About Me

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Los Olivos, California, United States
You can reach me at fool4fabric (at) gmail (dot) com

Saturday, August 30, 2014

STOCKHOLM...AND A "SMALL WORLD" EVENT





We arrived in Stockholm on Saturday afternoon...what a beautiful city!


Our hotel is a few blocks from this beautiful spot, full of boats, sightseeing or otherwise. We have been blessed with great weather, sunshine and breezes, just a few sprinkles of rain. Dave and I went off to the museum of Modern Art, as we had heard it was a great museum.

And indeed it was...




A wonderful sculpture garden outside the entrance...






After a few hours on our own, we met up and had lunch in the museum restaurant.
(Did I mention the food? Fabulous!)


On our way back to the hotel, we ran into a few sprinkles, so we ducked into a pretty little bar/cafe
To get out of the rain...
The bill, for one glass of wine, and one beer, was US$28. Ouch! This city is VERY expensive.

The "small world" event? After we met up with our travel companions that evening, a woman came over to me and said she "recognized" me from my wardrobe on my blog...a long-time friend of hers, Patty Carlson, and Patty's sister, Mary Boalt, had sat next to me at Sham's workshop which I blogged about last January (sorry, I can't link when I'm blogging with the iPad app). Mary follows my blog, and had told her sister that I was traveling to Scandinavia on the same date as the friend, Mary Ann. What are the odds we'd be in  the same group? There are THOUSANDS of tourists in Stockholm!
What an amazing coincidence!  Here is a picture of Mary Ann and me on a ferry this afternoon,
On our way to the Vasa Museum...

                                               Photo by Doran Berg

We had lunch on our own...a herring plate for me, a hamburger for Dave, to fuel us for the rest of the day...
                                                                             Photo by Doran Berg

Wonderful sights on the streets...narrow side alleys, complete with graffiti,

Interesting street art installations...


City squares with great historical stories to tell...

Beautifully painted buildings..


And always, the enchanting waterways.

We leave in the morning for Kalmar, and then on to Copenhagen..can't wait!

TTYL

Sunday, August 24, 2014

A TRAVEL WARDROBE, SCANDINAVIA

We leave for Sweden on Friday, August 29...and I THINK I am ready to pack...I always reserve the right to change my mind, but next week is busy with non-sewing activities, so I probably won't make anything new. The only change I might make is if everything doesn't fit in the suitcase...

Here is the wardrobe at-a-glance:



.,

I have been tracking the weather in the countries we are going to...Sweden,
Denmark and Norway. It's been rainy off and on, with temperatures in the mid-60's during the day, and mid 40's to mid 50's at night.

Here are the details, row by row...with links to my blog, when appropriate...

Row 1...Eileen Fisher reversible raincoat (similar), abstract sweater-knit tunic,
            printed cowl-neck tunic, striped tee, black RTW tee, and Patricia 
            Underwood felt hat.





Row 2...gray RTW tee, red RTW tee, lightweight RTW turtleneck, boxy RTW
            wool sweater tunic.



Row 3...Montbell Ultralight down jacket, red LM pants, black RTW trousers,
            two lengths, and striped ankle pants.




 

Row 5...Red Nylon Crossbody "Highway" Bag, (which I've had forever), red London Fly boots, Patent Dansko wedges, Cole Haan patent rain boots and my 
trusty ECCO walking shoes.


Hmmm...one of the patent leather shoes/boots may have to go...it really helps me to have it all laid out like this...it's much easier to see what's missing or too much. Not shown are scarves, jewelry, etc.

I'm headed over to Patti's Not Dead Yet Style Blog to join the other women for
Visible Monday....come see the visible women!

TTYL

GRAY PANTS

I managed to plug up one hole in my wardrobe...I needed a pair of gray pants and couldn't find the right shade in RTW...so I dived into my stash and came up with the PERFECT fabric (that's what stashes are for, aren't they?). It's a wonderful cotton/poly fabric that I got from Marcy Tilton um....FOUR years ago...a perfect age for a fabric!





The black stripe made it exactly what was needed. I used my TNT Lynda Maynard pattern and whipped these babies up in two hours.



So I'm finished with sewing for the trip (famous last words) and now I will concentrate on the wardrobe plan...it's almost done, and I'll probably post it
later today...

Till then...






Tuesday, August 12, 2014

PLUGGING IN THE HOLES...

...in my travel wardrobe, that is. I decided NOT to take my new Claude Montana Jacket; this trip is a whirlwind and decidedly not fancy, and I need to take clothes that stand up to wind, rain and bus trips!

Once I made that decision, things began falling into place. Instead of my new jacket, I will take an Eileen Fisher reversible raincoat (black/gray) which I've had for a few years...


In my stash, I came across a gorgeous sweater knit in an abstract design which
came from Marcy Tilton a few years ago. I love the tunic I made from B5954
last spring, so I used that pattern again.

and the back



Oh, how I love this fabric! It's a fairly substantial sweater knit which will be welcome if we hit cold weather.

Here's a picture of the EF Coat over the top

DD and DSIL were up for the weekend, so not a lot of sewing went on. As a belated birthday present Maggie took me to a lovely spa in Santa Barbara, where I had an 80 minute massage...the fastest 80 minutes I've ever experienced! Afterwards, we went for a late lunch of mussels and a bottle of wine...it doesn't get much better than that!

Feeling like stretching my creative muscle, I took an ikat jacket by Yasuko Kurisake which has been hanging in my studio for a couple of years, whacked the sleeves off and remodeled it into a little vest which is just perfect for a bit
of contrast when I wear all black...




I also got a chance to use more of my giant hook and eye tape for a closure...

I think this will go in the suitcase...

I'm haunting the weather apps to prepare for what awaits us in Scandinavia...so I'm sure there will be a few more "hole pluggers"!

TTYL

Sunday, August 3, 2014

OOOOH, CLAUDE!

I'm back...and without the boot! My foot has healed nicely, I am walking again
(although only 3 times a week, so far), and am wearing pants again. Talk about comfort zone...

After my spurt of sewing skirts, I started a project which I knew would be longer and more detailed than usual. I have been collecting out-of-print Claude Montana patterns from Vogue (I made one here last April); I love most of his designs and find the superior styling worth the  problems of dealing with the bigger shoulder. Oh, how I wish Vogue would reissue some of them!


My favorite one is this, Vogue 2974.



I was looking for something to make with this luscious quilted fabric from

and my friend Shams suggested I dig into my Montana treasures. So I did! It was perfect to showcase both sides of this wonderful fabric. It was probably one of the most detailed patterns I've ever used, even though it looks fairly simple.
Lots of pieces, lots of hand work, etc. But I think the two and a half weeks of work was worth it...




I lined it with a gray bemberg and found some perfect buttons from my button collection.


There are zippers in the sleeves and in the side seams (!) and two double-welt pockets.



I'm very happy with it, and am trying to decide if it will go to Scandinavia with
me at the end of the month.

Yes, we are going on another trip, to Sweden, Norway and Denmark. And that
means, PUTTING TOGETHER A TRAVEL WARDROBE! Which is one of my favorite parts of travel.

What I do first is identify a key piece (Jacket, etc.) and then go play in my
closet and pull out everything I might consider.

As you can see, the color palette will be black, gray and red. My new jacket is roomy enough to wear sweaters under, and even my red travel vest.


Since there are so many pockets in the vest, I chose not to add any additional ones to the new jacket. I also found some red London Fly boots on eBay last week, and they will accommodate my new orthotics and are very comfortable to walk in, so they are going, too.



We leave on August 29, so that leaves me 3 ½ weeks to put together my wardrobe and fill in any "holes". You'll be hearing more about it!

TTYL...