Most Likely to Succeed



If bears had senior portraits



From the Archives

It's time to get my ducks in a row for taxes and for FAFSA, so I'm sorting through the file cabinet.  Naturally I'm sorting through the drawer that has old drawings, not the drawer that has pertinent tax stuff.  Here's a sketch from the early nineties.

Things I Learned from my Dad:

Do not follow convention unless it suits you perfectly.
Look at it from all sides, then decide.
Think.
Do.
Listen.
Make it if you can, if you want to.
Be honest and honorable.
Vote.

Wonder at love and family.
And wear sensible shoes.

Get Out

I think my office chair is trying to tell me something.  It is stuck in this position. 

Anyone got a good read on what it's saying?  (I have learned through the years that I often misinterpret body language.)

Ten Things about me, the High School Version

1.  I knit my first sweater in high school. It was a sweet teal 50's cardigan.  I wish I still had it.
2.  I used to stay after school in the sewing lab just about every day.
3.  Bridget Finnegan used to pass me hilarious notes with full illustration in Mr Stoykovich's Algebra II & Trig class.  Her notes keep coming, and they're even funnier today.
4.  Once a year I get together with my high school girlfriends for a long weekend.  It's a tradition we started about 5 years ago, and we all cherish the event.
5.  My family moved out of district in my sophomore year, but my parents paid tuition so that I could stay enrolled in my same school.  I was a commuter at the age of 16.
6.  I stunk at team sports.  Still do.  Especially if there's a ball involved.
7.  I currently live next door to the home where I lived  in 1982.

8.  Bridget started my love of cartooning.
9.  My second sweater was a bulky garter stitch pullover with a stockinette panel featuring a duplicate stitch deer.  It was my first self-designed sweater.
10.  Apparently I knew where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do from an early age.  It's so good to be here.

New Girl in Town

I don't remember when Dolly moved in - years ago.  My husband brought her home from a junk store.  And she's the best, all cardboard and rusty wing nuts, that darling figure, and a great sense of humor.  She sways back and forth (due to a loose joint at her base) as soon as I point the camera at her.  I should have named her Eileen.  She has been my trusty model for my sweaters and for my ideas.

But alas,  her figure is not quite the same as mine.  I needed the help of another girl, and she went on sale recently.  Meet Penny. 

The girls are modelling my latest pattern obsession, Butterick 6085.   Dolly's shirt is waiting for the right buttons (oddly there were no vintage plastic kelly green buttons in my extensive button collection).  Penny's yellow shirt needs sleeves and side seams, and surely there are no perfect yellow buttons in that drawer.

My first time with this shirt yielded a jumbo collar, even though I trimmed the points and the width.  It might be great on another gal as written, but it makes me self conscious.  "Make way, make way for the average sized woman with the huge collar!"  I find if I crinkle and rumple it up it's acceptable.  I like the fit of the rest of the pattern.

Modifications:  I made the neck opening wider all around, trimming about a half inch from the pattern tissue.  I trimmed the collar way back too, and I added a facing in the back to make it more finished.  I rounded the points on the yellow one, my favorite so far.

The girls are wearing thrifted skirts.  They are merino, and came from the Salvation Army with the pleat tacking still in place.  I'm embarrassed to say they cost $4.50.  For the pair.  I'll be giving generously to the SA this season.  They were a little big for me, so I am taking them in - the light grey one is done and came out slick.  The charcoal one shows how much I'll be taking in (I'll hide the work in the side seam).

Dolly is wearing a half slip refashioned from a thrifted polyester floor length skirt.

I hope these girls will get along.  Wouldn't that be horrible if they didn't?

Wear your Heart on your Sleeve

I see a trend happening lately that makes my heart sing.  Folks are making garments that truly appeal to them, with motifs that describe who they are, or what they love.  They're playing it unsafe, breaking the rules.  Telling all.  I'm listening.

Click here for a photo of Erin McKean's letters dress.  She loves to write. 

Here is Rachel Antonoff's First in Brass dress.

Kate Davies struck a nostalgic chord with her owls sweater.

Here are some ideas.  Click on the titles below to go to Spoonflower.  See if you ever make it back - it's addictive.

Measuring Cups by Heidi Kenney:

Godzilla by Anne Leukocyte and Gingham by Holli Zollinger:

Grey and Gold Chairs by 1Canoe2:

Ro-Coq-Au-Vin by Cynthia Frenette:

Puppachutes and Flying Piggies by Tinet:

What would you wear on your sleeve?