weaving

I've been weaving all day, and I wove all day Friday too. It's very tedious after you get into the rhythm of the pattern, thus I've also been listening to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I just finished it and I must say... it was just okay. I really think I like Jane Austen in movie form much better. That way you avoid all the excessively long conversations with annoying characters. Anyway, I'm halfway done with my project, so I'm pretty pumped. Now I just need to find another book on tape to finish with.

I've been thinking a lot lately about my intentions and purposes for making things to sell. Am I just making things because of vanity or worldliness or ambition or fame or...?? What good is it to make clothing? As a Christian, could I be doing more worthwhile things? Yes. But, I am convicted that I have my talents/passions for a reason. God gave me the desire to create things and I've never felt that it was wrong or a wasteful thing. Plus, it seems to me, from my humble earthly perspective, that He has to be doing something for a reason with people in the weaver's guild wanting me to be president next year and then this job working for wiksten that just fell in my lap.
I had the thought the other day, Paul was a tent maker... and then I looked it up, it's in Acts 18: 2-3. He and Aquila and Pricilla were making tents in Corinth, for a living. And there's always the excellent wife of Proverbs 31 who does a lot of making and providing for her family. (It sounds like I'm trying to justify myself, I know, and in a sense I am, but hopefully not in a bad way.)
Then I thought about my obsession with traditional textile techniques from different countries. It doesn't seem like that much of a leap to see myself traveling, working with people making textiles in other countries, and it being a way to serve the Lord in proclaiming the gospel. Well, whether that ever happens or not, I do have a sense that this is definitely where I should be now. But I hope I remember to be constantly seeking the Lord's guidance and not just run after my own goals (like I do all the time...).
Anyway, check out this amazing kilim woven bag from Turkey. It's for sale at World Crafts Village, a website that sells products from all over the world made by people supporting their families and the gospel.

I recently bought a DVD of an amazing dance troup called Georgian Legend. They do traditional Georgian dancing and their costumes are awesome! I immediately thought, those seem like something Folkwear would make a pattern for. So I emailed Folkwear my idea... and they said they're going to research it! I really can't believe it. I guess I figured they get requests like that all the time, but maybe not.
Here are a couple videos of Georgian Legend to check out. (Any of their videos are pretty awesome.)

Music Video

Shows the girls costumes that I like. (bad quality video, but the best of the costumes I've found)

One of my favorite adventuring dresses, this is an austrian dirndl pattern from Folkwear. I made it in a thick cotton. It's perfect as a sleeveless dress, but looks nice with a peasant blouse under it in cooler weather.

These pictures are from our honeymoon this May, in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. The bottom one is crossing the stream further down from the waterfall. It was absolutely gorgeous there, endless forest everywhere. I haven't been to a place I liked more. All we did the whole week was hike--the perfect honeymoon! (no camping though, we stayed at bed & breakfasts)

Is it just me, or does anyone else like hiking in skirts better than pants? It's just so much cooler and I never feel like the skirt is in the way, even when climbing. Although any longer than knee length might be pushing it.

As soon as I upload my wedding pictures I will be posting a few of those. I'm so pleased with how everything came out!

pleated peasanty dress

Here is a dress that I really enjoy wearing, it was a vogue pattern that seemed more on the unusual side. It's a piece of cake to construct, all except for the pleating across the neckline--it took me forever.

The left picture is the first version I made, which is out of a super soft knit. While it's quite comfortable and flowy, the pleating was almost impossible to do nicely and it clings to the body so much, that wearing a tank top under it is needed, but looks silly. Also, the sleeves were too short, not coming all the way to my wrists. After several bouts of chucking that one at the wall during construction (because of the combination of knit fabric and my old sewing machine), I finally finished it, and promptly forgot about it. Now it's a pretty nice night gown.

About six months later I tried the same pattern with a linen/rayon blend fabric that I love. It was much easier to do the pleating, I used the half sleeves instead of the long ones, and I extended the hem slightly. This fabric gave a little more structure to the full sleeves and sashed skirt, which I like. It reminds me of a peasanty look. I also like it because it's an all seasons dress, cool enough for warmer weather, but substantial enough for cooler. It would definitely work well with leggings or pants under it. It falls into my category of dresses you can run around in, but it still could work at a semi-casual occasion.

Lesson learned: stay away from knit unless you know how to use it.

ps-I just found my old bow and arrows in my parents garage! Time to go get in some practice...

a daring endeavor... or just stupid

I have come to a realization. Several that are connected actually.

1. I am obsessed with sewing clothes, and there is no stopping me.

2. I am slightly less obsessed with aquiring as many hobbies as possible. (but these aren't just any old hobby, they all have a theme...)

3. I am becoming increasingly interested in all kinds of traditional folk dance. (this being one of the more dominant hobbies.)

Conclusion: It seems that all my adventure novel reading when I was a kid has really had quite an influence on me. All of my interests are related to "adventure". I put that in quotes because it means different things to different people. Example: I told my husband the name of my blog and he said something to the effect of, "so you're going to make gortex fashion for climbing Mount Everest?" Adventure means something different to him, at least his first reaction to the word.

Some thoughts on "adventure": To me it's a very multifaceted concept. Anything people do in adventure novels, including, but not limited to: any type of travel (hiking, boating, flying, riding horses, etc.), exploring, being outside in general (city or rural), working hard at something unusual (ex: gardening, blacksmithing, building something, etc.), dancing, hunting, archery, sword fighting, being brave in general. I have a feeling this list is not comprehensive at all, so any more additions would be welcome.

Now that I've sort of given my definition, I must say that for me personally I want to be dressed for adventure -- whether or not I'm actually going to be doing anything exciting. And I have noticed in my clothes making that I'm moving more and more to a certain style that is both influenced by classic/adventure literature and ethnic construction and decoration--but still not completely ridiculous to wear nowadays. (some people might disagree on that, hehe.) Oh, and I'm also in love with folk dance costumes!

So, the purpose of this blog is to consciously document my influences, projects, hobbies, and general train of thought. And to see if I'm alone in my strangeness, or there are other adventure-novel-reading-and-fashion-influenced people out there.

Disclaimer: I don't think of myself as one of those people who goes to things such as anime conventions or any type of dress up convention for that matter, or civil war reinactments, or renaissance festival obsessed people, etc. But, I have done every one of those things at least once, and I'm not saying they're ridiculous, I'm just saying those people were a little too intense for me. I'm not obsessed with one specific thing that I spend every waking moment thinking about. No offense if you are one, I know those people have a lot of fun.

So here is a picture of a shirt I wove 2 years ago. It's wool and cotton and it was a blast to weave because I just switched colors whenever I felt like it, and it came out so well. It's my favorite thing to wear in the winter.