Dresses – Books on and the Making of

Follow the link for a taster of an embellishment tutorial in the book.

Wow, I must be a bit psychic (that, or it’s a coincidence, but that’s not so fun, right?) as my new book (The Party Dress) was waiting for me when I got home on Friday. I read it cover to cover that evening and here are my thoughts (having only read it, not tried it out):

Positive

• The dresses are great – there should be something here to suit everyone.
• There are good ideas for personalising the dresses and making different variations on them.
• It’s written in a very positive way – he has an upbeat, friendly and encouraging tone, which is exactly what a beginner needs.
• Gorgeous colour photos throughout with some fun photoshoots (giant white rabbits, anyone?).
• Embellishment tutorials that you could use on many different projects.

Negative

• I’m not convinced his examples are perfectly-fitting (there is some wrinkling) – surely this should be the priority in a book about how to make dresses that fit you perfectly? I suspect taking greater care and being more of a perfectionist would help.
• The instructions aren’t always clear – sometimes I was reading them and couldn’t fully understand what he meant and the photos do not always help. I generally use more than one book when reading up on techniques, anyway.
• I would disagree with some of his recommendations on what suits the different body shapes – for example, that short people should wear longer lengths, in fact they often make you look even shorter and tend to dwarf shorter ladies (I speak from experience!). I’m not saying short women should never wear long gowns, but you have to do so carefully!

And this point is neither positive not negative, but something for anyone considering this book to be aware of:

• It does contain four dresses (and a basque top, which is used as the bodice/pattern for the dresses and can be made up separately). Considering the prices of patterns, you wouldn’t be able to buy four patterns for the £10 the book costs (I got it cheaper on Amazon Marketplace, so look out for copies there!), so I consider it a good deal for that alone (plus the block, bow and fabric flower tutorials), but some people might expect more from a book that is specifically about creating ‘the perfect’ party dress. Having said that, I do think that whatever your figure, at least one of these styles should suit you, and Simon Henry does give ideas for variations, so you could make four different takes on the same dress.

Anyway, overall, I would recommend this book, though I doubt it has much to offer the more experienced stitcher except for, perhaps, inspiration.

The other weekend happening – Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical … Bloody amazing!! So, so much fun! Uplifting songs and story, amazing performances and a bus on stage – what more could you ask for? I had a fabulous time. Oh, and the costumes were out of this world – I never in my life thought I would ever watch a stage full of dancing men dressed up as cupcakes. Yep, I’m serious. If you get the opportunity, I heartily recommend this show and challenge you to leave it without a massive grin on your face!

And, lastly, back to dressmaking – the promised pictures of the wrap-over, nearly complete – the bias binding is all on now, though the hemming isn’t yet done and neither is the closure. I’ve tied a scrap of leftover bias around the waist and I quite like the effect, so I think I’m going to sew that at the wrap-overs and tie it at the back. I did originally try this with a wide strip of the blue poplin to create a large bow at the back, but this created too much bulk around the waist. My only slight concern is that adding this red bias changes the lines on the dress – does it spoil the shape?

(Sorry the photos aren’t fab – my camera is still being dead and the Boy’s one refused to work, too!  Only bad thing about my phone – rubbish camera.)

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Writing, Reading and Loving

These three things are inextricably interlinked for me.  When I am reading a story I love, I feel most inspired to write.  And, I like to think I’m aware enough that I don’t fall into that trap of writing like what I’m currently reading, which I hear/read so often from writers – ‘I don’t read anything while I’m writing a novel in case it subconsciously influences me’.  Which is fair enough, but I do think that reading is the best way to learn about writing, closely followed by writing (see below for my justification of this!).  And if you want to get published, then it’s even more vital that you know what is already out there, what is selling and what the conventions are, whether you intend to follow them or not.

Now, to qualify that off-hand comment about the best way to learn to write … This is, of course, just one woman’s opinion, but I think that reading extensively provides you with the basis for any learning you might do through writing itself.  Before I ever attempted to write myself and before I ever had any formal teaching on writing, I read.  As a child I lived in imagined worlds more than I lived in the ‘real world’ (and if I had my own way, I probably would now, too).  This meant that when I came to write and to learn about story I had an instinctive understanding of structure, character, dialogue and so on.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was a basis.  It meant that I could think of examples of the kind of scene or plot I was trying to write or that someone else was trying to teach me about.  It meant that somewhere in the back of my mind a voice said that you needed tension and climaxes and resolutions long, long before I ever read about those things in ‘how to write’ books.

Reading was the underpinning for the rest of my learning about writing.  I cannot stress the importance of it enough.  (Plus, if you want to write and be published, then buying and borrowing books from the library is a great way to support your industry.)

If you want some more writing tips, here’s an interesting article from The Guardian – Ten Rules for Writing Fiction.  (And yes, I need for work on number 5 – me and my addiction to exclamation marks!)  I got the link via the often funny, ever enlightening Nathan Bransford.  He does a fantastic post on the week’s happenings in publishing – if you want to be published or work in the industry, you’d be well-advised to read it!  In fact, just subcribe to his blog and read it all – you’ll find something useful, I promise!

And if you were wondering where the start of this post was going – it was further praise for Robin Hobb.  I am loving Ship of Magic like a great big obsessive weirdo.  I know I am loving it that much, because I find myself thinking about it when I’m doing other things and I am constantly looking forward to the next time I get a chance to read it.  And as it’s lunchtime, that’s now. 

What I bought at the weekend!

(Though, before I go to eat and read – if you have any recommendations along the lines of ‘if you like Robin Hobb, you’ll love …’ I’d love to hear them.  Indeed, any fantasy recommendations with good female protagonists always go down well with me!)

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This week I have been mostly …

I just wanted to give you lovelies a quick update on what I’ve been up to …

• Applications – a couple for jobs and a couple for PGCEs.  They take up a lot of time and are quite dull, but they need doing, alas!
• Tulle skirt.  Meh.  It’s finished, but it looks frumpy and I’m not impressed by that!  I’m plotting ways to possibly de-frump it, or else it’s going in the bin (well, probably not the bin, but the pergatory that is under the bed).  Maybe making it a lot shorter (it’s knee-length at the moment) will help, but I’m a bit anxious to do that as once it’s cut, there’s no going back!
• Reading – I forgot to mention this in my “You Should Read This” post, but You Should Read This (Robin Hobb’s Ship of Magic).  It’s one I bought before we moved but hadn’t got around to reading yet and I’ve just picked and ye gods I already love it something rotten.  I’m only a few chapters in and I suspect it might become my favourite book ever.  Yes, that’s how much I love it.  I might have to write a full review once I’ve finished it, but for now I’m going to gush about the things I love about it: the writing is ohmygodsIwishI’dwrittenthat amazing – certain turns of phrase she uses are so simple and yet so perfect it leaves me wondering how anyone has ever described that thing in any other way, and this especially impresses me because these days I am so picky about writing that I can’t help but see every single flaw, so for me to be wowed this much is rare; the characterisation and characters – they are so incredibly real from what I’ve read so far, the chapter I’ve just finished in particular gets under the skin of that character so utterly that I felt I was seeing into the mind of another person, not reading made up imaginings; which brings me to that imagination – this is fantasy at its best, in my most humble of opinions – I’m quite well read in the genre and the ideas she comes up with are so unique and original without being too outlandish or unbelievable, which is exactly what fantasy should be.  OK, must stop gushing about Robin Hobb now, but I have major Writer Envy and Awe and Love and Wows!
• Valentine’s-ing – the Boy and I don’t like going out for dinner on Valentine’s Day, it’s just a bit cheesy for our tastes, being out with loads of other couples and so on, so we went out on Thursday for a quiet meal and on Sunday I baked him cupcakes (raspberry with vanilla icing and red sparkles- yay!) and we got Yo Sushi take away (YUM!), watched our guilty pleasure (Smallville) and then went to a pub quiz.  It was a lovely day.

I should’ve taken pictures of the cakes, I know, but they were just too yummy not to scoff all at once … but here’s some sushi to look at instead:

I heart sushi!

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Cupcakes!

What is it that people love so much about cupcakes?

I’m afraid I don’t have an answer, but I do have an addiction to the darn things.  So when I saw this book for £5 at my office’s book club, I just couldn’t resist:

Huzzah for many different recipes (for the cake and icing) and lots of inspiring ideas.  There’s even a recipe for Earl Grey cupcakes and another for rose icing (I love all things rose-flavoured).

The only down side?  This means that I’m sorely tempted to buy lots of fun cake-decorating bits, like brightly-coloured sprinkle shapes and coloured sparkly sugars.  I managed to be sensible at the weekend and only bought fairly necessary and non-frivolous baking equipment: a cooling rack, a spatula (in a pretty colour, naturally) and I ordered some scales for the kitchen as they didn’t have the ones I wanted.

While on the subject of cupcakes… if you happen to live in the area, I can recomment the yumminess of The Swallow Bakery’s cupcakes – super-nom-noms.

If the first bite really is taken with the eyes, then cupcakes must be one of the most delicious and filling foods in the world.  (No mention of their fattening qualities, thankyouplease!)

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I Heart Books

As a reward for doing the boring but necessary task of visiting employment agencies all day, I allowed myself to spend the last of my gift card.  I tried to order the Kyoto Fashion book, but they couldn’t order it as it was out of stock (meh!).

But nevermind, ’cause it means I got to buy this piece of prettiness instead:

So, if you excuse me, I’m going to go and do some drooling …

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Aflutter Over A Book

I’m all aflutter at the release of what looks to be a rather exciting debut novel from the witty and most learned Gail Carriger:

Who could possibly resist a novel whose byline is “A novel of vampires, werewolves, and parasols”?  Really?

Do go and check out her blog for Interesting Reading and a very fun Victorian paper doll of her protagonist, Alexia Tarabotti!  The book comes out on 1 October and I think I’ll be breaking my current ban on buying books and sending this one straight to the top of my pile.  And, dear reader, I think you should follow suit.

Soulless promises to be a steam-punk, historical urban fantasy with romance and lush gowns.  I, for one, am in.

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Editing – Read, re-read and then re-read some more.

Thanks to distracting friends and sun, I’ve only finished my editing for last week on Sunday evening, so I thought I’d take a look at the process of hammering your manuscript up to standard.

A lot of writers suggest doing separate read throughts for different kinds of editing – an method I find effective.  As it’s so close to deadline (4th September!) and this is only the first part of a novel, I’m not going to be doing much of the over-arcing edit – cutting out scenes, altering the overall pace of the novel, and large changes, such as re-thinking characters, etc.  There are still plenty of read-throughs to be done, however, and I’m still looking at the pace within this first ~40,000 words.

1. Line edit.  This is a close reading of the work, checking for typos and spelling/grammar mistakes, but also getting rid of reptition which happens a lot if you’re writing a first draft and forging on without re-reading (which is what works best for me).  At this point, I’m looking for errors and mistakes, really.  This would normally be done after that big edit as it would be a pain and potentially a waste of time to closely edit a scene or chapter which you then decide needs cutting because it doesn’t serve the plot or slows the story down, etc.
2. My next read goes a little deeper, picking out the problems that are slightly harder to spot, such as clumsy phrasing and cliches.  This involves re-writing sentences or passages here and there, re-wording cliches and finding more interesting imagery for those tired, trite descriptions.
3. Hack ‘n’ slash.  Not like an RPG, but more like weeding.  At this point I’m no longer distracted by the problems solved in the first two passes, so I’m trying to be brutal and cut out the flabby bits – the superfluous description (which I am prone to in a first draft) and over-writing.  For example, when walking into a new scene, pick out the interesting, important details that either give vital information or a flavour of the setting.  Don’t describe every detail and cut out those that don’t add to the sense of space.  This is hard to instruct upon, as it involves your own judgement of what’s important to your story.  This doesn’t mean leave everything in, because you wrote it in the first draft, this does mean take some time away from the first draft to get some distance and as you read, ask yourself honestly if this sentence contributes to the story, if that adjective is really important.  Adjectives and adverbs really need to justify their existence in your writing (the latter even more so).  Of course, this depends on what you’re trying to achieve and the style you’re working in – my short story, The Usher-Woman, was written in the style of Angela Carter’s Bloody Chamber, therefore it’s heavy on the description and rich texture… at least, that’s what I was going for!
4. Finally, when I’ve made all the changes I think need making, I look over other people’s comments and suggestions and look back over my own notes – sometimes I note changes for earlier chapters as I’m writing or think of something while I’m out and about.  As a consequence, I have lots of notes in random places – notebooks, my phone, scraps of paper (put safely in a folder when I get home!).  At this point, I bring all these notes together and make more changes.  Sometimes you’ll find you’ve already made a change noted elsewhere, and sometimes someone else’s comment or suggestion doesn’t fit with what you’re trying to achieve.  You don’t need to make every change someone else suggests, however, note criticisms and ask yourself if there’s a grain of truth in what they’ve said.  Other people’s questions can show you that something isn’t clear and therefore needs changing or clarification.  Evaluating critiques is a complex issue and could be a whole post in itself!
5. OK, second finally – have another read.  I guarantee you’ll notice something else that needs changing.  At the same time, you need to know when to stop.

Now for some sewing time… maybe…

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/

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Fantasy Fiction – Brevity Isn’t a Dirty Word

So last time, I mentioned this other addition that I made.  It was a brief explanation of my magic system.  BRIEF being the operative!

The currently direction of commercial fantasy fiction is away from the excesses of worldbuilding so beloved of Tolkein and his acolytes.  Check out what Joe Abercrombie has to say on the subject of Tolkeinesque worldbuilding.  It’s not about not doing the worldbuilding – inventing nations, peoples, cultures and attitudes is a vital part of fantasy fiction – it’s about not making the story and the characters subservient to the world.  I’m going to straight-out quote Joe Abercrombie here, as he puts it so well:

“It’s the equivalent of a film producer blowing his entire budget on sets and costume he’s not even going to use in the picture, and fondly imagining that no-one will therefore notice the abysmal script, acting, camerawork, editing and direction. Of course, there are writers who come up with weird, and wonderful, and magical settings which fascinate and enthral the reader. But, for me, those are only of real interest as long as the characters, and the dialogue, and the plots are on the money as well.” (See the above-linked interview in SFX Magazine.)

I know all the ins and outs of my magic system, but is it relevant to the story or of much interest to any reader that magic was first used back in the year blah blah blah by so-and-so?  No.  So it’s not going in the novel.

The important part of a novel is who does what to whom, or, what happens and to whom does it happen.  Character is vital, irrelevant history is not.

Having said that, a fantasy world is, by definition, different to ours, and the reader needs to feel that they have a grasp of what’s going on and where it’s going on.  Even in contemporary urban fantasy, such as The Southern Vampire Mysteries (AKA, the True Blood TV series), there are differences to our world that the reader (or viewer) needs to understand… like vampires…

… and the reader needs a certain amount of explanation.  But the reader doesn’t need all the explanation, and they certainly don’t need a massive infodump.

I suppose the point I am trying to make is that fantasy writers need to walk a thin line by giving a sense of their world by showing the important and relevant elements of that world rather than over-explaining that world in mind-numbing detail.  There are shades of grey that tend towards more worldbuilding or less, but the recent trends are towards novels that concentrate on telling a damn good story with some great characters.

And that is no bad thing.  For too long, fantasy has stood in Tolkein’s shadow and grown stale there, with too many cliched characters wandering from A to B and infodumping all the way.

It’s quite handy, then, that this new kind of fantasy is very much to my taste.  I’m attempting to give brief hints of the world and its magic, revealing relevant pieces of information with little touches here and there, but, as I’m finding, it’s a delicate balancing act.

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Sewing – the First Adventure

Because one day I really want to go to the Venice Carnival and wear this

and because I’m a perfectionist so I can’t buy an ‘ok’ readymade version and because I can’t afford the hefty price tag for someone to make it for me, I need to learn to sew.

The current plan is to go for my 30th birthday, so I have about 4 years – phew!

Anyway, everyone has to start somewhere, so I’ve been on the lookout for a good how-to-sew-for-idiots book and I think I’ve found one that actually surpasses all my expectations!

This is a little gem of a book, which I would recommend to anyone, whatever their level of sewing experience.  It caters for beginners with clear instructions of how to do the very basics (different types of seams, machine and hand stitches, hemming, etc), but also provides the more advanced sewer with ideas for gorgeous and fun projects that would make wonderful gifts for friends, family and yourself!  I can see this being a wonderful reference for people with mid-level skills, too, with it’s detailed how-tos on some funky and useable techniques, such as frills, ruffles, suffolk puffs, pleats, frog fastenings, beading, sequins, tassels, shirring (so pretty!), smocking, quilting, applique, patchwork, trapunto (seen loads on expensive cushions), embroidery, and loads more.  Here’s an idea of the other projects inside: curtains, cushions, bags, understanding and altering commercial dressmaking patterns, repairs, a circular skirt.

This book really does have it all and I’m so pleased I picked it up – I can’t wait to get going!  I am so going to make this cuff – I’m so in love with it.  It’s already helped me to understand different types of fabric and a lot of dressmaking terms I’d heard used elsewhere.

My only criticism is that some of the basic techniques are displayed on a patterned fabric, making them not as clear as they could have been, especially as the book relies on photographs and doesn’t have any diagrams.  A plain fabric with a lighter-coloured reverse and contrastic thread would have made the step-by-step instructions even clearer.  The addition of diagrams for some of the techniques would have helped, too.  But all in all, this is only a tiny negative in what is really a brilliant book.

Highly recommended.

Hmm… so this post has turned into a review of the book, nevermind – I’ll post more on-topic another time.

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