CA Coast Range: Smack Dab in the Middle

Every time I come out of class at Cañada College,
 I get to see this marvelous view of the CA Coast Range.

Chock full of blu schist, serpentinite, and chert rocks these mountains are part of an accretionary wedge of the same ancient volcanic arc from which the Sierra Nevada batholith formed.

Go ahead and click on the illustration above
for a lovely  up close and personal view of
The CA coast range from Cañada College

I dream of JeanSies (made of light blue denim)

I'm thinking of changing the refrain from that classic old song...

I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair 

                                               Floating like a vapor on the soft, summer air. 

to

I'm dreaming of JEANSIES sewn from light blue denim

that float 'round my nether regions, like the light from heaven

This semester, and next, I'm focusing on sharpening my basic sewing skills. Those skills include the basics of pant construction. Sure, I've sewn many a pair of pants since my first bell-bottoms project back in high school, but being self-taught there are a lot of techniques I've glossed over. So in addition to basic Fashion 110 (*), the introductory sewing class where I'm learning things I never knew I didn't know about needles, thread, hems, stitch length, directional sewing, and.... (the list goes on and on), I also took the 4-session Pants Construction class. There I sewed sample fly front zippers, a variety of pockets and learned some new and improved waistband techniques. In addition to two pair of elastic waist pants for the introductory class, I've got a pair of light-weight denim pants in the works, that will incorporate my new and improved fly front zipper skills, front-hip pockets and a couture waistband in the style taught by our teacher Lynda Maynard (the directions are in her Couture Sewing book). I'm using the same McCalls pattern that I used for the 3 pairs of shorts I made this summer and fall. You can check out one pair (and their matching cap) in this posting, The Lady Wears Shorts.

Producing all these pants will add to my wardrobe, as well as improve my basic sewing skill set. But there's another sneaky reason for gaining confidence when it comes to sewing trousers. I really want to be able to sew my own jeans. 

Are you with me there? I've got a couple of different RTW jeans that kind of work for me, but not totally. I'm looking forward to the day when I can quit perusing the catalog pages trying to find jeans that sorta kinda work, and can just design and sew my own. Right off the bat I know I want one pair of the typical tough-denim, work horse old-school style (without this low-rise modern beeswax!) and a second more fitted, lighter weight denim. I also have some dreams that flit past different colored jeans (Can I find turquoise denim?) and back pockets with lace appliqués.

Clearly there are two important aspects to this long-term learning project. 

a) Fit

b) Technique

OK learning more about jean fabric weights and sources for various denims, and specialized notions like rivets, topstitching thread, needles, etc. might be a third aspect.

I'm not desperate to start in on this learning project, because I'm headed in the right direction. 

1) I'm honing my basic and intermediate sewing skills, so that I won't be caught up being challenged by something that has nothing to do with specialized jeans fitting and construction.

2)I'm starting to collect articles from the web relating to techniques needed for making jeans. I've just started a Pinterest board specifically related to sewing jeans, that I can come back to when I'm ready. (I've got a couple of other sewing boards in Pinterest as well, here's a link to all my boards there.)

Inspired by my school work, I'm planing to start a jeans notebook with technique samples once this semester is over in December. Aren't sewing program classes an excellent way to learn how to approach new-to-me kinds of garments? :-)

3) I bought the Sandra Betzina Vogue1034  jeans pattern ( Here's a pattern review for it, which doesn't seem to want to pin to my Pinterest boards). It has lots of tips about fitting jeans. I'm sure I'll ask for fitting help in the Sewing Lab at school as well. And down the road, there's a pants drafting class taught at Cañada each fall. I expect to already have some experience working on jeans by the time I take that class next year.

* I take sewing classes in the Cañada College Fashion Department, Redwood City, California

National Sewing Month ¿Estamos Listos? Are We Ready?

(Co-Published with Me Encanta Coser)

Septiembre es el mes para nuestra nación a coser!

September is, of course, National Sewing Month

¿Pero estamos listos?

But, are we ready? 

1) Los suministros / Supplies

I have a goodly sized fabric, trim and pattern stash. (You guessed that didn't you?)

2) El Plan / The Plan

I've got a basket full of things cut out that I plan to sew in September

          - One pair of green shorts, the same pattern as I used for "The Lady Wears Shorts" (see my earlier posting)

          - A cloche style cap, like the one I now wear almost everyday (It needs break and a bath!) . Refer back to "Chewing a Bun with Tuppence" (an earlier posting)

          - A beige lingerie type camisole to go under a very pretty sheer, burnt-knit, dressy yellow tee shirt I finished recently. (No, I can't take a photo of me in it because it would only look appropriate in the kind of establishment I don't patronize! You probably drive by them too.) Believe me, I need a camisole under that tee.

           - One test pair of unmentionable nether garments!

           - A mostly sewn buttercup purse (See my "Do You Like Butter?" posting)

There a few other projects in my basket that I'm not committing to for September, but they could fill in any extra sewing time .... another buttercup purse in home dec roses and stripes fabrics (leftover from aprons I sewed for myself and my daughter about six months ago), a reconstructed tee shirt I'll likely use for testing binding techniques - but it will still see use in the garden, a pretty partially sewn silk wallet I started with my daughter about 4 years ago that needs heavy duty snaps installed - a skill I need to work on.... You know the kind of stuff you resurrect and put in your to do basket, but don't actually commit to

3) Estudio de costura/ Sewing Studio

I decided to get serious and  signed up for Cañada College Fashion 110 "Introduction to Sewing". I call myself a low intermediate level sewer (and I'm always willing to take a chance on an advanced pattern) but being primarily self-taught, there is so much I don't really know and so many things I can, and have been learning. For one thing I'm not naturally neat (something in the genes I think). I don't have a good sense of how closures and edge finishes should even look, much less how to do them in a standard way. Also I just do a lot of things the wrong way. In addition, I often find written instructions confusing. And don't get me started on youTube videos. Yes, I use and love them. But I've done some pretty odd things following them. (More on that another time)

             - Right now I'm working on the first tee shirt project for our Fashion 110 class. I hope to cut out a sample version of that tee this weekend before I cut into the good stuff in class next week. With the help of our wonderful teacher, Rhonda Cheney, I added a dart to the basic Stretch and Sew 333 pattern (Rhonda really did the dart. I traced over her work, but I wrote a lot of how-to notes while I watched her work). I'd like to test the basic front and back with dart on a couple of $2.50 tees -I use two of the same color for test garments-  before I cut into my good stuff in el estudio.

I also signed up for a 4 session Lingerie Sewing Class at Cañada. I'm looking forward to learning how to work with elastic better, for one thing.

National Sewing Month?

 ¡Soy muy listo! 

 I do feel ready!

National Sewing Month ¿Estamos Listos? Are We Ready?

Septiembre es el mes para nuestra nación a coser!

September is, of course, National Sewing Month

¿Pero estamos listos?

But, are we ready? 

1) Los suministros / Supplies

I have a goodly sized fabric, trim and pattern stash. (You guessed that didn't you?)

2) El Plan / The Plan
I've got a basket full of things cut out that I plan to sew in September

          - One pair of green shorts, the same pattern as I used for "The Lady Wears Shorts" (see my earlier posting)
          - A cloche style cap, like the one I now wear almost everyday (It needs break and a bath!) . Refer back to "Chewing a Bun with Tuppence" (an earlier posting)
          - A beige lingerie type camisole to go under a very pretty sheer, burnt-knit, dressy yellow tee shirt I finished recently. (No, I can't take a photo of me in it because it would only look appropriate in the kind of establishment I don't patronize! You probably drive by them too.) Believe me, I need a camisole under that tee.
           - One test pair of unmentionable nether garments!
           - A mostly sewn buttercup purse (See my "Do You Like Butter?" posting)

There a few other projects in my basket that I'm not committing to for September, but they could fill in any extra sewing time .... another buttercup purse in home dec roses and stripes fabrics (leftover from aprons I sewed for myself and my daughter about six months ago), a reconstructed tee shirt I'll likely use for testing binding techniques - but it will still see use in the garden, a pretty partially sewn silk wallet I started with my daughter about 4 years ago that needs heavy duty snaps installed - a skill I need to work on.... You know the kind of stuff you resurrect and put in your to do basket, but don't actually commit to

3) Estudio de costura/ Sewing Studio
I decided to get serious and  signed up for Cañada College Fashion 110 "Introduction to Sewing". I call myself a low intermediate level sewer (and I'm always willing to take a chance on an advanced pattern) but being primarily self-taught, there is so much I don't really know and so many things I can, and have been learning. For one thing I'm not naturally neat (something in the genes I think). I don't have a good sense of how closures and edge finishes should even look, much less how to do them in a standard way. Also I just do a lot of things the wrong way. In addition, I often find written instructions confusing. And don't get me started on youTube videos. Yes, I use and love them. But I've done some pretty odd things following them. (More on that another time)

             - Right now I'm working on the first tee shirt project for our Fashion 110 class. I hope to cut out a sample version of that tee this weekend before I cut into the good stuff in class next week. With the help of our wonderful teacher, Rhonda Cheney, I added a dart to the basic Stretch and Sew 333 pattern (Rhonda really did the dart. I traced over her work, but I wrote a lot of how-to notes while I watched her work). I'd like to test the basic front and back with dart on a couple of $2.50 tees -I use two of the same color for test garments-  before I cut into my good stuff in el estudio.

I also signed up for a 4 session Lingerie Sewing Class at Cañada. I'm looking forward to learning how to work with elastic better, for one thing.

National Sewing Month?

 ¡Soy muy listo! 

 I do feel ready!