Portland, Ho!

Last year I went with a group of sewing friends to Santa Fe, New Mexico, which you can read about here and here.

This year we decided to head to Portland. Portland is a great destination for folks who love to sew!

I was only in Portland for three days, so I couldn't quite squeeze everything in that I wanted to see, but I did pretty well!

• Hotel
• Crafty Shopping
• Inspiration Shopping
• Food!

Hotel

We stayed at the Hotel deLuxe near the Pearl District. (It is actually located in a neighborhood called Goose Hollow.) When I was in Portland for a couple nights last fall (for work), I stayed at their sister hotel, Hotel Lucia, which is in the Pearl District. The Pearl District is a very nice place to hang out. It is the home of many nice restaurants, shops, Powell's Books, and Blue Star donuts (which I hear are much yummier than VooDoo donuts). Both hotels feature a classic movie theme, with an ambience of old world elegance. While Hotel Lucia is a bit more central, its rooms are smaller.

The hotel staff at the deLuxe were gracious, lovely, and accommodating to our entire group. I couldn't have been happier this hotel! (Well, maybe a bit happier if the breakfast had been complimentary and the room had a mini fridge. ;) But I was happy with the hotel's restaurant, where we ate most breakfasts; some in the group had other meals and drinks here, as well.)

Two of the room keys

Margy was my roomie and it was so good to see her again! I loved the jewelry she laid on the bureau. Unbeknownst to her, I took a photo of her little pile on the first day and on the last day. It was mesmerizing!

Margy's Baubles, an ever-changing art exhibit
The hotel's Do Not Disturb sign which may, or may not, have come home with me <ahem>
Georgene and Margy, with Ann photobombing in the center.
Lovely Margy
Some of my best photos were blurry, such as a series of Margy swanning down the street! (With Nancy, Patti, Rosie, and Jan bringing up the rear.)

Crafty Shopping

Of course the main reason for these trips is to hang out with friends! It's wonderful to see friends from last year and to meet new friends. But my next favorite activity is to do some shopping, both sewing-related and otherwise.

Portland is a mecca of great shopping for the crafty-minded. I was in Portland for 3 days, so I did not get to see everything that I wanted, but I plan to come back. I was happy when DD1 chose a university in Oregon, so I think I can squeeze another trip here before she graduates next spring.

Here is a run down of some Portland's crafty delights! (Note: I didn't make it to Fabric Depot on this trip. Next time!)

Pendleton Woolen Mill Store

It's easy to get confused by all of the stores related to Pendleton! There are the regular Pendleton stores, with clothing. There are the Pendleton "home" stores, with items for your home. There are Pendleton outlet stores. And then there is this store, the Woolen Mill Store, which carries things that make a sewer's heart go pitter patter.

This warehouse-sized store carries Pendleton fabrics on the roll, in flat folds, and in bins where you buy it by the pound. It has their wools, their silks (yes, they have silks, too), their cottons. It has trims, purse findings, wool rovings. Etcetera etcetera etcetera. Don't be confused by the confusing information, and check out this store, which is located in the industrial area of nearby Milwaukie. We took a 20-minute cab ride to get there and it was well worth it.

Mardel (right) surveys the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store
Who doesn't like a palm tree made from wool roving and brown craft paper?!
I had to give Mr Sheep, the store's mascot, a test ride!

Mill End Store

It might be easy to confuse the Woolen Mill Store with the Mill End Store. They have similar names and they are about one mile apart in the industrial area of Milwaukie. But the Mill End Store has no relation to Pendleton. It is located in another large warehouse, in what used to be a fabric mill.

I had been told that the Mill End Store is a jobber, and I love jobbers, but that is not true. Mill End is an independent brick and mortar fabric store that reminds me of fabric stores from days of yore. They feature a large inventory covering all of the bases - they even have a sizable ribbing section! Mill End has all of the categories of fabric that you expect, and at reasonable prices. Members of my party found lots to buy here. I made a beeline for the ribbing section and bought ribbing in two shades of blue. While I was getting it cut, I spied some wool remnants that were folded on the cutting table. They had just come in (possibly from a jobber) and hadn't been priced yet. I snapped these unique puppies up—they are one of my favorite things I purchased in Portland (which is not technically Portland).

And I didn't even make it into the yarn room!

I chatted with the owner of the store, who also does their buying, and she is lovely!

We walked from the Woolen Mill Store to the Mill End Store, as we didn't have our own car and didn't want the cab to wait. It's an easy 15-minute walk over flat terrain.

Just a bit of Mill End Store's inventory
The three wool remnants that I scored
A novelty dress form that Rosie found and let me purchase. Thanks, Rosie!

Josephine's Dry Goods

Sewers in Portland and beyond were saddened to hear when Josephine's closed about 2 years ago. Then, about a year later, they re-opened in a new location and with a new owner. This is a very small store filled with luxury fabrics. A large group, like the 10 of us, filled the store quite nicely.

She also carries wonderful notions, like the Japanese sewing needles that Susan Khalje likes and that I purchased in Puyallup.

I was ogling a double-sided cashmere coating, but I did not buy it. Other in our group definitely did their best to support this small business. In fact, I didn't even see Mardel's purchases, as she had them shipped directly home! Also note that Josephine's is located about one block from one of Portland's most famous eateries, PokPok. I had made reservations for dinner at PokPok, so we were able to combine fabric shopping and food in a single cab ride!

Liana and Margy in Josephine's Dry Goods

The Button Emporium

Note: The Button Emporium has since closed.

I am not a button collector (I tend more towards zippers and other hardware, myself), but I was very curious to check out The Button Emporium. We arrived, again as a group of 10, and immediately headed in different directions. I didn't realize that this shop also carries a large, very reasonably priced, selection of ribbons and trims. They also carry supplies like Bohin sewing needles, hooks, eyes, and, yes, lots of buttons! I bought only a few trims here, but it was a very nice shop! Lots of reflection in the store window
Another window display for The Button Emporium
My purchases

Knit Purl

A very nice yarn store in the Pearl district. I bought some lovely yarn here, which I can't show you because I've shipped it home.

Pearl Fiber Arts

Full disclosure: Pearl Fiber Arts was closed when I was in the vicinity, but it looks like a very nice store and the window display amused me.

Window display for Pearl Fiber Arts. The polka dot "knitting needles" are about 3 feet long and these yarn balls are larger than most cats.
This seems like a good place to insert a random photo of a yarn-bombed statue of an otter in the Pearl District

Inspiration Shopping

I think I actually like inspiration shopping (also called snoop shopping) even better than crafty shopping!

Once again, Portland does not disappoint.

I'm sure that I missed many delights, so please fill me in if you know of a great shop that I missed. I didn't catch the name of every shop that I visited and enjoyed, but these definitely bubbled to the top.

Physical Element

One of the first things I do when I am about to visit a new city is to search for clothing stores that sell the sorts of things that I like. For example, I like Trippen shoes and Rundholz clothing, so I'll google "Portland Trippens" and "Portland Rundholz". This is how I learned of Physical Element.

Physical Element is a small store that has very nice clothing. They carry many brands I know and love, and a couple brands, like La Stampa, there were new to me. I highly recommend a visit!

Margy took this photo in Physical Element

Changes (aka The Real Mother Goose)

I give credit to finding this store to Ann, who led the rest of us there. Oooh, I loved this store!!! It is chock full of wearable art. I didn't buy anything here, but I came sooooo close. (And Margy did find some nice things.) They also have a shop at the Portland airport, which I hope to check out when I fly home. (That's right, I haven't left Oregon yet, though I have left Portland.)

garnish

Near to Physical Element, I found garnish. Garnish's owner designs clothing and jewelry and has them made locally. I admired a necklace here, but Mardel bought a beautiful necklace that she wore the rest of the trip and Margy found some earrings. Margy took this photo in garnish—I am holding one of their necklaces. The thing about Ann: her fabrics are gorgeous, and she's pretty gorgeous, too!

SaySay Boutique

We stumbled onto this very cute store, right next door to a very yummy Mediterranean restaurant. Nancy found a beautiful purse, but I came away with a skirt. Yes, I could have made the skirt, but it was reasonably priced and used a great fabric!

Margy sent this photo of me wearing my new skirt from SaySay. What was the subject line of her email? "butt". LOL

Portland Art Museum Gift Shop

The last shop that warrants mention is the gift shop for the Portland Arts Museum. We visited the museum on the final weekend of the Italian Style exhibit, which was pretty great. Photos of the exhibit itself weren't allowed, but you can buy the book that goes with the exhibit, Italian Style: Fashion Since 1945.

After the exhibit, we wandered into the museum's gift shop and what a wonderful shop that turned out to be! It's not large, but it's well curated. I saw a woman trying on a beautiful necklace. I told her she should buy it, and she allowed me to snap a photo. It turns out they had a second one, so I bought one, too. And then we got to talking. I noticed that we had the same purse in different colors (I purchased mine at Artistry in Fashion last year). She gave me her card and it turns out that she's an artist! Noble Golden makes paper weavings, and they are beautiful.

Noble wearing her new necklace
And here is my new necklace!
A few other goodies I found at the museum gift shop
Alas, no actual photos were allowed of this amazing exhibit and the shop was out of the accompanying book, but you can buy it on amazon using the link above.
Outside the museum they have a sculpture garden
I loved this "Cousin It" sculpture! I walked around it, looking for the face, but there isn't one.
Now, who does this color scheme remind you of?
Thanks, Rosie, for taking this lovely picture!
But Mardel's paparazzi photo cracked me up!

Food!

I am not a foodie—I have many issues when it comes to consumables—but I researched Portland restaurants for our group dinners. I also looked into some good choices for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. But frankly, Portland is so full of great restaurants that it seems almost impossible to choose a bad place to eat.

I mostly include this section so I can remember these places!

PokPok

I've already mentioned that on the afternoon we visited Josephine's Dry Goods, we had dinner at PokPok. PokPok is quite well known and has been written up many times, so getting in can be tricky. They've published a cook book and you can also find some recipes online. (Margy's last blog post had some info about that.)

The group seemed to enjoy the meal and the exotic cocktails. Margy particularly enjoyed a cocktail called "The Khing and I" which featured ginger syrup—before she'd finished the first one she'd looked up a recipe on her iPad. One of the big highlights at PokPok is the wings, which you can order either spicy or not-spicy. Now, let me just say that if you are a vegan who does not eat flour, sugar or most grains, this place is not for you. I knew that going in, but I didn't want to deprive my foodie friends of a Portland gastronomic delight.

Pic at PokPok, taken by Ann

Piattino

Piattino's won't take reservations, particularly on a Friday night. It's a small establishment and I wanted to go anyway, so we made sure we got there on the early side. I had a large salad, but most folks in the group favored seafood of some kind, particularly the mussels. A very good meal.

Photobombing Liana's pic of her drink
A bit blurry at Piattino's (Photo from Patti)

Habibi

We stopped at Habibi because we were shopping, it was late, we were hungry, and it was next door to SaySay Boutique. Oh.my.goodness. This has to be the best felafel I've ever eaten and I've eaten a lot of felafel. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Garden Bar

This is one of those places where you can order a salad off the menu, or they can make you a custom salad, with the greens, toppings, and dressing that you like, perfectly tossed. This is my favorite sort of lunch place and, in fact, I ate there twice.

Veggie Grill

On my last morning in Portland, I met up with one of my Nutritarian friends who used to live in San Francisco. It was so nice to see Chel after many years! She took me to Veggie Grill for lunch and it was delicious! She's so lucky to have such a great vegetarian restaurant nearby!

Cheryl's on 12th

One morning we decided to have breakfast away from the hotel and I chose Cheryl's, partly because we needed a place that was open early. When I read the yelp reviews, there was particular mention of the Portuguese Fried Rice and Patti, who ordered it, said that the Portuguese sausage was quite good. Liana had the blueberry pancakes drizzled with lemon curd and, boy, that did look yummy. We were there on the day of the Kentucky Derby and the staff were all wearing hats. It didn't knock my socks off, but it was a nice place to have an early breakfast.

At the end of the weekend, before people start leaving, we like to gather for a little show and tell. My show and tell
Photographing my show and tell
Lots of interesting information
Margy is trying on one of Georgene's Mycra Pac coats. I covet this coat!

And, at this point, I was quite ready to crash and call it a day. It was the end of another great weekend!

The End!

Three Skirts and a Scarf

Hola, everyone!

It feels like I haven't posted in forever, though it's only been about two-and-a-half weeks. I have been busy busy busy at work, which keeps my mind in a very different space—it makes me feel like sewing, and my blog, is very far away, even if that's not really true.

A Dart Summit was held in San Francisco early this week and I spent several weeks writing a code lab for an event that was held on the eve of the summit.

If you have a mission-critical need to form a pirate crew, you might want to check it out! (Search for "Shams" if you want confirmation that I wrote it. ;) )

Though time and energy for creative work has been in limited supply, I have been doing some (fairly simple) sewing! Let me catch you up in one post!

• Two Ina Skirts
• Self Drafted "Holy" Skirt
• Double-sided Koos Infinity Scarf

Two Ina Skirts

Two of my local sewing friends, Dorothy K, and Jilly Be, have recently made the Ina skirt, which is a Pattern Review pattern. I liked each of theirs (neither of which is posted anywhere, sorry). Jillian used a floral knit, and that pushed me over the edge—I had to make my own Ina.

And, in fact, I made two. In a single day.

This is a quick sew!

I made a couple modifications. The Ina skirt has a yoke, which I omitted. I am 5'5" and, by leaving off the yoke, it was a perfect length for me. I also added an elastic waistband. With my rectangular shape, relying only on a yoke to keep up a skirt is a recipe for exposing myself in public—I guarantee that such a skirt will end up popping off and sliding to my ankles.

The Ina uses godets at the hem to flare the skirt out and create a nice swishy movement.

I made the green one first, using a stash rayon-lycra fabric, from Fabrix, I believe. The second one used a red/grey/black/white rayon-lycra fabric from Emma One Sock. The fabric arrived on Saturday morning and I was wearing the skirt by Saturday night, even with pre-washing the fabric.

Self Drafted "Holy" Skirt

On the same day that I made the two Ina skirts, I was eager to sew up yet another skirt, this time using a wonderful perforated stretch pleather from Gorgeous Fabrics.

There are different kinds of pleathers out there, but this one has a red face and a white backing. This pleather was quite easy to sew using regular thread and a regular microtex needle (my go-to needle). Instead of using pins, I secured the seams with Clover Wonder Clips, which the Clover booth was handing out at Puyallup. I like these very much!

Holding the seam in place with Clover Wonder Clips

I found (though careful trial) that you can easily press the white (back) side of the pleather on low heat and no steam, but you cannot put the iron directly on the front (red) side, unless you want it to melt on your iron, even at a relatively low heat. I found that I could press the face of the pleather if I used my silk organza pressing cloth.

Pressing the seam open with a (striped) silk organza pressing cloth

I drafted a simple flared skirt, about 70" wide at the hem, and midi length. The pleather had more stretch in one direction, but I didn't want the holes to lay in perfectly horizontal rows, so I cut the fabric on the bias—it's still stretchy on the bias, though not as stretchy as from selvedge to selvedge.

Drafting a simple flared skirt with a 70" hem

I wanted the seams to be as unobtrusive as possible, so I made 2 rows of stitching, 1/8" apart, and trimmed close to the second line of stitching.

Two rows of stitching, close together, and trimmed

I didn't want to use the pleather for an elastic waistband, so I grabbed a piece of red sweater knit. Easy peasy.

Using a red sweater knit for the elastic waistband

The hem is just the cut raw edge.

I like this skirt!

To avoid shocking observers, I wear the skirt over a pair of black microfiber harem pants or over a pair of black leggings and finish it off with boots.

Double-sided Koos Infinity Scarf

It was three years ago that I visited the Robert Talbott Outlet in Carmel Valley, on my way to an annual sewing retreat. It's a great place to buy fabrics and fabric remnants that they use in their high-end shirts, suits, and ties for men.

I bought quite a few silk tie fabrics, and a few wool remnants. There was one wool remnant in particular that I really liked. It was a loosely woven, double-weave fabric, predominantly light grey on one side and dark grey on the other. The remnant was 24" by 50". Every time I took it out to use it, I was stumped. I loved both sides of the fabric. I wanted to make another Koos spiral infinity scarf, but a Koos scarf displays only one side of the fabric, and I just couldn't bring myself to hide the other side.

Also, this fabric fringes beautifully, and I wanted to feature the fringe.

Somehow.

So, I'd pull the fabric out from time to time, stare at it, ponder, and then put it away, with regret.

Then, last week, it occurred to me that I could have it both ways.

Here is what I did:

• Evened up all the edges so that it was a perfect rectangle.
• Cut the fabric, exactly down the middle, the long way.
• Flipped over one half of the fabric, showing the reverse side.
• Fringed one of the long edges, overlapped it, and stitched it down. I stitched it twice:
  • The first row of stitching, using a straight stitch, secured the layers together.
  • The second row of stitching, a zigzag, prevented the fabric from fraying further.
  After cutting the fabric down the middle and turning one half over to display both sides; the pile of threads are from the self fringe
  
• Next, I followed Linda Chang Teufel's instructions (she has worked closely with Koos van den Akker and wrote the original article that appeared in Threads Magazine) for the Koos Mobius Scarf, with a few minor changes:
  
  • The dimensions of my rectangle are a bit different: about 20" by 50", after the rectangle had been trued up.
  • I omitted the bias bindings, which is a classic Koos detail.
  • All seams are overlapped, rather than sewn normally. For all seams, the raw edge on top is fringed and the seams are sewn twice, as described above.
  • Before sewing the short ends of the scarf together, I introduced a twist into the scarf. I'm pretty sure that the Threads article that Linda wrote includes this instruction, though I can't lay my hands on it right now. (She doesn't mention this step in the blog post.) This 360° twist helps the finished scarf lay nicely around the neck.

Step 7 in Linda's instructions—beginning the spiral seam
Step 11 in Linda's instructions—the short ends are pinned together

I love the finished scarf! I found a way to have my cake and eat it, too!

Until next time!

Mesh Knit Spring Cardi

It's time to highlight another garment made from a lovely Britex fabric! (You can also see my post on the Britex blog.)

Spring has officially sprung! I'm sure everyone, especially those on the east coast, are heaving a collective sigh a relief, yes? I know that my daughter, a San Francisco native who is attending university in Minnesota, is happy to see the thermostat climb.

My spring and summer wardrobe really need some sprucing up, so I was happy to have an opportunity to select a piece of fabric from Britex's Knits page. This Oversized Plaid Stretch Lace beckoned and I followed.

The pattern is one of my TnT (Tried 'n True) tops, Vogue 8951, though I have modified it considerably, as I like to do. (That is the great thing about a pattern—once it fits, you are free to focus on the styling—that's when sewing is really fun!)

I am wearing the cardi over a sleeveless top

This fabric, a printed mesh lace, was quite easy to sew. It reminds me of a crocheted lace, though it is not. The bolt says "100% polyester", but it has more of a cotton-like hand to it. It is not slinky or slippery and is, in fact, fairly stable. I had no trouble cutting, sewing, or pressing it (at a low temp, just in case).

I decided to make a simple cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves. I sewed the entire cardigan wrong sides together so the raw edges were to the outside. I then pressed the seams open and trimmed them to a scant 1/4".

Pins tend to fall out of the mesh fabric, so I used small safety pins to mark the sleeve fronts.

I bound the raw edges, including the outside edges, with 1" strips of black rayon jersey from my bag o' scraps. The jersey was much more slippery and stretchy than the mesh, so I machine sewed the jersey to the cardi with the strips against the feed dogs and the mesh on top. This also makes it easier to stitch in the same line of stitching that secured the seams. I folded the remaining edge of the jersey around the raw edge, turned it under, and hand stitched in place.

Look, ma, no raw edges on the inside!
From the outside. As you can see, the mesh is not super sheer. That "dot" in the center of the picture is not a sun spot, it is my necklace showing through the fabric.

This little cardi will be a welcome addition to my warm-weather wardrobe. The open fabric of the mesh provides coverage for my upper arms, but also allows for air flow. Mesh is very on-trend right now—most any clothing store is featuring mesh garments for spring and summer.

Thanks to mem for taking the photos
And thanks to Britex for the fabric!