Around the World Blog Hop - stopping in California

The "Around the World Blog Hop" has been passed onto me from Mary in Arizona who writes biblioblog.   Moving from the cacti and hot weather of Arizona, California seems to be depicted as sunny beaches, blonde hair and tanned skin.  Our nearest beach is about 3 hours away, I'm a brunette and have very pale skin but still consider myself a California Gal.  I have lived in Northern California almost my entire life.  I lived in London, England for 4 months during college thru a "Study abroad for a semester" program.   During that time, I met my husband in Dublin, Ireland on St. Patrick's Day in 1991 and we later married that same year in November and we have been happily married ever since.

We live in what's called the Sierra Foothills.  It's a wonderful little town we call home and we enjoy seeing the varied wildlife around our house.  I don't appreciate it when the neighborhood deer eat my plants, but that's a whole other story.  Every other year we have one to two new fawns born in our backyard so we are sort of the neighborhood "deer nursery" if you like.

Ok, enough about me and my general area - onto the Blog Hop questions.

Question 1: What am I working on?
Currently, I am working on Vogue 1331 - a Koos Couture coat that I am changing up quite a bit.  It is my October Make a Garment a Month Challenge project and it is turning out to be quite a project.  I expected that when I decided on it as my project and will be glad when it's finally finished.

In July of this year I joined a "Summer Stashbust".  I can proudly say I have been sewing only from my stash since July, but have yet to make a noticeable dent in it.  A number of years ago my husband said that if I depleted my stash he would take me on a trip to New York to replenish it.  Well, I'm thinking I might sew everything up in the next year or two so New York - look out!  I'm considering making this stashbush some sort of challenge for others as well, but I'm still mulling that over in my head.

Question 2: How does my work differ from others of this genre?
Excellent question and a tough one to answer at least for me.  As a sewer, I think I look at garments differently than the average person.  I look at the lines of the pattern and the fabric combinations. How well does it fit?  Does it work with other things in my closet?  What about trims and fun stuff to mix it up a bit - how could that be incorporated?  My husband often says I just can't leave something alone because I think it always needs a little something else - some sort of embellishment.  So to answer the question I guess my garments have a little "something unexpected".


Question 3: Why do I write/create what I do?
I have been sewing, crafting, and just generally making stuff my entire life.  I think I was born with a pair of scissors in one hand.  I have never liked wearing the same things that everyone else wears.  I've shopped at thrift stores and yard sales for as long as I can remember always striving to find something different or something I could change up a bit.

I started sewing when I was five years old.  My Nannie (my mom's mother whom we nicknamed Nannie) taught me how to sew.  Oddly enough - my mom doesn't sew at all!  I was in 4-H for awhile, but didn't care for their sewing techniques.  My Nannie could sew without a pattern and would just cut something out freehand and it would fit perfectly.  I'm not quite that good, but I think alot of Nannie's talent has been passed down to me.

Here's a picture of me at age 10 holding a doll that I made the dress for.  I used to carry these little dolls with me everywhere and they had a huge wardrobe that I made for them.  My Nannie made the dress I was wearing too.  All of my clothes were handmade by Nannie until I was in the 5th or 6th grade when I clearly remember wanting something with a "label" in it from the store.  My first store bought item was a blue pair of knickers (capri type pants - not underwear for you folks in the UK) with a label on the outside (I was so excited about that!) with a matching white blouse with blue stars on it.

Here I am at 18 making my prom dress.  Like my splatter painted walls?!?!?   So totally 80's!

Question 4: How does my writing/creating process work?
My sewing process is pretty much depicted in the picture above so I haven't changed my habits too much.  I either start with a pattern or a bunch of fabrics on the floor and start playing with them.  I usually have a few piles on the floor of potential next projects that get moved from place to place before they actually make it to the cutting board.

When I eventually cut into the fabric, it may take a few more twists and turns before it's finally completed.  Oftentimes I will leave something on the floor of my room if I am undecided and come back a few times trying to take a fresh look at it.  If all else fails, get out the box of ribbons and trims and start playing again!

That's it for me.  I'm now passing the blog hop onto Winter Queen who resides across the pond in the UK.  She has a wonderful little blog and has made an ironing board cover that is absolutely adorable and has inspired me to create a new cover for my ironing board too.  It's actually inspired a "laundry room redo", but that's a whole other blog post!  Stay tuned!

Until next time - Happy Sewing!