The Laurie Coat

Lesley came over for a jam making session and we got to talking about how we're going to use the "loot" we snagged at a yarn sale in Newberry Park on Saturday. She was talking plans for denim yardage and I mentioned a coat I'd seen and specced at an exhibition in Portland in June 2011.

click on the link above to see a detail

I sewed a version from sari fabric in 2012(?) and I don't think I ever posted it.

Here it is today:

I happened to have on this new abstracted leopard sweater and knew it'd look good with the coat.
Then, since the pattern on the sweater reminded me of the 80's Norma Kamali tights that I still have, I added those. (They're 100% nylon and no longer tolerable for daily wear).
And to finish it off, I dragged out my 80's Norma Kamali "elf" booties. (I no longer wear these either).
Voila! An olive casserole!

Linking with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

FierceCon 2019 -- the Power of Kindness

What? FierceCon was last weekend? Where does the time go?
WHAT is FierceCon? The tag line is "It’s not a Conference. It’s a Connection! Celebrating and empowering women at Midlife & Beyond." It's the brain child of Catherine Grace O'Connell and I encourage all of my over-40 female friends to consider attending in 2020. It was amazing. Yes, I've imbibed the Kool-aid.

I will probably [read hopefully] write more about my experience eventually.
[Including my project to sketch everyone that attended].
This post is about what I wore, as documented by others [credit given if I recall photographer].

Friday. The Fluevog Dress.

With Rena Perez of Fine.Whatever
We are brandishing the mini cards I had printed of the sketches I'd completed in time for printing.

I had a professional photoshoot with Courtney Paige Ray and wanted to have photos in The Dress, wearing Fluevogs, and showcasing my Fluevog Shoe Art.

photo by Courtney Paige Ray

Saturday day. The Kimono fabric Tunic

We are the Leopard Squad!
Lana Lindgren, Jill Lorentz, Amy Kennedy, Deb Gutierrez [shoes, can't see]

Saturday Gala. The BOOM! tunic.

In the hotel bar before the "Gala" party.
photo by the bartendress

Barbie Holmes, Sophie Davies, BOOM!

Sunday. The "tribal" tunic. The one I hand sewed on a bus.

photo by Paula Griffin

With Theresa Martin and wearing her super light leather earrings [gifted, link to similar].

The Faces of Fierce on Sunday morning. Catherine is reclining center front.
photo: Mike Castagna

Looking at these photos brings back the super fun time that I had and all the new friends that I've made. Really, consider joining in next year! I'll sketch you!

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

New Haircut, New Tunic

New haircut!

It was my fourth (fifth?) appointment with Justin at Floyd's 99 in Mar Vista.
AWESOME results!

On to the tunic, which is unfinished in this photo:

It's one big rectangle with a horizontal neck slit at this point. Maybe it'll get sleeves, maybe not.
This is a piece of fabric I've had since 1987. It was sample yardage we ordered when I worked with Rosemary Brantley. My fabric stash is, um, vintage and extensive. I no longer allow myself into fabric stores.

Sewing process:
First of all, I gave myself a present, The Geometry of Hand-Sewing by Natalie Chanin

Sew inspiring! (haha) 

Second, I cleared off the very large pile of mail from the "dining room" table and set up a nice little niche for hand sewing and journal writing. [We won't discuss what I did with the mail]. The sewing clutter is now gone from the coffee table in the living room. Yay.

Let's hand sew!

I'm using black embroidery floss. For starters, tried a blanket stitch and didn't like it.
Rip it out and start over.

"Maybe I'll do the side seams like a huipil?"

Wrong. Look at the stitching, Anne.
Rip it out and start over.

Yes!
Now, to finish. That's the hardest part (if I'm not confined to a bus).

Once it's done, I'll wear it beyond the back patio. The evidence will appear on Instagram!

View this post on Instagram

Maiden voyage of my #memade tunic and new to me @Fluevog Moxie Magoo Magnums, captured on eBay. Woohoo! #vog_magnum #slowsewing #outfitjournal #outfitdiary #iwillwearwhatilike

A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray) on Aug 13, 2019 at 1:09pm PDT

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #ShareAllLinkup
Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week

Textile and Bead Love at the Santa Monica Airport Market

As promised, the textiles (and beads) that caught my eye last Sunday at the Santa Monica Airport Market.
Sit yourself down and enjoy!

I can get ALL THE THINGS when I shop with my camera.

I did however succumb to temptation and purchased these two gems, which I will turn into tunics:

#MeMadeMay Week 3, Mending Mishap

Not all my mending goes smoothly. I tried a quick fix on another tunic with a too-wide neck and here's what happened:

Weird poufs in the middle of my shoulder seams.

This is one of my rare tunics where I turned back and sewed the edges on the neckline.

I'm not claiming it's an excellent sewing job. It's adequate. 

Fixing this one will require ripping out machine stitching at the neckline and resewing the shoulder seams.
That won't be happening soon, so I will endure it falling off my shoulders for now.

Old in-phone photo collage from last September.

This photo is probably the one that helped me decide to add sleeves:

With Kelly at my art exhibition, #myshittycommute April 2016

WAIT A MINUTE! I SAW (and chased) THAT SAME TRUCK YESTERDAY!

#dailytrucks with One Orange Door
left: circa 2016 .  right: 5.23.18
#dailytruck is an Instagram series that I can't seem to stop and has resulted in two art shows so far.

And now you know how easily I'm distracted and why the I have Mending Mountain.

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday

What to Mend When I Meet?

Remember the Meet and Mend, happening in Seattle, Friday August 11, 2-4?
Today I'm packing for the trip, and I need to decide what mending project(s) to take.
This is clearly #1:

Isn't it lovely?
It has a built-in embroidered "necklace"!
Made in Guatemala for the brand Ketzali.

Right now, it's a ruana -- not sewn up the sides! Easy fix!
(I purchased it on Poshmark with full knowledge of my required sewing).

I did a quick photoshoot with other potential mendees...

This I got on Etsy and it was in worse condition than described.

The 10.5" armholes weren't mentioned by the seller -- that size opening only makes it half-way up my right forearm!
(I don't know why some openings on huipils are created for miniature people. I've had this issue before with both armholes and necklines, no it doesn't irritate me too much).
The yarn (barely) holding it together and decorating the neckline and armholes is a fuzzy acrylic.
NOT a fiber I want against my skin in the summer.

Mending verdict? Too much work for this meet-up!

Next is a "scarf" that I got in Marfa, made by Dosa:

It was on sale, and the least expensive Dosa item in the shop, Teinda M [store closed].

Later, in a calmer, non-shopper-frenzy moment, I pulled it out to wrap around my neck.

"This looks like a tea towel."

Indeed, it IS a towel, of sorts (link).

I love the colors, the cotton fabric is light and soft, BUT, it's just a little too short to wear as a tunic with only leggings.

Mending verdict? Back to the drawing board!

The fourth item is not a garment, it's fabric that I had covering my couch.

I found more of the same in my fabric stash, and have already basted on an extremely large patch.
I'd like to stitch it with colored stripes, like the Indian scarf (on right in photo) that I got at the Fowler last April.
Mending verdict? Take. We're now using a conference room for our Meet and Mend location. That means there will be a large table! I also might be able to work on this during the drive up to Seattle. Not sure if mending while passengering will make me car sick, so that's TBD.

Now I need to find my bag of embroidery floss! ARGH!

The details on the event:
Seattle Meet and Mend

When: Friday, August 11, 2-4pm

Where: VENUE CHANGED! 2720 3rd Ave, Seattle 98121 (Big THANKS to Sherry!)

             NOTE: this is a secured building, and one of us will need to let you in.

Bring: Clothing that needs repair.  ErnieK is bringing "tubs" of notions. 

           Hate sewing? Bring yourself -- we'd love to have you join the conversation!

Cost: FREE!

Hope to see you there! 

If you intend to attend, please let me know in the comments below so that I can trade digits with you for texting, in case one of us is not in the lobby to let you in!

Linking this up with
Patti's Visible Monday

Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Slow Clothing and Mending at #CAFAM

Yesterday, I attended two related events at the Craft and Folk Art Museum that I found very transformative.

Here is what I took:

My huipil with the shredded shoulder and a [way too large a] pile of possible fabrics for patching.

Here is some of what I took in:
From Kath and Kim of The Possibility Project

From Ruth Katzenstein Souza

Along with her short slide lecture, Ruth brought along some examples of her Visible Mending to inspire us:

Jeans

Vest back and detail

Sweater (shown sideways)

I could have sat and stared at Ruth's huipil for a long time...

But it was time to get stitching!

I opted for the panty with a print that I designed and red embroidery floss.

Done! I call this Chaos Stitching -- decisions made in a flash, permission granted to dive right into it.

One of my main reasons for attending was to sit around a table with a bunch of others, stitching.

It was as wonderful as I'd hoped.

Feeling mended!

Final quote from Ruth:

Thank you so much, Kath, Kim, Ruth, and CAFAM!

I'm linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #SaturdayShareLinkUp