Thank God I know this....now I can sleep at night.

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

5% Yankee

0% Dixie

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Elizabeth Regina: So very helpful!

At Marissa and Mike's party the other week, everyone (ok, maybe not the boys so much) was completely enamored with this Queen Elizabeth toilet paper cozy.... I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe a combination of kitsch and functionality and printed fabric? I love novelty printed fabric- you know, the ones they make so that you can make shorts and pillows and stuff. Where can I buy Queen Elizabeth printed fabric so I can make a toilet paper cozy of my very own?

Strike that...I think it's a really bad idea for me to make cozies of any kind.


ADDENDUM 11/2:
OK, teapot or tp, as long as it looks like QE1 and it hides something. :)

from artnet.com:

"SUBVERSIVE KNITTING" AT MAD
Knitting needles the size of telephone poles? That and more are the hallmarks of "Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting," Jan. 25-June 17, 2007, an exhibition of approximately 40 works by 27 artists coming up at the Museum of Arts & Design. Organized by MAD chief curator David McFadden, the show "extends the boundaries of the category we call fiber art," according to MAD director Holly Hotchner. Among the artworks in the show are a gown with knitted "veins" by Liz Collins; a waterfall of black rubber lace based on facial lines by Barbara Zucker; a video of a performance piece by Dave Cole in which two backhoes knit a 35-foot-wide American flag; and a chandelier of knotted optical fibers by Niels Van Eijk. Vogue Knitting is media sponsor of the show.

thoughts on ray lamontagne and calming animals with music

A nice guy who works at the coffee shop gave me a copy of a cd that was playing that I really liked. I came home and put it on the cd player and have now listened to it four times on this cold, gray October afternoon. Buy it: Ray LaMontagne.

Side note: I used to have zebra finches when I was a little girl. They are very small, excitable birds and are almost never not chirping during the daytime. However, whenever I put the Beach Boys on my tape player, they would immediately calm down and were silent, like they were listening. Now I notice that LaMontagne's waltzy-folksy song "Away from Me" lulls my skittish cat into a sedate trance. Interesting.

Ok, not only the coolest website, but also the most beautiful jewelry. It's like a Art Deco and Atari head-on collision. I love everything.

This is one nice kimono dress by Lola y Maria. I saw it in Lucky awhile back, only in the most beautiful vibrant green. They don't give you a green option on the site, or a very good picture of the design, but it's basically a drawstring at the waist with wide, pretty sleeves.

Can't be that hard to make.

And YES, I know, the model's arms are freakishly long. Just forget about that and look at the dress.

always be scheming

New projects in the hopper:

1. Gotta figure out what to do with the bottle of Sciroppa Orzata that I decided I needed to purchase from a store in Italian Market. I thought the bottle was pretty and assumed it was some kind of sweet almond syrupy stuff. True, it's sweet almond syrupy stuff. And now what? I guess I'll make some kind of frozen sweet almond syrupy drinks or something.

Good to know that my money saving plan is a success. How can I expect to save money if I'm buying bottles of syrupy liquid because I like the label but have no idea what to do with the contents?



2. Speaking of saving money, I think want everything from tinseltrading.com, especially some of those exquisite vintage flowers and leaves.




3. Make more purse/wallet things. Many, many more. And belts. And start on some Christmas presents. And re-work the sheer apron-thing I made to go over a skirt the other day but is too big. More on that later.

4. Make pillows from upholstery remnants my aunt was nice enough to send me.

5. Research taking care of bromeliads since I just bought a few at Reading Terminal Market. They are pretty cute, and I'm working on mounting them so I can hang them on the wall. Gotta love plants that don't require dirt.

6. Continued restructuring of pattern line- I'm getting closer and closer to getting Betsy Ross back up on her feet. To draw mental strength for the task at hand, I visited the Betsy Ross house last Thursday. It was very interesting, and since it was kind of rainy I was by myself.

7. Drink more cappuccinos. I'll start on that one right now. Bye for now.

You can make a pinata! Yes you can!

I offered to make a pinata for a friend's birthday. I don't know why I offered to do that, but I did.

The last time I made a pinata was at the YMCA Camp Day-Away in elementary school. When I agreed to make the pinata, I was pretty sure that pinatas were pretty easy to make and I had a pretty good idea of how to get started. However, I must also say that I am pretty sure that I was on drugs while at Camp Day-Away for a few reasons:

1. I had absolutely no idea of where I was at the time, even though I'm positive now that Camp Day-Away took place in the same small county where I grew up.

2. I lost all track of time while I was there. I was convinced that there was some sort of conspiracy against me to keep me there.

3. Forgot about my troubles when I found the canteen.

4. All I was interested in doing was eating Doritos and watching the lake.

Conclusion? ON DRUGS. My parents must have drugged me in order to get me on the bus.


What was I talking about? Oh yeah, pinatas. I didn't think my assumptions about how pinatas were made could be trusted, based on Camp Day-Away. I started doing some Googling to make sure I was setting about it correctly. I found the descriptions to be a bit vague. So therefore, in the Betsy Ross spirit, I present to you........

The Betsy Ross Pinata-Making (and Snacking) Guide

1
Blow up a balloon. Or two. However many you need. Also have a bowl of yogurt-covered pretzels on hand.


2.
Rip newspaper into strips. I found that having a variety of strips available was key becaue once your hands are covered in paste, it's hard to rip more. 1"x 6" and smaller is a good bet. Also, you definitely rip the strips- you shouldn't use scissors. The fuzzy edges help the paper curve around the balloon's surface. This step is particularly fun if there are things in the paper that bug you a little, like American Apparel ads or bad comics.



3.
Use masking tape to carefully tape balloons together in shape desired.



4
Mix up a flour/water paste. Use 3/4 cup of flour for a medium sized balloon. Slowly add water and mix until the consistency can only be described as "goopy." You have to be able to spread it easy with your fingers, but you don't want it too watery.



5.
Dip the paper pieces in the goop and lay on balloon. The feeling of wet paper kind of creeps me out, so I found it to be a lot more pleasant to spread the paste onto the balloon and then stick the dry paper to it, then to spread a layer of paste on top. Whatever.Let that dry for awhile.



6.
Prepare margarita. Complete 2nd layer. Let the pinata-in-progress dry overnight.



7.
Complete another layer and let dry a bit. Maybe a couple of hours if you have the time. For the 4th layer, I used a ripped-up white shopping bag. I figured that making the 4th and final layer with white paper would make painting a little easier.

8.
Now, in normal circumstances, you would want to let that baby dry overnight again. However, if the occasion the pinata is supposed to be used for is occuring that evening, you're gonna have to kick things up a notch. I got out the hairdryer and tried to speed things up that way. I found that cutting the hole in the bottom of the pinata at this point made the pinata dry faster, as air could circulate.

9.
I used acrylics to paint my pinata because that way only one coat was needed for opacity. It's easier to paint if you have it propped up on a bowl or measuring cup.



10.
Assemble assortment of tasty, nostalgic candies and plastic farm animals (They looked like fun). Pour the goodies into hole you cut at the bottom of the pinata. You can seal up the hole with more paper/paste strips and paint over it, of if you're in a super big hurry, you can just cover over it with tape.

Well, there you have it. I based my smurf-owl on a 60's embroidered owl skirt I found online. The skirt version looked a lot better and was in pink and purple. I decided to go with yellow and blue instead, but I'm not so sure it is entirely successful. My smurf-owl kind of looks like a smurf-penguin or a smurf-penguin-Homer Simpson.

What you have to remember is that everyone knows that there's treats in the pinata, and so so I doubt anyone is really going to care too much what it looks like. Besides, you're going to just beat it to a pulp with a baseball bat anyway.

This project has me thinking that pinatas are in order for just about every occasion. Every birthday party should have one. Your parents need one at their 30th wedding anniversary. Every baby shower is better with the smashing of a pinata that is shaped like a baby. Hmmm....maybe not. Scratch that.

I just saw an interview with ?uestlove about how Public Enemy's "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" influenced him. He said that the day the album was released, he quit his job because he couldn't stop listening to it. For some reason, that really resounded with me right now.

I got some great gray canvas fabric at B. Wilk last week and finally got around to recovering the sofas and cushions. Our sofa cushions got so nasty during the move, and although I liked the cool deep red fabric I previously had on one of the sofas, it wasn't wearing very well and I had done a super quick job with the slip covers so they didn't look very neat. Another reason for the change is that our apartment is really small now, and so I think it is important to have both of the sofas be of the same fabric.

The recoveing job took FOREVER. I had to sew a lot of the cushion parts by hand. I watched "Cliffhanger" and "Die Hard With a Vengeance." I watched "The Dog Wisperer" and lots of music videos. And finally, the two platform sofas have been recovered.

Behold: Before and after.

i'm not the kind that needs to tell you just want you want me to

Can't stop listening to New Order's "Age of Consent"!!

It's getting to be a problem. It's on constant repeat. Incessant humming. Singing in shower. Been going on for months. Send replacement song asap!!

While walking around with Curious Bird yesterday in No. Libs, I found this black and white dress with potential. What I found was a sheer dress with a drawstring gather at the bust, some long, creepy sleeves and a skirt that went waaaaaaaaaay down to the floor..... it was sort of Morticia style. It needed some work.

For $35, I figured it was no harm if it didn't work out just right. So behold: a before and after. I chopped off the sleeves (but kept a little cap sleeve for proportion) and hemmed up the skirt to above the knee. It looks like a completely different dress.

And then there was this one episode in a hospital with a ghost-nurse!

I had a very productive day, what with the walking and the shopping and the cutting and the sewing and the cleaning of the apartment and the reading of art books and stuff.

I watched the "Ghost Hunter" marathon on the Scifi channel while working. I feel like I watched 50 episodes, but it was probably more like 10. l was able describe them in astonishing detail to Mr. D. when he arrived home late this evening. It's funny how my mind has a infinite amount of space available for paranormal facts but only a limited amount of space for important information regarding the U.S. Constitution, as evidenced by my performance at Quizzo last night.

In crafty news, I am recovering my platform sofa cushions with this cool gray canvasy fabric I got the other day. I was enticed not only by the reasonable price but also by the fact that it's Scotch-guarded. I wanted to buy new foam for the sofa as well, but considering that foam is a byproduct of petroleum, it costs almost $70 for a 72" x 30" sheet. 70 bucks for a sheet of foam?? I just bought the same amount of foam a few years ago and I remember it being around $25...

I have two sofas to cover, and both have seat cushions that measure roughly 72" x 30" x 4". That's a lot of fabric. To make them look crisp and neat (as opposed to the sloppy job I did last time earlier this summer) I decided to do really crisp, sharp seams on the corners. It's really hard to sew such a large piece of heavy fabric when you're working in a small space. I was ironing on the floor (I accidentally left my ironing board in Chicago) on a towel in the space we call a "kitchen" but is actually a living room with a frige in it. Then I took the ironed, gigantic piece of fabric into my 36" x 32" sewing "room" and sewed the seam. Then I slowly backed out of the room as not to knock anything over and iron some more on the floor. Then I took the fabric back into the room to sew again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Anyway, I managed to get one cushion finished tonight and will work on the other tomorrow. I illustrate my sewing nook here so you can get an idea of the sweatshop-like conditions. Cozy, no?

I'm not like the others. You must go at once.

So remember that time when I spent the morning covering everything I could get my hands on with faux wood grain contact paper? That was awesome.


Today I had to go back down to Fabric Row to get a few spools of thread and some interfacing. While I was there, naturally I picked up some more fabric- this time some strange woven outdoorsy vinyl and some white faux leather.

When I got home, I worked on more little envelope-purses and continued working on a dress I started last night. I got the pattern awhile back, and despite it being printed in God-knows-what-year, it looked pretty simple. What I told myself: I got the pattern for free and I got the fabric from Vogue in Chicago for $1.99 a yard- no harm if it doesn't work out, and it's my first foray into the world of old sewing patterns.






So, there's a teensy tiny little sleeve issue as you can see in the photo. The fabric is slightly stretchy so setting the sleeves is proving to be a little touchy. I think I have to rip them out and baste them in by hand before machine sewing them. Secondly, the instructions get a little murky when they describe the wasteband casing step, so I might have to come up with an alternate method. Long story short- taking a bit longer to sew than I hoped, but once it's hemmed up around knee length, the drawstring goes in and the sleeve issue is resolved, it's going to be a pretty cute dress. Let's hope I can harness ye old attention deficit issues long enough to finish it.

This afternoon I found an old purse pattern my mom gave me a long time ago. It included the pattern for this cool oversized envelope-style purse. It's more of a super-sized clutch, but whatever. It will be fun to try some different fabrics/color combinations with this, but right now I am digging on this oilcloth for both sturdiness and the great pattern.

The fused glass pin at the point of the front flap is by my friend Laurie of Kiku.

Lists Lists Lists

In honor of my new list book from McSweeney's, here's one of my own:

Things I saw on my outing yesterday:

1. Creepy basement full of vintage fabric (and spiders)

2. Store offering fabric featuring monkeys playing intruments

3. Product at hippie food store called Cheez Nutz- made of neither cheese or nuts

4. Man trying to get me to come to a swinger party

5. Lots of food I wanted to eat but didn't, instead choosing coffee and later, a mint I found at the bottom of my bag.

You know, it's nice to be able to walk almost everywhere I want to go in Philadelphia- it took only 35 minutes to walk there from our apartment, and the weather was beautiful and it was a perfect, crisp, autumn walking day. Slipping very easily into a sentimental, autumn mood, I started craving apple cider, and so I went into the beforementioned hippie food store to find some, but they didn't have any. Where can I get some around here?? I guess Whole Foods, but that's a completely different outing. Sometimes I really hate not having a car.

Wow, in one paragraph I went from extolling the virtues of walking Philadelphia and then to cursing our car-less-ness. Swing it, girl, swing it!

But anyway, my outing was really to go down to Fabric Row to have a look around. I discovered that one store has piles and piles of vintage fabric in their creepy basement, all for around $5 a yard. I'm debating whether or not to tell you where it is or just to keep it to myself! :)

So check it, I got two beautiful sheer fabrics- one I might use for curtains (since my apartment company still hasn't put them up and I'm sick of being entertainment for construction workers), and the other (pictured above) is for.....who knows what. I also found some fantastic brown Italian silk and a lovely 50's leaf pattern fabric with a nice quilt-like textured surface that will make a really nice full skirt.














Up in the normal part of the store I found a cool old-man-chic plaid wool. I decided to make a pattern based off of a mod jumper I had in my closet. I figured it would be good to throw a sweater over for fall. I think I'll take it in slightly on both sides so it's not as dramatic, and maybe hem it so it touches just at the hips. It will look good with a pencil skirt but still look kind of grade-schoolish. Anyway, here it is so far. The wool hangs a bit differently from the heavy cotton of the original, but on the body it looks pretty good.

I'm all right

Well, it's fair to say I'm Yacht Rock obsessed.

Mr. D and I went to the full series show at the Empty Bottle back in what....July? But I STILL can't stop watching it. I went on a self-imposed Yacht Rock dry-out period in August, but I'm back, baby! I'm particularly enamored with Episode 3, mostly because I have a teensy tiny crush on the dude that plays Kenny Loggins, but nothing beats Episode 1. And of course, any of the episodes that feature Hall and Oats are also notable. Turn up the radio!