Crepe Sew-Along, Conclusion

It's finished! I had intended on providing a more play by play summary of the process, but these past two weeks have been busy. Namely, just trying to get this dress done by the wedding it was intended for. And violin practice. Now that the wedding was held yesterday, (and a beautiful one it was, at that!), neither are requiring nearly as much attention, and I feel ready to return to the world of blogging.

The color on this picture is probably the most accurate.

So, a few notes about the sewing.  Though I was working with a deadline, I tried to take my cues from Tilly's Sewing Productivity Project and all the insights I gained from the experience and all of the wonderful feedback others were able to provide.  Namely: enjoy the process, and don't rush it.

The crepe I used was quite shear, so I used a pale pale blue satin as my underlining. Well, not quite satin (not that shiny), but very silky polyester lining material. Whatever term you'd use for that kinda fabric. That's what I used. And I really enjoyed working with both fabrics; they cut easily and smoothly, they didn't move around a great deal, and they got along very well. Because of the time crunch, I followed Gertie's recommendation for basting liquid (I got the spray). It simplified the process a great deal, but didn't last long through the actual sewing process.

The contrast fabric had presented a bit of a problem, because I didn't buy enough to go with the grainline as the pattern specified. I had a little less than required even when I used it against the grainline. So, I used some interfacing to stabilize the fabric and topstitched the edges to prevent the non-faced portion of the tie from stretching out too much. I have some lovely lace that I plan to hand-stitch to the ends to add softer edges.

You can see the insert of fabric above the wrap.

As I stated in an earlier post, I did make a bit of a mistake cutting out the pattern--the back was about an inch shorter than the front. On looking at how it wore, I just added a strip of the underlining fabric to the back bodice pieces. I didn't add the crepe to it, because I thought it'd be nice to take note of the fabric without pointing the addition out as an error. I did have to dart that portion too, in order to match the skirt. It's pretty subtle, so I think it all worked out.

The facing, though understitched, still likes to flip out (you can see one of my sleeves is upturned in all of these pictures). I am planning on doing some embroidery stitches along the sleeves and neckline to help keep it under control.

What I'd do differently? Measure the pieces better before cutting. Buy enough contrast fabric. Drop the front darts a little more, but not by much. Understitch a little further away from the seam. Sew closer to the time of cutting if I use spray baste again.

What did I learn? This was my first time sewing with a border print, and I feel like it turned out well. I altered the pattern for the sleeves to have a contrast print, and it behaved itself nicely. I did french seams for the first time. I followed the advice given to Vintage Girl about adding an inch to the side seams in case I have to let it out in the future. Finally, I will be finishing the waist seam with binding tape sometime this week.

What am I happy with? The dress is comfortable. The fabric is excellent. I learned lots of new things. I didn't let this project become too stressful, even when staying up until 3am a night or two. I didn't rush the process, even when working with a deadline (well, except for spray-basting). I was ready to walk away from it if I had to. And most importantly, this dress is great for dancing! 

This won't be my last Crepe, as I already have plans for the second one (in the black print I did the muslin in). I am contemplating some interesting additions for it, though, so it likely won't be done for a bit. I like this growing in competence and confidence business. 

Upcoming Changes

So, though I'd like to credit Tilly's Sewing Productivity Project for opening my eyes on all the time/energy I spend wasted on unproductive things, I've been rethinking my work schedule for some time now. Since Buddy has gotten a new job that can cover most of our expenses (we were living mainly on my income for the past two years, and that's not much), I've been daydreaming about going part time.

With recent hikes in gas prices and some significant changes in my personal life, I've once again had to return to the question of part time work. I was just not doing the job I needed to do at my current placement. So, I asked for less hours. They said they couldn't afford to give that to me, but noted that another branch of the company was looking to hire a part time position. And that this branch is closer to where I live. Hunh.

No brainer, right? Sort of. I really love my job. And I love my coworkers. And I love my clients. This change was just not something to be taken lightly, no matter how many hours I wanted to cut.

But, in doing the Sewing Productivity Project, a few things came to light that I needed to face. I am often stressed. I am often grumpy. I drive too much. And I don't have enough of a social life. Well, not social when I'm doing my hobbies. And I want to make my hobbies more social. It's been hard to feel completely gratified with my sewing because I've also been feeling burnt out from work and lonely when I come home and don't have time to do both social and sewing related things.

So, I've decided to take this part-time position, and open myself to some free-floating possibility. Granted, I will be transitioning between offices for the next few months, until they hire a suitable replacement. But I am moving on, and I'm hoping to move on to more productive, but *simpler* things. Curb that planning beast inside my head and just slow down.

Here's to the savoring.

Sewing Productivity Project, Days 7 and 8: Conclusion

I'll quickly summarize my sewing for the past two days: I didn't do any. I had my long drives to and from Pittsburgh and spent much of the visit enjoying wonderful food and hospitality or practicing violin. (The violin part was the entire point of the visit.) I had church and family in there too. So, no sewing, even though I did pack some cutting stuff I could do if I had the time. (I didn't.)

So, instead of answering Tilly's questions for these past two days, I figure I'll just jump into the overall analysis for the week.

- How many hours per day/week do you sew? So grand total of sewing hours for the week was 4.58 hours. That's approximately 34 minutes a day for eight days. Only it was only for three days that I actually did any sewing related stuff.

- What are you spending/wasting the rest of your free time on? Well, my friends, here's my visual breakdown of all of it:

Okay, so I cheated. That includes work. So here's the "free time" chart:

So basically, I'm either driving, or I'm with family. I'm glad to see that the computer hasn't taken over my entire life, though I sometimes feel it does. The driving part is a tad skewed, what with a weekend road trip, but I do not think it falls to far from the general mark. I usually drive a few places an hour away from home every weekend, and I worked one less day last week. So driving is pretty big for me no matter what. It should be changing a little bit soon, I hope (more on that later).

The sad part here, is that the sewing slice is the smallest, and isn't even big enough to contain the percentage (4.58%). I hope to change that soon too, as the driving part is cut down. Get some better balance in there. 

- When you do sew, how do you feel before, during and afterwards? I have found myself feeling frantic for many of my projects, whether sewing or violin or family events. It may just be the nature of this beast. But what I have found is that when I am sewing, part of me is feeling consternated and confused while the other part of me is feeling a bit of flow. I'm trying to find a way to pace myself to get more of the flow and less of the angst. I just have so much to learn, and I have less patience with myself than I'd like to admit. Afterwards, I always feel good that I did work and that I got through whatever problems that I had faced (usually with fitting or pattern alterations).

- What are you learning about sewing productivity from this process, if anything? What tips can you share?

I have learned that sewing, though awesome, is a symptom of a greater issue I must face. I want to be an overachiever. I say want to be, because I don't always pull off any accomplishments because I'm trying to do too many of them at a time. I love the concept of creating and I love to nurture possibility, but it sometimes means I burn myself out early and get all whiny. 

If I were to focus mainly on sewing productivity I've learned that I should not make this an obligation for myself. I should not rush through things, but let projects develop as they should: thoughtfully and pleasurably.  It helps to have a range of projects available, to suit the mood I'm in. I can't get fitting done when I'm tired, but I can get cutting done. Or a simple mending/revamp of a sweater. Some projects can be done while doing other things, like watching shows with my Buddy. 

- What factors are you aware of that impact upon when you make time to sew?

Other events, mainly. These other goals that I've set for myself, feel compelled to pursue, even when it's not practical. I am glad that I participated in this project for more than just my sewing. This has been a hard year, but it's no less hectic than usual. I am more stressed though. And understanding some of the motivations behind my goal-heavy scheduling has been helpful. I am preparing to address my goals differently in a very short amount of time. I'll update folks more as I get a clearer sense of things, but I am hoping to really slow down on all of my projects and assess the drive behind them. And start enjoying the processes for all of them even more.

Oh the times, they are a-changin'. And I'm going to bed.

Thanks Tilly for the great learning opportunity! (Click on the button on the sidebar to see her posts and the links to other participant's conclusions.)

Sewing Productivity Project, Day 6

Day 6! The week goes by so quickly!

- How many hours per day/week do you sew? I think I spent 2 hours or so sewing. It may have been more, but today I didn't focus on my time.

- What are you spending/wasting the rest of your free time on? meditation, prayer, church, qt with the hubby

- When you do sew, how do you feel before, during and afterwards? I started the day with the intent to only sew if that's how I felt and to do so without feeling like I had to achieve any goal. I found that it made the process more appropriate, less manic.  When I get in the "must. sew. something." mode, sometimes I am actually less helpful to myself and less productive. I'm happy with the end results, as I made some good progress on fitting my Crepe.

- What factors are you aware of that impact upon when you make time to sew? My tendency to feel like I should be doing 10 things at once, even when I don't. I do much better when I slow down. And when I remember that sewing can wait without me having to feel guilty about it.

- What are you learning about sewing productivity from this process, if anything? What tips can you share? Don't make the sewing experience an obligation. Doing so can take the fun out of it and stress you out more. Take your time to accomplish things. It works out better.

Day 6: My schedule is harder to quantify today, as I made a point not to pay attention to time so much. I had other things I felt were more important to think about. I did refrain from most computer time, though I did use the computer to respond to some folks about upcoming events and to look up tutorials on my fitting adjustments. (A post on that is forthcoming.)

I'll break this down as well as I can, but I won't do full on percentages, as I don't know how much time I spent on things.

Wake up, shower, go back to bed.

Hang out with husband, watch stuff about the solar system (it's amazing stuff, our universe).

Meditation

Prayer

More solar system, along with a small lunch with my Buddy

Church

Sewing: first attempt at third muslin, ending in an unusable piece.

Small dinner

Sewing: perusing multiple tutorials to determine what technique I wanted to use and to figure out how to do it. Success!

Meditation

Part of a bad movie, then bed

I think overall, my sewing part took about 2-3 hours. Maybe. 

I'll post on my results later this week, I think. :)

In the meantime, I have to get ready for a roadtrip to Pittsburgh. I'm still trying to decide whether to pack my sewing machine... Silly me.

Sewing Productivity Project, Day 5

Day 5... two more to go!

- How many hours per day/week do you sew? none today. couldn't fit it in.

- What are you spending/wasting the rest of your free time on? work, computer, yoga, social time

- When you do sew, how do you feel before, during and afterwards? I actually am feeling very good about possibly getting some sewing work done. But it's past midnight. I need sleep. :( We'll have to see what tomorrow brings, I suppose.

- What factors are you aware of that impact upon when you make time to sew? Social time; spending time with friends and family still trumps sewing. Sorry.

- What are you learning about sewing productivity from this process, if anything? What tips can you share? Again, I go back to the idea that it's probably best if I get straight to sewing once I get home. I may need to start making a list of things I need to get done so I do them in a more organized fashion. But I'm already a list-crazy kinda gal, so maybe I just need to get things done as I get them done and stop thinking that things have to follow a certain schedule. Deadlines, schmeadlines.

Day 5: Work (including commute) 8:15-6:30 (10.25 hours)... 63.1%

            Computer 6:30-7:30(1 hour)... 6.2%

            Yoga 7:30-9:15 (1.75 hours)... 10.8%

            Dinner with sister after yoga 9:15-11 (1.75 hour)... 10.8%

            TV time with hubby 11-11:30 (.5 hour)... 3.1%

            Computer 11:30-12:30 (1 hour)... 6.2%

I'm actually going to try and refrain from computer time tomorrow. I love Good Friday, and like to give it its due. I'll try and post Saturday, but will be making a trip to Pittsburgh that day and may not have great sewing access. Should I pack my sewing machine?

Sewing Productivity Project, Day 4

Here I am at Day 4... I'm sure you're riveted by my exciting life.

- How many hours per day/week do you sew? none today. just not feeling it.

- What are you spending/wasting the rest of your free time on? work, computer, dinner

- When you do sew, how do you feel before, during and afterwards? Ended the day in a funk, in part because I left my phone at work, I think. Though I have been in a funk relatively regularly these days, so maybe it's just me. Didn't really want to think about sewing today. So I'm just blogging about it.

- What factors are you aware of that impact upon when you make time to sew? mood

- What are you learning about sewing productivity from this process, if anything? What tips can you share? Make sewing seem accessible even when you're preoccupied. Perhaps have some easy tasks to complete without significant calculations (I'm fitting my second muslin, and can't figure out what to change to actually get it to fit. I wasn't up for actually tackling it tonight when I was already in a mood.)

Day 4: Work (including commute) 8:30-6:30 (10 hours)... 71.4%

            Computer 6:30-7:45(1.25 hours)... 8.9%

            Dinner alone, reading a book, and waiting outside for my phone (thanks Lisa!) 

                               7:45-9:15 (1.5 hours)... 10.7%

            Prep for bed/shower/etc 9:15-10 (.75 hour)... 5.4%

            Computer 10-10:30 (.5 hour)... 3.6%

However, I don't want you to feel completely deprived of sewing stuff:

Here's a pic of what work I did last night. I used a thinner. more slippery fabric to start getting a sense of what it will be like to work with the fabrics I have in mind for the Crepe dress:

You can't see it very well, but there are huge tucks taken out in the front, essentially increasing the dart breadth. But the pinheads look like part of the print.I may just try taking out about a half inch to an inch out of the bodice, vertically. I just don't need all that much fabric to cover me.

Sewing Productivity Project, Day 3

On to Day 3's responses:

- How many hours per day/week do you sew? About an hour, I think, give or take

- What are you spending/wasting the rest of your free time on? work, driving, dinner, violin

- When you do sew, how do you feel before, during and afterwards? I decided to do my sewing work when I got home. It felt really exciting to have that plan in place, but I got home and just felt completely unfocused. I was hungry, the kitchen was a wreck, and I couldn't decide where to start: dinner, or sewing. It ended up that I wandered between both areas getting small bits done here and there. I've redone the pattern, so I feel pretty good about that. Now it's deciding if I want to do more muslin work or just hope it's all good and jump into the dress.

- What factors are you aware of that impact upon when you make time to sew? Figuring out how to prioritize food, violin, and sewing.

- What are you learning about sewing productivity from this process, if anything? What tips can you share? It's better to go straight to the sewing when I get home. It's good to have food options planned and available as soon as you're home, so meal prep doesn't get in the way. Earlier nights home help a lot. The computer sucks your time away like a butterfly sucks nectar.

Here's the review of yesterday's time allotment:

Day 2: Work (including commute) 8:30-8:00 (11.5 hours)... 77.7%

            Evening out with Hubby 8:10-10:30 (2.3 hours)... 15.5%

            Computer 10:30-11:30 (1 hour)... 6.8%

Day 3: Work (including commute) 7:30-7:30 (12 hours)... 77.4%

            Pattern alterations 7:30-7:45 (.25 hour)... 1.6%

            Dinner Prep 7:45-8:45 (1 hours)... 6.5%

            Pattern alterations 8:45-9:10 (.42 hour)... 2.7%

            Violin 9:10-9:30 (.33 hour)... 2.1%

            Computer 9:30-10:30 (1 hour)... 6.5%

            (presumed) Pattern alterations/cutting 10:30-11:00 (.5 hour)... 3.2%

            Sewing total: 7.5%

Sewing Productivity Project, Day 2

On to Day 2's responses:

1. Keep track of your sewing productivity for one or two weeks. We'll keep the timeframe flexible so anyone can join in whenever it's best for them. Things you might want to note in your sewing diary:
- How many hours per day/week do you sew? None so far, probably none by the time I get to bed. I'm tired, and it's already 11.
- What are you spending/wasting the rest of your free time on? work, and a date with my husband. I haven't even fed myself my dinner yet.
- When you do sew, how do you feel before, during and afterwards? I've been thinking about sewing about 50% of my day today. As opposed to the usual 75%. But no during or afterwards to assess.
- What factors are you aware of that impact upon when you make time to sew? Long commute, late night at work, desire to actually have a fun night out with my bud.
- What are you learning about sewing productivity from this process, if anything? What tips can you share? Clarify one's priorities to determine one's plans. I could have stayed home and worked on a Sew Weekly challenge I have in mind, or I could have actually gone out and laughed a ton with my husband. Though I would have enjoyed both, I feel I chose the more important option.

Also, in light of the fact that this is veering towards the "softer" social science approach, all qualitative and stuff (which, I love, btw), I thought I'd even this out with a little bit of a percentile breakdown of the day. See where the attention's being given.

Day 1: Family (including prep of meals and commute to event): 8:30 to 7:30 (11 hours)... 77.2%

             Computer:8:30-9, 9:30-10:30 (1.5 hours, at least half of which is sewing related)...3.6%

             Violin 9-9:30 (.5 hour)...3.5%

              Sewing 10:30-10:45 (.25 hour)...1.8%

It should be noted that these percentiles don't actually add up to 100%. What kind of quantitative study is this?!?!?

Day 2: Work (including commute) 8:30-8:00 (11.5 hours)...

             Evening out with Hubby 8:10-10:30 (2.3 hours)...

              Computer 10:30-present (all about sewing, just not doing any)...

Percentiles for today will be calculated tomorrow, when I actually can tally my full day. I haven't even gone to bed yet, you know?

Sewing Productivity Project, Day 1

For those of you who know me, you know I'm chronically saying I'm too busy. I realize that everyone is busy and that everyone lives with sardine-packed schedules. But so do I, and I can't really decide if it's my thing or not. I do it like I'm an addict: no apparent benefit, but I just can't say no.

So. I am going to further confound this trait of mine by trying to track it in the name of getting it under control. A least, in terms of sewing. In other words, I am going to add some extra legwork in my life and track my sewing habits in order to cut back on the extra legwork in my life so I can sew more. Make sense?

Let's see if I can make this simpler: I'm participating in Tilly and the Button's Sewing Productivity Project.

For those of you rolling your eyes, don't worry. I'll just do the minimal amount of work here: daily review of Tilly's questions. I'll do my best not to get long-winded or to complicate matters. And it's only for a week. I promise. (Wow. I sound like I'm  a planaholic. Or a workaholic. Or a distractaholic.)

As I'm more reliably on the computer than most other things, I will just keep my diary on a daily basis here. Maybe I'll gain some insight into the depths of my addiction.

Today is Day 1:

- How many hours per day/week do you sew?

Today, I do not think I'll be sewing at all, but I hope to mark up my Crepe muslin to transfer changes to my next muslin version. I've been putting it off all week.

- What are you spending/wasting the rest of your free time on?

I was up early-ish this morning to cook up lots of food for a family gathering. I'll post more on it later, as I experimented a bit on a recipe to make it more me-friendly. Then I was at the family gathering all day, came home, put away leftovers, practiced violin, played on the computer (er, this is actually still that part).

- When you do sew, how do you feel before, during and afterwards?

I've been feeling frazzled, spacey, tired, and a little hormonal today. Which makes sewing feel both like just one more thing I need to do, and the one thing I want to do. The feeling like sewing is something I need to get done is most pressing right now, since I haven't done anything. Marking the muslin should feel pretty soothing. I just have to go do it.

- What factors are you aware of that impact upon when you make time to sew? Work, friends, family. The big one right now is that there's an upcoming wedding for which I'm to help play music. I need to practice for that. This time of year with the family is also quite busy--birthdays galore! Mother's Day! Another big thing is that I'm trying to rethink my job situation, as I'd like less hours, and less time spent commuting. I have been feeling like it's harder for me to keep up with work. And like there's never enough time for me to sew. (It's more complicated than that, but I'm not going to get into it.)

- What are you learning about sewing productivity from this process, if anything? What tips can you share?

Nothing quite yet. This is basically me telling you what I already know: there's a lot of stuff going on. I'm just trying to hold on.