Sew Distracted

Update

Work has been taking up a little more of my time than I had anticipated hoped and so there has been less progress on George’s vest.    It is after all the end of the fiscal year and all that end-of-year accounting must be done.  Even though I pretty much have everything caught up during the year and there should not be that much extra work, it always takes a little longer than I expect.  Of course the fact that October always seems to be a very busy month anyway does not lessen the load.

Of course the other impediment to my sewing progress has been that I have been caught up in a fit of clearing up and cleaning out.  There have been too many unfinished projects, both in the house (some of them due to contractors over whom I have no control), yard, and my fiber-related life.  Since I have no control over those projects that are waiting on others I have been doubly determined to reduce my own backlog.  Projects that are planned but not yet started don’t count; they remain in the realm of dreams rather than reality.  This is a trivial (as some of these are quite necessary) distinction but a necessary one.  It’s all a question of semantics after all.

I have started cleaning out closets, storerooms, the attic, and the basement, bits and pieces at a time.  I have also been tackling unfinished knitting projects.  There really no sewing UFOs at the moment, and I am reluctant to start a new one until I feel I at least have some control of everything else going on around here.  This does not mean I will finish all projects before starting anything new.  Even a little progress has helped considerably and everything feels much more manageable to me.  There is also a partly done quilt and a couple of embroidery projects that will remain UFOs for now; one of the embroidery projects will also eventually become a sewing project. I don’t have the incentive or peace of mind to start major embroidery projects at this time. 

The other delay in cutting is that I had forgotten that the lining fabric was not ready to be cut.  I had pre-washed it, but it was waiting to be pressed.  Pressing prior to cutting is always a slow meticulous process simply because the fabric is so slippery and it is easy to let it slide off grain.  I tend to pin it to the ironing board in small sections, carefully squaring up each section before pressing it with steam and letting it cool and dry.  Sometimes I think one of those steam suctioning boards would be nice, but I wonder whether they would work as well.

Truth be told, if I don’t pressure myself into rushing through the pressing stage I rather enjoy it.  It can be a great stress reduction exercise as one carefully pins the fabric, presses, and waits.  I can let my mind wander freely over future anticipated sewing projects, dream sewing projects (always more numerous than actual sewing projects) and various other things that have been lurking around my brain.  It is very refreshing and dare I say it, zen-like, in the best of circumstances.  Of course if one is using steam, there is also the facial aspect, another boon.

I also washed and pressed a piece of black douppioni from Thai Silks..  I haven’t always washed douppioni, don’t often in fact, and I had forgotten how nice the hand of the fabric becomes after washng.  Of course this will vary considerably with the quality and weight of the particular piece of douppioni.  I might even like this washed fabric better than the original although I will not be sure until after I have worked with it a little more.   I have quite a few yards.  I was thinking of using a small bit of it as binding on some gray linen napkins, not a definite decision yet, but a strong possibility, and the douppioni would have to be washable for that use.  I was also thinking about using the fabric for a blouse, possibly one of LaFred’s blouses or I have a couple of Neue Mode Patterns that would lend themselves nicely to this idea.  I remember meeting Fred Bloebaum once when she was wearing a blouse of washed douppioni with pants of washed silk noil.  I had been very impressed with the drape and character of both fabrics in her garments. 

I am hoping that the washed douppioni will not have to be underlined which makes it more suitable for a blouse.  Crisp douppioni must be underlined in organza or something else to keep from wrinkling all the time which automatically makes it suitable for only more structured and tailored, almost jacket-like tops.   I know that there is a lot of information available about this but I need to play with it myself and form my own opinions about how much I like this fabric, and for what uses.

Mardel's Stash Building Blog continues...

Yesterday was a bumper day, mail-wise.  The new Vogue and Bazaar came, filled with eye-candy for my continued perusal and inspiration, and a stack of knitting pattern books from Filatura di Crosa and Stacy Charles as well.   Also in the mail haul were swatches from Leandro Fabrics and Michael’s. 

Leandro sent a stack of gorgeous super 120s wools, and, in a separate package, a new Chanel boucle in shades of olive with a deep fuschia pink yarn running through it.  Most of the colors of the 120's were nice but did not inspire me, even though have been thinking of suits in plain fabric again.  However there was one deep maroon that really caught my fancy, as well as the Chanel boucle

Michael sent a collection of Swiss cotton shirtings that were absolutely gorgeous.  The fabrics are great quality and have a truly sinful hand.  They remind me somewhat of the cottons used in George’s Charvet shirts.   At $12.50 a yard I really don’t think they are unreasonable for the quality.  I ordered three, shown below.

I finally opened the package from Emma One Sock.  It actually came a week ago  Friday but I was in NYC that day and spent most of that weekend otherwise engaged. After that the box served as a resting post for my NY Sheep and Wool purchases until I could get them sorted out and put away.  Although I am usually tempted to open a package immediately, and probably would have had I been home when it arrived, I was afraid to do so with this because I knew I would want to delve right in. 

My fears were well founded.  The knits are wonderful and I want to start sewing them but it is the red Oscar de la Renta wool that is truly fabulous.  It is much more vibrant and drop dead gorgeous  in actuality than could have been conveyed by any photo.  I hadn’t planned on getting to it right away but I am beginning to wonder if I should change that plan.    Sawyer Brook had a similar fabric in a muted gray/blue which was much more subtle – it spoke casual, country sophisticate to me, whereas this fabric screams feminine charm with a touch of glamour.

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I have finished the muslins for George’s vest.  I am pretty weary now, even though it is early yet, only 9:30.  I will cut another time, when I am less likely to make mistakes.  I have one more alteration to make, but it is simple, one shoulder leans more forward than the other and is less wide.  This is an alteration I make for myself frequently and I have marked it on the muslin; I will transfer it to the pattern tomorrow.  I knew that George was curved over a little more since he has had some collapsing in the vertebrae but I had not expected it to be as noticeable as it is.

The sun came out a bit this afternoon so I went outside to start dividing daylilies.  The daylilly bed I am working in is pretty much packed clay and the ground is wet enough now to dig them up pretty easily.  I am surprised they grow at all in that area.  This is the one bed I paid a landscape company to build and plant and they did not do nearly as nice of a job as I usually do.  They cost me a pretty penny as well.  Nothing else grows there, the soil is too packed and they did nothing much to amend it except sprinkle an inch of soil on top. Some of the daylilies will go into the new stone bed under the kitchen window and the others will go into a temporary holding bed while I double dig their current bed and seriously amend the soil.  I didn’t get far today, the blade of the shovel broke at my third clump, not that I am that strong, there has been a fracture line across that shovel for some time. I guess that means I will be going shopping tomorrow on top of normal Monday work, gym, and household tasks.  I might not get to the vest until Tuesday.

A Vest for George

I bought this fabric for George some time ago at Leandro Fabrics (Adam's wedding) but never made it up. The fabric is a beautiful wool and cashmere blend in charcoal gray with subtle caramel woven checks:  The photographs I am getting are either too dark and you can't see the pattern, or too light: substantial fiddling with Photoshop has occurred and I still don't have it quite right but I am no expert.  The problem seems to be with getting the white balance/light settings on my camera set correctly but I can't seem to quite manage it.   I suppose I should consult with George, he is the photographer after all, but then we will spend an afternoon fiddling with it and I would rather be sewing. 

This is pretty close and I love the subtle variation in the two shades of caramel.  I actually bought a good bit more than I need.  What was I thinking??  Was I thinking at all?  I might have enough for a skirt as well.  The trick then will to be to convince the darling spouse that he is not doing me a favor by wearing the vest that matches my skirt when we go out together.   Hmmm.... Perhaps I should rethink this.

This is the pattern:

I really am not sure of the fit.:  both of his existing vests fit badly, in different ways, so they don't even provide consistent pattern help.  He is in between two sizes in men's jackets so I will just work from there.  I did find a few minutes yesterday to cut a muslin and get it stitched together for a try-on.  Here are the results:

I might get another muslin constructed today:  they don't take all that long after all, but Thursday will be a complete wash-out in terms of sewing time as I have to go into NYC and if the weather is nice the weekend must be spent in the garden dealing with the partially landscaped pile of mud and leaves that is left behind after last week's rains.

Felting Dreams

I spent a good part of this past weekend at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival at the Rhinebeck Fairgrounds. 

One thing I was interested in looking at was rovings, particularly dyed rovings.  I had not been to the Sheep and Wool Festival for many years and it has expanded considerably in my absence.  One thing that really impressed me was the amazing variety and selection of fibers for spinners.  Some of these were amazingly beautiful and I loved the colors of some of the combinations of silk and wool and also some of the tencel blends.  If I knew how to spin this would be an amazing temptation, and as it was I was sorely tempted.

I was looking however for wool rovings or fiber to use for felting and fabric embellishment.  I am totally inexperienced at felting but I have been feeling an itch to try some and I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to get some fibers to play with and see if I liked the process. It was quicky apparent that the problem would not be in finding materials, but in limiting myself.  Luckily, since I am not sure about felting silk or tencel fibers I quickly eliminated them from the search.  Still there were more than enough options to choose: Here is some of what I came home with:

Both photos were taken in the late afternoon sun but the colors seem pretty close.

The show was really inspirational.  There were several felters present and some of them did amazing work: the traditional thick felt as well as some very sheer, modern delicate looking things crafted into exquisite garments.  There were also beautiful quilted pots and one woman who made wonderful purses and satchels with leather trim and beautiful hardware.  If my budget were not constrained by looming construction costs I would have been far more tempted into purchasing.  As it was the fair was a wonderful source of inspiration.

I was also fascinated by the work of some of the weavers.  I have thought that I would love to take up weaving, but I never was tempted to work on a small loom.  This means that weaving will definitely remain in the realm of dreams for me.  I know I don’t have the time – I barely have time to sew and knit.  I can’t help dreaming of fiber arts though.  If I could spend all my time on those things alone.....hmm...it would never happen.  Get me started in the yard and I dream of spending all my time gardening.  Put me in the kitchen and I dream of spending all my time cooking.  I will never be able to indulge all the interests I dream of indulging.

But maybe I will get a little felting done.

Shopping

I have not been sewing, so despite my best intentions I have been shopping:

Today I bought this cotton knit from Emma One Sock:

and also this wool jersey:

Isn't it a great color?

These will be joining my purchases from a couple of days ago (Monday I think) which Linda is shipping to me today:

I think this is absolutely beautiful.  I had not been checking the Emma One Sock site regularly as I knew I would buy, but eventually my resolve broke down.  How I admire those who do not have the stashing gene.  I wanted enough for a suit and luckily for me there as just enough left for the suit I had envisioned, one piece for the jacket and one for the skirt -- obviously it was meant to be.

I also indulged in two printed Onionskins.  I am still of mixed feelings on onionskin.  When I was younger my purist tendencies would not have allowed for their synthetic nature but I am much more relaxed about that kind of thing now.  I am enjoying playing with the fabric.  Sometimes I am quite successful in my choice of project but I will admit I have had some spectacular failures:  I don't mind the exploration has been fun.

Here are the two I purchased:

The telephone line has been out of service for 5 days.  It was restored today about 4 PM.  I immediately got on-line and started to catch up, to no avail.  The back-log is too great.  I suppose that this should only encourage me to move forward with my plans for a high-speed cable modem, but the basement clean-out which must precede the rewiring of the basement is enough incentive to let it slide a little longer.

Meanwhile, I will get caught up, hopefully, just in time to fall behind again this weekend when I must be at a conference.

Tonight was knitting night.  No computing or sewing here. 

Meanwhile, while the phone was down I was busy;  I was not busy thinking about what I would do if I had phone service and a computer connection.  I actually thought about the computer very little.  I have long had a great capacity for ignoring things I don't like or can't change.

The Bernina and the Elna were fired up this week in practical activities rather than creative endeavors.  A front ripped through on Thursday on the same wind that frizzled my telephone line into non-functioning status.  I finally was motivated to switch the closet to fall mode.  The sewing room has been packed with clothes in need of mending or alteration and I have been busy: taking in, letting out, and mildly altering the shape of many things.  The results are gratifying but not photographically interesting. 

I also started to realize that some of the fabrics that were put aside as transitional sewing have now missed the starting bell and will not be used until next spring.  They are awaiting the opportunity to move into out-of-season storage.  Of course as soon as I get the fall clothes out, move the summer clothes to the darker reaches of the closet, and start to think of wools and fall fabrics, the temperatures shift again and we are back to having days in the mid to upper 80s.  I think Autumn is just a big tease.