It's Mending and Make It Yourself March!

Today as I was #slowly (Prompt #1 at @visiblemend) working my way through "Stitching the World", it came to me that today is March 1st and the Mending March Instagram challenges commence.
I interrupted my stitching, brought my threaded needle with me to the computer room (so I wouldn't misplace it),

and checked out the prompts for today.
Visiblemend has daily prompts:

View this post on Instagram

MendMarch! It’s on. Here you go, all the prompts—and I think this year, year three, they all make sense? Maybe not the 10th. Anyway, as before, you are welcome to—you must!—mess with them as you please. If you’re new here, this is technically an instagram challenge but really it’s an excuse to mend, share mends, make mendfriends, force yourself to face your mend pile, etc. It is fun. Do as many or few as you like, but do note that this year I am prizing you. Some lucky mender who manages ALL 31 wins a box of fabulous vintage mend supplies ie #haberdasheryporn Are you in? Tell me tell me! And ama if not making sense (ps when will dumb phone /instagram overlords stop autocorrecting “mends” to “men’s”?) #mends #itsmends #mendmarch #mendmarch2020 #visiblemending #darning #stopfen #repriser #raccommodage #zurcir #slowstitching #handstitch #slowfashion #instagramchallenge #igchallenge

A post shared by MendyKate (@visiblemend) on Feb 13, 2020 at 12:15pm PST

Wendy Ward, the creator of "MIY [make it yourself] March" is doing a slower approach this year.
She has a thought-provoking questionnaire in the above linked post which I stopped answering midway to write this.

Actually, I came over to SpyGirl to find some outfit links to add to the above answer and then realized I should be writing a post!

The green tunic:

I sewed this in This first appeared on SpyGirl July 2012 and was sewn before I was blogging for an Otis Fashion event, so I estimate 2005? I bought the fabric in downtown LA, at one of those $1/a yard places when Otis had its Fashion Campus located in the Cal Mart. It's that overdyed stripy rayon that was so popular in the late 80s.

The Italian rayon tunic:

I obtained this fabric when I was a Sample Cutter at Warren Z in 1986. It was sample yardage.
I sewed the tunic in January 2013. (I love the fact that blogging enables me to date things).

I've been doing my work-day outfit posts on Instagram. I've come up with a system for avoiding too much outfit repetition (I would be judged by the office-mate) and a key component is the phone app that I use to create the outfit/textile collages: Instasize.

I check the App to see what I've worn the past three weeks or so.
I also hang garments the order worn.

Here's another good question:

I answered with the tunic that I made in May 2018 at a workshop with Amy Bond:

I'm not sure if it's statistically the least worn me-made garment, but it's perhaps the most disappointing.
The base cloth is so scratchy and stiff. I even tried "softening" it by using it as a couch cover, but it was too scratchy for even that.
Sigh.

OK, gotta get back to stitching!
I gathered 93 answers to my 4 questions at the stARTup Art Fair two weeks ago.
That's a lot of journeys to stitch!
There's still time to join in, click here.

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday [maybe. Last one].
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

#MBsociallydriven: Exploring My Los Angeles, Part 1

SPONSORED, UNPAID 

I’m partnering with Mercedes-Benz to share my version of Los Angeles.
I used a special MB provided App to create this slide show culled from my Instagram feed.

THAT went fast, right?
Hey, kids, slow it down for us OLD PEOPLE!!!!!

Here are the individual photos, which you can linger over at your leisure:

The obligatory cliche Venice Beach shot. 

Chasing a giant spool on the I-105 for my #dailytruck project.
Pay no attention to my hazardous driving skillz.
The App didn't "recognize" any of my Waterlogue images, so I gamed my IG and added a source image.

Dave and Phil Alvin sketched at the Ruth B Shannon in Whittier.
I got their autographs on the sketch after the show!
This image may disallow my entry, are the Alvin brothers "celebrities"? Is a sketch of celebrities OK?
Shoot, I was thinking of doing a "My Oscars" one today...

Food. Had to include a food shot.
These Kranse Cakes are awesome and I want one NOW!
Copenhagen Pastry, Culver City. Read a detailed review on my Dessert blog.

The Mobile Studio in the back seat of my car.
I haven't been #lunchbreakfashionsketching all that much lately. I'm needing a rest period.

Wow, these photos are like a tour of my various blogs!
That's My Instagram for you, EVERYTHING in one place.

[Nerd alert]
My Inspector SpyGirl study of what the App liked on my IG.
Did not like the new multi-image album nor the Waterlogues, among other things. Why didn't it like "BOOM!"? So sad! It liked Severo a lot, that's for sure. And my #COTDstyle shots. And all the "Good morning"s.
[I made screenshots of my IG feed. The App goes back only one month. It also loads the images in reverse chronological order. Unable to rearrange images for the slideshow].

You're welcome to click on image to see bigger.
Orange √ = top App picks
Red √ = all other picks
There is some overlap at the top from gaming IG after I first tried the App.

So, what's YOUR version of [insert city name]?
If you live in or plan on visiting NYC, LA, Chicago, Austin, Miami, or Denver, Mercedes-Benz is inviting you to share your city in a simple and artistic way on Instagram. It's easy—you create a quick (but beautiful) animated album of 5 of your best geotagged photos and upload it to Instagram. [Once I get the green light, I'll add the link to the App. You have to connect through your smart device]. Then, you share your album on your feed with the hashtag #MBsociallydriven—and your photos might be featured on the Mercedes-Benz website! Get busy, the deadline is March 5.
MB suggests these guidelines:
Because this is a Mercedes-Benz brand initiative, please avoid posting the following types of photos (as much as we love them): competing car brands, celebrities, outdoor murals and graffiti, images that primarily focus on tattoos, advertising, and profanity.


[Nerd Alert part 2]
Check out the City Colorways on the MB site --
ALL THE NYC VIDEO COVERS ARE BLACK AND WHITE! And Miami is all blue! SO WEIRD!
Also, it looks like every city got its own font. Pattern Recognition, people. Pattern Recognition.

Ready to rediscover your city?

If you DON'T live in one of those 6 cities, share your local 5-image slideshow here!
If you can think of an existing App to make the slideshow, please mention it in the comments.
HAVE FUN! LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR EFFORTS!

Quote of the Day meets Noteography

We are social creatures to the inmost centre of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong.

          Karl Popper, 1902 - 1994

Three things:

Quotes of the day come from qotd.org

Fancy formatted text for your social media from the Notegraphy app.

My Notegraphy album is here.

You're welcome.