Jacket and Buttons

The jacket is together and has been worn once... as referenced by the wrinkles in the pictures.

However, there is a lot of extra room in the back.  More than is needed for wearing over clothes, so I need to take a little in.  Also the sleeves are wider than I wanted, so I will be narrowing those slightly and adjusting the pattern.

I know awhile back I said that I didn't need anymore buttons... but look what I found at the Portland Antique Expo! 

The blue/green/yellow box was sorted by color until it tipped over in my bag... but it is still pretty.

You might ask where I wore the jacket for wear testing... that would be to a Weird Al concert!!!

He was at the Oregon Zoo.  Amazing show with his great band. He played most of his recognizable hits, but not all.  He did not do "Living With a Hernia" which I really like.  I bought tickets the day they were available.  Go see him... you will smile and laugh the whole time.

Guess what this is?

What do you think this will make?  I bought this 4 or 5 years ago in a pile of sewing fabric and notions at a yard sale.

The fabric is a beautiful lightweight cotton voile.  

The pattern is marked as Simplicity 2585 which is this....

which is beautifully cool!  Simplicity 2585 is also this....

Judging from the amount of pattern pieces and sizes, I am pretty sure it is not a hat pattern.  I will start assembling and see what happens!

How beautiful are metal knitting needles?  The spouse picked up 7 more pairs at a yard sale to add to the pile.  I just love the colors.

Very atomic.

What I have been doing....

I have been doing a lot of reading and not much creating which is starting to wear on me.  Grad school seems to involve large amounts of book reading supported by large amounts of paper reading (and not the newspaper) which is then supported by additional external readings which are sometimes not scanned in well leading to missing words and black blobs.  But I am persevering and learning.  I have also discovered Human Factors which I want to learn more about.  I think they could use some creativity in their website design though.  I have taken one class in this area and am adding a couple more.  

I do squeeze in some knitting on a skirt that I started two years ago.  Maybe I will actually finish it this winter.

Here is what I've been doing:

1. Myself and another student created a protective mesh sleeve for an air fired cannon.  This is me using the industrial sewing machine in the Clothing, Textiles and Design Lab at school.  The bottom picture is the cannon firing.  The big dot is the wad and sabeau.  The little dot is the pumpkin.  This cannon fires pumpkins!

2. I heard Gloria Steinem speak at a small opening at the Prichard Art Gallery.  That is her on the right in the picture in the orange sweater.  She is not a woman of immense stature, but is truly a larger than life individual.  It was incredible to hear her speak and to watch women who had idolized Ms. Steinem finally meet her in person... there were tears in many cases.  She was very patient and had genuine conversations with each person.

 3. I took a group of students and one colleague to Los Angeles for 5 days of factory tours, shopping, and a textile show.  We spend some time (and money) at Mood Fabrics too.  I'll post pictures of the fabric haul in another post.

Sweater factory.... these are the machines that knit the panels (fronts, backs, sleeves, etc):

Psst.... these sweaters are 100% cashmere!... and they are for The Row!

It's always good to take time out to check out the local antique/junk malls.  My dear friend, Ilena, and I absolutely enjoy doing this and found this all-in-one cocktail device.  It comes with a padlock too so you can lock down your rye, bourbon, and scotch.

Pondering going back and getting this.

Whew!

I have returned home to Portland!... and a lot has happened since my last post.  I finished mulching the garden.  The yellow roses bloomed... see below

This fat bumble bee was actually taking a nap.

I went to Farm Chicks in Spokane...

 Me trying on a lovely mongolian sheep hat and car coat... I passed on this one.

Finished teaching my two classes, cleaned up the rooms, and posted grades... YAY!

We took the kids to Yellowstone Park for a week while our dog, Irving, vacationed at the farm with Nana.  When we are at the farm, he is Nana's (my mom's) dog.  He follows her around and lays by her feet in the kitchen.  Sometimes food items fall on the floor.

The day after we returned from Yellowstone, I cut down one batch of the yellow roses.  They were creeping out into the yard. 

Then after all that fun, I cleaned out a small barn.  A pack rat had moved in.  A family of pack rats actually.  Possibly two generations of pack rats.  There were 8 total.  I caught 7 on the first day (6 in my leather gloved hands), and one more straggler the next day.  I don't have any pictures of the extravaganza, but I think my spouse does.  I will see what I can dig up.  I know there is video. 

I'm almost caught up with housework.  The weeds grew like crazy while I was gone, but I'm making myself do a little at a time so it is not so overwhelming.  Which leaves more time for sewing!  Elsie and I saw this free blouse pattern on Burdastyle yesterday and whipped it up.

End of Summer

I need to get creative again. Things have been so busy lately that I have completely lost sight of why I started this blog.  My freelance work has remained steady rather than having breaks between seasons, my clients have been rolling them back to back.  I miss the 6 week break between projects.  Things should settle down mid-October though and then I can do other things... maybe I'll finally finish that sweater I've been knitting... since last year.

So here's a recap of some of the summer creativity...
Miss Elsie wanted to learn how to sew. Note to self: almost 6 years old is not old enough to learn to use a sewing machine.


She practiced on paper following lines but really had trouble sewing her little purse. So I had her sew some of the big seams... and then I finished it.


Her attention span barely made it past the fabric selection phase.



It turned out really, really cute. A nice jumble of fabrics, but very rich in color. She picked out the big brass button herself.


... and of course did not want her picture to be taken with her creation.

Then there was the giant flea market that we go to every July for my birthday.

Eye balls, anyone?


Endless supply of seed beads... a river of color sparkling in the sun...


This great display of old bottles....

... and this window vignette...

And this lovely western ensemble with all it's flat chenille embroidery....



My flowers have really been lacking this summer... it has been so cold. But we seem to be having some last minute warm weather so my dahlias are starting to put on a show...

So as you see not many sewing, home, knitting, crafting projects.  With cooler weather coming and the outside work ending, my interests should shift inside.  I also have a bunch of beads that need strung together into a necklace.. but I don't think I'll post that until I'm closer to actually finishing.

A Yard Sale and the Antique Expo

We had a yard sale two weeks ago with the neighbors. We sold some things but not enough of the bulky, awkward to store items. BUT I scored this AWESOME fabric from our neighbor...



$3.00 for the whole 25 yard bolt!!! I'm going to make some pillows for the wicker set and some chair pads for the table chairs.

Then we took all the money we made and went to the giant Antique Expo at the expo center. You see the most interesting stuff there. Who doesn't need a giant rooster?



... or an oversize camera?



This horse brings back memories. We had a similar one when I was a kid.



I love these beaded bags. They were so hot a few years ago and the price went through the ceiling. Now the prices are coming down and they are relatively easy to find.



And this lovely hand made yet overprice horse...



We spent all the money from the yard sale at the expo. I'll have to post those goodies soon.