Art

Michael and I tend to be creative people. If we are home we are often up in our studio, me behind the sewing machine and Michael editing his photos or making music. And our home tends to reflect our creativity. Michael's photos of our trips hang on many of our walls. It's what makes our house our own, cozy even. But, for a while Michael has been wanting to get a piece of art done by someone else. An original print. Michael's parents raised him with vivid prints of Miro and Calder and that's stuck with him. (Quite a different atmosphere than my Wisconsin roots of barn prints.) So I had been a little worried about what we would find that spoke to both of us AND was affordable.

Well, as my previous post discusses, we found and fell in love with the work of a Chicago-based artist named Jenny Beorkrem who created a full line called Ork Posters City Neighborhood Maps. Each poster is a map of the city with the neighborhoods displayed in a unique typographic style.

With intentions of buying one print we ended up with two. One of a map of Portland and the other of Manhattan, one of my favorite places. It's not a Calder, but it was created by hand by an artist and almost magically, it speaks to both me and Michael.

The Portland print is the first thing you see when you come into our home. And the Manhattan print is adding light and color to our finished basement. I love looking at them. It makes my heart happy.

The Sewing Group Begins!

Courtesy Getty Images

I've been scheming up ways to start a sewing group for a while. In a way it kind of makes sewing, which is often a solo activity, more of a group sport. So, tonight I pulled a few of my girlfriends, who sew, together and we met for cocktails and discussed what a sewing group could look like. We are going to meet every 6 - 8 weeks at my favorite fabric store Cool Cottons. We can reserve the space for several hours and sew out little hearts out. We've decided to meet on Friday nights because we can rent the space till 11.

I bet we will all come home exhausted after a full day of work and a fun creative sewing session, but it will be fabulous!

Our first project is going to be a holiday dress. We will all likely be doing different dresses, but the goal is to finish it in time for New Years! How fun!!

I'm thinking of a sheath dress in honor of our fabulous first lady. Michelle is always so stylish and pulls off amazing outfits.

Here's what I'm thinking...

This dress, the black one in the middle (C) in black.

New art!

Michael and I just bought our first real artwork! Many of our walls
are adorned with photos of our trips, or pictures we've inherited. But
we wanted something new. Something we didn't make. Something from an
artist.
We'd driven by a quaint art and frame store a few blocks from our
house called Lukes Art & Frame and decided, last weekend, to stop by.
We found two prints and before we could decide on either one Michael
said "we'll take both." I just stood their at the counter proud of my
husband's decisiveness looking at both prints and smiling like a fool.
I'm so excited. It makes our house feel more like a home. We own art.
I like the sound of that.
I'll post photos of the art soon.

Dressform name

After asking you all about what to name my dressform I got a lot of feedback:

- Lola

-Lulu
- Blue Lulu
- Armless Annie
- Galatea
- Maniqui
- Penelope
- Rita
- Mathilda
- Navel gazer - thanks a lot Kieran!

And the winner is...

Penelope! (Thanks Mom!)

She's sassy and fun. She's a Penelope.

Sigh

A year ago today we were settling into our apartment in Paris. Great memories, but I can't help but feel a bit sad - can you be home sick for a place you've only been in once?

Going off the Grid

Michael's family has a cabin in the Teton Valley (the Idaho side of the Tetons). While there is cell reception in the Valley, I choose to turn off my phone. No Twitter, email, Facebook or blogs. It's a total escape.

When I tell people that I'm headed to the Teton Valley - and more specifically a town called Tetonia - I am always asked, what is there to DO there? You don't have to DO anything. You can walk the 25 acres property, hike and walk in some of the neighboring town or read with the grand view of the Tetons in front of you. Nights are filled with games and fun dinners, mornings are spent greeting the sun on the porch with a book as the sun eases over the Tetons to warm the Valley.
I truly think it's a getaway that is good for the soul. Sadly we go ever two years because the 14-hour drive requires at least a few days or preferably a week off. Sigh.
I'm already looking forward to our next visit.

Buttonholes

Buttonholes are the bain of my existence in sewing! I LOVE buttons but I hate hand sewing in the button holes and loops. My new machine has an amazing button hole attachment... but that's for another post.

I tried an interesting technique that **mostly** worked. I should have spent a little more time lining the loops up, but that's one of those cases of sewing at 11 pm when you are tired and trying to get things done. Result: Uneven or smaller than needed button holes.

Regardless, here's a few tips:

First, cut your button loops and mark with tailors chalk where you'd like to sew them.
Then one, by one sew them with out trimming your thread between each loop. This saves ALOT of time!



Next, cut carefully in between each button loop to separate them from the bunch.



Then, after marking the placement on your garment - in this case, it was my dress placket - use a glue stick to glue the loops right onto the garment. Just a dab will do. Then do a quick stitch up the front. Works like a charm!