SICK LEAVE...

It's been THREE WEEKS since my last post! After the triumphal unveiling of my Isobel Marant wanna-be, I was exposed to the latest cold/flu/etc. and came tumbling down to real life, only worse. I don't get sick very often, for which I'm
exceedingly grateful, but when I do, it's a doozy. Anyway, I'm almost back to what passes as normal, and have some things to show and tell!

When I was in Santa Cruz in January, I bought some beautiful fabrics from Harts. Among them was a very interesting black knit with irregular "bobbles" on it. I was auditioning patterns for another jacket I want to make, and used this fabric with Vogue 8893, a Clare Schaffer jacket. The bobble fabric was a bear to sew, but I love it and I love the jacket...it's like a soft, very stylish cardigan.

I used plain black ponte knit for the bands. The collar sits away from the neck a little bit, and is very flattering.

Although I won't use this pattern for the jacket I have in mind, I'm delighted to
have discovered it, and I'm sure I'll make it again.

I also made another KS 3601 tunic out of a very lovely cotton fabric I got at 
F&S Fabrics in West Los Angeles when I was down there several weeks ago. It's a black/ivory window pane check;the
hang tag read 100% cotton, but it does not wrinkle, washed beautifully, and reminds me of that very high quality wool challis that used to be available. It was a dream to sew and I have a couple of yards left.

I am wearing one of my favorite pairs of earrings, ever...

Once upon a time, many years ago, I collected, among other things, doll eyeballs (trust me, you don't want to know WHY) and my friend, the artist Charlotte Valestra, made me a snappy pair of earrings. I named them "don't it 

make your brown eyes blue" and I love to wear them and see the look on people's faces when they see them. Yes, I'm weird....

Since it's still Monday, and I'm still visible, I am linking to Patti's Visible Monday

and joining more than 115 other visible women, SOME of whom must be weird, too...

ME 'N ISABEL...

For the last several years, I've been drawn to the designs of Isabel Marant, the very popular and trendy French designer. Her clothes have a slightly bohemian 
vibe, and she has been described in the WSJ with  "her trademark look, which can be described as equal parts rock 'n' roll, California surfer girl and insouciant Parisienne." Then, in her Fall 2013 show, I saw this:

This is called the "Jayna" wool-twill studded jacket, in black wool with silver-tone brass studs, cabochons and faux pearls. Like this:

I knew that making something like this would take far longer than I expect to remain on this earth (all those gorgeous things are sewn on by hand)...and it was over $3000, so I wasn't going to buy it anytime soon. But I couldn't get it out of my head.

I had a few things going on at the time (wedding, Iran trip, etc.) so I was slow to get started. My friend Sharon, from Communing with Fabric, made a snazzy LBD with studded shoulders. I followed her process, but she wound up with sore shoulders from the force needed to apply the studs, so I decided I wanted to avoid that. A little research on the internet and I found Prisms of Light, an Etsy shop that had a great selection of hot-fix studs. And then, with a little more research, I found the tool I needed (LOVE tools...) at HotFixQueen. Do you have any IDEA how fun it is, in my little rural Post Office, to receive a package from
The Hot Fix Queen? Hahahaha....

Armed with all the photos of the original jacket I could find on the web, I made a boxy, cropped jacket from my old friend, B5526, using a wonderful very heavy weight ponte knit which Sharon had found for me at Fabrix...it has a kinda abstract design (some people think it's like a camo) in gray on a black background...the reverse side is plain gray.

Besides looking good, the weight of it seemed to me to be perfect for a studded jacket which MIGHT turn out to be somewhat heavy. (I discovered that I really should have interfaced the entire jacket, as the weight of the studs pulled the
fabric out of shape a little).

I did a lot of experimenting with various stud designs on the sleeves...

and finally came up with something that pleased me. Yes, folks, those are some
MIRRORED squares mixed in with the 3 sizes of domes and the pyramid shapes.

Now began the time-consuming part...placing the designs on the jacket, one section at a time, hitting each stud with a 20-second hot fix tool blast, then putting the finished section into my Elna Press for several minutes.

Dave got a photo of me slaving over a hot iron...Actually, the process was rather meditative and I enjoyed it...I listened to The Luminaries, by Eleanore Catton, on Audible, and also re"read" American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, also on Audible.

Here is a picture of the jacket on Ethyl...with the basic border plus the sleeves...

and here is a picture of the finished shell, ready to be lined...

So...the lining was a b..ch, due to the stretching of the shell where the studs were placed; this meant that I had to fiddle with the lining, particularly on the sleeve lining, which needed gussets to fit the shell. To make a long story short, I
put the lining in THREE times, and would never allow anyone to see what the sleeve lining looks like...

For numbers geeks, I put in a total of 806 studs...

So here are some pictures of the jacket on ME...

There is a special birthday luncheon for a friend on Wednesday, in Los Angeles, where I will wear the jacket. As long as I travel with the HOT FIX TOOL and some spare studs in my purse, I should be good to go... One of the advantages of this jacket is that wearing it counts as weight-bearing exercise...

TTYL...

CATCH UP, PART 2!

Here is the REST of the story...

I have sewn 3 items of clothing recently...this is the jacket that I made for, and during, the workshop that Shams led several weeks ago...

It's M6293, OOP, which Shams made, that inspired the workshop. See hers here:

I totally fell in love with this jacket and her amazing recycling job for the Fabric Mart Challenge. I used the same pattern, but changed it a little. One of the things I wanted to learn at the workshop was how to do the spiral piped sleeves.

Voila!

The fabrics I used were ones from my stash from long ago. I lined it in a silver lame rayon from Emma One Sock. I have gotten quite used to using luxurious fabrics for linings, even if no one sees them but me!

The pants I'm wearing are another Lola Pant from Style Arc. They are in a drapey rayon/Tencel gabardine and are very nice in this fabric.

I also made a little tunic in my TNT M6607 at the workshop...I needed a pop of color!

The fabric is a burn-out velvet from Harts Fabric's online store.

I'll leave you with some more photos from our Amazon trip...

One of the most beautiful parts of the trip was going down a "black water" tributary in our little skifs...the water, which is very rich in minerals, is black as can be and acts as a perfect mirror for the banks and the sky. I think I could spend a lot of quiet time there...

We enjoyed beautiful sunsets from the deck...

On a side trip into a small town, we took a "tuk-tuk" ride to see the sights, including this beautiful small market

Here is my "great jungle hunter"... looking at

giant banyan roots...

Enormous lily pads...

and amazing pendulous birds' nests...

The fruit was delicious AND beautiful...

The meals were perfection...

 and Edgar, the bartender, was ready to fulfill any request!

This is us, at dinner, the last night on the boat. Goodbye, lovely luxurious cruise!

Today is our 38th wedding anniversary, so we're off (me in my new duds) for a 

special dinner.

TTYL...

ETA: I'm back on Visible Monday this weekend...thanks to Patti for hosting it!

CATCH UP!

I'M BAAAACK!

It's been over a month since I last posted...I've been extremely busy, but I have missed connecting with all of you and it's time I brought you up to date with what has been going on...

First of all, Happy New Year to all...I have to confess, I am rather glad to see the end of 2013; I am hoping 2014 will be a happier year for all those I know and love.

So what's been happening?

• Amazon Jungle Cruise over Christmas week
• Jacket Workshop with Shams
• Several wardrobe items sewed
• Memorial for Kenny (Joan's son) yesterday

Our cruise, with Aqua Expeditions, on the upper Amazon in Peru, was fantastic! It was luxurious without being stuffy or glitzy...a wonderful experience with just 24 passengers and an outstanding crew of 22, who catered to our every need before we knew we had it!

We went out on "excursions" twice a day, in comfortable small skiffs with at least one highly trained, personable naturalist per skiff...

Roland was my favorite leader...

We saw wildlife galore...

 Village kids showing an anaconda and a sloth

 An anaconda, up close and personal

 a bat...

 A cayman

 Hen and chicks...

 A deadly poisonous frog...

Lizards...

 Bottle feeding rescued manatee babies

 Village puppies...

 Tarantulas...

 Turtles and highly colored fish...

Blue and gold macaws...

I'll show more trip pictures in a future post....

Next up...the Jacket Workshop with Shams from Communing with Fabric

I felt very privileged to be invited to participate...it was planned by a private group of highly skilled women and they graciously welcomed a "stranger" (moi)

into their midst!

They of course, got more than their money's worth...Sharon did a stellar job, and could easily have a new occupation (workshop leader) if Google ever gave her time off...

These are pictures of Sharon during her "trunk show", on Friday night. She
brought many many garments to show, to everyone's delight. I spied her
"LadyBug Lab Coat" in a familiar red dotted fabric...I tried it on and absolutely
fell in love with it...to make a long story short (you can read her telling of it on her blog), she gave it to me! 

Perfect buttons!

Lucky Me!

I will post more about her wonderful workshop in a later post...right now I have to get the pictures to her (I was the official photographer) so she can write about it too!

And at the risk of a way-too-long-post, these are the clothes I've sewn in the last month:

Another version of my TNT B5526, View C, in a cotton/lycra pinstripe cotton from my local B&M store

This was made for the Amazon trip and was worn a lot...it's a fine white stripe on a black background...a little hard to see the details here, but it has been a real workhorse in my wardrobe.

I also made a pair of StyleArc Lola Pants in a black/white check shirting fabric with a little stretch, from Marcy Tilton

I made them last minute, so I eliminated the pockets, but I like the fit and I will make them again, with pockets. Coincidentally, Marcy made travel pants in the same fabric for herself, and blogged about them.

I'm sure there is at least one more catch up post to come...I'll be back before you know it!