creation + compassion

Saturday night Lynne and I both simultaneously had the pleasure of leaving kids at home with dad, and going on a little outing. She on her side of the country, and I on mine. We each attended a televised broadcast of the Relief Society--a super cool women's organization (in fact the largest women's organization in the world)--that has for a purpose to strengthen women and families. One of the speeches was particularly moving to both of us: the title "Creation and Compassion". This is actually a subject that Lynne and I have spoken to each other about several times over the past few weeks. The idea is the power of creation: how each of us has an innate desire to create something that did not exist beforehand, to organize, to improve, to make something beautiful. (Even the five year old loves to create on her estate-sale sewing machine.) Our creation could be something as simple as a yummy apple crisp, or a little servant frock, or something as grand and miraculous as a new human life. We as women are creators--especially all of you crafty ladies out there! Somehow, when we create, we touch a little bit of the divine in all of us. So the next time your husband asks: "why do you spend so much time making things?" You can quickly respond: "I'm simply developing my divine side!"

Only 90 more days until Christmas!

One of my favorite parts about Christmas - the Christmas card. Here's ours from last year. I keep them (ones we've received) in a little basket in our family room the whole year long, a habit inherited from my mom. Late last night I was struck with an irrational desire (it was 12:45 am) to re-read them, all. Despite my guilt about not being in bed it was delightful to leaf through the happy pile and see pictures, notes and little historical summaries from families and friends we love who are far away and seen in person too infrequently. I am already anticipating this years' updates!

shop open

sugar loom kits and more servant patterns in the shop this morning...

anyone want to split some wallpaper?

DSC_1990, originally uploaded by joslyn_t.

This is a picture of Joslyn's amazing home - see more pictures here. We're going to use some of this beautiful wallpaper for a small project in our house and I'm wondering if any like-minded potential wall-paperer out there would be interested in splitting an order? It comes in two double rolls and we don't need so much. Email me if you are!

Sugar Loom #2: Little Red on Green"

Here's the perfect cozy fall activity: snuggle up on the sofa in a soft blanket, turn on a relaxing movie, and stitch by stitch will unfold an enchanting Sugar Loom--handmade by you!--no sewing machine required! We have our "Little Red on Green" hanging in the boudoir/bathroom upstairs. The two-year old loves to stare at it when she's on the potty and make disparaging remarks about that awful wolf. It's a child-mesmerizer, full of all of mom's good sewing karma. Kits will be available for sale within the next two weeks.

introducing the Sugar Loom

I love a good, slow project that I can steadily work on in the evenings after all the daytime chaos has settled down. There is nothing better than finding a rhythm with such a thing - stitch, stitch, stitch - my mind unwinds and works out problems, and a different part of my brain engages choosing colors with thread and fabric.

Thus we bring you Sugar Looms, our new love. This one is mine, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and Melissa will show hers to us on Friday (I've seen it already - it's so gorgeous!). The fabric I used comes from scraps of old dresses that the five-year old has worn over the past four years. Right now she loves this picture because she likes the magic of princesses running through the woods at night (me too). One day, hopefully, she will have this for her children and love it because it holds little pieces of her past.

(we'll be selling kits for these, with the pattern, frames, etc. starting perhaps next week. who needs a project for fall nights?)

"Chaos Subdued by the Power of Need"

After the milk debacle of last week and lots of busy-ness for Melissa the past few days we, this morning, have decided to declare this week on Sugar City "Subdue Chaos" week. Thus a little Vermeer (who is more orderly than those Vermeer people?) and a favorite poem from an old college professor, written by May Sarton. (And tomorrow we have a new project that we are really excited about). Off to do some subduing... enjoy the poem, even if you haven't lost loved ones to a violent water death.

Dutch Interior

I recognize the quiet and the charm,
This safe enclosed room where a woman sews
And life is tempered, orderly, and calm.
Through the Dutch door, half-open, sunlight streams
And throws a pale square down on the red tiles.
The cosy black dog suns himself and dreams.
Even the bed is sheltered, it encloses,
A cupboard to keep people safe from harm,
Where copper glows with the warm flush of roses.
The atmosphere is all domestic, human,
Chaos subdued by the power of need.
This is a room where I have lived as woman,
lived too what the Dutch painter does not tell --
The wild skies overhead, dissolving, breaking,
And how that broken light is never still,
And how the roar of waves is always near,
What bitter tumult, treacherous and cold?
Attacks the solemn charm year after year!
It must be felt as peace won and maintained
Against those horrible antagonists --
How many from this quiet room have drowned
How many left to go, drunk on the wind,
And take their ships into heartbreaking seas;
How many whom no woman's peace could bind?
Bent to her sewing she looks drenched in calm -
Raw grief is disciplined to the fine thread.
But in her heart this woman is the storm;
Alive, deep in herself, holds wind and rain,
Remaking chaos into an intimate order
Where sometimes light flows through a windowpane.

more servant dresses in the shop this morning...

Have a great weekend! Lead your children onto grand and exciting adventures, just like this beauty...

A Virgin, painted by Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1892-93.

let the servitude begin

The servant patterns are now up here, hooray! Melissa and I are separating the shops because it's a lot easier to keep track of all the boring business details from different coasts this way. So Melissa is the Sugar City Shop (in the village), and I'm the Sugar City Shop (in the woods).

So, speaking of servitude, tonight as I was cooking dinner the four-year old pulled a completely full gallon of milk from the fridge, and dropped it. I watched in slow motion the carton land and explode all over the floor. As I grabbed towels and started to wipe, the family dog happily lunged in to help lick up the trouble. The naked almost two-year old came in for a closer look and a little splashing, and the four year old began smearing the milk around with her bare feet (why not? so helpful). A swear unfortunately slipped from my mouth which I am 99% sure will be incorporated into the four-year old's kindergarten vocabulary this week. Adding to the fun, the seven-year old chose this moment to open the pantry door. No time like the present to rummage for a cookie, I suppose. A full box of Cheerios tipped off the upper shelf and cascaded over his head and body onto the floor (which is extra funny because he has a severe cereal phobia - he refuses to even sit at the table if someone has cereal on it as he insists the smell nauseates him).

I now reflect that before I had children, I never felt like I needed or even wanted to swear. Normal words were mostly sufficient for me. But these days sometimes even the best words are not enough. Good times.

*thanks for your orders! I'll get more printed for people who missed the first release.

Wolfie and his many talents

Our friend Wolfie has many unusual abilities. Who would think that a mangy grey carnivore with a twelve-inch-long tongue could have so much hidden potential?

Among his many talents he possesses a rare gift at:

stocking young girls in the woods,


schmoozing with feeble old ladies,

devouring little old ladies in one gulp,

and sewing pantaloons for his wife! Long live Wolfie! a true Sewster Hack!

magic

I'm sorry, I have to gloat for a moment... last weekend we were SO LUCKY to have Monika Elena take family pictures for us. She caught exactly what I hoped for with her digital and vintage polaroid cameras: magic snatches of light and an atmosphere of happiness. She's relocating down to Southern California and if you get a chance, she's beyond wonderful. Monika, thank you so much for what are I'm sure the best family pictures we will ever have taken! You can see more of Monika's polaroid wonderfulness here.

patterns sold out!

Our second printing of the village frock pattern has sold out. We printed our pattern initially in a more conservative quantity (i.e. not 1000 to begin with!) to make sure we could sell them. And we did! Thank you for all of your orders. If you were unable to order a pattern and are interested in doing so, send us an e-mail and we may do another printing. Happy sewing!

warm arms

My daughter is either broiling hot (demands to be only in underwear) or freezing cold (wrapped in a blanket and a towel at the dinner table). Now that we are coming up on the "freezing cold" part of the year (after all, it did dip into the eighties over the weekend - much blanket-wrapping) it's time to start thinking about how to keep those limbs warm. Thankfully I saw wrist warmers in the pretty fall Toast catalog and knew that me and my son's Knifty Knitter needed to get to work. (She wore them to school today (forecast: 96).)

(By the way - I made this dress from the Simple Servant Frock pattern, which is going to be printed today, and available early next week. Finally.)

(*another by the way, in response to fuji mama's question - these are so quick to whip out with a tool such as the Knifty Knitter! (i sadly am a horrible needle knitter). I used the Knifty Knitter circle that is about 3" in diameter, and kept doing it until the length seemed long enough for my daughter's arm. You can purchase Knifty Knitters at Michael's, Walmart, and probably most craft stores. Very simple to use - it's basically wrapping yarn around little pegs in the shape of a circle.)