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.

Another adventure in teal

joAnns stretch Denim made with Jalie fav. jeans pattern.  

Then, I noticed this wild print from Gayfeathers Madison, Wi. matched the jeans. 

  Made up Burda 6878 in the rayon woven.  

Almost wish I hadn't gotten rid of all my rayon years and years ago.  I usually find the fabric way too fiddley and difficult.  But, this great fitting Princess seamed top was easy to sew and so delightful to wear,  I wore it on the plane to OKCity to see my 91 yr old Dad.  Not pajamas, like some, but very comfortable.

Even found this great Luck scarf t so go with me

One of my favorite colors. . .

I was just reading a great interview with Marcy Tilton, done by Sandra Betzina and presented on her website and Facebook.  Marcy mentioned her favorite color was not blue.  It started me thinking what my favorite color is, a question I would have to answer in the plural for sure.

Blue is one of those favorites, though.  I love blue so much I make categories, navy, indigo, parrot blue/teal, tropical Aqua, etc.

I mentioned before that Jo Anns had a stretch denim sale this week.  I originally was buying for those Jalie jeans(see last post), but after I got this piece home, it seemed a bit loud for my age.

Since Jo Anns had 3 for $5 Butterick patterns as well, this style caught my eye for an indigo ikat I have at home in Madison.  So, what better way to use the denim than a "muslin" for that jacket.

An easy sew. I like the lack of buttonholes/buttons, as these fabrics are a statement in and of themselves.

I cut a facing for the front instead of lining the jacket in self fabric.  Denim would have made it too heavy and I had to buy twice as much fabric just to match the outside pattern.

Meet my new dress form, Shiela.  She arrived just in time for the photo shoot, some assembly required.  Needs some padding to make her as heavy in the waist as me, but. . . . I think she looks great in my clothes.

Made the parrot blue separates, too.  Copied a shell by Chicos and the pants are last years S. Betzina one seam wonders, another fav. pant of mine, from some knit I got through M. Levine LA.  Very comfy.