Friday Faves / vol. 7

Helloooo!

It’s spring! That time of year where I feel like I’m just barely staving off total chaos. Track meets, music recitals, COVID exposures for you and you and you, trying to remember to take my allergy meds and slather on sunscreen. Also: cocktails and dinners on the back deck with friends. I’ve got a date with Mr Rae tonight (woot!) and tomorrow I’m headed to Grand Rapids to spend some kid-free time with a few of my fellow mama-friends for a night. I’m hoping to make it back just in time for Hugo’s violin recital on Sunday. Phew. It’s going to be fun, and maybe a little exhausting. Who can tell.

So many faves to share with you today:

sewing: I made myself a new Cleo skirt that is VERY pink and have been wearing it with my briochealicious shawl. It’s the very same hue as the round pink candies with “X”s stamped on them that my mom used to hand out in church to shut us up during the sermon. You would not believe how many people tell me “your skirt matches your hair!” when I wear it.

listening: Sam Sanders interview with Yebba was on the radio last weekend (It’s been a minute from NPR - it was a rerun from 2021) and since then I’ve been listening to Dawn non-stop.

projecting patterns: OH what a skeptic I was when I first heard about using projectors to project a pattern onto a surface for cutting and tracing and OH how wrong I was. Mr Rae used his 3D printer to print me some custom brackets and now it’s installed in my studio and I’m not sure I’ll ever print another pattern again. I realize there was so much nerd in that previous sentence you might feel like you accidentally missed something so don’t worry - I’ll be sure to post more details on my projector situation soon.

trunk show: I had a trunk show for my patterns a few weeks back at Seams Fabric and Mercantile in Lansing (about an hour from Ann Arbor) and it just reminded me how good it is to meet sewing people IRL. Jessy and her crew were wonderful hosts and she has a fantastic selection of apparel fabrics both in store and online. Support small businesses!

reading: If you aren’t subscribed to Meg Connelly or Anne Helen Peterson’s newsletters yet, what are you even doing? Unpacking the Nap Dress (Anne Helen) and Meg’s series on Christy Dawn dresses are both worth a read over your morning cup of coffee this weekend. Hint: What do prairie-style dresses and Manifest Destiny have in common?

knitting: I knitted Clementine a Trefann Sweater out of lavender Malabrigo Rasta and it’s pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Michigan has been serving up some super cold days this month so she’s even worn it a few times lately. And it fits me, so when she outgrows it it’s mine all mine MWUAH HAHA!

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!

xo,
Rae

PS. As a lifelong Muppet fan, this video made me LOL

PPS. see all of my Friday Faves here.