TEDDY AND THE TURTLENECKS

Sounds like a retro rock group, doesn't it?

The "Teddy" part is, of course, our new English Cocker Spaniel puppy...we picked him up from the breeders last week in Grass Valley. He's 9 ½ weeks in this photo, and full of beans! He eats, sleeps,plays and nips...those little puppy teeth are sharp, and Dave and I have the wounds to prove it.

Isn't he a handsome boy? His coloration is "Blue Roan with Tan" and his face
portends a real character...

The "turtlenecks" part is due to trying a new pattern, Rise and Fall Turtlenecks by

Papercut Patterns. I found a black and claret striped knit on Etsy that went perfectly with my Paris wardrobe, but I wanted to try out the pattern before I cut into it.

 The first try was in a rayon/lycra knit from EmmaOneSock. This view has a dropped shoulder and is somewhat loose. I used the higher neck from the other view.

The body on number two is a little more fitted, the neck is the same. This is also a rayon/lycra knit, also from Emma One Sock.

And here is the third one in that black and claret stripe...

.

Interesting to note is how different the collar is in each top...I wanted the high neck of number 1, but the different fabrics (all rayon/lycra) translated differently, 2 and 3 being more droopy.

Being a parent to a new puppy has curtailed my studio time a little...but I've done some listening...Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool and the sequel Everybody's Fool.,,very good, I do love his writing. Also now listening to The House at the Edge of Night, set in an island off Sicily during WW2. Also enjoyable. I read No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell...love her Inspector Wexford novels, and gave up in the middle of Ethan Canin's A Doubter's Almanac, mainly because I didn't care for the major character and didn't want to spend any more of my time on him!  I read the latest Daniel Silva book, The Black Widow...I am hooked on his

 Gabriel Allon books!

Taking advantage of our plethora of French Plums, I made my favorite Plum Crumble

I make it exactly according to the recipe, except I double the fruit. I halved and pitted 200 French plums to freeze so we can enjoy this several times more. It's that good! Don't eliminate the candied ginger as it really adds to the flavor.

A few more puppy pics because, well, just because!

 The chairs and ottoman I reupholstered...

This dog finds the most comfortable places to sleep...

Come on over to Visible Monday and say Hello!

P.P.P.P.?*

*Pretty Piece, Possibly Paris?

What fun I had, sewing this silk duster! The pattern is the Fillmore, by Sewing Workshop, and the gorgeous fabrics (plain silk taffeta and matching pleated silk taffeta)
are from Marcy Tilton.

I was inspired by Martha, of Now Sewing, who made this in a lovely red Brussels Washer Linen. I'm a sucker for a cross-woven fabric in red and black...witness my recent raincoat

 my red taffeta travel vest

and my red jeans from my Portugal wardrobe

These are three that come immediately to mind...suffice it to say a cross woven red/black fabric gets my immediate attention!

This pattern has very interesting seaming and was perfect for two coordinating fabrics.

I made the pattern exactly as printed. I had decided not to pre-wash the silk, but when I had finished the duster, the crispness of the silk didn't work with the volume of the skirt, so I washed it in the washing machine on cold/delicate and hung it to dry. Perfect!

Apparently I was on a Sewing Workshop pattern binge...as I wrote back in May,

I am somewhat obsessed with trying to successfully match this fabric

with an appropriate pattern. Since the only success I've had was a pair of loose pants for my friend Joan many years ago, I went back to that pattern (Sewing Workshop Trio Pants) and sewed it again, just for me!

The fabric and the pattern are a good match...and although this style of pant is not what I usually wear, it's "good enough".

What it DOES do, is allow me to wear some beloved items of jewelry which don't fit in with my usual black, white and red...I have always been very attuned to gray-green stones and have quite a collection of them, from precious moss aquamarines and labradorite, to

coke bottle glass (it's true, the silver and green large beads I found in a market in Mali!)So now I have something to wear them with! Although the pants are not terribly flattering, they ARE very comfortable and I could imagine wearing them on a road trip or plane ride.

I tried another iteration of this pattern in a gray Taslan I had in my stash...

 

 These will probably be passed on to someone else. I hope I'm over my Taslan

obsession..

My next sewing project will be home dec in nature...I am recovering these chairs and ottoman.

If these turn out ok, I have SIX more chairs and FOUR more ottomans (ottomen?)but I will probably farm those out to a professional.

In other news, we celebrated Dave's birthday Friday with an excellent dinner out

and received a new picture of our great-granddaughter Amethyst...

Isn't she pretty?

We have been availing ourselves of the glorious summer fruits available from our neighbor and having an occasional VIVID breakfast outside on the deck...

As for the puppies...

MicMac is enjoying his last few weeks of being top dog (er...cat). On Saturday, July 23, we will pick up our new baby in Grass Valley and bring him home. Oh,

Joy!

I'm heading over to Visible Monday at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style...come take a look!

TTYL