Saturday, August 4, 2012

Fallout from New Bras and ACC Craft Show

I took the day off work yesterday to attend the ACC Craft Show in Fort Mason. I've been wanting to attend this show for years, but more on that in a bit.

Of course, I wore one of my new bras. Now, let me preface this by saying that I thought my old bras were working pretty well. Oh dear, was I wrong.

  • I decided to wear my polka dot Au Bonheur coat. It no longer fits me properly.
  • All my TnT patterns now have the bust fullness located too far down.
  • Most of my sewn clothes now have the bust fullness located too far down.
  • Bummer.
  • I was paper fitting a new Vogue pattern yesterday. My bust is now located at the same level as Vogue believes a bust should sit. I did not think this was possible. In my natural state, my bust is at the same level as my belly button. I did not believe it was possible to find support that would hoist me to that level. Wow. This will make it easier to alter patterns in future.

The ACC show was nice and a couple reasonably priced items followed me home. Wandering into Susan Otterson's booth, I caught her taking a picture of my coat. We struck up an enjoyable conversation and I bought one of her Merino spiral scarves. She knits all of her fabrics, as well as does the sewing, and her work is beautiful. She is a fan of Koos van den Akker, so we had a nice chat about his designs. She doesn't have a website yet, but you can email her.

Susan Otterson's booth

My other purchase, from Tess McGuire, was a cloche-style felted hat. A very sweet lady, who posed through several photos with humor.

Tess McGuire

My friend Sue also made a purchase. She bought a beautiful necklace from Nature's Creations.

This necklace, made with real dogwood blossoms that are encased in copper and electroplated, then finished with a green patina. (By the way, Sue made this top from a great stripe knit that we both bought from Hart's last March. I've also seen this fabric on Marcy's site.)

His work is beautiful and he collects leaves from all over, even from Japan and Europe. (He has a special import license - I asked.) Additionally, these are two pins that are attached to a waxed linen necklace, so they can be removed and worn as pins, switched to a necklace of a different length, worn separately, etc.

From this booth, I bought a teeny tiny pin, about the size of a penny. I can't remember what plant it was from, but it looked like curly kale. I like kale, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

After viewing the show, Sue and I ate at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Greens. A gourmet vegetarian restaurant, I haven't eaten there in years, but it has fabulous views of the marina and Golden Gate Bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge, encased in fog

We'll see how much sewing I get done this weekend. I am doing some college prep with DD1 and a friend of DD1. I have finished the project with the spaghetti tubes, but I'm not sure when I'll get photos.

Have a great weekend!

Edited to add: Several of you have asked which bra I ordered. I didn't think to add that info, so here it is. Funny enough, I am wearing the same brand and model of bra as before, just several years newer (and one cup size larger, at a 36H). It's the bra Oprah recommends, the La Mystere Dream Tisha. I also ordered the La Mystere Lace Tisha, but have not yet worn that in any photos.