Sharp Knives

Today I was in the mood to get things done. It must be because I was away at the sewing retreat all weekend. Although I didn't actually write a list and check things off, I did go zipping around town. I had to leave the house in the morning while a realtor showed it. I went to Office Depot to get a folding plastic cart for transporting my serger. The serger is heavy and everytime I carry it, I seem to strain my arm. A sewing friend tipped me off about how well this kind of cart has worked for her, so I decided to get one. Trader Joe's is close by OD, so I went in afterward for supplies. Upon returning home, I remembered that tomorrow I am going to help out at a PCC Cooks class taught by the same chef who teaches knife skills. That made me think of the sorry state of my knives, which haven't been sharpened in ages. I zipped over to QFC and had them sharpen my 3 Henckels. I notice a big difference and warned Larry. The sharp knives reminded me of when I finally changed blades in my rotary cutters--I didn't know why I waited so long to do it. Since I was on a roll, I zipped over to Hancock Fabrics to look at patterns on sale. I found a few fun ones that I saw at Expo. My last errand was to go to a sewing machine store to ask them about the broken needle threader on my new serger. The lady who helped me was very nice and mentioned that she had once attended a PMB meeting at my house. We figured out what the problem was, I got a new needle threader, and then went home. The new serger cart worked great. I sat down to relax just as the rain started pouring. It was a good day.

Shoes

This post isn't in chronological order. I got distracted by other things, getting ready for the sewing retreat, etc. I figured I should write about shoes since I keep thinking about them. Last Tuesday friend Sally and I went to the exhibit of shoes by Beth Levine at the Bellevue Arts Museum. It was great fun. Beth was one of the first women to break into the field of shoe design. She and her husband were most influential for 40 years or so. Many famous people including first ladies were her clients. Here are a few pictures of her shoes.


These are paper shoes from the 60's. I remember when paper dresses and even paper underwear were the rage. It only makes sense that there were paper shoes then. I never bought any, though.


Beth made many fashion-forward shoe designs. She made one that consisted only of a sole and high heel. She designed adhesive to keep the foot in place. She also helped popularize go-go boots, making some for Nancy Sinatra. The shoes she made for first ladies were comfortable looking, but lovely. She didn't only make stilleto heels for fashionistas.

Sally and I wanted to see more fashionable shoe designs, so we headed for The Bravern, which has a Jimmy Choo shoe store. Here are a couple designs from there.



I would never wear these shoes, but I think the designs are interesting. The store had some attractive flats, which are more accessible. However, they lack arch support. I think of these shoes as jewelry for the feet. If I were so inclined, were 30 years younger, and wore flirty skirts, I would buy a pair, then design clothes to go with the shoes. Sally and I completed our shoe snoop shopping day by looking at Manolo Blahnik shoes at Neiman Marcus next door.




Even the flats are not especially comfortable looking, but they have some charm. Earth shoes, my favorite, don't have the same style. They make my feet sing, even if my eyes don't, so I'm likely to keep wearing them.


Sally and I, it goes without saying, also checked out the clothes at NM. We analyzed the designs and appreciated some of the details, which we could duplicate ourselves if only we could remember them. We had a great day! Thanks, Sally, for inviting me to accompany you.

Use it Up

I just got back home from a weekend sewing retreat with my ASG chapter. What fun! Around 30 of us went to the Dumas Bay retreat center in Federal Way. We started sewing on Friday morning and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon. The setting is memorable. The retreat center is right on the waterfront and the sewing rooms faced the bay. During low tide I went for a walk with a friend and met a marine biologist who told us about his project sampling water. We saw lots of shells and wildlife and appreciated the natural beauty. Friday night I even went to a play, Enchanted April, put on by the community theater housed at the retreat center.

Sewing, of course, was the main activity. I had just gone through my fabric stash, trying to thin things down. In addition to the boxes of things I have ready to go to a stash sale in a couple of weeks, I found some hidden treasures to sew up at the retreat. I "repurposed" a sweatshirt by cutting up the front, adding a batik band and making a cardigan out of it. I found left-over fabric that I put together into a fun, twirly skirt with a matching t-shirt and fabric rose, made a test shawl-collar shirt out of found pink knit, sewed some pillows for Cliff out of his left-over curtain material, coordinating silk from a gown for a Rainbow Girl, and batting left over from a sale at Fabric Land (defunct for 13 years). Finally, I did some charity sewing--"Support our Troops" bags out of old, but colorful table cloth fabric. It felt good to use things up in ways I hadn't imagined when I originally bought the fabric I used. I felt bold in cutting into things, since I didn't have expensive fabric at stake. It was fun to see things shape up so well.

The retreat was special not only because of the opportunity to sew without interruptions, but also because of the special fellowship with the people who were there. We all appreciated the opportunity to share with each other while sewing together. I had 30 helpers as I was figuring out what to do with my projects. I'm already looking forward to the next sewing retreat. I'm glad we have them twice a year.

Silver Spoons

I'm still on my downsizing kick. I decided to tackle our sterling silverware with the same resolve as our other possessions. We don't use it, we haven't looked at it for years, and it has some market value. I ran into a snag, though. I checked briefly and don't think it's worth quite as much as I thought. I still need to take it in to a jeweler for another appraisal to get more information. In my internet searches, though, I discovered that silverware jewelry is popular. People make "spoon rings" out of vintage silver spoons. I would love to have some jewelry made out of the sets that I have. Bracelets are also popular, as are necklaces made out of forks, with gemstones added. I'm getting excited about having a few pieces of jewelry made from the silverware.


I have a small set of King Edward, which belonged to my grandmother Bertha Womack--well, my grandfather, too, but I'm sure Bertha was the driving force behind the silver. Here is a ring in that pattern.


Here is a bracelet made out of the silverplate pattern my family used for everyday as I was growing up. I like the bracelet!


Here is another more arty fork bracelet.


My great aunt Dadie had the Chantilly pattern and I have a smaller set of it. It is my favorite pattern. I think I will have to have a ring made of this for sure.


I also like the bracelet made from the pattern.



Repurposing silverware has the same charm for me as repurposing garments, such as kimono and jeans. Although I don't wear much jewelry, I think I would wear some made out of our silverware.

70 t-shirts, 50 pairs of socks

Today I proceeded with my plan to sort through my things in our master bedroom closet. I started by moving clothing out section by section, then asking myself questions like, "how long has it been since I wore this?", "does it still fit?", "what was I thinking when I bought/made this!!". I also asked myself if I was keeping an item because of its connection with the past, or in anticipation of the future. I think I'm able to let go of the things connected to the past if I photograph the item for my blog, then write its story. I didn't feel a need to do that today. I discovered how many t-shirts and knit tops I had--70. I decided to part with 35 this go-through and took photos of what I'm giving away. As with my fabric sorting, I found some treasures--tops that I had forgotten about and will wear again. I'm keeping a few tops in anticipation that I may paint or do some other form of embellishment.


I found only 10 pairs of pants to part with, 10 pairs of undies, and 3 bras. I finally tackled my sock drawer and discovered that I had 50 pairs of socks! How did that many ever sneak up on me?? I neatly match up an store away everything that I wash. It's a mystery. At any rate, I am donating 35 pairs, all matched up and in good shape.



I still have work to do in my closet. I want to go through my kimono collection. I started buying them when I was interested in cutting them apart for yardage and then sewing them into things. I'm not sure how many I have now. I want to sell some at the sewing stash reduction sale next month. Once we figure out what the space is like where we're moving, then I'll know if I should reduce my inventory even more. It still feels liberating to reduce my possessions. Just let me know if you want to turn me loose on your things...

Hidden Treasures II

I'm proceeding well with the downsizing. Today I finished going through my fabric stash and cataloging my items for the stash sale next month. I have over 200 items ready to go. I always have fun going through my stash because I discover things I forgot were there. I rediscovered some fabric I really liked and set it aside. I'll take it to the sewing retreat next weekend. I also found patterns to try. The advantage of sewing at the retreat is that I don't have to worry about cleaning up to show the house to prospective buyers.

My next project will be going through the master bedroom closest. Each time I cull things, I find it easier to let go of what I no longer use. Now we just need to sell our house, the biggest step in letting go and moving on.

Flying Fabric and Crystle

I'm trying to keep my momentum going with our downsizing. I found out about a group that is organizing a stash sale at Magnuson Park in April. I'm purging my sewing stash once again in anticipation of moving. Under different circumstances I'd wait until next year so I could donate to the ASG yardage sale. However, I don't want to move things twice, so decided to try the stash sale next month. So far, I have found about 50 patterns I no longer care about and at least 50 yards of fabric. I haven't gotten to my fabric in the garage, so am sure to add more. It feels great to get things ready to go.

Today I also had lunch with a friend, Crystle, who was my psych intern 6 years ago. It was great seeing her again. She is still working for the school district and now even has an intern of her own. She brought me up-to-date on the happenings in the district. No big surprises there. People are working very hard and seem to be dealing with the same issues. More of my colleagues are getting ready to retire and new people are coming in. We spent most of our time talking about our families. It's good to hear how children mature and turn out. Crystle is also trying to sell her house. We compared notes on that process. I hope when we see each other again we'll have good news on the housing situation to report.

More Dishes Learn to Fly

I am still into down sizing. Today I donated two sets of dishes to the Goodwill. I had been holding on to them, hoping that Cliff or Phil would want them. Or, better yet, I was hoping that they would have girlfriends who would like the sets and want them. I decided to get realistic. My friend, Florence, a successful downsizer, gave me the good advice not to move any dishes that we weren't using. After I let go of the Spode china that my mother gave me, I decided it was time to teach Mikasa and Denby how to fly out of the nest. First I had Phil help me come up with an estimated values for them. Both patterns are carried by Replacements Limited and show up on ebay at times. We used the price lists from Replacements Limited to establish the value for tax purposes, then photographed the pieces for tax records. The final step was to box the dishes up and take them to the Goodwill. This time I didn't have to write up the history and significance of the donations, but think I will for my blog.

Dish history: We got two sets of dishes for our wedding, Spode from my parents (see earlier blog for history) and Noritake for everyday. The Noritake was a nice, neutral stoneware that was popular in the 70's. There was nothing wrong with it, but it didn't have pizazz. It turned out to be just right for son Phil, who is attending WWU.



I bought our third set, Denby Twilight stoneware, at Frederick and Nelson's warehouse sale in the early 1980's. These sales were something special that neither my sister Suzy nor I could miss. They'd have terrific bargains. I'm sure I only paid $1-2 per piece for service for 8. I had always wanted some Denby and was swayed by the status of the name. Unfortunately, I tired of the pattern after a couple of years. By then, F&N had closed, so I had to look elsewhere for new dishes. I boxed up the Denby and stuck it in our garage. I pulled it out for Thanksgiving when we needed more dishes.



Larry and I stopped at discount malls on road trips now and then. We started looking for dishes together at Mikasa outlets. Our tastes clashed. We bought one set, a compromise. When we got it home, I really, really hated it. We took it back for a store credit. After 2 years of more looking, and some marriage counseling by our friends J&M, we came across the San Marco pattern. Although I didn't love it, I decided it was good enough. We used it for many years.


About 7 years ago, we decided that we needed a new set of dishes because the San Marco set was too chipped. We started looking again. This time we found an expensive set that we both loved--Dune by Villeroy & Boch. We invested in it, thinking that would be the last set we'd need.

However, shortly after we got the V&B home and settled, I discovered Corelle. I started by getting a few white pieces, which coordinated with the V&B. I liked how light they felt and how chip resistant they seemed. I slowly started adding more pieces. I discovered that Corelle also comes in cute little pieces and has handy serving pieces, so I kept buying. Before I knew what was happening, we had accumulated a large collection of Corelle. I love the Corelle. I'm not sure if Larry does. However, when a V&B plate is next to a Corelle, he will choose the Corelle. I'm sure he doesn't hate it. I will use our V&B for special occasions, but Corelle wins for every day. I do plan to keep and move the V&B. We still love the pattern. I feel I am entitled to keep that even though it has light use because I let go of our other 4 sets of dishes.

Cliff's Curtains

Tonight I got a call from son Cliff in San Francisco, saying that he received the curtains I made for him. They turned out to be quite a process. The sewing itself wasn't hard. The design process took time. First, I had to find some fabric suitable for the areas that Cliff liked. That took a few hours of shopping time. Then I had to figure out how to hang them. I first was thinking about using large grommets, which are in fashion now. However, my sewing friends tipped me off that grommets sometimes come apart and that curtain clips might work better. They also talked me out making a roman shade for the kitchen window, since Cliff wanted to use a tension rod. I made a rod pocket design instead and got him a sturdy shower curtain style rod to support the weight. The window curtain is heavy because I lined it with blackout material. Here are the photos he took:




Now I'm on to other sewing projects. I'm still working on t-shirt designs and yoga pants. I'm getting the patterns down pretty well, though, after inspiration at Sew Expo last week.