Lots Of Buttons

On Saturday, when I called the shop to see if my machine would be ready for pick-up in the afternoon, Charlene (the owner) asked me when was the last time that I'd had it serviced which led to a discussion of how often do most people have their machine serviced (every 2-3 years but some every year) which then led to her saying that the majority of women who bring their machines in are quilters and only a handful sew garments. She said that she thinks of me as a garment sewer which was surprising - and delightful - to hear. Most people still see me as a quilter. Most don't want to allow me to move on. Just because you're good at something doesn't mean you want to do it forever.

Questioning Charlene further, I discovered that of all the women she knows who sew garments, only one or two are at our level (we're similar but interested in different things) and all of them - with the exception of me - work full time outside the home. After work, they want to be alone in their sewing room with their machine and aren't interested in interacting. Kamloops has a population of 98,754 people of which 50,290 are women with 34,300 between ages 15 and 64 and 8,360 between ages 45 and 55 - five years either side of my own age. Only a handful sew garments. Not good information but good to know.

Near the end of July, I received an offer for $10.00 worth of free buttons from Lots Of Buttons. I chose one of Tarsha, seven of Delbert, and seven of Nellie. They arrived air mail in individual sealed pockets, in a decorated envelope, inside a padded envelope, in faster than normal time from Hong Kong. I'm leaving them packaged to avoid damage until I'm ready to use them. The Delbert and Nellie buttons are coconut and the Tarsha is high-grade, heat-treated polyester. It looks like metal. They're beautiful buttons.

On Sunday, we drove to Vernon to drop off the purses at the gallery. How amusing that having just created a dozen textile art purses my own bag looked like trash. I love the shape and pockets and plan to take it apart and make a pattern and I have a leather jacket in stash ready to cut up and refashion however, in the meantime, I needed something. This bag has two central zippers, one exterior zipper, one interior zipper, a flap with a rivet, a buttonhole-ish do-dad, and a magnetic snap, a strap with two D-rings, two rivets, and a slider, the cheap leather exterior, and the plasticy feeling lining. Cost - $16.00. As a temporary purse, that's a great price but it's cheaper than cheap and I don't know whether to feel good about finding something that works for next to nothing or bad about all the hands involved in the process that are earning peanuts.

Last fall, while debating writing a book on knitting by the numbers, I purchased a whole lot of size small quantities of yarn. Having changed my mind about the book, it's been sitting unused. Since I couldn't sew this weekend, I knit hoping that if I knit something small I'd be done about the time my machine was ready to come home and if not, at least it wouldn't be as labour intensive, drawn out, and boring a project as the abandoned afghan. I'm about to cast off. The pattern is BabyDrops 18-10 from Garnstudio. It's a great pattern to use as a blank canvas. More about that in another posting.

Good thing we already had plans for Sunday because Charlene called around 3:30 Saturday afternoon to tell me the machine was still in pieces and might be ready on Monday. Maybe. No guarantees. She said she didn't want me sitting by the phone wondering. How pathetic that sounds and - of course - that's exactly what I was doing - LOL.

The Ashpa Naira Gallery is about a half hour off the main highway heading into Vernon. It's one of those fabulous galleries well off the beaten track, usually the best kind. Carolina (the owner) is a huge fan of my work and gives honest feedback about, and useful input into, my designs. She gushed about the purses and said that she'd have a few on display for the show opening last night. VERY fun! I've decided they have to stay fun. No mass production. Just exploration.

After the gallery, we drove to the other side of town to visit with friends. Lorraine is a couture seamstress. I've mentioned her a few times. I'm so glad that she's only an hour and a half away so I can visit reasonably often. About the skirt from the workshop, she told me that skirt, it's not working. It's such a gift to have a friend who tells you the truth not just some kind of that's nice statement especially when you know it's not nice. We then talked about options for using the fabric in a top and about...

... OOP Vogue 1116 of which I plan to sew the pants and Lorraine wants to make the jacket. Pants are not on my agenda right now. I have a desperate need for tops so I'll get to those first and pants later but I have so many ideas swirling. Top of tickling my brain right now is a combination of cloth and paint and outlining pens and stitched details. I want to make the fabric and then decide what to make with it afterward. Does your mind swirl? I have way too many ideas already never mind the new ones constantly developing from daily inspiration. And that's fine. I let them flow and follow up the most intriguing ones first.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - Carolina and Lorraine, honest feedback