The Internet vs. Real Life

In class this morning, we had a conversation about the Internet and web-based communities, and the difference between the web and real life was a huge topic of conversation. I, of course, immediately started thinking about it in terms of sewing: sewing blogs, the online sewing community, etc.

Online, there is this wonderful, thriving, growing community of sewists. We share our completed projects, works in progress, thoughts about sewing productivity (or lack thereof), wardrobe building, garment planning, exciting pattern and fabric finds, and sometimes parts of our personal lives. The more experienced among us generously write tutorials (for which the rest of us are so, so grateful!), which adds an element of learning and reference to the online sewing community. Sewing has become an underground movement, and the Internet has enabled it.

At the same time, a lot of us talk about time wasted browsing the web, reading blogs, posting on our own blogs, etc. So much time is spent in front of the computer screen instead of the sewing table, and I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the Internet. Love the information and the connection to other sewists, hate the way I lose time online.

The thing is, I don't know the first thing about finding the same kind of community in real life. How do you find other women (or men) who sew in your area and want to share their experiences with you (especially if you live in a small town)? How do you find someone to help you pin on your muslin to check for fit? Or someone to go fabric shopping with?

I'm totally jealous of all of you who have had the opportunity to meet up in person. I would love to do that, and am totally there next time there's one in Chicago.

Do any of you have sewing friends in real life? Do any of you live in Champaign-Urbana and wish you had someone to help you with fitting or go to our one little fabric store with? :)

Libraries and Sewing

Do you use your public library? It's not a loaded question, I promise. I'm studying to be a librarian, and I'm really curious about what gets people into their public libraries. If you use yours, what do you use it for? If you don't, why not?

I go to my public library about 5 - 6 times a week. I'm not kidding, I really do. I volunteer there on Thursdays, I go to the library book sale on Saturdays, and on the days in between...well, if my partner and I are looking for a movie for date night, we go there. If we just need a place to walk around after a slightly-too-large dinner, we go to the library. Any time I'm interested in a new project or technique or book, I get it from the library. Granted, I'm a little extreme. Obviously, I would live in the library if I could, and that's a large part of why I'm getting a masters' degree in LIS (Library and Information Science).

The small portion of my book collection that sits directly behind my desk. School books and sewing books. :)

But over the last 6 years or so, I've discovered just how much the library has to offer. Did you know you can borrow board games from some libraries (maybe yours)? What about art? Did you know your library probably has story time for your kids, book clubs for you, and workshops (even personal lessons) for people who want to learn more about computer programs or research databases?

Did you know your library has sewing books?

That's a close-up of the photo above. Five of those books are actually library books. This isn't my whole personal collection of sewing books, but if it was, it would only have four more books in it, and it would just equal the number of sewing/style books I currently have checked out from the library. That's right. I can literally count the number of sewing books I own on one hand. (Fit for Real People, The Vogue Sewing Book, The Burdastyle Sewing Handbook, Fabrics by Ann Ladbury, and The Colette Sewing Handbook). But the number of sewing books/magazine subscriptions I have access to?

THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN!!! Granted, that number probably includes a small number of fiction books whose main character sew, but it also excludes all the books about style, fashion drawing, etc. What's awesome about this collection is that it includes books in the Urbana Free Library and the Douglass Branch, so even if the library down the street doesn't have the book I want, I can still get it if one of the other two libraries has it.

I just reserved a bunch of books about fabric dyeing, since I can't seem to find a nice light turquoise wool coating and I don't want to spend $$$$ a yard and screw it up with a poor dye job. Whenever I'm curious about a book but I'm not sure I want to invest in it yet, I check it out from the library first. If it's a new technique (like fabric dying or embroidery), I check out library books on it to supplement the vast amounts of information on the web.

Do you use your library's sewing books?

By the way, if you haven't looked through The Party Dress Book  by Mary Adams, you really should. It's just one of the most beautiful, inspiring books I've seen, and the most amazing, stunning, gorgeous dress I've ever seen in my life is on pages 58 and 66.

Vacation and Pattern Swap Patterns

I don't think I mentioned that I was going on vacation with my sister. We went to Key West, and it was so much fun. We went on a tour of the Everglades, where it poured on us the whole time, but I got to hold a baby alligator (those things are heavier than they look!).

I only wore one me-made item on the trip, and it was my blue daisy dress. We rented bikes, and I biked in this dress with no problem. My crazy more-than-full-circle skirt, not so much. :) Anyway, here's the dress in action (sorry there's not much to see, but you can see the bright yellow wristlet I carried with it). Also, does anyone else feel like mojitos are the epitomy of summer?



While in Key West, I had the bad luck to lose my clutch (not the yellow one...that was the replacement), which had my camera in it. Sadly, this means no photos for the blog until I can afford to get a new one. :( Well, except for photos like the ones above, taken on my sister's camera, and photos like those below, gleaned from the generous interwebs.

On the bright side, when I got back, I had a lovely little package in the mail. I participated in the latest Sew Weekly swap, organized by Tina Crossgrove, and the talented and generous Seeks had sent me two different patterns! I also sent my partner two patterns, but I wasn't expecting to receive two! Anyway, check out these lovelies:

First up, this elegant 60s wrap dress. It's a bust 32 (who knows how the photo I managed to find just happens to be bust 32 as well, but I'm not questioning!), and I'm loving the short-sleeved version.

(because I borrowed this photo, I'm going to link to the Etsy seller it belongs to, in case any of you would also like to own this lovely pattern)

Second was this stunning 70s gown. So... I love the 50s and 60s, and so many of the 70s fashions are just so.... tacky. But this gown? A-mazing. Maybe not so much all the ruffles (although, possibly some of them?), but I love the smooth lines, the flowing skirt, the fitted silhouette through the bodice and waist... I'm in love with this dress, and all the variations that don't really look all that different on the envelope. :) I even love the little jacket (especially the lace version, and even the ruffles at the wrists. It's bust 38, but I'm willing to try my hand at pattern grading because I love it so much.

(again, a borrowed photo warrants a link to the owner's Etsy shop. This particular pattern is no longer for sale, but the shop has a huge collection of awesome 70s patterns and a smaller collection of other vintage patterns.)

Thank you, Seeks! I'm so excited about these patterns!

Spring Craziness and a Sneak Peek

I haven't posted to my blog in over a month, and according to the posts that have been showing up in my feed, it looks like other bloggers have been away from their computers as well. It's been a wild month.

We're selling the house, and I'm joining my partner in Illinois in August, where I'll be starting grad school (library science!). We're leaving Ann Arbor and our first home and our wonderful neighbors behind, and I'm really hoping that where ever we end up (Illinois is just a brief stop on the road) is just as great as this place has been. Also, I can't even express how much work it is to prep a house for sale. Unless you've sold a house, you have no concept of all the work that goes into it. I'm super grateful for my parents and friends who have helped me out. I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own!

I wiped out on my morning bike commute a few weeks ago (hit a patch of gravel going way too fast for that particular ripped-up stretch of road), got a concussion, sprained my wrist, tore my blouse, and scraped up the right side of my body. I was wearing my helmet (as always) and am sending good gratitude vibes to the inventor of the helmet, because that person may have saved my life.

One of my dogs (Onyx, the almost-three-year-old black male) had a bad reaction to his flea and tick medication, and we had a fun vet visit and five days after that. By "fun," I mean, he hated every minute of it, he tried cowering behind me at the vet, he wouldn't let me spray the medication on the sore without squirming like crazy to get away from me, and he now has a bald patch in between his shoulders (I'm really, really hoping the fur grows back. If it doesn't, that company is going to hear from me).
As I said: wild. But Onyx and I are both still alive and healing, our prospects for selling the house are looking really good, and I got to spend two weeks of March with my partner (one of which was unexpected). My sister started to tell me that I was so spoiled for being able to spend an entire week with my spouse at the beginning of the month and another whole week in the middle, then she stopped herself and instead commented on how absurd it is that she'd even think I might be spoiled by seeing my spouse for two weeks out of a whole month. Really, though, I am so grateful for all that time. And I'm so looking forward to August, when we'll all be living under one roof again!

At any rate, because of the recent craziness and my own plodding slowness, it's been a while since I've finished sewing anything. Or really, since I've even spent any amount of time in my sewing room at all. Over the weekend, I finally got a chance to really sit down with some fabric and my machine, and even though I'm not quite finished yet, here's a little sneak peek of what I've been working on. After all, no post is complete without a photo!

Perfectionism

One of my biggest problems is perfectionism. I want something to be perfect before I show it to anyone (or even before I allow myself to finish it), which is a problem as a beginning sewer because it means I often don't finish anything. I honestly couldn't tell you how many UFOs I have in my sewing space right now. I've spent around 12 hours on the Colette Jasmine blouse. It's a simple design and should go together beautifully, but my perfectionism means that I was so dissatisfied with the wonky seams on my collar that I ripped the whole thing off and decided to cut new pieces for it and start the collar over again. Erm... Let's be honest here. SWAP is so not happening this year. :) I think it's time for some more modest goals, and possibly time for me to put some effort into letting go of perfect a little bit. Because really. No one would have noticed that collar but me. I'm going to really focus on just finishing the blouse this week, and after it's done, I'm going to go through my UFOS and make them into FOs.

Are there any other procrastinators out there? UFO hoarders? Do you have the same problem I do, with wanting it to be perfect and knowing it won't be, or do you have another problem altogether? Those of you who manage to finish multitudes of garments every year, how do you do it?! Are you speedy sewers? Fearless in the face of failure? Do you have mad time management skills? Please, spill your deepest sewing secrets!

Sew Grateful Week Giveaway Winner!

Hi all! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I was sewing in the basement yesterday with the intention of finishing up my Jasmine blouse when I smelled something burning. When I went upstairs, it was to find the entire house filled with smoke. I didn't burn my house down, but the chicken carcass I was supposed to be cooking into soup was burnt to nothing but blackened char on the bottom of my big pot (which was also destroyed), and my whole house smells like fire now. Needless to say, I didn't finish the blouse. I evacuated the dogs into the back yard, opened all the windows, and spent my afternoon airing out the house and avoiding the windowless basement. :(

On the bright side, this morning, I wrote some names on bits of paper, dropped them in a bag, and picked one back out. The winner of Vogue 5867 is Rhia the Evil Dressmaker! Congratulations, Rhia! Please email me your address so I can send off your new pattern!

Personal Style and a Few (er...several...) Sketches

I took a four-day weekend last weekend, because A is back in the country. I did not take any sewing with me to Illinois, so I have nothing to show for my long weekend but a big smile and a lot of joy that my partner is back in the country. I spent yesterday evening grocery shopping and cleaning the house up a bit (things I usually do on Saturdays).

I've been thinking a lot about my personal style lately. When I was younger, I liked full, gathered skirts and tight t-shirts/tanks. It was a super cute look. Looking at that style now, I feel like I've grown out of cute, but I'm not sure where to go from there. I bought a gorgeous leather trench while I was in Chicago over the weekend, and I absolutely adore it. It looks even better in person than it does in that photo, and it's edgy in a way that's not too extreme for daily wear. It's downright hot, and I feel so incredibly good when I put it on. I think it's time to take a good, hard look at the few items that are still in my closet and ask myself whether or not they make me feel like that, and if so, what about them does it.

I went virtual shopping - where I skim around the internet and save photos of clothes I want to my computer - and found a few things I liked. Before I put the effort into trying to replicate them, though, I decided to sketch them out on my croquis. Did I tell you guys I made one of these? It was a few months back, and I've sketched a few things on it, but I thought I'd share my latest sketches.

Knit top with lace/mesh panel and sleeves and leather skirt. In spite of the more fitted silhouette of this skirt, it's still reminiscent of my old clothing formula.

Full dress with leather belt and leather detail. I usually don't like any gathering around my waistline, but this one might be okay. Also, my shoulders are way more symmetrical than that back view would have you believe. My tracing skills just sometimes aren't up to par. :)

I found this adorable draped top, and I sketched it out with a pencil skirt on the bottom, and oh, man. Badness. That drapy hem hits right at the widest part of my hip, and it looks downright dowdy. Now, if you shorten it and tuck it into a pencil skirt, it looks way better. Or lengthen it and turn it into a dress. I love the draping and the shoulder detail, though!

Then I started thinking about my SWAP items and things I actually intend to sew. Why not see whether they'd actually look any good on me, before I started cutting and sewing? These are Butterick 2434 (vintage) and Simplicity 2145. I'm loving that Simplicity dress. Loving.

I went a little sketch-happy and did a few more. Like, almost all of my other SWAP items. Simplicity 3562 (vintage), Colette Jasmine, Burda/Gertie bombshell top, Simplicity 3520 (vintage), and Butterick 4042 (vintage, and also sheer...you can see the bombshell top sketched lightly underneath if you look closely).

What do you think? Have you jumped on the croquis bandwagon? It's definitely worth the time it takes to make one. I could have endless amounts of fun just sketching up ideas. But I'm not going to. I'm going to sew tonight instead. :) Perhaps I'll have something fun to show you next week!

I'm the Tortoise, and a Puppy Picture

I  haven't posted because I've been sewing. And fitting. And sewing. And ripping seams. And sewing some more. And contemplating exactly how a lining goes into a pencil skirt vent. And looking up tutorials. And sewing even more. And trying on what I'd worked on only to find that in spite of hours and hours of fitting and ten muslins, the darts were still in the wrong places and the bodice was too tight. Sad day.

I set down my ages-long project to pick up something a little easier. Right now, I'm working on a denim pencil skirt inspired by the first photo in this post and a new scarf I bought in early December. I'm hoping to finish it tonight and post it tomorrow. *crosses fingers* Even this project has taken me longer than expected. I think I'm just a slow stitcher, and I vastly underestimate the time it takes me to do things. I think I may have to take a more realistic look at my resolutions and modify them into something that's more inspirational than aspirational.

Ah, well. Such is life. Since I haven't provided you with anything fun lately, here's a super cute photo of my babies. Onyx (the black one. And yes, I have had someone ask me why we named him Onyx) is the male and is 2 1/2 years old, and Siri is the female and will be 2 in February, and before you ask, no, I'm not really sure what breeds they are. They're both rescues, and all I can say for sure is that Onyx's mother was a pure bred German shepherd, his father was probably a black lab mix, and they told us that Siri is a chocolate lab mix. Everyone has theories about what she's mixed with. Border collie? Rodesian ridgeback? Who knows? I honestly believe that they are the cutest dogs in the entire world. Ever. I thought I'd post evidence that I am, in fact, a seamstress with dogs and no cats. I feel like I'm a true anomaly in the community. :)

Post-holiday Reflection and Gifted Additions to the Stash

My Christmas was wonderful. I got up early in the morning and walked the dogs in that magical time just when kids are starting to wake up and shake their parents awake. When we were little, my sister and I used to jump on my parents' bed, then sit impatiently at the top of the stairs until Dad had decided it was a decent hour to get out of bed. :) While I walked the dogs, I imagined similar things were going on in the houses I passed by. There is nothing quite so magical as Christmas morning for a child (especially when it was pretty much guaranteed to include a box full of books! my favorite gift every year...).

I went to my parents' early, and we opened gifts, ate breakfast (I brought over oranges and squeezed fresh juice), watched a movie from someone's stocking, and basically hung out until my dad's side of the family got there. Then, we had dinner. Yum.

I am incredibly lucky, and I received several really great gifts, including a Pier 1 chair (for A and me) and tickets to see Lady Antebellum. One of the little things I got was an ornament my mom made me, and I thought I'd share that here. She always gives my sister and I an ornament that symbolizes something important from the last year. Sometimes they require explanation, but this one definitely didn't. :)

The other thing I got that you all reading this will be interested in was a box from my grandpa. My grandma died quite a few years ago now, but he's been holding on to her stuff, probably hoping to find someone who would appreciate it. He gave me her sewing machine a while ago (my dad is fixing the cord on it, so I have yet to actually see the machine, but I have the table in my sewing room), and on Christmas, he brought me a box. I didn't really know what to expect from it, and I was pretty surprised. My grandma was a quilter, but I guess I didn't realize just how much non-quilting sewing she did. She had three unfinished projects in the box. The first was an apron with an eyelet skirt and floral bib.

The second was the expected quilted pieces. I'm not a quilter or even an aspiring quilter, nor am I a big fan of brown, so I'm not sure what to do with this.

The third was an A-line skirt with those cool diagonal pockets set into the side seams that I don't know how to do. :) It's pretty wrinkly, but you get the idea. I wouldn't have chosen the fabric, but it's all cut out and ready, and it looks like it'll fit me, so I might stitch it up and wear it in honor of her.

There was also a fat quarter of blue flowers on ivory and a couple yards of a heavy tan and brown fabric I can't identify.

  

And then there was the box within the box.

Yup. That's the box I put my gift for my grandma in when I was in 3rd grade. I had a little trouble with spelling, but at least I got our names right! :) And just in case she couldn't tell what the object I'd given her was, I labeled the inside of the box lid:

Now, you should know that I have a terrible memory. Like, notoriously bad. My first memory is of walking down the hall toward my bedroom and realizing halfway there that I'd forgotten what I was going there for. Yes. You read that right. My first memory is of forgetting something. But I remember those hot pads. When I was in 3rd grade, my dad made 36 little hot pad-sized looms for my class. Mrs. Roy taught us how to weave on them with yarn, and I remember thinking that this was the coolest thing ever. The 3rd grade class made a little woven quilt out of them, and it hung on the wall in the school library. I loved making those squares. So much that I'm pretty sure I made a "hot pad" for everyone I could think of. It makes me want to take up weaving!

Because this is already quite the long post, I'll just finish with a photo of what my grandma kept in the box. At some point, I'll share some photos of the other things of hers I've gotten from my grandpa, and the details of what's in this box. It's nice to use the things she left behind, to be able to connect with her in this way.

Happy New Year!

I'm back in the blogosphere! I'm feeling refreshed and ready for 2012. This year, I'm going to really focus on living life as I want to live it. I want to be a more peaceful, patient, and happy woman. I definitely want to be more productive. So, my 2012 resolutions:

1. Meditate every day, even if it's just five minutes spent listening to myself breathing.
2. Create (finish) two things every week, one of which I'd like to be a book and the other of which will probably be something sewn or knitted for myself.
3. Start an Etsy shop (to sell those hand-bound books!).
4. Focus more on my relationships with my family and friends - be present, not thinking about the next project or the book I'm reading.
5. Participate in Sew Weekly after finishing my SWAP (and possibly during, if anything coincides).
6. Stop eating dairy! I'm severely allergic, and I really can't just pop a Benadryl every time I want to have a cookie or creamy soup. Besides, most of that stuff is bad for me anyway!
7. Exercise every day, even if it's just 15 minutes of HIIT. Or an extra walk, yoga, hula hooping, whatever. I need to get moving when I'm not trapped at my desk in the office. It'll definitely boost my mood in the dark days of January. :)
8. Take a page out of Leah Dieterich's book and write a thank-you note to someone or something every day. If you haven't seen her website, check out thxthxthx and prepare to enjoy yourself immensely.
9. Organize my creative space. It's a disaster. Maybe I'll show you sometime, or maybe I'll just continue to hide it in my complete and utter shame. It's not a creative space. It's a dumping ground for things that inspire me, but which I am unable to find in the disaster that is that room. I have got to get that room together. It's getting difficult for me to find my rotary cutter and seam ripper in the clutter!
10. Go on a spending fast for a year. This is going to be the hardest one, but it's really necessary at this point in my debt. :( Here are my rules: I can spend money on needs (gas, groceries, phone, bills, etc), things I've already committed to (SWAP and Stagecoach), and a certain weekly amount ($40 I think) on trips to see A, dates when I do see her, and outings with friends. Anything more I want to spend, I'll have to earn in addition to my income (like selling those books in my Etsy shop that doesn't yet exist!).

Other things I want to do/try this year:

• Complete SWAP 2012
• Make a coat
• Participate in Me-Made June
• Knit something that's not a rectangle
• Learn how to sew with knit fabric
• Make a little black dress
• Learn how to draft my own patterns
• Make an inspiration board for my sewing room
• Make at least three items inspired by Pinterest
• Plan and make handmade Christmas gifts for everyone for Christmas 2012
• Make a petticoat
• Make a pencil skirt
• Fix, replace, or dump all the clothes in my closet that I don't wear or that are stained or ripped
• Do fabric printing or painting
• Dye fabric
• Make a full slip
• Use at least 10 of the patterns already in my stash

So, what about you? Do you share any of my resolutions? Do you think making resolutions on an arbitrary day is just a silly practice? Are you excited for 2012?!

Paper Snowflakes - The Perfect Winter Wedding Decor

One of my coworkers got married on Friday morning. Since it's her second marriage and she's old enough that they've both acquired all the home goods they'll need, she didn't have a bridal shower, but we all wanted to do something for her anyway. We pooled some cash for a gift card, got her a card, and someone suggested decorating her cubicle. I decided to take that on, and for her winter wedding, I suggested that we all make snowflakes and a bunting.

I taught everyone how to make six-pointed snowflakes, and we made everything out of computer paper and strung it up on floss (the only string we could get at the CVS downtown).

They turned out beautifully, and everyone had so much fun making them.

(top left is one of mine)

(mine is the middle one)

(I made the tiny middle one... I like little snowflakes!)

Paper snowflakes would make great decorations for a winter wedding reception too. They're easy, fast, cheap, and fun to make, and if you iron them out to make them flat (setting your iron on low with no steam, of course), they'll look professional (as they were, my coworker thought we bought them somewhere!). I like six-pointed ones because they're scientifically accurate and I'm a huge, huge nerd. :) But you could make othernumber-pointed ones too. I'm sure there are tutorials around online!

Another Gift in the Works

Last year, I bought fabric to make a little clutch for my best friend for Christmas. I never did anything with the stuff, and I feel like a terrible friend, even though she doesn't know that I slacked off because it's not like you tell your friend, "I was going to make you this adorable little clutch, but I'm a huge procrastinator and didn't even cut the fabric, so here's a consolation gift." :)

Anyway, this year, I'm making her a clutch out of those fabrics (the multi-colored fabric for the outside and the brown and turquoise fabric for the lining). I bought a zipper to match, and I dug through my inheritance from my grandma to find perfectly matching thread too (have I ever mentioned that I inherited my grandma's old sewing supplies? I'll have to post about them at some point.).

I'm using the adorable "Tied with a Bow" Pouch Tutorial by Mommy by Day... Crafter by Night. It's so easy, and so cute!

But I'm changing the pouch up a bit. Instead of making it 9" tall by 7" wide, I'm making it 5 1/2" tall by 9" wide. It'll look more like this: 

Infinity Scarf - Completed!

I finished my sister's scarf! I talked about it in a post a couple weeks ago. I ran out of yarn when I was about three inches from the end, so I had to go out and get more of this expensive stuff, but it was worth it. It's beautiful. I looked up how to join seams together online, twisted the scarf so it would be a twisted loop, then joined the ends. Can you see the join? It's almost invisible on the right side, and it looks so clean on the wrong side. Love.

She'll be able to wear it just tossed over her head if she wants, or she can twist it around twice and wear it in what looks like a very complicated knot around her neck. I didn't get a photo of it long (well, I did, but Blogger and Picnik aren't playing well together, and it will only publish sideways, so I'm sorry, but you'll just have to imagine the beautiful long knit loop. When it's on, the bottom hits at about my belly button). Since it's a gift that hasn't been given, I can't really take a picture of it on my sister yet, so here's a photo of it on me.

 

I kind of want to keep it.

And a close-up. Can you see that I alternated knit and purl stitches in the same row? It makes it so that the scarf is super stretchy and twice as thick, another thing that I love about it.

 

Do I really have to give this one away? I suppose I do. It'll keep my little California sister warm in this cold Michigan winter. That's love, people.

New Sewing Machine

In October of 2008, I borrowed one of my mom's sewing machines. She took it back once in a while when she needed to make a button hole, but for the most part, her other four machines did what she needed (she owns her own business making custom window treatments, pillows, etc.), and that machine was effectively a semi-permanent loan. I kept thinking she would get me a machine of my own for Christmas or my birthday, but then a couple weeks ago, my grandma Dean (my mom's stepmother) gave my mom my grandfather's sewing machine for me, and I picked it up on Saturday. I'm so excited to have a sewing machine of my own, and one that (albeit briefly) belonged to my grandfather before he died.

 (this is a photo from the Singer website)

It's a Singer Simple, and it really is a simple little machine. Everything is mechanical, which I love. I'm not at all into all that computerized stuff. I'm too afraid that something will break and no one will be able to figure out how to fix it. Ugh. The click of a wheel locking into place is much more satisfying. It does have an automatic needle threader, which my mom's machine didn't have, so I'm really curious about how that works. So excited to try it out! Also, that invisible zipper foot that I bought for my mom's machine fits this one! Yay!

Now all I need is to find a manual for it somewhere...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

I was going to dress up for work today, but when I put on my old costume from high school, it was super wrinkled, and A took one look and asked what in the world it was. It's a queen costume in faux shiny satiny sea green (under dress) and royal blue (over dress) with silver trim. My mom made it for me from Simplicity 8725. I didn't even realize this pattern was out of print until I tried to find it just now!

Anyway, I didn't wear it, and by the time I decided not to, it was too late to lace myself into my Renaissance Festival costume, so it was a no-go today. Maybe I'll dress up for the kiddies this evening. I don't even have a pumpkin. I'm thinking about running out to get one and just leaving it on the porch not carved up, so I can cook it up into a pie or something later. Yum!

In addition to being Halloween, today is the last day of Blogtoberfest. (Yay Blogtoberfesters!) Did anyone post every single day? Including today, I've blogged 22 out of the 31 days in October, and I'd say 71% is pretty good. I started this blog on May 27 of this year, and in the last month, I've doubled my total posts since May. Craziness.

From now on, I'm going to write three posts a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I'll toss in an extra one if I've got more to say. :) Every day is a little too much for me, although I'll definitely participate in Blogtoberfest again next year. I really enjoyed it, and I loved looking through the other Blogtoberfesters' blogs.

Five Things

I've seen this floating around on other people's blogs, and I thought I'd try it out. Five things you probably don't know about me:

1. I hula hoop. Yes, I'm 27, and I own 3 hoops and have my eye on acquiring at least four more. I hoop with a few other people every Thursday evening, and I love every second of it. :)

2. I spent the first half of this year denying that I was 27. I want to be 26 forever. Before I was 26, I really just wanted to be 26. I don't know. It was like a magic age.

3. I've never left the country (And no, Canada doesn't count. You didn't even need a passport to go to Canada back when I was driving my sister over there to drink!). I've had a passport since 2006, when I graduated from college, and it's my dream to use it before it expires!

4. I hate television, but for some reason, it has become perfectly acceptable in my mind to watch old episodes of pretty much anything (and by old I mean anything that played at least a day ago!) via the Internet or Netflix on my iPad. Don't ask me why. I really don't understand it myself.

5. I have never drunk a cup of coffee. Yes, you read that right. I'll leave you in what I know is a state of shock over that. :)

Blogtoberfest Goals Update

I did not post yesterday, and I'm not going to apologize for it, Blogtoberfest, because I was in Illinois, spending the weekend with A and I hadn't prepared a post in advance. When your spouse is long-distance, you simply don't spend time blogging when you're together. :)

I'm going to be out of town Wednesay through Friday, but that will be for work, so I'll have no problem posting. :) What that does mean, though, is that I won't have much time for sewing. Just tonight (after cooking dinner...a girl needs to eat!) and tomorrow night.

We are 10 days into October, and I thought I'd do an update on where I am with my October goals.

1. Complete my Circle Skirt Sew-along skirt. Completed and blogged about here. Casey also wrote a blog with the other sewists who participated in the Circle Skirt Sew-along, and they were so inspiring! I still think I'm going to add the pleat for a little extra something, but I'm really happy with the way it fits. It could also stand to be slightly shorter, but to be honest, I just can't imagine picking out the miles of hemming and re-doing it. I'll wear it all the time anyway, and I'll just cut down the next one. :)

2. Sew a red wool dress. I have the wool and lining and the vintage pattern I'm going to use, but I need to pre-wash the fabric. If it says "dry-clean only," can I hand-wash it anyway?

3. Put up photos of the sheet dress. This is done too, and blogged here. Love it!

4. Sew the Colette Ginger in the pink mystery fabric with gray pinstripes from my stash. This is going to be my next project. Hopefully, I'll be able to start it tonight (after dinner).

5. Bind at least one book every week. I haven't even touched my book binding table, and we're 10 days in. I'll probably scramble to bind four books at the end of the month!

6. Write a blog entry every day of the month. Umm...well, this goal is now to write a blog entry every day except October 9. :)

Sewing vs. a French Film, -or- The Names of Love

I didn't sew today. I was planning on finishing my circle skirt, but I didn't even touch it. Instead, I went out with some old friends to see a movie downtown, which we followed with dessert (mango sorbet...yum...). It was a French film called The Names of Love. It was about an exuberant girl who takes "make love, not war" to a literal level and sleeps with right-wing conservatives in order to win them over to the left. She meets a scientist, and unlikely as it seems, they fall in love. I loved it. It made me laugh, and a few times it made me squirm in my seat...the kind of squirming you do when the character does or says something that they will probably regret later, and you know they're about to, but you can't do anything to stop it. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a film at one of the downtown theaters. It was probably Juno, which gives you an idea of how long ago it was. It was a nice way to spend the evening. And I can always finish my skirt tomorrow. I hope you all had a wonderful evening as well!

Our Perfect Wedding with DIY Details

Yay! I'm married! That's what I wrote in chalk on my parents' back deck during the reception. The day could not possibly have been more perfect. The weather was overcast during the ceremony, but the sun came out later, and it was beautiful for the rest of the day.

There were so many little handmade details I want to share, which my mom and sister and I worked on for so long. I made the favors, which were chocolates gathered up in muslin circles and tied with green and gray ribbons. You can see the table number between them as well (printed on cardstock and glued to cut and bent bits of hanger with another piece of paper to cover the back).

My sister and my mom made the centerpieces, which were these lovely coffee filter flowers. All of the other tables had theirs in green wine bottles (took forever to peel the labels off some of those!), but as you can see, ours are super tall and graced a lovely glass vase. You can't see the necklace I'm wearing very well, but my mom made that too. I'll have to get a closer picture of it. It's especially special (hehe) because at the end of the chain that dangles down my back, there's a tiny leaf with a diamond in it that was removed from my engagement-and-now-wedding ring when it was re-sized.

And just for fun, my dad brought out the sidewalk chalk, and one of my friends drew this adorable picture of me and A with our dogs (who sadly are not well-behaved enough to have been at the wedding).

My camera remains at my parents' house until I can get out there on Thursday, at which time we will return to our regular programming. Which isn't actually all that regular. Ah, well. Either way, I'll get you all a photo of the sheet dress and possibly of the navy circle skirt I'm working on. :)

Pause

So, I put a pause on sewing and blogging for a while, because life has been a little crazy lately. My grandfather died the week before last. It's been expected for a while (he's had heart problems forever and was diagnosed with liver cancer earlier this year), bt that doesn't make it any easier.

Over the weekend, my partner moved to Illinois for a job for one year (only one - I definitely don't want to do a long-distance marriage for longer than that!), so I was spending every spare second with her before she left. I honestly didn't even set foot in my workroom for at least a week and a half.

Tomorrow, I have a new roommate moving in, so I've been busy making space for her and getting the house in order (we neglected cleaning as well in order to spend time together).

It's been a very strange mix of sad and exciting the last few weeks. Hopefully my life will calm down soon and I'll be able to settle into a rhythm of sewing and bookbinding, Skyping my partner, and playing with my dogs.