May 1 – 5, With a Cat

To make Me Made May slightly more interesting/challenging for myself, I mentioned I would try to have themes each week. This week’s theme will be to take a picture with a cat (Spot). Probably not the most interesting theme, but it’s final exam week also so deal with it. I feel like being lazy.

Oh and Bia is doing the challenge too, not sure if she’ll post about it or not but it’s still cool.

May 1: One Piece Kimono T, I always cut the pattern into 3 pieces so I can squeeze it out of less fabric. But look I’m outside! I was actually wearing a different (me made) outfit this morning but I got hot.

If only my balcony was one or two feet longer, then maybe the camera wouldn’t cut off my feet.

May 2: V8571, a little windy for a dress but the double knit is so comfortable.

May 3: Wearing a shirt made by my mama, that I took the sides in on. I wish I knew what pattern it’s from ’cause I love this shirt. I also love the print, except I don’t know what it says (pretty sure it’s just newspaper headlines) so I feel a little self conscious wearing it.

Oh and there is an unfinished me-made wedding dress and bridesmaid dress in the background!

May 4: Last final exam of the semester today. This shirt is from M5929 minus the sleeves.

And a picture in the kitchen for the flickr group’s Friday challenge to take a picture with food. There isn’t any food in this picture really, but this is where I keep my food… if I had any (it’s definitely time to go grocery shopping)

May 5: A little balcony gardening in another Kimono T

Spot loves sitting in her cat grass and chewing on it, though today she’s contemplating how best to escape. That is why she is tied to the railing, because if she wasn’t she would jump.

~Molly

What’s in a Name … Bia

Grandson Abe at the Gem and Mineral Show

My “grandma” name is Bia.  Bia rhymes with Mia, as in Mia Farrow.  I was allowed to choose my own grandma name, in case I didn’t want use the “grandma” moniker.  After all, grandma sounds pretty old. Evidently, lots of young grandmas are doing it now.   We decided that I got to choose, so I looked at all the non-English/alternate names for Grandmother.

Hawaiian: Tutu

Yiddish: Bubbe

German: Oma

Spanish: Abuela

Goldie Hawn: GlamMa

I chose Abuela, never thinking about how a little kid could possibly get his tongue around that wiggledy word.  As our grandson started talking, Abuela somehow turned into Bia.

I make Abe shirts.  Abe is shown here at the Gem and Mineral Show wearing his cherry fabric shirt.  While it is red, it is not an official Nebraska  Husker shirt.  I usually make him a new Husker shirt each year.  Just got the next one cut out the other day.

Shhh! Don’t tell him, it can befor his 5th birthday (if I can get it done…) , which is just around the corner!

Go Big Red!

Special rocks, won at the Rock Race.

–ttfn     Bia

Conflicting Reviews: Songs From The Stars

Welcome to the Empty Bobbin’s first book review post that has nothing to do with sewing or crafting, Conflicting Reviews! (but it could be a sewing or crafting book in the future… just not this time)

Really, who doesn’t love a good book (or even a trashy book once in a while)? And if you just said that you don’t, then you have been brainwashed by reality television and radical religious groups, and therefore your opinion does not count. Since reading is something both Pedro, Bia and myself enjoy, we decided it might be fun to share a bit about the stuff we’ve recently read.

And in good nerdy fashion, the first book I will present is a sci fi novel. Songs from the Stars by Norman Spinrad is a post-apocalyptic story, except full of hippies instead of zombies. Basically after the great “Smash” (world wide nuclear war), most of the earth has been permanently scared, but the entire west coast of the US (and probably a few other places unmentioned) was spared (this fact I do not believe would actually happen, California is one of the most populated states with several large cities. I’m pretty sure the center of the country is more likely to survive than the coasts, except for Colorado ’cause there’s a massive nuclear warhead warehouse inside one of the mountians…..) and has turned into one massive hippy commune that fears science. It’s complicated, so here is the Amazon description:

Centuries after the big smash, the successor civilization of Aquaria more or less flourishes on the west coast of what was once the United States, a society built on White Science, following the “law of muscle, sun, wind and water.” Only the sorcerers of Space Systems, Inc., dare traffic in the “Black Sciences” of atomic, petroleum and physics which destroyed the old golden age of space, for they alone know of the higher destiny that awaits man in the abandoned Big Ear space station. For centuries, they have secretly infiltrated Aquarius through the gray town of La Mirage while crafting a spaceship capable of reaching the Big Ear and turning man’s ears once more to the mysterious Songs from the Stars. Now, through the Aquarians Clear Blue Lou, perfect master of the Clear Blue Way, and Sunshine Sue, queen of the Word of Mouth communication network, they scheme to bring their ultimate scenario to fruition. Sex, love, emotion, karma, destiny, perhaps even The Way itself, all become elements in the scenario of Arnold Harker, Black Scientist, sorcerer, project manager of Operation Enterprise. But when Clear Blue Lou, Sunshine Sue and Arnold Harker finally confront the interstellar brotherhood of sentient beings, they find, each in his way, that The Galactic Way utterly transcends their hopes, wildest dreams and darkest fears. In this novel of science, mysticism and their ultimate synergistic fusion, Norman Spinrad once again demonstrates his power to create a vivid future that encompasses our dreams of space.

I suppose it’s bad form to give away much more than that, so I won’t. I had never heard of Norman Spinrad before I found this book in a used book store (the best kind there is), but by the looks of the About The Author paragraph at the end of the book, he had some popular books and was pretty involved in the sci fi literary world. And to make this a similar format to other “reviews” we do here, here are some standard questions I just made up:

Title: Songs from the Stars

No. of pages: 286

ISBN: 0671253263 (or 1617200522, apparently the newer edition has a different ISBN. Confusing and strange, I agree)

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantacy

Year of original publication: New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980. Apparently my copy is a first edition! Not that that makes it any more valuable since it’s not a famous book or anything.

Synopsis: see above

What did you like or dislike about the book? I like that it’s different from what we’ve come to think of as the typical post-apocalyptic story line in that it has a much happier view of the future and humanity after we all try to kill ourselves with nuclear weapons. Obviously it’s just barely based on reality, but it’s a kind of believable reaction for humans to reject all science after near extinction by they’re own hands.

Would you read it again? Would you recommend it to others? I doubt I’ll read it again, there are very few books I’ve ever felt the desire to read again (And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown…), but I would recommend it just because it’s fun and a little suspenseful. But some people may be offended by the blatant ”free love.” You can just ignore that concept and focus on being more open minded – that’s the whole point of the book in my opinion.

~Molly

April Pattern

A boring pattern acquisition update this month because all I did was renew my Burda subscription. Even though I said in my original post that Burdas wouldn’t count because they came every month, I’m going to count it just this once because it’s the only time of year I “buy” the magazines.

My subscription doesn’t end until June, but if I didn’t renew now I would definitely forget. It seems like a lot of people didn’t like the patterns Burda was putting out last year, but I don’t think the entire magazine has to be spectacular for it to be worth it. I’ve gone back through old magazines months (or years) and found awesome patterns that I didn’t like when I first got the magazine. Really I only need 1 or 2 good patterns per issue for it to be worth it for me.

The subscription did go up again this year to $90 (I think it was $80 or $85 last year, can’t remember exactly), but if you break it down, that’s $7.50 per issue. Assuming there’s about 25-30 patterns per issue, each pattern only costs $0.30-$0.25, and that’s pretty damn cheap! But since I usually only find ~3 patterns I like per issue, assuming those are the only patterns I ever use from the issue, the patterns cost around $3. And considering that the cheapest I can ever get Vogue patterns is $3.99, I’d say that’s entirely acceptable (especially since I have had way fewer fit issues with Burda. Vogue seems to be hit or miss sometimes)

Interesting side note: The English version of Burda (or maybe American, I don’t know if all English versions are the same country to country) used to never have the same cover photo as the one posted on the German website, but just in the last couple months it seems they’ve synced up. Not that it probably means anything important.

A cost analysis to brighten up your day!

~Molly

And now for something slightly different

So this is a little bit about dolls and slightly more about photography.  Bia has always been pretty into photography, she sent me this link because I’ve been into dolls recently (have you noticed?).

This is definitely the funniest picture, she looks so pissed! Must have something to do with the fact that her doll is in a wheel chair, and has a cast on it's leg AND arm.

I’m posting this because two things came to my mind when looking at the picture:

1. Why are none of the girls smiling?
2. The description says the dolls were “customized” to look like their owners, but they definitely weren’t, the dolls are just wearing matching outfits and have the same hair color. Half the dolls don’t even have the same hair cut as their owners, how is that “customizing”?
3. (ok, maybe three things) Maybe the girls aren’t smiling because they were forced to dress in matching outfits with their dolls… I don’t think I ever wanted to do that.

Later I came across a New York Times blog post about these pictures and the photographer Ilona Szwarc. They still seem really staged and meaning less to me, probably even more so after reading the article, because she makes Americans seem so self centered (she’s Polish born). I’m not saying some American’s aren’t, but every country has those people, I just think little girls like these dolls because they are fun. Duh, what more is there to think about it?

Maybe I just don’t get the “art” aspect.

~Molly

Me-Made-May 2012

Well, MMM12 is coming soon and I am going to participate, with my own infusion to the challenge.

The basic task that most participants undertake, to wear one or more self stitched items of clothing per day during a month long period, isn’t that hard for me. Around half my wardrobe is self made because I’ve been sewing since I was little and never stopped. Granted, I don’t often wear a piece of me made clothing everyday but still, not hard. So I’ve always gotten bored and tired of the challenges about half way through.

So this time I’m adding some additional bits to make it more interesting for me, I’m not entirely sure what they will all be yet but I’m thinking about a rainbow theme for one week, maybe wearing cute shoes, who knows?! I am for sure adding in the challenge of wearing at least one dress or skirt every week, hopefully more. This is all in addition to wearing one “me-made” every day, of course. Why only one and not article of clothing? Because I have yet to make any pants (shorts yes, pants no) and I refuse to go with out my blue jeans for an entire month.

Oh, right, I almost forgot:

‘I, Molly of Toferet’s Empty Bobbin, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’12. I endeavour to wear at least one me-made item of clothing each day as well as at least one skirt/dress each week for the duration of May 2012. Additional weekly challenge maybe be incorporated.’

~Molly

Wednesday Wedding Whale: Sigh, It’s Too Big

Yes, that’s right, too big.

I finished the zipper and finally got to try the dress on in full (I had tried it on before along the way but it’s so hard to tell if it fits like it’s supposed to when I have no help) and it’s too big. I think it’s because my silk is so much heavier than the cheap polyester I used for my test-run and either stretched out or shifted while I cut it out. I even retried on the test-run dress and it still fits perfect like it did before (so, no mom, I have not lost weight!). But I’d much rather the dress be too big than too small or some other defect because I can easily take it in at the sides. Not sure if I can keep the waist seams lined up perfectly though since they curve so much.

Since I’ve decided not to reveal the full finished dress until after the wedding when I have really good pictures, here is Spot after burrowing inside the test-run dress (which she has claimed as her own).

And refusing to be photogenic and open her eyes.

This weekly Wednesday update so far has been a good location for random links too, so here are some more!

• Since we’re on the subject of formal dresses, this is a little look at some famous movie prom dresses and how to “update” them for now. I think I need to rewatch Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion…
• Pedro has been obsessed with this game, I think she finally beat it though.
• 3-D Chocolate Printer, enough said.
• Not a link, but it’s 85F outside right now – is it strange that I associate summer indoors with dimly lit rooms (because the window coverings are closed) and continous buzzing (air conditioning). Of course I also have a separate (outdoor) association with summer: stuffed, itching noses, grass and wild flowers. Must be the location of the world I’m in, it’s not exactly the most comfortable place for humans on this planet.

~Molly

Mexican roller derby and other things to talk about with your rabbi.

So Molly has been requesting that I write this post for some time now, this topic is kindof my specialty. But there are two very good reasons for why I have put it off for so long:

1. My computer, Pablo Poseidon, is having problems as of late. Suffice to say, I hate computers.
2. I play rugby now? And this takes up a significant amount of time, mostly because I don’t know anything about rugby and therefore have to learn. And it makes me really really tired and sore.

Sometimes reason #2 hurts... This bruise actually got a lot more impressive as the days went on.

When I was in elementary school, my parents were weirdly strict about me always wearing tennis shoes to school. Never sandals, oh no. Probably because at recess I would always play soccer on the “soccer field” (it was a gravel lot) and I usually got scraped up a bit. Anyways, I remember one day towards the end of the year I begged and begged and finally they let me wear sandals… with socks. That was the condition. And thus I blame them for my habit of wearing my myriad wonderful socks with my trusty Birkenstocks.

My everyday Birkenstocks. Mine are actually cooler, with weavy stuff on them, but i couldn't find a picture of that specifically on the internet. But there will be pictures further down to show them.

I also have "formal Birkenstocks" for special occasions. I would wear them more, but they stain the bottoms of my feet and it is very hard to wash off... Molly says I can wear these to her wedding muahahahaha!

I have a large collection of socks. This is remarkable for me to say, that I own a lot of any article of clothing. I now know just how little clothes I own, comparing my scant closet to those of my friends in the dorms. Socks are different. I have an enormous drawstring bag which accommodates my socks. They haven’t been paired up or “matching” since I started doing my own laundry, I just reach blindly in and out comes greatness. People think I’m joking when I say I like socks, or at least don’t take me seriously enough. Then I show them the bag. It’s actually somewhat concerning to people. And by “people” I mean my mother. She frowns upon the acquisition of any more socks. She also keeps wanting me to throw away the ones with holes. Okay, so some of them don’t technically have a bottom because they’re so worn out, but they still served their purpose! I hide those ones now, they’re just too good to be thrown out…

My bag of socks. How wonderful it is.

A few of my best. Find the pear.

So now we’ve come to the best part. Ah, socks. Once in a while, Google profiles my interests correctly and gives me an ad that actually interests me (although the Peruvian flute music ads were amusing…). That’s how I discovered arguably the best sock-selling company out there: LittleMissMatched. You may recall that Molly has mentioned this company before, they also have a line of dolls. I think she got a blonde one, whom we named Leone. LMM has recently gone down in my esteem because they’ve shifted their focus to clothes and other lame stuff (their socks are actually kindof expensive in my opinion, too). And then, after reading the excerpts of an interview that Molly highlighted in that same post, I was further disillusioned by the company founders’ ironic attitude towards the inception of their sock line:

LittleMissMatched launched as a company in 2004, and began by selling bright and colorful, unmatched socks in wildly fun, mismatched patterns packaged in odd numbers for young girls and pre-teens. For the company’s founders, Jonah Staw, Arielle Eckstut, and Jason Dorf, it all began as a funny commentary about the mystery of disappearing socks, and the single mismatch it leaves behind. They jokingly concluded that they could solve the problem by wearing socks that didn’t match.

A “funny commentary”??? Luckily they go on to say:

LittleMissMatched started with a very simple mission: build a brand that is FUN, inspires CREATIVITY, embraces individual STYLE and celebrates self EXPRESSION. In our world, socks don’t match– MATCHING is mundane — MIXING is MONUMENTAL and COLOR is cool. While we started with socks sold in odd numbers, we recognized that there’s an entire universe out there who shares our passion for creativity and self expression — socks were just the beginning. From books to bedding, PJ’s to pencil pouches and flip flops to furniture, we say, think “outside the socks” – You can be a kid forever. Be BOLD, FASHION is FUN.

That sounds better, and I sincerely hope that this is LMM’s view, too. Because matching IS mundane. I show who I am by my socks. It’s how I weed out the losers when I meet new people. If they get offended, can’t accept it, or just can’t get over the very divergence from what is “normal” then I know that they will never understand. And while I don’t agree with the whole “outside the socks” thing as they’re talking about it, I do agree that you should strive to be bold and have fun with it. There aren’t many aspects of fashion that I understand, but as a tool for expressing individuality and creativity, I am most certainly on board. Clothes are just things that keep us warm and modest (to varying degrees), it’s what you do to portray yourself to others that we’re really talking about. And my socks accurately portray me to the world. Because I AM a pink sock with hot dogs and pretzels on the left foot and a Rudolph sock on the right, YES, IN APRIL!!!

NEW Matching Socks at LittleMissMatched!

- LittleMissMatched’s idea of an April Fools joke, I was about ready to give up on happiness when I saw this in my inbox.

This ensemble went nicely with my commencement gown, I went out in style.

On a frozen pond. I live dangerously.

Being outdoorsy... and stripey.

Mount Rushmore

No socks, but shows the weather of Colorado well. It had snowed the day before, but it was about 60F that day I think... And yes, I was lazy and didn't want to wear boots.

Why does this picture look so weird?

Zeus in a box. She's so good.

Happy Earth Day.

-PEDRO THE MAGNIFICENT

The Event Dress

I had to take a break from the wedding dress, so I made a dress to wear to my bridal shower and bachelorette party. This is slightly unusual because I almost never sew something specifically for a scheduled event. This dress also jumped ahead of my entire queue because of an actual dead line, which also never happens. I’m pretty tired so that’s all the introduction you’ll be getting.

Pattern: Butterick 3532 from some time around 40 years ago (?), I couldn’t find a date so I’m just guessing.

Pattern Description: Semi-fitted, unlined jacket has rounded neckline and full length sleeves. Close-fitting, mid-knee length dress with flared skirt has U-neckline, cap sleeves and dropped waistline. Solid or bi-color. Topstitch trim.

Pattern Sizing:  Size 10, bust 32.5″

Fabric Used: The most amazing sparkly cotton knit, I don’t know how the sparkles are attached but they are practically embedded into the fabric because it doesn’t come off on your hands or in the wash.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, but of course no one is a long and “willowy” as those cover models.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, very.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like that it’s basically just a tshirt, but the seaming would make it fun for a stripe or patterned fabric. It’s really easy to wear. The only annoying thing about this version I made is that the facings don’t stay down perfectly, I wanted them to be invisible so I just under stitched and tacked them down.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: The only change I made was to cut off 5 inches from the hem (which I left raw because that’s really the best way for this stuff) and take in the side seams a little. Next time I think I’ll lower the darts too.

Would you sew it again? Yes, I’d like to make a more casual version. I’ll probably have a hard time wearing this to anything other than parties because of the sparkle, I’m not an every day sparkle kind of girl.

Would you recommend it to others? Yes, because I bet those of you who are adept at drafting could make something like this up easily, it’s just a cap sleeve tshirt with a drop waist, half circle skirt.

~Molly

Wednesday Wedding Whale: Extras

I’m not having flowers for my wedding, so along with cute paper umbrellas I’m making little hair barrettes and pins for bridesmaids/groomsmen/moms/grandmas.  I bought around 5 yards of the lace for my wedding dress so I had lots of options to use it for my veil, and since I have so much of it I’m going to use it for everyone else’s “accessories.” I’m putting a lot effort into doing this, and I feel that they will be really special, so I hope everyone that gets one will also really enjoy that they’re handmade.

Spot was "helping" again, this is the first time I've ever had to lock her out of the sewing room. But once I have her her own piece of tulle, she was content. And she looks so pretty with it tucked in her collar!

Right now it looks like just a big jumble of beads, lace, and scrap booking extras (I wanted to have lots of options so I wasn’t holding back at the store)

just a little peak at my veil

And, like last week, here are some random bits that I thought were interesting:

• This has nothing to do with sewing but it’s a really interesting look at the density of cities, specifically if the entire population of the world lived in one city then how many states in the U.S. would that city take up if it had the density of Paris or New York.
• Did you see Karen’s latest Ugly Amnesty? I wonder what other sewing superheros (or villains) are out there? and will my doll army make more enemies…
• Also, some food for thought (Pedro sent this to me, then she told me Я ЛЮБЛЮ ТЕБЯ!)

~Molly