No Idle hands here

Another sweater finished and it’s in the 80s.

If you want hot weather, just make sure i’m finishing a sweater. By Thursday I had finished the knitting and started the sewing. I was too lazy to block, so I sewed it together first, then steam blocked it.Blocking makes a difference, it evens everything out, relaxes the stitches. The lace you see here is all scrunched up.Here it is more open and flat.Ok, there is a problem here, the lace bands don’t match up. As soon as I’m done writing I will fix this. Steam the button side a little more and move the button. The buttons are from a stash my friend gave me. Her mom had quite the collection and I’m thrilled to be putting them to good use. I haven’t bought buttons in a while.I need to learn how to smile, although this was the best image of the sweater, so ignore my face.Why do my best roses bloom in November?Weather is going to cool down to the low 60s! Yay I get to wear my knitwear.

There, I fixed it.

PInk flowers

I needed to make Shira another dress, I found a very cute fabric at JoAnn’s, green and white. those are my colors, but Shira loves pink, maybe purple.

Pinks and grays and blue, can’t go wrong, and it’s big bold flowers. The lining makes for a very clean neckline without facing poking out. Putting in small sleeves isn’t easy. I ended up with a few tiny pleats. Oh well, this is a dress for a very active 4 year old. She won’t notice. I need to keep my couture elements on clothes for myself.The sleeve band also posed a problem, I admit, I made this one quickly, of course there are ways to both insert the sleeves and put on the bands that would have been much neater. I made the mistake of following the pattern instead of my intuition. I do like how the skirt flares and the gathering is only in the front, under the front panel.Which is cut on the bias. Sure the pattern called for plaid, in which case cutting on the bias would give an interesting design element. It doesn’t make a difference here, except, bias is stretchier, so just in case, I cut this and the lining piece on the bias.Final hem, not level all around. Again, so what.At lest the inside is neat and clean, with serged seams.

And the reward for this quick sew?A very happy granddaughter, holding a ‘flower’, it’s just a three leaf clover, but what a lovely prop next to the big bold 60 style flowers.She is getting big! I made a size five and it fits perfectly. The skirt has room for twirls. Why she is holding onto a spider her brother made at school – I don’t know. Hey photos are always better with props.I told her that she should wear this on Thanksgiving. We’ll see if she has the patience to wait that long.

A different look at The Broad

I was downtown giving an Historic Downtown tour to kids from North Hollywood High. They were a great group of kids and the tour went very well. Since I was there on a weekday, I tried my luck and went and stood in line for standby tickets. Met some lovely people from Seattle who had come for the Disney half marathon. Of course I recommended quite a few of our downtown gems.I’ll say it right now, I don’t like the art in the Broad, what interests me is the architecture. I want to see how the shapes and forms react both inside and out.Iconic image, going up the escalator. As someone who studied design, I like the focal point right above the woman’s head. How the lines just lead there.Ok, I found one piece of artwork I like. LACMA has a much more colorful version. African art, taking many pieces of tin, from cans and other objects and creating a large carpet. A wonderful example of crafting with what you have. As for the rest of the art, I’m familiar with his collection of 1980s art, it leaves me cold. What leaves me angry is the newer art – if it doesn’t have an angry message, or an anti Western civilization message – it isn’t part of the collection. There wasn’t anything positive, it was all about racism, or anti war, or sexual deprivation. I get it, we are eating ourselves and won’t stand and defend what the West stands for. All we can do is malign and tear down. I did shock one of the guards when I knew who one of the artists is. Doesn’t make me like her, but I’ve seen her angry anti White America art before. She should be lecturing on all college campii right now.

What this tells me is that many of the visitors don’t know art and coming here they are being ‘educated and enlightened’. Oh for one single European Madonna and Child.Jeff Koons, his highly reflective stainless steel, reflecting itself and the roof beautifully. A win for building making this piece so much more interesting then when it was in other locations.So I aimed my camera at the walls, seeing the play of light and shadow on the structure itself.And found my comfort there.I had of course seen the window from outside.It took a while to find it inside, in a lecture hall.Once again on the outside, tilting my camera so the roof line is vertical.And of course peering through the windows to the street bellow. Combining the soft edges of the window with the geometric lattice of guard rails.And the view of both Disney Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavillon, with a shadow of the San Gabriel mountains beyond.And then this image, made my heart sing! The Ped Xing sign, right over the skylights of the Contemporary Art Museum to the Tower of the Title Guarantee building. This is what I love, standing in one contemporary building, looking over another to a wonderful example of Art Deco. I love that architecture develops and changes, I wish that Art would do the same without being ugly and angry. Today positive creativity is happening in the craft world, not in the art world. Here’s hoping they find their way back. At least Architecture isn’t wallowing in the negative.And finally, away from the Broad, looking at the upper station of Angels Flight. This is a funicular that needs an angel. We need it to run again!

Three sewing machines for one simple dress??

I have been participating in a month long Instagram event. #bpsewvember. Every day a topic that we need to follow. An early one was WIP Work in progress.

So it was time to get cracking.Of course I used my serger, this is a knit fabric after all. But unlike my previous dress, I had to rely on more than one machine.I thought it would just be two. Here I am using a twin needle for all the hems. Gives a nice double row of stitching. Mimics a cover-stitch machine, no I don’t need one, really I don’t have the room….. just trying to convince myself that I REALLY don’t need one.The problem with my relatively simple machine is there is only room for one spool. I’m not the first sewer to come across this problem, hence the external spool holder. Works wonderfully! Twin needles need two spools of thread.

And then… turns out I needed to sew two short rows of gathering stitches. The thought of changing out the twin needle was too much. It is very hard to thread that thing, the machine can’t thread both side. SO….Machine no. 3, the straight stitch only one.Top is finished and lovely, are you seeing what I’m seeing a big black dot right in the middle. The more I look at this fabric I realize I was plain lucky – I could have had circle in very inconvenient places – like right over my boobs. Never thought of that when I bought the fabric.It all worked out and the dress is adorable, which begs the question, WHY AREN’T I SMILING? You’ll have to ask the photographer that question. (me).A very quick sew, 3 hours at most, using ITY knit which is soft and clingy. The V-neck line sits beautifully, I credit both the pattern and the fabric.And… here is my black dot again, right in the middle of my back! Closer look at the lovely fit in front. No special treatment here. I have read enough advice about how to reinforce such a neckline so it won’t gape. I’m wondering if because it is a separate piece of fabric it lies so well. It isn’t on the bias as it would be if the fronts were one piece instead of two. Of course I will use this pattern again. If I use a thicker fabric I won’t have the pleasure of twirling the skirt like this, another fun aspect of this fabric.

Sharing my old quilts

This was the last quilt I made before going on hiatus and moving on to other crafts. So I’d say this is about 18 years old. Medallion style quilt. It started with mole from the San Blas Islands . I didn’t visit there, though I’d love to. I must have bought it at a craft fair and it became the basis for the quilt.I just noticed that I have used this technique again with a medallion quilt, in order to make it more of a rectangle, i added a border only on two sides, not four. I’ll have to share that one as well.Along with the mole, I also incorportated some Guatemalan woven Textiles. I was ahead of my time on the modern front, combining fabrics other than quilting cottons.

The next three images are all I have left of my first quilt, I am not a hoarder and at this point I think that quilt is gone, so here are some of the fabrics in that quilt, the pink ones. I recognize this solid as being from that quilt, I’m wondering what aged it? It has been in storage for a while, and that may be the only reason. This quilt never got a lot of use.Because at that time I was thinking art quilt rather than a warm cuddly one. In size it could have been a lap quilt but I did put a sleeve on the top for hanging. Something I only do now on small projects.This is also the last quilt I hand quilted.Today I would machine quilt this. Hand quilting is in my past, I don’t think I’ll go back to that. For handwork, I either knit or will do English paper piecing. Even then, I”ll machine quilt.

It was fun to revisit this, but it’s not a quilt I will be using. I like looking back at my creativity, I think I did a great job, but this doesn’t speak to me anymore. Of course I’m keeping it, but now using it.

On the outskirts of the Fashion District

The fashion District downtown keeps on expanding. Santee Alley used to be one block long, now it stretches from Olympic Blvd all the way to Pico. Other fashion business have followed suit. This store must have been here for a while. Or else the California sun has taken it’s toll on the unique signage.

What caught my attention on the corner of Pico and Santee was this very interesting building. It’s old, probably from the 1920s’, when buildings were still using brick. Even the signage looks original.Today all the retail is fashion and the offices are all garment industry related, labels, textile finishing, studios. I know this because I tried to find some info about this building. Nothing at all about when it was built or by whom. Just info about the current tenants.Even the details on the side are lovely.The front of the building, on Santee really marks it as a Tudor revival. I’ve been doing my research, in the early 20s’ Tudor revival was a style that many a homeowner used for their large lovely homes. Charlie Chaplain used this style for his studios on La Brea. I’ve been looking for other examples of commercial buildings and can’t find any. Pico Blvd was on the far southern reaches of the business district, from here downtown becomes much more light industry. So for years, until the fashion district grew, it was simply a forgotten area and no one was either building or tearing down.Notice how the crosswalk is designated with the fashion district logo. Today this stretch of Pico houses higher end women’s stores as well as children’s clothes. Many of the store fronts are open to the public and are cheaper than boutiques elsewhere. The quality of the clothes is much higher than in the famous Santee Alley. Some are storefronts for the trade only, this is where those high end boutiques come to stock their own stores.This is directly across the street on Pico. Those columns look original, it looks like someone decided to paint them. This is the terminus of the Santee Alley, it runs behind this building. Right behind it the Bendix Arial tower can be seen.Another view from much further east.

The Fashion District downtown is booming! Some of the older buildings have come down but it is still a low building district. I’m wondering if at some point taller buildings will be built. Here’s the thing, the storefronts are doing very very well, the offices above are rented out. But most of the manufacturing is happening south and east of here. It will be interesting to see how this area changes in the next few years. I’m just praying that 1300 Santee survives the change.

Final Crazy like Fox entry.

A year has gone by, sort of. We started this exchange in February and our final recipient has her birthday in November. Raquel is the one who started the ball rolling so I had to get extra busy making her some lovely foxy things.First of all, a fox. I enjoy making three dimensional toys, and Raquel told me her three daughters fought over him.Fox out in the wild.From the side.From the back with his cute tail up in the air.Loving these divided baskets. Horse and foxes, although they may not be friends, seeing that the Fox hunters ride the horses, they do get along very well on this basket.With it’s front pocket and divider.And of course, with the fox.

Nachas, Yiddish for feeling grateful

Aytan spent the whole weekend with us. He loves he shirt, even demanded that the top button be buttoned. We went to get his glasses fixed and I wanted a picture – of course he wouldn’t smile. A different day, Westley likes his shirt as well, as he rearranges the kitchen.The rest of the weekend included around the clock arts and crafts. He asked me to draw pirate ships, which he then cut out and colored. He also took the rug pad to use as his display board.He raided my sewing supplies, so yeah, one of my stronger interfacings became the basis for this art. My fabric glue stick is almost gone. I did ask about the five legged giraffe, he didn’t seem to mind the extra leg. Put himself on it. We went through about 5 rolls of tape. A visit to both the Dollar tree and the 99 cent store for more supplies.

I tried to do some embroidery and he immediately demanded to participate.His words and letters on construction paper. I gave him one of my very large yarn needles, doubled the floss, so it wouldn’t come off and showed him how to embroider.Very good for a first attempt, sure the back is messier, but that work is incredible. He then taped to my wall. It’s down now but I’m saving this. I’m also thinking that I might purchase one of those smaller sewing machines. Anything to encourage this kind of creativity.

I didn’t get a picture of the mess the house was in, paper shards everywhere, googlie eyes glued onto everything. Shapes from my Sixxiz all over the floor.

I was in heaven, tired, but in heaven. Shira spent the time with her other grandma and Erez and Becky had a very well deserved romantic weekend to celebrate ten years of marriage. I have no idea where the time goes!

New York Beauty

Of course I started a new quilt, it might be for my bed, problem is my bed is a King size, so we will see. I think you will notice that I like curves in my quilts, so a New York Beauty was an easy choice. A while ago I started a Pinterest board. Just take a look, you’ll see what I mean.I purchased most of these fabrics for this quilt. The top print inspired the colors, then I’d go into stores without it and try and remember the colors. Which is how I ended up with the print below it – much more purple. So really most of my fabrics relate more to the second print, but it’s not about pulling the exact colors, it’s about a pleasing palette. My background will be the dark grey, which looks bluer here than in real life.I found some 8.5″ patterns online and I got started. The best way to make these is paper piecing of course, another love of mine.I can get accuracy as well as really sharp points.The pile of blocks is growing rapidly.Alas, I wanted more blocks, there are many pictures of wonderful blocks, but it’s not easy to find the actual patterns. In my search someone mentioned the program EQ, a computer program for designing blocks. Her comment was how much easier it was to use than a protecter and a compass. Bells went off in my head and I ran to the store to buy those items.Way back in my high school days, I liked geometry and disliked math. A few years later when I started quilting I understood why geometry spoke to me. I’m not going to be designing and selling quilt blocks, but I love the mental challenge of creating them for myself. So no need for a computer program. But yay for the internet! I needed to look up tutorials to remind myself how to work with these simple tools.The final block is always the reverse of what you see on the paper.Once I have the design to fit 8″ I need to add a quarter inch around each section. Which is why I have the half circle here, the left side gives me the template for the top band and the right side the template for the center spokes.As the number of blocks grows, I throw them on the floor to see possible layouts. It is way to early for a decision, but this kind of haphazard layout is what I am going for. The middle block on the bottom (yellow-green) is also a learning experience. There isn’t enough contrast between the narrow spokes and the background. No need to discard the block, just learn from it. The one to the left is a good example of using larger prints in a paper pieced project.Ten blocks! Many quilters have done this using prints in the background as well. I prefer one neutral solid, I don’t want all my paper piecing to get lost in a maze of color and pattern. Right now I am having so much fun with this, I don’t see getting to a king size quilt to be a problem, but we’ll see as time will tell.

A skirt and a rant about directional fabric.

I have this adorable skirt pattern
I found this cute fabric and I bought 2.5′, that is more than I need for the average skirt, but this one does have pleats.

It turns out that I need to cut the fabric along the selvedge, otherwise I’ll end up with a seam some where in the the middle. So here goes my rant – one directional fabric is awful for clothing!!!!! I understand, this is probably a quilting cotton, but the weight of this is great for skirts. So I growled and gnashed my teeth and went into my stash. There is a reason why we sewers have stashes.I also had 2.5′ of this fabric, which I like, since I did buy it myself.Side by side, you can see how the in the left fabric all the elements point in the same direction and the fabric on the right, the feathers and berries are tossed all over. Hmm, feathers, am I noticing a trend?

I made the skirt according to my waist size and it came out enormous, I have no idea what I did wrong. So some nips, tucks, increasing the size of some of the pleats and it all worked out. Most pleated skirts have markings where the pleats will be sewn – in this pattern I had to cut out the pleat area. This is to reduce bulk when adding the facing and the top stitching. That meant that I couldn’t simply take the skirt apart and go for a smaller size.It worked! and now I have a lovely new pleated skirt.I’m not sure the contrapposto stance works here, it looks good on Greek sculptures, but creates too much bunching on my shirt.At least the skirt flows and moves nicely.Another successful sewing project! Because the print is so busy, you really can’t see the top stitching, but I do like the shape it gives the skirt. I will probably make it again, but I’ll make the changes before I cut the fabric.