Category: Musings

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:

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:

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

Life in all its craziness has intervened the past few days so there has been litle progress on sewing or sewing room but some progress has been made.

The sewing machines are finally hooked up but I am still sorting through an accumulation of books and patterns and stuff.  There are many distractions now as it has been sunny warm and I itch to be in the yard as well.

The hyacinths outside the kitchen window keep calling…

but I am also eager to start sewing.  Spring is here and my wardrobe needs a few updates.  I have sorted fabric and put together a few collections of things I want to work on.

There are other, non-garment temptations as well, including several projects from this darling little book:

Unfortunately, after meeting with the contractors tomorrow (today already?) we are gallivanting about hither and  yon for the two impending religious holidays.   Regularly scheduled sewing time and blogging will return next week.

You know spring is definitely in the air here.  The crocuses are out, the tulips are poking up their heads, and the sun is warm.  I spent the day in the garden, mostly pulling out dead things, cleaning out beds a bit, and thinking about plans. 

Why is it that when I am already inundated with projects, I start thinking up new projects?  I want to revive the vegetable garden this year, and it has been several years since it was allowed to go to seed.  Much work will be involved in clearing out the native flora and I still have flower beds to build in the front yard that did not get done last year.  Everything is piled up in the house still, I am waiting for the masons to come back and there is much work to be done. 

Still I sat there in the sunshine, looking at the empty vegetable garden, contemplating the raised beds, which are by the way falling apart, and, in my normal perverse way, I started thinking that if I have to rebuild the raised beds, I might as well redesign the garden so it is more attractive and will work better.  Admittedly this has been in the back of my mind for some time but before it was Waaaay back and now it has come to the forefront.  Do I have time to do this?  No.  Can I do this and get all the spring vegetables planted?  No.  Can I plant some areas now, and gradually work toward them?  Unlikely, but possible. 

Will I actually get any of this accomplished this spring?  Who knows but probably not.

I guess I am an all or nothing kind of girl.

Because it is spring I have also been thnking of sewing.  I have been dreaming of sewing.  I am eager to resume sewing.  I have the machines back in the sewing room but I have not drilled the holes through the counter top so that I can plug them in.  There are three reasons for this:

1.  If I plug in the machines I will not work my way through the 3 foot pile of desk work which must be done, including the sorting of income tax stuff before the accountant comes on Friday.

2.  The demolition crew has been cutting and breaking up the concrete around the pool, which is attached to the foundation of the house.  I knew my house was not air-tight, but I did not anticipate the clouds of dust that fill the air and coat every surface. a dust mask is not adequate walking through the house, G’s old gas mask might work but I don’t think it functions anymore.  The sewing room is blocked off, doors closed, towels at door.  When I am not outside, breathing in fresh air, I am holed up in here working.  I was loathe to cut holes in the counter tops and create more dust in my only dust free zone.

3.  I put a shelf back on the wall above the desk to hold all the stuff I need right now but haven’t yet figured how to store.  I saved the wall above the desk for last in my plan; its the area that accomodates all the things that didn’t work or fit in the original plan and I haven’t gotten to it yet.  BUT to get the hole saw on the drill I need more space than currently exists beween the desk and the shelf, so I have to take everything down.  Short sighted don’t you think?  Of course I could just leave all the cords hanging off the front of the desk.

So I am playing with fabric and notions.

The thread collection is back in its cabinet.  I think the threads look so pretty lined up in their drawers:

Notice that although I can be neurotic about keeping things neatly in drawers, I do not sort the thread by color, just by type.   Those who have seen me stack the forks neatly on top of each other in the drawer might marvel at this.

I buy the Mettler serger thread once a year as no one locally carries it.  My older babylock serger runs much more smoothly with Mettler and I prefer the way it looks on the seam.  I am pretty efficient at rethreading the old machine (the new one is self threading), but even so I can only contort myself under that machine so many times before all the blood rushes to my head and I get a little crazed.  Its pretty too; notice that it is sorted by color.

And because "three’s a charm" and I know your are all sick of thread by now, here is one of the little drawers in the cabinet which forms Matilda’s legs.  Perfect for woolly nylon, which does not fit in my thread cabinet because the spools are too fat for the shallow drawers.

At least there are some signs of spring:

My head knows it is spring, and I am thinking more about spring sewing than I am the fall/winter projects that I never got around to making.  But I am cold, cold to the bone, and I can’t get all excited about actually making the sprnig clothes about which I dream. I waver between wanting spring and wanting to sew something warm.

By the time I get everything moved, the point may be moot and there may be more than those lonely irises peeking their heads up from the ground.

I am amazed how the hands can remember skills I would have
thought long since lost.

When we were shopping the other day, G saw a bag of frozen
smelts and we bought them. I was
certainly game to give them a try. When
they were defrosted today I set to cleaning and boning them. I thought it would take me a long time, but
after one, my hands and fingers remembered, almost instinctively, how to cut
just through the flesh, run my fingers along the side, catching the backbone
with my thumbnail and pulling out the bones and ribs, flicking out the entrails
unscathed, gently rubbing off any remaining scales under cold water. The staff at my local fish market don’t do so
well, little bits of the innards are usually attached, sometimes damaging the
flavor of the flesh.

How did I learn this? I did not grow up near water. We
did not eat smelts. But I fondly
remember my father teaching us how to scale, bone and gut whole fish, usually
perch or bream. I seam to remember the
rule was that if you can catch them you can clean them. As I reached down and cut the head behind the
gills, slit the fish and pulled out the skeleton from the tail end my hands
seemed to be reliving some old ritual that I had all but forgotten and I was
young again, sitting on the dirt of the back yard on Washington Street, scaling
and gutting fish. I could almost hear
the sound of dad’s knife as he scraped the scales off the skin. I could almost see the small transparent
scales flying through the air, catching the light, sticking to everything.

I do remember after all.

Carolyn, of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic, and from whom I blatently stole the idea for this post and it’s title,  posted a question
concerning whether we count the cost of our garments or not. I was about to comment when I noticed that I
was beginning to ramble and rant, just a little, going off on my own tangents,
and thought it best to consider the matter further and post here, in my own space, without cluttering up hers.

At times during my sewing career I have kept meticulous
track of the cost of individual projects and my sewing expenses, but this has
settled into kind of a loose awareness now. I keep track of what I am spending on a garment compared to what it
would cost me to buy it; most of the time that is, because there is always the
occasional case where I just get an idea in my head and run with it, willy-nilly
without regard to any practicalities. 

I certainly maintain that you can certainly get nicer
clothes for less money if you sew, and can have more clothes as well, despite
occasional arguments from others that one spends a fortune on something that
could be bought at Wal-Mart. I think
these comments are more obviously a comment by someone who is not discerning of
the differences in the quality of fabrics or construction and probably does not
care. In that sense, the fact that I
love to sew and make clothes makes me something of an anachronism in an age
when, for many, clothing is just something one buys and discards at the end of
a season or when it wears out, often not much more than a season.

Certainly I think we need to consider all the bits and
pieces that go into garment construction, including thread, buttons,
interfacing, etc., as a part of the garment. Still, to use Carolyn’s example, if you are lucky enough to find fabric
and a pattern for $15.95 to knock off a $155.95 jacket, you are ahead. Even adding the cost of all the other things
needed, you are not going to spend the remaining $140 on that jacket. I of course don’t count time here, and I am
not convinced that most modern sewists should, because most of us sew for the
pure love of it, not to earn a living or as the only way we can clothe our
families.

Still, the comment about comparing apples to oranges
holds. Even though it is not difficult
to make a similar appearing garment to the $155.95 jacket, or the $400.00
jacket, or even probably the $2795.00 jacket I was looking at by the Swiss
company Akris the other day; it is more than likely that our garments bear
little true comparison to the ones we are copying.

In the case of the $155.95 jacket, it is likely that the
materials used by the company that manufactured that jacket cost about the same
as what Carolyn spent on her fabric and pattern, and that included a pattern,
amortized over hundreds or thousands of garments, and all the other sewing
notions and necessities Carolyn will need. If you use the rule I learned growing up, that the wholesale cost of the
garment was half the retail, and the
manufacturer’s cost was half that, you end up with a manufacturing cost of roughly $38.99. A good portion of that has to be construction
cost. I think modern companies,
certainly upscale clothiers, and even a broader spectrum of stores use a
different formula with higher markups, partly because the market will bear it
and partly because as a greater percentage of clothing sells at mark-down, the
clothing must be originally marked up enough that even the sale price yields a
profit.

When you think about it, even with the price break the
company might gain by ordering thousands of yards of a fabric, the quality of
materials in that $155.95 jacket are probably not all that fine in terms of
quality. I’ve read enough of Carolyn’s
posts to know how savvy a shopper she is, and to believe that she has a very
good eye for quality and price. I also
think I know enough to know that she is much more interested in sewing a
quality garment and would lay odds that her jacket will be far better made than
the original she is “copying”. So there
we get it again: comparing apples to
oranges. Are we saving money by knocking
off RTW? Yes, whether we keep track of costs
or not. Unless you are spending $30.00
knocking off a $45.00 top you are ahead, and even then you may be if the color
suits you better, the style fits you better, and even more importantly the
fabric is of a better quality and the top is better made.

I think sewists often underestimate the value of their
skills in a market that understands quality construction and
discriminates. Granted that is a small
market, but a lot of people appreciate the difference quality brings when they
see it, even if they don’t understand it and would not pay the price to
purchase it. Those oohs and ahhs give us
tremendous thrills.

And what about that Akris jacket? I will tell you more another day but I can
tell you this. It was silk something
like a very high quality Matka or raw silk, unlined except in front, with
serged edges, very little interfacing (1/4 yard), with poorly executed machine
hems (I could stick my thumbs between the stitches. I will make a much better jacket, to my mind
at least, which I will enjoy much more. When I wear it I will certainly feel smug knowing that I made a superior
garment for far less money. But I won’t
worry about the details of what I spend because for me it is the wearing that
is a joy and the making, well that is a little bit of heaven that I get to
touch every day.

I stopped worrying too much about price when I finally
figured out that I love my fabrics, and my yarns and my buttons in their own
right. I would love the fabric if I just
looked at it and wrapped myself up in occasionally without sewing another
stitch. Yes, I love clothes. Yes I love to copy actual looks. But most of my sewing is fabric driven. I save pictures, but it is the fabric that
drives me to make something. A piece
jumps out at me and tells me it must become something. I comply. I love antique and unusual buttons and although I have a large
collection of them I still often end up searching for quieter buttons for
actual garments. Buttons that make too
much of a statement are not always what I want on a garment. Sometimes I get
the perfect match, sometimes the button and the fabric look perfect but they
argue too much. Still I love my buttons
passionately. Each one is like a
treasured piece of jewelry, each with its own history.

Do I spend more because I sew than I would on clothes if I
didn’t sew? I honestly can’t say because
I love clothes and can be pretty picky about quality. I don’t spend more than I can afford. If I didn’t sew or knit I can’t promise that
any other hobby I took up would be that much cheaper. I could spend a fortune on tennis club
memberships and court-time and private lessons, attending clinics and going to
lessons. There are many other things I
could do, probably not much cheaper. Perhaps we shouldn’t worry too much about whether the product produced
is worth what we spend but rather, whether the enjoyment we get from creation
and the joy of wearing our own handiwork is justified by the time, effort, and
money we put in to it.

I have returned from vacation but have been too busy and frazzled to even think about sewing. I am not, however, too distracted to dream about sewing but more about that later.

Meanwhile these yellow roses bring a smile to my face and a little breath of peace to my soul every time I pass by.

I am very thrilled that my sweetie thinks far enough in advance to procure my favorite roses for valentine’s day, the day when red roses are queen.

I am still here and actually sewing, although at the moment the output has been more along the lines of muslins that are not working….I always reluctant to write about the things I am working on that never become anything (failure issues)  but then, if I don’t overcome that fear then I will probably have nothing to write about.

Speaking of failure, my computer went down on the weekend during an ice/wind/thunderstorm.  The power went out but it is on a surge protector/UPS and nothing else died…who knows what happened.  At any rate I have been on the phone with Dell, the technician has been here, the problem was greater than originally suspected, and I am once again waiting for the technician to return with the new parts.

Meanwhile I have finally reorganized my sewing room so it is actually functional and I can easily work at my paying job or sew or do both in there.  I am still hoping for a more major reorganization with a cutting table in the near future, but I needed a functioning room first.  Since this is a borrowed computer, there are no photo opportunities but they will come eventually. I had better get back to sewing before the computer gets fixed and I have to catch up on all that work I am missing.  Although now that I think about it, I am a little reluctant because the wind is high today and the power is a little wonky, the lights have been fading in and out all morning.  I wonder what that will do to my computerized sewing machine?  Probably best not to push my luck.

I adore Christmas.  I just can’t help but be happy in December.  And it doesn’t really matter if I get everything done that I hope to get done.  It is just hard for me not keep humming carols to myself, especially the traditional ones like “ “Oh Holy Night”, “Lully Lullay”, and “The First Noel”.

Most of all I love wrapping gifts.  I love paper and ribbon and tinsel and little bits of decorations lovingly wrapped around packages.  I know that the packaging itself really isn’t that important, but I can’t help myself.  Even the most simple gift gets wrapped in glorious paper and is surrounded with yards of ribbons tied up into extravagant bows.

Then, on Christmas morning I am the first one up staring at the tree, eagerly awaiting the time when the others arise, and all those packages are opened and the wrapping ripped to shreds.  I can’t explain it.  I love wrapping packages.  I love watching other people open their packages more than I enjoy opening my own.  I love Christmas and the idea that for one day at least the idea of “peace on earth, good will to men” might actually be true. 

Pretty packages and peace.  Sounds good to me.

There is nothing quite like trying to buy Calcium Chloride the day before a snowstorm, but that is precisely how I spent part of my day today.  It started this morning when I casually told the Husband that they were predicting snow for tomorrow morning, and thank goodness I did too.  He told me that we were out of salt for the driveway, explaining that he hadn’t mentioned it before because I had such a bad cold and he didn’t want me to have to go out and get it then.  Of course, I am still snot-brained and dripping like a leaky faucet, but I do have much more energy and presence of mind today so off to the stores I go to find the elusive salt.

Usually we are much more prepared with salt supplies, trying to keep enough for at least 2 snowfalls in stock.  In this household that means three 50 pound bags, as it takes 75 pounds to salt our 600 foot long, steep, curvy driveway.  The salt makes a big difference in what is left after the plowing is done, and in how quickly it melts, especially since most of the driveway does not get direct sun in the wintertime. Although the salt expenditure is significant, the difference is highly noticeable, and the driveway remains far more passable with less shoveling.

If the powers that be are correct this time, it looks like we will be at the center of the coming storm with approximately 10 inches of snow predicted.  What fun!  I love looking out the window at the white, snowy world.  Everything becomes so silent and peaceful.  For a few minutes after a snowfall, if I am lucky even a few hours, I can pretend that the world is a calm, peaceful, and happy place.  That is until I go out near the malls in the pre-Christmas madness.

As I warmed my hands around a nice cup of hot coffee following my 45 minute stint of salt scattering, I thought about the wonderful prospect of a snow-day.  There are things to do.  I am a little behind on holiday preparations.  But I decided that I will ignore them all.  Tomorrow I will finish my cutting, cutting out the projects I had originally planned, plus one more.

My pattern order arrived from HotPatterns on Tuesday::

I didn’t order anything really fancy and I did not expect them to arrive so soon.  Today some beautiful wine stretch velvet arrived from Candlelight Valley. 

The photo is not mine, I copied it from this page  on the Candlelight Valley website.  My photos ended up too blurry and pink without flash, and too dark, almost black, with flash.

I’m not yet sure which version of the skirt I will cut.  Tomorrow will tell.  Tonight I have to wash the fabric (and I still have to iron the sheets).