My first ever Trunk Show!!

My favorite fabric store Stonemountain and Daughter Fabric is scheduling an event featuring all the garments that I've sewn for the Suzan, aka FabricLady. We have enjoyed a 3+ year collaboration, sewing, blogging, wardrobe planning and a special friendship. Others on her team will be joining in the fun and I can't say how thrilled that I am to be a part of this special day.

If you live in the area, I hope that you will come by.  Suzan's blog has a huge following and I am a contributor. Actually, it's part of the reason that I've let Laurel's Quill flounder for the past few years. My process is simple: sew, take photos, write about it.  It's not a job, even though I'm busy with it at least 3 or 4 days a week on average.  It's that our collaboration hits all my creative buttons, not to mention it's great to be a part of watching Stonemountain's garment fabric side flourish.

Meanwhile, you know how I am - got an event? Make an outfit!!! We have been concentrating on the Independent pattern designers for the last year, so I try to stick with them even in my own wardrobe.
I chose three simple patterns from 100 Acts of Sewing and three coordinating fabrics to make a casual layered look.

And would ya check out those shoes?? I got them yesterday just to match my outfit!  Love pointy toes!!

The tops are simple so adding pockets is a creative way to jazz them up...

You get the idea.  The fabrics are soft and they will transition into Spring (even Summer) very nicely. I still have several outfits to whip up before the event, so I better get this studio cleaned up from yesterday's melee.  Funny, but I sew the same way I cook: messy, messy messy.  But who wants to be stifled by wiping down the counters during Beef Wellington prep or picking up scraps and pins while sewing a Dior?

Oh and about that Beef Wellington? Incredible!!

Oh MY!!!!!

Laurel. Sewist and Cook...sorta.

Just for Me...

I've been lost in the beauty of summer mornings and evenings lately, spending quiet time reflecting on my renewed efforts to live more in the moment. It's so easy for me to focus on "have to's", worries and struggles instead of doing things that bring me joy and peace.

This month marks the third anniversary of my collaboration with Suzan (aka FabricLady) and Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics.  Zan and I have a date on the books for later this month, but today I just felt like taking the drive to Berkeley to hang out at the shop - you know, living in the moment!  Normally it's quite a frenetic bustle on our scheduled "Fit and Fun" days - I bring completed garments, we have fitting and photo sessions, we peruse the new fabrics and patterns, have lunch and I somewhere in between, I usually have a little time to shop for fabrics to add to my stash. It's fun and exciting and hectic all at the same time.

But today, I just wanted to leisurely stroll the aisles, to see what might jump out at me.  I also spent some time talking with Tilden Yamamoto, an Oakland designer who was doing a sewing demo in a sunny window of the shop. It was cool to watch another sewist/designer's "process".

Zan's young and hip buyers at Stonemountain are bringing in the most unique fabrics these days- shelves of double gauze that had me drooling...ikats by the dozens all begging me "pick me!" I must have been thinking about the beauty of nature, as everything that caught my eye today was green.

And that's what I came home with....they are like little works of art.

Yummy double gauze - a Scout tee? And a summer dress?

 I need a little shift to wear by the pool...Love this ikat!!  

Think I'll use the batik to create a facing around the neck and armholes.

And let's pick up a couple of Indie patterns...

Love View B...probably use that double gauze tiny print above

It was a wonderful few hours in Bay...right up until the traffic on the way home.  Oh well...a day at Stonemountain with Zan and the staff is worth a couple of hours of frantic Friday drivers.

Can't wait to dive into these projects!!

Laurel. Are you "Green with envy"?

Sew busy....

My blog writing has suffered these past couple of months. It's times like this that I begin to question my propensity toward over-commitment....too many balls in the air? The problem is that I love everything I'm doing. We over-achievers are like that, thinking we can do it all, have it all.

Can we?  You tell me.

Scarves of Pride

A graduation sash/stole has a important role played in a graduation ceremony. The sashes, stoles and scarves are meant to depict various forms of meanings such as being a member of a specific organization in school, to honor accomplishments or to show gratitude. They are considered to be a way for the graduating students to reveal their gratitude and appreciation of the ones who have assisted with their needs during their educational life: " Thanks for helping me make it through. Thanks for making it possible for me to succeed. I didn't do this alone."


Each graduating class of Women's Empowerment chooses a  signature color for the scarves they are to wear during the ceremony. The scarves are passed on from sister to sister as they enter the stage. I have been privileged to make two sessions' scarves.  It's another way for me to give back to this wonderful organization for homeless women who are striving to better themselves technically, emotionally and spiritually.

Here's the "How-to"...

This session my dear friend and collaborator Suzan, aka Fabriclady from Stonemoutain and Daughter Fabrics donated a lovely stretch lace fabric in "Magenta", the chosen color for Session 59 grads. There was about 8 or 9 yards on the bolt, so I hoped there would be enough for the 24 scarves.

I used my entryway floor tiles as a way to size and cut the fabric...

 I used purple thread to serge the edges - purple is Women's Empowerment's logo color.

Once the scarves were cut and serged, I embellished one side with jewels to add some sparkle. Some jewels needed adhesive and other were supposed to be self adhesive.  (I use the term loosely as I saw several ladies with little jewels stuck on their cheeks...must have fallen off during the ceremony) So use the glue!

The embellishments were only added to one side of the scarf, to give meaning to the notion that the ladies change during the 8 week program...

And here's the story..

 
Graduation ceremonies at Women's Empowerment are a three hankie morning. Listening to the personal stories of overcoming adversity and fighting through struggles is a sort of "rising out of the ashes" triumph for many of these women. They emerge from the intense 8 week program with a new hope for the future, literally "empowered" to change their destiny. In the words of one graduate, "I am no longer defined by my past".

 

The success of Women's Empowerment is well established in the community, and they take notice of the accomplishments of these women in the public media, noting that many of them find housing and jobs as well as reestablish broken relationships with their children and families.

I often wonder what separates me from many of these women when I hear their stories.  Why did their lives take such a hard turn from the dreams that they must have had as children? We "can't know", as my daughter would say...we can only smile at the way they determined to take a new path toward a self-worth they never had, an inner strength they found and a budding confidence that developed in just a short eight weeks.

And the scarves? It's just a small thing for me, but I am honored to have served this awesome organization. And thanks, FabricLady, for being a part of something that's special to me.

Laurel. Because I can...

A Special Collaboration

Two years ago today, I emailed Suzan, aka Fabric Lady, with questions on the details on the first garment that I was making for her. It was a silk tank with a knit back - it still hangs in the fabric store that I have come to love, Stonemountain. Some 80 plus garments later, our collaboration still hums on.

We hooked up after her newsletter's "seamstress call" in May of 2013.  I answered the call, sent some photos, we met, we shared, and just like that our sewing adventure began. And though my sewing talents may have landed me this gig, I know that it was more about how we connected with each other...two creative souls with a love of inspiring others, creating beautiful things and sharing a part of ourselves through blogging. Neither of us would say that it was fate that we met, but that it was meant to be...the stars aligning, our God watching?

You know when you are doing what you're supposed to be doing.  You know it. It's all about the feelings that you get when you're in the middle of it.  It consumes your thoughts, inspires your creativity and feeds your soul.  Sewing does that for me. And though I can "Do" may creative things (many of them for years) I always come back to the pleasure of handling fine fabric, sewing a straight seam, designing a dress. 

People have asked me repeatedly to sew for them: to make a pants for a hard to fit figure, to alter a dress, etc. and these days, I have declined. What makes sewing for Suzan special is the collaboration. When I sew a garment for her, I am writing a blog in my head at the same time, taking photographs...teaching...inspiring others to create a garment.

My visits to Berkeley for fittings and shopping are more than taking care of business.  They are a chance for two Leos to enjoy a lunch together, share our lives and love of all that life offers. And though our lives have taken us on many separate paths on the way to here, we know we are doing what we are supposed to be doing today. She, running a thriving fabric store and me, adding my two cents of creativity along the way.

Collaboration, friendship, sisterhood.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy "Anniversary", Zan!

 

 Laurel. It's a good thing.

Vintage Fabric Stash

A friend of mine lost her mother about one year ago and the family is still trying to go through her belongings to get the family home ready to sell. Weeding through boxes and boxes of memorabilia, kitchen gadgets, old photos and craft supplies is somewhat painful, trying to decide what to keep and what to toss. Everything brings back a memory.

After a couple of estate sales and the piles are still huge, it gets to be too much and you're just ready to junk it all. My friend, knowing that I make little dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World No. CA asked if I wanted any of her Mom's fabric stash. We met yesterday afternoon and I went through each box, looking for cotton fabric for our upcoming Sew Fest. It was amazing to see the variety of fabrics in her stash, many of them from the 50's.

If you are a sewist and are my age, you may remember that many of the huge retailers "used to" sell fabric. The way they prepared remnants isn't that different from the way we see them now, but check out the prices!

Seeing these, I thought of FabricLadyand her Dad. I'll bet he has stories to tell about being an independent fabric store owner going up against the big guys.  I think that Walmart is the only national retailer that still sells fabric by the yard, though I am Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics girl all the way.

Amy's Mom had a whole box of 9" squares (quilting?) all cut out - they are perfect for trimming into pockets for the DAG dresses.  But as is common with stuff that has been stored in cardboard boxes for 20 years or longer, the fragrance of the fabric was a tad musty.  The squares filled up my entire front loading washer. And naturally, they all raveled and wrinkled coming out of the dryer, so I pressed every one of the squares so the volunteers could easily cut the pockets.

 
Other pieces of fabric weren't big enough to make a whole dress, but will become pockets or shorts for Dress a Dude, DAG's new "fashion line" for little boys. I'm joking about the fashion thing, but whenever a missionary takes our cute little dresses to the field, the little boys are heartbroken because they didn't get a new outfit...hence Dress a Dude.

Evidently Amy's Mom was a giver as well - I found ready made cotton bags for the Senior Gleaners that she made regularly for that group. There were a few pieces that weren't suitable for our purposes - a lot of older polyesters, knits, etc. But there were some real treasures in Mom's stash...vintage fabric big enough to make a big girl dress for yours truly.

I see a fifties style dress with a full skirt - I think they call them "midi skirts" these days. 

It's a soft cotton.

And this print is a shiny acetate, perfect for a sleeveless lined sheath dress.

 

And since I'm not a brown person, this cute print had enough yardage to make two DAG dresses!

 

I washed, cut and ironed everything I brought home, so needless to say I was exhausted by dinner.  And I remembered how much I hated to iron as a teenager and I have to say, it's even harder on your back as an old lady! Today I will serge up the dresses and get them ready to be put into a kit to be sewn by the women volunteers who lovingly give of their time and talents for Dress a Girl every month.

Thank you Amy for your generosity.  Your Mom would be happy.

Laurel. Ready for Saturday's Sew Fest with DAG

The Gentle Art of Writing

Polyvore Art, Laurel Dismukes 2015

I read an article in Victoria Magazine's latest issue about a woman who writes letters as a hobby.  Her recipients may be a family member or a friend, but she also writes to people that she doesn't even know.  The article itself was written in Victoria's serene style, with soft photos and ambient text.  It made me want to settle in with a calligraphy pen, some fine linen paper and a cup of coffee.

I don't write letters. We have a whole bundle of letters that my husband's father wrote to his Mom during the war, and when I read them, it was touching. Letter writing is personal, unselfish. I'm certainly a by-product from that generation, but I must not have gotten the "communication" gene. (I don't remember my Mom writing either.) I text, I blog...I write with a keyboard.  I dream of writing a book. But the whole picture of this woman sitting by her warm fireplace surrounded by her writing tools and pretty papers was mildly appealing. 

I should write more. It sounds calming...and it is. I have at least 4 calligraphy pens in various states of disrepair and dried-up inkwells.  I lost my pretty Cross pen with the rollerball somewhere in my sewing room - now there was an instrument that was a joy to set to paper! I didn't send out holiday cards this year, unlike last year when I hand addressed over 40 cards. I haven't been journaling either, even though there's a certain peace and satisfaction that accompanies writing your deepest thoughts in a pretty little book - it's almost meditative.

I wrote (via keyboard) in my New Year's List post about having more quiet time, being more in the present, but it's difficult when you're running around 90 miles an hour "doing" to stop and rest. To sit and be still and embrace a quiet sport like reading or writing takes perseverance and discipline for those of us who are driven to overachieve. But since I memorialized that desire on my 2015 list, I should at least give it the college try.

All that being said, it's Sunday, and I need to sew. It sound like more "doing" than resting, but there is a beautiful rhythm to making a garment...especially if you are able to share the whole process "writing" in FabricLady's blog to inspire others.

There's that keyboard thing again.  I'll try to be still this evening...maybe I'll read. Oh whoops, the Golden Globes are on tonight - does that count as resting? (I watch it for the fashion.)

By the way, did you know that they don't even teach cursive writing in school today?  What's up with that?

"Catching up on Her Reading" - Polyvore Art, Laurel Dismukes, 2015

Laurel. Show me your pens!

In Search of Style

If we confine ourselves to shopping in department stores, outlet malls and discount retailers we will always be able to find something to wear that is popular, perhaps even "trendy".  If we only buy our wardrobe online or from the dozens of catalogs stuffed in our mailboxes, we will probably find something at a bargain price that suits our fancy, but not without a modicum of  hassle and a lot of time. This is why I sew...I'd rather spend my precious time constructing a garment that fits me, fit's my style and doesn't always squeeze my pocketbook. And I am usually guaranteed of a good outcome, especially because my precious Stonemountain, my "muse", is just a freeway away...(can a fabric store BE a muse?)

To actually see an Alexander McQueen gown? Perfection!

Part of the joy of sewing for yourself comes with finding your own personal fashion sense, your "style". We get that by experience. When you have sewn garments for a while, you start to know what looks good on your body and what makes you feel good about the way you look. The other side of sewing for yourself is that you can get into a rut, always constructing the same looks, using the same fabrics. And this is why we "window shop": to get a sense for new designs, new uses for fabrics, etc.

Admittedly, you can still get into these ruts by limiting your window shopping experiences. If you go to the same department store over and over, you're likely to see the same thing over and over again. Department stores tend to overdo everything - if a dark printed polyester knit is popular, then everything in the store is made out of the same type of fabric and color pallet.(perhaps a gross exaggeration, but it seems that way sometimes).

Streetwear...black is STILL the go-to color, Zan

I like to window shop at smaller boutiques and the high-end boutiques within the high-end retailers. I want to see what the designers are offering up for the season. I'm no Project Runway candidate, but I like to watch it for inspiration (although I swear I can sew better than any of them). And despite their lack of sewing prowess (Kini being the exception this season) I have gotten a couple of design ideas.

The end all/beat all source of inspiration would be a trip to New York or Paris. Okay, we can't all do that, but I was blessed with a vacation this year which included 5 days in Paris. Just sitting at a cafe table for an hour will provide a person with enough inspiration to create a seasonal wardrobe. Strolling the streets of the Marais or fighting the crowds at the Galleria Lafayette provides one with ample opportunity for new ideas.

Tulle Streetwear.

Budding fashion sense...

Get out the credit cards...unless you SEW!

mmmmm..Vivienne Westwood... where would I ever wear it? BUT....

Too short for me, but cute!

Bet you can make this Chanel jacket...Hel-lo!

Digital prints.. STILL big this year.

DVF - does she ever go out of style???

In the end, I only actually "purchased" a pair of jeans at a high-end sidewalk sale in Avignon, Provence.  They have this sale once a year in September, and you could find the most amazing "bargains". I use the term loosely as everything in fashion is relative.

I am "SEW' ready to get back to sewing for me and The FabricLady. Our pile of fabric awaits!

Laurel. And sew on and sew on...