The Seam Allowance Kick-Off Party and a Progress Report

Make 25% of my wardrobe? What does that mean? Reading The Seam Allowance Kick-Off Party and a Progress Report 6 minutes Next The Colette Patterns Road Show Fall 2012

Have you heard? Tomorrow is the big Seam Allowance Kick-Off Party! Saturday, June 30, 3-6pm

Just a note before I jump into what this party includes. Everyone is welcome to come to this party. You need not pledge 25% or anything of the such. This is an open house and we would like anyone who is interested in knitting and sewing, and would like to meet or teachers and mentors, to come. 

Ok, now that I got that off my chest, let's talk about all of the exciting people at the party and what the event will look like. 

  • Julie Weisenberger, founder of Cocoknits, will be at the party with her full trunk show of beautiful hand-knit samples. Julie is wonderfully warm and funny. She is great at matching you with your next favorite knit. Julie teaches a monthly KAL at Verb and a sweater intensive. Her designs are wearable, stylish, and fun to knit.
  • Sonya Phillip, founder of 100 Acts of Sewing; Sonya, an artist and maker, has turned her sights on sewing. Since January, when she learned to draft her own patterns from Cal Patch, she has sewn 40 dresses is well on her way to her goal of 100 by year's end. Sonya will have her dresses with her on display. She is teaching a class at Verb, 100 Acts of Sewing: Make Your Own Dress. This is a refreshing change from overly-complicated sewing patterns. Sonya's pattern is simple and to the point. You will have a new dress in about 4 hours.
  • Jessie Inglis, Verb's Lead Sewing Expert and Teacher, will be available to answer any questions you may have about sewing labs and classes at Verb. Jessie has sewn a number of the beautiful samples you've seen at Verb using the Colette and Megan Nielsen patterns. These samples are a invaluable resource for the shop. They provide a visual for cut, fit, and detail. They give the viewer a better idea of what size to sew. And by sewing the patterns, Jessie has a great sense of the process and skill necessary to complete the pattern. 
  • Kristine Vejar (that's me!), founder of A Verb for Keeping Warm and Seam Allowance; I will be on hand to answer any questions related to, well anything in the shop really, but Seam Allowance in particular. I've been studying the work of Natalie Chanin, founder of Alabama Chanin. I will be showing my current pieces within what I call the Chanin genre: the combination of stenciling, appliqueing, and stitching. I will demonstrate the stenciling process. I am in the process of designing a Chanin based class which hopefully will be ready and scheduled by tomorrow!

We are very excited and thinking of ways to make the event extra fun. Such as giving those who have already signed-up the much anticipated *fancy* membership cards. ;) 

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Ok, now a progress report on my own work towards 25%. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been intrigued by Project 333 and re-imagining my wardrobe. After that post, I headed over to my closet and started the process of going through my clothing. My closet is filled with business casual. For those of you who see me on a regular basis, I doubt you'd describe my style as business casual. You're much more likely to see me in jeans and tee-shirt, typically the color black, since I am dyeing all day, and get everything stained. So what's up with the business casual? 

This wardrobe is a remnant of my previous life, pre-Verb. I have kept these clothes because I imagine a scene where Verb is not working out, and I have to go back to work, and will not have the money to purchase new clothing. But then there's the fact that as I am getting older my body is changing i.e. gaining weight, so now these clothes don't even fit me. Somehow, I really doubt that if Verb were not to work out, that I would l be in the mood to lose weight, to then fit into clothing that I really don't want to wear. Right? So, I donated all of it! 6 bags. It was so cathartic to release this past life and to move forward. Living in the now! And now, i don't dread walking towards my closet and I can actually put my clothing away and see what I have to wear. 

Another part of the exercise was to put a few pieces aside in which I like the cut, as I plan to copy these pieces and to knit and sew them. For instance, I have a shawl collared cardigan from J.Crew that I adore and I wore to pieces, and it's a little small. So I have been re-organizing my queue on Ravelry, prioritizing patterns that could replace that much loved cardigan. Plus, I can measure the J.Crew cardigan, add a couple inches of ease, and know which size of the pattern to knit. Easy! 

While my closet is clean, tidy, and full of potential, it is certainly not down to 33 pieces. I am ok with that for the moment. At this point, I feel like enough progress has been made for this week. This is a process and it's going to take time. I have a year to do this. 


For now, I will leave you with this image of me stenciling a new Chanin-esque dress. I already know which black dress it will replace in my closet. 

 I hope to see you tomorrow! 

--Kristine

6 comments

Mark

Mark

What a great idea! I think I will take on this challenge as I have awylas wanted to make more of my own clothing. I already have lived for the past few years with the following wardrobe guidelines:1 Support local clothing shops that are conscious of the designers and clothing they sell i.e. organic, local, non-sweatshop, etc. 2 Buy used clothing at consignment shops, etc. when possible. This is a great way to recycle! 3 For EVERY article of clothing (including footwear) that I purchase whether it is used or new I remove a similar article from my closet and pass it on (either to family, friend, charity, or consignment).

What a great idea! I think I will take on this challenge as I have awylas wanted to make more of my own clothing. I already have lived for the past few years with the following wardrobe guidelines:1 Support local clothing shops that are conscious of the designers and clothing they sell i.e. organic, local, non-sweatshop, etc. 2 Buy used clothing at consignment shops, etc. when possible. This is a great way to recycle! 3 For EVERY article of clothing (including footwear) that I purchase whether it is used or new I remove a similar article from my closet and pass it on (either to family, friend, charity, or consignment).

martha

martha

When will you schedule another alabama chanin-esque class? I missed the June special event and look forward to learning these techniques.

When will you schedule another alabama chanin-esque class? I missed the June special event and look forward to learning these techniques.

maria

maria

i am exceptionally in love with this whole endeavor. i so so wish i lived anywhere near you so that i could join. if you decide to have any kind of virtual element, please let me know. i would happily pay as an online member in some way so that i could participate with the group rather than fashioning (haha) a solitary version for myself.

i am exceptionally in love with this whole endeavor. i so so wish i lived anywhere near you so that i could join. if you decide to have any kind of virtual element, please let me know. i would happily pay as an online member in some way so that i could participate with the group rather than fashioning (haha) a solitary version for myself.

Marisol

Marisol

I’m all over this! I will be there for sure;)

I’m all over this! I will be there for sure;)

Sonya

Sonya

Love this. Serious.

Love this. Serious.

Knitasha

Knitasha

This is fantastic! I can’t wait to see your Chanin-esque pieces! My boyfriend and I have also started contemplating the 333 project and determining if/how we can fit it and Seam Allowance into other areas of our lives.

This is fantastic! I can’t wait to see your Chanin-esque pieces! My boyfriend and I have also started contemplating the 333 project and determining if/how we can fit it and Seam Allowance into other areas of our lives.

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