“Home”

We made it to San Francisco. My brain is a bit mushy so I’ll update you the easy way: our week in pictures.

Goodbye sticky toffee pudding.

Goodbye Southbank.

En route.

Hello American breakfast!

The spread! We only left behind one pumpkin pancake.

Unlimited coffee; as it should be.

Baby bump in my me-made stripey skirt.

My niece makes a friend.

Finally. At the hotel along the bay.

No machine means crochet time.

And that my friends was my week. Now we are waiting to hear back on an apartment. We only have a few details to sort out so we may very well have a place to live before Christmas. Huzzah! Nesting can finally begin!

19 Days!

Can I panic now?! Flights are booked and we have 19 days before we fly off to San Francisco! I am very relieved that we decided to break up the long journey by stopping in NYC to see family for a couple of days. I’m really looking forward to seeing my family, but most especially my niece who is now a toddler with the cutest cheeks ever.

Packing housewares is the last thing on my mind, which is thankfully (thankgoodnessthankgoodnessthankgoodness) being taken care of by the relocation company. My thoughts are mainly on two things: all my fabric arriving in California safely and what last London activities I want to do.

Most of my fabric will be packed away in a sea shipment, arriving in about two months time (ACK!). That leaves me having to pick a few pieces that I can put on the air shipment, which arrives earlier. I’m choosing what fabrics to pack based on what projects I want to work on once we settle in. I am considering these: Juniper maternity trousers, a baby quilt and some maternity Renfrew tops (isn’t Stitch and Witter’s fab?).

That would put most of my beloved fabric on the sea shipment, hoping they arrive safely to us in California. When we moved to London we took an inventory of everything we packed. But we failed to be very specific, ended up missing items and not remembering quite everything that was lost, which of course made it hard to get things replaced. But not this time. This time we are taking photos and taking great care in writing everything down.

My refusal to walk away from a bargain means I’ve acquired too much fabric. Luckily I keep a spreadsheet that allows me to know what fabrics I have and how much of it. With good record-keeping the money I spent on all my fabric would be replaced if they went missing but really, it would be quite hard to replace them. So here’s hoping nothing happens to them en route! I finished updating my spreadsheet yesterday (I did get lazy and stopped inputting the width measurement) and I am a bit embarrassed at how much fabric I’ve accumulated. I seem to replace 2 meters of fabric with 10 more every time I go to a fabric shop! Ugh. Must sew more and must buy less, yes? Yes.

Having lived in London three times since turning 20, I know this won’t be my last time here. I’ve made wonderful friends from the sewing and expat communities that I look forward to visiting with in the future. But for now I have lots to do before leaving: visit the V&A again (I went to so many paid exhibits I wonder, why didn’t I become a member?!), go for afternoon tea and Sunday roast, photograph my beautiful neighborhood, and visit with friends. And maybe go to Liberty for one last splurge? No, no, no, Mela. No more fabric. One of my best friends is coming to visit from New Orleans for Thanksgiving. We will surely get a few of my London to-dos checked off while she’s here.

*Phew* Now that I’ve written everything down that needs to be done I don’t feel so worried. Blogging is such good therapy.

Ginger and the Bump

We had gorgeous weather (AKA NO RAIN) this past weekend in London. And too afraid not to take advantage of it, Greg and I braved the chilled weather and went on a picnic Sunday. We packed some sandwiches, snackies and drinks and were off. The benefit of living in East Finchley is that we are surrounded by gorgeous parks. There are Highgate Wood, Queens Woods and Waterlow Park in Highgate. Then there’s Ally Pally in Muswell Hill. And the grandest of them all in Islington, Hampstead Heath. We are a nice leisurely 30 minute walk away from the Heath so we headed there. One of our favorite places to visit locally is Kenwood House, located north of the Heath. Unfortunately the house is closed until spring 2013 for renovations. But the grounds (including cafés and bookshop) are still open. So take a gander if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

The grounds were bustling with people who had the same idea as us. There were lots of families and couples exploring, taking in the view or playing games. We walked away from the house and found a nice spot in front of the pond.

I bought the most beautiful Brexton picnic set ever and still have yet to use it. Sadly it still hasn’t been christened (it’s a bit heavy to carry for long). Instead we got to use the matching napkins I especially made for the set.

But this post isn’t about singing the praises of Kenwood House, no matter how much I love it. It’s all about my refashioned denim Ginger skirt.

I initially felt bad cutting it up but then I remembered that it never really fit properly. And now I will be able to wear it, even if just for a few months. And the piece I cut out will work perfectly to determine how much I need to cut out in future maternity garments. Perfect.

**Oh! Did you spy my headband? Totally used the hem I cut away from my Simplicity 1998 dress as one. Little waste! Yay!**

OWOP: Day 7 with Stripey Ginger

Yesterday was the last day of OWOP. I really had a great time doing this challenge. It forced me to think outside of the jeans-and-t-shirt box and spruce up my look a bit. I definitely felt extra special every day because I knew I actually spent time deciding what to wear.

A group of us celebrated the end of the challenge with a few cocktails and friendly chatter. Meeting up with fellow stitchers never gets old. On the contrary. I look forward to meeting up more and more. It’s nice to chat about your hobby with someone who understands what you’re on about. Poor hubby just grins and nods when I explain what I’m trying to do with a garment. Bless.

A great night is always guaranteed when you mix three things together:

1. Alcohol

2. Chocolate (Find my tutorial on how to make these lovely macarons/macaroons here).

3. Great company.

Stitch and Witter and House of Pinhiero

Pimp My Curtains

Did You Make That, Auxetically and Lazy Stitching

Pimp My Curtains and Claire

Tilly and the Buttons and Did You Make That

What fun!

Thanks to Tilly for thinking up an awesome challenge that got my creative juices flowing. Thanks to Karen for organizing another fab meet-up. And thanks to y’all who humored me by listening to me go on and on about The Tube. I am obsessed with that show!

OWOP: Day 6 with Prince of Wales Ginger

See those cute teal shoes above? Yeah, haven’t worn those since I lived in Texas and drove EVERYWHERE. I am not even going to pretend that those shoes will be worn today. I haven’t worn heels since I moved to London. My poor ankles aren’t suited for balancing over cobblestones and uneven pavements. All my heels are gathering dust in the closet. Maybe I’ll start using them just for picture purposes. But really, how do women in this city rock heels so well? My calves hurt just looking at them.

So…this is my first Ginger skirt. It fits a bit big now (hurrah!) but I don’t think I will go through the trouble of taking it in. I bought some wool Prince of Wales fabric and hope to replace this one next winter. When I made this skirt I used a pattern that I graded up to a size 20. I found the pattern a bit too roomy around the hips so I’ve since started using the 18 with a modified waist. I used the slash-and-pivot method to add some inches at the waist and keep the hips the same. I’m liking the new look and will soon retire this skirt. But it’s had a great run.

Let me end this post with sending a MASSIVE congrats to Dibs and family. She and her husband welcomed Noah into the world late last night. Can’t wait to meet the little guy.

Fabric Fandango: Goldhawk Road

Luck was on my side the day that I came across a blogger’s post about a fabric shop hop! Karen from Did You Make That? organized a brilliant get-together, Fabric Fandango: Goldhawk Road. She provided a map of the sewing shops in the area and prizes for the first ten people who showed up! Amazing. And always the eager beaver guess who got a bag? Me…correct. About 40 women showed up for the event. Coincidentally another sewing group was having an outing to the shops as well. We all split up into small groups and on we went.

I think I got a bit overzealous, along with some other of the sewists. Only a handful managed to stay on track and not buy much. My group leader, Dibs, or as I call her, The Haggling Queen, managed not to pay full price for any of her fabric. I learned a few tricks from her. Here’s hoping I can haggle next time I go fabric shopping for my birthday. I will call on the haggling spirit of Dibs on that day.

Dibs and her mountain of fabric!

I had such a really great with my group: Dibs, Adrienne, Justine and Marie.  Time flew and we still didn’t get to go into all the textile stores. Just another reason to re-visit. 

After shopping we headed to a local bar and shared shopping finds over drinks. We were asked to put out all of our fabric onto the table in front of us to show everyone. 

I cannot wait to see what I can make with the fabrics I purchased. This was the first time that I went out to buy fabrics I would use strictly for clothes. I often only buy quilting weight fabric for my crafts. I am afraid I don’t know what I will produce from my clothes sewing skills but here’s hoping they’re wearable!

I met such wonderful, inspiring women. I am very glad to be part of such a supportive community. Hoping to cross paths with y’all in the interwebs and in real life again.