Friday is my day: Tortillagirl

Today we will travel to France and meet Becky from tortillagirl. She is a fashion designer who creates really beautiful clothing and bags. Beside that she is talented knitter too (she has another shop for knitting goods friedinbutter). Take your coffee and sit comfortably, let's go to Becky!

Pont Neuf Painter Dress Size M
by tortillagirl

Yay! Thank you for inviting me to share my Friday with you.

Good morning from Lyon! It's about 7 a.m., and I'm a quick get-upper. Once I wake up, I climb out of bed and run like my life depends on it walk casually to the coffee machine to prepare the morning pot of coffee. This will be the only cup of coffee I'll have today, so let's have it bright and early.

I open the blinds in the front room to see what kind of weather we're having. I can see the whole city and beyond from my wee apartment (free fireworks shows every national holiday! ;-)), and I can always tell right off how the day will be.


Ah. It's going to be a nice day today.

Now it's time to wake up my Captain Destructo. Unlike me and Mr Le Hubby, he is Mr. Groggy McGrumpypants in the morning and needs a good 20 mins to wake up.

Will you look at that? It seems that we didn't shut his bedroom door properly last night. The family fluffball, also known as my son's dog "Leeloo", has snuck in and stolen a good night's sleep on his bean bag. Little sneak.


Mornings go quickly: By 8:15 Mr Le Hubby and Captain Destructo are out the door and the dog has been taken out. Some days I head out with them but today I'm working from home so I get to take my time.

Up next: Shower and then turn on the 'puter to answer emails, update sites and other miscellaneous things that need to be done online. I get all of this done by 9:00 or 9:30, then I sit down and have a little brekkie.


No two weekdays are ever alike in terms of work. I do something different each day of the week. Today I'm going to be cutting and preparing fabric for multiple orders and then I'll be drafting patterns for dresses I've sketched out. The sewing machine won't get any attention today, poor dear.


This is how my work place looks after I've cut out several orders and prepared them for sewing. Ah! Clean Freak Confession: I always do another quick vacuum round after I've cut and interfaced. Seeing threads on the floor makes me twitchy.


Next up, lunch! As my son says: Miam, miam. Just like I never skip brekkie, I never skip lunch. If I'm eating alone it's always something I can make quickly and with minimal fuss, like this cold green bean salad with tuna, tomatos and olives.


After lunch it's back to the ole drawing board, literally. Pattern making time. I pull out two of my bodice blocks (which I've drawn up with indelible marker on rhodoid) and get to work on flat drafting. I usually do this on the big table in the front room or on the floor, depending on how big the pattern construction will be. If the design is complicated, like a tailored jacket with lining or fitted shirt with different elements, I cut and sew a prototype in muslin afterwards and that could take a while. Doing this means I may not get as much sewing time and have to invest more work, but that's what handmade is about. Plus, making a sketch come alive with my OWN pattern is still fun even if it eats into my sewing time.


Today I'll be making a post office run, so after I've drafted some patterns I clear up my work space and prepare packages for shipment.

Mr Le Hubby works about ten minutes from home so he's home early every day. Friday in particular, and today he's coming home at 4:30 so we can pick up the boy from school and then head off for some errands in La Croix Rousse, which is the old silk district in Lyon a stone's throw from my home. Lots of my local favorites are here: hairstylist, notions shop, patisserie, etc. and we come here every Sunday for the outdoor market.




This afternoon we've got a lot to do before the weekend so we're taking the car. Mr Le Hubby is driving which leaves me free to look out the window.


...and snap a shot!


After our errands we head back home where - get ready for this - I find out that Mr Le Hubby has gifted me with a new city bike. Oh, happy day! Just in time for the weekend, when we'll be having gorgeous weather.


Here I am trying it out in a "race" with my son, and I am so excited I didn't even bother to take the bike booklet off the handlebar. Hee hee!


We're spending a quiet Friday evening at home. Just us, a dvd and a bottle of bubbly Saumur Brut.


Captain Destructo gets to hang with us by staying up a little later than usual and the dog is looking for a cuddle, as always.

Have a great evening from Lyon!