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  • Lilacs, Mother’s Day and Dreams of Sewing

    I have mostly been sewing in my head, planning out future projects, fiddling about with this and that in the sewing room.  Otherwise too much going on here.

    Miriam sent a lovely small bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day and the heady perfume of lilacs greets me whenever I manage to escape to my special room:

    May15_002

    The coat fabric is still on the end of the cutting table, next to the flowers, and a ball of yarn for a scarf for next year’s donation box to Morse School.  The baby sweater still awaits being sewn together.  So much for gran plans.

    Still, the flowers make me happy.  I never minded becoming a step-mom, I figured all along the kids came with the territory and never resented that.  I never expected however that I would come to love these people, adults now really, but still more child than adult when they came into my life, so fiercely.  Not having children of my own, I feel lucky to have these step-children, and I think how luckily I am to have them to love.

    The pattern for the Balenciaga coat arrived:

    May15_004

    The pattern is pretty intriguing and I think it would be nice in
    several different fabrications.  I do not think it is what I want for
    the multicolor organza coat however, not that I was counting on this
    pattern anyway.  I need to make a muslin, and I am still undecided
    about the contrast fabric, but it will all sort itself out.

    More sewing this week:  actual rather than virtual.

  • Farmer’s Market Opens

    The Rhinebeck Farmer’s Market opened this weekend, two weeks earlier than in the past.  I had been worried about what I would find; it is, after all, a litle early for produce in Dutchess county.

    However, the mushroom guy was there and I scored I nice bunch of beeea-yooooo-ti-ful shiitakes, which we ate yesterday with fresh asparagus from the garden, and this gigundous cluster of oyster mushrooms:

    Oystermushroom

    These were roasted and stir-fried tonight with beef and an oyster/chili garlic sauce.  Mmm good.   Migliorelli farm was also open and their bok-choy graced our table as well. 

    I haven’t been keeping you informed of the joys of spring which have been gracing our table of late, bad blogging I guess. Wild Salmon and soft-shells, not local of course, and the local treats:  ramps, fiddleheads, asparagus, morels, shad…. well, the shad season seemed very short this year.

    More goodness to come.

  • Periwinkle Sweater Set done

    I finished early this morning and only had to find the time to take photos. 

    Matilda has agreed to stand in as a model as she is not shy about traipsing around getting her picture taken in front of construction guys, and there is no place to take photos  during daylight hours that is construction-free.  In payment she got a minor tummy tuck when we learned that she was bigger than I.

    Presenting a periwinkle cardi:

    Periwinkle5

    And a few detail shots:

    Periwinkle6

    Periwinkle8

    Periwinkle7_1

    The top underneath is a little large, I cut it out several months ago, long before the cardigan. 

    Periwinkle9

    I could go ahead and take it down a little, but it is comfortable.  I think I will wait at bit before proceeding.  Besides this is perfect to wear now, and as my life generally revolves around my local construction site here, it is the perfect kind of thing to wear.

    The top fits perfectly well under the cardigan but I don’t think I will wear them together much.  I am finally leaning that I just don’t like multiple layers of sleeves on my arms or around my shoulder areas.  Somehow, when I move the under layer always causes the over layer to bunch up.  I remain convinced this is due to my own forward and downward curving shoulders, but even better fit doesn’t correct the problem.  I think it is mostly a problem of body mechanics.  It doesn’t really happen on jackets if they are loose enough, but the more closely fitted jackets that have been stylish lately have the same problem. The sweater sets I wear the most, both RTW and my own creations, are the ones with matching sleeveless tops and I don’t notice the problem when I have a sleeveless top on underneath.   When I do wear a shirt or turtleneck under another sweater, I tend to like the outer sweater to be pretty boxy, with deep, roomy armholes.

    I have enough of the blue knit to probably make a little tank top and I might consider doing that. Not yet though.  There is time.

  • How Not to Sew

    Sewing offers worlds of new opportunities to make mistakes.  Take this morning for example. 

    I am still working on the sweater set.  It is not that it requires inordinate amounts of time, but just that I have had difficulty devoting time to sewing.  There are too many obligations and temptations in life.

    I was, however, determined to finish up this morning.  Only the hem remained on the top, and the cardigan needed only sleeve hems, buttons, and buttonholes.  Easy job, right?

    Well, I didn’t sleep very well last night.  I had a tremendous headache that would not go away and which kept waking me up during the night.  Actually, I am not sure if I my head woke me or my back since my back absolutely refused to be in any form of reclining position pain free. I tried various positions:  pillows under legs, back or elsewhere had no effect.  I was awake every hour contemplating my misery before shifting, drifting off, and waking again.

    Still, I thought I was pretty with-it this morning.  That is, until I noticed that I did my double needle hem inside out.  The nice double needle work was on the inside and the fuzzy nylon from the bobbin was on the outside.  I temporarily thought of leaving it that way, and, of course, I could have ripped the hem out and did it the right way but that seemed to difficult to my sleep deprived brain.  I just decided to reverse the procedure and double-stitch the hem, this time the right way, encasing the fuzzy nylon in a row of twin needle topstitching.  It turned out pretty nicely.

    Here it is in progress:

    Periwinkle4

    As you can see, I stopped in the middle of the row.  The thread kept breaking.  Apparently I misthreaded the machine.  It occurred to me that perhaps I should not be sewing.  I finished the hems and decided to stop before attempting buttonholes.  It appears that I don’t tolerate interruptions to my normal 6 hours of sleep well.

  • Fun with Orwellian Humor

    I was given a series of small books, part of a series called Great Ideas, published by Penguin Books.  They are nice because they are small and easily carried in a pocket or handbag.

    I have started reading one of them, Why I Write  by George Orwell. The title essay is short but very interesting and well-written, as should be expected from Orwell, of course.  It is nice because he reminds me that all writing is political, in that all writers have something to say, and having something to say is political.  If someone has nothing to say they would not and certainly should not write.    Of course I know this but sometimes forget it when I get all up in arms over a book that I find to be so overtly politically one-sided that it becomes more diatribe than fiction.  At first thought, I would have said my objection is that I object with the author’s politics, but that is not the case.  I don’t care if the point is liberal or conservative; nor do I care about whether or not I agree with the point being made.  I suppose I care more that the point is well made, with elegance and finesse.  I appreciate good writing even though I will also admit to enjoying a good story even when the writing is poor. I find however, that one thing that truly antagonizes me, other than truly awful writing, is writing which is so obviously political that it browbeats the reader, makes no attempts at subtlety or objectivity, and takes the reader on a ride that is so obviously one-sided as to be almost rabidly so. Good writing leads you to its point through considered argument.  I dislike being beaten about the head and shoulders by the message before I have even had a chance to begin to enjoy the book.

    I am in the middle of the second essay now, The Lion and The Unicorn.  It is interesting in several ways, most notably so far in Orwell’s analysis of the English temper and character, as well as the way he defines the character of a people, English or other.

    I am most amused at the moment by the section on the “left-wing intelligentsia” and the acknowledgment that there was, at that time, “no intelligentsia that is not in some sense ‘left’”.  Although Orwell is writing of the English Intelligentsia of over 50 years ago, he could in many ways be describing American Intelligentsia today.  It is quite humerus.  As you know, I despise fanaticism, be it religious, cultural, intellectual, or political.  I am having great fun with this essay.  Of course, since I am not at the end I have no idea where Orwell will take me next and what, finally, will be revealed.

    I have not finished, this is a good book for picking up in dribs and drabs, and each section aside from being entertaining, rewards reflection.  There is therefore no need to rush as this work will be slow to be assimilated.

  • Spring Coat

    I had been planning to make a spring coat and it has been floating around in the back of my mind.  Spring is progressing rapidly and I know I need to get started.

    Work, Garden, and Mason’s schedules conspired against daytime sewing in the past week.  Late afternoon sun and lack of AC conspired against sewing in the evenings.  I therefore decided that I would not make this coat for the event on the 12th as previously planned (for other reasons as well).  However there are three (possibly four) dressy to formal events between the 20th of May and June 17th, with cool evenings normal well into June, so I know there will still be wearing opportunities  ahead.

    I had a vague image in my head when I bought the fabric, a nice black organza with multicolored pastel pink ribbons or yarn woven through it:

    Springcoatdesign1

    I was inspired by these four coats from the spring collections:

    Springcoatinspirations

    I also admit that I was tempted by the coat that Kathryn made using an old Balenciaga one-seam coat pattern, as well as Ann Rowley’s  subsequent version.  But I am not convinced that I will be able to fold the fabric to match, nor am I convinced that I bought enough fabric for that coat, as it was not on my mental horizon when I bought the fabric

    After spending some time with my pattern collection, I finally narrowed the choices down from many to one most likely, shown here:

    Springcoatdesign2

    Although this isn’t really like any of the inspiration coats, it does have the contrast fabric as seen in the Donna Karan (bottom right) and Proenza Schouler (top left) coats.  Most tellingly the thought of this fabric in this design is really growing on me.  I don’t have enough fabric for an extravagantly full coat, but I think I can get this coat out of the fabric at hand, even in a longer length than shown on the pattern envelope. At least I hope I can.

    I don’t have any fabric in my stash that I would use for the contrast on this coat.  Below is a photo showing a sample of a pink charmeuse from Thai Silks that goes pretty nicely.  It is a strong contender. 

    Springcoatdesign3_1

    But I haven’t decided if I am going to line the coat, probably necessary, and if so with what kind of fabric.  I want to maintain the light airiness of the coat so the most likely contenders are georgette, chiffon or more organza.  Of course each of these would give a different effect.  Black lining would meld in with the background fabric of the coat, and I have black georgette and organza in stock,  but I am wondering about using a colored lining, perhaps to match the contrast band. I think the contrast lining would just light and spring-like, whereas black seems almost too boring for this coat.

    What do you think?

    I don’t think Thai Silks has georgette or organza to match the Charmeuse.  I am pretty sure I can find silks in NYC, there are usually coordinated sets of silks in the same color and the pink and light green that I am favoring are both popular colors at the moment, I don’t think I would have trouble finding them in a Charmeuse or Satin with a matching georgette or organza.  The collection at Mood, from which I selected my gray silk 4 ply, comes immediately to mind.  The question is, when would I get there?       

    In the meantime I need to make a muslin before I cut into this beautiful fabric.

  • Patchwork

    Now this is my kind of patchwork!

    Gardenpatchwork

    Too bad it is still to early to plant them.  Like fabrics I love though, I just have to grab ’em when I see ’em.

  • Spring Sewing?

    The zippers arrived on Monday.  Looking at the postage, and the huge bucket of stuff that I picked up, they probably actually arrived before that.  Saturday we picked up mail early, 11 AM, right at the hour that first class mail is supposed to be in the boxes, but usually they haven’t quite finished sorting and delivering yet, so it might have come Saturday.  Hopefully I have learned my lesson and will order plenty early in the future.  I wouldn’t count on it though.

    Years ago, I worked for a company that had a PO Box because they got the mail earlier in the day — 9 AM as opposed to around 12:30 when the local mail carrier got to our office.  I don’t know why G had a PO Box but he had one when I met him, said his first wife insisted, and we have kept it over the years.  It  proved convenient when we travel, it is much easier to manage holding mail through the box than through local delivery.

    Over the years mail going to PO Boxes seems to be the last mail that is sorted during the day, they have to get the carriers out after all, and it comes later and later.  And then there are the days they just start a bucket for me somewhere, and forget to put a "mail pickup notice" in my box, so it just sits until I wonder why the mail volume has dropped, or one of the mail clerks recognizes me and says "wait you have a box of mail somewhere".  That’s what happened on Monday, although actually I would have figured it out because I was in line at the window where I was about to tell the clerk that I had to have mail somewhere; I haven’t had an empty mailbox in 20 years.  Besides I am supposed to get a Wall Street Journal every day.  There are only two Wall Street Journals delivered through the mail in Hyde Park. The easiest way to learn about supposedly missing mail is to ask about the Wall Street Journal, everyone knows where that is, even the new staff, and if it has been put out, even if they haven’t a clue where to find my mail.

    But back to zippers.  I ordered a few for upcoming projects, and some basic neutrals as the stock was quite low:

    Zipit

    They look kind of boring and basic don’t they?

    I picked the colors based on these bundles of fabrics that I am planning on sewing up soon:

    Boardwalktoboardroom1

    Steelmagnolias1_1

    But now, after seeing Carolyn’s lovely new spring skirts I am hankering after something brighter as well. 

  • Sew and Go

    Not the way to sew a wardrobe…..

    Starting at 7:30 AM the morning you intend to wear the garment, especially when you went to bed at 2:00 AM.

    Still, despite my best intentions it happens.

    I knew I wanted to sew these silk pants when I bought the fabric at Mood in mid March. I had been planning a series of separates that could be dressed up or down for evening wear, I was hoping for a light gray, I saw the perfect fabric at Mood.  As soon as I got home I realized I had the perfect jacket to wear with these pants, and I had an event at the end of April…..

    Eveningpants4
    "But April 29 is six weeks away I told myself.  I am still redoing my sewing room.  I have lots of time."

    Every week the same thing until two weeks ago.  "But I still have two weeks" I said.  "Lots of time for these simple pants".  But time creeps by without being noticed. 

    I did realize that I didn’t have a zipper.  I had been meaning to sort through the zipper supply and place an order with zipperstop .  The local selection of zippers is minimal and there are no good YKK zippers to be found.  In recent years, 9 out of every 10 coats and clarks zippers I have purchased locally have broken within a few wearings. 

    The zippers were ordered.  The zippers were shipped.  Usually zipper orders come right away.  I expected the zippers by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest.

    In the meantime I started the periwinkle cardigan. 

    The zipper did not arrive.

    By Thursday I was getting rather desperate.  But it had been a long day.  I had not been sleeping well, even less than my normal level of short intense bursts of sleep.  I told myself I should cut the fabric the next day.

    I was tired Friday and we had plans to go into NYC.  I washed and pressed the lining.

    Saturday morning at 7:30 AM i was out of bed and in the sewing room.   Truth be told the pants only took 3 hours, and would have taken less but I had to put the wasitband and the elastic in twice.   Perhaps the old mental neurons were not firing as efficiently as could be hoped.   I did realize that I was down to a choice between hand hemming the pants and taking a nap.  The nap won.

    The pants were done, hanging, and waiting to be worn.

    Eveningpants1

    Then I realized that I had shoe issues.  Impossible you might say if you have seen my shoe closet.  But it was true.

    I have lots of evening shoes. They never get worn out.  Yet something new is always calling to me.  I will not state how many evening shoes there are  in my closet, but I can honestly state that I now know I need more. 

    There are no gray or silver evening shoes, or anything that went with the planned outfit.  There were many black shoes, several pairs of gold or gold and bronze shoes.  There are two pairs of red shoes.  But no silver.  No gray.  No pewter.

    I pulled out the closest choices from the summer heel department:

    Eveningshoesnot

    I wanted the turquoise, they seemed more festive, more like good time party girls.  But they didn’t really go.  The sturdier blue shoes with the wider heels were perfect.  Actually better suited to standing on an uneven lawn, martini in hand.

    I was tired.  Too tired to take a good photo.  But I had a great time and I knew I looked great (well perhaps if I had enough energy to suck my tummy in, but then I was too tired to care).

    And now I must go shoe shopping.

  • Up, Down, or All-Around?

    Thank you everyone for your help and comments.  The sleeve problem ended up being simple to solve.  G gave me a hint when he saw it the next morning.  “The grain changes there” he said. “ Right! Of course!” I thought, actually a little facetiously at the time.  I knew that.  But the other side of the sleeve, where the grain also changed, stitched together perfectly.  By the time I read your comments, and Liana also hit hte nail on the head, I was close to determining the solution.

    Then it hit me; the problem was with the directionality of the stitches.   I was attempting to sew the sleeve into the body of the sweater in a continuous circle.  The stitches that took were sewn from underarm up to the shoulder.  The stitches that were not working were being sewn from shoulder seam down to the side seam.  A simple change of direction solved the problem.   

    On the second sleeve I simply sewed it in two passes.  I figured that if the first sleeve wanted to be sewn from side seam up, so would the second.  Wrong.  Gaps on both sides.  Reversal of direction from shoulder seem down to side seam on both front and back halves and perfect sleeve setting ensued.

    I must not have cut the sleeves in the same direction.  I don’t remember.  I cut this months ago.  The fabric has no nap so it doesn’t matter, although I often cut things the same direction anyway, just in case. 

    This is interesting because when I am seaming hand-knitted garments I always set in the sleeves in two steps, sewing from the shoulder seam down each side.  But I have not necessarily been doing that with knitted fabrics.  Perhaps I should.  I am sure that, had I looked at the actual fabric at the top of the sleeve cap, and noticed the directionality of the change from straight-of-grain to bias along the sleeve cap, I could have determined which direction to sew the sleeve to the body. Knits are notoriously unstable on the bias, I am sure some knits are more stable than others. I am surprised this hasn’t happened to me before, but then I haven’t really sewn that many knits.

    There is always something new to learn.

    The cardigan is not quite done.  I need to do a little topstitching and the buttonholes.  I would like to make the matching top. 

    In the meantime another project has leapt to the top of the queue.