COMING UP FOR AIR....

Two weeks from Saturday, a countdown for sure! MOB outfit is finished, last WWWWW (wedding work weekend, etc) over, I won't see the worker bees till a few days before the wedding!

Positions for the wedding arch were set...

mirrored garlands were placed in the oak tree

(Mirrored garland placer extraordinaire...)

I supervised in my NEW SHOES...

Table decorations, lanterns, favors, all lovingly crafted by friends on many "craft nights" in Los Angeles...

I did my usual "Keep those workers fed" ...

Breakfast, courtesy of Dave

Burmese umbrella lights...

yummy Indian colors...

The B2B drinking OJ

Kelly in her matching kimono...

General Kelly, preparing to motivate the troops

Breakfast chef, Dave...

Dessert one night, walnut and fresh-figs-from-the-garden cake...

The redwood grove where the ceremony will take place...

Where the sun will be during the ceremony (4 PM)

My sewing activities were focused on making slip-covers for outdoor furniture out of wonderful, hard-to-sew Sunbrella...now, my time is devoted to all the little details that are required to make this production  wedding a success!

See you when it's over!

TWO YEARS!

Two years ago, I hesitantly stuck my toe into the blogging world, not sure if I had much to talk about or to "show and tell"...I didn't realize that the best thing about blogging would be the wonderful people I would "meet"... and get to know, both virtually and IRL.

This was in my first post, on September 8, 2011...later, I learned (from Shams
at Communing with Fabric) how to take pictures of myself in the clothes I sewed.

This morning, my blog views for the last two years passed the 300,000 mark; I'm not particularly a stats junkie, but I do find that number amazing!

I have enjoyed planning and sharing my various travel wardrobes, to Ethiopia, Sicily and Iran, and setting up a separate travel blog, which has had some problems due to internet service in other countries!

I am now coming down to the wire in planning and getting ready for DD's wedding, 4 weeks from yesterday...and while I DID finish the MOB jacket yesterday, (YaY me!) I'm not going to share it until the actual day!

So here's a picture of me in my silver vest so that I have a picture to share
with Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style...another lovely site where I 

have "met" so many more wonderful bloggers.

Thank you for coming to visit me...I treasure your friendship and love your comments!

TTYL

Margy 

IT'S ALL MY FAULT...

Sharon (Communing with Fabric) and I have been promising the results of our most recent challenge for WEEKS now, and I think she finished hers at least 7 days ago. I was stymied by only 3 of 5 zippers I needed, and had to wait till the zipper lady returned.

So, our latest challenge was to use a crinkly, embossed raincoat fabric that Sharon bought for US at Fabrix in San Francisco.

I wanted to use a very special RiRi zipper, so I picked a pattern with FIVE zippers...KwikSew 3764...AKA MOTO! Here she is, folks...

I had, of course, made this before,...

I lined it with a printed silk twill I had in the stash (nothing fabulous like Sharon used)

and think I'll love it when our weather changes (hot and humid every day, lately).

We had our usual good time doing the sew-along...lots of phone calls, texts, complaints, etc...it really is a fun thing to do. We get glimpses of each other's work, but don't see the final piece till we post on our blogs.

Be sure to go look at Sharon's Jacket!

Didja notice my new glasses? Matchy-Matchy!

Meanwhile, while I waited for the zippers

I did some more cooking from the Ottolenghi books, asking my friend Joan to dinner so I would have an excuse to try more recipes (as if I needed an excuse!)

First was Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak

OMG, people, this was fabulous! If I do say so myself... I also made Sweet Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce again, and for dessert, Cardamom Panna Cotta with Honeyed Figs

not only was this delicious, it gave me an excuse (there's that word again) to buy some cunning Weck Jars to serve it in. At this rate, I'll have to change the

name of my blog to Fool4Fabric'nFood....

Here's a close up of another Charlotte Valestra piece I love...

and here's a photo for the Style Crone's Monthly Hat Attack...

The hat is a marvelous one brought to me from South Africa by a friend; the neckpiece is another one by Charlotte Valestra.

Now I MUST get back to the MOB jacket...no more excuses! and it's 5 weeks from yesterday...

TTYL

AWOL, MIA, PLAYING HOOKY...

Did you miss me? I was busy with my WWWWW#3 last weekend, and while there were lots of things accomplished getting our place ready for the wedding, 
there was no sewing and I took the week off, blog-wise.

Here are the girls...

and here are the boys...lots of heavy-duty work, from post hole digging to
lots of pruning

tools were used

handsome men were put to work

magical spaces were readied

pool breaks were taken

and over it all, Sarah ("The Boss") cracked her whip and aimed her glue gun with charming insouciance...

My job was to feed these wonderful workers...

Table set for breakfast...

Breakfast (compliments of Dave)...

Dinner one night was Salmon Steaks with Chraimeh Sauce

and another night was Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango

both from the cookbook Jerusalem, mentioned last week. Yummy!

and a French Prune Crumble to take advantage of more of our lovely harvest.

Since no sewing was done, I decided to show you two of my recent eBay scores...

This is a very interesting, very lightweight shirt/jacket from babettesf, one of my favorite designers. The fabric is "unknown", is sheer, black and white, and perfect as a topper in our warm evenings. (check out the zebra-stencilled calf- hair wedges...)

Me 'n The EUC!

The onyx and crystal beads are a collection I've amassed (mainly from eBay and Ruby Lane) over the years...

and THIS was a major score...a hand-dyed asymmetrical shibori jacket

from Doshi, wool crepe lined with silk...these jackets are WAY out of my

price range, but I found one on eBay and pounced...and got it for about

20% of the retail price.

and there's that dog again! Can you tell I'm one of the Queens of eBay?

I'm showing up for Visible Monday at Patti's Blog, Not Dead Yet Style, so come on over to see the beauteous women!

My good friend Sharon, from Communing with Fabric, and I are doing another little sewing challenge, using the same fabric which she graciously found for us at Fabrix, one of her local stores. I can't tell you how much fun it is (and what a drain on my credit card) when Sharon hits Fabrix on a good day...luckily, she has exquisite taste and knows what I like only too well...I am temporarily side-tracked as I wait for a couple of zippers...but keep checking, we'll show our goodies as soon as we can!

TTYL...

BOMBS AWAY!

According to various fashion reports, the bomber jacket is hot for this fall. I last made a bomber jacket about 25 years ago...I used the (then)"new" faux fabric in a black and white cowhide. I remember that it had shiny black snaps and a red satin lining...I loved it, although it provoked the usual "I would NEVER wear that" comments from some friends...I don't hang out with those people anymore!

So...I've made a new bomber jacket...

The pattern is Kwik Sew 3491, the fabric is from EmmaOneSock. She said it was from designer Carolina H., a heavy-weight cotton/poly twill, backed with a black poly knit. I would SWEAR it has neoprene in it...and swear I did, often and loudly. Every other pin I tried to put through bent...it made my sewing machine and serger scream for mercy, even though I was using #18 needles.
It was sort of like sewing a wetsuit (not that I've ever sewn a wetsuit!)

I made a few changes to the pattern, combining Views A&B, redrafting the collar,  substituting black satin for the ribbing called for at waist and cuffs.

The few times I tried to sew by hand (basting and sewing the buttons on) I had to use pliers to pull the needle through. Basta!

It's cute, but I think I'll stick with my beloved Moto Jacket. That fabric was also hard to sew, but the effort/result factor was higher.

Tis the season for bounteous harvests from our orchard...here are some delicious Pluots

and there are bags and bags of  French Plums (AKA prunes) that Dave dried in the dehydrator.

Back to preparing for the influx of worker bees this weekend...

TTYL...

PREP FOR WWWWW#2

I had hoped to post my new sewing project tonight, but IT DIDN'T BEHAVE and I'm not quite finished.

So...on Friday, Dave and I drove to Ventura to meet up with Bride2B and dear friend Sarah, who is IN CHARGE and whipping us all into shape. Thank god for the Sarah's in our lives, who take charge and make things happen! 

The next (pre) Wedding Weekend Workshop of Wildly Wacky Workers is set for this coming weekend...5 or 6 Wonderful people will come for the weekend to help us prepare for October 5th... I am busy trying out new recipes to feed these hungry workers...my current culinary obsessions revolve around the cookbooks of Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty and Jerusalem; I brought back some ingredients from Iran, and I am finally getting to use them! These Middle Eastern recipes are startling in their unusual (to us) flavors and I am entranced. Dave and I had Chicken with Carmelized Onion and Cardamom Rice tonight, and it was outstanding!

For our trip to meet "the girls" in Ventura, I wore my KO black linen jacket, but worn open over a striped shell with coated denim NYDJ jeans...

and a bunch of silver and black necklaces...

The bead necklaces are vintage from eBay, and the charm necklace I made in a workshop with Nina Bagley several years ago.

I'm showing up on Patti at Not Dead Yet's Visible Monday...come visit and see some Very Visible women!

Talk to you later...