New tricks and cat in the sack

I decided to re-fashion the Indian block-printed top that I thrifted a few weeks ago.

Purchased at Goodwill, $4.99It appears to have been stitched in India and is covered with embroidered mirrorwork. I took it apart and added bust darts to give it some shape. Then I had to re-hem the front and back, which were now different lengths because of the darts. I removed the sleeves and cut down the armholes. The sleeves were wide but I decided to use that extra width to make slightly puffy sleeves by gathering the top before setting the sleeves in and adding three small tucks at the sleeve hem.

I have no idea why I'm looking up. I have no idea why I'm laughing.Of course, come cooler weather, I’ll layer this over a long-sleeve t-shirt or blouse to give it my favorite double sleeve look.

I’m cat-sitting for Tigro for the next 2 weeks (he stayed with me in April). He hates being in his carrier and yowled the whole way from his home to mine. He seems to have recovered from the trauma of the transport and made himself right at home.

Linking up to Ta-Dah! Tuesday for the shirt re-fashion. Tigro has no ta-dahs to offer. Lazy cat.

Vegtoons and The Secret of Kells

I’ve heard of Kickstarter, an online funding site for all manner of creative projects, but only today did I use it to make a small contribution towards a very cool project. It’s called Vegtoons and it’s a series of light-hearted animated films promoting a plant-based diet. By now everyone knows that reducing – or, even better, eliminating – the consumption of animal products is good for the planet, your health and, especially, animals. Hopefully this animated series will get folks thinking about their food choices.

The music for the series will be by Nellie McKay, who I blogged about recently.

And it will be designed and animated by Cartoon Saloon who made 'The Secret of Kells', an animated film that tells the fictional story of the making of the 8^th-century manuscript , the Book of Kells.

 Chi Rho page of the Book of KellsAs a former art historian who wrote my master’s thesis on medieval manuscripts (the marginalia of East Anglian manuscripts, to be precise), I need to track down and watch 'The Secret of Kells.' The animation incorporates all the crazy Celtic knotwork and swirly designs I love so much.

I love the design of this still from The Secret of Kells

Has anyone seen The Secret of Kells?

Rock and Roll Yard Sale

I’m exhausted after a full day at the local ‘Rock and Roll Yard Sale,’ a community flea market that focuses on vinyl and music-related vintage items.

There’s a fair amount of vintage clothing and some handmade crafts as well.

My friend had a booth, selling mostly LPs. In addition to helping him with the set up (he’s still on the mend from a leg shattered in a motorcycle accident), I was selling some vintage clothing.

Of course, any time I do a selling event, I always end up buying. (As did my friend, who, in spite of having bought a collection of 20,000 records, and trying to sell them for the past 6 months, still found an LP he had to have.)

Greek fisherman’s cap purchased around 1990 at The Hat Shop back when it used to be on Neal St. in London. Sunglasses made from 1960s frames found at Dollar A Pound around the same time. I am probably the only person on earth who has had the same pair of sunglasses for 20+ years. I thought the bag was worth a close-up. I bought this vintage chenille bag, which has a geometric 1920s-style pattern in vibrant colors, for $7.00. I am sure I saw this exact bag or one very similar for sale online recently.

I barely sold anything, but it was still nice to be outside all day, saying ‘hi’ to the dogs who walked by.

And to Seamus, a cat who likes to spend the day out and about perched on his person’s shoulder. He's the most laid-back cat I've ever met.

There were bands playing, too. Although not obvious from this photo, this woman, with the help of a cane, was boogieing up a storm. I thought, "I hope I'm like her when I am at that age."

I've been catching up on my blog reading tonight and this woman's exuberance reminded of yesterday’s post on The Secondhand Years which mentions a poem by Jenny Joseph which begins, "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple." 

Today I just happened to be wearing a purple and red top, purple tights and purple paratrooper boots (last seen here.) Then again, going by the pics I’ve posted, I wear purple and red most of the time (here and here. Oh, and here). Either I'm old before my time or getting in lots of practice.

A good day

Today was a good day. After a productive day of work, I went out to do errands and meet a friend.

Just up my street, I found these blue glass candleholders with etched stars on the sidewalk. I guess I’ll start a ‘trash finds’ tag. 

Then, I saw a cool bike – painted gold with a burgundy seat -- on my street.

I went to the thrift store and found one great item (more on that in a bit).

I then walked past the natural foods co-op and saw that, in preparation for a move to a location across the street, everything in the store was 50% off. Inside, it was a madhouse, teeming with shoppers frantically grabbing items they’ve never bought before off the near-empty shelves (I got laundry detergent, 3 boxes of graham crackers, some Lara bars, some cream of tartar, a chocolate bar, 2 packages of Liz Lovely cookies, and some pudding mix – not my usual assortment of purchases). Given the long waits and the general euphoria over such deals, the lines at the registers had a bit of a party atmosphere with folks comparing purchases and generally having a good time.

This diversion led to my being late to meet my friend Karen at Life Alive Urban Oasis & Organic Café, one of my favorite veggie places in the neighborhood.

I can't wait to check out the Peter Max fashions inside.After a long visit with Karen, I walked home to discover that my latest eBay purchase, the April 1970 issue of Seventeen magazine, had arrived in the post.

Sorry for the bad photos. It was dark and I had to use flash.I then tried on my thrift store purchase. I’ve confessed my fashion obsession -- scooped necklines combined with short puffy sleeves over long sleeves -- before. Add to that a wild print and this late 60s/early 70s ribbed knit top with a scoop neck and puffed sleeves at the top made of a vibrant print fabric proved itself to be the holy grail of thrift store finds.

Jordan Marsh top, $4.99. Antique Indian and stone pendant strung on a cord (had as long as I can remember). Lac bangles given to me by a friend's mother in Mumbai, 2004. H & M denim mini, purchased in mid 90s. Blue thrifted tights, 99 cents. Clogs painted by me.This top is 100% acrylic and was made in Italy for Jordan Marsh, a Boston department store. I can’t imagine an acrylic knit top nowadays lasting more than a few months. This top was very well-made. It’s obvious from some repairs in the seams that it was worn frequently, but yet it isn’t pilled or stretched out – after 40 years.

I hope you had a good day!

India Day 2012

As mentioned in my last post, I was gearing up for a bhangra performance at the annual India Day festival.

There was the usual chaos of getting dressed and made up on the lawn. We were a colorful bunch and had lots of folks taking picture of us as we got ready.

Lots of safety pins to keep everything in place

We're a diverse group.

MIT Summer Bhangra always closes the show – and looks pretty exuberant since we can barely fit all of us on stage. My motto for the group has always been “We may not be the best dancers, but we’ve got the most people.” As I mentioned before, as long as you can commit to the rehearsal schedule, anyone can dance. Everyone from kids to, uh, me (I’m at least 15 years older than the second oldest person performing.)

So, it being Tuesday, the video of the performance is my ‘ta-dah.” I’m in the introductory dance, and the third (with sticks) and fifth (“Call Me Maybe”) ones. Sorry, the audience is screaming so loud, you can barely hear the music. At the end of our performance, we were asked to do an encore and did the whole thing again.

If there are bhangra classes in your area, I highly recommend taking them. Bhangra is a blast!

Linking to Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping’s Ta-Dah Tuesday. Check out the other projects and great finds there.

My life (so far) in bhangra

To commemorate India’s Independence Day, the Indian Association of Greater Boston holds a huge festival on the banks of the Charles River. There’s a stage for performances all day long and tons of food and vendor stalls. I’ve been told that around 5000 people attend each year. Tomorrow is the India Day show.

I'm in blue in the left foreground. Since 2001, I’ve been dancing in a community bhangra troupe that MIT organizes. The only exceptions have been 2 years when I had my own small bhangra troupe which performed at other venues, and 2 years when I wasn’t living here. So, tomorrow will be my 8^th time dancing for India Day. (I've posted videos for the past couple years, just click on the 'bhangra' tag to find them.)

Back in late 2001, I was walking home from work at about 9pm and was too hungry to cook, so I stopped at a new Punjabi hole-in-the wall restaurant for takeout. They were blasting music with a strong, infectious beat. For some reason, my shoulders started going up and down. I asked what the music was and the guy behind the counter said it was ‘bhangra.’ He showed me the cd. It was a 3-cd compilation, which I bought at the Indian grocer’s a few days later. I played it over and over until I could sing in Punjabi.

After an online search for ‘bhangra’ to learn more about it. I found out that there was a dance that went with the music and that just down the road, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) taught free bhangra classes. I was at the next class. Anyone who could commit to the rehearsal schedule, regardless of ability, could be in the upcoming India Day performance. Each session was 2-3 hours long and I left feeling like I had been hit by a truck. And the choreography was complicated. I made it a personal challenge to get through it.

According to one of the organizer's web archive of that summer's performance:

We typically do not try such complicated arrangements when so many novices are involved, but the leaders simply did not tell the dancers that the choreography was difficult. This crafty omission worked; all the dancers were completely fooled into dancing the section splendidly!

Before my first India Day performance, 2001Within a couple months, I was dancing on a stage in front of thousands of people. And have done so nearly every year since.

Before the India Day performance, 2003A bunch of us went on to form Shaan-e-Cambridge, 2005Shaan-e-Cambridge rehearsalBefore the India Day performance, the summer I was going through chemo, 2008India Day, 2011My knees are shot and I can’t do squats anymore, but I figure in a couple decades I’ll start a new craze to sweep assisted-living facilities – geriatric bhangra. As long as my shoulders can go up and down, I’ll be dancing.

Off to the last reheasal!

Finders keepers

Moving 54 boxes from storage to a one-bedroom apartment makes one less enthusiastic about acquiring new stuff. So I haven’t been thrifting lately. Well, not too much.

Today I bought a couple items of clothing that need to be re-fashioned. Sorry, for the lack of ironing, but they're going to be cut up soon.

This top is made of soft, lightweight block-printed cotton with mirrorwork. It appears to have been stitched in India and doesn’t have a label. It’s huge so I’ll probably re-size it to fit me. $4.99 at my local Goodwill.

I love the wild print and bright colors of this homemade 1970s smock-dress. It was either made for a child with very long arms or is an adult dress gone horribly wrong as the armholes are miniscule. There are some holes in the sheer fabric of the sleeves, so this will be made into a skirt. Also $4.99 at Goodwill.

Walking home from the thrift store, I happened upon two pieces of furniture abandoned on the sidewalk in front of my apartment building.

This 5-foot long early 20th-century mirror from a long dresser or sideboard will make a great topper for a 6-foot long low bookcase I was just given. The bookcase is now sitting on the plastic in the middle of my living room floor, waiting to be painted.

With the mirror was this vaguely Aesthetic Movement-looking shelf from the top of a cabinet. I have no idea what I am going to do with it.

I’m always finding interesting things in the trash or abandoned on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. There is a fairly transient population here and the last and first weeks of the month, when people are moving in or out, find the sidewalks littered with books, furniture and all manner of things. It’s better than thrifing ‘cause it’s free and serendipitous.

Have you ever found anything wonderful in the trash?

I think all of these finds qualify for Lakota’s Ta-Dah Tuesday!

Taking Action for Animals

I’m still catching up after being away last weekend when I exhibited at the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington, D.C. It was great to share the exhibit hall with so many non-profits and businesses that are helping animals in one way or another. 

Juno, a beagle rescued from a laboratory where she was used for testing cosmetics and household substances, was in attendance. (Here’s Juno’s website) This is the one conference where it is not unusual to see people sitting on the floor giving a dog belly rubs. In fact, Juno and the other dogs who visited were probably inundated with attention from all the animal lovers who were away from home and missing their pets.

I tabled with my Joyatri wares. The proceeds of the sale of all the Indian crafts that I sell are donated to animal welfare groups in India and elsewhere.

As a result of last weekend’s sales, I donated $250 to Visakha Society for the Protection and Care of Animals in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. This organization has innovative programs to help both animals and people, including providing vegan meals for the poor and using manure to produce biogas, which provides sustainable fuel and energy for the Animal Care Centre.

I also donated $100 to Lega Pro Animale in Castel Volturno, Italy, which works tirelessly to spay and neuter animals in Italy.

Although I didn’t attend any of the presentations or workshops, it was inspiring being around like-minded people and hearing the rousing talks at the banquet.

Here’s the obligatory yummy vegan food pic of the banquet dinner.

Nellie McKay, a huge animal advocate, provided the entertainment.

This song was obviously a big hit with the audience.

A more recent video.

This video of NPR’s Project Song shows Nellie writing and recording an original tune in a few days -- quite a feat considering the complexity of the results!

The 16th-century via the 1970s

Mappin & Webb advertisement from 1972, via Velvet Cave Vintage's Facebook page

Inspired by a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger or Lucas Cranach the Elder, perhaps?

All you need is No-Moo

I’ve been vegetarian for 38 years and vegan for the last 6 of those. As a vegetarian, my diet consisted of lots of pasta, bread and cheese. Not the most healthy diet. After spending 2 months traveling around India in 2002, and not having pasta, bread, or cheese for that time, I was surprised at how good I felt. I had more energy and didn't feel bloated and sluggish anymore. Frankly, not having those foods for 2 whole months – I just about lost my taste for them, so it was easy to limit my consumption when I got home (I started cooking lots of veggie curries with rice instead!)

A few years later, I learned of the intense cruelty of the dairy and egg industries and stopped eating all animal products almost immediately. I still liked the taste of cheese, but chose not to eat it. 

I hear many vegetarian say, “I could never live without cheese.” I thought that once. But, I think that just saying, “I will go one week without X” is enough to start the process of getting your taste buds used to not having that food item.

Just a few years ago, the non-dairy cheese options were pretty dismal. But now there are several good alternatives on the market. In the U.S., there is Daiya. It is good, and I use the melty version for pizza and lasagna, but it doesn't wow me enough to buy it very often.

Vegusto table at the Bristol VegFest in the U.K.Now that I spend a lot of the time in the U.K., I’ve found a non-dairy cheese that is so good, I’m indulging in foods I haven’t had in years – cheese and pickle sandwiches, cheese and apple slices, and just plain cheese and crackers. All with Vegusto No-Moo (non-dairy) cheese. Made in Switzerland, Vegusto is available by mail order in the U.K. and the EU.

Two flavors of Vegusto No-Moo cheese arrived in the mailI practically bought my weight in Vegusto cheese to bring back home to the States with me. 

Vegusto No-Moo tasting with whole wheat bread and chutney.Since my boyfriend A. is a foodie and a new-ish vegan with a more recent memory of what dairy cheese tastes like, I asked him to provide an assessment of the two different Vegusto flavors we had purchased. Here’s what I got out of him.

The Vegusto No-Moo ‘Golden’ has a slightly grainy consistency and the mild flavor of a caerphillyn or edam. It is best on its own on crackers, and would be overpowered in a sandwich. The Vegusto No-Moo Piquant also has a slightly grainy texture but is more like a parmesan in taste. Both have the richness and ‘mouth feel’ of dairy cheese.

There you have it. So, with Daiya in the U.S. and Vegusto in the U.K. and EU, it’s now possible to have the taste of cheese without the cruelty (or the cholesterol).

How to avoid getting pudding on your sleeves

I tend to wear long sleeves, even in summer. Most of my summer tops were purchased in India and are made of very lightweight cotton -- far more lightweight than the cotton of any tops I find in the U.S. In India, long sleeves offer much-needed protection from the sun. Here, they also keep me from getting chilled if I go somewhere that has air conditioning blasting.

However, the hazard of favoring bell sleeves or sleeves with ties is that I usually end up dragging them through water or food during the course of the day. After finding that the ties on the sleeves on one of my blouses had become coated with butterscotch pudding, I decided to make them ¾ length. This length is my second favorite – all of the advantages of long sleeves but short enough to show off my bangles (which I wear most every day).

Yeah, this blouse is a bit twee, but it’s one of my go-to summer tops when the temperature is in the 90s. So, how to make them ¾-lenghth?

I recently got a ton of books out of storage. One that I had forgotten about is The Yestermorrow Clothes Book: How to Remodel Secondhand Clothes by Diana Funaro, published in 1976.

In it are instructions for shortening sleeves by stitching elastic lengthwise. This sounded like a good idea as I was too lazy to cut and hem them and thought that elasticizing would add some visual interest to otherwise boring sleeves.

My sloppy sewing job.

I kind of like them. I think this would work better on a shorter sleeve, but I am pleased with the results (being lazy and all).

Here are the instructions from the book.

This book has all kinds of wonderful ideas -- remodeling dresses, refitting and redesigning sweaters, altering jeans, and more

Linking to Lakota’s Ta-Dah! Tuesday. I can't wait to try all the other "ta-dahs" that The Yestermorrow Clothes Book has to offer!

Best of the Web and unearthing collections

My blog has been featured on the Pocket Change blog's Best of the Web series! Check out the series and the other great featured blogs. Thanks, Pocket Change!

I’m still in the throes of re-discovering my belongings newly released from storage. I spent years traipsing around flea markets and junk shops assembling various collections.

Like this army of vintage Scottie dog planters.

Who have now been given back their sentry duty atop my kitchen cupboards (I have boards on top of the cupboards so that the dogs are sitting level with the top edge of the cupboard.)

And this phalanx of miniature ceramic “head jugs” -- 22 of them. They are sort of like moon faces, which is probably why I started collecting them in the first place.

Some are creepier than others.

Copyright Replacements, Ltd.I believe they were based on the character jug, John Barleycorn, produced by the English pottery, Royal Doulton, and  introduced in 1934.

My head jugs were sold as novelty souvenirs, available at a number of tourist sites. Three of the jugs have the name of the sites: Old Orchard Beach, Maine; Twin Lakes Lodge, Fernleigh (Ontario); and Prince Edward Island. The jugs marked with the Canadian sites also have the manufacturer’s name on the underside. They are stamped “McMaster Canada” for the McMaster pottery (1938-1988) in Ontario, Canada. These two also have similar glazes, one is brown with splashes of green on the rim and the other is green with splashes of brown on the rim.

I’m not sure if all of them were made by McMasters. The unmarked ones were perhaps made by a pottery in the U.S. I purchased all of these jugs in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Copyright: Replacements, Ltd.In the U.S., the Taunton, Massachusetts, silver company Reed & Barton produced a silver version, called “Sunny Jim,” in the early to mid-20th century.

If anyone has more info on these ceramic "head jugs" please let me know!

Fairy tale attire from Pakistan

I don’t pay much attention to current fashions, but occasionally I see an image on Pinterest that catches my eye. Like these fashions by contemporary Pakistani designer, Shamaeel Ansari.

Diva Collection 2011Dival Collection 2011Diva Collection 2011Diva Collection 2011I adore the Pre-Raphaelite/eastern/elven warrior princess look of these. Those colors, textures, luxurious fabrics, hair are all swoon-worthy.

Couture 2011Couture 2011These two are more playful and decadent, especially the amazing big wide trousers with fringe AND ruffles!

The short coat in the first image is my absolute favorite. And yours?

Sun, moon and stars

Do you find yourself drawn to the same motifs over and over?

I have always had a thing for sun, moon and star motifs (as witnessed here and here).

At a little antique show A. and I stumbled upon in Wanstead a couple weeks ago, I found an enamel moon brooch. When I unpacked it after returning to the States, and put it with the rest of my jewelry, I noticed that I had a number of other pieces of the sun, moon and star variety.

Top row, left to right: silver band with star cut-outs, purchased in the 1970s or 80s; enamel sun face brooch, found on the side walk here in Cambridge; metal moon face pendant, purchased in the 1970s; silver moon face pendant with amethyst and pearl beads, purchased in 1980 in Providence, Rhode Island. Bottom row: my new enamel crescent moon brooch, purchased in the U.K.; cut metal and enamel earrings from Turkey, purchased at a street fair in Washington, D.C. a couple years ago; Victorian crescent moon and star brooch set, have owned forever.

I purchased the cloth with the stars and stripes at a thrift store and use it to cover my turntable. Only later did I realize that it is the state flag of Arizona. I just like the design.

I noticed that I store things in boxes with stars on them, too.

Bottom to top: 1930s fabric covered box purchased at the antique fair at Alexandra Palace, London in the 1990s; a Christmas box pulled out of my neighbor’s trash a few years ago; and a 1950s box that contained a powder compact. I had some moon and star fabric that I used to make a tea cosy.

Nothing special about it, but it works well, and looks good with my recent thrift store find of brightly colored mugs. My favorite color combination is red, gold and purple—so that’s 3 out of the 4 mugs!

Linking to Ta-dah! Tuesday for the moon brooch and mugs finds and the made-by-me tea cosy. I’ll also throw in tonight’s dinner.

Brown rice with caramelized vegetables and ginger. The recipe calls for orzo, but I didn’t have any, so I substituted brown rice. The ginger and garlic give it a real kick. I’ve made this recipe several times and can safely say that you do not need to segregate the vegetables as you cook them; you can allow them to mingle in the pan. More inexpensive varieties of mushrooms work instead of shitake, too.