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Ahhhh. Craftstravaganza.

2012-05-14T01:49:35Z

We're home from the St Paul Craftstravaganza. It was a great day. The weather couldn't have been nicer. This matters. We've been to it every year but one.

1. The hot one.

2. The cold one.

3. The perfect one.

4. The one that was better than we expected considering the economy.

5. The great recession.

6. -bye year-

7. The one that got big.

I think the event has tripled in size since The Hot One, seven years ago. This year, they expanded into a second building and maintained a truly exceptional level of quality. The crowd has most certainly changed over these years. I can't remember if it was The Hot One or The Cold One, but at that time, old women kept wandering in expecting the sort of craft fair one finds at malls. Adam and I call it "craft with a k". One of these old biddies said to her husband, who was clearly dragged there under duress, "Looks like somebody got an embroidery machine." Adam replied, "No, these are all made entirely by hand." And the line that will live on in infamy:

"Oh fer tedious."

Clearly the DIY spirit has grown since then, and I would credit Andy and Jenna Krueger for a lot of that in the Twin Cities. They run a great show.

I have not yet processed the photos from the event, but I do have one to share.

I'm about to share a circular story. This drives Adam crazy. But I can't help it.

Adam and I have been having serious trouble with our phone. I am not afraid to call out the LG Vortex as the worst piece of electronica that I have ever laid my hands on. It comes loaded with programs that you can't get rid of which take up nearly all of it's memory. It claims, roughly every 4 hours, that there is not "enough storage space in the text messages to receive any new texts." We do not text. There are no messages saved.

In anticipation of the big craft event, we finally got around to trying to install the magical little Square device that would allow us to take credit cards. It was a Christmas gift from our friend Tim Kaiser. We haven't had a need to install it until now, so of course I never got around to it. I blame the stupid phone. It drives me so crazy I don't ever want to try to make it do things.

The whole thing went swimmingly as we created an account. But when we tried to install the app on the $(*$ phone, it claimed that there was not enough memory. EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS. Adam's very technically clueful college roomate tried to help us figure out how to make it work. I tried erasing everything I could find, and ended up accidentally erasing all the ringtones.

Oops.

The phone told us that the only possible ringtone was "silent" which suited Adam just fine. He hates phones and constantly turns the ringer off. I called the new silent ring "Adam mode" and we all laughed and went to bed early to make load in. We had no alarm clock except for the phone, so we were a little nervous since it had allegedly gone silent, but we should not have worried.

We got to bed by 10:00. It beeped at 11:30 to tell us that it didn't have any space for text messages. It beeped at 2:00 to tell us that it didn't have any space for text messages. And then it beeped at 5:45 to tell us that it didn't have any space for text messages.

At this point, I thought it was the alarm clock and rolled over to try to wake up.

Adam: "What are you doing?"

Emily: "Trying to wake up."

Adam: "Why? It's 5:45."

Emily: "Why isn't it 7:00?"

Adam: "Because not enough time has passed yet." (at this point, Adam got a good smack)

Al's Breakfast Counter-Eye ViewBut we couldn't go back to sleep because we weren't sure if the phone would wake us up on time, so we got up and had scads of time to get ready. I was struck with a brilliant idea. We actually had time to go to Al's Breakfast. We hadn't been there in years. Al's is an amazing little place. It's one train car wide. There is just enough space for a counter with about 12 seats. You wait for a seat by standing directly behind the lucky diners. In order to get out, you have to literally squeeze between the line and the diners. There's just as little room for the staff-- they squeeze between each other and pass things back and forth. There's no refrigeration. Everything is That Fresh. And everything is so good that even at 6:00 am on a Saturday, there's a very big line.

But it's so worth it. Mmmmm. Yummy yummy pancakes with strawberries and sour cream. Adam had whole wheat pancakes with blueberries. Sooooo goooood. Sooooo worth getting up soooo early.

But I still want to hurl the phone out of a window. (Emily)

Adam thinks this is too long. He wonders if anybody wants to read this much. Please let me know what you think and next time I can try to shorten it down. Of course, this may just be him complaining about circular stories.

Moe Sew Co Back in Action

2012-05-02T15:16:23Z

After the various distractions of the past few months, Moe Sew Co is back at it.

Next week, I'll start my first series of millinery workshops. I have one space left if anyone out there wants to join. I'll be teaching at the Otlak Felt Studio in the DeWitt Seitz Building in Duluth.

And in two weeks, we'll be at the St Paul Craftstravaganza.

I better get my millinery butt in gear! Adam's lost no time, and has loads of new stuff, do look for us there!

Emily.

Cox House Victorian Gala Parlor Concert

2012-05-02T14:36:53Z

Edith Cox (Emily Moe) and Tim O'Brien. Photo by Joe SzurszewskiI did it. It's done.

I finally performed my "little" concert at the Victorian museum in St Peter. I played three solo pieces and accompanied the amazing baritone Tim O'Brien.

It actually turned out far better than I could have ever imagined. We were literally stuffed to the rafters. We had people sitting in the next room. People sitting on the stairs. People standing. It was crazy how many people came. It was also the first time I've truly had fun performing in a really long time.

Tim had said when we practiced the day before that he would be talking about the pieces and sharing a translation of the text. In my head I was thinking "crap! now I have to find something to say!" So I talked about the piano-- a square grand, it's limitations, eccentricities. I talked about why the piano was appropriate for the space and for this concert. How most of the music that we hear at recitals was actually meant to be performed in a parlor or a salon-- just like we were doing. I talked about the Chopin Barcarolle and the feel of the waves.

photo by Joe Szurszuski, dress by Laurie Everitt and Carola BreckbillAnd I talked about my dress-- which many people told me was the star of the evening. Thanks much. I had sorta hoped they liked the music. But it was a really was utterly beautiful and truly amazing. I was so completely pleased that my couturier Laurie's grandmother came and introduced herself. Great stuff to feel that connection.

Tim's performance was mind-blowing. What an honor to be able to play with a talent. Beautiful, beautiful voice. His notes on the Fauré were well said and did a great job of illuminating much of what the piece was truly about. It's hard for audiences to grasp the full meaning of something they hear. I know that I really only truly understand something after I've played it. Most of the deeply imbedded stuff that makes a piece of music great just floats over my head when I just listen to it. Tim did a wonderful job of getting the audience to understand what they were hearing. And it was beautiful.

I keep trying to express how much that house means to me, and how much that adopted family has meant to me for all these years. I started working there when I was about twelve, and I soon brought a whole host of friends with me. I really do feel as if I lived half of my growing years as a Victorian girl, and I really do feel as if all of those people I worked with are my family. I have had several fathers: Richard Tostenson, Tom Gravelin, even Bob Douglas for one year. Each of them have left a deep impression and I have always felt their love. Tom was even in my wedding and Bob played for the reception!

And there can never be enough said about Richard. My Republican friend, who proves that though someone may be a fiscal conservative, they can still have a ginourmous heart. He pulled off a miracle in getting this concert up. I love him dearly. He has been my friend for almost thirty years.

And then there are my sisters. I had the amazing honor of welcoming my dear sister Edith, Lisa Borchert, my best friend from high school, back to the house for the concert. I love that woman with all of my heart and I do not see her often enough. She came early and helped me dress-- no small task. And then came, herself, as Edith, in Victoriana, with her fiancé Joe. Though I wish all of my sisters (and the staff, and the uncles, and the orchestra, and....) could have made it, having Edith there meant so very much. I know it did to father Richard as well.

And I really do have to express my gratitude to my husband who calls all of my costume dramas movies "about boring British people", and who does not have any desire whatsoever to don a tuxedo. He did. He looked great, and he is my rock. He is the best page turner I could ask for, and the only one I trust. My actual family came as well. My brother finally had a chance to wear his green waistcoat, and he looked marvellous. Thanks to my mom and dad for coming.

The concert went wonderfully. Better on Saturday than on Sunday, but hey, we can't have everything. What was really wonderful to hear was all of the people who came asking for more. Wondering if we could have a series there. MY EVIL PLAN HAS WORKED! This was always my goal: to prove that the house could be a venue for chamber music. I get my series. Yay!

The Cox Family, 2 generations. Irene, Lillian, Father E. St Julien, Edna, Edith, William. Photo by Joe Szurszewski

I'll close with the society page article I wrote for the local paper yesterday:

E. St Julien Cox, esq. (Richard Tostenson) welcomed home two daughters this weekend with the sparkling brilliancy we St Peterites have come to expect from such an extraordinary citizen. The event was centered around the return visit of Edna neé Cox (Emily Moe) and her husband of seventeen years, Adam Moe. Mrs. Edna brought with her Mr. Tim O’Brien to perform an evening concert of piano and voice. Mr O’Brien had distinguished himself as a vocal professor at our little college and is now sharing his gifts with a greater audience at the Minnesota Opera. The home welcomed guests on in the evening on Saturday, April 28, and during the afternoon on Saturday, April 29.

The grand event was made even more exciting with the return of Mrs. Edna’s older sister Edith (Lisa Borchert) who presented her fiancé Joe Szurzewski to her native village. Miss Edith and Mrs. Edna had been active socialites at the Cox family home from their early years. It was thrilling indeed to have them together again, united in their gracious family home.

The Cox House was filled to the rafters with guests for the performances who listened with rapt attention to piano and vocal music. Following the performance, Judge Cox made a formal presentation of the two sisters and their respective husband and husband to be. The family toasted the event in a style we have come to expect from our blustering judge with champagne and cake. The cream of the St Peter social world was in attendance, including both members of the college and of the greater community.

The concert was a complete success. Might our community look forward to more of such fine events?

Yes, we can. Now back to making hats!

Emily.

Millinery Classes in Duluth: Ready, set, go!

2012-04-24T18:30:04Z

I'll be teaching a beginning millinery class on Mondays, from 6:00-8:30, May 7-June 11 (no class on Memorial day).

We'll begin with the easiest material to work with: millinery grade felt. This is not the same process as "felting" a hat. Picture the material used to make a fedora. That's the stuff. You will learn to make a hat from the very beginning: blocking the felt, to the end: lining the hat. In the middle there are a whole bunch of steps that generally involve a needle and thread and some ribbon. Some proficiency with said needle and thread is helpful but not necessary.

Classes will take place at Otlak Felt Studio in the DeWitt Seitz building and will cost $150 plus $56 in supplies. You can email me at emily@moesewco.com for questions and to register. Space is limited, so jump right in there.

Milliners' of Etsy Workspaces

2012-04-20T23:01:33Z

The lovely and talented Amanda Joyner has just written a lovely and tal..(I guess that last part doesn't work)...well she wrote a lovely post with photos of my fellow milliners' workspaces. And mine too. One day. When I was working on a hat for St Scholastica. It doesn't look like that very often. Mostly it's just a dining room table.

Would you check out those flower irons????? Lust lust lust.
(Emily)

The Dress is Embellished.

2012-04-15T21:34:56Z

Last week, Laurie Everitt and Carola Breckbill finished the construction of my couture Victorian ballgown. It was my task to embellish it. My millinery skills have given me a great deal of practice at beading and such things.

Here it is, in process:

The tiara that my Milliner of Etsy friend Carolyn Simmons from Glassics6 is black beads and pearls, so I wanted to keep to that theme. I used black and pearl-looking seed beads to make a very simple trim for the neckline.

And then I added the flowers!

I am very happy with the result! I'm tempted, of course, to just keep going and make everything more and more elaborate. It felt like after all Laurie and Carola's work, my embellishments were way too easy. But one of the most important skills in design is knowing when to stop and how to edit. So I proclaim that it is done!

UMD Student Profile

2012-04-15T21:29:54Z

Shannon Kinley, a UMD journalism student, wrote this lovely profile piece about me. I am so honored! I think she did a great job.

Victorian Parlor Recital Preparations!

2012-04-02T02:11:53Z

I'll be giving a gala parlor recital at the Cox House Museum in St Peter, Minnesota on Saturday, April 28 at 7:00pm and Sunday, April 29 at 1:00 with baritone and friend Tim O'Brien.

I'll post more details about the event shortly, but I wanted to tease you all with some photos!

Laurie Everitt and Carola Breckbill have been busy making me a gorgeous, proper Victorian ball gown using couture sewing techniques. They are both extraordinarily generous and talented, and the dress is unbelievable. I've had three weekends of fittings for this. My wedding dress didn't get this much preparation!

Here's a photo of the first muslin. Notice the ripples in the bodice and the crazy number of pins. Ripples were the enemy!

And here it is at the end of the weekend.

Notice the almost complete lack of wrinkles in the bodice. Almost. But not quite. They weren't quite satisfied. Notice also the crazy number of pins. I was largely safe from them because of the amazing corset that Laurie made me before any of the construction of the dress began.

The pouf in the back is a sheet. Laurie came up with a easy and beautiful way of making a serious bustle. Carola made at least four different bodices and pretty much drafted the pattern herself. She did start with one, but nothing was the same, so I'm going to say that it was all her.

There's another series of photos of the second bodice but I can't find them. So now we leap forward to the actual dress.

I went down to the Twin Cities last weekend to finish up. After working out all of the problems with the muslin, the dress itself fitted me impeccably. We spent a frenzied morning all with a needle and thread as Carola sewed up the side seams of the bodice and Laurie and I hemmed the skirt.

Isn't it gorgeous? I'm so excited!

But now it's my turn. I am in charge of embellishment. I sat down this week to work on making some French silk flowers out of the taffeta. I've been struggling with this process, but I finally got the right mix in the stiffener. Turns out wood glue really is the right answer. I got to play with my fancy brass tools that look super scary and get them really hot over a can of sterno. Fire! Hot metal! Silk! What could be better?

To make a silk flower you must first stiffen the fabric. I used a mixture of wood glue and water. You then cut out each petal. You sculpt the petals into a cupped shape by using one of the round brass tools and then bend the tips backwards. You do this to twenty to forty petals then carefully glue them together to make a flower.

Black rose. A little creepy, but I think it will be pretty. I have to try to think like a Victorian and embrace frills.

So that's where we are! Oh and yes, I am also practicing the piano!

Emily.

Discriminating Weirdos gets political

2012-03-22T00:24:23Z

As long as my facebook statuses keep getting blog length, I might as well share them here. So suffer my political musings. I'm thinking of returning to the role of "writer", and if that's going to happen, I'm going to need to encourage the words to start to flow. I guess I'm going to try being "that" kind of blogger.

May I present, the political observations of a mailroom temp:

Wearing a "I don't support voter id" button sparked conversation in the mailroom this morning.

I am saddened at the level of defeatism that I keep hearing in the students. It's gone beyond apathy, and I now begin to understand it. Many of them believe that there's nothing that any citizen can do to create change. One of them brought up the fact that Al Gore won the popular vote, but still didn't win the presidency... blah blah we know this story.

This would have been one of the first major elections in their memory. As my memory is colored by being brought up in the age of Reagan, their's is colored by the graphic lightening bolt that was that horrible, horrible election. Their votes do not seem to matter to them, and certainly there's nothing they can do once a candidate is in office.

I tried to bring up SOPA, and the Arab spring, and all of what is remotely hopeful about the growing strength of the voice of the individual citizen, but they were largely ignorant of these things (with the complete exception of Silence Dogood who is an exceptional person). This is definitely a deficiency on the part of the educational system, and if not the system, then that institution.

But college for me was Paul Wellstone speaking to us in our English lecture hall, and coming from behind and actually winning. And probably most of the GAC students were ignorant, but were they defeated before they even tried?

Ok. It's time to make a scene.

2011-09-10T00:30:50Z

We are now going about living our lives in Duluth. I am, however, haunted by cardboard. I'm working my first full-time day job in more than a decade in the mailroom at St Scholastica. Everyone orders their textbooks on Amazon now, so all the books come through the inadequately small mail room. Ergo, my temp assignment, and lots of cardboard. There's also cardboard in the dining room. I'd like less cardboard, but otherwise, things are going well.

It's Renegade Weekend in Chicago, and this makes me a little sad. The first Renegade craft fair was where Adam and I rediscovered our craftiness and he picked up embroidery. It was always a kind of holiday weekend for us: we got to see all sorts of Etsy people we know mostly online (I'm looking at YOU Shawnimals, Frantic Meerkat, Mincing Mockingbird). And it's sci-Fiber Friday at SIFU Design studio....

but I'm done now just being sad. It's time to do something about all of this.

It's time to bring hip craft to Duluth. It's time to make a scene.

(Emily)