carrie girl

red hook

yesterday, ted and i went for a cloudy walk around our new neighborhood. in our last go-round in brooklyn we lived on the edge of park slope, more like gowanus if we're being honest, and coming back we knew we wanted a change of scenery. we couldn't afford fort greene, couldn't find anything we liked in clinton hill, but got lucky with red hook. i taught here from 2004-2007, and watched the neighborhood change--a bakery here and a fairway there, but i wasn't quite prepared for the boutique stores, wine shops and ikea that i found when i came back. even with all the new shops and restaurants, red hook is still very much red hook. without a train nearby, things move at a slower pace and our apartment is as quiet as the one we shared in iowa city. the downside is that our cellphones rarely hold a call longer than 5 minutes, and there is a little hike to the train, but in my opinion the pros outweigh the cons. i'm excited to explore the new shops, try the restaurants and eat my weight in swedish meatballs.

i'm back! 4 books read, countless bottles of white wine consumed, hours in the sun, a quick trip to montreal, endless games of rummy 500 and plenty of memories to last me the rest of the summer. while these last couple weeks have been great, i'm dreading what the next month or so has in store for me. coming home to a coffee pot filled with what used to be coffee which, over the last 10 days, has slowly turned into mold was not the way to kick off a marathon month and a half of craziness. to make matters worse, ted will be out of town for a while which really kills me. he's going to a couple writers' conferences and giving a reading in new york city, so this summer is very exciting for him. i'm just bummed to go it alone. anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself. one project i am looking forward to is the fixing up of our new (much smaller, but rather charming) one bedroom apartment closer to downtown. the kitchen will be pained a color called"beach blanket," and there just might be a trip to ikea in the works...so all is not lost! i'm happy to be back here in my little blog space, and i'm eager to catch up with my google reader. i bet you all have been very productive this summer.

leavin' town

i'm going to take a little blogging vacation while i'm in upstate new york. i will be sans sewing machine and have spotty internet access until the 13th, and i know you don't want to look at a bunch of nature shots of the adriondacks for 2 weeks, so i think it might be best just to lay low.

the last bit of sewing i did before packing today were these two clutches. the purple one is a custom order for a really sweet girl who was interested in a couple clutches and a bag. she actually came over and picked out her own fabric and we talked about the project. it was a really cool experience working with someone start to finish on a bag. the pink clutch is for a bag contest/silent auction which supports the breast cancer 3-day through home ec. workshop, a really amazing fabric/yarn store in iowa city. so if you're in the area go to home ec. and bid on a bag for a good cause!

my new best friend

let's get personal here. i sweat...sometimes i even sweat when i'm just standing very still in an air conditioned room. so when i found a cute vintage dress last month that was cut super close under my arms, i thought that there was no way i could wear this out in public let alone during the summer months. vintage dress plus sweat doesn't make for a pleasant afternoon for anyone. *but* just as i was putting the dress back on the rack, i remembered my brand new shiny french curve that antoinette sent me, and decided i could tackle the lowering of the armholes.

i emailed antoinette asking for her expert refashioning advice, and she wrote back the same day with easy to follow instructions that didn't scare me too much. in a nutshell i was first supposed to unpick the facing, then i was to use the french curve to mark a new armhole 1/4 of an inch lower. after basting the new armhole i was supposed to turn it back inside and press the dickens out of it. if it fit, use a regular stitch and go on my merry way perhaps tacking the facing back down.

and i tried it that way, and it was going very well until i realized i needed to move the armhole down not 1/4 of an inch, not even 1 inch down, but like 3 whole inches down. this is when things started to get a bit wonky. when i basted the new armhole and tried to turn it inward and press, the dress just wasn't having it. it kept sort of warping and resisting, so i started trimming the facing...then trimming became straight up cutting...then i started to panic (and sweat!) i thought for sure that i had just ruined the cutest vintage dress i had ever laid eyes on. then i had an idea to just cut the armhole out to the size i wanted and apply single fold bias tape to finish the edge.

that is exactly what i did, and that is why single fold bias tape is my new best friend. it saved my new favorite dress, and my sanity.

now i can confidently wear my vintage dress out in public thanks to my french curve and lovely blogging friends like antoinette.

*edit* ted would like me to tell everyone that i'm not the "dripping perspiring beast" that i've made myself out to be. i quote him, "you're not that sweaty."

i have fallen into the sweet abyss of summer. after a road trip up to madison, wisconsin i'm now back in iowa trying to get into the swing of things. and by swing of things i mean reading jude deveraux and nelson demille novels and sleeping in until 10:30.  today, though, i am cleaning and sorting the craft room because the apartment we're moving to in august comes without the luxury of a space for me to sew, so it is going to be a tight squeeze next year.

thank you!

i've been so overwhelmed these past couple days by the sweet comments, emails and phone calls from friends and family.  it just makes me that much more excited to get everyone together for the wedding. i've been lucky enough to attend quite a few weddings, and have a lot of friends who have done the whole planning thing already so i'm not at a loss for resources. we found out that we get to stay in iowa city one more year, so it looks like we're planning a good old fashioned mid-western wedding! this wedding, from snippet & ink is such an inspiration and in iowa city, too!

on a sewing related note, i've cut out all 10 of the pattern pieces for this dress. ted's graduating from the writers' workshop next weekend, so i'm determined to finish it by then and hopefully wear it to the ceremony. i've only ever worn one of my handmade clothing items in public, so this is something i need to do (if not on this occasion then sometime this summer.) i'm a little intimidated by all the steps, but i'm determined not to mess this up too badly!

oh, and if you need a new band for the summer i highly recommend the harlem shakes. i can't stop listening to this song and am obsessed with the whole album. also, this song has infiltrated my brain and refuses to leave...

bocce dreams

i'm missing summer already, and technically it isn't even over yet.  i'm not quite one week into the school year, and i'm plotting out how i'm going to spend next summer.  i need to get a grip! i spent my morning reading through etsy articles called, "quit your day job," and am totally jealous of all the talented crafters who have the ambition and courage to just go for it and make a go at crafting as a full time job.  i get nervous enough thinking about making enough bags and wallets and things for a craft fair, let alone making enough products to cover the rent, car payment and food.  those are some seriously amazing people. 

i did actually turn on the sewing machine last night to work on a new project.  i'm trying to make a bi-fold wallet, and am knee deep in the trial and error portion of the project, which means lots of ripping out stitches and starting over.  i brought my notebook to work today in hopes that during a meeting on the new reading curriculum i might be struck with an amazing solution. here's hoping...                                  *bocce game in the backyard* summer '08

summer

i'm still here...just not doing anything crafty this past week.  i actually flew home for few days to be with a good friend who lost her mother last weekend, and tomorrow i'm leaving for my road trip over to vermont then down to the city (to get my hair cut!! did i mention i'm starting to look like i have a mullet?) and then begin the epic journey back to iowa city in the little yaris that could.  my imac will be safely packed away in the car the entire time, so i won't be able to post until i get home around the 16th...and by that time summer is on the way out the door, and fall will be just around the corner.  i hope the rest of your summer is packed with beautiful sunny days, good food, family and friends.

scenes from the garden

happy weekend!

new boots and books

i'm actually not a shoe person at all, but i bought these boots in nyc and wanted to share their loveliness with you.  i was walking down the street and saw them in the window and had to try them on.  i did. they were perfect. but i'm sort of on a budget, so i walked away.  i thought about them for the next two days and decided to go back and treat myself. i think the red buttons are my favorite part.

it seems that most of the time this summer you can find me curled up with a book and a box of good & plenty. i don't get to read much during the school year besides the 5 minutes before i pass out at night, so it has been really rare that i've had  a chance to finish five books this summer. the best book i've read so far is the memory keeper's daughter by kim edwards. it's a beautiful book that has the most amazing imagery and descriptions...i really couldn't put it down. tonight i finished in the woods by tana french, and i have to say that i was really looking forward to a murder mystery novel and, for the most part, i was totally intrigued by the plot, but in the end i felt a little let down. my least favorite of the summer thus far is eat, pray, love by elizabeth gilbert.  i know that a lot of people loved this book, and there were many really interesting and entertaining parts of it, but it just took me forever to read, and sometimes i just wanted to yell, "get a grip!"

all in all, i can say that i've enjoyed every book i've read and tonight i'm starting the red tent by anita diamant.  i've been hearing about this book from my friend, liz, since we were in college, so i figured it is about time i give it a try.  do you have any good book recommendations? i'm on a roll here!