The Stuff of Amy Butler's Nightmares

Although I would have loved to wow you all with my chic taste and amazing sewing prowess for the first journey out on the sewing machine, it was simply not to be. Instead, my sometimes odd sense of humor and extremely rudimentary sewing skills got in the way:

Whahahahahawha!

Here's a detail I love -
the towel loop.Soon after I inherited Marnie's machine and got it up and running, Larissa announced that she was putting together a fundraising auction for Cafe Au Play, a wonderful family-oriented cafe project in Portland, which is slated to take place tomorrow night. In the past, I have done some minimal sewing on the borrowed machines of friends, culminating in much of the piecing work on this quilt. The last time I did any substantive sewing was over three years ago, and it was fairly rudimentary then. Still, I got pretty excited about this apron drive and decided that I really wanted to participate, so I signed up, thinking that I would make an apron or two for myself as a test run and then complete one to mail off to Larissa. Oh, the hubris!

The bow in back.Life, as usual, got in the way. I spent much of the last month either working or spending family time with Caia and M, and really didn't allow myself any time to play with the sewing machine. Then this week came and I attempted to cut fabric. Apparently I need to go back to kindergarten, because I cannot use scissors to save my life. Happily, I have a Michael's nearby, so I was able to pick up a rotary and self-healing mat and avoid the cutting issue. But then the issues with the machine itself began. I should probably say the issues with me. I am sure that if I had threaded it properly the machine would have been just fine. Instead, I spent all of Wednesday night meticulously taking the machine's guts out, removing thread, and cursing steadily. I was only set right by a desperate trip to the repair shop during lunch yesterday, wherein the repairman took mercy on me and reminded me of the most basic of sewing steps. Last night, with the deadline looming (thank god for fedex), I was determined to make the apron work. By early this morning it was finished. (Don't worry, I did not sew all night. I took a "Survivor" break and had a nice healthy sleep before returning to stitching.)

Another view of the pocket.The resulting apron definitely has its flaws. My esteemed photographer is capable of making it look quite nice in these photos, but if you look closely, you can see the way the stitching at the waist undulates like a series of gently rolling Iowa hills. The fabric is not cut in a straight line (as you can tell by the way that the skulls fail to line up), and there are likely thread ends hanging about, but for all that I still love it. I think that this apron would be a ton of fun for the mother of a little boy, or even for the occasional hip, secure dad (though I suppose even a hip dad would prefer to lose the pleating). It's not vintage, lacy, or delicate, like some of the other lovely pieces that I've seen donated, but I hope that it will fill the niche for fun. Although many of the seams are not straight, they should be strong. I'm hoping that the homemade nature of the auction will draw the kind of edgy Portland types who will like its rustic charm. If not, I am happy to bid myself!

For those who are interested, the pattern is the Pleated Apron from Amy Butler's recent book, In Stitches. It is extremely well-written, as evidenced by the fact that I, who cannot thread a sewing machine or cut with scissors, was able to follow it and produce an actual apron. (Yay!!!). The skull fabric is Talking Heads from the Alexander Hamilton Collection. Personally, I would make an entire quilt for a little boy out of this fabric, but as you know, my fabric taste has been questioned before.

And now, for a sewing interlude

Right after law school, I moved to Arizona and started work at a small firm with three wonderful women. We were all crafters - Jack, Jessica and I were knitters and Ellen was a quilter. When I got engaged in the early fall of that year, Ellen decided that as a wedding gift, she, Jack and Jessica would spring for fabric at The Quilted Apple, and she would teach all three of us to make a quilt for my wedding. In between margaritas, episodes of the Gilmore Girls, and some rather intense floor refinishing at Ellen's, we got a fair amount done on the quilt before I left Arizona to join Moxie in LA. Then the quilt languished as our lives went on and we married, bought houses, and changed jobs, but eventually, three and a half years after we started it, the quilt somehow got completed and made its way to me:

The Wedding Quilt

Many hands helped to build this beautiful and cozy blanket. Ellen's mother tied and bound it (and reported that it had to be tied rather than quilted due to the margarita episode). It is one of my most prized possessions, and I will treasure it forever. But here's the real kicker: Moxie, who eschews all things with color, and many things handmade, affirmatively likes it. Shocking, no? But so very, very nice.

I really enjoyed sewing, and made several floor pillows and the occasional curtain. I would even borrow a sewing machine to do some finishing on my knits, but I never had a machine of my own, until Marnie decided to move to Portand and didn't have room to take her machine, or her grandmother's sewing table, along:

The sewing machine and other wonderful goodies.

So now I have two more really special possessions. Marnie is definitely my LA Ellen, and to me, it is much more special to have a sewing machine that was hers than it could ever be to go out and purchase one for myself. And, I have accessories made by friends, too. Notice the wonderful little pin cushion above? It was made by Mary Heather. (As were the cute little shrinky dink pins.) Armed with such great equipment and knowledge from friends, I think I'm ready to go forth into the world of sewing.

And since friends have made this possible, I've decided to pay it forward, and make one of my first projects for an auction that one of our virtual friends is helping to pull together to benefit a really neat Portland project, called Cafe au Play. Who knows, maybe someday I'll end up there and have a chance to take advantage of this wonderful cooperative venture. I clearly have plenty of reasons to visit.

If you haven't yet, please go visit Larissa's site. She is collecting aprons to auction, and I just know that many of you guys can whip out an apron in no time flat. While you're there, grab a button:

Finally, I have some wonderfully fashionable fabric to show you:

Cowboys and Kittens and Koi, Oh My!

Marnie was so impressed with my impeccable taste when I chose the kitten fabric at the Santa Monica Fiber Fest, that I felt she deserved something equally special for her Christmas present. She has gone so far as to coin the phrase "It's so kittens and koi" to refer to instances when people that she otherwise considers tasteful deviate so far in their choices that she just isn't quite as sure about them anymore. I believe the cowboys suit her recent bent toward the manly men. I'm thinking a Brokeback pillowcase may be in order.

P.S. Fear not, Larissa. I promise not to make you a cowboy apron. I understand that Cafe au Play is a family establishment.