The Sewist

2008-02-15T08:01:00.001-06:00

Folks, I'm back!

You can find me over here: The Lazy Milliner

2008-02-05T20:43:00.000-06:00

Returning to The Web
Very Soon!

For those of you who have missed me (and those who haven't), I'm coming back very soon in a big way in another blog. So check back here every once in a while and I'll provide a new link.

2007-08-23T09:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday...

What's a little flooding when it's the beginning of the weekend? Water can't dampen my spirits when playtime beckons! Anyhow, I just wanted to let you all know that I will be reinventing the blog, doing something a little different, still talking about my grand passions, hats and stitching apparel. Sew (pun fully intended) stay tuned, and I'll be back back soon. Over and Out, Mary Beth

2007-08-16T15:57:00.001-05:00

You Never Know Where
Your Hat Will Take You

In this case, my hat led me to the canine you see above. I was on my way from my morning work-out when I encountered this little pooch wandering around across the street from my apartment.

I have to tell you, I'm not one to pick up strays, dandelions with questionable provenance, or even wrapped pieces of bubble gum on the street. However, after I saw a small dog demolished by a bus a month ago (somehow it got loose and was trying to visit friends), I couldn't let the same fate befall this creature.

First, I grabbed this little gal by the nape because she was aiming to travel somewhere where large metal vehicles go. Then I called 311 on my cell phone, begging them to come and pick up this peachy dog pronto. When I realized that I might be waiting a while in this big city we call Chicago where emergency 911 calls take greater precedence, I took my unnamed mammal home. I called the city's hotline again from there.

When I realized that my town's finest would likely take this poodle to the pound, I decided to hold off and see if I could find the dog's owner on my own. I started asking strangers on the street if they knew of a missing pet. One, two, three, no one knew. Someone suggested I put a listing on Craig's List, so I did.

In the meantime, I felt like the instant mother of a newborn, like I'd just given birth to a baby and I didn't know I was pregnant (the fodder of many a dream, I have to say). It's been a while since I've had pet in my household. It's been more than a year since Freaky, my feline, graced this place. I don't have a litter box, a lead, or even a collar in my possession.

I felt a little panicky. Would this creature with big soulful brown eyes chew me out of house and home? Destroy my shoes (I put a few out of harm's way)?. Piddle where she shouldn't? I was nervous to say the least. I set out a pot of water in my kitchen.

Later in the day, I bought a bag of Purina Alpo Prime Cuts. I placed a bowl of the latter out just before I made off for Arcadia Knitting to get some assistance on my pleated skirt pattern (it arrived a few days ago, hurrah!) and then my lindy-hop class. I was skittish about leaving my found treasure alone in my condo so I barricaded her into my kitchen with an inflated air mattress so she couldn't leap into living room.

She didn't like that in the least, protesting Loudly. I left her, hoping I wasn't causing any psychological harm (actually I was more concerned about her making a mess). I put out a couple of sections of the Chicago Tribune before I locked my door.....

Oddly enough, I noticed earlier she had no interest in pattern pieces for a top on the floor in my bedroom. Freaky would have ripped those to shreds faster than you say, "No, Get Away From there!"

How do your pets (or lack thereof) get along with your belongings and hobbies?

2007-08-12T09:53:00.001-05:00

Hatty Road Trip
I cannot figure out why I favor my little H&M black straw hat. Is it all the pins that advertise my every pet cause (ranging from Lifesource to railroad safety) to my hobbies (crochet, travel) and foods (White Castle). Or is it just because it's darker than dark and it goes with everything?

I think it's the latter. My white straw hat with the baby-blue ribbon doesn't seem as versatile, although it would be much more comfy when the sun beats down mid-day. WIth that hat, I feel like I need to coordinate the blues and whites in the hat with what I'm wearing. So that fedora is much more likely to stay at home and make friends with the dust mites gossiping in every corner.

It's funny how one hat can become such a favorite. It's like a much-loved food and how you never tire of it. Right now, that's fresh pesto sauce for me. I can eat it every day, and I often do because I'm working in my home office where no one has to encounter my post-lunch breath. Much like that H&M find, my favorite skirts are in a pile on a bedroom dresser. I hardly ever go into my closet - not even to grab another garment. Everything I don most often is within arm's length or in a cedar closet nearby. I daresay the wardrobe could disappear in a poof of firecracker smoke and I might not miss it. Not the belts I've made with grosgrain ribbons and vintage 1930s buckles, nor grandmother's baubles, not even the 1940s platform shoes purchased at antique shops and vintage shows. What I'd shed tears for would be for the apparel and shoes that gets the most wear: all versions of New Look 5671, my Victoria's Secret bras, the Born Drilles with their interchangeable velcro leather flowers.

At times I feel more lame than a woman with a pair of crutches that I wear the same clothes day in, day out and week after week. I haven't figured out the percentage, but I'm betting what's on my body in a given 7-day period amounts to less than 10 percent of the clothing I own, not accounting for the growing stash of fabric amid the dresses, tops, skirts and pants in the aforementioned closet.

What are your favorite clothes and hats?

(By the way, the picture above? It was taken outside a gas station in Beverly Shores, Ind. yesterday. Admire the old railroad depot, still in use, in the background.)

2007-08-09T15:33:00.001-05:00

Blue Skies
Smiling At Me...

Nothing but Grey horizons do I see (at least right now. Rain's in the forecast.) But I did order Blue Sky Alpacas' pleated skirt pattern. Finally. After admiring it in scads of yarn ads in knitting magazines for the past year. Even though I already have other patterns I could tackle right now, this particular skirt is the one I want to do, it's been in the bulging (okay, collapsing) filing cabinet I call my Brain just yearning to be Made for the Longest Time.

How eager am I to start? So ready-set-go that I've already bought the yarn (a merino wool) and swatched a nice little 4-inch square. If my gauge's wrong, I am going to be a little bit peeved. Just a wee bit annoyed because I don't mind knitting up little 4" by 4" stockinette panels. Really. It's easy compared to the labor of creating a garment that needs umpteen decreases, increases, and Lord knows what else.

So this is going to be one of my many fall skirts. In fact, I figured if this skirt looks nice enough, I'll make at least two more. I adore knitted wool skirts, especially ones that stop the Chicago Wind like a brick wall. In my part of the world, you need all sorts of tricks to keep the elements at bay. A skirt as cute as this is one way to cope with the freezer we call Illinois in December and January. I'm not likely to be in Hawaii at that time of year (although one never knows), so I like to look cuter than cucumber (which you know doesn't do well in our climate during Christmas time) traipsing about in the snowy slush.

This skirt is admittedly preppy. It does definitely seem to want an argyle vest, and I'm happy to oblige. However, since I'm a Kwik-Sew pattern freak, I'm certain this knit will be making more friends with surplice-jersey tops with bell sleeves than anything remotely reminiscent of junior high or high school.

And at night? I figure I can take my knitted creation out on the town with a beret. What you WON'T see me doing is painting anything in it like the model above. Why take a chance getting paint on a garment you've spent hours creating? Good grief. This gal should wear a smock at least.

Anyhow....what fall clothes are you sewing or knitting?

2007-08-08T15:21:00.001-05:00

A Jumble
of Hat Projects.Notice I didn't say UFO (unidentified flying object or unfinished fabric object, take your pick) or uncompleted sewing projects. Every craftster has their own definition of what's done or not, what's meant to hemmed, sewn up and likewise, ignored and ditched.

I look at this Banana Republic paper shopping bag and I see three hats, cut out about three years ago. What I find particularly intriguing is that they're all snipped from vintage fabric. One's a sailor print cotton from a resale/antique shop on the Chicago's Way Northwest side, another I think is from a thrift store that was plowed under to make way for a swanky Chicago condominium building and the other is from a defunct vintage apparel shop in Oak Park, Ill.

All this stuff is from a time when I was fascinated and I had to have vintage fabric. Knit fabric? I would have shuddered at the mere mention of those words then. I was all about rayon, 1940s, and Depression-era chic. Less you think I've ditched my retro roots, I haven't entirely. I can't. Unless I sell at least a box's worth of fiber acquired from eBay in the late 1990s when prices were good. In fact, I got five yards of this amazing Hawaiian polyester print that I'm going to use to make a halter-dress one day very soon.

While I sew more now than I ever did then, I don't hanker for all that old rayon, cottons, although I might jump and bite if I saw some really adorable 1950s border print (like the one with piano keys that got away on Vintage Martini not too long ago) or an incredibly dainty vintage eyelet ((I'm a sucker for that fabric type, particularly the all-cotton variety).

Even if I don't finish these hats, I see them as a happy opportunity to revisit my late 90s self, when I was all about swing dancing and the dancers I had crushes on then, the retro-style clothes I sewed out of cotton and denim. And the cool, one-bedroom apartment with an interior red brick wall that I rented...Those were good times!

And if I don't complete the hats? I've already pinned parts together for someone else to finish...perhaps my 90-year-old self. Ha! I actually know a rug hooker who set aside a project in the 1970s and then finished it some 17 years later. So it does happen, folks!

What projects have you set aside for future fun?

2007-08-05T21:04:00.001-05:00

Knitting Socks?
Not Now. Maybe Never.
I just can't excited about knitting socks. No matter what permutation, stitch or yarn is used. I think it's largely because socks are hidden for the most part, unless you're one of those people who wear your pretty socks with your dresses, skirts, shorts, and culottes, just like the models in knitting magazines like Knitscene or Vogue Knitting.

I don't wear socks unless I'm wearing pants and it's really cold outside or I'm going to bed. Chances are the socks I'm wearing will not only be hidden by my garment but my shoes too. You couldn't tell I'm wearing a toe-warmers made in China or right here in the U.S. Consequently, you wouldn't know if they were a pricey cashmere blend or a cheapo cotton/poly variety.

That's the main reason why you won't see me knitting socks. Cuz you won't see 'em when I'm done. I want to be able to show off my work without having to yank up my cuffs every five seconds. "You see these? Took me forever. First one was finished last year. The second one I had to make a bet with my cat to finish." What I wear tends to be strictly utilitarian, bought by the six-pak at Marshalls. And when I get a hole by the big toe? I sew it up on my sewing machine, using whatever color thread is on the spool since no one's going to see my socks unless we're talking about the five seconds in the locker room when I've doffed my sneakers and I'm about to bare my feet.

I'm cool with knitting hats, skirts, sweaters, cardigans, purses, gloves, leg warmers, maybe a pair of knee-length lace stockings. Anything that the public can see, because I want to be able to brag about my work easily. I don't need to burn any calories in the process which is what would be required with showing off anything hand-knitted on my feet.

It's highly unlikely I'll be knitting socks for others since I'm unlikely to expend that kind of energy for myself. My greatest fear would that the recipient of my hand-made footies would never wear them OR they would wear them to death and then TOSS them when they get a hole in the area that gets the most friction. I just cannot handle either kind of grief, which is why I sew and knit for myself because I appreciate it all. I even wear my "mistakes" (also known as apparel with designer touches). Last night I wore a sleeveless hand-sewn shell that had some wonky binding on it to bed. It was comfortable, perfect for the extra-humid nights we've been having lately (no, I don't use air-conditioning).

Anyhow, less you think the 100 percent merino wool sportweight yarn on the needle in the picture is intended for my ankles and below, the answer is no. It's for a Blue Sky Alpaca knitted pleated skirt. Something sensible that I can Show Off Without Effort.

Tell me why you knit socks (if you're so inclined) just so I understand.

2007-08-03T19:48:00.000-05:00

Whoa Sweater!

Here's the sweater I've yakking about for the past month. It's the same exact top on the cover of the Summer Issue of Vogue Knitting's knit.1, except my version is cuter. Much. But that isn't that to be expected about when you're talking about a baby you've birthed. I think this top was a no-brainer - directions and stitching were so straightforward. The hardest part was the last part - the ribbing at the hip. That had to be adjusted with the helpful ladies at Arcadia Knitting. Will I be bragging about this project the way my mom talks about how I was her "easiest" baby to bring into the world? (My mother tells me that it took a mere two hours for me to exit her womb, shake off the placenta and start breathing on my own. I credit my narrow shoulders and my eagerness to be independent!)

This is also the first bonafide sweater I've made aside from ponchos and skirts, which are essentially the same. My latest creation has armholes and a defined waist. It made its debut Tuesday night at my library talk with the chartreuse skirt and my Born drilles (sandals) with matching, detachable leather flowers!

It felt a little odd to have this cuff of ribbing at my neck, but overall it's comfortable. I really adore how it's sleeveless, making it perfect for my city's infamous humid summer days. The chevron effect on the bodice is slimming too. My only little complaint is that I found myself tugging up the ribbing at the neckline. I think I'm used to fabric with stretch. I wonder if this 50s-like wonder could be knitted with a cotton/poly stretchy fiber?

Would I make this magazine-cover project again? Sure, with a slightly better yarn. This is the kind of apparel you could wear to work (with a lightweight shawl so you can survive indoor air-conditioner) and out on the town. I suspect I'll be wearing this with a pair of jeans and turquoise earrings one day soon. Now I just need to find some new blue flowers for my sandals. The others are lost. eBay here I come!

What knitting projects are you most proud of?

2007-08-02T17:17:00.000-05:00

Your Hat Will Find You.
Yesterday morning as I was getting ready to go to the YMCA for my thrice-weekly water pilates/aerobics program, I couldn't find my H&M hat. I looked everywhere in my posh pad...underneath two Sunday's worth of the Chicago Tribune, atop the air mattress temporarily parked in my living room and the jumble of white work-out socks, sneakers and wedgies on my hardwood floor.

It wasn't there, and it was mostly certainly not hanging from a hook on my coat rack, which is where I've hung the hat's colleagues.

So I had to think long and hard about just where this topper might be. Could it be in my Ruth's car? She gave me a ride after we made our customary fabric purchases (I got a multi-hued boucle knit for a work-related project and another remnant, but I cannot remember what it is).
How could I return to my home without a covering on my head? It seemed most impossible. I feel barren without my hats, particularly this one which I've personalized.

So I rang up Ruth and got her voicemail. "Ruth, did I by chance to leave my hat in your car last night?" I say. I replay the events of Monday night again. I sat down in the sewing machine department to hear Ace Seamstress Mac Berg's scintillating (and it really was. I took detailed notes) discussion of how to interface and line a jacket. I distinctly remember setting my chapeau down on a counter next to a sewing machine.

But I can't recall picking it up or even bringing it into the remnant room with me. How could I forget such an important accessory? Still the store is where the Hat Must Be. So I a jot down on my to-do list: Call Vogue.

Soon enough I'm answering calls and caught up in the merry world of Work. Later in the day the phone rings. I look on the caller I.D. It's Vogue. They must be calling about my hat!

Sure enough the business office has my precious possession. Later that day after I got caught up in what I needed to do in order to feel like a Productive Woman, I went to Vogue to reclaim my lost item. I felt Naked walking out the door without something on my noggin. Now, I could have worn one of my other H&M hats, but it made no sense to wear what I was going to be reclaiming. So I wore my oversized 1970s style sunglasses, smeared on some sunscreen and dodged Ms. Sun outside. Really, I put my hands up like I was try to avoid the papparazi and not this big yellow orb in the sky.

I manage to keep a goodly amount of UV rays at bay since it was late in the day (4 p.m.) and I made a beeline for my favorite store in the Whole Wide Universe. Naturally, I went straightaway to the business office to get my Baby back! I rang the bell. "I'm here to get my hat. It's right there," I tell the clerk, pointing to the black-straw wonder on top of other Lost Stuff.

It turned out Mac knew that was my hat and she had my phone number (must be on the lay-away slip for my serger). Now tell me how is it that my hat, which doesn't even have my name on it anywhere, can find me in a store where I regularly shop, but when I lose a hat with my name tag sewn into it at shopping mall I've only frequented twice, it's gone Forever? Don't people Google the names of people scribbled on shoes and sewn into mittens? I mean I found as much as I could about a certain military man, whose name was inscribed into a pair of 1940s white-cotton sailor pants I bought a few years ago. I learned where he was stationed but that was about it. Now there's a whole online database for WWII military. Perhaps if I looked today, I'd find out more about my man, and ultimately, his work attire. Unfortunately, I've donated this particular piece of apparel to the archives of a local college, and I cannot remember the sailor boy's name!

Do you ever try to find the owner of things lost in your home or business?

2007-07-31T14:12:00.001-05:00

All Buckled Up
And Ready to Go.

I'm very happy to report that the knitted blue-sky cotton top is done and I'm wearing it Right Now with my chartreuse assymetrical skirt. I cannot believe I finished knitting something that is not a poncho or a skirt (both the same thing, really, worn on different parts of the body.) And this top wasn't so very hard. I finished it in about three weeks. A record for me. I cannot even read books that fast anymore. They're due back in the library before I've even completed the first chapter.

I would say the most challenging part of this sweater (not pictured today) was the ribbing at the hip. I had to reconfigure that with the helpful owners of Arcadia Knitting. That done, the p1, K1 went really, really quick. I'd make this particular piece of apparel again if I had an Ace Elf to do the job. Otherwise, I think I'll move on, like to finishing my black batiste blouse or even starting another knitted item (probably a skirt that's made in the round. I'd really like to make something that doesn't need to be mattress-stitched together. There's a cheerleading skirt from Blue Sky Alpaca that I might try).

In the mean time, I'm getting ready tonight to talk vintage wedding dresses. I was supposed to give this talk a month ago, but the air-conditioning went kaput and so did my speaking engagement. Now the cooling equipment is back in gear so is my old-fashioned slide show. The challenge for the next couple of hours is to think about bridal attire, and not the heat that beats at my window. So with the ceiling fan spinning lazily above me, I'm going to prep myself for this discussion about wedding veils, gloves, top hats, coats, bridesmaids, World War II gowns, etc.

With a little luck, at least one representative of my family will show up to hear this interesting lecture. I figure I can count on the ghostly presence of my grandparents.

Until I upload a picture of me in my latest creation, here's my H&M hat embellished with vintage bark cloth and a 1930s buckle. What do you think?

2007-07-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

A Close Call.

Yesterday I got on the train all ready to work on the last few rows of my knitted sleeveless sweater.
I dig into my Natonal Trust for Historic Preservation canavas tote and my hand freezes. No knitting. I fish around again, my fingers bumping over the wadded up Adora calcium foils, tiny rubber marks I use as markers, and general grit. Nothing.

I think back quickly. Is it at home? In the train's Lost and Found Department from the previous day's travel? I'm saying aloud, "I cannot lose any more knitting or yarn."

Instantly, thought, I'm at peace. If it's lost, Gone Forever, it's ok. I had fun making the top. It was probably the quickest thing I've ever made, the one where I had the least questions. It made me feel like I'm a somewhat accomplished knitter, even though I'm not competing against anyone else. It's just nice to know I can whip up yarn into a piece of apparel almost as quickly as I can sew. That's probably the most frustrating thing about knitting (besides all the COUNTING)...coming to a dead end, and not knowing what to do next unless I ask at least one other person What to Do. Kind of going on a trip. eh? So anyhow, I had visions of my nearly done top in the garbage (sob!)...but you know what? There are lots of other projects out there, other dreams to pursue even if one ends up in the trash, much like that baby alpaca probably did.

Those thoughts helped calmed me down...and prevented the endless replay of "Where's that project?" all day when I couldn't look until I got home. Somehow, I knew deep down, that my work wasn't for naught. The sweater was more than likely, parked on my couch at home.

Wouldn't you know that's exactly where it was? Stuffed in a beige plastic bag, with my business card stapled to it. (I'm getting smarter as I move along in life: business cards in everything I tote along with me. That way I increase the chances that the item, if it's separated from its mother - me - will be returned. Besides, I have hundreds of these little cards - why not do something practical with them?)

What do you do when something's lost and you can't look for it immediately? By the way, I'm going on a camping overnight. I'm debating whether or not to bring the knitting. If it fits into my overnight bag, it's coming. Otherwise, it's staying at home with the rest of my belongings.

2007-07-26T21:17:00.000-05:00

What Happens
When You Lose Ambition

When Patternreview.com members initially talked about having a Wardrobe contest, it was ambitious. You had to have skirts, tops, (maybe even bras and undies, I can't remember) that coordinated with everything else, and you needed a coat/jacket/something special to cover your other stuff.

Even before I lifted a pressure foot or even snipped a piece of fabric, I got swept up into the challenge of it all. If I couldn't be a contestant on Project Runway this year or make an appearance on What Not To Wear, I thought, by golly, I could enter a competition that wouldn't just have me on tippy-toes, it'd have me reaching for Jupiter, Mars and the moon. I'd be stretching myself in so many ways that I never thought of that yoga would seem boring in comparison.

In fact, when I initially started working on my new set of matching clothes, I didn't even bother checking The Rules. I knew what I was doing. Everything had to go together. Blouses/shells/ sweaters had to be compatible with all skirts or pants. I only looked at the fine print last week. And I have to say, I was disappointed. I felt like not just the rug, but the carpeting and the wood floor, were pulled out from underneath me. It turns out you had to make more tops than bottoms, everything on the upper half had to go with at least two skirts or pants and you had to create one accessory (which could even be a pair of shoes???). And it all had to add up to 10.

That didn't seem terribly hard to me. Not in the least bit. In fact, you could make just about anything and throw in a topper of your choice, and that would be your entry. If I knew this from the get-go (my sewing gremin's fault because she based my decision on what was said in the forums, not the final rules), I would have saved all effort I expended to buy black and white fabric that Went Together. By golly, I probably could have gotten away with working with What's in My Stash. Oh well, that pile of textile needed some fertilizer, so what's better than more fiber?

Consequently, I don't feel any great desire to finish my Wardrobe of 10 anymore. The reward, a gift certificate from Textile Studios, looks enticing. But the competition, a hundred or so strong, is fierce. I'd have a better chance winning five burritos from Chipotle (and I've already been lucky three times after tossing my business card in the eatery's glass bowl). Mainly, the challenge of getting everything to work together like a mini-United Nations is just poof - Gone with the Hurricane Winds sweeping in down south. I was so looking forward making matchy-matchy apparel that Joan Collins would admire. Now it's who cares? Of course, my rainbow-hued polkadot silk blouse looks wonderful with my stripey black and white skirt. That's the style, isn't? All over the runway and then some.

Oh, I'll finish my knitted summer sweater. Maybe I'll work the Viking to complete my black batiste blouse by the 31st, then again, perhaps I'll just enjoy the rest of the month, just leisurely sewing like I usually do. There's always the Fall clothes to think about even though a line of sweat is threatening to do a Conga Line down my back. What do you do when you lose your sewing mojo?

2007-07-24T15:34:00.000-05:00

Summer Reading

I'm not one to follow trends, I just help set them. So you won't see me devouring the latest Harry Potter book. In fact, I've yet to read the first. You also won't see me with iPhone, I'm still working with pen-and-paper, particularly a little match-book size of a book from a Chicago paper shop. That notebook is a little too small for me so I think I'll start using index cards from Levenger.com to sketch out my next swimsuit collection, hats, and add phone numbers to my Gmail account.

So you can well imagine I don't read e-books, just lots of tomes from the local library. I was delighted to check out some excellent books on sewing last week. They are Sewing With Knits by Connie Long, Stitch With Style, Beverly Rush; and Sewing Lingerie That Fits, Karen Morris.

Just that first book alone has me in awe. Knits are my favorite fabric of the moment. Who knew you could crochet loose loops on a machine-made sweater knit? (I didn't.) Or my flame-stitch fabric is called a raschel knit? (Now I know the fancy name for all those Missoni zig-zag textiles.) Or that you can great your own ribbing? (That was truly an Aha moment for me). That and so much more makes me want to actually purchase Sewing With Knits for my well-edited book collection. I'll be able to make bathing suits that will be the envy of the lifeguards at the YMCA, the carp and frogs at the swimming hole at the national state park. They might even hire me to make their attire. The Stitching book hails from the 1970s, but still there's a lot that can be used in today's clothes. I'd love to try some of their appliques on a sewing machine (don't get me started on felting...I just saw Viking's felting machine last night at Vogue Fabrics. You can create on a machine what would take hours to do by hand.) Lingerie That Fits? All those knit scraps are going to become underwear some day. This book will help me do it in style with a better understanding of fit and technique.

Just so you know, not all my reading's about hand crafts. I've got Steve Allen's Make 'Em Laugh. Got to be able giggle when you nick your finger on a machine needle as I did Sunday afternoon while I was working on a black batiste blouse. I didn't bleed, but I've got a little scab. I don't really know what happened - I just know I was fixing something - a loose thread, crooked fabric - when the machine needle jogged up, then down, and I went, "Ow!" I looked at my index finger and there was a little bit of cut epidermis where they had been previously been a smooth surface. I think I might need to stay away from the felting machine - which actually has a plastic guard around its multi-prong needle. If I can hurt myself on one sharp little tool, I can only imagine the potential for pain with multiple sharp points.

2007-07-22T20:43:00.001-05:00

Two Feathers in My Cap

You never know where you'll find sewing accessories or accessories for your hats.

My friend Ruth and I were on our way to the farmer's market and then Jo-Ann Fabrics when Ruth's vehicle made a Sudden Stop half-block away from my apartment ...in front of a yard sale. She had to shop (my pal not her aut0)...and so I figured, "What the heck. I'll go too."

I used to be yard-sale, flea market and estate sale junkie, getting up at the pre-dawn hours to get in line for Good Stuff - I got a creaky 1920s-era Mahogany twin bed for $75 that way plus a rickety bamboo shelf that wasn't worth $50 I shelled out for it, but that's how I've slowly amassed my post-collegiate furniture collection. But I've been burned out on the Hunt for Cheap Stuff for a while. Yard Sales? I walk past. Estate sales? Yawn. Flea market? I'll go if you go and you drive. Hah!

This yard sale wasn't different from others. Lots of 1960s-era couch-cover plastics, a few pale pink quilted house coats, even a child-sized knitting gizmo still in its original box. Ruth almost got that, but she didn't. Such restraint! Instead she bought a few sewing notions, including hem tape. I purchased a pair of circular knitting needles, a stiff brush (good for the cleaning I still need to do), an umbrella (which I hate, but I'll need one day), Joke Riot (a box of laugh for anytime, anyplace, anywhere!) and a bag of fragile feathers, which you see above on my H&M hats.

Five of those plumes cost me twenty-five cents. They were apparently from France originally, according to a faded paper label. They're attached to what looks like a buckram base - I'm not sure what that's for. I was going to attach my finds to a pin, but on second thought, I'll take a millinery needle and sew them onto my chapeaux the next time I feel lighter than a feather. Which hat do you like better? I'll tell you mine. You first.

2007-07-18T14:12:00.000-05:00

Insty-Skirt
What color would you call this skirt? Acid/grass/Kool-aid green? I don't have a Pantone wheel handy, or I'd give it a number. That's not very romantic. Can you imagine walking into a fabric store and saying, "I want the poly/nylon fabric in FF203456." The sales clerk would just give you a puzzled look. It's much more effective to say, "Oh my gosh, I adore that lettuce/metallic shot silk dupioni. I must have it. Give me three yards of it please." The employee would whirl faster than a robot and pick up the exact fabric without hesitation. And she would be right. So numbers don't mean much in the tactile, visual world of textiles unless you're printing a book and every hue must be just right or the cheeseburger on page 52 is going to look very unappealing.

Anyhow, back to the skirt. This is the Bottom of the Summer (the other bottom on my body is with me all seasons, thank you). I wear this slip-on skirt constantly since I made it last week before I met a bunch of writers at Elephant & Castle pub in downtown Chicago. I wanted to impress. Most of all, I wanted to wear something else besides the black variation of this same piece of apparel. Basically, I wanted to look like I actually do laundry and own other clothes to all the people who see me on a regular basis - the postman, bus driver, the dogs and their owners who pass me on their daily jaunts in the neighborhood.

I sewed that skirt faster than it takes me to get to the grocery store and back on public transportation! I laid the fabric on the carpet in my bedroom and put the sole pattern piece down twice. Cut and snip - two sides of a skirt. I attached the two sides lightening-fast on my baby Viking. Then I whipped out the bathing-suit elastic, did a three-step zig-zag (similar to the triple step in lindy hop) on that stretchy stuff. Then I flipped that edge over, and secured it inside with a a normal zig-zag. Done!

I put on a black girdle underneath instead of a skirt and It Felt Good. All lower curves on the southern part of my being looked smooth. I was happy.

Now, I have to say I'm doing just as my niece Jackie suggested. When I asked her last year how she would wear a certain crochet skirt that was inadvertently made by a certain person to fit a child, she wrinkled her nose and said, "A pair of shorts."

At the time I was appalled. Shorts with a couture crochet skirt? This young girl certainly wasn't going to be the recipient of a certain handicrafter's wizardry.

Now I'm doing just that. Wearing shorts with my skirt, although I have yet to try it with the crochet kind. But a girdle on a hot day is so much more comfortable than a slip that sticks. What do you think?

2007-07-16T15:49:00.000-05:00

Life without the
Baby Alpaca DK 4818
I'd like to tell you that my shopping bag of Baby Alpaca DK 4818 was returned (see yesterday's entry for more on this event). I'd even be more delighted to tell it came back to me, a sweater in my size are already fully formed. Or even that the fiber was knitted into this warmer-than-summer cardigan, long enough to cover my torso.

Alas, the yarn has yet to be returned. Unfortunately, I have vision of it in the bottom of a garbage can, covered with gobs of leftover McDonald's fries and soaked with Diet Coke. That image actually helps me because I know this luscious yarn is basically useless at this point. It has no life. It was only meant to be with me a short time on Earth. Yes, 40 minutes on a train. That was the only time we were allotted together. It was my companion for an ordinary ride. Instead of a human train mate, I had a fibery one - which actually resembled a bag of Burritos to Go, which No Doubt Contributed To Its Demise.

I did the obligatory call again today to the Lost and Found departments. I got plenty of sympathy all around. When I called Visa today again, they told I need to talk to Purchase Protection, who in turn said I must file a Police Report to get a refund.

So I called 311 sheepishly (pun not intended). The operator asked what was stolen. "Yarn," I said with a straight face. I mean - really, it could have been taken from me. I just know that when I got off the el train that bag of yarn wasn't with me. "Yarn?" she said, a bit incredulously.

I resisted the temptation to explain, to downplay the loss. More important thefts are reported, I realize. But the yarn was important to me. It was an investment in my hobby. It makes me less likely to start any new knitting projects in the near future. I don't want to lose what's dear to me, you know? I'm not saying I'll never start another sweater, however, I just need to recover. At least my wallet and credit card do.

So I told the 311 operator where I lost it, how it much was worth. And that was that. I got a report number which I can now use to submit my claim to credit card. Hurrah! I feel so much better that I finished off my Cacao Reserve by Hershey's Dark Chocolate with Cacao Nibs that I got free at the CVS Pharmacy using a coupon from yesterday's newspaper. Delicious, even if it was imported from Germany.

Life (and Monday) is better with a little chocolate, don't you think?

2007-07-15T15:01:00.001-05:00

Before....And After

Here's a picture of me before entering Loopy Yarns in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. I'm feeling a bit fatigued after having gotten up at 6 a.m. on this morning, dashing downtown to make an 8:10 a.m. editorial appointment (I was two minutes late thanks to door keys that conspired to get lost and a lagging El train). But I'm also exhilarated too - excited beyond belief at all the possibilities that are whirling in my brain after meeting six magazine editors face-to-face to discuss story ideas. I'm also thinking about a dress that I think I can knit for $15 after buying bunches of yarn for 70 percent at Loopy.

Now, it turns out the Pima tencel in Purple that I had in mind for the dress (a new one in a book about fitted knits; I forget the exact title) is not on sale. Oops. Cancel the $55.33 purchase on my United Mileage Visa card. It's back to the racks for another project. I end up filling my wiry wooden basket with 10 skeins of another royally-hued fiber: Baby Alpaca DK, normally $6.85 each. I get all these little furry little balls for a grand total of $20.55. A fall sweater of the warm sort is already forming in my mind.

I get on the subway train with my black Herman Miller tote, my purchase, and my cranberry Target purse. I'm taking this train all the home, so I pull out my summer knitting, the halter top. I'm lost in the thought, binding off here and there, and there and here, listening to these guys behind me talk about something my hearing-impaired ears cannot decipher for the puny life of me. Whatever.

I decide to get off the train at an earlier stop since I realize there's a street festival going on where I want to pick up (not figuratively, thank goodness) a bus. I'm off the train, and on the sidewalk when I realize, "Oh My God, I don't have my yarn!." Out pops the cell phone. I'm calling the transit help line; the operator there gives me the Lost and Found number. Nobody answers, unfortunately. I call the 800 number for my Visa since I bought the fiber with my credit card. They of course, give me another number. I call that number, and then another.

I don't make contact with the Right Telephone Number until I get home (and consume all of the Vosges chocolates I won in a lottery at my conference). Guess what? I need to talk to another Customer Service Department, which isn't open until...tomorrow.

So I've no idea if I'll get my money or the yarn back. I fear that the train engineer will toss the bag in the garbage since my 10 white tissue-paper wrapped hanks resemble big burritos-to-go. The plastic bag doesn't even feature the Loopy Yarns logo either. So I'm not super-confident I'll recover this project-in-the-making.

I might be more likely to recover the cost through my credit card since I purchased the train pass with my Visa as well as the actual items themselves. It's not worth losing my nap over, which I most definitely need since I've been in this meeting for 3 Days Straight. My brain is French-fried.

I've only lost project stuff once before...a remnant from Vogue Fabrics that I was going to transform into a surplice Kwik Sew top for my sister. I think I inadvertently threw that knit out since I haven't seen it since. I know it's not in the Stash since I've dug through the pile. But I didn't stress over that because it was a $6 buy.

What yarn/fiber/fabric/patterns have you lost? Please help me cope with paint of my Premature loss!

2007-07-14T07:24:00.000-05:00

In the Mood for Lindt Excellence
85 percent Cocoa

We're talking the Dark Extra Fine version. It's not the milky and sweet stuff you might know and love. But I picked up the Lindt bar yesterday at the local CVS pharmacy while I on a conference break (by the way, CVS is becoming a great resource for good-quality but inexpensive chocolate from Dove, Hershey's, Ghiradelli, Lindt, and other manufacturers. Even Walgreen's doesn't have this kind of selection!)

I woke up this morning. When I realized I didn't have enough oatmeal for my first meal of the day, I grabbed the Lindt bar and nibbled on that. I think I save the rest of my breakfast appetite for the hotel, where I'll be spending the rest of the day back at the confab.

Yesterday I brought my knitting to this particular meeting to work on not just during my commute, but on site. I sat next to a window. I was in the state of sheer bliss, purling away, listening to the speakers. I only poked my neighbor every once in a while, and she didn't complain one iota! I felt like I was at the height of creativity listening, creating and even asking questions related to the topic at hand. What's really cool is that I'm making progress on my Sewing With A Plan, which ends on the 31st. My Lake Michigan on a Summer's Day blue knit top will the fourth top (and only one thing can be knitted as least for this contest). I'll need to sew like a Chicago demon for the rest of the month, finishing that black batiste blouse and launching a few other clothing projects into the atmosphere, but I'll do it if it's the last thing I do in July (entirely possible given that's the end of the month is the last day of entry). I wish I could show you a picture of me hard at work wearing my acid green assymetrical skirt (New Look 6571), sandals with matching leather flowers, a long-sleeve Anne Klein white eyelet blouse I sewed, and my black H&M hat embellished with pins. My German grandmother would proud of my knitting, but she'd worry about what others might think - especially the woman to my left. Do you ever pull your knitting out at meetings? How do people near you respond?

2007-07-12T15:56:00.000-05:00

The Capelet Now

Yes, it's the capelet now as opposed to yesterday or in the Future or on Anna Wintour's body. I'm not sure why I care about this cape. I think it's the print. I just adore how the pattern looks like it's been pulverized in a Cuisinart, enlarged on a Photoshop screen and then put through an electron scrambler of some sort. Whilst I'm searching for the wool version, I could even come to love a jersey knit with this kind of a jumbo Walmart-sized design. Alas, what's in the fabric store closest to me only has a super-soft knit with a mice-sized tooth print pattern in chocolate brown and sapphire blue. I still might acquire it since I love that colorway; it's very fall, which feels far away - especially considering that downtown Chicago's Outdoor Film Festival doesn't even start 'til Next Week! I've yet to barely make a dent in sewing all my summer play clothes (yes, I'm going to climb in the Elm trees just like the Von Trapp children in The Sound of Music). I even picked (and then put down) yesterday the latest Knit1 magazine featuring a thick wool hat in Sherbert Orange. I love the aforementioned hue, but only the icy edible one appeals to me right at this moment. I can't even think of fiber in that colorway for the Season in which leaves drop to the ground. Speaking of cool foods, I've actually got a summer cotton in what I'll call Dreamsicle with bits of white white chocolate nubs on it. I've at least five yards of it - a good thing considering how narrow it is. I think it's from the 1930s or 1940s since it's narrower than my hips. But I don't see it (the textile, not my hips) as retro - I see it as a Maxi halter style dress not unlike the Simplicity Threads pattern that's somewhat popular. I'd pair that cloth with some floaty white gauze with an ethnic orange print from Metro Textiles. I think that would be comfy and stylish for when Someone Upstairs Decides to Return Illinois to the Front Burner. That's not to say I wouldn't buy that Houndstooth if it knocked me down while I was surfing the Internet or some such thing, but I've got to live now not for some chilly day in late September, don't you think?

2007-07-11T16:29:00.000-05:00

Hunting for Houndstooth fabric

I'm a glutton for the assorted catalogs that cross my transom. Victoria's Secret? Check. Nancy's Notions? Hmm. Is there a good sale despite all the stuff in there for quilters and women my mother's age? Nordstrom? More fodder for my fashion pages file.

Especially page 25 of the latest edition, Anniversary Sale, which starts Friday, July 20. Now certain marked-down items are beyond my check book's reach. Namely the Mackage Houndstooth flyaway capelet, now just $399.90 (normally $598). This particular coat, I'll have you know, is all about an extra-large (we're talking a print that can probably be seen from an airplane descending to O'Hare airport on a clear day) white and black houndstooth wool. It's got this cute, big pointy collar that reminds me of the ones on those 1950s wrap-around blouses and a thick, black leather belt.

I wouldn't buy this cape for nearly $400 even if I didn't have to make a few minor but important monthly payments in the next few days. I rather make this, yes, stitch it on my Viking. Of course, finding the fabric is the important part. So what am I going to do? Rip this page out, and put it into a plastic-page sleeve and carry it around with me like a Dork. I'll show it to my friends at Vogue Fabric and anyone else who cares. I suspect I'll need to make a trip to Milan, which will cost more than a few yards of this fabric, just to find this wool, which You and I know Must Be Italian. It has to be. There's no question, at least not in my mind. I don't think a fabric with this kind of heft or design could hail from China, Canada or Ecuador. No, this textile was created by people who inhale pesto sauce on a daily basis.

I'm certain after I find the fabric, the stitching will be easy, right? I will be so thrilled to have in my little Caucasian hands that it will sew itself. I'll just leave it in my office/sewing room overnight. Turn on the ceiling fan just so it's not too hot in there, close the door, and let the magic happen. I won't even peek in periodically. I promise. I don't want
to bother Whoever's heading up the Sewing Detail, disturb the momentum. I'd just hope that I could return to that room to see the capelet completed, ready for the first cool day here in Chicago. I already know what I'd wear it with. Jeans. But not just any pair. A nice fitted pair of the stretch variety, flared and a little shredded at the hem. And a pair of boots, however, not the Cowboy Kind. That would ruin the classy mood. Anything kind of mod would work. Even white would work very nicely. What extreme lengths have you gone to find fabric?

2007-07-10T08:22:00.000-05:00

Yellowjackets: A Sewing Hazard?

On Sunday I was a woman on a mission to escape my hot apartment. So I filled a Nordstrom's bag with yards of black batiste, reams of matching fabric trimmed with white lace and rickrack, a pattern, notions, and made like a female bandit for Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. Not before stopping at a nearby Starbucks for their reduced-fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich. But I didn't leave with a frappucino in hand. No, I kept my hands busy knitting my summer sweater. When the hands of the clock inched toward 12 noon, I made a beeline across the street for you-know-where.

As soon as I paid my $5 at the business desk at Vogue, I got this nicely typed out gift certificate for $20. Yes, after using the store's classroom 10 times, they reward you for all the money you've given them (not to mention the countless yards of fabric that you've taken off their hands for forever and three days). So the happy, sweaty camper I am, I gleefully stash the certificate in my purse for another day and promptly got down to having fun.

It took me a while to get started. At least an hour before I slice my fabric with scissors, during which assorted employees came through to take their break. Pat, who mans the notions counter, noshed on a sandwich in front of one of the many Viking sewing machines, while I studied instructions for my pattern (Simplicity 4179).

I'm finally cutting the fabric when I feel this pain in my finger. I look down. Did I cut myself? No, I see a bug on my digit. It stings me and flies off to land on the rim of a nearby garbage can. "A bee just stung me!" I cry, holding my poor little hand. "It's over there on the garbage can!"

Pat leaps up and smashes the bugger with a wadded piece of paper. It turns out it was a yellowjacket, not a bee, which I really wouldn't want to kill since these insects make honey, which I really like on my daily bowl of oatmeal.

My extremity is throbbing with the stinger still visible when I walk out to the notions room. I see Pat's colleague, the raven Avida. She tells me she killed the stinger's friend earlier in the ribbon room. Great. She encourages me to go upstairs to get ice. I'm not a store employee, but it's ok for me to the second floor, which I've never explored in all the years I've visited this shop? That feels forbidden...like going into King Tut's tomb.

Even so this is heady stuff. To go where no shopper goes? Wow. Avida shows me the way - a narrow staircase off the main room. Even though my finger is swollen and pinker than a watermelon, I soak up my surroundings. Unfortunately, the break room is very ordinary. A beaten-up microwave, a basic white refrigerator, faux wood paneled walls and fiberboard tables. Typical lunchroom furnishings. Somehow, I expected thousands of swatches on the walls, a bounty of dress forms, rare buttons and fashion designers hiding out from their day jobs. But it was ordinary. Now at least I can say I've seen the top floor!

With a wadded piece of brown paper towel and ice, I returned to the classroom. I finished cutting and started sewing.

Yesterday when I returned to the premises at least three people asked how I was feeling. I'm certain they want to make sure I could buy more fabric. If I died from a yellowjacket sting, I can't reduce their stock one iota. I'm sure my swift recovery was an answer to their prayers. While I was there, I saw Ace Seamstress Mac Berg in action (she did a demonstration on how to create chenille strips; see the above photo). I also used my gift certificate. More fabric for my collection, of course!

Enough about me. Have you ever gotten hurt sewing?

2007-07-08T08:51:00.000-05:00

When It's So Hot That...

...a ceiling fan spinning at top speed doesn't make a dent in the inside heat index, wearing a bathing suit all day long makes you long for a swimming pool Big Time, a Long Island Iced Tea is what you dream about at 8 a.m., then it's time to go to a cooling center.

So that's what I'm going to do....although my cooling center has a multitude of sewing machines. Here in Chicago, Mayor Daley opens up a slew of public buildings where people, mostly the elderly, can keep their cool when their own homes fail to do the job. The shame of it all is not that many people take advantage of this Free Service.

Now I'm not old, but I could use a major cooling center. I've an air-conditioner, unused since 2002, in my bedroom window. If I turned it on, I'm certain I'd still feel like I was overly warm blueberry muffin. So I'm heading over to Vogue Fabrics this afternoon. Yes, as soon as the door unlocks at 12:00 noon, I'm there with my sewing projects, fabrics, notions, implements, everything that will make me happy (although I really could use a tiny boom box to play some jazz tunes) while the air outside becomes basically unbreathable. There I'll stay in sewing la-la land until 5 p.m. Then maybe I'll go to my mother's for dinner OR I'll just go to church, which is un-air-conditioned, but at least it's late in the day, thank goodness.

It's on days like these days you get Really Good Ideas. You're walking so slow melting ice cream could move faster, so you're forced to sit and Slow Down. You lay down on the bed, and watch blades on the ceiling fan go round and round and it's just so wonderful! And then the Ideas start to assault you from all sides as beads of sweat drip down your face. What if I turned that black linen fabric into a hat? What if I took the basil in the refrigerator, chopped it into a bazillion pieces and baked it into a cake? How does a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee stack up one from Einstein's? Such are the questions that float across my brain when I'm too tired to do anything except nap (which something I ought to do this crazy-hot afternoon, but probably not in my oven of an apartment.)

Ok. I am half-dressed for my adventures this afternoon, of course, which will not be explored without a Hat. My new favorite is the white straw from H&M. Today I've embellished it with some white netting. What crazy, creative activities do you get when the temperature soars?

2007-07-03T17:35:00.001-05:00

Score 4 - the Straw Hat Bonanza!

It's completely true that you don't know what goodies life will bring you. I decided to go to Victoria's Secret this afternoon for their big semi-annual sale. I was looking for a racer-back Ipex bra in my size. I didn't expect to find one, but you must aim high to get the things that are important to you, right? Visualize it as the authors of The Secret might suggest. I ended up buying four pair of $2.99 undies. Very utilitarian, the kind that mothers like most. Not one brassiere. Since I used my store credit card for probably like the third time in my life, I'm also thrilled at the thought that now I will likely get a catalog every week in the mail. That catalog is like a free magazine, kind of like Lucky with lots more skin showing. I really do get many sewing ideas from Victoria's Secret. Lame, I know, but true.

Then I cruised into H&M next door (we're talking downtown Chicago). I enjoy getting inspiration there, but I never buy clothes. Too cheap-looking, besides why on this green earth would I want to wear something another gal in this small city will likely have in her wardrobe? No way. But I do like buying accessories - particularly their big-hoop earrings. This time I wasn't pleased to see hoops that slip onto your earlobes sans a backing. I find I lose those kinds of baubles before I'm even half-way out the door.

Then I saw these straw fedoras piled book-deep in the back of the store. They look like something a guy would wear with their short brims, but the color - particularly the white straw and baby-blue grosgrain ribbon-trimmed number - are girly-girly. So I thought I'd buy two. They were only about $3. Two one, one black. Then I learned at the cashier that these toppers were two for one. So I ended up purchasing four hats, two in each hue.

The black one I embellished straight away at home with pins I'd completely forgotten about: White Castle, See Rock City, Lifesource and Operations Lifesaver. Now this isn't the extra-wide brimmed hat that my dermatologist would recommend, but it covers just as much dermis as the Eugenia Kim floppy hat that I've been wearing every day. Besides, I'm slathering on my Lancome UV Expert 20 Sunscreen like there are 15 tomorrows. I feel positively giddy about my new finds (the hats, not the underwear). I swear the summer is going to be even better now that I've got these lids to keep me stylishly covered when the sun beats down, and humidity index creeps up...

2007-06-29T06:23:00.000-05:00

Sewing Something Slightly Too Small....

...in the hips. Yes, friends I have cut Simplicity 4674, View D, in the largest size in my envelope, a size 12, which translates to a 36-inch hip. That part of my body doesn't come to that measurement, and it hasn't in a long time; in fact, I might have been a teen when the tape measure rested at those numbers on that part of me. Yet. I'd like to think my buttocks could shrink four more inches. It's funny, I've lost 10 pounds so I can feel the different when I slip on pants without having having tug every which way, and skirts are slightly loose in the waist. Yet when it comes to the roundest part of my anatomy...well, it still looks the same. The proportions haven't changed.

So I knew precisely what I was doing when I cut my precious Anne Klein galloon-edged black eyelet. Could I have drafted the edges of the pattern to flare out more to accommodate my figure? I suppose I could have. I felt lazy, even a little optimistic that I could get a reshaped bottom (mine) into what looks a Skirt Too Small. It's kind of like those pink brocade pants I bought from Marshalls two years ago thinking I could diet my way into them. I tried them on the other day...they're still a tad bit too snug for my taste.

But back to my sewing project. I'm going to line it with black batiste (I thought for a nano-second that a fuschia version of the same fabric would look delightful - but that would mean calling up Kashi at Metro Textiles in New York City on the off chance he still has some. Besides, I want to use what I have). It will look pretty, even downright cute on my mannequin. This eyelet number is supposed to be no. 4 for my Sewing With A Plan excursion. Now tell me, do you think apparel has to actually fit in order for it to be part of the plan? If so, I'm going to have add some yoga, drink more liquids than ever for this skirt to fit. Of course, it might help to actually sit down in the front of the sewing machine.

2007-06-27T20:07:00.000-05:00

When I'm Feeling Deprived...

I feel like I haven't been to Vogue Fabrics in the looongest time. I wanted to the classroom Sunday afternoon and sew to my large heart's content. I've already forgotten what I did during that time (the past 72 hours have been action-packed but I'm certain I'll recall the events of Sunday, June 24 as soon as I upload this post). Then Monday night, when Vogue has its Free in-store demo, I had to go to condo board meeting. Oh, I could have blown it off but I had issues that needed to be addressed. I even thought of making my pilgrimage afterwards, then I was too tired. I thought, "There's always Thursday..." when the store is open until the heavenly hour of 9 p.m! Isn't that sheer bliss?

So I'm already thinking of doing a little fabric shopping tomorrow evening. I cannot wait. I think I last walked in the store's hallowed halls a week ago and I didn't buy an unblessed thing! Discipline. Now I need an invisible to finish a eyelet skirt, and of course, I must add to my stash. Or at least pet the textiles there. They need my caresses, my tender love. I honestly feel they perk up after my fingers have touched their surfaces, even though I swear the nap definitely looks a little limp if I don't buy a yard of two after I've made contact with the aforementioned object. It's kind of like when someone fawns overs a German Shepherd at animal shelter and doesn't adopt on the spot. You can only imagine how that poor canine feels!

It helps considerably that tomorrow is already leading into the Fourth of July weekend, when I will waste lots of time, particularly on the computer, avoiding any house-cleaning duties. I know I'll be knitting, because my hands can't be idle not for a moment. Sewing? Maybe. I've cut out enough projects to work on. It's just a matter of do I want to work in the isolation of the Klatt compound on the sewing machine or make meaningful contact with other Humans? Sometimes it's a bit much to spend too many solitary hours even if I'm stitching a beautiful piece of apparel. I don't feel that way about knitting or crocheting, which are usually done in the company of others, sometimes too many.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to use the Vogue classroom this Sunday due to a family function. I'm not sure when I will be able to enter my favorite room in the whole town of Evanston. Maybe Sunday, the 8th? I'm praying fervently nothing comes up just so I can spend time in a space surrounded by Vogue, Simplicity, Butterick and other pattern books. Now is that Heaven on Seven or what?

2007-06-24T17:09:00.001-05:00

Skirtronics

I made up that word. I have no idea what it means. It just sounds nice, very techno. Kind of mod, like this skirt here. You will not believe this - (or maybe you will considering how much I spend at Vogue Fabrics) - but I made this skirt from a pattern abandoned in the classroom at the abovementioned store.

I was trying so very hard to make this fabric - a lightweight black batiste with matching diagonal ridges, and white rickrack and lace - into Simplicity 4179 (a retro-blouse with an adorable Peter Peter collar and drop-waist). I thought I could get a nifty chevron effect going with the trim at an angle. Alas, I could not get the lace bits to match up. But I wanted so badly to make something - since I rented the classroom for a whole $7.50 - I started digging in the classroom shelves to see if there was a skirt pattern that I could use. And there was! I think I might be Vogue or maybe it was McCalls. I don't know. But it was manna for this craftster lost in Sewing Limbo.

I figured this skirt would look best and very trendy if the trim was slanted like a blackslash symbol, rather than striving for a V (the chevron). So a very sweet Vogue Employee helped to lay out the pattern on the bias. I was very nervous about that part - I've never sewn anything on the bias. I figured left to my own devices that this sewing project would end up off-grain and -kilter and the whole kit-kaboodle would end up in the dumpster on my way out.

But I bravely cut the pattern as it was laid out (and the same employee helped me cut out an impromptu yoke). But I didn't start sewing until I was in the safety of my own home. I actually hung it in my closet to let it streeeetch for a couple of days. And then I sewed the sides, putting in my second invisible zipper (boy, do I splitting the coils with that invisible-zipper foot. What fun!). Then I put my Work of Art on my mannequin, to let the fibers do some Yoga, relax, do some more poses, and streeeetch some more.

Then after 48 hours or so, I spun my mannequin around lopping off the excess fabric so I'd have a beautiul and even hem. Just that alone made me less afraid of hems - I'd always been hesitant to do 'em because who's going to help Ms. Lonely Hearts chop out the extra stuff at the bottom when the Time comes? I don't have a maid, ghost or even a dog at hand to aid in the task. Then the sewing machine, with my assistance, stitched down the hem so it wouldn't go anywhere.

That done, I tacked down the yoke with an extra row of stitching at the waist and the Viking went to work once more. I even let the machine put on the hook and eye. I'm not fond of hand-sewing little gizmos.

Now I've got a favorite new skirt. It fits me fine. Well, it's actually loose now that I've lost 10 pounds. What do you think I'm going to do with the remnants? They're going be the waist, collar and sleeves for Simplicity 4179. I'm going to do the bodice in basic black batiste so I don't have to worry about the trim coordinating. Phew!

2007-06-21T21:26:00.001-05:00

I've Abandoned the Crochet Dress

I have to say one of the many wonderful things about working with yarn is how easy it is to undo a garment. If you don't like how a sweater is shaping up, you can rip it back. Ditto a crochet dress, which you can undo faster than you can run upstairs and downstairs in a 2-story house. I wish I could say the same about sewing. Last night I decide to pre-shrink this lovely super-pinwale white corduroy with these big massive black flowers and curlicue leaves (think of some those large floral prints that you've seen waltzing down the runways lately, and you'll get the idea). Just beautiful fabric, the stuff of dresses and skirts.

Well, the dye ran. Actually I think it did a marathon on my fabric. There are gray shadows behind many flowers!! I can't believe the fabric's ruined. Sure, I can cut around some of it. I'm not sure I can do the dirndl skirt I had in mind though. Might be more like funky bermuda shorts. But I can't toss it, especially after I spent mega-bucks on it at Metro Textiles in New York City. No sirree, I can forgo projects, but I cannot, absolutely pitch expensive materials. Never. Unless my mother wants them for a quilt she's making me. Then in that case, she can have them. That said, I have been known to pitch pricey textiles after the scissors attacked them in the wrong spot. Don't tell all my finds in my fabric bin. The less those babies know, the better. You know how it goes!

I actually discovered the dye problem while I was at Arcadia Knitting starting the sweater you see above. The fabric was peeking out of my tote while it was resting on a brand-new pink couch there. "Could it be? Oh no, it can't be!" I muttered to myself, while another knitter admired my fabric. "Did you make that?" she asked.

I had to tell her no, (I wanted to tell her weaving isn't one of my many strengths just yet, but I was fretting about my fabric.)

I brought the fabric with me to Arcadia just in case I got to Vogue Fabrics before they closed the doors at 9 p.m. I went to the knit shop because I just decided that the crochet dress wasn't working for me. I tried on the upper half, and I didn't like how the shoulders practically fell off of me. I despite it when that happens. I have wee shoulder-blades and I have trouble enough keeping anything with regular straps from falling off my body. So the dress went bye-bye without any regret and I began stitching this top. With luck, I'll have it done in time for the Sewing With A Plan deadline at the end of July. (I've already made three things. I have 9 to go. Do you think I'm working hard yet? No way. I'll wait til the due day approaches and then panic. Then I'll just make a bunch of easy-peasy clothes.) I haven't forgotten about my black- and -white floral textile. What do you do when fabric cries and leaves stains behind?

2007-06-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

The Sewist - the swimsuit issue

Dear Readers,
Welcome to the first swimsuit issue of The Sewist. You're a loyal lot, so I just wanted to let you know what to expect in this special issue, shot on location near the 4-lane pool at the High Ridge YMCA in Evanston, Ill.

First, there will no be airbrushing, no faux tans or forgiving lighting. Nor will there be any pricey Prada swimsuits, or Touche tankinis. You won't find any bikinis either. We didn't have the budget for them. Nor did we have the monies for a shoot in South Palm Beach Florida or even Venice, California. Even our request for simple photographs at North Avenue Beach in Chicago was turned down without any explanation. We also weren't able to hire Gisele Bundchen or any of her former Victoria's Secret colleagues. You won't find any hot men such as the oft bare-chested actor Matthew McConaughey or the hunky Patrick Dempsey of Grey's Anatomy fame. Even the editor's hunky brother Andy was unavailable for unspecified reasons (although staff writers suspect he was boating on Lake Michigan with his dog Pablo and avoiding his females fans and paparazzi.)

In fact, our editor-in-chief Mary Beth Klatt had to volunteer for snapshots, taken courtesy of the lifeguard-on-duty at High Ridge. I think the lifeguard did a fabulous job, don't you?
Here's what you will find in this action-packed edition. You'll see plenty of varicose veins, especially in Ms. Klatt's left shoulder, caused by the straps on heavy totes, page after page of unshaved legs, moles, hyperpigmentation and cellulite. Scars, rosacea, and real sweat? It's all inside these magazine. You'll also discover untouched photos, a rarity in this industry. In fact, our editorial staff doesn't have Photoshop. We're hopeful we'll have this computer software in time for the next issue. We've got a whole section of lovely candid shots of our unpaid models in homemade, machine-stitched (but not in Southeast Asia) swimsuits. We also have a list of the best shops in the U.S. for gently-used swimwear. Turn to page 9 to learn more.

Last but not least, if you'd like to donate the use of your backyard swimming pool for next year's 1st anniversary issue, please email us now. Thank you.

2007-06-18T16:07:00.000-05:00

One little, two little, three little bathing suits...

I finished my bathing suit last night, sitting inside my warmer-than-a-furnace apartment, hunched over my Viking Husquvarna. I had to count on one hand how many times I've made this particular pattern. Each time the suits have gotten better. The first one had lots of ripped stitches because I didn't know you need to use the three-step zig zag to adhere the elastic. The second one? The elastic was all wiggly like wayward electrical wiring and incredibly difficult to get on...probably because the final stitching was on top of that aforementioned rubber. That suit, a lavender number, was incredibly to difficult to get on. I had a do a little shimmy to squeeze my hips through the unforgiving neckline.

The latest production? The top-stitching isn't quite what you'd find on a Speedo. It wavers, even stalls at various points on the suit, resembling Mapquest directions gone awry. I don't care - I've got a Free bathing suit (yes, all the Spandex came from a friend who knows how much I enjoy water pilates and sewing, not at the same time, obviously). Next time the finishing will be even better. My goal is to have at least three different suits, one for each of the three days I hop into the swimming pool. The polka-dot number could be for when I'm feeling really dotty (which is quite often. I'm what they would call Eccentric back in the old days.). I could make a sky-blue one for those times when I'm feeling a little under the weather (but not enough to skip a refreshing dip), and then a sparkly plush purple version for when I need to remind myself that people need to treat me like the Royal Queen that I am.

Here's the way I look at it: We all have our favorite outfits - the red suit for interviews, white linen separates for weddings or the black dress for dinners with colleagues. Why should it be any different for work-outs? I'll be darned if I'm going to show up in the same lame, saggy suit when I have a cardbox full of stretchy fabrics just begging to be transformed into something that Esther Williams would wear.

As soon as I finished no. 3 I popped her (yes, she's a girl. Know any dotted suits for men?) into my work out bag and I tossed no. 2 into the garbage. It felt so good. I wore my third work of art into the waters today. No one, not even a lifeguard, has taken notice yet, but they will, I promise. And I'll report right here. Have you ever tossed a swim suit that's gone bad?

2007-06-15T14:47:00.001-05:00

The crochet dress, at last

Now tell me that this dress doesn't look easy to make. (For those of you who don't crochet or knit or even randomly tie knots, hear me out for a few minutes. Then you can say, "That looks hard.") Doesn't it look a bunch of the same stitches, repeated over and over into the next millennium? That's what exactly what this pattern - about 500 shell stitches strung together.

Even so this pattern, circa 1971 and the year my mother had an outdoor baptism for somebody in my family, is difficult beyond belief. I feel like I need an interpreter and these instructions are written in English! I was about to go out of my mind and to Jupiter and back doing the first row on this dang thing (Can I call it that even though I'm only two rows into the project?). I needed to get 19 pattern stitches. I kept getting the wrong number - 25, 24, 23. So I keep ripping (and finding myself ready to roar) this dress back to the very beginning, muttering all along, "If I don't get this right soon I'm throwing in the paper towels and more and starting a bonfire."

Miraculously, I got that magical teen number early this morning, where else but on the train. I was ready to dance with the conductor and climb on the caboose and tap dance Charlie Chaplin style (only to be knocked over by a bridge as it always seem to happen in the movies). No, I stayed calm (I really need to stop doing that. Doesn't help anyone) and started on the next row. No fanfare, no drinks, no Dirty Martini or even a clean one!

But I must celebrate. It's the weekend. I've a long way to go on this journey. I need to have fun! I don't want this beautiful piece of attire to be a drudgery. (I'm using Gedifra Wellness cotton in an Ocean-blue hue for those who care.) Sometimes I get so wrapped up in those yarn-overs and counting those darn stitches, I forget to relax and enjoy the ride (we're talking the crochet adventure, not the locomotive, although the same could be said for commuting too).

There's probably a good chance that the dress will not be done in time for the previously mentioned SWAP (Sewing with a Plan) on Patternreview. Who cares? I've got something to do while I'm going places not so far and wide! I don't have to stare out the window, although that's good to do sometimes. I don't have read my neighbor's Chicago Tribune on the sly. I can be more productive than an assembly line! I can create a piece of apparel that I can brag about for years to come! I can drive myself crazy before the end of the summer! Anyone want to join me in my silly challenge?

2007-06-13T13:52:00.000-05:00

When Blogger Acts Slow, Do the Hokey-Pokey
Mom said there'd be days like this when Blogger acts so pokey that only mortar oozing down a cement-truck shoot would move faster. She also added that there be other days when inanimate objects might get in your way and hurt you inadvertently. A prime example today would be the wall-mounted fire hydrant that stuck out at me while I was walking along minding somebody's else business and hit my hand. Hard. Golly, I didn't realize how much that hurt until I got home and I put a plastic sandwich bag full of ice on that aching extremity. I felt like I'd been bitten by a dog (and that has happened to me, unfortunately).

Did that stop me from picking up my crochet hook? No, I scooped that metal gadget out of my bag and began fussing with my crochet dress-in-progress after I settled in a seat on a train. I realized not only did I twist the chain (I really despise it when that happens), but I've got the wrong number of shells. I'm beginning to think that this particular piece of apparel just might not make it into the PatternReview Sewing With a Plan (SWAP) that ends July 31. I'm sure I'll still work on it (what else is there to do when you're sitting inside a train or a bus? Twiddle your thumbs? People watch? I'd rather do that when I'm sitting outside enjoying refreshments at a great restaurant or cafe).

It may well be time to call in the crochet cavalry, i.e. my friend Nancy who crochets, knits and sews. She might even do so tatting for all I know. I'm thinking she could start my crochet chain, get the gauge and the proper number of shells right and then off I could go on my merry make-a-dress-on-the-road way. I think Nancy would help me, but she lives on the other side of the galaxy as far as I'm concerned, especially when I don't own a Xebra-PX, the electric pickup that requires no gasoline. I don't even own a scooter, but I do have two legs that the fire hydrant didn't damage earlier today, thank goodness. Maybe I could use those extremities to visit Nancy.

If I don't get some assistance on this dress soon (and I already visited Arcadia Knitting for help), I might abandon it or better yet, return the yarn and start some other blasted project that has me cussing like somebody's business. I really do think my language gets much colorful when it comes to knitting and crocheting than it does with sewing. At least with the latter, you can fudge it. A wrong cut there? Fix with a stitch or two there. There's little room for fussing in knitting. Add miscellaneous loops early on in a garment you could end up with a kangaroo-sized sweater. Twist that silly chain that I mentioned earlier? You'll have a fabric that's wonky and will refuse to do anything you tell it. But I'm stubborn - I'll just restart that dress on my own. I've got all the time in the world on the No. 22 bus that moves about as fast as an elephant down the main drag, Clark Street...

What projects get you using words more colorful than your laundry?

2007-06-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

Shopping for Fabric, the Sarah Jessica Parker Way
I visit Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, Ill. at least two times a week. I don't always buy fabric, but always give myself the proviso that if there's something extraordinary, I can buy it. But even then, I often don't. Usually it's a matter of looking at the checkbook account balance. I rarely buy fabric on credit. My reasoning? Too frivolous. So yesterday, I passed up this lovely pink-on-pink floral burnout cotton fabric on sale, a Missoni-like zig-zag polyester and sheer white pointelle knit remnants. I figure if it's not there next time, it wasn't meant to be. It's hard for me to splurge. I come from a big family, hence my Sarah Jessica Parker analogy. She too hails from a larger-than-normal family that went through some hard times when she was young. Like Sarah, we were on food stamps at one time. So even eons later it's difficult to shake that I-can-indulge mentality. It's usually buying what I need. Last week I had to have swimswear elastic to start my swimsuit (I haven't). This week, it was ombre orange velvet ribbon for my completed indigo blue alpaca knit skirt. So I get my fabric fix in a very concentrated, handful-of-dollars sort of way. If I could return fabric easily I probably would. But once it's been cut, I think it's kind of difficult to say, "Here's my receipt. Take this back, I can't afford it!" In fact, I don't think I've ever brought fabric back. I usually feel guilty for a while, and into my Fabric Bin my latest buy goes, not to be unearthed and used for at least 24 months. In the meantime, cicadas are born, flies die and fossil fuels are burned, but at least I have something I can sew and wear when I'm 10 pounds later than I am now. Thank goodness, I don't acquire yarn the same way. I'd be knitting on my way to my funeral. "Just one more row!" I'd cry before they close the coffin. Tell me how many of you have ever returned fabric. I'm completely curious.

2007-06-10T06:10:00.000-05:00

Drinking and Writing? Maybe. Sewing and drinking? No way.

I happened to wander into the The 3rd Annual Drinking & Writing Festival; "Write 'Til You Puke" yesterday at Hopleaf Bar, a Chicago hangout. I was looking for a little lunchtime Guinness after volunteering at a neighborhood festival.

So I sit down at the bar, and get my brew (which incidentally comes in a can straight from Ireland - most Guinness in the U.S., particularly the liquid that's on tap, originates in Cananda.) I'm sitting next to a woman who's wearing a nametag that says "Don't Try" upside down. I thought she was being silly, until I saw other people wearing the same name tag, right side up.

I had to find out more. Turns all these beer fans were in the pub for a Drinking and Writing Festival, celebrating the Life of Charles Bukowski, who I'd never heard of. They were going to sample different brews, listen to writers talk about ale and see a presentation of an award for Outstanding Achievement in Drinking & Writing to Chicago journalist Rick Kogan. The best part? A two-drink minimum writing contest.

That last part really intrigued me. I was almost ready to sign up, and I'd done half of my minimum already. I just love the idea of loosening up, and liberating a bunch of printed words on paper, even it turns out to be unpublishable gibberish. But...I'm on a diet. Not a strict one (I just ate some Doritos dipped in avocado.) I've lost seven pounds. I want to keep that weight off and lose even more heft. That competition, at fun as it sounds, would have done me in. I have to admit if I had a guy I really liked I probably would haved signed both of us up in a matter of half-nano-seconds. Then I thought....I have to wait another year for the festival (the drinking one, not the neighborhood version)? That's a long time to do something literary with a Rock Bottom or a Three Floyd's in your hand. I told the guy taking tickets at the door they needed do something at least once a month. He said I might have to do that.

Which got me thinking (rare, I know. My brain goes on a major vacation, particularly on summery Saturdays.). Drinking and wordsmithing, a hoot. What about a beer and sewing? Eh.
For one thing, there are some sharp objects in this hobby: scissors, sergers and seam rippers come to mind. One false slip and your project could be a history project. With scribbling words on paper, only the latter gets damaged. Besides, sewing is for the most part, a solitary journey. Imbibing along the way only magnifies the solitude (and sometimes your frustrations with the stitching at hand. ) If I'm going to quaff any alcohol, it's going to be after I turn the sewing machine off and I've angrily tossed my dress-in-progress in a corner. That's when I head to the refrigerator for a libation. Problem is I don't often keep alcohol in my house, so post-sewing drinking isn't an option. In that case, I just have a glass of ice water if it's hot, green tea if it's cold. What are your thoughts on sewing and beer (or wine)?

2007-06-08T18:22:00.001-05:00

Two Klatts in hats

I don't know who it was that recommended that hospital visitors should wear hats. Maybe it was my friend, milliner Loreta Corsetti. I don't know. But it was advice that stuck in my head, kind of a Super-sticky Post-It note on my brain. So I always meant to act on that counsel. I had the opportunity last night when I went to visited my brother Bryan at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

I wore my silk shantung cocktail hat, the same topper that recently ventured to Ireland and back and survived to tell many tales (mostly to me though, no one else). I figured it was dressy enough for entertainment, but strong enough to weather the extremely blustery summer winds we had yesterday. I actually wore my Eugenia Kim brimmed cotton hat during my journey downtown, and then switched chapeaux as I entered the hospital.

I got attention from the moment I walked into the lobby. The receptionist said, "Who's getting married?" I told her no one, but I'd willing to venture down the aisle with the right guy at a moment's notice. Why does this hat inspire wedding-related talk? I think it's the mostly white netting. Anyhow, upstairs, a physician noticed my hat straight off and asked if me if I was going to a show. I told him, "No, I'm doing this for a patient. It's an act of charity."

So off I went to find Bryan, who wouldn't you know it, was already entertaining guests? Two of his students from a spinning (not the machine for turning wool into yarn, the exercise equipment) class he teaches! These women were dressed head to toe in Black, talking seriously with my sib. I enter all bright and colorful in the posh-pink Kwik Sew surplice top that I sewed, my way-too-warm denim jeans, cowboy boots and my quirky hat of the day. They turn to me, surprised. Who is this woman? This is our teacher's sister?

They were intrigued. I think it's the hat's work. I never have to talk or say much when I've got this topper on. It does all the gabbing for me; makes me look great, intelligent, especially when I was dead-tired from battling those 70 m.p.h. 90+ degree Fahrenheit winds outside and traveling on a bus and a train. Somehow, I summoned up the energy to talk and actually converse about life and Bryan's condition (he suffered two strokes while on vacation. He's improving nicely and should be out of Northwestern tomorrow).

Toward the end of my act-of-charity visit, I asked Bryan if he'd be up for a photo. I was delighted when he said yes. I think he wants to document his recovery. So I got up, and awkwardly posed next to his bed, nearly knocking over a urinal bottle hooked on a bar. Yipes!

What I really like about this photo is the warmth it projects, and how happy we both look. He, no doubt, is thankful to be alive. I'm just thrilled to add to his joy, and relieved I'm finally going home. I hope I made his day a little better. The hat was my kooky way of reminding him that life is a joyride. You know what though? I'm going to do this again. I plan to wear other hats when I'm hanging out with people who are sick and need a little beauty to cheer them up. I suggest you try it sometime. I'm certain you'll be glad you did. And if you do, report back to me. I want to hear all about it.

2007-06-06T10:14:00.001-05:00

What Hat I Want to Be Wearing When I'm Discovered...
Actually, I like to think I'm already discovered...by me. That's the most important find, don't you think? Who cares if an agent chases you down while you're crossing the street, or encounters you while you're in line at the bank (Charlize Theron) or hanging out at the drugstore (1940s starlets), or nowadays shrieking on YouTube (Lonelygirl). Isn't it good enough just to be able to look in the mirror and say, "You...you're a star"? I'll bet a handful of almonds it does.

But my bag of Trader Jo's almonds is almost empty (or should I say it's 1/8 full?). As much as I'm really big on not relying on other people to validate you, I have to say I'm enchanted on how this girl was discovered by the Sartorialist. I daresay it's because of the hat she's wearing. She wouldn't have stood out otherwise. She'd just be another stylish local. When I was in the Big Apple recently I wondered how to catch the Sarto's elusive attention. As it was, I was too busy inside to spend that much of it outdoors which is where this popular fashion photographer spends his time capturing his subjects on film. But if I had my druthers (and I often do) I'd wear something playful, something not too serious. A chapeau that I could continue to wear if something awful happened in my favorite Eastern city (and you need to prepared. A tornado could blow through Manhattan.) I don't think you could go wrong with a cocktail hat. Something with veiling though to give it mystery. Netting is so alluring, glamorous and incomprehensible to the average passerby. Not to Sarto aka Scott. If you were anywhere near his radar, he'd snap your photograph in a New York Minute. I'm thinking an apple-themed hat would be perfect to wear. Maybe even with a faux worm hanging off of it. I'd stitch it myself, of course. What hat would you wear in New York City?

2007-06-04T16:21:00.001-05:00

Not Exactly Esther Williams, I'm AfraidIf the patrons at the YMCA I frequent are any indication, people are very, very attached to their swimsuits. They will wear them until they're faded, ripped, and saggy. And they wear the same one every time they hit the water. One teen-age swimmer wears her black, torn beyond recognition suit over a new pale blue one. You'd think that would slow down her while she's doing her laps, but perhaps that's the point. I remember how embarrassed I was by my dad's frayed-beyond-belief trunks when we would go swimming as a family when I was kid. I was deeply grateful we typically visited our local outdoor pool in the evening so you couldn't see too well. I prayed my father would spend most of his time in the water, where his attire would remain hidden most of the time.

I have to say I'm the same way, particularly since I have a torso longer than most maple saplings. I adore any bathing suit that doesn't give me a wedgie.

Most folk don't wear underwear the same way, I don't think. At least I don't, I have a drawer full of an assorted array of panties to meet every possible need: black, mocha, tan, plus a few very white ones. But there's enough to get through a week or so and then some.

But swimgear? Even though I go to the Y for my own version of water pilates nearly three times a week, I only own two bathing suits. One from a thrift store (that'll might elicit an "eeew" from a few of you, but I'm ok with it). The other? The lavender version of the racer-back suit you see above.

I'm at at a point where I don't like either suits. The thriftie is faded, saggy with the elastic is beginning to show beneath one of the straps. I think it's going into the garbage today. The homemade one isn't much better: it's threatening to tear at a point where I used a four-thread serger. I can see it splitting one day as walk into the pool, not exactly an Esther Williams entrance. Then my worst nightmare (the oh-no-I-have-no-clothes-on one) will finally be true. I also have to wrestle my hips through what feels like a smaller than Coke bottle neck. The elastic is also really wiggly, like it got electrified on the sewing machine.

So it's only out of not-so-bare necessity that I've cut out another Kwik Sew suit. Silly me once again opted for the racer back (so the straps don't fall off my narrow shoulders). But it's cute fabric! Basic black in the back, and black polkadots on a hot-pink background in the front. It'll match the rubber Speedo bathing cap that always feels like it's pulling my hair each time I put it on. So the pattern pieces are cut out. Do I speedily stitch up this baby in time for the next work-out session in a few days? No, not at all. All the parts are parked on a top of a blanket in my bedroom. I daresay I'll wear the falling-a-part suits until there's an intolerable hole or snapped strap on either. How long do you keep your swimsuits?

2007-06-01T21:04:00.000-05:00

I'm Losing Sleep Over This...Almost

I just learned yesterday that once I've paid for using the Vogue Fabrics classroom 10 times, I'll receive a $20 gift certificate. To date I've used that special space six times; yes, I can count 'em on two hands now. So that means just four more afternoons in that room and the store employees will give me a piece of paper that I can use to spend more money at my favorite shop in the whole universe (well, Mood Fabrics is my favorite shopping destination in New York City - but that's a different world, in my opinion). What do I spend the money on? I've really pondered this. More patterns, ones that are hard to get at Jo-Ann's or Hancocks? I was thinking maybe a new Silhouette pattern or two. Or even a couple of Christine Johnson ones. Or do I splurge on a couple of yards on say that the lurex-shot paisley linen from Italy that I always touch on my way to the notions room? Wait. I'd probably outspend the gift certificate on just a yard of that textile. I even thought of buying a foot or two (but not two arms, I've already got enough of those on my body, thank you) for my Viking (the sewing machine, not the Scandinavian). Or do I go crazy in the remnants section, where I nearly always find 1 1/2 yards of some jersey knit that cannot be found anywhere else in the Chicagoland or perhaps even in the Midwest. Or maybe I can get a new pair of scissors. I'm so frugal (or so I like to think, but if that's truly the case than how do you explain the bulging bin of fabric in my closet? It's so big that when I pulled it out recently, it got caught on the door, yanking out a couple of slats in the process.) that I actually think about buying fabric before I take the Big Plunge, unless there's only a few yards on a particularly popular bolt that I absolutely must have. I usually take home swatches and study them. If these materials are MIA when I return, I just figure there's always other cloth out there, especially online. In that case, I usually console myself by buying a textile I don't like nearly as much. It's kind like when you hear that guy you've liked secretly for years is getting married, you decide to go on a date with some guy you're not wild about, well, just because. What do you do when a favorite knit, wool, silk, eyelet or chiffon sells out before you can get your justifiable share?

2007-05-31T17:44:00.000-05:00

Strawberry Fields Forever...

Would you wear strawberries on your head? Like this Bes-Ben hat above, for instance. Actually this hat isn't just berries, it's got some daisies mixed in there too, like something a four-year-old would pick on a mission from his mother: "Go pick some berries and flowers for mommy." But those florals could be fried eggs. I can't tell. I would wear a chapeau like this to a party or even a swanky bar, but wouldn't it be a hoot to wear it to a farmer's market or the grocery store? You'd have to do it when strawberries are in season (as they were a few weeks ago. I missed picking up a large, shrink-wrapped box for canning. Darn!) for maximum effect. You could tell the farmer, "My berries will last longer than yours." You can't go for the "mine are cheaper" gambit though. This antique topper isn't cheap. But quality over quantity works though. Every time. You could swap the cocktail hat for bushels and bushels of this red heart-shaped fruit, but would you want to? Not I. Or you could don this vintage beauty for your next visit to a restaurant that serves strawberry shortcake. Bring the doll with the same name and people will think you're really off the wall. But you know what? I don't need this hat. Duh. I already have a strawberry cocktail hat that I made myself. And I like it berry much. (Bad joke, but nearly not as the duds by the man with this orchestra. Great guy and trombonist, though). On second thought, could you own too many fruity hats? It would certainly keep admirers on their tippy-toes to see you wearing something ever so slightly different. Best part about this accessory? This produce wouldn't get moldy ever. Wow!

On another note, thanks all for voting in my poll. I thought I would be more clear about my mission on this planet when I read the results...but I'm confused. Y'all are evenly split about whether I should gab about millinery or sewing! I could go either way and at least half of you would be happy. And one more thing before I go: per one reader's request, I'll see what I can do about bumping up the font size. Or at least changing the color of the background. More likely I bruise the upper part of my body before I accomplish the latter or the former...

2007-05-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

To Stitch or Pitch?

That is the question. I'm writing lots about hats these days, but not getting a whole lot of responses. So I'm wondering if it's the topic. Not many people wear hats these days, perhaps it's far more interesting talk about lingerie, dresses, or even socks. People, particularly those who want to be well-covered, wear these items of apparel. But hats? Lots of folk could take or leave 'em. Most do the latter.
When I started this site, I thought I'd write lots about sewing, but I didn't want to get caught up in the technical how-tos because I figure that's for another site. I was eager to discuss more of the existential elements of stitching. Funnies stories, outright tales, and interesting adventures on way to finishing a particular project or abandoning it after birth...but not quite leaving it on the steps of a nearby church. My latest unfinished apparel is hanging out on the vintage French metal daybed in my office (that would be Vogue 7898). It's actually slumped on a pillow like a dead woman, her arms hanging over the headboard, awaiting resurrection. I forgot about a Vogue Fabrics plastic bag, filled with a half-done warm mohair knit sweater coat, forgotten when it got warm. Oops. There's also the Banana Republic bag with hat pattern pieces that have been sitting untended for at least 24 months, sitting on my bedroom rug.
But I digress. So when I started this weblog, I thought I would wax not so poetically about my passion for sewing, but that was hard in a way because it's not my only hobby. I crochet, knit, and I'm aching to try hairpin lace. Then I started writing about hats, because, well, they're a constant in my life. I've got hatboxes in my closet and I wear something on top of my noggin nearly every day, so that seemed like a natural. Super-easy to find something profound about five times a week. It seemed different that the umpteen sewing-related blogs out there. Plus I figured maybe guys might like the topic....I meet many who love to see women wearing chapeaux, and some even don fedora at times.
But my frequent hat posts haven't elicited much response. Do I smell? I promise I bath and wash my hair regularly. I can't have bad breath - I floss once and brush my teeth at least twice daily much to my periodontist's delight. I also wear Angel by Thierry Mugler. But if I stink, just let me know. I can take it. I wear deodorant also, Secret's Vanilla sparkle.
So post your thoughts if you're so inclined, vote in my poll if you care (or dare). And if you don't anything that's fine by me. I'm going to visit eBay this evening, probably check out the current listings for 1950s issues of Vogue Knitting, particularly those with knitted dresses. I don't know why, particularly since it's getting warm out there to elicit those 17-year locusts here in my neighborhood and I don't want to knit anything that has a finer gauge than my tights.

2007-05-28T20:45:00.001-05:00

A Hat to Forget your Troubles...

Some people go to bar to banish their concerns about work, families, health and finances. The problem with that approach is that you only add to your woes. You leave with a far emptier wallet, a throbbing headache, a stomache and ringing ears from the loud music. I much rather wear a pretty hat such as the one above when the my afflictions seem overwhelming that I fear my petite shoulders might crumble underneath the weight of the world (which seems to be incredibly staggering if you really think about it. Why would anyone even in their troubled minds take on that kind of staggering load? It would kill you in a a fraction of a nanosecond if it were physically possible). But back to hats: I love how I can escape in them. From the moment I don one, I'm in another world. Frustrations with my chronically trembling right eyelid? Forgotten, or at least hidden by the netting of my most beautiful hat. Late check? Oh yeah. It'll be in the mail tomorrow or the day after. Email ignored by best friend? It must have landed in her spam filter; I'll hear from her soon. So only does a spectacular topper make me look great, I end up thinking more optimistically. I don't know how it happens, but it just does.

Which brings me to the hat above, spotted in Intrigato Boutique in Ennis, Ireland. I walked past late in the day, shyly wondering whether to take a picture of the sisal straw hat in the window. Should I take the photo and not worry about the reaction of the store owner and passerby? Or forget about it?

Then the opportunity of a lifetime occurred. Or at least the chance of my earthly existence during the week of May 14, 2007. As I walked past the entryway, where the door was propped opened, a young woman was snapping a picture of a woman wearing the hat above on her cellphone.

I had to enter. "Ooh, can I take your picture too?" I said, the photo-happy tourist (at least I didn't have a pair of white sneakers, a baseball cap and a fanny belt that screamed American, thank goodness). A bit startled, the photo subject, proprietor Ann Garry-Quish, obliged.

It turns out this particular concoction was straight from Paris (how many times can you say that about an outfit or accessory? It sounds so glamourous. Far better than fresh from the Big Apple.) This particular headpiece was for the young lady's mom for her wedding! I thought what a stunning hat to wear to your daughter's Big Day. I'd only fear that such a chapeau might upstage the bride's ensemble. But I admire how this particular hat has what appears to be whisps of platinum hair extensions growing out of it. Jessica Simpson and her hair man Ken Paves must use this in their next clip-on Hair Do ad. And the frond of Sunshine yellow and lime green berries at the side? Makes me hungry. Or least wondering what they actually are.

I have the name of the Paris milliner in my handbag somewhere. Ann scribbled it down for me and when I unearth it from the pile of Adora calcium foils, dull pennies, knitting needle markers, and pens that Do Not Work When You Need Them that litter the bottom of my purse, I am committed to doing a Google Search because the next time I visit Paris (the city in France, not the town in Illinois) I'm visiting this shop. Because even if this hat (or a similar one) costs more Euros than I know how to count, I want to see where the magic happens in the City of Light, you know what I mean. A must-do up there figuratively with visiting the Eiffel Tower. Which brings me back to my original thought: what hats do you wear to forget your tribulations?

2007-05-26T08:18:00.001-05:00

I Guess I'm a Pink Hatter...

First, a clarification: Kathie Lee Gifford doesn't kick up her heels in "Hats! The Musical." That was a bit of disappointment, to say the least since I would have liked to see Regis Philbin's former colleague hoofing it up on stage. Oh well, I'll live. I found the show enjoyable, although bit a little difficult to relate to. I'm not on "the other side of my life" as one character says. Nor am I "getting on with getting on." But I could relate to "The Older the Fiddle, the Sweeter the Tune" especially now that I have returned from the Emerald Isle, where fiddles are more common than rainbows. I also do talk to myself and fairies, just like Melissa Manchester's character. I don't really talk to imaginary creatures, unless you count the ghost who put on kettle on my stove for a cup of tea two days ago. Yes, a supernatural being poured water into my teakettle, turned on the gas on my range, and heated up water. I suppose I could have done this act, but I wasn't thinking tea the other morning. I was eagerly anticipating up tomato juice and my French Vanilla Cappucino Cooler, not green tea. I was momentarily shocked, and turned off the gas. A few minutes later, I reheated the water. A friendly European ghost had a great idea, so why not? But I digress.
My favorite character? Duchess, an African-American woman of a certain dotage. Played by Laura Walls, Duchess is saucy, bawdy Red Hat Society member with more curves than a road in Ireland's hilly Connemara region. She doesn't have hot flashes, she has power surges. And shopping is better than you-know-what because if you're not satisfied, you can always return your purchase for something better. Out of all the women on stage, she'd be the one I'd belly up to a bar with any day. But I don't think she'd go for a Guinness or a Murphy's. She strikes me as more of Shiraz or Carbernet girl. And you know she wears a hat to church every Sunday where she's belting out Gospel tunes in a choir. She's utterly appealing because she doesn't censor herself (I know I do), she's not afraid to may mistakes (I dwell on mine into infinity) and adores life (I'm inclined to qualify my earthly existence).
So while the hats on stage were a bit of disappointment (too department-store looking), what I cherish the most are the memories. I know I'll be thinking about Duchess all day today as I go to the farmers' market to buy some basil, arugula, and maybe organic carrots. I'll be pondering how I can be more like her. Unafraid to show off my fantastic gams, stunning earlobes (yes, really!), and beautiful brown hair.
Last but not least, I got favorable comments on my hand-sewn, haute couture strawberry cocktail hat, which was primarily red. But I had to tell audience members emphatically "I'm not a member of the Red Hat Society." I don't want anyone to even think I'm even remotely near 100 years of age yet. The flip side is that, of course, anyone who would assume I'm a member would like mutter, "Wow! She looks really good for her age!" Which naturally I do. Incidentally, if I did choose to join this group, I'd be a pink hatter since I'm quite a bit younger than the typical applicant.
In any event, I would recommend seeing this show, but I have to worn you: If you wear a chapeau, the announcer will tell you to remove it so you don't block anyone else's view. Well, I didn't take off my bitty topper because it certainly wasn't blocking anyone's way.
What have been your favorite plays or movies that have hats as a central theme?

2007-05-25T16:58:00.001-05:00

Hats!
The Musical

I've been wanting to see "Hats! The Musical" for a while if only for the chapeaux. It'll be like a big fashion show only with lots of you-know-what and music and dancing. I'm a sucker for musicals - I adored Bernadette Peters in Gypsy and I performed in several shows including one tribute to Broadway favorites Irving Berlin and Cole Porter while I was in high school. Then in college I purchased my first CD with Linda Ronstadt singing songs by both Berlin and Porter to the sounds of the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. I plastered a poster of Linda wearing a pouffy 50s iridescent strapless dress on my dorm room wall. When she came to Chicago, I convinced a friend to go. I still have that CD. I need to play "Someone to Watch Over Me," the ultimate rejection blues song. Then in the late 1990s I learned how to lindy hop to those same songs. I'll never get musicals out of my O negative blood.
So I know I'll enjoy hearing Melissa Manchester (remember her "You Should Hear How She Talks About You?" It's the one and same Melissa!) in the lead role. She plays a woman facing her 50th birthday. Can you guess how she copes? You got it.
However, I have a problem with the theme. I'm not anywhere near that milestone. I don't really want to hear about hot flashes, excess facial hair, and anything else a woman who's nearly a half-a-century-old faces. Complaining about life never does any good, although I'm all for wearing something fanciful on top of your head to make you feel better whether you're two or 102-years-old.
What if Red Hat Society members monopolize the audience? I can see them snubbing me already if I'm not wearing a red topper and a purple suit, their uniform. They'll poke their hat pins in my behind as I walk down the aisle. I'll yelp in so much pain that I'll be catapulted right onto the stage where I'll have to kick up my heels with Kathie Lee Gifford and her adorable young male back-up dancers. I'm certain I'll be up for the task since I know how to lindy-hop, salsa, foxtrot. If that fails, I can ask Kathie Lee about Regis Philbin, her former costar. Maybe he's worn a fedora or two?
After I return to my seat, exhilarated and embarrassed all at once, the Red Hat Society members might take pity on me. I can see them passing me a membership application as they leave. "Honey, your hat's cute," one woman with a particularly flamboyant hat, will say. "You're too young just yet, but you should really thinking about joining our group. You'd love it."
I'll give her a dirty look.
"Look lady, I wore a uniform in junior high and college," I'll tell her. "I had two years of a brown-and-white houndstooth print skirt with a darker than mud cardigan and polyester vest. Same skirt, every day. In high school? Four years in a poly cranberry plaid A-line skirt with a matching cardigan."
The lady will stare at me aghast, just shocked at my response. No woman has ever talked to her this way. Everyone loves the Red Hat Society.
"I was never so ready to get rid of that skirt at graduation," I'll continue. "My classmates autographed it. I kept it for a while then I tossed. I swore I would never wear a uniform again. Ever. Not even if you paid me to wear one in a Saturday Night Live sketch."
"I'm so sorry you had a bad experience. But we're just a bunch of old ladies having fun," she'll cackle.
"Lady, I know how to have fun. I think the strawberry-shaped cocktail hat on my head is proof enough. I don't need to wear some stupid red hat or stinking purple suit to feel validated. I am woman, hear me purr. Watch me dance better than Kathie Lee."
I'll take the application form and instantly turn it into a paper hat on the spot. At that precise moment, one of the back-up dancers, about age 32, will leap off the stage, flinging sweat everywhere as he jumps.
He'll land right next to me, looking at me with an adoring gaze. He'll stroke my arm suggestively, whispering sweet somethings in the ear on my better half. (Actually he'll say something like, "You can pay me cash in the alley or write a check to Escort Services." But those silly ladies won't need to know that.)
Kissing my new man on the cheek, and arching my brow, I'll coyly offer my latest concotion.
"Here's my application. Try that on for size."
However, I will quickly withdraw the hat, and smash it with the heel of my BCBG Girls wedgie, trying not to lose balance, of course. You can't trip or fall when you're making a statement. It loses its effectiveness.
Boy Toy will draw me near protectively, and I'll lean my head on his shoulder and we'll walk out of "Hats! The Musical" giving Melissa and her colleagues finally something to gab about. And you know what? I don't need to hear how she talks about me. Who cares? I've got my man and we're going to get a pint of Guinness or two or three.
(photo information: sisal hat, Intrigato Boutique, Ennis, Ireland)

2007-05-24T18:26:00.001-05:00

Lay-Away?
What's That,
Auntie Mary Beth?

One day, I'm certain in the far future, when they're able to build a hearing aid that can pick up the distinct chatter of one teenager on a bus and everyone owns a helicopter, I'm certain I'll sit by an environmentally-correct bonfire (a flickering image of a high-definition television set with a burnt wood smell emitting from a separate panel) and regale my 40+ nieces and nephews (I've already got 11) of days gone by. When nearly all telephones were black. And then tan. And you didn't own them. And a time when no one had a computer, but maybe an electric typewriter if you were lucky. And Americans went on two-week vacations without ever once contacting the office.
Then I'll educate them about lay-away. "What's that?" I can see my little niece, Jackie, now 6, saying as she wrinkles her nose. "Does that mean you get down on the ground like you're going asleep, away from home?"
"Not quite," I'll say, slapping my firm thighs toned by hours on the Power Plate. Who needs water aerobics when a machine can do all the work?
"Lay-away is when you put down a deposit on an item you want to buy, like a new bike. Then you pay off the rest a little bit each month."
"Wow," she responds, her eyes getting bigger than Frisbies. She's clearly intrigued.
"And you don't get the bike until it's all paid for."
"If it takes months to pay for it, then you can't ride it right it away!"
I nod, sage old European eagle owl that I am.
"You can't use a credit card to buy the bike?"
Then wildly waving my well-toned arms dotted with moles and a few dark spots, I regale Jackie with the story about how I bought a polyester (don't laugh) short-sleeved v-neck top with a matching pair of pants at Fashion Plus in the late 70s. I put down a deposit, and only reclaimed the outfit later when I paid it off in full. I can still remember the fabric of this ensemble: a textured off-white knit covered with tiny red, green, blues, and yellow flecks.
Then I tell her how I did the same many moons later (actually today) for dibs on a highly-sought after but gently used Viking Huskylock Serger at Vogue Fabrics. I used my Visa credit card to put down a 30 percent deposit. (My justification here, friends, is that I'm earning my United Frequent Flier miles, ok? I'm not advocating reliance on plastic.) The remainder is due by Christmas. No interest!
All this talk of deposits, balance due, and credit cards is lost on Jackie. She just wants to think and talk about are boys and maybe, just maybe, that really gorgeous guy on American Idol X.
Just as my dear niece gets up to walk away, I'll yell, "My point is that sometimes it's good to wait for stuff. If you get everything right away, you don't always appreciate it. I didn't get my serger for 6 months, but I always put aside money every month until I could finish paying for it. "
She begins skipping away. I know I've lost her now. Who cares about lay-away lectures when there are games to be played on the PC, which was purchased on credit?
"Don't forget about lay-away...your great-grandchildren are going to want to know about it!"

2007-05-23T16:53:00.001-05:00

How About
Them Vikings?

I saw this vintage Singer Sewing Machine sign at a Westport, Ireland shop. In case you can't read it too well, it says, "Sewing Machine Orders Taken Here." It isn't readily apparent, but this advertisement must date back at least to the 1930s if the image on it (a woman with her hair up in a bun, wearing a Victorian shirtwaist, and a long skirt, hunched over a treadle sewing machine) and the font (it appears to be one popular during the Depression) are any indication. When I saw the metal shingle I had to wonder if this shop (Moran & Co.) still took in machines for repairs, since the wealth of wellies in the window just didn't make me want to dig up my grandma's Singer out of my storage unit more than 3,500 miles away.
So I went inside the pencil-thin doorway to ask the proprieter if he fixed up sewing machines. This 60ish gentleman, skinny enough to squeeze through his 4-feet wide entryway, said, "yes." Did a lot of women still sew today? Yes. In fact, he said "yes" to everything I asked. Could you fix up a Viking Husqvarna 730? You know the answer. I'd actually be leery of bringing my treasured baby to this store, never mind the logistics of transporting this object overseas. This shop was such a throwback to the Victorian era with its wavy glass 11-feet tall storefront windows, that I'd really would be amazed if this man would be up for the task of fixing a computerized machine. I think I'd be better off buying the boots or the pale pink Crocs on dispaly and sending my machine to Vogue Fabrics (not that it's broken, for heaven's sake). After I visited Moran & Co. I searched for a yarn shop to get help on my knitting. I found O'Brien (not a pub) which sells mostly home decor fabrics, curtains, some sewing utensils such as scissors and Gutterman's thread. There was even a corner for yarns, some acrylics and wool, but not nearly the plethora of fiber I'm used to seeing even in the tiniest American yarn shop.
The owner, with that ink black hair that so many Irish women seem to have, was able to help me a little. But she didn't have time to correct the more than 100 stitches on my knitting needles that needed some tender loving care (I'm making a skirt), so I was back to square 1: return to the good ole U.S.A. for assistance on this project, which seems to be taking far, far longer than I expected.
Upon my return, what do I get in my email box? Coupons from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I don't know if there's anything remotely like Jo-Ann in Europe, but after the two shops I saw in Ireland it really made me appreciate the abundance of fabric and patterns in Jo-Ann and Hancocks Fabrics. Now that's something I really could have said a prayer of thanks for at the Adoration Chapel my mother and I visited last night (!!) in Ennis. As it was, I just daydreamed about my next Guinness while my mom did the hard work. I think I she borrowed a rosary hanging on a pew to do her duty.
For those of you who've been to Europe, what do you think of knitting and fabric shops there?

2007-05-20T03:09:00.000-05:00

Knitting Shop

Is Closed!

I feel a tad bit sad that I'm leaving the G Hotel, but even more terrified to get behind the wheel (you drive on the right side of the car, and the opposite side of the road) to explore Ireland's Connemara region.But one thing I want to do before I left town was to hit up this knitting shop before my mother and I head off into the countryside. However, it's closed on Sundays. Isn't that a shame? If there's anything I'd like to buy before I leave Ireland is some yarn. I want some kind of reminder of the thousands of sheep I've been seeing in the countryside. Of course, I could get up-close-and-personal photo with the same but it wouldn't be the same. Even snipping a little bit off the creature's coat wouldn't be the same. No, this Yank would like some hanks, thanks! I'm just going to have to keep my brown eyes peeled for other stores while I'm driving. No, actually I think I will be keeping my eye on the road, making sure I'm on the correct side of the road. My mother will keep in me in check too. Any ideas on what other shops to explore on our way back to Shannon Airport?

2007-05-19T09:39:00.000-05:00

I Despise

Being Predictable

Ever since I was 5-years-old, I just decided I didn't want to be predictable. At that tender age, I insisted on wearing a cardigan sweater backwards over a mossy-green corduroy jumper. (I started a trend that would only become popular a couple of decades later. Illinoisans are slow that way.) Even now, I still feel rebellious. I don't want to be pegged. Ever since I wore cocktail hat Thursday night to the opening dinner for the writers' conference here I'm attending here in Galway, Ireland, other people have been asking if I'll wear this particular chapeau again. I've been toying with the idea. Do I wear it again or do I do the oh-so boring bareheaded look? Or do I become hat lady just because I wear the same topper twice? I'm seriously thinking of not wearing my silk shantung masterpiece. Simply because I don't want to be expected to don it again. I'm stubborn: You can lead me to drink water but you can't force to imbibe (particularly here in Galway where doing just that could lead to a serious case of food poisoning. Yes, the water's contaminated with salmonella at the moment. I've already accidentally doused my toothbrush twice with the local water. Thank goodness, I haven't gotten sick yet.). Quite honestly, I'd be more likely to show off my stitched hat a second time if people didn't say anything. Don't get me wrong: I loved being snowed with compliments the night I wore my cocktail hat, but having folk asking me since if I'm going to wear it again has been just too much. Besides, the point of wearing my millinery masterpiece was to pay homage to Philip Treacy. We were eating in the dining room he designed in the g hotel. It was so appropriate then to wear a hat! Tonight we're going to Ashford Castle, which Treacy as far as I know didn't design.Castles are fun, but they don't call for something quite so special. I daresay I'll disappoint a few scribes, but I think I want to be more anonymous this evening. Has there ever been a time when you have friends, family insist that you wear that fedora, picture hat, etc. that makes you so great, but you just didn't feel like it?

2007-05-18T09:51:00.001-05:00

Camilla's Hat

Or Not?

Well, it turns out the hat came first, according to g hotel sales and marketing director, Michelle Quinn. And everyone, and I mean everyone, recognizes it as the Duchess of Cornwall's wedding chapeau, even her ex-husband. He apparently walked into the g (the affectionate moniker for the g hotel) and instantly thought of his former spouse's most famous hat to date when he saw this mirror. I think it's interesting that so many people have had the same reaction when they see this particular furnishing, but I think they're looking for any kind of millinery connection from the moment they walk into the door because Philip Treacy designed the place.
Mirror aside, my cocktail hat, made from a remnant of 1950s rose-imprinted silk shantung and Russian veiling, must have been the hit of last evening's dinner. I looked like a member of the staff in my concoction, Quinn told me. I felt incredibly self-conscious when I first walked into the cocktail hour wearing my creation, but after a while I forgot I even had it on. It certainly helped me stand out in a crowd of dozens of writers all vying for the attention of editors from the likes of magazines such as National Geographic Traveler, Saveur, Body & Soul, Via, AARP, the Magazine and other publications. Even if the editors don't remember my name, they'll certainly remember the hat. I can even sign myself as the "the woman in the hat" when I send them emails in the future. So as a savvy journalist marketing my name and image, my fashion statement was brilliant. I actually regret not bringing more hats (I knew that was going to happen). Now, everyone is expecting me to wear a hat again tonight. Do I wear the same topper? Dare to go bareheaded? Whip up a hat using the red roses in the tiny glass vases on the dinner table? What I wouldn't give now to have my little strawberry-shaped cocktail hat that I sewed with me this evening! What would you do if you were in my platform shoes? Wear the same headpiece again at an offsite dinner hosted by Dublin city? So many choices...I think I nee to take a nap and sleep on it. I could wear my shamrock green shaggy suede floppy hat, but that might be a little casual for tonight's festivities. The suede hat is something to wear outside during the daytime, but not while I'm knocking back pink martinis at the Hotel Meyrick in Galway.

2007-05-17T10:53:00.000-05:00

Millinery Madness

Galway, Ireland

From the moment I walked into the G Hotel, I felt instantly like I was in my closet without all the tripping around and swearing that accompanies any trip into that room in my own home. A foray into my own wardrobe is a bit of an adventure: hatboxes, purses, and shoes fall upon me when I open the door.

So how does the G Hotel, designed by milliner Philip Treacy, resemble my closet? Well, for starters it's an instantly recognizable space. There are pictures of hats everywhere. By the reception desk, there's a black-and-photograph of a male model wearing this whimsical tall ship hat. When I saw that, I knew I was at my destination. Before I forget, there's also exactly four fabulous fuschia umbrellas parked in a rack by the entryway. They're intended for the impromptu rainfalls that this area is famous for, but I like to think they're the perfect cover for any of Mr. Treacy's chapeaux.

There's even a round mirror, surrounded with a fan of feathers that I swear looks Camilla Parker-Bowles' wedding hat. I have to wonder what came first: Camilla's topper or the mirror? Or did the mirror inspire Prince Charles' second wife's bridal headpiece? I suppose only a look at the timeline for the wedding and the hotel's design would tell me more. Or interviewing Mr. Millinery himself.

I couldn't help but think what the late Isabella Blow, an avid, avid fan of Mr. Treacy, would have thought of the G. I can picture her entering this place with great fanfare, an outrageous cocktail hat on her head. I never met the woman, but I was so saddened to heart about her recent tragic demise at such a young age. But I do think she lived adventurously during all the nanoseconds she spent on this planet. What's more, she inspired others (at least me, anyway) to be more bold, and not to worry about what others might think, and dare to be the Center of Attention, as she did. That hat you saw atop my suitcase? It's now on the coverlet of my massive bed, awaiting to be worn to dinner tonight. Other writers here may or may not appreciate the Millinery Genius behind this grand hotel, but I do, and I want to pay tribute to it, hopefully with another Guinness in my hand. (I had one at lunchtime - a bit of a disappointment as I heard that that brew was better here than in the States. My tastebuds beg to differ.)

I'm going to do my utter best to upload photos later today or tomorrow. Until then feel free to share what you know about Galway, Philip Treacy or Isabella Blow.

2007-05-15T14:10:00.000-05:00

Luggage? Check.
Cocktail hat? Double check.

I'm about ready to embark on my overseas adventures The luggage bulges, the healthy sign of More Than Enough Stuff, don't you think? Even my chapeau of choice, a cocktail hat I made, travels well. I'll wrap it in plastic, and park it next to the Lancome UV Expert 20 Sunscreen (also covered with cellophane) inside the suitcase. No hatbox, at least not this time. But I love to daydream about seeing a hatbox spin on the airport luggage carousel. I'm most certain no one would steal that. It wouldn't even need distinctive tags. But what a way to travel. I'd stack my case full of different hats for each day.
In any event, I wanted to wear at least one dressy hat because I'll be staying at the G Hotel designed by milliner Philip Treacy! I cannot wait to see what distinctive couture details he's lavished on this most exquisite hotel. I'll post some pictures, hopefully while I'm there. I've got the little digi camera, and with a little Irish luck, I'll be uploading photograph after photograph of Mr. Treacy's whimsical designs.
I'm waiting for my brother to arrive shortly. He will whisk my mother and I off to the subway which we'll take to O'Hare. I've done all my usual pre-trip preparations: my visit to Vogue went well, but I didn't pick up the eyelet, which to my dissapointment is partially polyester. I cannot dye what Father Nature hasn't made. But I did manage to pet some super-soft microfiber knits in the Silk Room before I left...which oddly enough was the fabric of choice for some designer tops at Brasilian Soul, a nearby boutique. I already have some of this lux fabric in my possession, but I plan to purchase upon my return.
I feel somewhat anxious leaving my stuff. Do you feel like that when you go out of town? Here I am, not just leaving Chicago, but the country! I'm hoping that I'll get tremendous insights about my life, my hopes and dreams, even my hobbies while I'm away from abode. I'm most certain I'll be getting sewing/knitting/crochet ideas while I'm on the road. This is something I cannot turn off ever. Even when I'm standing in line at the grocery store, I'll be admiring the blouse on the woman in front of me, thinking about how I recreate it on my Viking Husqvarna 730. What's more, it's simply impossible for me to buy a piece of apparel from Marshalls or Nordstroms! I usually talk myself out of buying anything. I reason, "I can make that for a lot less than a million dollars!" (Clothes don't usually cost that much, but you get the idea. ) How much more creative are you when you're away from home?

2007-05-14T20:25:00.000-05:00

Nabbed
Finally!

Anytime I get ready for a trip, I somehow gravitate to the fabric store. I can't really explain it. There's just this instinctive need to acquire more textiles before I vacate the premises for a while. It's not like I'm going to be sewing while I'm away. Perhaps I'm prepping my home for my eventual return to the sewing machine, lining my nest if you will for when I must come back to Chicago. I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics on Saturday to take advantage of the $3.99 Vogue Patterns sale (I finally managed to get the above set of hat instructions on sale. Hurrah!). Even at Jo-Ann's, I was buying a concentric-patterned chartreuse, turquoise and brown fleece for inexpensive airplane blankets. Now that I'm leaving tomorrow night and I'm packing I have this incredible urge to go to Vogue Fabrics. I nearly went there tonight but I decided I needed to go to the grocery store instead. Even so, I'm already making plans to go there tomorrow before I dash off to the airport in the afternoon. I'm thinking of getting this Italian eyelet that I swear I've been seeing everywhere. If I don't do it before I take to the skies, this particular cotton might be gone when I return, and I know I will be devastated beyond imagination if that turns out to be the case. (Actually, I'll be kicking myself, but I seem to be end up with sore buttocks when I do that. Kicking yourself is a little difficult if you think about it. I'm certain I'll fall on the floor multiple times trying.) So on My To-Do List, somewhere after copying my passport is...going to Vogue. It'll be a mad dash, I swear. No lingering around the remmant tables. I know exactly what I'm doing. In fact, you could likely blindfold me and I'll be able to pick out the fabric. It's the second row of shelves, third one up as you enter the Silk Room. (Isn't that a lovely name for a particular place in a shop? But I have to tell you there's a lot of more than just silks in this department). I'll grab the bolt, head to the cash register. I know how much yardage I'm getting. Credit card? Here you go, Gabby, Kate or whoever else is manning the cutting table. Sign receipt. I'll be out of the store faster than Spiderman with Mary Jane in tow. Except you'll see me running down Main Street with eyelet in hand, moving so fast, some people might think I'm a ghost from the one of the sunken ships off of Lake Michigan. I might get arrested, not for indecent exposure, but scarying the living daylights out of the local residents. Then I won't be able to board my plane with my mother (!!!) to go to Galway, Ireland where I'll be attending this conference. where I'm certain I'll be daydreaming during one of the lectures about the next pattern I'll tackle when I'm back in the Midwest. How often do you think about sewing when you're doing something work-related?

2007-05-13T10:09:00.000-05:00

The Making of
A Matador Hat

This is what you do when you don't have a Saturday night date. You make a hat for a friend who needs a topper for a her Second City sketch, which is titled, "Toro." Of course, you only unleash your Inner Creativity for a pal who's Special, because I had a magnificent headache. The last thing I wanted to do last night to was to be crafty and make a headpiece. But I'm Loyal to a Fault (I can't help it, I'm a Scorpio), so on an evening when I would rather foxtrotted with a super-cute boyfriend or at least snuggled up with the same to watch "Workout" re-runs on the tube, my ex-American Institute of Architects colleague Mary and I walked down three flights of stairs to my storage unit to excavate a hatblock. When I couldn't locate that (and I dug in my office, my bedroom, and elsewhere), we improvised. Actually we did what a lot of super-stylish ladies did back in the day when they wanted a hat but didn't own a hatblock: we used a wood salad bowl. Yes, the very object you use to eat your greens! I covered two wads of Crayola Model Magic Modeling Compound in foil, taped those two babies to the round vessel, covered that with wet black felt. Then I wrapped rubberbands around what looked two miniature Mickey Mouse ears. Voila! Matador hat nearly complete.
Since the felt wasn't 100 percent natural, I sprayed it with Sullivans Fabric Stabilizer to stiffen the fabric. My hope is that when the hat dries, it will hold its shape better than shellacked hair.
I also created another hat, same formula, instead I drenched the felt with Aleene's Fabric Stiffener. I'm eager to see which hat turns out better - the one with Alene's or the Sullivans' version?
Even with the neurons duking it out in my brain, this whole experiment got me thinking about how it's infinitely more gratifying to make something from scratch than to actually buy it. Sure Mary and I could have bought her costume prop at a store or even ordered it over the Internet. But now we not only have a hat for her skit, we have war stories and I have a stellar excuse to see Toro. I can pretend I'm costume designer extraordinaire Colleen Atwood (who actually started her career making hats) and pose with the actor who wears my black felt concoction. I can barely wait. Pictures will be in order, don't you think? When was the last time you made a hat on the fly without a pattern or block?

2007-05-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

Goodies in

My Mail Box

I swear this has been the best day in a looong while for getting goodies in the mailbox. For once, I don't have Important-looking but mysterious white envelopes (usually from mortgage or credit card companies), bills or even restaurant coupons wadded so tightly I have to pry out my mail, usually ripping the envelopes in the process.
What I got instead were two things. The swatches above from emmaonesock.com, which I got for FREE just for asking. Can you beat that with carrot stick? This little freebie is perfect because right now I'm on fabric diet. I'm trying very hard not to acquire new textiles because a) I'm participating in a SWAP and I want to use what I've already got in my bulging sack of fabrics b) if I'm going to buy fabric, I'll buy the best, nothing mediocre. It's kind of like having a hamburger. You can get your fix by going to McDonald's, which is everywhere and getting a cheeseburger. Or you can save your pennies, and go to Moody's Pub only here in Chicago for a really juicy, flavorful Moody Blue Cheeseburger. That's the way I feel about acquiring new cottons, knits, eyelets, wools, etc. Only the creme de la creme - but that will all probably go out my apartment window during my next visit to Vogue Fabrics.
In the meantime, free swatches gets me through lean times. I'll likely take this set of swatches with me on the train. I'll take it out, and pet each little bit, think about what I'd make with it if I could. Later, I'll set this out on my living room chair, and gaze it while I'm sitting on the couch, eating dinner on the run. And I'll ponder some more about What I Could Make if I Could.
Eventually, when I know the fabrics are gone for good, I'll toss the swatches. But only when I know that particular textile is gone from the planet we know as Earth. If I think it still exists somewhere, I can snip a corner of it and send it to my store of choice and see if they still have it! If they don't, no worries. It's all part of the thrill of the chase, the mother-of-a-story when I finally get my French-manicured hands on my heart's desire.
I already know that the Italian circle scallop eyelet in aqua is gone. So what? I know Vogue Fabrics in Evanston has the same fabric in white. I just might go buy a yard or two or three and dye it!
Oh yes, I forgot the second thing I received courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. A DVD a friend wants me to review. It's a 90-minute Guide to a Beautiful Wedding Dance. I can't wait to see it. What new moves can I learn to practice on prospective, attractive male? We'll see.
What fun stuff is in your mailbox today? A coupon from Jo-Ann Fabrics? Movies from Netflix? A letter written by a friend? Do tell!

2007-05-10T07:55:00.000-05:00

Have a hat and
doggie, will travel

This is a page from a vintage 1950s edition of Vogue Knitting. What strikes me about the photograph is how contemporary it looks. How many celebs do we see walking around with their Chihuahuas, big bags and oversized sunglasses? Too many. But not enough go the extra mile and wear a cute hat. I guess that would bring too much attention, but that's precisely what I adore about the model in the photograph above. She doesn't feel the need to hide behind glasses. She's relaxed, happy and looks like she's on vacation if the resort in the background is any indication. My goodness, the life! I wonder what's in her purse. Definitely not a laptop. Smart woman. Nor a Blackberry. Even more brilliant. That's how I like to travel, light and not too much information, preferably with a knitting project so I don't batty while I'm sitting hours on a plane. If you're wondering if I'm going away, I am. Next week. Overseas. I'll tell you more in a future post.
Anyhow, I'm vaguely envious that this woman can wear a hat with NO BRIM. Here I am, temporarily doomed to hats with brims for a while. At least as long as I am wearing Lustra bleaching ointment on my dermis. Yesterday, I was wearing my pink suede cap (a no-no, according to my doc) and feeling Very Nervous about walking about letting Ms. Sunshine kiss my sensitive skin. However, I was wearing tons of Very Good Sunblock, not only the Neutrogena variety mentioned previously but La Roche-Posay's Anthelios SX, a daily moisturizing cream with sunscreen and Mexoryl, which blocks UVB and UVA rays. I got my sample of this product from my physician's office, but you can find it at select CVS pharmacies. So far, I'm looking good with not one but two sunscreens on my face even though I didn't wear the prescribed broad-brimmed topper yesterday....What kind of hats are you going to wear to protect you from the sun?

2007-05-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

Dermatologist-Approved
Hat?

I'm off to the dermatologist later this morning to talk hyperpigmentation, prescriptions, and no doubts, HATS! It's been way too warm to wear my shaggy suede hat, so I've resorted to wearing a hot pink suede cap or my brown cotton Eugenia Kim hat with a funky assymtrical brim. The problem with the latter and the former is that the brims are not enough to cover my face. Yes, Ms. Sunshine can't keep away from my dermis even though I'm slathering on Neutrogena Age Shield (why does anyone's age needed be shielded, by the way?) Sunblock with an SPF of 45. I'm afraid I can't get rid of the brown patches on my face between putting on my Lustra bleach in the evening, my ineffective head covers and so-so sunblock during the day.
I'm certain the doc is going to recommend hats with ultra-wide brims, bigger than anything Scarlett O'Hara ever wore. But he might approve of the Eugenia Kim straw number above, which looks like it swallowed Donald Duck. On second thought, it also resembles a cross between a fedora and a baseball cap? It's got a sophisication that would wear well during those sweltering summer days downtown. But I really don't feel like spending $290 on it just now. How much time do you think it would take to make something like this?

2007-05-03T08:29:00.000-05:00

Hats Galore!
(At least on the walls)

Do knitting and hats go together like ham and swiss cheese? I think so. I think so, particularly if you're sipping Blumer's Root beer and snacking on crispy pizza slices covered with sauteed onion strips and mozzarella cheese at Brasserie Jo's. If you printed this above photo in black and white, you'd think it was a World War II image. Only thing if it were really the 1940s, I'd be knitting socks for the boys fighting overseas. As it was, I was working on a knitted skirt for myself. Selfish I know. I'll getting around to learning how to make socks one day, I will.
Anyhow, I really wanted to wear one of my vintage hats to this monthly event. I knew I would be surrounded by other women with hats, even if they were only pictures on the wall. Can you identify the photographers of these exquisite photos? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

2007-05-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

Victoria Magazine
Returns!
(and other
good stuff)

If you're one of those magazine junkies who have long mourned the demise of Victoria Magazine, well, here's some good news! Victoria Magazine returns to the newsstands in October!
For those of you not familiar with this classy publication, Victoria Magazine was the epitome of elegance. It had NO articles on sex. Virtually every outfit was tasteful but beautiful. Even my mother, who is known for ripping out what she considers racy newspaper ads, loved it! I do swear (although I doubt the editors would) there were hats in virtually every issue. It was like the Kentucky Derby 12 times a year! My friend, milliner Eia Radsavljevic, had her hats in Victoria when the Millinery Arts Alliance was at its peak. As a matter of fact, that's her work on my head in the picture above. I wore this navy straw-and-netting number downtown yesterday for an interview. My photographer said, "You know your hat is over one eye?" Precisely! Why do photogs see this as a flaw? The one documenting my brother's wedding made me push back the white straw br0ad-brimmed hat I was wearing so he could see my eyes. That photograph sits on my desk. Every time I look at it, I grimace because I despise how my hat looks like it's ready to fall off my noggin. Don't photographers like a little mystery in their work? I'd really love some feedback on this issue (tilted hats) so if there any shutterbugs out there I'd love to hear from you.
And the other news? Eia sent me an email alerting me to the School of the Art Institute's Fashion Department exhibit at Macy's State Street store beginning Thursday. Since Eia teaches at the School, there should be plenty of chapeau on display.

2007-04-29T20:24:00.000-05:00

Rainy Day
On Tuesday
Never Gets
Me Down
As long as it's warm and I have a hat. Yes, I enjoy sloshing in a rain shower without an umbrella if it's humid and I have something on top of my head. I'm thinking about thunderstorms because raindrops on tulips are in the forecast for Tuesday.
But I'd like to look really stylish for the watery onslaught. I frequently look like, well, I got caught offguard in the downpour. Wet hat, hair, no umbrella, and soggy pants.
So you can imagine I was enchanted when I saw these raincoats in the window at Neapolitan in Winnetka. Yet I couldn't help but think, "These coats need great hats!" The red number would be fabulous in a red and black vinyl topper, the others I just don't know. I can't think about them because the rouge coat just begs for attention like the tea kettle singing on my stove right about now. I had a fantastic close-up of that one (the coat, not the kettle), but I lost it when I was cleaning up the photos on my digital camera, which Insisted on deleting the more detailed photograph. I tried to stop the camera, but you know how gadgets have minds of their own, you know? Before you know it, my Cuisinart is going to be making dinners without me. I'll come home one day and there'll be a freshly-cute salad, all ready made for me. Actually, that's a little scary thought. Back to the photos and raincoats.
The red wrap-coat made me think of the raincoats in Singing in the Rain. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds were covered head-to-toe in plastic. Yes, they still wore hats even though they had umbrellas, if you'll recall. A raincoat without a chapeau is very serious. Put on a hat you look like you're going to have fun. You appear to have a I-don't-know-even-mind-if-I-get-wet attitude if you even if do. You know what I mean? So if I ever get around to making a raincoat, I'm making a matching hat. (And there's some nice vinyl at Vogue Fabrics winking at me every time I scoot by, although I wonder if I should just make a jacket out of a red-and-white waterproof picnic fabric just like the ensemble on the cover of the latest issue of Readymade Magazine.) Anyhow, rain coat and hat, don't you agree?

2007-04-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

Striped Ribbon
Rules, Don't You
Think?

Isn't cool how the white stripes get larger as you read across, and then black does the exact same thing as you return to the left side? It reminds me of the concentric circles that get wider and wider after you toss a rock into the water. If you could translate that same reaction to a strip of fabric this ribbon would be it. I could see this ribbon wrapped around a white straw fedora. Wouldn't that be a sharp look for summer? Especially since that colorway is now popular? I could also see this ribbon looped up atop a bed of matching Russian netting - white with black chenille dots for a cute cocktail hat. The reverse would be striking for a phenomenal evening look. That's the fun of vintage ribbons you can make them the stars on a hat. What I don't like to see is more than one ribbon on a chapeau. It looks too busy. It's far better for that one beautiful strip of fabric to be the main vocalist like Aretha Franklin and the hat, the lone back-up singer. Let the ribbon belt out an American Idol-worthy song! What's great about a ribbon is how little you need to achieve a great effect. A colleague bought his wife a $30 swath of vintage Victorian ribbon at Tinsel Trading in New York last week. I can't wait to see how she uses it! If you have a penchant for old trim, how do you use it? For what it's worth, I just noticed the address on the ribbon spool. I wonder what's at 1 W. 57th St. today? I know the Fashion District has been shrinking for a while, but I'm hoping this address isn't a Duane Reade or a Starbucks.

2007-04-25T20:21:00.000-05:00

A hat a day keeps
the physician away?

I'm am beginning to think that way since shaggy suede hat has saved the day more than once in the past few days. My luggage ran away from me as I was leaving New York; United has taken its time retrieving my baby so I've been left sitting here with no good make-up. Yes, I have blushes, potions and lotions that I no longer like sitting in my cabinet, but I can't use that stuff to Look Good, can I? I just made do slathering on the generic sunscreen from Walgreens. I feel so naked without my favorite foundation and mascara. I feel positively pale so I've hidden myself under my hat...and I somehow still got a compliment from a guy in a baseball cap. He followed me as I leaving the subway in downtown Chicago yesterday in that shy "How do I tell her she looks good?" sort of way - you know when a guy wants to say something nice to you but doesn't quite know how to approach you? Well, he finally said, "I really like your hat!" as I was about to board a bus. That made my day considering I know I wasn't looking my best.
Beep! Oh, that's United. Back in a minute. Hurrah, my suitcase is here. Praise be the Lord, and I really don't talk that way. But I do feel some Hail Marys and Our Fathers are in order here. I feel like I have my life back. Now I'll have to ensure everything is inside. I've been looking for the scarf that matches my hat. Fingers double crossed, it's inside my luggage.
Anyway, while I'm creating a laundry pile in my entryway, here's a picture from the Big Apple. The sole photo to make it home on my digital camera. It's Kashi and I at Metro Textiles. I'm wearing a shrug I made from a 1 1/4 yards of a flamestitch knit from Vogue Fabrics. Got to go find that too. Ciao for now!

2007-04-24T19:54:00.000-05:00

Why I Need to
Rename This Site
The Lazy Milliner

I did not make it to Manny's Millinery. I wanted to go. I really did, I had his address onto a Super Sticky Post-It Note, right there underneath directions for Mood Fabrics. I made it to Project Runway's favorite fabric haunt, and left with no less than six swatches of swoon-worthy swatches of textiles. Eyelet? Check. Italian pink paisley cotton print and psychedelic green flower stretch fabric? X, x, and X! I got all these tidbits because I wanted to ponder my choices. What did I feel comfortable spending $15 or more a yard? And I did do that, watching the Tuesday night finale of Dancing with the Stars in my Pod hotel shoe box, I mean, my room. Did I return to Mood to make a final decision? No, I went to Metro Textiles, which is the next street over from Mood in the Fashion District. I blew my budget out of the water into the stratosphere and onto a fast track to Mars. Really I had no intention. But there was there was the persuasive owner, Kashi, pulling out bolt after bolt of lovely fabric from the moment I rang the doorbell on his showroom door.
"You like this? How about this?" he'd say, as he pulled off these long spools of fabric of the shelf like he was dragging kids off the playground by the corner of their jackets. He'd wrestle with these bolts, which seemed to tower over him like lanky bullies. But he didn't fear these things, and he'd push them into a pile along the wall just for me. When I demurred over a heart-imprinted fabric because I don't have love in my life now, he said, "That's because they don't understand you." How right he was! I don't need a shrink - I can just visit Kashi when I need some sympathy!
Honestly, I felt a little dizzy with all the fabrics he set aside for me. Twelve, 13, 15 bolts? I couldn't possibly afford all these textiles. Never. Not now. Not in this Lifetime. Even with a great salesman who understands me. I had to be ruthless. And I figured out how much I was going to spend.
And I whittled away at the pile, so I ended up with a bluesy stretch fabric, two yards of black eyelet, a lace-trimmed black batiste, a huge black-and-white floral print, orange paisley jersey, and I must be forgetting the rest because I'm hungry.
Anyhow, Kashi just put each fabric on this metal pole and figured out the yardage measuring against the length of his arm! They don't do back at home in Illinois! At least not in the land of Jo-Ann, Vogue Fabrics, and Hancocks. He put it all in a pile on a chair as I prayed very fervently that it would not add up to Very Much. I was only $23 over my limit by the time I was done. My guardian angel was working over-time - although I know she really doesn't give a hoot about how much I spend on my hobbies.
I decided I didn't want to stuff my goods in my luggage (which, by the way, sits in North Carolina as I write) so I had it shipped home. It arrived hours after I walked in my door. The irony is that I have all the fabric I ever want to sew while I have a major Personal Grooming Accessory Deficit that rivals the United States'. Ah well, better to stitch and gripe while I'm waiting for United Airlines' telephone telling me that my stuff is on my way. I actually did turn on my sewing machine last night, but the sewing gremlins were wreaking major havoc so I decided to call it a Tuesday night, and turn out the light before any more mistakes could be made. What hobbies do you turn to when your luggage gets lost?

2007-04-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

When the Dye Runs,
Do You Walk?

The reason I ask is because this eBay seller is selling this nifty 30s hat, now grey and black, formerly noire and white. I can only imagine how stunning it was in its original colors. Apparently this topper got wet and the colors decided to dance. They could have been doing a salsa number, but personally I think they were doing the tango because these dyes got really personal. They didn't recreate, but they certainly did MUTATE.

I'm glad to see that saralu54 hasn't ditched what must have been a museum-quality piece. Now she's offering it for a great deal and suggests that it might make a great pattern. I think that's a fantastic idea! Somebody has already bid on it, so I'm wondering what the lucky buyer will do with this hat once he or she get his or her hands on it. Will they put it on a mannequin? Make a duplicate as saralu54 recommended? I'd actually just as soon wear it, and I wouldn't have known the dyes bled if the seller hadn't mentioned it. But the laundry snafu made me think of why I'd do if one of my favorite chapeaux had an unfortunate meeting with water. I'm sure I'm scream, maybe even cry, and most likely try to resurrect the hat if possible. It makes me think of the lovely 1940s printed silk that I got as a gift from an elderly friend a few years ago. Well, I wetted it to stretch it prior to sewing. It made a HUGE mess all over my bath tub. I was afraid to actually stitch it because that fabric just wasn't colorfast. I didn't want to even think about what would happen to me (or my attire) if I got caught in a rainstorm.
What have you done with a hat that's gotten a little damaged?

2007-04-13T06:52:00.000-05:00

Shaggy Suede
Hat Goes
To The Big Apple

In the first photo you see my owner and I in front of the New York Public Library. Nice shot, eh? I swear Mary Beth wore me just about everywhere last year, although she did seem to take me off inside restaurants and bathrooms and apparently Mood Fabrics as you can see from the next photograph. I adore New York because you see lots of hats there, so I feel very at home, not like Chicago where fashionable chapeau are like stray coyotes in Subway shops. Now I only wish I could have seen my peers during Easter in New York. From what Mary Beth (who also made me by the way) sees on The Sartorialist it was quite a show.
So I'm quite excited about returning to the Big Apple. I just wish you-know-who would wash me before she escorts me to the airport. At least she's not wearing that fake tan stuff anymore. It just rubs off on ME! Ugh, I really don't like make up.
My biggest fear, though, is that my maker will befriend other hats and start wearing them more. And you know in New York City that's easy to do. Lots of hats in the windows. And Mary Beth keeps talking about visiting Manny's Millinery. One day I'm afraid she's going to say, "I'm tired of wearing my shaggy suede hat. I'm looking predictable!" I already know she's going to stop taking me on her adventures when it starts getting really warm. I mean, I've been a good friend. I've kept her head warm when it's been really cold, fought with Mr. Sun to keep his rays at bay so Mary Beth can keep her complexion blotch-free. Not only that, but all these guys walk by her and say, "Nice hat." THAT wouldn't happen if I weren't around. Am I being unreasonable or what?

2007-04-10T18:47:00.000-05:00

From
My Archives...
I don't own this hat, but I now I wish I did! I tried on this beautiful (silk?) cocktail hat by Laura Whitlock at what has to be one of the last Hat nights at Brasserie Jo in 2003. I have another hat, similiar in style, also by Laura. It's made of this beautiful hand-dyed fuschia chiffon. Like the hat pictured above, it also ties underneath your hair.
I truly enjoyed the Hat Nnights that were held monthly at this popular downtown French bistro. If you wore a chapeau on that night, you got a free chocolate dessert in the shape of a picture hat. I usually spent the evening trying on hats between sips of wine and nibbles on the restaurant's famous steak frites. Even if I didn't leave with a new topper by the end of the evening, I usually had a great time talking with other women who love wearing hats as much as I do.
I went back to Brasserie Jo recently for a Knitting Night. While I enjoy stitching with other ladies who enjoy the same, it lacks the glamorous vibe of Hat Night. It was funny because this new event was held in a room decorated with vintage pictures of women wearing hats in the 1950s. Wouldn't you know it, but in the entryway were photos of women from Hat Nights past! Next time I go to this eatery, I'll wear a hat. Let's see if I can still get a complimentary dessert.
Has wearing a hat ever gotten you free scoop of ice cream, cake or pie?

2007-04-08T20:26:00.000-05:00

Not Quite
The Easter
Parade...

...especially when I saw all the ladies and young girls not wearing chapeaux today at church. I felt heartbroken. Here I was the only female wearing an Easter bonnet (the hand-crafted strawberry cocktail hat in the above photos) in a sacred place filled with hundreds. I saw more than a few wee things dressed in springy dresses. I had t0 wonder what would it take to go one more yard and wear a hat? I know, I know: a right-minded mother who's clued into the importance of this tradition. But clearly that's not happening at this moment. So I had to carry on and show how it's done! I did bring a camera to church, but I didn't feel like taking any photographs once I discovered that my young nieces weren't there....only my youngest brother. Now I love my bro', but I was really look forward to the reaction of my older brother Doug's daughters, especially the middle one in her adorably scratchy voice, "Are you wearing a strawberry on your head, Mary Beth? That's so funny." So I had that in my mind - the delight of one 5-year-old child - as I ventured into the cold onto the train to Mass. So when my dream wasn't realized, I didn't bother to record History, namely the one woman who wore a fashion hat to Saint Mary of the Angels church 8 a.m. on April 9, 2007. Whatever. I even put on my practical shaggy suede spring green hat on the way to the parking lot. It was like Fantasy Kaput, job done, time to go eat breakfast!
More on the fruity concoction in another post. And yes, I did make it. If Easter is an important day in your life, was it filled with hats, yours or others? I'm hoping so....

2007-04-03T16:41:00.000-05:00

The
Fedora

I had no idea this hat image was so huge. A good thing if you really want to see the detail, seemingly larger than life. I love how you can see the nap on the felt. I practically want to pet this topper. Nice hat, nice hat, you're such a cute, little hat (said in voice used especially for adorable babies, puppies and kitties). Now don't back off if I tell you this chapeau is being advertised as gangster-style. It's hard to imagine an accessory as innocent-looking as this involved in any kind of criminal activity. Lifting a few packs of Wrigley's Spearmint gum is about evil as my mind can picture. Which brings me to the fedoras featured in Eugenia Kim's book, Saturday Night Hat: Quick, Easy Hatmaking for Downtown Girls, which I found at the Paper Source this past weekend. I was hoping to learn a thing or two about how to make a fedora. Instead she suggests you buy one pre-made and embellish it! I'm all for decorating one's hats, but a tome about millinery should be just about that, not fixing pretty ribbons to a chapeau from Target and calling it a day. I know making a low soft felt hat with length-wise crease in the crown is a bit tricky: you've got to make the upper part of the hat, the brim and stitch the two together. (You more experienced milliners can fill me in on this). My dream is to have an ocelet-print fedora just like the ones my friend Eia used to make and sell. The first step is to buy a hood from Manny's Millinery while I'm in New York City in a couple of weeks.

2007-04-02T07:02:00.000-05:00

6 Days
To Go

Even though I'm having issues with a hat big enough to cover a patch of hyperpigmentation on my face, a large picture hat is not what I have in mind for Easter. That holiday is all about little and adorable - little girls in bonnets, chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. Right now I have a hard time thinking about wearing a broad-brimmed chapeau in church; it's not conducive to looking around to see what ladies are wearing a hat on this day. I usually see maybe one or two women wearing hats; they're usually outnumbered by their nine-year-old counterparts. Just that thought alone has me feeling a little competitive. I was thinking about making a dress, but if I'm going to give my hands some business it should really be a hat. Yet I feel like I'm missing the proper coat - I no longer own my cream wool princess overcoat. Ugh! It went with everything. This makes it really difficult to come up with the proper headwear because my garments need to match.
Which brings me to this cocktail hat above, for sale on eBay. How many of you have ever bought a vintage topper online? I must confess I never have. I like to try on my headgear. I once bought a pair of shoes online, even today they're a bit tight on me. I do it again since I've read return policies have improved - now if they don't fit you can often return them free. Can you imagine doing that with a hat?

2007-03-30T19:37:00.000-05:00

What the Doctor
Ordered

Not the crochet dress, the purse or even the gloves, but the hat. I went to the dermatologist yesterday to have a light brown patch on my face checked out. He gave me a couple of samples of 4 percent hydroquinone bleaching ointment called Lustra (suppose to make me Lustrous, you think?) Anyway, application of this solution makes your skin ultra-sensitive to the sun. So that means I need to wear hats when I'm outside. We're talking the big-brimmed Scarlett O'Hara variety. But honestly I'm afraid that's not going to be enough to keep the sunbeams at bay. I don't hop into a car and drive away. I spend a lot, and I mean a ton, of time walking to wherever I need to go. I'm a Public Transportation Girl. You need to go somewhere in Chicago on the El, Metra, or bus, I can tell you how to get there. Anyhow, I also don't believe wearing a sunscreen with an SPF of 45 (which the doc also recommended) and the biggest baddest chapeau will be enough for the sun to stop peeking at my little 'ole patch. What do you think?

2007-03-29T07:43:00.000-05:00

Cute
Overload?

I want to thank you all for voting in my Shall I Change My Blog's Name poll. Your vote is very important, something that I think about late at night, just before I afix my Frownies on my forehead and hit the pillow. It's likely I will change my weblog's title and the banner, but it might be a little while for I make the alteration. I need to do all this rejiggering on another computer with the proper software. So stay tuned. I know it's not quite the drama of American Idol or even Dancing with the Stars, but what can I say?
Here's a new pattern for your consideration. It's by Sally Victor, who apparently was a big-time milliner in the 1950s. I sometimes see her hats at vintage shows, but rarely in a pattern. This particular Vogue pattern reminds me of the bubble skirts that are all the rage now. It's the ripply brim, which is exactly what you're seeing in those abovementioned garments. At least that's what I see. If I were to make this hat, and you know it would be easy-peasy, I do it in silk shantung. I know that fabric fades easily, but who cares? A little swath of this material isn't going to cost you a fortune. And it will look so stunning! I could picture this hat with a sheath, or even a bubble skirt? How would wear this topper if you were so inclined?

2007-03-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

Much Ado
About Hats?

You know I've written so much about hats lately I'm beginning to think I should rename my blog to at least something that sounds like it's about chapeaux. The Sewist? It's kind of vague. It could be about stitching quilts, emergency-room suture techniques, even last-minute "oops, my button's fallen off! What do I do?" tips. Hence I'm talking a lot of other things than how to manage a run-away industrial sewing machine (for that by the way, just gently tap the peddle) or even to get a pouchy pocket to stick your fabric while you're hand-stitching (use a glue-stick). For what it's worth, I like talking about hats. I could chat about them all day. I rather blog about hats mostly because it's a unique topic that I don't see discussed much in the weblog world.
So now for the drum roll. And the big question. Should I rename my site to something hat-related and change the banner artwork accordingly? Weigh in please! (And if you're interested in the above 40s sewing pattern, click here.)

2007-03-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

An Easter Bonnet
With All
The Frills Upon It?

Doesn't this hat just scream, "Easter?" The chartreuse, fuschia and pale pink grosgrain ribbons just make me think of that holiday, which used to be a time when ladies would get dressed up in their finest garbs, even buy a new chapeau for that special Sunday. I still wear my prettiest clothes on that day, I don't always wear a brand-new hat, but I do don a chapeau! Several years ago I wore a lime green 40s culotte dress with a purple buckle and a puffy plush pink cocktail hat by milliner Laura Whitlock. Oh yes, I had to wear a coat that year because it was cold. My cream-color princess cut coat looked smashing, the appropriate silhouette for my 40s-themed topper and my vintage beige peep-toe sandals. I'm not sure what I'll do this year. I feel, aaah, lazy. Oh, I'm terrible. What would it take to make a cute hat one night? Just lock myself in my sewing room (though that would be hard because I can unlock the door myself), cut something out and stitch away. Better yet, reserve the classroom at Vogue Fabrics where I'll be away from the distractions of home (refrigerator, computer and phone) and I'll have the support of the sewing-machine sales people when a needle breaks or the iron burns a hole in the ironing board. It's high time I put my millinery skills to use, for the most important person in the world: myself. What's more likely though is that I'll crochet or knit something since I seem to be putting a lot of time into that hobby. Shall I start an Easter hat count-down? April 8 is the big day!

2007-03-20T16:04:00.000-05:00

A free hat
pattern!

It's true. A completely complimentary hat pattern can be found at eloomanation.com, right here. Click on the second pdf download from the top for a 1930s hat made on the weave-it loom. And yes, you can create cute little squares like the ones above for your adorable chapeau. I've known about the weave-it looms for a long time thanks to my prolific eBay trolling habits which has educated me immensely on the popular pastimes of the Depression-era generation (Anyone want to learn more about little baskets made with three billion beaded safety pins? Or child-sized handmade quilts? Email me!), but I was beyond thrilled when I found eloomanation. It was like a whole new universe opened up. Considering I just bought a hairpin lace loom from Stitch Diva, making attire and headgear on the weave-it loom seems to be up my alley and down my Wisteria Lane. After all, how many people tell me, "It's so great that you have so many hobbies?" I'm certain I can learn how to use the weave-it loom in a nanosecond since I mastered weaving on a cardboard loom shortly after I emerged from my embryonic stage. I also wove oven mitts too - I think I might have a few singed examples around somewhere. I'm going to stay away from the weave-it for now unless I find a great, unused one at a flea market at a GREAT PRICE. Then you'll see me making squares on the bus using gimp, straw, dental floss, yarn, aquarium tubing, and other unusual materials just as eloomanation web site founder Jana Trent suggests.

2007-03-19T16:02:00.000-05:00

Keeping the Sun
At Bay...

I'm a huge, huge fan of Amy Butler, particularly her fabrics, sometimes her patterns, which seem to be mostly accessories like handbags and totes, which I don't dig. I don't make purses, I botch them. Yes, I destroy them - I stitched up a little handbag in a School of the Art Institute of Chicago class last week. I forgot to put the tab until the end. Oops. I had to cut open the seam, insert the missing piece, and resew. Now the interfacing shows. It'd be a designer touch if I liked that mistake, but I don't so that little experiment is either going to a niece or in the garbage.
So I'm glad Ms. Butler has branched into millinery. I'm thrilled to sew a chapeau; it seems fairly mistake-proof. And this one looks fairly simple, although it also resembles a pattern put out by one of the Big Four pattern companies, where you know it will cost a fraction of what Ms. Butler charges for her instructions, particulary when Jo-Ann Fabrics or Hancock's has one of its sale days. So I'd just as soon snap up a yard of Amy's pricey paisley print and make up this hat with another pattern, maybe even a vintage one from eBay. Yeah, I'm a hypocrite because I'll pay mere pennies for the how-to and pattern pieces, but then I'll spend big bucks on designer fabric? Here's my warped reasoning: it's easier to find Guinness on tap that it is discover another textile with those larger-than-life bold designs that Amy uses on her cottons. I constantly troll Vogue Fabrics and I don't find cheap Amy Butler wannabee cottons. So I'm willing to buy a yard of her stuff and transform it into a floppy hat just so I can have her aficionados come up and ask me, "Aren't you....?" And I can say, "Yes, I am. Don't I look great?"

2007-03-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

Deco Deluxe?

You Decide.

This hat has a certain bravado about it. I picture on it on a muscular shortish guy wearing a white cotton short-sleeve button-up shirt or t-shirt, pair of dungarees and gently worn brown leather oxfords or maybe Chuck Taylors. I just love the silky bias-cut striped trim around the crown. It reminds of the 1950s cotton Wright's bias tape I bought at a vintage show. It had that same pattern but in a grey, pink and white colorway. So pretty, so spring. I stitched it 'round and round a cotton crochet hat I made from a 1940s pattern. It looked cool, but the stitching nor the ribbon wouldn't stay put. It was so frustrating because the hat looked grand on my dressform but the trim got wiggly once I put it on my head. I think it's still on there, and I refuse to toss it, because heaven's sake the trim is more than 50 years old. They don't make stuff like this any more. I will recycle the tape if necessary on a pocket, collar or sleeve. Maybe my trim needs something more solid to adhere like this straw hat pictured above. What do you think?

2007-03-13T16:19:00.000-05:00

It's A
Shame...

...that no one, and I mean no one has bid on this cute topper. It's hard to resist in my opinion. It's got *REAR INTEREST* (eBay seller new-york-cameo-girl's all-caps, not mine) and it's Very *FEMININE* (again, new-york-cameo-girl's emphasis). Besides, it's got a New York-Paris label. So you know it's chic. As for that drama from behind, you can't see it here, but the seller is talking about how these straps wrap about the back of the dress form head's. And that's quite fascinating. And it's about girly-girl as you can get. It's also, at least in my mind, very bridal-looking. Something you'd wear (at least I would) on that Big Day. But I'm not getting hitched right now, otherwise I just might buy it. I've actually pondered what I would wear on my trip down the aisle. I'm thinking a cute cocktail hat with a bird's nest. Yes, a faux birdie sitting in her home. That kind of hat beats those other so-conventional wedding veils out there. I believe. Besides, if you wear a bird on your head (hopefully with no droppings), it shows you're not taking yourself too seriously. Which is the attitude I'd like to cop for at least 24 hours if I'm ever so nuts to get married. At least I know my nieces and nephews would get a kick out of this hat; they'd gossip about it for the next millennium. It's so much fun making a good impression on the next generation! Anyhow, do you think this chapeau (called a tilt hat in the auction) would be suitable for a wedding?

2007-03-12T08:23:00.000-05:00

Labels On
The Table

Growing up, my mom was all about "no labels on the table!" So no cartons of Morton's salt if we were having french fries or squirt bottles of ketchup either for hamburgers or more likely, hot dogs. You had to get to grandma's crystal salt and pepper shakers or pour the ketchup in a bowl. I think my mother was trying to make the everyday meal more refined, kind of like what "Shabby Chic" author Rachel Ashwell does by putting out the best china for even fast food.
Which brings me to the labels above, from an eBay hat auction that has ended. I love seeing identifying marks inside hats. It's more meaningful that way. Suddenly, the ordinary chapeau suddenly has a history, an owner, a manufacturer. I have a custom label "Made Especially For You by Mary Beth Klatt" on a leprechaun green shaggy suede hat I sewed for myself. I have this fantasy that if I lose this accessory, the finder will Google my name and return it to me. But it hasn't happened yet. I actually lost an earlier version of this same topper at a shopping mall. No one, and I mean no one, called to say, "By the way, are you missing a ...?" Probably didn't even look to see if there was a label. I'm still hopeful I'll still get that call. You read stories on Happynews.com all the time about people getting stuff returned to them 25-50 years later. That'll be me, I'll be living in warm and balmy Hawaii a quarter-of-a-century from with no need for winter attire when I get that email or phone call. Even so, I'd delightfully accept the return. And then put it in a place where it couldn't be lost again! How about you? Has anything you've marked with your name been lost and returned?

2007-03-02T10:10:00.000-06:00

Remember That Purse
I Was Talking About?

Here it is, not in color, but in black and white. Stunning, right? It is, but it's all crocheted straw! Yes, straw otherwise known as raffia. Working up this extraordinarily difficult fiber on a crochet hook was so hard on my hand, I don't think I minded one bit when I accidentally tossed the whole project into a garbage on my way to catch a train. (It was in a gray grocery bag, so it was an easy mistake to make.) Speaking of plastic grocery bags, crocheting with straw feels exactly the same: you feel like you're pulling taffy! The worst part of it? The crocheted straw had a mind of its own: it would not lay flat! It refused just like a child saying no to broccoli! Spraying it with water (not the child, the straw) didn't help either.
No all was lost though. I tried the pattern again (I had too - I just fell in love with that popcorn-stitch trim) in a thin ribbon knit. It worked! It's actually nearly completed. I just need to make the purse handle and sew it on. I think I should line it too. But with what? Any ideas? If you've made this purse, I would love to hear about it and see a picture too!

2007-03-01T14:30:00.000-06:00

Another
Jaguar for my
Collection...

I can't seem to resist this style of hat whenever it pops up on eBay, which is often, which also means this topper must have been really popular back in the 1930s and 1940s and every woman and her sister had one of these on their heads, which also makes me think of how many animals lost their skins in the name of fashion. *Shiver.* I can't say I'm totally against wearing genuine furs today, but everything in moderation, even with things that are in plentiful supply now because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Of course, that means you better stock up on what you really love while you can because I don't want to hear any complaining about how you can't find Chuck Taylors in your size or price range when you really need them. But back to this hat. I think what's so appealing about it is how it's kind of a neutral you can wear with just about anything. What's more, anyone could wear it. I could see it on my mom, if she dared or my sister if she doubled-dared. It's got that trendy urban vibe, even though it's vintage. It certainly doesn't look like it dates back to World War II! While anyone with just about any type of hair could wear it, I think it would look best with ear-length hair. Other than that you could wear this with just about anything: an emerald-green suit, jean jacket or a head-to-toe black ensemble. Or how about Joan McGowan's knitted fishnet stockings? I swear I'm going to wear those stockings with leopard-print peep-toe sandals just like the model in the picture if I ever get around to using Joan's knitting recipe!

2007-02-28T10:58:00.000-06:00

Got Gimp?
(And that's not Gump.)

We're not talking Forest Gump, but gimp, a rayon-covered crochet thread. You've seen it in purses. Compared to regular sewing thread, gimp looks thick and hearty. Like it wouldn't snap if you pulled on it. That's why it's such a great material for handbags and clutches which can get a lot of wear and tear. As much as you've seen gimp in accessories, you'd be hard-pressed to find it in a hand-craft store such as Michael's, Hobby Lobby even a Jo-Ann Superstore. It just isn't readily available to the home hobbyist. I've found my gimp (mostly the vintage variety) on eBay. Spools and spools of the stuff from the 1930s. Here's a contemporary source of the thread. Apparently you can dye it. I had no idea. I've made (and unmade) an 1930s purse from my gimp. It was really pretty, but I wasn't getting the gauge I wanted so I undid my work. It's still sitting in my closet waiting for another project. Next time I might try a hat, perhaps from a pattern such as the one above. It wouldn't long even though you're working with a small hook. Little projects like hats go quickly.

2007-02-27T07:57:00.000-06:00

Erma in Ermine
in Uganda?

I couldn't resist the alliterative loveliness of this ermine cocktail hat. While it does look like the mannequin is wearing a huge Dunkin Donuts frosted sugar pastry tied on with a black velvet ribbon, I still like it. I'd wear this, although quite honestly, I think it might bobble or even fall off if I were attempt to dance in it. The reason I bring that up is swinglindy is the highest bidder at the moment for this cute topper. I cannot see anyone swing-dancing in this chapeau. Perhaps doing a modest foxtrot or even balboa but nothing with or dips or that little white fur baby will end up on the floor, getting dirty! I think this hat is better for watching dancing. I'd wear this hat with a sumptous matching winter white wool suit and matching platform shoes. Just so I don't look like a snowy playground I'd throw in some dark accents: black fishnet shoes and jewelry and perhaps black and white platforms. Of course, what would be really be hoot would be to wear this demure ensemble to a nightclub, then in the middle of the evening, shake off the jacket to reveal a very funny black and white t-shirt and start kicking up a storm on the dance floor (minus fur baby). Right now I'm fancying a retro-themed "Just One More Row" knitting tee from White Lies Designs.

2007-02-26T10:48:00.000-06:00

Signed and Delivered:
An Easy Newsboy Cap

It always strikes me a bit ironic that you see hats with old-fashioned names or even occupations. Like this newsboy cap. When was the last time you even saw a boy delivering the newspaper? It's a been a long while for me. My brothers delivered the Chicago Tribune out of the side of the family van more than a few years ago. I cannot recall the exact attire they wore, but they most certainly did not wear anything like this. Not even an extra-large tip at Christmas time would have dissuaded them or my mom yelling, "You're going to catch a cold without a hat!" Boys, and men for that matter, do not respond to such idle threats. That's not to say this cute cap isn't worth wearing. I'd wear it. What I really like about it it how easy it would be to make. Something you could make in an afternoon out of whatever skeins of yarn in you've got in your stash. I'd do it, but I think I need to purchase this issue of Crochet Today. And I better do soon before it dissappears from the newsstands.

2007-02-19T07:53:00.000-06:00

In Search
of...

I visited Hancock Fabrics yesterday to buy Vogue hat patterns, since there were $3.88 apiece, a bargain since they regularly sell for $20+. So I went with a list of patterns I really wanted, hoping and praying that there would be some for making hats. But when I checked the store's huge filing cabinets, there were NO Vogue hat patterns to be found. Not one. They were just cleared out. This frequently happens when there's a sale on Vogue Patterns. The ones for sewing chapeaux are gone faster than an old-fashioned Concorde jet taking off from O'Hare Airport. As popular as these instructions are, where are the finished hats in real-life? No where. I have a sneaky suspicion that members of the Red Hat Society are snapping up these hot commodities so regular folk who want to stitch cute cocktail hats and fedoras in other colors cannot, and that would include me. I wanted to make the adorable brimmed number (made in up in fuschia in the second image from the top). I guess I will have to wait until there's another sale. Next time I'm going to wait at the store door and make a mad dash for you-know-where the moment the price drops. But all is not lost: I managed to walk out of Hancock's with Vogue 2907 (Alice + Olive pants), Vogue 8307 (designer knock-off jacket) Very Easy Vogue 8278 (dress), and New Look 6571 (quickie assymetrical knit skirt). Those purchases should keep me happy for a while, don't you think?
(By the way, I won't be posting much in the next few days, since I will busy blogging over here for the week. Rest assured I will be moderating comments here at the Sewist (I actually figured how to do that last week, and released to the world more than a few kind remarks that had been hibernating for several months. Sorry about that. Please do continue to leave notes. I promise to get to them faster now.)

2007-02-16T14:59:00.000-06:00

Hat
Friday

In many offices across the world, the last day of the workweek is a casual one. Jeans, sneakers, and denim shirts are all allowed. Somehow, the office environment remains very serious, although the entire staff looks like they work at Ace Hardware. I wonder if attitudes would change considerably, if you were required to wear a hat on Friday? Not just a cap, but not a bonafide hat - a fedora, a cocktail hat or even something like the topper pictured above? Everyone would be laughing like they'd had a chocolate martini or two without imbibing an ounce of alcohol!
All kidding aside, I really do adore the '30s hat pictured above. It kind of reminds me of this one. I like how it's kind of pointy at the tip; it makes me think of a chapeau a gremlin might wear. It's even emerald green.

2007-02-15T10:30:00.000-06:00

Don't Turn
Away
Bad Stuff

It's a hard lesson to learn. I know. We've been taught since were like 36-months-old to organize our Legos, Lincoln Logs, and Crayola crayons and to throw away what we don't need or use. I'm all for being able to walk through my living room and not trip over boxes or toys or even my cat. Oh, that's right I don't have a feline anymore. Never mind. Anyhow, I've read and underlined key parts of David Allen's Getting Things Done, but if I followed his philosophy absolutely, I'd rarely get good stuff. David is all about editing and re-editing and ditching and forgoing stuff you're never going to use. If your best friend's Aunt Jeanine wanted to give all the sewing supplies she's acquired since she was 16, David might suggest saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."
But I'm not like that. If you want to give me your old Singer sewing machine, wood spools, tangled rickrack, even bad 1980s sewing patterns, I will take them. If you want to dump your old aquarium, Childcraft books, and tiny fake Christmas trees from years past, I will gladly accept those too because you just never know what gems lurk in the junk. I recently was given more knitting needles than I know what to do in this lifetime, but I found unused cable holders and a hairpin lace loom in the lot, things I might actually use at some point.
So if you have to form a conga line from your front door to the trash can besides the garage, graciously receive all donations. If you say "no" even once, that person won't give you stuff ever again. He or she will just think, "The Sewist? She turned down all those rubber stamps I tried to give her last year. She probably won't want these old hats."
So if you're wondering if I was given the hat pattern above, I wasn't. But I did get some similar freebies a few years ago, when I got to excavate a seamstress' estate before her belongings were sold in a sale.

2007-02-14T10:25:00.000-06:00

Pillow Art

There was a time when I was nuts for embroidery. There was even a brief nano-second when I was so crazed for authentic 40s-era fabric that I was spend an embarrassing amount of time on eBay trolling for the stuff. Now I'm stuck with at least one unfinished, hand-stitched baby blanket that was supposed to be a gift for my sister's baby. That child is now two years old. Oops.
I also have quite the treasure trove of World War II fabrics that were going to be made up into playsuits and culotte dresses for swing-dancing. I'm still lindy-hopping, but those fabrics (especially one incredible tiger-lily rayon) are still sitting in boxes waiting for some ACTION.
Despite those unused acquisitions, I cannot resist eBay if only to look. So you can imagine this hat-themed pillow caught my eye because I love vintage chapeaux. At first I though it was an antique, but it's not. The artist used a Vogart-type pattern and hand-tinted the color; she must have dived into her quilting remnants for the applique. If I ever get around to finishing up the Depression-Era "Daisies Never Tell" pillow case I bought at an estate sale a couple of years ago, I swear I'll make my own pillow covering. First, I'd enlarge an image from a Dover Book on 1930s fashion. Then I'd ink the picture onto paper with a special transfer pen and iron that drawing onto linen. I'd unearth an old floral print from my stash, cut out a piece and adhere it to the textile with Steam-A-Seam.
Still with me? Then I'd scribble away with my Pentel Fabricfun Pastel Dye Sticks. I'd finish up on a Viking embroidery machine. If you ever do this, let me know!

2007-02-12T14:56:00.000-06:00

Winter
Obsession

To put it mildly, I'm obsessed with vintage sweater dress patterns. I'm trolling eBay at all hours gazing at old knitting and crochet patterns from the 1940s through the 1970s. But not just any pattern will do, I'm just interested in dresses from those eras. Forget socks, cardigans, ponchos and scarves. Only full-body coverage will do. I'm sure this knit dress fixation has something to do with all the sub-zero temperatures we had this past week. I want stylish attire that stops the cold faster than a hot blast from a brick pizza oven. I'm tired of wearing quadruple layers of clothes that make me look like the Michelin Man. I'm a woman for heaven's sake! How can I look cute, warm and slim? The answer: a well-made knit wool dress. I'd still have to wear a slip and tights, but that's fine. At least I could move without feeling like I've got terry cloth towels swathed around my legs. I think this 1950 Minerva pattern fits the bill. Nice thick yarn, most certainly inpenetrable. See how the collar buttons up nicely? A frigid draft couldn't wiggle its way through that neckline even if it tried. And those ribbed pockets would be the perfect place to park my gloves. The skirt length also looks just about right. Long enough to cover the gams, but not graze salty sidewalks. What's more, the belt would remind me not to over-indulge in Ghirardelli's Hot Chocolate, Italian wedding soup or a frosty glass of beer. The hat with bows is a nice finishing touch although on a day colder than Barlow, Alaska, I might trade it in for something else.

2007-02-08T14:36:00.000-06:00

In Silhouette

Maybe you have a shadow portrait of yourself as a child somewhere in your plastic Container Store boxes. I know I do. I think it's from my pageboy era when I didn't mind having bangs and I did anything my mother asked and pictures were probably like $5 a piece. Anyhow, I was walking down Central Street in Evanston when I saw a sign for silhouette artist Sally Newcomb in the window. I was intrigued. Instantly, I had this image of myself sitting for Sally wearing a 1930s-era tyrolean hat that I bought at Silver Moon when it was located on Halsted Street in Chicago (it's now on North Avenue in Bucktown). What a cool cut-out (not cut-up) that would be! Then I conjured another image of myself in a magificent full-skirted 1950s dress and vampy stiletto shoes, looking like a graphic element on a pink-and-black powder puff box or a doo-wop album. I even thought of donning a contemporary earflap hat. As it is, I can't make up my mind. It's worst than a half-hour in front of the menu of favorite-restaurant-of-the-moment, Tre Kronor: the deep-dish smoked salmon quiche, French toast, Swedish pancakes or just a cup of clam chowder? It's hard to decide. That's why I need your help (not with the food, the attire for my appointment with Ms. Newcomb). Pretty please with turbinado sugar on top take this poll! (By the way, the sheet music pictured above can be found here.)

2007-02-07T14:09:00.000-06:00

Cloche
Call

This cloche has a very Gatsby-esque look about it. I keep imagining a young Mia Farrow wearing this cloche, along with a dropped-waist chiffon dress and a pair of Mary Janes. I could also picture it with a delicate hair-pin lace blue and pink 1940s bed jacket, jeans and a pair of wedgies. As it is, this charming accessory is priced at $190. I'd have to think thrice before spending that on this hat even though it is lovely and it actually looks like it might fit, unlike many 1920s-era toppers that I find I swear were only worn by Tiny Tim's wife. What if I buy a reel of vintage horsehair trim? Couldn't I make a look-a-like chapeau on my sewing machine? Just drop the feed dogs, coil the trim, and straight-stitch away, right? Of course, you need a real hardy needle that won't break for this to work. Am I crazy for believing this is the hard part? Or is there an easier way to make a hat out of horsehair trim? Please tell me because I want to know. That way I can stock up on millinery knick-knacks on the next Midwest Vintage Clothing, Jewelry and Textile Show and Sale (Gosh, that was a mouthful. Worst than a tongue twister!). Here's another view. Check out the bows in the back. Makes you look good coming and going!

2007-02-05T07:36:00.000-06:00

Hat Check

It's hard to believe that it is below zero outside. The sun is shining, the sky clear and there's nary a snowflake in the air. Yet it's so cold gloves won't help you after a few minutes outside, the sparrows don't want to make small talk outside my window and I refuse to even think about taking down my Christmas tree or do laundry until the weather gets a little bit warmer. If I do have to step outdoors, I want to be wearing a beret like the one above, only in mohair. And I'd add a rabbit-fur scarf, maybe even a face mask, even if that looks a little scary.

But no earmuffs! That would look retarded, even if that's perhaps what Ugly Betty might wear on her way to work. If I need to wear something over my ears, I'd wear a cable bucket hat like the one below, although I think I'd need getting it off because my hands would be frozen. I'd feel like a 5-year-old asking for help but I wouldn't care as long as I'm inside a building where it's warmer than the Lincoln Park Conservatory and I could unthaw next to a radiator for a few minutes. What do you think? Which hat would you wear on a day so chilly even the polar bear swim club meet gets cancelled?

2007-02-02T07:27:00.000-06:00

Cover Girl

Could the starbust on the side of Sienna Miller's cloche be a third eye? I think so. Whatever it is, the embellished hole is handy for sizing up paparazzi or looking for a cab on the sly. If she turned it around completely so the embellishment is opposite her nose, than Sienna could say she has an eye in the back of her head. In any event a hat like is perfect for those days when you don't feel like using Aveda's Pure Abundance Potion to pouf up your locks. Plop it on and go. As I studied this hat further, it occurred to me just how easy it would be recreate it. Find a felt hood at a millinery store online or do a fly-by into New York City and drop into Manny's. You wouldn't even have to block this baby. Just cut it into the proper shape. Whip out the BeDazzler and go crazy recreating Mrs. Sun and save yourself at least a million dollars! Besides, your chapeau will look much better and more original than the actress whose first name is either for a certain town in Italy or a yellowish-brown paint pigment.

2007-01-31T07:30:00.000-06:00

Meet Sam

That is Sam the hat. He's made of salame felt with black leather trim and a silver airplane. Now I don't give names to my hats or to any other item of clothing in my closet, cedar chest, hanging on my bed post or reclining on a chair. Gosh, if I gave them monikers, I'd feel like I'd have a family. I'd think "Gloria's sulking in the corner. I better hang her up" and "Oh dear, Pascal really needs to be cleaned. Into the wash she goes." I'd probably take better care of my clothes if they were properly christened. I'd probably have fewer clothes too. Who wants the responsibility of remembering all the given names of the dresses, skirts, blouses and coats stuffed into your wardrobe? It'd would be worst than the most overcrowded classroom in the Chicago Public School system. Ugh! I have a hard enough time recalling all the appellations for my brother's six children, whose sobriquets begin with the letter J. Whenever I see my nephews I frequently say: "Oh hi John, I mean James, I mean Joe." They probably have a complex and really believe their proper titles are "I mean Joe." If someone were yell "I mean Jason" that child might stand up. I would hope they're not that literal, but you never know. Quite honestly, if I were to label any inanimate object in my life it would be an automobile. And I choose not to own a vehicle. It's just not practical in the city. At least for me. And the shared-vehicle I do use sometimes is known as "I don't like to drive Elements." So there.
As for Sam the hat, I believe Sam is short for Samantha because I'd wear this topper in a heartbeat even though it's intended for a guy. I especially like the little plane because just about any mechanical gadget that can fly intrigues me. This hat would be the thing to wear while waiting in security-check line at the airport. What do you think?

2007-01-29T07:42:00.000-06:00

Match Set

This seems a like a little bit too much crochet, even by New York City standards, which is more than likely where this picture was taken. I think I could understand the breezy handcrafted attire if it was Los Angeles or somewhere else South of the Border. But this is the northern half of the continent. It gets cold there. Even when the sun is shining, it's chilly unless it was one of those weird warm days that the Big Apple has been boasting about in recent months. More than 2 hours of that would make me break out sandals, toss the long johns in the laundry, and sit on a bench near a beach soaking up the rays. Forget L.A. tan, toss me some rays from the real star!
Despite the yarn overload (which no doubt The Crochet Dude could appreciate), I'd wear the floppy hat and the matching skirt. I adore fuschia (I just finished knitting a skirt in that color). However, I know I would fret over the proper slip to wear under this ensemble. Black? Yellow? Grass green? I have no idea. But I'd probably have to sew one because where in the Macy's world or even The Gap would you find one of these things? Now, I'd skip the dog sweater because I don't own a canine at the moment, but if I did I'm certain that the necklace-like leash that the model is holding wouldn't hold for a NYC minute if her pet pooch saw a fire hydrant he or she liked...What do you think?

2007-01-27T07:38:00.000-06:00

Details, Details

Whether you call these hues black and red, negro and vino, noire and ruby, they're all the same to me. I adore this classy combination of colors. Unlike the yellow and black top I posted the other day, I have no hesitation to wear this two-two hat. I would not feel like a ladybug wearing this topper. Although I have say I wouldn't mind attracting those insects, they're a fortunate bunch even if they do itch upon landing on my skin. There's something utterly delightful about find them flying about my living room, perching on my ceiling fan or reading lamp. Unlike flies or moths, I just watch these small spotted beetles and wonder what wonderful things they will happen me today just because they're here. Of course, I'm always favored even when the ladybirds aren't around. But I am especially reminded of my blessings when the insects that are traditionally associated with the height of summer visit during the depths of winter. If I bought this hat, I would consider it my Extra Lucky chapeau, kind of like a super-strength Tide or Oxi Clean. It does the job but even better than usual. Likewise this hat would attract a little extra special treatment - a complimentary glass of Diet Coke at lunch, a door opened at the office, a request for no more rain honored (yes, even God enjoys hats). Don't you agree?

2007-01-25T06:05:00.000-06:00

Change It
Up

Sometimes there is nothing so beautiful as a simple hat. No adornments, embellishments or embroidery or even lint. Just a beautiful shapely thing to rest one's eyes upon, just like the tony topper on Dita Von Teese's head (see above). I do like how dear Dita kept her look plain. No baubles in sight! I don't know how she kept her hands out of her jewelry box. She doesn't even have a pair of earrings on. Lordy, I feel naked if I walked outside without my requisite hoops. Apparently Dita is far more confident than I in her Christian Dior suit. This woman doesn't look like she owns a pair of jeans, Jack Purcells or Juicy Couture separates, which I would think would be very hard to do since Dita did model vintage garb on eBay before she made a full-time career in the world of burlesque. If I had been hawking 1930s dresses, most of them wouldn't even had made it to auction. No, they would have marched straight into my closet, where they would have kept company with my pumps, sandals, and wedgies.
Back to the 1940s-era ornaments, also pictured above. I think either would look fine on Dita's outfit. If they're suitably small they could be even clipped onto the hat. That's what I love about plain chapeaux, you can either dress them up or down depending on how you feel, the weather, the vitamins you've taken today or even the event of the day. I have a little NFL pin that you could attach come Superbowl Sunday. What do you think?

2007-01-24T06:43:00.000-06:00

Which is
better?

I can't decide which I like better - the hat or this model's eyelashes. Up close, this woman's eyes have mesmerized me. She has these miles-long lashes, the kind that might touch Mars if given the chance. Mine, I'm afraid, are just a mere few millimeters long. I curl and adorn them with Maybelline's Great Lash Mascara. Still they look ho hum. All the more reason to wear a crocheted cap as adorable as this. Let the hat do all the work. My body, I'm afraid, can only do so much. I figure this chapeau (particularly with that saucy scarf) can flirt WAY better than I can. I think that if I took it off and parked it on a shelf it would continue to have fun with the boys (and girls). Hats do have a way of doing that, you know. Try it sometime at a fine dining establishment, particularly with a topper with lots of embellishments. Put your hat on a shelf, in a plain view. See if somebody doesn't come up and touch it within a matter of minutes. I'd bet you a ride to the former planet Pluto your head cover would have more admirers than a pet pooch! Ideally you need to park yourself at a table nearby so you can explain to all these oohing and aahing restaurant patrons the origins of your most wonderful chapeau. And take orders if you're a milliner.

2007-01-23T14:18:00.000-06:00

In
Like a
Lamb

Even if March starts off with a flurry of storms, it'll still be in like a lamb at least in my mind, especially since that's the month that this knitted hat pattern will be published in “Lace Style: Traditional to Innovative, 21 Inspired Designs to Knit.” I truly won't have any problem whatsover conjuring up warm summery days working up this broad-brimmed hat designed by Annie Modesitt. Yes, I'll be fantasizing about all the darling outfits I can wear with this hat: the cute crocheted dress I'm going to make from Good Housekeeping Needlecraft circa. 1971; the eyelet frock from a Simplicity pattern and the t-shirt and Seven jeans (I'm not that thin yet that I can even slip those pricey jeans over my hips, but a girl can dream!) I just can't think about snow, slippery ice or salt stains even that's the reality when I'm making something meant to be worn in June, July and August. My little head doesn't work that way. Now, I'll need lots of help making this chapeau, especially with that wired brim. The last time I crafted something like this the brim got wonky. So now I'm scared, kind of like the kid who doesn't want to be near a stove after getting burned making macaroni and cheese. Should I be afraid? (By the way thanks to Jaime Guthals for sending me these images!)

2007-01-22T10:03:00.000-06:00

Beret Not
Included

This hand-knitted top looks like something out of MGM's wardrobe department parked behind the costumes for the Wizard of Oz's flying monkeys, Katharine Hepburn's gowns from The Philadelphia Story and Clark Gable's Gone With the Wind suits. Doesn't it resemble a blouse Ginger Rogers or Claudette Colbert would have worn with a super-tight skirt and a tiny brown beret? My only fear in wearing this two-tone brown and yellow sweater is that it would attract bees. They'd go, "Wow! Those are our school colors! She's one of our kind." Then you'd see me on the ground surrounded by a group of insects best known producing honey. It would be an interesting way to exit this life. It's better than being attacked by an automobile, which happens every few seconds around the world. Or to be felled by a heart attack, another too common occurrence in our society. No, better to end my earthly existence fashionably attired with more than a few pricks in my body from the same critters who give me the golden liquid to sweeten my tea everyday.

2007-01-18T19:35:00.000-06:00

My Kind
of
Jaguar

I've a soft spot for leopard prints, but I just might have to make room in my heart for a certain exotic jaguar fur beret. It's just so unusual. Of course, a living critter lost its life back in the 1940s just so this hat could be made and sold at Marshall Field's in Chicago. But that was a different time. I'm glad I didn't live then even it was more glamorous. People didn't live as long - what's the use in having all those cute chapeau if you don't have time to wear them all? It's not like you can spend your time in the coffin showing them off. Anyhow, folks live into their 90s and beyond now - plenty of time to don different headgear. Wouldn't you know Jack LaLanne (I don't think he was much of a fedora guy, but he's definitely a muscle man) is still lifting weights and drinking icky homemade vegetable drinks at the ripe younge age of 92? He's my kind of guy.
Back to the hat, which is far more affordable than the kind of Jaguar you drive. Nary a monthly payment, parking sticker or ticket to worry about! No, the Jaguar for your head is a conversation piece in a way that a vehicle would never be. Besides, the one that goes on your noggin will never rust, get a dent or stall on you. Besides, you can invite friends over to your house and say with a devious wink and a smile, "Hey, want to see my new Jag?" Then show them to your closet. Ha.

2007-01-17T06:51:00.000-06:00

Circa.
1961

It's rare that I like all the hats on a pattern, just like I rarely enjoy the entire song list on a record album. I also will skip purchasing a knitting or crochet magazine unless I want to make at least two or three items in the publication. But this vintage McCall's? I love each one! That's more rare than me staying up past 12:30 p.m. on a New Year's Eve! The first chapeau, just a veil, is perfect if you are dieting. You have to move the netting to get anything into your mouth, beverages included. If you really want that hummus and chips, you're going to have to lift the net each and every time. This is a fantastic way to go to bed hungry and wake up a few pounds lighter. And it's so cheap and easy to make! A yard of Russian veiling tied around your chignon with a piece of velvet ribbon and you're good to go. The gingham nightcap is cute too. I've never worn one, but it would secure a set of curlers if that's how you like to style your locks at night. And the matching handbag! Would you take this to bed too? This ensemble (including the empire-waist nightie) looks comfy, but only if you're sleeping alone in a twin bed. The topper in the lower left reminds me of those old lampshades, perhaps crafted by an arachnid hired to do some piecework by a milliner. Doesn't it have a cobweb look to it? The final hat resembles one of those 1970s hanging lamps, the kind you'd finding hanging over a pool table. Only this is black, not an opaque brown. I keep looking for a light pull, but there's none to be found on this model's head.

2007-01-16T07:49:00.000-06:00

So
Many
Possibilities

My favorite topper is the one in the upper left corner with the pom-poms. I'm not even wondering about how to make this hat. Just those decorative balls of fluffed yarn. Wind the aforementioned fiber around a piece of cardboard. Just when you think you have enough yarn, wind a little more. A few more rounds. Perfect! Tie it nice and tight in the middle with leftover yarn. Snip and one, then the other. Presto. You've got a pom-pom. There are all sorts of gadgets from Clover and Lion Brand, but honestly, the best results come the old-fashioned way. They're just fluffier. Kind of like buckwheat pancakes made from scratch vs. the box. Anyhow, I'd used a multi-hue fiber for my pom-poms. Then perhaps a navy silk shantung on the chapeau itself. What do you think? What materials would you use to make this pattern?

Should I write more about sewing and less about hats?
	Yes.
	No.
	Write mostly about sewing with hats thrown in once in a while.
	More about hats, and less about stitching!
	None of the above.

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What shall I wear for my shadow portrait (also known as a silhouette)?
	a 1930s tyrolean hat
	a 1950s dress
	Depression-era platform shoes
	contemporary earflap hat
	none of the above
	all of the above

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