About Karen

Posts by Karen Kaminski:

Friday Links

By in Friday Unrelated Information

1. Via Karen Templer, this is a great piece on the power of sewing (and a beautiful ode to the writer’s mom): How sewing improved my mental health — and restored my professional ambitions

My own sewing practice reflects my mom’s habits and drive. Like her, I press every seam before stitching it to another one. When I get stuck on a project, I call her to discuss ideas. Through her, I have accessed a craft that reminds me of my capacity for trial and error. As I checked off projects, sewing confirmed that if I tackle something a little bit each day, I can progress toward my goal. In a way, my sewing practice offered an analogue to moving forward in my career.

 

2. I’m feeling this patch from Pretty Bad Co.

 

Thursday Poem

By in poems

I don’t post a lot of Emily Dickinson but this article (the scandal!) got me thinking about her. Here’s a nice one to go with all the birdsong in the mornings.

 

Some keep the Sabbath going to church

Some keep the Sabbath going to church —
I keep it, staying at Home —
With a Bobolink for a Chorister —
And an Orchard, for a Dome —

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice —
I just wear my Wings —
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton — sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman —
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last —

I’m going, all along.

Friendship

By in Uncategorized

My criteria for close friendship is not that complicated: You should love at least one of the things I love exactly as I love it. I’ve been lucky enough to find a handful of people who do. (My work buddy is reading Dune for the first time and–fortunately–loving it).

There’s nothing like connecting with your fellow hyper specific oddballs, as Sarah Anderson shows us:

Tuesday Project Roundup: ACTIVEWEAR

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup

As I said back in January, I needed more gym tights (I’m at the gym five days a week now so I really needed some). After I realized how easy it was to make them, I wanted to put together a “fit capsule” as discussed on the Greenstyle patterns blog.

The tanks are all blogged here and the print tights are blogged here. The last two pair of tights are the nicest, both in terms of fabric quality and construction: I finally figured out how to make a really professional looking seam (that won’t unravel)!

I ended up joining the Greenstyle Facebook group and lurking there, asking for advice and reading what other people did. Turns out, you can just use the regular settings on your serger, sew the seam with the wrong sides together so the seam allowance is on the outside, and then topstitch it down with a twin needle. It looks so much nicer than the four-thread flatlock I used on the stripe pair (four-thread flatlock on the left below; topstitched reverse seam on the right).

The fabric on the stripe and the orange pair is Supplex, which is a trademarked nylon yarn that is lovely–feels like cotton but is softer and wicks sweat away. (The navy stripe is from Stonemountain and the orange is from The Fabric Fairy.) For this pattern in a medium, I need a yard and a quarter of fabric–so it works out to be Old Navy prices for each tight, but with cool prints, nicer fabrics, no sweatshops, and POCKETS. Yay sewing!

Thursday Poem

By in Mary Oliver, poems

I Ask Percy How I Should Live My Life
by Mary Oliver
 
Love, love, love, says Percy.
And hurry as fast as you can
along the shining beach, or the rubble, or the dust.

Then, go to sleep.
Give up your body heat, your beating heart.
Then, trust.

 

 

(Mary and her dog, Percy)

Wednesday Project Roundup: Still Making Gym Clothes

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup

I’ve made three functional pairs of gym tights and am working on numbers four and five, so it was time to make some tops to go with them.

The front two are the Greenstyle Creations Solo Tank, in leftover leopard nylon tricot and a Polartec PowerDry mesh. I’ve made three patterns now from Greenstyle and I am really impressed by their drafting. This tank pattern is a dead ringer for the $45 (!) EcoMesh tank from Outdoor Voices and the fit is maybe even better.

The one in the back is the free Durango Tank from Hey June in a wicking performance knit (which is really nice!). The details on this one make it look really professional and I like the lines, but I think I need to make an FBA if I make it again–the fit just isn’t quite as perfect.

I got all three of these done with my Monday off a couple weeks ago. Doing the arm and neck binding on the Solo Tanks made me wish for a coverstitch machine, but the serger and a twin needle in the regular sewing machine did just fine. (I don’t need a $600 specialty machine, right? Or do I?)

Happy Birthday, Skyler!

By in birthdays

My nephew is EIGHT today! He’s very much a kid now, not a little boy, but he is such a delight.

As I’ve said before, you can’t put anything over on him. If you show him the why behind something and let him see it, then he’s just fine with it–but he’s not about to accept “because I said so” as a reason for anything.

He already has a very specific sense of style, just like his grandma. I’m standing by in case he ever needs help with his curly hair (I didn’t know what to do with mine until I was in my 20s) but he is very clear that he likes his “Einstein hair” just as it is. He also loves color; when he was at my house recently, he picked up some yarn in turquoise and royal blue. I had to stop and admire the pairing and think, “Huh, I never would have put those together, but they really work.”

You can see the love of color in his art, too, where he takes after his dad and grandpa. He also loves to engineer things (like his mom) and he’s always reading.

Happy birthday, Skyler! We all love you so much.

The Hills Are Alive (And Free Of Snow)

By in nature

It was our first time in a canyon since the end of February (!) and thankfully it’s finally spring up there.

All of that snow is making some pretty impressive runoff! I was happy to see doggos on leashes around the water.

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