Plans for 2013 Pt 1- 3 Hours Past and Cake and a Survey!

2012 was chaotic for me on the blogging and website-building front.  I was learning constantly, testing new ideas and mediums, and figuring out how to put everything together all at one time.  I think that shows in the blogging.

That’s not right, not right at all.   Besides, I’m starting to understand more and more of the “computer work” involved and it’s easier for me now.   This post is to let you know what’s going on around here, and to give you a little look into The Future. I’ll start with where I see 3 Hours Past and sewingcake.com going in 2013:

Sometime in the last few months I realized I’m not really a “social” sewing blogger anymore, but I’m not really a “pro” blogger either.  Where does that leave 3 Hours Past?

Well- I have many other interests I write about occasionally besides sewing- sustainability, fashion history and design inspiration among others.  Oh!  And Finished Object posts, I love those… That’s 3 Hours Past the Edge of the World, and I like being able to connect with you clever and interesting people on topics other than the sewing.  (I’ll write Cake posts here, too, but not as frequently as in the past few months..)

Sewingcake.com will be the place I write tutorials, post videos, run sewalongs and other events, and showcase Cake Patterns.  The idea behind the sewingcake setup is that over time, as I fill in more tutorials and support for the patterns, the front page will become a “living” visual reference. (always wanted to do that with 3HoursPast…) I also want to make good use of the social media tools that many of us use to connect and share inspiration- primarily flickr and pinterest.

If you go take a look at the 30 Minutes a Day Tiramisu Sewalong page, you’ll see what I mean.  I used both types of galleries on that page, with the idea that the Flickr gallery will aid troubleshooting and the Pinterest gallery provides several options for following along with the action to make sure you don’t miss out.  (I’m also running a feed for the sewalong in the right sidebar here—->)

If you haven’t checked out the sewalong page lately then please do- I outlined how the galleries will work together and set a few “parameters” for the Sewalong.  I’ve taught far, far more classes than I have run sewalongs so for me it makes sense to run this as I would a class.  Check it out. (I’ve been writing up the posts for it this week, I’m SO excited about the Sewalong!)

Cake Patterns

Tiramisu is making wavelets through the blogs and PR as more of you get a chance to sit down and stitch with me through Cake Patterns. I love it!  Keep up the good work!

Pavlova’s pre-sale and Circus came and went just before Xmas, and she should ship in February.  Words can not express how much easier and smoother the production process was compared to Tiramisu, and I’m really looking forward to you all having your Pavlovas.

Around shipping time, I’ll introduce you to a Cake concept that’s been brewing for a few months: “collabvertisements.”  I shipped a pretty winter wool set of Pavlova separates (the gray and ivory) to a certain historical shoe designer who has a beautiful T-strap style coming out shortly…  She’ll style and shoot the photos herself- her shoes with my samples.

I’ll also be rolling out my “5 Positions of the Pavlova Skirt” blitz- 5 distinctive skirts made from the same simple Pavlova Skirt pattern pieces.  Oh yes! 

Hummingbird

Hummingbird is named after my favorite layer cake, and it’s all about work clothes for professional women.

Like Pavlova, Hummingbird is a jersey top and a woven skirt- and of course, always with pockets.  Unlike Pavlova, Hummingbird is a “meatier” concept to create a more formal ensemble.   The top is the popular and flattering peplum cut, but don’t expect your garden variety peplum from this 1940’s obsessed pattern drafter!  The cut will work with lighter fabrics as a top and also for heavier sweater knits.

The skirt is slim cut with no gape pockets, a contour waistband and a circular cut back flounce with lapped seams.  I’m engineering the construction to be “semi-couture,” but left an escape hatch for beginners and impatient intermediates.  I’m drawing heavily on inspiration from European skirt designs from the 30’s.

I can’t say a single word more about Hummingbird, I don’t want to spoil the surprise!

Lamington’s design happened a few months ago when my husband asked me to engineer him the ultimate Field Ecologist pants- serious cargo type pants he wears while working.  He had very particular specifications for pockets, function, and cut.

It’s a slim leg pant, but not so slim as to inhibit movement.  I included such functional details as exposed zippered pockets, adjustable waistband buckles, back pocket detailing and front pockets just deep enough for an iphone but not too deep.  I have a huge bag of rivets, buckles, zippers and all the other hardware I could locate because we’re going to be sewing with hammers!  I love that, it’s so much fun!

That’s right- Cake is branching out into men’s patterns!  The best part about the Lamington pants is that all that optional fun stuff can be stripped away to leave a very simple but cool men’s pants/shorts pattern.  And since it’s me, and it’s Cake, we’ll draw you a simple map to sort out the design details so you can customize to your heart’s content.

I don’t know about you, but I often steal my husband’s pants.  Rest assured, I’m stealing his pants pattern too and will show you how I “girly-fy” the Lamington pants.

I’ll pair them with a solidly simple baseball tee pattern we can play with to create other kinds of specialty activewear.  Dear me, I’m excited about sewing Hummingbirds and Lamingtons together…

Survey

Last year, I asked you all to go dig out your tape measures and contribute to my Hips-to-Waist Ratio survey.  I’ve played with the data a few different ways since then as I work out the Holy Grail of pattern drafting: a women’s pants grade.  Recently Braless In Brasil asked me to dig around and answer a question for her from my data.  I will soon, I love “new” questions.  If you missed that survey before then feel free to join in.  I’m still adding numbers as they come in.

While I prepare my equations for the Lamington Pants, I’d like a “Male” data set for waist to hip ratios.  My research and experiments show me that men are much less variable in that area than women, but I would like to build my own data set to work with.  To the male sewists out there and those of you with access to a man or men- do you think you could contribute to my Male Waist to Hip Ratio survey?  I’d really appreciate it, and I’m sure it will help me build a fantastic men’s pants pattern:

Waist (narrowest point on torso) cm preferred

Hips (fullest point) cm preferred

Submit

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As happens, I sat down to write a single post and discovered I had material for two.   In the next post, I’ll tell you what’s going on with some other Cake projects- namely the Petit Four projects and the Cake Riffs, as well as my teaching/events line-up in Brisbane for the next few months.

What do you think about all of that?  Tiramisu and Pavlova and Hummingbird and Lamington!  I’m still twiddling and refining the last two patterns, so if you have a workwear or cargo-pants “wish list” do let me know…!