Patterns, Patterns Everywhere, and Some Music

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Johanna Lundstrom and Malena Hjerpe, authors of the book Fit For Knits—a must-have if you sew any knit garments—started a podcast called Stitching Tales. Malena has a website at Hazelhen Patterns, and if you sign up for her newsletter, you get a free pattern for the Malva Tee.

Malena commented, on the most recent podcast, that she is very particular about T-shirt patterns. (She used to be a patternmaker for H&M.) I am always looking for good T-shirt patterns, so I traced this and made one yesterday. I still have to put the neckband on and hem it, but I like it very much. I did have to lengthen it by 3"—which is now a standard adjustment on any pattern—and I also graded out one size at the hips. I have learned that grading out at the hips is also a standard adjustment I have to make, not because my hips are that much larger (they aren’t), but because of my high hip curve. If I don’t grade out, that area of the top gets caught on my hipbones. I think that’s why this style of T-shirt suits me. It fits closely at the shoulders and bust and flares gently below the waist (as long as the waist is in the correct position).

[While we were in Seattle, the girls and I determined that neither of them inherited the shape of my pelvis—or at least not to the same extent—which is good.]

I have been looking through my pattern stash. I think I will scratch the bag itch by making a Klum House Portsmith Tote with the zipper top. I’ve got all the supplies.

This looks like a great size and shape of tote bag and should be a quick make.

I am kicking around picking up a pattern for a pair of high-rise, wide-leg pants. Tilly and the Buttons just released the Thea Trousers:

I don’t know that I would rush to make these, but I feel like I should have a pattern on hand in case we circle back to low-rise pants and I am forced to start making pants that actually fit me.

*********

For you music nerds out there, I offer this:

I have been a bit obsessed with this video this week. This group’s musical director is Ken Nafziger, retired professor at Eastern Mennonite University. They recently released their fourth album and it included this gem. The amazing thing is that they said they recorded this on impulse at the end of a day of video recording. The group decided to sing this song one last time and someone caught it on a smartphone.

If you’ve done any ensemble singing (or playing), you understand the difficulty in getting a group to sync this tightly together. It requires a high level of commitment to listening to each other and to the whole. Doing so in an acappella group is even more difficult as the tendency is to go flatter in key.

[If you truly are a music nerd, may I suggest this Bluecoats Brass podcast episode on intonation? One of the guests is a guy named Bob Higgins, who just happened to sit next to me in the trombone section in high school for two years. We are still good friends 44 years later. Bob was the low brass instructor for the Akron Bluecoats and he explains intonation and temperament very well in this episode.]

The technical excellence of the Laudate Mennonite Ensemble does not surprise me. Several of us from our congregation attended a worship music workshop at Portland Mennonite some years ago, and Ken Nafziger was one of the presenters. He took a group of 30 or so people who had never sung together before—and of varying musical abilities—and had us singing together as if we had been doing so for years. It is rare and beautiful when it happens and I treasure those moments.

The song is beautiful. The arrangement is beautiful. The acoustics in this building are amazing. Enjoy.