It's getting to be that time...

One bag is packed, the other mostly packed. I've got tickets, pounds and euros, the sewing machines are in for service.

I really enjoying planning for a trip, and love gadgets that make things easier. I try to get things that are really compact and help me cut down on what I need to bring along.
This time I found a great adapter made by SKROSS.

The sliders are the side are for all the different plug types, and they lock in place. The piece at the top lets you plug in 2 usb chargers, so I have fewer plugs that I need to bring.
The only drawback is this is not a converter, only an adapter, so I still need the clunky plugs for the Macbook.

Another cool thing: a rechargeable backup charger for iPod and mobile phone. I know, "a what?"

You charge this thing up and throw it in your bag. If your phone or iPod runs low on batteries while you're out and about, you plug it in to this to recharge it. It's a little bigger than a lipstick, and works with any small device that charges via USB cable. I found a hot pink one at Tuesday Morning for $29.

And my last cool travel gadget is a filter water bottle. I drink a lot of water, especially when I fly and I hate paying the insane prices at the airport as well as contributing to all the plastic bottles getting disposed of. I did some research and picked one of these up last night at Bed, Bath and Beyond. The bottle with one filter was $10. I figure 3 fill-ups at a water fountain at the airport and this sucker has paid for itself. Additional filters are 2 for $10 and they are good for the equivalent of 300 bottles of water.

I plan to post regularly while I'm 'abroad' (I LOVE saying that--makes me sound so sophisticated.)

Juliette

The Perfect Travel Coat?

I sure hope so!

I just finished making up Butterick 5685. The pattern called for traditional coat fabric, but I wanted this coat to be the perfect travel coat. For me that means somewhat water repellant, lightweight, fast-drying, compressible and cozy enough to double as a blanket on the plane/train trips.
I bought a high quality polar fleece from Seattle Fabrics in a slightly textured black. For lining I used a gorgeous paisley print silk twill I bought from MS Schmalberg for $5 a yard on a garment district fabric shopping trip with the wonderful Marsha McClintock in 2010. The two color shell buttons I bought at the ASDP conference in San Francisco in 2005.

I added a zippered pocket to the inside left facing for passport and money, but otherwise used the pattern as is. I pretty much ignored the sewing instructions since other folks had said they were confusing at best.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, though it is a little snug across the back shoulders. I am seriously considering replacing the back lining with stretch silk. The fleece has plenty of give, but the silk I used has none. Live and learn. In any case, it fulfills all my requirements and is pretty darn stylish, if I do say so myself...

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.