No complaints…

I’m thinking about having a revolving door installed on the front of the house.  It really feels like my family is stuck in one, and when they do come home, it is barely long enough to circle around the revolving door and head back out, changing suitcases on the way ’round.  My husband has returned to Saudi, where the staff at the hotel calls out, “Welcome home Mr. Kevin…”.  Somehow that doesn’t feel quite right to me.

There is actually a silver lining in all this, which is why I don’t want to come across as complaining, because when my family, any one of them, does come home, it is really special, something I don’t take for granted, and I cherish the moments with all of them.  I went on more dates with my husband these past two weeks than I’ve probably be on in the last ten years.  We ate out every chance we got, strolled into town together, just sat in the den watching TV together, and last weekend, we headed for Princeton to experience part of my Christmas present.  Kevin was able to do a lot of his shopping online, since he was living in Saudi last December, not all URL’s will accept a Saudi IP address, but he managed to find some interesting gifts, and one of them was actually something he won on an online auction to support Art Pride in NJ.  Most of the charities we donate to each year involve the arts, so I’m thrilled that my gift came from a fundraiser.

Last Friday Kevin and I headed down to Princeton, NJ, which is about an hour south, depending on the time of day, typical in NJ.  We had a stay in the historic Nassau Inn, which is perched beside the Princeton University campus, and had a fantastic dinner at the Yankee Doodle Tap Room.  It was all part of the Princeton Getaway weekend celebrating the arts, part of the package my husband won in the online auction.  The evening entertainment was a pair of tickets to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Pops concert featuring the Three Broadway Tenors, who took turns belting out some great Broadway tunes.  What a fantastic event.  We still have a couple of tickets to the McCarter Theater, and Grounds for Sculpture, one of my favorite places on earth, and we will try to use those in May when everything is in bloom.  It was such a great weekend, and the gentle snowfall covering the grounds made for a magical experience when we left the theater.

My son just came skidding in and skidding out again, he had a short break from his month long artillery training down at Fort Dix.  He is off for a weekend party at a University in Pennsylvania.  Sigh.  And my daughter will only be home for about 48 hours over spring break since she was accepted to a program to train her in artificial insemination, purportedly in a slaughter house in Pennsylvania.  Sigh.  All this is good, the kids are launching and I really do love my alone time, but it is sort of bittersweet and it makes the times we are together really really special.

Since I am alone, the mice get to play… 🙂

When last we left the studio, I was waiting for a khaki linen to dry so I could start making a vest using the trim I finished weaving on the inkle loom.

Since there hasn’t been any real studio time the last week or so, I hesitated to jump right in, and in reality, I am not happy with the fit on the original vest, and needed to do some serious pattern alterations.  I did spend some time trying to lay out the trim I had to see where the best placement would be, and how long I could actually make the vest.

The original vest if you will remember, was a Kenneth Cole design that I picked up on a sale rack when I was in Atlantic City a couple of years ago.  I loved the style and the finishing, but the fit was always problematic.  The vest was very shortwaisted, in fact you can see where my fingers are, that’s my actual waist.  I felt like the tie was up under my boobs…

In addition, there was too much fabric across the upper chest, and the parallel front panels bent inward at the neck, which was going to be an issue when I put the trim down the front.  I wanted the trim to hang straight, perpendicular to the floor.

So I copied the vest and then  reworked the pattern, reshaping the front, and lengthening all the pattern pieces.  I wanted to make up an actual prototype, more than a muslin really, since this was a complicated design and I not only wanted to make sure I got the pattern pieces right, but that I understood how everything went together.  So I fished around in my stash.

I found the scraps from the skirt I made back in 2007, from a gorgeous wool, the skirt went with a vest I wove and constructed with a fur lining.  I’ve sold the vest, but I still have the skirt.

I carefully laid out the pattern pieces, there wasn’t enough fabric to completely match all the pinstripes in the wool, but I wasn’t concerned, and by the time I got everything cut out, I had what I like to call “dust” left on the table.  “Dust” to me is scraps so small even I won’t save them… 🙂

So I’ve spent the last two days constructing this prototype, I ripped out the collar four times, the zipper three times, and I’m so glad I went through this because now I understand what has to happen when I begin the vest in the khaki linen.

Here is the finished prototype, I love the changes, I ditched the belt, which would have interfered with trim, and I replaced it with a zipper.  The longer length works better on my body.  I played around with the back, trying to find the best use of the trim avoiding the typical skunk stripe down the center back.  I liked the idea of a back waist belt, stitched on and into the side back seams, and I cinched in the waist with a couple of tucks to narrow the silhouette.

Now I’m happy.

Stay tuned…