Valerean

The one major drawback to creatively mending my Fabscrap tops is that I don't own a serger or a hem-roller foot for my Singer. For this pretty top, which needed the hem and sleeves finished, I needed other options. I considered using this black and white satin ribbon folded in half to cover the raw edges. The ribbon was a bit too stiff to work with the knit fabric of the top, however, and I thought it looked too busy. Also, I've bound fabric with ribbon before and it's a huge pain in the butt to keep it even. Bias binding seemed the best option. This was an interesting alternative, but I decided against it because the patterns of the top and binding just didn't work together for me. A plain white binding might have been the best option, but all I had on hand was black. So I went with black. Finished garment.

A single tear in a sleeve was the only flaw with this Fabscrap sample blouse, which is otherwise perfectly finished. Tears can be annoying, but I'm in luck: the sleeves are smocked, which will hide the repair I make. There is no fabric missing from the sleeve; the material somehow just got torn. I pinned the sleeve together along the tear using scant 1/4" seams. Blind-stitching the tear with black thread erased it, and once pressed it's pretty hard to see the repair work. Although I lost about 1/2" of fabric from the sleeve while mending the tear the difference isn't that noticeable. The top is ready to wear.

This month I'll be creatively mending four sample tops from Fabscrap. Sample garments are made by manufacturers for a designer as prototypes, so they can see how their design translates into an actual product before mass quantities of the design are made. These prototypes are quickly made, and sometimes don't have both sleeves, all the hems finished, etc. Some samples result in changes to the design, so they can be the only one ever made in that particular fabric or fit. Since they're not made to be sold sample garments are regularly discarded, which is how they end up at Fabscrap, like this pretty blouse. The only thing actually wrong with the blouse, which is beautifully made, is a tear in the left sleeve. This pajama top is full finished, too. It has two circles of fabric cut out of the bottom hem. This black and white top is one of the more hastily-made garments, and still had hanging threads on its seams. The hem and bottoms of the sleev...

I invested in another lot of vintage brooches, mainly to get one of them. This is the one: a tiny rat brooch has a movable tail. I'd like to do an Art Deco project next year, and this lovely old bar pin will be perfect for it. As a kid I used to take dance lessons, and this one helped me remember all the times dancing made me happy.

I need new heavier socks for the winter (the puppies have destroyed most of my old ones), so last month while taking a break from sewing I decided to try making some from a free online crochet pattern. The easiest seemed to be this one from Fiber Flux, as it was just a tube of double crochet stitches. The socks turned out okay (I had to make one twice because I miscounted my stitches) and they probably are one-size-fits all. Because they were a bit looser than I wanted I made a second, shorter pair in single crochet stitch. I had to increase on a couple of rows to make the tighter-stitched socks fit my feet. Making the second pair used up the leftover yarn, and gave me more experience in sock making, so that worked out well.

Just behind the computer in my home office I have a wall that used to be blank. Early on in my career I needed zero distractions from my work, but now that I'm much more comfortable with the daily demands I tried a few things to inspire me, like this idea board for my quilting and textile art to the left of my computer. Having practice and experimental pieces pinned to the board help me think through pending projects when I take breaks. It's also nice to have some sewing up to remind me that not everything I create is for $$$. Directly behind my computer is a framed photo by an artist I love, and to it I tape pictures of body models for the main characters of whatever story I'm working on at the moment. This not only reminds me of their physical attributes, but gives me a sense of my characters as real people. These two have been quite a lot to contend with while writing over the past month. To the right of my computer I have a wall calendar that my guy gif...

Although Netflix cancelled Dash & Lily after only one season, the eight episodes are definitely one of the best romantic teen comedies I've seen in a while (I actually thought it was a mini-series instead of a returning show.) Austin Abrams plays Dash, a hostile teenager in NYC who is recovering from a bad breakup with his girlfriend. Dash really hates Christmas. Meanwhile Lily, adorably played by Midori Francis, is a quirky half-Asian teen who loves Christmas and yet has never been in love. Right before Christmas the two meet via Lily's notebook, which she leaves in a bookstore with a cryptic message that Dash finds and solves. This leads to a back and forth of truths and dares between the teens, conveyed by the notebook. As each goes through their trials and tribulations during the holidays, sometimes helped and sometimes hampered by their families and friends, they start to fall for each other. I completely understood Dash, so I was on his side from the begin...