More success with the dress

Yesterday was the LA Conservancy event, Restoring Wilshire Blvd Temple.  Wilshire Blvd TempleThis is why I rushed to finish the dress, I volunteered for the event and what better place to debut this dress? Since it was a little chilly, I put on the dress, a cute little black cardigan, a matching black hat with white polka dots and of course, my LA conservancy badge.Showing off the dressHere Is Annie Laskey,  program manager, showing off my dress. She later got the official photographer to get some pictures, I hope to get some of those as well.

It was so much fun, having people come up and ooh and aah over the dress. I gave my camera to my almost SIL  Yochanan (one more month and it’s official) to get some pictures of me.being a docentDoing my job, talking about the Siegel courtyard.in Front of Wilshire Blvd. Temple modelExplaining future growth plans.IMG_3525Ok, so you can hardly see the dress here, but I really like this picture of me.

Today I was downtown and I wore the dress, strangers on the street commented that they like the dress. The salespeople at Michael Levine (yes, I had to go in there) were suitably impressed. I met a delightful young man from Berlin, he took my picture, although I never gave him any contact info, so I will probably never see it.

All in all, I have been having so much fun with this dress, and it’s only been two days.

Leah

I Love LA Dress

By now you should have figured out that I love Los Angeles.   Recently I was downtown in the garment district showing a friend around. There was the obligatory stop at Michael Levine. I really have to control myself – it’s like being a kid in a candy store. I was at the cutting table when along comes one of those cute, young, almost a fashion designer guys. He had the wild hair, the interesting clothes. Of course we got to talking, I asked if the is a student at FIDM (my alma Mater), no he goes to  LA Trade Tech. An amazing  community college that really teaches hands-on trades. I congratulated him on his choice of school – he will be prepared for the garment industry both professionally and simply because he isn’t in an ivory tower.

Well one of the fabrics he was buying is from a line called Urban Toile, there is one for NY and one for LA, it is more of a canvas, bottom weight fabric. This kid was going to make himself a shirt, before you know it, I had bought enough for a dress for me.Urban Toile, LAMany of LA’s landmarks, right here on the fabric.Biltmore HotelFrom downtown, the Biltmore hotel.405 & 101 plus food truckYes, I am often at that part of the 101 freeway. Also, the wonderful Theme restaurant at LAX and a food truck.Vogue 1353I’m thinking of this pattern, my one concern is that the fabric is heavier than is needed for this dress, but I don’t want to make pants or a bag. The dress is fully lined, that would add to the weight so I need to come up with creative solutions.front bodiceSo far so good, I like the way the fabric is holding the pleats.P1020084The heaviness of the fabric is working to my advantage, the skirt has good volume.

Lining for I love LA dress

One reason to line a sleeveless dress is the clean finish at the neckline and the armholes.  I decided to use silk organza.  A while ago I bought about 5 yards of the stuff. It is one of those staple fabrics that is good to have around.  It is super thin and won’t add any weight. Being silk and not polyester, it is  strong enough to line the bodice.  No, there  is no need to line the skirt.  P1020094Here I am pinning and inserting the lining. Yes, I had some problems, I stretched it too tight  on one side, so the dress didn’t lie flat. Since I’m not a perfectionist, I simply slashed the organza open and inserted a patch. Sorry no image. Luckily, because the dress fabric is thick and the organza is thin, no one can see the patch.P1020086More proof of my not being a perfectionist.  It is very easy to see that the Bodice line does not match up on the back. I could have been more careful, I could have removed the zipper and started over. I did neither,  maybe because I don’t see the back of the dress, maybe because sometimes, good enough is simply just that.decorative grosgrain ribbonA final touch, this black grosgrain ribbon with cutouts. I had bought this last year for another project that I never made. This is how stash is built up, you think you are buying for a specific project, but you aren’t. I love these kind of special touches, they really make the dress my own.P1020108Looking good!P1020100Not sure how long the exposed zipper will be fashionable, I still like it.photo 2Modeling dress with centerpiece flowers.

 

Leah

More Downtown treasures, Allied Crafts Building

I always tell people, when walking downtown – look up! There are amazing things to see. While dress shopping on Saturday, I had to stop and take a closer look at this building. With so much cacophony on the street, it’s easy to miss even a building of this size. ACB buidling todayAs you can see, most of the area is much lower buildings. So this Beaux Arts and it’s neighbor the Bendix building do stand out.

ACB Photo (3)This is a photo from the 1930s. You can see there was retail on the ground floor even then and across Pico Blvd, no high construction.  This was really the outer limits of downtown, from here on there would be other tall buildings, but many more low warehouse and small industry.

As the fashion industry rapidly expended here, the owners are doing just fine renting out large loft style space. They also set about spicing up the lobby.Lobby Allied Crafts buildingYou can see the wonderful old elements that haven’t changed, the marble wainscoting, the wonderful mail box. In  2010, they brought in the artist Andre Miripolsky to add some vibrant color. Boy did he ever.Mural by MiripolskyI love how he worked around the old elements, the clock,  The grill.Elevator, Allied Crafts buildingWonderful old elevator doors. I was able to see into the elevator but not snap a picture. It looked like the original paneling – no fancy materials but nicely decorated wood. And there is an elevator operator – which leads me to think – they haven’t updated this elevator to standard push button yet. Now there is a job you don’t see often, although I’ve seen other buildings downtown with one.Entrance to lobby, ACBIt was hard to isolate out an image like this, so much stuff on all sides.  This  is the balcony over the Lobby entrance, also, the end of the fire escape.ACB, from across streetOn  a busy shopping trip, I’m sure this restaurant does good business. I love the cocktail sign, I think it was from a previous business. I’m pretty sure there are manufactories  upstairs, they have wide open loft space, although this business looks more like a design studio.

Next door is another very interesting building. The Bendix building.  I shot this image from the rooftop garage across the street where we parked.Bendix neon tower This building was build in 1930.  The tower was built by Bendix Aviation Corporation  manufactured to aid in nighttime aviation. The entire sign stands 150 feet tall; the letter “B” alone is 25 feet tall and 16 feet wide.  This helped light the way to an airfield in Glendale, 9 miles away.  Three years ago the tower was restored and the neon is now lit again at night.

In the 1930’s this building was used to manufacture  automotive parts, navigation instruments and car parts. The fashion industry moved in much later.  

Leah

Shopping for flower girl dress and ring bearer Tuxedo.

With all my creative efforts you’d think I’d be sewing a most adorable dress for my granddaughter who will of course be the flower girl. You would be wrong, very wrong.  Here in LA we have, downtown LA fashion district. That is where I have bought some very unique fabric, trim and other items for my creative endeavors.

There is a specific area – Santee Alley – which is well known for it’s inexpensive clothes, knock-off watches and handbags. 20 years ago the alley was one small block long. Now, it stretches from Olympic Blvd all the way to Pico, 0.3 miles long.

They have some little children’s clothes but it’s at the Pico end, on Maple street that they sell all the wonderful party dresses. So Becky and I  went off shopping.party dresses downtown LAYes, that price is accurate, they sell these dress from $10 – $40.  I can’t compete and btw, they are adorable little dresses.Party dressesOk, those bows look tacky, but they are just pinned on, easy to remove. First good option, flower girl dressAt our very first stop we find this, it’s green which is perfect, It’s got bling, but not over the top.  We sent a picture off to the boys, sure fine they say. But what’s the fun in buying the first thing you see. On we went.green and white dressVelvet green top? No, the green is too dark and it almost looked to Christmas to us.grey party dressLovely gray, everything is perfect about this one. (Gray, green, black are the colors) except one thing – they don’t have it in a small enough size. downtown LA party dressThen we find this one, perfect! (we will probably lose the flower).  A little more elegant, a little greener. We send off this picture and the response is – perfect get this one. Just to be sure we go back to check dress one – it had already sold. Yes, it is the day before Easter, I’m sure many a mom were out looking for an Easter dress.  For $25, I couldn’t make this, the materials along would cost more, not to mention my time

Oh and a suit for the ring bearer?boy suitYeah, went into one store, it was black or gray. Last year he wore black at Elk and Mandy’s wedding. So this year, it’s gray. We will lose the tie and pocket patch, wrong colors. But the whole suit comes as one unit. If I can’t find something green, it will simply be a the suit and shirt – no extra color.  No question, shopping for little girls is much more fun.

Also, these are staying at my house, I know Aytan doesn’t care about the suit (no spiderman on it), but Shira would never take off that dress. We want it new and lovely for the wedding.

Leah

Wilshire Blvd. Temple

To anyone in LA, get thee to The Los Angeles Conservancy and sign up for the tour of the Wilshire Blvd Temple on Sunday April 27.  This is going to be an amazing tour and yes, there still are tickets available.

I went for my volunteer training and got a peek, not enough time to really absorb the beauty of this building, but here are highlights – just so you’ll come.Wilshire Blvd TempleThis is a side view of the building (built in 1929), I never even got the front view, we were hustled around the building. There is a wonderful dome, I do have a picture of the interior of the dome.exterior Wilshire Blvd. TempleThe whole structure was retrofitted and improved. The original look of the building is the same. although there is new landscaping around it.Piness Auditorium, Wilshire Blvd TempleThis is the Piness Auditorium, I only snapped a few images, if you think this is impressive, wait till you see the sanctuary.Wall of Piness, Wilshire Blvd. TempleDetail of decoration on the wall, sorry the images are fuzzy, this is all the more reason to come and see for yourself.Sanctuary, Wilshire Blvd TempleAre you getting the sense that something spectacular awaits in the main sanctuary?  An incredible round room that seats 1700 people.

Torah scrolls and organ, Wilshire Blvd TempleThe dais, the Torahs are in the lighted room, and the organ is behind.

Ceiling, Wilshire Blvd TempleLooking straight up at the top of the dome.  All this was disintegrating and falling down, they actually had tarps so that nothing would fall on the congregants heads.  I had to translate the Shema, being the only Hebrew speaker in the bunch. Listen Israel, God is our Lord, God is one.

Stained glass, Wilshire Blvd TempleThat is the high priest Aaron atop some wonderful stained glass. Hugo Balin Mural Wilshire Blvd TempleThe mural that encircles the whole room was painted by Hugo Balin, he was a set designer for Warner Bros. who then moved on to painting many wonderful murals in important buildings in Los Angeles. Warner Bros – as in the actual brothers paid for this mural when the Temple was being built. This was the Temple of the stars. Here we see the sad moment where the Romans are looting the Menorah after destroying the Temple.Memorial Wall, Lita AlbequerqueThe memorial wall is new, designed by artist Lita Albequerque.Inner courtyard wall, Wilshire Blvd TempleThere are many more plans for more improvement, at the moment they already have a lot of interesting art.Floor, Since I am always looking for the unusual and the mundane, I looked down at the floor in the hallways (probably high grade linoleum). A simple tessellating design, now look up at the air grates:P1010943Yup, same design. I have no idea if this is old or new. Maybe a combination. I just find it extremely thoughtful when designs repeat in different materials and when they have a dialog with one another.

So there is a small taste, I hope to get more pictures on the day of the tour and I’ll have more information both of the building of the Temple and the wonderful restoration job. I hope to see some of you there.

Leah

Twohey’s, best burgers in the San Gabriel Valley

I mentioned Twohey’s as our lunch stop during the yarn crawl.  Time to give this 70 year old institution it’s due.  The ladies at A stitch in Time directed us here for lunch, Ellen got very excited, she of course had been here and was looking forward to showing us the  Googie style architecture. That modern space age, forward looking optimism of the post war years.Twohey'sThis is what greeted us on the corner of Atlantic Blvd and Huntington Dr. in Alhambra.  An even better surprise awaited us within.Twohey's interiorThis past December, without ever closing for a day, Twohey’s was renovated back to it’s past.  After years of sad ‘Marie Calendar’ kind of look, the Googie style is back in force inside as well. Love the orange and Turquoise as well as the wonderful fixtures.Bar at Twohey'sSure modern conveniences  like a flat screen TV are there, but it’s all done with a nod to the past.Twohey's doormatWe were greeted at the door with this wonderful floor mat.  An easy explanation of how to pronounce the name of the eatery. As well as letting us know, they have been here for 70 years. I’ll get to the Stinko later.boomarang formica The tabletop was redone with new formica, in the wonderful 50 style boomerang pattern.Bernadette sitting down to lunchBernadette, our traveling mascot sits down to lunch. She was good, me on the other hand…stinko burgerI enjoyed the Stinko Burger. It’s funny how 70 years ago a burger with onions and pickles would be considered stinky. Think of all the hot spicy ethnic condiments we load our burgers with today.Twohey's onion ringsAll of us shared a SMALL plate of onion rings. I’m wondering where they get those massive onions. Either way, that was a great meal. Fuel for the road as we marched on to other yarn stores.

Leah

#YarnCrawlLA2014

This weekend was the third annual Yarn Crawl LA county.  3 years ago the yarn store owners came up with the idea of having a whole weekend of yarny fun. This is the first year I joined the fun.yarnmobileFive of us did the eastern route on Friday. Laurie-Ann knows how to decorate a car, notice the crochet granny squares on the headrests. She only made a granny square cover for the steering wheel.

Our first stop was in Atwater village at The Little KnitteryEllen at the little knitteryNotice her granny square bag as well as her headband. Granny Squares are the foundation of fashion.  Ellen was smart, rather than buy yarn she was documenting our day via instagram. I bought stitch markers here.yarn crawl signOur second stop was in lovely Montrose, on Honolulu Ave. a little throw back to the 50s. The store is Needle in a Haystack. Along with yarn they also sell embroidery and needlepoint kits. They are really prepared for us with their wonderful sign above the counter. They had wonderful soft acrylic for babies, so I bought some.Abuelita'sAbuelita’s recently moved from South Pasadena to a more central location in the Playhouse Alley on Colorado Blvd. Small shop, with great hand dyed yarn. Picked up buttons to go with the yarn from the previous shop.wool ramThis wonderful wool and button ram adorns their wall. Too cute.A stitch in TimeEast and south to A Stitch in Time in San Marino.  A very different shop, first of all it is very large, airy and has the biggest selection of embroidery yarn/thread that I have seen anywhere. They also had Hiya-Hiya needles, so I bought a few.

By now we were getting hungry, so down the street we went for lunch.TwoeysWonderful midcentury modern building, this deserves a post on it’s own.stinko burgerThe stinko burger, with pickles and onions and great sweet potato fries.IMG_2220The Purlside in Glendora, this was a good 20 miles away, but hey, it’s all about the traveling between stores.buying a patternDiane and I pose with a pattern I bought.1899 quilt1899 quilt that has been in the owners family since it was made. No they don’t sell quilting supplies but they do appreciate quilts.

By then we were in need of dessert, across the street we go to The Donut Man to try their famous fresh strawberry donuts. Brenda and I split one – good thing, it was diabetes in a box.strawberry donutTwo more stores to go, Colors in Claremontcolors ClaremontIMG_2227And Phebies’s Needle Art, this is in an old packing shed by the railroad. Many other cool shops and restaurants. By now I was exhausted. The rest of the gang went on to Hobby Lobby, me I went home.IMG_3453Here are the spoils of the day, I didn’t buy all that much. Each store gave us a button and some gave out goodies like the needle holder or the tape measure.

All in all a very fun day. Some of the gals went north and south on Saturday and Sunday. This was quite enough for me, until next year.

Leah

Hotel Figueroa

Another downtown Los Angeles gem. The hotel Figueroa. It was built in the late 1920’s by the YWCA as a hotel for businesswomen, but unfortunately it didn’t survive as one and by the 1930’s was simply a hotel.hotel figueroa signNothing in Los Angeles is simply anything. If you have seen any movie or TV show where people are meeting in a restaurant or lobby in the middle east – it was probably filmed here.IMG_2100Although when doing so, they have to remove the Buddhas and the very Mexican looking items.IMG_2116A view into the restaurant

Hotel Figueroa lobbyTiles in lobby of Hotel FigueroaThese tiles are on the wall right as you enter, I need to find more about them.

IMG_2112The long hallway to the bar and pool.  As wonderful as this lobby is, and it is a feast for the eyes. This is what is really impressive about this hotel.In ground pool at Hotel Figueroa dtLA

Yes indeed an in-ground pool. When this was built, land was at a premium and since then, no-one, not even the Los Angeles Athletic club put a pool in the ground. It has survived the area being run down and everything around it becoming parking lots. I met an old woman who told me that as a child she learned how to swim in this pool.el Figueroa, Morrocan benchIn the bar area, right off the pool is this wonderful day bed, I’m sure that at night when the place is full, people enjoy this luxury.

Over 20 years ago, I was a student at FIDM , in those days, the only places I went was the school campus and up to the garment district. Downtown was still very sketchy. I’d often drive down Olympic Blvd to get to the freeway. I’d pass a large building, with three sections facing Olympic. There always were and still are full size advertisements on these sections. Only years later did I find out the history of the place and venture in to look at the lobby. I have since met people who have stayed there. The rooms were renovated a few years ago, but are simple run of the mill hotel rooms. These days the hotel is right across from LA Live and the Staple center. Sure you can stay in the JMW Marriott, or stay here, enjoy history and take a dip in that pool!

Leah

Sunday hike, Baldwin Hills Stairs

 

I love LA, I love that no matter how much I explore I know I will never see it all. So here it is, a cool overcast Sunday morning, perfect day to tackle the Baldwin Hill Stairs. First of all, I didn’t know that this area is a one hundred year old state park.100 year old CA state parkBeing middle age or slightly above, never go on a hike without water or a walking stick. We saw people on the path who wished they had a walking stick, next picture will show you why.Baldwin Hills stairsThe Stairs were built sometime after 2000 using old recycled concrete. As you can see, the stairs go straight up, 500 ft. elevation and they are NOT even, or even matching. So yes, climbing steps that are 10.5″ high is easier with a walking stick. Joel rides his bike every week for 40 miles, he had no problem climbing these stairs. Me, it took me a little longer with more stops. We saw many people who use this as their outdoor stairmaster. downtown LA from Culver CityAnytime I can snap a picture of downtown LA, I am going to do it. Yes, I have an affinity for downtown. On a clear day the view is spectacular. Can I just say, walking under a hazy cloud was easier than the blazing sun.P1010667I made it to the top. That is west LA and Century City behind me. Also, there is a wonderful plaque on the ground extolling the wonders of concrete.Oil drilling in LALooking in the other direction, the oil fields of Baldwin Hills. We have many oil rigs throughout the city, many are camouflaged, these are right out in the open and I love them! Concrete and oil, it built the  southland.                                                  Beyond in the haze you can see the control tower of LAX as well as the spider shape of the Theme restaurant at the airport – also known as Encounter.               The ocean is beyond, not visible today – this isn’t LA smog – this is simply early spring haze. Within an hour it all burned off.P1010683Looking down at the Balona creek, now an ugly concrete channel. The subject of how and why the rivers in LA came to be encased in concrete is worthy of a book. Actually someone probably wrote one. I of course took the picture because of the large graffiti with someone doing just that – riding his bike. The bike path goes all the way down to the ocean, 6 miles away.

To finish off the hike, we looked for a Taco joint, most of our hikes have been on the east side of town, where the best tacos can be found. Instead we found this food truck and yes, I finished off my fish tacos before thinking of taking a picture of them. Trust me, they were good.Food Truck

Leah