Lessons in Creating from Julia Child

I just finished reading My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme. It starts in 1948 when Julia and her husband Paul lived in France and she was first introduced to French food and cooking.

Here's a few tips that I learned from the illustrious French chef that really resonated with me as a seamstress.

Don't Be Afraid of Failure in the Kitchen (or Sewing Room)

Gollies, sometimes it's hard not to get down on yourself when you totally botch something up. I've watched really experienced sewers make mistakes and get out their seam ripper. Of course, I'm going to, too!

Julia says, "One of the secrets, and pleasures, of cooking is to learn to correct something if it goes awry; and one of the lessons is to grin and bear it if it cannot be fixed."

When I forgot to stay stitch on the Colette Taffy and ended up with a huge neckline, I had to improvise. I learned a lot by figuring out how to fix the problem, and I'm sure it's not the only time I will make that blunder. 

No Excuses! No Apologies! 

Julia told a story of cooking eggs benedict for a friend just after she had started at Le Cordon Bleu. The hollandaise sauce turned out terribly- gritty and just not good. Yet she insisted that no cook should ever make apologies for a meal gone wrong.

She had three reasons for not apologizing: 

1. Your friends are forced to make you feel better. They already have to eat the bad food! Don't make them do more.

2. It may make them recognize flaws they didn't already notice. She says, "Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is." 
3. The focus should be on learning from your mistakes, rather than the failure.

I am all to apt to finish a garment and quickly point out the flaws. Getting in the doldrums over my lack of skills is pointless; recognizing these flaws so I can improve from them in the future is worthwhile.

Remember What Matters

I was amazed to discover the amount of time and energy Julia poured into creating Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She worked tirelessly for NINE YEARS on this one book alone. Sometimes she wanted to forgo plans with friends or family to keep working on something she was so passionate about.

She didn't,though. She says,“Remember, 'No one's more important than people'! In other words, friendship is the most important thing--not career or housework, or one's fatigue--and it needs to be tended and nurtured.”

I am too often tempted to hermit away in my sewing room and come out triumphantly several garments later. That would be the real mistake!

I hope you enjoyed these little lessons from a truly fearless and delightful woman. Bon appettit and happy sewing!

Atomic Burst 3/4 Circle Skirt

This is one of two circle skirts that got their inspiration from a Finnish blogger I follow. I am pretty obsessed with the fabric on this skirt. It's a cotton created by Michael Miller and has a great 1950s retro vibe.

Can you see the fabric-covered button I used for the closure? 

You'd make this excited face, too, if you had this fabric to sew with. 

Drafting a 3/4 Circle Skirt 

I opted to go with a 3/4 circle skirt instead of a full one because the width of the fabric wouldn't quite stretch to a full circle skirt. I really enjoy the look in the end. I had been using instructions from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing to draft the full circle skirts I created before (here and here). 

This time, I stumbled upon a circle skirt drafting calculator from another blogger. It's a worksheet you can download and used to calculator whatever size circle skirt you are wanting to create. I found it extremely helpful and accurate. 

Just one more circle skirt to sew from my fabric stash, and then perhaps I'll take a break for a bit! Although I can't make any promises...

How I Started Sewing

Today I have some throwback finished projects for you! I hope you enjoy hearing how I got started sewing and will share in comments below how you got your start.

I've been dabbling in sewing since I was a tiny tot. I loved to embroider all manner of things when I was little. My grandma took care of us during the day and sometimes she would let me stitch things on her machine, too.  My interest in vintage started equally as young, so it's a happy combination for me.

But I didn't really get into sewing until I was 12-years-old. It all begin with a pair of pajama pants. These pajama pants in fact...

Behold! The first garment I ever sewed. 

  

I remember cutting out the pattern and not understanding how it was supposed to fit together, so I raced upstairs to my bedroom and got out a pair of pajama pants to inspect. I was hooked from that moment on. 

The Pajama Pants Years

After that, I went through a serious pajama pant craze that lasted well through high school. I'm pretty sure every friend and family member received a pair of pajama pants from me, and some were truly atrocious looking. I started getting fancy and embroidering messages inside the waistband of the pants, too, like, "Happy Birthday!" I sewed matching pajama pants for my family.

My parents and I in Radio Flyer-print pajama pants I made. I don't know how my brother managed to be spared here. 

Sew All the Things!

After that, I started sewing pretty much everything. Home decor things like throw pillows, quilts (although I didn't yet understand the proper way to quilt), appliqued pillow cases, purses galore, novelty items there were jokes between friends, and eventually clothes I actually wore out in public.

A skirt I made out of t-shirts. I'm making my first trip to college here!

I did a lot of experimenting and winging it.  I am completely self-taught, and only in the past few years have started devouring sewing books and getting engaged in the online sewing community to get more skilled in a craft I love very much. I am still hooked!

Here's to many more happy years of sewing!

Great Gatsby Sewing: Completed Dress

Hello Dames and Gents! I finally got a wiggle on and finished up my Great Gatsby dress. Remember the fabric and pattern? Well here she is!

Horsefeathers! This Pattern Had Me All Balled Up! 

I was forewarned before purchase that the pattern instructions would be minimal, but I had no idea what was coming my way... Past Patterns gives copies of the original instructions, and in the case of this 1921 pattern, about half of it was gone. 

This would give any doll the heebie jeebies! 

I was missing 3 of the 11 pattern pieces, descriptions of what each pattern piece was, and quite a bit of the instructions for assembling the dress.

Now You're on the Trolley!

I started by putting the pattern pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle, trying to figure out where the missing pattern pieces were and what went where. I spent one hectic hour thinking the neckline was actually a bust dart! I had a good giggle over that when I realized it.

The best I could figure, I was missing:

1. The belt.
2. The neck tie.
3. The third piece of the promised three-piece skirt. The two pattern pieces I had wouldn't allow it to close at left-side front.

I ended up drafting 1 & 2 (which was fairly easy since they're just rectangles!) and then adding on to the skirt front for #3 so I wouldn't have an additional seam.  Then I did two muslins to make sure the fit was right. 

I was also lacking a button placement guide, so I marked where the buttons should be while I had the dress on me. Then I made a silly mistake - I went back and evened out the distance, forgetting that my bubs will require a bit more spacing! So two of the buttons are slightly squeezed together. Those are the types of things you miss when you just follow a pattern, so I was excited to learn something new there!

Attagirl!

It was nice to stray away from strict following of instructions for a bit and get my wheels turning. It was also good reminder for me to avoid sewing garments with quilter's cotton, no matter how appealing a print is. I think it loses a bit of its luster because of it. I still think it's pos-i-lute-ly hotly totsy! 

PS- I hope you enjoyed the bit of 1920s slang I threw in! 

Circle Skirt Inspiration

You can probably deduce from this one and this one that I really like circle skirts. Similar to shirtwaist dresses, they are a staple of my wardrobe.

A little while back, I stumbled upon 365 Vintage Days. A woman from Finland (I believe her name is Sylvie) decided to accept a challenge to only wear vintage clothing from March 2011 to March 2012. She was having so much fun doing it that she just kept going. She posts photos of her outfits very frequently for us all to have a good drool over.

In particular, I was struck with how much I liked the circle skirts that she would pair with matching, brightly-colored blouses. I  love coordinating separates.

Some Circle Skirts from 365 Vintage Days

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AREN'T THEY WONDERFUL?! I really and truly had to stop myself from posting more here. She's been collecting vintage for over 20 years and has amassed a spectacular collection. I would like to know her secrets to staying the same size for 20 years so she can continue wearing all these beautiful pieces.

Fabric 

I was feeling so excited at the thought of dozens more circle skirts in my own wardrobe that I went out and got some more fabric. Exactly what I needed! Here's a peek of things to come.

Atomic Burst. 

Pink linen. Thinking of doing horizontal stripes in black ric rac. Jumbo ric rac no less! I dream big.

Isn't planning for projects one of the best things about sewing? It's so exhilarating. Now I must get back to Great Gatsby dress sewing. I'm nearing the home stretch! 

The Sewing Machine, A Girl's Best Friend

A bit of fun for your Friday. The "Sewing Machine" from the 1947 film "The Perils of Pauline" with Betty Hutton.



A bobbin a bobbin, a peddle a peddle... I hope your sewing machine isn't wearing you out like poor Betty Hutton! Happy weekend sewing!

A Tale of Two Patterns: Butterick 5895 & Simplicity 2195

Behold, my first pair of pants! And a lovely 1950s blouse.

The Pants

The pattern is Butterick 5895, a high-waisted pant created by Gertie for Butterick. I used a wool gabardine in black for the fabric. 

I must tell you, I was terrified to sew pants. I figured they'd come out all wonky and I'd be grappling over fit for months. I was wrong - these were a dream to sew! I only had two small alterations, which were easy to spot thanks to my body graph. 

1. I took the waist in an inch. Normally, I add an inch to the waist, but I went up a size on these pants to get a good fit in the hip. 
2. I had to take in the right leg a little bit, because of Slim. 

I got some denim to do a lighter version for summer because I like these so much, and eyelet cotton to do the blouse that's also in the pattern. So hooray for pants!

The Blouse

The pattern is Simplicity 2195, a 1950s blouse pattern. I got the fabric from Hart's in Santa Cruz, and it's reproduction Feedsack Cotton (!). 

I've noticed in the past few weeks some other sewing bloggers that have an obsession with stitching up blouses like these, Handmade Jane and Tasha of By Gum By Golly. I think I might be similarly addicted... I already have fabric for a gingham version that I can monogram and a sleeveless version in another reproduction feedsack! 

Creativity is Contagious, Pass it On! 

Don't be afraid to sew pants, people! I can now say for certain it's not nearly as scary as you have built it up to be in your head.