sewing machine power house

It has taken an extra day to write the post I promised, because no sooner did the cider hit my hand then the power went out. Lucky for us the dinner was nigh unto cooked. After dinner, to make things really exciting, 7 police cars, including two paddy wagons pulled up outside the house. It seemed that a break-in was in progress across the street. A sniffer dog even showed up. The torrential rains had finished and there was debris everywhere on the street. I think Haligonians (Halifaxians) have a fascination with "what caused the power to go out" and there were people "walking the dog" up and down the sidewalk numerous times. Since we had a front window view, we merely opened the curtains, sipped our cider and speculated wildly. For us, it was a fun Thanksgiving and better than a family movie.

I am back to sewing clothes on the weekends and have a few things to show.

I wanted a bright shirt type item to wear in the dreary months of winter when for some reason, Canadians insist on wearing dark life sucking colours. I wanted turquoise and coral. I can wear this over jeans or my jean skirt. I have already worn it a few times and really like how it fits. I made an orange/red t-shirt to wear underneath and boy, do the colors slam home.

I've begun a cute little table topper for someone special. It is done and about to be given, so more on that next post.

I have also made a black knit slip and two wrap around sheer skirt. This one has autumn colours of red and gold and the other,

are in blues. They are very swishy. This is all part of my goal to get several patterns that fit well and can be reused, so as to increase my purchasing of local clothes. This makes three uses for this pattern. I was seriously unhappy with the winter selection of fabrics at the local big fabric store, everything seemed to have polyester content, spandex and lycra. Torn between wanting to support the only remaining textile shop for clothing and hating their choices, I am moving to finding online options. Not local but maybe more environmentally sound? Time will tell.

Studio projects continue. Several months ago I began a small project while in one of Karen Ruane's classes. I decided to make small patches of mauves and purples, especially the colour 'lilac' to eventually make a larger container for letters I continue to write to my Grandmother-in-law, Grammy.

All the patches have been hand sewn and are now ready for titivation.

I'll use mostly white threads and because this is also about me, some blues and greens to spark it up a little.

I have received some lovely buttons from a dear friend,

and will add those as the titivation goes along. I think these will be sewn together in an accordion booklet format, so the pockets can hold the letters that can no longer be sent.

I have also just received these beautiful lace pillow edges and a hand embellished hanky.

The florets are sort of a thistle shape but the stem and arrangement suggests lupins or lavender. It is very pretty and delicate.

And last, I was also given these sweet finger towels. The cotton is very fine and the stitching very small. They are much smaller than today's hand towels or guest towels. A tip of the finger kind of ablution could only take place. Thank you, you know who.