I'm Back and Netherlands Wardrobe in Action

I assume you probably gathered I am back from the Netherlands from the fact that Cidell has been posting like a mad woman. I don't have that kind of stamina. I spent last week going to bed very early to get over jet lag rather than editing photos and writing posts!

I have finally finished posting all my photos--you can see them here.

All the mad sewing paid off, even the very last "just one more" project, which was the gray wool jersey shrug. I ended up wearing that a lot! More details to come about the trip and the wardrobe!

A Rainbow of Packing and Stashoholism Confessional: Thrift Store Edition

I can't believe Cidell and I leave on our bike trip tomorrow!!!! I have been sewing like crazy (as per usual for trips), each time saying, "This is the last one, I promise." I was not supposed to set foot in the sewing room last night, but I found myself sneaking in a wool jersey shrug at the last minute. When I confessed my inability to stop sewing, I was accused of fitting the profile of this Onion article. Lol.

The list of items I have sewn for this trip:
-6 tops
-4 skirts
-2 sweaters
-2 shrugs
-2 scarves
-4 ersatz "packing cubes" (mesh bags with zippers)
-rain pants
-rain pullover
-rain spats
-rain mitts
(the rain helmet cover is for home use; helmets aren't worn in the Netherlands as the bike paths are off the roadway)

OK, that is a little crazy, I admit. I made a list three weeks ago with 7 things on it; I finished the list and made an additional sweater, shrug, and the packing cubes. It's been a busy three weeks!

But worth it! I started packing last night and was just tickled by my rainbow of clothing, building on the items I sewed for the mini wardrobe contest. Each top goes with at least two skirts and vice-versa. I am bringing 6 skirts and 6 tops for 10 days of clothing needs, so one of each will only get one wear. I tried to pare down a skirt and only bring 5, but honestly I felt like I would have been leaving one of my children behind. Not sure I should admit that.

There is no wifi on the boat so I am not bringing my computer and likely won't post again until I get back. Cidell is my best photographer so I hope to have lots of great pictures of all these projects to show you. Cross your fingers for blue skies!

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Cidell and I have been doing training rides for the trip, and on our Gwynns Falls ride we stopped at DeBois Textiles. What a fantastic thrift/vintage store! The front is a well-curated collection of vintage clothing and shoes, extremely well-priced for the vintage market. The front also has a surprisingly large collection of textiles (hard to tell if they are vintage or not). The textiles are mostly home dec, but I did find one fabulous piece that can be used for garment sewing. I didn't make the photo very exciting, but it's a jacquard in off-white and my favorite shade of green.

How perfect is Burda 05-2011-108 for this fabric? I didn't even realize until I looked at it again that it calls for jacquard, and recommends using both sides of the fabric--which I was planning to do. The pattern is perfect for me as it is both professional (with some more shoulder coverage) and bikeable. The holy grail!

Stashoholism Confessional and Endless Combinations

So, remember that fabric fast for the rest of the year I announced a few weeks ago? I specifically excepted blue velveteen and lining for a planned coat, so I took advantage of that loophole post-haste. Of course, then it immediately plunged below freezing, where it has hovered for the past several weeks (ugh!!!!!), and nothing less than my Inauguration coat will do, so the intermediate (high 30s to mid-40s/about 2-8 degrees C) coat project has been back burnered.

I ordered the velveteen from Fabric.com, thinking velveteen would be a better choice than full velvet because, as I learned in my disastrous foray into a beautiful velvet, I can't have nice things. I carefully read the laundering instructions, which said it could go in the washing machine. So I pre-washed and it came out horrible and crinkled! I was so mad! But then I let it air dry and voila, the nap was restored. Velveteen is definitely a better choice for me.

I got the poly print as a lining, but decided that I don't like it for my blue coat. It will be used a lining eventually for something, so I'm not worried.

The purple knit was not permitted. The product code indicated that it was a Vera Wang poly knit. I bought 10 yards of the nude-colored VW poly knit to use as knit linings and it is wonderful. Although it was priced significantly above the $1.95/yd I paid for the nude, I threw it in. I am planning a Kate Middleton/Issa-inspired dress out of it and the serger is threaded in purple right now so I think I am still within my technicality as I did not allow purchasing for stash purposes. If it gets sewn before getting shelved (yeah, it's still hanging up from the pre-wash a couple weeks ago) it never becomes stash, right?

And why is the serger threaded in purple? Well, it's my mom's favorite color and the holidays are coming up... Stay tuned.

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As I mentioned in my frenzy of sewing and posting the last couple weeks, I was working on an entry for the PR Endless Combinations contest. Each item had to match with one of the other items in the set, and there could be no isolated pairs. I am very proud of myself for sticking with a sewing plan for 4 garments in a row (the pink knit print top and dress were bonuses I didn't have in the plan). Seriously, this is sewing willpower that is seldom seen on my end. It was a monthlong contest but I lost two weekends with Thanksgiving travel and cookie baking, so I was glad to have six pieces. I have since finished another top to go with the skirt, but it might not get blogged until next year.

Voting is now open in the contest gallery, which I recommend you check out. There were some truly prolific participants!

Spring Mini Wardrobe, Blog Housekeeping, Hairdos, & Philly!

Just for my own amusement I had to make up a storyboard for my Spring mini wardrobe! (Although Anonymous kindly asked to see the Simplicity 2938 tank with the aqua Alexis skirt--voila!) The name "Silk Spins Into Spring" arose when I realized that three of the four garments are silk; the silk garments all come from stash, too--up to 4 years old! I had everything done but the lining for the aqua skirt before the PR contest deadline, but alas the lining did not arrive until a few days later. I would just like it to be known that I am actually capable of following through on a plan *and* making separates *and* making coordinated looks. This actually worked out really well for me. It was very motivating and I have since been on an "endless combinations" kick of making work tops and skirts, each one matching the one before, with only a few (ahem) deviations. The photo shoot for all the combinations is here.

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A few of you have noticed that I got my Spring haircut! I first got this cut two years ago, after Single White Female-ing a co-worker into telling me who her hairdresser is (Claire Burnham, who is fantastic and worth every penny) and asking for the exact same cut as my co-worker. Luckily, she wears her hair straight, so we don't look matchy matchy together. I experimented with pin curls and eventually realized that hanging my head upside down for five minutes with mousse, a diffuser, and 80s style "sprunching" (bunching and scrunching and mooshing my hair) I could sort of approximate curls. I think the best it has ever looked was for my Simplicity 3503 photo shoot at left. Mostly it is kind of a Monet, to quote Clueless--it looks curly from a distance but don't look too closely!

I love it, even if it involves actual work. I let it grow longer in winter due to wearing hats for warmth; the "curls" will not stand up to a strong wind, much less a hat. When my hair is longer my "style" is to comb it while wet and that's it. I like the little flip it does, but that is totally coincidental and au naturel.

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I finally got around to doing some blog housekeeping. It should not affect subscriptions or reading in any way and the blog address has not changed. The first blog I started was a travel blog, and I registered my primary email address (gmail) for my username Gretchen the Household Deity (she was a gift that could not have been less to my taste but I could not get rid of, so I had to find some way to make her at all relevant to my life). When I started my sewing blog I had to use my non-primary email address (hotmail) as my user name. It turns out I do a lot more sewing blogging than travel blogging! Well, Google is all-seeing, and when I log into blogger it automatically logs me in with my gmail address so I always had to then log out, log back in with my hotmail address, this would kick me out of gmail, and then I'd have to log back in to gmail, and I had to remember to do this every time I restarted my browser and obviously I didn't always remember. It took about 40 minutes and logging in to each account approximately a dozen times but I have now switched which username is registered to which email address.

Blah blah blah, this is not interesting to anyone but me. The only relevant thing for you is that now all my old posts are listed under "Gretchen the Household Deity" (except a few I had accidentally originally posted under that name) and going forward all posts will be under The Slapdash Sewist. Don't be alarmed--I have not been hacked and both usernames are actually me.

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Who else is excited for PR Weekend Philly????? I am guessing everyone else is just as excited as me, but just like me too busy frantically trying to finish a new outfit to answer! I've done plenty of sewing lately, but all my projects are work clothes that won't travel well so I'm trying to finish up a new outfit of travel friendly knits. Now I just have to figure out how much fabric I can buy without endangering the structural integrity of my house... These fabrics are my last haul from Jomar (only one of them still in stash! not bad!!!), and that's not even taking into account the warehouse we're visiting in New Jersey.

Back from Miami

I had a great time in Miami! I managed to make four new wardrobe pieces (plus my birthday dress from last year) so I felt all styling, though I kind of wished I'd made a short dress. I didn't want to look like the Young Things on their Spring Break (it appears to be a "thing" to wear your booty shorts unbuttoned and the fly peeled back to expose your bathing suit and, in one instance, your underwear), but they reminded me that I used to looooove wearing short skirts when I was younger. Somewhere around age 30 my skirts settled at the knee and have stubbornly refused to budge ever since. Even when I think I'm making something short, it only barely skims above the knee. I need to put a genuinely (but not obscenely) short dress on my Spring/Summer sewing list.

I was there with my sister. We have wanted to travel together since we were teenagers, but she started having my nephews in her early 20s and by the time either of us could afford to travel she couldn't leave the kids. The youngest is now 4 so we had a window and we took it! It wasn't the trip to Italy we planned so long ago, but we both were desperate for warm weather, sunshine, and lots of relaxing.

I used Priceline to get our hotel; we ended up at the Renaissance Eden Roc Resort and Spa. It's right on the beach and has four gorgeous pools. Our room had an ocean view but no balcony, but for what we paid I can't complain! The bar area was gorgeous and the gym had up-to-the-minute equipment.

I loved the boardwalk, though I fear they are replacing it with a ground-level cement path, which is neither as comfortable nor as romantic as a traditional boardwalk. It goes all the way down to the bottom of the spit of land on which Miami Beach is situated and most days I took a long walk down, got ice cream, and walked back up.

The weather was good, which was so nice after predictions of rain for most of the days! It was a little cloudy, but there was always sun (even on my last day, which was mostly cloudy and a little rainy). It was warm in the sun, but cool in the shade. I love the beach but burn like crazy and I usually sit under an umbrella the whole time. It was too cold under an umbrella so I got a little burned, despite my liberal and frequent application of 50 SPF sunscreen with titanium dioxide. The worst place? The back of my hands! When I reach into my purse it scrapes against them and hurts!

I slept late, read books, had nice workouts, ate a lot of dessert, and lounged in the sun to my heart's content. I wasn't quite ready to come home, but I suppose better to leave with a little longing than bored.

You can see all the photos with a concentration on my wardrobe here on my sewing flickr, and a slightly different set with more concentration on the scenery on my travel flickr here; I haven't gotten my sister's pictures yet so there will be more eventually.

Aquatica Wardrobe Plan

The Carol Collection is too much fun to play with. I'm having a blast putting things together and dreaming. Here's part of my dreaming:



Same caveat as with the other wardrobe plan--there's no guarantee this will actually get *made*...at least not on a timely basis. I am actually still plugging away on the larger red and navy wardrobe of which my Paris capsule was just a part; I finished a blouse and skirt last weekend. I don't know that any more of it will get made this year, though, as it's a Spring/Summer wardrobe and for once I'm actually excited about Fall/Winter sewing. Despite my inclination to a leisurely pace involving more dreaming than sewing, I have a conference in October and this capsule would be nice to pack. I'm not following any particular rules here re: number of tops/bottoms/accessories/reversibles/matches/mismatches/etc. It's short on tops--only one--but I have RTW and previously made pieces in my closet that will serve for tops, such as a nice gray V neck sweater rib.

It's built around the plaid in teal and deep green. I just loved the 102 jacket from September's BWOF. I'm not sure I have enough fabric to make it, and if not the whole plan kind of falls apart. I'm hoping I will, if I cut what is supposed to be a self-facing out of the plain teal wool and perhaps crop it a teeny bit more. With my limited fabric, there will be no effort made to match the plaid on the sleeves to anything. This is the downside of BWOF--if it was a Big 4 it would take me twenty minutes to figure out if I have enough fabric. With BWOF, I have to trace out the pattern before I can even start to consider the possibilities, and tracing is enough not-fun that I'm not in a hurry to do it and find out that I actually can't make the jacket and have traced it for nothing.

The most traditional suit element will be the skirt in teal wool, also from this month's BWOF, 09-2008-119. At first I thought I would make the pleat inset out of the plaid, but then I thought that a button-on decorative band in the plaid (using the buttons from Karen!) would be more versatile, allowing the skirt to stand on its own.

You may recall that in my original professional wardrobe plan I had allocated some gray pinstriped wool to the Simplicity 3673 jumper, but sort of lamented that I wanted to use it for a high-waisted pencil skirt with detachable belt. Carol to the rescue! I love the green/white/black wool for the jumper. It kind of reminds me of Junior Mints. And now my gray wool is freed up for the skirt, sometime in the far distant future.

The green (with a slight tinge of yellow--it's the perfect color for me) is a heavy knit. Little Hunting Creek suggested that I turn a knit I recently purchased into BWOF 05-2008-125. The pattern was designed for wovens and I hadn't thought of using a knit. The fabric I had wasn't suitable, but I'm wondering if this is. The thing is, it will need sleeves--I just can't get behind sleeveless for Fall, because I'm always chilly. And I really want also to eke out the skirt from Simplicity 4074 (I've made it once and it's really nice). So again, not sure if there's enough fabric, will have to trace out the pattern to find out, bleah. It may end up being a more simple dress that takes up less fabric; I don't have anything specific in mind.

The dark turquoise is a linen or linen blend. I'm hoping it's not too heavy for BWOF 05-2008-108. I love the color. It doesn't correspond to a particular color in the plaid, but they are in the same color families and look good together.

The shirting will be...a shirt. While I have warmed up to short sleeved blouses, I am not feeling the love for long-sleeved ones. Well, in this case it will have to be 3/4 sleeve--I am not fashiony cool enough to wear a jacket with short sleeves and a shirt with long sleeves sticking out. Though now that I think about it I could be interested in 3/4 sleeves with a turn-up cuff, and turn the cuff up over the bottom of the jacket sleeve. I wouldn't hate that. Suggestions welcome.

Dream on....

Wardrobe Plan

I don't plan to enter the August wardrobe contest as I have been sewing so slowly lately! But I do have some ideas for Fall clothes. I feel like I should try to incorporate more tailored, professional looking items into my wardrobe. Now that I am obsessed with blouses I'm getting closer.

The thing is, a generic suit makes me want to vomit. I HATE wearing a suit. I gave a speech yesterday and practically begged to be able to wear a dress (this one) with a blazer. Permission granted. Honestly, for speaking gigs my insistence on looking like myself is to my benefit for the most part. Especially because I am petite and look young, people way underestimate me, and the clothes factor into that too--though I must say the dress looked very respectable with the blazer, not unprofessional at all...just not a suit. Then when I give a dynamite presentation that blows all the other speakers out of the water the impact is all the greater. She said modestly. Heh. I will grudgingly wear a suit for depositions (a funkier suit) and court (a very traditional suit), but for anything short of formal legal proceedings I think they're unnecessary.

So I tried to come up with a collection of tasteful, professional clothes that don't make me want to vomit. I think I succeeded. They're even in neutral colors and I don't hate them!



Now, I am in no way committing to these projects. In fact, I'm already second-guessing my use of the gray pinstripe wool. Now I'm obsessed with the idea of a moderately high-waisted pencil skirt with a corset-type, possibly double-breasted belt that looks like part of the skirt but is separate so that if the style gets tired I don't have to ditch the otherwise classic skirt. I thought BWOF had given a pattern for such a belt, but I must have been thinking of the pants on the right, 08-2007-103; the "belt" is an attached waistband. It wouldn't be too hard to design the belt, but it would be easier just to use a pattern! But on the other hand, I definitely want to make that Simplicity jumper out of a wool. We'll see.

Tomorrow is my day off (yay!) and I hope to finish the Mondrian Dress. It will be so insane. In a good way. It needs some buttons and I wasn't finding any that inspired me. I found some cute yellow shanks, but they are going on red and I thought it looked too ketchup and mustard. So last night during Project Runway I painted some white satin fabric-covered buttons traded with Cidell from one of her 4 pound Fabric Mart button lots.



Could you just die?

Stashoholism Confessional: Paris Edition

Well, I had so much fun blogging my Paris fashion! Thanks for playing along with me. Eventually, there will be travel blogging at Travel at Home and Abroad. The posts are actually all written, but I need to edit and post pictures *and* I'd really like to put up Vietnam first, since I went there first. But those posts are not written. So who knows. I'll post an alert when it goes up.

Here's a recap:



And now, the good stuff! Here are my fabric purchases. Only two, but I think all of us with stash problems have learned the hard way that more isn't always better. Sometimes it's just more. (I lifted that from the "Sabrina" remake, which I watched before I left to feed my excitement about my trip.)



The one on the left is from Dreyfus, purchased while I was with Karen. It's a beautiful polished cotton and I love the print. I didn't think to put anything on there for scale, but the polka dots are about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They're big. And cute. I got three meters, with the idea of making the BWOF 04-2008-127 Marilyn-esque exclusive design. It may be my birthday dress this year. Total cost was around 13E.

The one on the right is an embroidered cotton batiste from Reine. More blue! I always think I should branch out from blue, but you know, it is just my favorite color and that's all there is to it. Around 21E for two meters. It will be a shirtdress, I think. I'm considering tackling Simplicity 4122 again, sleeveless again with a wide ruffle and then some layered ruffles at the sleeve (based on an idea from an expensive designer garment I saw in Printemps) and using an elasticated shirring in the back to give it some shape, or else making the bodice and skirt separate. I don't know. I need to think on it some more. If you have any shirtdress ideas with a slimmer cut skirt (at only 2 meters and around 50 wide, I can't eke out a full-skirt) let me know. A pear shape can be tough to dress sometimes.

Paris, Day 7: Friday at L'Opera

Today was our last day in Paris, and we decided it was fitting to devote it to shopping. I did *have* to take us to some picturesque background for the fashion photo of the day. So here I am at the Opera house. The weather was utterly variable today--a little bit rainy, a little bit hot. I could have worn footless tights and sandals, but eh, I was ok in full tights and mary janes. The skirt is the same fabric as the DVFish dress, and the line suits the blouse much more than the fuller navy skirt. At home I have never in my life tied a layer around my neck, but I felt very insouciant and Parisian tying my denim jacket over my shoulders. Everyone does it here. Well, with sweaters, not denim jackets. But I was still an approximation of Parisian.



S's husband had requested (!) that she buy a dress in Paris so she, you know, reluctantly agreed. As for me, on my very first visit to Paris when I was 17 years old I promised myself a Parisian dress. I was on a package tour with my less-than-mobile grandmother and I didn't get a chance to fulfill my wish.

Then when I came back three years ago just for 24 hours at the tail end of my Scandinavia trip because I was feeling the itch for Paris my Parisienne friend Rebecca took me to some boutiques where I discreetly suffered a heart attack at the 100E+ prices and luckily nothing fit--trop grande a la poitrine. You'd think with the alleged French appreciation for petite boobies I wouldn't have the same trouble I have at home of everything being too big in the bust, but it was the same.

I had my two cuts of fabric that will become dresses, but the promise I made to myself umpty-hum-over-a-decade years ago was still outstanding, so I was casually looking as well. Our first stop was Printemps, which S had been lulled by the guidebooks into believing was the "affordable" Paris department store. *cough* It was amazing to see high end designers up close (I went straight for the Sonia Rykiel, as I love *everything* she sends down the runway) but she quickly concluded that Printemps was a bit out of our price range. I was pleased while wearing my yoked blouse with tucks that there was a whole lot of yoking and tucking going on in the latest styles by the latest designers.

Instead, we went to the little mall next door and the cheap shops across the street where she found a cute linen dress and a top. I wasn't sure about buying my dress after all. Everything is in the current babydoll/trapeze line, which is very trendy but (1) the perpetual sewist's refrain of "I could make that" was echoing in my head, and (2) my vaunted Paris dress will have a life cycle of two years max if I buy now.

We later went to Rue de Levis (there is a Levi's store on there, but we don't know if it was named after blue jeans, somebody else named Levi, or the ancient Jewish tribe) where I tried on a mod/flapper rayon stretch dress with a drop waist that just made me a little too uncomfortable about the hip fluff to pay $50 for it.

I did, though, finally buy my Paris dress. It is in a trapeze line, and I will have to take it in a little under the arms because even the S was too big in the bust, but it's a lovely navy linen (which just happens to go with the wardrobe), made in Europe (Italy), and every time I wear it I will relish that I am finally, finally in my Paris Dress! (And at 29E, I don't feel so bad that it's a trendy line. Though I'm trying to avoid converting that into dollars in my head.)

This picture is horrid--the girls have both left and this is me at the end of a 7th long day of sightseeing using the self timer with the camera on a shelf inside the cabinet that holds wine glasses and without any kind of video editing program. But after all that talk, I felt like I couldn't leave you totally hanging.



I leave very early in the morning for the airport, and then it will be "Au revoir, mon Paris"...for, um, a week. I'll be back for work less than 7 days after I get home. Weird, right? BUT! My mom is leaving the country for the first time in well over a decade and it just so happens that she's coming to Paris and it just so happens that I can arrange my work trip so we overlap for a day. Isn't that tres cool? I won't have a computer/internet for that trip, but I'll try to do some fashion pics to post when I get home.

Paris, Day 6: Thursday at Centre Pompidou

Our run of good weather came to end yesterday evening at about 7 when the skies opened up. We had checked the weather and were prepared with our umbrellas, while the locals cowered at the foot of the metro stairs, unable to emerge out onto the street. Today continued cloudy and cool (though very little rain, thank goodness). This afternoon it cleared up and warmed up, so I'm hoping tomorrow (last day, sob) will be nice.

I wore jeans and boots to deal with the cold and wet, and topped my Vogue reissue from 1935 with the perfect little sweater I found at Goodwill(!) for $5. I'd gone to Goodwill hoping to find a wool sweater in an appropriate color that I could felt and shrink and then make into a shrug. I did that too, but this little one went with my wardrobe so well I decided to bring it as a layering piece.

We went to the Centre Pompidou to see the building and eat our crepes in the (surprisingly terrible) courtyard. We opted not to go in, but I had to visit the famous fountain. The fountain is on a much smaller scale than it appears in photos, one of the only things in Paris that has that effect, I've found.



From there we headed to Monmartre, and I had to stop into Reine (thank goodness it was open today). I got one cut of a beautiful embroidered cotton batiste. I spent a lot of time fondling the Liberty of London prints, but ultimately couldn't cough up the 21,95E/metre. I took a couple of surreptitious pictures of the mannequins.

Paris, Day 5: Wednesday at Notre Dame

Though I met Karen by Notre Dame on Monday, I hadn't had the chance to go in or climb the tower. We decided that we should climb the tower (all 400 steps) first thing today while we were still fresh. It was a good call, as the steps were no problem for us, so that we could enjoy the spectacular views and getting up close and personal with the gargoyles.



Even though I had generously provisioned myself with a pain au chocolat to go with my yogurt for breakfast (approximate calorie count: 1000) I was pretty well wrung out after the climb and needed to reboot the calories. Luckily we were only a few blocks from Berthillon, probably Paris's most famous ice cream maker. I got a double cone--caramel with salt and butter and strawberry gelato. They were divine. I couldn't stop eating long enough to have my picture taken.

When packing, I was debating a little whether to actually include the eyelet BWOF skirt. I like it, but it doesn't look great with the Simplicity yoked top and having a skirt that matches only one top (the 1935 reissue) is kind of pointless. I dug deep into my closet and produced this top, from my UFO Watch 2008 project. It was perfect for the theme and looked great with the skirt. This was the first time I'd had a chance to wear it. Note that the way I posed made it snow down south. Oops.

Paris, Day 4: Tuesday at the Musee Rodin

By yesterday evening it had gotten cloudy, cool, and windy and I think I felt a little spit of rain so I wanted something that wouldn't be too chilly in the evening. It has sleeves and is a little below my knees so I decided on my Vogue DVF-knockoff for the day. This dress is very cute but easy to wear and even in wind there's no danger of flashing because the skirt is full and overlaps quite a bit. I felt very cute in my "Target" dress (the print reminds me very much of Target) and rtw hat I got from Filene's that goes with the wardrobe perfectly.

Paris, Day 3: Monday at Montmartre

Karen and I met up for some fabric shopping today. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday and Reine and its creepy half-size mannequins were closed. We did manage to sate our fabric appetites at Dreyfus, though. Here's what I was wearing (it's number 128 from the April BWOF plus section; I used a top pattern from 8/07 with the same shape in my size and the collar/scarf from the 4/08 magazine):



And here are Karen, Isabelle, and me at a cafe, taken by a very attractive waiter. I kind of wanted to ask him to take a picture with me, but that would have been weird, right? Right?

Paris, Day 2: Sunday at Versailles

I spent the morning shuttling back and forth between the airport to pick up my luggage. The first thing I did was put on sandals to go with...the Lilly Lemon knockoff! It ain't perfect, folks. I'll talk about its flaws in more detail when I get home and take photos and write it up. But from a distance and to the untrained eye, it looks pretty darn cute.



And here's the back, complete with the little bow (I think that's my favorite part):

Paris: Day 1, Saturday at the Tour Eiffel

So the apartment we've rented comes complete with a computer and high speed internet so I thought it would be fun to post my Paris wardrobe as I go. I don't have an arrival picture because my flight was an unbelievable ordeal (12 hours later I was still in New York) and I'm pretty sure you could have smelled me through the screen by the time I arrived...sans luggage.

So the first day was not part of my Paris wardrobe, but a rather cute jersey top/dress (top on her 5'7" self, dress on my 5'1" self) co-opted from one of my travel companions. It's so cute that I may have to try to copy it when I get home, if I can ever find any plain cotton or cotton blend jersey that I like. I am so fussy about it. Here I am at the Tour Eiffel. Please note the boots. They take up so much room in the suitcase that I wore them on the plane to save space. This was a decision I would come to regret after wearing them for about 30 hours straight. Please note that it was about 80 degrees in Paris. Oy.

Bargaining for Fabric

In our third podcast, Cidell and I talk about the April edition of BWOF. Yeah, we're a little behind because I keep jetting around the world. So I know I've kept you in suspense for way too long, but I'd like to introduce the fabrics I bought in Vietnam:



You can hear the kind of hard bargain I drove for them in the podcast. One thing I didn't get a chance to explain is how the stalls work. They have short lengths (about 2 meters) of lots and lots of fabrics. If you want a short length, you just get what's there. If you want a longer length, they get on the phone and call someone who magically appears a few minutes later with it. How they manage to keep track of hundreds of varieties of fabric and where in the world they store the extras is one of life's mysteries.

The swiss dot with orange polka dots was my first purchase in the Mekong Delta town of My Tho. I had a translator with me as that was the work part. I didn't bargain though--at around $3/yd, I couldn't ask to go any lower.

The stretch silks I got at the Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I bargained for Cidell's fabric and ended up paying around $5 yard. When the asking price at the next stall, where I got the rest of the silk, was only around $3.50 yard, I was no longer quite so proud about my bargaining skills. I just paid their asking price, because I thought it would be obscene to get it any cheaper.

There is more fabric than you can shake a stick at. Here's the fancy stuff:



Here I am in hog heaven. Check out the slightly dazed, slightly manic grin.



And here's the girl who sold me the fabric at non-tourist-fleecing prices (I think):



I haven't decided what all it will be yet, but I think the blue floral might be the Duchess of Windsor dress from the March BWOF. I made it in a knit (and still haven't reviewed it) for Vietnam, and loved it:



fabric photos from the trip and all the photos from the trip.

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Cidell insists that I show you my Paris wardrobe. I leave in the morning so I don't have time to say anything about it. But a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

The Wardrobe

It is done. Well, at least the wardrobe contest entry is done. There will still be a lot of tweaking before the suitcase is sat upon and zipped. I need more skirts that will travel. Really only the blue knit skirt will travel well. I wore the green bias skirt to work today (with the Burda blouse) and it wrinkled even faster than my face is trying to do (I am, shall we say, a little aware of my age spots and wrinkles).

I did everything but the four dresses and the swimsuit in an 11 day period, of which 8 were sewing days. I did the scarf and started the blue knit skirt during the week; everything else was done on a weekend day (counting the night before the official weekend starts and remembering that the first one was three day weekend). I don't usually sew during the week because I get too obsessed and can't fall asleep. I generally have to finish a project in one day, or at most cut it out one day sew it another day because of this problem. It's kind of annoying and it sometimes keeps me from starting complicated projects. On the other hand, I have very few UFOs. Not to say none, of course. But few.

Looking over it, I can see why people are fascinated/horrified at what a prolific sewist I can be. I am kind of fascinated/horrified myself. But I promise I am not a sewing hermit! The first weekend I had movie/dinner plans with a friend Friday, movie/wine & cheese plans with a friend Saturday, and farmer's market plans with a friend Sunday. The second weekend I admit I didn't do anything social Friday because I stayed up all night reading Harry Potter, thereby turning down an invite to a wine tasting party. Saturday I went out dancing. Sunday I had farmer's market plans with a different friend. But I will concede that other than these events I was sewing or asleep (with occasional stuffing of nutrients into my face).

I am clawing my way to yards purchased/yards sewn parity, one hard-won yard at a time. I am now up to 88 yards sewn, 93 yards purchased. So very, very close...

Way too many details about the wardrobe in the review. I am as prolific a writer as I am a sewist.

Final Tally

I accomplished everything on the list over the weekend.

-three skirts
-four tops
-one convertible skirt/top
-one (reversible) hat to go with everything
-1:15 marathon photo session. I think I still have flash spots in my eyes.

I want to add one more skirt (easy peasy knit tube), a belt with hidden zipper compartment for credit card security, and a scarf that can be used as a shoulder cover for entering churches. I may not finish all these before the contest deadline.

Then there's the little matter of doing all the reviews.

I am tired.

And now I am ready for Harry Potter. My copy, according to USPS tracking, was delivered to work at 7:00 this morning. I have not seen it yet. The mailroom is about to get acquainted with me if it doesn't arrive soon.

Wardrobe in a Weekend?

The productivity is insane. So far, three skirts, one blouse, one knit top, and one convertible item that can be a skirt or a top. Two more tops cut out and ready to sew. My shoulder hurts and I think my sewing machine is getting tired. Taking pictures of all of this is going to be an ordeal. I live alone and have no boyfriend so it's just me and the timer function of my camera. Over and over and over.


This post brought to you by the fact that I'm a night person and have stayed up this late just because I can.

Tragedy! (of minuscule proportions)

So, I decided to go ahead and see what I could get done this weekend for the wardrobe contest. I spent Thursday night inaugurating my three day weekend of sewing by cutting, perhaps my least favorite task. I managed to get two skirts and most of a blouse cut out while watching NBC reruns of The Office (I keep hoping for Phyllis's wedding because I missed that one during the season--no, I don't have TiVo, or even cable, much to Cidell's chagrin) and 30 Rock. Luckily Cidell called and spared me Scrubs. I used to love that show but now it gets on my nerves. Cidell went to bed and then I spent Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham's show trying to fit a skirt pattern onto a piece of fabric that was really not large enough. I refuse to call it a reality show, because even if it accurately reflected Posh's life (doubtful), her life is not reality. I'm curious if the American "personal assistant" is actually a producer for the show. She certainly seemed to do more assisting to create camera-friendly situations than assisting in the sense of being helpful. I will now think of Posh every time I wear that skirt and the blouse.

Anyway, woke up this morning around 10 feeling really good. I'm not a morning person and in general waking up any day at any time is sheer agony for me. This morning I was awakened by the generator that has awakened me for the past several mornings. Apparently a neighbor across the alley is having an electric gate put in, and apparently such work can only be done between 6 and 8 in the morning. Gah. This on top of the roadwork on my street every night starting at about 10 pm. Somehow despite all this I was chipper and ready to sew!

The first skirt, a Patrones project, was going well (in the sense of coming together--I'm not hyper-enthused about the way it looks) until the very last step, putting a buttonhole in the waistband. My sewing machine did *not* want to sew through all the layers and kept tossing off the thread. I finally got the entire buttonhole in and went to open it up with the seam ripper. My old seam ripper finally died a couple of weeks ago; the metal part came loose of the plastic handle. I switched to a new one and was amazed at the difference! It was like butter! Seam ripping became almost (I did say almost) a pleasure. Well, RIP New Seam Ripper.


The metal just broke inside the buttonhole. It looks all sad, like a hand that has lost a thumb. I was quite upset. First, because New Seam Ripper and I were just getting acquainted, and so far we were getting along quite well. And second, even more tragically, I had to halt my sewing to go get a new one. I went right then and there because I know myself too well. Had I not gone to the fabric store right then I would have started a new project, and then reached a point where I needed a seam ripper and would try to use scissors absolutely *knowing* that it was a dumb idea and then I would snip the fabric and ruin the project and be mad at myself.

I live in the District, which I love. I can walk downtown, to DuPont Circle, to the U Street Corridor, to Adams Morgan, to Union Station, even to Georgetown in good shoes and nice weather. However, I cannot walk to a fabric store. They are all* out in the suburbs and require driving. I hate driving.

*This is not technically true. There is a place called Exquisite Fabrics on K Street, but I have never found anything in there I'd like to buy.

I have also made a vow of NO FABRIC IN JULY AND AUGUST. I must shout this at myself, so pardon my tone of voice. The easiest way for this to happen is not to go to a fabric store. Not so easy is not to go on the internet but since I will be imposing a Harry Potter Media Blackout as of now that will be easier too.

I went out to Seven Corners in Virginia (20 minute drive there). I went to JoAnn instead of G Street because I knew I was not going to be tempted by any of the polyester crap there. I bought four spools of thread and two seam rippers (I will not be caught unawares by this type of tragedy again) and felt quite virtuous about my restraint. Not even any interfacing or quick glance in the remnants bin! Since I was already out in the boonies I went to Trader Joe's and got a few items I needed. There was traffic on the way home (for some reason 395 going *into* Washington is terrible in the afternoon rush, which starts around 1:00 on Fridays), so the total round trip cost me 1 hour and 30 minutes. *le sigh* I was meeting a friend for the 4:20 showing of Harry Potter followed by drinks and dinner so I was racing against the clock when I got back.

I still managed to finish three skirts, and have cut out two tops for tomorrow (in addition to the blouse cut out during Posh). I have decided on the fourth top and will cut it out tomorrow.

I might actually finish this wardrobe thing. That would be kind of fun. I am not going to get too excited though--counting chickens and all that. I haven't even started to attempt to tackle the hat.