Trying to tell me something???

A couple of nights ago I had a dream in which I had taken my Kenmore sewing machine and my serger to a high school or church (not sure which...it was neither the high school my kids attend nor my church) for some costume sewing and while I was away from the area my old beat up weighs-a-ton Kenmore disappeared- footpedal, accessories box, crumbling owners manual, the box of spare bobbins and carrying case all gone with it.

I couldn't believe it. The serger wasn't disturbed, buy my trusty old friend was gone.

I spent a good bit of the rest of the dream trying to find it, or find someone who knew what happened to it, but I woke up with out having located it.

I've been vaguely uneasy ever since. I have so much sewing I want to do, and I can. not. get. to. the. machine.

That's gonna HAVE to change.

Somehow.

Just Past the Halfway Point

We've now passed 16 out of 28 days of photography; it's downhill from here. I've figured out a workaround on printing the labels for the sitting ID's from our data base that lets me just print the labels I actually need instead of a bunch of duplicates, which makes me very happy.

My two younger kids were puking today, which makes me very nervous. I haven't shown any one else how to print the labels...what if I pick up that nasty virus? Hmm....

I emailed the label template to my home computer; if the unthinkable happens, I can sit at home and generate all necessary paper work, then email it to a co-worker to print for the photographers.

Maybe I should be glad I don't have company coming for Thanksgiving this year after all...

But I have a turkey defrosting in the fridge just the same. Hopefully everyone will be well and the turkey will be enjoyed by all.

On the sewing front, I haven't touched my white blouse in an entire week. It's still waiting for about two pieces and the interfacing to be cut out. As I mentioned in the comments on last week's post, I ended up at our photo session wearing an old favorite blouse that, unfortunately, has ink stains on the cuffs. We folded our cuffs back, so the ink stains were inconsequential.

But, with two days next week that are both days off and have no photography happening, maybe I'll at least get to finish cutting that blouse out. ;-)

Gettin' Real...

Ok, I'm just gonna make do with whatever white shirt I can come up with tomorrow; the Camp Shirt is still partly on the cutting board.

Just too much goin' on! After we got home from church...and that was pretty late; the two younger kids had puppet team practice, so My Sweet Baboo and I had a very nice lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant whilst they did the puppet thing; consequently it was mid-afternoon before we walked back in the front door ...I had a choice.

I could throw myself into sewing that shirt, making something that should be relaxing and enjoyable into another deadline, or I could face reality and acknowledge that I'm just not gonna have time to do it well and have a restful Sunday afternoon.

I think, since the lesson I taught my high school girl's class this morning was on the value of rest, my decision to chill out for a while was a necessary one.

I'll just make one of my other white shirts do somehow. ;)

And I will freely admit, hopefully with simple honesty and no whining, that I will be personally very glad when we've finished with the directory photography...

One...stitch..at..a...time...

That's what it feels like, anyway. I've got the collar and sideseams on the black and white stripe blouse; it has some problems and more than once I thought it was going to be an unsalvageable wadder, but I'm determined to finish it if only to be able tweak the fit.

And I'm *trying* to start a new project...we are doing OUR share in the church photo directory on Monday and I've told everyone under this roof that we'll all wear white shirts w/blue jeans (the background is black). It's going to be the Christmas Card photo for this year, and if the picture wasn't going in the directory, I'd put us in Dickens costumes, just for fun(I'd have fun, anyway).

But, since it *is* for publication, we'll be conservative. And everyone has a white shirt, thanks to a quick shopping trip with The Actor and The Flute Player over the weekend.

'Cept I'm not terribly happy with MY long sleeve white shirts. Given the lack of sewing time, I actually stopped by the mall on my way home yesterday to look at white shirts.

Counting the one I tried on when The Flute Player was trying on shirts, I've tried on a total of SEVEN shirts.

None of them worked.

I thought about going to my usual If-I-Buy-RTW-It's-From-Here shop, but when I looked online at their white shirts, I noticed that just about every one of them needed a FBA to fit the lithe young model.

I don't think it would've been worth the trip to try any of those on me.

Anyway, I dug through my Pile (the fabric waiting to be swatched and put away...I'm WAAAAYYYYY behind on that) and found a lovely piece of white cotton twill from Textile Fabrics in Nashville. I think I'm gonna just use Louise Cutting's Town and Country Camp Shirt, and put long sleeves on it.

The fabric is all ironed and laid out on the cutting table...I'm gonna guess about 8 hours of sewing time for it.

I don't know if I'll get 'er done or not. But at least I'll give it a shot.

Considering the '11 SWAP...

I haven't participated in the annual SWAP contest since 2006; high school theater sewing has largely kept me too busy...plus, that was the third year in a row; I was about wardrobed out of the closet!

But that was 5 years and about 12 pounds ago. My wardrobe is beginning to need some overhauling. Maybe I should jump into the SWAP...

But I have a couple of caveats. The first is, simply, time. I'm not done with the High School Production season of life yet; there's a production of Romeo and Juliet AND the spring musical looming just after the holidays...and life has been so busy in general that my sewing production for the fall has been limited to a piddly 5 garments since school started; I've been trying to get that black-and-white blouse put together since Oct. 1. Granted, the directory photo shoot will be over after Christmas, but everything else is so backed up and behind that I really can't guarantee myself much sewing time.

The other caveat is the 'twist' -- that is, the little extra requirement to make everyone get creative with their sewing. This year, EVERY garment sewn for the SWAP has to include a new (or not perfected) technique. Granted, we're allowed to use (I think) 3 previously made or purchased garments in the wardrobe, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around a 12 11 - piece (Ok, 9 8 -piece) wardrobe in which EVERY garment has some particular detail about it that's new to me or something I'm working on getting right.

If I make a SWAP wardrobe, it's because I need clothes I can wear in my everyday life. And I've been sewing for a long time; most of the techniques I need to sew everyday clothes I've mastered.

I'm looking at couture techniques, or embellishments, or some such thing to meet that requirement. Stuff that really doesn't go in my day-to-day wardrobe.

I need some basic things that fit the body I have now. I'm going to have very limited time in which to make them.

So, as much as I'd love to participate this year, I'm really thinking it's just not my year to jump in. I may do a sew-along and see if I can SWAP in my style...that is, along the original idea of the SWAP, which uses TNT patterns to generate a wardrobe quickly.

I won't win anything, but I'll have some clothes in my closet. ;)

I Got Mine!

Ok, it's the second printing...I'm late to the party.

But better late than never!

Can you say 'inspiration'?

Lots of cool ideas; I've only skimmed through it, but I've already seen a couple of things that I'd never noticed on the PR website.

Now if I can just squeeze in some time to sew...