duck bucket sewing

Sprayed the last dress panel to take on the trip. Things I learned this time around: 1. Blotting is still crucial. 2. One part paint to three parts water is just about the right mix, I think. 3. Wiggle Weights are the best. That is all!

We're getting ready for an epic trip to Belgium and the Netherlands as part of an exchange program with my husband's school. I can't wait! (I'm also writing two travel guides for Seamwork while I'm over there. Like I need an excuse to go fabric shopping.) Anyway, so my parents are cat/housesitting for us while we're gone, so we're spring cleaning. Dusting ceilings, repainting floors, wiping down baseboards, all that fun stuff. (A thing I found out: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers clean lampshades! Woo.) The sewing room's been driving me nuts -- it's the size of a walk-in-closet, and it's also a storage room and home office, and lately it's been so full of stuff that Harley the cat even refuses to come in, which is sad. So I decided to attack that too. What I did (mostly so I can refer to it next year): 1. Donated all old bedsheets, etc. I was saving for muslins. When I get back, I'll just buy one easy-to-store bolt from JoAnn. 2. Same thin...

I went to the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Worcester over the weekend. I posted a short review over at PatternReview , but thought I'd post some pictures here. This is the third year I've gone, and I really enjoyed it again -- although it seems to be getting smaller and smaller every year. There seemed to be fewer vendors this year (and definitely fewer non-quilting fabric vendors). I'm a little worried about it, actually. Stay with us, Worcester expo! Lisa came up for the first day, and we took a couple of classes together. She bought fabric from a guy with the most amazing sequined jacket I've ever seen. Wait wait, here's the guy (he posed for me). They were selling the fabric -- a reversible sequined knit. You could change the color by just dragging a finger across it. It was glorious. The Vogue Fabrics employees had a lot of fun playing with it. I have to say, shopping at Vogue made me a little homesick. I miss Chicago. And I, er, d...

We did an overnight trip to MassMOCA in North Adams, MA, a few weeks ago, and I fell completely, COMPLETELY in love with Sol Lewitt . I sort of vaguely remember seeing a few of his pieces at the Art Institute of Chicago as a kid, but it was neat to see such a huge retrospective. Posting some photos here as textile inspiration for down the road (not sure for what yet) -- mostly so I can find them without having to dig for them. I died laughing at his sometimes very specific and sometimes not very specific instructions -- some of them incorporated into the drawings. "The twelfth point is located as far as I can reach toward the center of the wall with my right hand while holding my left index finger at a point halfway between the upper left corner and a point halfway between the midpoint of the left side and a point halfway between the center of the wall and the upper left corner and a point halfway between the center of the wall and the mid...

Okay! This is a UFO from last year, originally planned for MPB Day but bailed on at the last minute in favor of New Look 5352 . Let's see if I can remember how it went together. McCall's 6926 is one of those wacky patterns where you have two choices: 1) the very easy t-shirt with three pattern pieces, or 2) the very complicated woven blouse with three types of fabric and a lining and a split back yoke and narrow hems everywhere. Guess which one I picked? I made view B. I wanted the lace but wasn't a fan of the scalloped edge. (Reminds me of this Kathryn Brenne pattern  I'm thinking about making up. The skirt has three, THREE, pattern pieces, and you could probably knock it together in an afternoon. The pants have eleventy squabillion pieces and ten thousand steps. Of course I want the pants. OF COURSE.) So anyway, 6926 went together pretty easily. I used silk from Liberty acquired on a trip to London a few years ago and lace from Winmil Fabric...

We did an overnight trip to Providence, RI earlier this week. Providence is one of my favorite day trips. It's so quirky and interesting, partly because the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown are there, and there's a lot of nifty art and architecture and stuff for textile geeks. (Yay!) It's a pretty easy commute from Boston -- just over an hour on the commuter rail. Also it's very walkable and pretty. The seagulls of Providence welcome you. Here are a few suggestions in case any sewing-type people are interested in going there. Most of them are (unsurprisingly) RISD-related. RISD Museum:  Good textile/costume exhibits, and a whole dedicated textile study space on one of the upper floors, which you can browse through if it's not occupied by a class. Also, they almost always have a Ralph Rucci piece on view, which are really fascinating to see close up. This time around, they had this fantastic coat: It's hard to see, but the insets are a...

The two back panels are nearly done. Here they are (not joined yet). Overall, I like the way it's coming together, although I need to do some cleaning up: Not thrilled with the close-up, and still not sure how to create clean edges, aside from fussing and cleaning and snipping a lot. Maybe this will be my practice dress. I stenciled the first front panel today with the airbrush. I'm still torn on the best possible stenciling method -- Sharpie, spraying or sponging Tulip fabric paint, etc. -- but even though the airbrush is a pain in the ass, it seems to have the best results. Some stuff I learned along the way: 1. Stencil placement is super-duper important and hard to get right. You also don't want too much of the same colors/shapes at the edges when you sew two panels together. I learned the hard way with my first Alabama Chanin skirt , when two of the leaves on the front panels butted up against each other, making one large, misshapen leaf. ...