60’s Coat Visits the City on the Bay

I just got back from San Francisco where I wore my orange 60s coat. It was so lovely going places and getting lost in the crowds knowing that my family could find me in my very bright coat. I do tend to wander off.

Oh, me of the awkward hands...

We went to SF to run a half marathon--the first half of the San Francisco Marathon to be exact. I enjoy this race because five miles into it we get to run across the Golden Gate Bridge. You'd be surprised at the incline on a bridge--especially when one isn't quite as trained as one should be. The thing about half marathons and 10ks is that you often sign up for the event months in advance and it's easy to delude yourself into thinking that you'll be in peak form by the time the race rolls around. It didn't happen this time. (Or the last either, come to think of it--but I got to wear a tutu in that one and hang with a colorful crowd.)

Since we weren't in peak form we ran very slowly, but eventually crossed the finish line, then celebrated by having a picnic in Grace Cathedral park. I talked my husband into taking some photos. The light is strong and the coat, being made of linen, is a wee bit wrinkled, but I just love wearing it.

I'm wearing the gold chiffon shift I made to go with the coat. As you can see, I lined my coat in polka dot charmeuse. The polka dots match the shift and it makes for a fun outfit

A Slight Detour into 1938

I've been out of school for two weeks. I think I was supposed to have six outfits sewn up and at least one book written according to my ambitious plans made on the first day of freedom.

I have cut out the first dress--the black and red rayon Vintage Vogue. It's a fairly
simple dress, but travel has kept me away from my sewing machine and my computer. I went to visit my mom. It's an excellent way to start a vacation--by actually going on vacation.


While there I went to the world's best swap meet and purchased three Stanford Yearbooks, 1938, 1939 and 1941, for $1 each.

I've had a ton of fun with these yearbooks. My husband and mom and I spent an evening going through them together. My mom was born in 1937, so this was before her time, but she had some excellent insights. She particularly  remembers the painful metal hair rod rollers the women wore at night to achieve a particular type of curl--I'm guessing that this is because she probably wore them herself as a child.

My favorite yearbook was 1938. There was an entire section on women's fashions:

And a section on concerts and performances. I found the gowns fascinating. Love the low cut front on the black gown.

I thought it was interesting that most of women's hair was all approximately the same length and in the same general style.

There also seemed to be quite a few curly headed men--several on each page. My husband, mother and I had a rousing debate about whether or not the men might have finger-waved their hair. I said they didn't, but was in the minority.

The neat thing about finding these books is that I'd already decided that after I get my backlog of projects sewn and written, I was going to concentrate on the years 1937-1939. These yearbooks fit into my scheme perfectly.

But, before I can plan any more projects, I have to finish the six I started.

And write a couple books.

Cowboys? Really?

Somehow in between all my sewing, I managed to write some books… Once a Champion, book one of my Montana Way series, comes out this month. When people ask me what I write, I tell them mostly cowboy stories. Cowboy appears to be a rather divisive occupation because I then usually hear one of two things:

(a) “I love cowboys!”

(b) “I don’t read cowboys.”

I write cowboys because I live in a ranching area and my neighbors are cowboys and ranchers. Many of them have day jobs out of necessity because agriculture is an iffy business. My parents raise cattle in Montana.  Their operation has been pared down as they've gotten older, but they still have a herd. 

So, what do I know about cows? 

Not a lot, because I prefer ponies.

Cowboys are often stereotyped, but my cowboys are based on the lives of people I know. Here is one of  my good friends working his cows on the weekend after a full week at his day job.

This is his daughter.

And his son.

And this is me and his wife, my best friend, doing what we do best during the breaks in the action. Talking. 

Cowboying is a lifestyle with ups and downs, heartaches and triumphs, just like most other occupations and that’s what I try to get across when I write cowboy stories, because I write about people, not occupations. So if you haven’t tried a cowboy book, you might consider giving it a go. It isn’t all hats and boots.

But hats and boots help.

Survived the Deadlines and Ready to Sew!

I'm see a trend here--when deadline approaches, I disappear for three weeks. I guess that's the price I pay for not figuring things out until the last minute. This time I had a double deadline--the revisions for Cowgirl in High Heels were due on May 27th, followed one week later by the first three chapters of my next book. I pushed send on the chapters today and now I can relax my brain for a few days.

In addition to double deadlines a week apart, the last day of the school year was last Friday--for some reason I always have a major deadline when school ends, just to add to the general chaos, I guess. It was a crazy few weeks--in fact most of May was a blur, but now the summer stretches before me with no immediate deadlines and no students. I, of course, think that I can write at least four books and plow through my sewing stash in that time. Summer lasts forever, right?

I'll be thrilled, however, to finish the book I just started and perhaps make a dent in my sewing stash, which is getting out of control. In fact, I've decided to commit to finishing at least six projects I have on hand before buying any more patterns or fabric. I've even picked out my first three projects:

Vintage Vogue 1136 which I'm making out of red and black rayon challis (dress) and red crepe (jacket). I've already made a muslin of the dress, which fit well, and I'm going to assume that the jacket will fit, too. Don't those sound like famous last words?

Vintage Vogue 2787 out of black and white charmeuse. I have long black gloves and a great black hat, so I'm set once I get this made.

New Look 6514--I'm very excited to tackle this one. My daughter bought me some Italian cotton at Britex and it's gorgeous!

I noticed that the red crepe for the Vogue 1136 jacket matches the color pallete nicely. I don't think the 1940s style jacket is going to work with the New Look pattern, but you never know. And perhaps I can squeeze two jackets out of the crepe.

Now that should keep me busy for at least a week, right? That and writing those four books. Summer stretches on....

McCalls 6557

The Writing
The writing is catching up with me. I have three chapters of my next book due on Friday and I'm still working  on revisions to the book I finished this spring. However, I do have a title for that book--Cowgirl in High Heels. I love it! I think the cover will be really fun. Anyway, sewing is slowing down because the writing is heating up. After the 27th of May, I can really cut loose on the old Kenmore.

The Sewing

Since the sewing is on hiatus and I'm still shortening my orange coat, I'm posting one of the dresses I made last spring--McCalls 6557. I liked the dress so much I made it twice. The first time I copied the cover look from the pattern, making it out of black and white polka dot cotton with a red crepe waistband--only my dots are much larger. I've never learned to look at that little scale ruler on the fabric photos when I order on line. Good thing I like large dots.

The second dress is shorter and I made it out of a lovely green and turquoise sheer fabric that is really tough. It doesn't snag or run. I lined it with turquoise cotton and whenever I wear it, people stop me to comment. The colors are happy colors.

The Art Shots
This blog post actually came about because I ordered a crinoline and my husband took some artsy shots of it with the polka dot dress. So here it is, in color and black and white.

Sewing and Writing Off the Grid

My husband and I live off the grid, meaning that we generate our own power. We're only two miles from the nearest power lines, but the cost of bringing electricity in is a cool $500,000. That will buy a lot of generators. My house is modern in every way, except for that continual power thing.

Driveway

We've lived this way for twenty years and soon I hope to (finally) invest in solar. In the meantime, we turn the generator on first thing in the morning, run it until around noon, then turn it off for a few hours. We turn it back on again around 4 pm and run it until 9 or 10. When we go to bed, the power goes off. There are benefits to this way of life. When the power is off, a peaceful silence settles over the house. I read a lot more. My kids grew up reading and playing in the creek. Everyone in the family is quite talented at getting around in the dark.

The biggest adjustment for me when we moved to this place was not

Backyard

being able to sew whenever I wanted. I have to schedule it for when the power is on. I also have to schedule laundry, hair drying, baking, ironing, vacuuming (I rarely schedule that), etc, so the power hours can be jam packed—especially since it’s the only time I can watch TV. That means something has to go by the wayside if I want to sew. Usually it’s housework.

When the power is off, I cut out patterns, sew by hand and plan my next projects—writing and sewing. I also write, thanks to a laptop with a multi-hour battery. When the power is on, I sew and recharge both my brain and the computer battery, so that I can write some more when the power goes off.

Living off the grid isn’t for sissies. Generators break down. They need servicing. They develop mystery problems.  Once it was so cold I had to jump  start my house using our truck and jumper cables. I'm afraid of jumper cables, so this was a trial.  Also, I want to sew whenever I get the urge--a seam here, a dart there--but I can’t. When I feel like whining, though, I think of the women who sewed for centuries without benefit of electricity or a sewing machine.

This story has a happy ending, though. My son recently bought me the most beautiful treadle sewing machine. I haven’t used it yet—I’m waiting for summer break and a slightly less jam-packed schedule—but I can’t wait to be able to sew whenever I want. Who needs zigzag?

Pantone Contest Shift

The Sewing

I finished my Pantone Color Contest entry two days early! Unheard of--just ask my editor. I did that so that I had time to figure out how to review the patterns and make an entry in the contest, which is held at Sewing Pattern Review. I figured it out and this is my entry photo. Upon seeing it, my first thought was Yowza--I have to shorten that coat. It never occurred to me that I might have to shorted a 1966 pattern until I saw it with the shift. So...I'll be shortening the coat before I post its photos.

On to the shift. I decided to use McCalls 5799, the lines of which
complimented the style of the coat. I found a pale yellow crepe at Jo-Ann's to underline the sheer lemon chiffon I bought at Britex. I so love this chiffon. It's not nearly as pretty in the photos as it is in person.




I was afraid that sewing sheer fabric was going to be a nightmare, but it wasn't. I referenced the November 2006 Threads Magazine 127 (on sale here for only $3.50) and followed the techniques for seaming and hemming a sheer fabric.

To cut the fabric I placed a layer of tissue paper on the floor and laid out the fabric as a single layer. The tissue paper kept the fabric from shifting as I cut one pattern piece at a time, matching the design. I like the way the waves match up the back seams.

To make the seams, I sewed once along the seam line and then again 1/8 inch away, trimming close to the second stitching.

To hem, I sewed 1/8 inch from the raw edge, then turned it twice and stitched. Both finishes came out well.

I understitched all the edges to keep the lining from rolling out and showing.

I didn't want to mess with a zipper in chiffon/crepe for fear of waves, so I simply sewed the back center seam up to within 6 5/8 inches of the neckline and then added a button and loop closure. I'm pleased to say that I actually tried on the shift before lining it and yes, I could get into it with only a 6 inch opening. So glad I didn't pull my usual stunt of finishing the garment and then discovering the opening is too small.

And finally, I didn't line the shift in the usual way, with wrong sides of the fabrics together. The seams of the lining would have shown through, so I put the wrong side of the chiffon against the right side of the lining and finished all the lining seams with chiffon fabric to clean up the inside a bit.

And that's the end of this shifty business.