MOTORCYCLES

Given that I have sewn AT LEAST 3 motorcycle jackets in the last year (and have 3 more in RTW jackets), some people have asked if I actually RIDE a motorcycle...well, not EXACTLY..., but more than 25 years ago, two friends and I formed a precision-motorcycle-drill team, called "Mothers on Motorcycles", and rode our bright red 3-wheeled ATV's in our local, very small town, Los Olivos Day-in-the-Country

Parade.  (I'm the one in the middle)

We were pretty popular; we entered the parade for 5 or 6 years in succession. I was the head rider, and 

blew a whistle...once, and we would stand up in our "stirrups"

twice, and we would weave back and forth, and 3 whistles and we would stop and apply lipstick. It was one of the most hilarious things I've done, and I look back fondly on those times. We were very creative; we bought red mechanic's work suits from Sears, and decorated them with puffy and glittery "wings" and "flames", accessorized with silver belts, red and black boots and snappy turbans. We all had youngish children at the time, and were able to thoroughly embarrass them each year.

Once a Harley wanna-be, always a Harley wanna be!

OOOOH! SHINY!

In another life, I must have been a MAGPIE...

I am so attracted to sparkly, mirrored, shiny things...

When I was in San Francisco last May, Shams took me to Fabrix, one of her local fabric stores...
(does she know how lucky she is to have MULTIPLE local fabric stores?). It's a catch as catch can store, so you never know if there will be wonderful things, or nothing. I lucked out, and found several "pieces des resistances"...one of them was a black faux patent leather croc piece, sort of like this:

It has been marinating in my stash, waiting for the perfect pattern/idea combination. Voila! (I'm clearly not over my motorcycle jacket craze...)

This is a pattern I've had for a while...I tried to make a jacket out of one of my beloved red pontes, only to have a massive FAIL, back in April. The problem was not the pattern, it was a  "wrong fabric/operator error" type of problem. SO... I pulled the pattern out of the corner where I'd thrown it and started again. I made a combination of Views A and B, using a LOT of black and white striped zippers.

Due to the difficulty of sewing on shiny plastic, I consulted my go-to sewing pro, Shams, (AGAIN), and invested  in a couple of Teflon feet for my Bernina; they are fabulous, and open up a whole new vista of leather and faux leather projects. They failed to make the construction EASY, however...to my needle and thread I had to add pliers (hard to get the needle through that black PVC) and, finally,
Gorilla Glue. I wrestled mightily with this project; I also chose to learn how to "bag a lining" and the combination of new techniques and difficult fabric caused me to take two weeks to finish it. Finished, it is, however...and here it is on Ethyl (who I couldn't have made it without)...

I lined it with a black and white striped silk

and here it is on ME...

And, look what I discovered when I was almost finished:

I guess Giorgio's a magpie, too!

Meet ETHYL, my new BFF!

I have been DITHERING, for 15 years, about getting a dress form...I finally did it! She is named Ethyl, and her measurements match mine, except my waist is a little bigger...what a wonderful tool to have!

I jumped back in the sewing mode with M6607, a tunic with a big cowl collar, done in an interesting sweater knit from Casual Elegance.

It looks good on Ethyl, too...

so we will share it...

my old dress form , an antique which was fun to look at, but did not look like me AT ALL...

I am very pleased with Ethyl!!!

A CHALLENGE!

Basking in the glow from my (mostly) successful travel wardrobe for Sicily trip, I have been thrown a challenge...our next trip, in April 2013, is to IRAN. It's supposed to be a beautiful country, full of ancient history and culture, with friendly, welcoming people. So what's the challenge?

THIS is the recommended wear for women tourists to Iran. I can deal with the "long shirt to hide your
bottom",  like this?

The headscarf will be a little harder, but I think I can do it...but the dark, inconspicuous colors? MOI?
I have been doing a lot of research since we decided on our next destination and some of the recommendations I've read say that dark colors aren't necessary, but the whole point (as I can understand it) is to be as unnoticeable as possible. Hard for someone like me. No jewelry, other than a "fake" wedding ring, no bright colors (RED)...ooooh...

I welcome any suggestions from any of you who have traveled in Iran or have Iranian friends (or ARE
Iranian) If you have no suggestions, I welcome your commiseration!

Home from Sicily...and a Travel Wardrobe Review

We're home at last...yesterday at 2:00 AM, after 29 hours en route...unfortunately, our luggage decided to remain in Europe for a few days...Delta has promised me we will get it today (Can you imagine my panic that my Travel Wardrobe would exist only in pictures?)

As some of you may know, my travel blog Where in the World Are We? was pretty much a casualty of the trip; I was able to make one post; there's apparently an iPad/Blogger glitch. Anyway, I'm going to do some after-the-trip posts to show where we were.

On to the Travel Wardrobe Review! I was so impressed with Handmade by Caroline's post-trip critique of her travel wardrobe, I decided to do the same thing.It's always a good idea to know what worked and what didn't.

As you may remember, my TW consisted of this:

along with shoes, accessories, jewelry, etc. (See previous post for details). Well, I wore everything at least once, and consider the planning a success. The only thing which was really superfluous was the

polka dot skirt, and that was simply because I'm not much of a skirt wearer. Sicily was in the middle of a heat wave which affected what I wore the most.

This ikat print top was certainly one of the most worn items...it is lightweight, cool and doesn't wrinkle. I'm so glad I added the black twill ankle pants at the last moment, as I wore them a lot. The "high-tech" fabric from EOS I used for the shell was stellar for washing ease and non wrinkling, but was not suitable for the hot and humid air in Sicily.

This striped tee was also a favorite, it is loosely cut and that always works best in hot climates.

The polka dot pants and red tee were also well-worn... the white pants were surprisingly good...armed with my Tide-To-Go pen and my bleach pen, I wore them at least a half dozen times...

(Incredibly unflattering picture...oh, well...)
The travel jacket with red jeans shown at the top were too heavy for much wear in Sicily...I did wear them for a fancy restaurant dinner in Syracuse...

ditto for my silver vest...

My Marcy Tilton tunic worked well...

as did the Babette shirt (no pics) and the mesh polka dot shirt.

So....

1. I wish I had taken a long or 3/4 sleeve white lightweight tee (the silk tee was too heavy)

2. My white cotton non-wrinkle shirt from Orvis performed AMAZINGLY

3. The microfiber separates from Marcy Tilton were great, and not hot at all.

4. Next time I'll take some Eucalan to do my laundry; it doesn't need rinsing

Great trip...fabulous food and wine, incredible Greek and Roman ruins, good travel group, my purse was stolen and RETURNED (minus small amount of money) intact...and, best of all, my lost suitcase was just delivered...YAY!

What's in the Suitcase?

I spent yesterday making my final decisions for the Sicily travel wardrobe. I tried everything on, on Friday, photographed the outfits, removed a few items, added one, then packed them all in my suitcase. They fit with room to spare! I take a 25" wheeled suitcase, which I check in, and I carry on a medium size tote. No purses on my trips.

Here is the final storyboard:


I added back in the black twill ankle pants...the Eileen Fisher slim knit pants are quite dressy, and the microfiber pants are fairly wide. I normally don't take white items, but this trip promises to be a little more "civilized" than usual, we are staying in just a few good quality hotels with laundry facilities, and I have armed myself with a Tide-to-go and a bleach pen!

Some outfit pictures:

These items are all RTW from my daily wardrobe.
Since quite a few people have asked how I determine what my travel wardrobe will consist of, here are a few determining factors:

1. I wear on a trip what I wear at home. No clothes set aside for travel only.
2. I tend to "dress up" slightly; when I began traveling in India in the '90s, I found the best way to
   connect with the women (which is a huge reason why I went 7 times!) was to wear pretty clothes
   and jewelry. You don't need to speak each others' language to express admiration for color and style.
3. I don't take expensive jewelry or clothing; Chico's from eBay things work just fine! and I take scarves for color...
4. I usually wear black and white (you noticed?) with another color...lately red, in the past, a burgundy
   or plum.
5. I rarely wear anything that is heavy or stiff; the soft cotton, rayon or silk items pack easily and don't
   weigh very much.
6. I wear my passport, credit card and currency around my neck, under my clothes, in a lightweight silk
    neck pouch. I keep a small wallet in my tote for small amounts of currency. Nothing that would be
   devastating to lose.
7. I wash out undies in the shower. I usually take 2 bras, 4-6 pair of panties.

These are the items I've made, which you probably have seen on my blog already...

My jackets and vest have lots of pockets, inside and out, some sized to fit specific

things, like boarding passes, passport (when I have to have it ready

to show), lipstick, sunglasses, etc. 

I often wear a lightweight shirt over a tank top or shell; I find it's cooler and I spare the world the sight of my upper arms!

Just the shirt is going...linen doesn't pack too well, IMHO...rayon, cotton and silk, on the other hand, 

hang out nicely, sometimes with help from the shower steam.

The shoes that made the cut...they're all pretty light weight, rigorously tested for comfort, and go with all the clothes. The red ECCO's on the left are what I wear every day to walk my 4 miles.

The scarves, including a black pashmina that I take on the plane in case it's too cold.

And my bracelets (not ALL!) which are lightweight and don't set off the airport alarms...

This is what I'm wearing on the flight to Rome:

The pants (RTW) are knit ponte, the tee (also RTW) is silk knit, and I will put the jacket in the compartment above for the flight. I intend to be comfortable for 9+ hours!

If this looks too match-matchy for your taste, it could have been worse...I could have taken this tote

and this purse

I'll be starting up my travel blog, Where in the World Are We?, in the next few days...come along for the trip!