Day 4 - shopping and Two more airports

It rained this morning, but by the time we packed up and checked out of the Olympia Hilton in Kensington, it quit.  Good omen, we thought.  We were able to drag our broken wheeled suitcase to the Overground train station only a few blocks.

I dressed for rain, as it was predicted to continue throughout the day but never did.  Luckily, I wore

a sweater as well.  This with my S.Betzina puzzle Rag and Bone pointe (from Mood and has a lot of cotton.  Bought this fabric in navy and black and love it!) pants and a Focus Cowl neck from Rupert Cornelius in Madison, WI

I had located a T K Maxx (that is not a typo.  Same store, but they changed the name "to not confuse people") in Soho as we had to replace our destroyed suitcase and I figured they had one.  They did and we repacked it right in the luggage department.  Heard a Code 4 announcement on the loud speaker, but it wasn't about us, fortunately.

We got handicapped treatment in the Underground, involving an escort to the hidden lift, and 3 different young men helped lift our new suitcase when there were only stairs.  Only problem was we arrived at the wrong airport. (London airport #4) as they were closing (1:00pm?) and there were no more trains back into downtown London.  A big Avis bloke fixed the fact they wouldn't let me use their bathroom, fortunately.  

Our iPhone said to take a number 474 bus to Manor Park where we could take two trains to the Stansted airport.  We jumped off once too soon, but that was the least of our worries as the bus driver helped us with that.  After reboarding, the bus driver, who was reluctantly cordial by now, informed us the football game was letting out, and we sat for an hour or two inching along in the worst traffic jam I have experienced.  At first it was somewhat amusing to watch the bus driver swear at the people who got in his way.  But, then his shift ran out and we had to get out of the bus with our two big suitcases in a stiff, cold wind and wait on the next bus for over an hour.  

No public restrooms in site.  Rex walked to a Texaco to no avail.  I took refuge in a laundromat to warm  my hands for a while.  We got sandwiches and crisps from Tesco Express since we had planned to eat a leisurely brunch at our hotel at the airport, and were starving by then.  We were in East Dem, an incredibly, racially diverse part of London someone later told me can " get a bit rough" after a game.  We heard a bit of hollering before the game from some young, white lads in the Underground in Soho, outside the Starbucks,  but fortunately, everyone else was really mellow.

Eventually got to Manor Park and followed the fans to the train station, where another polite young man carried my bag.  

What a day!!!  We left our hotel at 10:30am and made the 6:00pm train to Stansted where we finally found immaculate restrooms and Pinot Grio.  Fortunately, the airport Hilton had a great salmon dinner  and we got in a few laps in their indoor pool before bed time.

Our 4:30am wake up call, our mass transit adventure complete with a view of the Olympic grounds, or Rexs nightmare screams must have wired me.  Fell asleep finally about an hour before it went off.

Day 3 - Spring in Kensington London UK

There is this incredible app from the UK government that allows you to type in your FROM and TO places and get transportation options that include the Underground/rail/bus and intriguingly to me, bikes.  Checking bikes gave me "hire bikes" as an option.  Checking that showed me exactly where to pick up bikes from our fab organic breakfast restaurant, Down to Earth, and how many were available at that moment, an "easy" non-busy street route, approximate time of trip, and where to park the bikes and how many spots were currently available there.

We inserted our credit card into the machine after a very yummy but very slow breakfast (our waiter wouldn't take a tip) and received two of the following

There was a bit of a learning curve to biking on the left side of the road, but it was a fun trip to the Victoria and Albert museum.  We viewed the Japan, China, and Buddhist collections as well as the metal group, the fashion group and this wonderful, mammoth Chihuly 

Had fun fantasizing about how they mailed that to the museum.

Had a great tea in the gardens and watched the clouds until we figured out it might rain, so we hit the bike dispenser again.

Dinner was at this wonderful tapas/

gastropub where almost everyone was half our age.  Great food!  And charming English babies and tots. A fun day.

Besides the polar fleece coat from yesterday's blog, a Susan Sez find in Madison, WI, I wore these separates

I made the tshirt from a Gayfeathers fabric in a vogue pattern that I blogged about last year(it's also great of stripes) .  Ponte jeans are Jones NY.  Mary Janes are Naot and socks are J Jill.  Can you tell my colors are Navy as a neutral and aqua for accents?

Day 1 & 2-Madison to London

It was a pleasant, leisurely, uneventful taxi ride to Dane County Regional Airport (thank you, Madison Taxi). Storms in Ohare, but we flew in fine.  Had about an hour and a half connection, so we stopped to have a Wolfgang Puck pizza. (Delicious).  Then, we discovered our flight to London was actually British Air, not American and in the notorious Terminal 5.  As we left our secured area with thirty minutes or so left, I had a feeling of trepidation.  Tram ride later, we entered the second security check of the day.  The AA gate agent had replaced our TSA Pre approved boarding passes with regular ones, and there was a three mile line of humanity in the regular line.  Only place I've seen worse is in St Thomas airport.

I asked everyone who would listen what we should do to not miss our flight.  I got us bumped up to the crew line for our first check, but we were in a line for the normal shoes off/etc. for what seemed like hours.  British Air sent some sort of expediter but she was long gone.  I finally budged the line slightly when a young gentleman asked us to take his place and almost got clubbed by a grandmother, mother, and baby with full plastic paraphernalia trying to get all that mess on the conveyor.  Thought they'd taken one of my shoes, but finally found it on the floor and prepared to run to the gate when I discovered Rex didn't have his shoes on.  

We did get on the plane last, which of course had a guy with a medical emergency in the fairly constant turbulence of the last 3 1/2 hours of flight.  Flight attendants were literally running down the aisle with oxygen and orange juice but he was alive and we gulped our breakfast and half a cup of Jo down quickly.

However, Rex's big rolling suitcase wheel was destroyed, (thank you, AA/British air) we discovered after taking pot luck on which subway exit was ours and being off by a couple of miles of Kenningston High Street.  Made it to our Hilton and after tense negotiations we managed to upgrade to a neat room on the top floor (yes, more money was involved, but they let us collapse in another room until this one was ready)

My wardrobe for the two days looked a little like PJs, I guess.  J. Jill comfy Pima tshirt

Me made Style arc Ponte pants

My wool Eileen Fisher ombré scarf helped class this up and the warmth was helpful several times on the plane and elsewhere.  Even went to dinner in this outfit at a great Italian restaurant, Il Portico.  

My coat was perfect for the temps everywhere but the subways, which were way too hot.

Accessories were comfy until the end of that last slog to the hotel, sans suitcase wheel.

It rained all around us, but not on us, the rest of the day.  Here's one view from our room of one storm.

  

Off to breakfast and a bike ride to the V & A.  More later. . . .

Weird Wisconsin Spring Weather

Two days ago we had this hail with thunder.

Yesterday,  it blizzarded snow sideways four times, then the sun came out and melted the 1" or so of snow in between these onslaughts.

Today, it's sunny and 63 degrees.  Time to put away winter sewing, I'd say!

Luckily, I finally finished this coat from Marcy's pattern I used before and liked

Missed out on the fabric to the right in the illustration, and was very disappointed at the time.  So, when this little gem came on the web site, I jumped on it.

The coat isn't hard to construct, but I decided halfway through to not use the beautiful slevedge, as the fabric is wool and sumpthin and was very scratchy around the neck and hood.  Also, the edge did not look beefy enough to me with just the selvedge.  Only problem was I'd already neatly finished the welt pockets with that selvedge.  So, I redid the the pockets while searching for lining.  

Ordered lining from Shams resource for crunched taffeta and stretch taffeta.  It is impossible to match color over the Internet, even with Pantone chart numbers, which they don't have.  So, I excavated my studio shower to the bottom plastic storage container and found pieces of 3 different sun backed taffeta coat linings that matched perfectly.  Now, I have a beautiful, pieced lining.  Not in a real artistic sense, but it works.

Dear Marcy, I love your fabrics and dream of them while I swim laps!

Until later. . . . 

Last blog of the winter season

Only a short time until us snowbirds begin our migration from southern Florida to Madison, WI.  I can hardly wait, as it's warmer now there.  I should be cleaning out the refrigerator, but . . . Here's a beauty shot from our yard, a Walmart plant, no less.

So, this post's fabric goes way back to Christmas season before last when Lou gave me this gorgeous hand dyed silk chiffon at the Gayfeather annual fabric swap.

I had almost three yards and couldn't decide what to make out of it.  Then Style Arc published these two patterns made to be worn together.

I used the two patterns pretty much as is, but put the sleeve in a short version into the chiffon tabard piece, allowing a little on the sides of the pattern piece meant for knits. Have yet to gather it with the button and loop as I'm not sure if it will look like I caught it in my underwear, or not.  Here's the underdress in a thin rayon knit from Michael Levine.

And here's a couple of shots of the tabard.

One little pattern, B6328,

But lots of fun things in the making from it.  

Here's view D in a stash lace I plan to wear with jeans.  The pattern picture above has the faille I found for the armhole binding. 

Got this idea from a RTW vest in cotton lace I bought last fall in CA.  It was so hot in Orange County, the lace vest was a perfect, cooler third piece over many of my travel outfits.

I had to hack off four inches on the hem for my petite almost frame, but otherwise, the pattern works!

Finishing up the hand hemming on this View C stunner from Marcy Tilton stretch cotton.  I try to resist ordering, but I can't!  This one I'll wear home, for sure.

Ok, it's more tshirts, but indulge me, here. It's my birthday!

And, here I am on my way to my birthday crab cake in Stuart.  Skirt is a Chicos copy in French terry.

Tshirt fabric is from Harts Fabric in Santa Cruz and is 100% delightfully soft cotton.  I copied a J. Jill shark bite t.  This picture shows the the full "bite". Thank you, Sheila, my faithful assistant.

So, I was trying to think how I could not bore you with yet another tshirt post.  They are my fav. Thing to wear and get old, so I do make a lot of them.

Anyway, the one new thing about tshirt construction I learned this year (never too old,  etc.) was to use Steam a Seam II in the hems.  Again, my sewing guru, Sandra Betzina taught me this, recently.  It is an incredible product but don't be fooled by look a likes, like this Pellon product That was all Jo Anns carried in PSLucie, FL, where we winter and in spite of its cover ad, this is a sticky, guncky product.

You can order the genuine article from Jo Anns website .  Order before you need it, as they are very slow shippers.  But, it beats standing in line forever at the store for sure.  They have free shipping ever once in a while, too.

One more completed t.  This is a Fresh Produce fabric from Fabric Fairy.  The Fairy actually emailed me and said they had a bunch of these cottons just in.  Love their prints.  Pattern is my Wild Palms copy.  Matching flowers was a challenge, for sure.