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:

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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

This is All I Need... (Grand Tour, Part 2)

My new passport arrived yesterday, so I now have all I need (except new clothes, which I am working on) for my trip in April.

Round trip plane ticket: Austin to Heathrow; Cologne to Austin (neither flight is direct. As they like to say around here, "You can't get there from here.")

Heathrow express ticket (15 min to central London from airport rather than 1+ hour via cab. Yes, please. Oh, and I LOVE traveling by train)

Studio apartment in Chelsea -- very close to the V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum)

Oyster Card for the tube (4.50 GBP each way without, 2.10 GBP with--seemed like a no-brainer)

Ticket to "Treasures of the Royal Courts" at the Victoria & Albert Museum
I'll be meeting up with a sewing friend and her husband

EuroStar ticket to Paris (I splurged for first class :)  Did I say I love trains?)

One bedroom apartment in Montmartre --A friend and fellow seamstress quickly figured out that this apartment is only a couple of blocks from some of the best fabric shopping in Paris. If you've seen the movie "Amelie", this is the neighborhood.

5 day Paris Visite pass -- for trains, metro, buses in and around Paris

4 day Paris museum pass --gets you into most Paris museums and monuments and lets you bypass the lines (that alone is worth the price for me)

Thalys ticket to Cologne -- Paris, France to Cologne, Germany in 3 hours 14 minutes. (trains, hooray!)

Oh, just remembered one thing I am still waiting for: Chip-and-PIN credit card. This is a newer security measure that is being used in Europe. Not many banks offer them here, but according to my manager, life is much easier if you have one of these.

I hope this helps my friends who want to experience this trip vicariously. :)

Juliette

The Grand Tour, part 1

After having a nasty flu that hit me New Year's Eve day, I'm finally back to feeling normal and back in my studio. Baby Owen (due in March) has a complete crib bedding set, baby Michaela has a fancy and colorful new dress, and I've got some serious wardrobe sewing to do.

I work for a company here in Austin, TX called HomeAway. HomeAway provides websites and services to match owners of vacation homes with travelers. It is a great company with offices all over the world.

This April I am taking advantage of 2 of the benefits offered to US employees:

1. DeskAway: we can work up to 2 weeks in any office in the world, without taking vacation time. I pay for all travel expenses*, but when it is time for lunch or dinner or a short coffee break, I'm in Paris or London! Oh, and there are the weekends!

2. BearStay(*): US employees can arrange with an owner to stay in a rental in exchange for a review from the perspective of the VRBO mascot (a teddy bear). We pay for cleaning fees and deposit.

I work regularly with folks in both offices that I am visiting, so I am really looking forward to meeting them in person!

Here's my itinerary:

5 Apr--depart Austin, TX
6 Apr--arrive London Heathrow
8 - 12 Apr --meet with my colleagues in London office, staying in Chelsea
13 Apr--explore London, V&A museum
14 Apr--head to Paris via EuroStar
15 - 19 Apr -- meet with my colleagues in Paris office, staying in Montmartre
20 - 23 Apr -- Vacation! roam around Paris, shop for fabric, hit all the museums I can, meet up with some EU friends
24 Apr -- head to Cologne, Germany via Thalys
24 - 28 Apr -- Hang with the Schwalfenbergs (good friends we met here in Texas who now live there)
29 Apr--Depart Cologne, Germany to head back home

I plan to blog while on my trips, so check back in early April if you're interested. I'll be posting photos of food (mostly to torture my husband), people, places, who knows? I may even need help choosing fabric!

Juliette

here's a peek at the 2 places I'm staying while in Europe:
http://www.vrbo.com/463403ha
http://www.vrbo.com/353774

Sock Obsessed

I first learned to knit when I was pretty young. My grandmother and mom were determined that I should have curly hair (though my hair has stubbornly stayed straight), so I would spend days at a salon twice a year under smelly curlers. Okay, it was probably more like half a day, but when you're a kid that is an eternity. To keep me busy and my complaints to a minimum, they'd give me something to do. Sometimes it was needlepoint, but more often (or at least that's how it seemed), it was knitting.
My junior year in college I finally decided to let my hair be what it wanted to be--really, really straight. And so ended my relationship with yarn and needles.
I've dallied in knitting a couple of times since. Once was a purse and eyeglass case that were part of a kit I got on clearance at Target. The purse turned out to me more useful as a hat, and I made a couple more hats for the hubby out of nice chunky, quick-to-finish wool blend.

So, a few weeks ago I was cleaning/purging/deep diving in my studio and came across a book I'd bought a couple of years ago: Basic Knitting. That and certain Facebook friends showing off their knitting accomplishments, I decided to give knitting another try. I'm not exactly sure why I decided to try socks, but somehow that seemed like the right project. As many of my fiber friends warned me, knitting socks is REALLY addictive.  You can get really run yarn, it's not a big commitment money or time wise, and everyone needs socks, especially to wear on those cold winter nights when you're sitting by the fire. Knitting. More socks. :)

I started with an excellent tutorial on Silver's Place. My first 2 pairs are worsted wool blends using 4 double-pointed needles.  Click here for that tutorial.

My third pair is from the same pattern, but with Kroy sock yarn. This is one of their "FX" yarns. It is much finer than the worsted, but still makes a very cozy sock.

 

Next up is my first attempt at a toe-up sock on 2 circular needles.

Ruched T from the Fabulous Angela Wolf

I finally made up this pattern a couple of weeks ago, and Central Texas finally got cold enough for me to wear it last week.
I used a lightweight sweater knit in a charcoal heather grey. I'm not sure of the content, but suspect at least some acrylic.

I love this pattern--only 4 pattern pieces regardless of which view you make (front, back, sleeve and collar)
I also like the format of the instructions: a spiral bound book that lays nicely and doesn't take up much room. The instructions are really good with detailed drawings, and information on various ways to finish seams.

Most importantly, I love my new top:

I can't wait to sew up Angela's jeans pattern.

For more information about Angela, check out her site: http://www.angelawolf.com
Also watch for Angela on sewing events -- she is a great instructor and has lots of great tips and tricks.

Happy Sewing!
Juliette

PS: I almost forgot about Angela's new clapper. These have gotten hard to find, but are really invaluable for getting nice flat seams. Hers are good quality hardwood.
And here is a video of Angela showing how to use a clapper.

What I Learned at Sewing Camp

One of the great things about ASDP combining our annual conference with ASE was the number of excellent instructors teaching and lecturing. We've had Claire Shaeffer, Susan Kahlje, Angela Wolf and Kenneth King at our conferences in the past, but never all at once.

I wasn't able to complete all my samples in classes (too busy talking--making new friends and catching up with ones I only see once a year), so I'm making sure I do it as soon as possible so I don't forget what I learned.

One of those techniques is a foolproof welt that Kenneth King showed us in his "Cool Tricks" class.
This can be used for pockets or bound buttonholes--just vary the size of ribbon you use. I used grosgrain in this example, but petersham would work better and make a softer welt. You can find his detailed instruction in his book, "Cool Couture".


Lay the ribbon on the wrong side of the welt fabric and stitch 1/8" from the ribbon edge.


















Fold one side over the ribbon and stitch between the first two rows of stitching.
Trim close to the stitching line
Repeat for the other side.










Here's what the welt will look like after you've trimmed both sides.

Lay the welt on the fabric piece with all 3 stitchlines facing up.
Stitch 1/4" from the outside edge of the welt.














Cut down the center of the welt. Do not cut the fabric underneath.


Cut the fabric from the wrong side, make long slits towards the corners.

Grab the end of the welts, matching the folded edges. Push the welts through the slit, raw edges first.
Repeat for the other end.














Done!


















Check out Kenneth King's website for more information on his custom work, articles and books. If you get a chance to take a class from him, go for it. He's a great and entertaining instructor.
Many thanks to Kenneth for approving this post!

Juliette