Blogger Meetup - Elizabeth; and Protecting your Blog

If you usually skip meetup posts, but have a blog of your own, please read below about how to protect your blog.

Yesterday, the first day of Labor Day weekend, included a meetup with Elizabeth of SEWN. Elizabeth recently moved from New York city, where she got to hang out with some of my favorite bloggers, Carolyn and Claudine, to southern California, and she planned a mini getaway to the Bay.

When planning our outing, Elizabeth deferred to me to select our shopping destination. Recently my favorite SF fabric store (Fabrix) has been a bit lackluster, so I suggested we meet at Stone Mountain and Daughter in the east bay, followed by a visit to Piedmonth Fabrics, less than 3 miles away.

It was so great to meet Elizabeth and her host friends! Stephanie, of The Dashing Eccentric, had seen my mention of the meetup yesterday and was quickly able to join us. Then, who should recognize my laugh across the store, but Jillian, who was serendipitously visiting her local fabric store, not yet having seen my post. Jillian was wearing a gorgeous Nikko jacket I had never seen in person and I am sorry we didn't get photos as she didn't follow us to Piedmont.

Elizabeth scored some wonderful goodies, which she has blogged about. (I didn't buy anything, other than a piece of fabric on behalf of Margy.)

After Piedmont, Elizabeth, her two host friends, and I retired to Barneys for some light refreshment. For me, it was an Oreo milkshake, a rare treat.

Now that Elizabeth is on the west coast, I hope to see her more often!

How to Protect Your Blog

Last night, Dixie (an incredibly creative blogger, btw) let me know that my blog had "disappeared". I ran to log in and discovered that, due to suspicious activity, blogger had shut it down. Meaning that some troll hacked my password and attempted some nefarious activity, probably attempting to hijack the blog.

This is a scary thing to a blogger who has put a lot of work into a blog. But I was saved from disaster and I want to share a few tips on how to protect your own work.

First, I have to thank Carolyn of HandmadeByCarolyn. A similar thing happened to her blog last December. When she managed to recover it, she shared that she had heightened her blog's security using her smart phone. You can tie your account to authentication software on your smart phone, at least in Blogger. (I don't know about Wordpress or other blog software, but they probably have something similar.)

After reading about Carolyn's experience, I immediately set this up for my own blog using my iPhone. It's a bit of a pain because I do have to periodically use a code provided by the authentication app on my phone in order to log in, but I can tell you that it's worth the minor inconvenience. Upon entering the code, my blog was immediately restored and nothing was lost, not even recent comments.

So, here are my tips for protecting your blog. If you have other tips to share, please mention them in the comments.

• Use a strong password on the account connected to your blog. It should include lowercase and uppercase characters, numbers and punctuation. My password is now much stronger. An example of a strong password, which is still easy to remember: whenD0weEat?At8?
• If your blog software supports it, tie your account to authentication software on your cell phone.
• Backup your blog. I back mine up periodically and I backed it up again last night. In Blogger, go to your blog's dashboard, and then Settings -> Other. Click the Export Blog button, which brings up a dialog to save a copy of your blog to your hard drive, as an XML file. If you plan to migrate your blog elsewhere, you would use this file, but it also serves as a backup. (The XML file is human readable, which is an advantage if you want to extract a specific posting.)

Thanks again, Carolyn!! I owe you! If you ever come to SF, I'll drive you anywhere you want to go.

What are my vegetables trying to tell me? (By the way, I did cook a couple weeks ago, the first time this year!)

Giveaway Winners and Design Outside the Lines Prep

Wow! This giveaway really drew out some of the lurkers! I intentionally did not advertise this giveaway anywhere, so the prizes would go to legitimate readers. The drawing is closed and the winners names have been drawn!

The winner of the signed copy of Lynda Maynard's The Dressmaker's Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques: Essential Step-by-Step Techniques for Professional Results.is Sandy in CA.

The winner of Pattern Making (Portfolio Skills)is isaspacey of As I Said....

The winner of the Palmer Pletsch sewing DVD, Sewing . . . Good to Great: It's in the Detailsis Rebecca (from the Bay Area).

Congratulations to each of you! Please contact me at the email address listed in my profile so I can figure out where to mail them.

I was surprised to see how little I have accomplished over the last month, sewing wise. Work continues to feature prominently in life, leaving little energy to sew in the evenings. September is shaping up to be my busiest month of the year, with Design Outside the Lines, and launching DD1 to college. I am very excited about all of the activities, but feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Prepping for Design Outside the Lines

And speaking of DOL...

I have been using my limited free time trying to prep for Design Outside the Lines.

This is *hard*!

I've been analyzing my anxieties and have realized that my biggest fear is that I'm doing it wrong. I've heard the stories of folks who filled their suitcases with patterns and materials that they never touched. I've heard about folks who have shipped boxes and then didn't need them.

Since I am flying out, I have limited space and zero desire (at the moment) to ship anything. Part of me wants to leave patterns behind (I'm not taking a sewing machine) and take a black knit and a black woven or two, maybe some muslin, and then focus on findings and embellishments. Pare it down to the basics.

But I'm not sure I have enough chutzpah for the minimalist approach.

It is suggested that we bring 6 or so images to use as inspiration. I spent hours finding my images and then realized I made two mistakes. One, most of them are too low resolution to print out (which is recommended), and two, I focused exclusively on non-clothing-related images, things like landscapes with amazing colors/shapes, walls/gates/locks, and other textures.

For some reason I have been inexplicably drawn to mushrooms. I have no idea why, and I sure can't envision how a mushroom or two might inform my work, though I just love the textures, shapes, colors. I mean, how can one not love these? (All of these fabulous images are too low res to print as an 8x10. If I knew where to purchase them at higher res, and they didn't cost an arm and a leg, I just might.)

I even ordered a picture book of Georgia O'Keeffe's work as additional inspiration - I have been told that the colors in her paintings really capture the unusual colors in Taos, which is very cool to think about.

See?!? Do you see my dilemma?!

I can envision myself sitting in a workroom in Taos, desperately clutching images of fungus and brightly colored birds and butterflies, and staring at my black fabrics, fun zippers, and bag of denim threads, and desperately thinking, NOW WHAT?!?!? The feeling is not unlike the nightmare where you show up for an exam, naked. This is a special (possibly once in a lifetime) opportunity, and I don't.want.to.mess.it.up. Images of Diane Ericson and Marcy, smiling and shaking their heads, comes to mind, "Oh dear, what was that Shams thinking?"

Now, both Marcy and Diane would say, "Trust the process." That is what you tell a person who is about to jump out of a plane, her mind desperately hoping that her chute will open and that she won't break her legs, or find herself dangling upside down like a giant ornament on a sycamore tree. That doesn't make it easy advice to follow. ;)

On another note. I just received Style Arc's September mailing and they have a couple patterns I am loving. First, a very cool pair of pants that reminds me of the Au Bonheur jeans I made with the knee "gussets", the Cassie Stretch Woven Pant (click the picture to go to their site):

I am "over" most waterfall cardigans, but I am really loving the look of this one, the Nina Cardigan (click the picture to to go their site):

And, finally: Today I am meeting up with Elizabeth of Sewn, who is in town for the long weekend. She, I, and a few others, will be meeting at Stone Mountain and Daughter at 1pm. We may then proceed to Piedmont Fabrics. If you are around, come join us! I will be the one staring at the purse handles and yarn, wondering if I might need these at DOL.

Blogiversary Giveaway!

I really want to thank all of your for your lovely comments and well wishes on my 3rd blogiversary post. It's been a fun ride and I really appreciate each of you!

It's time for my blogiversary giveaway! In honor of three years, I have three giveaway goodies, and (I think) they are good ones!

First up, a signed copy of Lynda Maynard's The Dressmaker's Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques: Essential Step-by-Step Techniques for Professional Results.This is a really good, if misnamed, book. A more accurate description would be "beautifully illustrated, clever techniques you might find in high-end RTW." There are some great ideas in here. I bought this from Lynda at the recent Cañada Blogger meetup, specifically for this giveaway, and asked her to sign it. I purchased my own copy when the book originally came out.

Next up, Pattern Making (Portfolio Skills)by Dennic Chunman Lo. This book is receiving rave reviews in the sewing blogosphere and forums. I have not yet used my own copy, but this book contains beautiful designs that you don't see in typical pattern drafting books. (I am a fan of starting with a well fitting TNT pattern, and then drafting up the interesting bits. A book like this is very useful, even for someone who doesn't want to draft from scratch.) I bought this copy in San Francisco's Japan Town.

The final gift is the Palmer Pletsch sewing DVD, Sewing . . . Good to Great: It's in the Detailsfeaturing Marta Alto. This shrink-wrapped DVD includes: perfect darts, lapped and invisible zippers, facings, edge finishes, pocket styles, Hong Kong finish and to-the edge linings, hems in many fabrics, machine embroidery tips, and covered snaps over BIG buttons.

If you are interested in any (or all) of these giveaway items, please leave a comment on this post. When you comment, list the item(s) in which you are interested, in the order of preference. I will do the drawing in a week or so. Watch this space for the list of winners. This giveaway is open to international folks.

Yesterday morning, I went diving looking for fabrics to de-stash. I ended up with two garbage bags of fabric. Wow, did it feel great to remove these from my bloated stash! I then met up with some sewing pals for a fun day of show and tell, sharing, eating, and swapping. I managed to leave behind the two bags of fabric and one Vogue pattern, and come home with one Burda magazine, two (small) pieces of fabric, and a brand new pair of thread clippers. I need to do a lot more of this - it's good for the soul! ;)

Third Blogiversary!

Today, August 25th, 2012 is my third blogiversary! WOOT! (Click the following link to see previous blogiversary posts.)

Table of Contents

• Statistics
• Top 5 Posts
• Year in Summary
• Stylistically Speaking
• What Have I Sewn?
• The Coming Year
• Celebratory Giveaway

Statistics

Here we are at the end of year #3 of blogging, with a simultaneous return to sewing. I am still not bored, even a tiny bit. In fact, things continue to get more interesting. First up, the statistics. (And you know, I love me some statistics.)

End of Year	Number of Posts	Number of Followers	Number of Subscribers (via Google Reader)
1	125	130	Was Google Reader in use?
2	107	341	482
3	107	505	739

Note: This year I deleted a dozen really old, icky posts, so I am not tracking totals. Don't worry, it's nothing you would care about - these posts contained images that were wincingly bad.

Top 5 Posts

Top 5 Posts of the Year:

• Self Drafted TableCloth Skirt (with Tutorial)
• FBAs in Knits - Advice for the Uber Busty
• Interview with Marcy Tilton
• What the Heck, Vogue?
• Interview with Diane Ericson

Top 5 Posts of the All Time:

• Self Drafted Anthropologie Skirt - this post is my most popular by orders of magnitude. It has received 37,589 page views to date and is my most popular pin on Pinterest.
• Self Drafted TableCloth Skirt (with Tutorial)
• Vogue 1213 - Koos van den Akker Linen Coat
• Lagenlook
• FBAs in Knits - Advice for the Uber Busty

Stylistically Speaking

Hair:

Last year I started dying my hair red (well, I had the good students at the hair school do it for me). But this year I started wearing it shorter and I've amped up the shade of red. For years and years I desperately wanted long hair, and though it was always an abysmal failure, I continued to try growing it long. I also avoided bangs (fringe) like the plague, having been forced to wear bangs my entire childhood. I've finally accepted that short hair is best for me: a bob with bangs is what I wore at age 11, and is what I'm wearing now. Me and Anna Wintour. Bring it on!

Hats:

This year I have acquired several hats! I never was a hat person before, but they are really calling to me now. I have acquired a grey fedora, a burgundy cloche, a red jaunty number made by my friend Sue (not sure what the style is called) and worn at the Cañada meetup, a chartreuse Oska beannie, and a black and white animal-print, angora beret. mrowrrr And I wear them! (This has been a particularly cold San Francisco summer, so my hats have come in very handy.)

Clothing:

I continue to refine my clothing style. I still love lagenlook, but have accepted that the boxy, large tops do me and my bust no favors. I prefer knit tops (my woven tops don't get near as much wear) and I prefer funky pants, though I now have a lot of fitted, close-to-the-body pants, mostly thanks to Style Arc patterns. I continue to wear my skirts on the long side. I am not ready to wear a shorter skirt, so we'll see if that changes in the coming year. I also do not wear vests, except very rarely.

Footwear:

Thanks to the influence of Margy and others, I have really embraced funky footwear, such as Trippens, and Arche. My previous favorite funky footwear were Fluevogs, and I still have some fun Fluevogs that haven't been worn much this year. Sad Fluevogs.

Underpinnings:

New bras! Enough said. :)

Year in Summary

A highlight for me, this year, were my interviews with Marcy and Diane. And, of course, preparation for my upcoming trip to Design Outside the Lines in Taos, NM.

I also enjoyed meeting more bloggers/internet sewing pals, such as Margy, Luz Clara, ReAnn, and BadMomGoodMom. I was surprised to see that I met them this year as I thought I'd known them longer! There were also several blogger meetups where I met more bloggers and blog readers, such as the recent event at Cañada College, the Gaultier Exhibit, and the meetup in honor of Karen of Did You Make That? And, of course, there was the epic visit with Margy.

This was the year I introduced the Tablecloth Skirt, the L Flounce, and several posts on fitting for the uber busty. I was asked to write my first guest post, for Rhonda's blog.

I won the jeans contest on Pattern Review! (And thanks again for your support.)

I've also dipped my toe into e-commerce, but only just.

What Have I Sewn?

For me, summarizing what I've sewn is the least interesting part of the blogiversary post. But when I look over my 107 posts from last year, I see a lot of Style Arc, Vogue (especially the Tilton sisters), and Sewing Workshop patterns, with one or two Au Bonheur, Burda, Butterick and McCalls mixed in. As much as I like statistics, I don't track how many items I've sewn or how much yardage I've used.

I made my first visit to FabMo this year and took two very fun classes. As a result, I've been making more items using home dec fabrics, culminating in my Koos bag. I have been really enjoying this process!

The Coming Year

This year I'm curious to see how attending DOL will inform my work. I also want to try some downloadable Burda patterns from the BurdaStyle site. I have been eyeing a couple designs, but they will require grading up for my size, which is a little de-motivating. I hope to attend the upcoming PR weekend in San Francisco and meet some great people I have come to know through Pattern Review. Other than that I have no concrete plans. I like to keep things fast and loose.

Celebratory Giveaway

I have some extra good giveaways this year. In fact, I bought something, at full price, as one of my giveaway items. That's how much I love you guys. My next post will include the details.

Blogger Meetup - BadMomGoodMom

BadMomGoodMom was in town again! We met for lunch today at Squat and Gobble. She was accompanied by her precocious and adorable 11-year-old daughter, TFN. (My acronym, not her real initials. Two points to her if she figures out the reference.)

BadMomGoodMom knit her cardigan. I'm wearing a Sewing Workshop cowl top (the older pattern), Loes Hinse pants with a giant circle pocket (which you can't see), and my Koos bag. I knit and felted the scarf a year or two ago. You can see with my hat and glasses, that I am going incognito.
OK, it's just really cold.

After a yummy lunch, we retired to her car for show and tell. She purchased some nice fabrics from Stone Mountain & Daughter, and Fabrix, and also had some beautiful pieces she had knit and sewn.

So, why are we laughing in the top picture? We are holding a (plastic) rim from her wheel. This is the result of her parking job – she scraped the curb, not realizing she had dislodged the piece. Some passerby kindly picked the fallen rim off the sidewalk and placed it on her windshield.

Oops

Thanks to TFN for taking these awesome pictures!

After lunch, they were headed to northern Marin for a couple of nights stay in a friend's summer cottage. While her mom was in the bathroom, TFN said to me, "Two nights in a hut with no wifi. One of us may not come out alive."

Thanks for the laugh, TFN, and I hope you survive the coming ordeal!

Denim Rag Rug - Jeans ReFashioning

OK, so it's like this:

DD1 is going off to university soon. I had plans to do some dorm-related sewing for her, such as throw pillows, a rug for her bedside, a bed caddy.

Fast forward.

We found some inexpensive throw pillows while shopping. Check. I spent almost an entire day working on a bed caddy that was a wadder. (This needs revisiting.) Then she met her roomie and they decided they need a larger 5'x7' shared area rug. I did not sign on to make that!

Meanwhile, I'd already hit my friends up for old jeans that they would otherwise throw out and had received several pair in a variety of blue and black shades. Perfect. I had also bought some black denim to use as the base.

I decided to go ahead with this project. After all, I really need a bath mat. DD2 has been complaining about the old towel I use as a bath mat (hey, it's easy to wash) and has informed me that I need a more specialized solution.

I started the project and completed a few inches, then set it aside for weeks. Then, recently, I needed some mindless sewing, and decided to push through to the end. I finished it in a few days of intense sewing.

I am so glad to have it done!

You can see the rows of stitching. I decided, at the outset, not to try and be a perfectionist about this. Good decision, as it would have been difficult to achieve perfection with such an unwieldy project.

By the way, I got this idea when I saw the great floor mats that Lynne of Sewing Cafe made for her jeep. She got the idea from Martha Stewart. If you go to Martha's page, all you will find (and I quote) is:

3. Fringe Rug

Cut a 30-by-54-inch piece of burlap. Tear about 200 strips from jeans (you'll need about 12 pairs); make each 1 1/4 inches wide and the length of a pant leg. Align first strip 1 inch from burlap's edge; with the zipper foot attachment on a sewing machine and a denim needle, stitch down center. Snip any remainder from the end, and use it to start the next row. Sew strips 1/8 inch apart, until 1 inch of burlap remains. Fold burlap edges under, and hand-stitch.

I made mine 2 feet by 3 feet. I cut a piece of denim and pre-hemmed it. (I'm not sure this is the ideal approach, but it worked for me.) I cut up 8 pair of jeans (4 blue pair from Bertie, 2 black pair from Kim, and 2 blue pair from Sue). I had strips left over, so 7 or 7-1/2 pair might have been sufficient.

A little after halfway, I turned the project around - it was easier to maneuver under the machine.

My strips varied in width from 1-1/4" to 1-1/2". I ironed the more twisted strips flat (the heavier-weight jeans, which I preferred because they have a fluffier fringe, became more distorted from the tearing than the thinner-weight jeans). I then ironed a crease down the middle, though I don't know if that was really necessary. I started sewing and just kept going. It was a fairly unwieldy project and I had to pull my machine away from the wall to accommodate the mass.

I encouraged the fringing of the strips and, in many cases, pulled additional threads after the strips were sewn. I did not pre-cut the length of the finished strips but sewed them to the base and then cut them to length.

My least favorite part of the process was tearing the jeans into strips. It created so much fiber! I was sneezing blue for a couple days. (Sorry, TMI.) If you have sensitive lungs, maybe wear a mask for this part of it. At least the jeans were well washed and, in some cases, bleached, stained, and holey. Those sorts of jeans are perfect for this project.

I really enjoyed mixing colors/shades as I sewed and the resulting variegated effect.

Did I enjoy the process enough to make another? No. :)

Leftover stripsBucket 'o threads from the fringing.

I do have another project to blog that is a garment. I even took pics yesterday, but I have to re-do them. The weather here has just been so grey and foggy. In fact, yesterday morning I drove to Sue's house around 10am to pick up her jeans donation. When I left, it was 57° F outside. When I arrived to her house, it was 75° F outside. I had forgotten how nice 75° F is!

Interview with Diane Ericson

Diane Ericson, in front of a mud wall in Taos. She finds inspiration in clay and straw wall surfaces such as these.

As mentioned last week, I am attending Design Outside the Lines in Taos, New Mexico this September. Marcy Tilton and Diane Ericson lead this creative retreat and I thought it would be interesting to interview each of them specifically about their creative process. I posted Marcy's responses a few days ago, and here are Diane's.

It is fascinating to get a glimpse at the inside of a highly creative mind. I loved Diane's responses and they have given me a lot to think about. I will definitely refer to these again.

Thanks so much, Diane!

For further info:

• Diane Ericson Revisions - website, including online store, gallery, blog, book reviews
• Diane on Facebook

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How do you define creativity?

• What is clear to me is that it is not a THING we do....but HOW we do EVERYTHING! Wow...just think about that. It is like the glasses you wear to see everything clearly....the view each of us has on the world. I know it has always lived in my most intuitive place—showing itself to me daily in new and playful ways. I am ever so grateful to be living and growing from all those layers below the surface.

Describe an early experience, when you connected to your creative self or realized that you were creative? Do you have an early creative memory that is noteworthy?

• I spent a good amount of my childhood in the canyon behind my house growing up in rural San Diego. I wrote poetry, enjoyed my animals, and learned about the world by drawing and making things from the natural materials I found wonderous around me. Besides being an avid fort maker...I dug clay and made my own dishes...and even made a baby papoose carrier from woven sticks and canvas. I guess that might be considered an early 'bag 'project! The older I get, the greater the link I feel to that time and what it calls up in me now.

Creativity is fed by play. What is your favorite form of play these days?

• I am in major mulching mode these days. Clearing, slashing and burning my way through my materials and closet! Okay...not really burning—but I am relentless in my attack as the stuff of my life rolls back and forth like the tide.....taunting me. Is there more the next day!?!...or is it just my imagination!? I wonder on some days, but I do need to keep the process in the play category in order to find something magic in the process. The goal is making space for the new to come into. I never question if it WILL happen, the challenge is keeping some of the distractions at bay, so it CAN happen.

When the mojo is wilting, how do you jump start it?

• Change my routine. In fact, the minute it looks like I have one...I start to feel confined. Last week I started back to a weekly figure drawing session with a model. This gets the week going and gives me a playground that although I am familiar with, there is always a new way to explore it on paper. I always seem to crack open to another level when I start to get bored. Even if figure drawing is not a priority in your process...I encourage you to see if it is a place to play. I feel it is a core experience no matter what the media we choose.
• Walking up the park here in Ashland along the river also stimulates my senses and energy...and I usually come home with a new stick or two. A favorite stimulation for me is making a collection of things, like tea cozies. Making 5-10 at a time, working them all in symphony is like making dough and dividing it up into different herb combinations and loaves......they all influence each other as they find their own form and flavors.
• Share what I do with others: Last month, I made a sweet little baby vest for a friend...so fun—it got me playing and looking forward to giving it.

What is a mojo killer for you? Is there anything you avoid because it negatively affects your creativity?

• Feeling that my life is repudiative and I am not changing and growing. Negative people who want to be in my space and life.

Do you ever have wadders? As in projects that are irredeemable? How do you handle this?

• Yes, it is painful to leave them as they are...as a reminder that so much energy was spent. I like to partially dismantle or even just cut off the part I find most interesting to put it back into my materials stash...that way I have the most opportunity to see something new in it as I cruise my materials again.

What is your current favorite thing in your studio?

• My dressform with an in-process dress on it. I turned a linen dress inside out and been drawing on it. I want to combine it with a knit and a crazy zipper. It will be fun.

If I were to walk into your clothing closet, what would I notice?

• Total chaos! My seasonal change from summer to fall is in process and it is staked to the hilt with stuff that is coming and going! I have a whole closet of fun, linen and white pieces that I have been wearing all summer long...but it is time to set the stage for the first cool day!!! I know it will be out there somewhere!

I believe that personal growth happens when you step outside your comfort zone. Has this been relevant to you? If so, how?

• Oh absolutely...this is what makes us who we really are. There have been many defining moments in my life...most I wouldn't have chosen, that have created major changes and opportunity in my life. One of the most spectacular was going through a flood in '95 as a single mom. Overnight, the flood waters took everything and re-defined 'starting over' for me and my kids. I also got the chance to appreciate who we are for one another as friends I knew and didn't know, came in to offer support. So many gifts and challenges that gave me a much deeper connection to my creative spirit than I had known. My life experiences are always enriching the ways I express my creativity.