change

while researching my upcoming trip i found out that i would be carrying around a lot of change. which seems strange in and of itself, as here i rarely ever have cash on me, and what change i do have fits into a teeny tiny pouch.

but apparently, japan is a cash country, and for denominations below 1,000 yen it's in coin form. so, i added 'change purse' to my list of needed things. and then i thought to myself, "myself, i think we should sew a change purse for ourselves." and i agreed that would be a good plan.

i had a zipper left over from a camisole which didn't need it, some lovely pale aqua piping, and two prints that went well together. one, a lime seersucker, and the other a double gauze cotton print from heather ross.

i thought about what size would be a nice fit for my purse and to carry around lots of heavy change, then i stalled a bit while figuring out what shape i wanted it to be. some fullness would be nice, a little bottom heavy perhaps, definitely easy access to see coins would be a good idea.

so after messing with pleats and the fabric i came up with something satisfactory. i like it, it's so puffy! hopefully it will be big enough.

repurpose

yes, another skirt. why never pants, you ask? too hard, i don't like them, and when i do they're jeans. but skirts, now those i adore! all the colors, prints, materials, details, lengths, waist band types, pockets, so many delicious things that make up a skirt.

i tried my hand at an elastic waist this time, and it is super comfy, and luckily a little easier to adjust with weight fluctuations. it's making me more aware of tucking in my shirt. and also realizing that most of my shirts are not the tucking in type. somehow i've been buying only loose fitting and flowy tops.

the nice thing about making ones own skirts is that you can add pockets. yum, nice deep pockets. and pockets that hide a fun print. also that you can make a-line and full skirts; especially because pear shapes look so marvelous in them. (it draws attention to the narrower waist, hides heavier hips and thighs, and shows the smaller part of the leg to advantage.)

i added a little button and ribbon detail to the back of the waistband, the color ties into the teal polka dot pockets. because this skirt is not lined i sewed the pockets with a french seam so there won't be any fraying.

in case any of you were wondering where the pretty grey linen material came from, it is apparently an antique crib blanket, with the initials j and a. though, looking at it, the j could be an f or a t. the openwork embroidery on the bottom is what drew my eye, along with the really beautiful silvery color of the linen. i'm really thrilled to be able to use this textile in a new way and to really appreciate the handwork of it as i wear it.

in the works

here's a snapshot of something i'm working on right now. two of my favorite textiles; nani iro, and linen. if the weather holds out i will be able to post photos tomorrow.

in other news, my trip to japan is progressing nicely. i'm learning more japanese almost daily as i commute the two hours to and from work five days a week. after breezing through survival phrases, i realized i would need to know more than how to order food, find lodgings, shop, and ask for a rest room; so i've started listening to the beginner lessons.

gone before i knew it

when i got home saturday, all that was left of my little snowman was a forlorn bunny rabbit who stared wistfully at a carrot just out of reach.

snow day!

so, a little after 7pm last night there was some white stuff falling out of the sky. and sticking. as in not melting right away. weird. because this is savannah georgia. snow is not in the vocabulary.

of course i needed to inspect this snow; was it the good stuff, perfect for making snow people and snow balls, or was it the light dry fluffy stuff that just looks pretty? well, it was the yummy, wet, sticky type, perfect for all things constructed with snow. so i built a snow person, complete with carrot nose.

this is what it looked like outside my window at 7:30 am this morning. it brings back memories of living in the far north, but the good ones. the only thing that really puts a damper on all this is the knowledge that i have to drive on possible black ice roads to go to work. so completely not looking forward to that.

here's meiko, who decided she absolutely had to go outside. only to play leap frog from one clear patch of the porch to another.