Designer

…………………….Finally, the call came and we went to pick up the girls. The doctor said the girls didn’t have any bites on them…only some minor scratches, but there was a lot of blood on them, probably from the ground hog….it was two against one! She gave them both rabies booster shots and said to bath them……So….when we got home Chantal said do not put them down with all of that ground hog blood on them for fear of contamination, and that we should bring them right to the tub….which we did. Chantal volunteered to bath them. I gave her medicated soap that I give to the groomer….so that’s what she used plus some Johnson and Johnson Baby shampoo , no tears, for their little faces!!!!I stood and watched as Chantal bent over the tub to wash them….Angela was in charge of photo taking. The girls were angels and enjoyed their tub, but the water was as red as the Nile! The ordeal was OVER! Now it was time for them to rest in their beds in the kitchen……We three went out to the wood bin to see if the ground hog was still there…maybe dead from its’ wounds, but thankfully it was gone……Now it was adult time….to start the partee where we left off earlier in the day! Angela had her “show and tell” and went though every piece of clothing they packed away….This lasted until the wee hours of the morning…..We finally went up to bed at 1:45am!

…………………Weds. morning we all got up….showered….not together!…..and got ready to go out for breakfast. That’s a pic of my strawberry cake….yummy!…..We missed dinner so breakfast was a must have. We drove to Darien and had breakfast at the “Sugar Bowl”, a favorite little dinner type restaurant…..After breakfast we went back to the house and packed up the car…..it was stuffed with furniture, clothes and sweaters. I even told them to take rolling racks I had in the storage room that were now empty, but they could only fit one……next time!…………………..Off they merrily went in their truck, and I went straight to my reclining chair and took a needed nap!…………….THE END

……………………..Cotton MATTE JERSEY is a very special fabric. In the designer world of fabrics, silk, silk/rayon or 100% rayon matte jersey are used for day and evening dresses. The quality of the fine yarns used on these slow, special knitting machines makes the fabrics very costly. The fabric has to be constantly checked to make sure there are no flaws. When I found a “COTTON JERSEY” made on matte jersey machines I was thrilled. This was something very new…..Only the very finest cotton yarns can be used on these machines to fit into the needles to make COTTON MATTE JERSEY…..perfect for hot weather…..The dresses above were made in this cotton matte jersey from Italy.  The strapless dress looks like a simple criss cross wrap top…….but it was built on a full bustier as any good designer strapless dress should be. There should always be some kind of underpinning for security and to give a good bust shape. Some bustiers are full length to the waist and some are just to the upper rib cage depending on the design of the dress. This bustier came just above the waist. The beauty of a good bustier is that it does its’ job without you feeling constricted or uncomfortable in any way.  The bustier was made out of light weigh mesh and boning to keep it light weight and comfy! It should look effortless and “unconstructed”, but the inner bustier gives a women the security she needs in a strapless…..Ralph Francisco was one of my pattern assistants. He had amazing hands, and could drape the most marvelous things. Jac always said Ralph made the best bustier she had ever worn and that’s saying a lot. When AK closed the couture division he went on to work for Vera Wang in her bridal division……The halter dress with the pleated soft tulip skirt was cinched in with a wide calf belt………”THE CATCH OF THE DAY” necklace was the piece de resistance!

………………………….The five gauge cardigan, and chunky  hand knit pull over sweaters, both in a blend of cotton and silk, had a NAUTICAL FLARE. I have always loved the look of CABLES……The cardigan had gold lurex and navy cables HAND LINKED into the sweater. This was a very labor intensive process, and a detail you rarely see today….It also had gold lurex trims and real gold plated buttons that my jewelry company made……..They often made buttons for me to go with the collection…….The pull over V-neck in the cotton/silk yarn was a truly magnificent hand knit sweater with a very intricate cable and rope pattern. The double cable in gold lurex that was inserted into the V-neck was just beautiful……These are hand done details that you will never see in other sweaters…..pure Designer……….The navy and gold lurex continued the nautical theme.

…………………GOLD LUREX hand crochet styles……….The TANK and the DRESS…….spectacular on their own but wonderful layering pieces too. So easy to pack, so comfortable to wear and such STATEMENT PIECES! These fish net pieces were made out of the same super soft lurex yarn as the cardigan. I repeated the gold fishnet top for Linea, not quite as bare, and it did well to my surprise. I was surprised they bought it in the first place!