Good News, Bad News

Friends, the mask wearing continues here in New York City and, naturally, so does the mask making.

It's gotten so that when I look at a photo of myself without a mask, something feels off.  You may remember the Liberty of London shirt above from 2015.  Luckily I saved my leftover fabric -- I almost always try to save some scraps -- and had more than enough to make a matching mask.  I've actually worn this shirt quite a bit; it has held up extremely well.  (The color hasn't changed, it's just the lighting.)

So first let me share some bad news.  You may have heard by now that Bluprint, formerly Craftsy, is being shut down by their owner, NBC-Universal.  It seems the corporation has taken a big financial hit what with their theme parks being temporarily closed and the Olympics being cancelled (which NBC was contracted to broadcast) and as a result they're making cuts.

I filmed a camp shirt class for them last year and was scheduled to make a jean jacket class this summer.  But what can you do?  Unpredictable things sometimes happen.  I was not looking forward to flying out to Colorado to film the class (which we'd already pushed from April to June and then to September) given the current state of air travel, so in a way it's a relief.  But I can't say I'm not also feeling disappointed.  Maybe the universe will provide me a different venue to film a similar class.

I'd already made two sample jean jackets for the class, which I get to keep: thankfully I made them in my size.  Here's a quick look at one, which I made from a floral cotton baby corduroy from Mood Fabrics.  The jacket pattern is Simplicity 8845, currently in print.

Beyond my personal concerns, it saddens me that the staff at Bluprint are set to lose their jobs.  The people I worked with last year couldn't have been kinder or more professional and I was delighted with the way the class turned out.  And what of the archive of approximately 1,500 craft classes?  Currently they belong to NBC-Universal (which is in turn owned by Comcast) and it's anybody's guess what they intend to do with them.  A lot of subscribers are very upset and if you're a fan of drama, you can read people's reactions to the news here.  All the consolidation in the craft world concerns me and I fear there's more to come.

So what else have I been doing with my time?  I put fresh contact paper down in our kitchen cupboards and bathroom medicine cabinet.  I've vacuumed and reorganized my closets (ongoing).  I'm even learning how to repair vintage watches, which might be my next passion.

Last week, Willy got a bath.

And I made a few more shirt-mask combos.

I won't lie: there are aspects of this locked-down new normal that appeal to me.  For one thing, the tourists are gone.  I live in a neighborhood that was inundated with them year round, drawn to the nearby High Line, the Hudson Yards development, the art galleries in Chelsea, and the beautiful Hudson River Park.  If you're from a city that gets a large number of visitors year round (Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, come to mind), you know that it can feel overwhelming.  I recognize that many, many people's work depends on tourism and it's terrible that folks will likely lose those jobs since few people are traveling.  Naturally it would not be my preference for this to happen.  But clouds have their silver linings, why pretend otherwise.  I like the quiet streets, the clean(er) air, the lack of automobile traffic, and, most of all, the slower pace.  Unfortunately a scary pandemic had to be the cause.

Now on to some good news: I'm featured in a lovely four-page spread in the June/July 2020 issue of Sew News Magazine!

I especially love that group photo from last summer's MPB Day.  I'm thinking now about what we might do this coming August and whether it's possible to plan some sort of get together despite the current crisis.  That's for another post.

You can find out more about Sew News, and how to get a copy (or a subscription) here.

In closing, I hope you're all healthy and happily sewing away and that your kitchen shelves are nicely lined like mine are now.

Have a great week, everybody: hang in there!