I have tried to be discreet, really I have, but is there any way to put a tree in a room without drawing a little attention? I don’t think so. And yet my shop has gone through so many transformations, a deeper reflection of myself.

Awhile ago, (well maybe two years ago) I purchased this beat-up doll house at an estate sale. I bought it on a whim. It was the dollhouse I never had growing up. I always wanted one like this, and mine was always the metal kind without a lot of charm. When I was little, I did everything I could to make improvements with more plastic furniture and people with moving parts, but it never really satisfied me. So when I saw this, it was an instant and heartfelt moment.

I painted everything inside and out with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I could not believe how it improved the appearance. I put a decorated Christmas tree inside and even some tiny string lights on the outside that can be turned on by a battery. I just want to move into it and set up some cozy rooms. Currently, it is empty, but full of anticipation!

And doesn’t everyone need some tiny red shoes under a tree to complete the mood? I just want a little magic in my life. I think everyone does. More to come.

I feel a deep loss and sadness tonight about the news of Steve Jobs. I had read the NY Times article, listened to some of the news, tried to imagine how we could live without this immensely creative and innovative person in our lives, and then I traveled over to Jude’s blog at spiritcloth to see if she had anything to say. Of course, I was not disappointed. I listened to the video, watched a much-younger Steve talking about the importance of values, how we perceive and represent a brand that carries a certain message and ensuing power, and how we can become stronger, more courageous and innovative. It felt somehow comforting and peaceful to see this and hear his voice. Thank you, Jude for the sharing and the appreciation. And now who do we follow? I simply want to be quiet for awhile and share a gentle and warm remembrance for Steve and his family.

Yesterday we took a long hike in the wilderness park west of the Willamette River up into the hills to the Pittock Mansion. It was bitterly cold with ice all along the trail. It was my first chance to get in a good hike since before the holidays. The views to Mt Hood were obscured by clouds, but the hike well worth the cold and ice.

This hike is in the city limits but on the heart of the trail one would imagine being in the depths of the wilderness. It is called the Wildwood Trail for very good reason.

We had to say goodbye to our little Lincoln New Years Eve Day. His mommy returned to Portland from her trip to Peru and then returned home to LA before evening.

We had so much fun with this little guy. He always has a ready smile and such a sweet disposition.

What a treat to have him in our home for a few extra days. When he left, the house felt hollow, empty of life. Funny how a little creature fills every space with so much love and joy.

I wish everyone the very best in 2011. It will be a good year because we will all design it to fit our dreams and our hopes and our friendship. I have so appreciated all the wonderful comments everyone has made and feel badly that I simply have not had the time to respond in the last two weeks. January will prove to be more mild and simple. Living with simplicity is my word and promise for this new year.

Now I intend to change the subject here as it is time for other things on a blog that is supposedly textile-related, the huge subject that often consumes my life too.

I have several skirts in my closet that have needed a little help, so about two weeks ago I started adding some embellishment to the hems. This one has a velvet ruffle and I added a crinkly rayon ribbon to it.

My next skirt was a silk one that had cotton lace on the bottom. I added some French metallic trim as well as some crochet pieces that I had dyed about two years ago. I still need to iron this, but I like the way the colors turned out on this one.

The next skirt was a purple one that was way too long, so I shortened it and added a simple narrow ruffle of silk taffeta.

And finally I took the lining away from the bottom of the wool skirt that I had made of this old jacquard throw awhile back. It hangs much better and is now ready to wear for winter.

My next project has to do with chalk paints. More on that later in the week.

Mendocino as seen from a distance….

In less than an hour I will be driving to San Francisco in order to get up early for the outdoor market in Alameda tomorrow. I will be home late afternoon the same day. I have read your comments on my last post, and I have to say they have given me so much to think about. I am so attached to all of you in so many ways. All the comments were thoughtful, wise, and strong. What an incredible group of women you all are. I can hardly wait to sit down and respond to each of you individually. Thank you so much for reading this lengthy post. I will try and get back to all of you this evening. I feel so fortunate to know all of you. You are a true inspiration in so many ways!

As I get older I become more set in my ways. Some are tolerable, as viewed by others, something I often find amusing. However, parts of me, huge parts are more personal. I view these as having been with me for a lifetime. In other words they seem so entrenched in my being it would be difficult for me to change any of them. I wear these ideas as if they were my skin. Perhaps they are just this. Maybe they are even part of my DNA. That said, I am not looking for an excuse to make the following pronouncement. I love being feminine!

For many years, especially during the ’80′s, I read lots of feminist literature, some very radical and forward-thinking. I focused on this subject because I truly believed that women should be equal in every way, especially in terms of education and career opportunities. I still believe this. I think women should be able to have as many degrees as they want and also grab any and all careers that they are yearning to master. Maybe this is a worn out subject, so I will not go any further with the politics of this. What prompted me to write on this subject was a comment I received awhile back from an Italian woman, Angela, who lives in Rome. She had seen my post on “Clothing for Us” and was kind enough to leave a very insightful comment. I could not forget what she said and how it suddenly took me back to the women’s movement in the early ’60′s and where we have gone, as women and men in our thinking. Some of it seems to have backfired in quite a number of ways.

Here is Angela’s comment:
“What a pleasure and comfort to find a blog like yours. I especially agree with the ‘age renaissance’, our wish for a rebirth after a life spent to seduce, attract, be conformed, respond to other’s demands. The elder age is finally for us, but free from the horrible grey, brown, black. I live in Rome, I’m Italian, and I feel that our sense of elegance cannot be expressed only through colors which deprive us of our fullness of life, here color is something transgressive, if chosen by an older lady. I’ve decided to not dye my hair anymore, and people are really astonished. But I’m feeling great!”

What shocked me about Angela’s comment was that her culture has not moved one bit from a female bias against aging women. I know in our country it is still a problem and, further, in another correspondence I had with Angela, she informed me that sewing and craft were not something that women would promote because it was not seen as “intellectual”. I was hoping this idea was changing since I see sewing coming back and women embracing this as a hobby or as a small business venture. Perhaps other countries are or will never see this as an avenue for women to find pride or comfort or a livelihood. However, there is too much discrepancy in our politics as women. We need to support all women in whatever field or form of living that we decide to express. That is true feminism.

So what are we born to be…..scientists, doctors, lawyers, engineers, educators (teachers), social workers, nurses, politicians? Is everything else considered beneath us….full-time mothers, actresses, artists, writers, seamstresses, quilt makers, gardeners ((and not always master gardeners), weavers……I have been tormented with these thoughts for years now. When Angela came to me and disclosed her feelings, I was grateful and yet saddened.

I find these early photos of my granddaughter so refreshing. Would you guess she was boy in the first one? I doubt it. In the second, she is what she is today and yet most parents have a fear of femininity, as if it is a curse. Sarah, my granddaughter, has
always been drawn to whatever is frilly, pink, or girlish and soft. Is this alarming to me that she perhaps will not be able to make it in the world of tough business and intellectual debate? Absolutely not. Will I gasp in horror if she decides she wants to learn how to sew or knit? Never.

About twelve years ago when my husband and I were buying a condominium in San Francisco, the real estate agent asked me what I did for a living. At the time I was not working since we had just re-located due to a transfer with my husband’s company. (Yes, I know I moved for him, but this is sometimes a balanced option for two people in a marriage.) I told her I was sewing and gardening a lot in Mendocino until we could settle in the city again. She was shocked that I would even admit to sewing. She made it perfectly clear that she never learned to sew a button on clothing because she would never admit to anyone that she even knew how to sew. To her it was considered a handicap. I have never forgotten this encounter and how it seemed to exemplify how women in Western culture have limited their options as well as their assets by refuting anything that might suggest a feminine liability. I find this both disheartening and alarming.

This subject was so huge, I hardly knew how to grasp it. I decided to begin with this part and then explore in the next segment how women can and need to retrieve the other parts of themselves that seem to have been thrown out with the lace and the softness.

Artist: Adolphe-William Bouguereau

I am in Mendocino and am returning to Portland early tomorrow morning. I have tried in earnest to comment on posts plus my own, but my signal is intermittent at best. I will be back online tomorrow evening after I get home. Please forgive what seems to be a negligence. Until then….I hope this gets published. I am off to bed for a long trip home. Thank you for your comments. I will be back to visit soon.

I am feeling a little rusty the last few days, needing an outdoor break I think, a long hike in the woods. I have been inside too much perhaps, and glued to my computer or sorting and labeling and pricing and well…too rusty for words. Guess I need a Sunday to unhinge and let my brain rest on idle for one day.

I would like to glide in the wind as these birds are doing or….

rest easy in one of these serene and lovely places. I will be here in my mind until Monday reading a good book by the fire and taking a little break from the technical world. I hope you all are having an easy and comfortable weekend.

In Melody Fortier’s book I pictured in my last post, she extols the virtues of the vintage coat. In her chapter titled ” Categories of Clothing” starting on page 29, she writes that “Vintage outerwear is definitely the best value for your dollar. The fabrics alone are usually worth more than what you pay for a comparable new garment, and many of the beautiful wools and weaves are no longer available. Cashmere coats top the list. The cashmere used in vintagewear was collected (harmlessly, mind you) from cashmere goats living in the wild in such countries as India and Mongolia. Their modern domesticated counterparts simply do not produce the same fine, silky fur” and she goes on to say that “made with better fabrics and superior construction, vintage coats wear amazingly well and look beautiful forever if properly cleaned and stored”.

I found this coat many years ago in a vintage shop owned by an local actress in San Diego that had the most interesting pieces I had ever come across. Unfortunately, she closed her shop to return to acting full time, but before she closed her doors, she gave me a huge box of vintage patterns because she knew that I loved to sew and was so fascinated with her incredible eye for style and great pieces.

The coat has two labels.

And it also had a consumer protection label, that said “National Coat and Suit Industry” and “National Recovery Board” with FWG, as well as “Manufactured Under Fair Labor Standards”. According to Melodie, “The National Recovery Act, in effect in the United States from 1933 to 1935, served to promote fair competition in business as well as fair labor. Some manufactures had labels put into their products to indicate they were in compliance with these guidelines”. So I think it is fair to say that this coat was made sometime during those two years.

I used to wear this coat, but not so much anymore. I am thinking of taking the lambswool off since it is deteriorating and replacing it with somethings else. I am not sure what. I have become an advocate for the ethical welfare of animals, so wearing a piece such as this does not suit my standards anymore. I also refuse to wear any leather, including shoes, but this is a subject that will not serve my purpose on this blog. The lining is a nice rayon crepe with a good weight. It is also underlined with another loosely woven wool for added warmth.

This coat has a great style. I am drawn to anything with a raglan sleeve. Even more remarkable, the sleeve looks raglan from the back and set in with a seam from the front. I have never seen this treatment before in any other pieces. I found this in an antique and collectibles shop in a rural farm town south of Portland, Oregon. It was marked down in price from an already fair one, and as it was spring, the owner probably felt it would not sell in the nicer weather. It is extremely well made with a beautiful heavy satin lining and bound button holes which I love, and you rarely see unless it is a couture or designer piece.

This coat is a perfect fit and looks great with jeans or skirts and tights.

Labels have always fascinated me and this is a great one!

One of the things I have found in wearing vintage styles is that it is important to pair it with something edgy or trendy so you don’t look frumpy or out-dated. Layering is good too with funky accessories to give the whole look a sharp feel. Once I made the mistake of wearing a black vintage cocktail dress to a holiday function with a vintage rhinestone necklace, and my hair in a french twist and was uncomfortable all night. The look was too predictable and virtuous and staid. You really don’t want to look like the minister’s wife sipping a cocktail.

Tomorrow I will cut out the skirt and begin to plan some other clothes for spring and summer out of some old linen pieces that I have in my collection. I will post the process of the skirt as I plan, cut, and sew.

Jeanette is getting help from her bridesmaids with the many buttons and loops down the back of her dress. Tiny and tight, I could not even button a single one. I guess it takes young, agile fingers.

The back of Jeanette’s hair done by her stepsister, Jen.

A very proud mom.

The bride and groom just after the ceremony.

Jeanette, Ben and the groomsmen heading to the reception.

Jeanette and her sister, Linsey on the dancefloor.

Jeanette’s brother, Wes, winding down after the reception.

We are starting the drive back north today. I slept ten hours straight last night. It will be a slow but pleasant recovery sprinkled with memories of this perfect fairy tale wedding.