Me-Made-May ’13–Week 2

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Right-O. So it’s almost the end of week three, but in my defense, there have been a LOT of bridesmaids and suit-wearers needing my attention to get them ready for events these last few weeks. Wedding season waits for nobody!  But, I’ve taken today off and here are my Me-Mades for the second week of May:

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I made these two dresses from the same 1980s “easy” pattern, with some fussing to adjust for length and full bust. The original pattern called for some jersey material, but when has that ever stopped me? The blue dress is made from a vintage bedsheet. I added bust darts as well as pockets (that’s why my hand looks like it’s gone). I think I wore these dresses every week last summer.

Black dress with stripey tote after Taco Thursday with my friend. Yay Happy Hour!

Black dress with stripey tote after Taco Thursday Happy Hour. 

The black dress is from the same pattern, but has no darts and no pockets. The fabric is some soft, drapey rayon blend from Joann Fabrics with a self-belt. Also worn, Me-Made denim stripe tote bag that I use every single day. In fact, I made this bag a year ago and it is holding up very well. Patternless and customized with an interior phone pocket made from recycled upholstery samples and vintage rick-rack trim. Also it has a loop for my keys to hook onto, lest I spend all my time digging in the bottomless pit of my tote. The exterior pocket has a reclaimed zipper from an ugly wool jumper that I repurposed for a fashion client.

Five Things

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Five things I am enjoying

1. Apricot Fusion jam. 2. The cats are mirroring each other on the floor. 3. Mint tea. 4. Reading The Golem and the Jinni. 5. Nearly silence.

Five things I would like to do soon

1. Ride my vintage Raleigh to work without road fear. 2. Go to the lake. 3. Bake an any-fruits tart. 4. Sleep through the night without waking. 5. Find something amazing.

Is this Cleveland?: backyard update

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Breaking news: actual springtime, complete with flowers, sunshine, and pleasant temperatures has happened for a full week here in Clevelandia. I have been forced to be indoors working most of the time, but i did take advantage of my sister’s new HAMMOCK!!!! What is more blissful than spending Sunday afternoon in the hammock, wearing ratty jean shorts and reading a book. Nothing, I tell you! The lilacs are finally in bloom and smell heavenly. Things are growing in our dirtpatch of a yard!

Craigslist for the win. My sister's hammock is my hammock. We share a yard.

Craigslist for the win. My sister’s hammock is my hammock. We share a yard.

P1000736

P1000737

Me-Made-May ’13–Week 1

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It’s finally here, and it came up so quickly! I feel unprepared for this challenge; but isn’t that why it’s a challenge? Yes.

For MMM’13  I pledged to wear self-made wardrobe items at least two days per week for the duration of May. This was a short week and I didn’t have much time to dig through my closet. Therefore, we have here two versions of the same blouse that I made late last summer during a very short lull in my work. I can’t say these are the crowning achievement of my sewing life, but they came out pretty well and did not take all that long to make. Having dropped some weight, these comfy blouses are a bit roomier than originally intended. I can’t remember the pattern number, but I think it’s a Simplicity. Some liberties were taken with the printed pattern due to the fact that I did not have quite enough fabric to cut out as instructed. I’m pretty bad at following directions!

Bias-cut tee made of lighweight knit fabric from the random redline rack at Joann Fabrics.

Bias-cut tee made of lighweight knit fabric from the random redline rack at Joann Fabrics.

Bias tee #2 made from unidentified seersucker-like remnant from Zinck's Fabrics in Berlin Twp.

Bias tee #2 made from unidentified seersucker-like remnant from Zinck’s Fabrics in Berlin Twp.

My original pledge as follows: I, Margaret, of Senjiva Studio, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’13. I endeavour to wear.a self-made garment at least twice a week, as well as to sew two new garments for the duration of May 2013′

Spring Sprang Sprung…and some rain

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The Shakespeare adventure is over and I am back to sewing tutus and hemming pants. Flowers have finally started blooming around here and I am more than pleased that the hyacinths in the yard are giving off a sweet smell. Because there is never a dull moment (ok, who am I kidding, there are a lot of dull moments after-hours, in pajamas, on the couch with cats) I am now looking forward to some fun things coming up quite quickly here in Clevelandia.

This year’s fantastic poster!

The Fantastic Tweed Ride is next Saturday the 27th!!! Mr. Pants and I will be participating for the first time and are very excited. I am working on our costumes outfits, and we recently had our poor winter-weary bicycles fixed up by the awesomely talented guys over at Joy Machines Bike Shop in Ohio City. Alex, Renato and Will repaired the damage caused by storing bikes outdoors and didn’t judge us for being very casual riders. Incidentally, they are my direct neighbors at the studio. But I’m not biased. Oh nooooo.

The other thing I am looking forward to and beginning to plan is my participation in Me -Made -May 2013, led by the charming and talented seamstress/blogger Zoe over at So Zo…  I have participated in Me -Made challenges in the past and blogged about them here.   Me- Made challenges are where a whole group of (mostly) ladies who sew pledge to wear  self-made garments throughout the month, and document it on their blogs. This year’s challenge also fulfills one of my New Year’s sewing goals.

And then there is the rain. It is raining today. Oh well. What are YOU looking forward to this Spring?

 

 

Studio Break Announcement

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image from 3.bp.blogspot.com

Dear clients and prospective clients of Senjiva Studio,

It is the time again when a body gravitates toward the theatre and lives in the dark, running up and down stairs with safety pins in her mouth and costumes on her arm.
The Studio will be taking a little break from alterations,March 23 through mid-April due to theatrical commitments, and to develop some other projects. Rest assured, I will be happy to see you and your wardrobe when I come back. The Etsy division and blogging remain active.

Thank you for your patience.

xo Margaret

Odes to the Kingdom of Clevelandia

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Or, rather, it could be alternately titled, “Odes to and against…” Cleveland is often the butt of jokes as is known too well, but surrounding the Cuyahoga River Fire debacle of the late 1960s, a handful of bands deemed us worthy of their vocalizations, and songs have trickled forward ever since. Here I share with you several of my picks for best songs about /mentioning Cleveland, Ohio.

First up, Cactus, a Long Island “supergroup” declared the “American Led Zeppelin” by Creem Magazine back in the 70s. While short on words, its smooth bluesy sound qualifies”Mean Night in Cleveland City”  as a great makeout song. (I mean, after you play side one of Led Zeppelin IV.)

If you saw The Band as young men of the 1970s transported to 2012, walking down the street today, you’d likely not give a second look…because the guys today look just like them! Beards, corduroy coats, and vests.  “Look out Cleveland” is again fairly simplistic lyrically, but pretty enjoyable, as is most of the music by The Band. Especially on vinyl, for me anyway, childhood, etc.etc. Just listen to the song, ok!

The Band ca. 1967, when they were The Hawks. image from http://www.robbie-robertson.com

Oh, poor Granicus, according to my friend Beth (aka Cuyahoga Jones with the trespassing tickets to prove it) of the super secret history of Clevelandia, they never made it out of Cleveland. But, the legacy remains and you shall listen. Also bonus points for arty cemetery rock band photo. They mention having gone to California and hating coming back to Cleveland. I had the opposite experience. I’ve spent time in Cali and I’m just fine with living in Cleveland. The California part of my life is over. But, I guess Clevo life in the 70s was pretty stinky.

Obviously, this is a gimme and everyone knows it thanks to the Drew Carey Show. Cleveland Rocks by Ian Hunter marks an upswing in the appreciation of our fair city. (and an upswing in permanent wave technology, ugh.) This video is from the famous Agora Ballroom on Euclid Avenue in 1979. Euclid Ave. has certainly changed, but the Agora remains.

Lastly (still with me?), a recent positive appreciation of Cleveland (2011), including mentions of a lot of my favorite spots, and my shop neighbors, Joy Machines bike shop! I Love Cleveland by Seth Hrbek, and Krissie Wells of Krissie Means Business. She knows what is UP.

This song pretty much sums up what is awesome about neighborhood life here, but locals, what are YOUR favorite things about Cleveland, Ohio?

 

 

 

Fitting a Polka-Shaped Body into Polkadot Pants

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Spoiler alert: it does not end well.

I got it in my head that I really want a pair of cute navy jeans with little white polkadots for spring.  Look it up on Polyvore, and you’ll get a whole bunch of options ranging from $15 all the way up to $400+ for a pair. My budget is slim for short-term fashion, unlike my with-actual-curves body.  The options on offer seem to be mostly geared toward the skinny-minnie girls. Sigh.

I started at Target. Visually pleasing, low price point, and a cropped length for spring. Dressing room trauma in 3, 2, 1…  Apparently “Mid-Rise” means very different things in different stores. This pair was an instant spare-tire-maker, but really cute from the knee down. Fail #1.

Merona/Target $24.99.

I went online and looked at as many options as I could. But I was unable to put my finger on that fine line between unreasonably low-waisted and unreasonably mom-jeaned. In most cases the possible best options came in at around $100.

Today I moved on to Kohl’s department store for the simple reason that I needed to return an ugly tie for Mr. Pants. While I was there, I took three options into the dressing room. Failures # 2.3.4.   Admittedly, the fashions at Kohl’s are not always on point, but really, folks, REALLY??? At the least-terrible, Lee Slender Secrets. If I had a smaller bootay, these would have been a winner.

Kohls/Lee. $34.99.


Second, the Lauren Conrad jeans. A little too faded/sanded, but I tried anyway. I kid you not, I actually started talking to myself in the dressing room and almost took out my camera phone to document the instant muffin/pregnant look that these gave me. I couldn’t decide if I was too old, or just too fat.

Kohls/Lauren Conrad. $38.00


Next! Oh, wait, there was no next because the Gloria Vanderbilt choice was so cheap looking, and so off in color that I just couldn’t even bother. No picture is even available online they are so awful!

Ok, I know this post is a total downer. So does anyone have any advice for me, short of finding another pair of jeans and polka-dotting them myself? Whew, exhausting. I wonder what is going to happen when I try to find a coral cardigan…

Raiment for the Life Quiescent

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Imagine sailing down the stair in a chilly castle, settling into a deep velvet sofa in front of a large fire, 25-year scotch in a bone china cup. (all images from http://www.Style.com)

Alexander McQueen pre-fall 2013

The Pre-Fall 2013 collection at Alexander McQueen, with its lush velvets, rich braid embroidery, and priestly lazer-cut cassocks had me in an Orlando-lives-in-the-manor swoon. And then I got to thinking how similar some of the garments were to my unfinished second-year Fashion School illustrations.
(But to be honest, those will never see the light of day as I am a terrible illustrator.)

A few more McQueen fantasies…

McQueen pf 2013

McQueen pf 2013

McQueen pf2013