Tag Archives: Blogiversary

Another Blogiversary

The dress formerly known as Simplicity 3965, alias the Star Wars Dress.

The Star Wars Dress, probably my crowning achievement of the year

My blog is three today! I had totally forgotten. It would’ve been so nice to make a pretty dress, too. I didn’t do anything special like make up a little pattern to share, and since I still can’t seem to manage to mail things (don’t ask about all the Christmas cards still sitting, in stamped envelopes, on my computer desk) I don’t dare even do a regular giveaway. In fact, the only reason you’re getting a post at all is that a) I happen to be off work today, and b) I am bumming around because I have a cold, and c) WordPress sent me a notification via the mobile app reminding me it’s the blog’s birthday.

A lot of things have been intersecting lately that make it harder to blog. At least, harder to blog well. I’ve never had a backlog of projects unblogged the way I do now—at least three or four items, although none are terribly spectacular. Winter, of course, is always a problem in the photography department, and I don’t have a good indoor photo location here. Having the family and old friends around is awesome, but it means we have more stuff to do and people to see than we ever did in Cow Town. My sewing stuff is scattered over three different locations, so when I do get a few minutes here or there, I am often stymied by needing this thing or that. Worst of all, my growing kids are no longer going to bed at 8:00 every night! I depended on that two hours of “me time” to do most of my sewing and blogging. (I don’t have my train commute to read blogs anymore, either, so I am way behind there as well.) Now, by the time they’re in bed it’s pretty much my bedtime. I rarely do any sewing on a weeknight, and if I do get some done on the weekend it’s usually a little bit stolen in the morning before everyone else gets themselves going. And I’m not a natural morning person, either.

This is not a goodbye post, mind you. I’m still a diehard obsessive. I fall asleep thinking about sewing at night. I wake up thinking about it in the morning (if not the middle of the night). My fingers itch with the desire to be making something, or talking or writing about it, pretty much every minute of the day. And there are lots of great things about sewing in my hometown, from meetups to brainwashing mentoring my sisters-in-law, to fun and quirky fabric stores other than Fabricland (even if they are small.) And I’ve been having a tremendous amount of fun doing the digital linework for Cake Patterns—almost as satisfying as making the patterns myself! I’ve mentioned on twitter that we’re moving again at the end of the month—I’m hopeful that I’ll have better photo locations, if nothing else, once that goes down, although the prospect of moving again, even just within town, is exhausting. I should be able to get all (most) of my sewing stuff back together, too!

And on that inspiring note, I think I’ll maybe go have another cup of tea and tidy my little sewing space. The fact that it’s always an insane mess probably doesn’t help my productivity one bit.

Want to cheer me up? Tell me about the most exciting thing in your sewing queue right now! šŸ˜€

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Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Blogiversary Dance

Yup, Tanit-Isis Sews is TWO! Oof. Two years ago today, I introduced myself to the blogging world. And I just chugged past my 400th post last week.

Now, it’s a common practice to commemorate a blogiversary with giveaways, but that would require actually, y’know, mailing stuff. Which gives me Issues. And I feel really, really bad about it because I LOVE winning giveaways and have gotten some really kick-ass stuff that way, and it’s horrifically selfish to receive and not reciprocate. In an attempt to assuage the guilt, allow me to attempt to reciprocate electronically: may I present, for your (I hope) enjoyment, another Tanit-Isis Pattern: the Ariadne Tunic!

Front view

Inspired by my favourite RTW top, it’s taken me quite a few tweaks to get this tunic to wearable. You can see my first attempt, last spring, which was too short, among other issues. My next version was way too long. Now, finally, I think I’ve (close to) nailed it. I’ve also made the flutter sleeves in the pattern a wee bit longer than in this version, as I thought they were a bit short.

(sizing table)

Back View

The pattern is available in five sizes, XS-XL, for busts 82-106 cm (that’s like 31″ to 42″), and is pretty easy-fitting. It’s designed for thin, drapey knits with 4-way stretch. Y’know, the kind that are really, really annoying to sew with? Yeah.

Click on image to see pattern page and download the pattern!

Please enjoy. And thank you all so much for reading. This has been (and will continue to be) a really hectic year in my life, and sewing is both a welcome distraction and a refuge. While I feel quite a bit lately like my head isn’t quite in the game—lots of low-thought projects—I still really enjoy the opportunity to blog, even if it’s not as frequently as I used to. And I really, really, really appreciate everyone who comments (and everyone else who just stops by for a peek). This wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without you. Thank you.

(erm, and please let me know if any of the links aren’t working or if you have any trouble downloading the pattern—I’m trying to organize things a bit differently this time, so hopefully everything works!)

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One year in Blogland

Happy Birthday, dear Blog!

Yup, the day is finally arrived! As I had alluded to last month, my blog is one year old today.

It’s a touch odd to go back and look at what I was doing this time last year; I don’t think I could have imagined how much my sewing would progress (particularly since I barely knew what I didn’t know…)

What I’ve done:

Sewing! While I’m still pretty haphazard about a lot of things, I have many, many more techniques under my belt. And I’ve made lots and lots of clothes, to the point where my me-made wardrobe is probably bigger than my RTW—certainly in my everyday clothes.

In particular, I’ve mastered (ok, attempted more than once:)

Fun projects

  • fly-front zippers
  • topstitching (and man were the first few attempts at this traumatizing!)
  • bound buttonholes
  • coat-making
  • pad-stitching and a few other tailoring techniques
  • my particular fitting issues (short upper body, swayback, long arms and legs)
  • linings
  • underlining and interlining
  • welt pockets (definitely not mastered, but at least attempted.)
  • knits! man I was scared of these…
  • interfacing
  • facings (and the nifty finishing-with-interfacing trick.
  • spending money on sewing: fabric, interfacing, notions, patterns… OK, maybe this isn’t a good thing to have mastered, but trying to sew without spending money on it really kinda sucks.
  • Stash. I definitely have a stash at this point. Not a humongous one, but not teeny-tiny, either. Confession: I love my stash. It gives me a warm feeling to have certain basic fabrics on hand, so that when/if the urge strikes I can whip up what I want on the spot.
  • I’ve had a lot of fun with photography, too (intermixed with plenty of boring, boring shots).

Quirky projects

What I haven’t done:

  • I haven’t done as much pattern-drafting as I had initially thought I would, although I have really enjoyed my forays into altering existing patterns.
  • invisible zippers
  • double-ended darts
  • lapped zippers
  • bagged lining
  • a little black dress. Everyone needs one, right?
  • most of these dresses.
  • mitred corners

Hmm, that list actually isn’t half-bad.

I’ll take this moment of navel-gazing to highlight a few things.

My first list of goals (some achieved, some not! šŸ˜‰ )

My first posted project.

My first wadder! (well, my first blogged wadder)

My first wearable garment (for me, anyway)

My first comment

My “arrival” in the blogosphere. I really had no idea how to “promote” my blog, other than posting my projects

Plain projects

on Burdastyle and PatternReview. It wasn’t until I got that coveted link from the Selfish Seamstress back in August that I actually got a readership of more than a handful of people :). (To those of you who were there before—well, you just extra-rock!)

And lastly I’d like to thank you all, each and every one of you, who takes the time to stop here and poke through my ramblings. Your comments are one of the high points of my days, and the interaction, both here and on your own blogs, keeps me excited and motivated and itching to sew, design, create!

In celebration, I’m going to wear my circle-skirt/Ceylon blouse combo, despite the fact that I have nowhere to go except taking kids to the doctor’s office this afternoon:

Me Made March 15—one year of blogging!

All dressed up!

Ceylon Blouse
Casey Circle Skirt
Fluffy Petticoat
Oh, yeah, and a poorly-fitting knit tee underneath for warmth.

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