TEDDY SWIMS!

Here he is, folks...swimming with Maggie!

Maggie came up for the weekend last week and took Teddy for his first swim...

He was eager to get in the pool...she held him the whole time, as he's too little to be able to get out by himself...

And he gave her a kiss for thanks!


The last 3 weeks have been busy with "Baby Teddy"...how reminiscent of the days when
you put the baby down for a nap...

then agonize over whether to take a nap yourself, or go to the studio to recover more outdoor cushions...(I recovered the cushions...)

We temporarily fenced in the patio off our bedroom so we have a place for us to sit, and a big playpen for Teddy! He's learned and loves to retrieve, which is great for exercising the little guy...

(That's a rope thingy that is almost as big as he is!)

Micmac is slowly warming to the dog, occasionally playing chase; meanwhile he is enjoying the almost daily Amazon delivery.

There's been very little dressmaking going on, although I am half way through one item,
waiting on interfacing and interlining. 

I did do a little cooking; this is one of my favorite recipes using fresh figs...Chicken with Roasted Figs

and of course the tomatoes and corn are at their peak, so we've had this a lot
lately...Corn and Tomato Salad.

I have a painful arch from plantar fasciitis, so I'm not walking these days...no boot this time,
thank goodness, but I need to get back to walking before I "grow" out of my Paris wardrobe.

We are way too close to the "Rey" fire, burning in the back country...our skies often have a strange yellow-brown hue, especially in the late afternoon. So scary...

Hopefully, my next post will be a little less Teddy, a little more fun in the studio...

TTYL
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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!

YAY FOR SEWING MOJO!

The sewing mojo chez Houtz has been strong lately! I made another Paris Piece,
a very textured silver tunic to go with many of my already-sewn jackets.

The pattern is my old friend B5526, with added pockets and a stand-up ruffled collar. Shams from Communing with Fabric chose the fabric for me, a textured synthetic from Fabrix several years ago.

It enhances many of the fabrics in my Paris Wardrobe-to-be, so I made it so that I could use it as a layer, as well as on its own.

Here it is under the Minoru

under the Giant Houndstooth jacket I made for Portugal

and under my knit vest from last year

I'm very pleased with it!  Here is a peek at the new hanging rack I got to put the Paris wardrobe possibilities on...more on this later.

After I finished that, I went to work on my "Franken Pant" pattern, which is 
Marcy Tilton's V8929 plus my custom pattern from Lynda Maynard. I'm trying to get the combined patterns (that's the Franken part) to the point that I can cut them out, serge all the edges and sew them together in a day. The first one was a wadder, the second ok, but meh...and here's the third one in a stretch cotton from someone on Etsy...

o

It gets better every time! While I was doing all this sewing, I listened to the
final two books of Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes trilogy, Finders Keepers and End of Watch.  They're pretty good...I've not been a Stephen King  fan in the past, but I enjoyed Mr. Mercedes so I decided to follow through on the last two. After those, I started Barkskins, Annie Proulx's new book. It's loooooong and fabulous. I'm about ⅔ finished. All these audio books are available on Audible Books.

Before I bring you up to date on the puppies (I know some of you are mostly interested in them....!) here's a RTW outfit from Sun Kim that I had to have...

I've already worn it several times and I love it!

Our beloved housekeeper gifted me with this awesome charm "bracelet" for my birthday...her sister made it and I'm so touched by it!

It's a spool of thread, a button, a dress form, a measuring tape, a thimble and a pair of scissors with a rose. Love it!

And one more thing...there were quite a few questions after my last post about  my raincoat...here are some answers...

I didn't line it or add inside pockets as I wanted it to be as lightweight as possible.
I did not shorten it.
The top in "the wineglass picture" was the top of this Alembika outfit that I bought in Oregon

...

The sheer sleeves belong to my "Sleevey Wonder"!

And HERE are the latest pictures of the puppies...(they are English Cocker Spaniels, blue roan, and we're only getting ONE although Dave has been wondering if we should get TWO
NO I said...

..

I have a very cute video of them tussling with each other, yipping and GROWLING...
I'll try to up load it.

Well, I tried twice and I couldn't get it to work... 

I'm headed over to Patti's Visible Monday...come see us!

TTYL
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ANOTHER CATCH UP!

WARNING: LENGTHY POST AND LOTS OF PICTURES!

That's what happens when I let 3 weeks go by between posts...I have been busy and actually have some clothes to show for it!

But first...a few pictures of our redecorated bedroom wing. We finally got the painting we wanted for over the fireplace

It's called Spiral Dance; the artist is Seyburn Zorthian whose wonderful painting
I bought 25 years ago and is over our living room fireplace.

(Remember when the contents of our closets were in the living room?)

Seyburn is a friend of ours; we love her work and are enjoying waking up in the morning to the sight of her Spiral Dance.

A few more pictures of the bedroom

The antique Katagami stencils above our bed were used to stencil family crests on clothing and goods in 19th century Japan.

These are old purses and bags I've collected on our travels; I hung them in the hall so I can see them every day. The color we used in the bedroom wing is very

difficult to photograph...the pictures of the bedroom show a more realistic color

match.

So...on to sewing! I made another pair of Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8929 pants,

although for my 4th pair I changed them enough that she might not recognize them!

The fabric is an abstract print stretch denim from Emma One Sock.

They're very comfortable and the type of pants  I wear most days.

I made another pair of loose harem-y pants from Sandra Betzina's V1355,

using a dreamy Ella Moss rayon challis from Hart's Fabric. This fabric is so perfect for travel to hot climates (India, I'm talking about you!) that I just ordered some more for another shirt.

I'm wearing a batwing tee with them...!

And for my final submission, I made yet another version of B5526...

in a wonderful French Circles and Squares crinkled jacquard from Emma One Sock. I am wearing it here with Eileen Fisher's Slouchy Ankle Pant in Silk Georgette, another supremely comfortable pant.

Well, if you've stayed with me this long, THANK YOU! I'll try not to stockpile

post material again...

TTYL

BACK IN THE SADDLE!

Yee haw! We finished moving everything back where it belongs and I got to return to my studio. FINALLY. 

I had two projects that have been in process since we started our renovations, and I finally got to finish them.

First up, another pair of Marcy Tilton pants, V8929, which I've made several times before...this pair is out of a lovely "French 'faded scroll' printed stretch denim - gray"  from Emma One Sock...

This pattern has become my favorite pull on pant and goes together quickly. The 
OTHER  new things I am wearing are my Superga Silver Sneakers...

Such fun!

Next, I made a jacket from V8620, an OOP Marcy Tilton pattern that I made
here and here.

I used a yummy  "Baroque Velvet Flocked Stretch Denim" from Marcy. 

I lengthened the jacket by about 10 inches. I love the collar on this jacket and can't wait to wear it!

I'm going over to Not Dead Yet Style Visible Monday where there is a sign up
for a Karina Dress give-away. Thanks, Patti! Come on over, sign up for the give-away, and marvel at the Visible Women!

TTYL!