Sewing Sails

I am not the only person sewing around here. 

This baby is Mr C's sewing machine at work. It is used for rigging this French boat, Sodebo. The main sail is over 230m² (over 755 sq. feet!) which is more than twice the size of our house. The set of sails is called a wardrobe, it's quaint.
When I work on a garment, Mr C gets a kick out of saying I sew in the realm of the infinitesimal. So yesterday, as my pattern pieces looked like origami on the table, I asked how precise his sails were and he said very prosaically, +/- 1 cm, which is less than a seam allowance.

Photo Christophe Launay

Anyhow, this is just an occasion to tell you that Mr C's boss, Thomas Coville, left on Saturday to attempt a single-handed circumnavigation record. It's a blood curling dangerous endeavour.  We'll be doing all kinds of cheering, wishing, hoping and invoking until the end of March.

One would think that 19 years of departures would brace me for the roller coaster ride coming, but nothing does, ever.

Sewing in Paris

PHOTO DE LAURENCE TARQUIN VON THOMAS

So you are in Paris, France. You've just spent a whole day in Marché St-Pierre and your stash is this much higher and you want to start sewing right away? Go to Canal St-Martin and drop by The Sweat Shop, a "couture café", a cybercafé for seamstresses. It's got a cutting table, 10 Singer workstations you can rent by the hour, coffee and cake. What else do you need?

Jewelry

I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but if I did, I would wear this. It's lovely and it reminds me of my first sewing projects, dolls clothes, which I did on my Mom's ancient Singer on which they had added an electric motor. Look for it here.

Stunt Dress

I am the kind of girl who has several stashes. Yes several!

I have one at my Mom's, stuff I bought when a teenager, one at home here and when I find good stuff I can't pass on the net and the seller doesn't ship to Europe, I have it shipped in the US at my brother's or in Canada at my sister's. When I visit, I fill my suitcases with it and come home.

Last summer, I got really inspired by this African wax we bought in Gabon something like 20 years ago. It's just screaming "Stunt Dress!", the kind my stunt dress mentor, Erin of A Dress A Day pulls off all the time. She sews Darth Vader, Crosswords dresses for special occasions and looks good in all of them!

I love her blog, it's funny, well written and full of really cool information. RSS it if you like sewing and dresses.

Once I have the dress, I'll have to find a place where journalists gather!

ps Erin once thought I was worthy of a post which I thought was really cool. Thank you!