belle epoque

I realise that in many places in the northern hemisphere, the air is crisp, cool and smelling of apples. Maybe it is raining and leaves are already changing colors. Here in San Francisco? We’re just starting to get some summery weather! I’ve been taking advantage of it by having my coffee and breakfast in the park nearby early in the morning. When I get there, the moon is still in the sky

but rosy sunlight is making its way across the city

and the fog is curling out of the bay to make way for a warm, sunny day

I sit on a little bench in the sunlight, sipping, munching, reading and visiting with all the dogs who wander by on their morning constitutionals. It gives me just the right boost to go home and wrap up dishes, plates and vases and pack them away in boxes for our move next week!

I did get a chance to start on my purl rabbit too! Because tiny seam allowances stress me out (I know, 1/4 inch isn’t tiny to most people, but it is to me!), I followed the advice in the purl frog instructions and traced the pieces, then stitched around them while they were still part of a larger piece of fabric and cut them out once stitched.

I’ve got the little legs all stuffed and hopefully will finish the rest of the rabbit sometime tomorrow!

I also wanted to say thank you for your nice comments on my Monday post– every single one made me smile.

We were at the beach for the beginning of the weekend, where I played with roving and felting needles, resulting in this little fellow

Still not sure if he’s felted together enough, but I find him so cute I can hardly stand it. I just want to put him in my pocket and take him everywhere, but I’m afraid I might start talking to him in public and become a crazy felt mouse lady. So he’ll just stay on my desk to keep me company.

The weather was rather grim at the beach so we headed home in time for me to go to the Capsule Design Festival today with Camilla, Brian and Meghan.  What an overwhelming amount of seriously cool and creative independent design! There was so much to take in that I was unable to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds. A few highlights include Donna Lou’s feminine, flirty dresses and tops, Random Nicole’s whimsical screen-printed and appliqued tees and sweats, and Vivi Dot’s sweet button accessories. As an added bonus, I got the chance to chat with the always-charming Nicole of Queen Puff Puff, and meet Deborah of Chic Cosas!

See how cute they are? And can you tell how cold it is?

Meghan and I wandered our way up to Doe after the festival, and oohed and ahhed over all the pretty cleverness there, and now I’m home, making the Chicken Tikka Masala that Alicia talked about the other day. It is my favorite Indian Restaurant dish, so I’m super excited to have a recipe I can try at home! I’ll let you know how it goes…

San Francisco seems to be asserting that it is just as worthy of adulation as any other city (ahem, London) could possibly be.  Well-played, San Francisco (click if you want to see fan dancers and what is growing in Yerba Buena Garden)

I met the lovely Nancy for breakfast, where a total stranger sitting next to us interrupted our conversation to compliment my dress, and say, “I thought it was Diane von Furstenberg” when I told her I  made it. Yay for the little wrap dress that could!

So, that was the winning some. The losing some? Two frustratingly not-quite-right articles of clothing. One of which I knew wasn’t right halfway through but I couldn’t stop myself finishing it

Cries out “Mrs. Roper,” no? It is from a very cute Built by You pattern that everyone seems to be making (my favorite so far is Linda’s with the super lemon pockets). But I didn’t have enough fabric for the version I wanted to do, so I did this one, in this fabric. And, meh. There is a lot to be said for only buying and using fabric that you love, because then things like this won’t happen, because even if the shape is wrong, at least you love the fabric, right?

In terms of loving the fabric and the shape being wrong, I experienced that today too (two for two!)

This was a muslin for a skirt pattern I was considering for the Liberty fabric. But I’ve consigned it to the bin (the pattern, not the skirt), because the shape is unflattering– I had to take numerous pictures and pose in all sorts of funny ways to get the one you see above (lest you think “but it looks fine!”). I do love the fabric though, and I learned a wonderful, new-to-me invisible zipper technique courtesy of Diva Els of The Sewing Divas that worked like a charm! No weird bubble at the bottom! I see many more invisible zips in my future…

And tomorrow is another day. I have the perfect fabric (and enough of it) to make the version of the dress that I originally intended, and some lightweight denim to attempt a pair of trousers from Sew U. While I have had some success with simple trouser patterns, I think I am ready to climb the mountain that is jeans-style trousers with proper pockets and a front fly. Onward!

Not much crafty going on around here the past few days!  I’ve been doing eminently productive but unphotogenic spring cleaning- lugging bags to the charity shop, and the trash.

But my wonderful husband got me a thrilling brand new camera that has all kinds of amazing features that are crying out to be used. Plus some of you, I know, are in places where spring is not behaving properly, so I went out on a walk and took pictures for you. Click on the picture below to pop over to the flickr set and browse around if you need a little dose of sunshine!

I plan to wear my tulip dress to a special dinner at Boulette’s Larder tonight. Inspired by Nancy’s news about the big bead expo, I broke out my jewelry supplies and made a pair of earrings to go with my outfit. And then made a few more…

Strawberries to go with dress, and oranges because oranges are great.

And some shell shoulder dusters, because once I got started I couldn’t stop. I definitely have more earrings than I wear, so the oranges and the shells will likely make their way up on to etsy sometime soon!

And because the macro feature on the new camera is so wonderful, a wee garden update. There are new colors of nasturtiums blooming every day:

bright yellow with a deep red center, and I’m waiting impatiently for this one, which looks like it will be a scarlet stunner:

Whew! That’s enough for now–I hoped to have time to make a little bag to go with my dress (it strikes me as a dress that can stand some matchy-matchy), but I may not get around to it…

And oh! I almost forgot– the amazing Emily of The Black Apple has started a new blog to track her outfits and clothing loves. I adore her mod-victorian-bohemian aesthetic, so I’ll be visiting as often as she updates! Do check it out.

Happy Weekend Friends!

On Friday Nancy and I had a lovely wandery day together eating, drinking and looking at pretty things. Our original mission was to visit the new Miette Confiserie in Hayes Valley. Nancy had read a glowing write-up and was determined to see it in person. It was as divine as promised. Outside? A stripey awning and a flowering cherry tree

Inside?

Sweet, sugary, pastel heaven! Nancy proclaimed the color scheme to be “Totally Nancy”- I know it is confusing, but she meant me, I think, not herself. The moldings on the walls were a perfect muted minty-green and the wallpaper?

Just this side of Art Nouveau and William Morris, perfect. And do you see the sweet illustration of dresses and skirts? Truly I could live at this candy store.

We also made our way over to the Mission where we met up with Camilla and shopped for jewelry bits and pieces at Beadissimo (you’ll see the result of that soon). Eventually we were all shopped out and stopped for refreshment and chatter at Que Tal

A perfect end to a happy spring afternnon!