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Purple Velvet

When I went to Style Fabrics in Kingston on Sunday to drop off the Elna for repair, I of course took a look at the fabrics. Most of the fabrics were cotton and were obviously aimed at a client base based more on quilters than garment-sewers. This does not surprise me as it seems to be typical in this area.

However there was one small section with some evening fabrics, which was dominated at this time of year by fabrics aimed at holiday outfits. On one wall we saw a couple of silk and rayon velvets which were very nice. They were fairly lightweight but with a nice soft hand. A deep gray caught my eye first, but then I a saw a deep plum colored velvet, a little darker than a damson plum. It was lovely.

It has been on my mind ever since.

I thought of a dress, but what dress?

The velvet dress from the November Burda world of fashion immediately came to mind. I love the seaming on this dress and the godets, but I have major doubts about whether I can wear it. I almost wrote a post about this dress. You see, I have scoliosis (I have written about this before) and I am asymmetrical. I always fear that the diagonal seaming on a dress like this will accent my own asymmetricalities and make me look even more crooked. When I have tried garments on in the store this has been my experience, but it could also be a fitting issue, and it is possible that a well fitting garment might not have this effect. But I haven’t had the heart to try.

Or it is possible that the slope of the cuts could go the opposite direction. Why do these garments usually seem to go from left to right? not right to left? There must be a reason,

Either way it is irrelevant. I cannot picture the velvet I saw in this dress, I wanted something simple but with a little interest in the bodice.

Then when I was looking though the pattern stash, in an attempt at making headway with organization, I noticed this pattern:

This has the requisite detail at the top and looks very simple and elegant. The pattern is OOP from 2000 and I haven’t made it, but I have always thought I might.

I wonder if it would work in velvet, I think it calls for silk crepe.

I might have to buy the velvet just to drape it and see what I think.

No decision yet, I have at least another week, probably 10 days, before the machine will be ready. If the fabric is still there it was obviously meant to be.

What do you think?

November 7, 2006
Thank Goodness its over

Thank God it is Election Day. My votes have been cast, and I am thankful
for the privilege, but I am also glad it is over. Never in my life do I recall being so ready
to be past election day, never do I recall being harassed to this extent by
phone calls, by people extolling me to vote, to vote for their candidate, over
10 calls in the last two days from one party alone, not counting the other
side.

Whatever happened to civilized conversation? What happened to the idea that two people
could sit down and discuss their different views rationally, considering and
respecting the other person’s arguments if they were rationally thought out and
well presented? Whatever happened to the
idea that people did not judge their friends or acquaintances solely by what
political dogma they believed, or what religious beliefs they held?

Yesterday, I was so angry I considered changing my vote for
the wrong reasons, simply because I was so frustrated at being harangued by
some narrow-minded individual, an individual who was trying to muster
votes for his candidate, a candidate for
whom I had planned on voting before our encounter (and whom I did in fact vote
for). But if I changed my vote out of
anger and prejudice, I would be guilty of the same thing that I find so frustrating.

Yesterday we were met by a representative of one of the
parties. He asked if we would vote for
one of the candidates. We have both been
undecided in this particular race, both waffling, but at that point G honestly
responded that he was leaning toward the other side, although he had not yet
fully decided. Instead of offering
arguments and discussion attempting to sway G, this party representative became abusive and harangued
both of us, telling G he should “stay home and not vote”. I suppose he thinks you are only allowed to
vote if you hold the “right” beliefs.

In
an obviously misguided attempt to help the situation, (this person was
attempting to block access to our car) I truthfully informed the same person
that I was going to vote for his candidate, even though that meant I might only
cancel out G’s vote. After another
tirade, I was told that I should stay home and not vote as well. When I asked why, I was told that I shouldn’t
vote because I was married to “him” (G, the one voting for the other
candidate). I didn’t realize that choice of spouse
determined one’s right to vote in this country. Nor did I realize that we had given up the freedom of speech or
independent thought.

If this person wanted to increase votes for his candidate,
who was up against a popular incumbent, alienating the very voters who were
going to support his candidate in the poles seems very short-sighted. To tell the truth I was more offended by his
comment that I shouldn’t vote because of my choice of spouse than by the
insults tossed at that very same “wrong-voting” spouse. I suppose I have just become inured to
political bigotry, but I cannot accept the idea that the rights our ancestors
fought so hard to gain can be so flippantly cast aside.

I once thought that intelligent people could discuss issues
and agree to disagree, I thought intelligent people could respect each other’s
opinions even if they did not always agree on specifics. G and I have discussed aspects of this
election extensively, and although we usually vote alike we do not always. We do however, always listen to each other’s
arguments. I can fully understand G’s
reservations about both candidates, I have many of the same reservations, but
my conclusions are different. We both
tend to be independent thinkers and neither one of us has ever been a straight
party-line voter. I suppose that puts us
in the group everyone loves to hate. The
thing we both accept is that if we wish the right to form our own opinions, and
respect the intelligence of the other, we must also accept that they will
sometimes form opinions different from our own. Respect allows for this.

But I suppose some people don’t feel that we have the right
to disagree. And that makes me very
nervous, no matter which “side” they are on. I am tired of the left demonizing
the right and the right demonizing the left. I am tired of everyone toeing the party line, of no one daring to
express a contrary opinion.

I’m glad this election is over. Whatever the outcome, I remain optimistic about
the future.

November 7, 2006
Blinded by the Light

The fiberglassing process began on Friday:

and continued Saturday, when, unfortunately, it was quite cloudy and difficult to photograph the process.

The final coat went on today. First the sanding:

followed by the final glossy white coat:

Luckily the camera reduced much of the glare. The good news is that it looks like there will be a good bit more light reflected into the house in the dark dreary winter.

November 6, 2006
First Day on the Jacket: a slow start

Finally, construction has begun on the jacket! But first, there were still a few details to sort out.

I originally cut this jacket while I was in San Francisco at Sandra Betzina’s sewing camp. It is not a particularly constructed jacket, the upper bodice and back are cut as one piece with the sleeves, and it is not difficult to make. For this reason, and because I must share cutting table space with the 9 other camp attendees, I did not spend as much time as I often do when cutting out patterns and my project choices for sewing camp were planned with this in mind. I squared up the fabric meticulously and was very careful about placement of the pattern pieces on the fabric, but I did not thread trace or mark the stitching lines as I often do, and I used dressmaker’s carbon for all markings. Since I left camp early, the entire project was packed up and placed in a ziploc bag, pattern still attached to the pieces.

Because of the delay between cutting and construction I wanted to be certain I understood what had been done before and the plan for the jacket. I separated out the pieces, checked that all the markings were in place, removed the pattern tissue, and stacked the pieces together in order of construction use so that I would not spend time later on trying to find specific pieces.

The pattern instructions start with the darts in the upper front piece. One dart extends to the edge of the fabric and adds shoulder shaping and the other date is completely within the fabric and adds shaping at the neck. I don’t always sew darts first, no matter what the pattern instructions state, but in this case it seems the prudent way to begin.

I started with the neck dart:

The instructions are pretty clear on this point, stating to start pinning at the center of the dart, and then to sew the dart in two passes, from the center to the tips. This is normally the way I would sew a dart of this shape as it is the only way to gaurantee that the dart is not distorted in sewing.

To begin, I placed a pin in the center of the dart, making sure that the lines on both sides were perfectly aligned. Then I pinned out from the center to the tips of the dart. Notice that I used an orange pin to mark the center, and I was careful not to use orange pins in any other part of the dart. I also used blue pins exclusively to mark the points.

By using the orange pin to mark the center, I immediately knew where to start stitching the first time I put the dart in the machine:

Notice that the needle is actually a little behind the center pin, which I am about to remove. When I stitch the other half of the dart I will again start a little beyond the center to insure that there will be no weakness or pulling stitches at the center of the dart. Since I am so easily distracted, I need little markers like this to act as reminders.

I use blue pins at the end of the dart to remind me that I am coming to the edge of the fabric (and yes I know it is pretty obvious). The blue pin reminds me that I am going to turn down my stitch length as I approach the end of the dart, probably first going down to 1.5 mm and then to 1mm by the time I am a few stitches from the edge.

I used the same technique of using blue pins at the end of the shoulder darts as well, even though these were stitched straight down from the edge of the fabric (shoulder seam). The darts are longer and I am still not always likely to pay attention, the end of the dart can creep up before I expect it, so subtle little reminders like this really help me focus.

After all the darts were sewn they had to be pressed. I always press the darts first with the right sides together to meld the stitches, only then do I open the fabric and press the dart into its final position. Since each of these darts created a curve in the fabric the final pressing had to be done on my tailor’s ham and I very carefully folded the dart in place, holding it with my left hand while I pressed with my right, trying to ensure that there was no excess folding of the fabric or bubbles or dimples at the points. This fabric is a wool blend with some synthetic fibers and it tends to stick to the iron. It is very important to remember to use a press cloth; I usually use silk organza so that I can see through it as I work, and it takes the heat well. After pressing, I leave the fabric on the ham to cool and dry before moving it to press the next section. Although the darts were small, I could not press each dart in its entirety in one pass, so significant time accumulated, allowing me to write my notes.

Even on a relatively simple project like this, more time is spent checking that everything is aligned, pinning, and pressing than in the actual sewing. I remain convinced that the meticulousness pays off, although even I can admit that perhaps I carry things too far (colored-coded pins after all are a little excessive).

After the darts were sewn in the front pieces it was time to
serge the edges. Now I know that I am
not “supposed” to serge the edges before stitching the garment but I do. I am usually really careful with this step;
usually I have marked my stitching lines, either with chalk, pastels or by
making tailor’s tacks. But this is
supposed to be a quick project and I cut and marked it at camp. I did not mark the stitching lines. So I am very careful to serge right at the
edge of the fabric eliminating none or as little of the seam allowance as
possible.

Usually serging the pieces is the first thing I do after
marking everything because I hate working with the raveled edges of
fabric. On this jacket however, I sewed the darts
at the shoulder first because I thought the edge would be two bulky if I had
six layers of serged edges at the center shoulder. By serging after I have sewn and pressed the
darts I get a nice flat seam. Of course
if I made a mistake with the darts, this will be much more difficult to
correct, but that is why I made a muslin first, to correct any issues with the
darts before I started making the final garment. Hopefully I did everything correctly and this will work out well.

All this fuss over pinning and pressing, plus the fact that I had forgotten to thread the serger before I started, means that I spent 2 hours just getting the two upper front pieces ready for the next step of construction and the next step will have to wait.

November 6, 2006
need a new machine doctor

I finally took my Elna in to the shop today, although I am having qualms now that I have done so, and am wondering about the future.

When I first got the Elna, (and later my Baby Lock)long long ago, there was no local Elna dealer so I took it in to Crown Machine Service in NYC. Usually, if it just needed cleaning or a minor adjustment I could drop it in the morning and they would have it back to me in the afternoon, providing me with an opportunity to shop or pursue other interests in NYC.

Then we got Amazing Threads, which sold yarn and Elna Sewing Machines and they took very good care of my baby. No more lugging the sewing machine on the train (I’m not complaining) and although I didn’t get it back the same day, it was still pretty convenient. But Amazing Threads was sold. I had been informed that the same people were doing the machine service out of a fabric store on the far side of Kingston, so I took the machine there this morning. Ends up they are just servicing the Elnas as a courtesy but don’t really handle the machines. Probably this is fine, it just needs a little cleaning and adjustment on the tension. But I am feeling cautious — I love this machine after all, even though I use the newer one more. Well, let’s see what happens and when I get it back, but in one mad moment of panic I almost ran back and snatched my machine.

Perhaps I will be hauling it down to NYC again, after all it is an easy subway ride from Crown Machine down to the garment district.

November 5, 2006
Death of a Beekeeper

Whereas the last book was something I read compulsively, but did not always ENJOY reading, The Death of a Beekeeper was completely the opposite. It seems surprising that this novel could be so entrancing, so personal, so involving, but something must have appealed to me because I did, after all, buy it. And this one definitely goes on the permanent shelf.

Beautiful, spare, utterly captivating. I absolutely loved reading this book and the only reason it took me two days was because I had to keep stopping to consider what I was reading, to let my mind wander through this new world that was being created by words, and occasionally to doze off into the world of dreams (decongestants). Gustafson’s prose and power of description are wonderful. The story is not really a story in the traditional sense, it purports to be the miscellaneous journals found in the house of a man who has died of cancer, the journals of a man dying of cancer. But the writing draws one in to this world and makes the reader feel the world, as if these could be his or her journals (if most of us could write this well) and we feel these thoughts, this world, and the slipping away of this world very deeply. Rather than reading a story about someone else in someplace else in order to escape one’s self for a bit, the reader becomes the narrator, at least in part, and this becomes as much the reader’s story and the reader’s loss as that of some imagined character. One reads and begins to feel the events and thoughts as if one was a part of them, as if one’s own memories are being created.

A tremendous accomplishment.

November 4, 2006
On pattern storage and Burda WOF

I have not been working on the jacket, although I have thought about working on the jacket and for now at least the problem is not lack of time, but lack of motivation and energy. Blame my sinuses, all four sinus regions are fairly blocked up, although today I was informed that the blockage is dissipating, and I actually do feel a little better, as long as I don’t move quickly, listen to loud noises, or change the elevation of my head (bend over). I am even contemplating riding the exercise bike at home because I think I can do that without causing my head to move too much (as long as I don’t ride so vigorously that I bounce up and down on the bike). Of course I don’t yet know if I will be able to inhale enough oxygen to sustain any kind of effort on the bike. The prolonged sluggishness, not just the sinus pressure, is affecting my state of mind.

I used to just get an annual head-cold. Now I get an annual sinusitis attack. I think I would rather have the head-cold.

And so, since sewing requires thought (which seems to hurt my head) and moving from sewing table to ironing board and back, I have been less than inclined to sew. Besides the decongestants make me drowsy, not the best time to be operating machinery with sharp pointed objects running at high speed.

I am not worried. November already looks better than October, which has been blacked out in the calendar and stricken from memory .

In order to entertain myself I have been filing my Burda WOF magazines, which have been piling up in an unruly fashion since I subscribed a year and a half ago. I contemplated various ways of saving them, but in the end went back to the technique I used with the old Burda International magazines, and in fact most of my sewing patterns.

The pattern paper and the instruction pages go in a manila file pocket, as do all my other patterns. I don’t save the actual magazine, but I cut favorite photos out of the magazine and paste them on the outside of the folder for inspiration. That way, if I am just flipping through the files for inspiration, I see my favorite garments in photos, and the line drawings are readily available right inside each folder.

I also scan the line drawings into the computer and print them out on a half-sheet sized page that fits into my old filofax which I now use as a pattern notebook. You can see the notebook sheets on the left in the photo. All patterns are filed in the pattern catalog drawers by company and number, in my notebook the patterns are filed by type (blouses, jackets, etc) or all the pattern magazines are grouped together with copies of the line drawings. The new Burda WOF is much easier than the old Burda, which did not have an index page with the line drawings, and I had to trace each individual drawing onto onionskin paper to add to my notebook.

Sometimes I do think this is a lot of work, but I enjoy just sitting down with the notebook and looking at my pattern catalog, and I like keeping the pattern envelope or directions with the pattern as well. I have friends who put the pattern envelopes in three-ring binders and file the patterns separately but I like my small half-size notebooks better. The space in my notebook is overflowing and I have to get a new one, but I haven’t found one I like lately. The half-size notebooks used to be widely available in France with four rings, and I love those, but I haven’t been back lately and I haven’t found a source here in the States. I suppose I can’t justifiy a trip to Europe just to buy binders.

I have often over the years thought it would be nice to convert all the pattern information to a database, which would include the drawings or photographs of the pattern and the line drawings as well as yardage information (all this information is in my notebook), as I don’t always carry the notebook around. It is just too cumbersome. A database could be downloaded to my Palm for quick browsing if I found myself at a fabric source. But in the end, I usually know roughly how much I need for a jacket or pants or a dress and just buy that "average" value. Certain patterns take odd amounts though, I may do it someday, as much for the fun of doing it as anything else. All these patterns have been scanned into the computer after all so it is just a question of putting it all together.

But in the end, I like looking through my pattern book far more than I like looking through a database on the computer, or on my palm, where it is even harder to see the details of a picture. So perhaps this plan is best left in the realm of dreams a little longer.

November 4, 2006
Quiet Time needed, with knitting.

After a week’s absence, I finally picked up Mermaid again Thursday evening. Unfortunately I did not do so during my normal Thursday Sanity Saving Session (knitting group) but in the short lived quiet at home. Short-lived because DH came home early, always welcome of course, and conversation and later television encroached. These are not necessarily bad things but they were not welcome last night, as I gradually kept reducing the volume on the TV until it was barely above a whisper and grew visibly paler and more strained each time I was forced to engage in conversation.

It seems I have been plagued by my annual (or is it semi-annual now) sinus infection, and my head feels like a pulsating bomb about to explode at any time. Any motion or sound can make my head feel like it is about to implode. Even the pressure of thought (does the brain swell when thinking? Is is jut the electrical impulses generated by the rapid-firing of those neurons?) makes me feel like we have begun the final countdown.

Needless to say I did not drive to Hopewell, although the driving itself might not have bothered me had all the other drivers stayed off the road and the deer decided to stay deep in the woods. I did not think this was a likely possibility.

Mermaid was a relatively easy knit at this point, simple, soothing, no pressure, no decisions, several hours of knitting on small needles before I reach the next area of shaping or decision making.

I did pick up the new Interweave Knits, which arrived yesterday, and looked briefly through its pages. I didn’t have even the mental stamina for serious consideration of knits although I was particularly entranced with these two:

Eunny Jang’s Venezia is really lovely with a sophisticated choice of colors and lovely shaping. Even the thought of knitting 8 1/2 stitches to the inch on size 0 needles (or smaller given my loose-woman reputation with the knitting needles) doesn’t turn me off. I seem to be slowly working my way that direction. But looking at the pattern and thinking about the potential for alternate colorways and the math involved in altering the shaping and patternmade my already explosive pound even more, to the point that I felt nuclear disaster may have been imminent and I had to stop. I think this will not be something I knit right away. I am still dreaming of quicker-to-knit projects for the short term at least.

Veronik Avery’s Enid Cardigan is also quite lovely and this might be a little higher on my list, primarily because it requires less math with the combination of alterations for length and dealing with the resulting affect of those alterations on pattern and design. I do really like the wide neckline sliding toward the shoulders and think this is both classic and modern. I have a yarn that I can envision in this sweater but have a sneaking suspicion it may be DK rather than the sport weight used here. Still this may prove to be a simple enough conversion. More research is needed.

But now I have been thinking too much this morning, even though my head is better. There has been too much effort spent finalizing hotels and Thanksgiving travel plans (Kansas) as well as preparing and booking a trip to Arizona and Southern California in February, along with various other Friday morning distractions. Time to find a quiet hole and knit.

November 3, 2006
Further thoughts ….

It is time once again to fit the newly read books onto the bookshelves, always a challenge here as we by no means live in a book-free zone.

In doing so I have been faced with a bit of a conundrum. The books I think I want to save are stacked neatly, ready to be interfiled with their future shelf-mates and I find I must pause. What do I do with the book I just read, The Tortilla Curtain. As you recall, I said it was worthwhile reading, and the writing was good. In fact it was a rather namby-pamby review because I didn’t really say what I thought about the story itself, except that it made me think about myself and society in a different way. And herein lies the problem.

The book was good. I do not regret reading it, in fact I am probably even glad I did. Initially I put it on the "to be saved" list, but now I have doubts. Is this the kind of book I really want on my shelf? I don’t save books because they are uplifting. I even have been known to save books I don’t agree with but which make me think and look at the world in different ways. This book might meet that criteria, as it has made me look at myself and my society and the ways our lives and our values are often in conflict. But it is also a novel, and it is a novel in which one character, Delaney, runs down another character, Candido, gives him $20.00 in payment for the severe injuries he has incurred, and then later feels he (Delaney) has been "taken" by the Mexican, whom he later tries to kill. In many ways I find Delaney to be despicable, even though I can understand how his view of life has turned down the path to destruction. Is this a book I will ever read again? Is this a book I want my grandchildren to read?

Well, I think I have answered my question.

November 2, 2006
Perfect new scarf for an old coat

The Prism Scarf is done and the greens in the yarn are a perfect match for an ancient, unstructured, Irish tweed coat that seems to be in permanent rotation in my coat closet.

The neckline is fairly wide and low on this coat and I have had trouble over the years finding just the right scarf. I like the combination of the fluffy chenille with the rather rustic tweed and unstrutured style. The little bits of gitter in the yarn are just enough that it doesn’t look too rustic — as if I were traipsing over the hills to sell my eggs at the next village — the reason I never wear a cabled scarf with this coat, and at the same time it is not too formal, it fits the attitude of the coat, at least as I wear it.

So, I suppose it was fate at work last week when my knitting stopped and the shopping demon temporarily overtook my brain. Now I can brave the elements with dash and daring, if not au courant style.

November 2, 2006