The Location
A crisp summer evening (did I mention the climate here SUCKS?) in the perilous region of the city known as “Downtown”. This is the natural habitat of the stylish and hip, such as the Selfish Seamstress, but an area I usually view only as on safari, through the glass of the train windows.
I arrive early, having allowed myself both getting-lost time and finding-parking time, and end up needing neither. There it is, the appointed coffee-shop, lurking in all its trendy glory (and it’s open late). Such places used to be my stomping-ground, back before domestic bliss replaced teenage angst, back in the days when I, too, lived Downtown. I take up residence on one of the several benches outside, and pretend to play with my ipod. Mostly, I am watching.
For Her.
My thoughts race back to the chance comment left on her wonderful blog, months ago, that revealed my general location. Although I read religiously, I rarely comment since there are usually fifty or more comments before mine that have said everything that could possibly be said. My surprise at receiving an email a few days later admitting to being in the same general vicinity (and shopping at the same depressing fabric-store chain). This when I had no idea we even shared a country! A few more emails, and by a miracle we are even in the same city! (Not such a big miracle, as it’s the largest city in the province). In fact, we are associated with the same University, although in very different departments and at very different levels.
And then—there she is! So petite and stylish and elegant in her Hikaru Jacket and her Jalie Jeans! Her topstitching makes me want to cry. She shows me the nearby newstand that carries Burda (my first Burda Magazine!)… and buys me a hot chocolate! (made with melted chocolate! With whipped cream!).
She gives me patterns. Including THIS one! (Since she never actually made the dress, I assume she decided it fell into the Frumpy category. Nevertheless, it is a charming gift, despite the fact that Her Selfishness buys patterns in the 6-10 size range and I normally fit a miss’s 12 😉 )
We talk about sewing, and dance, and sewing, and driving vs. not driving in cities, and sewing, and (amateur) modeling, and sewing, and how we started sewing, and cell phones, and sewing, and not having real-life sewing friends, and sewing, and…
all of a sudden it is ten o’clock at night. The handsome Dan comes and plucks the Selfish Seamstress away, and I drive home in a floaty haze of happiness, cradling my Burda in my lap. And yes, it is sometime on this drive home that it occurs to me that we took no pictures.
The next day, still on a brush-with-blogging-and-sewing-greatness high, I traced out this jacket… and we all know how that went (it’s currently wadded in a ball under my bed, waiting for resuscitation).
It wasn’t until later, in the cold light of Wadderville, that it occurred to me to wonder about the Selfish One’s motivations. Obviously she could not be really enjoying my company. This concerned me quite a bit. But then it dawned on me… The Selfish Seamstress may have no friends, but she adores flattery. And really, aren’t I the perfect agent? My sewing skills are no match for hers—I am far below the level of a Nemesis—and I am perfectly willing to gush more-or-less endlessly over her sophisticated creations. And if I do grow boring, or stalkerish, or too demanding, well, she’s leaving the country in a few weeks.
Which means my brush with greatness will remain just that—a brush. But I can now say it, the way my Grandma still talks about having tea with the Queen as a little girl… I once had hot chocolate with the Selfish Seamstress!
And, as a bonus, her shout-out (besides bringing unprecedented hit-numbers to my low-key little blog here) brought to my attention the fact that an old friend from my dance-costume-making days, whose skillz (especially in the finishing department) I have long admired and envied, has started her own blog, Blood, Sweatshop & Tears! Nifty!
So if you did come here via Her Selfishness, thank you for taking the time! And if you didn’t, well… you can always say you knew me first! (LMAO)
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Drat! Ulterior motives have been discovered. I will get my revenge though, probably the next time we meet for coffee 🙂
As for the Michael Kors pattern, I actually had two of them because BMV goofed and sent it to me twice. It WILL get made eventually. And I wanted to make sure that we could be Dress Twins. Because I am creepy like that.
Ooo, dress twins! Better and better. (should I make it in black or red?) Heheh. I actually had fabric picked out for one of the shirts from the other pattern, but then I decided I couldn’t face sewing chiffon right now.
I enjoyed reading your take on the meet-up and was quite pleasantly surprised (quite pleasant, quite a surprise) at the plug! Thanks 🙂
Now that you’ve outed me about finishing skillz, I guess I should take some pictures of the insides of things. (Although the purple trousers, being a fitting project, are pretty embarrassing from the inside. Thank goodness few people will ever get inside them to see first hand 😉
I enjoy seeing the projects you’re working on – it inspires me to work on things outside my comfort zone.
Hee! You definitely need to show off your project insides! And there’s still a reason I don’t. I always think about finishing things nicely, but I very rarely actually do. I’m very excited to see more of your blog, too!
That sounds like a fun get-together! I’m totally jealous!
And I think of my bloggity-blogging sewing friends as “friends”, too, but am lucky enough to have many other sewing friends IRL, too. I live above an elderly gal who used to sew swimwear for Jantzen.
Looking forward to following your sewing adventures! Don’t let departures to Waddersville get you down. Any seamstress worth her salt has been there. Repeatedly and often.
You are lucky! I DID have sewing friends (including Zena up above) but I went and moved away from all of them a few years back… THEN decided I wanted to sew seriously 🙂
I found you via Selfish, but I’m staying because you look so much like a friend of my daughter’s. Oh, and because your sewing skills rock 🙂
Pleased to meet you! The more, the merrier 🙂
Hello,
I wish I could say that I found your blog on my own but alas I can not. Funny thing is I was thinking that day that the Selfish Seamstress had not attacked anyone in awhile an wham there you are. You are worthy of being a nemesis and I love your jeans.
Thanks to the Selfish Seamstress for helping me find another great blog.
Nice to meet you, too, and thanks for the compliments! “Worthy of being a nemesis” has to be some of the highest sewing praise I can think of 😉
I did find you blog on my own before but only returned after Madame Selfish spoke of you. And don’t worry about nemesis status…liek she said it’s a fine line between stalker and nemesis
How neat that you met up with our Selfish Seamstress! Imagine – without blogland you would probably pass each other in the street without even knowing (unless she ripped the coat off your back – lol!)
I popped by to let you know I’ve awarded you a Beautiful Blogger Award – see my latest blog post for it! 🙂
Too funny! I had you both placed in the wrong cities! But that coffee shop photo looked too familiar. So Jealous. I have to get my sewing fix through my blog reading, because I know no one that actually sews IRL!
YOU GOT TO MEET THE GODDESS OF SELFISHNESS! Oops, sorry, I`ll stop yelling now. I so hate you right now, well maybe not hate, just a severe deep seated jealous feeling.
Glad you had such a wonderful visit. Just found your blog, glad I found it in time to read about your visit.
Aha! Former model! I’ve always wondered why I don’t look like you when I pose in my creations 🙂 How fun to get to meet up for real. Such a cool story!
LOL
don’t miss the part about “amateur” ;). I think there’s far better photos out there than mine. It was super fun 😀
Pingback: One year in Blogland | Tanit-Isis Sews
Pingback: Sew Style Hero—The Selfish Seamstress | Tanit-Isis Sews