Sew Distracted

New Month, New Project, New Boots

I cut the first muslin from the blue fabric yesterday, and was happy to be doing it even though I had originally thought I would be so much further along this week.  

 

I was feeling so proud of myself, telling myself "see you did work on more than one project in one month" and then I realized that yesterday was September 1st, and it was a new month already.  So far I have managed two skirts in two months.   I'm going to be daring and say that this month I will make two garments.  I actually want to make more than that, but as we have seen, my record in that department has not been particularly good.

 

In the meantime I have done some more shopping.  In fact I did more boot shopping.  I wanted a pair of black ankle boots with fairly high heels, higher than the heels in the black boots I wore when modeling Avril, and those are mid-calf anyway, which I manage to convince myself is not at all the same thing.

 

As usual, I spent a lot of time in pursuit of the perfect boot.  The fact that I was shopping online was not a time saver as there were so many more choices, and most of them were not quite what I wanted.  Or worse, I would see something I would like, it would not be available in my size, and I would fritter away more time searching for other vendors.  Bah!

 

I kept falling for a lot of fairly sophisticated "city" boots.  Does anyone use that terminology anymore: city or country??  Anyway there were boots that I would love if we had a different lifestyle, a lifestyle I once had an may or may not have at some other  time in my life.  That part is irrelevent, the "will I" or "won't I" question, because the point is that I need boots with a heel that I can wear for my life now with the clothes that I wear now.  

 

Perspective is always good.

 

I ended up with these boots from Frye.   They are the short version of the Harlow Campus Boot and they are just exactly what I wanted even though I didn't know it until I saw them.  They also make me smile because my first pair of Frye boots ever was a Campus boot, purchased my freshman year in college.  I loved those boots.  They were not nearly as sleek as these, but I love the idea that there is a campus boot for every age.

 

 

Summer Landscaping, Part Two

Much better already, don't you think?

Here is the front yard, ready for the next stage. If you look closely you can see that the tops of the stone have been cleaned up and we will have new stonework there to bring the walls up to level, much better than the random piles of stones we had before. The area at the base of the stone wall, between the stones and the driveway will be filled with gravel.

 

On the south end of the walkway, this old shade bed still had the original railroad ties that were there when I moved in.  I had dug out the bed and replanted but hadn't really changed any of the timbers, merely replaced rotted pieces with new ones as necessary.

 

The timbers have been pulled out and the area widened so that the bed will be framed with stone.  And a new gravel path, to be bordered with belgian block,  is also going in, which will add structure and definition to the yard as well.

 

You can get a much better overview of what is happening from my kitchen window, where I can look out over the entire front yard area.  The photo is kind of gray and shaded because it was taken through the screen, but I think you  will get the general idea now.  Even unfinished, I love looking out the kitchen window now.

 

Avril, final photo

Here is the modeling shot of Avril.  Although fall may be just around the corner it does not feel particularly autumnal outdoors today.

 

The sweater fits well enough, certainly better than RTW, but it is not my favorite of all the things I have ever knit.  I could have knit it a little longer.  This is a length that I frequently wear, and which usually looks good, but the bulky knit at this length is not as much of a success.

 

I also knit most of the body of this sweater last fall, before I started my now standard alterations, namely adding one inch extra length at the center front over the bustline and decreasing one inch from the center back at the waist.  Now that I know how much better sweaters fit with these alterations I find I am less happy with "standard" fit and find myself wanting to tug and pull just a bit.  I'll try to restrain myself because I don't want to reknit this and it is perfectly acceptable.

 

I also don't know why the bottom band curls out.  That I'll have to look at further, although it is not something I notice while I am wearing the sweater as much as when I look at the pictures.

 

 

Summer Landscaping, Part One

One of this summer's projects, the dominant project in fact, has been transforming my nice little haven in the woods into something more welcoming.    Here I present a little catch-up post showing progress so far. Some of these photos have already been posted elsewhere, so if this is a duplication, your patience is requested.

 

The overgrown front yard was really getting to me.  Granted some gardening work would have helped, and I was woefully behind, but more serious landscaping labors were also called for. Here is the before photo, dragged up from last year.  It actually looked even worse than this before work began.

 

It seemed to me that the house reflected my own inner chaos, and although I was pulling myself together, I couldn't get any further until my physical space was in order.

 

A sure sign that help was needed was that everything looked better almost immediately after cleanup, before any new work was done and it was all just clay.  I figure it was very telling that the front door was actually more easily accessible when there was no walkway, just packed clay, than it had been with the original walkway of slate set in clay, the walkway that came with the house.

Well, the packed clay was easier to walk on until it rained, that is.   Luckily for my construction projects, it rained little this summer, at least until last week, by which time the front walk was long since finished.

 

Here is the new bluestone walk, and the completion of phase one of the project, although as you can see work is still being done.  You've actually seen  the new front porch in the last couple of garment pics I have posted.

 

Of course, like any remodeling project, once you fix one thing, you see how bad everything else is around it.

 

I realized that I couldn't fix the plantings until I fixed the walls and did the rest of the hoped-for hard-scaping.  So we entered phase II, which is still in process, although in the middle of a brief interruption of work until mid-September.

After the walk, the mason started working on the north end of the house (the front walk is near the South).   One approaches the house coming down a hill on the north side.  The first thing one was faced was a pile of dirt and rocks with a fence to the pool enclosure behind it, but no landscaping or path leading to the pool gate.

 

This photo is the only one I have of the before scenario. Truthfully I avoided thinking about the area, or photographing it.

 

This next photo is taken from the driveway and shows the view one has of the north side of the house as you drive down my driveway.  The area now contained inside the stone bed is the area with the half buried tank shown in the first photo, and the front wall of the stone bed is the same location as the picket fence on the left side of the first photo.  The top of the stone wall is level with the bottom of the lattice fence behind it.

 

This wall is not complete, and eventually the bed contained within will be filled and planted, and there will be a gravel path and then a series of raised beds going up to the deck and the area in front of that stone wall will be cleaned up and filled with packed gravel leading up to the walkway and planting areas.  There will be no plantings in this area as it is also my primary winter snow repository.

 

Later in the week I will show how phase II is shaping up in the front yard, around that new front walkway.

Fall is just around the corner, or Avril

 It struck me yesterday, as I was grumbling to myself about not being able to get anything done in 10 minute increments, that yes, I could choose to get something done or I could grumble to myself and continue to be unhappy.  Granted not all projects are easily interruptible, but some are, and on days where attention spans are limited I could work on certain kinds of chores and projects, saving the ones that require longer bursts of attention for other days.  In short, If I can't make the world work the way I want it, why not adapt to what I want to fit the world I live in.

Rather than vacuum the house, which wasn't going anywhere because it seemed that I would get the vacuum turned on and immediately have to turn it off to go somewhere and do something else, I realized that I had the perfect opportunity to clean out the bathroom medicine cabinets, something that had been on the list for a while, and which could be easily stopped and started as many times as necessary.

But life is not all about household maintenance and I am determined to work on something just for myself every day, and not waste my time fretting over what I am not able to do.  Obviously pattern cutting was out.  And so was knitting because the getting it out and counting and putting it away again after less than a row was trying my patience. Besides, I am nearing the end of the piece I ripped out and restarted and I will need to start a new project soon, which means I needed to get one of those UFOs out of the queue before I could consign the current project to the sewing-up queue and start knitting something new.  And I need to be able to have something on the needles for that precious hour in the evenings when I wind down and let my mind wander.

Presenting Avril.

She is a bulky sweater knitted in Cascade Venezia Bulky, a silk and wool yarn, using an old Berroco pattern.

The sweater had been sitting around since April waiting for me to set in the sleeves and weave in the ends and it should have been done long ago.  At least now I will have it ready when fall actually arrives.    The sleeves didn't take long but weaving in the ends and sewing on the buttons ended up taking most of the afternoon and by the time I was finished I didn't have enough light to take more photos.

I see I also left the bottom button off.  I can sew that on tomorrow, or perhaps even later today.  After all, it can be done in 10 minutes or less.

Other entertainments

I seem to run in fits and starts.  At times making time to play and write seems easy, at others I fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day and wonder where all my time went.  Sometimes I distract myself as well and end up on completely new tangents.

 I started the weekend looking for a piece of blue knit.  I knew I had it but I couldn't find it and this really ticked me off.  Somehow in the middle of the searching process I decided that it was time to finish cataloging the yarn in the yarn/fabric closet, a job I had worked on extensively last December, stopped for holiday guests, and never resumed.  

The impulse to organize yarn may have also been prompted by the fact that I came home from knitting group with four bags of yarn Thursday night.  My LYS is going out of business and I did my part to reduce the inventory.  I did finish the yarn inventory though, and got everything put away (whew, room for everything!) And I also mentally revised my "to knit" list to fill a few gaps and knit what I think I need now.

The blue fabric eventually turned up, pretty much right where I was originally looking.  I put it on the cutting table where it has been sitting ever since.   It is an inexpensive knit I purchased just for its stretch factor and because I liked the color.  At $3.00 a yard it was a good fabric to play with, to experiment with knits and hopefully learn a little something.  The plan was to test a summer dress and a top or two, items I actually intend to make in other fabrics, but which I am just unsure enough about that I would prefer to make a first version.  If v1 works, at least it is in a color I love, and if it doesn't, no beloved fabric has been wasted.  Somehow though, my motivation got washed downstream with all the rain and the change in the weather.

My work in the fabric closet was more than just an organizational exercise however.  As I photographed new yarns, folded fabric and reorganized I found myself being revitalized with new ideas swirling around in my head.  Although not finding something was frustrating, and at that moment the idea of a stash felt stifling, having it organized and accessible, being able to take out the pieces and let the ideas flow is liberating and inspiring.  

Before my fabric closet foray I was stuck in a rut of a few summer outfits.  I was thinking about what I would make next, but only in a limited way, as a single piece to add into the mix.  Playing with fabric and yarn, and taking inventory, opened my eyes to connections and possibilities I had forgotten.    

The blue fabric and those dresses offer possibilities beyond the immediate. Besides it is still August, and although it feels like fall  now, there are still summer days ahead. So this fabric remains on the table, and I hope to get started on it this week, but that may be  iffy.  We are going up to Lake George on Thursday to see my brother who is up from Texas and on Saturday I am having a passel of the neighbors over for dinner, all a great deal of excitement and interruption to our normally quiet routines.  We'll see how it all goes.

 I'll leave you with a plate of cookies.  I whipped these up last night from this recipe by Aran Goyoaga, who writes the blog Canelle et Vanille, and they are half gone already.

In fact I seemed to do a lot of baking over the weekend.  G had a chocolate craving so I baked brownies, then I baked brownies again. My baking pantry has seen little use of late and at this point I was out of chocolate and cocoa so I needed to make something else.  This cookie recipe had been at the top of my file, waiting for the perfect opportunity.  They are fabulous.  In fact this is my second batch.  Did I mention G has been suffering from a major sweet tooth?  Better him than me.  Anyway the first batch, which I made with shortening, looked more like the original photos in the blog, but mine are darker because I used unprocessed cane sugar rather than regular white sugar.  That first batch was devoured in a day. For this second batch, I was out of shortening, so I used butter.  Butter causes the cookies to spread more, but they are still soft and delicious.  I do love to bake, especially if someone else will eat the goods and save me from myself.

Not only had I forgotten how much potential I had in my fabric closet, I had forgotten how much baking calms my soul and eases stress.  Back in my college days I would bake cakes and cookies and brownies for the dorm before finals.  And I continued to bake for years, until the combination of relearning to bake with gluten-free flours, and just the other stresses of life seemed overwhelming.  This may have been a mistake, luckily one that is easily rectified.

Creepy Crawly

 Am I the only woman in America who feels that the Bazaar cover spread with Jennifer Aniston as Barbra Streisand goes beyond bizarre? I'd much rather have had the newsstand cover.  I had to cut this one off before I could bear to look inside.

Wrapped and Tied

 The Skirt is done.

Blue eyelet cotton skirt, originally made from Simplicity 4186, original version here.  As I took this apart I realized that although I have made this skirt several times, I only actually like the version made from a beefier cotton, which emphasizes the volume of the skirt more. 

The skirt is still pleated and still full, but the shape is different, more of a tulip shape and I am very happy with this version of the skirt.   I worried somewhat about the fullness at the hip, but in the end I like it, and the fact that the contrast tie waist emphasizes the waist, making my middle aged waist appear a bit smaller than it actually is.  Or perhaps the skirt just makes my hips look bigger; if so, I can live with that too, because I feel fabulously pretty in this skirt, and in the end, I think it is how our clothes make us feel that plays the biggest role in how we actually look in them.

 The details:

Pattern:  Burda Style Magazine, April 2010, style #111, tulip skirt with box pleats and a large tie waistband-sash.

Materials:  Blue cotton eyelet recycled from a previous skirt and olive cotton batiste purchased many years ago from www.fabric.com.

 Details: 

This pattern is a "tall" pattern from Burda.  I use the word tall with parenthesis because supposedly this pattern is designed for someone who is 5'9".  I am 5'9" and I added 4 inches to the length of this skirt.  As it was, I shortened the original skirt by 4 inches from the waist to cut the new skirt, and I could not have made the new skirt longer because the top of the old skirt was in rather fragile condition after several alterations.

Because the pattern is cut with a curve at the hem, to accommodate the shaping provided by the pleats, and I wanted the hem to be my eyelet border, I straightened the hem and transfered the shaping to the waistline.

I also underlined the eyelet with the olive batiste before proceeding with the skirt.  Since the pleats were made through the two layers of fabric, my skirt probably has more body than was intended in the pattern, but I rather like the volume of the finished skirt.

I used the waistband from my original skirt rather than the contoured waistband provided by the pattern.  The pattern waistband might have been better, but I had fabric issues.

I also made the tie sash wider than called for.  The original pattern called for a piece of fabric , 8" by 84" (I decided to make a long sash as I am no longer slender-waisted), which was to be folded in half, seamed, and attached to the back waist of the skirt.   Two layers of 8" wide batiste was too much to make a bow as shown in the photos unless I made the sash much longer.  But I like the modified bow effect shown in the picture much better as I'm not convinced that big floofy bows are appropriate on middle aged women.  The sash is also long enough to wrap around my waist twice, creating a cummerbund effect, when I want to be a little more serious.

Boots

If you had told me a month ago that I would be buying green boots for fall I would have laughed in your face.  I wasn't looking for green boots.  I've owned green shoes, but I don't think I've ever owned green boots, and frankly I never really missed them.

And yet, I ordered a pair of green boots, all the while telling myself that I really wanted black boots, that I really wanted seriously dressy boots with killer heels, and that they had to be black, and yet.......

They are perfect.  They are just what I wanted, although I hadn't realized it yet.  

I love the fact that they look like hiking boots, except for that heel.  And the heel is definitely a killer heel, but it is not too narrow, and the platform helps with comfort a bit.  It looks higher than it feels on.  These are shoes I can wear for those "I need a stylish pair of heels" days.  And although they are not comfortable walking boots, I have lots of comfortable, practical, walking boots.  Sometimes the soul just needs a little something extra, a little attitude, a little style, a killer heel.  Yes, it is true; I am rationalizing a bit here, but it doesn't really change anything. 

Although they can be laced to the top, I love them like this, with the tops folded down.  In this form I can even imagine wearing them with a skirt and tights.  I can imagine them with a pencil skirt and a fitted cabled sweater.  In fact they remind me of a cabled sweater I had for 20 years in a deep dark olive, much like this olive.  Unfortunately I felted that sweater last year trying to remove some impossibly recalcitrant stain.   I consoled myself by turning the felted sweater into Christmas gifts, telling myself that the sweater was worse for wear anyway.  But now, looking at these boots I wish I still had it.  

The boots may be telling me that I need to knit a fitted cabled sweater in deep dark olive green.  It wasn't in the plans, but sometimes you see something new and suddenly realize it is just what your wardrobe has been missing.  Fabulous new pieces with attitude are like that; you add them to your closet and they make themselves right at home, making friends with all your existing garments.  But it is not long before they start causing trouble, inviting all their friends to come in to play.  And there you are again -- shopping, sewing or knitting and finding you need things you never imagined needing.  It is quite possible these boots are going to be troublemakers.  If so, I'm up for the challenge.

A Little Change in Plans

Funny how plans change if you allow yourself time to dream and play.

 I had intended to dismantle the blue skirt, and remake it in the exact same style, just shorter and smaller in total girth, but somehow, the more I looked at it, the more evident it became that I didn't want to make the same skirt over again.  

So I found a pattern, traced it off, dithered over alterations and decided to just go for it.    

A shorter skirt, with eyelet over the entire length of the leg, required a different lining than the original skin-tone silk/cotton.  The demands of the new design dictated underlining rather than a separate lining.   As I fretted over lining choices, an olive batiste practically threw itself off the shelf at me.  Olive and Navy is one of my favorite combinations.   It seems this skirt remodel is taking on a life of its own.