In which PhysicsGirl would like to thank the academy...

Holy cow. I won an award! Twice!

The lovely Nancy from Sewing in Surf City just (ahem, okay, about two months ago) nominated me for a Liebster award. This is an award that is given by bloggers to bloggers. The rules vary a little, depending on who gives you the award, but basically you thank the blogger, linking back to their blog, post the award button on your blog, answer their questions, and pass the award on. I've seen it awarded in various places, and I've always been somewhat hopeful yet terrified that someone would nominate me. Hopeful because it means that someone reads this blog and thinks I'm moderately amusing; terrified because it means that somebody reads this blog. And also because of the obligation to pass on the award. Anyway, I started writing up this post in June, then Things overtook me and I dallied so long that Andie from Sew Pretty in Pink also nominated me for the award. Which is great! Except not, because I was going to nominate her! And now I've got even more questions to answer.

Let's start with Nancy's questions. Warning: if you are not interesting in my blithering on about sewing, skip down to the end to see who I've nominated.

1. Do you have a current challenge you are hoping to master to improve your sewing?
   As always, it's the combination of procrastination and rushing to finish things by a completely arbitrary deadline. This leads to never quite completing a make because, while it might be wearable, there's always something not quite right: the fit, a wonky seam, basted hems; you name it, something has to be fixed. Making a muslin would solve some of these problems, but I'm worried that once I do I'll never get around to making a final version.
   
   Oh, and fitting armholes. That seems to be an issue right now.
   
   
2. What is your motivation for sewing?
   To make clothes to wear. While I enjoy the process, I really look forward to having a product at the end of it. Which sometimes leads to the problems in question 1.
   
   
3. What do you like to sew best?
   Classic items that will get a lot of wear. I've been making a lot of dresses, but I want to start sewing more separates.
   
   
4. Do you have a favorite pattern company?
   Not really. Going by quantity sewn, you might say Colette (2.5 Macarons, 4 Sorbettos) or By Hand London (2 and 2*0.5 Annas, with more planned). Going by number of patterns, you might say Sewaholic (7 patterns, although to date I've only made 2 Thurlows and 1 Belcara (although I have several more pieces cut out)). I have many big four patterns and a smattering of others. I'm not really a brand junkie.
   
   
5. Do you have a favorite sewing trick that you think everyone should know?
   Oh dear. I'm still learning pretty much everything from other blogs. It's not an original idea, but I did come up with using my blind-hemming foot to stitch in the ditch or topstitch on my own, and it's brilliant. Also using the lab benches at school to cut my material and tape PDFs, but that's not exactly an option open to everyone.
   
   
   

And now for Andie's questions (sadly, no overlap. WHY?!)

1. What is your favourite TNT (tried and tested) pattern?
   I don't have one yet; you might say the Anna bodice, since I've used it four times already and am planning fifth and possible sixth versions. I can't really call it my TNT because I'm still tweaking the fit on that one. I'm hoping the Thurlow trousers will become a TNT.
   
   
2. If you could quit your job and sew full time, would you? Why or why not?
   No, because I love my job and I'm kind of a lazy sewist. For instance, despite the large number of projects that have been cut out and are ready to go, I haven't sewn anything for a week and a half.
   
   
3. What are your favourite types of fabric?
   To sew? Ones that play nicely. Definitely not pre-pleated polyester.
   
   To wear? Comfy cotton, silk, rayon, wool. Stuff that breathes. Alas, there seems to be a lot of non-breathing fabric in my sewing future.
   
   
4. Is there a fabric that scares you to try out? Why?
   Not really. I've already worked with silk charmeuse in The Dress, and while I made a great whack of mistakes with it, it didn't turn out too badly after all, so how hard can anything else be? I tend to be more afraid of patterns than fabric.
   
   
5. What is next on your list of garments to make?
   Mostly eparates. Stay tuned; I've got a stupidly long post coming up about that.
   

I feel a bit diffident about nominating other blogs; not because I don't think other blogs are worth nominating, but because of the obligation to pass the award on. It feels a bit like a chain letter. However, I really like the idea behind it, so I'm doing it. Since I don't feel that my blog is primarily a sewing blog, only one of my nominees is about sewing; one is a knitting blog, one is a cycling blog, one is about vegan food, one is about living in Paris, one is about cool stuff she owns, and one is about creating a sustainable life. And nepotism alert: they are all personal friends of mine.^* To be honest, I have no idea how many followers they have, but they are wonderful writers and don't seem to have this award yet and everyone should know about them. Some of them have not been blogging recently because of Reasons, but I'm hoping this will push them back into it. Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, linking back to their blog.
   
2. Copy and paste the Leibster award to your blog.
   
3. On your blog answer the 5 questions that have been set
   
4. Nominated 5 blogs that you think deserve to get noticed for the award
   
5. Let your nominees know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blogs
   
6. Set your nominees 5 questions of your own
   

Here we go:

Sew Pretty in Pink. I'm totally cheating here, because since I started writing this post, Andie won the award from someone else and nominated me. Typical. I met Andie through a friend I knew from my brief sojourn in improv. Then she started her sewing blog, and I'm always excited when I discover someone else does the same things I do. She makes pretty things. So far, I don't think many of them are pink.

Nath Knits. Pretty much what it says on the tin, although she also does cross-stitch and preserving and other stuff. I've known Nath since university; she and her family are currently coming to the end of a year-long stay in London. She made me the best cross-stitch ever.

Cupcake Ride. Hyedie organized the Cupcake Rides and has been involved with other cycling initiatives in Toronto. She also takes amazing pictures. She's been on a bit of a blogging break lately; I hope she comes back to it.

Feed Yourself, Free Yourself. I'm not a vegan, or even a vegetarian, but I love following Heather (who I know from swing dancing) and her experiments. Also? You should make her carrot soup. It is so yummy.

The Vanishing Point. Darlene is someone else I know from dancing, way back when. She threw over her life in Toronto and moved to Paris when I was staying there; she has since made it her home. She's a wonderful writer and I'm hoping this award will give her a nudge to start posting more regularly. You know, when she's not out living her fabulous life.

Found Objects of Love. Ann is another person I met while dancing. She is a fabulous writer and needs to tell us about that other nautical thing!

Misha and Mia have been blogging about sustainable living and renovating their house in an eco-friendly way. They've been a little quiet of late, but that's probably because they're busy being sustainable and posting envy-worthy photos of their vegetable garden on Facebook.

Since these blogs are all about different subjects, my five questions are a bit more general and totally nosy:

1. Why do you blog?
   
2. How did you get into whatever it is you blog about?
   
3. Which post you've written is your favourite so far?
   
4. Favourite book/movie/TV show/webcomic/song (pick one, some, or all)?
   
5. Pet peeve?
   

^*In fact, I wanted to nominated everyone on my "Clever Things my Friends Say" list over there on the right, but I tried to limit myself to blogs that were somewhat related to mine. But ladies and gentlemen? Consider yourself nominated. Except for Liz, but only because she's already got one. And you should totally read Eric's story about Neil Gaiman and soup.