As we continue to honor the 'green' wave this August, (a discipline which just might end up saving our collective arses along with our planet) it occurs to me - I am doing my part by reusing my beloved OLD patterns! This is a stretch, but bear with me, because you never know - less printed patterns might = more trees. I have some nearly-vintage patterns that I use year after year because, well, I love them. Love the fit, love the design, love the wear . . . love everything about trees.
I cannot tell you how many times I've used this pattern - let's just say that I've gotten my money's worth! I've created it in panne velvet, in pima cotton, in dupioni silk, in Italian viyella and this morning, in featherweight linen.
It never looks like much at this stage, but isn't it always heartening when you manage to get the garment on a hanger? This linen is very light and delicate. Moreover, it refuses to go where I want - it's willful and I have to baste the beJesus out of it! Do you remember Fairy Loops?
Forgive this dreadful photography - the loop is actually tiny and quite nicely done. When I was in junior high school the big fad was to run up behind your favorite boys and rip the fairy loops off of their shirts. Dear God in heaven, what were we thinking? What WERE we thinking? Hmmm ... 13 or 14 years old ... we were NOT thinking about ruined shirts, were we?
Something came in the mail ... a sight-unseen Kaffe cotton - oooh-la-LA! This is Wanda's fault - she keeps showcasing all of her incredible quilts using this designer's line ... what is a girl to do? P.U.R.C.H.A.S.E.
Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Amazon? Who knew that one could find fabric on their site? Just wait until Scott sees his current VISA account ... there's going to be trouble. It could be worse. I could be addicted to Elsa Peretti's diamonds-by-the-yard or Juicy Coutere's latest leather luxury. But no -
I am a simple woman. My legendary days at the Chanel counter are over. I no longer hunger for a free pass at Bulgari or a table at Per Se (or La Grenouille). Nope, these days you'll find me hunched over my sewing or my knitting or perhaps out in the gardens pulling weeds. There isn't a salon in the world that could rectify what a season among vegetables has done to my nails. It doesn't matter what my nails look like. What matters to you? A cottage near the ocean? World Peace? Your family? A cure for cancer? Winning the Writers Guild Award? Talk to me ...
It's a gorgeous day in the northeast. After spending much of the morning in the sewing room, I promised the dogs that we could go out to the garden and plant, roll around, sniff and tackle the asparagus stalks. Soon, you guys. Blogging first. Sewing. It always calls to me this time of the year. I went in search of one fine coat pattern yesterday and discovered that I'd stumbled in on the wave of a patten sale. So I came home with more than the coat pattern.
I scored this pattern for $3.99! When I first started to sew, patterns cost less than $2.00, so this was an impressive find! Matching it with fabric will be more difficult - for that, I'll have to get in the car and drive to Norwalk, Connecticut. There is a fabric mecca there called 'Banksville Fabrics" and I could devote more than one post to them, but I'll save that for a rainy day.
Less than $5.00 for this combo - just cannot do better than that!
Some silk and seersucker and embroidered linens and rayon ... all leftovers from last year that I will put into action this season. I have a different color palette in mind for this spring, but the local fabric store had ZIP in the way of pale pink and good grays. Again - a trip to CT is in order.
I ordered this pattern a while ago - I think that it will be fun to create in linen or chambray. My denim "Bee" shirt is almost completed - I had to opt for a pima cotton to line the plackets and yoke as the denim was thick and unruly. I hate it when that happens.
The last block was sewn for the "H" quilt and now I have to locate a sensational border. I have a wild pink/fushia batik in mind - in keeping with the flamingos!
Thanks again to Wanda for the inspiration. This quilt was a bright spot of color throughout the dreary wintry days - especially the weeks that I spent indoors by myself while Scott was off in the bahamas. Speaking of which, he jets off again this week. Where is it written that he gets to build in such gorgeous spots???? Someone has to put their foot down! He's hired the painters to come and do the hallways while he's gone, and I have guests lined up so I shouldn't complain too much. But I always do. It's my job.
Oh - another pattern and the only magazine that I allowed myself - it was that gray lace on the cover that did me in. I have instituted a freeze on magazine purchases and it's been going pretty well. I'm good as long as I stay away from Barnes & Noble. And the LYS. And the card aisle at the market. Basically, I cannot go into any stores that feature magazines. I'm flawed.
Such a wonderful day - I went along at my own pace and accomplished some of the things that I'd been wanting to address and I left all others by the way side! (i.e. laundry, housework ...)
Spring seems to be tapping at the windows and my thoughts are beginning to turn to the garden.
I'm thinking about planting the peas - I don't want this spring legume ritual to pass me by again, leaving my garden peas-less like last year. There is something so uplifting about getting down on one's knees in the cool damp earth and digging the customary 4 inch by six inch trench. Peas like cool weather and the seeds germinate when the soil reaches about 40 degrees - which is, to my mind, a perfect temperature. Like the pea, I'm a cool weather kind of gurl.
This past week was a difficult one. I'd ended up in my supervisor's office, I had to make amends, and a friend reminded me that nothing in my life has changed in the 10 years that she's known me. I'm going to grow old like this, says the voice in my head. I'm going to end up alone. It'll be me and the dog and the cat and I'll outlive them and have to go on without them. Pity-party kind of stuff. Thoughts of the garden soothe me.
There was some sewing -
I love this denim - I don't care if it dates me, it's my Go-To fabric! It's the bees knees (love bee motif in any form)
And then Patty came over for chicken and dumplings and she brought me a gift - the most WONDERFUL gift - a pair of 'Bella' mittens, made of, I believe, Punta merino. DELICIOUS. Thank you dear friend. These will be a most welcomed addition on those early morning Harley walks! Knowing, as I do, that you are putting in 60+ hour weeks, makes these mittens even more precious. Your friendship is a gift - I cherish it, and you. AND the mittens!
Here's Patty modeling them and holding the pitiful progress of the pair I am making for her! She may see them completed before the snow departs, but I don't want her to hold her breath!
I hope that yours was a wonderful weekend too.
Pauline and brilliance are interchangeable. I have known many talented fiber artists, but Pauline rises head and shoulders above the rest. She just does not know how to create anything except beauty. She sent a parcel to me and in it - a lovely new embroidered tunic, some fat quarters and a pin cushion to crow about. Don't you love those fat little strawberries? Am I lucky, or what? Thank you, Pauline!
When your children up and leave the nest it can be a time of great discovery and infinite sadness. I have been struggling with this issue since January and some days are better than others. Making friends with uncertainty is a task. It's hateful, like internal housework. Technology allows me to talk or text her whenever I like, but it cannot take the place of her footstep in the hall or the sound of the shower running. When your child is tucked in and asleep upstairs, a peace prevails. The world feels safe and sealed in. You know what I mean.
I've developed a ritual that helps to keep the blues at bay. I try to send her a package each week, and in it, fun things that she likes or needs and always something handmade. Since she is very conscious of her health and fitness, I made a yoga mat bag for easier toting to the gym. The pattern was a hand out from my local fabric shop, and the flamingo was essential!
