time traveling seamstress

Current day.

Needed a little something for over her cami this morning,
so she made an unstructured vest with angular hem,
finished by giving it a tug to cause theknit fabric to roll at the edges.

---

Late 18th century.

A top to wear when she's working
at the Nathan Hale Homestead.
Same pattern as the other top, but
meant for warmer weather, so ruffled modesty panel
added to neckline and shorter sleeves.

Flared at the side seams with triangular inserts
and an inverted pleat (right? is that what it's called?)
in the back. Such a stylish
Revolutionary War era young woman.

Happy weekend, everybody!

speedy vampires

Red shirt.
Red sock.
Red Cross.

Be nice to me.
I gave blood today.

Fastest donation process evah!
I barely made it through my 8 short rows for the heel turn.

It's still true; all you'll feel is good!

this one's for Christine

The Thinking Mother mentioned our house in her blog post of today. For the most part, she's spot on about how things are 'round here, but there's always a flip side, right? May I present...

Creative kid in her
bedroom studio lair natural habitat,
sewing another shirt for her
historic reenactment volunteer outfit.

Believe it or not, there's a method to her madness. She insists that everything you see here IS where it belongs. The condition of this room has been the subject of blog posts here and here too.

:::sigh::: Mostly, we just keep the door closed. :-)

I have to admit that sometimes my own office doesn't look much better than this. In that case, though, it's usually only a temporary situation, as the results of ongoing decluttering sessions usually accumulate in my office as they're being sorted for trash/recycling/put-and-take/Goodwill/friends/other donation destinations.

Also, Christine? Thought you might like to know that, just yesterday, my guys worked for hours to finish the current rocket-in-progress and Get It Off The Buffet In the Dining Room! It's hanging on the porch to allow the paint to dry now and blast-off is scheduled for this weekend. Somebody should hurry up and dust the dining room before the next project takes up residence there. I believe it's a curse blessing of living an enthusiastic life.

Pullover?

A traffic cop pulled alongside a speeding car on the motorway. Glancing into the car, he was astounded to see that the woman who was driving was also knitting. Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the policeman wound down his window, turned on his loudspeaker, and yelled, “Pull over!”

“No,” the woman yelled back, “it’s a scarf!”

---
Joke from a screen shot Scott sent to me from some iPhone game app he likes.

temari

Among the things that came back home with me when we cleaned out my Gram's apartment is a few temari that I made years ago.

I never got too far involved in making these, but the ones I did were fun to try, especially if you happen to have some embroidery/cross stitch leftovers tucked away somewhere, as I do. I made some that are as small as a large marble and others about the size of a baseball.

It's been a long time since I looked at any temari info, but one site that was pretty comprehensive is Temari Kai. There were a few temari books around at that time, many more available now! I wish temari had a practical use, as I might make some more then, but for now, these will get tucked away to hang from the Christmas tree, their function simply to be pretty.

Have any of you ever made temari? What other obscure arts/crafts have you dabbled in?

since we last talked

Whoo boy, I feel like it's been forever since I wrote a blog post. I suppose that's because there was a 5-day trip to Pittsburgh tucked in between, for my Gram's memorial celebration (which was perfect in every way) and dismantling of her apartment. While my mom, sister, and I were working on clearing things out, Scott and the kids also managed to hit up a Pittsburgh Pirates game, the always fabulous Carnegie Science Center, and the new-to-us Sportsworks, where they climbed and soared and bounced and flipped!

Hey, when this family spiffs up,
it's worthy of a snapshot.
We're not really in as much pain as it might appear;
just rushed and a lot going on around us.

Now we're back at home and gearing up for the summer farmers' market season. Leah finished sewing one of her outfits for her work at the Nathan Hale Homestead. Skirt, top, scarf, apron, bloomers, and chemise, all handsewn and ready to go! The skirt used to be a duvet cover, the apron and bloomers a sheet, and the top was some nearly-vintage fabric she found in my stash. Now she's working on a lighter weight top to wear when the weather gets warmer.

BTW, the seamstress is turning 12 years old today. Woot!

We're also making a square each (mine on the left, hers on the right) to contribute to a friendship afghan that will be sent to a member of the New England Textile Arts group who owns a yarn shop and has supported the group's charitable efforts for years. This generous woman suffered a stroke recently and many people wanted to do something for her, so what better than to wrap a knitter in knitterly love?

moments

My mom finished knitting the border on her Shetland Triangle shawl while in the ICU with my Gram. She bound it off while we were in Florida and handed it to me in scrunchy, lumpy just-knit-lace form, to take home and do magic with my blocking wires.

Ta-da! Made from Alpaca Sox yarn, it's light, cozy, soft, and just big enough to be perfect for a newly retired Floridian who catches a chill while dining at a waterside restaurant, having cocktails on the lanai, or visiting a business where the air conditioning is a little overdone.

While waiting for the doors to open on our favorite used clothing sale a few days ago, I was, of course, knitting on a sock. The woman in front of us, who was wearing clothes that suggest she was from the Middle East and spoke broken English, was very curious about what I was doing, as were her three kids. Next thing I know, she's scurrying off to her car, comes back with a magazine, and opens to a page that had a AAA ad featuring what looks like a whole buncha happy-making handknit socks!

Jesse finished his red scarf practice weaving and removed it from the loom yesterday.

It is too dense to use as a scarf, thanks to his over-enthusiastic use of the beater, so we'll either use it to make pouches or a protective sleeve for his favorite rocket. His selvedges are straight and he had a good time working on it, so maybe there will be more weaving in his future!

zippy

The Goob likes this sewing thing. She likes that it's zippy and adaptable. From my perspective, it's like magic because she prefers to figure it out all on her own (with or without a pattern, which she'll buy, with babysitting money, by tagging along with Scott on bakery deliveries and being dropped off at the fabric store near one of his accounts) and only occasionally pops into my office to rummage through the fabric stash, but then she shows up with nearly finished garments that surprise me.


She made this top one afternoon before vacation. I remember she bought the fabric at the CT Sheep and Wool Festival last year or the year before. She tells me she bought a pattern, but only used it for the shape and size of pieces, not following the instructions for sewing, so she still has much to learn/discover about construction, facings, etc., but she came up with a perfectly usable handmade top in an afternoon. The bottom edge has yet to be hemmed, but that didn't stop her from happily wearing it in Florida and feelin' fine!