Welcome 2017! Making resolutions, setting goals, voicing my intentions!

I have spent time this first week of January reviewing and reflecting upon 2016. Initially I was separating out sewing from the rest of my life. I was looking at everything in separate 'buckets'. Sewing, home life, work, health, friends and so on and I was trying to figure out how I could make changes to each of those area. However, I was getting frustrated and was having a hard time working it all out. Well, I put my thoughts aside and just went about my day and then out of nowhere it hit me! While I can make small goals and direct changes in each of these areas they really can't be separated out. All of these things make up my life and are intricately intertwined!

I decided to take a couple days and really reflect on my life as a whole and how each of these areas work together and how changes to each area really affect each other. I know... sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo.

First off- what to actually call this? I'm not hip on the 'New Year's Resolutions' term, sounds so cliche. Yet, isn't that what I am actually doing? What many of us do at this time of the year? So other ways to describe this could be 'setting goals' or 'voicing my intentions'. I'm going with setting goals! I like that the best for some reason. 

Moving on, I was able to pick the most important parts of my life that I want to concentrate on.

• Physical Health
• Mental Health
• Family time
• Friend time
• Sewing andesigning
• Work

Out of these 6 items the only one that I can really pull away and put in a separate bucket is work. Like quite a few of us I work so that I can help support my family and my sewing habit ;) I can't really change my work, I like what I do and that's that. The only way that work really affects the rest of the list is both time and clothing. Since I like to sew my own clothing this influences the items that I design and sew.

The rest of the list, physical and mental health, family and friend time and sewing and designing, are all intertwined. 

For example my goals in Mental Health include:

1. Daily meditation- helps clear my mind and allows me better focus and well being.
2. Daily time to read- these can be fictional novels, biographies, non-fiction, perusing designer books, etc.

Both of these goals affect all areas of my life. Stuck and frustrated with my sewing and design work the benefits of meditation are huge. The reading time also allows me time to read up on designers and get inspiration.

So here are my specific goals in each area.

Physical Health:

1. Maintain my medications and diet and working closely with physicians. everyday
2. Work on strengthening my body with both aerobic and strength exercises. 4 x week.

Mental Health:

1.  Meditation- helps clear my mind and allows me better focus and well being.- daily- minimum of 10 mins
2. Reading time- these can be fictional novels, biographies, nonfiction, perusing designer books, etc- Daily

Family Time:

1. Time spent together with my little family: My husband and I, My daughter, Son-in-law and our granddaughter. Planned family activities Monthly. Plus plenty of non-planned time together. My family is the most important part of my life.

Friend Time:

1. Don't neglect my friends! My pancreas issues have caused me to miss time with my friends this past year. Those activities are the ones that are sacrificed the most when I am not feeling well. My friends have been amazing and supportive and I want to make sure they know that I appreciate them. Ongoing clubs- Sew Chicago ASG Neighborhood group meetings, Book club, Haute Couture Club of Chicago. One on One time :)

Now for the super fun part!

Sewing and Designing: My goals this year are twofold. There are some very specific goals and then some more open goals that are to be reevaluated on an ongoing basis. 7 goals may seem like a lot but in reality it is not. Many of these are just re enforcements of what I have already been doing and some of these cross over into other areas like mental health and time with friends.The hands down hardest one for me to do will be the first one. YIKES!!! I love buying fabric!! 

1. Shop exclusively from my well curated fabric collection! Only purchase fabrics that are needed such as lining materials, interfacing, etc. OR when on a special trip. For example- Sewcial weekend in February includes a trip to Habermans. In this case be VERY selective in purchases.
2. Establish a set of master patterns. Skirts, knit tops, woven tops, jacket, knit and woven pants, knit and woven dresses and outerwear.
3. Do my designing off of my master patterns. Including flat pattern drafting and draping
4. Continue to grow and push myself to become better with both designing and construction via mentorship with Sarah Veblen. Goal is to do 2- Four month mentorship sessions this year.
5. Work on my sketching to help to use this to better solidify my sewing plans. Ongoing process, try for 2-3 good sketching sessions per week.
6. Take inventory of my entire wardrobe to find the 'holes' and fill them. This process takes a couple hours. I have to take all my clothes out, try them on, see what fits, what I still like and then move forward. Try to have this done by end of January.
7. Continue blogging and documenting my journey.  

I plan to 'check in' on myself and how I am doing with my goals every quarter. I don't plan on being judgemental to myself just to see how things are moving along!

Happy Sewing!!

Farewell 2016!

I always love the holidays! Lots of time with family and friends, pretty Christmas lights and decorations, time off from work, a bunch of birthdays, my Son-in-law, my husband, one of my brothers and mine and if lucky, we get the first snowfalls of the year. I enjoy buying and making gifts for my family and friends and I always look forward to see what goodies I will get. :)

My sister, Jennifer and I in front of the
 Art Institute of Chicago.

Myself, My sister, Jennifer, and my daughter, Melissa. 

                                                    

 I won't bore you with all the nitty gritty details of my holidays but, I do want to share with you the sewing related gifts that I received. 

Designer books: (I've linked to amazon on each of the book titles)

Manus x Machina

This book is amazingly cool! I was unable to get to  NYC to see the exhibit so the book was a welcome gift and addition to my library. They did a wonderful job with the photography as well as with some very cool printed illustrated pages. SOme of these illustration are silver printed and some are printed on silver pages. My copy also included a separate booklet of interviews from some of the designers.

Dior Impressions

This is a wistfully wonderful book. Dior does some of the most feminine and beautiful designs. It really shows how some of the works of Dior relate to the impressionist movement. Photos of beautiful artworks from the impressionists era are compared alongside amazing Dior dresses. A great book for both an art and fashion lover! 

Issey Miyake

This is one giant book! This book has over 500 pages and is 12x12. I have always had a fascination with Issey Miyake's creations. The way he has bravely gone to places that other designers don't dare and that he has been successful for so many years really makes him and his work interesting to me. His work is not my personal taste but it is always interesting and sometimes makes me wonder and want to ask why. Maybe someday I'll venture into trying out some of his designs.

I also received several pieces of fabric. Happy dance! 

My sister, Jennifer, braved the fabric store and found me this beautiful length of a taupe mesh with this delicate sequined design. It is light, airy and sublime! I am envisioning a lovely over tunic or dress/skirt layer for this fabric.

My wonderful friend, Wendy of Couture Counsellor gifted me these lovely lengths if fabric that she had printed from spoonflower. They are based off of  The Woman In Gold painting done by Gustav Klimt. The painting is beautiful and the story of it is even more beautiful. I can't wait to see what my imagination comes up with for this pair of fabrics.

Wendy and I at the Field Museum for my Birthday.

I did some sewing for the holidays. Not as much as I wanted but my health issues were still being worked out, lots of rest time and time finding the best mix of medications was needed for me. 

I made my granddaughter, Princess Victoria, a holiday dress to wear for Christmas. This is a BUrda Kids pattern. It was my first time using a Burda pattern and It came out great! She was happy to wear her pretty and comfortable new dress.

I also had grand plans of making PJ's for everyone for Christmas morning... then I though I'll just make the PJ bottoms and buytops... and then it went to just making the PJ bottoms. I almost had them done... so close, I just needed a couple more hours before we were to get in the care and make our 12 hour journey to my mom and dad's place. Buggers! Well, those darn PJ bottom are all done now :) Better late than never. I will just have to photoshop a picture together of all 7 of us in our respective Hudson pants PJ bottoms. I can say that this pattern by True Bias is very well drafted, excellent directions and a modern updated styling.

Princess Victoria was the first to get her new PJ pants, the Mini Hudson Pants.
They are quite adorable and she loves the pockets!!

Each couple has a specific color. My daughter and son-in-law have the grey check knit. My parents have the red check knit and my husband and I have the purple check knit. All of them have black knit for the waistband, ankle cuffs and pocket detail.
I left out the drawstring. I figure for PJ pants it wasn't needed.

I did also manage to squeeze in 3 new Appleton dresses. 2 for me and 1 for my daughter. We all needed some new clothes for the holidays :) More on those at a latter date!

I'd like to say that 2016 was good for me... it was not one of my better years. However, I'm here, I'm kicking and I have the most amazing friends and family. So very much that I am thankful for and appreciative of. Here's to making the best out of 2017!

How sewing soothes my soul and keeps me moving forward!

Today I am celebrating life. I am celebrating the fact that I do not have pancreas cancer!
Unfortunately, even though cancer has been ruled out doesn't mean that I automatically feel better. What a lovely wish that would be. In fact, I feel just as crappy today as I did last week. What I do feel is a huge sense of relief and a huge weight off my shoulders.

My current diagnosis is Autoimmune Pancreatitis (AIP). A benign disease that can be treated. I say current diagnosis because the genetic tests needed to make a definitive diagnosis are extremely cost prohibitive and require a fight with the insurance company to get approved. So while we go through the process and try to cut through the red tape with the insurance company the doctors have decided that AIP is the most likely diagnosis. The treatment for the disease consists of a treatment regiment of high doses of steroids for 12 weeks followed by a course of immunosuppressive drugs. Sounds easy enough... except that I have an intolerance to steroids and experience abnormal joint pain.

I do not have cancer!! So, if 3 months of joint pain and assorted other crazy side effects is the path I have to travel then so be it! I have my family, my loved ones and my friends to stand by my side and help me down the path to health. They are the most integral part of my life!

I also have other things in my life.

I have meditation.
I have the beautiful outdoors and fresh air.
I have my dog
I have my sewing studio.

Yes, my sewing studio is a key part of my mental and physical health.
I can think of no better way to help myself get through trying times then to have some projects to work on. They will need to be 'easier' projects and projects that utilize my master patterns because success will be key to keeping my spirits up.
When I am in my sewing studio I feel like I have the ability to get into the zone. My creative energies flow and time seems to move smoothly by. Being in this zone has been quite helpful already in getting me through this illness. Even just pulling fabrics from my collection and sketching designs to create with them is a great way for me distract my mind from my body.

The process is the key. Having developed a process in my designing and sewing has already taken my skills through the roof and now I am using those same processes to keep myself moving forward in a an entirely different way.

• Sketching designs
• choosing fashion fabric
• flat pattern work
• making a muslin
• finalizing all fabric choices
• preparing fabric for construction
• garment construction 
• Final hand finishing

All of these steps are part of my creative process that allow me to get into the flow and enjoy life no matter how I am physically feeling!

On days that I am really feeling physically weak I retreat to my comfy chair with design and sewing books, my iPad and online classes, sewing and design blogs and of course, online fabric shopping! Plus there is always online fabric shopping to make me feel better ;-)

Does sewing mean more to your life than just producing a garment?

Goodbye to summer wrap-up!

Oh boy, oh boy! I'm a little sad that summer is officially over this evening. My biggest reason is that I will miss all the lovely sunshine. I think as I get older I crave the sunlight even more and the darker days of winter can make me feel melancholy and a little blah. Maybe time to start taking some extra vitamin D and invest in some sun lights for my sewing room :)

I have realized that between my crazy work schedule and my most adorable granddaughter, Princess V, that I have been a bad blogger. Haven't even found the time to squeeze out my monthly wrap-ups!

So here goes my wrap up for July and August.

In no particular order, mostly because I just don't remember!! Hehe

1.Striped Wrap Knit dress.

Fabric is a blue and white striped ponte, nice mid-weight made using my TNT wrap dress pattern, Simplicity 1653. This dress has been great for work travel!

2. Striped knit sleeveless top.

Same fabric as above I had just enough fabric to make this top. McCall's 6752 view C. In retrospect I should have used a thinner/drapier knit. I had to change the gathers at the waistline to pleats because the gathers were to much with this thicker knit. I worked out in the end but next time I will use a light jersey or an ITY knit.

3. Green/brown poly 'silky' dress

This was a 'silky' from JoAnn's clearance. Vogue Tracy Reese 1343. I have worn this dress 3 times over the summer. Twice accesorized for work and once dressed up for a wedding. Very versatile! I plan to make another version with just some small changes.

4. Silver/black dressy Capri pants

This was from a Fabricmart buy. They described it as a black stretch denim. It is a bit more silver but that makes it lovely. Silhouettes 3300 Lana's Jeans made without the back pockets and belt loops and shortened to a mid calf length. These have gotten lots of use this summer!

5. Red denim jeans

This fabric is from Linda Z's store in Arlington Heights, IL. They have a very nice selection of high quality garment fabrics. This is my TNT jeans pattern Silhouettes 3300 Lana's Jeans. Oh, I really like these jeans! I had the first opportunity to wear theses in San Francisco when I was there last week. 

6. Red/Blue/white high collar shirt

This fabric is a cotton/silk voile from Fabricmart. Lovely to work with! Vogue 1385 Today's Fit by Sandra Betzina. This was FUN to make and FUN to wear. 

Those are my July and August summer makes! Pretty good for having a crazy summer schedule, I think it made for a good balance of sewing and family time while I was not off traveling for work.

So what did I do for fun this summer?

1. A brand new grand baby to snuggle, cuddle and adore!

2. A long weekend visit with my sister :)

3. The Charles James exhibit at the Met in NYC, so inspiring!

4. My hubby and I's 20th wedding anniversary party. Oh what a party!

5. A week with my parents, daughter and granddaughter in Delaware :)

6. Lots of time spent with my little family and my friends, makes me whole and happy.