The Remaining 4/5ths of the Week

Tuesday morning brought Susan, as usual. First, she talked with everyone individually about their quilting. I showed her my 4 pieces and she OK'd them. Then, in talking about constructing my bag, she suggested that I quilt the sides, as well as add a diamante charm to the zipper. I was thinking that I couldn't possibly have time to quilt more, as well as finish the bag. I said that if I did one of the two, it would be a diamante charm. (She didn't really respond, but that might've been because she didn't hear me.) In the next round of visits, I showed her my 3o sketches for the beachwear. She told me that I was the first person she had seen who had done 'really cute" separates. She signed off on the required 8 outifts, and helped me develop some concepts further. At the end of our meeting, she asked me how long I had been doing fashion design. I wasn't sure exactly what she was getting at, so I said that I had been drawing since I was 4, informally designing fashion since I was 12, and formally studying it for nearly 3 years. She simply nodded and said nothing more (so I don't know if that was a good thing or bad or what).
In betwee, I zipped out to Gibert Joseph. Since I had seen only 2 copies left of Moliere's complete works, I wanted to be sure to get a copy before waiting any longer. Fortunately, both copies were still there, so I looked around before buying it. (The guy who was checking it out did ask me if it was for me. Maybe a lot of old-professor types had been buying the other copies.)
After that was French class. We talked about the vocabulary of friendship, an went over what would be on next week's test (vocabulary and lots of grammar). Something interesting also happened: One of the girls in our class, Doha is Egyptian and wears the hijab daily. Well, that day she came up to our table outside and I didn't recognize her. This was because she wasn't wearing her scarf, and wasn't covered up anymore. So she was wearing a bright blue top, and denim capris (showin' some leg). Her long, black hair was held back with a white headband with a bow. We all exclaimed over her different appearance, and asked why she had decided to change, and she said, "for a lot of reasons". But it was really interesting to see.
That night was the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss concert, so I got ready and went over a little after 7 pm. It was held at the Grand Rex theater in the 2nd arrondissement. (I got a little confused when I got out of the suggested metro station at Grands Boulevards, and I was in the 9th. But I followed the signs and soon enough, I was in the 2nd.) I went inside and bought some water (what was weird was that the seller kept the cap), and went to go find a seat. It was free seating, and fortunately, not too many people had arrived yet, so I was able to get a good seat in the middle, pretty far up. I just relaxed until 8 pm, when the opening act started. His name was Scott Williams, and he was from Ireland or Scotland (I can't remember which, obviously). He played some bluegrass, and some were good. He ended at 8:30 pm, and then there was an intermission.
The show really started at 9 pm! The lights went down, and the band began playing "Rich Woman", the first song off their album "Raising Sand". During the instrumental beginning, Krauss and Plant entered from opposite sides of the stage (she from stage left, he from stage right). As they crossed each other about center stage, they briefly touched hands, as in for good luck. They then took places downstage center, each at a microphone beside each other. After that song was over, Plant welcomed everyone to the show in French. (Krauss didn't talk during the entire show, and Plant explained it by saying that it was her first time in Paris.) They played most of the songs off "Raising Sand". (The only one I noticed missing was "Stick with Me, Baby".) With some songs, depending on who had a lead vocal, either Plant or Krauss would either go offstage or upstage near the band. For "Fortune Teller", it was just Plant onstage, until the chorus about 2/3rds of the way through, when Krauss came out to sing her part.
In about the middle of the show, they introduced a guest as by saying that he produced the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" album (which, I believe, still is the best-selling soundtrack). I guessed who it was, and got excited! Sure enough, it was T-Bone Burnett! (That guy is TALL in person. Admittedly, I've never seen a photo or any other depiction of him, so I didn't have nay preconceived notions about his physical self. But seeing him next to Plant, he has some height on him.) He played some songs with them, and hung around in the upstage area near the band for the rest of the time. At one point, Burnett said that although he didn't know French, he did know Creole, before launching into "Laissez les Bons Temps Roulez". Krauss sang "Down to the River to Pray", from the "O Brother" soundtrack, and she sang into one microphone, and Plant, Burnett and the bassist (I think) sang into the one next to it. They ended the show with "Gone, Gone, Gone", and exited the stage. There was an immediate standing ovation, and they came back on and performed 3 more songs for an encore.
I managed to get some pictures (even though I was pretty far away). In the majority of them, Kruass is turned toward her band (usually the guitarist) or playing her fiddle, and Plant is in mid-pose while singing. I got some good ones of T-Bone Burnett as he was singing, as well as some with all 3 of them. For those fashion-conscious curious to know, Krauss wore a black, short-sleeved v-neck dress with either thigh-high black boots or black tights with black heels (I was too far away to definitively tell), and Plant had a gray shirt with raspberry-colored pants. T Bone Burnett wore a suit with a white shirt. A few times, Plant almost got into some Led-Zeppelin-esque wails, but didn't give in to the urge (you can hear those on some of the songs on the album). Bottom line: FANTASTIC show, and I'm so glad I went! (In case I'm in North Carolina this summer, I know they're playing the Raleigh RBC Center on July 11th. Any takers?)
The next day (Wednesday) was Sewing with Muriel. She had me resew certain portions of my panels on my dress, as well as press it properly. I ended up spending a great deal of time ironing that thing. (Near the end of class, I had walked over to the window for a minute to get a break from the iron, and Sharon said, "Sarah, haven't you been ironing for, like, half an hour?" I said, "I've been over there most of the day, where've you been?") That took up the entire day, and that night I started drawing up some sketches and flats for Susan that were due on Tuesday.
I also talked with my cousin Hilary, who's coming to visit me
Thursday was Patterns with Anne. She gave us the period to do what we needed, so I decided to get done my technical samples (since the last class with samples was held at the same time as my French class, and I wasn't there). I got all of my samples done, and began organizing them together (attaching them to paper squares, putting them in plastic sleeves), which took most of the class.
After class, I had a lot of errands to do. I went first to Marche Saint-Pierre, for all my fabric needs. I needed a brass zipper about 32 cm long, so I was on the lookout for a mercerie, which sells more interior decorating things. I found one pretty quickly, choosing a zipper that was 35 cm long (since I like to be prepared and have more than needed). Then, I went to Reine and bought red and black canvas in preparation for making Jen's bag. After that, I headed across to Dreyfus where I got some lining for Susan's bag. Then, I took the metro to BHV, where I purchased more bristol paper, as well as black and red thread. I got a vanilla macaroon at Paul nearby, and decided to walk back since it was still early. I also stopped at Monoprix to get the requisite milk, as well as breakfast stuff. That night, I made it my goal to draw up half my illustrations and/or flats for Susan. (We have a collection of 8 beachwear things, so one thing per page for illustrations, and the same for flats is 16 pages.) I accomplished that, and then went to bed.
Friday morning, Jen had me redo my pattern for my clutch, making it larger. She explained to me how to construct it, including something about leaving a hole in the lining. It was a bit confusing to me, but she told me to get as far as I could and let her know before next Friday (when it's due) if/when I had any problems. I spent the rest of class tracing and cutting my pattern pieces out.
I returned that afternoon after lunch to work on my bag for Susan's class, Beliz and I sharing a sewing machine. Around 2 pm, Liz and Ashley came in and they asked me if Andrea had come back to the room that night. I said that I thought she had been in their room, but that turned out not to be the case. They talked for a bit about calling her, and departed sooner after, presumably to do so. (She turned up in the studio later, so she was fine.) I got most of the outer bottom of the bag finished, and layed out pieces for the top, where I'd attach the zipper. I also cut out pieces for the lining, and began sewing some of those together. My productivity was halted around 5 pm, when I ran out of thread while winding a bobbin. So I left and made another trip to BHV to get more thread, as well as plastic sleeves for my technical notebook.
(Something interesting: As in any large store, there's always announcements begin made over the speakers about deals and such. Well, yesterday, I was taking the elevator down, and saw a man in front of me, holding a microphone and speaking into it. It turned out that he was the one making the announcements while walking all around the store, as opposed to sitting in some isolated room! So that was pretty cool. I actually passed him on the kitchenwares floor while taking the escalator, and I was still amused.)
Tonight, I ate dinner and drew up the remaining 8 flats and illustrations. I'm planning to get up early tomorrow to work in the studio. Hopefully, I can get everything done (or near enough) for next week.