Tiny Nomads

Peony Sew Along, Tracing your pattern

Hello Sew Alongers!

This week we are tracing our patterns and cutting out our fabric!

Step 1: Measure yourself

This is easiest with a friend. Measure around the largest (pointiest) part of your bust, around your waist (this is your "natural" waistline which means where your hourglass is the skinniest. It's also about 3-4 inches above your belly button), and your hips (the bootiest part of your booty). Mark down your measurements and take a look at the back of the pattern. Hopefully, your measurements are perfect and all fit in one size. Not like me who has 3 measurements in 3 different sizes. If this happens to you, email me (meganrw1 (at) gmail (dot) com) because we will have to do some sewing trickery. (and I'll be talking about this at a later date- maybe on the next project because it's like a whole chapter of information called "pattern adjustment" and I don't want to bore you...just yet....)

Step 2: Trace pattern

OK- so you've got your size. Great! So using your chosen tracing medium (on the island here we used wax paper and a sharpie- worked awesome!) Find your size and trace all 8 pieces of your pattern (2 bodice pieces, 2 skirt pieces, 1 sleeve piece, 2 facing pieces and 1 pocket piece if you are making a pocket). Get all those pieces cut out and make sure you note all of the weird little triangles and circles and grain lines. I promise- you'll need these later and you'll get super annoyed if you didn't take this time to do them. In fact, this first part is the most annoying part of the whole process... it takes forever and is really unsatisfying. But if you don't do it now- the rest of the project will take longer. No one wants that.

"Why are we essentially making a copy of the pattern?" -You

Good question. You can just cut your pattern out. And that's what I've done in the past. But then I lost weight (and then gained more of it back but that's a story for another time) and was SUPER mad at myself for cutting my pattern!! And I had to buy another one. Sooooo..... lesson learned. Make a copy of your pattern so you can mark all your notes all over it and make a million of the same dress for the next 10 years because it looks THAT awesome on you. Yep.

Step 3: Drink!

Celebrate!! The boringest part of this whole endeavour is over! Wheeee!! Next, you get to cut your fabric out which is super fun and really, really satisfying. Go you!

Sew Along Update

Living on an island makes some things hard to plan... my dress pattern hasn't arrived yet! boo! So, we will be starting Wednesday, October 10 now. Cross your fingers and say a prayer to the USPS overlords that it will be here then.

In the meantime, let's talk about what you are using to trace your pattern (y'all are planning on tracing your pattern right? Right.*) The easiest way is to get a hold of some of this stuff, Swedish Tracing Paper. It's see-thru and relatively durable. You just place it directly on your pattern and start tracing away. (*I NEVER used to trace my patterns... I just cut them... but then my weight fluctuated back and forth and I had to re-buy some of my patterns when I wanted to make a new one. That will teach me.)

Or, you can trace directly on your fabric. This is only usually done whn you are making a muslin, or using a lining fabric. The proper way to do this is to use a serrated-edge wheel and charcoal paper. Then you sandwich the charcoal paper between the pattern and your fabric and you can trace the lines directly onto your fabric. The charcoal paper even come in different colors so you can use that to mark different lines and directions. Bored yet? Yeah, this can be a little tedious, especially since the sheets are like regular paper sized and you have to move them for every new pattern piece. Yawn. But you will get the best working pattern this way.

True Story: I've used the direct pattern to fabric method before... but I used a Bic pen and an old sheet I was using for the lining on my dress. Then I used a glue stick to glue my sheet/lining fabric directly onto my pretty fabric I was using for my dress and cut them out. It worked awesome! (But I wouldn't recommend it for anything but cotton.) The Bic ink washed right out (I think I used Shout on some of the more stubborn parts) and so did the glue. I didn't have to worry about pieces slipping around or buying expensive supplies. And my dress was made that much more quickly. But, don't do that. (Or do- cuz it felt awesome and rebellious!)

For our sewalong, we are not using a lining fabric so I would suggest the paper trace method. You can use anything to trace your pattern. Tracing paper, newsprint, freezer paper, heck- I've even taped together computer printer paper in a jam. Just get your pattern traced in your size. (The measurements can be found on the back of the pattern envelope.) If you do not fit these measurements exactly- no worries! We'll be talking a lot about correct fitting throughout the sewalong!

Fabric Terminology- what?

Our Sew Along starts October 3rd so now is the time to be hunting down your supplies. For those not on our little island, you can get the pattern here: http://www.colettepatterns.com/shop/peony   You will also need about 3 ½ yards of your chosen fabric, lightweight fusible interfacing, coordinating thread, a 22 in. invisible zipper and one small hook & eye closure.

As soon as you get your fabric make sure you wash it accordingly as most fabrics will have some shrinkage and there's nothing worse than skipping this part and when you go to wash your new dress- it's all tiny and sad. (ok- there probably are worse things in the world but this really ranks up there...) So prewash/handwash/dryclean that fabric depending on your chosen fabric (more details on this coming later this week). Then we are going to iron it. Yep, ironing. Which I hate. But it will make your pattern cutting so nice- I promise. So just do it and you'll be all set for next week. Trust.

Also- we're gonna start learning some sewing terminology. Today's lesson is about' fabric terminology- yay!! Here are some things you should consider when buying fabric (plus it will make you sound super smart at the fabric store, you're welcome.)

1. Stretch

Really stretchy= things like t-shirts and spandex and not stretchy at all= think men's suits. No stretch. Usually things without stretch are woven fabrics like cotton and linen. Things that are called knits are more stretchy and are made by looping fabric together (t-shirt material or the Christmas sweater some aunt gave you.) Some woven material can also be stretchy but that's a talk for another day (fiber content woo-woop!!)

2. Sheen/Texture

Sheen refers to how shiny or reflective the fabric is. This needs to be considered in your design as shiny fabric shows more bumps and details (think panty lines! Eek!) The duller fabric won't. Texture refers to the “smoothiness” (I made that up) of a fabric. Crinkly fabrics have texture.

3. Weight

This refers to how heavy a fabric is. It's important to consider when sewing as lighter fabrics are used for blouses, skirts, and flowy things like that while heavier fabrics are used for things like jackets and pants (jeans!) Our peony has some darts and curves we will be sewing and they would be extremely difficult if we use a super heavy fabric.

4. Drape/Body

This is so Project Runway right now. When a fabric is stiff, it's said to have body. These are super crisps fabrics. When it real lazy-like (think silk) it's drapey. Imagine putting a square of your cloth in a cup... would your cloth square stick up out of the cup, or kind of be lazy and hang right over it? Drapey fabrics will cling close to your body while stiffer fabrics will look more tailored and stick out away from your body.

Alright so that's it for today! Next lesson: Fibers! Yeep!

Homework this week: Get your fabric! Prewash and iron this fabric.

As always, let me know if you have any questions and if you need some fabric inspiration, go to http://pinterest.com/meganrw1/peony/ .

Peony Sew Along: Fabric Choices

Let's talk fabric choices:: You'll need a light to medium fabric with little to no stretching (no knits!!) Really- any fabric can be used for this pattern so find one that makes you happy and is not that expensive. The reason for that is because the first version of this dress that we'll be making will be a “wearable muslin” which is a fancy way of saying that we will be using the first version to get the fitting exactly right and there might be some mistakes- which is ok! But not if you spend a gazillion dollars on awesome fabric ... then you'll hate me.

For a muslin, traditionally you would use that ugly bleach color muslin to mark all over and get your fit right... but I prefer to make one you can wear because you know how I love instant sewing gratification and yelling “I MADE IT!!” at the top of my lungs to anyone who asks where I got my new dress.... ahhhh.... good times....

 You can totally get that expensive fabric too if you want! Once we whip up one of these babies- you'll cruise through making an extra fancy one super easy and the best part is that it will fit perfectly! Then you'll love me.

First thing you need to do is measure your body... best to have a buddy for this and remember that these sizes aren't your off-the-rack dress sizes. They are a little different. Then check above for your size and fabric requirements.

I have a pinterest board with some fabric ideas on it if you need some inspiration- I'll totally add you: http://pinterest.com/meganrw1/peony/   If you need a little more guidance, here is what the pattern recommends: Crisp, medium weight fabrics, such as cotton poplin, light suiting, garbardine, cotton pique, silk twill, dupioni. I also have a facebook group going- totally join and ask questions, post pictures, get all social media on it! http://www.facebook.com/megan.ramagewhite/posts/10152102839235066?

Tiny Nomads First Sew Along!!

Yee Haw!!

Well... we have officially moved to Lajes Field in the Azores. But that's really not that important- what is important is that I am having my first Sew Along! Yayayyaayayayayayay!!

We are going to be sewing the Peony dress (a personal favorite of mine!) from Colette Patterns. I can't tell you how dorkily excited I am about this and the group of gals that are doing this with me on the island have no idea the level of sewing geekery they are in for.....mwahhahahahahaha!

Here's what you'll need if you want to join in the Sew Along, we will be starting in 2 weeks, October 3rd. So start collecting your supplies:

• The Peony pattern
• The required fabric. You'll need 3-3 1/2 yards based on your size. We'll be making version 2 of the Peony. Here is the fabric description from the pattern:

Crisp, medium weight fabrics, such as cotton poplin, light suiting, garbardine, cotton pique, silk twill, dupioni.

• Lightweight fusible interfacing
• Thread
• 22 in. invisible zipper
• 1 small hook & eye
• 3/4 in button

Please post any questions you have and get super excited! Yay!

Miss C's Camera

Before we came to Korea, one of our friends recommended getting C a kid camera so we could see our trip from her point of view and my goodness- it is awesome! Most of the pictures are of her feet, or super unflattering shots of her daddy and me, but some are so great and hilarious. I thought I'd share a few with you:

Breakfast in Omaha

Unflattering picture of Mom.

Omaha zoo.

The goats at the Omaha zoo.

Unflattering picture of Mom.

Packing up our Omaha house...

Self-Portrait. Age 2.

Monkey at the Omaha zoo.

Temporary Lodging (TLF) at Osan AB.

Feet.

Feet on a tour bus. Korea.

Tour bus, Korea.
 o

Cheerios. (She also likes taking pictures of her breakfast.)

Laundry Mom hasn't done.

Dolly.

 

The bike rack in our complex.

Yes, it has taken me all year to download these pictures. I had to empty her camera so she could take it on our trip tomorrow to... China! That's right! The tiny nomads are going to the Great Wall! Woot!

Christmas Wrap-Up

Remember that time when I was all "I have so much to tell you about Christmas! I'll update you soon!" and then I didn't come back for two months? yeah.... sorry about that. I think I'll let my kid demonstrate the look I know y'all gave me when I said that:

 


But I really do have so much to tell you so here we go! First, we had to have a Christmas tree. Which we bought from the boy scout troop on base. And it was awesome. Until we remembered that we did not have lights, ornaments, or a tree base. Whatever! We are crafty! So I decided we would make salt ornaments and put a call out to all my friends. Here's what went down:

Me: Anyone got any Christmas cookie cutters we can borrow?

Awesome friend: I do!

Me: Great!!

Awesome friend: Well, they are not so much Christmas as they are dinosaurs.

Me: That'll work!

And so it begins... our dino-tree. The 2 year old thought it was awesome and we had a few friends over to help paint. Totally fun. Unfortunately, all of the pics I have of dino tree are super blurry and despite having the tree well into January (remember the weird trash laws here? Well... it took us awhile to figure out how to get rid of it.)

And of course we got spoiled by Santa! Apparently, he knew we moved to Korea. And also the grandparents and parents send a honkin' load of gifts.

And we threw a party! yes! Our first party and I think it went well. There was a ton of food and we played rock band and crumpled paper.

So that's about it for the Korean Christmas. Now off to the Super Bowl party tomorrow. At 6am. Sometimes I love it here.

 

Happy Holidays from the Tiny Nomads!

Our first holiday abroad (that sounds so fancy!) And we totally survived and had a great time! Although we miss our friends and family back home, I have to say that we really enjoyed this year's Christmas. We stayed in our pj's until noon, had lovely visits with friends where we ate nothing but mashed sweet potatoes, and played with all of our new toys! I'll have more updates on our holiday fun later in the week but for right now: Merry Christmas all!

In lieu of sending cards out this year, we are donating to Homeward Bound, which is Osan's Animal Shelter and where Miss C and I volunteer for a few shifts a month. (It's also where we are "renting" Ralph Bunny from.) They are an awesome organization that finds homes for abandoned and reliquished animals in the area. We love them and our donation will go to making those animals happy. Yay!

So instead we are doing the super-classy thing and sending out our annual holiday update via e-mail. (Is there a classy way to do this?? Not sure....) And we did a super fun photo shoot with our friend Jaz of Photos by Jaz. (Well... it was fun for us... probably not so much for Jaz.) We are 3 seriously unphotogenic people. I'm so surprised that she got any kind of shot at all.

 So Merry Christmas all! And your gift: you get to see all of our outtakes from our photo shoot. Wheee! Presents!!

Oh god we are the worst! We thought we were being so funny! Poor Jaz. 

Happy Holidays from the Tiny Nomads!

 

Fieldtrip Friday: Everland

Yes! Fieldtrips have not stopped. We are still having super fun times with toddlers. This trip we went to Everland park which is: Amazing! It's like knock-off Disneyland! And they have a ton of fun stuff for the toddlers to do. Here we go!

That's Miss C and her BFF G. They are seriously BFFs. It's quite adorable. They take toddler tumbling class together and everything. Also, it's Winter Wonderland right now at Everland and everything is gorgeous and decorated. And remember when I said it's like generic Disney? Those are the Everland characters there. I think they are some kind of fox but whatever... they are everywhere. Just like Mickey.

But the best part about Everland is that it has a zoo. Those are baby chicks. How cute is that?

And of course, those gals NEEDED binoculars to explore the zoo with. Of course.

And they have a puppy pit! Yes! Just a place to look at all those puppies. Adorable.

Look at G and her mommy riding a camel! (C was taking her nap during this, hence no camel rides for us.)

And a parade! (C is still asleep)

And toddler rides! (Still sleeping...)

And she's awake! Just in time to throw these weird balls at me. There's a whole room like this where the kids (and adults) can throw these soft balls at eachother. They even have these launchers on the second floor where you can shoot the people down below.  Although we never made it upstairs because all C wanted to do was collect those weird balls.

 

That's G's dad and the first dad we've had join us on fieldtrip Friday. Poor him. He drove us there and C got sick in his car. Yeah. I don't think he'll be joining us again.

So there you have it. Everland. Zoo. Weird balls. Car sickness.

Welcome Back and Ron Swanson

My husband told me the other day that the longer we stay in Korea, the more Ron Swanson-like I become. For those of you who do not watch Parks and Recreation (why aren't you watching Parks and Rec!!) Ron is a libertarian carnivore who thinks income tax is illegal. So... basically awesome.

So why have I morphed into Ron? A lot of it has to do with this:

 
This is our living room speaker where the apartment complex can make announcements. In our living room. Whenever they want. In our living room. At any time. In our living room.

See!? It’s totally un-American! (Not to mention that all of the announcements are in Korean.)

We also went on a few tours Thanksgiving weekend in Seoul. They were great, but at the beginning the tour guide made us line up against the wall. Like criminals (or kindergartners.) I, often forgetting that there are a lot of English speakers here (english language tour, duh), flatly refused telling him it was un-American and bad things happen to people who line up against walls. No way. Not. Lining. Up. Against. A. Wall. I’m a grown-up! (who is having a tantrum.) But, after my little Norma Rae moment, I got a few whoops from the crowd (Ok, only one. Still counts.)

Point is: the longer I’m here, the more my natural American inclination for rebellion surfaces. (Like it should.) If an authority type tells me to do something my first reaction is “why?” And also “No.” I love America. So Much.

My husband also says that Ron and my dad are like the same person.

 

Ron Swanson

 

My dad. (aka. Grandpa Mustache)

 

Yeah... I don’t see it. (Also, I have issues.)

So there it is. Sorry I was away for awhile. I have a lot to update y’all on. I’ll leave you today with a Ron Swanson quote: “The whole point of this country is if you want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can. You are free to do so. To me, that is beautiful.” It is beautiful Ron.