angry chicken

happy thanksgiving and hello almost december-

We are are 1/4 done with our shows, and things seem to be going well! I love the last minute issues, like would a mouse tail be attached under or over a tutu? I decided over.

I couldn't sleep last night. I was up at 3:30am, too hot, and needing to get away from the dogs. I watched a movie, Eva Hesse, Portrait of a Ground-breaking Artist on Kanopy and was moved to tears. I studied her work in college, always loved it, and this film brought it to the front of my mind again. Seeing it now after so long and remembering her life story was so inspiring and emotional. She was working in NYC the same time as Patti Smith, I realized, and they were at the same clubs, not that they mentioned each other, but I kept thinking about that, having just listened to Just Kids. 

Kanopy, I read about when I was researching substitutes for Filmstruck (RIP) and I can't believe the catalog they have! And it's free, if your local library is signed up. It's kind of incredible.

I am 9 hours into Dune (of 21 total) the audio book version. I think I will need to switch to the physical book soon because I will be done with my sewing before I can listen to it all. I better be anyway. I have never read Dune, it is my brother's favorite book, all I knew is it was about big worms and I should avoid the movie. I love it so far. So epic.

This photo is from Acorns and Threads, my very local embroidery shop. I can walk to it. I was there choosing threads for my next project after all the sewing. This is how I rebel. Thinking about needlework while sewing.

I did not write a favorite books and gift guide this year. Time slipped away. I might post a book one soon. I love looking at the old lists to remember what has come into the house. Here's last year's with links to all the previous lists.

still sewing costumes and upcoming shows

I am working on the Tulip costumes for Waltz of the Flowers for VDT's Nutcracker, which is coming up fast. There are 12 total. The pastel bodices were existing. I added the leaves and front embellishments and then made 2-layer chiffon circle skirts to draper over purchased super-stiff crinolines. Mixing the chiffon colors to match the bodices was really fun. I love using chiffon layers. Mill Ends has a large selection of colors, thankfully.

This is a busy time for shows, my eldest daughter is in the Fall Festival of Shakespeare at Winningstad theater today (sold out), which is an all day show with 6 schools performing. She is in Much Ado about Nothing. The crowds for these shows are authentic Elizabethan, so there is a lot of very-making and yelling at the action which is pretty great.

I am so excited to see my middle daughter dance in The Portland Ballet's A Midsummer Night's Dream Thanksgiving weekend. There are still tickets available. These shows are always so beautiful and I love going downtown to see her dance at Lincoln Hall at Portland State. it's a fun area to be in and grab dinner.

My youngest is in the Lion King Jr, which is a wonderful family show. All the kids in this production are between 10-14 and are homeschooled. It's put on by Village Home and these shows are so impressive and such a great opportunity for them. Tickets are here! (It's the first weekend of December.)

I just finished Turn of the Screw on audio. I had read it long ago, I think in high school, and remembered almost nothing. It's so creepy, claustrophobic, vague, and ambiguous. To the point where it's almost funny. Especially the ambiguous language. So many unmentionables and allusions to corruption.

Thanks for your suggestions of good audio books. I need to listen to something not creepy, sad, or dark, but at the same time, I am on a classics theme, so that might be hard.

Some of my ideas for Thanksgiving (what to bring to Grammie's):

Cranberry Curd Tart

Endvie and Apple Salad

Wild Mushroom Crostini

Pete is making his delicious blackened brussels sprouts.

Okay, time for more sewing!

sewing costumes

The basement is a costume shop right now for the Vancouver Dance Theater's production of The Nutcracker. These are photos of Spanish and a Snow Queen headpiece. There's the making of Candy Cane headpieces, too. The bodices for Spanish were given to me white, I dyed them (and followed up with black fabric spray paint) to make them black, added a purchased skirt that I sewed the red trim to, and then added the sleeves and embellishments to the bodice. I love using existing costume pieces so much. It's such a fun challenge. The skirt is a petticoat that is really inexpensive, found on Amazon, so the whole costume came in at under $22 each. There are 4.

While I am sewing fro shows this year I am listening to books. I haven't really done this much before, mostly because I am not usually in one spot long enough to listen to anything. Airplanes and road trips got me through Calypso this summer, but that was it. Last year, I watched all the seasons of Parks and Rec while sewing for shows, but I missed a lot, not looking at the screen. So, I thought it would be great to try listening to some books I have been meaning to read. It has been such a good thing! I am so happy I dedicated my sewing time to doing this. I started with Just Kids, by Patti Smith, then Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly and just finished Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I have meaning meaning read these books for so long, and never got around to it and just feel so happy to have finally experienced them. Woolf has always been hard for me to settle into, I have a hard time focusing on her writing, and the audiobook was perfect for that.

I'm not sure what I am going to listen to this week, I think I have about 2 more books I can fit in before the shows start. I love the idea of classics, but might want to listen to something contemporary next.