When You Get The Chance, Say Thanks

While I was at the Northwest Folklife festival today, I got an extraordinary opportunity to thank someone who helped me through some difficult days.

When I originally left Poulsbo to go to Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, I had no job, and no real understanding of what it would take to get and keep one, and so I didn't! My Mom paid for outstanding school fees after financial aid, and covered all my living expenses. Then, at the end of the year, my Mom's place of employment burned down. She was out of a job and since I had not become any more independent, I had to move home.

For a young gay man in the 1980s, it was the worst case scenario. I had escaped my hometown, but due to my lack of initiative, skills, and maturity, I was falling backward into the gravity well of anti-gay from which I had only recently escaped. There was no hope left.

On the last ferry trip back to Poulsbo, I encountered two musicians. Steve and Kat, whom I had seen many times busking on the Seattle to Bainbridge route. They were as charming and folksy as ever, but they sensed somehow that there was a troubled soul in their midst who needed their help.

Kat asked me if I was OK, and I told her my story. She nodded and had a short conversation with Steve. They ended their set with a song called "The Mary Ellen Carter" about a sunken ship that was raised again by its faithful crew. The chorus goes "No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend, be like the Mary Ellen Carter: rise again." There was something in the way that both of them emphasized the word "home" that told me that the song was for me.

Time passed. I finished my college years in 1989 and went to work in the student loan industry; still commuting from Poulsbo each day. Those first couple of years were rough. I didn't actually "rise again" until 1994 when my bandmates Stan and Marisa Lanning offered me an affordable basement suite in their house.

Tonight at Folklife after my set, which I thought of as extremely important, I did something that was actually important. I walked into the beer garden and Kat was standing there with some mutual acquaintances and I knew that I was being given an opportunity.

I approached her and told her about the day she and Steve gave me the gift of reassurance on ferry from Bainbridge Island. Her eyes widened "That was you?" I didn't have any expectation that she might remember. She did remember, though. I finally got the chance to tell her about all the nights and days that the refrain of the song she and Steve sang for me rang in my ears and kept my spirits up until it was time for me to move back home to the city again.

The upshot of this story is that if you get the chance to speak with someone who made your life better as a young person, say something. Tell her or him that she or he made a difference in your life.

Project 24: Green Silk Vest

My friend Eileen had a dreadful problem with the plumbing in her house, which necessitated her going though and emptying all her closets and storage areas. While going through her fabric cache, she came across something that she decided to give to me. When she handed me the unassuming shopping bag at a rehearsal one night I confess that I didn't look at the contents too closely. "Some silk for you" she said. I did notice, however, that it was a lovely shade of forest green, which made me think of my godson, who is obsessed with the color.

His mother and I discussed various possibilities, and she suggested a vest. He has outgrown the little tuxedo jacket that she got him a few years ago, and the kid does have occasions to dress up. Through his parents, our Gaelic society, and his school he is surrounded with musicians, actors, and performance production professionals. The idea for this dress-up vest was what inspired me to take on my previous project, the Boy's Tweed Vest. I made that one first since tweed is a little more forgiving and I wanted the practice.

I used Garment Designer 2.5 to draft the pattern. It's an awesome piece of software, I must note! To use it you do have to already be familiar with garment construction, since all you get is a pattern and you have to figure out how to put it together yourself. I decided to have notched lapels and welt pockets in contrasting black silk. The lining is simple black Kona cotton.

When I went to start cutting the pieces out and took the silk out of the shopping bag my jaw hit the floor. It was at least four yards of 60" wide medium weight dupioni. Absolutely gorgeous. At least $100 worth of fabric. Thanks, Eileen!

The vest came together smoothly and easily in one long evening, I'm pleased to say. He looks like a movie star in it too.

So, now that I've made lapels, lined a shell, and made welt pockets, there's only one construction element in a man's suit jacket that i haven't made - a two-piece sleeve. I'm really looking forward to the first time I make a three-piece suit, dress shirt, and tie for myself.


Then, and only then, a tailor will I be.

Project 23: Boy's Tweed Vest

My co-worker that commissioned the Collared Shawl recently brought me back the leftover wool, since she didn't think she would have any other use for it. It was sitting peacefully in my stash until I got the idea of making a vest for my godson.

I used Garment Designer 2.5 to generate the pattern, and made a couple muslins just to be sure. I had some left over silk from another project, so I used that for a lining. I figure that if the shell is going to make it dry-clean only, why line it with polyester?

The construction went fairly smoothly. I used the same pattern pieces for the fashion fabric and the lining, but I remembered to trim the lining pieces where they were to be seamed with the shell so that the shell edge would be pulled over making the lining invisible from the outside.

I'm still a fairly new serger user, and I have to admit that going around sharp corners is still a bit of a Hail Mary affair. I cut one of the corners around the neckline a little wide, and after I turned the vest and lining, pressed and was topstitching, I noticed that I had actually run off the edge a tiny bit at one point. Undaunted, I got out my needle and thread and did some hand overcast stitching to disguise the problem and bind the raw edge that was peeking out. After all, he's only going to be wearing this vest for a year at most before it's too small for him.

I stopped by his parents' house this evening to give it to him. You would have thought I had handed him a magic carpet, he was so excited. This business of being the Gay Uncle (Guncle) is turning out to be pretty fabulous.

Project 22: Black Wool Vest with Welt Pockets

This project is somewhat embarrassing. I'll explain why as I go along. My wonderful pre-husband (or phusband, as I call him) wanted me to make him a vest out of the leftovers from The Hidden Dragon Pants.

I decided to make it as one of his Winter Solstice presents. I quickly realized that it needed to have welt pockets if it was going to look polished and sophisticated. Mens' clothing typically has intricate, detailed pockets and you might not know why, but if you saw menswear with out them, it would look wrong to you. The problem was I had never made a welt pocket.

I found a great tutorial on YouTube, and watched it a at least ten times. I still wasn't confident enough to try it on this delicate brocaded silk, though. I decided to use some of the beautiful black wool left over from this project to make myself a vest first to practice.

My vest came out pretty nicely, so I proceeded to start on my phusband's one. Foolishly, I decided to line this delicate silk vest with sturdy green broadcloth. Why foolish? Well, I never clued in to the fact that if you cut your lining pieces out with the same pattern as your fashion fabric, then you have to trim 1/8" off the lining pieces where they are joined to the shell of the garment. If you don't (and I didn't) the lining is too big and distorts the shell.

I realized what I had done far, far too late in the process and I was out of time. What could have been a beautiful moment of gift-giving was instead an apology. So I have a spiffy new vest to wear with my kilt when I go to play out for Robert Burns suppers in a couple of weeks and my love has a nothing.

I feel like a bad phusband.

Project 18: Blue Linen Shirt with Inset Silk Basket Weave Panels

AKA The Missing Link.

This project started with a simple idea. Weave panels of silk ribbons, inset them into panels of linen and use those panels to make the front of a dress shirt. While you're at it, why not make the collar from the same silk? With that kind of a lead up, you're probably thinking that it was a stressful disaster, but it actually worked. I washed it by hand after it was done and the silk basket weave got a little funky, but it's as strong as heck.

On my weaving cork board I made a muslin frame, and glued the ends of each of the ribbons to it first. The frame and all the excess was trimmed away when I serged the linen to the panel on each side. With a row of top stitching to secure it, these panels were ready to use.

Here is the finished product. I also made the white (blindingly white) jersey shirt underneath.

The two-piece look was originally for the first guy who was going to play cello on my CD to wear in the concert. The young fellow who wound up doing that recording and will be in the upcoming concert is about the same height as the first guy, but significantly more athletic of build. Undaunted, I was able to take in the side seams from the under arm to the hem and make it fit really well. I was proud of myself for figuring out how to take out the hem, make the new vents and put the hem back together.

The only thing I would do differently is pre-wash the silk. I know that silk isn't washable, but shirts have to be washable.

Project 21: Clerical Robes

My best friend and business partner Lance Davey learned several months ago that his younger sister was going to be joined in heterosexual matrimony to her second husband and was in need of someone to perform the ceremony. I was unavailable for many reasons which I won't go into here, so my buddy decided to volunteer to tie their knot for them. He signed up for a Universal Life Church ministerial credential and started practicing the solemn-but-joyous look.

When his birthday rolled around, I asked him what me might like as a gift. He said that he could use something to wear when performing his sister's wedding ceremony. I thought it sounded like an excellent challenge, so I accepted eagerly.

What I wanted to do was create a set of clerical garments that made the necessary references to the medieval silhouette, but stayed firmly grounded in modern materials and construction techniques. What would a business suit look like if the fashion trajectory of the 13th century had continued uninterrupted to the present day?

1) Knit fabric would be still have been invented.
2) Jackets would still be lined.
3) Pants would have stayed as casual wear.

The design I came up with was a two-piece look. The inner robe is made of thick cotton jersey. The neckline is wide and finished with a band of the same fabric, as are the sleeves and hem. The sleeves are moderately wide and straight. It is belted with a black twisted rope belt.

The outer robe is made of black wool and is lined with rayon. It is open in the front to reveal the inner robe, has a mandarin collar and flared sleeves.

The stole is made of red silk dupioni, which is both interfaced and lined, so it has substantial weight and drape. Attached to the ends are Celtic knotwork patches purchased from StickerGiant.com.

The Inner Robe


Off The Rack Clerical


Mandarin Collar

Ready for the Runway
At least as soon as he's finished casting whichever spell is making his head glow like that

Project 20: Hidden Dragon Pants

Recently, one of my friends and co-workers greeted me in the morning with a large piece of beautiful silk with Chinese dragons. He had purchased it on a whim many years ago intending to use it in some project that never came to be. I asked him what he wanted made from it, but he said he just wanted me to have it.

"Lounge pants!" I said.

"What?" he replied.

"You need some fabulous lounge pants to wear on weekend mornings when you've had a sleepover date with one of the nice ladies you meet on the Internet."

"If I say yes to the pants will you stop talking?" he asked.

"Now let's discuss your inseam!" I continued.

He was turning three shades of red, so I relented.

Working with silk is a trip and a half. It's extremely strong, but also comes unraveled at the slightest provocation. It took about a half hour to cut out the pieces and start serging them together. Frankly, I don't know how people work with this kind of fabric without a serger. Oh wait. I used to. It sucked. Total of about three hours start to finish.

Project 19: Jack of the Lantern Shirt

What happened to Project 18, you must be wondering. It's a two-piece look and not quite finished, but I leapt forward when this idea for a stealth Halloween costume came to me. I made an orange broadcloth dress shirt and sewed two big black triangles on the front. With one of my own silk ties on, it looks a little like a jack-o-lantern. When I put my jacket on, it just looks like a brightly-coloured shirt.

This is what I did wrong this time:

• Put the placket on the wrong side AGAIN!!
• used my serger to put a rolled hem on the bottom and missed a couple curves! Yikes!

After Halloween, I've offered it to my friend Carmen, who is fond of the colour orange. I'll put princess seams in the front, re-do the rolled hem and cut off the cuffs to three-quarter length and put a rolled hem there also. Oh. And I'll take the triangles off! I think it will look really cute on her.