Giving a Program to Omaha ASG

I'm getting ready to give a program on Wardrobing and Sewing With A Plan (SWAP) to the Omaha chapter of ASG on Thursday. I'm going to take quite a few garments as well as some wardrobe planning methods and ideas, so it should be interesting I hope. They've asked me to bring some of my covered shoes as shown in Threads as well. I'm kind of excited about it. It's always fun to talk sewing and clothes.

Wardrobing has always held a fascination for me, as I think it does for most sewers. After all, isn't it really all about the clothes? I really only have ever had myself to sew for, and I have to say it's been nice in a way. Yes, it would be fun to do things for a daughter so I could try all the cute, trendy things that I'm a little bit past, but then again, I don't have to share my sewing time across more than one wardrobe. I guess that makes me a little bit like the Selfish Seamstress, although possibly (I hope) not quite as blatant about it. I do love her haikus, though. Very funny stuff.

Speaking of SWAP, I have to give a big shout-out to my dear friend Carolyn of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic, who won the Grand Prize in the SWAP Contest at Stitcher's Guild on Artisan's Square. She definitely deserved the win, with the gorgeous work she's done, and I think she's surpassed herself. Be sure and take a look.

Okay, What Is This?

As you know, I and my siblings are clearing out my parents' home since they moved to a retirement apartment. They are still loving it, by the way. Huge success.

Anyway, we are running across various things that look like they might be either collectible, valuable, or something. However, we can't always figure out just what we have. I thought I'd just call on the expertise I know is available from all of you, and ask about some things.

You may click on this link to see Larger Scale Images of all the photos here.

First is a three-cornered ceramic container. It could be a cachepot, jardiniere, vase, pot, or ??? The mark on the bottom is Weller Pottery. It has a different flower on each side. The flaws you see in the photo are just about invisible IRL (just like on our garment photos, right?) So, if you know anything about this, even just a little bit so we could do a better online search, I hope you'll leave a comment to let me know.






Next is a creamy ceramic bowl with a lid. It has an interesting texture, but I think it must be ceramic. The pine cone design is pretty, and there are no markings on it.





This vase is a gorgeous soft gray/green which I'm not sure comes across. It is marked Wien Keramos (Vienna Ceramics), Made in Austria on the bottom.




This Little Miss toy sewing machine is one thing I'm definitely keeping. I don't remember seeing it when I was growing up, and I'm not sure if it was just tucked away or if my Mom got it somewhere later. I have a pink toy sewing machine that I received for Xmas when I was pretty small, so maybe she kept hers put away. It looks very pristine.

Olive Green Lingerie

Photo Link

I've had this bra partially done for some time now, and finally was able to find time to finish it up and make a few pairs of panties to go with it. The lace and findings are all from Fabric Depot. I used foldover elastic for the straps as well as the upper edge, and it worked very well. Since I certainly do not need stretchy straps, I inserted twill tape into the straps, and also into the upper bridge piece. It's covered with 3 small ribbon roses, but it's the same folded elastic as the straps.

I dyed the stretch lace, picot elastic, closures and powernet lining. I had enough of the stretch lace to do a waistband on one pair of panties, and I used the foldover elastic for another. The duller green pair is actually a very wide piece of lycra with knitted-on stretch lace at the top and bottom. It was billed as stretch lace, but it's not very lacy. I like it, though. I realized while sewing them that I should probably have used it for the front only and made 2 pair, instead of piecing the back with the bra fabric. It's not quite as striking a demarcation in real life as it appears in the photo.


Photo Link

The print pair is a very soft mesh knit that I made a Jalie summer top from. I'm planning a camisole from the scraps as well. I would recommend this type of fabric for anything next to the skin, including nightwear. The stretch lace band is the same pattern lace as the dyed green, but this came this color in my Fabric Depot lace bundle.

You can see a closer photo of the bra below, and
more photos here.

Photo Link

There's Always Something....

Isn't that the truth?

I traded cars on Monday. I was driving a Ford Explorer, and I don't need the 4WD feature much anymore, plus it really cuts down on the mileage you get. I now am driving a Suzuki Kizashi, and so far I really like it. I think it's a cute car, too. I can't believe the major room I now have in the garage, which used to have both the Explorer and the Lincoln TownCar in it, as well as everything else one usually finds in a garage, and then some.



The bad news is that Tuesday evening I sprained my ankle. I was carrying some things from my Mom's house downstairs here, and I missed the last step and fell onto the landing, right on my foot/ankle. I've never actually sprained anything before, and I don't think this is as bad as what I've heard described by others, so I'm hoping it will heal quickly. I've been doing the ice/rest/elevation thing, and along with an Ace bandage wrapped around it, it seems to be improving. The swelling is moving down toward my toes now a bit, and the actual ankle and above looks perfectly normal. Just when the gardening season is beginning to really heat up, here I am, hobbling around. Oh well, at least it's not permanent.

I am hosting the Mu Phi's Tuesday night (my music fraternity) but luckily I don't have to make the dessert. My brother's going to come over and get the folding chairs out of the basement for me, and I think I can do everything else, albeit slowly.

I'm doing a program for the Omaha chapter of ASG on the 20th, and I had a lot of plans that I was working on for that which may have to be slightly modified, but it should be a very nice evening anyway. They've asked me to speak about Wardrobing/Sewing with a Plan, and to show some of my covered shoes as well.

Clearing Out One's Parents Home

As you all know, this has been a year of huge changes for me. Apparently I am not done with change yet, because my parents threw me a loop at the end of March.

They've been talking about moving into a retirement apartment or something like it for literally years, but felt they had to go through everything in their house, throw out and sort, sell the house, etc., before they moved. And they did nothing. My Mom literally was past it, and my Dad has never done that kind of thing, and wasn't starting now. I finally told him that he might as well quit talking about moving because if they had to do all that before they went, they weren't going. I also said that was fine, and we could figure out what to do so they could just stay in their home. But, if they were really moving, they'd better take what they wanted and leave the rest for us (my sister, brother and me) to deal with.

Well....I really must have lit a fire under him, because within two days they had picked out an apartment in a very nice retirement community, and they moved 4 days later! My sister came from California as fast as she could, and she, I, and my brother spent 3 weeks working steadily to clear things out. They'd been there about 36 years, and it's a large house with LOTS of storage, and it was full. We got through most of it before Lisa had to go home, and my brother and I are finishing up slowly. They've sold the house, and so actually, everything has gone pretty well. Everyone is so glad they made the move, and they love it there. My Mom doesn't have to cook, the food is great, they get housekeeping, and lots of other nice perks. The very day they moved, we noticed that my Mom looked so relaxed, and about 10 years younger. It was amazing. I really think it's because she no longer was surrounded by things that she thought she needed to be doing something about, and feeling guilty because she wasn't. Her memory seems better, she's walking better (getting more exercise and it's helping it seems) and she just seems more alert in general. My Dad still participates in his favorite activities of duplicate bridge and pool, and they're starting to join in things in their new community. Quite the success all around.

There have been so many changes in the last year I'm not sure whether I'm coming or going, but I'm still here, so that's good. Now I just need to find the time to do some of the things I need/want to do for me.

Susan Avila Workshop

I attended a workshop,Building a Three-dimensional surface with Solvy & Stitching, at UNL this week, as I mentioned before. The presenter was Susan Taber Avila. You can see her above showing us the digitally-printed chiffon behind her piece, Garden Metaphors. The top layer is the negative pieces left after cutting out the leaves for the largest work in the show, Garden Wall.

We didn't get quite so conceptual in our samples, but I was surprised how many of us found ourselves telling a little story in our work.

The main technique she discussed and demonstrated was creating a 'fabric' of thread and scraps using Solvy as a medium to keep it all together until the stitching is done.

She suggests drawing a grid on the solvy and stitching it over a few times, then beginning to attach your 'stuff'. You can use literally anything that can stand getting wet (since you will be dissolving the Solvy in water). That included paper, thread, serger trimmings, dryer lint, etc. She said she almost literally never throws anything away, and many of her large projects are done with materials that someone was going to throw away.

We each were sent home with a large piece of Solvy, and told to create 3 identical 8"x8" pieces, and bring them back.

The range was very wide since there were no other instructions. Just to use your machine, the solvy and whatever else you wanted, probably with free-motion stitching, although in one case, that didn't happen, and the result was quite nice, and not noticeably different from the rest in that respect.

Technically, it was hard to stitch the grid without its drawing up and getting smaller. Stitching in a hoop made that easier, but of course it's easier and faster to stitch without a hoop. It turns out that those of us who had to 'patch' our Solvy anywhere with an extra layer, found out that 2 layers (or more) made it much easier to stitch in general.

Once the grid was done, attaching things was easier for the most part. Susan makes a point that perfect tension is not nearly as interesting or desirable as 'bad' tension. This is a definite plus when you're new to this, and if, as in my case, it's been a long time since you did any free-motion stitching. Even some quilters in attendance who do free-motion stitching all the time with ease had trouble with this. I think it has a lot to do with the single-layer you're stitching on a lot of the time. A machine guy told me once that machines are not made to sew on a single layer and don't do it well because there's nowhere for the stitch to form. It usually takes place between the layers, and there isn't any between here.

Once you're all done, you dip it in water of any temperature, and the solvy dissolves. Then we blocked the pieces to the required 8".



Back in class last night we took time to view and discuss everyone's work, and then we passed one of our pieces to the people on either side of us, and took one each of theirs. We had to merge all 3 pieces into a pleasing whole. We had about an hour to do this.


Susan taking photos of the finished work.

It was not as easy as you might think to come up with a good idea quickly enough to have time to work on it. It was a little intimidating to realize that you were possibly going to have to cut up your own or someone else's work, too.

Here are the 3 pieces I had to work with. My original 'creation' is in the center. The next photo shows you what I finally ended up with when I put them all together,






Mine is the one about in the center. I cut my original piece into a long, garland-like piece and used it around the outside of the heavier piece on the right of the first photo. It was made of upholstery fabric and was quite heavy. The center lines are very thin copper foil. The piece with the black lace around it was also cut up, but more into groups of 4 squares that I then stitched onto the base. I cut the upholstery base in a few places and stitched them back together giving it a bit of 'elevation'. It doesn't lie flat anymore, and that's what we wanted.

This was a very fun workshop, and I enjoyed very much the cutting up and putting back together, which surprised me, although I've always thought that one of the interesting parts of quilting was the piecing and then cutting up to get something completely different. I think this was a little like that in effect. One of the nicest things about the class was the people taking it. Everyone was great fun to get to know a little bit, and there's always shared experience when you're with a group for a specific niche purpose.

Here are a few more finished (3 part) pieces from the group.



Tonight it's the opera. I'm going to Hansel & Gretel at Nebraska Wesleyan University (my alma mater) with 2 good friends. It should be fun.

Netbook Sleeve

Photo Link

I have a little netbook computer that's great for carrying around with me, but I didn't have a sleeve for it. I decided this would be a fun project where I could go pretty wild if I wanted to. I think this is pretty wild, and I even got to use my new jewelry anvil to flatten the ends of the metal pieces (heavy gauge wire) so that I could stitch them to the pocket and appliques. There's beading, I stitched small triangles of fabrics to the appliques, and one of the metal pieces is wrapped with fine wire. All of the ends are turned toward the sleeve so there isn't much chance of scratching anything with the metal. I have to say that this was SO much fun to do, though.

There are lots of photos in this post, and you can either click on the individual links and choose a larger size to see them better, or click on the first photo link, and then click through them that way if you like. By the way, the netbook is in the sleeve in all of these photos. It fits very nicely.

I used some heavyweight buckram for the inner layer,

and wrapped it with several layers of cloth, then added a silk outer layer with stitching, and a needlefelted embellished pocket on one side, and appliques on the other.

Photo Link

I originally thought I would use the purple cotton with embossed circles for the whole thing, but after doing the needlefelting and free motion stitching on the pocket, I thought that would be too boring and dark. I recalled the lime silk I had left from a pair of summer pants, and it proved to be the bright punch I wanted. I did some stitching on it, and added a few narrow ribbons as well, but it stayed fairly plain.


Photo Link

This is a close up of the pocket and the appliques.


Photo Link

Photo Link

Finally, you can see it with the cord 'in' the pocket as well. I wanted the sleeve to just fit the netbook, but I swear the cord and transformer, etc. takes more room because it's so bulky. Anyway, it's in no danger of falling out. I'd probably have the cord in my purse separately anyway, since one doesn't always need it.



I'm going to a workshop at UNL tonight and Thursday. It's being given by Susan Taber Avila, and is called Building a Three-dimensional surface with Solvy & Stitching. She has a show in the Hillestad Gallery right now which is worth seeing, and I'm hoping this will be a useful workshop as well. I'm sure it's going to be fun anyway.

An Anvil for Me

Photo Link

I never thought I'd want my own anvil, but I don't have access to one anymore, and I don't need a full-size one anyway. I asked my brother, source of my lovely pattern weights, what he could come up with. He made me what looks like a hockey-puck out of stainless steel scrap, polished the top, and put cork on the bottom. I want to use it for jewelry type pounding, so it didn't need to be too large. I'm not sure when you'll see anything I've used it for, but I have some things in mind at least.

You can see what the pattern weights he makes for me look like below.

More Aqua

Link to All Photos

I thought I'd do a couple more panties for the Aqua Set while I was on a roll. These have little scraps of lace as embellishment, with some narrow ribbon couched onto the cut lace edges.



I cut one complete pair from the Frosted Lycra and one from the Satin Lycra, and then 'mixed and matched' to combine both fabrics in each pair. The front and crotch-piece are one fabric and the back and upper-left front are the other. The lace was attached, and then the fabric was cut out behind it. I used plain picot elastic for these, as I did the previous pair.

More lace details below.

Skew Sock & Broken Glass

The day started out strangely. I've become a real coffee person, especially mocha with frothed milk, etc., and I happen to have a coffee maker with a frothing wand. I never used it until recently, but it's great. I usually use a smallish straight-sided glass for the milk, which works well. This morning, I made my coffee, frothed the milk, and put the glass in the sink after I poured the milk out of it. Then I unthinkingly ran water in the glass. The bottom of the glass immediately popped off.



I had forgotten what my Grandmother told us years ago. She told us that when handwashing crystal, especially very thin, delicate glassware, never put the glass into the hot water bottom first. Always put the side in first, so that the glass has room to expand and not crack. I had just proven that it also is true for non-delicate glass. It probably just takes more applications of the hot/cold cycle to break it. So, be careful, and don't do what I did.

A couple weeks ago I talked about an unusual sock pattern I've been knitting, and Claire S.asked if it was Skew from Knitty, and yes it was. I have a photo of the first sock, and I'm actually pretty close to done with the second one.



I used a not-wonderful yarn since I didn't know how it was going to go, and I needed a striping sock yarn which I didn't have. It's Bernat's Satin Sport, which is acrylic. I'm not sure how it's going to hold up, but it's nice to knit and kind of pretty, and okay for a test. I've already bought a nice sock yarn to try another pair. That's the plan anyway.



Finally, I had a really nice lunch at the National Gallery that was kind of a crackery-type base with feta, grilled asparagus, artichoke heart, etc., on caesar salad. I thought I could do something similar, and settled on lahvosh as a good choice for the base. I found a recipe and made some. It turned out really good, but it seems like a lot of work for something that doesn't last long. I've been experimenting around, and I've found that a flour tortilla toasted in the toaster oven works just as well, maybe better, as it's not quite so brittle. Anyway, here's the result of my lahvosh baking.



And thank you all for the very kind hair comments!

Aqua Lingerie

Photo Link

I've lost a little weight in the last few months, and I thought a new bra would be a good idea. I used the Freya pattern I copied, and made the band about an inch shorter. Next time I will also take a little out of the lower cup, although this is perfectly wearable, and if I were not now so picky from having beautifully-fitting bras, I would think it was just fine.

I used an aqua lycra from Fabric Depot that has kind of a frosted look, and is a very nice weight. I dyed the closure and the strap elastic, which is a double-sided plush with Natori woven into it.

Photo Link
I used this on the lower band edge as well. I used a white picot edge elastic for the upper band edge, and clear elastic inside the lace upper cups. The lace was already dyed to match.

The panties have the same lace at the sides, and I used my favorite boy-leg method with simply a cut edge at the bottom, and bar-tacks at the lower edge of the lace-joining seams. The front of the panty is made from a Victoria's Secret satin lycra fabric I got from a co-op. I got several colors of this, and it's pretty, and very shiny, but it had a lot of fold lines which do not seem to want to come out easily. I'm hoping they'll finally relax and fall out on their own, as they're from the shipping, not a bolt fold. It also snags very easily, so I'll have to be careful with it.


Photo Link

I thought a half-slip would be fun as well, as my favorite one (from an old Nancy's Notions kit) is getting pretty tired looking. I measured it for the dimensions of this one, and also added a strip of the frosty lycra for a little oomph, as well as to tie it into the bra a little more. The lace hem is so easy to do when you use scotch magic tape to hold it while you sew. This is when a knee-lift for your presser foot really comes in handy, as you'll be repositioning your fabric each time your lace takes another turn.

Photo Link

After you have the lace attached, remove the tape slowly, first on one side of the stitching line, and then the other. I then stitch a second time maybe 1/4" away from the first line, for security. You can see the finished inside here, including the frosted lycra strip. I used a serpentine stitch to flatten the seam allowances. You can use any decorative stitch for this, and lingerie is one of the places you can use all the decorative stitches on your machine that usually look a little juvenile on adult clothing, so go wild! If you click on the photo link below, you'll be able to see a much larger photo, and the stitching will show much better.

Photo Link

I sewed the side seam of the slip after attaching the lace to the hem, and I left the lace side seam area unstitched, for a slit, and just turned the edge of the lace twice to finish.
Photo Link

I used the same white picot elastic for the waist of the panties and the slip.

I have a couple more panties cut out, and another bra as well, in a different color. I need to be thinking of lighter colored sets for spring and summer, but this was fun to make.

I've Been Busy

Since I last posted, I've been on another trip to visit a dear friend and her family. This time I went to Maryland, and had a marvelous time. We hit some great yarn shops, a bead shop, G Street Fabrics (my fabric is sitting at my post office at this very moment, since I was performing at Morning Musical Review when they tried to deliver it today) and of course various parts of the Smithsonian group of museums as well as other places of interest, such as the National Cathedral. On a completely frivolous note, she also took me to see Ricardo, her hairdresser, and I got my hair cut. (Drumroll!) It's not a complete departure from my former look, but it's a little more modern looking (I hope) and definitely 'cleaned up'. Here's me last Sunday.



I spent one day in DC by myself, traipsing through the National Gallery, Archives, Sculpture Garden, Portrait Gallery and the Renwick Gallery. I still feel like I'm filled to the brim with the sights I saw and the ideas I got.

Before she turned me loose on my own, Linda kindly went with me to DC, and we toured Arlington Cemetery, including Arlington House, which is beginning a major renovation soon, the National Building Museum, and the Textile Museum.

This last stop will be of special interest to most of you, and I would urge anyone who's handy, to go there now, as their current show is Contemporary Japanese Fashion: The Mary Baskett Collection.



It runs for about another month, and yes, it was wonderful. All of the items are from the wardrobe (as in, she still wears them regularly) of a woman from Ohio who lived in Japan near the beginning of the Japanese designer phenomenon. She spotted these intriguing designs and began buying and wearing them. She was there for quite a few years, so her collection spans a considerable time. You can get quite close to most of the pieces, and they're displayed very well for the most part, with the accessories meant to be worn with them, and on 3-D 'forms' inside so that the shapes are clearly shown. We could have done with a little more information about some of the pieces, but really, it's a great show, and quite interesting to see the pieces close up.

There's another interesting show there as well. It's Fabrics of Feathers and Steel:
The Innovation of Nuno and is a collection of very unusual pieces of fabric. I know you've seen some of these before, but the innovation of these is awesome. Of course you can't touch the fabrics on display, but they do have small 'touchable' samples by the description of each group, so you can get a sense of the tactile quality of the fabrics.

In case you wonder what I was singing this morning, it was 3 songs for a performance club. It's been about 2 years since I was able to go and perform, or even attend, so this was very nice. "V'adoro, pupille" from Giulio Cesare by Handel, and 2 of the Six Songs of Emily Dickinson by John Duke. 5. "Nobody Knows This Little Rose" and 6. "Bee! I'm Expecting You". My wonderful accompanist and friend, Diana, made it all possible, as always.

Some Activity

There has been some sewing and needlework activity occurring, which is good. It's nothing wonderful, but I hope that will change too.

I did make up one of the knits I got in Chicago, the blue/green animal print. I used Jalie #2682 Here's my result after a test version, and a little more alteration. I did an FBA, and lowered the seam a bit. I like it raised some, but even the girl in the pattern photo has the seam a little high for comfort, IMO.


Photo Link

I also knitted a Prayer Shawl for my church to give to someone. We've noticed that some people are wearing them as scarves, so I thought I'd just make one that was very scarf-like. It was from some pale pink donated mohair, and a blue novelty yarn. I made two of the little bows, and attached them on opposite sides of the same spot so there's no front or back.


Photo Link

I also finished a couple pairs of socks, and am working on another one that's a really different pattern from Knitty. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, and I don't know if my yarn is too great, but at least it will be a good test. I'm going to visit a dear friend in Maryland tomorrow for a while, and I need to get some projects together to take along, although she's promised me that the yarn shopping is very good, so I'm taking a couple of patterns in anticipation.

My Test

We've all said one word when we meant another, and since this is sewing-related, and I think it's really funny, I thought I'd share.

I had to have an ultrasound test after a recent check-up, and when the office called to schedule it, I dutifully wrote it in my calendar, promised I'd be there, and hung up. Then I looked at what I'd written. Here's what I saw.

10:30 Ultrasuede

I guess we all know where my head's at. I have to say I think an ultrasuede appointment would have been much more fun!

Home Again, Home Again

Photo Link

Yes, I had a wonderful time in Chicago, and I thank you all for your good wishes, and many suggestions. We saw 2 concerts in the Northwestern Winter Chamber Music series, The Merry Widow at the Lyric Opera, and Ramsey Lewis in a MLK Day Performance. All of the music was just what you'd wish when you go to a concert, and I have many lovely memories.

The fabric shopping was TDF of course! I knew you'd be most interested in what came home with me, so I put it first.

Clockwise from Left.
Pink wool crepe & washed Rose Duppioni was a gift from Patti. (!)
Autumnal knit with bias stripes of a lacy knit from Vogue Fabrics.
Olive Jersey from Fishman's.
Olive/Black Crossdye Superfine Mohair/Wool from Fishman's.
Terracotta/Blue 'holey' knit from Vogue Fabrics.
Blue-green Animal print knit from Vogue Fabrics.

The knit with mesh lacey diagonal stripes in autumnal colors is something I hadn't seen before, and while they were cutting it for me, another clerk came to see what was left, as a customer had noticed it and wanted 15 yards, so I guess it was appealing to at least two of us. The terracotta/blue marbled print has narrow oval-ish 'holes' filled with a sheer mesh. The effect makes me think of columns. It looks holey, but it isn't really.

I am very excited by all of these pieces, and I am planning tops out of all the knits, with scraps heading for the lingerie-ready pile. The wool/mohair is slated to be pants. There were so many great fabrics at both Vogue and Fishman's that it was difficult to make choices. Before I got there, I had decided to attempt to limit myself to things that I was likely to make up very quickly and wear right away. I don't think I'm ready for a major project yet, but my wardrobe is lacking in certain things. These fabrics/garments should fit in very well.

We had such a great time just visiting as well as shopping and going to cultural events, and meeting Patti's friends was a great pleasure. We attended a weaving retrospective which had quite a few interesting and inspiring items. I have photos, and will put them into another post, or perhaps a couple.



Finally, the Peep was glad to have me at home again. My brother very kindly came over to make sure he had cat food, etc. while I was gone, and Peep was glad to see him, but apparently seemed puzzled over the sudden change of routine. Cats like everything to stay the same, and he'd never been home alone for more than a day before.