Packing Up My Cares and.... Sewing Supplies

It's our last day here in SWFL until mid-autumn and we're scurrying around like the proverbial headless chickens.  My sewing and blogging mojo has disappeared in the last two weeks as we've been enjoying the lovely weather and charming friends.  As always, it's hard to say goodbye but we're also eager to get on the road for our next six months of adventure.  So the freezer and refrigerator are empty, laundry is finishing up and we're seeing what we can squeeze into the car and roof top carrier.  (I can't resist the political comment....unlike the Romneys, our dogs will travel inside the car, not on top of it:-)

It's never easy to decide what patterns go back and forth.  Considering how much I love my dozen or so tried and true patterns, it's funny that I have to have so many untried ones ready just in case the urge strikes me.  
Several unfinished projects also make the trip north:

Pencil skirt that needs silk flower embellishing

A generous sewing friend taught bead weaving this month at our monthly sewing get together.  I have lost the pics of her gorgeous bracelet but here's the initial collection of beads that I started to gather for two bracelets of my own....one a crystal based bracelet and one with green/gold tones.  Packed.

And of course I couldn't resist the pattern sale at Joann's last weekend so these three patterns are heading up north....wonder if I'll even touch them in the next six months?  I wouldn't put any big money on the bet.

I Just Couldn't Stop....

There are several intriguing projects in my sewing room but I just couldn't stop sewing this Vogue 7717 pattern. Here's the latest one, my Doris Day version. I added rick rack from my stash along the shoulder seam and around the neckline....rick rack seems to '60s in my memories.  I must have been influenced by last week's Turner Classic Movie nightly tribute to Doris Day films. I've always loved her singing, most likely because one of my very early childhood memories is being at a drive-in with my parents and brother. He and I were in our PJs and I'm sure I dozed off during the big screen showing of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" but I recall waking to hear Doris singing Que Sera, Sera. Loved it then and still love it today. A fun more innocent time in my life but I have no desire to turn the US or the world back to the '60s and their own unique problems.

I wore it last night to my delightful book group meeting which was filled with wine, good food and engaging conversations.

Here are the directions for the fabric flower on my shoulder:

cut five 4" squares of fabric

fold wrong sides together and baste along two of the edges

pull the basting stitches tightly together to form five curved petals

Stitch the five petals onto a firm backing fabric scrap.

Add embellishment and sew to garment or add a pin back.

Index card and painter's tape

And my sewing machine is back in full working order.  Last month I packed it up for the local neighborhood sewing group meeting and proceeded to lose the bobbin cover in transit.  I had to figure a way to Tim Gunn it (Make it work, people...) so here's my solution.  

This past week the part came in and we're all tidy once again.....and I'll be super careful next time I transport my baby anywhere. 

Vogue 7717, A New Favorite

Thank goodness for stockpiling patterns.  Vogue 7717 has been in my collection for years and I'm finally giving it a try....and I love it.  It's a delight to have a lightweight woven top that is easy to sew, easy to wear but has some subtle style too it.  But here's a pattern with only two pieces and I still had to make 2 mock up versions before I was happy with the result.  

Vogue 7717

The original pattern calls for a bias cut front and back piece.  The bias front looked fine on me but the bias back just pooled and flopped on my narrow upper back and high hip.  I tried a center back seam on version two with the bias going down the middle of each piece.  Slight improvement but still not nice.  The third version worked out just fine.  I simply ignored the bias entirely and cut it on the regular straight of grain.  Skims my body with no pouching or ripples so I'm satisfied.  Once again, this just proves that sewing your own clothes lets you tweak the design and fit for your particular body...and the value of making a mock up.

I did lengthen both pieces two inches and from there it's just a matter of selecting fabric, the neck edge finish technique and desired sleeve length.   

I'll put sew some velcro on the shoulder seam because my scoliosis shoulder is very prominent from the back and needs a small shoulder pad to balance me visually.


This is a lightweight brown linen (Fabric Mart, of course) with self-fabric bias beck finish.  Some people are annoyed by linen's wrinkles but I don't mind them a bit.  I think this one has a simple Eileen Fisher look to it.  The front piece has that shaped front that the back does not.  I might make a matching back curve on one of the future versions....and then again, I might not.  

The second version is from a linen rayon blend with embroidery.  I think it is from Fabric Mart also but it could be a long ago Joann's purchase also.  The embroidery is not too open so I don't need underlining or a cami.  I wanted to echo some of that embroidery with some trim.  First I cut the front neck about 1 inch lower.  Then I used silk organza and did and narrow bias facing on the neckline.

Bias organza sewn to right side then pressed

I cut 1 1/2" bias silk organza, ironed and stretched them, sewed the strip with a 3/8" seam to the neck front.
  

inside narrow facing

I ironed that seam to the neckline wrong side and folded under the remained edge.  I hand hemmed this narrow facing but those of you who hate handsewing could just edge stitch the facing in place.  I like this very clean, lightweight facing technique.

clean front edge but too plain

I wanted a more Anthropologie look for this version.  I have a collection of old lace trims, some I believe came from my mother's stash.  I first did a gathered lace collar (2.5 to 1 ratio) but as Mr. Lucky noted, I looked like a Dutch Master wannabe with a ruff at my neck:

Way too much ruff

better neckline lace ratio

Final version with lace cuffs

Dolman sleeves are still not my most flattering look (those sloped shoulders and scoliosis can't be cured) but I do think this is a terrific hot weather t shirt alternative.  I've cut out a few more of these to get through the upcoming summer days in Maryland. 


Before I send this post off to the web, here are a few books I've been reading in the past month.  It's nice having this record so I don't have to get that blank deer in the headlight look when friends ask what I've been reading recently.  
We'll be discussing this one at our upcoming book group discussion on Monday evening.  Took me more than half way through the book to start caring about these characters but I did get interested in their choices and their fates by then.  I do think that having a comparison to a modern day Jane Austen brings a heavy burden of expectation and I wish the book jacket hadn't included that comment.  It does have the same themes of responsibility versus emotion and the corruption of greed and uber-wealth as in Sense and Sensibility.  I look forward to what the others think of it.

This was my lightweight reward for that book group selection.  I'm not particularly a Rob Lowe fan but saw a TV interview last year and was very taken with his thoughtfulness and self-deprecating humor.  I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  Funny, interesting,  humble and grateful for his life and success. I take any celebrity's words with a boatload of salt but I was not disappointed in this read.


From quite light, one afternoon read to two books that were beautifully written but difficult emotionally to get through.  I heard an interview between Nancy Pearl (Booklust) and Stewart O'Nan and picked up these two.  My northen book group had previously read Last Night at the Lobster and these have similar themes of love, loss, disappointment and hurt among working class families.

   


In closing, to those of you friends, family and lovely readers, if you celebrate Passover or Easter, I hope you are enjoying a good holiday with those you love.  I'll be driving further up the Florida coast tomorrow to enjoy a lovely afternoon with my aunt, uncle, cousin and his wife.  Now I'm off to make the key lime pie that I'm bringing.  Cheers!

Enclothed Cognition

I'm just back from a wonderful visit with three out of my four girl cousins.  We met up along the beautiful South Carolina sea coast and I drove there with little Lucky the rescue dog as a companion.  He and I have been taking training classes in March in preparation for becoming a visiting dog this summer and the one on one time would be useful.  So I packed entertainment for the trip and thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book, The Social Animal, by David Brooks, the more conservative weekly commentator (the progressive side represented by Mark Shields) on the PBS News Hour and opinion writer for the New York Times.  Since the focus of the book is about how our unconscious values, instincts, and mental processes are often the drivers in our decisions, despite what our conscious minds think, I was taken with a related article in this morning's New York Times about the effect of wearing particular clothing on participants' behavior.  


If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention increases sharply. But if you wear the same white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will show no such improvement.
So scientists report after studying a phenomenon they call enclothed cognition: the effects of clothing on cognitive processes.
Clothes and Self-Perception Article


I've been a believer in "dressing for the part" for most of my life but felt somewhat old-fashioned in that belief in light of more casual clothing in all areas of society.  Seems that there's some truth to that maxim after all.  


Well, just thought I'd share.  Now it's time to get back to my latest sewing project and get back to a blogging routine.  What's a good garment to wear to end procrastination?

Dogpark at the new rest area on I-75 near mile marker 278

Enjoyable book and apt title for the fun I had last week

Multiple Muslin Monday

Normally I take my time circling a new-to-me pattern warily like a wolf sizing up its prey.  I dislike the pattern adjusting stage of sewing intensely (but I love the fabric shopping, pattern buying and actual sewing machine time) and so I have a tendency to mull over a new pattern for a looooong time before I'm willing to tackle it.  These two extremely simple patterns are no exceptions to that practice, despite how majorily easy they are to stitch up.  One of them is already OOP....a frequent happenstance when you delay like I do.  But that's ok with me, I'm making clothing that fits my lifestyle and luckily that doesn't include red carpet runways and public scrutiny.
So yesterday I decided to try out two patterns that have been simmering in my mind for quite a while and I'm happy to report that both of them....with adjustments....are looking to be successful garments this week.

Vogue 1195

First one up is Vogue 1195,   another floaty overblouse concept similar to the lightweight silk poncho plans that I drafted two years ago (and my most viewed blog post by far.)  silk chiffon poncho directions post  The Vogue pattern is more shaped and has shoulder pleats but accomplishes the same thing....skims over the fluffly parts of my midsection and upper arms.  

I made my muslin out of a washed print silk dupioni that was far too girly to be a real garment in my wardrobe.  Looks like nothing on the hanger but I think the next one will be quite stylish.  

The next muslin was even easier and I used the same fabric.  It's Vogue 7717, an OOP Sandra Betzina pattern.  I normally avoid dolman sleeves and even in this nice pattern, it's not the most flattering look for me.  But I like the bias pullover look for a light summery top.  Marcy Tilton's newsletter, from years ago, Marcy Tilton newsletter made a reference to this top as a more chic version of the formerly stylish summer camp shirts and I so agree.  As she calls it, a non-dorky summer top...I have some lightweight linens and washed silk dupionis that will sew up nicely.  But even this simple pattern needs pattern alterations to make it fit me.  

I have plenty more to write about but I'll stop and leave you today with just one more picture....like these mock up garments, not very exciting to look at but trust me, there's a a lot of good stuff going on.  That's this recipe.  Boring to look at but absolutely scrumptious.


Chicken Adobo from this month's Cooks Illustrated Magazine  
Please, buy this issue, subscribe or just support their wonderful mission of making home cooks better cooks. 

Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines, and chicken adobo is among the most popular. The dish consists of chicken simmered in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and black pepper. The problem with most recipes we found was that they were aggressively tart and salty. Our secret to taming both of these elements was coconut milk. The coconut milk’s richness tempered the bracing acidity of the vinegar and masked the briny soy sauce, bringing the sauce into balance.

SERVES 4

Light coconut milk can be substituted for regular coconut milk. Serve this dish over rice.

INGREDIENTS

• 8(5- to 7- ounce) bone-in chicken thighs , trimmed
• 1/3cup soy sauce (I used low sodium version)
• 1(13 1/2-ounce) can coconut milk  (I used light version)
• 3/4cup cider vinegar
• 8garlic cloves , peeled and chopped or pressed
• 4bay leaves
• 2teaspoons pepper
• 1scallion , sliced thin  (I omitted)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Toss chicken with soy sauce in large bowl. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
2. 2. Remove chicken from soy sauce, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Transfer chicken, skin side down, to 12-inch nonstick skillet; set aside soy sauce.
3. 3. Place skillet over medium-high heat and cook until chicken skin is browned, 7 to 10 minutes. While chicken is browning, whisk coconut milk, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and pepper into soy sauce.
4. 4. Transfer chicken to plate and discard fat in skillet. Return chicken to skillet skin side down, add coconut milk mixture, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Flip chicken skin side up and continue to cook, uncovered, until chicken registers 175 degrees, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil.
5. 5. Remove bay leaves and skim any fat off surface of sauce. Return skillet to medium-high heat and cook until sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with scallion, and serve.

Our humble version served with a tossed salad.  Ymmmm, that simple sauce was company good.  


Leaving you now to sew up that first top and eventually get a picture and review to post.  Happy sewing time to all.