Category Archives: Creative journeys

Returning to the fold…

The nature of my work life has always been fluid.

Some weeks I’m super swamped with dance related gigs and classes, sometimes I’m working on EcoTAV pouches and napkins, sometimes I’m trapped in layers of tulle and cannot get out!

And changes flow through my life constantly; I think that’s why I live by appointment and booking, in order to maintain some sense of control 😉

The end of 2013 was marked by taking a break from working steadily with a local bridal salon that I had previously enjoyed working with, for about 3 years.  As their needs shifted, my time with them also shifted to occasional referrals and job opportunities, which enabled me keep close ties with the lovely owners.

While I really enjoyed the creative adventures I was able to go on with my clientele – nuns, dancers, and brides alike – and I did need the break from the constant tulle, I did miss working with Luxe Bridal‘s owners and clientele.  But the change of pace and more colour in my sewing space was a much needed benefit!

2014 brought about some major changes in my living quarters/ workspace, bringing about a move to a new apartment building and some financial juggling. And as mentioned, I was still working on occasion with Luxe…

a Luxe blog post 2015 - 05
The view from my new TAV Creations home studio is great!

 

After some preliminary discussions at the end of 2014, and some soul searching on my part, we determined a win-win situation where I can once again enjoy helping some of their lovely brides get the final tweaks on their dresses.  I have really had to determine my own strengths and establish some systems to maintain a healthy respect for my own creative process and time.

So in January of 2015 – after one last “referral” dress, I began my 3 month trial of working part time, in-house at the Luxe Bridal Dalhousie location.  It’s a bit of a joke about it being that 3 month probation period since I have worked with them in the past, but this is a new journey on so many levels for all of us!

And here we are at the beginning of April 2015.

April brings a shift in their world as the shop has moved to a new location, out of downtown < boo, I could walk to the other location>,  with a fresh approach to more appointment based bridal service  that will allow them to focus even more on the brides who book time to come in and receive their own personalize time with the consultants. Be sure to check them out online and on Facebook to find out more!

And I’ve now done my first bit of sewing in the new place – after setting up my own chair 🙂 . We still have stuff to figure out with the new location, but I am looking forward to the adventure and maybe even cycling there in a few weeks when the weather is warmer and the bike paths have cleared!

My title, remains, Couturiere...  or… if you have trouble with pronunciation, I’ll accept, while within the walls of Luxe Bridal, Alterations Specialist.

Note: I’m more than a seamstress, I’ve got paperwork that proves that, and while seamstresses are already a force of awesomeness, I’ve done my time to push myself to a slightly quirkier level… 🙂Couturiere Certification

 

And yes, TAV Creations is still rocking the creativity…

If you need some sewing done – be it creative design work or you are shopping for a wedding dress, I continue to be available to serve in whatever capacity helps bring your dream garments to life – costumes, bridal, religious, or otherwise!

I’ll just be found working in the back of Luxe Bridal on Wednesdays and Thursdays and some Saturdays…so forgive me if I don’t reply to emails as quickly on those days!

And, Lisa and Madeleine, thanks for inviting me back to the whacky fun!

The spirit of the Luxe Selfie!
The spirit of the Luxe Selfie!

So…Life happens and your plans adjust

I had Grandiose Plans… And then Life had other plans for me.

Nothing too serious.

A randomly painful tooth that has not yet been dealt with but emits signals to the mother ship randomly and causes moments of inaction.

Some new work related adventures that I will chat about at a future date, with time allotted there that has been enjoyably important but obviously time taken away from other projects.

New clients and return clients also being in focus as rent and bills gotta be paid, so they will always come first!

And some personal moments that were joyfully self absorbing, and equally time eating, and absolutely had to happen!

So, here we are, mere days before the upcoming Dancers Bazaar, and I have a very busy day today < yes, I’m taking time to blog>, tomorrow and Saturday with client work.

So what does that mean?  It means I’ll be taking a new approach to the Bazaar.

I had planned on making a pile of new “back packs” and I got 2 made. I may get a couple more made between now and then… but … here’s one set that will be for sale…

Blue and white bags

I also have a small selection of my ecotav napkins and pouches in their classic hemp and cotton fabric that will be available for purchase at the Bazaar.  they can be used for dance items too!

There are also the remaining pieces I made a few years back that have been joining me for the past few events and I would like them to go away.   You can see  them here on my Artfire Page.

So, some of you may have seen the following photo earlier in February when I was beginning to percolate on what to do.  And so here’s the plan…

Designs for BAzaar 2015

I have begun to measure and hang many of the beautiful pieces of fabric I have available for designs, and I have begun to illustrate potential ideas that might inspire you to join me in an adventure of co-creation.

What that means is, various pieces of fabric will be hanging in my booth and a variety of sketches will be there for you to peruse. each sketch will also indicate the amount of fabric required for that design and a labour price.  so if you like it and want it or a variation of it, we will talk about timing and what is needed to make you your custom piece.

If a piece of fabric that I have suits, you’ll purchase it that day to seal the deal and we’ll book appointments for fittings etc.

If you have your own fabric and like one of the designs and it’s a match, we’ll talk!

You’ll be able to join me in my little mini consolation studio and enjoy the concept of having something made especially for you!

Hope it’s fun for us both!

I’ll also have:

  • some used pieces on my rack on behalf of colleagues selling off their older costumes.
  • Zill mufflers courtesy of Paprycia – crochet queen and dancer!
  • Halyma’s Lessons on DVD on Super Sale

 

Designing…

So, here I sit, surrounded by beautiful fabrics I have collected, been given, and love them all dearly.

And I am preparing to start creating pieces for an upcoming event in early March where I will hope to sell pieces I have created and put my heart and soul into, hoping the right combination of size, style and colour will find it’s happy new owner.

But it’s completely illogical to my nature.

I co-create.

I design for my clients, working hand in hand with them to bring a shared vision to life.  They give me a starting point, some silhouettes, so colours, some concepts, and then I let my creative juices flow, drawing up ideas and offering them their options based on budget, time, and any other relevant factors.

Every piece is an original, every piece is a creation born from energy combined by two of us.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe my personally generated designs are lovely, and have great potential to be personalized by the person who purchases them, either with my help or with their own styling.

Most people don’t see  what I see. I have created pieces that I considered beautiful canvasses that can be reworked with beads or tailoring and made into completely awesome pieces. But people often only see them as too plain.

By keeping them plain, I keep them budget friendly, so that the dancer can choose how much more she wished to spend on embellishment.

all hand beaded
all hand beaded

 

This grey velvet became my costume, but started as a one piece baladi dress that had no beadwork.  Then I decide I would just rework it for myself – and it turned out to be my featured performance costume for my Halyma’s Bellydance DVD # 1.

In the early days of sewing for the Bazaar, I used to create pieces while thinking of specific dancers who might like them, and quite often, I was blessed with their agreement and purchase.  Since I would tend to make them in the correct size for that dancer, it worked out well.

But I started to feel like I was almost victimizing those dancers and coercing them into purchasing by using my powers for evil.

I have continued to create simple pieces, but found that, without focus on a specific dancer to inspire me, many of the pieces remain unsold.  So they will be heavily discounted at the upcoming event in hope that will find a new home.

I think I need my muses back.

So, if you come shopping on March 8th at the Dancers’ Bazaar and see something that looks like it was made for you, and it’s in your size – feel flattered – you probably inspired me 🙂

Details:

Dancers Bazaar, Sunday March 8th, 12 noon to 4 p.m., 250 McArthur, Knight’s of Columbus Hall. Free parking and free admission. Facebook event  Organizer’s website

And remember, if you actually want something custom made, that’s what I do – email me!

Welcome 2015 – Looking forward to new adventures

One thing that 2014 taught me was to never say never but to pay attention to the results of your choices.

I enjoyed creative freedom I haven’t had in a while, and was able to make some beautiful costumes for lovely dancers:

I was honoured to be one of 3 recipients of the Experience Asie Award for my work with towards creating a strong bellydance community in the National Capital area.

IMG_5583

 

And I was able to re-habit the Queenship of Mary Community, as well as continue sewing for many of my return clients.

I also discovered I have to be OK with saying no. No is not meant to hurt others, it’s meant to take care of myself so that I can be my best when I say yes.

I have to schedule in “downtime” throughout the month, not just once  a year when we take our family holiday. Recharging once a week is important and even if I have to split it between a few days, I’ll be scheduling in my times so that I don’t overbook/ overdo.

Anxiety attacks are an interesting way for my body to tell me to stop. Fortunately, so far, they have been short-lived, only once while driving, and I am looking into reducing stress and eating better to help alleviate them, before they develop more.

And as I start 2015 with the usual mix of confirmed and potential sources of income and opportunities to be practical or creative – when things fall into place, I get to do both – I am doing my best to revisit past sources of inspiration – writing, and cooking for sure.

I also will hopefully find the time to get back into creative drawing and maybe even painting – but no pressure.

I hope that everyone finds their path in 2015 without rancour, minimal stress and kindness to themselves and others.

Level 3+ sewing – Monday evenings starting March 24th!

Join us for the Level 3+ Sewing Course – practically a club!  We’ll cover anything you may have missed, not quite fully understood, want to practice, etc from the previous 3 levels, as well as explore any new topics the group would like to cover.

Mondays, March 24, 31 and April 7 from 7-9 p.m. at the Routhier Community Centre.

Which room ? to be determined  – but you can NOW SIGN UP!

If you have taken at least one sewing course with me in the past this will be a fun course to review, practice, and hopefully cover some new topics as well!

UPDATE: Here’s what the course outline is!

Taking a day – dental leave…

Lots of stuff going through my mind as I am taking today to fully recover from some dental work I had done yesterday.

I may get a bit descriptive in this post, so it’s okay if you choose to stop here.

The dental work itself went superbly, considering what have to be done.

I am presently sans one canine that had already undergone a root canal in 1997, but no cap. In September 2013, at a fundraiser where I was the co-chair, I sat to watch the movie we were showing with a lovely bag of popcorn and the crunch I felt was not a kernel. No pain, though, just that odd texture of broken tooth.

But with no pain, I was not worried, I did contact my dentist though and had a visit there that week. X-ray and up close and personal check up later… something should be done.

Sometimes people can ignore broken teeth – if it’s all above the gum line, nothing going into the root, etc. but I had a dark grey spot near the root, and the break had gone below my gum line.

Personal note: I am a self-employed artistic type with a stronger creative streak than business streak. I manage just fine, but I don’t have the self-discipline to pay into a monthly insurance policy to cover these types of things. So, no dental insurance.

Presented with a myriad of options:
1-save the tooth = re-root canal to get rid of the possible infection { grey spot showing in the x-ray}; cap it including gum work.
2-pull the tooth and proceed with 1 of the following options:
a- denture
b- bridge
c- implant
d- nothing.

These options have dollar signs ranging from $300 through to $4000

So, I ignored it.

Then in November, another piece broke off.

I contacted my dentist for a referral appointment to a specialist who could remove the tooth. Decision number 1.

I went for the consultation and was given a horrendous estimate including over $400 for the “laughing gas” which they found “most people need to have”.

I was not pleased.

I contacted my dentist, providing the office with full disclosure on the estimate so that they had more information when someone else might have a similar situation and after much discussion they offered to set me up for another consultation.

The second consultation had me meet with people who were much more approachable and understanding about my non insurance situation and there was only a few things that would be added to the cost, IF, they were needed at the time of extraction. This included a bone graft if I was planning on an implant in the future.

So, appointments were set and yesterday I went in for my extraction.

15 minutes late, and the first dental assistant had tendonitis, so another person would be helping, but the Dr. was totally chill and made me feel very relaxed.
Not with laughing gas.

I appreciated the warning when the second freezing needle was going in that it would “really pinch” for about 3 seconds. She counted and she was correct.

I turned on my audio book – ” The Blind Watchmaker” by Richard Dawkins – as it has successfully been putting me to sleep every time I listen to it { no offence, RD!}- and I settled in.

I have a great imagination when it comes to visualizing based on what I feel.
I could feel an instrument being wedged in between the tooth and gum in a circular motion. cool.
I am not really sure what else actually happened, but my minds eye went with a few size tests on clamps to grab hold of the tooth that was remaining above the gum line, and then she began to pull.
I figured I would help by visualizing the tooth slipping out of the gums in an easy… POP, there it went!

Less than 5 minutes of active time after the freezing had set.

And I hear, “That’s it – it came out in one piece….. and the infection came out with the tooth…. and no bone graft required.”

a bit more internal scraping to clean up and we were done.

” sorry you couldn’t get more into your book.”

I texted Tom to let him know I was done, and feeling okay, so he did not have to come out to meet me. I had also texted him to let him know when we were starting, so he was also surprised at how quickly it happened.

I came home, walking not too quickly, did everything on the information sheets – take pain killers before the freezing comes out, use an ice pack for 20 minutes on, 20minutes off.

Soft food was already prepped for my supper – and I ate well yesterday before the dentist so that I would not need a big supper.

And here I am the next day, feeling a little bit of discomfort, and only get a bit light headed if I bend forward or try to pick up something heavy.

I’ll take it easy today, and do computer work, and try to enjoy a medically prescribed day off.

Almost time for my soft food lunch!

Do you have a TAV Creations designed outfit in your closet?

Did I make you an amazing outfit for dance? An evening event? Your wedding?

Why do I ask?

Well…
In April 2014, at the upcoming Eurikadance Dancers’ Bazaar, she is planning to have a fashion show featuring pieces by participating vendors/exhibitors.
And while I do have a few small pieces for sale, and will probably make at leafs a few more pieces for the event, my main love has always been the custom work. And I’ve had the chance to make some amazing clients some amazing pieces!
And many of these pieces come out once every few years, if that.
What I am hoping to have happen is that a few of my past/present clients would be willing to ideally model one of her great ensembles we’ve co-created, at the April 6th event.  This will help me showcase the custom work I have done and am happily continuing to do with sparkly creative results!

If you are open to this idea:

1- I would prefer a head-to-toe TAV Creations original – something we designed together and I made the entire thing, besides any obvious accessories such as jewelry/shoes.  It can be a dance costume, a bridal piece, evening gown.

2- You are available to model the outfit during the afternoon event on April 6 – time to be determined OR
2A- You are okay with the outfit begin loaned and modelled by someone else for the show.

If you are interested/ open to this idea, please message me at tracey@tav-creations.com or on Facebook or on Twitter.

Thanks for the consideration!

Tracey

 

Revisiting my Haute Couture Skillz: Covering shoes in lace

I perhaps should have done a play by play, but i’ve been having a finicky day with these puppies, so I figured since they are almost finished, I can post a pic or two, and take a break from the glue!

Couple of fun things to not – if you ever do this yourself, you can use the double sided tape found in drug stores that is used to keep blouses from gaping, straps from shifting etc, and temporarily cover a plain pair of shoes with fabric for a special matching feeling.  It will last for an evening I think, but not long term, and with these being lace, I wanted it to be secure.  So I used the double sided tape to hold the fabric in place to confirm positioning { the lace is not mirror image, so I did my best } before using highly toxic { I know, I know } glue to tack it all down permanently.

Final steps are to clear up any shaggy bits along the sole, and then glue a tiny ribbon along the inside to keep the edges all in place.

PHOTOS:

Dana's shoes covered with lace 2013

 

 

I also had the pleasure of adding organza sleeves to her strapless dress, beading the lace on the sleeves to complement the existing lace, adding more appliqués to the bodice and generally redesigning her dress.

closer view of bodice and sleeve-dana2013 Bodice of dress- Dana2013 Dana 2013 Dana 2013-3 Dana 2013-2

 

Fall 2013 Sewing Lessons

Once again I will be teaching basic sewing this fall:

Sewing Level 1
Course number: 867021 – $50.00
Learn Basic hand sewing skills and some machine work along with what to look for when buying a sewing machine.

Register online at Ottawa.ca or call 613-244-4470
Saturdays, September 21 to October 5, 2013
10:00 AM to 12 noon – 2 hours each Saturday
Routhier Community Centre, 172 Guigues Street, Ottawa, ON
POSSIBLE Monday Evening option starting September 16 for 6 weeks from 7-8 p.m. or September 23rd , 3 weeks from 6:30 to 8;30 p.m.
If this would be of interest, please contact either the centre by phone or email me info@eco-tav.com

FOR COURSE INFORMATION: CLICK HERE

Sewing Level 2
Course number: 867029 – $50.00
Implementing skills learned in Level 1:
Learn to alter your clothes, install a zipper and general repairs. Hand and sewing machine work. Basic store bought patterns will be covered. Sewing machine an asset.

Register online at Ottawa.ca or call 613-244-4470
Saturdays, October 19 to November 2, 2013
10:00 AM to 12 noon – 2 hours each Saturday
Routhier Community Centre, 172 Guigues Street, Ottawa, ON

FOR COURSE INFORMATION: CLICK HERE

Sewing Level 3
Course number: 867040- $50.00
Implementing the techniques learned in levels 1 and 2, level 3 students will start and finish a basic project including zipper installation, seam finishing, some fitting skills and more.  Project will be a simple skirt.  Click through the course information link below for pattern information. Muslin will be provided. Students will then bring their own fabric to create finished project. Students need access to sewing machine for homework.

Register online at Ottawa.ca or call 613-244-4470
Saturdays, November 16 to November 30, 2013
10:00 AM to 12 noon – 2 hours each Saturday
Routhier Community Centre, 172 Guigues Street, Ottawa, ON

FOR COURSE INFORMATION: CLICK HERE