Figuratively Speaking, Part 1

Once upon a time, there was a young lady with a lovely figure. She was blessed with an ample bosom, a trim waist and slender hips. She was tallish, though, and always complained that shopping for clothing was frustrating because frequently the garments sized for her girth were too short for her. She had no patience for her friends complaining of having to take up hems, because that was far easier to accomodate than trying to squeeze out an extra inch or more from stingy hems. Fortunately for her, her mother taught her to sew, and she rather enjoyed poring over pattern books and perusing through bolts of fabric for just the right colors and weights. She made blouses, slacks, skirts, prom dresses, and eventually a few bridesmaid dresses. Her father gave her a sewing machine one year, and she took it with her to college, where she found very little sewing time, but she hauled it out for mending, simple alterations, and the occasional creation for a costume party. In the years that followed, her figure, ahem, filled out a little, and now her proportions were more suited to off-the-rack garments. Her sewing machine went with her everywhere, but saw very little action until she needed it for simple home dec projects and her children needed Halloween costumes.
As the years went by, the lady would catch glimpses of herself in mirrors, and frown at her aging and spreading figure, and how her attire appeared frumpy, tired, and utterly defeated. She gradually admitted to herself that her vanity was affronted by the images looking back at her in mirrors. Determined to improve her appearance, she undertook various inadequate efforts to lose weight and tone her shape. She reasoned that regardless of the figure she was dressing, her wardrobe needed not only updating, but curating. Her first directed forays shopping for appropriate garments were entirely discouraging. To her dismay, her quest for elegant, well-fitted clothes forced her to face that the figure she had been camouflaging in her husband's jeans and stetchy knits was no longer proportional. She had come to demand a standard of fit which simply could not be met by the clothing found on store racks. Her eye now sought clean lines and would no longer tolerate bags, wrinkles, or uncomfortable binding. No doubt, she could no longer afford the garments such accomodation, given the bags and wrinkles and gray hairs that already sacrificed the starting canvas. From now on, the garments, mustn't merely cover and keep warm. They could not be indifferent to their station. They must perform! They must flatter! They must delight the eye! Every quality would now be under scrutiny. They would be judged for their fabric, and how the cut suited her figure. They must drape beautifully, and hold up to laundering without shrinking or fading. She began to disdain shoddy construction techniques, uninspired shapes, and indiscriminate finishing details. For a long time, she was discouraged. but gradually came to consider the possibility of making her own things again.
And this is where we find her now. At the edge of a new adventure, no longer discouraged, nor disgusted with the overweight and aging body she had to clothe. Her creativity had been awakened. She got out her old sewing machine, learned how to clean and oil it, and reviewed the stitches it could perform. She also set up the serger she had bought on an impulse years ago, but had never used, had never even learned how to use it.
And certainly, dear reader, you have long since figured out that our heroine is none other than myself! And as today's title post implies, there will be more installments to come detailing my progress. This is a bit of an imposing commitment for me (not the doing, but the posting), as I am, as I have previously suggested a bit shy about posting pictures of myself. I am overweight, and vain about my appearance, but my desire to enjoy this process all the further by documenting it will likely triumph over my embarassment! That, and again, reminding myself that there only 2 categories of people who will read this blog: 1) People who know me and therefore already know what I look like; and 2) People who don't know me and don't really care what I look like. And still when you add the totals of the 2 categories together, it may not even be in the double digits!
So, stay tuned....

Something exciting happened today....

I was at work and some pictures were needed of a machine part that had damage. Nobody could get a good shot, and it came to my turn to try. I needed to take a close-up of something, showing good detail. Oh yeah, and it was in low light. The dig cam available was a Nikon CoolPix - basically the same one I use at home. Now, anyone who peruses my blog will see that I have not mastered my camera. Long have I tucked my users manual in my bag when I think I might have some time to look through it and learn what my cam can do. Hah. Have read almost nothing. Today, however, someone was depending on me to take the time to figure it out and get some good shots. And I did! It felt sooooo good!

So now, I wish I were at home this afternoon and could test my new photo skills in the lovely afternoon sunshine.

There are certain obstacles to blogging, many of which I am sure are obvious: Lack of time, lack of inspiration, and in my case, lack of photos. Blogging is such a sharing activity and the type of people who might read what I have to say are likely to be visual-crafty types. I know the blogs I return to are invariably well-photo'd. (Now that I consider that assertion, I realize that isn't entirely true...if a blog is really well-written, it doesn't have pictures every single time, and I will still come back over and over.) But when you are trying to share a project you've done, it is way more interesting if you have attempted a little photo-journalism. I often have had a blog post idea, but didn't buckle down to it, because of the daunting photo task it deserved. And really, have you tried uploading photos on blogger. Very challenging. I keep thinking that I must being doing it in a naive, cumbersome way, and that bloggers who are more techno-savvy than I must be doing something really cool and snappy that I don't know about. Then I remember, that I have run across bloggers who have left blogger b/c the picture capabilities are so inadequate. Hmmm....should I research this more?

I have new things I want to show off: I have dusted off my sewing machine, set-up the never-used serger that I have had for years, and finally sort-of learned how to use it, bought way too much fabric and a few patterns, and a dressform, whom I have named in true blogging sewist fashion. (In case you're not familiar, there is a movement afoot among people who sew to refer to oneself as a "sewist" as opposed to a "sewer", as "sewer" (pronounced "sow-er") is after all spelled the same as "sewer" (pronounced "soo-er"), and I think you'll agree with me when I opine, "Ick!".

Another obstacle to my photojournalism however is sheer vanity. I am shy about posting pictures of myself (say, modelling a new garment), not because of a fear of revealing any identifying characteristics, just vain and perturbed by looking merely mortal and not young and fresh and like a super-model. (I mean, after all, what if I have a bad hair day? Or the lighting is unflattering, or I look as big as I really am? I just have to channel Jamie Lee Curtis' honesty and courage!) Any shots I come up with will be humbling, no doubt. But I've been giving myself a pep-talk and will be overcoming this reticence. Then I have to remember how few people actually read this blog, and get over myself already.

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But since I have no fresh eye candy yet to share with you, I have harvested a little crop around the internet, reflecting back to my last post.

First of all, let's review my references to beautiful fashions in classic film in my last post.

1. Claudette Colbert's wedding gown in "It Happened One Night."
The 1930's movie stars had the loveliest bias-cut silk gowns. The beauty was in the shimmer and shapeliness. (I have a photo of Jean Harlow I'll post another time. Stunning.)

2. Still looking for a good photo of Joan Fountaine in her sensible tweeds in the Alfred Hitchcock film "Suspicion" with Cary Grant. You know how Al loved to have his blonde leading ladies well-dressed. (Oooh! That reminds me -- maybe I can get a shot of Grace Kelly in the red lace number in "Dial M for Murder"!) I have "Suspicion" on DVD. I think for my next trick I shall learn to capture screenshots from my DVDs.....

3. Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy as "Sabrina"

Hum "Isn't It Romantic?", close your eyes and consider swaying in William Holden's arms wearing this gown. An intoxicating image, non? No champagne necessary.....

4. Rita Hayworth as "Gilda" alludes to a striptease, but doesn't do one while singing "Blame it on Mame". What a performance....

5. Marilyn Monroe sings "Diamond's are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".
A direct descendant from Rita Hayworth's Gilda? I think it's indisputable.

6. Marilyn again, this time in beaded silk as the showgirl, opposite Laurence Olivier (!) in "The Prince and the Showgirl".7. Grace Kelly: This little montage is from Hitchcock's "Rear Window", in which she co-starred with James (Jimmy) Stewart. And this barely scratches the surface.....Somehow, she even looks chic lounging in cuffed-up jeans, a big-shirt and loafers -- wish I did!

And now for the musicals, The Musicals!!!!

8.Here is Deborah Kerr, looking simultaneously demure and alluring, all decolletage and hair-down, in an informal pose....(As Anna in "The King and I")

Just a simple daygown, looks like it might be handkerchief-weight linen with appliqued floral motifs.And here is the gorgeous, opulent ballgown.9. Next is Audrey Hepburn, as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady". I wrote about her before and showed her beautiful Josephine-esque ballgown. More to my liking is this "simple" little number Eliza wore the morning after the ball (I think). For my coloring, I would wear it in a pale Tiffany blue, or apricot blush....More famous is the snappy little number she introduced, turning heads, at the Ascot Races.10. The lovely Leslie Caron, breathtaking as "Gigi". I so covet this ultrafeminine lace shirtwaist. And you really must have your hair up, with slightly mussed ringlets....Before her tutelage as a courtesan, when just an "awkward" schoolgirl. (I should be so awkward.....)And the duckling emerges as a swan.... (Which reminds me to find a pic of Grace Kelly playing a princess in "The Swan")11. Judy Garland, in "Meet Me in St. Louis" Wonderful Gibson Girl style costumes, with vibrant colors -- no doubt carefully approved by Vincente Minelli's artistic eye.
12. And Judy in "The Harvey Girls"
I looked, but didn't find a pic of the stiffly-starched white aprons of the Harvey Girls' service uniforms.

And I looked but didn't find Betty Grable in "Mother Wore Tights", so here's a shot of Betty with MM and Lauren Bacall, whom I have yet to mention, but really you know I want to show her in her New-Look style wasp-waisted houndstooth check suit she wore in "To Have and Have Not."

That's all for now, folks.....I didn't even touch on Gone With the Wind, mainly because everyone knows Scarlett's wardrobe had some of the best movie costumes ever, and can call them to mind effortlessly. But seriously, wasn't her most gorgeous the deep red one she wore to Melanie's party when gossip had scandalized her reputation, and Rhett was furious with her and made her go alone? Vivian Leigh defined something in that dress, and I'd be scared to name it!

Vintage? Repro? Retro?

I have to confess that I have an interest (just shy of an obsession) in vintage fashion. A tour around blogs on the internet tells me that I am not alone! There are blogs and more blogs featuring fashions from the 20th century. It seems that the show "Mad Men" (which I have never seen), has fueled an interest in fashions from the early 1960's (think June Cleaver meets Jackie O). And there seems to be a thriving lifestyle in the UK, harking back to wartime England, and ranging into the world of pin-ups and burlesque queens. You can read all about people who live "authentically", using consumer goods from their chosen era, or following beauty practices, and replicating wardrobes, right down to seamed stockings, waist-cinchers and bullet bras. And then there are theatrical wardrobe professionals or historic re-enactors, who re-create period-correct costumes and study textiles and construction techniques, from corsets to bustles and bonnets.
My interest is quite a bit more subtle. I just like nice clothes. But far from being a fashionista, I'm kind of an old-fashioned girl. I always think the latest fashions are strange and impossibly unflattering on the average woman. I like the tried-and-true shapes and styles. I admit that my preferences are heavily influenced by the Silver Screen, from Claudette Colbert's bias-cut silk wedding gown in "It Happened One Night" to Joan Fountaine's sensible tweed suits in "Suspicion". Who can forget Audrey Hepburn's Paris gown (Givenchy, I think?) in Sabrina? Or Rita Hayworth's alluring number when singing "Blame it on Mame" in "Gilda" Am I the only who thinks the show-stopping pink gown Marilyn Monroe wore in "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" when singing the title song, was insprired by Rita's ? And while we're at it, how about Marilyn. I can recall so many of the costumes that she wore - she did have a way of filling them. Like the beaded gown in "The Prince and the Showgirl". Or how about anything Grace Kelly ever wore. (With the exception of her role in "The Country Girl" I really didn't care for the slouchy cardigan and loafers look - at least, not on Grace - it didn't do her justice!) I am a sucker for the over-the-top colorful and frilly costumes in Technicolor musicals. Think Deborah Kerr in "The King and I". (I would dance all night in that ball gown too, and with Yul Brynner!) Or Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady", Leslie Caron in "Gigi", or Judy Garland in "Meet Me St. Louis" or "The Harvey Girls". As I type this, I'm watching Betty Grable (now there's a girl who can rock a costume) and Dan Dailey in "Mother Wore Tights".
I know my fashion tastes are out of step with current sensibilities. I like matchy-matchy. I want to be a Little Miss Revlon doll from the 1950's with a trunk full of outfits that complete a trousseau. I want every outfit to look like it belongs in an old-fashioned dress-shop window, with a complete set of coordinating acessories. (Notice I didn't say matching...)
And that brings me to the subject of dresses. Dresses are experiencing somewhat of a revival. I don't know how long it will last, though. I must admit that I am skeptical of this trend's staying power. Pants are still the default look. I have precious few dresses, and when I think back over the last year, I can think of only 2 occasions when I wore a dress. In June, I wore a dress to my son's HS graduation, and on 12/30, we attended a wonderful 50th Wedding Anniversary (my in-laws) held at a Country Club.
In my next post, I will continue on with my new approach to a lady's wardrobe in 2011. And in case you haven't figured it out from my last post, it involves sewing.

Snow Day

No one reading this should be too surprised that I am home for a snow day. I live on southern coast of Maine, and it is national news that we are getting the same massive snow storm that has swept over much of the rest of the country. The boys are home from school. We had waffles for a late breakfast . Now everyone is lazing around and trying to figure out what to do with the day.
As usual, I have no trouble thinking of things that will more than fill the available time. First on the list are repairs to Evan's ski parka. Brand new ski parka. The one he had for less than 24 hours before tearing it to shreds. Last Sat., we bought the ever-growing 17yo a new parka. Size Mens xl. On Sunday morning, he left on the bus with the Ski Club for a day at Sunday River. Sunday evening, he came with some major damage to New Parka. I can repair. Will take at least an hour. Involves patching and reinforcing torn fabric, and then re-assembling and sewing torn seams. We'll see.
I have many new sewing projects I want to blog about. Soon.

More UFOs...or are they WIPs?

Here's a little embroidery project that is stalled out in the planning stages. I could never be a designer, because none of it comes naturally to me. It takes me a great deal of time and thinking to conceive a project, survey my available materials, assemble them in different combinations and make decisions! This was supposed to be so simple! All I wanted to do was stitch a little motif of lavender for a lavender-scented sachet. Remember this post, where I took such lovely lavender pictures as a little teaser?Since then, I tried finding embroidery motifs for stitching lavender plants or blossoms. I had no luck! I even found by looking at pictures of lavender blossoms and reading about the plant, that different species have different flowering patterns. By that I mean that the little purple flowering parts will be arranged in different ways on the stems. There really isn't a readily recognizable way to depict lavender, except with color, of course. The shape of the flowering parts is a little non-distinct and variable, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of lavender embroidery with a stitch associated with stitching lavender. I am not an experienced embroiderer, so I still don't know exactly how I'll stitch the little floral parts. I thought I was doing well to decide to stitch the stems with stem stitch. Too bad there isn't a lavender stitch. I had selected some colors to use from what I already had, and then on my Columbus Day gad-about, I made things more complicated by buying more violet shades!

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This cross-stitch project is something I started a few years ago, I can't remember why, and so I don't know why I put it away, either. I took it out again a few weeks ago, and have been working on it. When I took it out, all it had stitched on it was the beginning of the prayer, up through the word "hallowed". And so, I've been trying to stitch 15-30' each night. That is, up until one sunny day, I discovered that in the too-dim light I was using, I had stitched quite a lot in the wrong shade of green. I haven't made the decision yet whether to leave it, as it won't be too noticeable or pick it out (what a mess!) and re-do it, even though I don't love doing cross-stitch so much. It has gotten a bit more difficult as my eyes have gotten older. I've joined the ranks of forgetful older ladies who keep several pairs of readers all over, so I don't have to keep track of a single pair. It's kind of like discovering a subtle, but noticeable mistake in your knitting and not wanting to rip out several rows to correct it. So you keep working, trying to ignore it, and eventually you do rip it out and correct it, now having to rip out even more than if you'd just done it when you first discovered it. So, it's taking a little rest...until I have the patience to (and lighting....and glasses) to scrutinize my work against the pattern, and work out a rehab plan. Once I get through that phase, I'll be about 3/4 of the way to being finished, and then I can frame and hang it!But I don't think it'll be anytime soon, considering how exhausted and frustrated it makes me just to think about it! Obviously, I need to restore myself with a hot cuppa tea and some good eye candy!I just loooove the combination of light blue and bright red together with some dark shade of brown or taupe to ground it. And accented with the evergreen color, beeeaauutiful! See the Victorian Trading Co. catalog? It only encourages my desire to get a red or cranberry-colored winter coat.....Have you seen Jodie's red coat over at Can-Do Mom? A red coat also looks so crisp with a white or even ivory scarf, or hat (a beret!) and mittens.

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Maybe you remember this dresser scarf? I started it way back in January. At least this UFO was started in 2010. I was such a smarty-pants, I wanted to have it done by Valentine's Day, of 2010 that is. I committed my usual error in judgment, confidently assuming that I had enough cotton thread to finish my project. Never mind what the instructions say, since of course I'm not using the thread they recommend nor the same size crochet hook, and I certainly didn't check guage, since it's just a runner -- an inch or two or even more hardly matters at all. And besides the thread I need is easily obtained, right? Wrong! It was Southern Maid brand and no longer carried by the usual nearby stores. I have been to another store twice since then, which does still carry it - in at least three colors, and both times the bin for this ivory color has been empty! I could have ordered it online and paid twice what it cost just for the shipping. So on that Columbus Day shopping trip I bought two other brands hoping one would match. I can honestly tell you that I can't tell! The two balls of thread seem actually be made by the same company, and sold under two different brand labels. I just need to pick one and try it and see if the difference is really that noticeable.... It really is close to being done, I just need to do it.But what I'm really working on now is the sage green filet lace. I hadn't lost the hook after all. It was in the bottom of my purse, concealed by a fold in the lining. Oh my......

Archaeology

Here's one I have unearthed after-what, 8, 9 years? My son, Ian, was probably in 4th or 5th grade, when there was no school because of the 1st snow day of the year. I stayed home from work, and of course, the children frolicked in the snow several times that day. We had a fire in the fire place and set up the clothes-drying rack to dry sodden hats and mittens. There was hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows, and probably tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon, I taught Ian and his little friend Caroline a little embroidery. I hooped up some simple ironed-on transfers with their initials. To this day, they remain UFOs, but they are perfect souvenirs of the lovely day, just as they are.

Later that week, I bought the little cross-stitch project above, intending for Ian and I to work on it together for a teacher Christmas present. It didn't happen and suffered the fate of many of my well-intended, but abandoned projects. It wound up with The Others. (You know what I am talking about.)

I un-earthed it, recently. Such an activity is really like an archaelogical dig. Each layer has a story to tell, each new UFO reaching further back in my history of unrealized dreams. Some projects are more pathetic than others. The ones that were way too ambitious for the time before they were needed as a gift or a commemoration. The ones that were just too uninteresting to inspire any loyalty. But others aren't worthy of pity, but instead, stir our interest anew. These are the projects whose relevance was suddenly eclipsed by the pull of some other life event. After all, they are all leisure time activities, and when we are earning a living and raising a family, they occupy a back seat to...well, everything!

Well, so now I've finished the little cross-stitch above, in an evening. (It had to wait years for an hour and a half of attention?)Is it an FO now? Not really, it needs to be incorporated into something now - a pencil case? an eyeglass case? a sachet, a pincushion, an ornament? I don't know where the little frame is, but, not interesting anyway....

So, it is and it isn't yet a FO. The Mary Engelbreit fat quarters lend themselves to a little patchwork project. I'm leaning toward a pencil case (for which I have no real use) or an eyeglass case. So I guess, it is now an element for an as-yet-undefined new project, and not yet even part of a WIP!

How about you? Can you conduct a little archaeology and convert a UFO into a WIP into a FO? Pencil it in for January, when the cold, dark winter lends itself to stitching time, and you itch to start a project, but your budget is still bloodied and bruised from the Christmas ransacking. Or if you have the time and creativity, perhaps your archives will yield some Christmas gifts and save you the hassle and expense of shopping.

Updates on previous posts:

I have pulled 6 more inchworms off the sage (and parsley, turns out they will eat parsley when the sage is almost gone). Where were they hiding?

I take the crochet edging with me wherever I go. The plus: You can take advantage of otherwise wasted moments to progress on the project. The minus: You risk losing the crochet hook. Result: I made some progress, but I lost the crochet hook. It is a size 9. Note: Michael's carries steel crochet hooks in sizes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Sigh.

WIP? UFO? A decision each must face alone.....

I have a question for you. When is a project a WIP, and when is it a UFO? Just to be clear, generally crafters/needlewomen in the blog world refer to their projects as "Works in Progress" or WIPs when it is something they are picking up and working on regularly, moving forward and overcoming obstacles, anticipating completion within a foreseeable future. And the UFO (UnFinished Object) is a pathetic abandoned project, the victim of, what, apathy? An insurmountable obstacle? A missed gifting deadline? Often the symbol of dashed hopes, they languish in baskets, boxes, bags, typically out of sight and thankfully, out of mind.
I put it to you however that the no-man's-land between WIP and UFO is a highly personal territory. The defining borders between the two are individual not only to owner of the project, but also to the project itself. By definition a work-in-progress is unfinished, but to be relegated to the lower-class status of a UFO is a distinction each artist can make only for herself. Will she resist labelling a beloved project a UFO despite no discernable progress in days? weeks? months? Years? How long is too long an interval for a project to be "resting"?
Well, I'm going to explore this topic with my next few posts, while at the same time bringing forth my UFO/WIPs to the light of day. In some of my cases, I will re-commit myself to their completion. In others, I will admit defeat, and determine a more suitable fate than the purgatory of UFO.

Today I am spotlighting a project I introduced with this post, in which I proposed to select and create an edging to apply to a new set of sheets. It took me a little while, but I finally selected this edging: I found this Lily Filet Edging on a website, and the graph is a free download. The two photographs are copyrighted 1999 by Sandy Marshall. I hope I'm covered in using them by crediting her.
The link is here. I am enjoying doing this very much. I can't say that I am making rapid progress. Each repeat is about 4-3/4" or more. A queen size sheet is 90" wide. Since I am making my own sheet, I can make the sheet more or less than 90" as needed to fit an even number of repeats. I think I will need about 18-19 repeats.
As you can see here , I have almost 3 repeats. I'm also not sure how many more balls of crochet thread I'll need. Probably 2 or 3 more. I bet I've used half the ball on these 3 repeats.

I think I had better pick up the pace. It has taken me about a month to get 1/6th done....

At this pace, it will take 6 months! I mostly crochet while I'm riding in the car. The DH and I work at the same office, and I am usually the passenger. It takes about a half hour, and most mornings, I spend about 10-15' trying to put on make-up in a moving car. The rest of the time I crochet. Before DST ended, there was usually still light to crochet by on the way home, but not any more. I really need to get a little clip on light, for just this problem!

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On a completely separate topic: Tonight 2 of my favorite movies are airing on TCM. I have mentioned before my love of Hollywood musicals (did anyone catch Oklahoma! late last night?), but I love even more the old b&w WWII dramas. Tonight, don't miss the introductory comments (tune in at 8 pm sharp!) of Robert Osbourne and Alec Baldwin, about "The Best Years of Our Lives", and if you haven't gotten enough, after that, enjoy "Mrs. Miniver". I love Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon so much, I have this one on DVD. And the wonderful Theresa Wright is in both. I'll be cozied in with my popcorn and a stitching project (probably the Lily Filet Edging) for both of these gems.