More thoughts on stashbusting

I just found out that the Stashbusting Sewalong that Cation Designs and EmSewCrazy hosted last year is still going on! Which is exciting, since I'm doing the Stash Diet anyway. So I'm definitely jumping in on this one, too, in hopes that I can actually participate in more of the challenges this time around.



This year, they've also added in a "Curating Challenge", so here's my answers for January's questions.

Why do you sew?

I sew because making things is what keeps me sane. No, really. You don't want to be around me when I haven't had time to do any crafty stuff in awhile. I also like having clothes that fit me better/are different than what you find in stores--even when I was a kid, I liked wearing the clothes that my mom, and later me, made, because no one else in my school had the same stuff.

What's on your list?

This will probably get altered depending on how many Saturdays get stolen from me I have to work in the spring/what sewcial challenges come up, but my current mental list for this year, in no particular order, is the following:

• 4 more Thurlows (first one is in progress currently)
• A Robson coat (hopefully before spring, I'm thinking for #bluefebruary)
•  The new winter coat (I'd like to finish this one before October, since that's when I may start needing it. I do need underlining and lining for this.)
• A Project Runway pattern that I've had bagged with pattern/fabric/notions for about 2 years now that I haven't gotten to yet
• The Reglisse and Darling Ranges dresses that I didn't get to last summer
• A black knit maxi-dress
• Espresso leggings. Especially since I figured out that the brown knit I've had for years that I was planning on testing this pattern out with will work for the costume I have in mind for Shieldmaiden March! 
• Also, Shieldmaiden March. More on my costume choice and research to come. Hint: it's not a traditional Viking. But you probably figured that out from the leggings (or if you follow me on Twitter).
• A couple more (less involved) costumes, which need to get done before Labor Day weekend, since there's plans in the works for a girls' weekend at DragonCon! (This will probably involve tweaking things from the thrift store for the most part, and shouldn't be too terribly hard to put together--for instance, one of my must-haves is an Amy Pond costume (from Doctor Who, for the uninitiated) and her clothes are pretty everyday wearable. I just need to decide which episode I'm coordinating with, since I have one friend who already has a particular River Song dress and another friend who wants to do Clara as "Souffle Girl".)
• A Cooper bag, which I should also try to get done before Labor Day, because I want to use it as a carry-on/day trip bag.
• I do need to make 1 set of curtains for the kitchen at some point this year, particularly so I can shuffle things around to look better if we do put our townhouse on the market.
• Other things bouncing around my head: I'd also like to make at least one more pair of jeans, a "real" Cambie dress, an Archer blouse, some pajamas (which I do legitimately need some warm-weather ones), and a Red Velvet dress.

Did I mention I have a problem with the ambition vs. time ratio?

Why are you stash busting?

Because my stash, as previously mentioned, is at ridiculous proportions. I want to downsize to a manageable level, so I can put more thought into my fabric purchases, create more cohesion in my wardrobe, and not feel guilty about buying fabric because I already have so much. I also want to make it easier to pack and move to a new space, since even if we don't manage to move this year, moving a little closer to our families and to a larger space is something that we would prefer to do before any kids come into the picture. (And if we do that, I very well might have to work with a smaller craft space, since bedrooms would be a higher priority.)


This month's theme for the Stashbusting Sewalong is "Itty Bits". The good news is, I already did this without realizing it, thanks to my Kindle case! I can probably also count the pockets for my pants, or is that pushing it?

late night musings

I'm in the process of going through my clothes. The plan is to try to figure out all of my outfits for the days leading up to the wedding (and the honeymoon, of course!) within the next couple of days so I can just pack up and move the rest of my wardrobe and be done with it. One of the things I have going on within the next 2 1/2 weeks is another wedding, since we have some friends from church who are getting married a week before us. I'd been planning on wearing my Dahlia dress, but I may have to rethink that, because....
...look what I found on the back when I pulled it out from the under-the-bed storage! I have no idea what this random brown line is, how it got there, or how long it's been there. All I know is that my initial attempt to scrub it out with soap and water failed.

This led me to examine the dress further. Which was probably a mistake, because the more I look at the top of this in particular, the less happy I am with several aspects of the finishing on this thing. The lining wants to curl to the outside of the bodice, the width of the top of the bodice is wider than the lower edge of the strap, the lining is all puckered because I think I was struggling with learning how to deal with the thread tension on my serger--I'd only had it for a few months at this point. Plus the top of the zipper is a hot mess. In short, there's several things about it that just look very homemade in the bad way. (I will not call it a certain phrase that Project Runway popularized, because on behalf of all other Beckys in the world that sew, I hereby proclaim that this particular phrase needs to be tossed back into the fiery chasm from whence it came!)

Even if I can't get this stain out, I think I can salvage this, because guess what--I still have an entire yard of this fabric left! I'd been tossing around the idea of a Sorbetto, but I could quite happily go for using it to remake the top of this dress and see if I can get it better the second time around. I still like the style, but surely with 5 more years of sewing experience, I can improve on those details, right? Or I could just try to get the stain mostly out and at least add a hook and eye to the back to see if that improves the zipper...

I still need to figure out what to wear to that wedding. Maybe my Lonsdale from last summer?

Sans accessories and required garden center work clothes that I've already worn this week and therefore need to be washed, I do have outfits picked out for 10 of the next 17 days. Including the rehearsal dinner--another previous me-made, in case you want to know--and the bachelorette party, and a button-down reserved for wearing over my wedding dress while my hair and makeup gets done. (I tested it before, and I didn't extend the zipper enough to pull it on over my hips. Drat.) Not bad for a night's work. Now I just need to get half the contents of my closet off of my bed so I can, you know, attempt to sleep tonight.

A few small things

• No finished project post yet. I still have been unable to take a picture, but I will as soon as I can.
• Do you ever have dreams about sewing? I do, sometimes. Last night's was that I made a Tiramisu dress. Except that for some reason, subconscious me decided to pair just the skirt from it (in a navy blue jersey) with a sheer, woven coral thrifted button-down with a peplum. Which a) I do not own such a garment, and b) dream-me had it as one giant v down to the waist. Which I would never, ever do in the real world. At least subconscious me did ok with the color pairing. (Incidentally, I do have a mental plan to make a test tiramisu in navy blue jersey, since I have some jersey bedsheets to play with.)
• Today is my birthday. I'm 32 now. That sounds so weird.
• The Swap Your Stash was fairly successful for me! I didn't get rid of everything, but I did have requests for about a third of what I'd posted. And most of those were things that I had either already made things out of and was therefore stuck, or things I couldn't use at all (like accidentally pink silk!) I've sent out 4 pieces to 3 people, am waiting on addresses for 2 more, and so far I've received one package, from Anne in the UK. I'm not sure how this will end up as far as yardage in vs. out goes, but I tried to be very thoughtful in the things I swapped for, so hopefully I will end up with things that are much more useful for me!
• My future sewing room is coming together very nicely. Doug and I spent last Friday night moving my sewing machine table to his place--I haven't been using it lately, because I get way too cold in the basement this time of year and have therefore been doing all of my sewing upstairs, like I tend to do every winter. We also did some organizing in there. Most of my scrapbook/jewelry related things are there now, as well as a little fabric and probably about half of my yarn. We've also been discussing fabric storage options, and stumbled across a good option on sale at Target. So we're probably going to spend this Friday evening moving the bulk of my remaining fabric stash and organizing that. Assuming I get done the dress in enough time to actually sew something else before the wedding, I figure I can just stop by his place and grab the fabric that I want.
• Speaking of the dress, I'm now working on the hemming stage! I also spent some time over the weekend cutting out lace appliques for the skirt. 

I think that's everything for now...back to work.

when wardrobe disaster strikes

So, as anyone around the mid-Atlantic/northeastern region of the US knows at this point, a big stormy mess of doom is coming straight for us. (Particularly my area, if the fact that the Weather Channel is hanging out at the beach I visit every summer is any indication. It's rather weird to see a beach and boardwalk I'm actually familiar with on tv!) So, since the big concern is power outages and water, one of the main preparations today was catching up on my laundry. No big deal, right?

Except that somehow, despite the fact that I NEVER keep pens in my pockets, a pen somehow got stuck in with one of my loads and ran through the dryer. (Since I'm living at my parents' until after the wedding, my dad is the most likely culprit--we're guessing it must have somehow gotten left in the washer and then lost amidst my clothes.) The result is that the entire load basically got ruined.

Some of it wasn't so bad--the clothes I wore to paint at my fiance's house last night, for instance. A pair of pajamas that I got for Christmas last year got it pretty bad, but at least I just wear those to sleep in. The bigger problems were that nearly all of the t-shirts, the hoodie sweatshirt, and several pairs of the jeans I wear to work also got it pretty bad. (All thrifted, and most I only wear to work because they just don't fit right, but I did have one pair that fit well enough that I wear them outside of work, too. So now I'm just down to 3 pairs of "real" jeans, and I can only wear the skinny jeans with a limited number of tops. Boo.) My one brown pair of pants that I wear at least once a week, even though they're too short (I've been holding out until I have time to make some), also seem to have gotten a little, though it's not quite as noticeable. And aside from those cute pjs that I've had less than a year, this is what's making me the saddest...
This was one of my outfit pics from this past week--all me-made except the boots. The top was safe because that was from a different load, but my teal microfiber skirt, which has become a staple this fall, did get some ink splatters. Another me-made that I wore yesterday met the same fate. I'm trying soaking those and the work t-shirt that got it the worst in a combination of detergent and oxy-clean to see if it will help. The two me-mades might be salvageable, because the skirt is dark enough that the ink just looks like a smudge instead of an obvious stain, and the top has a kind of splotchy (on purpose) dye job to begin with. The black ink is an obvious difference, but unless I missed a spot, it looks like both splatters are on the back, and so I might be able to hide it by leaving my hair down. Maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but it's rather upsetting to consider that these two things might be ruined, when they're both still actively involved in my wardrobe!

But this also leaves me with a dilemma--as much as I wanted to avoid buying clothes this fall, I do wonder if I should just replace the brown trousers and the one pair of jeans. I know I could sew them, and I have the fabric to do so, but I just don't have the time until the wedding dress is done. And that does put a dent in my wardrobe.

To leave this on a happier note, because I'm still way more upset about this than I probably have a right to be--after all, they're just clothes and it's not like I don't have more, I just get emotionally attached to the ones I spent time sewing in particular--here's my other fun outfit from last week. Again, both pieces of clothing are me-mades (the green Vogue dress from last fall and the Junior Mints jacket, again. Thankfully, this particular challenging-to-make dress was NOT in this load of laundry!)

To the bat-cave!

Ok, not really.....but looking at this picture does make me think of Batman's signal...

What this actually is is my Camille shrug, which I hastily wet and blocked before work this morning (and added a few extra pins when I got home.) I finished knitting and binding off the second sleeve last night. So all I have left to do on this, after it dries, is to sew up the sleeves and then knit some ribbing around the non-sleeved edges of that square. And weave in the ends, of course.

 I've really enjoyed making this one, actually--the lace chart was actually kind of fun to knit. And after the whole nightmare with a similar diamond-like pattern on my Cadence sweater, that really surprised me.

And I think this is the first knitting project where I've stepped back and thought to myself that this actually looks really good. I can't stop staring at this picture of the back. It looks exactly the way it's supposed to, and so intricate, and wow, I can't believe that I essentially made that out of string. That's the sort of thing I never thought I'd be able to do. I'm getting really excited to get this done and be able to wear it!

To change topics....there's been a lot of hate going around the blogs I've been reading lately over Blogger's highly annoying change in word verification. I'm not a fan either--if they wanted to make it harder to fake, fine. But did they really have to make all of the letters fuzzy and illegible, too? And cram things so closely together that you can't tell if something is an l or an i or what? I actually went ahead and turned the word verification on here off so I can stop annoying people. Only problem is, then I got hit by 3 anonymous spam comments within the first 36 hours. So I have a favor to ask...I tried switching it again to the open ID comment with the verification still off, to block those anonymous comments. If you happen to comment on this, would you be so kind as to let me know if that worked to get the word verification off? I know I don't have the most popular blog out there, and I'm ok with that....but when you regularly average in the single digits for number of comments, it's a really big disappointment to have one of those comments be a spam ad for some awful website that you could never look at while at work or around small children or without riddling your computer with viruses. (So in other words, the kinds of websites I don't want to go to anyway.) Thanks in advance for the help!

Edit, 3/10: New question for any of you who have turned off the word verification--have you been having weird issues with pop-ups since? I've noticed a definite increase in the number of pop-up windows in the last couple of days, since I initially turned it off. I have my computer running a virus scan as I type, but I've also had a lot of  extra notifications about tracking cookies and such. I can't think of anything else I would have done in the last few days that would cause this, which makes me wonder if I should just set it back the way it was with the word verification, but I'm also not sure if it's a case of the damage already being done. Thoughts?

the promised knitting update

I'm finding it easier to keep my sewing and knitting posts pretty much separated. And I haven't said anything about my latest yarny endeavors in awhile, so here's what's been going on.

1. I still haven't blocked that Stolen Moments wrap. Kind of a combo of lack of time/lack of good weather to do it with. I'm thinking that, since the recommended method involved rolling it up in towels and whatnot, probably the best place for me to let it dry is out in the backyard. And between all the cloudy days and rain we've been getting this month, and just not being home for a long enough stretch of time to do it....yeah.

2. The unraveling continues from those sweaters. The cream colored one is all unraveled, balled up, and listed with its estimated yardage and weight on Ravelry. I'm maybe 1/3-1/2 done unraveling the cardigan, and the grey sweater is in pieces, at least.

3. Largely due to #2, I ended up purchasing a ball winder and swift. I found the swift on Etsy, actually-- a more tabletop-type one that folds up and was way less expensive than the average umbrella-looking thing (something like $25 vs. a minimum of $60, based on what I saw.) It's making it sooooo much easier, and way more fun, to do the unraveling-- I found that I can just wind it right from the sweater onto the swift, estimate the yardage from that piece based on where I've got the pegs (measured around them), and then crank it onto the ball winder. And then I get these nice flat-ended balls instead of the round ones that just fall all over the place while I'm trying to knit/tempt the cat into evil/etc. (Actually, I like the idea so much that I ended up using it on almost all of the yarn I have.

4. Oh, yeah, actual knitting. I've got two projects in the works right now, though I can't talk about one of them yet.  All in good time. The other is the Drop-Stitch Lace Tank from a book I got called Fitted Knits (by Stefanie Japel). I guess you could say this is my first sweater attempt, though there aren't any sleeves involved. This is about as far as I've gotten--I've added two rows since the picture was taken, but that's not enough to make a difference in the look.

On a random note, so far, this project constantly gives me urges to listen to Arcade Fire. The yarn is by a company called Berroco,  and The Suburbs has this song (that gets stuck in my head a lot anyway) called "Rococo"...

And every time I think of it, I just keep subbing the chorus lyrics with "Berroco, Berroco, Berrocoberroco...."

I know, I know, I'm a geek. I've accepted that and moved on. 

If anything, this should give me the urge to go watch some movies based on Greek mythology. (Or get done with my current read so I can read the last of the Percy Jackson books.) The colorways all have something to do with it. Mine's the "Homer Blue". I'm calling this my Odyssey Tank, since The Odyssey is a waaaaaaay more fun read than The Illiad, IMO.

spring dress tease

Blame the weather around here, because it gave us a major tease yesterday. First day in weeks I'd actually been able to wear spring clothes, and I wished I'd had this done because it would have been a perfect day to debut it. And then today it goes and gets cold again! *sigh* So I'm going to tease you with some in-progress pictures.

I was glad to find out that the new buttonhole foot works just fine. I did have a bit of a gripe with the pattern I'm using (Simplicity 2248), as far as this particular piece goes. The piece has no interfacing, and yet it has a buttonhole. Which would make for a pretty horrid buttonhole, with just 2 pieces of cotton and nothing to stabilize it. So what I ended up doing was taking a scrap of the silk organza that I have left from the LBD (I have at least a couple of yards left, since I ended up underlining the skirt with the lining crepe de chine instead), doubling it, and stuffing it into that corner. Worked like a charm.

A shot of the back. Which needs some fixing, as you can see. I tried it on today, and it mostly fits very well. Except the back gaps at the top, so I'll have to undo that invisible zipper a bit and take it in about 3/4" on each side. Guess it's a good thing I haven't done anything with that facing yet. (The button placement is off, too, as a result. But I may just have it be asymmetric. Or sew on a second button off-center to balance it out. Definitely better than ripping out the buttonhole, even though I haven't cut it yet!)

The top of the bodice. I don't know if it's the combination of this neckline with the fabric, or the colors, or the corset-y topstitching or what, but for some reason, this dress is making me think of Georgian-era France. Kind of like Marie Antoinette without all of the scandals and guillotines and the terrible movie. (Seriously--I couldn't even like this one for the costumes. All I could think at the end was that it was two hours of my life I'd never get back.)

One comment about my sewing that has stuck with me is one that a one of my long-time friends made a couple of years ago. She said that she could always tell when I'd made something, because it had unique and interesting buttons. I guess that's one of my trademarks now? I was really excited to find this one, though. I'd almost resigned myself to going with a cream-colored button, because I knew the blue and green in the fabric would be hard to match. And then I found this one, which looks like mother-of-pearl and has the perfect blend of greens and that purple-ish periwinkle! The size is a bit smaller than the pattern called for, but the coloring was so perfect that I don't care. (And now that I'm looking at the button package again to check the size, I just found out that apparently these buttons were made in France. Maybe it's a sign...)

(Also, random geek fact-- I was checking one of my favorite movie costume sites to see if there were any comparable Marie Antoinette dresses, and found out that one of the dresses used in the movie was apparently also used in an episode of Doctor Who! Hee!)

Guess I'm committed.

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I was almost sure I'd be letting go of the Etsy shop. Well, I've started raiding the collection of jewelry that I'd made for the craft fair, i.e. what I'd be attempting to sell on there, and actually wearing some of it myself. So since letting go of the shop means I'm not going to be posting in the blog I made to go along with it, I'm going to start showing those things in here as I pull them for myself or give them away.

So here's my first keeper:

I was really pleased with how this turned out, and had thought for sure that it would get snatched up at the fair. All of the beads are recycled from a bracelet I found on one of my thrift store excursions--it was this loop of pewter-looking bead holders strung on elastic. Every holder had something like 4 or 5 loops, and every one of those had something like 3 beads, so there were a LOT of beads on this thing. I wasn't really wearing bracelets at the time, and this one wasn't really appealing to me as is, but I'd figured I could use the beads for something. I think the freshwater pearls just might be real, but the rest of it is definitely faux pearls and crystals. I put it on 3 different types of chain.

(And here's a more closeup pic of the earrings.)

I already had a couple of brown necklaces I really like and wear often, but they're kind of more seasonal-looking to me since they have shells and leaves and such. So I figured this set would be a good supplement to that.

I've pulled a couple of other things for myself, which I'll post as I go. But here's what else has been going on in my crafty little world:

I had a nice chunk of sewing time on Monday, so I started that dress that I was planning to knock out. So far, I have the pleats done in both the front and the back, and am working on the yoke pieces. Hopefully those pleats are ok, because the directions were making absolutely no sense to me for that part. It's these weird pattern pieces that have chunks cut out of them, and the straight line at the bottom of the chunk is supposed to be the top of the pleat, and somehow you're supposed to sew across that without getting the outer part and still have it press flat. Yeah, that wasn't happening. So I kind of ended up winging it and adding some topstitching--both to capitalize on the corset-looking nature of the seams, and to actually get the top part of those pleats to stay in place. On the plus side, the paisley pattern ended up matching up much better than I expected it to, particularly at the bottom of the pleats!

In knitting news, the wrap still looks just like a longer version of the same picture I posted before. I think it's somewhere around 20" long now. Maybe a little more. So I kind of feel like it's less exciting to blog about since it's just a giant rectangle of the same thing over and over. But I haven't gotten completely bored with knitting it yet, most likely since I'm just doing a row here and there as I don't have time to do other things, and the instructions call for making it 47" so I guess I'm about halfway done. Maybe a little less. I recently started the third ball of yarn, and I have 6. I have to at the very least use 5 of them, preferably all 6, because I said so. And I don't care if it's a little longer as a result. I'm still trying to avoid creating a yarn stash to rival my fabric/bead/scrapbook paper ones, darn it, and so far I'm doing a pretty good job!

On a random note, I've also been refashioning my hair a bit this week! Nothing drastic, just got a slightly differently-styled haircut with a little more shaping (and most of the length I had before.) And my sis-in-law gave me a block of henna from LUSH for my birthday this year (part of my ongoing quest to be a natural redhead, whether my hair wants to or not, and I've liked the more natural look and feel that the henna gives my hair. Plus less chemical damage and more eco-friendly. Yay!) At the suggestion of the lovely helpful store employee I was talking to on Sunday, I ended up putting it in last night and wrapping it up, and sleeping on it, and washing it out this morning. So far, the color's turned out the best out of the henna products I've tried, and it actually washed out much cleaner in terms of toweling it off afterwards! But I can't show any pics yet--since this henna also had cocoa butter mixed in, and the instructions for washing it out called for both shampoo and conditioner, my hair ended up so heavily conditioned today that I pretty much had no choice but to ponytail it. It literally feels like I forgot to wash the conditioner out of my hair. Ugh. Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow. But at least it's an awesome shade of red.

that's confidential.

Since we got snow...again.... over the weekend, and I already had the day off from my usual Sunday afternoon flute practice, I spent some time sewing. Got the baby bibs all machine-sewed together, and am in the process of hand-sewing on the snaps. And then, rather than stay in the cold basement to do something practical like, say, cut out curtains for my room, I decided to play instead. So here's my random work-in-progress.

I know what it's going to be. I'm just not telling yet. ;-)


On a random side note, I haven't forgotten about my personal style project. I've been working on a post for 3 or 4 days now, but am finding it surprisingly difficult to articulate my thoughts. I may have to do a couple of posts to avoid the long rambling one that it's turning into that no one really wants to read. In the meantime, I've also been taking some advice from several blogs and taking pictures of my outfits each day. (Except for yesterday.) I'm undecided as of yet whether to just use them for my own personal reference, or to actually post them in here...

I forgot to mention...

I kind of spontaneously decided to sign up for another Pattern Review class. This one is all about dealing with knit fabrics, which really excites me because while I've gotten pretty decent at finishing wovens and making them look good, knits are something that's still a bit tricky for me, even though it's gotten a LOT better since getting the serger! Especially in things like hemming them, reconstructing them in situations where sometimes there's different knit fabrics involved (and sometimes even some wovens), things like that. So I'm looking forward to learning about things like when to use the regular machine vs. the serger, what sort of needles I should be using, etc. Plus the class starts in February and ends in early March, which means the same timeframe as when I'm not working at the garden center again yet, and therefore I can probably stay on top of the classwork a lot easier than I could for the skirt muslin class! So I think I'm going to hold off on any knit-sewing projects until after this class. But that's ok, because I've still got bibs to sew (cut out as of last night), a quilt to quilt, and a bunch of curtains to make.

Speaking of knits, I had a really odd dream last night--I dreamed that on Project Runway, the judges were making them include knitting samples along with their finished garments and judging them based on how well they did their knitting, and Michael Kors was saying something about they should be able to knit their own fabric or they weren't really worth much as a designer, and he also commented about the girl that got cut that she could take some time to sit down and knit 2-3 times a week. And it was making me wonder if I should attempt to take up knitting again! Subconsciously, of course....now that I'm awake, I know I have enough crafty hobbies!

I'm thinking it's a sign...

I went ahead and ordered the dress from Modcloth this afternoon. The clincher? This T-shirt that was in the sale section. Of course I had to own it! (Can you blame me?)

Catching up, 4/4: The Honest Scrap Award

I am a bad, bad blogger. Catherine G was kind enough to give me the "Honest Scrap Award" back in June, and between the computer problems and all of the recent real life craziness, I'm just now getting to it. Sorry for the delay, Catherine, and thank you for the award!
The rules are as follows:

I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it.
I must list 10 honest things about myself.
I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog.
I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links.
I must notify the bloggers of the award and hopefully they will follow the above three requirements also.

All right, let's be honest:

1. It's probably no secret, given my career field, but I am extremely addicted to music. Including finding new music. I currently have over 8000 songs on my iPod, and it's an ever-growing collection (mainly due to my eMusic subscription, in which I get 30 tracks a month that I have to use or lose). I'm doing a blogging project right now (on my LiveJournal, since that's where I keep in touch with some RL friends) where I'm trying to listen through the contents of the iPod in its entirety. I started on August 1. I got through the last of the albums that begin with A yesterday. (No jobs where I can listen to my iPod while I work, so it's taking me a little longer than it otherwise would.)
2. The dorkiest thing I ever sewed: a vest from a vintage 70s pattern made out of snakeskin-printed vinyl. Both of which were free, having belonged to my mother. In my defense, I was a teenager at the time, and making an effort to create my own style and not just wear all the same Abercrombie crap that many of my classmates were drawn to.
3. I often wish that blogs were around back when I was a teenager, so I could have documented sewing projects like that. Somewhere back in grad school, I did realize that I should be doing that, and started a really basic scrapbook for it-- just pictures, basic info like what pattern I used and when it was completed and any other comments I wanted to make, and a fabric sample if I still had one. Something about the system wasn't working (too bulky or something) so I had to pull off most of the pictures to start over. I know I did start making a very, very basic digital scrapbook in Photoshop to start over, but that's unfinished as well. I'm kind of torn between trying to get caught up on that and get it all printed out so I can have a tangible copy, or just scanning the pics from the original scrapbook (film camera) and documenting them in here just so I can get it done.
4. I read really fast--when I have the time to sit down and do it, I can read thick books in a day. (Worked for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, anyway.)
   
5. Sad to say, I'm at the point where I dislike a lot more about being single than I like. Since all of my efforts to change that status have failed miserably, I really need to work on learning to like it again.
6. Routine is tough for me. That's why I loathed the thought of a job where I was doing the same thing 9-5 every day. (And why I have a hard time enjoying highly repetitive crafts, like knitting, crochet and needlework.) At the same time, I have a hard time sometimes with the day-to-day reality of trying to juggle an ever-changing schedule with lesson cancellations and reschedulings/other part-time work/fitting in time with friends when my schedule is so different from theirs/eating meals at regular times with my unfortunate tendency to get shaky when I don't eat for awhile/finding craft and exercise time/finding time to read/still doing the things I have to do like laundry and cleaning. I wonder if I'll ever find a balance.
7. On a related note to #6, I think part of the problem is that I enjoy doing too wide a variety of things. And I can't bring myself to quit doing things I enjoy.
8. You wouldn't know it from how much I tend to ramble in these posts, but I'm actually fairly quiet. At least within social settings, unless it's people I'm comfortable with.
9. I get really frustrated with situations where I have to wait on other people to figure things out, like my current attempts to figure out my fall teaching schedule, because I'm too much of a planner for my own good.
10. On a completely random note, I'm one of those people who likes to throw movie quotes into everyday conversation.
    

And the Honest Scrap Award goes to:

1. Sorta Frugal

2. StinaStuff

3. My Fabrication

4. Dressed to a "Tee"

5. Danvillegirl Sewing Diary

6. Salinda's Blog Spot
7. PB Designs Reading and Crochet Blog

Ok, I think that catches me up for now! Until I finish the current 2 projects, anyway...

Now to finish what I need to around here so I can do some sewing between my flute lessons! I'm going to miss my low-key Wednesdays once school starts and I'm back up to 3 jobs again.

And pardon me for a moment while I squeal... Project Runway starts up again tomorrow!!!

Figures....

Just when I get my computer up and running again, the internet dies! My family was completely internet-less yesterday due to the router crashing. It's amazing how reliant on it I've become. No checking email or craft blogs or Facebook. No printing anything from my computer because the network was down and I don't have my own printer. (Actually, I'm still having that problem...apparently something didn't connect when I hooked it back up.) I'm in the midst of a massive cd/iTunes reorganization spree, and I couldn't even upload cds that hadn't been fully ripped because iTunes needs the internet to find the track listings! But the internet is back, and I can stop twitching now.

Of course, this means no more catching up on posts. But if all goes according to plan, this post will be updated tomorrow afternoon with project pictures and pattern reviews. Just have to take the pics first...

Merry Christmas to me?

I'm taking an unofficial poll. I got one of my Christmas presents early this year (my car needed new tires, and the local body shop was having a "buy 3 get the 4th free after rebate" sale. So my mom, who took me to get the tires, told me to get the rebate made out to myself and then use it to buy myself something fun and splurgy. So, should I....

A) get some really quality fabric, like something organic or silk or something else along those lines, since I'm often deterred by the price-per-yard, and make myself a really spectacular outfit or two,

OR,

B) get myself a Burda World of Fashion subscription?

Decisions, decisions....

Thankful to be Crafty

Since I'm not the one rushing around to cook dinner (my family always goes to my dad's parents' on Thanksgiving, and my grandfather insists on making all the food, other than the bread, which my mom makes), figured it would be fitting for this blog to think a little on this subject.

So here's why I'm thankful that I'm crafty....

1. Because it's fun!
2. Because it allows me to express myself in a unique, creative way. Particularly since I'm primarily a clothes sewer. Plus I rarely have to bother with the concern that someone else will show up in the same outfit as me.
   
3. Because, even though it takes some effort sometimes, I can have clothes that truly fit.
4. Because it allows me to recycle in creative ways.
5. Because, sometimes, it saves me money. (Anyone who makes clothes should know what I mean there, haha.)
6. Because it allows me to make gifts for my friends and family that are truly personal. For instance, what are the odds that I would have been able to find a rabbit apron for my rabbit-owning-and-loving friend for her wedding? (Plus it was functional!)
7. Because it's something I can use to help people. Something I've just started having opportunities to do this year, pretty much, and mainly through my Bible study--like I was able to help make pillows for kids at battered women's shelters, and it looks like we're going to be doing something with Project Linus soon.
8. Because it's therapeutic. Crafting is great stress relief for me-- though I'm not one for long-term repetitive crafts (the reason I was never really able to get into cross-stitching or knitting or crocheting), something small like stringing a necklace together can be really soothing. Or the accomplished feeling of running a few seams together and having it look like a skirt or shirt can be a real pick-me-up. Or, sometimes I have to break stuff before I can make stuff, and that's just fun. ;-) Or, on a slightly more personal note, the times when I get really down about the single life, it helps to work on my scrapbook some and remember all the fun times I have with my friends and such.
9. Speaking of scrapbooking, it means I get a more creative way to look back on those memories than just shoving them in an album. More time-consuming, yes, but the kid in me loves the collage aspect!
10. Because it allows me to connect with people. Though not all of my friends, I'm fortunate to have some friends here who also craft, and getting together with them and making stuff (even though it's often not the same type of stuff, as 2 out of 3 of them are primarily crocheters!) is always a fun time. And, I've also enjoyed getting to know crafters from all over the place through this blog!

Ten seems like a good number to stop at. Especially since I want to get some sewing in before we head over to my grandparents' for the turkey. So, I hope you all have a wonderful day with lots to be thankful for, no matter where you are!

Friday Favorites, Episode 27

You all were busy this week-- lots of linkage!

First off, another Carnival of Green Crafts. My favorites this time were the costume corset made from a dress, and how to make those reed diffuser air fresheners. Will come in handy for the refills, anyway-- I'm going to be buying (gasp!) one shortly. But the reason I'm purchasing it is that it's for the fundraiser for the band I'm teaching, to help pay for our end-of-the-year competition trip. So at least it's for a good cause, right?

You can tell it's election season here in the States, and frankly, I can't wait until it's over. I'm so sick of political commercials that it makes me want to throw things at my tv. But I did appreciate these two lighter takes on it. First off, at Crafting a Green World, they compared how much money you'd have now by recycling the cans from $1000 worth of beer (or soda, if you prefer) and investing $1000 worth on some of the major stocks. (The beer wins by a lot.) But the reason I'm really linking this is because I was amused at the car built from the cans. And then Lindsay T outlined the reasons why sewing is a patriotic thing to do. Check out her campaign promise! Finally, something I can get behind!

Lots of fun at Whip Up this week. I thought this magazine stand shaped like a house was really cute. The crocheted car cozy amused me. And isn't this pincushion just too cute? Makes me feel a little better about the impending winter, because it's all the things I like about it!

Tutorials I liked: Paint chip notebooks and produce bags from vintage doilies, both linked at Recycled Crafts. Also, Sewtakeahike had a quick and easy fabric gift bag, just in time for the last couple months of the year, when it seems like the majority of my friends have their birthdays, plus Christmas coming up! And Craft Tutorials had this costume ring (inspired by, of all things, a troll!) that would be great for certain Halloween costumes.

Other things I liked: I want this purse pattern featured at Craft Apple. Oonaballoona had a link to this site called Weekend Designer, that tells you how to draft patterns for different clothes. It looks interesting-- I just hope my non-math-inclined brain can figure it out! (As I always tell people, as a musician I can count to four repeatedly like nobody's business.... anything beyond that can get tricky!) And at Because I Said Sew, she showed the cutest wedding cake topper ever.

Ok, that's it for me.... off to work. And then running some errands, and then off to JoAnn's to get muslin on sale. I'm hoping that I can finish the chevron blouse tonight, and if that's the case, I need to test out my next couple projects!

Should it stay or should it go now?

Ah, it's that time of year again. The time where I look through my closet, trying to figure out what on earth to wear for work, because it's not quite cold enough for things with sleeves and not quite warm enough for things without (we're having what seems to be unusually cool weather for the end of August. Usually it doesn't feel like this until mid-September!), and realizing that there's things in there that I haven't worn all summer. Which then raises the question...should I keep them?

It's always such a dilemma for me. Especially when it comes to things I made. There's an emotional attachment that generally isn't there for things that I bought. And the garden center job certainly complicated things somewhat, because I'm wearing a lot more of my work t-shirt than I normally would. And the things like that skirt that I like, but just didn't have the right top for, or vice versa. Or that shirt that I like the concept of, but it never quite had the right fit. So what do I do with these things? Do I take the time to reconstruct them/find something to match/tweak the fit? Or just let them go to make space for new things?

Quick thoughts on PR last night. I think I've finally decided that my favorite designer of the bunch is Korto. Her fashions consistently get high marks, I like her style, and she seems to be not quite as mean as a lot of the others. That being said, Leann has really grown on me lately too, and I am glad she won last night. It was definitely an innovative dress, though one I would never wear myself because frankly, my hips don't need the help. I did like Jarell's too, and Kenley's air filter skirt thing. I have to admit I felt a little bad for Stella-- after all, she was trying to break out of her usual mode. It just didn't work, that's all. And I'm not surprised Keith went. His outfit was kind of ordinary, and I think his little rant about criticism from the judges just put a whole lot of nails in his coffin. And I'm still amused that they made clothes out of cars.

Friday Favorites, Episode 12

I've been doing some browsing through new blogs this week, thanks to Mom2fur's alphabet blog list and a little time to continue digging through the Big List of Sewing Blogs, so not everything I have on here is actually from this past week. But it was still on the front page.



I'll start with my Crafting a Green World picks of the week.



1. If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you'll know that clothing reconstruction is not a new thing for me-- though it's been at an increasing rate in the last few years, really, I started reconstructing back in high school when I turned a pair of my brother's unwanted pants into a messenger bag. But I did really enjoy this article, both for the reminder of the positive environmental impact of reconstruction, and for the inspiring clothing pictures.



2. I also liked their recycled paper bag seed packet buisness cards tutorial. Not that it would work for me in the music biz, but it could make a cute party favor or something.



3. I also have two picks from Fairy Threads this week. These flower pillows were just too cute to pass up, and I liked these insulated can wraps-- great scrap-user, plus it used batting instead of foam, so it has the potential to be much more eco-friendly.



4. In A Minute Ago posted a link for this nifty online "color schemer". I played around with it a bit, and it looks like a fun way to play around with color schemes for scrapbook layouts.



The last three are from Mom2fur's picks.



5. This doesn't really have anything to do with crafts, but the pictures make me laugh. Especially Iron Man.



6. This is really from last week, but I didn't find it till this week so I'm counting it. This little folding tray from Marmadaisy is another great scrap-user (fat quarter size), and I like the origami look of it.



7. I also liked Sew Nancy's branch decorations (made with real branches!)



Ok, seven seems like a good number. And now I'm off for Baltimore and bachelorette partying, so enjoy your weekend!

Friday Favorites, Episode 11

First off, this isn't really a blog thing, but I just have to say something about Gorgeous Fabrics. I'd heard of it before from seeing things made from their fabric on a few of the blogs that I follow, and when I couldn't find anything good at Joanns' in the way of knits, stumbled across it again while running searches on the internet. So I found this knit jersey on there (no link because it's already off the site!) that I thought would be perfect for this pattern that I got recently. When I looked before work yesterday, there were 19 yards left. I placed the order last night. I'm glad I got it when I did, because the owner called while I was at work today and said that she only had 2 1/2 yards left-- I'd ordered 3-- and did I still want it or did I want to substitute something else? I called her back, and let me say, Ann was so incredibly helpful! I told her what pattern I was using, and she told me of someone she knew who's making it right now and was able to get it in two yards, and also gave me a suggestion of how to lay it out so that I could maximize fabric usage. (She also gave me the 2.5 for the price of 2 yards!) I think I'm definitely going to be shopping there again.

Now for the rest of my favorites this week (linked directly to the posts because I'm running short on time...)

1. From Crafting a Green World: Someone apparently decided to build a seaworthy vessel out of discarded chopsticks. Which looked really good. But the main reason this is my CAGW pick of the week is because the writing style just really made me laugh. ;-)

2. From Threadbanger: Not that I have a lot of places to put bulletin boards, but someday I will have my own place and then I will. And these were some neat ideas for boards made mostly from recycled materials. And apparently there is a building material made from recycled paper called homasote. I did not know this. But that's pretty cool.

3. Craft Tutorials posted a how-to for candle globes. I'll give you a clue-- it involves balloons. And as any kid who ever tried to make a paper-mache pinata knows, crafts involving laying stuff on balloons is just a recipe for messy fun.

4. rostitchery made this cute little portfolio that she calls a "holder keeper". Looks like there's lots of uses for this sort of thing.

And with that, I am off to finish my week's teaching, and then packing, and then off to the great outdoors to test my hiking skirt while backpacking this weekend. Ciao!

my so-called logic

Titled thus because, the way my brain works, these three things connect.

Item #1: I found out after the last post that I was tagged by Goodworks1 for a second meme. Here's the instructions:

1. Pick up the nearest book.

2. Turn to page 123

3. Find the fifth sentence

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you.

The closest book, sitting in my purse behind me on the bed, is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (currently rereading The Chronicles of Narnia for obvious reasons.)

Starting from sentence 5, plus 3 sentences:

"Hang it!" said Caspian. "The whole thing is moving this way."

"And moving a great deal quicker than we can sail, Sire," said Drinian. "It'll be up with us in a minute."

Oh, the drama! I'm going to misbehave now, and not tag, because I had so much trouble coming up with people for the last one and I know from Bloglines that this one's been floating around for awhile. So if you want to do it, feel free to steal.

Item #2, connected to the first by involving a book of some sort: as promised, a few pics from J's scrapbook that C and I gifted her with this past weekend. (She loved it.)

The idea for this one came from my friend T, who was up here during that crafty weekend when C and I put most of it together. (She crocheted while we scrapbooked.) She saw the tie-dyed paper and thought it would be neat to do writing in a spiral--which I loved, because I used to do stuff like that all the time when doodling in notebooks and such. So this page is entirely one-liner movie quotes from a few of our 3-way mutual favorites, like The Emperor's New Groove, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Lord of the Rings, the first Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.

We've spent many a get-together munching on Dove chocolate and laughing at the wrapper messages. So C had the idea to include some of the wrapper messages-- what we ended up doing was gluing them down, and then writing our own short additions/commentary in a circle around the wrapper pieces, ranging from serious to silly to snarky.

Yes, we included pictures! Lots and lots of pictures, actually. I just included this page for my palm tree doodle, in the bottom left-hand corner. ;-)

This completely random page has a story behind it... one time, J and I decided to surprise C for her 25th birthday with a Series of Unfortunate Events-themed day (her birthday coincided with the release of one of the books), only we did a Series of Fortunate Events. So we had this letter written in the style of the back of the books, along with clues written in the style of the definitions scattered throughout. C still had them, so we were going to include a copy here. But then we forgot that I'd stuck them further down the sorted stack with this paper, thought we'd lost them, and printed out a new copy to include with pictures of that day. So then we had this random piece of paper that we didn't want to take out, because it would throw off the paper pairings for the rest of the scrapbook, so we took a cue from Monty Python and did an entire page themed around llamas, with llama quotes from The Emperor's New Groove, the lyrics to the Llama Song, a transcript of the llama credits from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and of course, a picture of a llama.

I wish I could take credit for this page, but it was all C. I really like the way she angled the pics on this one. (Plus you can see a bit of my fabric scrapbook cover on this one.)

Item #3, connected to the previous item by the fact that it also has to do with J's wedding. I had a bit of a laugh today at the expense of my bridesmaid's dress. I took it out and tried it on to make sure I don't need to hem it shorter or anything, and noticed a disclaimer on the tag, which was obviously meant for people who don't sew and therefore don't know anything about fabric. It says....

The irregularities and variations in the color and texture of this fabric are characteristic of the fabric adding to its natural beauty, and is in no way to be considered as defective.

Grammatical errors aside (I would have put a comma between "fabric" and "adding"), what really killed me was the "natural beauty". The dress is made of 100% polyester.