Wednesday, November 30, 2011

O Parakeet of the Lissome Star

"...(W)ho can say why two people become a couple, that small principality of mutual protection and regard?  Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points.  They're never total fits or misfits.  In time, a pair invents its own commonwealth, complete with anthems, rituals, and lingos-- a cult of two with fallible gods.  All couples play kissy games they don't want other people to know about, and all regress to infants from time to time, sine, though we marry as adults, we don't marry adults.  We marry children who have grown up and still rejoice in being children, especially if we're creative.  Imaginative people fidget with ideas, including the idea of a relationship.  If they're wordsmiths like us, they fidget a lot in words."
~Diane Ackerman writing about her relationship with husband Paul West in her memoir, One Hundred Names for Love.

Yay, yay, yay!  I found this book at the library the other day (indeed, it jumped off the shelf at me!) and I'm so excited to read it.  I first heard about it from an interview with Ackerman on NPR.  The book tells of her writer-husband's stroke which left him completely incapacitated and more significantly, without any vocabulary at all.  She nurses him back to health, and somehow, rather miraculously, coaxes his brain into remembering it's former glory.  The title refers to the names that West gives Ackerman as terms of endearments.  While most people would simply call their beloved something along the lines of "honey-pie," his poor addled (yet still creative) brain christens her with monikers such as, "O Parakeet of the Lissome Star," and "Delicious Pie of the Alternate Sheepfold." 

Monday, November 28, 2011

Prairie Style

Did you guys do any Black Friday shopping?  I definitely did.  Last year was my first time, and I guess I enjoyed it because this year I went back again.  Last year I did the whole 4am thing, but this year I decided that unless you want one of those limited big-ticket doorbuster items, there's no need to be there at that time.  I slept in, and around 8:00am my mom and I trekked off to the local JC Penney store.
Photobucket
Prairie-inspired collage via here
So what did I buy?  Clothes, of course!  One of my favorite looks from the runways is what I'm calling "the prairie look."  I LOVE what the Mulleavy sisters did for Rodarte Fall 2011 RTW (with clothes inspired by one of my favorite films, Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven) as well as Anna Sui's Spring 2011 RTW.  (Her collection was also inspired by the same film.  Seriously, if you haven't seen it yet, you should; Days of Heaven is one of the most beautiful films, cinematography-wise, I've ever seen.)


Yesterday my sister and I went to the dog park with her two cute Papillon puppies.  Here's my take on the prairie style:
Photobucket
Photobucket
Prairie Dress: JC Penney, purchased on Black Friday
Duster sweater: Simply Vera Vera Wang for Kohl's, purchased on Black Friday
Riding Boots: vintage
And here's the handsome little Cole Bear.  Isn't he a cutie?
Photobucket

Monday, November 21, 2011

Sewing Challenge- Necklines with Bows

I just saw these images from the Dior 2012 cruise collection (via here) and was immediately smitten with the bow detail and the off-the-shoulder neckline.  My fashion designer brain started to imagine what the pattern must look like.  I don't think it would be that hard to draft a pattern for this, assuming that I had the time.  It's cute, no?  (Scroll down to see the closest detail shot that I could find).
Photobucket


Photobucket


Photobucket


Photobucket


Photobucket


And while I'm posting pictures from this particular collection, I'm going to throw in this one.  I LOVE that shade of green-- it may very well be my favorite color.
Photobucket

Craft Tutorials

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Trend Report: Native American Prints and a Pet Peeve

  As a child it would frustrate me to no end.  I'd see a dress or shirt that I wanted, and inevitably, my mother would say I could not have it because the garment wasn't well made.  I'd furrow my little brow in consternation and she would patiently point out the various flaws.  Often the stripes or design would not match up (a minor problem that affected the design, but not the functionality of the clothing) , and at other times, one could see that the fabric was not cut on grain (a more egregious error that would result in ill-fitting clothes).  Reluctantly, I would hang the offending dress back on the rack, and walk away wishing my mother wasn't such a stickler about these sorts of things.


   Fast-forward to today, and I am my mother.  Learning how to sew has made me much more aware of these small details and when they're not done well, it annoys me.
Photobucket
   I've been lusting over so-called Aztec prints.  They're popular this season, carrying over from the summer and now popping up in sweaters and jackets.  I love the above coat from BB Dakota, but can you guess my major complaint?  The jacket retails at $130 and yet they did a terrible job of lining up the print on the jacket.  Those large diamond designs really should have been centered at center back and center front and the panels should all have been cut so that the designs match up.

   They're beautiful coats, but it's this lack of attention to detail that prevents me from buying this coat (which would still be true even if the coat retailed for a lot less).

Photobucket

   What's the solution if you're a precisionist like me (and my mom)?  Make your own, of course!  I love the Ahwahnee Coat from Wearing History Patterns.  Now, onto finding the perfect fabric.  Any suggestions for online fabric stores I should check out?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

This Took Forever

I know all of you fellow seamstresses out there feel my pain.  Anyone who sews, knits, embroiders, or indeed, any sort of handiwork knows that these projects take A.Lot.Of.Time.  Right?  And yet, friends* (and strangers) constantly prevail upon us to make them something or to help with their projects.  Or even worse, thankless friends* fail to appreciate the work that we put into our homemade gifts.  Knitters speak ominously of the "Sweater Curse, " (see Never Knit Your Man a Sweater Unless You've Got the Ring) and the Selfish Seamstress boldly proclaims, "... I only want to sew stuff if it's for me."  You get my point.


These labels, sold by Sublime Stitching, do a great job of conveying, "Yes, I made this.  Yep, I worked really hard on it!"  Perfect for all of your projects, no?

Photobucket



*I should note that I don't make things for my friends very often (I guess I'm a bit of a selfish seamstress, too), but when I do, they do tend to be very grateful.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

A Mosaic of Them All

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all."
~Stanley Horowitz

Photobucket
Photobucket
I love these pictures of fall (found here).


And this one:
Photobucket

Suzie Q

Photobucket
My dear friend Susan V for Chaps Ralph Lauren (and Kohl's).  I love getting a catalogue in the mail with her beautiful face on it!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Campus Envy

Over the weekend my boyfriend, sister, brother-in-law, and I went up to Princeton, New Jersey for a conference on suffering.  We arrived early on Saturday and sat in the historic chapel as Pastor Ligon Duncan expounded on Psalm 88.  After lunch, I sat in a seminar led by DA Carson on Suffering and the book of Revelation.  We snuck out during the musical interlude to walk around the Princeton University campus, and boy, am I glad that I did.  The campus is beautiful and it was the perfect fall day for a stroll.  I'm totally jealous of the lucky students who get to study at this university.  I think the landscape and the old buildings covered in ivy would naturally inspire me to want to read books all day.

Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Sheet Music Star Wreath

Last year I posted a couple of posts on making the Starbucks wreath.  I just spied this sheet music star wreath via the CRAFT Magazine blog and I'm definitely smitten.  The original post can be found here and the tutorial is here.


Isn't is lovely?
Photobucket