Looking for a way back to 1915? Travel up the stairs of the California Tower in San Diego's Balboa Park. Back to the time of the Panama Pacific Exposition, when folks saw the world through a pair of rose colored - Beaux Arte flavored - glasses, International was another word for exotic, and California drifted like an almost unexplored cultural island.
Showing posts with label time travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time travel. Show all posts
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Time Travel Portal - 1915 - CA Tower - (San Diego Field Trip)
Looking for a way back to 1915? Travel up the stairs of the California Tower in San Diego's Balboa Park. Back to the time of the Panama Pacific Exposition, when folks saw the world through a pair of rose colored - Beaux Arte flavored - glasses, International was another word for exotic, and California drifted like an almost unexplored cultural island.
Monday, September 7, 2015
New York Field Trip - Time Travel, Casual Art, Friendly Folks NYC Move How To Notes
I got to go along to New York, to help my daughter move there for graduate school. Good thing this worked out, as just before leaving she developed a stress fracture in her foot. So we learned about accessible transportation* in New York as well!
We spent two weeks at a budget hotel in Queens, waiting for Rosalinda’s Upper East Side Manhattan apartment to open up. Luckily we found it on the first day - we used a broker, which is common Saw a number that would have worked. Hers is a little more old style/classic first Manhattan apartment than others we saw. Little less costly than the others, but similar rents to those around here in San Francisco Bay Area. Ikea guys came first evening with bed and table and chairs!
Front of Rosalinda’s building. Pre-war construction. High ceilings.
She has a “fifth floor walkup”. That means no elevator and you schlepp your groceries and stuff mailed from home up, up, up. It took me 2.5 hours to move up the stuff from boxes at home. With Rosalinda’s busted foot, she stayed below with box cutter, repacking in our essential Target handled bins. and had them ready for me upon return trips. Highest humidity day. I had to stop and rest from heat both top and bottom!! I sure appreciate my health in a situation like this. Good to know I can do a hard thing.
Great family scene in Queens - where we stayed in hotel. East Indian (Punjabi and Gujarti speakers), Latino and African American neighborhoods side by side. Lots of languages to hear. People sit on their stoops at night and visit. Very friendly and I could always say ‘hi’ when taking my after supper walk. Practiced my Spanish nearly every day on my trip- walking, on subway, and with one of guys assembling bed (who spoke no English). Interesting to see Italian and Indian heritage workers speaking excellent Spanish with coworkers. I didn’t know before that 25% of people there are Spanish speaking. On bus Rosalinda observed that my Spanish was much improved. Starts to flow naturally when I use it casually like that.
Bodegas about every two blocks in Queens. Really good produce and meat. Lots of high quality produce all along streets too. Also all-fruit smoothie carts. Often fruit in carts better price than in stores. And good.
Queensboro Bridge from the hotel window, I watched the commute traffic morning and evening. They definitely go into work later. Traffic moves pretty well still at 7:30 a.m.
Kinda Christmas’y look in the evenings.
We DID get tired of the hotel - refrigerator and microwave, but only one chair and a desk other than bed. Rosalinda elevated her foot and ate on the bed often two meals a day. It was so great to have a table and chairs when we moved to apartment.
Might have been worth paying 40$ to have somebody else ‘pick’ the Ikae furniture. We had two carts like this. It meant Rosalinda did things with her foot she shouldn’t have to avoid having me get knocked to floor by boxes.You have to go TO Ikea to get delivery date you want. Otherwise it takes 2-3 weeks if you online order.
Moving to Manhattan with an incomplete foot is challenging - but there are a lot of payoffs. The East River is a five to ten minute walk from Rosalinda’s new apartment. There is a walkway and a park with a dog area BUSTLING with cute little dogs, sunbathing and benches all along the river. It’s a real neighborhood scene both day and night.
Central Park is very accessible from Rosalinda’s place too. Six and a half blocks. Easy walk or, when you are minimizing walking, - as Rosalinda is working to do now - you take a cross town bus and can keep the walking to about a half a mile to see Central Park scenes like this. You can rent these wind powered boats, or bring your own. You can also rent a sloop in the boathouse to keep your own boat. This is the “Conservatory Water”. The Alice and Wonderland statue is at one end. Also the Hans Christian Anderson statue, where there are weekly H.C.A. readings. I had a nice talk in Spanish with a man from Argentina (his home language is Italian but he was happy to speak Spanish) about H.C. Anderson when we were both photo’ing there.
Lot of great tile art in the subways.While Rosalinda in class, I got off at 23’rd street station returning on the R Line (back from the free Staten Island Ferry) to photo many hats at the 23’rd street station.
There are many excellent opportunities for time travel at The Cloisters and next door Fort Tyron.
I’ve always wanted to see the Unicorn Tapestries. But I had no idea what a wonderful museum they live in. I went back to “The Cloisters” for a second visit on one of the days Rosalinda was in Orientation all day. Fort Tyron Park next to the Cloisters is right on The Hudson - gorgeous gardens, benches and views. I ate my lunch there on my second visit before heading into Cloisters. The museum itself is a fantasy of an Abbey, created from pieces of monastical buidlings from all over Europe, transformed into the sense of one building. Beautiful secret enclosed gardens too.
Plus I got to fully enjoy the Unicorn Tapestries collection.
It’s part of the Metropoliton Museum of Art and I used my Met ticket from another day, to get in. Both museums have a ‘recommended’ price, so you can offer less and they take it with a smile. Same with Natural History Museum and City of New York Museum - both of which I squeezed int when Rosalinda was resting foot in the afternoons.
Museum Record for Unicorn in Captivity tapestry - http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/467642
~ ~ ~
*To locate accessible Bus and Subway info - use the MTA trip planner and check the Accessible box. Currently about 25% of subways are accessible - but we found that rerouting and maintenance can alter that. Busses worked best for foot injury for my daughter. Pleasant riding busses too and it helped us learn the geography of the city better.
http://tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx
We spent two weeks at a budget hotel in Queens, waiting for Rosalinda’s Upper East Side Manhattan apartment to open up. Luckily we found it on the first day - we used a broker, which is common Saw a number that would have worked. Hers is a little more old style/classic first Manhattan apartment than others we saw. Little less costly than the others, but similar rents to those around here in San Francisco Bay Area. Ikea guys came first evening with bed and table and chairs!
Front of Rosalinda’s building. Pre-war construction. High ceilings.
She has a “fifth floor walkup”. That means no elevator and you schlepp your groceries and stuff mailed from home up, up, up. It took me 2.5 hours to move up the stuff from boxes at home. With Rosalinda’s busted foot, she stayed below with box cutter, repacking in our essential Target handled bins. and had them ready for me upon return trips. Highest humidity day. I had to stop and rest from heat both top and bottom!! I sure appreciate my health in a situation like this. Good to know I can do a hard thing.
Great family scene in Queens - where we stayed in hotel. East Indian (Punjabi and Gujarti speakers), Latino and African American neighborhoods side by side. Lots of languages to hear. People sit on their stoops at night and visit. Very friendly and I could always say ‘hi’ when taking my after supper walk. Practiced my Spanish nearly every day on my trip- walking, on subway, and with one of guys assembling bed (who spoke no English). Interesting to see Italian and Indian heritage workers speaking excellent Spanish with coworkers. I didn’t know before that 25% of people there are Spanish speaking. On bus Rosalinda observed that my Spanish was much improved. Starts to flow naturally when I use it casually like that.
Bodegas about every two blocks in Queens. Really good produce and meat. Lots of high quality produce all along streets too. Also all-fruit smoothie carts. Often fruit in carts better price than in stores. And good.
Queensboro Bridge from the hotel window, I watched the commute traffic morning and evening. They definitely go into work later. Traffic moves pretty well still at 7:30 a.m.
Kinda Christmas’y look in the evenings.
We DID get tired of the hotel - refrigerator and microwave, but only one chair and a desk other than bed. Rosalinda elevated her foot and ate on the bed often two meals a day. It was so great to have a table and chairs when we moved to apartment.
Might have been worth paying 40$ to have somebody else ‘pick’ the Ikae furniture. We had two carts like this. It meant Rosalinda did things with her foot she shouldn’t have to avoid having me get knocked to floor by boxes.You have to go TO Ikea to get delivery date you want. Otherwise it takes 2-3 weeks if you online order.
Moving to Manhattan with an incomplete foot is challenging - but there are a lot of payoffs. The East River is a five to ten minute walk from Rosalinda’s new apartment. There is a walkway and a park with a dog area BUSTLING with cute little dogs, sunbathing and benches all along the river. It’s a real neighborhood scene both day and night.
Central Park is very accessible from Rosalinda’s place too. Six and a half blocks. Easy walk or, when you are minimizing walking, - as Rosalinda is working to do now - you take a cross town bus and can keep the walking to about a half a mile to see Central Park scenes like this. You can rent these wind powered boats, or bring your own. You can also rent a sloop in the boathouse to keep your own boat. This is the “Conservatory Water”. The Alice and Wonderland statue is at one end. Also the Hans Christian Anderson statue, where there are weekly H.C.A. readings. I had a nice talk in Spanish with a man from Argentina (his home language is Italian but he was happy to speak Spanish) about H.C. Anderson when we were both photo’ing there.
Lot of great tile art in the subways.While Rosalinda in class, I got off at 23’rd street station returning on the R Line (back from the free Staten Island Ferry) to photo many hats at the 23’rd street station.
There are many excellent opportunities for time travel at The Cloisters and next door Fort Tyron.
I’ve always wanted to see the Unicorn Tapestries. But I had no idea what a wonderful museum they live in. I went back to “The Cloisters” for a second visit on one of the days Rosalinda was in Orientation all day. Fort Tyron Park next to the Cloisters is right on The Hudson - gorgeous gardens, benches and views. I ate my lunch there on my second visit before heading into Cloisters. The museum itself is a fantasy of an Abbey, created from pieces of monastical buidlings from all over Europe, transformed into the sense of one building. Beautiful secret enclosed gardens too.
Plus I got to fully enjoy the Unicorn Tapestries collection.
It’s part of the Metropoliton Museum of Art and I used my Met ticket from another day, to get in. Both museums have a ‘recommended’ price, so you can offer less and they take it with a smile. Same with Natural History Museum and City of New York Museum - both of which I squeezed int when Rosalinda was resting foot in the afternoons.
Museum Record for Unicorn in Captivity tapestry - http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/467642
~ ~ ~
*To locate accessible Bus and Subway info - use the MTA trip planner and check the Accessible box. Currently about 25% of subways are accessible - but we found that rerouting and maintenance can alter that. Busses worked best for foot injury for my daughter. Pleasant riding busses too and it helped us learn the geography of the city better.
http://tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx
Saturday, June 13, 2015
The Pagoda - A Time Travel Portal in Golden Gate Park
Looking for a little more time in your travel?
Walk up the hill from the museums in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to Stow Lake. Then take the Roman Bridge to the island and follow the trail to the Pagoda. See you on the other side? Maybe - or perhaps we'll meetup sometime back in the Qing Dynasty....
Monday, April 20, 2015
Once Upon a Time In California (Time Travel)
Debo volver a los días perdidos, los viejos tempos en California.
Rosalinda, she of the melodious voice, sings the old songs. And only I can hear her.
I must go back to lost days, the old days in California.
Un día, cuando aprenda a escuchar con sólo mi corazón, su melodía una vez más me llevarás a mi amor.
One day, when I learn to listen with only my heart, her tune will once more carry me home to my love.
Time travellers need helpful tour books. UCSC professor, famed journalist, and California State Librarian, Kevin Starr, has a true sense of California. He's more than a superb historian, he's a born story teller. Starr weaves together a tale that includes not only the appeal of the state - it's agricultural promise, natural beauties, ethnic diversity, and economic potential - but also it's historical exploitation.
If you read only one history of the state, make it Starr's California: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)
~ ~ ~
Other volumes on my California Favorites Book Shelf
~ ~ ~
Friday, March 13, 2015
Time Portal: Sunset From Oz
Hail Yellow Brick Road!
Helping Me Recall Stories
And See My Dreams Come True
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Discovering a Little Delta History in Discovery Bay (San Francisco Bay)
The most recent Enchanted by Sewing Audio/Podcast is a sewing duologue between me and Susan in this glorious California Delta setting. You can download it to a mobile device, or simply listen on the web while you're doing something else.
We often zip through the delta area of the San Francisco Bay, on our way to or from the mountains. This month I took my time with the rural, delta scenery on a day field trip to hangout at
my buddy Susan's house for a chummy lunch and sewing afternoon. Susan lives in Discovery Bay, a rural-edge community near Livermore, along the banks of the historic California Delta water system - where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flow into the San Francisco Bay.
When I lit on the windmill above, I knew I'd found a time travel portal back to an era of freshly plowed fields, misty skies and well-loved farm houses. It spoke of California in another age, a time before silicon when fruits and nuts reigned supreme.
Discovery Bay emerged from barley and potato fields in 1964, but it still looks very agricultural 'round about. The area is still rich agricultural land, second only to California’s Great Central Valley, which still feeds many parts of the world. You can imagine that wonderful soil being washed down the great rivers and depositing itself in the valleys here. Nowadays with a lot of land zoned agricultural, I wonder if you’d be able to convert agriculturally zoned land to housing?
Humans have inhabited the Delta for at least 4,300 years. Before European contact, the Maidu and Miwok people benefited from the rich soil, just like the later farmers. These early inhabitants harvested foods and wildlife that grew and fed here. They also gathered the native tule reeds that grew in the marshy areas hereabout. They used the tules for boats, houses, and fabric for clothing.
Next time I go for a sewing day with Susan, maybe we'll keep out eyes open for tules. I wonder if there are any Vogue patterns we could alter to sew up from tules?
When I drove to Susan’s I witnessed a mild tule fog. If you don’t live in California, you’ve probably never seen anything like this soupy fog. It’s unique to the area. Tule fog happens between November and March, after we've had a good soaking rain. The moisture then rises up and hangs in the air, where it becomes the leading cause of weather-related accidents in California. It turns out that over the past three decades, tule fogs are decreasing.
Wouldn't you think that would be a good thing?
It turns out that local fruit and nut crops, an important part of the economy, have been impacted by this lack of moisture.
Bring back the tules!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento–San_Joaquin_River_Delta
http://www.seecalifornia.com/california-cities/discovery-bay.html
Tule Fog What is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tule_fog
Impact of decreasing Tule fog on crops http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/As-Central-Valley-fog-disappears-fruit-nut-5496710.php
 |
| Tule Fog has been both helping and hindering locals in the Delta for over four thousand years |
my buddy Susan's house for a chummy lunch and sewing afternoon. Susan lives in Discovery Bay, a rural-edge community near Livermore, along the banks of the historic California Delta water system - where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flow into the San Francisco Bay.
When I lit on the windmill above, I knew I'd found a time travel portal back to an era of freshly plowed fields, misty skies and well-loved farm houses. It spoke of California in another age, a time before silicon when fruits and nuts reigned supreme.
Discovery Bay emerged from barley and potato fields in 1964, but it still looks very agricultural 'round about. The area is still rich agricultural land, second only to California’s Great Central Valley, which still feeds many parts of the world. You can imagine that wonderful soil being washed down the great rivers and depositing itself in the valleys here. Nowadays with a lot of land zoned agricultural, I wonder if you’d be able to convert agriculturally zoned land to housing?
Humans have inhabited the Delta for at least 4,300 years. Before European contact, the Maidu and Miwok people benefited from the rich soil, just like the later farmers. These early inhabitants harvested foods and wildlife that grew and fed here. They also gathered the native tule reeds that grew in the marshy areas hereabout. They used the tules for boats, houses, and fabric for clothing.
Next time I go for a sewing day with Susan, maybe we'll keep out eyes open for tules. I wonder if there are any Vogue patterns we could alter to sew up from tules?
When I drove to Susan’s I witnessed a mild tule fog. If you don’t live in California, you’ve probably never seen anything like this soupy fog. It’s unique to the area. Tule fog happens between November and March, after we've had a good soaking rain. The moisture then rises up and hangs in the air, where it becomes the leading cause of weather-related accidents in California. It turns out that over the past three decades, tule fogs are decreasing.
Wouldn't you think that would be a good thing?
It turns out that local fruit and nut crops, an important part of the economy, have been impacted by this lack of moisture.
Bring back the tules!
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
Listen in on my sewing day with Susan in the Enchanted by Sewing Audio/Podcast
Discovery Bay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Bay,_Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento–San_Joaquin_River_Delta
http://www.seecalifornia.com/california-cities/discovery-bay.html
Tule Fog What is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tule_fog
Impact of decreasing Tule fog on crops http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/As-Central-Valley-fog-disappears-fruit-nut-5496710.php
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Hiking the Dish (Stanford University, Field Trip)
Radio waves measure stars,
Space commands and chat.
The Dish, a giant radio telescope above Stanford University, can be counted on as a time travel portal that takes me back to a time when we *knew* our short-term future lay beyond the stars.
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
About The Dish at Stanford University http://dish.stanford.edu
Wikipedia on The Dish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dish_(landmark)
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Winter Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge (Field Trip)
Walked across the span
Fort Point to Marin, then back
~ ~ ~
When might my next walk lead to?
Nothing beats finding time travel portals so close to my own home. . .
How many folks have started out on the Fort Point end of this golden span, to travel back to the Panama Pacific Exposition, Civil War or Gold Rush? Not to mention Ohlone times, before the first European foot pressed down on local sands.
When might my next walk lead to?
Nothing beats finding time travel portals so close to my own home. . .
How many folks have started out on the Fort Point end of this golden span, to travel back to the Panama Pacific Exposition, Civil War or Gold Rush? Not to mention Ohlone times, before the first European foot pressed down on local sands.
Earlier this week we lucked out and managed to find parking at Fort Point, then walked up stairs to cross the bridge. The cold dry air, chock full of ozone, elated us! The bridge loop is about 3.6 miles. Add in the short walk to and up the stairs made the total expedition about 5 miles. A perfect cool, winter's day field trip.
Another way to get parking is head over from the Presidio, another favorite field trip of mine. It's a longer trip, but parking is more available.
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
Golden Gate Memories in the Family http://postcardfromcalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/09/golden-gate-memories-in-family.html
San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge
Fort Point dates back to the Civil War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Point,_San_Francisco
Friday, October 17, 2014
Edgewood Ghost Rider (Halloween Field Trip San Francisco Bay Area)
Next time at Edgewood
When I see that ghost rider
Gonna ask - her time.
I see a lot of things at Edgewood that aren't in the nature preserve brochure, or on the map. Time travel is always an option, both for me and for those who return from a long time gone.
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
Time Travel Portals - http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/time-travel-portals/
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Filoli - Next Time You Come to Visit ( Local Time Travel Portal, San Francisco Bay Area Field Trip)
Next time you come to visit me,
let's go to Filoli!
There's that beautiful historic house to wander through . . .
And those gardens -
The views extend right up and over the California Coast Range.
They'll knock your socks off!
You can't beat this spot on the peninsula, only 30 or 40 miles south of San Francisco, right off the 280 freeway.
Maybe we'll even take an extended trip.
It is one of the best local Time Travel portals I know.
Let me know when you plan to come, OK?
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Cliff House - Primed for Time Travel Perfection (San Francisco Field Trip)
 |
| The Neo-Classical, Greek Revival Art in the Cliff House is a strong clue to any regular historic traveller, that there's at least one time travel portal nearby! |
 |
| The Sutro Baths finally closed down in the 1960's. The ghosts remain. |
There are a limited number of public buildings in the area that survived the 1906 earthquake. This restaurant, with it's beach front location and view of the one time Sutro Baths public bathhouse, is one that did. And it's also one of my favorite places to return again and again. Locals, in and near San Francisco, have been traveling to the Cliff House for a special supper in a prime ocean location since 1863. The baths and associated marine recreation activities opened to the public in 1894.
 |
| Upstairs at the Cliff is a little more casual, but the views are still there. |
I didn't manage to find my way back in time to take in the sights of 1920's swimmers cavorting in the classic Grecian entryway of Adolph Sutro's baths, or catch a glimpse of late nineteenth century railroad baron university founder Leland Stanford or famed newspaper owner William Randolph Hearst chatting over a racing form and cocktails.
But, then again, maybe my own time's the best for travelin' to.
~ ~ ~
Web Resources
Download a free copy of the music for the golden age tune, "Moonlight at the Cliff" from http://www.sanfranciscomemories.com/cliff/souvenirs.html
The Sutro Baths http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/sutro-baths.htm
Monday, November 25, 2013
Marie Antoinette Would Wear This (Time Traveling Apron)
 |
| Nothing nicer than sewing and wearing a toile apron Like Marie, I like to indulge in a few low-key, agrarian pleasures - like visiting with local chickens- when I wear one. |
I'm so happy you followed up on my invitation for another time travel jaunt!
For this visit to past times, we need to visit the old merman fountain in the park down the street. They say that fountain came from the old Flood Estate, and Flood picked it up somewhere in Europe – somewhere in France perhaps? Anyway, It was an antique when he got it….
Maybe you can hop over the spouting turtle first and give me a hand up there on the top of this mer- fellows big tail. Oh yeah, that’s doing the trick. A nice way to travel, don’t you think ? and Versailles is lovely at this time of the year – quite roomy and so distant from that little trouble that’s been brewing out in the city. I’m sure the Parisian rabble is just a little confused about what’s really keeping them short of food. Surely it couldn’t have anything to do with the cost of keeping this place well planted and running smoothly.
If you’re a regular reader of this sewing journal or the Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast, you may have noticed that I’m intrigued by Marie Antoinette’s life and her wardrobe. I know she’s a hedonist and not exactly a woman of the people. I’m not saying I actually respect her, but her image as a fashion icon still has tremendous appeal.
Marie still attends public functions in the full splendor of big hair and those ultra wide skirted gowns she first donned as a young girl when she arrived here in France to marry the future Louis Seize - when she had little choice about her garb. Like Cinderella going to the ball she’s a real presence moving along in the Versailles glide, that slithering walking style that’s de reguiere for the upper class, clad in rustling silken sack back gowns. That Silk is produced in France, of course, and the nobilities requirements for ell upon ell of that home spun stuff, provide an important benefit to the economy. That gold Lyonnaise silk with the Roccoco chinoiserie pattern and the Berlin floss trimming that the queen is wearing today really catches the eye, non?
Of course I’m also hoping to get in with the right people here, and score an invite offered to only a privileged few at one of her majesty’s little pied-a-terre , just down the alleyway here, at Le Petite Trianon. Does she go by her childhood name of Antonia in that little hideaway ,with her intimates, I wonder? I find it totally chic that Marie has began to develop her own sense of style. In this relaxed setting - hanging out with a few tidy farmyard animals and her closest friends - she favors naturalistic Rousseau-inspired high waisted muslins dresses with wide ribbon sashes, and cute little decorative aprons. These gowns, about which there is a great deal of controversy (People say it looks she is going out in public in her undergarments!), will lead to a styles favored by a whole new generation of women . Unfortunately for the economy , and Marie’s reputation, that muslin is the product of her Austrian country of birth and not at all French. Two strikes against her majesty.
Despite daydreaming about recreating a luxurious sack back gown (in yellow silk perhaps? So practical for a bike ride to the park don’t you think?), or a sheer floating white muslin dress with a crimson sash – hum..... I might reinterpret that in a nightgown- The fashion that has actually most inspired my modern day fashion creations, is Marie Antoinette’s interest in promoting and popularizing the use of toile de Jouy fabric. I hear that the queen actually honored the business establishment, where this new fabric is produced, with a visit, and it’s now been proclaimed a “royal factory”.
The Jouy (actually Jouy-en-Josas ) is, as you may already know, a place in France ten miles south of Paris. The toile part refers to the fabric popularized by Christophe Philippe Oberkampf who started a factory at Jouy to print cotton toile. Toile is, of course, a French word referring to cloth. (Linen cloth for example is toile de lin. )
Toile de Jouy is and will continue to be despite the trials and tribulations of revolution and war ,a heavy cotton fabric printed with scenes of an idyllic simple country life and stylized nature – trees, simple vegetation, birds and other animals. The kind of romanticization that followers of Rousseau’s back to nature movement create for themselves, no matter how little connection there is between the realities of the agrarian scene and the pretty pictures on the fabric.
During Marie’s era, and for many in modern times, the ones I come from, toile is and was typically used for home dec items like pillows, bedspreads, curtains.
But, back in my own time, my favorite thing to sew up with this heavy weight, beautifully figured, story-telling fabric is an apron.
Sewing aprons, especially in toile, is the kind of thing that keeps me
Enchanted by Sewing!
Since I like to keep my iPad happy, I bought the Kindle version of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.
~ ~ ~
Resources*
I highly recommend the lovely, and informative, book, Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
. It's a great read about what Marie Antoinette actually did wear to masquerades , grand balls, or just toddling around Le Petit Trianon with the dear little daughter, she nicknamed Mousseline, a fun allusion to the fashions that Marie herself made popular at the time.
. It's a great read about what Marie Antoinette actually did wear to masquerades , grand balls, or just toddling around Le Petit Trianon with the dear little daughter, she nicknamed Mousseline, a fun allusion to the fashions that Marie herself made popular at the time. Since I like to keep my iPad happy, I bought the Kindle version of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
. ~ ~ ~
* Thanks Sponsors! *
* Thanks so much, to readers who sponsor the work of this blog and the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast, by purchasing books, ebooks and other products through links in this blog.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Vests: Another Piece of My Heart
 |
| At this point I had basted the reverse side of a piece of brocade onto the corduroy vest front I had just over 17" of cord for the front, leftover from sewing pants, not enough for even one front length. |
Take another little piece of
my heart now, baby,
Break another little bit of my heart now, darling.
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.
You know you got it, if it makes you feel good, Oh yes indeed.
* * *
Piece of My Heart was first sung by Aretha Franklin's older sister, Emma
Did you know that?
Like most people, I associate it with Janis Joplin
* * *
I'm just coming down off a piecing project, feeling a little bit like what Janis was singing about in this performance of "Piece of My Heart".
Piecing always sounds so straightforward. I take two or more remnants of material, and combine them to make one. It always takes an awful lot more time to create, than I expect. My goal is to make it look arty, not like something I did because I ran short of fabric.
Well.... in truth I was short of fabric. I think I got the last three yards of this corduroy from my local Joannes. Apparently I wasn't the only sewer who found this print irresistible. Even the online Joannes had only one yard of the fabric. OK, I admit that I put that last yard in my cart, just in case I wasn't happy with my vest. Or maybe I bought that final piece just because I love this material so much. Those long ago French textile merchants didn't name it cord du roy - fabric of kings- for nothing!
In fact, a shortage of goods inspires me to piece. It's a bit of time travel back to our past-times sewist ancestors. Scissors in hand, I'm spinning through the closest appropriate time portal to Depression times flour sack shirts, late nights in the slave cabins stitching together scraps and ends from the big house, or needling together worn bits from different family members clothes - an art form that will one day be known as Sashiko, after a hard day in the rice paddies.
Piecing lets me pay tribute to lessons learned from the folk who created more than utility garments, with very little on hand. It reminds me that clothing, even clothing with limited resources, can be art.
In fact, a shortage of goods inspires me to piece. It's a bit of time travel back to our past-times sewist ancestors. Scissors in hand, I'm spinning through the closest appropriate time portal to Depression times flour sack shirts, late nights in the slave cabins stitching together scraps and ends from the big house, or needling together worn bits from different family members clothes - an art form that will one day be known as Sashiko, after a hard day in the rice paddies.
Piecing lets me pay tribute to lessons learned from the folk who created more than utility garments, with very little on hand. It reminds me that clothing, even clothing with limited resources, can be art.
And maybe that's the most important time and place to be making art.
You know you got it, when it makes you feel good!
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| Here's what I had left from the corduroy I made the decision not to cut any off below the pieced brocade band because I thought the weight would be better if I kept as much as I had At this point I had backed the front band with a long remnant of silk organza (tough yet light), then stitched the corduroy to the organza-backed brocade |
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| The back of the vest was what remained after a pair of linen pants I made at the same time I sewed the cords. I couldn't quite eek out enough for the linen back, though I had more of it than I did the corduroy. But by this point I wanted the brocade piece to wrap around from front to back anyway.
* I take sewing classes in the Cañada College Fashion Department, Redwood City, California |
Friday, August 31, 2012
Kickin' it in Our Sagebrush Sandals (Cascades:Crater Lake)
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Crater Lake, California
Click on the illustration above, to really enjoy the details
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(co-published with Postcard from California)
While we were walking along the rim of Crater Lake, I was already planning a return trip back to see more of that incredibly clean, blue, blue, blue water in the high, dry air.
I particularly liked reading the informative little sign about a pile of ten thousand year old sandals an Oregon researcher found beneath volcanic ashes, demonstrating that people were probably living in this area before, and possibly during the eruption that created the crater that makes the lake basin.
They were made out of sagebrush. Liiiiike, how comfortable would THOSE be to hike in?
There were dozens of pairs of shoes left. How come? Didn't somebody miss them? Could it be an ancient days Cinderella story?
A spot of time travel to solve this little mystery is definitely in order.
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Perhaps an ancient Cinderella, ran off and left her sagebrush slippers behind
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Saturday, July 28, 2012
Postcard from San Luis Obispo(SLO): Amtrak Station SLO Time Travel
The Amtrak station in San Luis Obispo (SLO) is one of my favorite time portals. How about hopping aboard a Period Pilots time travel flight to... visit the Southern California citrus groves in 1933?
Your time travel tour allows you to checkout acres of lovely scented orange and lemon trees beneath the towering San Gabriel Mountains before the development that followed World War II. Take a Model T over to Malibu for a spot of horseback riding along the beautiful uncrowded shoreline. Your day will end with a campout on the slopes of that grand patriarch of mountains Old Baldy.
Postcard from San Luis Obispo: SLO Time Travel Via The Amtrak Station
Your time travel tour allows you to checkout acres of lovely scented orange and lemon trees beneath the towering San Gabriel Mountains before the development that followed World War II. Take a Model T over to Malibu for a spot of horseback riding along the beautiful uncrowded shoreline. Your day will end with a campout on the slopes of that grand patriarch of mountains Old Baldy.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Sewing Inspired by Marie Antoinette (Part 2)
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| Sewing Project Inspired by a visit back to 1779 |
In my last posting, I made a slight reference to one of my recent trips back through time to Marie Antoinette's court at Versailles. So...wouldn't you like to hear more about this particular trip?
When I first started taking these little jaunts my biggest bit of culture shock involved the state of royal sanitation. But, I'm not sure you really want the down-and-dirty on the suspicious puddles that kept turning up in unexpected corners of the palace's wood parquet floors. Let's just leave it that I manage to avoid tripping or slipping in the you-know-what and go on from there, OK?
In this particular case, I had elected a visit back to 1779, nine years after Antonia first arrived at court as a gentle, demur, Austrian archduchess. It's hard not to feel for a teenaged girl in her circumstances, even one with that bucks and standing of the entire Hapsburg empire behind her, isn't it?
Not being well-connected at court, and also not wanting to put in the way-beyond dawn to dusk travail of servitude, my Period Pilots guide recommended that I adopt the persona of an artist. After all if Anne Vallayer-Coster could make it, why not me? I was please to find that the very accessible public galleries at the palace made it easy to establish myself at a little table among the fruit sellers, ribbon-merchants and other hawkers. I must admit, though, that I sadly missed having access to a digital camera during my time in the galleries. And oh, what I could have done with Photoshop and a few jpeg's to capture the joi-de-vivre and bustle of the thousands of vendors and visitors that thronged that incredibly accessible royal community. I mean...Mademoiselle Vallayer-Coster's Still Life with Ham would have been nothing to what I could have come up with.
I like to say that one of my little peintures caused la Reine to gasp in excitement and send off a billet to one of her Buds at the Royal Académie, but no such luck. Still, I got a chance to see her more than once as she promenaded by on her way to visit her little Mousseline.
And you can just bet what this sewist was doing... That's right, checking out Madame Deficit's frocks.
To Be Continued..
Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution
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