CoudreMODE

Share on Facebook

I’ve been on a sewing hiatus since December because my twin daughters are in middle school and kids need a lot of support during these years.  One interesting facet of having twins and multiples is that every developmental stage is super super intense because more than one child goes through it at the same time.  I haven’t sewn a stitch since my Susan Kahlje class because I wanted to totally focus on my daughters.  Happily we’re over the hump in terms of the school year; the homework and social pressure is easing up a bit for both of them.

 Both of my daughters dance competitively at the national level; they go to The Gold School in Brockton MA.  They do 9 hours of class weekly in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary and Hip-Hop plus another 4-6 hours a week in choreography and rehearsals.  This year Abby has been cast in a Modern solo for competition and we are thrilled! Modern is difficult to perform, it’s the most abstract form of dance and quite physically demanding.  Dancing Modern well requires physical stamina and mental maturity so it’s pretty rare for such a young dancer (Abby is 13) to do a solo in Modern.  Abby is super excited about it and the choreographer is her favorite teacher Nailah Bellinger. 

 Nailah wants Abby’s costume to be a low back halter unitard with legs at mid-thigh like bike shorts.  The color is dark pumpkin orange and I have had no luck finding this color on dancewear sites so I’m making her costume.  For a pattern I’ll combine Jalie 2913 for the bodice and Jalie 2920 for the shorts.  Abby already has a halter leotard she wears to class that I can trace off.   I’ll also add a shelf bra and molded cups for support.  A bit of Bolduc tape on my dressform above lays out the basic design.

 The color will be the biggest challenge and swatches are on the way from Spandex House.  I’ll  scan them when they come in.   Abby’s hair will be loose and wavy and I think she’ll be wearing a wide headband made form the same fabric.  Her feet are bare, which standard in Modern.    This project is on a tight deadline, so wish me luck!

Share on Facebook

Tavi at Chanel Couture

She blogs, French Vogue did  a story on her, she has written a sincere and thoughtful observation on the suicide of  Alexander McQueen and went to Paris Fashion Week.  She sells arty t-shirts she designs. Scroll down to the photo of her with our favorite Funky Little Fashion Troll.  She’s 13 years old.

Share on Facebook

I have to say my hair is something I really can’t complain about, it’s always been easy to care for and looks pretty good 90% of time. Still, I was unhappy with every blow-dryer I’ve ever owned and I’ve owned at lot of them; they just seem to have a limited life span and they never produce the same results at a professional salon dryer.  My ideal blow-dryer has the features of those used in salons but was not $75+.  I can understand why salons need the heavy duty dryers because the darn things are going for hours as a time, but for home use that’s a bit pricey.  But I still wanted salon dryer features and found it in this Revlon 1875 Ionic Ceramic Dryer.  It has 1875 watts, a hot-warm-cool temp setting, high-low speed settings, a cold shot button and an ion feature.  That means 8 different temp-speed combinations and ion works with all of them.  The hot setting is not so hot it will toast your scalp and the cool setting at high speed is great for taming frizz and setting a style.  Its light weight, the handle is well balanced and it’s easy to control with one hand.  About $30 at Target stores and only $23 at Amazon.

Share on Facebook

I like to stop for coffee on the way in to work, and after almost 2 years at my current job the morning coffee fashion tribes at my local establishment are well defined…

Work Out Babe – This is a pumped up woman in Uggs and a flashy track suit, either Juicy Couture (high end) or Pink (low end).  Her sweat pants have a provocative noun or adverb printed on the butt; she wears makeup and hoop earrings to the gym.  She drives an Escalade or a Hummer2 and leaves it running at the curb.  Takes forever to order because she has to consult with the person at the register about every item on the menu and its caloric content. 

Moscow Mobster – Instead of a suit this guy wears a lavishly fringed black leather cowboy jacket with big raglan shoulder pads.  His jeans have creases pressed into them and he also sports black cowboy boots and a belt with a huge silver buckle.  He’s a bad dude who looks like Pee Wee Herman. Has a cell phone glued to his ear and rapidly scolds people in Russian, switching between two conversations.  He occasionally breaks into English and proceeds to browbeat some unfortunate soul for not getting something across a border.  Might be on the OFAC list.  Drives a used late model Lexus or baby Mercedes that he bought with cash.

Salary Man - He is feeling the pressure and has a 3 hour commute from another state.  Wears a (Scott) brown barn jacket and drives a Toyota Tundra vanity truck. Probably sleeps with his Bluetooth device attached to his head.  Like Moscow Mobster he carries on two conversations at once, using his best sotto voce to make sure everyone in the vicinity knows how busy he is.  Cannot stand waiting for even 30 seconds and if he is behind you in line you can almost feel his breath on your neck.  Conveniently parks in the handicapped spot because he keeps his mother’s hang tag in the truck.

Marshalls Matron – Often does not make an appearance until after  9:00am, stopping by to fortify herself for a morning of heavy shopping.  Wears a quilted coat and carries a metallic Kathy Van Zeeland bag that makes your eyes hurt.  Is in her late 60’s but mysteriously has no grey hair.  Never moves to the side after she gets her change and always counts it before she puts away her wallet.

Life is Good – This gent took an early retirement 25+ years ago.  Meets his buddies every morning for coffee, politics, sports and investing tips.  Drives a Detroit sedan, either an old Caddie or a Buick.  Wears a baseball cap, an old Timberland jacket and Merrells.  Has a winter home in Ft. Myers and a rock solid pension. Methodically plants himself in front of the coffee station, fills his cup, adds sugar one packet at a time, STIRS IT and takes a sip all the while holding up 20 commuters who just want to get to work.

Mobile Office – this is guy who uses the free Wi-Fi to run his business.  Drives a sporty Volvo with a Thule rack.  He nurses one cup of coffee and settles himself into a four person booth for a productive three hour session of email and phone calls.    Jeans, a Patagonia fleece jacket and iEverything.  Ignores all larger parties looking for tables, especially moms with small children and fragile seniors. 

Fill ‘er up!

Share on Facebook

This video shot inside Chanel’s private apartment above her Rue Cambon boutique is better than most I’ve seen, there are some really cool shots of the  objects inside and its fascinating to see how these things influenced her designs.

And this is a two part French interview from 1969; this was only two years before her death and she is quite elderly (age 86); however she’s pretty feisty nonetheless.   There are no subtitles so I have no idea what she’s talking about, but one point her eyes well up with tears;  from what I’ve read vulnerability was a not a trait associated with her so it’s pretty remarkable to see this on film .  The interview also cuts away to her 1969 collections and the soundtrack is, of all things sitar music  (well it was the late 60’s after all.)    In those days couture shows were not the multimedia extravaganzas we expect from Fashion week, they are much low key as you will see.

Part I

Part II

Here she exits from her Ritz Carlton suite and walks across the street to work at Chanel.  I love the little kids running around on the street; passersby ignore her so she must have been a daily sight.   Part II shows her 1970 collection, just a year before her death.  I hope I’m that spry when I’m her age!  There is a runway show here too.    Who is the rock star in fop suit and fur hat??  I wonder if its Brian Jones or Jim Morrison. I love the chain necklaces with brooches attached that pin at the waist or hip; I’d love to see what KL would do with that idea.

Share on Facebook

Me and Susan Kahlje

Okay shameless plug time;  in December 2009 I took a short class with Susan Khalje at the Gorgeous Fabrics Studio.  This was something I had wanted to do for literally 10 years and I was not disappointed.  Susan is a warm and personable teacher who is generous with her incredible knowledge of couture sewing and fashion history.    She told the class that her new web site would be up soon and it is, and there a couple things to let you know about it:  the copyright for Bridal Couture has reverted back to her and she  is making it available on CD-ROM in February 2010.  This book is indispensable for anyone who is serious about couture sewing technique.  Even though the  focus of the book  is bridal most of the techniques can be used with any type of garment.  A used copy on Amazon is easily $80 so I’m really happy Susan is making this great book available.

Also on her website Susan is selling  fabric,  very special French notions  and her favorite Japanese hand sewing needles, which are absolutely the best and they make hand sewing a joy.  I bought two packs of them!  And she has chain for Chanel jackets in gold and silver.

In my mind Susan is part of the sewing holy trinity along with Kenneth King and Claire Shaeffer and if you ever manage to take of her in-person classes you will absolutely love it!

Share on Facebook

There is an interesting discussion over on Pattern Review around how thorough reviews should be vis a vis how they should (or should not) help less experienced sewers.  I haven’t jumped in and the thread is winding down anyway, but one thing I detected from some posts is a sense of entitlement that really irked me.  Personally, I don’t feel that an experienced sewer has any obligation to make a review into a sewing lesson.  Writing a good review takes effort and no one who posts reviews is getting paid anything for doing it so how much information they provide is a personal decision.

I suspect what is happening here is there are thousands of sewers on PR who are largely self-taught and they view PR as a free educational resource for improving their skills.  Which is fine, that’s largely what the internet has been about., however,  experienced sewers like me, Ann, Gigi, Pam, Els, Mary Beth and Debbie probably tend to see PR less as a school and more as a stage to express our individual interest in specific areas of sewing.  I just bristle at the notion that I owe anyone guidance just because they want to learn sewing; that sounds Darwinian I know, but PR also has good quality and inexpensive on-line sewing classes for all levels. When I see people complaining on the message board that reviews don’t tell them enough I just want to say “Take an on-line class for cryin’ out loud!”  PR has classes from top experts (Susan Khalje, Kenneth King, Shannon Gifford, Sarah Veblen etc etc) and in-person instruction from any of these folks is far far more expensive than what they have on PR.  Trust me, I’ve taken their in-person classes and I now this is a fact!

Okay rant over now I need to go clean my sewing room

Share on Facebook

I should go over to Jo-Ann’s tomorrow to see if McCall’s actually had the stones to print this onto pattern tissue.

Share on Facebook

I learned to embroider when I was about 7, and I was maybe 14 when I made this shirt.   The pattern is long gone, but it’s Big 4, probably Butterick because back in those days (and unlike today) it was actually a trendy line and my favorite.   The fabric is a truly wretched synthetic pretty typical of that era;  for laughs I did a burn test and got a hard irregular char that did not melt and smelled of vinegar so I’m guessing the fabric is a linen acetate.    One thing I find pretty funny is there is no connection at all between the various embroidery motifs, we have a tropical sunset on the yokes, ivy tendrils on the collar, a row of flowers on the cuffs and a beetle on the hem in the back.

All of the images are clickable!

Share on Facebook