Author Archives: Jan

About Jan

Musician and geek and Juris Doctor; lover of fine art and fine craft; mother and grandmother and significant other and friend. Passionate about sewing.

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The good news is I finally found some time, amid all my music-making, to get back into my sewing room. The bad news is this garment will probably never be worn again after its two minutes on the runway. You may remember my posts in the past about my many enjoyable sewing experiences with my heart-of-my-heart grandson, Boston. Just to clarify: He now prefers to be known as Celeste and referred to with feminine pronouns. So here we go … I always feel elated when Celeste texts me and says she has a sewing project she wants to work on … Continue reading →

Keep Calm and Sew On

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I hate how busy I’ve been this semester. I’m preparing a full-length “Cosi fan tutte” for late April. A kids’ version of Cosi, with its own abbreviated score, will be presented the morning of that event’s opening. I have not yet seen the kids’ cuts, but know that I am the orchestra for that production, where I believe I’m only accompanying the recitative (but the entire score for all the rehearsals over the entire semester) for the full evening opera. A 45-minute opera for kids, Billy Goats Gruff, is to be presented today at Stambaugh Auditorium and then five times … Continue reading →

A Winning Tute

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The Jazzman and I have little travel pillows that I got at Bed Bath & Beyond. We like knowing that whatever the hotel (or cruise ship) has to offer, we’ll have a pillow along that we know and love. Before we went to Mexico last winter, I bought the 12″ x 16″ pillows and made pillowcases to fit them. They were both a gold cotton sateen. I silkscreened my name on mine; his had nothing to indicate it was his. And then it disappeared. His pillow and the custom made pillowcase are nowhere to be found. So before we went … Continue reading →

Quick and Shiny

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Somewhere two weeks ago I read a sewing blog where the writer talked about some fabric she purchased from NY Fashion Center. Of course I ran over there to see what they offer, and was blown away with this tie-dye web foil print spandex. Seriously, this fabric is not something I would ever have thought of sewing with. But a shipboard pool and a walk along the beach in Aruba were on my mind, and a little swim mini skirt from Land’s End was calling out for a coverup. While I waited for the fabric to arrive and while I … Continue reading →

Out With the Old, In With the New

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As most humans are wont to do, yesterday and today I have been looking back on 2015, pondering what I wish to change for 2016. Change? Almost everything! Last year was one of the hardest years in my life, with a few bright lights tossed in to keep me sane. It started on Christmas Day of 2014, when my brothers decided it was time for Mother to reside permanently in a nursing home. The task of cleaning out her apartment in the assisted living facility and deciding what to do with her now-unnecessary possessions fell to me. I had to … Continue reading →

Stretching My Brain

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I like to learn. That may explain why I’m always trying new sewing tricks and blogging about them here. I had to accompany some students in their voice studio recital on Sunday. The ladies were to wear long gowns, i.e. it’s a dressy event. I wanted to be dressier than I was (black knit pants, black tank, and black knit jacket) for the last performance I accompanied, but I didn’t want to wear a gown. I wanted to make something, but was struggling to figure out what. I have some personal concerns in my life right now, and many nights … Continue reading →

Working One’s Way Up the Priority List

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I just wanted to sew today. I just wanted to sew up some fabric—any fabric—that had been resting comfortably in my stash. I have a Caribbean cruise to prepare for, and I had a really cool piece of mesh knit that I thought would be great. I had read in Marcy Tilton’s blog about a double-layer mesh top she made using Vogue 8582. I love this pattern. I’ve made it several times, and find it very flattering to my body. I thought it would be fun to experiment with this new technique and see how the doubled mesh turned out. … Continue reading →

A Bag to Meet All My Musical Needs

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I’m currently working four different collaborative pianist jobs, which means several binders full of music, plus my iPad and Bluetooth page-turn pedal, and a calendar on which I attempt to keep my life organized. Since the first day of class, I have been trying to figure out the best way to keep track of all this music and transport it back and forth from home to performance space. When I made Swoon Patterns’ Alice for my grand-high-schooler to use as a bookbag, I started thinking maybe Alice was the bag I needed to schlep all my music. I have a … Continue reading →