Purple, black, cobwebs and spiders

On Saturday I took Juliette to the fabric store to get her out of the house for a while. She SAID she wanted a pink princess dress. But when we got there she saw the Halloween fabric and insisted she was only interested in this purple and black fabric with cobwebs and spiders. “You can wear Halloween ANY time of the year, Papa!” So it was. Not exactly what I had in mind, but she seems thrilled with the idea. Let’s see how she feels when she wakes up tomorrow and sees it.

Ruffles, satin ribbon, ric rac edging on the hem and neck, a perfect narrow rolled hem on the polka-dot ruffle – and skulls, spiders, cobwebs (that sorta look like flowers from a distance). What a combination!

halloweendress


I look bootiful!

(I know some of you have seen the first picture, but for those not on Facebook …)

When she woke up this morning, I told Juliette to look around, there was something in her room that wasn’t there when she went to bed last night. She finally spotted the dress hanging up and her jaw dropped and she got all excited and said “You finished my DRESS?!” And I told her I had after she went to bed last night and the first thing she wanted to know was could she wear it today. Well, I told her, it’s not exactly a dress for a 4 degree day, but we agreed on a turtleneck and fleece pants under it. As soon as I got her dressed, I grabbed the pink bow on her dresser and she wanted to wear it so she could look like Minnie – and she was pleased her pants made her look more like Minnie! It was so priceless to hear her run to the mirror in the hallway and say softly “I look bootiful!” Of course she does, but not because of the dress. But I just let her enjoy it. As I was putting her coat on to get her in the car, she said “Thank you papa for making me a pretty pink dress” and she was so sweet I swear you could have eaten her with a spoon!

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Getting Back to My (Fiber) Roots

For a little while now, I’ve been noticing little nudges from the universe, signals if you will, that it was time to re-examine my path, maybe change direction, and to get back into right relationship with certain parts of myself. It has all been a bit muddy, though I’ve known it has something to do with sewing. I guess you could say I’ve been aware for some time that I’ve been in a holding pattern of preparing and waiting, believing that when I was ready, the lesson would reveal itself. And several weeks ago, I cleaned out and reorganized my sewing studio, small as it may be, to work better for me. My discussions about sewing with my friend Emmy at work always energize me, and leave me a little bit either frustrated or anxious, or both. When I woke up yesterday morning, I found this in my daily horoscope (which I only ever really read for pure fun).

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Leo: You’ve been given certain gifts, but there is some assembly required. Unfortunately, right now it feels like you’ve misplaced the manual. Start asking around. There are many who can help you with the next step.

Shut. The. Front. Door. How about reading something like that about yourself on the day of the Chinese New Year? And it’s my year, the year of the snake. Uh-oh, I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going.
But I couldn’t get it out of my mind all day, so much so that I dug the paper out of the trash, cut the horoscope out, and pasted it into the front of a new journal. I was full of questions. What gifts? What assembly? Who? Was there *ever* a manual? That led me into a spiral of thinking that lasted all day. I thought a lot. About where my passions lie, how I spend my time when I am in my sewing room, what I really like to do, what I wish I was doing. Earlier in the weekend I had ordered a new table to take the place of the chest freezer in my studio, so that I can have two sewing machines set up at all times. And that started me thinking about what would I do once that change is made. Along the way, I came to a few conclusions about myself.

First, I love the act of creating garments. My innate talent with needle and thread was one of the first talents that others discerned about me, and it remains my first love. The joy that I get when I make a garment for myself or someone else, when it is something they really love and wear, is like no other. I’ve been missing this for some time, and I my first few attempts to recapture it making things for Juliette, well she hasn’t exactly loved the stuff. But how much is it fair to expect from a three year old, right?

Second, one of my gifts that my tailoring teacher, Mrs. Flowers, communicated clearly and strongly to me was my love of precision and fine detail in sewing. Few things make me feel as enraptured as the well conceived and constructed gown, coat, pants or dress. The perfectly constructed garment, sewn with the utmost attention to detail, remains a complete thrill for me.

Third, I love quilting, I really do. I love making things for people that keep them warm and cozy. And sewing them satisfies my need to commit the physical act of sewing with a machine. But to tell you the truth, I’m getting a little bored sewing ¼” seams – and always working with cotton fabric. I want ruffles and lace and embellishments and gathers and pleats and wool and linen and rayon and the entire wonderful world of silks.

Fourth, I love knitting too, and it satisfies that deep and intense need for handwork that is easy to pick up and put down. And let’s face it, most knitting is pretty immediate gratification, which is one of the nice things about it. Knitting is so deliciously tactile, but it doesn’t go far enough.

So although I have a couple of textile crafts that I really enjoy, I have still have fiber needs, needs that are not being met. Needs that won’t shut up or leave me alone, try as I might to ignore them. What’s a guy to do? I owe it to myself to be honest with myself. I got away from all of this garment making years ago, for reasons that were good at the time (I didn’t want to make for the people who could afford to pay me for custom made clothes), but that was about economics, not passion. And I am now in the enviable position of being able to sew purely for the love of creating and making something unique, and without regard to making a living. Yesterday and today I’ve spent quite a bit of time contemplating my years in tailoring school with Mrs. Flowers, my precious time with my grandma, my internship with Hazella and all that I loved about each of those women and my experiences with them. Yes, I have indeed been given certain gifts. And I am not using them, at least not all of them and certainly not well. To use a well-worn phrase, my light has been hiding under a bushel. Why, for so long, have I remained in denial about all of this? I think I owe it to myself to go back, pick up the tools I metaphorically laid down those many years ago, and carry on the legacy of fine craftsmanship and artistry to which I became heir from the experts who taught me.

So, it seems as though there are many who can help with me with whatever my next step might be. I don’t know exactly what that is just yet. I feel like I have to sort of sit with this knowledge for a while. I know I won’t be making a bespoke three piece suit anytime soon. But a pair of pants certainly wouldn’t be that hard, and I’ve got oodles of delicious wools that has been aging for 15 years waiting to be made into something nice. And there are a couple of dress patterns for Juliette that I think she will actually like, one of which she helped pick out. So there are some short term things I can undertake right away. I don’t know what the future brings, except that I know I want to keep an open heart and mind and spirit and see what comes my way. Maybe the next step will be clearer and more immediate than I can see from where I sit right now.


Books I Want to Read in 2013

OK – here is a new intention I am setting for myself. Do whatever is necessary to read at least a handful of good books this year. So far I think I want to give these a try, I’ve ranked them in my order of preference, for my own future reference):

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

NW by Zadie Smith

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Dear Life by Alice Munro

Phantom by Jo Nesbo

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

There that is MORE than enough to get started. If I get through half of these, I will be amazed.


Holidazzle 2012

Yesterday was Juliette’s first trip to see the Holidazzle parade.  We ate downtown with Harald’s parents and his sister, then she and Juliette and I went outside to await the parade.  She was so excited to see the different floats and characters that went by, but especially enamored of Santa.  She said she also really liked the Hansel & Gretel house, too.  It was snowing lightly through the whole parade, so it was as close to perfect as it gets (they were a little late starting).

Here are some pictures from last night for those unfamiliar with the Holidazzle parade.  They aren’t very clear – my gloves and my camera were not getting along last night – but you get the idea.

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Welcome back, Winter!

(OK, I can’t take credit for the title, the StarTribune did it already in today’s paper)

 

For those of you not from around here and who enjoy seeing pictures of the snow, here is a little of what we got this weekend – it continues to snow several more inches after these pictures were taken.  We’ll certainly have a white Christmas now!

 

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