belle epoque

Yes, it is true. I’ve fallen victim to a terrible seasonal ailment, the kind that shame causes people to speak about in whispers: Summer Sloth. I was on track, grand plans percolating in my head, then it hit. And suddenly all I could do was lie around reading books, flipping through magazines and occasionally napping. But I’m determined to fight it! I will Stop The Sloth! So far I’ve cleaned out my closet, done three loads of laundry and baked scones. And now, obviously, I’m blogging. I even have a shirt cut out that I just might actually sew together if I’m able to throw off the lingering tentacles of the Sloth. In the meantime, some things I like:
*Scones

I’ve linked to this recipe before, but as it remains my favorite home-baked item that I really haven’t found as good anywhere in San Francisco, it bears re-posting.
*Michelle, because she is awesome. I got to meet her and one of her darling wee ones at Maker Faire, and when she read my whining about not finding vintage patterns my size, guess what she did? She sent me a HUGE PILE of fabulous vintage patterns just for me!

Oh Michelle, you are wonderful and a testament to the incredible kindess and generosity of the crafty blogging community. She will be getting further credit for everything I make with these patterns.
*Fabric I got at Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley

It is probably hard to tell in the photo, but it is a large-scale print on baby-wale corderoy with a teensy bit of stretch. It was on super-sale so I bought enough to make this

Pattern courtesy of Michelle, of course, and perfect for such a big, funky fabric. I always admire people with really fun printed coats, so this is my chance to have one! I also highly recommend a visit to Stonemountain and Daughter if you are ever in the Berkeley area– their fabric selection is amazing, and they have a totally drool-worthy selection of Japanese imports.
*The beautiful hand-dyed (cochineal, Anne?) plum-colored cashmere fiber Anne very generously sent me after it sadly felted on her while she dyed it. I think it would make a lovely luxury felted bird:

*New faces in the garden

*A live Discovery Channel moment in the little park down the street

Moondoggie spotted this huge falcon (hawk?) as it swooped up from the ground carrying a small rodent in its talons, then I snapped some photos when it settled down at the very top of a tree to chow down.
*Of course, the new and last Harry Potter novel. I picked it up at 3:00 on Saturday and finished it yesterday morning (even with a break for sleeping!). I know there will probably be critics, but I feel like she did a wonderful job wrapping everything up, even though, of course, I’m left wishing there would be more.
*Anticipating the Stitch’n'Pitch tomorrow! I have to dig up a knitting project so I am really part of the crowd.

Wish me luck on shaking off the Sloth! Hopefully I’ll be back to regularly scheduled crafting around here…

I couldn’t resist, sorry. I’m having so much fun thinking about and trying out different methods for my contribution to Bethany’s fabric swap. I’ve been intrigued by shibori (aka the ancient art of japanese tie dye or bound-resist dye) for awhile now, so I thought this would be a good time to try a super-simple, modified, and unofficial version of shibori. I hadn’t seen pictures of the technique before I did it (though now I have, on the wonderful All Things Shibori group on Flickr), so I kind of made it up as I went along. I started out by arbitrarily deciding on a grid pattern for my yard of fabric. I used a 4-inch square card to make little dots to indicate where I would pull up, twist and bind the fabric (with rubber bands, though the real technique calls for using linen or cotton thread).

Looks like pretty smocking, doesn’t it? Here it is up close:

Then I prepared a messy dye bath with midnight blue Rit dye (indigo is a more traditional dye for this, I believe, but I’m lazy and they have Rit at Target). I left the fabric in the dye for an hour, stirring gently every so often (didn’t want to accidentally pull out the rubber bands). I rinsed it out with cool water and then took out the rubber bands and hung it to dry:

Pretty nifty! Here is an up close look at one of the little circles:

They remind me of little starbursts. I still have to wash and dry the fabric again to get it to the color it will actually be, which I imagine, sadly, will be quite a bit lighter. But I am amazed at how well it turned out for a very first try! Today I tea-dyed a length of muslin to a pretty peachy color, and plan to work some Gocco stamp kit for fabric magic on it soon. Wish me luck!

*Finding a hidden blackberry bramble behind the cottage at the beach

I picked a ripe one and it was delicious. The trick is to get to them before the birds do!
*Two new handmade journals


Is it wrong to be so tickled that I found London Underground paper to use as the endpapers for the London Map one?
*The new fuschia sweet pea that bloomed this weekend:

*Tricia’s FANTASTIC series on de-cluttering your life to better express your signature style: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 This woman is a genius.
*This song, which is ideal for bopping around like a dork in the car(or walking around with your ipod on). The video is scary, but it was the only link I could find where you could hear the whole song- just minimize the screen and listen. Oh, if you have wee ones who listen to and repeat words, the song has what I’d consider PG-13 lyrics.
*Oh my gosh, I just had to add this commercial. OH goodness, the cuteness.

I suppose I could blame Alicia for this one, but only because hers turned out so cute. She was totally honest about the brutal process of constructing it though, so I have no one to blame but myself for taking it on anyway. I’ve had the pattern since the fall, and dithered all these months about what fabrics to use. Once I decided on that, it was all fun and games until I got to the neckline and the facing, which were so fiddly and fussy that I was convinced I had done something very wrong. But no, they were just designed that way. And is there a reason the midriff needs to be faced on the inside of the garment? And is the (not kidding) FOOT of ease in the back of the dress (which looks ever so cute all squished up and tied with the waist ties- maybe bustles will make a comeback) totally necessary?

In the picture, it is actually kind of cute– a space-age bathrobe for the female crew of the Enterprise, perhaps? In person I think it will be perfect for days when I feel like eating a whole turkey. You may notice that I haven’t added the contrast band at the hem. I’m trying to decide if I want to, or whether I’ll just hem it like this– what would you do? I’m thinking it needs the little show of leg to avoid being totally shapeless, but do the proportions look weird without the final strip of dark blue? I’m also thinking that I’d like to try the McCall’s version of the Duro to see if it is any better. Then I can blame Erin…

Thanks for the ribbon craft ideas, and the enthusiasm for the fabric I found too– I must admit to being something of an impulse buyer. Though I seldom feel remorse over fabric purchases, I do sometimes wonder if what I’ve found is as great as I think it is, so it is nice to get a thumbs up from crafty connoisseurs like you! I have a few ideas for projects to suit its wondrous bright floweryness, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I decided to use another length of vintage fabric in my stash to recreate one of my favorite skirts, which is fitted at the waist and then has one big inverted pleat in the front:

I didn’t think of it in advance, but striped fabric makes pleating incredibly easy! Just bring the sides of two of the stripes together and voila! I don’t think the picture is particularly flattering, but in real life I like the skirt a lot. In fact, once I finished it I wore it straight out to meet Camilla at the MOMA for the new Matisse exhibition. I also think it will work as well with a sweater and boots in the fall as it does with a white shirt and sandals now. Yay!

And are you ready for some exciting garden news? My sweet peas are blooming!

I just love them. Most of the plants are that pale pink variety, barring one gorgeous snowy white, and one whose buds seem to promise a deeper fuschia color (they aren’t done yet, so we’ll see). Of course I had to cut a few to bring indoors

where they live up to their name and make the whole room smell sweet (really!). I am so proud of these little beauties, raised by me from seeds! The trellis they are climbing is right outside the window of my little studio, so I can see them when I sit at my sewing table, and smell them when I open the window.

The Antiques & Collectibles Faire yesterday was such fun! I got a pile of great stuff, and by no design at all, the theme of my purchases seems mostly to have been 60’s-70’s:

No sooner had I said “oh! I’d really like to find some sewing patterns”, than voila!

A dollar apiece and both my size. I am strangely attracted to the jumpsuit, and wish I had some black stretch jersey to make it *right now.* But I am trying not to buy fabric (ok, you can forgive me that huge length of incredibly cool 70’s home dec fabric in the top picture, right? the Alameda Faire only happens once a month). So I’ll have to file it away and wait for the right moment and sale fabric. I do think I have something in my stash for the flirty little mini-dress, though. I love those poufy sleeves!

I got a huge amount of ribbon for a very good price:

What will I use it for? I don’t know. If you have some good ribbony projects up your sleeve, please do share.
I also got my initials in old typewriter keys, also no idea just yet what I’ll use them for:

And some amber-colored chandelier crystals, which I have vague visions of using to make a long, dramatic necklace on a heavy gold chain:

Which I think would go very well with my imaginary black jumpsuit.

Of course the best thing about the day was the company. Natalie brought the coolest little rolling bag so we could carry our purchases in comfort and style, and Camilla got some very cool stuff (which she’ll likely blog about herself!). And several other very fun non-blogging buddies were there as well. It was beautiful, hot, and crowded with a very cool mix of people. There was so much to see that we had to cry uncle before we even reached the end of the fairgrounds. Maybe next time we’ll go earlier and try to make it all the way!