Sewing leather wrecks your hands. But what are you supposed to do when you find yet another second hand leather coat that fits you perfectly, except of course for the perpetual problem of the sleeves being too short? You … Continue reading
This is supposed to be a blog, and blogs are supposed to be like diaries, and “bloggers,” (ugly word) are supposed to blog once or twice a day or something ridiculous like that, with the plan of selling an actual … Continue reading
You look beautiful. My daughter does not like to be complimented on her looks – exactly like me when I was her age. She, like I used to, replies with a growl or a scream, and a swift retreat. It … Continue reading
As a Canadian writer, I find it appropriate that my mother’s name was Margaret, as in Atwood, Avison, and Laurence. Though she had some talent in drawing and became a school-teacher, she made a last contribution to the cultural world: … Continue reading
I am post-first-draft of a new novel, and my children have had only two normal weeks of school (meaning four days per week) in almost 2 ½ months, since the beginning of December due to illness, power outage, ferry shut-down, … Continue reading
I’ve always thought red brocade Chinese dresses were beautiful, but they’re made for hipless women about 30 cm. shorter than I am. I found one second-hand for two dollars, and cut it straight up the back, inserting a kind of … Continue reading
Here is the most recent revision, only two jackets stuck together this time: a 1980’s padded-shoulder blob version of a biker jacket with only ¾ length sleeves, and a classic men’s Harris Tweed. The difficult, and it turned out, best … Continue reading
This is a coat I made from five second-hand coats that cost me about 60 dollars: a purple and orange brocade, a fox fur, two red-orange leather, and a mustard leather. When I cut up the fur coat, I … Continue reading
This is the project, finally completed, which gave me a sewing injury I’ve been nursing since the fall. I’d come across an old canvas corset – a man’s corset, my husband thinks – that I’d picked up twenty years ago … Continue reading
Much is made of the supposed eroticism of leather as a material. I wasn’t attracted to it for this reason, but more for its long half-life, and mostly after seeing some pictures of the Fulani tribes of Africa. Some of … Continue reading
Happy to have linked up with agent Stephanie Sinclair of Transatlantic Agency.
The Book of Beasts
Le Bestiaire Des Anges
Sex, Death, and Naked Men
The Seasons Are Horses
The Book of Beasts
Sex, Death, And Naked Men
