Sew Distracted

Sugar Snap Pea and Radish Salad

 Both the peas and the radishes from the salad came from a tiny, 5 x 5 foot plot in the vegetable garden.  This the only plot that is currently producing anything other than weeds as  I have spent most of the rest of my garden time in the front yard and the flower beds.

Today I have decided to take a break from gardening.  There will be sewing.  There will also be a little bit of moving around of furniture as the solution to something that had been plaguing me suddenly popped into my head late last night.

Survival

This morning I was working in the garden early, and I got another flower bed cleaned out and a few annuals planted.  It is late to still be doing this, but I never planned to put myself on a strict schedule.

 One small thing that brought a smile to my face was this single poppy.  We had a good hard frost two weeks ago and the poppies shriveled up, except for this one bud.  It stood tall while the leaves all around it wilted and turned black as did all its neighbors.  I am sure there is a lesson in that.

Gifts

 My stepson was here for a few days and we had a lovely visit.  He came bearing good humor and gifts and we enjoyed the time spent with him immensely.

I got this little device to hang one's purse off a table, shown here on the sewing table with the strap from a knitting bag.  This looks really convenient and I hope it lives up to its promise, although i've already used it for said knitting bag, while knitting in the evening.  It is a great improvement as I can keep the ball of yarn in the bag, rather than in my lap where little kitty claws keep sneaking up trying to snag the yarn and make off with it, little kitty claws that far to often snag me as well as the yarn.

 I also got a knitting book,  Reversible Knitting, which I had been quite curious about for some time, and I've enjoyed looking through it.  I like the pages about different knitting stitches and am quite intrigued by some of the patterns.  I can definitely see myself making some of them up.  If you are on Ravelry, you can see some of the patterns here, although several of the patterns I love, like the double-knit vest and Teva Durham's Geometric Dress are not on Ravelry.   Of the other patterns it seems some of the things I find the most intriguing are the least popular -- go figure.

But really the best gift of all, aside from the company, was time to myself.  A and his Dad went out for an afternoon and left me home alone.  I was thrilled.  

There are so many things I feel behind on that I was tempted to play catch up with various projects.  But I didn't, or at least not entirely.  I spent a couple of hours in the sewing room, getting the lining cut out for my skirt, finishing up the marking, and applying the interfacing so that now I can just sit and sew as I get the opportunity.  I also sat and knitted a little bit, working out the details on the shaping of a sweater, something that takes more attention than I have had available in my knitting time of late.

 But I did work on other projects as well just because there is so much that is in process and unfinished.  I realize that I have more things going on than I can finish at once, but I am still dealing with my own frustrations at living in this constant transitional state.  I feel like all my ragged edges are showing, so I worked in the garden, cutting down and ripping out many overgrown shrubs and vines and maple seedlings that were all trying to make their homes in inappropriate locations. 

Then I came inside.  Rather than plunging right into projects, I sat and just enjoyed the silence for a while.  You know there are different kinds of silence and the silence of  house containing only yourself is different than a silent house with two occupants.  I needed those few minutes to just catch my breath and feel the silence.  

Only after those few peaceful moments where my mind relaxed could I address some of the little details of the rearranged living room: rehanging paintings, positioning vases and lamps -- although I am not completely happy with the lamps and might replace them -- and slipping foam pipe insulation around the edges of the glass coffee table.  G keeps running into the coffee table because he can't see it and forgets that it is there.  His legs are all battered and bruised but he likes this table and refuses to replace it with something he can see.  I thought this might be a solution for now, and it looks better than I had anticipated.  

Black and White with Spots All Over

I really had no intention of shopping last week.  Well I had no intention of shopping except for the aforementioned pearls.

It didn't quite work out that way.  I just happened on a few perfect things.  One of those things was a leopard-spotted coat.  Actually there were two leopard-spotted coats but that is a story which will have to be continued another time.  The coats are not interchangeable.

 My fate was sealed, if not the moment I saw this coat on the sale rack, then the moment I tried it on.

Truthfully, it is not a coat that I would immediately say is "my style" and yet it is.  G loved it at first until he saw the other coat.  And I loved both, and came back for this one the next day, determined that I would not turn down something so perfect just because it did not quite fit someone else's vision of me.  If I have learned anything it is to stop giving in to other people's expectations just because it is easier than standing up for myself.  It isn't easier, not in the long run.

 I wore the coat out for dinner Friday night to celebrate G's birthday.  By then he had forgotten that there were two coats.  Since the "coat" is silk with a silk lining, it can work as either a dress or a coat, and I opted for the dress option Friday night.

Unfortunately the late afternoon light is brutal at our house and the choices tend to be either glare or deep shadow.  I had to manipulate the light in this photo in an attempt to see some of the detail.  I think you can see the bubble hem and the bit of ruching on the sleeves.  The front edge of the collar is also wired so it can be scrunched and manipulated.  

Note how nicely the coat/dress goes with my new necklace as well.

I think this will be fabulous over a sleeveless dress with a bit of a pencil skirt, but unfortunately my skirts are all too big at the moment so I can't demonstrate.  It should also shine over narrow pants or with boots come fall.

Thoroughly Modern Pearls

A  package arrived on Thursday, a serendipitous collaboration brought about by the wonders of the internet.

On May 11, Duchesse, who writes the fabulous blog Passage des Perles,  had written about a fabulous strand of Keishi pearls she had seen at Kojima Pearl, and had ordered, having them strung with some silver Balinese box beads.  Unfortunately the necklace was too short for her and she had to return it.

As it happened, I too had seen those same pearls on the Kojima site and had fretted over them.  I really wasn't sure what to do with flat stacked pearls of this type, but I was fascinated by them.  While I pondered, Duchesse bit and collaborated with Sarah Canizzaro at Kojima to create a necklace.  A necklace which just happens to be the length I have discovered is perfect for me -- 17".  

I contacted Duchesse, and Kojima Pearl, and I waited.  Thursday I practically ripped the package open as soon as I returned home from the post office.  The pearls, and the necklace, are as stunning as I had hoped.  

 I wore them Friday with a simple tee shirt and skirt, and again out to dinner Friday night.   To my delight, they coordinated perfectly with a pair of brushed platinum earrings with tiny diamonds that I had worn frequently when working but which did not seem to fit into my more casual current lifestyle:  too formal for every day and not formal enough for evening.  Yet with this pearl necklace they are perfect.

New Shoes and Empty Spaces

 Not that long ago, the shoe closet was bursting at the seams.  No so anymore.  In fact it is looking rather bare.

I finally faced the fact that somewhere between the winter after my 50th birthday and now (1 month before my 52nd birthday) my feet have grown and are not likely to return to their former size.  Oh I realized they had grown; how could I not?  I had to buy bigger shoes. Whereas my feet were a solid 8 1/2 in flats for 20 some years (since shortly after my 30th birthday), they are now quite solidly a 9 1/2, which is really not at all unusual for my height.

But I kept hoping all those old favorites would somehow stretch to fit my growing feet.  

Finally I gave in and eliminated anything that was not comfortable.  There are still a few pairs that are probably questionable, pairs that seem comfortable in the house and pull too strongly at my heart strings to be abandoned quite yet.  The entire purge was traumatic enough.  Yet the proof will be in the wearing.

Of course, I can't refill the entire closet right away, and I am not even inclined to do so.  In order to ease the trauma of looking at a sea of empty shelves, it has occurred to me that I could easily convert this closet to accommodate shoes and handbags, freeing up space elsewhere.

 In the meantime, there have been a few shoe purchases, mostly practical and functional and one more frivolous.  I'll start with the frivolous pair because you can also see them up there in the shoe closet photo.  (photo from Zappos.com) I love these shoes and they are comfortable to wear all day, at least in this suburban area where transportation is primarily by automobile.  Besides, I am rather partial to cone-shaped heels.   

 

Here there are on me during the great purge.  It was nice to have something new to put on the shelves as so many shoes were taking their leave.

My other recent purchases have been completely practical; replacements of missing or worn items.

 My favorite converse slips.  I still get a thrill when I wear these without the laces.  It is juvenile I know, but they make me happy nonetheless.  Something happened to my pair near the end of last summer and it was too late to get the light color in my size.  Just as well, I was probably somewhere between my previous size and my new size and would have had to replace them again anyway.

 And another pair of converse. Lovely worn with "nicer" pants, they also work well with rolled up jeans.  Yes, it is true.  After saying I didn't like rolled up jeans, or ankle length pants on me, I bought a pair of converse and changed my mind.

A woman's prerogative, right?

A trip to New York

Yesterday I managed to head down to NYC to meet fabulous blogger Belette Rouge at Café Sabarsky for coffee and conversation.  We had such a lovely time that we were both reluctant to part when the time came to head our separate ways, and we walked down Fifth Avenue delaying the inevitable.

 

I noticed that I was merely a block or so from the Metropolitan Museum and I considered (briefly) going in to see the new exhibit at the Costume Institute, which I do want to see.

 

But I had more important plans.

 

This was my first trip to the city since my November Sewing weekend, and it was the first time I had been in the Upper East Side for several years as it seems my last few trips have been to meet friends in the Garment district or go directly to Lincoln Center and head home. 

 

I love the Upper East Side.  And I miss shopping.  I miss shopping with intent to buy, although I did a little of that last week, I miss shopping as education, also called snoop shopping.  And I miss just plain old fashioned-window shopping and walking down the street letting impressions filter in and pile up without stopping to deconstruct ideas and details. 

 

I opted for the latter, and walked down Madison avenue at a leisurely pace, making my way down from 86^th street to Grand Central, taking in the windows and my fellow pedestrians.  I saw many things that gave me ideas for sewing, knitting, or just dressing in general.  I did not take any photos because once I started looking at details I would start to focus on them to the exclusion of all else and I would lose the haze of creativity I was seeking.

 

I almost broke down and started actual detail-oriented observation.  But I managed to extricate myself from the maw of temptation.

 

It happened like this:  By the time I got to Barney’s I was getting rather desperate for a bathroom break.  My intention was to go the lower level ladies room so as to avoid temptation as much as possible.  But I faltered.  I looked at the jewelry display cases and took a quick tour of the ground floor.  I was underwhelmed.  In fact I noted how some pieces, which look stunning when photographed on the website, looked somehow LESS in person.  This was a good reminder, and something I had begun to forget as I had been shut away in virtual-shopping-land.

 

Then, after taking care of business, reapplying my lipstick and generally fretting over my hair and how much I looked like a suburban matron compared to the chic women sharing the mirror, I decided that it could not hurt to go upstairs and take a quick turn around the floor.

 

It was on the designer floors that I remembered why I love shopping, and particularly why I love designer boutiques and stores.  Granted some (many) things are overpriced for what you get, but not everything.  I looked at gorgeous clothes made of exquisite fabrics, or employing meticulous construction with interesting techniques.  At times fabulous construction met fabulous fabric and I was ready to swoon.    I learned a few things, although I will not mention specific brands except to say that I studied my first actual Dries Van Noten garments and they are gorgeous and far more luxurious than they appear on line.  They are also colorful but controlled.  I like that.

 

But on to my observations, such as they are.  I reaffirmed that yes, I am a snob.  But I am not a snob about labels.  And I am not a snob about expensive things just for their own sake.  And I am not really a snob about the choices other people make with their lives. But I do love beautiful fabric and fabulous design and exquisite construction and details.  There were plenty of examples of all these things on the Barneys floor (there were also plenty of examples of over-priced crap, but that is another story).  As I was looking at garments, and studying construction details, turning clothes inside out, that old demon started to rear his ugly head – you know the one (although I hope you are not prey to his wily ways) – the “I want” demon.  I don’t mean just I want as in I want to buy, although I’d love to be able to do that, but as in I want to learn, to make, to create, to be able to master something like this….

 

I started to obsess.

 

And that is when I knew I had to leave.  I was starting to regret my J Crew tee shirt, which is perfect for my everyday life.  I was thinking about how the denim in my Gap jeans is not as nice quality wise as the denim in my Current/Elliot or Joe’s Jeans, even though they were a fraction of the price.  I was thinking that the new coat I bought the day before wasn’t so hot after all, even though I love it and knew perfectly well it was not the pinnacle of quality.  I bought it because for the “look” because I could use it and wear it, it fit my life, and it was great quality for the price. I wanted to run down to B&J and buy new fabric even though I have more than enough.

 

I had to leave because I knew that buying (or making) the most beautiful garments will not change the life I lead. Yes, my expedition to Barneys’ reminded me that there really is a difference between $150.00 a yard wool crepe and the $20.00 a yard variety.  My trip reminded me that mastery of cut is important, that there is a reason that some apparently simple things look gorgeous on, and others look like a sack.  If I stayed in Barney’s I would be consumed by obsession.   I felt like I was eating myself alive; this side of me that can pursue the beautiful to the exclusion of all else, this part of me that I do not want to be dominant in my life, was overwhelming.  I have made choices in my life, choices to contain this particular aspect of my personality, and I felt it slipping out, worming its way through the chinks in my personal armor.

 

This was not my goal. It was time to leave.

 

I exited the premises, stopped and caught a few deep breaths and continued on my way.  I stopped in no other stores, not even Walter Steiger, designer of my favorite shoes (next to Manolos), although I did cut over to Park Avenue to peer into his windows and also to stop and look in the windows of Cellini as well.  By the time I got to Grand Central my brain was aflutter with ideas and inspirations and I was myself again.

 

You know, at times I am envious of people who are not so affected by the lure of the beautiful, who can see without wanting to possess and control.  It is a weakness.  And yet I also know that this struggle within me is an integral part of the creative process.  Whether we create art, or merely try to dress ourselves neatly, the act of creation is a process of control, of suppressing the parts of life we don’t wish to acknowledge and replacing them with the image we desire.

Another garment from my previous sewing life

We went out to a concert this weekend and I had a few panicky moments in the morning when I realized that we were having a lovely spring day and I had little in my closet that I could wear other than cooler weather clothes, jeans, and tees.  I really do need to finish sewing that skirt and move onto some summer clothes.  I just have too many projects up in the air right now and everything is in a state of chaos.

I did remember that there is a closet I haven't gone through yet, and I found two dresses that fit, although one is more suitable for next fall, and the other was too somber/dressy for the weekend's events.  I can't complain about finding a good looking dress that fits though, and hopefully I will be wearing it soon.

 I also found a silk top I had made many years ago, and which worked perfectly for the casual-weekend-a-little-dressed-but-fun look I was hoping for.

 

This little top is very simple:  a boxy cut, blue gray silk chiffon with a bit of crinkle lined with navy silk charmeuse.  The cowl neckline is unlined and the sleeves are 3/4 length.   It was inspired by some pieces by Zoran I had studied at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco.  The fabric came from B&J fabrics in NYC.

 The seams are all sewn with a very narrow overlock stitch and are turned to the outside.  Looking at the seaming now, I don't believe I could do anything this fine without a lot of practice.  If anything should inspire me to practice, practice, practice, this top should do the trick. I do recall that it took me several trial runs to get the seams perfect without shredding the chiffon and I had a lot more practice sewing silk and chiffon in those days, although not necessarily as much experience using the Serge.

 The seams on the charmeuse are done the same way, and are also sewn with the seam on the outside of the fabric.

When I made this top I usually wore it for dressy occasions with a pair of charmeuse or silk crepe pants, but that look would have been a little dressier than I was aiming for this weekend.  I realized however that the top was the perfect color, and light enough to wear with the Elm Design dress and a pair of skinny, dark wash jeans and flats.

 By the time I figured out what I was wearing I didn't have time for photos, and it was dark by the time we were home, so you will have to settle for the POTF version of the outfit.

It was perfect for a moderately cool spring day with mixed sun and clouds and temperatures around the 70-degree mark.  We did a little furniture shopping, and had extra time to wander around Beacon before our concert, stopping in a few galleries and stores, and grabbing a soda at a small cafe where we could sit at a table by the sidewalk for some fine people-watching.

 My outfit provided plenty of interest so I kept the jewelry simple, wearing only my wedding band, everyday black watch, and these fun oxidized silver sea-fan hoop earrings by Annette Ferdinandsen.

Catching my breath

I left the skirt fabric out on the cutting table for a while so I could play with different placement options for aligning the print and laying out the pieces.  I am not sure I am completely happy with what I have, but it did seem to be the best option at the time, after several hours, spent in small increments, moving the pieces around on the fabric.  After I get the skirt basted together I'll see what I think and then decide if I need to cut the back again, or if this will work.  Luckily I have fabric and time.

Otherwise, progress came to a standstill right after the skirt pieces were cut and marked.  I prefer to get the cutting done before I start sewing, but the lining will not take long.  I can probably get to that by Monday as the weekend is completely filled, although I may break down and sneak off for a little cutting therapy, or even hand-basting therapy.

In the meantime, many things that have been in the negotiation and planning stages for months are suddenly moving forward and I am busy and there is much piling up.  Would I have preferred that some of these things happened sooner? of course.  But it is what it is.  

I am still catching up with the garden, and waiting for some plans and estimates to come back from the landscape designer.  I am behind on my work, but other projects and the weather have not always been cooperative.  Whatever happens I am way ahead of anything I accomplished over the prior three years. 

The lights went out in my sewing room.  It was not a circuit problem but a wiring problem, and although I temporarily have light again, that circuit has to be completely rewired as does the entire electrical panel.  I knew this would have to be addressed eventually;  the problem was finding an electrician willing and able to do it.  Admittedly however, I would have preferred that it not happen right now, when so much else is going on.  My goal remains reaching a point in our lives where we are not reacting to one problem or another and things just work smoothly.  I do actually think I see this place on the horizon, and that is a huge step ahead of where I was not so very long ago. 

At the moment, I think I can just relax and enjoy this brief period of calm before the next flurry of activity.

From the Market

Inspired by this weeks finds in the Farmer's market:

Salmon with Sorrel sauce

Gnudi (ricotta and spinach dumplings)

The salmon is obviously not local, nor is the parmesan cheese and tiny bit of flour (gluten free) I used for the gnudi.  Everything else was inspired by our first trip to the farmer's market this season:  sorrel, spinach, fresh sheep's milk ricotta, butter, cream, and eggs from local farms.