A Completed Cutesy Cooper!

I studied for approximately eight hours straight yesterday, and I'll be doing about the same starting in an hour today, so I decided I would treat myself this morning to a bit of a break to bash out the rest of my Cooper bag. Hey, I need something to cart around all my Russian history textbooks, now, don't I? My satchel certainly can't, and it's finals time. This was a practical decision (or so I keep insisting to myself to nullify the mild guilt of devoting a few hours to a sewing project rather than studying).

Ready for the grand reveal?

It's possible this qualifies for green overload but I DON'T CAAAREEE.

This sucker is ADORABLE you guys. I struggled with a few parts, mainly because, well, my body fabric did not press well. And when I say not well, I really mean I literally melted the first flap strap piece I cut, and had a momentary panic of "oh god how brutally will they kill me if I cause a fire alarm during finals week". It creased nicely, however, so I ended up making the straps work by using an unholy quantity of pins to hold them in place, pinching the edges firmly a couple of times, and then leaving the pins in place while I sewed and removing them as I went along. My self-made shoulder strap doesn't like to lie particularly flat as a result, but hey, I take what I can get.

I decided to make my body pocket out of the contrasting fabric as well, rather than the main body fabric like the pattern suggested- when you have a contrast fabric this cute, it's a crime not to use it all. On that note, I have a shoulder guard in the works, but I couldn't complete it as I completely lack any velcro and lack the time and the vehicle to get out to a store to buy any, but it will get done! The fabric is already cut and ready. Oh, returning to the whole body-fabric-does-not-press thing: it also made it so my straps ended up a bit uneven. The right-side body strap is noticeably bigger than the left side, but honestly I'm just not that bothered by it. Considering this was my first time ever making a bag and using most of these materials, I'm just tickled pink it actually worked! Speaking of new materials...

OOIILLLCLOOOTHHH LIIIINIIINGGGG

The lining fabric was both a breeze and a bitch to work with, let me tell you. It cut and sewed up beautifully, easy as could be, but that stuff gets stiff. It does not want to get turned inside out without a significant struggle and a few tears. The fighting was worth it, though, as it gives the bag some wonderful shape and I just love how the fabrics go together- the cute green ribbons and purple fabric, uhg, it's too cute. I only sewed down the center of one pocket, as I wanted to leave the other full-sized as then it's the exact right size to accommodate my Nook. Plus, I know if a soda ever explodes in my bag it'll be an easy matter to just wipe down the inside! (I'm not speaking from personal experience, but my freshman year roommate definitely lost her favorite bag that way. Moment of silence for the sparkly zebra print purse.)

I used the Gifts for Crafters hardware set for this, and it was a total breeze. Doesn't hurt that the bronze finish happens to be my favorite, anyway, and that it went so nicely with my fabric choices! I'd never installed snaps or rivets before, but I was surprised by how straightforward it was. I think next time I will use a bit of interfacing to reinforce the snaps, though; I don't think my fabric will tear, but I still hold my breath a little bit every time I unsnap it. The rivets were a bit of a struggle as, confession, I lack an awl and mallet (I MacGyvered a makeshift one using a pair of tiny scissors and a lot of brute force, and then used a wine bottle opener as a mallet because I keep it classy), but it all came together in the end.

The other thing that absolutely amazed me was that my machine had no problems handling this, even when I had to sew through five+ layers of fabric at once. My machine isn't anything particularly fancy- in fact, much like this Cooper, it's on the cuter side of life (it's a mint green Hello Kitty Janome model), yet I have yet to run into anything it can't do. Sometimes the cute ones are more than they seem!

Now, the main motivation for this bag was I needed something big enough to hold all my books. As a history major, I get a lot of reading assigned, with a lot of textbooks to go along with it. How does the Cooper bag stack up under the pressures of a senior history major?

GLORY GLORY HALLELUJAAAHH. Now imagine the bag is saying that. You're welcome, I still haven't stopped giggling.

There are five books, one Nook, and two notebooks in there and the sucker is still ready for more. I could probably fit the majority of my textbooks for the semester in this little beauty, although I am a little concerned as to how well it'll hold up under that strain. I sewed the shoulder straps on about five times each for that very reason, though- I knew what this poor thing was gonna get into. But just, man, this thing is the TARDIS of bags, I genuinely think it's bigger on the inside.

... who let me think that, now I can't get the idea of a TARDIS blue satchel out of my head.

Obligatory modeled view! Ah, the mess of my room increases.

I am mildly concerned that since I went so cute with the fabric it ended up looking a bit like a diaper bag, but that's a very mild concern. I'm planning on adding some button pins to it and I think that'll take care of that concern in an instant (as well as draw attention away from the slightly messed up straps). I do really love the size this ended up being, though, it's exactly what I wanted without overwhelming me.

My Two Bags: A Love Story. Guest starring the unreasonably large Hello Kitty KISS bag I got at DragonCon from the WeLoveFine booth.

Between my satchel as my laptop bag and my Cooper as my "toss everything into it and run" bag, I think I have all my bases covered- and don't they look so nice together? Technically speaking my Cooper has its share of mistakes to its name, but even so the result is exactly what I envisioned, practical as all get out and go, and the mistakes aren't really noticeable unless you're A) familiar with the pattern and B) really looking for them. That's enough to make me inordinately proud of myself.

Now if you'll excuse me, I must put my new creation to work and trudge off to a Russian history study session. At least I'll be cute?

UPDATE: It kept all those books dry through a ten minute walk through a cold Williamsburg downpour, like a little boss. A+ job, bag friend.

P.S. While adding three of these photos into the Colette photostream for the contest, I realized that I made my flicker account years ago and it has the somewhat embarrassing moniker of moonlight-chan. I... I don't really have anything to say for myself on that front.

Stress Sewing: T-Shirt Dress

You ever find yourself in an inexplicably bad mood, where you're just sad for no reason whatsoever and you have to do something fun or creative to maybe jumpstart your mood into not being terrible again? That's where I was last night and that's where this dress came from. I wanted something simple, something quick, and something that'd be crazy comfortable, while also using some new techniques or at least a new something. I think this hit all of those nails on the proverbial head.

I do love me some horizontal stripes but please hold your prison inmate jokes until the end of the post.

Okay, I entirely recognize that this doesn't look like much on the hanger, but I'm really quite pleased with it, numerous flaws and all. I used Dixie DIY's T-Shirt Minidress pattern, as I had it lurking in my bookmarks of "cute free highly wearable patterns" and this blue and white lace striped knit lurking in my stash begging to be made into a dress. I lengthened the hem pretty significantly (by six of the stripes on the fabric, which probably translates to approximately six inches) and lengthened the sleeves a bit, because I wanted it to be more cold-weather appropriate... although considering how thin the fabric itself is, it's still probably going to be relegated to late spring/early fall. I didn't fuss with trying to match the stripes at the side seams, as, again, I wanted a quick project to maybe brighten my mood, although hilariously it seems that I matched them up perfectly- if I was going for an offset match on the stripes, anyway! It's kind of a fun look even though it's blatantly wrong, actually.

(I was going to leave a comment on that blog post about my making this dress, but I chickened out when I saw the last comment was from 10 months ago...! I suppose the pattern IS 2+ years old.)

Avert thine eyes, gaze not upon... whatever this mess is supposed to be

The less said about the collar, though, the better. I'm really not sure what I was thinking when I attached it, as I just did it blatantly wrong and figured out how I should've done it about ten seconds after botching it. I considered ripping it out and starting anew, but ultimately decided that was a bit more effort than I cared to expend at that precise moment. That's what cute scarves are for?

Outside of lengthening the sleeves and hem, I also cut between sizes. I wanted a more fitted dress  rather than the slightly oversized look of the pattern itself, so I cut a medium for the top and tapered out to a large on the bottom, as those were the sizes that best matched my measurements. I kind of eyeballed where to start shifting from medium to large on the pattern and hoped for the best, which sounds like a pretty shoddy way of doing things but actually worked out rather perfectly.

Worn shot, guest starring my overflowing fabric stash bag and my solar system socks. Someday, I will rope someone else into taking multiple photos at multiple angles, but that day is not this one.

When worn, the problems with the collar aren't really visible at all, and I lovelovelove the way the sleeves came out. The way I hemmed them (just with a zigzag stitch- everything is zigzag here, using my plain ol' sewing machine, although I did indeed swap in a ballpoint needle) gives them this lovely ruffle-y effect. I do still wish the fabric were less see-through, although weirdly enough when worn that's less of a problem- you can kind of see my obnoxiously blue sports bra in that worn photo, but when worn with sane white or beige underwear I actually don't think it'd be much of a problem.

 I love simple, comfortable dresses like this, so I can definitely see myself whipping up an army of them in various hem and sleeve lengths and with different necklines, especially since it was just plain easy. Seriously, this dress came together in 3 hours, starting with uncut fabric and a pattern that wasn't even taped together yet. Knits are the magic promised land of no crazy darts yet splendidly fitted results. I already have a list going of wishlist knits for my next one, although I am making a conscious effort to not only buy striped fabric for it. I know some people can't abide the thought of wearing horizontal stripes, but I am very far from one of those people.

I still have about a yard and a half of this fabric left (it was on sale for $2 a yard at Hancock, and I'm now kicking myself for not grabbing some of the other colors) so I might try making a hoodie or a loose billowy vest with the leftovers. It's just so soft, I have to put it to use somehow.

And yes, you may be wondering, my mood did improve slightly after finishing this project and I'm definitely in a better mood now. I also am still working on the Alice dress but stalling like a boss on actually making the bias tape- I'll keep you posted on that.

The Other Williamsburg Skirt

I spent the past summer working as the publications intern for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I spent my days writing and researching for an in-progress book, selecting photos for partner publications, fact-checking quotes and figures from editing-stage manuscripts- all  the things a history-loving undergrad tends to enjoy, and I was being paid to do it, too! The internship also came with two ancillary facts: I got the employee discount on Colonial Williamsburg goods, and I had a lot of free time in the evenings.

I also got to walk through this tunnel every day, which made me feel like I was entering a Studio Ghibli film.

It was during those free evenings that I took the time to get familiar with my new sewing machine. My machine is nothing fancy- in fact, even though I absolutely adore it to pieces, I'm pretty sure most would find it a bit embarrassing or childish -but the main thing that used to prevent me from sewing was how utterly scared I was of sewing machines. They were loud, they were intimidating, they had a bunch of weird knobs and things, and, oh, there's a sharp pointy object moving up and down really fast in semi-close proximity to your fingertips. Color me intimidated.

As I got into more and more sewing blogs and got deeper and deeper into cosplaying, however, my sewing machine fear became something I had to overcome. Ultimately my desire to actually be able to make things trumped, and I emerged from the summer triumphant, with a few headbands, a doll-sized yukata, a practice Sorbetto top and a pair of the tackiest-yet-greatest pants in the world for my friend to show for it. (Actually, considering the name of this blog, those pants are incredibly apt for it. Unintentional genius, me!)

That wasn't all, though: I also emerged with three-odd yards of fabric and six lovely silver buttons. A lesser-known CW (Colonial Williamsburg, mind, not the TV channel) product can be found in the Mary Dickinson shop on Duke of Gloucester Street (DoG Street, for the college students and locals- you should've seen how impressed a girl in my employee training class was when I told her that acronym!). It's the old-fashioned millinery, and while the website page for it only boasts of its ribbon-adorned hats, caps, cloaks and short gowns for sale, along the back wall it displays what really caught my attention: fabric for sale by the yard.

Additional perk of those straw hats: they make for GREAT shields against photo-happy sisters for you and one additional guest.

One of the only things I was a little disappointed in regarding my internship was that, since I was working behind-the-scenes, I wouldn't get to wear the period-appropriate fashions the interpreters get to. The fabric for sale in the Mary Dickinson shop was my chance at getting a little taste of that world, because it was fabric in the same patterns as many of the gowns the interpreters wore! I quickly selected a white fabric with a beautiful floral pattern in greens, blues and reds, and then, thinking I'd make a Mathilde blouse with it, went to look at the buttons for sale.They only came in packs of six at most while the pattern called for seven, but I figured I could work with that somehow, either by getting a seventh contrast button or just having the bottom of the blouse be a bit more open.

Fabric, buttons, and my very wrinkled bed sheet from over the summer.

Funny aside about purchasing those buttons: I ended up getting the anchor design ones entirely because of an interpreter I got to talking with in the shop. He didn't actually work in the Mary Dickinson shop, and I'm not sure why he was there at the time, but he was the one who ran across the way to get my fabric cut and then asked me about what I was making upon his return. I told him I was trying to decide between two button designs (they were both silver, but the others had maybe some kind of letter design?), and he insisted I get the anchor ones because, and I quote, "They'd match the buttons on [his] uniform's jacket, and will thus remind [me] of [him]".

Hey, five months later and I still vividly remember him. I guess he was right!

Anyway, I made my purchase (utilizing my employee discount, aw yes), and set off with plans of a Mathilde blouse in my head... and then nothing happened. I really don't know why I just sat on the buttons and fabric all summer, and never got around to actually making the blouse I had so firmly in my head, but when I moved into my dorm for the new semester I still had the uncut fabric and the unused buttons sitting there in my stash, begging to be made into something.

This skirt came to be in two and a half nights of focused cutting and sewing, breaks from reading for my courses and trying not to dwell on how utterly behind I was (and still am) on my thesis research. I know I'm just now blogging about it, but it was actually made a few months ago in September, although I can't say exactly when. I ended up scrapping the idea of a Mathilde blouse, because I didn't have the patience to print out the pattern and tape it together and pay rapt attention to each lovely detail- I wanted something made of that fabric now, dammit! However, Tilly still guided me through the project, as I instead shifted gears to her amazingly simple Picnic Blanket Skirt tutorial. Now, I call it simple, but it still contained two very new techniques to me: gathering and, gasp, buttonholes.

Yes, my buttonholes came out a little shoddy (first time doing them, period, though, so since they work correctly I don't mind!). Yes, the part of the skirt attached to the waistband gaps ever so slightly for some reason (but that just means I can imitate the look of a lady's short coat by wearing a billowy, lacy button-up blouse over the skirt to hide that particular imperfection!). Errors and all, I really couldn't be happier with how this skirt came out. It's a beautiful use of my sentimental fabric and buttons, even though I did have to dash out to buy a second set of buttons after all, as I ended up needing eight buttons altogether- good thing I live within five minutes walking distance of the shop! It's so full and long that I don't need to worry about it riding up when worn with a backpack (the source of a hilarious conversation between me and two grad students on the drive back from Punkin' Chunkin' yesterday- we all lamented the lack of a good social protocol for telling people their skirt rode up too much and made their underwear visible, a widespread plague of the college community), and if I wanted to really amp up the fullness I bet you I could fit a light petticoat underneath it. My only regret is that since I didn't have a pocket pattern on hand (ha ha) I ended up making a pocket-less version of this skirt, a fact I am sadly reminded of every time I put this skirt on and think, "Man, this thing would be perfect with pockets!"

The deer-in-headlights look of "I made a thing and am posting a picture of myself wearing that thing to the internet" Apologies for sunburn and camera phone pic, I just got back from Punkin' Chunkin' and live in a single dorm.

Next time, me, next time. Other things for next time: ironing the damn garment before wearing it. I don't know how something could get so mussed in a closet, but eesh.

Oh, and the title, some of you might ask? I refer to this skirt as The Williamsburg Skirt, as it's sort of my wearable memento of my summer spent working for Colonial Williamsburg and, in a way, of my entire college experience (I'm an undergrad at the College of William and Mary). However, I know that when many people think of Williamsburg, they're going to think of the hipster paradise of NYC, especially in fashion/sewing circles, from what I've gathered, so I tossed in the "Other" to emphasize which Williamsburg I mean. Hey, I thought it was cute!