Look for the union label.

First of all, lesson learned from my previous post (once in a while, these things finally sink in): Talking about your insecurities is BORING. And so is talking about your own posts, so that’s that.

Project Runway is back! Words can’t describe how excited I am. For all your online dirt-dishing needs we have Blogging Project Runway, FourFour and of course Television Without Pity, whose forum users came up with the term “auf’d” long ago - proof that the TV people are paying attention.

Real quickly, my impressions of the first episode and no predictions: Love Angela’s clothes (Michael Kors says the DIY patchwork thing is really big right now! Yay!), not crazy about Angela personally so far. Ditto for Laura - so elegant, so skillful, so condescending. Vincent Must Go. Stacey was rightfully auf’d if she didn’t even know how to change a needle (for the non-sewers out there: Pull the old one out, pop the new one in - same for every machine). Glad the producers have wised up and given Tim Gunn “star” billing along with Heidi - they’ve figured out that everybody loves him. I can’t believe no one used that gorgeous Marimekko-looking wall art in their designs. That’s the first thing I would have grabbed. Gimme those. I’ll make something out of them.

Apparently one of the models was in a serious accident on the way to taping the finale. The article doesn’t go into much detail on her current condition, but she’s at least alive and conscious. I won’t be able to help staring at her with morbid fascination in every episode from now on. I hope she’ll be all right.

Remember the Little Brown Dress I mentioned a while back? Well, it’s been a year, Alex had a party and took it off, and it was promptly stolen. It’s living a nomadic life of its own now. Taking its disappearance in stride, she’s a better person than I - after interacting so closely with a possession for so long, I would attach inordinate sentimental value to it and be really pissed if someone took it. But then the whole point of the project was about not defining oneself by one’s possessions. And I gotta admit the gnomelike adventure thing is a hoot.

I may not have many project pictures to show here for a while. I really want to concentrate on de-cluttering my house and getting rid of a lot of the junk I have (that I can’t use to make other things), and I think the only way I’ll get that done is to make a “project” of that itself. I am very very bad at organizing, sorting, prioritizing and all the skills it takes to live in a neat tidy place without a bunch of stuff I don’t need (see above, re: attachment to possessions). It’s a component of my particular mental-ness, but at least I recognize it as such. This will be difficult. But I hope I can sell some of my unneeded stuff for money. And I know what a good feeling it is after the stuff is gone. I have one really cool sewing idea in my head that I must get out, and after that maybe I’ll just start posting pictures of things I want to give away.

On a totally contradictory note, look what I just won on eBay.

Mixed reviews

Drinking material

Today at lunchtime downtown they were giving out free samples of Coca-Cola Blak (warning: cheezy audio). I'd been a little curious about the stuff - Coke and coffee? Mixed together? Could be genius, could be disaster - but not enough to pay for it, so of course I accepted one for the sake of science.

My first impression was that it tasted like coffee-flavored candy. I like coffee-flavored candy, but I don't think I've ever consumed 8 ounces of it at a time. It didn't remind me of Coke at all, except that it's carbonated. I'm not generally a huge fan of sweet drinks, and this stuff is very very sweet. That's why, when I glanced at the nutrition information, I was surprised to learn one bottle has only 45 calories. A closer look at the contents answers the question: High Fructose Corn Syrup is (of course) the second ingredient, but it's also followed further down by Aspartame and Acesulfame Potassium. Jeez, why not add a smidgen of Pestilence just to get all four horsemen of the apocalypse into your trendy new beverage? This might be the unhealthiest substance on the planet. Shortly after finishing the drink, I noticed a vague throbbing sensation in the middle of my head and idly wondered how many (or rather how few) of these I'd have to down before I began hallucinating.

A neat thing about Coca-Cola Blak, however, is that it comes in a glass bottle. I wasn't expecting that. It's shrink-wrapped in a plastic label, but once you peel that off you've got a classic 8-ounce Coke bottle. It's clear instead of green and lacks any printing, but for those of us on the lookout for craft supplies, those are bonus features.

My verdict: Tastes good for an occasional treat, but you may regret drinking it. Container is a class act - but you might be better off digging through the garbage if you want to collect them.

Reading material

I picked up the premiere issue of Adorn magazine the other day. It was everything I expected…which isn't entirely a good thing.

My first disappointment - I can't really call it a letdown - was opening it to the very first page and seeing an ad for sneaker paint. (Go see Art School Confidential. Right now. Trust me.) The magazine bills itself as "the crafty girl's guide to embellishing life". Its focus is very much on adding ornament and decoration to stuff you've bought, rather than on creating things. Well, of course, what do you expect from a publication called "Adorn"?

I recognized a couple of contributors' names - people making it big on the web craft circuit. Good for them. Congratulations.

The format is smaller than a standard magazine, but I quickly got sensory overload looking at it. The trimmings added to everything. The big fuzzy textured oversized accessories. The festivities of kitschy festive kitsch and the self-conscious rock-n-roll themed projects. The bright, bright, BRIGHT colors everywhere. I've left the house at times sporting just one or two of these recommended looks, and by the time I get out in public I've had a keen awareness of oh my god everyone's staring at me because I look like a fucking clown. I want to warn young, impressionable readers to back away from the magazine. Take a class in pattern drafting or screenprinting or something. Cardboard stencils and spray paint will not make a respectable imitation of a designer original garment.

And then there are the associations my mind makes with the title. Adorn. Dorn. Adorno. Adorno. But maybe that's just me.

When I heard there was a new craft magazine coming out, I hoped for something that would bring a new level of quality craftsmanship into the mainstream. But I wasn't holding my breath. Much more likely was what we got: Lowest-common-denominator, beginner-level jumping on the "crafts are trendy" bandwagon. Which - don't get me wrong - has its place and its significant target audience. Lots of people will get lots of good ideas from Adorn, and more power to them.

Will I buy the next issue? Of course I will. Because I am a total sucker for these things.

Well, I’m miffed.

Last night, in the middle of reconstructing a pair of pants I really wanted to wear the next day, my new (old) sewing machine jammed up. The rotating hook, the circular metal thing that grabs the top thread from the needle as it comes down and interlocks it with the bobbin thread, stopped rotating. I could get it to turn occasionally by pushing it with my finger, but not consistently, and I could tell where it was sticking.

I hoped it just needed cleaning and oiling - the instruction manual says "oil once a week", and I have been using it pretty regularly for the last couple of weeks. (I don't think I've oiled my Bernina once in 23 years.) In fact I met someone today who'd had a similar problem with her machine, and oil was all it needed. So I trekked across town on my scooter in the rain to buy some oil. I brushed the lint out of the machine. I blew canned air into it. I oiled it, dismantled the bobbin case (oops, was supposed to do that first) and oiled it some more. And it still won't rotate. I think the hook is out of sync with the position it's supposed to be in when the needle comes down. Meaning I'm gonna have to take it to a shop.

So here I am with all these great refashioning ideas, unable to finish them. (Unless I want to clear a space on the table to set up my old machine, which…too much effort right now.) Ah well, I have a non-craft project I need to finish this weekend that won't be as much fun, but will pay money. Guess this is the universe telling me I'd better concentrate on that instead.

To take our minds off all that 'cause it's late and time to relax, here's a picture of my girls Blanche and Lenore on a pair of jeans that I turned into a skirt a couple months ago. Breeeeeathe. Ahhhhhh. Kitties. Good kitties.

So I've been giving this clothing recycling thing a lot of thought. (Like, when I'm at work and supposed to be thinking about logos and brochures.) I'm thinking I want to develop a definite style, but I'm not sure exactly what that style is. Like Enid, I only know what I don't want.

Everything I've seen lately in the craft area has fallen into one of a few categories. Most prominently (among DIY circles, anyway) is the whole punk rock aesthetic, the untrained, unfinished "junky-to-funky" look. Raw edges, excess, loud colors, stuff glued together because the creator hasn't learned to sew yet. Which is fine if that's where you are - young, having fun experimenting, learning and trying things out. But if I'm old enough to have tried out these trends the first time around, this is not the look I ought to be sporting today.

At the other extreme are the fine artists and fashion design entrepreneurs. Reading about them is just so damn informative, but it also reminds me how little knowledge I actually have. Which is fine too - I am a home sewer making clothes for myself and know better than to think I'm Project Runway material. (Wendy? Marla? Yeah, both waaaaay beyond me in savvy and skill.)

And then there's the third category, mostly seen among DIY crafters who've become entrepreneurs and made a career out of the things they make. Not always - but often enough to notice - their products are cutesy. Frilly. Dainty. They like to pay homage to the domestic textiles of yore and the underappreciated homemakers who used them. Nothing wrong with this, either - I find it laudable, up to the point that it becomes a cliché.

The current trends often remind me of what Douglas Coupland termed "ironism": pretending to like something ironically, when secretly you just plain like it. I had something more coherent to say about that earlier (while riding my scooter in the rain), but it's late and the thought escapes me now. Just consider the idea yourself, I guess, and see what you come up with.

Anyway. So what I want is not junky or funky or punky - much as I appreciate that aesthetic, I'm too damn old to pull it off without embarrassing myself. Right now I'm trying to make the most of my original natural hair color while I still have it. I'd rather not be branded (again) as the office nutbar. I know my creative and ambitious limits; I'm in this to make quality clothing for my own use. And others have got the tea-cozy and apron market cornered; there's no rah-rah womyn's-work-is-art statement I could make that hasn't already been made.

I want to make things that are neat and well-constructed, not sloppy. Eye-catching without being embarrassing. Unusual but not inappropriate. Creative, artistic, individual, but not wacky or zany. Thrifty, sustainability-conscious, but not impoverished-looking. I want to look like a respectable adult, but not like a soccer mom.

I'm kinda rambling here (but look how it took my mind off the sewing machine!). It's time for some sleep, so I'll leave you with this: Paul Graham says "The only style worth having is the one you can't help." That article has nothing to do with clothing, but it's relevant nonetheless and it's one of my favorites and everyone should read it. And now, good night.

If you’re not outraged…

Teaser just before last night’s evening news (I don’t remember which channel; they’re all the same anyway): “Immigration protest rally tomorrow! From parking to going out to eat, we’ll tell you how it will affect YOU!”

I don’t have a firm party-line stance on the “issue” of immigration, because it’s not a single issue. It’s a whole bunch of different issues whose solutions are all as complicated as the problems. I agree with some people on some things, and other people on other things. But no matter what your opinion on the whole subject, there’s one thing I know for sure.

The fact that the topic deemed newsworthy is HOW THE RALLY WILL AFFECT PARKING AND GOING OUT TO EAT ought to have people rioting in the fucking streets.

Arrrrrghhh.

My sewing machine just decided to jam up and bite the dust, for no reason, in the middle of a project. Maybe it's got some moral objection to my resurrecting a pattern from 1982; I dunno. This means I've got to find time to take it to a shop and spend money I don't have getting it repaired, because I need it for other projects that are under a deadline.

It had better shape up, 'cause I'm inheriting my grandma's old machine (probably newer than this one) as soon as my parents can bring it to me. Maybe it knows. Hey. I can personify it all I want; it's been with me for 23 years. It's a dear friend. Who had better watch its mechanical back if it wants to avoid being given away to a boy who's never sewn before. He has his eye on you, Bernina. He wants to use you on polyester.

Before this setback I was googling around for some podcasts to listen to while sewing. I happened upon Dennis Stevens' Redefining Craft, which is most excellent. This interview with Stanley Bulbach is about a year old, but it touches on lots of subjects that have been on my mind lately. They articulate these ideas much more eloquently than I could, bein' all formally un-edumacated in such matters. I need to find more resources like this to edumacate myself.

Things I learned today:
- There are other topics to discuss on craft-related forums than Birkenstocks, grandchildren and cats, and I am not the only one eager to discuss them.
- The distinction between American Craft (no) and the DIY craft movement (yes)
- I really like the word "fiberist".

And now I must back away from the keyboard and compose a list of my further thoughts on related subjects, so I can post them later when I'm more coherent.

Springtime

Someday, years from now, we’ll look back and say “Remember back when we lived in that apartment in Denver, and I was a temp and you were a student and we had no money and I got hurt but we had no insurance and we wondered what we’d do when we grew up, or if we were too old and it was too late for us even to have any say in the matter?”

And then I’ll look at this picture and remember it as one of the best times of my life.

Welcome to Three Cat Night.

At the beginning of 2006 I looked in my closet and found it full of ill-fitting, outdated and just plain ugly clothes that I seldom wore. Adding to that my overflowing stash of unused yarn and fabric, I realized I could probably singlehandedly outfit a small (though unfashionable) country. Yet I was still struggling to put together something decent to wear to work every day.

I felt the need in many areas of my life to consume less and produce more, and (inspired in no small part by Project Runway) I decided to set myself a challenge. My new year’s resolution was to try to make as many of my own clothes as possible using materials I already own. If I could get around to taking pictures and putting them up on a blog, so much the better.

My main focus with these projects is threefold: to save money, to be creative and to waste less by using what I have instead of accumulating more stuff. I’ve been reading a lot lately about artists and crafters creating sustainable goods - using only materials that have been produced in the most ecologically responsible way possible. I think that’s a terrific goal to shoot for, and someday when I progress to buying new supplies, it will be more of a priority. But for now, for me, it’s secondary. I figure I’m still doing my part to “sustain” something if I use the polluting-corporation-produced synthetic fabric that’s been sitting on my shelf for two years to make something creative and original, rather than going out and buying yet another prefab piece of polluting-corporation-produced synthetic mass-market boring crap (and letting that fabric linger on the shelf).

You do what you can, and every bit counts. And maybe you even inspire someone else to do more too.