Legacy of Love: Mom's Life, in Stitches

Friends, I have been procrastinating writing this blog post, just as I have been postponing calling the probate attorney and the banks and the insurance companies and everyone else you're supposed to notify when someone dies and you've been assigned these responsibilities in their will.  Honestly, I just want to call my mom and complain about how everything sucks right now, but she won't answer.  Her phone is right in front of me in a ziplock bag on my desk, along with her Apple watch, her drivers license, her passport, and her car keys.  All of this is very weird and feels very, very WRONG.

Me and Mom, Naples Zoo, December 28, 2024

My mom, according to the funeral home lady, is "in the lovely blue urn you selected," which makes it sound like she's Barbara Eden in "I Dream of Jeannie" and she will pop out wearing harem pants and granting wishes.  Which is exactly what I would tell my mother if I could call her right now, because that would make her laugh.  My brain understands that my mom is gone and that death came as a blessing to end to her suffering.  However, my heart wants to believe that, if I call her tomorrow, she will answer her phone.  

Last Selfie With Mom, June 4, 2025

This was my last selfie with Mom when I got to Austin late in the afternoon of June 4th.  She had been in bed for three days straight before that, but insisted on getting dressed and moving to the recliner in the living room because I was coming.  I had no idea she only had three days left, two days really because she was unresponsive for most of the day Saturday before she passed.  Her decline over that 72 hour period was just unbelievably fast, even catching the hospice team by surprise -- they did not have the morphine available in the house yet because they had "staged" her as not being close enough to needing it.  Anyway, I don't want to dwell on those few days because that's not how my mom would want to be remembered.  I did write her obituary and it's online here, but there were a few more things I wanted to share here:

The Kangaroo Costume Mom Made for My Son Lars in 2018

That's a kangaroo costume my mom sewed for my son Lars, for one of his high school theatre class projects.  She also sewed some costumes for a middle school production of Legally Blonde that my son Anders was in, dozens of figure skating costumes for my sister Susan...  I wish I had photos of more of mom's projects to share with you.

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

My Mom With My Son Anders After His Orchestra Concert Saturday Afternoon

Good Monday Morning, and Happy Belated Mother's Day to all of you moms and grandmoms out there.  I hope you all enjoyed your special day as much as I did mine.  My husband Bernie was finally up to attending church with us for the first time since his heart surgery last month.  Our pastor preached a fantastic Mother's Day sermon about the nature of God encompassing both paternal and maternal qualities and the many ways in which mothering -- not just fathering -- is a reflection of God's love for us.  And I got to sing a beautiful duet during the offering!  The service is available online here for anyone who's interested: http://gospelstream.tv/christelca.  (You have to choose the "View On Demand" tab and then scroll down to the 5/14/17 Contemporary service.  If you don't want to watch the entire service, you can skip ahead to where the sermon begins, 23 minutes into the service.  My duet with Todd is about 52 minutes in).  And of course, if you're local to Charlotte and you're looking for a church family, I'd LOVE to see your smiling face at Christ Lutheran on Sunday morning!  I'm a choir junkie so I sing at both services, the 8:45 AM Traditional Service and the 11 AM Contemporary service.  If you do visit, please find me after the service!

The Sanctuary at Christ Lutheran Church

After church, my mom came over for an afternoon of Mother's Day Mimosas and sewing.  We took the hem on my VOX choir dress (Burda 6911 with modifications) up by a good 2 1/2".  Since the rayon jersey is heavy and stretchy, the dress was originally so long that even with my highest stiletto platform pumps I was still stepping on the hem.  Now it's a much more versatile length that I can wear either with heels or with flats.

Burda 6911 Dress for VOX Choir Performances

I was able to just slice off the original deep hem with a rotary cutter and do a new 1/2" coverstitched hem.  I cut 1/2" strips of fusible tricot interfacing with the stretch going the same direction as my dress fabric, fused them to the raw edge (through a damp silk organdy scrap that I could see through), and then pressed the hem up at the top edge of the interfacing. 

1/2" Strips of Fusible Tricot Interfacing and Silk Organza Pressing Cloth Scrap

Interfacing Fused to the Wrong Side of the Skirt, to Prevent Coverstitch Tunneling

Fusing the Interfacing In Place Through Wet Silk Organza

My coverstitched hems are still not as perfect as RTW, but I'm getting better at them.  Now that I know to stabilize my lightweight knit fabrics so they don't pucker and tunnel between the rows of straight stitches on the right side of the fabric, and I know to clip the seam allowance of the intersecting seams and flip the hem seam allowance in the opposite direction to reduce the bulk that I'm stitching across at the seams, I'm about 80% of the way there.  My ongoing coverstitch challenges are keeping my project perfectly straight as it feeds through the machine so my cover stitches remain perfectly parallel to the folded edge all the way around the hem, and maintaining the stretch of the fabric so I don't get popped stitches over time from taking the garment on and off.  I've heard of people using Wooly Nylon thread in the looper for a stretchier coverstitched hem, and I can try that next time, but the biggest difference I see between my insufficiently stretchy coverstitched hems and the stretchier coverstitched hems on my RTW rayon jersey dresses is that they are using a shorter stitch length for their coverstitch.  Since the looper thread kind of zigzags between straight stitches on the wrong side of the hem, it makes sense that shorter straight stitches would put more looper thread between each straight stitch, resulting in a stretchier hem.  The hems are fine on this dress, especially since the skirt is so full at the bottom, but I would need more stretch for the hem of a close-fitting knit top that I'm pulling on and off over my head.

After rehemming my dress, my mom and I took Lars shopping for some costuming and prop items that he needed for his theatre class, and then we wrapped up the day by going out to dinner with Mom, Bernie, and the boys.  I can't imagine a better Mother's Day!  ...Well, yes I can -- same day, but without the boys squabbling and kicking each under the table at the restaurant.  Will they still do that when they are adults???

Yesterday I ran around picking up prescriptions and taking first Anders and then Bernie to doctor's appointments and a bunch of other errands.  Bernie's surgeon says he's doing well considering his heart surgery was less than four weeks ago, and he was cleared for driving again.  Yay!  He is still out on short term disability at least through the end of May because he's still weak and tires too easily to be traveling for work and doing site visits, but he's headed in the right direction.  We're so thankful for that.

Today I've got some paperwork to catch up on in my office, but I'm hoping to squeeze out an hour or two in the studio either before or after taking Anders to his violin lesson this afternoon.  Have a fantastic day!

A Puppy Portrait Plea and a Lederhosen Update

Proposed Formal Portrait of Otto

Now, how funny is that?  Bernie took some really great photos of our Rottweiler puppies the other day, and I just couldn't help myself...  I found some photos of oil portraits from my trip to the Louvre and used my design software to stick my puppies' heads in place of the people.



Proposed Formal Portrait of Lulu

This one is Lulu, my Puppy Princess Extraordinaire.  I think the hands would need to be replaced with paws, and the background might need to be lightened up a little so she doesn't blend into it and disappear.

My mother does some oil painting, and she painted a fantastic portrait of my sister's dog once from a photo.  If she loves me as much as she loves Janice, don't you think she should whip up these paintings of my sweet doggies as well?  After all, they are her grandpuppies.

I think it would be hysterical to hang large oil paintings of my dogs like this, in matching ornate frames, in my living room.  Did you hear that, Mother?  I would hang them in a PLACE OF HONOR IN MY HOME, where everyone would see them and marvel at your mastery.  Please please please please please...

And now, back to the lederhosen, which are almost actually finished.  I just need to sew on seven buttons and three buttonholes.  If I have time, I'll add that little knife pocket to the right side seam and maybe some decorations to make them extra-snazzy.  But even at this point, they are wearable with safety pins.  I think that all the top stitching with jeans thread helps to make them look more like leather, don't you?

Lederhosen Costume In Progress

These need to be finished TODAY, in time for rehearsal at 3:30 PM.  And they had just better fit the boy, because I can't really make any adjustments at this point and there isn't enough time to start over.  I used a strip of drapery buckram, trimmed to 2" wide, to stiffen the waistband, and I found some jute ribbon at Michael's to simulate the leather lacings at the sides.  I have some red and green felt that I'm thinking of using to recreate the effect of the oak leaf pocket design on Bernie's authentic lederhosen, as well:

Bernie's Real Lederhosen

We need to use the real lederhosen straps with our costume, and they are a hunter green embossed leather with red leather trim, like the decorative pockets, so I think that adding those red and green leaf pockets would help to make our brown lederhosen coordinate with the straps better.

Of course, nothing is getting done AT ALL as long as I sit at the computer, clickety-clacking away...