Saturday Miscellany

The new Threads magazine came the other day and I spent a little time yesterday causally looking through it.

This issue is interesting and entertaining and has some good information.  All in all, perhaps Threads is appealing to me more again…..not that I was going to stop subscribing or anything.

One thing really made me laugh however.  One of the first things I always read in the Threads is the article on the last page, the "Closures" column.  What tickled my fancy was this paragraph by Kristine Kadlec:

"If you listen to opera and/or classical music, you tend to be extremely organized.  You’re self-disciplined and always schedule sewing time into your day.  If your house isn’t clean and the laundry isn’t done, you can’t concentrate on your sewing projects."

Well, I don’t really believe people can be that easily classified and I listen to most genres of music fairly regularly, but my first musical love and primary treat will always be classical music.  People have always accused me of being organized, although I tend to think I am never organized enough, part of that same nerdy side of me that tends to think all problems can be reduced to a mathematical equation — the trick is finding the right equation.  And I used to schedule regular sewing time.  But lately I don’t seem to get through my list of things that need to be done efficiently enough to schedule sewing time.  There are too many distractions and interruptions and unplanned events.  Not that I am, or ever wanted to be a, highly scheduled "at 7:18 we take our vitamins" type of person, but I still can’t let myself sew when there are piles of laundry to be done or other "more important" tasks.

Oh well.

Not that means I have been out of the sewing room completely.  I just don’t have anything really to show for my time except fun and learning experience, neither of which photograph well.    SInce I have had bits and pieces of time, a half-hour here, an hour there, I have my machines set up and I am playing with their various capabilities.  I have been testing the various feet that came with my new Baby Lock serger (over a year old at this point) and learning how to use them and making samples and notes to myself.  I have also been working through my Bernina manual, trying all the different stitches and feet, although not in any comprehensive way.  I am but a mere beginner, but I am getting much more intrigued and confident about doing some new and different things. 

Besides, even though I don’t get the thrill of a new garment to wear, I am still sewing something, even scraps, and I am still simple-minded enough that I find that endlessly entertaining.

Which brings me to the other timely aspect of the new Threads magazine, at least for me.  A good portion of this issue is about wardrobe and planning and snoop shopping, in short deciding what to sew,  I have been spending a little time doing mental gymnastics in the wardrobe department.  All this not sewing has me itching for new clothes.  Not only that, I am itching for more pulled together outfits rather than the mix-and-match kind of very casual separates I have been working on in the recent past.

There was a reason of course.  When I stopped going in to an office every day I stopped needing suits.  I liked suits.  I liked skirt-suits and pants-suits.  I like menswear inspired tailored jackets.  But I got a lot of well-meaning advice from friends that an Armani-inspired suit with jacket, slacks, and loafers was not really appropriate casual-weekend-spent- antiquing or watching-a-soccer- match attire.  My friends were probably right.  But I had a hard time figuring out a casual wardrobe.  Now all I have is my casual wardrobe, and fancier go to nice dinner or cocktail party/evening clothes. (I am probably exagerating here  ) And I think I have gone to far in the casual direction….I crave outfits, which is really more my nature.

Perhaps my mood is influenced by the fall designer collections, which have certainly be heavily leaning toward a more polished, formal silhouette, a look that I really prefer to the completely casual attitude.  Today’s Wall Street Journal  has an article about just this trend and the doubt that it will be an easy sell.    It could be that I have had to spend a few days lately in a suit and heels and hose and it felt really good.  I had forgotten how much I love being DRESSED, and how much more myself I feel, when I make a bit more of an effort.

As to gloves and hats?  Well, I would definitely go the glove route.  And I love the look of layered sleeves, short over long, or short with gloves.  I already have a small glove collection and have a pair of gloves to match every coat I own, and some that I just have for contrast or special occasions.  I love hats too, and if I lived in a city where I walked more, I would probably have a hat for every coat as well.  I have sometimes toyed with that idea. But it is hard for me to get in an out of a car with a hat, much less drive in one, so the hat is mostly off, as is the coat if I am spending a day in and out of the car.  I think if I ever quit the suburban life I will just have to head for the city…and find a good milliner too, as my head, unfortunately, is too fat for one-size-fits-all women’s hats.