Sew Distracted

The beginnings of Fall

That lovely stack of fabrics is still sitting on my cutting table waiting to be made, well except for the four fabrics that still need to be pressed.  I have been occupied with other things, like visiting with an old friend, and wiling away the hours in idle pursuits with my sweetie.  

The August Vogue and Bazaar magazines came on Friday, and of course, Vogue patterns went on sale as well, so I have also been occupying myself dreaming of fall. I know perfectly well that I haven't even started my summer sewing:  not the things I have thought about sewing this summer, plus the many collections of things that I have posted here and planned for previous summers.  Those things are all in my dreams, and plans. 

But this weekend I have been thinking about fall.  It has struck me that just as I am settling into this retired life, and beginning to really come to terms with my more casual wardrobe needs, the patterns I am lusting after are anything but casual.  But sew (and wear) what you love has always been my motto.

I haven't really thought about inspirations from the magazines yet, I am still just perusing them and thinking about possibilities.  This photo however really captured my attention, not because I particularly want to copy the coat (I don't) but because the shape and lines of the blanket portion of the coat caught my eye.  It reminded me of a piece of plaid mohair I have had in my stash for years.  I still adore the fabric, but my original plans seem so dated to me now, and I have not quite been able to figure out what to do with the fabric.  This photo reminded me to look at different shapes and cuts, and try to think about the fabric in a different way.  It may just be the kind of inspiration I need.

Somehow while thoughts of plaids were running around in the back of my head, my eyes fell on another piece of fabric which was sitting on the shelf.   I pulled it out last winter, wanting to make it up, but again, my original thoughts no longer seem right.  And then it occurred to me that instead of a suit jacket it could be a coat.  

The more I thought about it the more the idea of a coat really appealed.  I can see this fabric over several pieces of fabric I have in my stash, as well as with several pieces that are in my closet.

Of course the first idea that popped into my head  was that I could use it for this fabulous Donna Karan coat pattern.  Of course it is not quite the same kind of fabric as the original.  As I think about it further I am thinking the fabric might be a little too heavy, or the pattern might be unsuitable.  I really have to think about it further, but I am thinking a coat or coat-like jacket might be the way to go.  The pattern is on its way to me anyway and I am sure I will eventually make it up, even if this doesn't work.  I had ordered the pattern before I thought of this particular fabric anyway. And its not like I don't have other coats in the works (oh please don't remind me). 

Anyway, here are the other patterns I bought:

Sneak Peak

Here is a little peak at what is coming up in the sewing room:

These fabrics have all been washed although I am still in the process of pressing a few of them.

Today however, I think I shall spend what sewing time I find, perusing the new Vogue Patterns magazine and the new Fashion Sewing Group newsletter.

Little bits of household sewing

I have to say that I have been thrilled and tickled pink at all of the nice comments.  I thought no one would be hanging around after all my absences.  Thank you so very much.

I have not made much progress since yesterday, managing to successfully avoid trying on tops and tees today.  But I did finish up the second of those minor household sewing tasks I mentioned.  I was a little reluctant to start any real sewing for me, as my Bernina had a minor meltdown on Friday, which seemed pretty major to me at the time, and I wanted to be sure it ran well before plunging into a garment.  Wouldn't that be just my luck.  I have a note on my Elna -- "jammed" -- dating from last time I sewed, so I know I have to figure that out, hopefully it is minor or there will be a trip into NYC for repair as no one locally will service it.

But the Bernina!  That really came close to upsetting my plans.  I was doing a little mending for G, and had really been sewing only about 20 minutes, mostly straight stitch and a little zigzag, and I did have to sew some elastic, but nothing complicated.  Suddenly in the middle of my last repair the machine stopped and a message appeared on the screen:

Motor Failure

I pressed the okay button, and more messages appeared.  I didin't write them down but they were something like this.  I do remember that these words appeared:

Danger! Excess power failure.  Motor Failure.  Danger. Danger.  Excess power for motor.  Do not operate machine.  Danger. Excess Power.  Danger.....

So I pushed the okay button again and the same message reappeared.  I shut down the machine and waited a few minutes, then turned it back on again, and the same message appeared.    I didn't know what was going on, but I was worried.  It reminded me of that old series "Lost in Space" where the robot would roll around flashing its lights and crying "Danger Will Robinson".

It was 4 PM and I called my local Bernina dealer, where they told me they were closing at 5 for a week.  So I got myself together, crawled under the table and unplugged the machine from my UPS/Serge Protection System, packed it up and drove over to the dealer's.

Mr. Bernina dealer said he had never heard such a message, although Mrs. Bernina dealer said some of the original Arista 200's had had motor failures, but she thought it was only in embroidery mode.  They plugged it in and the message reappeared.  Mr. Bernina dealer turned it off and took the bobbin out and turned it on again.  No messages.  Mr. Bernina said that removing the bobbin often helps.  Who knew?. They threaded it up, got a piece of fabric and it purred along like nothing had happened, so I brought it home.  But still I was worried.

I made pillow cases on Sunday for these tiny pillows we got years ago and both find necessary to a good night's sleep.  They travel with us as well, which is why I stopped cutting up white pillowcases to match my bedding to make small cases for these pillows.  It is much too easy to lose a white pillow in a hotel bed, but not one covered in some wildly colored cotton.  EAch pillow takes about 3/4 of a fat quarter of quilting cotton, giving me an excuse to accumulate pretty fabrics.

The first one is mine.  This second one is G's.  Once I figured out that fat quarters worked so well, I started making them different which is nice also.  Both fabrics are cottons from Kaffe Fassett.

Today I worked on another 10 minute project, sewing loops on some kitchen towels so they could be hung up on a hook.  For years I hung my towels on the stove handle which is a good 12 feet from the sink and lived with it.  Our kitchen cabinets have those invisible pulls that are hidden under the drawer or door, so there are no handles to hang towels on near the sink, and no place to put up a towel rack either.  

This year, with G helping out with the dishes, it finally occurred to me to get one of those stick-on hooks, and put it on the side of the cabinet right next to the sink.  I didn't have any white ribbon or twill tape, but I had brown petersham, which matches the towels.  I pre-washed the petersham a couple of times so it doesn't bleed on my towels and sewed up a set of 7. I should have done this years ago.  Sometimes I think I am pretty dense.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my 51st birthday and it has been a fabulous weekend.  It has been sunny and lovely outdoors.  We swam, we watched tennis, we watched late night fireworks over the Hudson River, G gave me a few pretty baubles, one of which I am wearing to dinner tonight at my favorite local restaurant.

I have spent the last few weeks cleaning up the sewing room, taking inventory of past projects, plans, and ufo's, and although I don't have everything finished, I believe I have a workable system where I can allow myself to work in my sewing room a little  more.

The biggest obstacle now is my closets.  I have been basically ignoring them for months now, and only doing rudimentary search and find missions during the entire period where G was battling various health issues.  It had come to the point where I was literally wearing the same three pairs of jeans and a small assortment of tops all the time, and these were late-winter/early-spring outfits, and I am absolutely sick of them.

I want to sew.  I want to sew clothes I will wear.  Since I vowed not to sew orphans, and I need new clothes, it was time to tackle the closets, so I vowed to devote a significant part of this weekend to this task; I am still working on it but here are a few things I have learned.

I have several summer skirts in nice prints.  I had pulled out fabric for more cute printed skirts, but I don't need them.  However, I have tops to wear with some of the skirts I planned to make and none to wear with the skirts that are in my closet, so perhaps I need those skirts after all.  I do have TNT skirt patterns but no TNT patterns for tops.

I have no solid colored skirts for summer, and two black skirts for winter.

I have no dresses, except for winter dressy/business/board/cocktail party type of events.

I have 7 winter jackets.  5 of them are black.

I have several spring/fall types of sweaters and jackets, most of which go with none of my bottoms, and all of which are too warm for true summer weather.

I have no summer weight jackets or cardigans.

Sweaters and tees are still to be sorted through, but I can already see huge gaps, even without yet knowing the extent of the casualties.

I have started the sewing machines and have made a few very basic things for the house, things that needed doing.  I will update you as I go along.