sewinggoodness

This weekend . . .

2011-09-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

What I did this weekend:

1) Reread Njal's Saga (the whole thing)
2) Watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season II (the whole thing)
3) Ate baked ziti
4) Made a hat

It was an eremetic sort of weekend. I did very little in the way of being a productive member of society, but it is an extremely cute hat.

What Most of You Do Not Realize about Kitty . . . .

2011-08-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

. . . is that underneath that dogmatic and overly fuzzy exterior he is a true romantic at heart! Seriously--he cries at weddings, dragged me to the Sex and the City movie like ten times, and constantly takes up my DVR space with reruns of TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. So when Kitty learned that two of his dearest comrades, Anne and Erin, were preparing to marry, he immediately got to work on creating a truly monumental present. The wedding was May 1, so he instituted his own April Theses, Piece (ed quilt top), (Double Wedding) Bands, and Thread. (Yeah, I know--I told him no one would get the Lenin reference, plus the rhyme was a real stretch, but you try arguing with Mr. Scratchy Bitey). And thus began the Double Wedding Band Quilt, which I recently delivered to Anne in Toronto.
Although featured in the series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (another Kitty favorite), which takes place in the years following the Civil War, there is no evidence of this specific pattern existing before 1928, when Capper's Weekly published a pattern. Other lady's magazines began publishing variations of the design throughout the 1930's. Fabric featuring a printed version of the double rings also became popular. Interlocked rings, of course, had been appearing in German quilts for hundreds of years. (See Carry A. Hall, The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt 1935 (reprinted Dover Publications, 1989.)

Although Kitty acted as chief commissar of the quilt project, as time passed he enlisted the valued labor of Kitty and Wylie. Wylie received appropriate wages and benefits; Bolli, sadly, was sent to the gulag and forced to work for free.
Despite employing this traditional wedding design, Kitty felt that a union of such cool people required a little something extra. He spent a great deal of time googling "Love Poetry" and finally settled upon Poem II from Twenty-One Love Poems by Adrienne Rich. (After extensive self-debate, he realized that the marriage section of the Communist Manifesto would be inappropriate.) Using quilting thread, he embroidered the poem

text on the quilt top before quilting and binding.
Due to extremely unfair travel restrictions (there may have been some youthful follies the US government may be refusing to overlook) , Kitty was forced to remain south of the border while I received the task of muleing the quilt to Canadia. I also added some finishing touches to the binding before presenting the gift to Anne.
I believe there is a tradition in multiple cultures of adding one mistake in every textile for luck. In that case, Anne and Erin will enjoy luck for the next hundred years! (All the parts I helped with, Kitty!)

LMD wonder wonders why the wonder falls! (or Get thee to Niagara Falls!)

2011-08-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

I spent Thursday at Niagara Falls. I did the typical tourist stuff--took pictures of myself, gazed awestruck at natural wonders, engaged in cryptic conversations with animal-shaped inanimate objects, etc . . . until the day took a somewhat LMD-style spin. I learned that in addition to lots of waterfalls and stuff, Niagara Falls boasts a functioning convent of Franciscan nuns, known as Stella Niagara. I could think of nothing else--in addition to my routine obsession with nuns, I was so intrigued by the juxtaposition of a convent (a place that projects outward serenity) with the national monument to chaos. So I drove to Stella Niagara to learn more.
At first I was a bit disappointed because I was picturing a dramatic fortress jutting out from craggy rocks, a la Name of the Rose and instead found an unassuming pink building off the side of the road dwarfed by a clearly 1960's institution style building which I guessed was the school I knew existed on the premises. There were also some buildings labeled "Provincial Offices" and a giant stone building with imposing staircases. Every single doorway on every single building I approached featured the sign, "Please use other door." I had saved the giant stone building for last because it seemed impenetrable but I was getting really hot and and it was unbearably muggy outside and I snuck into a loading dock and found myself in a room with a swimming pool. This development did not surprise me, as The Trouble with Angels has taught me that swimming pools are integral to any functioning convent. I then began to explore.
In truth, dear reader, I began the process earnestly wanting to find someone in charge who could talk to me about the history of the convent and answer some questions and possibly provide me with some informative brochures. But being Veronica Mars was much more fun, so I consciously avoided discovery while working my way through the giant maze that I always knew good convents would be. There was a large chapel, a small chapel, multiple hallways with marble floors and harps, an exhibit of antique wooden clappers, and all sorts of Sisterly goodness. I did eventually sneak through a kitchen and come out in an office where a startled woman was organizing files. We were both quite surprised and she seemed disconcerted to learn that I had wandered in through an open door. The following conversation ensued:
Me: I am glad to finally find someone! I was looking for an office!
Lady: Do you have an appointment?
Me: No, I am interested in learning more about the history of Stella Niagara and was wondering if you had any informational brochures?
Lady: No . . . . we don't have those. Is there a question I could answer? Are you representing someone?
Me: I have many questions, mainly about the founding and development of this convent.
Lady: Well, let's see, Stella Niagara was founded in 1907 by a Dutch Abbess . . . .
Me: Excuse me, may I please take notes?
Lady: Yes, you may [extremely odd but apparently harmless girl]. As I was saying, most of the nuns came from the Netherlands or Poland and were invited to Buffalo originally to minister to the Polish Catholic population . . . would you like a tour of the building while we talk?
Me: Yes, please.
Then stuff, which had been going fairly well, got really good. It turns out that the lady's name was Pamela, she had worked at Stella Niagara for seven years, and was full of useful information about the building and the order. The convent now acts as a retirement home for older nuns and included an assisted living facility with around the clock nursing staff on one floor. Pamela introduced me to several of the assisted living residents who were cheerfully playing Pinochle around a table. They commented favorably on my "Crafty Lady" shirt and I made polite conversation and forced myself not to blurt out inappropriately personal questions like, "How do you feel about the differences in the order after after the Vatican II revisions? How did the changes during the 1960's affect your spirituality?" I will say though that after a summer of reading Karen Armstrong's memoirs, I was prepared for dour and humorless women and these were some seriously merry ladies. They had been at Stella Niagara for twenty-thirty years and had entered the order in the 1930's - 1940's so I still cannot get over the changes in Catholicism, not to mention the world, that they have experienced. All of these thoughts, which I am still working through, prompted the following poem, still a work in progress. But as I am typing this longest preface ever, it occurs to me only now that not once did anyone ask me whether I was Christian, let alone Catholic.

Stella Niagara

The Jerusalem I see is a wet land in its infancy, still angry and raw from the birthing.

The Deluge is only just ceasing its rough baptism.
I crouch in the dirt and run my fingers over the dimpled rocks.
Still moist, the earth wells with thistles and chokecherries.

Born to a fierce weaning and a redwood martyrdom,

Our Christ doesn’t walk over placid waters, hair gold-tossed with a Palestine sun.
Rather he leaps from one craggy cliff to another, drenched with spray, eyes greyly intent.
Winning his manhood with slippery skill; he never looks down.
Eagles nod approval from the tree nooks.

We have been here for over a century.

We followed our thirsty mother to find water.
She tracked through her desert until the star rose over the sea,
And there we pitched our tents.
Water, water everywhere, and ne’er a drop--
Never mind, God will provide.

As we sifted brick and mortar, our celestial covenant radiated in our ring fingers.

Jabbering in babelled tongues,
we all dreamed the same songs of rushing crystalline energy.
Those were damp windy days.
Build my kingdom in the wilderness:
Yes, my lord, my love.
We slept in the mud and the ferns and laughed through our morning prayers.
We were the first fruits we eased from the earth;
Frumentia and Dymphnna, we named ourselves.

Our flocks gathered round us by the river banks.

Where we took up our beautiful burdens.
But peace is a delusion—death has his tricks to taint the living.
Before the vaccines,
All those little lambs with twisted limbs;
We raised them all to be blooded,
First in one war than another.

Every boy reminded me of you, the way you broke through the winter ice with infant fists.

We, your devoted fern maidens, crowned you with cat tails.
My grey-eyed sailor lad, hold my hand along the reedy banks.
Cling fast to me, now is not yet the time for your watery burial.
Come the spring,
Your sirens will sound an epic keening,
Our souls swelling like drowned corpses.

This falling will last forever

By my flesh is only transitory.
Hang my heart in the trees,
I do love thee.

Enter the Magical Mystery Abbess's Chambers!

2011-07-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

Remember when the Wu Tang got to make an album with the Beatles, the circa 1967 Beatles, including John Lennon? And it was witty and delightful (that's the Wu for you--witty and delightful, like a cocktail party with the Provost!) and extremely road-trip-worthy? Well, if Ghostface et al. can record a record with dead and/or extremely old artists, I think I should be able to write a poem with an even deader cool lady. My favorite dead cool lady, in fact, --Heloise, the extraordinarily successful fantastically talented Abbess of the Paraclete. While she is best known for her love scandal with Abelard, I find her most fascinating for her rhetorical skills and innovative spirituality. But you can read about that in my dissertation. Actually, please don't. Every time I look at it I find spelling errors. But you can read this, which is significantly shorter. So some of the words are Heloise's and some are mine, inspired by her writing, and the result is probably mostly about myself. But one thing Heloise was known for was training novices and in love, life, and writing, I am a willing pupil.

To Abelard and All the Rest

Although my grief is still untamed,
You have bridled my words,
My racing stallions, my unbroken horses of the steppes.
Heavenly horses racing free across the meadows, ambassadors from my heart
If I let them gallop across the page, black ink spurring them forward
You will end our tentative negotiation, our polite parlay,
So I will bit and bind fast my chomping jaws.

I will restrain my hand from writing
What I cannot keep my tongue from saying aloud.
So my hands must be my secret agents.
When they were younger, they flew into your hair and grabbed,
but weighted as they are now with rings and lines, they obey.
I allow my hands to be my diplomats, because my tongue would start a war with you.
Good thing you are rarely here.

I want my words to reach you, penetrate you, finally click your latches, pick your locks,
you frustrating aging enigma.
But hypocrite that I am, I want only the utmost honesty from you,
Do not evade my questions with your skillful rearranging of words,
They won me once, but I am weary of your tricks, and I know them all by heart,
When you face God, they won’t help you. So practice honesty with me.
No more rhetorical conjuring; please restrain your worldly alchemy.
But by all means, be dazzled by mine.

I have nothing to do, so I apportion blame,
Usually I come out the worst.
Embracing guilt is the easy part
And easy to confess one’s own sins or even to afflict the body in some outward show of penance
Believe me, darling, I am ready for scourges:
I whip myself and black ink spurts from my flesh.
It crystallizes on the walls into all the letters I have never written.
Ink soaks into my lungs; I wake up choking, desperately swallowing it down
till it rests bitter in my lungs
My heart pulsing against its ribcage jail.

My youth was dark, like the forbidding hallway at midwinter Nones,
like the bubbling dye vats wreaking with nutty fumes,
but so so comely.
Not only what we did, but when and where—these are so fixed within my heart
that I live through them again with you
They survive fixed as a seal upon my heart, as your imprint in my soul,
now hardened and crisped in my fires and remaining forever a black stain.
This is a twisted outcome.

If my heart were to jump out of my body, it would be a book.
I hope the angels place that on the scale at the hour of my death.
My beautiful transgressions will flip the pans and break the stirrups.

I Make Food!

2011-07-20T09:42:00.001-07:00

I have been using herbs to augment pasta dishes all summer but last night I cooked with garden herbs for the first time. I made simple basil pesto:

Parmesan + olive oil + pine nuts + fresh basil = unbelievable flavorful deliciousness

I know a few handfuls of basil is hardly a victory garden, but the taste of food that you created is pretty special.

Take That, Flash Floods!

2011-07-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Here we have my sad little garden after one of West Virginia's crazy rain storms. My flowers completely drowned in a wave of warm summery rain sloshing out of my drain pipe. Watching the flowers struggling to stay afloat, I remembered all the Little House books where Laura watched her crops be eaten by grasshoppers/ruined by storms/burned by grass fires/trampled by cattle/confiscated by the government. But yesterday I rigged up a technologically advanced (it involved packing tape) drain pipe extender that will confound the flashiest flood.
But on the back patio, the flowers are incredibly lush beautiful. Therefore I took many pictures. Also--peppers!

Curtains!

2011-07-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures illustrating some of the curtains I have made for my new house. Also, there is Bolli.

The Best Thing I Have Done in Huntington!

2011-07-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today, I did something unexpected and amazing. I went to a dog show! Like in Best in Show! Huntington boasts its own kennel club, which is somewhat surprizing as it doesn't even have a Petco, but nevertheless, I spent the afternoon petting afghan hounds, basset hounds, mastiffs, and, those crazy dogs who look like mops--it was like Animal Planet came alive and jumped into my lap.
The Komondor is named Ziggy and he won Best in Show yesterday. The French mastiff is named Moses. Also, I love him.

Current Knitting Initiatives

2010-07-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Scarf in Progress, inspired by the clothing of the Urumchi Mummies, all yarn is hand-spun by me--

Brown: Targhee

Green: Half Silk, Half Camel

Red: Wendsleydale

Trumpet Skirt from Knitting Lingerie Style, by Joan McGowan-Michael:

Yarn: Noro Yuzen (Seven skeins in total, on number four)

Squares for Afghan: For Huntington City Mission, Afghans for the Children of Pine Ridge

Quite Simply the Coolest Thing Ever

2010-06-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/features/samplers/culture_clash/index.html

Handspun Yak and Wool Yarn

2010-06-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Shrugs!

2010-06-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything in forever--the months between January and May are particulalry busy, apparently, but I have been knitting and sewing as much as ever. Faithful readers (Anne), I know how anxious you have been for some new pictures, so here they are. I have become obsessed with shrugs. They fit better than cardigans and they give the allusion of a slender willowy build. They are also incredibly easy to knit, particularly if you follow the pattern by Jessica Harrigfeld, http://www.etsy.com/featured_seller.php?featured_user_id=5289847

For both of these shrugs I have used yarn from A Verb for Keeping Warm for the crocheted trim and Cascade 220 for the body.

Assorted Crafts . . .

2009-12-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Detty Scarf

2009-12-23T18:36:00.001-08:00

A scarf for my former sort-of-mother-in-law who I adore! Normally I avoid the weird shaggy ribbon yarn they sell at some knitting stores because it looks old-ladyish. I used it as trim here and it actually turned out quite glamorous:

At long last . . .

2009-12-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

Dear readers,
Forgive my long absence. I'm sure it seems as if I have stopped all hand crafts, but actually I have been non-stop knitting, sewing, quilting, spinning, etc . . . for months. The production has been so intense that I have barely even taken pictures before giving things away. But here is a brief sample of what I have been up to. This scarflet/neck warmer is for our delightful department secretary. I tried to make this neckwarmer as quirky and warm as she is. The yarn is from Falklandknits in the UK, the Spinninglab on Etsy, and the buttons are vintage and come all the way from the Czech republic.

Lady Felicity Victoria Bearington Goes to Africa

2009-09-07T16:04:00.001-07:00

"Having finished her education at Riddlesworth Hall with top marks, the Lady Felicity Victoria Bearington plans to join her brother, Lord Neville Bearington, at is mission house in Africa. As several of you may recall, Lord Bearington departed last September to the darker continent in order to bring light to our lost brethren. He has sent back reports of smashing success. Lady Felicity is delighted that she can go and be of help to her brother. Is the young lady worried that she is leaving before her Season ends? Not at all! They eldest daughter of the noble Bearington clan has far loftier goals than ball gowns and waltzes. "It has always been my dream to join my brother in the greatest work of all," she has reportedly told several intimate friends. Before leaving our fair country, Lady Felicity enjoyed a tea party with some school chums. What a jolly time they had!"

As quoted in the Times, 1903

So I made this bear for the Mother Bear Project, a group who collects hand-knitted bears and distributes them to various African countries. http://www.motherbearproject.org/ The bears go to orphanages, refuge shelters, etc . .. where children are suffering from HIV or have lost parents to HIV. All the bears are made by hand from a 1940's pattern. It is really quite a sweet project, but I can't quite escape its colonial overtones. Hence, all the bears have British names and turn of the century identities. Felicity is my second bear--I sent Lord Neville off in January. My goal is to join the 100 Bear Club. I would love to start a bear-making club as well in Huntington.

Miss Mermaid goes to a Wedding

2009-07-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

I made this dress at the beginning of the summer for my friend Angela Ryan FM's wedding to my other friend, Doug Stewart. The fabric is Moda and the pattern is from Betsy Ross, but it went horribly awry. The problem seems to be that my shoulders are tiny but my belly is round and full of doughnuts, so a dress that fits my waist droops around the top. (I know, the people who make stuff out of muslin first and then adjust to fit completely avoid these issues). So I made this dress, which originally had a much higher neckline as well as straps, and it looked terrible. The straps were uneven, the neckline was so high it was practically modest, and I generally looked like a satin clad nun with a drunken seamstress. At first I was grumpy and discouraged and yelled at some cats. Then I became inspired and ripped out all the top seams and took them in about two inches. Then I ripped out the straps, flipped over the neckline, and form-fitted it to myself. I was pleased with the results and held up the whole affair with some stretch lace ribbon. The waist is encircled with some turn of the century (the last one, not this one) pink silk rayon ribbon dating that I found from Inwiththeoldvintage on Etsy. When I originally started the project I was envisioning 1950's debutante but by the end I was seeing mermaids. To complete the look I got nail polish in shimmery turquoise and an aqua beaded hair vine from Chicallure (also Etsy). I certainly didn't look as pretty as the bride, but another wedding guest with whom I was not acquainted made my day by calling me "Miss Mermaid."

A New Dress for Upstate New York

2009-07-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

2009-07-14T22:22:00.000-07:00

Capelet Revolution

2009-07-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all the enthusiastic responses to my capelet post! I agree--capelets are the bandwagon of the future, so let's jump on and travel to town. This particular capelet is a patterned blue velvet, lined with jade green taffeta. It features black grosgrain ribbon trim and a green frog closure. The beautiful model is Whitney.

I Made a Quilt

2009-06-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Look, it works! It already has a cat on it! After several weeks of prepping for my Women in the Wild West class, I decided to make a quilt. I had no idea how, but it seemed fairly intuitive. So I bought some of the heirloom calico at JoAnn Fabrics and used scraps from a dress I recently made for the top part. I found an old sheet at Goodwill for the backing, and sewed the two together in a duvet cover like style. Then I stuffed it with the batting and slip-stitched up the side. It turns out that is not actually the way to do it--there is something known as binding that works up the side, but I looked at a famous Texas quiltmaker's quilt and I couldn't find any binding. I decided to hand-piece and hand-stitch the quilt. I wanted a mobile project so I didn't want to involve the sewing machine. Also, I hoped to recreate the experience of making a quilt the way women would have done so for hundreds of years. None of these new-fangled sewing machines for me!

Victorian Heaven

2009-05-31T12:55:00.001-07:00

My friend Whitney and I have a new mission--we are going to bring back the capelet. Specifically the lovely nineteenth-century capelet tripped with ribbons and buttons and all sorts of goodies. What a beautiful garment--it just has that "I'm a serious but passionate woman with a cameo-like face and a steel-like heart so take me in your arms, dark stranger," look. I predict that by Christmas, the fashion world will be falling over themselves to design capelets. And after the high-fashion runway world comes Banana Republic, and after that Macy's, and after that, Target. Capelets are coming back, my friends.

Pictures of Summer

2009-05-16T18:22:00.001-07:00

Seeds and Buttons

2009-05-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the dress I recently finished--it is the Amy Butler (my love, my goddess) lotus tunic dress made from Amy Butler Seed fabric. I trimmed it with three antique Victorian jet buttons.

I love this dress and would like to wear it every day. Thank you.

Ro-bots for K-bot

2009-05-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Pillows and Cupcakes!

2009-05-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Ever since I decided to make all handmade gifts for friends, I have been running about six months behind on presents, on average. Yesterday I finished my Canadian friend Anne's birthday present, although her birthday was back in February. (Her Christmas present did arrive in time for her birthday!) Making pillows is so much fun now, because not only is it sinfully easy, but I have discovered bamboo stuffing, made by the same people who make the Poly-fil stuffing. The bamboo is soft and silky and we all know that bamboo will save the world in the end because it can do anything.

I also finished another project--an engagement party for my friends Kat and Greta. Their favorite colors are red and purple so thus went the party. I made a sparkly purple tablecloth which I forgot to take a picture of. My friend Terry made beautiful purple and red flower arrangements (also no pictures, sadly). But here are the Greta cupcakes (you can't really tell, but the icing is purple). They are chocolate and topped with a serious dollop of creamcheese icing which was so good you could eat it out of the bowl with a spoon.

I've never had luck with elastic waistbands!

2009-04-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I made the Belle Skirt from Favorite Fit. The pattern was ridiculously easy and took only the length of two Battlestar Gallactica episodes to cut out and complete. I used some Amy Butler fabric for the hem (climbing climantis) and some adorable Heather Schmidt fabric for the body of the skirt, which feels softer than regular cotton. The skirt looks good overall, but the waistline is pretty unattractive (see photo above). I followed the directions for a 28" waist, which I am pretty sure that I have, but there is tons of extra fabric that bunches up around the elastic. I need to wear a longer top (as in the photo) to cover up the waist, but it has to be fairly loose (I tried a tighter top and the bunched-up fabric showed through. I plan to try this pattern again using a smaller size and maybe thinner fabric for the waistband.

My Pledge

2009-04-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Pledge
I LMD pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, LMD.

Green Circle Skirt

2009-04-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

This is my first blog post. I made this skirt from the Twirly Skirt by Aimie Butler's Betsy Ross patterns. It was pretty easy to make and it is light and breezy for the spring. (Unfortunately it hasn't really been warm enough to wear it). I bought the fabric from my favorite fabric store, Sew to Speak, in Columbus. I love that store! Everything looks like candy.

This is not the first skirt I have made by any means, but it is the first for the wardrobe refashion project!