Annika's Atelier

Chirimen Hoard

2009-07-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

The chirimen from Fabric Tales in Japan arrived the other day. For poly chirimen it is very very nice! I couldn't help myself - I had to get some chirimen piping, bias tape and extra fabric for perhaps another Hong Kong vest or Joplin Pullover...

Now all I have to do is create a pattern by doing a rub off of the chirimen jacket and grading it up to my size.

Flying Fox Bat Babies Video

2009-07-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Bat Conservation and Merlin Tuttle.
The name of the video sounds like they're into eating baby bats, but it's just a bad title, so ignore it. This is really a short video of how a dedicated group of folks Down Under are caring for baby flying foxes. The flying fox is a fruit bat found in Australia, Indonesia and that part of the tropical world.

Lacemakers of Puget Sound

2009-07-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Last week I went down to Kent to attend a meeting of the Lacemakers of Puget Sound. Lacemakers of Puget Sound is a charter chapter of the International Old Lacers. Amazing work and amazing ladies! There were some ladies working on tatted pieces, but I was blown away by the intricacy of the bobbin laces being produced and how many fancy bobbins everyone owned!

Here are several yards of delicate black silk bobbin lace in creation.

Another lady was working on a two-color piece; you can see the pattern she's using on the right side of the photo.

Here is a lovely lady with a handmade lace neckpiece.

Author! Author!

2009-07-02T09:53:00.001-07:00

Bead&Button Magazine has published a short review of my Micro-Macrame book in their August 2009 edition.

Me so happy! To quote their esteemed reviewer, "Under the influence of a handful of talented fiber artists such as Annika deGroot, macrame has come a long way since the '60s..."

Ahhh, I used to dream of being a talented fiber artist and now I am one!

My Older-Than-God Commercials Reel

2009-06-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

I was prompted last week to upload the demo reel of the commercials and video/film projects I worked on in the late 80's and early 90's. A "reel" is a compilation of commercials (also known as "spots") and other shortish projects worked on that show the capabilities of a particular filmmaker. This one runs a bit over 9 minutes - enjoy it if you can...Actually, the pieces I am most proud of are the ones I edited. Skip past the director and producer segments and go straight for the gold in the editor's section.

Hmmm... it's missing some of my best stuff... must shovel out the hovel and find the other reel...

Chirimen Jacket

2009-06-25T07:54:00.001-07:00

The other day I found a gorgeous chirimen jacket at a consignment shop. Although it was a P for Petite and I am an E for Enormous, I bought it to study the details and hopefully recreate it in a larger size. It is fully reversible with a lightweight black nylon shell and has welt pockets (both inside and out).

But what really interested me was the padded collar; it is padded because it has a rain hood inside! Look at the beautiful delicate zipper pull - I almost didn't see it.

At Fabric Tales there are some lovely offerings of rayon and polyester chirimen fabrics.
In case you are unfamiliar with chirimen, it is that uniquely textured crepe from Japan that comes in either silk, rayon or polyester. Polyester chirimen is washable but doesn't have quite the fine silky feel as the silk or rayon versions. The rayon and silk versions are usually in shorter widths like 25-27 inches (63-70 cm), but the polys are usually 43-45 inches wide (110-114cm).
I can't decide between this polyester fabric Floral Snow Rings on Charcoal which is here

or the Ume Blossoms fabric which is here.

The truth is I wish I could order one already made from the designers. But I have looked all over the web and cannot find this jacket in their offerings for this year...and I've had no luck on eBay either.

As a side note, check out the patterned fabric cords on the Fabric Tales site...

St. John's Day, 2004

2009-06-24T07:29:00.001-07:00

June 24th is St. John's Day and often you can find St. John's Wort blooming around here at this time of year. 5 years ago, it was on this day that my mother, Dr. Sybil G. deGroot passed away. She was 78 years old.

My mom was one of the most remarkable people you could ever meet; in her youth she had been a Rockette at the Radio City Music Hall, later she became the first woman in the U.S. to hold a Doctorate in Engineering Psychology (which is also known as Human Factors and Ergonomics).

To try to sum up her brilliant life and career in just a few sentences seems so inadequate and trite. After 5 years I still can't find the words. Even what I wrote in my book isn't enough:

"Those who knew her will agree, my mother led a most remarkable life. Highly intellectual and only sometimes circumspect about it, she was a curious blend of scientist and social butterfly. Her eyes flashed sage green whether engaged in scholarly pursuit or dancing a fandango on the neighbor's coffee table. I will always miss her."

I'm Thrilled!

2009-06-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

My book just received a lovely review from Crafty Pod!

Beaded Buddha Embroidery

2009-06-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Solstice to one and all!

I picked up Sherry Serafini and Heidi Kummli's The Art of Bead Embroidery: Techniques, Designs & Inspirations book the other day because I have long admired their artwork. Here's my first attempt at following one of their designs; I'm not going to make a bracelet out of it but rather use it as a centerpiece for a micro-macrame neckpiece.

Elf Slippers - A Must Have!

2009-06-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Who can resist nice warm felted wool elf slippers? I can't. I had to have them - I ordered a pair in purple from mommayaya on etsy. I think they will look quite lovely with my teal-colored fingernails, don't you?

Autographed by Author

2009-05-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

I've been going into every bookstore I pass and rummaging around in the craft section until I find a copy of my book. I then take the book(s) to Customer Service and ask them if I can autograph my own book, do they have a pen I can use and can they slap an "autographed by author" sticker on the book's front. Usually the customer service rep is thrilled to do so.

I was perusing the Onion and came upon the following stat:

Hmmm...this has given me some ideas for dedications...hmmm...I think I'd change the last one to: For the itteh bitteh kitteh committee...

I See a Pattern Here...

2009-05-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

A few years ago everyone was gaga for the Retro Butterick '52 pattern B4790. At a rummage sale recently I found the updated 60's/70's version of that wraparound dress.

But then I'm easily smitten by anything simple and unusual, like this mother/daughter combo of a wraparound...

They kind of remind me of something Isabel Toledo would have designed. Speaking of the unusual, I came across a charming pair of Russian ladies patterns from the 50's...

There were no fitting suggestions or fabric requirements on the back of the pattern envelope or even a separate printed sheet of instructions - what information there was was on the pattern tissue. Our Russian sisters simply had to make do.

Criss-Cross Blouse

2009-05-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

Months ago I read Ann Smith's review of a delightful blouse on Pattern Review and knew I had to make that blouse! Tracking down the Japanese pattern book it came from was a bit of a task, but one happy day it arrived in the post and I was set! I transferred the pattern to butcher paper and took the whole shebang over to Kinko's and had them enlarge it 135%. C'est tout. I did nothing else to the pattern because I figured I would just make a muslin of sorts and see how well it fit as is with no alterations. The fabric I chose was a rich red poly chiffon with a directional black sheen. I bound the edges with bias strips of the poly chiffon and placed a few tiny buttonholes down the front placket.

The way the fabric drapes in a criss-cross on the back was exquisite, but the front still looked frumpy. Nevertheless I wore it to high tea at the Empress Hotel with my dear friend JoAnn in Victoria last November, having nothing better to put on. Oh, poor, poor me.

Hmmm, must redraft the front....

PR Weekend in Portland

2009-05-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

I am still recovering. Met and got reacquainted with so many talented wonderful ladies that I am still twirly-minded. Deepika and I had the great good luck to have lunch with Pati Palmer of Palmer/Pletsch fame on Friday and she was most gracious and kind. She gave a most instructive lecture on blouse fitting problems, tailored jackets and fitting pants (trousers to youse cats in Europa). I kept mumbling "Aha! That's the exact point I should have done what she's showing instead of what I actually did!" Pati has revived my fitting courage and I am going to attempt a jacket before too long. I wanted to sign up for some of her classes this summer but it appears they are already sold out and I won't be able to attend her November classes because I'll be in Paris with the European PR Weekend crowd.
Anyway, here's one photo Diane E took of Roseana and yours truly.

Amazon Ratings

2009-04-28T10:49:00.001-07:00

Today I popped on to Amazon to check the rating of my book just for fun and found that I was right behind Kenneth King! The Kenneth King! Yeah, baby!
Ratings fluctuate by the hour; luckily I've been holding fairly steady in the 8,000 to 10,000 range for the past few days.

I hate to be a pest, but if any of my friends who haven't posted reviews of my "Opus-in-Ink" could do so on Amazon, I'd be very very grateful. The publishers at St. Martin's would also be grateful. In fact, the entire Universe at large would be grateful. The only person I can think of who probably couldn't be bothered to be grateful would be Rob MacGregor, my theatre pal who now resides in Istanbul (for reasons perhaps unmentionable)...

Sans Appendix

2009-04-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

I made it through surgery yesterday. I had been having a hellacious pain in my lower right side for the past 6 months and in trying to track down what the pain was, I have endured a Catscan, an MRI, a colonscopy, two ultrasounds and various bouts of being poked and prodded by doctors, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, and whoever else happened to be in the examining rooms at the time.

Finally I was sent to a kindly surgeon who performed laparoscopic surgery on my abdomen yesterday to find out what this mystery pain was. As it turns out, it was something that was sort-of but not quite fully ruled out a few months ago.

I am now appendix-less. My poor old beat-up appendix was hard where it should have been soft, due to recurring infections. It might have gone gangrenous given half a chance (just to spite me, I'm sure). I now have three tiny holes in my stomach where they inserted the laparoscopic camera and who knows what else, which will probably not even be noticeable scars in a year or two.

Such relief, I tell you. I am obviously sore as hell today, but pain meds are a goodly thing.
Soon I will be wiggling my way back to belly dancing and losing weight! Yahoo zzzzz...Oh, did I doze off? Pain meds are gooooood....

On a positive note, I am teaching myself Adobe Photoshop special effects. Here's a sloppy first try of an old picture of me:

I Dream of Gene-y

2009-03-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know much about the BJD craze - it holds only a slight fascination for me - How is it that women can be so frenzied over ball-jointed dolls? I got a HauteDoll magazine the other day out of curiosity and was amazed at how popular they are. Huh. But I did perk up when I found 7 Gene dolls at the local Goodwill one night. I bought the prettiest one, who was decked out in a sultry 40's gown, drove home and checked out prices for Gene dolls on eBay to see if I had been ripped off. I hadn't, so the next morning at 9 a.m. I returned to that Goodwill and waited impatiently for the doors to open. I was in good company; a gal drove up in a neon yellow Mini S with black and white racing stripes and checkerboard side mirrors and parked next to my little darling (the official transport of the Ministry of Magic). I had brief worries that she would be vying for the rest of the Gene dolls, but when the doors finally opened, she darted off to the other side of the store while I made a beeline to the glass case where the 6 beauties were waiting to be freed from the confines of a second-hand store. Here are another 3 of the 6:

They all look just a tad haughty if you ask me (which no one ever does).

I'm back. Sort of.

2009-02-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy with work and other responsiblities I haven't had the time or inclination to blog for the past two months. What a slug!
I do have one tidbit of exciting knowledge, though - I received an advance copy of my book last week! It was thrilling to open the cover of my first publicly acknowledged writing endeavor - never in my life did I think I had enough knowledge about any subject to actually produce a book...! I am still in shock.

I found a lovely porcelain/parian ware candle holder the other day at the Goodwill:

And while at Stargazers in Bellevue, I treated myself to a big chunk of celestite.Celestite is thought to be good for communicating with angelic wisdom, and God knows, I sure could use some of that right now! I just like it for how sparkly it is.

Slush and New Wellies

2008-12-29T15:43:00.000-08:00

The front is melting sloooooowwwwlllyyyy but it is melting.

The Mini Cooper is still stuck in the slushy mess that was my front yard. So is Linda's car.

But JoAnn and her husband Don came by and took me shopping. I managed to get out to Fred Meyer and buy some new Wellies!

So Not Dreaming of a White Christmas

2008-12-25T10:32:00.000-08:00

As it appears to have manifested in reality.

I had shoveled most of the snow off the front deck last night but to no avail.

My brother gallantly offered to drive over in his 4 wheel megavan and take me to his house for the holiday, but I think it's snowing a little too hard right now - maybe later. In the meantime, I am happy, safe and warm. I've had a lovely breakfast of mushrooms, eggs, saugages, lingonberry jam and tangerines and left-over rum-glazed sweet potatoes (from last night's dinner). I've finished all the little gifties I was making for friends and family.

Jynx wanted to go out but thought better of it when she realized the snow on the deck was higher than she is tall...

Stuck in Snow-Homish

2008-12-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! I have been so busy making stuff that I haven't had time to attend to this blog! Bad me! Bad me!
I've been snowed in for the past...5 days? 6 days? and anticipate being stuck here until after Christmas. But the good news is I LOVE SNOW! I do! It isn't the cold that bothers me in winter it's the darkness. An evening with snow on the ground is actually light.
Did I ever menton that I love my knitting machine? In the past two days I've made 10 pairs of wristlets for Christmas gifties; they're no where near to being as elegant and delicate as the ones Karin made for me last year, but they will suffice. I had fun using up all the doo-dads of yarns I found at Goodwill this past year. I kept finding single balls of pima cotton/bamboo blends, or pure merino or pure pima cotton or mohair - they probably were the leftovers from sweaters or shawls. Here are some of the not-quite-finished pairs of wrist warmers. Still have to sew the sides together on some of them.

We're catsitting Lily who helped in making the wristwarmers. At least she's pretty sure she helped.

My Book Cover!!!

2008-12-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

Halloween Pix

2008-11-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some pix from the halls of the Ministry of Magic where a dark angel and I were enjoying the grim festivities.

Welcome to the Office of Dispelling Convexing Conundrums!

Here's the window closest to my office, with its droll-yet-festive black lace valance.

The skeletal sconces and cobwebs added a macabre touch to the halls.

Beautiful Day

2008-11-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a convention in downtown Los Angeles. I find LA to be a most ugly, dirty, brash conglomeration of busy-bodies zipping this way and that. By Saturday I realized I needed a day of cool greenery away from the glaring traffic. So I made my way to the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena. The concierge at the Westin was able to find me a rental car while she printed out great directions to the Huntington and then to LAX.

I got there early - too early for general admittance - but there was a conference on the Arts anbd Crafts movement going on in one of the buildings, so the gardens were already open.

Their new Chinese Garden was delightful. I had read about it in several LA tourist-oriented magazines and pamphlets and knew I just had to have a good long look.

After a lingering stroll through the Chinese garden, I sat in the Japanese garden.

Halloween Decor for the Office

2008-10-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here's an image-heavy tutorial on how to build a Scary Hand Wall Sconce. It's a kind of goofy crafty homage to Jean Cocteau. (Well, sort of.)
You'll need:
Halloween-oriented glove
battery-operated candle
20 pipe cleaners
hot glue gun and glue
4 3" heavy cardboard circles (or heavy cardboard and a waterglass and an exacto knife)
Cotton or Poly batting
needle and thread

First get about 20 pipe cleaners to create the bony structure of a hand. Use three pipe cleaners per finger, three pipe cleaners to create the outline of a palm and a few more pipe cleaners to weave in and out of the palm to give it strength.

Then stuff the fingertips of your scary bony glove with cotton or poly batting and wrap some of the batting around the pipe cleaner fingers as you insert them into the fingers of the glove.

Sew the fingertips of the glove together, overlapping the thumb on top of the other fingers to create a fist which can hold a candle.

Cut out 4 circles of cardboard or two circles of foamcore. These don't have to be circular - they can be oval, which would probably be better - but I didn't have an oval template handy so I used a waterglass as a template. Make them about 3" in diameter (75mm ish).

Cut out a rectangular section in the centers of three of the circles.

Place the three of the cardboard circles inside the stuffed glove. Thread the pipe cleaners from the bottom of the palm frame in through the rectangular cutout in the circles. Hot glue to secure the pipe cleaners to the cardboard.

Sew the edges of the glove at the wrist together around the cardboard circles or hot glue them down to the cardboard.

Hot glue the fourth cardboard circle on top of the glove and other cardboard circles.

You can now attach the scary hand sconce to the wall. I would use that removeable sticky tape stuff that either Scotch Brand or 3M puts out (I can't remember which) so that you don't permanently damage the wall. And instead of putting a candle in the fist, think about using one of those cheap-o kid's Halloween flashlights; just point it back towards the wall.

Here's another something or other to attach to the wall: a small plastic skull with a fake candle hotglued on top. When I was a kid, my stepbrother - a budding paleontologist - found an old skull in the woods. He dripped different colored wax all over the top of the skull and used it as a candleholder. I never went into his room because he kept the skull by his bedside and it scared the bejesus out of me to have that hollow-eyed thing staring at me.(As an adult I keep wondering who would let a teenage boy keep a real human skull in his bedroom? Perhaps it wasn't real, but to a six year old, it was creepy!)

There was a sale at JoAnn's Fabrics yesterday and I found the remnants of a bolt (approx. 3 meters left!) of red skull black lace (for $3.00 a yard! Yeah, baby!) which I'm going to use as a valance over one of the windows in the hall outside my office...