Phew! a couple of moves done & family members starting to get settled into their new places.  Our own progress on the house is moving at a snails pace shown in super-slow motion.  My beautiful studio is partially dismantled & the space seems to be becoming almost a storage unit.  

To combat the symptoms of "artist withdrawal",  I've decided to set up makeshift workspaces for patterning & sewing.  First steps - some extensive rearranging now that I no longer have the same storage options or space. Although I will have to "Tetris" (move things about & re-stack) to get at anything, my tools/fabrics/notions/etc. are sorted again & at least accessible with a bit of digging.  

The cabinets that supported my island worktable are gone but I still have the table top, so my solution is an improvised set of legs using a couple of tall plastic drawer units.  The table surface sits on the units & is buckled against a wall to stabilize it a bit, since it can't actually be secured - no leaning on the table though or the whole thing will topple!  The height turned out to be perfect for work while standing (drafting/cutting) eliminating the back & neck strain one gets standing hunched over a standard height table.

I've reallocated a small dining table for my sewing machine next to a window, a few extension cords & power bars and it's ready!!!


Next steps ... what to make first?

The wee break was refreshing - quite lovely.   

On the home front, we have several major family house moves taking place at the moment.  As well my husband & myself are getting our house ready to sell & then will be moving.  A lot of change taking place in our lives.  Most of my time for the remainder of this calendar year will taken up with packing, searching for new homes, possible renovations, etc.

I can't wait to get back to the creative endeavours of designing & publishing patterns as soon as I possibly can...in the mean time, email delivery of patterns has resumed & in full swing.  As always, I look forward to hearing from you & will gladly answer any questions that you may have.


Cheers

Going on a wee cruise...just a little R&R to recharge the batteries!  

Email delivery only of ePatterns will be suspended the week of September 16th to September 22nd.  This service will resume on September 23rd. 

It's great to have some feedback about my BJD patterns - many Thanks!  I have added a section in the Customer Showcase gallery for these.

Further to the post title ... the next pattern  (Candy Cane stocking) is indeed "Almost there!"   The short trip away, & wonderful it was, set back my schedule just a tiny bit.   I am just processing all the construction photos & filtering them through Photoshop.  It is surprising to see the difference in image colour for photos taken on the same day.   Light varies so much on any given day from the morning to the evening & the brief glimpses of sun followed by clouds & shadow.   The images then need to sorted, labelled & resized for inclusion in the pattern document to keep the overall pattern size under 10K.  Just need to write up all the steps & add some diagrams for clarity then it will be ready this coming week!

My blog is the main conduit to communicate with readership to let you know of what's planned, what's in progress, or what's new - such as tutorials, patterns & finished items available for sale.  I'd like to share with you a couple of options that will let you get the latest updates to my blog delivered to you.  Opting in or out of either of these delivery mechanisms is at your discretion & can be updated at any time.

The first is a new blog feature that lets you have new posts blog delivered directly to your email inbox.  This email subscription service is strictly to deliver new blog posts to your inbox for your convenience & to save you time.  

The second blog feature is a RSS (Rich Site Summary) feed.  This service allows you to subscribe to the blog & using a feed reader, such as Google Reader, to deliver the most recent content.  I have added a link beneath the RSS feed icon that gives a brief overview & explanation - What is RSS?.  As well, Wikipedia has a related section & here is the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS.  

Weebly has had the RSS feed option available since I started this site but it did not allow you to select a reader.  So for example, when using Google Chrome as your browser the programming code is shown rather than the blog content.   The new improved RSS feed icon will allow you to subscribe & choose a reader.

The last option available is "Bookmarking" this blog in the various browser windows of your computers. Looking forward to staying connected with you ...

A wonderful opportunity arouse this week - tickets to two NHL playoff games.  It's very exciting to be able to attend a playoff game!  The atmosphere & pace of games in the quest for the Stanley cup is electrifying.  So a spur of the moment trip for a couple of out of town games.  Such a treat to get away for a few days & do a bit of sight seeing while we are there.

As soon as I return, I will tackle the the remainder of the new stocking pattern.  It's coming along nicely.  Creating designs for my own purpose is significantly different from designing for a pattern release.   I usually work directly from bolts of fabrics/trims (not pre-measure quantities) & sewing adjustments are done on the fly - it is much more free form & flexible.  I am presently re-engineering the construction process of the candy cane stocking to make it easy as possible to describe & sew.  I like to ensure that customers using my patterns have all the information needed to successfully complete the pattern in the easiest possible manner.

Back shortly

Wow, April is almost over - seems to have just flown by!  It's been a busy month on the home front with working on the house repairs.  One of the wonderful things about doing mundane tasks - such cleaning, mudding, sanding, painting, etc. - is that it leaves the mind free to wander, imagine & create...  Although physically drained, all kinds of wonderful design ideas have surfaced that I need to capture & develop.  Out with the sketch book!

The candy cane stocking pattern is in full progress.  Everything is drawn in vector graphics, now just need to split all the pieces to fit on a standard piece of printer paper & add all the annotations.  Next will be printing out everything & then photography/writing the instructions while I sew the actual stocking.  It will be great to take a break from physical labour & head back to my studio for this.

I have added a couple of new segments to the Tutorials page to provide information about:

What is a PDF pattern & the benefits of a pattern in this format
What is included in my patterns
How to assemble the full size pattern pieces

Click on the image below to access the pages directly: 

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions!

I've had numerous questions related to sewing stretch fabric with a sewing machine so thought that I would do a mini-series with some tips & techniques just for the sewing machine.  Although a serger is ideal for working with stretch fabrics, it is very limited when sewing on a very small scale.

Needle & thread are basics needed to sew all fabrics however, selecting the ones best suited for stretch fabrics will make the project go so much more smoothly. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Alas, no photos today but hope to have my camera back in a day or so.

I have begun work on a Rococo gown for Yur.  As with any garment that requires layers, I am starting with the pieces that will be worn closest to the body & put on first.  Normally this would be a chemise worn under everything & a corset, however when working with a doll some changes need to be made.  A resin body simply is not  flexible like a human body - they cannot be tucked & pushed to create the shape using a corset.  Some modifications will be necessary & also to reduce bulk, the underpinnings will be predominantly to support the shape of the skirt.  I have drafted up a miniature version of pocket hoops & will cut/sew those to see what additional adjustments will be needed.  I will however create a chemise so that Yur has a light garment for the photos of the underpinnings - she seems a bit shy...