bit of practice, less pinning will make you very happy and very fast. Note that not pinning will not work as a sewing strategy on slippery fabric, or things like armholes. Or gathers. Maybe I need to write an actual post on things I do to speed up sewing?
2. When preparing the waistband and ironing the edges towards the centre crease (this will make sense when you see the pattern) I make a small change. I ironed one side perfectly to the middle, as directed, but then ironed the second side about 1 or 2mm back from the centre. This means that this second side is slightly wider than the first. When you initially attach the right side of the waistband to the inside of the shorts, attach the side that was ironed exactly to the middle, so the skinnier side. This simple change means that when you flip the waistband over it easily covers the stitch line. I wish I had taken a photo for you! This is a really simple change that makes things much easier and neater.

I talk about my favourite shorts for small boys in this post about Happy Homemade V2 (apologies for the gender streaming!) but I've included a picture of them below to whet your appetite. They are a fantastic project. 

So City Gym shorts - one of my favourite sewing projects ever! Are you a fan?

Felicia x

Around the Traps - #2

There were a couple of things that have got me excited this week.

As part of my Stash Less mission I have been looking at wardrobe planning. As part of my visual diary process and I came across this series by the owner of Colette patterns (via Karen). It is called Wardrobe Architect and it is truly amazing. I'm going to go through the process in order to be more thoughtful about what I am making. And I know it will help me be more satisfied with how I spend my limited sewing time.

The second thing I came across was Ysolda's new-to-me technique series. I hadn't checked in with her blog for a while and I am in love with these. She explains technical things in a non technical way - which I so admire as that skill used to be part of my job in ye olden days - and she does it beautifully. She gives you the why and not just the what. My favourites are this one - which in my 10+ years of being a knitter I hadn't come across - and this one on colour dominance is just fantastic. So very good and so well explained. 

And the last couple I want to point out are from this here blog. Last week on the blog I asked for your music suggestions and you came up with the goods. So much great new music that I am going to slowly trawl through over the next few weeks. And while you are there, go and read the comments on last weeks post entitled Craft as an Equal. There are so many fantastic ideas and resources in the comments - love it! Many super smart women read this blog and I'm grateful you all pipe up with your thoughts.

Till Friday.

Felicia x

P.S. The winners for the giveaway of Kirsten's gorgeous new patterns for Shibui are Lesley Scott and Mion. Mion - you didn't leave your email address so could you please email me at thecraftsessions at gmail dot com. And Lesley - I will pop yours in the post. Congrats! x

Stash Less - Why we stash?

The series where we talk about having a thoughtful stash.

OK. So I titled this post "Why we stash" but I'm going to talk about me to start with. I would love to hear your reasons in the comments as I'm sure I haven't yet uncovered all my reasons. What I do know is that a standard part of beating any addiction, be it cigarettes, sugar, you name it, is looking at your motivation. In order to beat it you have to understand your triggers.  So here goes.

The addiction in question today is stashing, which leads to the question - "why am I over purchasing craft materials"? What is the point of it? How does it make me feel before, and after, I do it? What behaviours am I engaging in, that have led to me having a larger than desirable stash? It's been on my mind a lot, and I have found a few initial answers.

The first is about lifestyle. Until my family recently went through our life change, I had a partner that worked a lot and I had three very small kids. As such, I suffered from a common modern ailment called time poverty. And what made it worse is that I had a lot of time to think. Doing housework for five people, especially when that includes three small grubby ones, means that I  had oodles of time to dream up wonderful projects and objects and ideas while doing things that I was trying to not think about so much, like the washing. Not very mindful I know, but I have never mastered the practice of being able to be in the moment when sweeping. Instead I go to some happy creative place. The thing is that to create all those wonderful things I obviously needed materials and I didn't have much time to go shopping. I may have shopped big when I had the chance, and done a bit of online purchasing, so that when I could make the projects and objects and ideas I had the things on hand. But see the thing was I was time poor, so I didn't get to tackle even a fifth of the "amazing" ideas. Purchasing was a way of getting the thrill of making, without having the time to actually do the making. Sometimes by the time I got to look at the materials, I often couldn't even remember which passing idea I had purchased them for.

The second is another modern ailment - fear of missing out (FOMA). I buy linen when I see a perfect colour because I know I only see it rarely. I buy Nani Iro when it comes out and I love it because I know it is in limited supply and the most beautiful prints sell fast. I buy it even if I don't have a project for it. I do this with other seasonal prints as I know I don't find ones I love often, so when I do I purchase without even having a project in mind. 

A stack of yarn that I've owned for years and never used as the colour isn't quite perfect.

The third is one is even more painful to write as it is even more frivolous. I buy things just because they are pretty and I want to see them, try them, have them. I want to own the pretty things. Errgh. This one makes me like myself a little bit less ;) as it is not in line with my principles. In the last couple of weeks I have had big big urges to purchase some of tonofwool's gorgeous Cormo and also the new yarn from Woolfolk which comes in such pretty pretty colours. Some people like buying shoes. My weak spot is pretty materials.

The fourth one is that I buy because I am looking for perfection rather than making do with what I have. I could make a jumper from a yarn in stash and instead I try to match the pattern to the yarn to make perfection. Which is a totally valid thing to do. Totally. BUT it means that I am not using things that would be 90% right which is often good enough. And it also means that I miss out on the magic of some of the ideas that come from creating from what you have.

So what to do. Here is what I am going to try to do to combat each of these "triggers".

1. Time poverty - I'm going to go back to my visual diary and plan. I think I need to get real about what I actually have time for. Ouch!

2. FOMA - I'm not going to look. I'm not going to wander around the internet looking at shops. Pinterest yes, but online shops no. I'm going to make instead.

3. Owning the pretty - This one annoys me. I'm just going to shut. it. down. Yes they are pretty but if they are pretty without purpose then they make me less happy, not more. I'm going to remember what I tell my kids "stuff doesn't make you happy" and also the Mary Poppins quote "enough is as good as a feast". I have enough.

4. Perfection - I think I may have kicked this one in part. Since embarking on this challenge I have been wandering around my sewing room pulling things out with totally fresh eyes and I am super excited by some of the things I can make. The combinations I am going to get by making do are so exciting. I can't wait to show you some. 

As I said at the top of the post, I would love to hear your reasons too. 

Felicia x

P.S. You can find details of the Stash Challenge here and here.