Sewing Plans

Ok. So January's sewing plans aka Time Before Yvonne Comes Back. Finish my suit skirt. I need to take out the machine hem, put in hem tape, hem it by hand, rehem the clusterfuck that is the lining, attach lining hem to outer hem, and everything involving the waistband.

Make the suit jacket. I keep delaying because I have to clean the studio and wah wah wah.

Get my butt in gear for Metamorphoses. I meet with a second assistant next week. The next production meeting is 1/23, but I want to have plenty done by then.

Fix my purple plaid skirt. It's currently unwearable as I cannot take a full step in it. I HAVE extra fabric to use to make it walkable, I just haven't inserted it yet.

Vintage Secret Santa Review

I realized that I'd never posted about what I received from my Secret Santa! I received a pair of antique knitting needles (wooden, size "3"), and a vintage cookbook entitled "Maine Coastal Cooking: Down East Recipes dating from 1664". The full inside title is: "Maine Coastal Cooking and the Accomplisht Cook, OR, The whole Art and Mystery of COOKERY, fitted for all Degrees and Qualities." Collected and published by Courier-Gazette, Inc in the 1960s.

I also had a very sweet card.

I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated when it came to finding the perfect gifts for you, and I hope I did alright! The knitting needles are from the turn of the century, and though simple, are some of the loveliest I've encountered! And I can't get over how old some of the recipes in the book are... Plus I thought the New England connection would be fitting. :) I hope you enjoy everything and have a lovely holiday and start to the new year. And feel free to keep in touch via post, facebook, or instagram, especially to report in if you try any of the recipes!
XOXO [Secret Santa]

I haven't yet had the chance to read through the cookbook, but what I've seen has been fascinating. The index is in the CENTER of the book (on green cardstock)(it's a spiral-bound booklet), and it appears that the recipes aren't particularly sorted, either by date or ingredient or type of foodstuff. I look forward to exploring its secrets.

In my OWN Secret Santa news, I instagram-stalked by giftee, and discovered that her gifts arrived safe and sound. Yay!

Christmas Cake

I am trying out a new recipe. As anyone who knows me in real life can attest, I collect antique cookbooks. I read them cover to cover like a novel. I also use them as inspiration and will attempt the recipes contained. What I love about them is that they're from a time when you HAD to put food on the table, three times a day, from scratch. Naturally, rather than make your workload insane, many recipes are simple, easy to put together, and often variations upon a theme. These are also useful things to consider when busy and broke.

So this recipe. It's from the 1916 edition (although is also found in the 1932 edition) of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book written by Fannie Farmer. I double checked my later copy to see if there were any edits (nope) and to see if there were any additional directions (aside from a rough chart of oven temps, nope).

As if testing an antique recipe wasn't enough stress for myself, I am also using a holiday bundt pan for the first time. I received it as a gift from my Grandmother years ago, but I had never used it. It's shaped like a castle with trees. In fact, it's this pan:


So with no further ado, here is the recipe:

Rich Coffee Cake
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 cup cold boiled coffee
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon clove
- 1/2 teaspoon mace
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 3/4 cup raisins, seeded and cut in pieces
- 3/4 cup currants
- 1/4 cup citron, thinly sliced and cut in strips
- 2 tablespoons brandy


Follow directions for making butter-cake mixture. Bake in deep cake pans.

That's it! So here are the directions for how I actually made it.

1) Cream butter. Add sugar a bit at a time until fully incorporated and creamed.
2) Add eggs one at a time, beating fully after each addition.
3) Sift dry ingredients together.
4) Add dry ingredients to butter mix a bit at a time, alternating with wet ingredients; beginning and ending on dry ingredients.
5) In last dry ingredients set, toss the dried fruit (this is so it doesn't sink in the oven. N.B. based upon my own pantry, I used 50/50 dried cranberries and chopped dark chocolate).
6) Prepare your pan -- using a pastry brush, coat every inch with oil. Sprinkle flour over this oil, covering every inch. Tap the excess oil and flour out of the pan.
7) Carefully spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
8) Bake at 300F until done aka when the top springs back from touch and a testing skewer comes out cleanly.
9) Remove from pan immediately, and cool on rack.
10) Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Here's hoping it both GOES well and TASTES well!

UPDATE

Here it is!
It baked well (didn't even spill over though it domed SUPER high), it baked in a bit over an hour, it came out of the pan PERFECTLY, and the batter tasted good so I'm sure the cake will taste good. The white speckles on the cake are from the oil+flour that I used to prep the pan.

Skirt Drafting

The basic Edwardian 5-Gore Skirt pattern that I found was designed for a tiny person, with a length of only 36 inches. So as to keep the proportions the same, I found the length for MY person (45 inches roughly) and scaled it up. This involves dividing every number by 4, and then multiplying it by 5 for the finished numbers. (The image is of MY new numbers). This allows for a skirt front to have center front numbers from 5.5" -> 6.825", 11.5" -> 14.325" etc etc. It should be pretty obvious, but I go to the nearest 1/8th of an inch. I don't like fussing about sixteenths.

And that's the basics for redrafting a design that already has measurements all over it (like most Victorian/Edwardian drafting). The main difference between this pattern and my actual skirt will be length. I adjusted the pattern for full length, but I'm only going to go to upper calf length.

In order to do the wrap-around-Hong-Kong seam finish, while my wool will have 1" seam allowance all around, my silk will have 1.75" seam allowance, so as to allow for a 3/8" seam edging.

I will get a chance to start breaking into my fabric after my last student of the day, who should be here in 10 mins or so. I'm excited!

Updates on VSS and Suit

So I mailed out the package to my Secret Santa giftee yesterday. I wrapped everything and drew a little Christmas themed image with silver sharpie. I also wound up using the LAST of the burgundy/gold star wrapping paper that I got when I was in college! It's weird to not have it still around. :-P

I definitely didn't have time to make a full vintage suit before my wedding, but I'm borrowing a blouse from the mother of two of my students (her face when I said I'd find something lying around my house was absolutely hilarious), and I WILL have time to make the skirt for the suit this weekend.

While proctoring this week I finalized the design and I wrote out the steps. It'll be a upper-calf length skirt, based off of the Edwardian 5-gore skirt I used for Earnest, and with lots of pleating in the back panels. It'll also be flatlined with the wrap-around sneaky method (you wind up with "hong kong" finished edges as well as the lining.

Steps for Skirt
1) Re-draft pattern for my measurements. Make sure to adjust BOTH width and length uniformly.
2) Double check seam lengths before finalizing.
3) Cut out wool and silk.
4) Zigzag edges of all pieces.
5) Hem silk panels.
6) Attach silk to wool.
7) Stitch side seams.
8) Set zipper.
9) Pleat back panels.
10) Interface waistband.
11) Bias bind waistband edge.
12) Attach waistband; use stitch in the ditch coupled with bias bound edge for inner edge.
13) Attach hem tape to wool.
14) Catch stitch hem of wool.
15) Slip stitch silk hem to wool hem.
16) Handwork buttonhole.
17) Attach button and garment loops.

I will try to photodocument this process, but it's mostly straight forward.

********************************************

I ALSO put together a basic step order for the suit jacket:
- make mock-up to test fit
- cut out wool
- bound buttonholes
- interfacing! carrier strips, pad stitching, tailor basting, etc.
- twill tape on roll line
- interlining
- seaming
- cut and sew lining
- attach pockets
- lining + jacket
- hand sew hems at sleeves and body

** Interline jacket with flannel to protect from hair canvas through thin lining **

interline sleeves?
add tiny double welt pockets near shoulder?

Chronically Vintage's Vintage Gift Exchange

Last year I was a bit of a bum and poor in my gifting and my giftee was amazingly generous. So I'll make up for that this year.

My person is newly married, expecting her first child, a crafter/sewer/knitter, and has an Edwardian home. So! I'm going to have four things in this, two of which are from my far-too-large collection in my own home. So firstly are a few trims and laces from the massive stash that I got from Mary a while back. 2 blue laces, a purple, white, 2 tan, red scalloped on white and blue/yellow scalloped on sheer.

I'm also going to give a table runner type object that's embroidered in white. It's currently washing in the sink and I'll press and starch it well too.

The next two things I ordered on Etsy. The first is a set of three adorable vintage framed children's prints. My person had mentioned knitting a baby blanket with bunny puff tails, so I looked for bunnies.

I also got a Marion Harland cookbook from the 1870s. I love my Marion Harland's Complete Cookbook and wanted to share the joy of quirky Victorian/Edwardian cookbooks with their comments about cleaning and how to deal with maids.

The Etsy description is:
Here is a very interesting and hard to find copy of “Common Sense in the Household: A Manual of Practical Housewifery” by Marion Harland, published in 1874. This antique cookbook is loaded with interested recipes. The spine is nicely decorated with gold lettering. The contents of this book include Blanc-mange, Bread, Brandied Fruits, Butter, Cakes, Candy, Canned Fruits and Vegetables, Catsups, to Clean, Company, Corn Bread, Creams, Custards, Drinks, Eggs, Familiar Talks, Fish, Ripe Fruit for Dessert, Game, Gingerbread, Ices, Ice-cream, Icing, Jellies, Fruit Jellies, Meats, Milk, The Nursery, Pancakes, Pickles, Pies, Preserves, Pork, Poultry, Puddings, Salads, Sauces for Fish and Meat, Servants, The Sick-room, Shell-fish, Soap, Soups, Sundries, Tarts, Vegetables, and Flavored Vinegars! The binding of this book is holding strong with all pages intact. Look at some of the great contents! This book measures approximately 5” x 7 ¾” and has 556 pages. A great book for any collection!

This is an original cookbook from 1874, it is over 140 years old!

Update

So after a long phone call to Mood Monday, I got my order straightened out. They've been having problems with their email system, and I should expect my order by the end of this week.

I ordered red and black herringbone wool for my suit (finally getting around to that...), peridot silk for the lining and a matching blouse (probably a pussy bow cause I want one), and a blush silk to make myself a new slip. I still need to purchase thread (which I'll do when it arrives) and hair canvas but that I can do at my local store. Boy am I happy that Y and I spent this semester working on a tailored jacket for her pattern drafting class. I feel much more confident in my ability to do this. As to whether or not I'll make A's suit... probably not. I would like to, but I still don't have a working pattern that I feel confident in and I lost a lot of steam. Maybe when my MassArt kids go on break and my concerts are over I'll find the time? But then I only have a week. And mysteriously there are other things I could do with that week. Like clean my house. Start teaching baby oboe how to make reeds.

In other news, my crocheted turban has up and disappeared. I last saw it on the night of strike for Earnest (so... 11/21). I was going to wear it that night, and then haven't seen it since. So I'm trying to decide if I want to make it again. I really liked it, but that sounds like effort.

I want to buy the wool to replace my zip up lace up jacket since it's falling apart in every direction and it's such a great coat. Maybe I'll actually finish my fur lined one this year too? It's not been cold enough to need it so far.

Mood

I have spent $200 on fabric at Mood. To be fair, it hasn't cleared my bank and won't til tomorrow. But I do not have a copy of my bill NOR any sense of when it will ship. I'm incredibly nervous and upset that I don't have this in my email somewhere. And I've checked spam.

Cozy 20s Velvet Gowns?!

So while browsing Etsy, I came across a bunch of gorgeous 20s and 30s velvet dresses, and I'd like to recreate at least one of them.

Number One's description is:

Dress Features: - icy sage green velvet
- 3/4 length sleeves with snaps at cuffs
- v-neck with puckering at bust
- slight drop waist seam
- loose fitting belt
- snaps on side
- wearable for a few sizes depending on preferred fit

(Found on Etsy here)

Number Two's Description is:

A FABULOUS 1920'S BROWN VELVET FLAPPER DRESS..Pictures don't do this any justice, it is breathtaking in person. AMAZING LACE RUNNING DOWN THE SLEEVES AND ON THE V OF THE BODICE. I think someone added snaps on the lace as to be able to fold up the cuffs, I would remove them....but I will leave that to the buyer....Nice Metal detailing on the belt... Great Piece to wear for the Holidays, or a vintage wedding....

(Found on Etsy here)

Number Three's description is:

Midnight silhouette of an Art Deco dream.

Material - midnight black, silk velvet, cream colored lace, Mother of Pearl clasp buckle.

Design - This beautifully designed dresses made it's way through time from the very late 1920's. It features a built in silk and intricately woven lace camisole, which is then covered by a silk velvet caplet. The caplet is sewn to the front of the dress, where a hidden weight, so popular at the time, was used to create a draping effect at the neckline and in the back it is attached only at the neckline allowing it to hang and flow away from the body. The skirt of the dress is form fitted at the waist, with arched panels built into the sides to give flair tot he skirt. The dress also has a lovely like material belt with a carved mother of pearl clasp buckle and side snaps.

(Found on Etsy here.)

Number Four's description is:

Vintage 1930s deep burgundy silk velvet dress. Shirred shoulders natural cotton lace collar and trim around sleeves. Gathered at waist with side metal snap closure and removable buckle belt.

(Found on Etsy here.)

Number Five's description is:

Vintage 1930s black silk velvet cocktail dress! Ruched panel at bust and velvet belt at waist. This dress is figure flattering and so luxuriously soft! Perfect for a special occasion! Zipper at back of neck and at side.

(Found on Etsy here.)

Sigh

I love my studio teacher dearly, don't get me wrong, but he should not have agreed to cover my mentor's class while on sabbatical. My studio teacher rarely, if ever, teaches full classrooms, and he is having so many problems with a) the workload of grading b) the language used in the textbook, not being a native speaker c) differences in notational systems between his usage and what is being taught d) some personality problems with students.

I am helping him grade. I am fielding one or two phone calls DAILY about this class. They should have just fucking asked ME to teach this course, for all that I don't have the degree. And I know my studio prof could use the money. He just doesn't need the stress load.

He had 18 attacks yesterday. Attacks of what? He said it's never been that many or that bad. At one point, while at the park with his grandson, he almost lost consciousness. He's going to either finish this course or die. ... I suppose I should stop bitching and be more supportive, since his health is in such a fragile state right now. It's just hard because I know I could teach this class and teach it well. ... And I know my prof feels they are underpaying him for the amount of work he's having to do. He didn't say the number, but he thought it really loudly in comparison with the salary of a tenured faculty member, as opposed to his lowly adjunct status.

Best Card Ever

I received a card from my grandmother's best friend from high school, congratulating myself on my upcoming nuptials. My grandparents met on a double date, a BLIND date, with this woman, Joann, and her then-boyfriend, Harold. Harold passed away this last year, and I wound up never getting around to sending a letter, for which I've continually felt terrible about. In my letter back, I talked about that and what I miss about Harold, and that my partner and I will visit her the next time we're in the area.

Anyhow, here is the letter:

9-14-15
Dear [Dea],
My original thought was to send you one of those hearts and flowers cards wishing you a life full of joys and happiness.
But both of us know life is not like that, you've matured enough (and seen enough) to know there is more to marriage than that. It's a challenge and a willingness to change from "me" to "use" and it takes time!
Time and the strength to see past arguments and bad times but it's all a season of growth and well [worth] working for!
I wish you and your fiance a love strong enough and the wisdom to be partners through life together.
I'm sorry I was not able to attend your party, it seems that after the long winter we had, everybody has been eager to go-go-go and do things (of course at this age you want to "go" as long as you are able!).
The problem is reservations have to be made, and paid for, weeks in advance so unfortunately we are unable to change our minds to do other things we would enjoy even more!
Affenctionately,
Jo Ann

My sister and I grew up visiting with Harold and Jo Ann every time we would visit Grandma and Grandpa. Jo Ann, Grandma, my sister and I would visit the dollar store and spend $10 on anything we wanted (I usually got little knicknacks and figurines), we would go back to Harold and Jo Ann's house and play cards, or dominoes, and we would usually go out to eat. And watch Grandpa and Harold play the game of "who gets the pleasure of paying for dinner?" It is one of my favorite games to watch. People trying to pull their wallets out at lightning speed, trying to "bribe" the waitstaff, it's always fun.

Jo Ann and Harold had two sons, I believe, and their grandchildren lived on the west coast. So they rarely go the chance to do grandparent-y things. Harold fixed up old cars. We went for a ride in a Model T once when I was a kid. It was freezing cold, and they only had isinglass for windows, which is similar to vinyl.
I can still see the layout of their perfectly maintained house and garden. Jo Ann used an expanding hat rack in her kitchen to store her every day mugs. I remember that I bought one of them at the dollar store on one of our visits because I thought that was the best idea ever. Completely forgetting the fact that I was in elementary school and didn't have a kitchen with mugs that needed a home.

I love these people very much, and I appreciate the card more than anything else I've ever received. I appreciate the lack of bullshit, and the acknowledgement of such. I appreciate the love inherent in its words. Thank you, Jo Ann.

Boredom

I feel like I have crafting burnout. I had been super excited to start the Black Cardigan, but I haven't even bought the yarn. I am halfway finished with the last panel of my vintage undies, but can't find the energy for it. I keep looking on Ravelry for things, and just not liking any of them. Gods this sucks. And I should be costuming but I keep not getting around to it.

Finished Turban

I finished the crocheted turban from 1915 that I'd been working on. I keep wandering around the house with my head all wrapped in cozy yarn. :-P My partner says it looks like a bonnet more than what he thinks of as a turban and that my clothing doesn't match.

Lots of pics!



And here's the ravelry post. I had initially started crocheting this with white Cream 'n Sugar yarn, got 60% of the way complete, and realized that it made too stiff of a fabric and that I needed to use something else. So I pulled out more of that neverending cream stashyarn (wool/cashmere blend I think, frogged from a HUGE Abercrombie men's sweater from Goodwill) and unhappily put it together. It took a lot longer to go the second time through :-P But complete it is, minus some weaving in of ends.

It's fairly comfortable, although it doesn't like going over my hair when it's up in a clip. But it stays put, and goes on easily. And it's LIGHT on my head, though it feels nice and cozy.

Gloria Warnick

I'll post more about this later, but this is a picture of my grandmother when she was in high school. Maybe when she was 16 or so? Her birthday is July 11, 1931, so that would be 1947.

Found You, Fishnets!

So it turns out that one of the designers who I'd bookmarked for Fishnets HADN'T disappeared, just decoupled her Ravelry and her blog. So. I'm archiving it here so I don't lose it again. Source.

Foo Foo

Yarn: One hank of Malabrigo laceweight baby merino
3.25mm hook
split ring markers
darning needle
gauge: 44sc in rnd = 8 1/2″
Pattern as is makes a US 9 Women’s.

Chain 16, flip the chain, sc into the bottoms bumps for 15 sc, flip the chain again, sc in the top loops for a total of 30 sc in the round. You can mark side sts at either end or eyeball them. The increase sequence is like my other sock toes: round one, work inc before and after each marker. For round two, work even.

Work like this until the toe is as wide as you want it, about 1/2 to 3/4″ less than the width of the ball of your foot. When you hit that size, work even until the toe cap is about 2-2 1/2″ deep or desired depth.

Netting: starting at the side of your toe cap, chain 4, skip the next 3 sts, sc in next one, ch 4, skip the next 3 sts, sc in the next one, work like this around, don’t worry if you don’t have enough sts for an even set of multiples, just get to the point where you don’t have enough sts left to skip 3, and just work your sc into the ch-4 space that you created previously. These socks are not about obsessively counting, remember, they are about sex and hormones and crocheting on Manitoba’s really crappy, bumpy highways which cause much too much distraction for the proper counting of stitches.

Work about 12 rounds of ch-4 netting. Put it on and stretch towards your ankle. If it feels long enough, start working the heel. If not, work a few more rnds of netting. If ch-4 netting feels too tight, try ch-5 instead.

Heel: Flatten sock widthwise and work from one side to the other: ch 1, turn, work 25 sc across one side.

Ch 1, turn, work 24 sc, stopping short of the last st, leaving it unworked.

Ch 1, turn, work 23 sc, stopping short as before.

Repeat this row, working one less st, until you have 10 sts left. You should have a little triangle with steps on it.

Turn the heel: Ch 1, turn, work across the 10 sc, and, working into the side of this st, and into the next sc below, make a sc2tog. Work a ss into the next side edge below. 11 sc. Turn.

Skipping the ss, sc in the 11 sc, and work a sc2tog into the side edge of the 11th sc and the one below, then work a ss into the side edge below that. 12 sc. Turn.

Repeat this process until you have “picked up” your original 25 sts. Carry on in netting pattern as before, only this time, ch-5 instead of ch-4. If you didn’t ch 4, then chain 1 more than your number.

Work 12 rounds of ch-5 netting, try it on, tug gently to see how it fits – incidentally, it helps if you have a vehicle dash to do this on, as gravity will help you to tug and pull your netting into place. It also makes for interesting facial expressions of the folks in the oncoming lanes of traffic.

Continue on, but this time, work the rest of your rounds in ch-6 netting. Do this until your sock, when stretched out, comes almost up to your knee.

Next rnd: work one rnd in ch-5 netting

Next rnd: work one rnd in ch-4 netting

Next rnd: ch 3 (does not count as st), work one dc in each sc, and 4 dc in each chain sp. You may need to fudge to get a number that divides by two.

Next rnd: Chain 3 (does not count as st) Work ribbing by working fpdc around first dc in row below, then bpdc in next dc in row below. Work fpdc, bpdc across, join with ss, ch 3.

Work two more rnds of dc ribbing, fasten off. Weave in ends and enjoy your socks!!!!

Project ADD

So while being bored of the knitted underwear project, I thought "hey! I have all the supplies for my Alexander McQueen beaded stockings!" And so I attempted to start it. For one, both of the patterns bookmarked have left the internet. For two, beading takes forever, and 27 of the 500 beads I threaded either didn't fit through the needle or broke. For three, crochet eats yarn so my toe cap work means I have to keep shoving 473 beads farther down the line, over and over again. For four, the new pattern I'm trying for the toe cap (after attempt 1 was a failure) is horrible horrible to work with and with my black, lace-weight yarn, I can't see shit. So it is on pause a mere 2 rows into the attempt.

I wanted happiness and more project ADD, so I started a completely NEW project: a "novelty" crocheted turban from 1915. Posted here. This one is going much better, although the stitch pattern is hilariously time-consuming and yarn-consuming, and the pattern is poorly edited. We shall see how it goes!

Quilted Sweatshirt

At the risk of turning down the dark road of sweatshirt-land in lieu of cozy delightful sweaters, I am interested in making one of these quilted sweatshirts.



Those are the fashion inspo for a tutorial on making a quilted sweatshirt, found here.

Should I make one? It would be cozy as hell, but with all the quilting, be less flexible, and so would need to be bulky. Which is not the look I try to go for.

Bonus tutorial: homemade shoeslaces out of bias tape. Why did no one think of this before?!

Key Qualities

C Major
Completely Pure. Its character is: innocence, simplicity, naïvety, children’s talk.

C Minor
Declaration of love and at the same time the lament of unhappy love. All languishing, longing, sighing of the love-sick soul lies in this key.

Db Major
A leering key, degenerating into grief and rapture. It cannot laugh, but it can smile; it cannot howl, but it can at least grimace its crying.–Consequently only unusual characters and feelings can be brought out in this key.

C# Minor
Penitential lamentation, intimate conversation with God, the friend and help-meet of life; sighs of disappointed friendship and love lie in its radius.

D Major
The key of triumph, of Hallelujahs, of war-cries, of victory-rejoicing. Thus, the inviting symphonies, the marches, holiday songs and heaven-rejoicing choruses are set in this key.

D Minor
Melancholy womanliness, the spleen and humours brood.

Eb Major
The key of love, of devotion, of intimate conversation with God.

D# Minor
Feelings of the anxiety of the soul’s deepest distress, of brooding despair, of blackest depression, of the most gloomy condition of the soul. Every fear, every hesitation of the shuddering heart, breathes out of horrible D# minor. If ghosts could speak, their speech would approximate this key.

E Major
Noisy shouts of joy, laughing pleasure and not yet complete, full delight lies in E Major.

E minor
Naïve, womanly innocent declaration of love, lament without grumbling; sighs accompanied by few tears; this key speaks of the imminent hope of resolving in the pure happiness of C major.

F Major
Complaisance & Calm.

F Minor
Deep depression, funereal lament, groans of misery and longing for the grave.

F# Major
Triumph over difficulty, free sigh of relief uttered when hurdles are surmounted; echo of a soul which has fiercely struggled and finally conquered lies in all uses of this key.

F# Minor
A gloomy key: it tugs at passion as a dog biting a dress. Resentment and discontent are its language.

G Major
Everything rustic, idyllic and lyrical, every calm and satisfied passion, every tender gratitude for true friendship and faithful love,–in a word every gentle and peaceful emotion of the heart is correctly expressed by this key.

G Minor
Discontent, uneasiness, worry about a failed scheme; bad-tempered gnashing of teeth; in a word: resentment and dislike.

Ab Major
Key of the grave. Death, grave, putrefaction, judgment, eternity lie in its radius.

Ab Minor
Grumbler, heart squeezed until it suffocates; wailing lament, difficult struggle; in a word, the color of this key is everything struggling with difficulty.

A Major
This key includes declarations of innocent love, satisfaction with one’s state of affairs; hope of seeing one’s beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God.

A Minor
Pious womanliness and tenderness of character.

Bb Major
Cheerful love, clear conscience, hope aspiration for a better world.

Bb Minor
A quaint creature, often dressed in the garment of night. It is somewhat surly and very seldom takes on a pleasant countenance. Mocking God and the world; discontented with itself and with everything; preparation for suicide sounds in this key.

B Major
Strongly coloured, announcing wild passions, composed from the most glaring colours. Anger, rage, jealousy, fury, despair and every burden of the heart lies in its sphere.

B Minor
This is as it were the key of patience, of calm awaiting ones’s fate and of submission to divine dispensation.

From Christian Schubart's Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst (1806) translated by Rita Steblin in A History of Key Characteristics in the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. UMI Research Press (1983).

Concert Wear

So my mother emails me, asking if a new jumpsuit on Modcloth is something I'd be interested in for concertwear. My current concertwear is: black silk or black velvet pants (depending on weather), black button up, black cropped tuxedo jacket OR black button up sweater if it's really cold. I took a look at the jumpsuit and a) it isn't worth $130 b) it's all synthetic. Ew. But, the style lines are cute, and it's remarkably similar to the cozitastic housedress/robe that I made this past spring.

So in an endeavor to copy this design, here are the pics. The jumpsuit shown is in teal because it's harder to tell style lines in black.

Lace Dress

Some ideas for the lace dress.