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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Lots to do (Grand Tour, Part 3)

I have been very busy sewing for me and for the friends I'll be seeing on my trip in April. (I promise I will have photos soon.)
My goal is to travel light but not give up too much in comfort and style. The first 'outfit' I made is a set of silk knit pajamas. The top is a very thin tricot that can double as a layer if things get really cold. Why silk? Because silk is warm, light weight and dries very quickly. It also pulls moisture from your skin, keeping you dry and comfortable.I use shoe bags to keep other things in my suitcase clean. I have cotton ones I made years ago, but just made new ones from a very lightweight poly lining. I added drawstrings this time so everything stays in its place.My uniform is mainly stretch jeans and knit tops, and that's what I plan to take. I'm ending the trip with a good friend and her family in Cologne, Germany. She just happens to be my size, so I am planning to leave at least some of my clothes with her to free up room in my suitcase when I head home.
I'm also taking gifts. I made this dress for Sophie, our friends daughter. Her mom says she like to be really girly, but she also loves to play outside. I thought this was the perfect little dress/jumper. I was thrilled to finally have a use for these 3-d flower appliques. I got them from my excellent fabric dudes at TexStyles here in Austin. They had heat-set adhesive on the back, but I also hand-stitched them so they'd stay on through all Sophie's adventures. The fabric is from our great quilt shop in Dripping Springs, Valli & Kim.

And here is the outfit for Megan, Sophie's mom. The skirt is linen, from tablecloth I got years ago. I dyed it with fiber reactive dye from Dharma Trading. The top is a really nice cotton batiste eyelet. The embroidery design is from the awesome folks at Urban Threads.
I also made an in-flight organizer from a laptop sleeve:
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And a couple of luggage tags:


Saturday, February 16, 2013

Guess Where I'm Going! ('cause I don't know)

One of the people I'm looking forward to seeing on my trip in April is Thomas Ung.
I met Thomas in the early 2000's when he worked for me as an intern at Borland Software.
Wayne and I stayed with Thomas and his family on our first visit to Paris, and I think that is one of the reasons we immediately fell in love with the city. We were never really tourists there--always with a local showing us "his" Paris.
I haven't seen Thomas since our last visit in 2004, so when he asked to "have me for the weekend" (nothing illicit here, just his wording), I really couldn't say no.
Since he insists on this adventure being a surprise, below is all he's told me. I thought it might be fun to have readers guess what they think I'll be doing.

From Thomas:


It is going to be very nice !

3 famous places to see, eat and drink !

1 hour to go for the first place; the second place is a 2 hours driving and the 3rd place is 30min driving

=> so a minimum of transit time

The first place is related to Versailles but it is far away from Versailles !

The second place is about the nature and taste.

The third place is a french city with one of the greatest architecture, even more charming than Paris !

=> a maximum of wonder !

We leave Paris Saturday morning and come back monday morning.

A bientot !

I have some ideas, but want to hear what you think.

Juliette