All dressed up …with a place to go to

I got my black tie event outfit al put together. The dress is complete. I realized I needed a wrap of some kind. My usual lace or chiffon won’t work with the dress because the sequins will snag those fabrics.

It’s hard to look elegant while extracting ones self from a shawl. This is where being a tallit maker comes in handy. I had a length of Calvin Klein satin in my stash. ( Hurray for www.fabricmartfarics.com mystery bundles!) Sewing it up and top stitching the shawl was quick work. far quicker than pressing all the wrinkles out of the fabric.

I did need an evening bag. My neighbor had given me an evening bag with a cute shape in bright orange.

See, it’s a really bright orange. I made a slip cover out of crinkled metallic silk organza. I hand stitched it onto the bag.

I think the bag is vastly improved. Yes, you can see the orange peeping through. I assume that the room where the party will be held will be on the dark side so the color won’t be all that offensive. I added a large crafted brass and pewter pin to the bag after I took the photo. Now that I realize that slip covering an evening bag isn’t that hard, I will re cover the first evening bag I ever owned, a black velvet that has become rusty looking with age. Once again, my trusty old sewing books come in handy with trifty hints for glamorous living.

I covered the orange part of the strap with more of the organza. My armless dummy is holding the bag through the magic of ribbon concealed by the shawl. I defied no laws of gravity for this photograph.

Despite running away from my family for this weekend, I did cook the folks who remained behind Shabbat dinner. It’s in the fridge waiting for them to warm it up. You want to know what I made? Chicken roasted with sumac and smoked paprika and potato chunks roasted with olive oil, thyme,rosemary and lavender and salt. They can make salad or warm up frozen veggies tomorrow.

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מְחַיֵּה הַמֵּתִים

וְנֶאֱמָן אַתָּה לְהַחֲיוֹת מֵתִים: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה מְחַיֵּה הַמֵּתִים You are faithful to restore the dead to life. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Resurrector of the dead. That particular line is recited at every single prayer service every day three times a day, unless you use a Reform or Reconstructionist prayer book . In those liturgies instead of praising God for resurrecting the dead God is praised for giving life to all. I am enough of a modern woman, a modern thinker, to not actually believe in the actual resurrection of the dead. I don't actually expect all of the residents of the Workmen's Circle section of Mount Hebron cemetery in Queens to get up and get back to work at their sewing machines. I don't expect the young children buried here or the babies buried here to one day get up and frolic. Yet, every single time I get up to lead services I say those words about the reanimating of the dead with every fiber of my being. Yesterday, I e...

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