Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES!

August was a month of changes for me. Work dropped off and I lost my "real job." So I am in the process of looking for another. Not the first time this has happened for me, and probably won't be the last.

In the mean time, I have found plenty of things to do. My custom orders have picked up. It's strange, but the universe has been telling me "just sew." Yesterday I got a call out of the blue to make another custom diaper bag for an old friend. I didn't even know she was pregnant, and she didn't know I was out of work. If feels good to know that it wasn't pity, it was the merits of my sewing.

I have also been getting the itch for sewing clothes as well. I have done children's clothes before, but only a very few pieces of adult wear. I have rediscovered my love for the library have checked out several books on the subject. Some have just been dumb, but I have found a couple that I might actually purchase.

1. The Fashion Designer's Directory of Shape and Style: Over 500 Mix-and-Match Elements for Creative Clothing Design by Simon Travers-Spencer and Zarida Zaman. Besides is ridiculously long name, it is a really great beginning clothing design book. It takes you from the very beginning of the design process up to the point of pattern making. It is a great theory book, but I had to find a patternmaking book as well, which brings me to my next book.

2. Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified by Cal Patch. Pure brilliance! That is all I can say. It breaks patternmaking down to it's simplest form and gives you everything you need to begin the process. I am only into the first chapter and LOVE this book! Don't be fooled by the simplistic clothes on the front cover. Ms. Patch breaks things down to their most basic to get you started.

3. Twinkle Sews: 25 Handmade Fashions from the Runway to Your Wardrobe by Wenlan Chia. I picked this one because it is an actual pattern book from a fashion designer. It comes with a CD of patterns in PDF form and the book has the instructions. I love these clothes and it gives me what someone has done with the information the processes in the books I mentioned above. She also gives great advice on how to modify her patterns and fabric choices for her clothes.

Now, if I only had a printer.... :-(

I have also decided I want one of these: Bamboo Craft. More and more of my customers are asking for custom pieces. I have been sketching things up for them, but I am sort of limited on my options for how to show them what I have drawn. With one of these, I could sketch them up in electronic form and send them off. I could also draw my own patterns.

Anyway, that is what I have been doing with my time, after looking for a new job, of course! Hopefully, I will find some more time to blog more often as well.

In the mean time, Be.Loved!