duck bucket sewing

My dermatologist yelled at me. "You're doing a good job of protecting your face," she said, "but you have quite a bit of sun damage around your neck and shoulders, and you have got to watch your arms and hands." Then she zapped two not-precancerous-yet-but-they-could-be-someday things on my arms. AUGH. Skin cancer freaks me out. My mother has it (as do a bunch of my other relatives — we're pasty!) I've seen what she has to go through — surgery after surgery, even chemo at one point — and I never, ever want that if I can possibly avoid it. So I buy vats of the highest SPF I can find, wear UPF t-shirts and sun hats and all that. But I draw the line at wearing long-sleeved shirts in the summertime. I've tried, but it's just really uncomfortable to go out in 90-degree heat in long sleeves — especially in polyester UPF fabric. Plus, they don't cover the backs of my hands, where age spots and other things are starting to show up. Enter: Al...

I went to the PR meetup at Fabric Place Basement in Natick on Saturday. I met Deepika and some other lovely PRers. It was great! Janice, the manager, even showed us around the back room. Deepika (on the left) was wearing a Deer & Doe dress with fabric purchased during the last meetup. Jenny (I'm not sure who she is on PR) showed us her shoemaking process, too. I'm inspired to try making some espadrilles at some point. Hmm, I do have some Donkey Kong cotton from JoAnn... Here's Jenny and someone whose name I didn't catch playing around in the button bin. She self-drafted that shirt! I also met someone who's working on the same Cynthia Guffey jacket pattern I am. She was also at the sewing expo in Worcester. How funny. I bought some linen and a couple of zippers for the jacket. Should be just about ready to go. Woohoo! Anyway, so. It was fun and I'm definitely going to try and make the next one if I can. In other news, it looks like I prob...

I guess I did Me-Made May, if you count the one me-made scarf I wore nearly every day in Belgium and the Netherlands. Here it is in Keukenhof, with Miffy: And in Maastricht: "Well, you always take pictures of *me* eating," says Tom. I also got a major haircut in Antwerp: Which makes me super-duper happy. I've been waiting forever to get it cut because I knew we would be in Antwerp again and I really wanted to go to Toni Kalin, because he did such an awesome job last time. It feels one hundred million times better. I have more to post, but I'm working on two city guides for Seamwork, so I'll most likely post some sewing and fabric shopping-related stuff once they go up. :) In bummer news, Harley goes back to the vet for more surgery AGAIN Monday. We got back from the trip and found two new basal cell tumors. They're going to be more aggressive with the surgery this time and follow up with radiation, so I really really hope that does it. ...

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...