Liner Notes: September - Patti Smith/Dancing Barefoot/Because the Night

Let's start with a song. 

This is my second favorite Patti Smith song. It was featured on the 1979 (year I was born!) album Wave. "Dancing Barefoot" is the way I expect concerts to start. I don't know why but I need a song like this to start a live show. When I saw Patti Smith earlier this month she did exactly that and kicked off the set with this song. It was fantastic. 

In Bread of Angels, Smith talks a lot about making these early albums and some of the challenges she and the band faced with record labels and press around their songs. "Dancing Barefoot" includes this set of lyrics:

I'm dancing barefoot
Heading for a spin

Some strange music draws me in

Makes me come on like some heroine

In the book, Patti Smith tells a story about how the label was concerned about the word "heroine." A heroine is a woman or girl who is the main character in a story or is considered brave or noble or strong. It's the female version of a hero. Now, it's 1979. Heroin usage/abuse was at an all-time high and there was concern that people would be confused by what she was singing about. She refused to change the lyric or allow it to be censored. I can't imagine this song without that lyric. Come on! Context matters. 

My absolute favorite Patti Smith song is "Because the Night" from her 1978 album Easter. It's probably her most well-known and wasn't originally her song. Bruce Springsteen wrote the original music and the structure of the song while he was working on his album Darkness on the Edge of Town but felt the song didn't work for him or the album. He and Smith happened to be sharing a producer, Jimmy Iovine, and were recording in the adjacent studios. Iovine brought the song to Patti Smith. Smith rewrote the song and added her own lyrics. At the time, she and Fred "Sonic" Smith were dating but lived in different places. She was working on the song while waiting for Fred to call. She talks about him when she performs this song live and it's such a beautiful song about love and longing. 

So those were the two songs I was listening to this week while I finished the white dress. This ended up coming together better than I expected. When I stopped trying to make a real dress, it all worked. The design is pretty and the buttons add a nice touch, and yes, if you look at the cover of Wave it's the same dress from the cover of the book. The two dresses are inspired by Patti Smith's writing about them; they don't have to be exact copies. I don't have a good photo of the black dress since there don't seem to be very many. That's why I decided not to start on it today and did the lettering for the "track list" stitch journal page instead. I have two ideas for the black dress so I'm going to sit on both until tomorrow. 

Ten more days left in September: I'm going to split the time between the black dress (3 days), the jacket (4 days), and attaching all three garments to the stitch journal (3 days). If I need more time on the jacket, I have it since I don't think the dress will actually take 3 days. I'm giving myself time. 

Here's this week's Liner Notes entries:

September 13

September 14

September 15

September 16

September 17 - I sewed the two pieces together but that was sort of ugly looking so you can see the way it looks rather than the stitches.

September 18 and the reference image that inspired the white dress.

September 19 - the "track" list has to get done too.

September to date - the dress will get attached once I finish the black dress. 

The Sewing Cabinet, WIPs, and Other Small Joys

I had an event at work this week. It's my first post-surgery work event and it went pretty well. I did the last one of these a few weeks before my hysterectomy, and came home every day in absolute pain. I basically went straight to bed each day, which wasn't great. Anyway, while I was tired after people-ing all day, the pain wasn't there. Just normal "you've been on your feet at work" stuff. It's wild how much pain fibroids cause. I'm so glad that's finished and I can just experience the regular pain of being a person in their late 40s. Cool, cool.

I made absolutely no progress on the sewing cabinet panels during the week. I did finish the side of the Botanical Garden panel last Sunday. Tomorrow is my monthly craft day with my friends, so I'll probably get more of this panel done then. 

I also have two mending projects I need to work on. I may try to get those done this evening. One is fixing a hole in a pair of jeans that I looooove and the other is adding a spider web to a cardigan that has a hole in it. I found the hole while I was wearing the cardigan at work this week and told a coworker what I was going to do. She looked at me and said, "I'd just staple it." My brain is still processing this response. 

This is a design I drew for my 2021 stitch journal for spider week. I think it'll work better than the other one I drew given where the hole is on the cardigan's pocket. 

 

Event weeks are always weird for me and Bea. I get home a lot later in the evening, and sit on my couch trying to decide if cereal is a good option for dinner (the answer is always yes). I also think a lot about how this used to be my daily life; commuting and getting home with like two hours of time before going to bed and starting the whole process over again (I got to bed at 9 because I have to get up at 5 to get to work on time). People calling for returning to the office are wild - why would I want to go back to that life? Bea also hates it because I'm not home. She likes me being around even if she's got her own agenda most days. I always tell her I'll be home soon when I leave, but she knows I'm lying. Poor little cat. 

Little things matter during weeks like this. I got a new t-shirt from The Savage Stitcher and Sugar Camp that I'm planning on wearing today. I'm sure it will go over well at the grocery. I think you can still get the shirt on Angie's website if you're interested. 

I also found a super fun cheese board at TJ Maxx. I'm trying really hard not to buy new stuff, even for the Halloween season, but I couldn't pass this up. I was there to buy a long handled scrubber for my bathtub and felt good about the fact that I found that too. 

It brings me joy. 

Bea had a weird week since I was gone a lot. She also managed to get herself caught on one of her emotional support plastic bags and completely freaked out. At least I was home for that one. The bags have been permanently retired since I don't want her to hurt herself. She seemed to calm down by Thursday morning and then Friday rolled around. I had an electrician here doing an inspection and replacing the smoke detectors. Bea was obsessed with this woman. Bea loves a technician or a plumber, but I'm pretty certain Bea would have jumped in the woman's backpack and gone with her to solve electrical problems if Bea could. It was super cute. Also, I've never had a woman electrician come to my house so that was cool.

Since I took away her emotional support plastic bags, Bea has decided my work table is hers. I mean, everything else in this house is hers so this is fine. 

Bea has a very busy day planned of being in the way and running and crying for food when there's food in her bowl and I'm going to go make some dudes mad for wearing a t-shirt while I grocery shop. I also need to go to the thrift store...I need to find something for my Nick Cave piece. I have 10 days to figure it out and I got nothing right now. It's going to be a great weekend. Enjoy yours!