Saturday, August 26, 2017

Meeting and Mending, Seattle and Portland

The sad news?
No Meet and Mend happened in Seattle.

The happy news?
I met up with Sherry of Petite Over 40 in Seattle and mended in Portland!

Slowly, during my drive up to and my stay in Seattle it transpired that first the venue for the Meet and Mend had to change and then everyone (except Sherry) bailed. That didn't stop us! We went on a boat! And ate a whole package of macarons!
Sherry displays our sea-worthy snack.
Strawberry, the last macaron. We spent way more time gabbing and eating than looking at the scenery.
One of the many ferries in the harbor. You can [not] see how hazy it was from the fires in British Columbia.
I didn't take many photos until we got near the container ships.
Boatloads of #dailytruck components!
Sherry is organizing a Blogger Meetup in early October, and I'm going!
Contact her directly if you'd like to join in, especially if you live in the Seattle area.
I might try to get another Meet and Mend happening, not sure yet.

On to mending...
I was hoping to start sewing during my train ride down to Portland.
Nope.
I checked in at Seattle's King St. Station so late, I ended up riding backwards with no tray table.
The next day, I worked on my first mending project:
All I had to do was sew up the side seams of my ruana to turn it into a tunic.
Ta da!
This was taken at Fred Meyer's. I designed the prints in those men's lounge pants.
What size are these? XXL?
Mending project #2 went on some adventures.
I started with silk buttonhole twist, which now I'm thinking wasn't the best choice -- the knots aren't holding.
The end of the yellow silk buttonhole twist, a little over 4 rows of stitching.
The mending visits Powells.
The mending takes flight.
I have a long way to go on this piece. I'll keep taking pictures of places it goes!

Linking up with Shelbee's On the Edge
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Monday, August 21, 2017

Summer Fun: August Update

It's time to check in with my goals for the summer.
How am I doing?
Um...

Weekly Goals:

Sew and/or repair at least one garment. 3/4
I went to a Mending Workshop, which got the needle (slowly) moving.
7/23 Chaotic Stitching at CAFAM
7/25 sewed a button on, got shirt all bloody.
[Shout out to +Suzanne Carillo for recommending OXO Brite to remove the stains]
8/12 stitching up side seams on my Ketzali Ruana at Lisa and Tim's.
This was item #1 for my Meet and Mend event in Seattle, which didn't happen.
List at least one garment on Poshmark 6/4
Vintage Asian Print Top
High Top Sneaker Print Socks
Dr Scholl's Silver Fast Flats
Kashi Kicks Pattern Mix Sneakers
90's Stretch Corduroy Swim Shorts
Vintage Mexican Handwoven Belt
and one on Trendlistr [if I can ever get back into the site, that is].
Officially putting that on the back burner for now.

Upload new art to Redbubble. 3/4
ABC-123
Quilted Clouds
Fluevog Enthusiast Black/Pink


Summer Goals:

Get taxes done.
Made minor progress, had to file state sales tax return which required adding up gross business receipts.

DeClutter the living room.
Sorted both Repair Mountain and the Resale Foothills thematically.
It's a tiny bit better, though still colossal.
The current state of the clutter magnet coffee table:
Laser-eye Lou says: You will do my bidding and feed me more treats.
Get sewing machine repaired.
Not yet.

Here are progress reports from fellow Summer Challenge participants:

Monday, August 7, 2017

What to Mend When I Meet?

Remember the Meet and Mend, happening in Seattle, Friday August 11, 2-4?
Today I'm packing for the trip, and I need to decide what mending project(s) to take.
This is clearly #1:
Isn't it lovely?
It has a built-in embroidered "necklace"!
Made in Guatemala for the brand Ketzali.
Right now, it's a ruana -- not sewn up the sides! Easy fix!
(I purchased it on Poshmark with full knowledge of my required sewing).

I did a quick photoshoot with other potential mendees...
This I got on Etsy and it was in worse condition than described.
The 10.5" armholes weren't mentioned by the seller -- that size opening only makes it half-way up my right forearm!
(I don't know why some openings on huipils are created for miniature people. I've had this issue before with both armholes and necklines, no it doesn't irritate me too much).
The yarn (barely) holding it together and decorating the neckline and armholes is a fuzzy acrylic.
NOT a fiber I want against my skin in the summer.
Mending verdict? Too much work for this meet-up!
Next is a "scarf" that I got in Marfa, made by Dosa:
It was on sale, and the least expensive Dosa item in the shop, Teinda M [store closed].
Later, in a calmer, non-shopper-frenzy moment, I pulled it out to wrap around my neck.
"This looks like a tea towel."
I love the colors, the cotton fabric is light and soft, BUT, it's just a little too short to wear as a tunic with only leggings.

Mending verdict? Back to the drawing board!
The fourth item is not a garment, it's fabric that I had covering my couch.

I found more of the same in my fabric stash, and have already basted on an extremely large patch.
I'd like to stitch it with colored stripes, like the Indian scarf (on right in photo) that I got at the Fowler last April.
Mending verdict? Take. We're now using a conference room for our Meet and Mend location. That means there will be a large table! I also might be able to work on this during the drive up to Seattle. Not sure if mending while passengering will make me car sick, so that's TBD.

Now I need to find my bag of embroidery floss! ARGH!

The details on the event:
Seattle Meet and Mend
When: Friday, August 11, 2-4pm
Where: VENUE CHANGED! 2720 3rd Ave, Seattle 98121 (Big THANKS to Sherry!)
             NOTE: this is a secured building, and one of us will need to let you in.
Bring: Clothing that needs repair.  ErnieK is bringing "tubs" of notions. 
           Hate sewing? Bring yourself -- we'd love to have you join the conversation!
Cost: FREE!
Hope to see you there! 
If you intend to attend, please let me know in the comments below so that I can trade digits with you for texting, in case one of us is not in the lobby to let you in!

Linking this up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike






Thursday, August 3, 2017

Every Day In July

Here is the next installment of random things that caught my attention in July.






























I have figured out a couple of things which made creating this post super easy:
1) Ability to choose generic locations within the Day One app.
2) AirDrop for transferring the large PDF

What random things transpired in your July?
Linkup!