In which Little Miss Sew-and-So gets completely sidetracked.

I did get my dress for my cousin's wedding cut out on Saturday, and pretty much all ready to go. And yesterday, I found beads to go with to make jewelry. (No small feat, since it is an odd-colored print to match. See?)

(The solid color at the top is a scrap of the leftover strap fabric from my maxi-dress fix...I had to switch patterns due to one-way printing, and I have hopefully just enough to make it work. And yes, that's a clue as to which line of patterns I'm using now.)


So my plan was to work on this next. But then I got an email from the diabolical BurdaStyle, in which they announced that they're doing a contest inspired by the first episode of this season's Project Runway. You know, the episode in which they had to take a piece of clothing out of their suitcase and give it to another designer to chop up. Honestly, I didn't even look to see what the prizes were before I decided that I must enter this contest. And I immediately knew which resident of my closet was going to be the sacrifice.

That's right, "Sister of the Groom Dress From Hell"... you're going DOWN. Mwahaha.

Au revoir, Jane....

This is what I woke up to this morning-- a huge tear right in the middle of one of the seams on the shorts I made as part of my BurdaStyle Jane pajamas! I knew they weren't going to hold up a super-long time, because the first time I washed them, I noticed that the seams were fraying rather badly despite the pinking that I put on them. So this really isn't fixable, because it's not so much a tear as that the fabric has literally frayed down to the stitching and beyond. I'd hoped they'd make it through the summer, at least...oh well.

So I'm going to treat this as a learning experience, and this is what I'm taking from it: First, if the fabric is this easily frayable, I really need to take the time to finish the edges. (My serger was in the shop when I made these, admittedly, but some zigzagging might have helped nicely.) Also, I probably should have made this one size larger--the top fits decently, but the shorts were just a liiiiiiiiittle bit on the snug side. So I think a reprint of the pattern is in order.

Though I am a little on the low side as far as my stash of summer sleepwear goes, I'm not crushed....they were cute, but it was just fabric from my stash that, as I said before, I'm not really sure what possessed me to buy them. And, I mean, they have pink on them. So I think I can consider this a muslin and just use a better print the next time. 


In jacket-sewing news, it's progressing... I've slowed down a bit this week because of some bias tape trim issues. Namely that suedecloth makes awful bias tape. The edges just don't press under that well, and it doesn't curve all that great. I had to completely change my original sleeve embellishment idea because the fabric simply would not accommodate it. But more on that later....as of now, the front pieces and the back pieces are sewn together, but the front and back are not sewn together, and the trim is all taped onto the front and sleeves (with a water soluble tape-- not quite the same brand that Oonaballoona recommended, but this stuff will dissolve if I ever need to wash the jacket, so that's good.) So I need to stitch that down before I can go any further. I'm hoping for a really good sewing day on Saturday, so we'll see how it goes!

Bonjour, mademoiselle Jane!

...and that pretty much exhausts all of the French I know. Unless I want to count to three, or start singing "Frere Jacques", or start quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  ("Fetchez la vache!!") Hey, don't look at me like that, the only language options I had in high school were Spanish and German, and I went with the latter. But anyway, it seemed like a fitting way to show my next finished project, which I finished yesterday (except for pressing).

So I've had this fabric in my stash for quite some time. It seriously might have been something like five or six years. I'm not really sure why I bought it, to be honest. I've never really been a Francophile--my European interests lean way more strongly towards the UK/Ireland/Italy. Also, pink is my least favorite color, and I generally go out of my way to avoid wearing it. As you can see, it figures quite prominently in this print. I'm also not entirely certain why I kept it after I freecycled a good chunk of my stash last year, to a woman who wanted to get started with sewing. I was probably thinking that giving her a slippery, silky fabric that frayed easily would be a great way to get her to give up in frustration. But it was time to get it out of my stash, and I needed summer pajamas, so here we go...

Pattern: the Jane Pajamas from BurdaStyle

Pattern Description: from the website: "A delicate and delightful set- neglige and shorts!"

Pattern Sizing: 32-44. I went with a 38.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? The top does. The shorts are close, but I made mine longer.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I have to admit that I didn't really look at the directions for the shorts-- I've made PJ shorts/pants often enough that I know the drill. The only thing about the top that I wasn't entirely clear about was how to attach the straps in the back, but I winged it and it was fine.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It came together pretty quickly. And I'm actually pleasantly surprised at just how well the top fits! (I haven't actually tried the shorts on yet, so I hope they're ok!)

Fabric Used: See above. Aside from that, polyester silky print.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I added about 3 inches to the length of the shorts--they were practically underwear length! The only change I made with the top was to eliminate the bow. This fabric made it frou-frou enough without adding that. (There you go, more French!)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Provided that it fits ok, I definitely will. Especially the top. Though maybe out of a fabric that has a bit of stretch instead of a straight-up woven...

And now, back to work on my top-secret BurdaStyle related project. Curious? All will be revealed in due time...

Dreaming of summer...

...clothes, that is. Since apparently I now live in Alaska instead of the mid-Atlantic, is it any wonder?

Since I didn't have work until later, I braved the aftermath of Snowmageddon with my mom to go to Joann's--my original plan for today was to start assembling the quilt, but I discovered that I didn't have enough of the muslin that I got for the backing, since I had to make the quilt top larger than originally planned. (I guess I might be doing that tomorrow. We'll see, since I also have the sides for the rest of the ottoman reupholster job cut out and waiting for assembly.) And since I've been pondering my wardrobe quite a bit lately, one of the things I quickly settled on is that I'd like to add a simple black knee-length skirt to my wardrobe, since I think it'll go with a lot of things and the black skirt I have doesn't always go with everything due to the styling. So I figured I could justify adding some fabric to my stash for that... a linen-look poly-rayon blend that's not supposed to wrinkle a whole lot. (I know it looks grey here due to the lighting, but it really is black.) I'm planning to give a skirt from the most recent Burda mag a shot for this one. (I also splurged on this great printed knit there, since Joann's hardly ever has good knits, but let's just ignore that for now.)

And then when I got home, I was inspired to go through my samples of my current fabric stash to choose a couple fabrics to concentrate on using for some spring-summer clothes. (I spent some time last night partially going through what I have there, and figured I should probably be thinking of sewing additions to that now, and then in the summer I can work on sewing things for the fall and winter.) So here's what I pulled out to motivate myself to get the rest of this room sewing done so I can make clothes again!

1. An organic cotton jersey knit--it's really kind of a seafoam green color. I'm thinking shirt #102 from last June's Burda for this one.


2. A woven polyester in cream, seafoam, orange and a more pinky coral. The most likely candidate at the moment is McCall's 5809.

3. A purple 60s-printed lightweight sweater knit that I picked up at a dollar a yard several years ago at a Walmart sale. I'm thinking a lightweight shorter sleeved cardigan, but I haven't settled on a pattern on this yet. I have nothing in my stash patterns or Burda mags that seems to quite fit yet. I'm considering the Riviera Mini-Midi-Maxi Cardi from HotPatterns, but since the pattern alone is almost $20, I'm keeping my options open and will probably save this one for a later project.

4. This crinkled gold-embroidered turquoise is one that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago, I think. And I've been eyeing it for about a year trying to figure out what to do with it. I think I've finally settled on a pattern I've done with crinkly fabric before, Simplicity 5595 (the short flutter-sleeved one).

5. I found some inspiration the other day at EMS, of all places. (That's where I get a lot of my outdoorsy gear.) There was this cute blouse there with a gathered empire bust, mandarin collar and interesting button closure made out of a stripey sheer fabric. I almost bought it because it was on sale, but then I remembered I had this fabric in my stash and didn't need to pay $26 for it. I think I can figure something out based off of the May '09 Burda #110, though I may seriously take the sleeves from, say, #112 of the same issue.

6. This is another one I've been eyeing in my stash for awhile, an embroidered twill. I was thinking maybe a dress when I bought it, then I thought it would be perfect for Burda 3/07 #117, and then I thought maybe I should go back to a dress, but I think I'm back to the Burda skirt again. I'll just need to figure out what to do with the yard or so I'll have left over.

7: Now I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought this particular fabric-- I've never really been a Francophile, not to mention one of the colors is hot pink! But I am in need of some cute summer pjs, so I think these will do nicely. I'm thinking maybe the Jane pjs off of the BurdaStyle site (with longer shorts), since I do have that pattern saved from back when they were free patterns. (Maybe I should just do the shorts from the November '09 Burda, since then the magazine would be good for something. Although I actually really do like one of the pj tops from this issue too-- I just don't think I have the yardage to make both out of this fabric.)

8. And then there's this turquoise polyester satin that I got for free--someone passed it to my mom, but she couldn't use it for quilts so I ended up with almost 4 yards of this stuff! It's a great color, but I've been having trouble figuring out what to do with it since it would be quite easy to make it look too nice for everyday wear (and I'm not sure it's nice enough for all of those fancier occasions I don't go to!) So part of it is going to become a jacket lining, at least. I spontaneously ordered some corduroy on sale at Fabric.com for $2.99 a yard to make this jacket (and therefore this is actually probably going to end up as a fall sewing project)--figured this would make a fun lining for it! I just hope the fabric's really more chocolate than it looks on screen, though I guess turquoise and black would go well together too! Um, and then while I was at it, I sort of got this and this to make those same blouse and jacket patterns that I'm using with the sheer metallic stripey fabric. (Been feeling an urge lately to add some plaid back into my wardrobe, probably a result of that revisiting my teenage style post. I tried to get something to refashion, but Goodwill didn't have anything in plaid that I liked this time. At $2.49 a yard, I figured I could give it a shot for these.)

And then there's the one thing I'd love to find an excuse to make, but haven't quite figured out yet...I have this retro 60s Simplicity dress pattern-- I'm thinking the style of the coral, but the length of the turquoise. But despite the plethora of suggested fabrics on the back of the envelope, I just don't seem to have anything in my stash that is calling out to me on this one! Any suggestions?

I know it looks like a lot, but I figure I can take a day to trace out patterns and then a day to cut out stuff, and then I can probably get through much of this pretty quickly. Barring any major fitting issues, of course. And once I get through finishing that ottoman slipcover and quilting that bedspread and making three sets of curtains...of course, it's looking like there's a very good chance that I'll have snow days both tomorrow (today now, I guess) and Wednesday, so as long as we don't lose power, I have no excuse not to sew!

Goodies!!!

Got two things on Saturday that I was very excited about.
The book was one I picked up to get enough on a recent Amazon.com order to get the free shipping--figured it might help me with some of the stuff I've been having trouble with to get a really good finished look, like getting jackets in linings and such. I'm actually excited to try some of the hand-sewing stitches in here!

And I was quite excited to FINALLY start getting my BWOF subscription!


I'm still sorry that I missed February's hippie-clothes feature, but I really liked some of the clothes in this issue, so I'm going to post links. (Skipping the menswear, kid's clothes and plus sizes, since it's highly unlikely I'll be sewing any of those any time soon.)

1. I'm really not sure how to define my style-- I haven't boiled it down to one or two words or a phrase yet. But one of the things I've liked for a long time are vintage-looking jackets-- there were a couple my mom made in the 70s that I used to wear all the time, and this one I got from the thrift store in 8th grade that I looooooved--it was black velveteen with covered buttons and patch pockets, and I wore it all the way up until sometime in college when the back finally split open. I guess the fabric rotted, because I hadn't really changed sizes (and it had always been just a tiny bit too small for me anyway, but I loved it too much to get rid of it.) But this jacket reminds me very much of that one--my jacket's pockets didn't have flaps, but they were that same rounded shape.

2. I think this dress is just adorable. I probably won't ever sew it, because it's only offered in petite sizes. (Nicole, if you're reading this, this is SO you--it looks very swing-danceable!)

3. I. Want. This. Blouse. When flipping through the preview online, this was the one thing that really made me hope that my subscription would start this month! I guess if I had to boil my style down to a couple of words, it would probably be something like "Boho-buisness-casual"-- I like some more tailored-looking things, like the aforementioned vintagey jackets and pants that actually fit me. And I have to wear some stuff like that for work. But I love stuff that looks hippie and/or medieval fantasy movie-inspired, and I still love my jeans and fitted t-shirts! Anyway, the point of that ramble was that the drawstring neck on this really combines that whole hippie-medieval and tailored look, as far as I'm concerned. I'm actually going to attempt this one as a reconstruction-- took one of my men's shirts from the last thrift store run (the blue one) and tore it to pieces last night. I'm going to try it as the shorter version, so I'm hoping that allows me enough fabric... I may need to fudge it a bit with the collar.

4. I'm trying to decide if I like or hate this skirt. The pockets interest me, but between the boring basic grey and the pleats, it might be a little too high school uniform for me. Maybe I'll stick with the pencil skirt version.

5. I'm loving this knit tunic--it's got such a mod 60's feel to it, with that neck piece. But it pretty much demands to be made out of a really good graphic print, so I'll have to keep an eye out for one (pretty sure nothing in my stash would quite work.)

6. This dress is so pretty, though I would never make it in pink. But I don't think I could pull it off--it looks like it would be way too low-cut for my comfort.

7. So if I ever get an urge for a trench coat the next time I watch Casablanca, I'm covered.

Speaking of Burda patterns, I'm feeling quite happy with today's new BurdaStyle pattern. It's been awhile, sadly, since one of theirs really jumped out at me-- the last two weeks have been just variation how-tos on previous patterns, and while I appreciate the restyling tips for versatility, a couple weeks of that in a row were just disappointing. And then before that it was either accessories that I could easily figure out on my own, stuff for Valentine's day (yuck), or men's clothes, which I have no reason to sew-- I don't think my brother would like any of their stuff, and the styling is a bit young for my dad. But this fits into the vintagey jacket love very well, and also looks very Anthropologie to me, which I also like.

So I guess I should actually say something about what I've been doing, besides drooling over these patterns, huh? Well, I spent nearly all afternoon and evening on Saturday sewing a purse and watching movies. I was hoping to finish the purse, but the bias tape edging took forever to do. And then I only got one side sewn on yesterday afternoon, because I was away from home too much. That, and while I think I'll like the final look of the bag, I'm really not liking how it's constructed--too many layers of fabric/batting/bias tape makes my machine very unhappy, and having to hand-sew the tops of it together with upholstery thread and using the machine table to help me shove the needle through all of the layers without stabbing myself makes me unhappy. And, as mentioned, I tore up a shirt in hopes that it will cooperate and I can try out that BWOF blouse without spending any money on it or using up stash stuff I might actually want to wear! But I don't think I'll get any of that sewing done today... despite having a snow day from my teaching, I still have about half the work left to do on some serious cleaning that needs to get done so I can beat down my recent allergy attacks. Yes, this is craft-related, since the headaches have been keeping me from sewing!

panic! and a project

Ugh....this was not my best afternoon ever. One of my friends is coming over tomorrow to sew (I told her she could use my serger a couple months ago when we went fabric shopping together and she got some knit to make dresses out of), and I'd figured that I'd use my sewing machine to work on the shrugs for the upcoming wedding while she uses my serger. There's only about 5 seams involved for the outside of each shrug, so it's not like it's going to take a lot of brainpower, and then I can help her when she needs it. And I'm still hoping I can machine-sew the trim on, so I figured I could start on that tomorrow with the amount of trim I had, which is about half of what's needed for all 4 in the end. And then emailed the bride to ask her to bring the rest on Sunday, that we'd had to order in.

She didn't have it. And said that she'd given it to me back in November. Which I then vaguely remembered. So I checked my fall purse. And my current purse. And my tote bag that I put my church music and haul my flute in on Sundays that I play. And the Joann's bag that the fabric and the other half of the trim had been in. Nothing. So then I called her just to make sure she didn't have it, since she's been admittedly kind of scatterbrained lately, between planning a wedding and planning to move halfway across the world. Still nothing.

So I ended up making an unexpected trip to Joann's this afternoon, because I knew I would have no peace of mind until I knew I could finish this project in time. Especially since we're past the window where we could order more and get it in time! Thankfully, they had enough of it! (I'm also quite thankful that she purposely chose inexpensive trim. Because she said she'd pay for the replacement, and I'd feel even more awful if it had been the expensive stuff!) Ended up picking up a few other things I needed while I was there too, like a pack of hand sewing needles to replace the ones I perpetually lose, some thread for the next item of this post, and two of the new McCall's patterns I was eyeing because they were on sale. (It's 5809, because I like that it's empire waist and still fitted throughout the actual waist--will be much more flattering on me that way--and 5814, because that ruffle-cap-sleeve jacket thing just looks like it might be great for summer work clothes!)

Ok, so the project. My brother recently gave me two pairs of his old jeans that were too torn up for him to wear anymore (hard to see in the pic, but both of them had huge tears across the knees, and a few holes in other places) to see if I could do something with them. Kind of unexpected. So I started tearing them up on Sunday, and today I turned them into this:

Yeah, not the greatest picture, but what can you do by yourself at 11:30 at night?



There were a couple of glitches. Like I ended up having to take out and re-install a zipper-- I was originally planning to use the one that came in the bluer pair of jeans, since that's the part I knew I'd be using for the center front, but whoever sewed the jeans had just chopped off the top in the middle of the teeth, and I accidentally removed the zipper pull and couldn't get it back on! Fortunately, I had taken out the zipper from the greyer jeans , which was just a shorter length zipper (smarter people) and completely intact. So that took a good chunk of the afternoon, particularly since I'm not experienced enough at fly fronts yet to not have to rip things out five times when sewing them. (Yes, I sewed the fly completely shut again.) As you can see, the fly does lay a bit funny. But other than that, not bad for an afternoon's work. I sort of used the BurdaStyle Sidonie pattern as my basis for the skirt (once I got the front and back pieces sewed into the bigger pieces of fabric), and it worked out pretty well. I'm glad I had this one saved from the mini-challenge, because it was a convenient and simple one to have on hand!

This skirt isn't entirely done. Sewing-wise, yes, but I think it needs a dye job. For one thing, I just like darker denim better-- seems nicer and like it will last longer. And I'm not totally liking this two-tone thing going on, especially in the back because it looks like I have racer stripes on my butt. I don't need that. The overriding reason is, because of the way I had to cut it due to bad hole location in the bluer pair (right in the middle of the upper leg!) you can see the lines from where the original fly-front topstitching was on the greyer pair in the front, and that bothers me. Also wouldn't mind covering over the weird darker splotches where the belt carriers were. I did look at the dye while I was in Joann's, but ended up not getting it-- was hoping I could find the stuff that you could just toss in the washer without making a ginormous mess of it, and it's far too cold to bucket-dye it. Probably for at least another 3 months, as easily as I get cold. So this skirt will probably be sitting unworn for a little while. But that's ok. I'm just getting a head-start on the warm-weather sewing!

This is not my best day ever.

Well, it's pretty much official.... I'm not going to be able to complete the BurdaStyle minichallenge in time now. I tried, but machines are not cooperating with me today. I've tried two different sewing machines, broken two leather needles, nearly killed my fingers attempting to handsew through the holes, and punched a bunch of obvious holes in the leather that the thread wouldn't catch in while trying to topstitch it. And this was after spending a couple of hours fighting with the straps, trying to get enough stitches for them to stay on. The topstitching, frankly, looks awful. And I'm not sure if I can fix this one.

And, to cap it off, I can't upload the pictures anyway. One of my friends inadvertently gave me a computer virus, so the last 20 hours or so have been spent scanning, rescanning, restarting my computer, watching my computer restart itself, and getting generally frustrated. So while I could take pictures of the finished product (if I could actually finish it), we're also supposed to show what we made it from. And those pictures are no longer on my memory card--they're on my computer. Which I can't access until this mess straightens out, because I had to unplug the network cable lest I infect all of my family's computers as well.

The one crafty bright spot this weekend: You know that shirt I'm embroidering trim for? Since two of my friends were hanging out here yesterday (we were supposed to go to the Renaissance Faire, but got rained out, so we ended up hanging out at my place instead), and I needed something to occupy my hands while we binged on Stargate Atlantis and they crocheted, I finished an entire piece! So now I just have the under-bust band to go, and I can actually get this thing together. Which will hopefully go quickly, because I have a scary number of projects that need to get done in, oh, the next month and a half.

I've been tagged! (And a few minor setbacks)

Christina tagged me, so here goes... seven random things about myself.

1. I don't have an absolute favorite color. I used to say it was blue. But now I like green pretty much equally. And no particular shade of either-- I just really like blues and greens. And browns too, at least in my clothing choices.

2. I'm addicted to finding new music. It doesn't matter how many cds I have loaded onto my iPod-- I'm still constantly searching for new bands or cds to check out! So my subscription to eMusic is definitely a good thing for me-- 40 new tracks every month! (Incidentally, I wish that Blogger had the LiveJournal feature of being able to post what music you're listening to as you write...)

3. I hate Valentine's Day so much that, during my senior year of college, a couple of my friends and I invented our own holiday to take its place. We called it Single Women's Empowerment Day. And then exetended it to a month and shortened it to SWEM. The holiday kind of died last year, when J (one of the original 3 partners in crime) was engaged. I miss that.

4. I have literally scarred myself by crafting-- when I was 15, I sliced a huge chunk off of my fingertip with scissors while making paper beads. What really upset me about it was that my dad had planned to take me to a parking lot to get in some driving practice, but since I was bleeding all over the place, he took my then-13-year-old brother instead! I still have a circle missing from my fingerprint, as I found out a few weeks ago when getting fingerprinted for my band teaching job.

5. It's very hard for me to just sit and watch TV. I either have to be crafting or on the computer at the same time. Sometimes both.

6. I have never been able to develop a taste for coffee. Even when I worked at a coffeeshop. People give me drinks with coffee in them, and all I can taste is the coffee. I can't even distinguish different flavors of it. But I can with tea. Weird.

7. Despite the fact that I play flute for a quasi-living, I have no control over what notes come out when I whistle.

Let's see...tagging seven people (Man, I hate this part... if I linked to you and you already did it, let's just say you're ahead of the game, ok?):

1. Lydia at Lydia's Cozy Corner


2. Gwen at After the dress...


3. Oonabaloona


4. Antoinette at clevergirl.org


5. Mom2fur at Sorta Frugal


6. Caity at caityquilter


7. Sharon at Adventures from the Sewing Studio



Here are the rules:-Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.-Share seven facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.-Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.-Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Anywhoo...

I'm not entirely certain I'm going to be able to finish my bag in time for the BurdaStyle contest. I've run into a bit of a snag on trying to sew the strap on, in the form of "my machine will only take about 3 stitches in the entire thing because it doesn't like multiple layers of leather". I'm hoping that since it at least made needle holes, I'll be able to hand-stitch it on without inducing multiple stab wounds to my hands! And, you know, that the stitches will actually hold. Secondly, I did end up losing a lot of time on Saturday in pumpkin carving.

But I was happy with how that turned out, and it was crafty, so it's all good.

And then I lost pretty much all of Sunday, between blueifying S's wedding dress (we spent a couple episodes of Firefly on it and only got 4 flowers beaded... *sigh*) and this project that my church Bible study group is doing-- basically an Extreme Home Makeover of a girl's room (with the dad's permission, while they're on vacation)--she's the neighbor of one of the women in the group, the mom died of cancer last year, and the dad's pretty overwhelmed with trying to support his family and play the role of both parents. So she's basically a pre-teen with what was a toddler room, so we're trying to make it a little more age-appropriate on the cheap. I said I'd sew some pillows, and so I basically spent a couple hours on Sunday night starting that, had no time for anything crafty on Monday because of work, and then spent pretty much from 8 last night till 12:30 this morning trying to finish them. And didn't. I still have to hand-sew the open edges closed. But I'd like to think that the results will be worth it.

And then tomorrow is later work and cleaning, T and C are coming over on Friday night, Saturday I'm going to the Renaisance Faire, and Sunday is the deadline. Maybe if I can work on it Sunday...

Guess I'd better get on that hand-sewing. And tagging.

Chevron blouse (and a new project)

Here it is...the blouse I finished last night. For the most part, I'm quite happy with how the design turned out. I do wish that the V lined up a bit more in the center front-- I'd intended it to do so. But it didn't quite turn out that way.




It did on each side though, and I guess that's the really important thing, right?






Started a new project tonight, too.



BurdaStyle is doing a recycled mini-challenge, and so I'm trying to turn these two things (a leather trenchcoat that my mom was going to get rid of, and a dress from when I was a teenager) into a new bag to haul my band teaching stuff around in. So I spent the better part of tonight taking the dress apart, once I realized that while the flap can fit on the skirt piece just fine, the back (with the seam) would only be able to accomodate one. So I'm going to have to get a little creative in piecing the print with the black fabric from the top. I mean, yeah, sure, I could just use the lining from the original coat to line the bag... but what fun is that?


Since the leather is going to be seamed on every single bag piece, and I have a big empty corner on the flap, I'm debating whether to add a bit of detail, taking a cue from the lining. The petals are just the leather flipped over to show the more sueded side. I'm not sure about this yet though. Any thoughts?

And yes, there is going to be a good bit of leather left. But I do have plans for some of it, at least. Just wait and see...

Still plugging away...

Got the panel in S's wedding dress fixed to her satisfaction on Sunday. So next week, the "blueifying" begins.

Spent a little time tonight working on my blouse-- got the facings sewn in, and the cuffs sewn togtether. I hauled my machine up to my room so I could simultaneously chat with a friend on IM, and so was too lazy to go downstairs and press seams and all. So I'll finish this tomorrow, hopefully.

Finding myself getting into a scrapbooking kick again-- figures, since I have a pile of sewing with deadlines coming up! So I'm trying to work some prep stuff in, like figuring out exactly what I need to do to get caught up on my backlog of the past 5 years (got behind in grad school and never quite caught up), figuring out what I need to make layouts of from this year, etc. Will also need to sit down and figure out what I still need to develop for photos.

I'm figuring that I'll just aim to finish the road trip album this year, since it's already mid-October and I have a lot of stuff I need to get done in the next few months craft-wise. Like Christmas gifts for several of my friends. And the pantsuit I want to make before the band concert in mid-December, which will require a muslin being made first. BurdaStyle is having another mini-challenge, this one based on recucling, and I already have a project in mind since I was planning on doing it for a Crafting a Green World article. (I'm working on a miniseries of articles pertaining to clothing refashioning.) And it is something I sort of need in the near future. I also have two more pants I have to make muslins of and sew-- I've had the fabric for one of them for two years now!! And, as of Saturday, I have some flannel-backed satin to make myself some new winter pjs. I guess I just wanted something luxurious-looking but comfortable, and am beginning to feel like just because I'm single doesn't mean I should resign myself to sleeping in grungy flannel with sleeves that are too short! In fact, I sent all the pjs with too-short sleeves to Goodwill! And then there's also the shirt I'm slowly embroidering the trim for. But once I get that done, it'll come together fast. And the fabric I was originally going to make the Eva jacket out of. And so on.

But anyway, going back to the scrapbooking, I'm thinking that I'm going to try and get a little more caught up on that during the couple of months where I'm not working at the garden center and will therefore have more time. Hopefully by then I'll have gotten those wintery things I wanted to make done. And I can work on that in my room, if I get the supplies I'll want to use all set beforehand (like I like to do so that I can just blitz through pages). Which will be good, since I get cold sewing in the basement that time of year and don't want to be down there anyway!

Friday Favorites, Episode 25

Wow, I can't believe I've stuck with this long enough to get to 25!

On with the show...

I'm trying to do something a little different this time, and post more things that I like that aren't tutorials. So on that note, the first item today is a post from Confessions of a Craft Addict. The author makes these absolutely adorable, colorful little girl's clothes, and in this post she describes her process of how she goes about choosing patterns and colors to go together. (Did I mention she's also great at mixing prints? And her model is just too cute!)

My Wardrobe Refashion picks of the week: I liked this long green skirt that got turned into a shorter, ribbon-trimmed one. There was also a great boring, logoed T-shirt that got covered over with a really cute owl applique, and a simple but stylish corduroy jacket that got upgraded with a ruffled collar.

BurdaStyle recently hosted a contest to make a cocktail variation of their Malissa dress pattern. I didn't participate in this minichallenge, partially due to lack of time and partially because I just didn't like this pattern. It's the sort of cut that would only be flattering on me if I was very, very pregnant. And maybe not even then. But I've been enjoying seeing the variations that have been popping up here and there. As far as blogs go, Mirella's was a fun one to read about, especially with all the lace detail! But the voting is up now, and all the entries are here. I'm going to have to think about this.... as of now, my favorites are #s 13 (a coral knit-looking one with a cute tie at the neck), 19 (a green one with a criss-cross back), 24 (a plum one with a wide belt), and of course 26 (Mirella's). Figures, I'd pick all ones that cinch it in...

Not exactly a tutorial, but Recycled Crafts had a post about how steel wool can sharpen pins. I'm kind of tempted to make myself another pincushion now!

And I couldn't let the week pass without a couple of tutes... first off, there was instructions for a hot pad made from scraps at My Byrd House (which I found through Whip Up). And another one for a tea towel at Sew Take A Hike (love that blog name!) ... can't remember where I found the link originally, sorry!

And now, off to the dunge...er, basement. I'm in the middle of cutting out a new sewing project and just stopped for dinner. After I get some dessert, that is...

running with scissors

Spent a pretty huge chunk of today cutting things out. I got a tank top (the BurdaStyle Sadie) and a blouse (from New Look) cut out entirely, a knit top cut out roughly, and another BurdaStyle pattern taped together and cut out. Was hoping to get more done, but the blouse took awhile due to the fabric-- it's an embroidered stripe, and to get things to line up well, I had to cut a pretty good portion of it out as single layer pieces, so it took twice as long. If all goes according to plan, though, the two front pieces should be mirror images of each other. I hope.

Let's see, PR tonight... I was actually surprised that Kenley's dress won, after the judges' comments about how it made the thighs look all uneven and such. Personally, I thought that Terri should have won this round, because her outfit was pretty spectacular. Especially that she was able to find fabric so close to the graffiti design. And I actually really loved Leanne's skirt in this episode. I'd actually wear that. And I don't say that about too many things that come onto this show. I wish the judges had something to say about Stella's, because I have a feeling that her outfit wasn't really anywhere remotely close to outside of her rockstar box. And if she's just going to keep churning out the same thing every week, she can go. She annoys me anyway. I was sorry to see Emily go rather than Jennifer, if only because Emily had the better concept, even though the ruffles failed rather spectacularly. If she'd done some kind of flatter surface design with the abstract bright colors, I think it would have been brilliant. And Suede still needs to stop talking in the third person.

Friday Favorites, Episode 7

Got a whole bunch of things today-- to make up for the last few weeks, I suppose!

1. First off, in the name of shameless self-promotion, I'm this week's Featured Member on BurdaStyle. :D

2. In the category of odd and random, Sharon B at In A Minute Ago featured this picture of a gas station cozy. Yes, that's right, the entire abandoned gas station is wrapped in fabric.

3. Secondly in the category of odd and random, ThreadBanger had a top ten list of prom dresses made out of unusual materials. (Just be warned that their #1 pick isn't exactly a kid-friendly material...)

4. Also on ThreadBanger this week, there was a link to a tutorial on how to make a wallet from an old cassette tape! The actual tutorial is here. I kind of want to try this. Just because the idea of a wallet made from music rocks my socks off. Pun fully intended.

5. Sewing with knits is a perpetual challenge for me, so I'd like to thank Angry Chicken for reviewing a new Built By Wendy book about how to deal with them. I'd probably have to actually sit down at the bookstore and flip through it to make sure it's not geared more toward beginners and therefore stuff I already know, but good to know it's out there.

6. Assorted Notions gets a shoutout for this shift dress-- straight from a pattern, but it's one of those complicated European pattern magazine ones and she altered it to make it really great with the print. So I just like it.

7. On an entirely serious note, SewStylish reviewed a program she saw on the BBC about a few British people who went to work in an Indian sweatshop, just to see what it's really like. Very thought-provoking, and a must-read for bargain fashion shoppers.

8. This week's Most Creative Recycling award goes to the maker of this bag, linked from Purple Missus. It's made from... you guessed it... plastic bags.

The last two are both related to fabric stashes and leftovers. The first, from Crafty Daisies, is a really cute little bag made from scraps. The second, which was one of Crafting a Green World's Earth Day posts, is a (mostly) tongue-in-cheek look at the Top 5 Ways Your Fabric Stash Can Save The Earth.

Now, off to support my habit...er, I mean, go finish my teaching for today.

Friday Favorites, Episode 3

Good morning, and welcome to my weekly tour around the crafty blogosphere! (I feel like such a tour guide typing that... oh well.) It's kind of funny-- nearly everything I found this week consisted of turning stuff that would otherwise get trashed into fun crafts. So I guess this is the Almost-Green Edition.

1. This week's first item is technically from BurdaStyle, but this time I saw it first at KOTI*KOTI, one of my recent acquaintances from there. As those of you who have been reading this for awhile have probably figured out, I have a weakness for Asian- inspired things, and this kimono-style jacket is no exception. The fun thing about finding it at Koti's blog is that she was the original designer--several months ago, they had a call for members to submit designs for their "Alice in Workingland" contest, and she was one of the winners, so at this post you can see her original design and the results after BurdaStyle adapted it for a pattern.

2. Over at Nest, this week's show for ThreadBanger.com was on DIY lighting, so there's a neat tutorial about how to re-cover crappy old lampshades to make them fun. Or at least match your room better. Yay recycling! (I have to admit that, when I saw the "freeze frame" on the video before starting it, I was hoping they'd also show how to make those paper lanterns, since I love those things--again, my Asian-inspired thing. But no such luck. She did give several sources for them, though, and showed how to hang them.)

3. Behind the Seams gave a review on these Jalie patterns. I'd never heard of the brand before, I have no idea how they are to sew, but they look like really good knitwear patterns. Might have to check these out at some point, once I master (or, um, even attempt) knits on my serger.

4. Karyn at Trail Mix Designs made some magnets out of Scrabble Tiles. Simple and easy, but oh so fun, because I'll admit it, I'm one of those kids who never grew up. Plus I couldn't help laughing at her comment about only having crappy letters, because that's what happens to me every time I play Scrabble, either in real life or the Facebook version!

5. Crafting a Green World had a doozy of a post this week-- several links worth mentioning. The first is this "Dress of Many Scraps", in which a girl decided to design an outfit solely for the purpose of using up her scraps (a problem I can definitely relate to.) The results were just amazing, it reminds me of something that would be seen on Project Runway (if the designer had way more time to execute her design.) Another fun thing on there was this bottle lamp kit from RePlayGround-- basically, they supply the wiring, you supply the empty glass bottles, and then you end up with a funky recycled lamp. They also have some fun DIY directions on the site, like making a glass bottle into a beaded vase and ransom-note-looking magnetic poetry tiles.

The Sidonie Hiking Skirt, Part 6-- the finale!

That's right, I got it done this afternoon!

View from the side with the cargo pocket...

...the outside...

...and the inside.

Only problem is, I can't seem to get it uploaded to BurdaStyle! Hopefully the site will stop bugging on me so I can get it done within the deadline!

The Sidone Hiking Skirt, part 3 (and a new diversion)

I got several hours' work in on the skirt this afternoon. I used the muslin to make corrections to the paper pattern (because the fabric was already beginning to fray since it was cheap polyester, and since I'm pretty sure that if this works, K. will want me to make her one. Since her skirt fits me just about perfectly, I think we're probably about the same size.) I got it cut out of the real fabric (a black quick-dry nylon and some green moleskin-type stuff for the yoke facing), and got some rather large pieces sewn together.

There will be pictures of it, hopefully soon. But Blogger's photo uploader doesn't like me on any browser tonight. (Edit, 3/10 9AM: I managed to get it working long enough to get one pic in here. But none of the skirt yet, and it died on me again.)

Also tried something new on Friday night. But there's a background story to this, so here goes.

I didn't originally intend to go into music. In fact, I started college as an art major, with plans to major in photography. I used to do art a lot--along with band, it was my top extracurricular when I was in high school, and I would do it a good bit in my free time too. (Actually, I was voted "most artistic" in the senior yearbook, along with two of my classmates. There were a couple winners in almost every category. I did get "most musical" too. Yes, I was the consummate art/band geek.) And when it came time to decide what I wanted to major in, since I'd given up on my long-term wish to become a veterinarian (I worked in a vet clinic one summer, and while I loved it, having to help with things like euthanizing the animals was just too hard for me), I decided to major in art and minor in music. The reason? I figured there were more jobs available with an art degree, like stuff in advertising and graphic design and whatnot. My flute teacher laughed at me when I told her I wasn't going into music, and it turned out she was right. First semester freshman year was brutal--I was taking the introductory drawing class and 2-D Design, and since pretty much all of my exposure to art was a very small program at my school that was headed by a teacher who was very kind and encouraging, but not very critical of our work, I was having a really hard time with the coursework. And since I'd generally been a straight-A honor student, it was tough on me mentally (and physically) to be staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning on a regular basis trying to get my artwork done, getting up around 6 to catch the bus into campus for my 8 AM classes (I was commuting, and freshmen always get the crappy 8:00 classes), only to manage a B- at best on my drawings. (Or, as happened quite frequently in my 2-D design class, to have the professor decide the entire class's work was sub-par at best and tell us all to do the assignment again.)

Meanwhile, my work for my music minor was going extremely well. I'd gotten into the toughest ensemble (last chair, but when I started, making wind ensemble was rare for a freshman flutist just due to the heavier competition for seats), I got along well with my flute professor, and when I took my introductory ear training and harmony courses over the winter session, I was surprised at how little stress I felt in the classes. When spring semester started getting closer, I started dreading the upcoming semester and what was awaiting me in the next round of art classes. It was one of those God things, really--I woke up the day before the semester was supposed to start with the clear conviction that I needed to switch to music, cleared it with my parents and my flute professor, spent the day running around and changing my entire schedule for the spring semester, and never looked back. The only regret I've ever had about that decision was that ever since then, I just haven't been able to do art. When I was in school I was just too busy, but once I finished grad school I was just too mental blocked for anything other than the nature photography I toy with. That's one of the main things that really kept me doing scrapbooking. Other than needing something to do with the pictures I take and enjoying the writing aspect of it, since English was always one of my best subjects as well, it's really been the closest thing to art I've been able to do in my crafting. But I've found myself missing art and wishing I could find a way to start picking it up again.

A friend and I had a blog conversation recently (on my other blog) about Artist Trading Cards, or ATCs. I'd heard of them before, thanks to Craftster.org, but she's the one who really got me curious. Basically the premise is you make art the size of a baseball card and swap them for free with other artists, so it's a way to encourage people to both make and collect independent art. She and another friend were making some to swap, and since she knows I'm a crafty girl, she asked if maybe I'd be interested in doing it sometime. We haven't made definite plans on that yet, other than it'll probably be inspired by lyrics from musicians we both like, but since I was feeling too drained and headachey from allergies to cut out the real Sidone on Friday night, I stayed in my room and made my very first ATC instead.

Nothing brilliant, of course, it's just basically an ink doodle on leftover scrapbook cardstock and tinted with colored pencils. But still, it's one of the first things I've drawn in years that wasn't just a clothing design rough sketch. So this just might be a perfect way for me to do art again--small projects that take little time and can be swapped. (The text, btw, is lyrics from the song that inspired the drawing, "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then" by The Decemberists.)

The Sidone Hiking Skirt, part 2 -- Make It Work!

Since I'm watching part of the PR marathon leading up to the finale tonight, figured it was an appropriate title.


This is my inspiration skirt, kindly lent to me by K. So you can see how it attaches on the inside (a tab with velcro). And the blue stuff inside is kind of like a suedecloth to prevent chafing from the quick-dry, not-so-soft nylon.

I cut out and basted the mockup today. I'm really glad I made a mockup, because the basic concept is good, but it needs some tweaking...

#1: I should have done more of a straight line when adjusting the waist-to-hip sizing difference--the curve was bubbling out horrendously and I had to baste it in a good half an inch in spots.

#2: For some reason, the yoke sits very high in the back. It also gaps a bit, probably due to the fact that I cut the yoke from the bias-cut front. I added the darts that would have been in the back, and will also have to add at least an inch to the hem in the back.

#3: On the outer wrap, the yoke needs to be angled up a bit more so it'll line up with what's going on underneath. To fix this, I basically based a 5/8" dart for 4 1/2" , taking part of it from both the yoke and the skirt and tapering it into the seam that was already between the two. I'm also having to move the tab down and trim part of the skirt accordingly.

#4: The inside wrap goes over too far-- almost to the seamline. This would probably be ok for a regular wrap skirt, but since I do want the front to close in the center, this needed to get trimmed down. I took about 1 1/2" from the top and then tapered it into the pre-existing edge. Also ended up having to take a dart between the yoke and skirt on this side.


(In the meantime... Project Runway finale time!)

Can it be? Am I hearing this right? Christian just said nice things about Rami and Jillian's collections? Especially Jillian's? Now I know he's stressed. It's making him have a personality glitch.

Wait, no, he's back. Let's see... Jillian's stressing over models, Christian's snarking about her, Rami's being pretty quiet.

The collections:

Jillian-- I liked several pieces. That grey-and-red coat. The short blue dress. The gold dress. Some of them I thought were kind of odd, and I'm not totally convinced the striped sweater fits. That, and the sleeves make me think of a mop.

Rami-- Has some good color. Not sure about the gym bag with the pink skirt look. I do like his army green pants outfit a lot. And the woven corset wit hthe draped skirt. The two evening gowns were just stunning. Looks like the big poofy coat didn't make the cut, but that's probably good since it was highly criticized.

Christian-- No real woman would be ble to wear that first look-- too tight in the chest and big on the hips. Some of his jackets are good, though a bit neo-Victorian for my taste. Not into the poofy ruffle coat. Or that ruff that makes it look like her neck got eaten by a bridesmaid gown. Oh look, it's a Musketeer! Yeah, these big ruffly tops and tight pants are just not cool. And I'm really not just saying that because it's Christian. I will admit I like the blended-color chiffon looks though. It's kind of neat how they change colors.

I think I want Rami to win. Jillian would be my second pick.

Judgment time! Jillian is commended for her attention to detail, knitwear and innovation. Nina thinks it was a bit disjointed. Christian is "fierce" as usual (or "major" according to Victoria Beckham), but Michael and Nina thinks he had too much black and repetition. Heidi likes Rami's weaving too, as does Michael, though Michael's not a fan of the color choices. Nina commends him for having a strong point of view.

Ok, here we go... Jillian is out. And GAH!!!! I knew Christian was going to win, just because it would drive me crazy. If I hear that something is "fierce" for the next six months, when it doesn't involve, say, a wild tiger that's about ready to pounce, I think I'm going to scream.

Anyway, back to my project. Here's the mockup as it stands now, from the front....
...and the back....

...and the side. I'm going to be using twill tape for that one tab there. It really is laying better with the dart, so I'm not sure how they got it to work on the original without it. Once I'm satisfied with the fit, I'll have a couple more additions to make. I need to add a belt casing for the webbing belt built-in to the waist, as well as a belt loop for the end of it. And I want a zippered cargo pocket on the non-wrapped side. I know I'm not going to have time to sew tomorrow, but I can hopefully get enough to tweak the fit and maybe trim the seams and rip it apart to use as the pattern if I get home in time for Lost or something. At any rate, I will have Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday afternoon, and I'll have to wing it from there. But I got the basic skirt sewn together in less than an hour. Even with the extra details, surely I can get this done before next weekend's deadline!

When inspiration strikes like a piano falling from the sky

I'm having trouble concentrating on anything else right now. Thanks, BurdaStyle.


The scenario: A mini-challenge sewalong contest. I have to use the Sidone skirt pattern (alterations strongly encouraged), and I have until March 15. So I think the Desira pants will be put on hold. I may still do that sewalong, we'll see how the time goes.


I saw it at first, and was trying to figure out what to do with it. It's a shorter skirt than what I normally wear--generally I go knee-length or longer (I love long skirts), and a skirt closer to mini-length probably wouldn't be good for either church or teaching. So then I was thinking maybe I could turn it into a wrap skirt and use it for a beach cover-up. Then it hit me-- make a hiking skirt.


I know it sounds weird, but my hard-core hiker friend who got me into backpacking swears by them, as do several of her hard-core hiker friends that I met on one of the trips. I can see how they'd have their advantages-- for one, nature calls in the woods would be so much easier. (The disadvantage would be the ticks would have an easier time getting to my legs, but there's ways around that too.) Plus they just look so darn cute. I mean, look at this!


The Sidone would adapt to it very well, I think, since it's a basic A-line skirt. In theory, making it a wrap would be easy. If it's geared towards moving, the shorter length wouldn't matter-- it would be longer than shorts. The one problem-- I'm not sure what it would look like on the inside, to keep it from flapping open when walking. I emailed K. and asked her if she could bring one of her skirts on Sunday so I could look at it, so hopefully she'll get the message. (Oh, wait, she just emailed me back and thinks it's a great idea. So I'm good there.) I already have fabric, from my failed attempt to make zip-off hiking pants (I'd gotten enough for two pairs, so I have some black quick-dry nylon-type stuff that hasn't been cut into at all, and I've been wondering what to do with it since the pants pattern was a flop.) I probably have nice outdoors-weight zippers from that too. And maybe outdoors fabric will be slightly easier to work with, now that I have a serger and can take care of the fraying before it starts. So I'm quite excited about this project, and eager to get started! Even if I can't deal with the fabric itself till Sunday, I might be able to take care of a few starting things, like printing out the basic skirt pattern and seeing if I need to make any fitting changes. And maybe drawing out a cargo pocket.

I'm still planning on working on the Kaylee tonight, though, since I can't really make any serious pattern decisions until I see what I'm working with-- whether it's a pleat or a real wrap or what.


Also, a quick comment on part one of the Runway finale. So far, Jillian's collection is my favorite. The details are exquisite, like with that one jacket. I hope she brings some more color in, but since she worked for Ralph Lauren and they're geared towards those dull-colored timeless classic looks, I have my doubts. Christian looks like he has some good stuff, but that ruff he had for that one jacket looks like the model's chest would have been attacked by the ghost of Elizabethan collars past. (Not in a good way.) I knew Chris was in color as soon as he said he was adding human hair to his clothes-- creative, but kind of gross. And it was refreshing to see some tailoring from Rami, though that one coat was way over the top. Maybe it'll be different, seeing it in context. And I'm eagerly looking forward to Wednesday!

Edit, 10:28 pm: I did work more on the Kaylee tonight. Got the side seams in and the collar sewn on, though I still need to stitch down the inner collar. Had a bit of trouble with the invisible zipper-- I decided to try a technique from the 7/05 issue of Threads to sew an invisible zipper into an already partially-sewn seam. The good news is, there were no bumps at the end of the zipper. The not so fun news was that I actually ended up having to sew a third row of stitching in, with the invisible zipper foot-- it was supposed to work with just a regular zipper foot, but I couldn't get it close enough. I think I'm going to have to work with this technique some more--maybe try the second row of stitching with the invisible zipper foot instead of the regular zipper foot and see if that solves the problem.

A 2007 retrospective

Silly me... the end of the year always makes me introspective. So here's a few highlights of my year in craftiness...

-As far as creativity goes, I think I took more chances in design choices. And loved some of the results, like the kimono pjs.

-Had several firsts this year-- sewing baby clothes, doing the Wardrobe Refashion challenge (for which my pledge is officially over now, or at least I can no longer post on the blog), being chosen as a contest winner for the BurdaStyle Halloween challenge, sewing with bamboo...

-Had a couple failures this year too, mainly in drafting my own patterns. Still haven't quite gotten that one down.

-I've become less productive, I think, but a little more detailed. I say less productive because the second half of the year was pretty much dominated by one dress and the peacoat.

I don't have an exact count on scrapbook pages done, though I know I did a fair amount. But here's some other stats:
Craftster swaps completed: 2
New articles of clothing: 14
Reconned articles of clothing (which includes a few simple embellishments): 15
Bags or bag-like things: 4
Articles of jewelry: approximately 14
Totally bombed projects: 2
Scrapbook pages completed, give or take a few: 33

Favorite sewing project this year: The Titania dress. I was just so happy that I designed something and, even though I had to start with a pre-made pattern base, it worked!

Least favorite sewing project: The Felicity Peacoat. Even though I'm happy with the results, and it's keeping me nice and warm so far, it was just such a pain to make! Though I think most of that would have been avoided had I had the right pattern size to start with. :P

Best online discovery this year: BurdaStyle, hands-down. I mean, come on. Free sewing patterns that don't suck!

Best podcast discovery: ThreadBanger. Even when the projects are way more punk than I am, it's just so fun to watch.

7 Things I'm hoping to accomplish in 2008:
1. Finally learn how to make jeans that fit!
2. Get better at working with knit fabrics.
3. Use up some of my stash. Though that was part of the whole point of the WR challenge... :P
4. Finish the two scrapbooks from my grad school years, the Chile album and the road trip album.
5. Even though I didn't sign up again, I still want to sew as much of my wardrobe as possible instead of buying things new. (Even though, since my pledge is over, I did buy two shirts today. The first was an off-white cami that I've been needing for awhile to wear under things and had no luck with at the thrift store, and the other was a pretty, comfy knit shirt.
6. Try a project from this book that I got for Christmas.
7. Though it's not crafty, persay, I do also want to work on my cooking skills a little. In particular, I want to learn how to make those Chinese pork dumplings, and how to better cook without recipes.

Happy New Year!

A few things...

• Got my prize from BurdaStyle's Halloween costume contest in the mail today! I got four pieces of trim, some buttons and pins (of the pin-on-bags variety), a couple of postcards including one that's a measurement chart (complete with nifty diagram of where to measure), and a button gague/point turner. All in all, fun stuff, and I will have to come up with some sewing projects I can use the fun trims on! Especially this twisted-looking black and white piping---that was my favorite.
• Speaking of piping, I spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon sewing some of that for the brocade jacket. And I really, really hope I have enough of it... I left enough unsewn at the end that I can add more if needed, but then I'll probably have to cut more bias strips.
• I got the initial weaving for Nicole's scarf done on Sunday. And am now in the process of cutting more yarn and weaving it in, because it looks like I'm going to have to do twice the amount it called for just to get something that looks like one cohesive piece and not just a bunch of lines separated by bits of mesh. I really hope this works...
• I have a paid sewing job! First one ever. My friend Kathryn asked me if I could make some capes for playing dress-up for her niece and nephews (all toddlers) for Christmas. So I spent nearly an hour tonight trying to draw a pattern so I could figure out how much fabric I'd need...and then after consulting with my mom, decided to forget the circle cloak and just do a rectangle with a gathered-elastic neck. That'll allow room for some growth anyway. So I'm probably going shopping with her on Friday to get the fabric. Now if I could just figure out what to charge...
• And now for something almost, but not quite, completely different for this blog! For years, I think since I was in college, I've been saying I wanted to learn how to cook better. Food, unfortunately, just seems to be one of those things I don't have much time to deal with. But since good food really is an art form in my opinion (especially if it's both good and healthy!) I may occasionally chronicle those endeavors in here. (Besides, my old schoolmate Lydia has inspired me with all the yummy-looking food in her blog!) So tonight's attempt was inspired by the mother of one of my flute students, who is from China and insists on feeding me whenever possible when I come over to teach her daughter. She's single-handedly changed my opinion on what Chinese food should be, and I seriously have cravings for pork dumplings and egg drop soup now. Haven't quite figured out the dumplings yet (though I think I may have a recipe I pulled from Cooking Light a few years ago that might do the trick--Mom always lets me raid the magazine for recipe ideas when she's done with it), but after running a search for egg drop soup I figured it wouldn't be that hard. We had some leftover chicken soup that wasn't so much soup anymore as it was broth with a few noodles and peas and no chicken, so I decided to use that for my attempt. Got that boiling on the stovetop, added some soy sauce to the broth for flavor, and then added the beaten egg once it was almost-but-not-quite boiling.
  
  The results: The taste wasn't that far off from Jessie's soup--I think the soy sauce was what did it there--though if I was making this for real I don't think I'd have the peas in it. The texture needs some work though-- hers is basically like one big fluffy piece of egg infused with the soup flavors with some broth (and last time there was some ground pork in there too) in the bottom. The texture wasn't bad to eat at all, but it was more like these little stringy chunks of egg floating in the broth and, well, didn't look so pretty. My stomach was happy, though-- the egg made it more filling than chicken soup usually is for me--so I think this is an experiment that's going to continue. Plus it was super-easy and didn't involve that many ingredients, and since one of my two main career goals at the moment is to get enough work that I can afford to live on my own (the other being enough music work that I can quit the lame office job), I need food that's good, quick and cheap!