'ello there!

Wayne and I made it to London earlier today. We took the British Airways direct flight from Austin to London. The incoming flight was late, so we departed late and arrived at 11am local time instead of 10am.
The plane was nice and new, and the double seats were nice (only 2 in our row)--lots of space between my seat and the fuselage to put stuff, but the seats were really narrow and the plane cold.
The flat in London is great--easy to get to (just a few blocks from Harrod's).
We walked around a bit after dropping off our bags--even spent some time in the Victoria & Albert, and we stumbled on a restaurant very close to the flat that serves fish & chips (apparently hard to find in this 'up-market' neighborhood.)

I took a selfie of me and Wayne on the tube, but we both looked horrible, so it has been deleted.

Saw George Clooney near the flat...

thought this was cool looking, then looked close at the photo

Some early indications of Spring

Bearing Gifts

The bags are (mostly) packed, the boarding passes printed out and the pet sitter bribed.
We leave tonight on the direct flight to London and I will be so happy to be cedar-free and miss the rest of SXSW.

We have quite a few friends over there, so, I take gifts. Here's what I've made for friends:

For Cedric's little flea.

For Jon's little ginger girl

For Sarath's little boy, due in June.

Mario the hedgehog for Miss Sophie Ann.

Socks for Momo

Dishcloths for various folks

Next stop, London!

Juliette

What a slacker!

I have been so bad about posting here--and about keeping on top of so many other things.

I blame the knitting.

I'm not sure I would have picked up sticks and strings if I knew how much of an obsession this would turn in to.

Here's the thing: I can sew just about anything. I can turn hideous color fabric into something beautiful by dyeing it. I can alter the crap out of clothes that don't fit or flatter. But sweaters alluded me. I longed for beautiful and unique sweaters made of natural fibers. (yes, I live in Texas, but I can dream or just turn up the AC.)
Now that I've made a couple of sweaters and many pairs of socks, I'm hooked. A co-worker who just started to sew described it well after making her first purse: "I made something for the first time. I took a pile of stuff and made something from it. It is so empowering."
I've had that with sewing for most of my life, but this is new to me, and I think that is the true allure. It is magical to me.

Anyway, I've had a few folks ask if/when I would update my blog (yes, you are one of them, Mom.)
As some of you know, Wayne and I are headed to Europe in a few weeks (yikes, I have some sewing to do!)

I plan to update this blog regularly for my friends who want to live vicariously. Please feel free to post questions/requests if you'd like me to check something out--not making any promises, but I'll consider it.

This time we are taking a direct flight on British Airways from Austin to London.
I wasn't planning on spending time in London, but since Wayne hasn't been before we decided to spend a few days before heading to the South of France.
I work for HomeAway which offers a program where employees can work in foreign offices and not take vacation(DeskAway). Yes, we pay all the travel expenses, but I keep on top of my work and we can eat dinner in Paris and I get to know my excellent co-workers in other countries.
Since I work for HomeAway, and don't especially like hotels and like to fantasize about living in places we visit, we are staying in vacation rentals for the entire trip.
It can be more expensive, but all the places where we are staying have:

• full kitchens(breakfast can be crazy expensive and Wayne is completely non-functioning before a couple of cups of coffee and even in an amazing city, sometimes you want to eat in)
• washing machines(this means we can take fewer clothes, travel lighter and leave some room in our luggage to bring back more swag)
• wifi (let's face it, this is no longer a luxury but a necessity)

Aside from those features, vacation rentals tend to have more local character than hotel rooms since they are individually owned and operated.

More to come….

Juliette

The Right Stuff

One of the hardest parts of making a Chanel-style jacket for me is finding the right trims. Sometimes you find the right texture, but the color is all wrong. Sometimes you find the perfect color, but the trim is too big, too small or just not the right style for the jacket. Thank goodness I know how to dye stuff.

I thought I had finally got the right color but after it dried it lightened up, so I don't know, may need one more dip in the dye bath...and now that I look at the photo I'm thinking that it isn't the right color at all. Sigh. I'm often torn between "get on with it" and "get it right". Considering the cost of the fabric and the amount of time I've already invested, I think I'll go for the latter...so it's back to the dye bath for sure...

The dyed trim--still not quite right

Possible trim combo

I have been playing with combinations of trims--the photo to the right is my front-runner. It's a little hard to see, but there is self-fringe on the bottom of the stack.
I really like the texture if the linen-y trim, but now thinking the color is too light, so that might go back in the dye bath, too.

Maybe I should just go back to the Aran sweater that I've frogged 3 times. Or I could clean the house. Nah.

Juliette

Felting fun

I've been playing around with felting using yarn I've gotten at Tuesday Morning. If you don't know, felting is what happens when you submit natural wool yarn to heat, moisture and agitation. Most of us have unintentionally experienced this--the wool sweater that gets thrown in the wash and comes up doll-sized.
Believe it or not, sometimes people do this on purpose. According to Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft
some hats were made by knitting fabric pieces, felting the piece, then cutting out the shapes and sewing them together.
I've done a few samples, but this was my first finished project: the bag is knitted complete then felted (I've found the "sanitize" cycle on my front-load machine works great). After felting the bag is about 20% smaller, and the fabric is very sturdy and dense.

felted bags

So, how does this 'felting' work, you ask? (SOOO glad you did!) Untreated wool fibers have scales on them:

closeup of wool fiber

Those scales work like a cable tie--you know those plastic straps that you can pull tighter, but can't loosen? All those fibers criss-crossing keep getting pulled tighter, making the overall dimensions smaller, but the fabric itself thicker.

Washable wool doesn't do this because its been treated--either to coat the edges of the scales or to etch them away. 

Pretty cool, huh?

yeah, I'm a fiber nerd, and dang proud of it. :)

Juliette

Back in the groove, Planning The Next Big Trip and Sewing Stuff

My latest Chanel-style jacket

I came back from the ASDP conference in Nashville all revved up, just like I do every year. My husband was sick of hearing about it by the time we got back home from the airport (about 45 minute drive), and so many things are spinning in my head I have trouble focusing.
BUT, I did manage to spend one evening playing with what I learned in June Colburn's class on silk-screening, got about 6 women at work to agree to being my pants fitting guinea pigs, started a pair of toe-up socks on my shiny new Chaiogoo Red Lace circular needle and made really good progress on the latest Chanel jacket (it is ready for trim and pockets). I even found some cool trim to use.

I also did some brain-storming on the Threads Challenge for 2014.

One of the things I found out at conference was how many people were following my blog while I was in Europe last year--fabric shopping and exploring with me vicariously.
So I will plan to do the same and try very hard not to complete flake out when I hang out with my friends.
I've booked our plane tickets already (Austin to Heathrow direct, baby!), reserved all our apartments and we've got a house-sitter/critter-sitter.

Our homes-away-from-home:

The London flat

London, Knightsbridge--March 12 - 15
COSY STUDIO FLAT IN THE HEART OF KNIGHTSBRIDGE

Marseille, Port Vieux--March 15-20
Two Steps to Vieux-Port

The Marseille apartment

Our stay in Lyon

Lyon, La Croix Rousse--March 20-22
Furnished Apartment in Historic District of La Croix Rousse

The gorgeous Paris Flat

Paris, Montmartre--March 22 - April 2
Amazing Terrace Eiffel Tower View
This is the place I stayed in April--so perfect I just had to share with hubby. (AND it is close to the fabric district!)







I'll be doing things differently this time in regards to work. Instead of working 2 solid weeks, then taking off a week I plan to scatter my days off so that I work a couple of days, then take a day off. I'll probably end up having the same number of days off, but this should be easier for my co-workers since there won't be any large block of time where I'm not available. It also means far less catchup for me when I return.

I've decided I am a "Touriste des Tissus" (Fabric Tourist) or maybe better a Fiber(Fibre) Tourist.
Other than working and spending time with friends/co-workers, I hope to do the following:

London:

• Visit Liberty of London, have hubby pick out fabric for a shirt
• Visit Joel & Son Fabrics, drool over fabrics the queen might wear. Doubt I'll be buying anything, but you never know...
• Spend some time in the new Clothworkers' Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion--just need to write a request after I figure out what I'd like to look at.
• Maybe hit a yarn store or two....

Marseille:
Visit La Droguerie and a couple other merceries (notion shops). I haven't seen any fabric stores that I really want to visit.

Lyon:

• Visit the Fabric and Decorative Arts Museum
• Tour a silk weaver's studio, maybe this one: http://soierie.st.georges.free.fr/ssmenu_visites.htm or this one: http://www.atelierdesoierie.com/

Paris:
I was sad to find out that most museums have stopped having textiles and historical costumes on permanent display, thought I understand why. Textiles by nature are fragile and difficult to curate.
I was lucky in April to catch the Couture exhibit on Hotel de Ville (and that Mario was a good sport and agreed).
I just found this museum and am trying not to get my hopes up, but.... http://palaisgalliera.paris.fr/collections/les-collections
I am hoping there is another exhibit when we are there, but if not I'll just have to check out more fabric shops and maybe some vintage clothing stores.

All I need to do now is book train tickets: London to Paris to Marseille, Marseille to Lyon and Lyon to Paris. Have I ever mentioned how much I love traveling by train?

Juliette

Another great conference!

This year's ASDP conference was in Nashville, TN.
Everyone who went commented on how much 'cuddlier' this conference was, and new members said they felt very welcome and already a part of the crew.
It seems every year I get to spend a chunk of time with someone I already know, but get to them know them more. We share more stories, thoughts and philosophy, and every time I find that I like them people even more. Sometimes I get to know their work first, then get to know them personally. Sometimes it's the other way around, but it always ends up with me having even more affection and admiration for them.
I am a lucky, lucky girl.

Me and Kenneth King

Just a few photos from the weekend--I will add more as everything sinks in:

Kenneth King in his "weave coat"

Playing in June Colburn's wonderful Silk Screen class

Sarah Veblen's excellent Art of the Dart class