Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I've never carved a pumpkin before though, until some friends got me to do it this year. Came out pretty neat!

Yay! 100 posts! Now with foxy updates. Ohh ~

I don't actually have anything special for this... so let me update you on some things that are going on around here.

Specifically, you might recall, a couple months ago I entered a fox bag into a sewing contest over at the So Sew Easy blog. Well, I won! I don't know why I didn't post about this earlier, I've known for over a week now. Thank you to Deby for holding the contest, the sponsors for all the wonderful prizes, and of course all of you who voted!

One of the prizes I want to talk about is writing a guest post for the So Sew Easy blog. I've considered this a lot because I think our audiences probably don't overlap much. My clothes are pretty out there compared to Deby's if you just glance at them. Some of the basic shapes are similar though, and techniques don't vary too widely no matter what you're sewing. After some input from Deby I've decided on a tutorial for a knit fabric dress, like the rainbow dress or Alice in Wonderland one. Even though these two dresses look pretty different, they are mostly the same pattern/construction. It's a pretty simple design that can be adapted for many different dresses.

The other prize of interest to more than just myself is a collaboration with Deby on a bag pattern. I'm pretty excited about this because I don't typically make purses (well, I make travel bags for work, but that's more like factory production than personal sewing). We've started brainstorming ideas. There's so many possibilities! I hope I'm not too much trouble.

Finally, I am planning on making some fox purses for sale. If you're interested, let me know! I've been overwhelmingly busy somehow the past couple weeks and will be the next few weeks too, but someday soon I'll get some time together from the aether to make a couple and list them in the shop. Are there other animals you'd be interested in? I'll probably do a cat for obvious reasons, but there's so many cute animals out there!

If you've read this far, thanks! Remember to keep an eye out for  all these things coming up!

This is Halloween

This is the song stuck in my head right now:

This is a skirt that I made a couple years ago, but I pretty much only get to wear it during Halloween time, so here it is! The fabric is an amazing print that was available at Jo-Ann's and I should have gotten a ton of. It was out of my budget though, so I only got enough for one little skirt. It is quite the usual skirt - gathered rectangles with a double elastic waist.

It's a simple project, but one of the reasons I decided to share was because I did some matching makeup and wanted to sneak that onto the blog. shhhh.

I got the idea for this from some ladies over on reddit.com/r/MakeupAddiction

Happy Halloween!

I recently acquired a crate full of sewing patterns

Okay, I know I don't need more patterns because I've never used many of the ones I have, but someone was throwing these away! 80 different clothing patterns (and 3 for crafts), many from before 1970! I also know most of these aren't my size... and I rarely use patterns anyways... but... did I mention there's a bunch of patterns here from before 1970? Just looking at the envelopes is awesome. I mean, check out this lady:

Or these sassy girls hanging out in their nightgowns:

So good! I want to write little stories about the cover images on a lot of these patterns. Maybe I should. It could be fun? I don't particularly have time to do such a thing, but perhaps.

Here's the full album for anyone interested.

Most of the patterns are in very large sizes (such as pattern size 18 or 20... four to six sizes too big for me), but there is enough here in my size to create a little excitement.

A couple more of my favorites:

Check out that skirt in the top row with the gathered butt, and the red dress flasher below it! She's so excited to show you her under-dress.

That is one intense collar happening on the bottom left. This lady could be in a matrix movie. Maybe in some white outerwear cult with the lady on bottom right.

Oh yes, of course, the classic Polynesian style. I also quite like that yellow crop top on the bottom. It's pretty simple, but what a cute outfit.

This housecoat bottom left, how luxurious! It looks so heavy! I wish it was my size because I would wear the hell out of that thing, especially in that floral pattern. Also the top right, totally a mullet dress (an awesome one at that). Business in the front, party in the back with that gathering.

This isn't the best photo, but if you look closely you'll notice an interesting detail on the dress second from left, top row. There's a tie pulling the front of the dress towards the back. I didn't even notice until I was looking at the photos. So simple, but a nice touch.

This is the last one I'll include in the post, but there's a couple more in the album. These patterns stood out from the group for being the only ones pre-1900s (though they are modern reproductions).

I should really break into some of these and sew, but eh... following a pattern is always so tedious! Maybe I'll just make up those stories about them instead...

Sewing machines are too loud.

This post is a little different than my usual ones. I just want to rant a little about how loud sewing machines are.

I like sewing when I visit my boyfriend because there is less distractions than if I am in my room. Unfortunately I don't have a separate space to sew at his place and my sewing machine (1960s Kenmore) is crazy loud. It keeps him from getting work done. It bothers me too. I've noticed that when I sew at home (1990s Kenmore), my ears begin to hurt after a while. I wear earplugs sometimes, but then I can't watch tv or listen to music at the same time. Headphones are cool but get tangled up and also start hurting my head after a while because they press my eyeglasses into my temples.

I tried searching for solutions to make a machine quieter. All the suggestions are to get it serviced (why does servicing a machine cost $100? My machines didn't cost that much), oil it, and put it on a foam mat. I went as far as checking the sound levels of the machines with a decibel meter, placed on the table next to the machine. I realize this is checking very close to the source, but while I'm sewing, my head is pretty much on top of the source too. The 1960s machine got 97 decibels, and the 1990s machine 98. This is far too loud. Prolonged exposure to sound levels like this damages hearing. I already have the hearing of someone much older than me (don't go to concerts/raves without ear plugs kids!), I don't need it to get worse.

I know there are some machines that are quieter, sometimes, maybe. The ones I used in college were eerily quiet unless you were sewing full speed. That's great and all but I sew at full speed really often. People would give me strange looks in the school's costume shop when I'd go off, pedal pressed all the way to the floor. Still, perhaps they were somewhat quieter. The problem is that these were $1500 computerized machines. I don't want to spend so much on a machine that frustrates me constantly because it has a mind of it's own and too many ways to mess it up. If I take my foot off the pedal on a mechanical machine it'll stop instantly, none of this taking another stitch business, for example, or sewing at half the speed when in reverse.

Another option that someone has suggested is an industrial machine with a servo motor. I haven't had the chance to try one so I can't say how loud they are. I could use an industrial machine, but again they're a bit pricey. I guess that's worth it to save my hearing, but with these machines the other issue is portability... and where in the world do I put this tank of a machine?? I definitely can't lug it back and forth to my boyfriend's house.

One day, I went to a sewing machine store, decibel meter in hand, and asked to try out a bunch of their machines. Some seemed quieter than others, but all ended up about the same, ranging from 95 to 100 decibels. We tried some with and without foam mats underneath. The mat made a decibel or two difference. Perhaps the difference is more noticeable from further away. In any case, my $15 Kenmore, $100 Kenmore, and all these machines ranging from $200 to $1600 reached about the same volume at full speed.

I oiled my machine because it wasn't running as smoothly as usual, and I hoped it would help some with the sound. I am assuming error in measurement, but funny that it registered a decibel louder than when I measured before oiling.

I haven't found a solution. I don't know if there is one, short of covering the machine in soundproofing materials. It'll probably overheat.

Oh god, I made a store.

Alright folks! Here it is!
Ambrodust Clothing and Accessories

I would love it if you checked out my shop. Any comments, criticisms, tips, etc. are definitely welcome!


A lot of people have been telling me to sell the stuff I make. Well you've got your wish! I've finally come to terms with the risks and created a little Etsy shop of my own. I spent the past couple months making items to list, and it's still not much, but it's definitely a start. I'm pretty fond of everything for sale at this point, and would/do use pretty much the same items myself.

I'm not sure how to price items. I've tried to aim somewhere mid-range for the types of items I'm selling. Hopefully that's about right. I don't want to make it look like I don't value what I do, but at the same time, I'm worried things won't sell if I price too high (especially considering I'm a new seller).

The most difficult pricing is probably shipping. How does anyone know how much shipping will cost? Unless I bring every item down to the post office in the packaging I will use to ship it, I don't know. I've aimed low on this, but consider that a cost I'll suck up if necessary to give an incentive for people to buy items until the shop gets going (*hope*hope). I'll still be making a profit at this point on any item that sells, after subtracting item materials, labor/time (on the low end of hourly wage unfortunately), and gas/shipping materials. Perhaps I sew too slow? It seems like things would cost way, way too much if I charged the seemingly typical seamstress rate of $20 + per hour.


Now for a little not-all-that-interesting story time. I am soooo bad with names. I could never come up with a brand/shop/whatever name. My boyfriend came up with this, and well, I'm considering it a business decision. It's nondescript enough to give me flexibility with what items I can sell, hasn't been used by someone else for anything as far as I can tell, and has a little bit of a whimsical quality what with the dust and amber? ambrosia? yea... that's not what my boyfriend was talking about at the time... but hooray for coming up with explanations for why something is after the fact!

Is it plaid or tartan?

I'm never quite sure which one is correct. In any case, this is one of the items I mentioned making in my last post. I finally got some photos! It's pretty straightforward, with some extra finishing I don't do all the time because I made it with the intention of selling it.

The skirt has two layers of ruffles, with the bottom one sewn to a lining. It has some black venise lace on the hem, and an elastic waistband. I like using two channels of elastic because it keeps the waistband flatter, so most of my skirts have this kind of waist.

This is what the inside looks like - it has french seams and I used some twill tape (not visible because it's on the other side) to cover up the gathered edge of the bottom ruffle (hence the two rows of stitching above it).  I'm pretty happy with this finish, not sure why I don't have a photo of it.

I didn't have any major problems while sewing it, though I used my relatively new ruffler foot and had a little trouble getting the ruffles the correct length. It's hard to know how to set it to get the right amount of ruffle for whatever you're attaching it to, if that makes sense.

On an unrelated note, I got this super raven-esque vintage hat the other day:

I'm not really sure where to or how to wear it, but ah! It's so awesome!

Oh thrift shopping, how I love thee.

I really want to take a moment for a short post about my most recent thrift shopping trip. I've scored some great stuff in the past (two pairs of platform sneakers and UFO pants within an hour in one store, on a half off sale day? One of my best shopping days ever.), and yesterday's haul is pretty sweet. To keep this somewhat sewing related...

check out all that bias tape! If I recall correctly, there's 13 packages there, with only 4 or so that have been opened - all for $3! On my way to the CD section after grabbing up that bias tape I noticed the modern cookie press ($8, a little pricey compared to my usual finds but it looks well made) then turn around and find the vintage one from the 1950s for only $4! It even has the instruction book! Check out the animal shaped disc for it, isn't that awesome?

I also got a new wallet, beads, tights, and some CDs (it's weird I didn't already own DJ Sammy's Heaven... It's one of the things that got me into electronic music in the first place, and still one of my favorite CD cover/insert designs. The other one is 97 Octane by Dieselboy. I'm not much of a fan, but it caught my eye the last couple times I saw it at this store so I went for it).

I can't praise thrift shopping enough. You never know what great things you'll find.

New fabric, and some other exciting thoughts

Today, I wanted to share my latest fabric acquisitions. The heart fabric especially drew me in, so cute! I might go back for more to make a couple skirts for sale (if the store still has it).

These both came from one of my favorite fabric stores, where everything is $1.99 a yard. They always seem to have something super cute or useful and just because all the fabric there is cheap doesn't mean it's poor quality. It's the same quality of fabric you'd find anywhere else, sometimes with factory errors or already cut into odd sized pieces, but often times no issues at all. The downfall is that the stock is not constant - see something amazing today? It probably won't be there the next time you go. I've gotten awesome fabrics in the past then wished later that I had bought twice as much, only to never see them sold again (the one I used for the yellow polka dot skirt is a perfect example of this).

They had several other fabrics I loved, though I'm trying not to buy more than I can store (it's becoming a problem...). This leads to the other thoughts I mentioned: I'm feeling particularly adventurous right now and considering pulling some money together to purchase some of the other fabrics I saw, then making some skirts in several styles/sizes to sell. It's risky, I don't know if anyone will buy my products because the market is pretty saturated with the skirt styles I like (well and there's that storage issue), but perhaps worth a shot. I'll see how I feel about the idea in a couple days, though I welcome any thoughts from you in the mean time.
Like I mentioned before, a dress form would really help in this sort of endeavor, so I caved and just ordered one.
I think I've fallen into the "retail therapy" trap this week, having spent money on patterns, millinery supplies, fabric, and now a dress form. I can just call these business expenses, right? Let's hope that's how this ends up.
Speaking of millinery supplies, I am expecting some in the mail soon to make a hat to go with my Victorian costume. It won't be exactly like the one pictured but similar. I purchased this pattern from Truly Victorian since I've never made a structured hat before. Lots of things to look forward to in the mail!

A little rant about photos

I know a lot of sewing bloggers take photos of themselves on their own but I've always disliked doing that myself. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone to take photos for me on a regular basis, and I didn't win that mega millions lottery drawing last week to hire someone, so I'll just have to put up with self-portraits. Don't get me wrong, I don't always dislike self-portraits. I set up mini photo shoots for myself just for fun sometimes, but I don't want to have to put that level of effort into a shot of a mock-up or progress of a project.
Even though I have a remote for my camera, I never seem to have someplace I can set it up. This house doesn't have much I can use as backgrounds either. There's always too much furniture, other clutter, not enough light or backlight from windows. I'd go outside, but I don't trust my tripod on the uneven ground. It makes me miss my old living room (visible in the indoor shots of the wedding dress post). Even there I was never completely satisfied with photos, so I'm probably idealizing the place since I miss it, but at least I had a consistent spot to use. I've been in the new house about a year and a half now and I can't find a spot I'm satisfied with. Oh well, can't do much about it except keep looking for something that works. Some of my education focused on photography and part of me would like to work in that field, so it pains me a little to say this, but please forgive the sometimes poor photos. I know I'm capable of better, but things just aren't working out.