ITGAVKF

Nic sent me a "Happy ITGAVKF Day" email.

"Internationaler Tag der gut aussehenden und verdammt klugen Frau"

Translated, that means "International Day of Good-Looking and Damned Clever Women". I only know good-looking and damned clever women. Nothing but! Ms. Nic included. About time y'all got a day of your own!

I suggest we come up with some traditions to celebrate this holiday. And, please, no traditions that involve cooking. The other holidays do a good job of claiming cooking as integral to their celebration, so let's think up something better.

I'm thinking more along the lines of:

• Playing in the sprinklers
• Building sand castles
• Lighting sparklers
• Throwing wildflower seeds along the highway median
• Floating candles down a stream or river at night
• Buying the elderly lady on your street some flowers
• Random acts of pretty chalk art
• Dancing in the living room to 80s music

Also, I'd like to suggest finding your best friend from high school or college through the magic of the Internet and sending them a hello email.

I found this on YouTube. Nothing but beautiful women here, too.

Try this!

My clear contact paper is still coming in the mail, so I'll try a different idea today. And this idea is a real winner! Winner winner chicken dinner-winner!

The idea comes from Sarah, and Sara seconds the method! (Sar-ahhh and Sa-RA RA RA! ;-)

To strengthen the tissue paper patterns, Sara/h recommends applying fusible interfacing to the tissue paper.

I tried two different kinds of fusible interfacing from Pellon, based solely on which were the least expensive at a local retail location of a national chain fabric store:

• P44f "JAS Fusible Interfacing" for US$0.99/yrd.
• 906F "Sheerweight Fusible" for US$1.99/yrd.

Both of these fusibles are lightweight 100% polyester pressed fiber (felted) material.

I first removed the creases from the tissue paper pattern sheet with a warm, dry iron. I began applying the fusible interfacing with a warm dry iron on the ironing board, but found it was easier to do it directly on the cleanly swept floor. The floor needs to be free of any tiny bits of debris. I think it would have been better to have put some material on the floor first, but the iron was not very hot. It worked for me.

I applied two vertical rows of the fusible.

I applied the fusible to the tissue paper first from the tissue paper side, then turned the sheet over and pressed the fusible to the tissue paper from the fabric side. It adhered well and quickly.

This method is quick and effective. I also like it, because when you fold up the patterns for storage, they fold "like fabric," leaving almost no creases in the pattern sheet. If there are any, these can be pressed out easily. You can't iron out the creases in the pattern sheets applied with tacky spray to craft paper, like I tried yesterday.

The interfacing is about 20 inches/51 cm wide. For one of the pattern sheets in the book, you will need just over 3 yards/2 meter 75 cm of this fusible material.

The 906F "Sheerweight Fusible" is slightly better than the less expensive P44F "JAS Fusible Interfacing," but not a whole dollar per yard better. The least expensive one will do you fine.

Stats:

• P44f "JAS Fusible Interfacing" for US$0.99/yrd.
• 906F "Sheerweight Fusible" for US$1.99/yrd.
• Amount needed per "Sewing Clothes Kids Love" pattern sheet approx. 3 yards/2 meters 75 cm
• Rating: I'll give this method 5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you, beautiful Sarah/Sara, for sharing this idea!

Übersetzung des oberen Beitrags: VLIESELINE aufbügeln. Doch: Vlieseline. Und zwar die günstigste.

Erst die Knitter im Schnittmuster mit warmem, trockenem Bügeleisen ausbügeln. Dann die Vlieseline auf der Rückseite aufbügeln. Voilá! Vlieseline funktioniert wunderbar und hat den weiteren Vorteil, daß die Schnittmuster "wie Stoff" sich falten lassen, d.h. beim Wegpacken keine so dicken Knitterfalten. Und wenn, können diese Knitterfalten wieder mit warmem, trockenem Bügeleisen ausgebügelt werden.

Ich glaube Vlieseline hat eine Breite von ca. 50 cm. Wenn ja, braucht frau pro SCKL Schnittmusterbogen ca. 275 cm.

Ein toller Tipp dankes Sara und Sarah!

Making lemonade

When we first introduced these sewing patterns to the U.S. market, I got some negative reactions to the white paper used and to the need to trace the pattern pieces onto another medium. To the nay-sayers, I was left to say, as I do to my kids at most meal times, "How do you know you don't like it, if you haven't tried it?" Since then, enough have tried pattern tracing and have found that they like it.

Those who have bought the book, however, have found the patterns printed on traditional tissue paper. Tissue paper is really the only way to (a) fit that number of sewing patterns for (b) that broad of a size set, without (c) overlapping the pieces, within (d) the confines of a book format.

I'll grant you: This tissue paper is flimsy. So, in a few posts, I'll test out some techniques to strengthen the pattern sheets. Today, I'll try spray adhesive and white craft paper. I'm testing things that are regularly available without much effort. I bought these items at a national chain craft supply store.

Before using the patterns, it is best to press the creases out with a warm, dry iron.

I also decided to separate the different patterns from one another; Here, Brooklyn shrug from the Feliz dress.

In this experiment, I used the "Fast Grab" tacky spray first.

I weighed the craft paper down with smooth stones to keep it from rolling. I sprayed the spray adhesive as evenly as I could across the area.

The small Brooklyn piece was easy lay into place over the sprayed area. The larger Feliz pieces...not so much. Not for me anyway.

The tacky spray did its job and the pattern pieces are adhered to the craft paper underneath. I was able to repair a little rip I made while ironing.

I trimmed the craft paper away inside the edge of the pattern sheet paper, so that the stickiness is cut away.

I folded the pattern piece, but did not crease the folds. I just folded the pattern sheet so that I could fit it in a zipper lock bag for storing.

Unfolding the pattern sheet again reveals that I did not apply enough tacky spray, as there are little air pockets. These little air pockets could tear. So...lesson learned...more spray, not less.

Stats:

40 ' of 30" white craft paper: US$5.49

Aleene's Tacky Spray: US$6.99

Aleene's Fast Grab tacky Spray: US$9.99

Time to prepare one pattern sheet: 30 min.

Rating for this method: I'd give it three of five stars.

Next time: Clear contact paper.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Thank you.

Thank you, my friends, for the very encouraging comments. I have received very thoughtful and loving emails from people I thought would rather not speak to me. And you even remembered my birthday?

Thank you.

Danke, meine Freunde, für die sehr aufmunternde Worten. Ich komme noch zu den Mails. Ich habe sehr gedankenvoll und liebe Emails von Leuten, die ich dachte, sie würden lieber nicht mit mir reden. Und Ihr habt auch noch an meinen Geburtstag gedacht?

Danke.

Rain plus sunshine equals ...

Stick with me. There's a lot in this post. A mea culpa. My good intentions. Maybe a goodie package for you. A free tutorial at any rate. Rain. Sunshine. And love. Lots of love.

Geduld, bitte. Es gibt eine Menge in dieser Posting. Eine mea culpa. Meine gute Absichten. Vielleicht eine Überraschung für Dich. Eine PDF-Anleitung auf jeden Fall. Regen. Sonnenschein. Und Liebe.

Woohoo: Five-star reviews!

And someone left a one-star review. Huh.

Statistically and by any measure one review means practically nothing. It's nothing. Nada. Nothing to extrapolate. Nothing to worry my little head about. It's nothing. Nothing at all. Doesn't bother me. Nope. Not me. Rolls right off like water off the back of a duck. Drip-drop. Drippity-drop. Water off the back of a duck...

Wait: Was that the last gummi bear in the bag? Did I just eat the whole bag?

Okay, so maybe I'm not quite the duck I should be. A little more emotional than rational. When I'm jittery like this, I try to step back and figure out what I'm supposed to see, what I am supposed to learn. What does a really positive or a really negative immediate reaction mean? Well, either way, I suppose, it's a good thing. I got a reaction. Good art causes a reaction. I don't mean that we make art, but our aesthetic strikes a chord. If nothing else, it's memorable. So bring on the negative criticisms. But do a sister a favor and wait until I have more gummi bears.

Yippee! Fünf-Sterne Bewertungen!

Und jemanden hatte eine Ein-Stern-Berwertung hinterlassen. Naja.

Statistisch bedeutet eine Bewertung aus tausenden Lesern nichts. Gar nichts. Nada. Daraus kann man nicht extrapolieren. Nichts womit ich mich beschäftigen soll. Es ist nichts. Stört mich nicht. Beschäftigt mich nicht. Nicht mich. Prallt an mir ab. Tropf-tropf...

Moment: War das das letzte Gummibärchen in der Tüte? Habe ich soeben die ganze Tüte leergegessen? Hm.

Vielleicht prallt's mir doch nicht so sehr ab. Bin momentan eher emotional als rational. Wenn ich dermassen überspannt bin, versuche ich ein Stückchen zurückzutreten und überlegen, was hier daraus zu lernen ist. Was bedeutet eine sehr positive bzw. sehr negative Reaktion? so oder so, ist das ja doch positiv zu betrachten, denn eine Reaktion haben wir gewonnen. Gute Kunst erzeugt Reaktion. Nicht dass das, was wir machen Kunst sei, aber die Ästhetik berührt in jemandem eine Saite. Wenn nichts anderes ist sie einprägsam. Ergo: Weiter mit der negativen Kritik. Tue mir bloß ein Gefallen und warten bis ich mehr Gummibärchen eingekauft habe.

Of good intentions / Gute Vorsätze:

My son went to see "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" movie last night. He really enjoyed the book, so he was looking forward to the movie. He said he didn't like the movie, because the movie deviated so far from the book. We all know that movies are a different medium and film adaptations are always different from their paper and ink counterparts. But sometimes too many deviations and too many liberties can disappoint the fans. I wonder if Rick Riordan, the author, is happy with the movie. Well, I've got to assume that he is completely stoked to have a movie made of this work. I mean, that's the pinnacle. That's the dream. But I wonder if he is really happy with the artistic and editorial liberties that were made, which differed so greatly from his original vision. Maybe he likes some things, but maybe other things were out of his control and he's not particularly happy about those things.

Mr. Riordan and Percy Jackson are coming to mind today, because the book we released, "Sewing Clothes Kids Love," for the very most part, meets the goals and visions we had for the book: A chance to communicate the joy, techniques and projects for this kind of sewing we do for our kids, as well as introduce a larger audience to our "team" of individual artisans and craftswomen. Compromises were made along the way, and much from my original manuscript was eliminated, as is to be expected in a project of this kind. Those decisions were, as they should be, out of my hands. There was a team of absolute professionals with CVs to impress the best who were entrusted with turning my "brain dump" (their words) into a book. Also along the way, personnel changes were made on the side of the publisher and a few important horses were changed midstream. The way this book was done, and I can only speak from my one experience, certain parts of the book were not available for my review during the proofreading. Those parts include, for example, the cover, the index and the resources page. Those are things are organized elsewhere and added at the end. Somewhere in process, the resources page was stricken from the book. I learned that this happened only after I had the advance copy in my hands. The advance copy is finished book. Nothing is changed. Typos, warts and all stay in and the book is what it is. Because the resources page was not included, I have disappointed a number of people, people who trusted me that they would be mentioned more clearly.

As much as I would like to say, hey, these decisions weren't mine or the editorial staff changed or this was my first book and I didn't know or the book was a lot of work and I physically could not quadruple check every expectation... drip-drop, drippity-drop, water off a duck's back...ultimately, I could have stressed again and again the importance of the resources page. And I didn't. And for that, I am very sorry.

"People judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hard-boiled egg."

I cannot find the origin of that quote; Google won't spit out an answer for me. But it seems to apply in this instance.

Another quote, this from Henry Ford, hopefully applies: "Don't find fault. Find a remedy." My new Web site will have complete resources and accreditation.

Mein Sohn ginge gestern ins Kino und hat “Percy Jackson – Diebe im Olymp” gesehen. Er hat das Buch gelesen und freute sich den Film zu sehen. Er fand den Film nicht so gut. Der Film weichte doch sehr vom Buch ab, sage er. Wir wissen alle, das Kino ein anderes Medium ist und Filmadaptierungen stets anders als ihre Tinte-und-Papier-Gegenstücke sind. Doch manchmal können zuviele Abweichungen und Freiheiten können unter den Fans zu Enttäuschungen führen. Ich frage mich ob Rick Riordan, der Author, ist mit dem Film zufrieden. Ich kann mir vorstellen, daß der natürlich sehr glücklich, daß aus seinem Roman einen Film gedreht würde. Das ist doch der Olymp. Trotzdem frage mich ob Herr Riordan ist mit den artistischen und editorischen Freiheiten, die genommen wurden, die sehr von seiner ursprünglichen Vision abweichen glücklich ist. Vielleicht mag er manche Sachen, aber vielleicht gefallen ihm andere Sachen, die völlig außer seiner Kontrolle waren, überhaupt nicht.
Rick Riordan und Percy Jackson fallen mir ein, denn das Buch, “Sewing Clothes Kids Love”, zum sehr grössten Teil die Ziele und Vision, die wir vorausgesetzt hatten, treffen: Die Gelegenheit einem grösseren Publikum diese Art von Nähen und Freude an Handarbeit, sowie die Talente vieler Kunstgewerblerinnen vorzustellen. Durch den Prozeß sind Kompromiße getroffen worden und eine Menge aus dem originellen Manuskript ist entfallen, wie es in einem solchen Projekt zu erwarten ist. Diese Entscheidungen, wie es auch sein soll, waren außer meinen Händen. In der Zeit sind auch Personaländerungen unternommen worden und das Projekt kam untere eine andere Leitung. So wie dieses Buch erstellt wurde—und ich habe nur Erfahrung mit diesem Buch—lagen einige Teile des Buches in der Korrekturlesenphase nicht vor. Diese Teile waren z.B. der Deckel, Inhaltsverzeichnis und die Ressourcenseite. Diese Teile werden woanders erstellt und kommen zum Schluß in das fertige Buch hinein. Die Ressourcenseite wäre die Gelegenheit, die Mitwirkenden deutlich aufzuführen. Irgendwann im Prozeß ist die Ressourcenseite gestrichen worden. Dies erfuhr ich als das Advance Copy erhielte. Das Advance Copy ist das fertige Buch. Hier wird nichts mehr geändert. Typfehler bleiben drin. Das Buch ist, was das Buch ist. Da die Ressourcenseite nicht mitenthalten ist, habe ich Leute enttäuscht. Leute, die zu mir Vertrauen hatten.

So sehr ich rechtfertigen kann, diese Entscheidungen nicht meine waren, bzw. ich verließ mich auf die Authorität der Profis bzw. die Projektleitung war mitten im Prozeß ausgetauscht bzw. das Buch war viel Arbeit und jede Erwartung hätte ich physisch nicht vier mal nachgehen können…egal. Ich hätte mehrere Male andeuten können, daß die Ressourcenseite ein Muß sei. Und dies tat ich nicht. Und das tut mir Leid. Genau das, was ich nicht wollte, trotz besten Absichten, ist geschehen.

Das neue Webseite wird eine komplette Auflistung der Designer beinhalten.

Rain plus sunshine makes rainbows / Regen plus Sonnenschein macht Regenbogen

Okay, enough navel-gazing. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes scissors. And love conquers hate. Those are the rules. So here's a little love for you: I've selected at random one of my Fellow Fledgling Followers for a surprise package including the book and some fabric and some this and that...

Also, genug vom Nabelschau. Schere schneidet Papier. Papier deckt Stein. Und Liebe besiegt Haß. Das sind die Regel. Und hier ist ein wenig Liebe für Euch: Ich habe eine Fledgling querbeet ausgesucht. Diese bekommt ein Buch und ein wenig Stoff und dies und jenes...

...Millie!

Wait: That's not fair. Millie is Irish. Everybody knows the Irish are unnaturally lucky. Okay, okay: You will get your surprise package, Ms. Luck-of-the-Irish Millie. But I think it's only fair to pick another number...

Moment: Millie ist irisch. Jeder weiß daß, die Iren doch außerordentlich Schwein haben. In Ordnung: Du bekommst Dein Überraschungspacket, Mrs. Millie. Aber ich denke es ist nur fair, wenn ich eine weitere Fledgling ziehe...

...Kris!

I'm feeling much better now: Love does conquer hate. So, one more surprise package for...

So fühle ich mich doch viel besser. Liebe besiegt doch Haß. Also, noch eine Überraschungspacket.

... No. 25: LaLunaZ!

I will try and contact you three and get your details to send off your packages.

Ich melde mich bei den Damen und frage nach Eueren Anschriften.

What? I didn't pick you? Well, I have a little something for you, too. Here's a little tutorial and PDF pattern for a rainy-day project. A project for good intentions. The Good Intentions Tote. I hope you will accept my apology and this project as my Valentine to you.

Was ist? Ich habe Deine Nummer nicht gezogen? Naja, ich habe auch für alle etwas mitgebracht. Eine kleine PDF-Anleitung für dieses Regentagprojekt. Ein Projekt für gute Vorsätze. Die Gute-Vorsätze-Tüte. Ich hoffe, daß Ihr meine Abbitte und dieses Valentine akzeptiert.

*ahem* 20 cm / 8 inches for the two circles...Sabine just emailed me. The circles need to be bigger, just in case. The PDF-Tutorial has been corrected.

*huste*'schuldigung* Nachtrag: 20 cm für die beiden Kreise. Sabine emailte, die müssten doch etwas grösser sein, für alle Fälle. Die PDF-Anleitung ist korrigiert. ;-)