Meetzorp

Making stuff – part 2

Jun 1st, 2010 by Meetzorp

Here’s some more stuff I have made recently, with some more to come.

I did a big closet-and-drawer cleanout at the end of winter and got rid of a bunch of stuff that I just don’t wear anymore. Things that never were quite right, or things that weren’t right anymore. My wardrobe has traditionally been a repository for hand-me-downs, stray clothes, and thrift-shop impulse purchases and as such didn’t always function too sensibly. So I started taking active notice of the clothes that I wore the most and determined to either make or thrift-shop for other similar articles that would be more useful for me.

I had two cream colored tops that I found myself wearing ALL the time.

This one is a linen net with tucking and lace applique trim.

The other is a lace cross-over top with a built in lining and 3/4 sleeves.

The lace top, however, is WAY too warm for my office, so every time I wear it to work, I end up sweating and miserable. The linen one has really scratchy lace around the neckline and sleeves and so I always end up with very irritated skin, especially when it is at all warm out.

So I determined that cream colored tops were in order since these two, drawbacks notwithstanding, saw so much wear.

I also happened to be in possession of about half a bolt of cream-colored tone-on-tone floral print knit fabric, several different patterns for knit pullover tops, and a fair amount of spare time. The following is what came of it:

This is that drawstring-neck tee that I’m so crazy about. Easy-peasy and you can let the neckline in and out at will. I was fortunate to have a random bit of cream floral ribbon on hand that is a perfect match.

Kimono-inspired crossover top – I’ve since trimmed the excess fabric away from the facings.

Sort of a peasant-blousey affair. I didn’t realize it when I made it, but my shoulders are a little too wide for this pattern, so it is always slightly off-the-shoulder. It turned out a little sexier than I planned, but not too scandalous.

Regular ol’ v-neck tee. Another one that has since enjoyed a significant facing trim-down.

3/4 sleeve shirt with overlapping shoulder seams. This one was suuuuper easy to put together and I’m making another one in magenta.

I’ve got a couple of pair of Talbot’s pants that I like.

A pair of Ultrasuede cargo pants that I got at the Junior League thrift shop.

And these brushed-cotton trousers with button trim on the waistband from an unbelievably profitable dumpster-dive.

I realized that of all pants that I owned, these were the ones that were being worn all the time. So I cast about for a pattern that would reasonably replicate these two and found precisely what I wanted in one of the Simplicity Project Runway designs.

I made two pair:

The first pair are just basic khaki office pants, but they have the buttoned belt-loops, and I found some rather pretty faux-tiger’s-eye buttons for them:

The other pair are cargos with leopard print buttons.

They’re just basic office pants with a bit of a twist. On account of them being twill woven cotton pants fabric, they always look a bit rumply and bunchy but their main function is a sort of bluejeans simulacrum (basic butt-covering, goes with damn near anything) so I’m not too fussed about the smartness or tidiness of their overall appearance. I’m pleased with these patterns, though, and will certainly make them in better fabrics next time around.

I’ve got some other tops I’m working on, this time in actual colors. Plain, mostly ribbed knits in various solid colors. Look for them in an upcoming entry!

In the process of my wardrobe-cleanout, I realized that I really needed some solid color tops, since I wear print skirts a LOT. Most of my skirts are printed or patterned and generally look best with a fairly plain top. I’ve been trying to find some good tops in the thrift shops, but too much of the stuff is cap-sleeved which looks dreadful on me, or sleeveless which is not even in consideration, considering I’m not over punctilious about depiliation. So in order to get some plain tee-shirt-ish tops with actual short sleeves, I have gone back to my roots and gone back to my sewing machine. I’ve just finished two pink tops (one kind of coral, the other bubblegum) and am starting on a lemon yellow one. I have a couple of skirts that are going to look super cute with my new tops, and I’m looking forward to these upcoming wardrobe options.

Posted in Fashion/Sewing stuff, Sewing | No Comments »

On the outside

May 31st, 2010 by Meetzorp

This is written partly in response to Jacquie Phelan’s recent musings about where women fit into the cycling industry, and partly because I sometimes kick ideas around about my own “place” in the two-wheeled underground.

I think part of the problem(s) that both Jacquie and Bike Hugger were addressing (1) (2) (3) stem from how very commodified cycling has become. You’re being sold a look, a niche, a lifestyle. You can be a rugged, outdoorsey moutain biker, a fleet, elite roadie, a hi-viz, nerdilicious commuter, a hardcore fixie hipster, or a quaint and ladylike city cyclist swooping along gracefully on an European Citybike. You can buy the identity, kit by kit, from a well-stocked LBS and become a demographic.

Then, there’s the fetish of commodity, and this is something I see pretty regularly from my own dirtbag-woman perspective. Cycling, in all its guises (even the twee euro-city-bike contingent) is still pretty male dominated. And a lot of guys who totally buy into the whole “lifestyle” want to date women who fit into that comprehensive picture. Lady cyclists (and we know who we are) become a bit of a “hot commodity” because we’re relatively rare. And because of how niche-marketed even bicycling has become, the selection narrows if the selector’s criteria are at all precise. Some MTB guys would rather masturbate eternally than date a roadie. And god forbid a hipster even look twice at a hi-viz nerd. If you fit handily into one of the archetypes, then you may find yourself beset with male attention that you may not have been looking for.

And the cycling industry seems to be trying to promote some sort of sexual insanity, like this CyclePassion thingy or Knog’s TaTU-like girlkissing campaign, playing into this male lust for hottt biker babes. I think it indirectly fosters the notion that girls on bikes are all vixens just waiting to bust out with their boobs and booties and Tawney Kitaen hair-tossing.

And if you don’t fit into one of the pre-sets, then a lot of folks just don’t know what to do with you.

I’ve ridden bikes with enthusiasm and regularity since I picked up the knack at about age 8. For the majority of my cycling life, I’ve ridden bikes that don’t make any good sense. A Schwinn Continental that was at least two sizes too big. A Huffy 10-speed mountain-bike-shaped abomination that I managed to wring six years service from. The Trek 800 that I’m still flogging along. This bike, I have dubbed “The Cadillac Of Old Shitty Mountain Bikes.”

It has been revived more times than a Gilbert & Sullivan musical.

I never dress right, and I’m always wearing those godawful boots:

I recall the last time I rode the MS150, thinking that I could create a highly effective drinking game if I carried a flask and took a pull off it every time somebody asked me how in the hell I rode in those boots. (My usual answer is that I pedal).

I was riding down to Friz a couple of weeks ago, with the intention of playing a little bit of frisbee while riding a bicycle with a bunch of other friends who want to play frisbee while riding bicycles, too. I also had the intention of stopping by the grocery store afterwards ’cause the cupboards were getting a bit bare. So I was riding the old Trek abuse bike with my big red waterproof panniers which have almost certainly seen more grocery store action than touring action, coast-to-coast trip notwithstanding.

I was riding to midtown, and I’d been fighting my way up the hill Penn Valley Park on that heavy-assed Trek when this fellow on a road bike overtakes me, as well he should given the weight-and-performance disparity of our respective steeds. And I guess he was intrigued by my setup or insanity or lovely haircut or something ’cause he slowed down and proceeded to ride alongside of me and rhapsodize about the cycling lifestyle.

He said to me, “I can see that you’re a true cyclist.” This comment gave me pause and continues to churn around in my brain in a sort of dyspeptic fashion.

What in the everlasting hell is a “true cyclist?”

Moreover, is it that much of a part of my identity?

I kind of think that it isn’t. I mean biking is obviously a big part of my life; I ride nearly everywhere I go, but I don’t really think of myself as a “cyclist.” This may be a lame copout in the manner of women who are all “well, of course I think women should have like rights and stuff, but I’m not a feminist.” I’m not sure if this is analogous.

I just know that I’m pretty turned off by how niche-marketed cycling has become and don’t feel like any of the pre-set categories really comprise a comfortable fit for me. Advocacy annoys the shit out of me. I’m not hardcore enough for any kind of racing. I’m not willing to go out of my way to look cute while riding. I’m an irredeemably shitty (if enthusiastic) mountain biker. I just don’t put enough effort into doing anything right to do anything right (yay, solipsism!). I just ride a bike, try not to wreck too much, and get to where I’m going and have a little fun along the way.

Posted in Other Bike Stuff, You have got to be kidding me!, biking, grumbles gripes and pointless bitching, meta | No Comments »

The Life-Cycle of Khakis

May 27th, 2010 by Meetzorp

By Michelle, age 32.

Khakis are a type of pants. They come in many styles and several colors ranging from almost white to dark olive green, but most of them are kind of tan. Khakis can be long or short or kind of middle-ish in length. Khakis like that are sometimes called Capris or Pedal Pushers or Floods. Or if you are a man, they can be called Shpants, also.

The life-cycle of khakis starts when they are new. They can come from a store, or they can be made out of mid-weight, tan, twill-woven cotton fabric. Khakis are new when nobody else has worn them yet. They can also be almost-new if they came from a thrift store, but nobody had worn them very much. That’s pretty close to the beginning of the life-cycle of khakis.

When khakis are new, they mostly look pretty good. Not usually great, but better than okay. They’re usually spotted in environments that are called “office casual” because they are casual pants that are okay for most offices.

One of the things about khaki pants is that you can wash them in a washing machine a lot. Most of the time they get clean pretty well, but sometimes they don’t really and after a while they start to always look kind of dirty. When they get to the point where they always look kind of dirty, they go into the next phase of their life cycle when they stop being seen at work and are pretty much only seen at home. If they’re not too bad, they might be worn to the store or something, but when they get even older and they always look filthy then they’ve reached the almost the end of their life cycle when they are only good to wear in the garden or garage. At this stage they have a lot of stains on them, like paint or grease or old gum or spaghetti sauce or blood. Maybe they have some holes in them too, but they haven’t quite gotten to the end of their life cycle.

The very last stage of the life cycle of khaki pants is when they just completely stop working. This can happen when the seat rips all the way across or maybe the zipper won’t stay up anymore or one of the legs falls off. Whenever it happens, you will definitely know because it is pretty easy to tell when a pair of khaki pants has died.

When this happens, the life cycle of khaki pants has ended. If you want you can always start the cycle all over again with a new pair or an almost new pair.

Posted in Fashion, Utter Silliness | No Comments »

I don’ need no steekin’ serger

May 25th, 2010 by Meetzorp

I’ve been sewing a lot of knits lately (proof forthcoming in a future post) and it’s all been done without a hitch on my trusty old Singer 401A (best almost $20 I have ever spent in my entire life, ever).

I simply use ball-tip needles so as not to snag the delicate knit fabric. Otherwise my construction techniques don’t significantly vary from my handling of woven fabrics.

I almost always zig-zag finish the seam allowances on most of the stuff I make. A fabric has to be very firmly woven and not likely to fray before I’ll forgo this step.

On woven fabrics, it looks like this.

With knits, it ends up looking more like this:

I zig-zag the seam allowances to prevent runs/fraying. Then I press the piece with a damp cloth to minimize “lettuce edging” along stretchable edges of the fabric. On the straight grain, the seam allowance is bound much like it is on woven fabrics.

The pink piece you see above is a drawstring-neck tee-shirt…this will be the third one I’ve made from this pattern, a 1972 Simplicity that has been panning out very well for me.

I’ve never really had the urge to procure a serger. They look too prone to temperamentality. They seem high-maintenance, and I’m just not on board with that. Plus, I really don’t want my seam allowances bound and trimmed. I like to keep my seam allowances open for future alterations. I like to be able to un-do mistakes to a certain degree. If you screw up with a serger, say by catching another bit of the garment in the way of the seam, you’re completely screwed. It’s stitched down and trimmed off. No thank you!

Plus sergers seem to be a bit like fixed gear bicycles. A lot of people who acquire either machine become evangelical about them and are inclined to get shirty with those who aren’t eager to “come into the fold.” I’ve been getting by very damn well, thank you, without either, and the few times I’ve given a fixed gear bicycle a go, it’s netted me nothing but awkward frustration (kind of like dating in high school). Since the way I’ve been doing things has been working out well for me, I reckon I’ll just keep on keepin’ on.

Tags: Simplicity 9974

Posted in Other Bike Stuff, Sewing | No Comments »

Scavenger Chic or Dirtbag Couture?

May 25th, 2010 by Meetzorp

There’s a fashion/lifestyle magazine called Lucky which peddles $300 bluejeans and $900 spangled high-heeled sandals yet somehow purports to promote elegant, almost-zenlike simplicity…kind of like Dwell for the wardrobe. Any old how, I guess the implication is that you’re lucky if you can drop that kind of dough on the ephemera of fashion, but I prefer my own kind of sartorial luck.

Stray clothes.

I found a really great shirt on my way to work on Sunday on Central Ave./West 9th St. in the West Bottoms. It was just lying in the gutter, buttonless and filthy, but I liked the look of the print and colors and thought that if it cleaned up okay, I’d replace the buttons. It did, and I did, so here it is:

Here’s a detail of the buttons. They probably date back to the early 1950s – they’re recycled from a much older blouse that was too shot to keep. But they seem to fit just perfectly on this 1970s blouse, and there were exactly the right number of buttons to retrofit this blouse, so it had to be serendipity, right?

I realized today that I have enough stuff around to compose at least one outfit of clothing entirely found either on the street or in the trash. So here it is:

I have another pair of pants (full-length, brown, brushed-cotton office pants) that would have been better yet, but they were in the wash. They were from the same haul that netted these pedal pushers.

The head-scarf is something I found on the street in York on New Year’s Eve of 1999/2000, while walking home from a pretty awesome SciFi Club party out near the University. I found it within about a block of the Minster, half frozen in a puddle of slush. I’ve since taken the tag off it, but I recall that it proudly claimed composition of 80% silk, 20% “metallic fibre”. I usually wear it as a neck scarf or a belt, but it just seemed to suggest itself as a headband for this get-up.

Posted in Dumpster Diving, Fashion, Utter Silliness, Well I'll Be Darned | No Comments »

Makin’ stuff (Part 1)

May 19th, 2010 by Meetzorp

I’ve been on a real sewing binge lately, so here’s some of the stuff I have made:

Applique-decorated capri pants. (Front)

and back

In action (with a shirt I made last winter)

Gratuitous butt-shot.

This is the other cool pair of pants I made. Yes, they are bell bottoms. They are also AWESOME.

The rear view is the best part of these pants. The pockets are from another pattern. This one was drafted to have welt pockets, but I didn’t have the patience to make welt pockets – and I think these are better anyway.

I also made two pair of regular office pants. Khaki. One pair is cargo style, the other is just pants style. Boring. Not worth photographing, especially. The just-pants style ones have buttons holding down the belt loops and the cargo ones have leopard-print buttons, so they don’t totally spew boredom out into the world. Maybe I’ll photograph them when I photograph the shirts I recently made.

Coming soon, then…semi-boring office pants and a bunch of shirts made in different styles from the same pattern. Stay tuned…or something like that.

Posted in Fashion/Sewing stuff, Photo entries, Sewing, Super-Short Entries | No Comments »

This post is useless with pictures

May 4th, 2010 by Meetzorp

Hi, hi! I’m just lollygagging around tonight and trying a new approach to the abuse of GIF images. Don’t mind me. I’m sure I never do.

I have a favorite little animated GIF, a self-drawing rosette that I may end up using more again, if this embedding process looks any good. We shall see how that goes.

I have a habit of saving cute little GIFS whenever I find them, so I have some for any occasion. And some that aren’t so cute and aren’t good for any occasion, but I saved them anyway. For example, there is simply no excuse for this kind of thing.

It’s like, WTF, right?

Anyway, I will try not to be tooooo obnoxious with these little guys, but only add ‘em in when a little bit of cute is appropriate.

Posted in Distractions, Utter Silliness, meta | No Comments »

Delusions of Adequacy

Apr 27th, 2010 by Meetzorp

Home Despot inspires a particularly delirious delusional state in me.

I think it’s the fact that you can find pretty much everything there with which to make or destroy your average house and all of its accessory structures and miscellaneous appurtenances.

A few years ago, I required a crowbar, as one does.

So I hied myself hither to Home Depot to select the ideal iron bar for the job. After the crowbar was acquired, I decided to have a browse around, ’cause it’s a waste to go to Home Despot without leering at the spray paint, trying to find the most hideously ostentatious “chandelier,” considering the Garden Weasel, and pricing toilets.

I was sashaying about, crowbar in hand, enjoying its iron heft, and within minutes my brain had switched into mayhem mode, and I was daydreaming about the entertainment possibilities that could lie in just stomping around town, crowbar in hand, to see what people’s reactions would be.

Bear in mind that at the time of my crowbar acquisition, I tended to dress like a candy-raver on Casual Friday:
idiot-girl

I reckon I might have missed my calling in the arena of performance art. Obviously I need to go and seek a grant.

Posted in dumb things I have done, nostalgia | No Comments »

Correction:

Apr 22nd, 2010 by Meetzorp

I guess I only have one eyeshadow compact (lovely earthtone set from Covergirl) I used to have one for doing “smoky eyes” and I liked it a lot, but I accidentally dropped it in the toilet, and there’s no going back from there.

Posted in dumb things I have done | No Comments »

“I don’t own a gun

Apr 21st, 2010 by Meetzorp

let alone many guns which would necessitate an entire rack.”

I have a bit of a makeup problem in the sense that I have many pouches, cases, and other containers devoted to the convenient storage thereof, but relatively little makeup to store in them. I have, at last count, two eyeshadow compacts, three individual eye shadow discs, four lipsticks and two eyeliner pencils. I also have a tube of mascara coming on order from Avon. All of this fits pretty handily in one of the drawers of my Sterilite three-drawer organizer that mainly houses my formidable hair-clippie collection. For while I am lackadaisical about the facial spackle, I’m probably overly enthusiastic about hair ornaments.

Anyway, as I was saying in my excessive and prolix way, I have a lot of makeup pouches and suchlike and not a lot of makeup. So I like to make use of the shit I have around, and I have a specific and minute mania for organization. On the macro level, I am a chaotic slob, but on the micro level, I can be quite organized if the resources are right and the stars are aligned.

Recently, I took it upon myself to organize my backpack.

I have a tendency to carry entirely too much crap in my backpack, so I decided to weed it down to the essentials, then package them up conveniently, so that anything else rattling around in my bag could easily be identified and eliminated when and as necessary.

I solved two problems at once, too; I put to use some of the unused makeup bags that had been floating around, and I got my backpack into pretty good order.

I really like Clinique’s Black Honey “Almost Lipstick” tinted lipgloss. It is the bim-bomb-diggedy. A while back I bought a new tube of this wondrous goo because I’d used up my previous one, and they were doing some sort of promotional deal where they threw in this little zip bag with some moisturizer samples in it. I wasn’t especially swayed; I’d just as soon stick with my Aveeno “Positively Radient” which is way cheaper and also sunscreeny, but I thought the bag was kind of cute…it even has a bicycle on it! It now houses my first aid supplies, comprising a small ziplock full of assorted band aids, another containing aspirin and advil, a travel bottle of hand sanitizer, a few tampons, toothpaste, tooth brush, safety pins, pocket knife, and citronella oil.

The little clear-and-aqua windowpane check bag dates back to my highschool days; I used to use it to carry shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant for Gym class. Now, it is full to the gizzard with inner tubes for any bike I could conceivably find myself riding. The other bag is The Prettiest Toolkit Ever! It has rhinestones on it.

It had originally contained some lavender scented bath products and one of those fluffy shower-gell-puffer-things. The bath products have long since been enjoyed, and the fluffy puffer thingy has been destroyed by the cats. Now, this handy-dandy little bag contains patch kits, tire levers, a crescent wrench, some Tri-Flo oil, a multitool, and yet another road tube.

It’s so much easier to find stuff when I need it, and I’m finally getting some good use out of these little pouches.

And now on to my next fab re-purposing.

I found a Caboodles the other day. About a million years ago, when I was in Junior High in the early 1990s, these things were considered the schizznit. Many of my girlfriends had them, to better store and tote their stashes of Scrunchies and Love’s Baby Soft. I never had one, preferring my hot-pink-and-teal Gitano overnight bag for such duties. All the same, I recognized the general niftiness of these glorified, color-coordinated tackleboxes.

Anyway, the other day I was taking Ruby on her daily run, and we were trolling the back alleys of the West Bottoms (lots of things to sniff and piddle on) when I spied something hot pink that looked promising. Lo, it was a vintage Caboodle!

I couldn’t really conscience leaving it there in the alley behind “>the very private club so I dug around in the trash heap a little more, found a piece of coaxial cable, and tied the Caboodle to my package rack. I wasn’t 100% sure what I’d use it for, but it was too good of a bit of detritus to pass up.

Well, when I got home with it, I realised that it would be way better for storing my thread than the old Searsonite travel case I’d been using:

Plus, also, this Samsonite-knockoff smells strongly of vitamins. I guess the previous owner used to store their iron pills and other nostrums in here.

When I got done sorting, de-tangling, and re-winding, this was the end result. Highly satisfying, and now I can find pretty much any color I might have occasion to need. Whoot!

Now I need to find a good use for the old blue case that smells like vitamins. I’m sure it will come to me eventually, and in the meantime, it stows nicely under the futon in my office.

Posted in Distractions, Dumpster Diving | 1 Comment »

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