Saturday, November 28, 2009

Black Friday resolve tanks...

I lead-ballooned my lofty ideals about not shopping yesterday... I don't know how it happened... why my exalted intentions just boogied on out of my mind... but they did... probably had something to do with my love of African fabrics... you know how it is... something so beautiful just popped up on my screen while I was surfing... which I shouldn't have been doing... because when something wonderful pops up on my screen while I'm surfing my resolve usually heads directly down the toilet. So I thought I'd look at a few new sites for African fabric... you know... just look... not buy anything... just get some ideas for fabric with which to make some of the new patterns I haven't been able to resist over the last few weeks... I really wasn't going to do any shopping... after all... I was preaching to the world through my blog and FaceBook about giving the planet a break and not spending any money on Black Friday... and moving my mind to greater heights through pure resolve and determination... and yada, yada... and there they were... T.H.E. P.E.R.F.E.C.T. fabrics for a couple of the swing coat patterns that have been sitting on my sewing table... quietly urging... "Make me!"... "Buy some gorgeous new fabric and make me...!!" It's interesting how stuff in my studio talks to me all of the time... usually urging me to buy further stuff that will complete my life and fulfill all of my dreams... sort of like those incredible cheesecakes at Costco... except the cheesecakes aren't quiet... they scream at me... "BUYME! TAKE ME HOME! EAT ME! NOW! AND WHEN I'M GONE, COME BACK AND BUY ANOTHER ONE!"

Well, that's how my Black Friday went. But now that the deed has been did, you just gotta see these outrageous pieces of fabric... perhaps you'll understand why my clicking finger hit the "Buy Now" button.

Imagine this jacket...

...made up in this fabric...

And this jacket...

... made up in this fabric...

Or maybe vice-versa... you get the idea!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Buy Nothing Day...

That's today - Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - the day when the Christmas shopping feeding frenzy begins.

How about we do something different this year?


How about a Wildcat General Strike? How about millions of people around the world bringing the capitalist consumption machine to a grinding, if only momentary, halt? There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth:

WE. HAVE. TO. CONSUME. LESS.

Don't buy anything today. Not only that, try turning off un-necessary lights, your television, and other nonessential appliances. Park your car, turn off your phones, log off of your computer for the day. Go ahead... take the plunge.

Think about this: a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. If you feel things are falling apart – the temperature rising, the oceans churning, the global economy heaving – why not do something? Take just one small step toward a more just and sustainable future. Make a pact with yourself: go on a consumer fast. Lock up your credit cards, put away your cash and opt out of the capitalist spectacle. You may find that it’s harder than you think, that the impulse to buy is more ingrained in you than you ever realized. But if you persist, you will transcend – perhaps reaching the kind of epiphany that can change not just your world, but THE world.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Would you believe, I did it again?

Of course you would! You should know me by now...

Vogue Patterns had another 70% off sale I couldn't resist. This will probably be it for a while, because I can't find anything else in the online catalogue I want. And, I believe I heard someone say, "When are you ever going to start sewing???"

Here's an Issey Miyake I somehow missed along the way...

And another Lynn Mizono...

This one should look great in African fabric...

How about slinky purple?

Don't really care all that much for this one, but it'll be good practice for doing pleats and tucks. I do like the pedal pushers, though... they'll give me a chance to show off my Frida Kahlo sox!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Milagros!


When I was a child, my mysterious and, to my child's mind, fascinating, Grandmother Catharine, had enormous collections of stuff that just about sent me over the edge with excitement... boxes and boxes of buttons, pieces of lace, beads, postcards, dried flowers, ribbons, small rocks she had painstakingly ground to a gleaming finish in a hand-operated rock polisher, tiny figurines of animals, seashells, Mexican tiles, and an absolutely amazing collection of small crosses and crucifixes. She kept all of these magical items (and many others) in dozens of boxes in the drawers of several large dressers in her dark and tapestry-draped bedroom, which smelled of the most wonderful incense ever. (I learned many years later it was myrrh and was pretty expensive stuff - I have no idea how she came by it, but it was always in the house, and I loved it!) She would spend hours with me in this exciting room, letting me paw through the boxes while she explained everything - where it came from, how old it was, and, most thrilling to me, the magical properties of all of these treasures. My favorite items were the Milagros, and she had hundreds of them. I loved spreading a handful of them out on a piece of silky fabric, while she told me what each one of them represented, and what kind of petition it might accompany, and to which Saint it was best to pray for that petition. My thoroughly modern (and thoroughly square) mother dismissed her own mother's stories and collections as superstitious claptrap, and cautioned me not to believe a word of it, which of course, only reinforced Grandma Catarina's mystique in my eyes.

Recently, I've been in serious Unclutter Mode, and have been divesting my life of lots of things I no longer need or want, or wonder why in hell I bought in the first place. At the same time, I've allowed myself to indulge in one last overindulgence. I'm finally doing something I've wanted to do for years... start a collection of Mexican Folk Art. Mexican culture was a big part of my life when I lived in Goleta, and things Mexican have always held a special joy for me. Goleta and Santa Barbara had many fiestas and bazaars and other such events, beautiful Spanish and Mexican architecture, and, most important, tons of Mexican restaurants. While I've never tried it, I'm pretty sure I could eat Mexican food for every meal of every day for a decent span of time without burning out... especially tacos... I'm constantly in search of The Perfect Taco - haven't found it yet, but I'm never going to give up hope! I make a pretty mean taco myself, but that's not the point. I want to be able to go to a restaurant and be fed perfect tacos until I pop!

I recently discovered an internet site, Artelexia, which offers a wonderful selection of Mexican Folk Art. There are plenty of internet sites offering Mexican Folk Art, but I like this one best because Elexia, the woman who owns it, along with her father, is just sooooo cool! After working the quilt shop with Sandy, I know how important customer service is, and Elexia has customer service down to a fine art! Not to mention the great stuff they sell! Elexia also maintains a blog which she's peppered with an outrageous collection of recipes, all of which I want to try for dinner TONIGHT! Anyway, my most recent purchase was the beautiful collection of Milagros pictured above, and this incredible Milagro cross...


Artelexia has a great selection of Frida Kahlo goodies, and I'll be pointing my attention in that direction next. Stay tuned...!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Spooky sunset...

We often have sunsets that look like this - an ominous, solid mantle of clouds with just a sliver of bright sky streaking through the middle. It always freaks me out, because it reminds me of the scene in "Independence Day", where the humongous alien space ship appears and fills the entire sky except for a little strip of light underneath it.

At the same time, just to the south-east, the sky was clear, with just a touch of the dark, threatening cloud, and the bright moon looking hopeful. It's now totally dark, the cloud has expanded further east, and the moon is gone... probably won't see it for a while, as rain is promised tonight, tomorrow and beyond.

Monday, November 16, 2009

More sewing ahead...

Last week I made a remarkable find in my studio... as part of the great re-organization campaign, I discovered a huge container of wool fabrics I've collected over the years with the intention of making coats and other cold weather stuff. Alas, moths have also made their own discoveries, but, for the most part, they haven't done too much damage. Once having discovered this fabric, I realized I needed some more patterns, and, wouldn't you know it... McCall's came up with a pattern sale. Now it's definitely time to stop collecting patterns and hit the sewing machine. Two of these patterns claim to be "1-hour" patterns, which, for me, probably means "1-week". But, even at that, I can have at least a couple finished by the end of the year, before the really cold weather (for California) hits. Here's the latest bunch:









Monday, November 9, 2009

In which a friend leads me astray...

But, what are friends for?? you ask... Exactly my point!

Years ago, in the dark ages before the internet and e-mail, my friend Rosalie published a newsletter called, "Art You Wear". It was geared toward, if you hadn't already guessed, the then small, but growing, wearable art community. I enjoyed the newsletter very much, but one day it stopped showing up. I missed it, but didn't pursue it as I was busy with other stuff in my life - being a free-lance musician, working with the local artists' guild, and just beginning to learn the ropes about being a multi-cat-mom. Recently, as I was chasing links (one of my favorite pastimes), I wound up on a blog called Art You Wear and me, and realized, after many years, I'd found Rosalie! As fate would have it, within a few days, she posted some information about the Vogue Patterns website having a sale. As fate would further have it, I've been thinking, recently, of getting back to sewing clothes for myself. When I retired from UCSF in 1993, I slowly drifted into slobdom, fashion-wise. After moving from San Francisco to the wastelands of Vallejo, I discovered the fashion here was No Fashion. The only thing worth dressing up for in Vallejo at that time, was the Symphony, which only gave six concerts a year. Now, they only give four concerts a year, so the need for new outfits decreased even more! Alas, it's been sweats and tees for me for far too long, and I've finally decided I'm tired of that non-look. Anyway, Rosalie had posted pictures of some Vogue patterns she'd purchased from the web sale, with an eye towards garments for wearable art. Seeing them, I was hooked, and went to the Vogue website to "have a look". I found a wonderful selection of patterns available at absurdly low prices if one was willing to join the BVM (Butterick-Vogue-McCalls) Club, which I immediately did, because who can resist the opportunity to buy notoriously expensive Vogue patterns at 70% off??? This "opportunity" sent me over the edge into becoming thoroughly determined to start sewing my own clothes again. Here are the patterns I bought - yes, they're all coats, because coats lend themselves beautifully to becoming wearable art. Besides it's finally starting to feel like fall around these parts! Vogue features patterns by avant garde designers, such as Koos Van Den Akker (first pattern, below) and Lynn Mizono (second pattern). For many years they've had a line by Issey Miyaki, one of my favorite designers. Before I get started, though, it looks like I'm going to have to go out and buy some fabric. Awww...