Sewing is Art
Sew, eat, sleep. Nothing else matters.
Sewing is Art springs from Kelly Hogaboom's sewing room high in a turret overlooking 6th street in HQX. She's currently working on a corset. Yes, a corset.
Featured Project: Portland Coat
My birthday present to my brother was a custom-designed coat! He seems to want it designed like many of his other coats! That's fine with me.
See the latest in Sewing for Foo in Tutorials.
we interrupt this program
0 comments Published by Kelly Hogaboom on Friday, October 27, 2006 at 6:58 PM.
A Few Excerpts of a Disgruntled Seamstress:
Today I think I came off as rude to a Mama who was complimenting Sophie's costume from last year - she wore it to preschool today. "You should sell these!" she said, after fondling my girl's dress and pinafore. "Oh... thank you. I just keep them around year after year for my friends to borrow," I replied. "No really, you should make a line of these clothes and sell them!"
Urf. I shudder to think how much time it would take for me to make a full line of clothes - even a limited spread of specialized costumes for children - to sell them. Not to mention that by doing that I would be stifling my artistic expression in sewing in order to make it my money-earner. Nor do I want the heartache of starting a serious business. Nor would very many want to pay for my sewing, which I charge a good hourly rate AS WELL as use fine materials. But I get the weirdest comments in regards to my craft - and I'm going to share some of the comments that irritate:
1. People who admire my work briefly then tell me they'd "like to sew, but don't have the time." First off, in general people who complain about being so busy bore the tits off me (who isn't "busy"?). But would someone say this in response to a beautiful oil panting? No, because apparently painting is an art - it requires talent and you don't know how good you'll be until you try - while sewing on the other hand is some half-assed hobby that anyone could master if they just threw a few minutes at it every now and then. The garment you're admiring took years of sewing for me to make it as well as it is made. Oh, fuck off. P.S. I can sew and knit but not crotchet; I can barely struggle through making something that involves pipe cleaners or glue. To each his / her own talents.
2. On the other hand, people who say "I could never do that!" Well, maybe you could. I had to slug through and work my ass off; I had to learn to love a seam-ripper. Maybe if you put the time in you'd be rewarded as well. But I'm not a Magic Elf that was born with the ability.
3. Acquaintances who, if I mention wanting a new tablecloth or whatever, say "Oh you could sew that for cheaper!" Holy shit. Yes, I suppose I could sew every cloth item in my goddamn home! (which would include diapers, covers, and wipes; tablecloths and napkins, because we don't use paper products short of TP). Secondly, it WOULDN'T be much cheaper, unless my time counts for nothing (time I use to clean, to read, to write, to wipe my kid's ass, to hang with girlfriends, to make out with my husband) and I buy bottom-rate fabrics and employ shoddy construction methods - like most things you find at Target, Pier One, etc.
4. People who actually roll their eyes like I'm weird for tailoring my t-shirt or making my pants. WTF? Are they jealous? Do they think I'm some weirdo for not doing the easy thing and buying it? I love sewing. I would do it all day long if I didn't have bills to pay and people in my life who would strenuously object to being ignored all day.
5. People who ask me to sew something, then when they find out how much it costs, act shocked or offended. Now, I am not disgruntled about this because I know why it happens. And for those would-be customers there are plenty of sweatshops that can afford them their fiber-arts for scandalously low prices at the expense of many wee Chinese pre-teens. Fun!
I have a list of very NICE things about sewing and my admirers, but I'll just put the bitchy stuff out there for now.
Today I think I came off as rude to a Mama who was complimenting Sophie's costume from last year - she wore it to preschool today. "You should sell these!" she said, after fondling my girl's dress and pinafore. "Oh... thank you. I just keep them around year after year for my friends to borrow," I replied. "No really, you should make a line of these clothes and sell them!"
Urf. I shudder to think how much time it would take for me to make a full line of clothes - even a limited spread of specialized costumes for children - to sell them. Not to mention that by doing that I would be stifling my artistic expression in sewing in order to make it my money-earner. Nor do I want the heartache of starting a serious business. Nor would very many want to pay for my sewing, which I charge a good hourly rate AS WELL as use fine materials. But I get the weirdest comments in regards to my craft - and I'm going to share some of the comments that irritate:
1. People who admire my work briefly then tell me they'd "like to sew, but don't have the time." First off, in general people who complain about being so busy bore the tits off me (who isn't "busy"?). But would someone say this in response to a beautiful oil panting? No, because apparently painting is an art - it requires talent and you don't know how good you'll be until you try - while sewing on the other hand is some half-assed hobby that anyone could master if they just threw a few minutes at it every now and then. The garment you're admiring took years of sewing for me to make it as well as it is made. Oh, fuck off. P.S. I can sew and knit but not crotchet; I can barely struggle through making something that involves pipe cleaners or glue. To each his / her own talents.
2. On the other hand, people who say "I could never do that!" Well, maybe you could. I had to slug through and work my ass off; I had to learn to love a seam-ripper. Maybe if you put the time in you'd be rewarded as well. But I'm not a Magic Elf that was born with the ability.
3. Acquaintances who, if I mention wanting a new tablecloth or whatever, say "Oh you could sew that for cheaper!" Holy shit. Yes, I suppose I could sew every cloth item in my goddamn home! (which would include diapers, covers, and wipes; tablecloths and napkins, because we don't use paper products short of TP). Secondly, it WOULDN'T be much cheaper, unless my time counts for nothing (time I use to clean, to read, to write, to wipe my kid's ass, to hang with girlfriends, to make out with my husband) and I buy bottom-rate fabrics and employ shoddy construction methods - like most things you find at Target, Pier One, etc.
4. People who actually roll their eyes like I'm weird for tailoring my t-shirt or making my pants. WTF? Are they jealous? Do they think I'm some weirdo for not doing the easy thing and buying it? I love sewing. I would do it all day long if I didn't have bills to pay and people in my life who would strenuously object to being ignored all day.
5. People who ask me to sew something, then when they find out how much it costs, act shocked or offended. Now, I am not disgruntled about this because I know why it happens. And for those would-be customers there are plenty of sweatshops that can afford them their fiber-arts for scandalously low prices at the expense of many wee Chinese pre-teens. Fun!
I have a list of very NICE things about sewing and my admirers, but I'll just put the bitchy stuff out there for now.
Halloween, now and then
1 comments Published by Kelly Hogaboom on Monday, October 23, 2006 at 10:22 PM.
For the two people who read my sew blog - here is Nels' costume for this Halloween:
Ice Bat!
The wing of Ice Bat!
Ice Bat's bum and tail!
Tonight Ralph sweetly insisted we get the kids in my costumes and take some pictures - so that's what we did. Here's a montage of our kids' Halloweens so far - some pictures from then, others from tonight.
Sophie, Nels, and I. Where's Nels? YOU know. I am about four months pregnant here and holding my wee little bat. Yes, Ralph was Frankenstein's monster.
Well, this is the little guy a year later. Gee, could he be cuter? Nope. Sadly, I don't have a good picture of my Sophie as a geisha so here (to confuse you) is Nels *this* year, wearing Sophie's costume of '03:
Nels has a chubbier tummy than his sister did in this outfit.
OK, this wasn't a costume but a bear bunting for Nels when he was about a year old. Still, I maintain it was one of the cutest things ever sewn for a baby. Warm, too!
Another non-costume - as in, she didn't wear this on Halloween per se. But do you recognize it? Yes, Japanime dorks, that is Kiki.
Sophie's prairie girl dress from last year. This was quite elaborate. My picture isn't that great. Oh well.
Showing her "Prairie Girl Action", Sophie rolls out - a pumpkin.
Ice Bat!
The wing of Ice Bat!
Ice Bat's bum and tail!
Tonight Ralph sweetly insisted we get the kids in my costumes and take some pictures - so that's what we did. Here's a montage of our kids' Halloweens so far - some pictures from then, others from tonight.
Sophie, Nels, and I. Where's Nels? YOU know. I am about four months pregnant here and holding my wee little bat. Yes, Ralph was Frankenstein's monster.
Well, this is the little guy a year later. Gee, could he be cuter? Nope. Sadly, I don't have a good picture of my Sophie as a geisha so here (to confuse you) is Nels *this* year, wearing Sophie's costume of '03:
Nels has a chubbier tummy than his sister did in this outfit.
OK, this wasn't a costume but a bear bunting for Nels when he was about a year old. Still, I maintain it was one of the cutest things ever sewn for a baby. Warm, too!
Another non-costume - as in, she didn't wear this on Halloween per se. But do you recognize it? Yes, Japanime dorks, that is Kiki.
Sophie's prairie girl dress from last year. This was quite elaborate. My picture isn't that great. Oh well.
Showing her "Prairie Girl Action", Sophie rolls out - a pumpkin.
yes, i too can be a Good Mama
0 comments Published by Kelly Hogaboom on Monday, October 02, 2006 at 7:23 PM.
Yes, I'm going to get back to posting about sewing. But I wanted to say - proudly - that today my children and I did crafts that I thought up and enacted!
I have yet to see Halloween spiders with googley-eyes that demonstrate the correct number of ocular organs on said arachnid-form. Casa Del Hogaboom corrected that error today. Styrofoam balls w/tempura paint (hung to dry), rolled in lime-green and black glitter, pipe cleaner legs and yes, an octet of google-eyes (Yes Craig, and I know spiders have eight legs as well - and apparently, according to Nels, one of them sticks off the top of the head).
Our ghosts were so awesome they even looked in the same direction while swaying. Styrofoam ball, cheesecloth (1 yard makes four ghosties); the tiny black pompoms (eyes) and white head-ribbon are attached by straight pins.
Next: punkins with A B C features. You'll see.
I have yet to see Halloween spiders with googley-eyes that demonstrate the correct number of ocular organs on said arachnid-form. Casa Del Hogaboom corrected that error today. Styrofoam balls w/tempura paint (hung to dry), rolled in lime-green and black glitter, pipe cleaner legs and yes, an octet of google-eyes (Yes Craig, and I know spiders have eight legs as well - and apparently, according to Nels, one of them sticks off the top of the head).
Our ghosts were so awesome they even looked in the same direction while swaying. Styrofoam ball, cheesecloth (1 yard makes four ghosties); the tiny black pompoms (eyes) and white head-ribbon are attached by straight pins.
Next: punkins with A B C features. You'll see.
You: "My, what a sedate, well-crafted messenger bag you have there. Where-ever did you buy it? How much did you pay for such a lovely piece of work - nay, art?"
Me: "Check it out, bitch! This is no boring store-bought bag! I made this UP, all by myself. From stuff I found around my sewing room and by hacking the hardware off an old canvas Target purse."
(material salvaged from leftover fabric - my husband's gusset-crotch pants - and Sophie's Drive-In dress).
Note Essential Pocket #1: notebook outer pocket. And my topstitchin' - it's always bitchin'.
Note Essential Pocket #2: cigarette welt pocket. Welt pockets are awesome. My picture of this one is assy. Who cares. Too bad I'm not smoking at the moment. I'll take it up though, to warrant my cool pocket.
Other essential pockets include: pen and pencil sleeves, Secret Tampon Pocket, bound zippered pocket for makeup etc.
Closeup of the delightfully garish inner fabric.
