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.

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 →

A Little Bag for a Little Lady

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When I arrived home from Interlochen in early August, my DIL-Equivalent, Leslie, arrived a day after me for a stay of several days before heading back to Amarillo to start the school year at her university. I had hoped to quickly make a little wristlet clutch for her darling 5yo daughter, affectionately known as Meme. I printed off the Swoon Coraline pattern at 80%. Using the small version (11″ wide), that 80% printing meant the finished little bag would be 8.8″ wide. I had read many posts in the Swoon Patterns Facebook group where sewists talk about printing the patterns … Continue reading →

A Little Home Dec

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While the Jazzman was painting the kitchen, he was inspired to keep improving our circa-1927 house. When he finished pointing out to me all the improvements he made to the kitchen, he whipped some paint chips out of the “junk drawer”, saying “and this is what I’m thinking of for this bathroom.” Whattaguy!!! I did not take Before pictures—shame on me—but if you’ve ever lived in an ollllld house, you can imagine it. The floor is classic hexagonal black and white tile with the little black hex flowers on the white background. It has a classic pedestal sink. I updated … Continue reading →

A New Look at Book Covers

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A Grandma Sewing Tutorial I never had to have my books covered in high school. At least I don’t remember having to cover them, but that was a long time ago. I barely remember what classes I took in high school. I do remember, however, cutting class as much as possible during my junior year. I didn’t love high school. My sweet DGS is now three days into his high school experience. He texted me the other night and said he had a sewing project to complete before Friday, asking when I’d be available to assist his design efforts. When … Continue reading →

Back in the (Sewing) Saddle Again

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While I was at camp, there was barely a minute to spare. I thought I was going to be able to volunteer in the costume shop and help them out with stitching. I brought my current knitting project and a couple of sewing projects, along with my beloved Bernina, and didn’t have nearly as much handcraft fun as I thought I would. So you can imagine that I’m happy to be home and back in my sewing room. The Lovely Lady Leslie spent a few days in Youngstown after camp, and I was able to sit her down in my … Continue reading →

Another Camp Top

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That danged clock keeps ticking. I’m now less than a month from the day I leave to drive to Interlochen. I’ve got to go to Asheville this weekend for my mother’s 102nd birthday, and the 19th through the 22nd we’re going to Toronto and Niagara Falls with friends to celebrate my [there’s a five in it] birthday. I refuse to look at the calendar and calculate how much I have left to do before I leave. I’m just sewing and sewing and making myself crazy. This afternoon I finished Green Bee Patterns’ Frances dress. It was easy to procrastinate, as … Continue reading →

The Eva Dress

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Blogless Anna, whose writing and sewing I love, made a Tessuti Eva dress a few months ago, and it stuck in my mind. I thought if Northeast Ohio ever escapes winter, I might like it for a summer dress. A couple of days ago, on one of my 25 mile drives to accompany a high school chorus, I stopped at Olive Grace Studios, a sweet little quilt shop about ten miles north of my house. There, tucked under the front counter, I found this great linen covered with Xs, sorta sashiko quilting, but not really. It called out “Eva” to … Continue reading →

One Pattern; Two Very Different Looks

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I have an ongoing love affair with Eileen Fisher. This affair is about 20 years old, and is quite passionate. Oh, the hours I spend looking at her various styles online at Nordstrom, Naturals-inc.com, Neiman-Marcus, and the EF website. Whenever I wear a piece of EF clothing, I feel très chic. I recently discovered McCall’s 7020. If you look at the line drawings on the pattern back, this pattern is very similar to several of my favorite EF sweaters. Pairing the boxy top with a skinny pair of pants and flat shoes or boots gives me an instant put-together look. … Continue reading →