Negative! (Ease, that is)

I've been working out regularly for 6 years or so. With a personal trainer. And with weights. I wish I had started earlier because it would have helped to prevent my bones from deteriorating (which they are doing, damn them). You younger ladies, pay attention! There's lots of good information here.

But I digress. Working out is not a lot of fun in my opinion, but it is ever so much more bearable if you are wearing comfortable and stylish workout clothes. There are so many more options now than there were the last time The Sewing Lawyer made such items in 2010. The shorts and tops I made then are still in regular rotation and look pretty good, but to be honest they don't fit all that well (since I lost 15 lbs a few years ago) and I just want new stuff.

I still have my Kwik Sew patterns from the 80s but last week, I bought two of the newest Jalies - the "Cora" tights and the "Anne-Marie" top. It was definitely time. Plus, I have to keep up my relationship with my Coverstitch machine.

Stash diving was productive - in 2010 I bought quite a lot of stretchy stuff at Susie Spandex at PatternReview weekend Montreal. Plenty to cut out a new pair of shorts to test out the Cora pattern.

Back - inside out

Front - inside out

They are very plain given the number of seams and opportunities for colour blocking, but I decided to make these mostly black. The only shot of colour on the outside is the pocket backing, in turquoise. My little surprise.

The inside shots do a better job of showing the construction of these shorts than the modeled photos, because my wooly nylon thread is grey rather than black. There seems to be a little shaping built into the seams, but most of the fitting work is done by the lycra.

I'm pretty chuffed at my stitching on these for two reasons. First, I stuck with the woolly nylon in the loopers through numerous tests (during which the upper looper thread broke again and again) until I figured out that I had to loosen the looper tensions ... a lot ... to keep the thread happy. No breaks were experienced during actual construction (YAY!).

Second, I maintained my state of non-intimidation with respect to my coverstitch machine. I started with the black on black shorts rather than the more colourful Anne-Marie top (to come) so that my mistakes would be totally invisible as indeed they are. Stay tuned to see if I can maintain my track record with the top, where I've chosen to use more colour.

I made size T based on hip measurements and was pretty skeptical that I'd be able to fit into these as they appear, off the body, to be big enough only for a child. I kept the faith in the negative ease though, and look!

The only change I made to the basic pattern was to cut 25" of elastic for the waist rather than the 22" Jalie thought would be A-OK for a size T person with a 29" waist. Seriously? A 6 year old has a 22" waist (according to Jalie's size chart). The extra 3" was a little bigger than the actual circumference of the waist band piece so it was a little awkward to sew, but once I put it on it all expanded nicely and without cutting into my much more than 6 year old flesh.

Lace (?) jeans

Yes that is my latest V1440 shirt

Well, they look like lace. However, the fabric is actually a cotton-lycra twill. Pretty standard stuff, but the print mimics black lace, as you can see at right. I thought it was kind of fun.

Back view - spot the pockets?

This is the Jalie jeans pattern ... again. Why not, once you know they will fit (if you remember to think while constructing the waistband)? Although I did buy the new Éléanore pull on jeans pattern last week and I'll have to give it a try too.

Innards

As usual, I used a firm (non-stretch) woven cotton fabric for the pocket bag and to face the waistband, to reduce bulk. This fabric was left over from some particularly spectacular pajamas.

My sole innovation on these was to add a little button with loop so I can fold these up. I really wanted pedal pushers but I also really wanted long pants. This way, I got both! We'll see if it's a good idea as I wear these...

Vogue 1440 - take two

I was so taken with my new Donna Karan shirt that I decided I should immediately alter the pattern and make another. This time, a white one as per the pattern envelope.

Extreme close up - woven pattern
matching at CF placket

Fabric came from stash (natch!). I got it at the Fabric Flea Market and had thought it was cotton, but having worked with it, I'm not so sure. It has a really soft hand and loses the crispness of a recent press really fast. As you can see at left. It has a really interesting woven-in pattern that's somewhat shiny. With typical Sewing Lawyer compulsion, I matched at CF and CB. Not that anyone will ever notice...

The alterations I made were, in the end, just three:

• Took in side seams, about 2cm on each side at underarm and more at the hem.
• Shortened it by 5cm.
• Raised centre back neck slightly.

I originally thought the underarm was way too low, but taking it in took care of that problem. 

I took a few photos of the construction of the back yoke/arm opening bands. Ignore the Vogue instructions and do it my way instead!

 Front and back bands are seamed and attached to shirt at arm opening, RS to WS, turned and pressed. The other edge of the band is turned under and pinned down.

I've left the last few cm unattached at the front shoulder edge. This will allow you later to sew the shoulder seams of the shirt body and bands separately for a better shoulder finish.

Vogue says to complete all topstitching at this point but don't! Topstitch the back to side seam only.

At right, I've sewn the shirt shoulder seams (French seams) and attached the back triangular yoke, WS to WS. It helps if you've left the CB seam unsewn in the seam allowance area.

In the photo at left, I have also sewn the shoulder seams of the bands (regular seam, trimmed and pressed open) and I've attached the back V shaped band to the back yoke.

With this construction order, you can sew the bands continuously from in front of the shoulder, over the shoulder and down to the point of the V. You do have to do this in two passes.

The trickiest part is the V point itself. Precision sewing and lots of trimming are essential.

In the shot to right you can see the preparation for final toptitching. This construction method allows you to start at the right underarm and topstitch continuously through the V and to the left underarm. 

You'll see this shirt again on this blog ... soonish.

New Look 6470 ca 2005

The Sewing Lawyer is a bit late to this party. New Look 6470 was published in 2005 but it's still in print on the Simplicity website, so it's an oldie but a goodie, as they say. A two piece knit outfit - skirt and top (2 views). Easy. Just the ticket.

It seems fitting that the last fabric in (purchased in Montreal at our July meetup) has been made into this well-aged pattern.

It's also fitting that I used this easy pattern to get reacquainted with my Janome Coverstitch machine. I'm a little embarrassed to confess that we didn't bond instantly. However, this pattern helped me to get past my unease.

Look! An almost perfect coverstitched hem!

Deeper cowl facing attached at shoulder and
arm opening

I made the cowl neck top and improved the pattern by extending the cowl facing (which was really skimpy and would forever have been flipping out) so it is about 10cm (4") deep. It's sewn to the arm opening at the sides, so it's very secure.

I also improved on the pattern by cutting strips of fabric on the lengthwise grain to stabilize the back neck and armscye openings. This is such a vast improvement over the pattern instructions to turn the seam allowances under and topstitch. In this very stretchy knit I think the strips are 80% or even less of the length of the openings. I didn't measure, just pulled until it seemed about right.

The skirt has an elastic waistband. I made a loop, serged the elastic to the top of the skirt after taking about 2.5cm (1") off the top to make sure it would be the right length since I didn't want to do a hem. Then I turned the elastic over and coverstitched.

What else? I cut a size 10 for the top and 14 for the skirt. Who needs tight clothes? Not me!

Sadly this is a soft rayon knit so the outfit won't last all that long, but it took a day to make the two pieces and I am no longer scared of my coverstitch. I call that a win!

Vogue 1440 - the shirt

When Vogue had one of its pattern sales earlier this year, I scooped up V1440. My online acquisition decisions are ephemeral it seems. I have to assume I bought it for the shirt because (a) fringe trim (UGH) and (b) The Sewing Lawyer does not need a Vogue pattern to make leggings (oh sorry, "close fitting tapered pants").

I figured I'd use the remainder of the happy print I used to line my trench coat to try out the shirt pattern. (Happily I had just enough left after cutting out the shirt to re-do the waistband of my Jalie jeans.) I have only scraps left. Stash busting at its best.

I cut the shirt out in a cutting marathon along with my two pairs of pants. That was in June sometime. But I wasn't going to let myself start sewing it until I had redone the waistbands. The bad news is that it took me weeks to get around to doing that little retrofit. The good news is that it was much worse in the contemplation than in the execution. Too bad the delay meant that my shirt wasn't ready for the super hot week we had at the end of July.

So the review.

This shirt is not for a cool day. It feels like a halter top. There is a good reason. Basically it is a halter, with extremely cut in shoulders, a shirt collar that totally does not hug the neck, and really big openings at the arms.

Here's the back and side views. See what I mean?

You really need a racer back bra with this shirt, and if you don't want it to show in the arm opening (as mine does) you need a non-sports racer back bra.

I am very tempted to alter the pattern to raise the under arm by about 3cm and generally make the whole opening smaller. I'd leave the back yoke the same and reshape the arm opening at the front and side. Other alterations that seem advisable to me to make the shirt a bit easier to wear would include:

• Shortening it. The model on the pattern envelope is clearly an amazon. I'm not super short but would have to lop off about 7.5cm (3") to have the hem at the same level relative to her body.

See?

• Reducing the flare. I could take in the side 5cm at the hem on each side and it would still be loose fitting.
• It could also stand to be taken in 2cm on each side at the armscye. 
• Raise the top button even more. It is extremely low - as designed I think it would sit just a bit above my bra's bottom band. I raised it 1.5cm (5/8") but it could easily sit even 5cm higher. It's only not a problem because the fly front band is relatively firm and the collar keeps the edges close together.
• I'm unconvinced by the CB opening at the hem and might skip this in a future version.

Now for the construction information. In my opinion, the sewing instructions for making the back yoke are less than ideal. In effect, this shirt has the armscye facings on the outside, and they wrap around in a lovely continuous line with a V at centre back. But Vogue tells you to sew them in two completely distinct parts. The instructions for sewing the facings to the back yoke involve topstitching the facing on both edges. Try getting a precise and even facing with all seam allowances neatly enclosed doing that, I dare you. Then they want you to sew the shoulder seams through all layers last, and then to fake a French seam. This means you have a lumpy and possibly also uneven edge at the top of your shoulder. 

If you are making this shirt, do the following instead:

• At step 13, stop sewing the facing about 2.5cm (1") away from the shoulder seam. 
• At step 14, only topstitch the back part of the facing. Stop the topstitching at the side seam.
• Complete step 14 as instructed, but do not press the seam allowances towards yoke.
• Complete step 16 but not 17. Clip and press down upper seam allowances of the back facing as instructed. I reinforced the V with tiny stitches before clipping. 
• Sew the lower edge of the back facing to the lower edge of the back yoke by machine, stopping about 2.5cm away from the shoulder seam on both sides. I did this in two passes to get the sharpest possible point at the V. I also trimmed the seam allowances in the V, a lot. Check that the finished assembly lies very flat, i.e. that you're not throwing the back off balance. I am pretty sure that a tiny imperfection in my yoke-back seam is making my shirt flare out at CB. 
• Now do a French seam at the shoulders on the shirt body only, making sure you don't involve the loose ends of the front and back facing pieces.
• Sew the facings together at the shoulder with a regular seam. Trim and press it open.
• Make sure your facing edges will lie flat over your shirt body at the shoulder. 
• Sew the final bit of the seam joining the facing to the armscye edge of the shirt at the shoulder.
• Topstitch the inner edge of the facing starting at one side seam and continuing through the back V to the other side seam.  

This gave me the nice clean and fully machine done finish I like in a cotton shirt. 

Here is the finished result from inside (L) and outside (R)










One more detail shot.

I have some nice white cotton that might look pretty sweet in this pattern, once modified.

But in the meantime I'm getting reacquainted with my Janome Coverstitch machine. We've been estranged for a bit. I'll show you the results soon, I promise.

True confessions

The Sewing Lawyer has been sewing for (conservatively) 40 years. So she should know better. Really.

Remember those two identical pairs of usefully neutral jeans? Well, I have made Jalie 2908 at least six or seven times. In every single instance, I substituted a curved waistband (taken from an ancient Burda Magazine pattern) for the straight one supplied by Jalie. I traced it with generosity, that is to say I added length allowance at both ends (this waistband necessarily has a CB seam, due to its curved shape) so that I could get it the right length.

I always interface the waistband to ensure it does not stretch. The pants are made from the same pattern. You'd think these two factors would ensure perfection every time. Nope, "getting it the right length" involved trial and error in every single case.

Do you know what? If you wing it every single time it will always turn out differently.

Exhibit A at left, is a stack of five pairs of pants made from the same pattern. I lined up the waistband on the other side. This is how much difference there is between them. There is 4cm difference between the loosest and the tightest. The blue jeans and the green capris are pretty comfortable. The black ones are really too loose.

On the top are the most recently made ones. I discovered after committing to making them a core part of my travel wardrobe on a recent trip that the waistbands were tight enough to be uncomfortable. Not unwearable, but uncomfortable.

Grrr. Luckily I have enough fabric to re-cut. You know this is not my most favourite sewing project. Methinks I will document (finally) the right length for this waistband!

In happier news, I had an exciting week of sewing-related meet-ups. Cidell and Jordan visited Ottawa and I got to have dinner with them last Thursday. No pictures - phooey, what were we thinking?

Then on Saturday I went to Montreal for an extravaganza on St. Hubert Street with quite a number of people including world-famous Cousu Main winner Carmen, PR entrepreneur Deepika, bloggers Anne-Marie, Vicki, Caroline, (among others) and pattern designer Heather Lou.

Clearly it was a very serious conversation!

As a result, I'm quite too tuckered out to tackle those pesky waistbands tonight.

Back to regularly scheduled programming...

That speech I copied and pasted into my blog two weeks ago on the spur of the moment sort of went viral. Evidently there are a lot of quilters out there, although as many commenters said, the sentiments are relevant to all sorts of sewing/knitting enthusiasts. Welcome to the new readers who might not previously have visited The Sewing Lawyer! I hope you stick around...

In other news, I made some pants!

Actually two pairs. I had enough fabric for a long pair and these pedal-pushers. The pockets and waistband facing are more leftovers from the cotton woven I used to line my coat.

It's more efficient, but more boring too, to make two almost identical pairs at once.

I used my Featherweight and some caramel coloured upholstery thread for the topstitching.

I also cut a shirt out of the same cotton - but haven't put it together yet. That's for a future post.

The pants. Jalie 2908. I *almost* have it down pat. If I have a pair handy, I refer to it instead of the pattern instructions for the fly construction. (Don't we all sew while partially undressed?)

Except for the waistband. I use a two piece curved waistband from another pair of jeans - an ancient Burda magazine pattern. It's too long and I have to adjust it every single time I make these, but I find I have to adjust it differently every time based on the fabric so I've decided to just live with it being too long. Better too long than too short I say!

I used a snap rather than jeans button at the waist because I hoped to avoid fuss (buttonhole) but destroyed several snap parts because evidently, I lack the proper tool to attach snaps properly.

What is the proper tool for setting in snaps anyway?

Passap progress

It's a funny thing - learning a new skill. You're so bad at it, at first. Everything takes seventeen times as long as it ought to, and you get caught out by every potential glitsch.

That's The Sewing Lawyer and her new knitting machine, the Passap Duomatic 80.

But on the theory that you will  never learn unless you try, I made a top! This was a journey since I didn't exactly have a pattern. I had an idea of the shape I wanted and some yarn.

Scientific graph

I'm not going to try to reproduce here my thinking process. There are more details on Ravelry if you're interested. The short version is that it involved knitting a sizeable swatch, and then it took a lot of measuring, calculation and graphing of the outlines of the pieces on gauge-specific graph paper (such a cool idea, you can get it here). And all that has to take place before you get the machine threaded up and going, because once you're at the machine, it's far too late. Unlike hand knitting it is really hard to adjust on the fly. (At least for a beginner like me.) Hopefully it will get easier with time.

Upside down - not sure why (but not material)

And then there's the fact that on the DM80, once you get going you can't really tell how it's going. The stitches form and disappear down the gap between the two beds.

As you can see at right, it's confusing. And that is only a dozen or so needles. I was knitting on about 135 of them. And I had lowered the front bed (which is the one at the top) to get a better view. While knitting, pretty much all you can see is the loops on the needles.

This yarn is really skinny - a 150g cone has about 2,300 metres of yarn (I knit two strands together). But so luscious! It's 54-46% cashmere and cotton, from ColourMart. In a deep and complex purple called Juniper. There is still some left on the site. I have no idea why it's not sold out; it's so beautiful.

The colour is pretty accurate in this photo

So my top. It's a sleeveless shell with a slight cowl at the front.

I made the cowl by increasing - you can see the line of eyelets to either side of the neck point where this happened. Increasing at this point keeps the cowl in the centre of the top and avoids distorting the shoulder/armscye area.

Unlike the pattern for this top, which placed the increases at the armscye edge, and left me with an awkward triangle shape at the front shoulders.

I left the cowl neck edge to roll but finished the armscye edges with a row of single crochet. This (ahem) enclosed some little mistakes.

My top is not perfect but it's definitely wearable. In fact I wore it today with my recently-completed cardigan - it has a single strand of the cotton/cashmere held together with some alpaca, so I like to think the pieces coordinate well.

A speech on quilting

PLEASE READ (updated July 4, 2017)
I posted this in the spirit of sharing and because I found it amusing. I did not expect it to go viral (albeit in a minor sort of way) around the time it was originally posted. I try hard not to resent the fact that this post has had far more hits than any other single post on my blog even though it is about quilting - a sewing related activity that I do not participate in - and even though I didn't write the text.

(There is lots of good stuff on this blog! But it is not about quilting...)

I see that the link is making the rounds of the quilting sites and on Facebook again in the summer of 2017. I know this because I am getting e-mails asking me to moderate comments. I am tired of this page, tired of moderating comments for it, and *this close* to removing it.

Read if you must, but please, NO MORE COMMENTS!
______________________________________________________________________

As you know, I'm a lawyer when I'm not sewing (or knitting). As such, I subscribe at work to e-mails that tell me of the latest decisions of the important courts here in Canada. There is one such e-mail prepared weekly by a local law firm. I always scroll to the end where, after the serious stuff, there is a section titled "Last Word". Today, it was about a speech given at a conference on quilting (Quilt Canada 2010) by Allan Fradsham, a criminal court judge in Calgary, Alberta, where the conference was held.

Here's the text. It's long but amusing, and so worth a read:


“When, some years ago, Gloria told me that she was going to build upon her years of sewing experience, and take up "quilting", I thought she was telling me that she was going to take up a new hobby or a new craft.  I was completely oblivious to the fact that what she was really announcing was that she was taking up membership in a tightly knit (if you'll pardon the expression) group of individuals whose loyalty to one another makes motorcycle gang members seem uncommitted, and whose passion for quilting activities makes members of cults look positively disinterested.  As is the case with many spouses, I was completely unaware that there existed this parallel universe called quilting. 

However, to be completely unaware of a world-wide sub-culture operating right under our noses and in our homes is a bit obtuse even for husbands.  But there it is, and here you are.  And, most oddly, here I am.  You might wonder how all this came to pass; I know I certainly do.

I cannot now identify what was the first clue I detected indicating that Gloria had entered the fabric world equivalent of Harry Potter's Hogwarts.  It might have been the appearance of the fabric.  Bundles of fabric, mounds of fabric, piles of fabric, towering stacks of fabric.  Fabric on bolts, and stacks of small squares of fabric tied up in pretty ribbons (I later learned these were "fat quarters" which to this day sounds to me like a term out of Robin Hood).  The stuff just kept coming into the house as thought it were endless waves crashing onto a beach. And then, just like the waves, the most amazing thing happened: it would simply disappear.  It was as though the walls of the house simply absorbed it.  Metres and metres (or as men of my generation would say, yards and yards) of fabric would come into the house.  It would arrive in Gloria's arms when she returned from a shopping excursion.  It would arrive in the post stuffed in postal packs so full that they were only kept together by packing tape (these overstuffed Priority Packs are the equivalent of me trying to fit into pants I wore in law school).  These packages would arrive having been shipped from unheard of towns and villages in far away provinces or states or overseas countries (I am convinced the internet's primary activity is not to be found in pornography; that is just a ruse, the internet's real function is to facilitate the trafficking and distribution of fabric).  Wherever we went, be it in Canada, the U.S., Europe, wherever there was a collection of more than three houses, Gloria would find a quilt shop from which she would pluck some prize from some bin with the enthusiasm and unerring eye of an archaeologist finding a new species of dinosaur.

And of course, the reason that there are quilt shops everywhere is because there are quilters everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE.  A few years ago, Gloria had been visiting her sister-in-law in Kelowna.  While there, she found and purchased a Featherweight sewing machine.  I understand that making such a find is a matter of such joy that it may eventually attract government taxation.  When it came time to fly back to Calgary, Gloria worried about what the people at airport security would have to say when she tried to take the machine onto the plane.  She need not have been concerned.  Now, airport security takes pride in preventing me from carrying onto a plane a small squirt of toothpaste left in a rolled up toothpaste tube if the tube in which it is lodged did at some point in the distant past, contain a prohibited amount of toothpaste.  My spot of toothpaste is a national security threat.  However, when it came time for Gloria to go through security with the Featherweight, which is made of metal and has needles in secret compartments, airport security came to a standstill.  Why?  Were they about to confiscate the machine, and detain the person who dared to try to board with it?  Of course not.  They gathered around it in awe and admiration, asking Gloria questions about where she had found it, and expressing admiration for her good fortune in finding it.  And why did Gloria get such warm treatment when I am shunned for trying to maintain some degree of oral hygiene?  Well, the answer is obvious; the assembled airport security staff were all quilters, complete with the secret handshake.

Maybe I should have twigged to what was happening when the washing of all this fabric led to having to replace our washing machine, which was clearly not designed for such industrial use.  Now, let me pause here.  I understand that there is an intense debate within your world about whether or not fabrics should be washed upon purchase.  I do not wish to be caught in any cross-fire between the two camps, for all I know, as an outsider, I may not be authorized to even know of the controversy.  I do suspect that if men were making the decision, quilting would involve  lot less fabric washing and a lot more beer drinking. 

I did eventually discover where all the fabric went.  It went into drawers, cupboards, shelves, and, eventually it completely filled up a closet, which took up one full wall in Gloria's newly built "sewing room".  What we now call Gloria's "sewing room", we used to call "the basement".

I have discovered that one of the art forms mastered by quilters is the ability to purchase container loads of fabric, conceal it in the house, and camouflage the purchase so that it slips right under the nose of the unsuspecting spouse.  As a loving and obedient spouse, I have on many occasions found myself in quilt stores where I serve two useful functions: I can reach bolts of fabric stored on top shelves; and I can carry numerous bolts of fabric to a cutting table.  However, I have also started to listen to what is said in quilting stores, and one day, in a little quilting shop in the heart of Alberta farming country, I heard something that made it clear to me that quilters are so clever and, dare I say, devious, that there is really no sport for them in fooling we naive husbands.  Gloria had decided to buy some fabric (which is similar to saying that Gloria had decided to breathe), and had gone to the till to pay for it.  Upon running through Gloria's charge card, the clerk quietly said, "Now, when you get your credit card statement, don't be alarmed when you see an entry for our local feed store.  We run our charges under that name so that if a husband looks at the credit card statements, he will think that the entry is just something he bought at the feed store for the farm".  That sort of financial shell game would make Goldman Sachs proud.  I knew at that moment that there had been a major and probably irrevocable shift in the world's power structure.  I concede it is basically over for the non-quilting husband. 

As you have been told, I sit as a criminal law judge, and as such I often find myself sitting on drug trials, or  issuing search warrants in relation to drug investigations.  I must say that the more I learned about the quilting world, the more I started to see similarities between that world and the drug world.  It has caused me some concern.

We all interpret events from our own perspectives using the lessons we have learned through life.  When I saw the extent to which Gloria's collection of fabric was growing, I began to worry.  In the law relating to drugs, the amount of a drug one has in one's possession is an important factor in determining the purpose for which the person has the drug.  For example, if a person is in possession of crack cocaine (to use a drug with an addictive power equivalent to fabric), one look at the amount of crack the person possessed.  If the amount exceeds the amount one would realistically possess for personal use, then one may reasonably draw the inference that the purpose of the possession is not personal use, but, rather, it is for the purpose of trafficking the drug.  So, you can imagine what I thought when I saw Gloria's collection of fabric grow to a point where she readily admitted that she could never use all that fabric in several lifetimes.  I reluctantly concluded that I was married to a very high-level fabric trafficker.  Mind you, in order to qualify as a trafficker, one does have to part with fabric, and I see very little evidence of that happening. 

In fact, the more I thought about the parallels between the quilting culture and the drug culture, the clearer the similarities became.  Consider the jargon.  I have learned that this vast collection of fabric, which is stored in our house, is a "stash".  Well, drug dealers speak of their "stash" of drugs.  Gloria speaks of doing "piece" work.  In the drug world there are often people who bring together the crack cocaine dealer and the buyer; think of a real estate agent, but not as well dressed, through perhaps somewhat less annoying.  Those people speak of breaking off a "piece" of crack as payment for bringing the parties together.  Sounds to me like a type of "piece work".  Those who transport drugs are often called "mules"; I have frequently heard Gloria refer to me as her mule when I am in a quilt store carrying stacks of fabric bolts (or did she says I was stubborn as a mule?).  Well, it was something about mules.  And I should think that this whole conference is a testimony to the addictive qualities of quilting.

In my role as a Sherpa, I have accompanied Gloria on various quilting expeditions, and I have been impressed by many things.  One is, as I have mentioned, that no matter where one goes, there will be a quilt store.  The proliferation of quilt shops makes Starbucks outlets seem scarce.  One day Gloria led me into a hardware store, which seemed odd to me, that is until I discovered that, as I walked towards the back of the store, the store had become a quilt shop.  The metamorphosis was extraordinary, and very crafty (if you will pardon the pun).  At that moment, I knew how Alice felt as she followed that rabbit down the rabbit hole.  Suddenly, one was in a different universe.  

Another thing I have learned is that the operators of quilt shops have great business acumen.  In one of Gloria's favourite shops, upon entry I am greeted by name and offered a cup of coffee.  If the grandson is with us, he is allowed to choose a book to take home.  It is all so friendly that I don't even notice that I cannot see over the growing pile of fabric bolts which fill my arms.  I wish that my doctor did such a good job of distracting me when it is time to do a prostate exam. 

I have learned that quilting is both international in scope and generous in spirit.  I have learned that quilters are quick to assist those in need, and that they have always been prepared to stand up for what is right.  For example, I think of Civil War quilts, which often conveyed messages about the Underground railway for slaves escaping to Canada.  I think of the One Million Pillowcase Challenge, and the Quilts of Valour project.  At one point, I thought of suggesting the creation of an organization akin to "Doctors Without Borders", but decided that an organization called "Quilts Without Borders" would indeed be illogical. 

And of course, there are the resultant quilts.  We have quilts throughout the house.  They adorn beds, chesterfields, the backs of chairs.  They are stacked on shelves, they are stored in drawers, they are shoved under beds, they are hung on walls.  There is even one on the ceiling of the sunroom.  They compete for any space not taken up with the fabric, which will eventually result in more quilts.  I live in a cornucopia, which disgorges quilts instead of produce.  I have decided that quilts are the zucchini of crafts.  But who can complain?  Quilt seriously, each one is a work of art, and an instant family treasure.  While family members and friends are delighted to receive them, I churlishly begrudge seeing them go out the door.

Though I tease Gloria about the all-consuming nature of her obsession, I am constantly amazed at the skill necessary to create those works of art.  I stand in awe as I watch her do the mathematics necessary to give effect to (or correct) a pattern.  When she quilts, she combines the skill of an engineer, a draughtsman, a seamstress, and an artist.  Her sewing machines require her to have, as she does, advanced computer and mechanical skills.  She knows her sewing machines as well as any Hell's Angel knows his Harley.  She uses measuring and cutting tools and grids, which would challenge the talents of the best land surveyors.

In short, I am very proud of what Gloria does, as each of you should be proud of your own skills and creations.  They are impressive and very evident at this Conference.  On behalf of those of us who wouldn't know a binding from a batting, I simply ask that when you finally and formally announce that have already taken over the world that you find some simple tasks for us to do to justify our existence.  You might call those tasks... the QUILT PRO QUO.

Gloria and I very much appreciate your warm hospitality this evening.

In closing, the hotel management has asked me to remind you that those found cutting up the table cloths for quilting fabric will have their rotary cutters confiscated and forfeited to the Crown.”

Amazing turnaround

My shoulder width fix (removing about 1.5cm or 5/8" of width from the front armscye and slightly less in back, tapering to nothing at the bottom of the armhole) worked brilliantly. So much so that I was able to convince myself to spend an entire day of my long weekend in my sewing room and to push through to the finish.

And as these things often turn out, after so many days of serious doubt and funk, I love my new coat!

So here it is.

Look! It fits me in the shoulders!

The pattern didn't suggest a belt with this view, but I thought its plainness would be improved by one. I briefly considered making the buckled straps for the sleeves but managed to come to my senses quite quickly.

As you can see, there is a single button in view at the neck. There are four more concealed behind a fly front opening.


I used some gaily printed cotton shirting or quilting cotton from stash for lining, in keeping with my goal of not buying any more fabric. The sleeves are lined with Bemberg so that the coat will ease over whatever I'm wearing underneath it.

All's well that ends well! I'm going to use the rest of the cotton to make the top from Vogue 7440.