Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

Before...

In March I decided to cut my hair off. I hadhad short hair before and I felt like it was time to do it again. My hair is quite thick and it was getting really long and heavy and it was a huge pain to blow dry. So I went to Aveda and CHOP! All gone. Sigh.

After.

At first I was going to go for a bob, but when I was there I just decided to bite the bullet. I loved it...at first. Now I am having some serious regret issues! I have been having dreams that it has grown back and I wake up happy, until I realize that I still have this wonky short hair! True, it can be pretty cute, but I just feel like I shouldn't have been so drastic.

Apparently I just cant help myself. Today I decided that what I need is a different color! That would pull me out of my short hair doldrums! So I purchased a box at Rite Aid (John Frieda Cool Espresso Brown) and some color conserve shampoo and conditioner. I think I like how it turned out, although it is a little ombre becuase the ends were more porous. I am thinking/hoping that it will fade to all the same color.

I still want to grow it out though. Any suggestions ? I have been Google-ing short vintage hair styles for inspiration but there really aren't many. Maybe some in the fifties and sixties, but the forties are void of short hair.

I suppose the question is why am I obsessing over this?
 Answer. Procrastination.

Procrastination and TGBSB!

This is the second to last week of class and I several very large projects that I just cant seem to get started on. There several culprits for my distraction, but The Great British Sewing Bee has certainly played a part.

First TGBSB. I know that the blog-o-sphere has been buzzing about this amazing show and I took my sweet time to finally watch it. Let me just say I adore it! The contestants are so genuine and seem really happy to be doing what they love...sewing! It is hard not to compare this show to project runway, of which I have watched a grand total of 1.5 seasons. I gotta say, I definitely prefer TGBSB. I know they are currently casting for the next season in Britain and I am excited to watch it when it comes out. Of course I wish there was an American version (just like all the other sewists out there) but I cant help wonder if it would do so well in the USA? I know that our wonderful sewing communities are just as nice and happy as the British ones, but would American TV be satisfied with that? Or is our reality TV blood lust just to strong. I would love to participate in this, but would I have the hutzpah to be on display in all my wacky glory? What about you out there in the internets? How many of you would want to be on this show if it had an American sister? Do you think it would be just as sweet or an abomination to the original?

 

Summer sewing bug

Why is it that when warm weather comes around I always get the itch to stitch? Does this happen to anybody else? 

This past spring I have been nose to the books because I went back to school. Despite taking only three classes I have been working pretty hard! It's all about getting back into the groove I guess. But now as the semester starts drawing to a close I am finding it harder and harder to stay away from my beautiful Bernina! 

My machines got a little attention though because I got the chance to participate in a fashion show at Queens College. It was a great experience although a little haphazard on my part.  I had no idea what I was going to do until I was actually doing it...but I think it tuned out pretty great. (For some reason this is the only photo I took! Isn't the model fabulously gorgeous?!)

Basically I took 2 yards of black tubular rib knit and cut it into a super long continuous 1 1/2" wide strip. I am talking super long- probably 100yards. Then I started at the "bottom" and serged in a circle (probably 3 yards around). As I sewed up the body of the dress I tightened or loosened the tension (with my hand not in the machine) to shape the skirt and bodice. This was similar to making a clothes line basket   After the dress body was finished I dunked it in some bleach to create that awesome fiery look. (Very Hunger Games , though that wasn't my intent). I might do a little how-to if I get to it. :)

Now I am turning to more projects for me. I made a dirndl skirt and most of a blouse. I am having a little putting the collar on it though so now it is waiting for a little more time and brain power. 

Do you have a list if must-makes for summer? Mine seems to grow larger daily! 

Rumination on Sewing and Poetry

Hello out there internet world!

I have started school, and it is pretty fabulous.  I am once again a student.  Sitting in those little desks again is great, but a little disconcerting. It takes me back to my early 20's, going to school in Minnesota, studying theatre, and life. Being in class makes me feel like I am 20 again but I am such a different person. It is also a little odd to be older than some of your professors. One of them is 24!!

I am taking a creative writing class, a literary theory class and an intro to poetry class, and so I have been reading a lot more and sewing a lot less. I have a blouse half finished waiting on my ironing board. Maybe I will get to it after I finish the paper that is due on Monday. Or maybe I will get to it after I finish the poem that is due Tuesday...

For my creative writing class, the first assignment was to write an ode poem. An ode is a poem in praise of something. Well what do I love? My Bernina 1008. She is such a beauty. I received her as a gift from my grandparents when I graduated High School and she has traveled from Arizona, to Minnesota, through all the states on the east coast, and now finally she is here in Astoria with me. I love her. I even got her a brother, another Bernina 1008, purchase on eBay for $350 (a steal).  But the funny thing was that when I started to write the ode to my sewing machine, I suddenly became very self conscious of my hobby/passion being very old fashioned and un-femisist-y. I know that there are so many of us who love sewing, who love spending time in our own little spaces, making beautiful things for ourselves or others. And I also know that is is not just the utilitarian aspect of sewing that we love, it is also the problem solving, the struggle to create something 3 dimensional out of something 2 dimensional.  My brain feels good when I have to figure out how to make a pattern work, or when I draft a pattern myself, or calculate the circumference of a circle or do fraction math to figure out seam allowances.
What is un-feminist-y about that?

Well, the ode didn't get very far. I am still going to try to hash it out and I will let you know my progress, if there ever is any. But in the mean time, I found this little poem about sewing.  Not super positive about sewing but lyrically it is beautiful.

The Lady With The Sewing-Machine by Dame Edith Sitwell

Across the fields as green as spinach,

Cropped as close as Time to Greenwich,

Stands a high house; if at all,

Spring comes like a Paisley Shawl-

Patternings meticulous 

And youthfully ridiculous.

In each room the yellow sun 

Shakes like a canary, run

On run, roulade, and watery trill -

Yellow, meaningless, and shrill.

Face as white as any clock's,

Cased in parsley-dark curled locks -

All day long you sit and sew,

Stitch life down for fear it grow,

Stitch life down for fear we guess

At the hidden ugliness.

Dusty voice that throbs with heat,

Hoping with your steel-thin beat

To put stitches in my mind,

Make it tidy, make it kind,

You shall not: I'll keep it free

Though you turn earth, sky and sea

To a patchwork quilt to keep

Your mind snug and warm in sleep!

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