. . . in a wonky, suburban way. I visited Mill End Store on McLaughlin Blvd in Milwaukie, OR, at the suggestion of a designer friend. I sew rarely enough that I had mostly shopped for sewing and crafting supplies at Joann Fabrics, a nationwide chain. I had tried shopping locally, but most of the local fabric shops I'd heard of were boutiques, and way more expensive than I could afford. My friend Lindsey told me about Mill End, which is a Portland-area business and, unlike most chain stores, carries some local fabrics like Pendleton wool.
I knew that I was basically going to a fabric warehouse, so I checked their website a whole bunch of times to make sure that this was a place where I could buy fabric by the yard. It was. What I wasn't prepared for was the warehouse-y feel of the place. It's set back a little off the road, looking like all the other warehouses on the strip, and has a parking lot and entrance behind the building. To the odd pedestrian (and we are oddities in that part of town) it screamed "This place is not for you! It's for people who drive minivans!" But, once inside, I found that it was bright, open, and arranged to help knitters, sewers, and quilters find exactly what they are looking for and to guide them to things they didn't even know they needed. Today I was looking for white organza and brocade for my White Party outfit, and almost walked out with six yards of artichoke-printed cotton for a funky, retro sundress. I had a very hard time staying goal oriented with all the treasures around me. The calico section alone would make most vintage-inspired seamstresses weak in the knees, as would the collection of vintage prints and fabrics. I also found that the prices were competitive with Joann, the only chain store I've been to recently.
Finally, the staff were fantastic. In Oregon, almost everyone is fantastic, so it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. Even at a big chain store like Joann, the staff is fairly knowledgeable about what product they stock and they usually ask about my projects. At Mill End, however, the staff I interacted with seemed to have an in-depth knowledge of the different types of fabric I asked about, seemed to sew or knit or craft regularly, and seemed to have very friendly relationships with regular customers.
I will definitely be going back to Mill End - at the very least to buy a bunch of that artichoke fabric!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Jane Austen-style Bonnet
There was something off about the last bonnet I made. I thought it made me look like a pilgrim - although I have been accused of looking like a pilgrim in the past:
Anyway, when my friend with curly hair tried it on, it looked significantly less pilgrim-y on her. Still, after doing some intensive research (i.e. watching the six hour Pride and Prejudice miniseries in one sitting) I concluded that the bonnets of that era, or at least the bonnets in that movie, had brims that fanned out from the wearer's face more. They also seemed to perch on the wearer's head or hair, rather than wrapping around the head like my first bonnet did. With all those considerations in mind, I set out to alter the bonnet pattern I had used to make it more Jane Austen-y.
The pattern, of course, was for a Halloween costume, because apparently no person in her right mind wants to wear a historically accurate, apparel-quality bonnet for fun. I have never significantly altered a pattern or made my own pattern before. For those who know of my extreme, almost handicapping lack of spatial intelligence, it might come as a surprise that I would even attempt it. In the end, I used the crown pattern provided, but drew my own brim.
I had noticed that the brim pattern provided was nearly flat - the top wasn't any wider than the bottom and the bottom didn't curve around the head at all. The result of this was that the brim, when laid across the top of the head, laid flat and didn't flare away from the head at all. To create a better brim, I measured across the top of my head from behind each ear and then attempted to draw a curved pattern that would sit perpendicular to my scalp.
For the brim, I cut this pattern three times out of navy cotton and two times out of fusible webbing. I then ironed the two pieces of fusible webbing between two pieces of cotton. This made the "interior" of the brim. I then sewed the interior piece to the third piece of navy cotton with a long strip of tulle pinned between them. When I turned the brim right side out, it was navy on the outer edge, and navy with a tulle covering on the inner edge (the side that faces front).
After attaching the brim to the crown, which I had gathered loosely along the top and sides and rather tightly at the base, I hand sewed the seam inside the brim and basted the tulle in place for a sort of pintuck look. I really like the way this bonnet sits further back on the head, and the way the brim fans out from the face, allowing the face to be more exposed. It looks even better on someone with elaborately styled hair like the fancy ladies wore during that period.
I also shortened the back of the bonnet from the pattern. I like it shorter, without the bizarre neck modesty flap, but I found that it was less forgiving. I had to make sure to tuck all my hair (not difficult) or my friend's hair (more difficult) under the back of the bonnet, and then it looked a little strained. In my next attempt, I will probably keep the back short, but make the crown itself fuller to accommodate more hair.
 |
| (I was supposed to be Jane Eyre) |
Anyway, when my friend with curly hair tried it on, it looked significantly less pilgrim-y on her. Still, after doing some intensive research (i.e. watching the six hour Pride and Prejudice miniseries in one sitting) I concluded that the bonnets of that era, or at least the bonnets in that movie, had brims that fanned out from the wearer's face more. They also seemed to perch on the wearer's head or hair, rather than wrapping around the head like my first bonnet did. With all those considerations in mind, I set out to alter the bonnet pattern I had used to make it more Jane Austen-y.
The pattern, of course, was for a Halloween costume, because apparently no person in her right mind wants to wear a historically accurate, apparel-quality bonnet for fun. I have never significantly altered a pattern or made my own pattern before. For those who know of my extreme, almost handicapping lack of spatial intelligence, it might come as a surprise that I would even attempt it. In the end, I used the crown pattern provided, but drew my own brim.
For the brim, I cut this pattern three times out of navy cotton and two times out of fusible webbing. I then ironed the two pieces of fusible webbing between two pieces of cotton. This made the "interior" of the brim. I then sewed the interior piece to the third piece of navy cotton with a long strip of tulle pinned between them. When I turned the brim right side out, it was navy on the outer edge, and navy with a tulle covering on the inner edge (the side that faces front).
After attaching the brim to the crown, which I had gathered loosely along the top and sides and rather tightly at the base, I hand sewed the seam inside the brim and basted the tulle in place for a sort of pintuck look. I really like the way this bonnet sits further back on the head, and the way the brim fans out from the face, allowing the face to be more exposed. It looks even better on someone with elaborately styled hair like the fancy ladies wore during that period.
I also shortened the back of the bonnet from the pattern. I like it shorter, without the bizarre neck modesty flap, but I found that it was less forgiving. I had to make sure to tuck all my hair (not difficult) or my friend's hair (more difficult) under the back of the bonnet, and then it looked a little strained. In my next attempt, I will probably keep the back short, but make the crown itself fuller to accommodate more hair.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
It's All in the Ground
In a moment of optimism and good weather, I enriched the soil and reseeded the kale, spinach, chard, and conventional beets last week. When the weather got even more beautiful today, I went a little crazy. I weeded the flower garden and enriched the soil in the rest of the veggie patch with Bumper Crop, a manure/compost mixture. Then I sowed two kind of pea, two kinds of carrot, chioggia beets, and chives. I got two round planters that used to hold small shrubs converted to veggie containers. I even bought a new rosemary bush that the nursery thought would be hardier than the ones I've had in the past that failed to overwinter. I'm pretty sure that my timing is off and some of my seeds will respond badly when the weather turns cold again tomorrow. But I just had to play in the garden today!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Will the Fabulous Head-Pieces Never Stop?
My best friend finally guilted me into finishing the bonnet I promised to make her nearly two years ago. After all that procrastination, it only took me about two hours to make!
I still need to tinker with the design a bit. I don't like the way the ribbons attach, and I suspect that, on an authentic early-1800's bonnet, the ribbon would simply run through the bonnet rather than be attached at the sides. Also, this bonnet pattern reminds me more of the American colonies than 1800's Britain, so I think I need to look at other, more period-specific patterns. But it looks pretty good for a costume bonnet, and maybe I'll make a better one in another two years.
I still need to tinker with the design a bit. I don't like the way the ribbons attach, and I suspect that, on an authentic early-1800's bonnet, the ribbon would simply run through the bonnet rather than be attached at the sides. Also, this bonnet pattern reminds me more of the American colonies than 1800's Britain, so I think I need to look at other, more period-specific patterns. But it looks pretty good for a costume bonnet, and maybe I'll make a better one in another two years.
Modernist Cuisine - Check out this beautiful website
Thanks to Bookslut, which is pretty much my favorite blog ever, I learned about Modernist Cuisine - a ridiculous, beautiful behemoth of a cookbook/cooking manual. While my cooking style is distinctly un-modern and (I suspect) un-modernist, I loved browsing the book's website, looking at pictures of decadent food, and getting inspired by the audacity of over-the-top cooking. I'm also reminded that, as I perfect certain recipes and techniques, there's still so much I don't understand about the scientific underpinnings of my experiments. I would love to live in a world where I had both the money to buy this book and time to really explore it.
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