Poisson’s Ratio and Shear Stresses

Warning: if you’re not a Mechanical, Matieral, or Civil engineer this might make absolutely no sense because I’m going to talk as if you have prior knowledge of the two concepts in the post title. Sorry. I had an epiphany.

So, I’m a Civil engineering grad student and one class I’m taking this semester is on composite materials, specifically fibrous materials (like fiber glass and such). Lately we’ve been studying single ply laminas (only one layer, with fibers running in only one direction) and how applying stresses at different angles creates different amounts of strain. Just like BIAS FABRIC.

Bam. Molly’s mind = Blown.

Fabric cut on the bias or sewn on the bias is reacting to a shear stress (pulling) applied to it, causing it to strain (or stretch) and due to Poisson’s ratio at a 45 degree angle the fabric will contract in the perpendicular off-axis direction (or perpendicular to the true bias)!

You have no idea how excited I was when I thought of this. And again, I’m sorry if you didn’t understand a word I just said, I just really had to get it out of my system because none of the guys at school would have known what bias cut fabric is… It’s like I live in two completely different worlds.

~Molly

Sunday Doll Post: Shoes!

Mia and Sally have one pair of shoes to share between them, a pair of molded plastic mary janes that are original to one of them (not sure which because I’m pretty sure they both originally came with the same shoes). So I decided to try to make some, these first attempts aren’t that great mostly because I didn’t have any craft foam and didn’t feel like going out to get some. Both were made using M3469.

Mia's Steampunk outfit complete with boots now!

These ones turned out too big so now they look kind of like moccasins, oh well. I'll try again some other time.

And an attempt at ballet flats, this is actually pair number two of this type, I think they came out ok. I'm thinking it might just be easier to make my own pattern, now that I know what doll shoe patterns look like.

~Molly

Reliving Civil War History, One Shirt at a Time

Greetings!  I am Molly and Pedro’s mom, Bia, the only other sewing person in the family.  I have been invited to blog about a few things, the first being the Civil War Reenactment Shirts I have made for Molly and Pedro’s Dad (we call him Da, apparently a traditional Irish way of saying dad – but really it’s just how The Oldest Sister pronounced Dad when she was a baby and it stuck).  Da has been doing Civil War reenacting (representing a Union Army Private, circa 1862) for many years and he has a great amount of excitement building up in anticipation of the 150^th anniversary (and reenactment) of the Battle of Shiloh which he will attend this spring.

Shirt pattern with avocado.

Realistic and authentic clothing is a very important part of reenactments.  I have used Period Impressions patterns for many of the Civil War clothes Da wears.  This quote below is from a website that sells these patterns (and it is Da’s favorite ‘go-to’ place for Civil War things).

Period Impression patterns are researched and drawn from original patterns or clothing. These proven patterns are produced by the same pattern maker utilized by the Kentucky State Historical Society and the Military History Museum to produce patterns for garments in their collection. They are sized for today’s living historian, but have not lost the period look. Patterns are illustrated, easy to follow with instructions for the best possible results.

Additionally, not only does the pattern need to be authentically styled, but the fabric should be representative of the time period.  Fortunately, because of the special anniversary of the Civil War, many fabric companies have been making reproduction fabrics.  Da picked out his fabric from Hancocks of Paducah.

The three Civil War shirt fabrics chosen by Molly’s Dad (remnants).

Now, to Molly’s standard pattern review questions:

Pattern:  Period Impressions #750, Military Issue Shirt

Pattern Description:  Civil War shirt, worn by Civil War soldiers.

Fabric Used:  Cotton calico.

Yardage:  ~ 2.5 yards

Did it look like the drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?  Yes, I believe so.  The collar never seems to fit quite right, so I have always put the collar button further down on the front slit.  This seems to be ok with Da.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  Yes, surprisingly, they were.  There are good diagrams.  You should have some sewing experience before undertaking the pattern, as the instructions are not as complete as your traditional Simplicity or McCalls.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really like the way the gussets give extra room in the underarm for the wearer.  I think we should have more gussets in our shirts!  The front and back pattern is one big piece, which is a little funky to figure out the first time, but it works.

Pattern alterations or any design change you made:  Da is more on the short side of height, so I shortened the front/back piece by about 3 inches.

Would you sew it again?  While it’s not my favorite thing to sew, it is not too hard.  I will likely be asked again to sew more of these.  Sigh.  On the other had, I believe this would be a pretty good nightshirt/nightgown pattern, so maybe I would make one for myself (someday…).

Would you recommend the pattern to others?  Yes, for anyone coerced asked to make Civil War Reenactment shirts, this is the pattern to use.

Neck/collar close up. Note pleat on back – allows for more arm/shoulder movement.

There you have it.  I will write another blog about the Civil War drawers I have made (cotton long-johns or full-leg underwear) one day too.  The drawers were not as much fun (if these were fun…) as the shirts.

Da!

Live long and prosper – Bia.

Question

Why does spring = pastel?

I hate pastel colors, they’re too sweet and cold looking too me. I don’t want to be sweet and cold, I want to be salty and spicy hot. Good thing Hancock’s sells more than just ugly pastel “suiting,” but it’s really too bad they don’t sell bright colored light weight wool.

The current Hancock's ad

Lame.

~Molly

The Just Right Tshirt

As a follow up to the Goldilocks t-shirt, here is the second version that I cut out at the same time as the first. This time in a much stretchier knit. I’m not going to do another review because my thoughts are still the same, the pattern fits great as long as you use a nice stretchy knit (not a double knit). I tried to do the sleeve piecing on this one, but turns out either the sleeves are meant for scrunching up at your wrists or German people have ridiculously long arms (I’m assuming the latter), so I shortened them (which actually worked out in my favor because the first attempt at hemming the sleeves was bad).

Bad pictures today because I forgot to take them when the sun was up, oh well, photo manipulation it is.

Obviously I made no attempt at matching stripes (I didn't last time either, it just worked out), I call it artistically skewed.

And for your reference, on the right is the original sleeve length (I must have made a cutting error) and on the left is the sleeve extension piece folded in half (which is how I finished the "cuffs").

~Molly

Everyone else is doing it…

It’s Sew Grateful week and everyone is suddenly grateful for people that enable their addictions support their sewing enthusiasm. I like this concept too, but I’ll probably keep it short because it could potentially be infinite.

I am sew grateful (definition: grateful for all things in relation to sewing) for:

• Mr. Fiance because he really does enable my addictions, whether dolls or buying fabric (“I didn’t give you a fabric store gift card, that was from Spot”)
• I should include Spot too, because we all know how helpful cats can be.
• Mom and Grandma, because they taught me to sew. Mom and I discuss sewing often, it helps both of us to just talk through what our problems are to get it figured out, even if we do live 500 miles away. And Grandma is the source of my notion stash and sewing machines, how much more supportive can you get? (possibly also the source of my love of dolls)
• My dad for passing on the pack rat/collecting gene, without which I wouldn’t own so many books, patterns and dolls.
• Pedro, of course. Pedro isn’t actually very supportive verbally, but her actions imply otherwise (she’s still blogging after all).
• You may have noticed someone commenting named The Oldest Sister. She is Pedro and I’s other sister. Can’t leave her out, since she is my sister and maid of honor so of course she is forcing me to make decisions about stupid wedding things like flowers supportive in times of need.
• I would like to thank the internet for existing.
• And there by also you who is reading this because it makes writing this blog so much more fun when people comment! (But to tell you the truth, I’d do it anyways. Case in point: doll posts, I like them and I don’t care if you don’t, just keep on skimming your reader )

Thank you, that is all.

~Molly

Sunday Doll Post: Birthday Wings

Say hello to Sally. Sally belongs to Pedro (or something like that. When I asked Pedro to bring my Mia [who is actually a Molly American Girl doll, you've seen her here before] up while visiting she also brought Sally to “give” me since she had no use for her, but I feel weird taking her since at one point she meant a lot to Pedro… maybe Pedro is less sentimental than me. She would say I’m more “creepy” than her.) Like Mia, Sally has been renamed. She is an original Samantha American Girl doll.

Anyways, Pedro got angry that I was only featuring Mia (“blatant favoritism”), so here is Sally in a new dress. Man, does she need a comb though.

Too bad the print is so busy (hypnotic?) because the lines of the pattern are really cute. I'll have to try it in a solid without the ruffles sometime.

Made using another free pattern for Mia’s birthday dress, the shoulder ruffles are a bit ridiculous because there are three on each shoulder and they refuse to stay down. Interestingly, this is the left over fabric from my attempt at the Pendrell blouse which also has interesting ruffle things inserted into the princess seams at the shoulders.

~Molly

The Goldilocks Tshirt

Too hard, too soft, too hot, too cold… blah blah blah, you get the idea right? Well, this tshirt is too tight in the sleeves.

When making Pedro’s coat, I intentionally bought way more of the lining fabric than I would actually need because it was so freaking awesome. I intended to make myself a tshirt out of it and I did, but because the fabric is a double knit it doesn’t have a ton of stretch to it. Everything else feels great about it, but the sleeves and armcycle are just a little tight.

Also, I'm trying to take my pictures in other locations than that one wall in my sewing room, so here I am in my (new!) windowless (to the outside; it has one really weird window that looks out into some ceiling rafters so I always feel like it's night) office by myself with the door shut. Baby steps. I get embarrassed taking pictures, even around Mr. Fiance!

I can either deal with it and only wear it on really cold days (when I don’t mind to being able to shove the sleeves up to my elbows) or put it in the ‘to fix’ pile where it will probably sit for a couple month because I’m lazy. All I can do to fix it really is to go back and make the sleeve seams as tiny as possible and hope that 3/8 inch is enough to make it more comfortable. But, it is wearable in my opinion. Just kindof hot.

Pattern: Burda Style 103A 7/2011

Pattern Description: None of the translations from the burda sites made sense or were very descriptive of this pattern. It’s just a long sleeve knit shirt with pieced double layered sleeves at the elbow and a rounded v-neck.

Just so you guys know, this is not how Americans dress on holiday (as implied by the American flags in other pictures from this section)

Pattern Sizing: 34-44, I cut a 34

Fabric Used: Houndstooth double knit

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, except I didn’t do the sleeve piecing.

"Is anyone coming?"

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn’t follow them because I usually change the order of construction with sleeved items.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It fits very well with no alterations to fit and I like the neckline (“crew” necklines always feel like they’re creepying backward on my shoulders, making it feel like I’m going to choke. Maybe I have weird posture). But as I said before the sleeves are very tight, at this point I’m blaming that on the fabric because I have another cut out in a stretchier knit too.

"No, it's all good"

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I didn’t cut the sleeve in two pieces (but I will be for my next iteration!) and I used the salvage of my fabric to finish all the edges. It has a cool stripe through it.

Would you sew it again? I plan on it, hoping it can become my “go to” t-shirt pattern

Can't even tell there's a seam down the back (insert fist pump)

Would you recommend it to others? Yes! Just maybe not in a double knit.

~Molly

PS – Did you guys like Pedro’s post on Russian style? I’m excited for when she discusses her view points on the strange world of blogging and “hipster” style in Colorado.

“I’ve never met a real native American!”

“The first brother’s name was Rurick, which meant he was a great warrior; the second brother’s name was Sinius, because he had a sort of blue beard; the third brother’s name was Truvor, which doesn’t mean anything.”

-Russian history professor

When I was 17, I got sick of high school and went to Russia for a few months. The process was a bit more complicated than that, but that was the end result. I decided languages were my thing and wanted to learn a new one in a new place. I got Hillary Clinton to pay for my Russian lessons at a world-class linguistics university in an awesome city (Nizhniy Novgorod, it took me a while to learn how to pronounce it…) about 8 hours east of Moscow. I had no prior knowledge of Russian, Russia, or Russians besides what James Bond movies had taught me.

Red Square, classic Russia.

The average Harry doesn’t know too much about the biggest country in the world, I didn’t before I went and I’m by no means an expert now. Russia is everything you’ve ever heard, and also the complete opposite of everything you’ve ever heard. It’s taken me a while to come up with that simple explanation, but it’s the best way I can think of to explain. It’s a new country (it’s only been just over 20 years now since the collapse of the Soviet Union) with a bucket and a half of history. There are immensely rich and powerful Russians (yup, mostly men) and then everybody else that lives like poor college students (of which there are also plenty). Russians are blunt, they say what they mean and often what they say is mean. But dammit, I love it. None of this smiling at everybody business, pretending to care how life’s going for the cashier in the checkout lane, having plenty of “friends” that you deep down hate, or keeping up with the latest politically correct terms.

“I like Chinese people. They are so childish and emotional.”

-my Russian teacher

But hey, style. That’s what I’m talking about here, right? Sure, okay. Before I went to Russia, I was worried I would stand out as a stupid American because of how I dressed. I think I dress pretty normally, a shirt and jeans is my everyday. I’ve never been out of the country apart from O Canada! I didn’t know what to expect. And actually, I tried not to expect anything. Culture shock can be a bitch. For the most part, Russian fashion is comparable to your standard European fashion (or so I’m told). Maybe a little more extreme, but what isn’t in Russia? The women wear high heels no matter what, short skirts in the dead of winter, and some pretty questionable tops. So yeah, I kinda stood out… My host family was a little more conservative however, my host mom and sister (no dad, etc.) wore jeans and such. But never sweatshirts, never ever no one ever. Men wear dress shoes/boots ALL. THE. TIME. Never sneakers, oh no. Always fancy shoes. In this way it was pretty easy for the guys on my program to fit in (with one exception as you’ll see as you scroll down), all they had to do was wear boots.

The Formal

Jellyfish.

Military guards in the Moscow Kremlin. The police in Russia are f-ing scary. They're called the "militia," that's how scary they are.

The Traditional

This is the cutest little girl ever, she and her teacher were showing their class some traditional Russian clothes.

"Day of Knowledge" the first day of school in Russia, it's common practice for girls to wear these giant hair bow things on special occasions like this. But for everyday, schoolkids do wear relatively fancy clothes. Usually suits for boys, and black dresses/skirts with fancy tops for girls.

The Fire-dancers and the Weddings…

The black guy in there was on my program too. This happened a lot to him, a wedding party was taking pictures and they grabbed him and got a picture... There aren't many black people in Russia.

One of those rich guys I was talking about.

In conclusion, I dress more casually than Russians.

P.S. Here’s some Russian fashion blogs I found when writing this post, they’re pretty cool:

The Russian Fashion Blog

Russian Doll

PEDRO OUT.

Sunday Doll Post: Meet Nitra 09

I really wasn’t planning on acquiring a new doll until February (after I got paid at the end of the month), but life often has unexpected twists.

Back Story: One of Mr. Fiance’s favorite activities is playing Black Jack in Deadwood, SD (only a 45 minute drive and the only place in South Dakota where card game gambling is legal) and I don’t mind because he’s actually very good at it and always has a set budget that he allows him self to gamble. Well, we went to Deadwood last Friday night and he lent me $20 in chips to play a little (I hate gambling my own money, and even with his money it still make me nervous!) and I proceeded to triple it coming away with $40 of my own plus $20 to pay him back.

I had previously told him about the Creepiness Rating system and of course he knows all about my dolls (how could I hide that from the person I live with and will be marrying in not too long?), so he suggested we drop by Target on the drive home since it’s on the way. He is such a good enabler of my hobbies, mostly because I am also an enabler of his (computer video games, electronics, and Black Jack).

Her hair is a little hard right now, I'll have to see what happens when I try to brush it sometime.

Long story for introducing such a little doll, but here she is. Meet Nitra 09, she is a collector doll from the Barbie Basic Black Label, Model No. 09 Collection 001. She didn’t come with a name, but she looks like she’s smirking to me and very sure of herself but her body posture says Robot to me, so I named her Nitra 09. Besides her cool hair cut and slightly retro looking face mold, the best thing about her simply that she’s a Barbie, so it won’t be too difficult to make her new clothes and she can easily wear other Barbie’s clothes.

She came with a stand but it's kindof crooked.

She came with a certificate of authenticity, which is nice since I never keep things in their boxes for long.

Even her toe and finger nails are painted pink!

I did a little digging to find out more about this Barbie Basics business. This particular collection is no longer being produced. Nitra 09 came out in 2009 originally along with 11 other models, all with different “face sculpts” and ethnicities, but all wearing little black dresses. As the number implies, the 001 collection was the first of this type, there have since been 5 more collections all focusing on an outfit theme (red, swimsuits, jeans and tshirt, etc.). It’s a pretty cool idea if you ask me, they’re not expensive but yet they look much more sophisticated than the rest of the doll isle at Target (as in, not bright pink and sparkles).

Model No. 09 features the Diva face sculpt, a retro-inspired cocktail dress, and super chic platinum blond bob with bangs.

If they had had all of these at Target, I totally would have gotten the black girl with the short afro just because she's so unique. But alas, there were only 3 of them at the store and Nitra 09 was definitely the best choice.

So, I’m sure you’ve all been waiting in suspense to find out how many Creepy Points I’ve used up! Here it is:

And I still have 3 leftover for the next 5 months to use or save!

~Molly