Viking Designer 1

Last night I read through the User's Guide for my Viking Designer 1 in order to get up to speed on my machine skills. As a full-time English major at UC Berkeley I had little time to sew, but now I am back on the sewing track. I guess it's sort of like riding a bicycle. Feel a cold coming on, so today I plan to get out the machine and just play.

elinor peace bailey

I wanted to post this picture of elinor peace bailey just because she always puts a smile on my face. I had the great privilege of taking a dollmaking class at her home a number of years ago. It was such great fun. I was simply blown away by her generous spirit as well as her eclectic house which is something straight out of a fairy tale. elinor is a woman of great faith and abundant creativity and her book My Mother Plays With Dolls reflects both qualities. (I'm not sure why, but she always uses lower case letters for her name.) Check out her blog...you'll find the link under "Artsy Blogs."

Inaugural dress

I just wanted to post a photo of Michelle Obama in her inaugural outfit. It's a lovely dress, but I'm not fond of the way the white lining distracts from the garment. This photo doesn't show her green shoes or the gloves, but I have a feeling huge numbers of women are going to be heading to J. Crew today to buy those green leather gloves. Michelle is definitely going to generate a lot of interest in American fashion and how great is that!

Project Runway

The February issue of Elle magazine features an article about the winner of Season Five of Project Runway. I'm a total fan of the series and have the first four seasons in my DVD library. The 28-year old winner of the latest season is Leanne Marshall. She talks about how she prepared for the show (which she applied for twice) by making and selling $40 dresses from her Portland, Oregon apartment. She "challenged" herself by creating one look every day and having it up for sale on her website by 5 p.m. I like this idea because I tend to use up all my energy in the "thinking" rather than the "doing". Having a deadline would force me to produce. You see, I have a crazy notion to try out for Project Runway. Never thought I'd graduate from college at 61. So, maybe this is not such a crazy idea. Just need to put together a fabulous portfolio and take lots of vitamins.

Disappointment

Well, the class I had hoped to take did not happen. City College of San Francisco has campuses all over the city, but the Evans campus was in an area that just made me very sad. I felt unsafe as I drove through this derelict part of the city and decided that maybe I didn't need a class on sewing with knits after all. It does, however, make me want to do something about the deplorable state of public education in my city. Students should not have to walk or drive through areas in which they fear for their safety. I was able to turn around and drive out, but it's not so easy for those who have been born into poverty and unfortunate circumstances.
Today the news is all about the grand inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama and how it's the most expensive inauguration in history. Apparently they plan to "clear out" the homeless people from the inaugural area. Wouldn't some of that $160 million be better spent on helping out some of those citizens rather than moving them away from the eye of the camera?

Sewing Classes

Today I'm about to check out a new sewing class at the Evans campus of City College of San Francisco. It's all about sewing with knits. Got me to thinking about all the sewing classes I've taken over the years, so thought I'd talk about that here.
1. Sandra Betzina: I first met Sandra back in 1973. She and her partner Claire Revelli had just opened a small sewing school on Clement Street in San Francisco. The classes were small and I attended evening classes that were alternately taught by Sandra and Claire. Claire was a stickler for detail and Sandra was just funny and her energy was infectious. She taught me to love the art of sewing and continues to do so to this day. I'm proud to have her as a friend.
2. Middy Farnham: Middy had a sewing school on 21st Avenue and Taraval Street in San Francisco. She was an old-timer and a proponent of the old-fashioned sewing techniques that had a tendency to discourage eager sewers who wanted instant results. I respected her desire for perfection, but she did not inspire me at all. Fortunately, she sold her business to Marcy Tilton.
3. Marcy Tilton: Marcy was the new kid on the block. She joined forces with Sandra Betzina. I cannot recall if Claire was still involved at this time. I think she had already gone her own way into color analysis and book writing. Marcy was on the move and put together The Sewing Workshop on Balboa Street which is still around today, although Marcy sold her interest and moved on to other things, i.e. Vogue Patterns.
4. Kii Kubokawa (Pacific Fashion Institute): Spent almost two years learning the industry side of clothing design and manufacture. Mrs. K was a legend in her own right and some very famous designers graduated from her school.
5. Palmer and Pletsch: Took two three-day serger workshops in Portland, Oregon and am a certified Palmer-Pletsch serger instructor.
6. elinor peace bailey: Had the privilege of taking a dollmaking class at elinor's residence. She's such an eclectic character and so is her home. So much fun! I love her book My Mother Plays With Dolls.
7. Jean Ray Laury: Went on a quilters' retreat sponsored by the San Francisco Quilters' Guild years ago and was absolutely thrilled to meet Jean Ray Laury. She's a true leader of the quilt renaissance that took place in the 70's and is still going strong.
8. Saf-t-Pockets: Another workshop I took in Portland, Oregon.

Satin Moon and Fabrix

There are two fabric stores on Clement Street in the Richmond district of San Francisco that are worth the trip. The most notable one is Satin Moon Fabrics which has been around for years and is well loved by local couture designers. The two sisters who run the store are very gracious and are always happy to assist customers with every detail. While their inventory is limited, all the fabrics are hand-picked for quality and uniqueness. Some really gorgeous stuff, but pricey.

Across the street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue/Clement) you'll find Fabrix. This shop is the exact opposite of Satin Moon in terms of quality, but every now and then if you look hard enough you'll find something nice. I was there the other day and picked up a wonderful wool/poly gabardine in a seafoam green for $3.99 a yard. It passed the crush test with flying colors and looks quite expensive. I am now going through my pattern collection in search of the perfect pattern for this fabric. I'm thinking a suit at this point.

Sewing Back Story

In response to Lindsay T's suggestion that we write our sewing histories:
I was pretty much self-taught as a young girl. Frequent trips to the public library with my mother and sister resulted in lots of how-to books for making doll clothes and simple clothing items. Everything was done by hand since we had no machine. Sewing classes in junior high, but it's amazing that I ever wanted to sew again since those classes were so poorly taught. Believe it or not, an entire semester was spent working on one apron! Our teacher insisted that we hand baste everything and she constantly made us rip out every uneven stitch or seam. It was soooo frustrating. In the final semester we had a new teacher and I made a lined wool straight skirt with kick vent which was really nice. We now had a sewing machine at home and my first project was an orange polished cotton sheath dress (photo to follow.) Another favorite project was my junior high graduation dress that I made out of white cotton pique with a lovely triangular floral inset on the front of the skirt. I felt very chic, glamorous and very proud of my beautiful dress (photo to follow.)
My sewing was rather sporadic in high school. My parents' divorce and moving several times did not allow for a space to sew. However, I did manage to turn out a few pieces. One purple plaid wool dress was a favorite (photo to follow.) I also designed and made day bed covers for a hairdresser whose salon was in her home. The covers were purple quilted satin (I must have really been into purple at that time) that were fitted, piped and had beautiful gold tassels on the ends of the large triangular shaped edges. My client was thrilled with the outcome. It was at that time that I was also offered the ice skating costume job, but I rejected the offer out of fear of failure. Too bad, I missed a great opportunity.

The Dressmaker's Bible

My list of sewing books continues to grow. I have shelves of excellent books that have been in my collection for years, some going back as far as the 1940's. The newest addition to my library is The Dressmaker's Technique Bible by Lorna Knight. I like the way it's organized for quick and easy reference. It covers the basics in a clear and concise way, and eliminates the need to leaf through multiple books in order to find a particular technique. I will definitely place this lovely compact little book right at the helm of my sewing machine.

A change in direction

Have decided to just focus on sewing with this blog.  Focus is the key word. I get easily distracted. If I try to incorporate literary stuff here it will just be another excuse not to sew.  And I must also guard against spending too much time checking out other blogs. While I thoroughly enjoy seeing what everyone else is doing, surfing the web doesn't allow for much sewing time.

The Lost Post

I haven't figured out how to delete just photos from posts without losing the text, so I ended up losing my January 1st entry. Here it is: I feel good about this first day of the new year. There's creative energy in the air, and I'm ready to make this a fabulous year. There are garments to be made and stories to write. I have even been asked to design and make the wedding dress for my best friend's daughter. In the past I would have said no to such an offer. After all, I've never made a wedding dress before. Back when I was just 15 years old I was offered an opportunity to design and make all the costumes for a local ice skating show. I have often wondered what might have happened had I accepted that job. I believe my skills were good enough to put together some really nice pieces, but my confidence level was just not there. I'm happy to say that the confidence level is quite different today. My experience at Cal really helped in that regard. It taught me that with hard work and focus I can accomplish just about anything. Here's a photo of the famous Campanile.

The Department Store

I just finished a wonderful novel by Emile Zola entitled The Ladies Paradise. The main character is a fictional department store built in the mid-19th century in Paris. It is a marvel of engineering and a fabulous gilded monument to the emerging consumer-based economy. It's interesting to read the book and contrast our current economy in crisis with that of Paris in the 1800's. So many small businesses at that time were torn asunder by the weight of the huge department stores and we have certainly seen much of the same in our society today. I often reminisce about stores in San Francisco that I grew up with: The City of Paris, I. Magnin, and Ransohoff's, just to name a few. They have been replaced with the likes of Marvin's, Target, and Nordstrom which are all in jeopardy right now. Actually, Marvin's is already out. So, here's an old photo of The City of Paris. It could easily have been the department store that Zola used as the model for his novel.