Happy Friday! It’s been a productive week – I’ve been sewing furiously behind the scenes and getting a lot done. This was the kind of week that made me extra appreciative of the friends I’ve made in the last few months through sewing. For example, I got a photography lesson from the lovely Michelle, who shot the cover of my book. She’s a consummate pro and probably one of the kindest, sweetest people I’ve ever met. We had so much fun, and she even let me use her fancy 100mm macro lens. I got a close up of oregano flowers (which she also brought for me from her garden along with some heavenly scented verbena – she’s just fabulous), and I can definitely tell that the quality is several notches above the unimpressive line-up in my photo toolkit. I’ll have to start saving up to get this lovely lens. Michelle is a very patient teacher, and we went over how to look for optimal light, setting white points and how to use this big ole reflector I got for photo shoot purposes:
I’m feeling pretty legit and my living room looks almost like an authentic photo studio now. It’s time to start improving my photography for real since I’m supposed to shoot all the interior photos for the book.
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I finally visited the new Drygoods store in Pioneer Square after a delicious and laugh-filled lunch with a compatriot in the land of sewing obsessed and wow. I mean, just wow. It’s a stunning historic space situated on a pedestrian-only, cobbled street. The ceiling soars up to eternity and gigantic windows let in copious amounts of light. Everything about the place feels airy and bright and with Keli’s flair for interior design (and the drool-worthy fabrics, naturally), you can’t help but be lured into the shop. Of course, it helps that they have a mega-clever window display:
They’re like little state-shaped pillows. I think it’s genius. You can vaguely see the two talented ladies that help run Keli’s shop, Margaret and Julienne, and it’s so funny because they all know my taste so well. “This made me think of you,” they’ll say, and invariably, it’s something I love in the grey/black/indigo/ivory color scheme. I was overwhelmed by how pretty everything looked and forgot to take more photos, but I’ll see if I can get better ones later. Oh, while I was snapping this one above, a gentleman paused next to me and said, “What a nifty looking store, eh? Makes you want to get crafty.” Exactly.
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A conversation from this week:
K: Mama, I want a training bra.
Me: What? Why do you even know about that?? No, you don’t need one.
K: That’s the point, Mama — hello, training bra?*
*She won’t be getting one any time soon, but it did make me start thinking about making one…hmmmm…I bet I could make super cute ones and they would be so easy…
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I’m off to go practice some photography! Have a wonderful weekend, all!
Getting back my groove
I will be sewing like mad
this week and beyond
You are very busy! Going places, doing things–looks like lots of fun!
Yes! Last week was lots of fun, though this week’s looking like a doozy…deadlines, deadlines, deadlines…
Productive sounds good. Sewing furiously sounds very good! I wish either was true for myself… I am still getting used to my new schedule and all I can do is crash at night and maybe a little knitting. The new Drygoods looks like one more reason to visit Seattle 😉 Enjoy your weekend!
Oh, I’ve been thinking about you, Ute, wondering how your job is going. I hope that you’ll adjust to your schedule soon and will be whipping out beautiful sewn garments in no time! 🙂 And yes, you MUST visit Seattle!
Oh Sanae I laughed soo much about the training bra. Soooo funny! I love your Friday randomness posts. And you go and rock that reflector, girlfriend! 😉
Thank you, Rachel! Sometimes I type stuff up and pause before hitting publish…The predominant thought I have is, “will my daughter hate me for this?” Then I decide that I would rather remember these moments and suffer her wrath, because I’ll never get them back and I just think she’s so sassy and clever. I’m still a reflector dunce, but I’m starting to get it!
So excited to read you’ve been furiously sewing! Looking forward to seeing all the creations from this productive labor on the blog sometime:) As for a training bra, having recently purchased a few for my 11 yr old, I definitely think you could some. Perhaps buy one to use a pattern sample and then go from there – think of all the possibilities!:) Though truthfully, you still have some time before that’s all necessary thankfully.
The new Drygoods store looks amazing!! I so wish I had been able to see it when we were there this summer – that window display is fabulous! When your life calms down a bit, do you think you’ll be interested in teaching classes there again?
Oh Lucinda, the sad part is that though I’m furiously sewing, the output doesn’t look like it at all! Still, I’m making progress, and thanks for the feedback on the training bra. It does seem pretty easy to figure out though I might need some special hardware, but there’s a store here that carries all that stuff. You’d love the new Drygoods space! It’s really amazing, and the plan is to have my book launch party there!! As for teaching…well, I wouldn’t say no, especially now that Keli is offering lunchtime classes, which fits in really well with my schedule!
I can’t wait to get down to the new Drygood Designs store! It looks amazing. And all that space for droll-worthy fabrics! Glad you got in there.
Definitely make the trip to Pioneer Square – I just love it to pieces! I’m especially excited to see what they do with their window display now that their window is more than double the size!
Gail and I need to reschedule our trip up to Seattle now that the new Drygoods is open!! Looks amazing. So glad to hear you’re feeling productive – sometimes I get so busy I feel like I’m spinning my wheels but damn it feels great to actually cross stuff of the list.
You guys definitely needs to come up, Kristin! And hey, I hear Keli’s brewing up some kind of get together….
Thanks so much Sanae! It was so great to see you and am excited for when things calm down a bit for both of us:). and K is just awesome!
Haha, isn’t K funny? So great to see you too, Keli! Can’t wait to have a proper catch up soon!
So funny about the training bra – it was one of the first things I sewed for myself and my best friend many years ago. I don’t think you’d need special hardware, just some lovely colourful (or not depending on the the wearers requirements) wide elastic for the bottom a la these ones http://www.bonds.com.au/girls-pullover-crop-uzqs1-39s.html 🙂
So cool, Wendy! I think a training bra would be totally doable, and I bet in a few years, K will appreciate it greatly 🙂