Beth Skwarecki

This sounds like fun: BurdaStyle is having a pattern/design contest! This is a website that provides free patterns for download; they're associated with the Burda pattern company that I think is based in Germany. The designs already on the website are clever, stylish, and simple to construct; I love their patterns.

It's tough to design something that fits into their collection. A plain pattern won't stand out of the crowd enough to win. A complex pattern will probably get dumped for being too hard to make, and too hard to adapt. Designing a pattern isn't like designing a garment; you can't rely on a particular fabric or trim as a design feature. The design features have to be in the construction itself.

I've been sketching patterns for the contest today, and it's challenging to design a garment that's versatile enough that people can make it in their own choices of fabric and - this part is great - so they can remix the pattern and make something different out of it.

BurdaStyle actually makes a big deal of their patterns being "open source" - they encourage people to download the patterns, modify them, and share their modifications. I think that's really cool of them.

(Arguably, clothing designs aren't copyrightable in the US, but just try telling most pattern companies that.)

I'm taking a statistics class. I somehow got through college without taking one, and it's about time I learned this stuff.

I'm also taking a swimming class at some ungodly hour in the morning on Fridays. I never had any trouble keeping myself afloat, but now I'm learning how to do swimming strokes properly (like how and when to breathe in freestyle). [Helpful links: how to keep water out of your nose, Retro swimsuits from the actual Esther Williams, swimming tutorial with bonus links]

Chris and I have also been taking dance classes, but there's not much to say about that; you kind of have to be there. If you want something to read about, try the catalog of swing dance styles on streetswing.com, a great time-waster where you can read about what dances influenced other dances or were combined with other dances, when and where they were invented or popularized ... Here's one place to start, just click everything.

These are the beginnings of my latest sewing project: the awesomest pair of homemade jeans ever to grace my butt. (They don't have much competition, really). The pattern is from Sew U. It's a good book that comes with a fabulous pants pattern; the only alteration I made was to make the thighs a little roomier, the better to accomodate my fat massive muscles.

I made these jeans out of linen fabric; the full story is over here. They'll be great on hot days, I think. (Or perhaps any day, now that I've lost my two favorite pairs of store-bought jeans. I think they may have accidentally gotten into a charity giveaway bag instead of the laundry bag. :(

I got the Sew U book today; Amazon says it's not available yet, but if you "pre-order" it, it'll show up at your door right away. It looks like a very useful, practical book on sewing your own clothes.

Random sewing link of the day: greyhound crafts, including patterns for hound coats and stuffed toys.

Today the hamlet I live in was having a yard sale. I spent $11, and look what I got:

The dresser was $10. I was calling Chris to ask him about it, when I noticed another woman at the yard sale also calling someone about a dresser. I didn't want to take it from under her nose while she was thinking about it. I hemmed. I hawed. Finally I asked her what she was looking at; she had her eye on a different, smaller dresser! Perfect.

It was full of spiderwebs (and spiders) and was falling apart a bit in the back, but we cleaned it out and fixed it up. It's going to hold my sweaters and perhaps some sewing supplies.

See what's on top of the dresser?


That's from another sale - fifteen brand-new patterns, a few Vintage Vogue but mostly Butterick Retro (I didn't know there was a Butterick Retro!) ... 15 of them for a dollar, and all in my size. I picked them from a big bucket of patterns, and the lady was so happy to sell them to somebody else who enjoyed sewing that she offered me fabric for free! I exercised great self-restraint in saying no. Really, I'm better off without a fabric stash.

This is my latest sewing project. I had made a flowery shoulder bag before, based on these instructions. The bag was lovely, but I don't own anything that really goes with a blue-and-white flowered bag. (Well, except for the skirt that I made from the same fabric). So I thought I'd make something a little more "me".

I had a plan: black denim for the outside (black goes with everything; denim is nice and durable) and I'd patch some of my scraps together to make the lining. I followed the plan until inspiration struck, I stitched a rocketship onto the pocket, and suddenly the bag was really really cool, far cooler than any patchwork scrap lining could ever hope to live up to. So I scrapped the scraps and found some red fabric.

I'm really happy with how the embroidery turned out, but the truth is, you shouldn't be too impressed. While this stuff takes a little bit of patience, it's not hard at all. I traced the image onto the fabric with a dressmaker's pencil, then I stitched over the lines (slowly! patiently!) with a straight stitch on my sewing machine. It's fortunate that the design was small, because I can't do slowly and patiently for more than about two minutes.

I've started a photoset on flickr for clothes and accessories I've made for myself. I'm really enjoying my time at Wardrobe Refashion. Shopping for clothes is no fun, but making them is really cool.

I'm starting to get annoyed with the selection of fabrics in town. JoAnn's is the only fabric store I know of, and most of their stuff is either polyester, or quilting fabric. I did find a good online place to buy cotton: Organic Cotton Plus. Their selection and prices look really good.

Anybody have other suggestions for favorite online fabric stores? I'm especially interested in linen, wool, silk, that sort of thing. Polyester and quilting fabric I can find anywhere :)

If you like making sea creatures, you really should sew this newly discovered hairy lobster, Kiwa hirsuta.

I made this skirt!


It's from Simplicity 4505, which is one of those "wardrobe" patterns that has a skirt, pants, jacket, and (in this case) a dress. Some of them even have matching purses.

JoAnn's was having a sale this weekend, so I picked up some fabric on clearance. Check out this puppy, just $3/yard. It'll become a dress that I can wear someplace fancy:


I'm a sucker for that stuff. It's so pretty. The back is just as good:


More to come.

I, Beth, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months.

I Pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, and recycle pre-loved items for myself for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I shall create and craft items of clothing for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that my thriftyness brings!


The contract begins June 1, but I've already made my first garment. More in the next post (and on the wardrobe refashion blog!).