Done and Done!

See first post on this subject here.

While I'd much rather be writing about my SUPER AWESOME backstrap weaving workshop last week I need to finish my Little Mermaid story. I'll get back to the workshop next post.

The skirts were delivered before I left town Friday before last. I put everything into a big black trashbag and dropped it off backstage. It was a huge relief to get them out of my house.

This is what was in the bag! Seven sparkly, scaly skirts.

Here are four of the Mer-sisters. I think they are very happy with their skirts.

Onto the bandeau tops. This is the sparkly fabric. Nylon netting with iron-on sequins.

I cut all 7 in short order. The little white tabs are plastic boning so the side seams did not collapse.

I sewed the seams using a small zigzag stitch to bag out the top. The fabric was really sticky to sew though. I had to change the needle twice as the glue from the sequins gummed up the needle badly.

This is what the inside looks like after some quick and dirty sewing. I did use a basting stitch to gather the center front before sewing down the ribbon tie. The gathering under the boning was done on the machine.

I will deliver them on hangers tomorrow morning.

Done is beautiful...as we use to say in the costume shop at college.

Little Mermaid 2018

For the third year in a row I am making costumes for the school play. My son is again NOT involved in any way except as a spectator. You can find my costume sewing adventure from last year here.

This year the show is Little Mermaid. I am making Ariel and her six sisters. That equals 7. Seven!

Seven little mermaid costumes have been on my plate for awhile. You know the usual...shoulda...woulda...coulda...started earlier...etc. Anyway, I've had the skirt mocked up for some time and finally got a fitting last week.

I cut all the skirts on Monday. I cut all the tulle today for the ruffles. And started sewing.

Here are the seven combinations. These four pictures are from the director.

The main skirt fabric is a 4 way stretch metallic nylon with overall semi circle cutouts.

I used a knit interfacing on the sewing edges to stabilize the edges.

Because...look what this fabric does with just the weight of the tulle ruffle on the hem!

Looks like fish scales, eh?!? I love the fabric. I can't imagine what it was designed for or who would wear it except as a costume. But it's pretty fun.

Gathering the tulle onto the hem.

 Tulle ruffle on the right side. I still have to edge stitch and sew up the back and waistband.

This is the skirt mockup. The tulle ruffle represents the flippers. It's so cute.

More costume adventures to come. After the skirts are done I have little bandeau tops to cut and sew.

The end of the story can be found here.

The GG Robe

I made a robe for my son Ian a few years ago. That story is told in this blog post. He wore that robe all the time. It kept him warm and toasty for longer than a kid's robe is usually able to. Well, it was finally time to make a new robe.

I took Ian to the fabric shop. We walked down the cotton aisle and the flannel aisle. He picked out 3 cotton fabrics and 1 cotton flannel and said he couldn't decide which was his favorite. Then he asked me to guess which one he wanted. I said "all four?" He said "YES!"

This is what he picked out. Flannel pizza and smooth cotton for the rest.

I know! Crazy right?!? I asked him if he was sure he wanted all of them in the same robe. "Definitely!" He told me exactly where each piece of fabric was to go.

He didn't want a tie so he picked out 2 buttons from my stash. Both are vintage. He liked the metal button because it had military stuff on it and the leather button looked like wood.

Putting all these pieces together...this is the result...I especially like the attitude!

Front view. The hard alcohol print is for dad to enjoy. And the money print gave him buying power.

Back view. He especially liked the pixelated bomb in the print.

 Inside view. The flannel is warm, cozy and yummy.

He calls it his Gangster Gaming robe. AKA, The GG Robe. Everything you need to have a good time...food, drink, games and money. Everything an 11-year old desires.

Side note: I did knit his house socks too. I wrote about his dad's pair of socks in this post. Same yarn, same pattern. I made myself a pair, too. Then I got over my sock craze.

School Play

I did theatre as a kid and as an adult. Both amature stuff and professional. I did lighting, set, and costume design. I acted for a long time too. I settled on costume design as a profession. I worked for a good 15 years in entertainment.

Then I got a straight job at a bank. Then I had a baby. Life changed.

But now my son is in elementary school. And it has a theatre club in its second year. Last year they put on a production of The Lion King. Lots of kids, lots of costumes. I worked on some of them.

This year the club is doing Beauty and the Beast. More kids than last year, more costumes too.

In neither production was my son involved in.

But I was. Of course. Why? Because I have sewing skills.

I haven't been backstage in more than a decade. This year I've been present for the last few rehearsals and bits of sewing. I even went backstage for the first time. I saw parents gathered to paint the set pieces as I was sewing in the multi-purpose room. There is a tremendous amount of energy and wonderful collaboration that happens when folks put on a theatrical show.

There were two separate casts for this production. These are my two Belle dresses.

Apron was finished the next day.

This is the Carpet with my son modeling for me.

This is the Teapot and Teacup I put piping on.

Cast member wearing the teapot.

This is me tea dyeing Belle's white aprons in the teachers bathroom at school. I brought a thermos of hot black tea, a bowl and a towel.

Rinsing above aprons in the bathroom sink.

Sewing in the dark during final dress rehearsal. This is so typical of almost every production I ever worked on.

While it is time consuming and sometime frantic, I was reminded of all the happy times I've had in the theatre. And I received the sweetest thank you card ever...

Real Boys Wear Pink

Last Saturday, my son, Ian, asked me to make a robe for him. One just like mine - pink with small white polka dots. 

I said that we would go to the fabric store and see what we could find. Secretly, I hoped we could find a stripe or plaid or other terry cloth that was not pink. Why? Well, little boys don’t wear pink, right?

On Sunday, I take Ian to the store. The first aisle we come to he sees a cotton fabric with cars, trucks, planes and race cars printed on a blue background. He says he wants that one. Whew. Not Pink.

Then I say we need to find a lining for the thin cotton. The robe’s purpose is to keep him warm in the early morning when he’s cuddled on the couch watching a cartoon while I take a few minutes to wake up.

So we walk over to the terry cloth aisle and I pick out three bolts of fabric for him to choose from -  cream, light blue and light green. He ignores me, walks further down the aisle, points at the last bolt of terry cloth and says, “That one!” 

The Pink One. Of Course.

After a few minutes of negotiation, I succumb and buy the pink terry cloth for the the lining.

I wash the fabric that afternoon and cut on Monday. I find that I have not bought enough fabric and have to go back Tuesday night to buy more.

Wednesday is a marathon sewing day. Which really means stealing time from Ian. After a total of 4.5 hours stolen in small chunks throughout the day, I finish the robe at 11 PM. I am tickled pink by how cute the robe has turned out. I present the robe to Ian Thursday morning. His face lights up with the sweetest smile and says, “For me?” Yes! 

He has been wearing the robe every morning since...for at least 5 minutes while he warms up against the early morning chill. Ian's Dad thinks he looks like a mini-Heff. I think he looks like a fun version of Obiwan Kinobe. 

Either way, real boys wear pink.

Ripples of Joy

(I’m a day late and a dollar short, but here is my post for yesterday.)

I finished and delivered two items from my UFO pile this week. May I say how pleased I am with myself for being so productive? 

The Yoga Mat Bag - this was not really a UFO since it only went on the list a few weeks ago and so technically is a new and finished-right-away project. My niece is taking her first yoga class. It is her 5th birthday and my sister asked if I would make a mat bag as a gift. My niece keeps borrowing my sister’s mat bag. I made that one years ago. Now my niece has her own. As you can see it is purple and pink, and matches her mat and her Rapunzel dress.

The Quilt - I don’t consider myself a quilter. I’ve made 4 quilts in 30 years of sewing. So I’m not a quilter but I do quilt. I like quilts because they always tell a story.

This is a special quilt for a friend. The quilt top and fabric came from his mother’s stash. She passed away a few years ago. He kindly gave me all of her fabric along with many quilting and knitting related tools. It was a very generous gift. The quilt top was already sewn and my friend asked me to finish it someday if ever possible. 

Well, it sat for a long time. Then a surprise baby came along for he and his wife. This January, the baby turned one. I thought it might be appropriate to finish the quilt to celebrate the happy occasion. So, a few months ago, I dug out the quilt top, backing and binding from the gift stash. It sat again for awhile. In December 2011 I realized I had run out of time. I basted the layers together end of December and started hand quilting beginning of January. I hand sewed every night for 2 1/2 weeks. 

I missed the actual birthday but I gave the quilt to my friend and his family yesterday. They were very surprised and amazed that I remembered. Really though, the quilt is a legacy from my friend’s mother. I just helped finish its story.

Soon after the giving, I watched a large orange coy fish swim just below the surface of the water at the pond in the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library. The fish’s tail waving back and forth created gentle ripples on the surface of the water. It made me think how joyful that fish must be to swim all day. I thought about how happy it made me to finish the quilt for my friend and how happy it made him. That’s how I create my ripples of joy - making stuff for my friends and family.

Welcome to Textile Sanity

I intend to post a blog once a week this year.

I will write about my relationship with textiles. The how and what I spin, weave, knit, crochet, felt, sew, teach, etc. Textiles make me feel connected to humanity and history. Sometimes my work in textiles feels like a solo act as I recently moved away from my established textile community. But I know that there are others everywhere in the world that share my interest and love of yarn and fiber and what it can be made into. I will find those folks.

I also have a few UFOs (UnFinished Objects) that are on the to-do list this year. I know we all have UFOs laying around and the pile never seems to diminish. Projects just seem to rotate as some get done and new UFOs get added to the pile. I will endeavor this year to complete more projects than I start. Last year the pile seemed to grow even though I also completed a number of projects.

Current UFOs I am actually working on are - 

• hand-quilting a child's quilt for a friend 
• spinning an indigo dyed merino/bamboo blend yarn
• knitting a Central Park Hoodie cardigan

On the UFO list is  - 

• to sew a yoga mat bag
• spinning golden beige silk on a drop spindle
• weave a triangle shawl for a fiber exchange
• spin cotton on a charkha and weave the finished yarn into cloth for another fiber exchange
• felt some lovely green merino fiber for a third fiber exchange

I don't know why I keep participating in these fiber exchange projects except that they expand my circle of textile friends and the projects all challenge my skills in some way.

Time is always a factor in our lives and mine is certainly taken up by my 5 year old son. But textiles are a tactile necessity for me. Working with fiber keeps me sane. So I guess I am actually writing about my sanity.