Seek and ye shall find

I found my brag book; I’m over the moon! It only has 12 pages (= 24 pockets), so it will fit in my handbag perfectly! I quickly made a cute cover for it from the copper/gold dupion silk that I want to make a dress out of, and within a day the book is in full use. In the front pocket I’ve put a summary of the SWAP (stage 1: make 11 garments, the idea is almost enough to make me faint…). In the following pockets I’ve put a technical drawing on the left hand page, and a swatch of the fabric I want to use on the facing page. I even put a sticker on the swatch stating how many metres I have; I’m a sucker for efficiency.

I’d love to show you pictures, but unfortunately it won’t be until today that WM and I will be working our way through hundreds of options to find the perfect little digital camera. Fingers crossed that we manage to agree on which one to buy, and that it is actually in stock!

I still haven’t really started sewing, though. Not for lack of fabric or inspiration, or even kindly offered assistance, but unfortunately I am used to tracing my patterns, and I will have to wait for another 2 weeks before Esther’s parents bring over those wonderful rolls of tissue tracing paper from Holland. Yes, I know there are other ways of tracing your patterns, and there probably is other paper available, I just have not been able to find it in London. I can’t use newspaper or brown paper and a tracing wheel because I’m afraid to damage the antique table and I remember only too well what happened to my parents’ table. After a few years of my mum’s handiwork, my dad tried to sand the table down to get rid of the millions of tiny holes on the tabletop, but the top layer wasn’t thick enough. They ended up buying a new table and of course new chairs to go with it. And then they decided to give the whole room a make-over. Wait, perhaps I should start using a tracing wheel on the table: I could end up with a new room!

Sew, where to start?

I first started making dolls, their clothes, and all sorts of bags, when I was about 10 years old. My mum used to make clothes for my 2 sisters and myself, and I just loved to see her at work in her sewing nook in our living room, busy cutting and sewing (usually with a few pins sticking out of her mouth): I wanted to do that too! She taught me how to use her machine (what a brave woman!), and from then on there were times she actually had to ask me in a stern voice to "step away from the machine" to let her do some sewing herself.

Although I was usually consulted on both choice of fabric and style before my mum started sewing, I found that sometimes I just wanted to wear something else than what she had in mind for me. When I got a bit older, with her help I started making my own clothes from patterns in KNIPmode. Never mind my first attempts (thank goodness there are no pictures), but since then I've made many, many garments, usually using KNIPmode, Burda or, occasionally, Vogue. Some of them I wore for years, and some of them were only for one night (prom dress) and many of them I gave away without ever wearing them. What a waste!

In addition to that, I suffered from the well-know disease of buying loads of fabrics without actually EVER using them (and sometimes even stealing from my mum's stash with the same poor result), or even knowing what I wanted to do with the stuff when I bought it. Before I get into that routine again: I will from now on...(drum roll)...Sew With A Plan! And even though I know that following the exact rules of the SWAP may be a bit too much for me to start with, at least I have to promise myself not to buy any fabric without knowing I'm going to make with it. Wish me luck!