Flu - Blargh!

Ok, so it's been a couple weeks.  Mea Culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Some of the time can be blamed on a nasty little flu bug.  No need to go into gory details.  If you have ever had the flu, you know what happens and all that.

So, now I attempt to get back on track.  Work was actually fairly easy to catch up since most of the trouble calls that would have gone to me, went to another guy.  He was glad to see me back cuz his workload doubled for a few days.

I got back on the treadmill yesterday and did fifteen whole minutes before getting a bit woozy in the brain-pan.  Don't push too much too fast after being sick.  You will wind up undoing more than you intend to redo.

As for the sewing section of my life, I need to clear off my desk and take a look at making some repairs to my McCalls M6613 shirt project.  The button placket and I had a little disagreement and it did not work out quite right.  I got a bit discouraged and set the whole thing aside for a few weeks.  Now, I think I can look at it objectively enough to work out how to fix it without pitching the whole thing.

What can I say.  I was the sort of kid that got halfway through a model car, got a superglue fingerprint on a windshield and wound up tossing the whole kit in the trash as a result.

Self Image

I'm working on my fitness level...again.  I'm reading up on various dietary guidelines (AKA/PC Lifestyle changes) and have been exercising for a week now.  I know in my logical brain that I am overweight and need to loose some pounds.  I know this as fact.

But I didn't understand.

I have been cruising the fitness tags and fitspo and and all that crap on Tumblr.  I cannot count how many before/after photos I have seen.  How many of you can guess where this is going?

That is correct.  I just worked out, took off my shirt, kept the shorts on you sick monkeys, and took a photo of myself.

Wow...ouch.  Nothing will kick you in the self-esteem balls like a photo of your own unrealized stomach.

Those of you with small children should run screaming from the room now.  You have been warned.

This is me after one week of exercise and a moderate diet.  I hope that after a few weeks and then months I will be able to post after picts.

McCalls M6613 - 2

Ok, back to work on McCalls M6613.  I spent yesterday afternoon copying and tweaking the pattern based on the results of my muslin.  I'm going to be making the main shirt in black with a royal blue contrast fabric for details like the inside collar, inside yoke, and possibly the sleeve button tabs.  Just a few bits and pieces of color to keep it from being solid black.  I have all the pieces cut and ready to start sewing.

Plus, I have enough leftover of each color to start considering what to do for my next shirt.  After I complete this project I might be able to do up a second short-sleeve version.  We shall see.

Sewing reminds me a bit of cooking.  Most anybody can follow a basic recipe and get a basic result.  If you drop some flour, baking powder, yeas, and water into a bowl, mix and apply heat, you will get bread.  Now, will it be the nice fluffy consistency of store bought bread...no.  Will it be a tasty muffin or croissant?  Nope.  Same with sewing.  If you follow the pattern and instructions, you will wind up with a garment that greatly resembles a shirt. but it's still very much a learning process.  How does you machine handle this fabric or that.  Will it run a simple seam at the same even pace as a felled seam?  How does this fabric work with that interfacing?  How do you turn those collar points right side out?

I'm learning, slowly & steadily, garment by garment, seam by felled seam, I'm learning.

Valentines Day Gift

SO I made something for my wife for V-Day.  If you have read this blog in its entirety you may come to realize that she is a bit of a Marilyn Manson fan.  Just a bit...*cough*FANGIRL*cough*

I had the idea a few weeks ago that a Manson themed stuffed animal would be absolutely adorable for her for Valentines Day.  Her favorite incarnation of Manson is a character referred to as Omega and is depicted with a rather Bowie-esque make-up job of blue eye-shadow, red & black hair and multicolored contact lenses.  I found a downloadable pattern for a stuffed bear that I thought could possibly evoke a cat if I pointed the ears and tail.  I'm not looking for absolute physical accuracy, just a passing resemblance, you see.

Well lets recap:
Concept - A+
Thoughtfulness - A+
Preparation - B+
Execution - umm...well...We both agree its sort of a bear/cat/raccoon hybrid that is a bit on the creepy side. Now, fortunately, creepy appeals to my wife.  Especially when attempting to invoke the Manse.

He is slightly under stuffed, due to being my first attempt at making such a creature.  He does have the Manson inspired multi-colored eyes and red embroidery on his black head stripe thingy as well as on his paws.

Fashion vs Style

It's sort of a sexist thing to say, I understand this going in.  However, I believe it to be true.

Leave fashion to the women.  Men should work with the concept of style.

Another way to say this would be that I will never make a pair of skinny jeans.  Or bell-bottoms for that matter.  Both are examples of fashion overriding common sense.

If you managed to find a pair of Levis from 1913 that were miraculously preserved (and that fit) you could wear them today and they could easily be incorporated  in a styled appearance.  Case in point:  The following pict is a reproduction pair from the design specifications of 1933 and this guy could walk down the street now and nobody would even look.  Likewise a pair of basic straight leg jeans produced today would be just as useful to a modern gentleman of 2113.  Now try that test with anything that is considered a fashionable garment or part of any trend.

Now, for some contrast examples:

See what I mean?  Fashionable in the 70's does not equal style...anywhere...anytime.  Hipster kids need to go eat a cheeseburger and then buy clothing that fits.  

Guys need to stick to classic style and personalize it a bit here and there.  If a guy tries to follow a fashion trend, eventually there is a going to be a time of regret.  Usually pictures will be involved.  Possibly polyester or slogan t-shirts.  Please, can we stop this madness.

McCalls M6613

My first work-in-progress post. Woot!

This is a muslin for a shirt I am working on using McCalls M6613 sewing pattern.  I'll probably modify it slightly to suit me better and I've got this cross posted to a sewing forum to get construction/fit tips.  The end shirt will be basic black with royal blue highlights.  I'm going to at least do the inner yoke and collar lining in the blue and there is a version with the little tabs that fold up and button when your sleeves are rolled up.  So, probably those in blue as well.  Also, I think I will keep the mandarin collar.  The pattern has a standard fold down design, which is nice, however, I have always liked the banded collar look.

I already have a list of things to fix on the pattern before I work on the final draft.
-The cuffs are two different sizes due to a folding issue.  Note to self: Your eyeballs are not nearly as calibrated as you think, use a friggin ruler.
-I need to figure out how to shrink the collar about an inch all the way around to get that fitting correctly.
-There is a little puckering at the armscye which should clean up if I do a bit more ironing during the construction stages and take a bit more care with the pinning steps.

I have David Page Coffins book on shirt-making which I will be referencing quite a great deal over the next week or so.

Wish me luck!

Camera!

Ok, between this blog and a forum I have been frequenting, I have commented on the need for a camera a few times.  This is the point I will casually smack myself in the face.

I have a camera.  Not a huge fancy anything, but a reasonably decent Olympus point-n-shoot.

The picture is more to test the Blogger picture function than anything else.  I'm fairly sure you all don't really care what my camera looks like.  But now that it is plugged in and charging, one of my goals for tonight is going to be to take a couple of snaps of my shirt-muslin.  I want to be able to do a basic work-in-progress and completed project theme in this here blog, but well...without a camera its sort of pointless.  I mean really, I can tell you that I just hand tailored a traditional styled bespoke suit out of the most wonderful tweed.  But without picts to back that up I'm probably lying out my ass.

So, hopefully tomorrow, I will be posting a snap or two of my current work in progress.

Also, I found Hot Patterns.  I'm thinking that the name is a little hokey, and they only have three patterns for men, but, the three patterns are about perfect.  I ordered a shirt pattern that is sort of a vintage railroad work shirt that has a bunch of the style and design ideas I have been thinking about and a jeans pattern that is both simple and classic at the same time.  I am very excited to see what these two look like in person and then eventually completed as wearable garments.

If I can get to the point of being able to turn out a button-down shirt and a pair of jeans that can pass as store-bought.  I may never have to shop for clothing again...well, except for socks and underwear and whatever else I might want.  Oh, and shoes.  

Don't judge me!