
traffic outside the delaware welcome center
look, i’m sorry, but WTF, delaware? i wasn’t bothering anyone. it was 10pm on a wednesday night. and this is how you greet me as i make my way southward for my favorite weekend of the year?
it was an inauspicious start on a weekend when i was already having difficulty concentrating. keeping up with my recent inability to focus long enough to get any sewing done, i stuck with pattern work. kenneth helped me draft the etro jacket. he made a sketch for me in my notebook as i took copious notes and tried to follow the directions. kenneth suggested that i work it out in half scale as i attempted to match his diagram.

italian red leather gorgeousness
i’m sure this is no-brainer for a lot of folks, but working in half-scale before redrafting in full-scale was a revelation in terms of my pattern making. it was so much easier to keep tracing and experimenting with a half-scale bodice, and then totally understand what i was doing when i went to the full scale. i was able to recreate kenneth’s sketch almost entirely on my own – a major score, i’d say. even kenneth was pleased!

mini-scale and full-scale
my next concern was keeping the vibe going with some pattern magic. i brought volumes 1 and 2 and chose four or five patterns that i particularly liked. i had (honestly) hoped that kenneth would draft them for me while i watched, but – drat the man – he again made a few sketches and left me to my own devices.

pattern magic bamboo leaf bodice
i was, however, able to make mini-patterns of all my bookmarked pattern magic designs, so i guess kenneth had the right idea in the end…
speaking of the end, my weekend ended early.
can i introduce you to stormasaurus sandy? i hope that wherever you are, it is either far away from the storm or that you emerged unscathed. frankly, i feel lucky that all i’m going through is an extended blackout (i am south of 34th st) and traffic checkpoints (i work on the jersey side of the lincoln tunnel).