I am a lazy sewist so I don't make a muslin or anything. I just take my measurements, match them to the pattern as best I can and pray to the Goddess (and anyone associated with her) that it comes out okay.
Wish me luck!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Breaking News!
I am actually sewing!
I'm going back to NYC to see Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and I don't have theatre-going attire. I am making these pants in a simple black wool gabardine.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Black History Month Reading
I don't really do much to celebrate Black History Month or Kwanzaa. If I had children I would go all out. We would be reading books, writing reports, visiting museums, watching documentaries...the whole nine. (Ya'll should be glad I don't have kids, 'cause I would probably be raising little Black Panthers, but anyway...). Since its just me, I choose to honor this month by educating myself. So, every February I choose a book to read. It is usually a classic like Up From Slavery, Miseducation of the Negro, or The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
This year after watching Prince Among Slaves, a documentary airing on PBS this month, I decided to read the memoirs of another African torn from his home, Olaudah Equiano.According to the book jacket he was a "sailor, adventurer, entrepreneur, author" who after being enslaved eventually made it to England where he worked in the abololitionist movement.
So, that (along with a couple of other books) is what I'll be reading for the rest of the month.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Choices
I keep trying to love Hancock's. But my local store makes it real hard. I live in Atlanta and I don't drive. So, while there are a few fabric stores here (not as many as I would like), the Hancock Fabrics at Lindbergh is the one that I can get to the easiest and quickest. The store is small by fabric store standards and they try to pack all they can in there. What with all the damn fleece (ughh!!) and home decorating crap (if I wanted some end tables, I would go next door to Home Goods!) they barely have enough room for all of the tired linen blends they love.
I went today for two things: single-fold black bias tape & 99 cent McCalls patterns. There was not a single package of single-fold black bias tape to be found in the whole store!!! How can you be out of something so basic and popular? That is like being out of black thread!! (Which they have before). There were dust bunnies everywhere (I think all that fleece creates extra dust). Buttons and notions just lying around on the counters. There was fabric on sale with no signage. There was bolts of fabric mixed in with where it did not belong. Nothing straightened at all! This was when the store was just opening for the day. I work in retail so I know that you aren't supposed to leave the store looking like that at the end of the night!! I've also worked in a fabric store and so it really pisses my off!
Anyway, I calmed myself down enough to buy these patterns:
11. Of Blood And Sorrow
by Valerie Wilson Wesley
started 1/25 finished 2/6
To be honest, I am feeling a little lukewarm about this book. I have been reading the Tamara Hayle Mysteries series since its inception with 1995's Dying in the Dark. I was managing a Black bookstore at the time and was so excited to see a female mystery author. At the time, the African-American mystery genre was a little thin.
This is the eighth book featuring Tamara Hayle, a single-mother who makes her living as a private investigator. Her case this time requires that she find the infant child of a woman that Tamara knew a long time ago, Lilah Love (you know that name means nothing but trouble). The same day, the child's grandfather, a one-time gangster turned legitimate businessman wants to hire Tamara to do the same thing. His son, Lilah's ex-husband, is back from Iraq and wants to give the child a better home with his family.
Of Blood and Sorrow has all of the ingredients of a good mystery novel: intrigue, people appearing from the past, someone who isn't who they appear to be, etc. But a lot of the Tamara and a lot of the other recurring characters just appear a little weary. I will continue to read the series, because I am just invested in them now, but I wasn't bowled over by this one.
10. Nappily Faithful
by Trisha Thomas
started 1/15 finished 1/27
After the drama from the last book, Nappily Married, Venus and Jake move to Atlanta (my current stomping grounds) to try and start fresh. But the past they are running from still hovers around them: Venus' miscarriage and accidental overdose that places her in psychiatric care for awhile; Jake accused of the murder of his accountant before having the charges dropped. The new location isn't the balm that their marraige needs. To top it all off, Airic, Venus' ex-fiance and the biological father of her daughter Mya, is now requesting to be a part of the child's life, even though he hasn't seen her since birth. Airic's new wife, a charismatic television evangelist who turned to the Church after being a teenaged prostitute, believes that having Mya in their lives will make them the perfect family and help her get over her past. (I couldn't read this character without having a picture of Juanita Bynum in my head). Add to the mix the judge who presides over the custody case and her possible conflict of interest. This is another great addition to the Nappily series. Now if Halle Berry will just have that baby already and start production on the first in the series, Nappily Ever After.
9. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Diaz
started 1/13 finished 1/24
I know the year has just started, but this is my favorite so far. It made several Best Books of the Year for 2007 and I completely understand why. It is a seemingly simple story: Oscar is a young man of Dominican descent growing up overweight in modern day New Jersey. He is a textbook geek, devouring Science Fiction and writing it as well. Like most teenaged boys he is obsessed with girls and his virginity, but because of his size and interests he is most often relegated to the "friend zone".
What really makes this novel exceptional is Diaz's writing. His language is infused with both hip-hop (love it!) and Spanish (had to break out the Spanish-English dictionary a few times). The backstories of Oscar's mother and sister take us to the Dominican Republic quite a few times and is laden with footnotes from the viewpoint of the narrator that teach us of the islands turbulent political history. A novel with historical footnotes!!! I was in heaven.
8. Sexy/Dangerous
by Beverly Jenkins
started 1/12/08 finished 1/16/08
Okay, this is the last of the romance tangent! And maybe the best of all. Maxine "Max" Blake (strong women in masculine jobs have to have a male name) is a security expert assigned to protect Dr. Adam Gary, a scientist who has been working on a top-secret project. He has created a fuel cell that could put the big oil companies out of business while revolutionizing the energy sector. But a racist South African group wants to use the cell to create superweapons. Are you feeling the love yet? Of course Max finds herself strangely attracted to the geeky, reclusive, sexy doctor. The feelings are reciprocated and romance and danger ensues.
7. Secrets of Self-Healing
Harness Nature's Power to Heal Common Ailments, Boost Your Vitality, and Achieve Optimum Wellness
by Dr. Maoshing Ni
started 1/6/08 finished 1/14/08
I read a lot of books on health and natural healing. For mild ailments like colds, flu, muscle aches, etc., I feel like conventional medications sometimes just mask the symptoms instead of treating them. They just make you sleepy (even if it says "non-drowsy") and knock you out so you forget you're sick!
Also, I am very interested in the mind-body connection and how illnesses manifest from our emotional mental states. Secrets of Healing is not much different from other books on my shelves except that it includes how to use Acupunture and Acupressure to relieve symptoms. Acupressure involves applying pressure to certain points on your body and you don't need a professional. For example, by pressing on the pad of flesh in between your thumb and forefinger, you can relieve headache pain. Been doing that for years.
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