Control Issues

Or, maybe, controller issues?

We're a game-playing family. I well remember a summer several years back, when the older DKids were middle-school age, when it seems like we did nothing but play Monopoly. Full-length games. But...Monopoly is one of those games where there's a point at which everyone knows who's going to win long before the game is over and there really isn't anything that anyone can do about it. The rest of the game is one long grind-everyone-else-into-the-dirt process. It really isn't my game style; I don't much like playing Monopoly even when I win, let alone when I'm one of the people ground under the heel of the real estate mogul. But, I figured the kids were learning critical thinking and developing their math skills so I went along with it....

But Monopoly has been replaced now by Nintendo. And I *really stink* at those eye-hand coordination things. I stink so bad that I've been known to get completely incapacitated, gasping for breath with tears running down my cheeks from laughing so hard at my inability to just get that little character to simply run across a platform and jump to the next one. I'm telling you, it's truly pitiful.

But I'm still playing games w/the dkids...at this point, it's a question of spending whatever time I can with them. When my Tuesday drama was canceled last night, the two older ones and I decided to play a Mario Party game (also a game in which the players are basically powerless against whoever has the Huge Lead).

But I thought I'd be *somewhat* productive and sat down with my game controller and my black pants. I could hem them and sew on the closures while waiting on my turn. Double tasking! Yes!

Well, not only did I come in dead last in the game (beaten even by the computer character), but I had multiple thread snarls...once it even broke. I sewed the socket end of a snap on upside down and didn't realize it until I tried to snap the ball end into it. I cut thread way too short and pulled my needle off more than once.

Maybe double tasking like that is not such a good idea.

But, I did get the hand sewing on those pants done. And I finished out one of the Bible costumes. And I sewed up a Jalie t for DD that was in the Queue. So it really was a productive day.

In a frustrating sort of way.

The Juggling Act Begins

With one church conference behind and one looming in two weeks, I've kind of given myself these in-between weeks to get the rest of the HMC costumes finished up (five robes to go; Miss M has volunteered to take one home and sew it this week; there are a couple more ladies who have indicated they'll help, if I can manage to make contact with them). I think I'm going to try to alternate working on a costume w/working on the Prodigious Queue...coordinating the projects based on what color thread is in the serger.

I'm still pondering that blue jacket, too. Shannon Gifford pointed out in the comments that the original designer jacket was crafted from doublecloth...hence the 'self-lined' construction. As if self-lining would end up looking anything like double cloth when it was finished! (rolls eyes and shakes head) And, in looking at that no-sideseam, no-fitting opportunities pattern, I've been wondering how on earth I'm going to do my usual pear body alterations. The upshot is that I'm probably going to add side seams. And the more I look at the picture, the more I'm wondering about those low armsceyes and fairly narrow sleeves. Hm. That looks like potential bindage to me; I'll probably work that over some, too.

Will the finished product bear much resemblance to the garment on the cover? Well, it'll have that big collar and the peplum....

But I'm likely to not even pull out my tracing paper to start work on it until after conference number two.

Haulin' it Home

Today is my last work day at church...I need to be out of the room for a class that meets in there tonight. Six Master's Commission students have brought in fabric and I'm giving them the priority in sewing; my goal at the moment is to get all the 'extra pieces' (sashes, vests, head drapes, etc) finished so that I can just send the basic robes out with other volunteers (hello? other volunteers?). All I have left to finish up in that category are 2 and a half guy's vests, which I think I can do today.

I believe I have all the main garments for our pre-school ministry cut out except for one final cream-colored men's robe, which is to be worn by a Jesus character, a wise man, or a king, depending upon what the 'extras' are. The 'extras' have been kind of hit-and-miss, as it's been difficult for the designated costume fabric buying person to procure enough of the same fabrics to make three of each. So we've decided to not buy any more fabric until I/we (hello? We?) make what we've already been given...which is a pretty sizeable batch of stuff.

But the first thing I did when I went in yesterday was to finish up the last bit of the mending that I'd pulled. I feel pretty good about the condition of the Bible costumes now...we shouldn't have any unpleasant surprises about ripped out seams. I still need to go back and add neckline tabs and snaps to a LOT of those costumes, which are currently being closed w/a safety pin, but that'll be a project for another day. (not to imply there hasn't been help...but by-and-large my usual crew has been pretty quiet. This project must've hit everyone's vacation time or uber busy time or something)

Now they're trickling in

I had two HMC students bring me costumes yesterday; I was expecting costumes from them. Another wasn't sure he needed one; I assured him that they all did and he's bringing fabric today. There's one more that I've been told will be bringing fabric...I've dropped strong hints that they need to bring it in today or tomorrow. Once we break the room back down, I'm not sure when I'll get to go in and process the next batch. They'll likely have to wait a while.

I feel kinda reluctant to make that kind of statement, but this year is different than last year. Last year, at my suggestion, the kids were instructed to bring in their own Bible costumes. Since there was such short notice, we on the sewing team offered to make them for anyone who needed one. It took us till October to finish and we ended up making 35.

But this year, the Bible costume requirement has been on the list all along; this should not be a last-minute surprise for anybody. So, we offered to make them for local kids (as we figured they'd ask for help anyway), but I am expecting folks who come in from out of town to bring their own.

With 24 costumes in the works for the pre-school ministry, we've got our hands full at the moment. I'm afraid that any HMC student that doesn't get the fabric to me in time to be cut on Monday will just have to wait until we've finished the current pile.

And here is how the current pile looked about 2 PM on Thursday...they're bagged by fabric, not garment; some bags have 3 garments w/attending sashes and ties. I'm trying NOT to think about how much work there is to do...just start working and keep at it until it's done.

The Power of Two

After I hauled in tables and set up to cut, I started the ol' stack-and-whack; by the time My Sweet Baboo got there with a Chick-fil-A sandwich at lunchtime I'd cut out two ladies' robes completely and was about 2/3 finished w/the third one, but just as we were finishing up Miss A Two came in to help. In the next 2 hours or so the two of us finished up the third ladies' robe, then proceeded to whack out 3 men's robes, three boys' robes and three girls robes.

AMAZING how much more work two people can do than one...having one person on either end of the fabric to pull and straighten really speeds up the process.

I'm nearly half done now with the fabrics I've got so far; our pre-school ministry has asked for 24 costumes, but I haven't gotten enough fabric from them for that many yet. HMC costumes are trickling in...I've only gotten one yet, but I've heard that I have at least 3 or 4 more coming.

Another day like yesterday and we'll be in good shape!

Three down

Miss A and I worked today and got two of the Heavenly Robes and one other...that is, all the robes that needed cream thread...done today. All they need is the snap hammered on and they are ready for delivery.

At the moment, I'm planning to sew at church again on Thursday and Friday of next week, but Miss A has snagged a part-time job and may not be available. So I will send out the plea, and if no one else can help I'll just brew myself a pot of coffee and work here.

There's only ten more to go... ;)

But DH is off on a Royal Ranger camp out tonight; I think I'm going to see if I can get the muslin for my FSG 1945 jacket cut out while he's away....

And the total is....35!

We cut the last batch of costumes for HMC today; with the additional costumes that will belong to the program, and counting the costumes that I made for my own kids, our total costuming effort stands at 35 costumes...of which we still have 13 (I think)left to put together.

The good part is that it has demonstrated very well how inefficient it is to sew without a designated place...and another good thing is that this should be the only time we'll have to crank 'em out like this. Next year, everyone will know well in advance that they'll need a costume and we can designate the month of August to make them, with a definite cut-off date. Plus, only new incoming students will need them from now on...so this should be the tail end of the bulk of it.

Whew.

While at church, Miss A and I scouted around one more time looking for a place to set up Ye Olde Dress Shoppe. There is one area we hadn't considered...the large open area used for our fellowship hall has a balcony or mezzanine area...over the bookstore and some closets...that isn't used. The only problem is that it is only accessible via two metal spiral staircases. I had rejected it outright, trying to imagine manuevering an ironing board around one of the staircases, but today one of the associate pastors mentioned that we *do* have an hydraulic lift unit that is used to replace lightbulbs and such...we could, just possibly, use the lift to move stuff up there. It certainly wouldn't be ideal, but it just might get us through this season. There are enough outlets on one end of it to support several sewing machines, so it would be possible.

We'll see....

Shopping with the guys

I met DD and 4 of the guys from HMC who still needed costumes at the dollar table at the local Wally World today...yes, we managed to get fabric for all of them, plus another guy who didn't come. It was quite an interesting experience. Three of the guys are from Iceland, so explaining that they needed to get 4 yards of fabric was kind of complicated...they didn't have a mental image of 'yard' so they thought I was telling them to buy four garden's worth :D Once I explained that a yard was a little bit shorter than a meter they were ok. So we dug through the (three-tiered) dollar table and had some interesting discussions about fabric colors and what goes together and what doesn't...anyway, I think they were all reasonably pleased with what they picked out.
So -- we'll have 6 robes to cut out tomorrow; if you add that to the 7 robes that are spread out amongst me, Miss A and Miss M, we've still got a stack of sewing to do...but one cutting day and three dedicated sewing days at church and we *should* get them done. I hope ;)

Somehow, six yards of a drapey, steel blue slinky-type knit followed me home...

Scrooge auditions went well last night; I expect to be cast as a Bird (one of the unpleasant thieving charwomen), which is ok; the Birds are pretty much the comic relief in the Angel of Christmas Yet to Come scene, so it will be fun to do. I don't know if I managed to 'sell' the revised script or not...time will tell on that.

But, if my observations at the audtions are to be trusted, I'm thinking we'll need about 3 new costumes, as the people who played those roles last year are quite differently shaped than the ones who will be playing them this year. But I may be casting ahead of the directors...

In any case, the cast list should be up soon...I don't know if they're going to do callbacks or not.

First, the Bible costumes...

Blue Thread Next

Doesn't everybody plan their sewing queue around what color of thread is in the serger? The Bible costume sewing required black thread to finish up one of the projects, so I switched to black...so I sewed the two black mourning robes I had...then I changed the left needle to brown, left the rest black, and made a dark brown robe, then I switched to red thread to blend with the salmon-colored (a couple of the kids have brought me...unusual...color combos) fabric that became the vest to go with the robe, so while the red thread is in I'll do the red sashes that go with the heavenly robes. Next, I'll swtich to blue thread to do the other sashes, which are dark puple...and after that, I've got cream and white.

So, whilst the blue thread is in the machine I think I'll slip in one of my cut-out sweater projects. Yeah, I'll have to switch thread after all; the navy is too dark for the 'Newman Blue' sweater rib, but since I'd have to switch thread to cream at that point anyway it's no biggie.

If the sweater set goes together quickly, I might just go ahead and do the sweater coat, while the medium blue thread is in the serger, you know... ;)

Warm Fuzzy

Sunday morning, I put the next finished batch of costumes for the HMC students in DD’s car (they were returning from the Atlanta ministry trip sometime during the day), and last night I got a call on my cell phone. It was G., one of the HMC guys from Iceland. G. has been in HMC since the beginning 2 years ago, so he is in the 3rd year also; he was 16 when he first came (Icelanders graduate from high school at age 16), all by himself, so he’s kind of special to everyone. Apparently, HMC had gotten back into town and DD had handed out the costumes I left in her car. G. was just calling to thank me for making his costume. ‘It’s beautiful!’ he said, ‘Thank you so much!’ I was afraid I’d made it a little too long for him, so I asked him how it fit. ‘It fits perfect! It’s the best-fitting Bible costume I’ve ever put on. Thank you…I really appreciate it!’

I smiled the rest of the evening. It’s nice to be appreciated.

Cutting again

Tuesday night, DD #1 called me. She's in the third year of Master's commission, which makes her one of the group leaders. Part of her assignment for the first two weeks was to get all the first and second year guys from Iceland together and take them fabric shopping for their costumes. So that explains why she started the conversation with, "Mom, can you do another cutting day next week?"

Turns out the group has been so busy since their planes landed they haven't had a chance to go shopping. "It's almost 8:30, we've still got to pack and we leave at 8 AM tomorrow" (HMC is currently in inner city Atlanta, doing both ministry and light construction at Rescue Atlanta).

So, our big major cutting day turned out not so major. We cut out costumes from the two students who had brought fabric and we cut out the satin heavenly robes. 6 total.

Miss A and I finished in time to 'do lunch.'

I guess we'll cut again next week.

Frog Stitching (Rip it...rip it...rip it...)

Maybe I shouldn't joke that I can sew Bible costumes in my sleep?

It *was* a late night last night...DH works in a program for some boys from a low-income neighborhood on Tuesdays, so he tends to be out late, and DD had a boatload of homework; anyway, it was a late evening and a short night. I thought I'd do a little work this morning before I headed out at 9:20 to teach Bible study (we're doing John, Gospel of, this school year), so I picked up DS's vest to finish off the front edges. I sewed all of one side and half of the other before I noticed that I'd folded the fabric towards the right side.

I had just enough time to rip it all out before I left.

Now I'm off to do it right...I hope!

Rescheduling

I'm still processing everything I heard over the weekend at the women's conference; I needed that shift of focus more than I realized. Fret not if my daily posting isn't up first thing in the morning; I need to do some revamping of the personal schedule so I (hopefully) won't get caught in the blogsphere quite so easily. I'd been logging on to update the blog and losing myself for a couple of hours....not real productive. So, to better use the mornings and preserve evenings for family time, it looks like the best time to update the blog will be noonish...around lunch. According to Sitemeter, most of my vistors come by in the evening anyway. Not sure how that's going to work when I'm gone at noon...I'll probably post when I come home in the midafternoon. It'll be there...eventually ;).

I have finished all the costumes for specific kids that I had cut out; I cut out DS's costume last night, which was a good trick as the pattern pieces for the robe were longer than my table. I'll need black thread in the serger for his vest; that'll give me a good lead into the black mourning robes that are cut out and waiting to be made for the program to keep. We're cutting out again on Thursday...if everyone who has asked for a costume so far brings me fabric, we'll have 12 more to cut.

That's do-able in a day, with a little help. Miss A is coming; not sure about anyone else. But just having one person to hold down one end of the fabric while I tug and straighten the other end is a huge help.

Note to self: change the blade in the rotary cutter before Thursday... ;)

Project Recipients

Today the 2006-2007 Master's Commission students were presented to the church. These are the students for whom we are making the costumes and I thought I'd post some pictures so you can see what I've been talking about.



























These are most of the students(Along with our senior pastors and the program directors) the camera didn't really take a wide enough angle to get them all. But I am partial to two :














DD is doing her third year; she has experienced so much personal/spiritual growth in the last two years and I am excited about what she will do the next year. But, DS of the Rolling Eyes is also now a Master's Commission Student.


You'll remember he was Valedictorian of his Senior class; he had a full tuition/fees scholarship to our local university. His plan was to study engineering, participate in the co-operative education plan, live at home and graduate with no debt.

However, as the summer progressed he began to feel more and more drawn to Master's Commission and less and less ready emotionally for college. He really surprised us about the third week of July by stating that he wanted to do HMC instead of college this year. He applied to and was accepted into the HMC class, but at our first inquiry, the local university said that they normally only allowed Mormon students to defer scholarships for this kind of program, but they agreed to review Master's Commission and consider it. After they checked it out, they contacted us to say they would allow David to defer his scholarship for one year. Wow.

Now his problem was simply money. He had all the money he needed for college...and zero money for Master's. He sent out inquiry letters, not so much asking for support at that time, but asking if anyone would be willing to support him. The fact that he neglected to put any contact information in his letter may have had something to do with the fact that he had only one response...it didn't look good. We told him if he managed to get enough funds for the initial move-in expenses (about half the year's total tuition), we would agree to him going to Master's. BUT...UAH started classes a week and a half ago. However, he could withdraw during the first two weeks without penalty and still keep the scholarship.

So, he spent $400 on books (well, he put $400 on the credit card...hopefully he can use them next year...), started classes, and prayed hard.

Thursday night, he got a phone call from the HMC directors and learned that there was a $3000 scholarship available for him. On Friday, he cashed in some savings bonds for the other $300 he needed, withdrew from his classes, carried the necessary paperwork over to the Financial Aid office, and packed up his clothes. Saturday, he moved out (all HMC students board in an apartment complex across town; it's part of their training to learn to work together). And I don't know if he or his sister was the most excited.

Yesterday afternoon, I walked by his room and noticed that the ceiling fan was still running. "Well," I thought, "That's not necessary," and walked into his neat, clean, very empty looking room and pulled the chain to turn it off. Then I just stood there a while....

At least I have enough fabric left from DD's costume to make one for him, too...they are going to have an amazing year...we are going to experience leftovers at mealtime again.

And keep praying that the rest of the financial support comes in. ;)

DD's Finished Costume

She was goofing around when I was taking the photos to update the review so I thought I'd put the goofy photo on the blog. Actually, it's not a bad picture...you can see how it fits and works with the drapes.

So far we have about 10 requests from students to make costumes; three of them have actually brought me fabric. I hope I can keep it all straight... ;)

Snap it up

I finished the extra pieces for DD's costume but she hasn't been home long enough to put it all on yet...maybe tonight...

But I did think I'd share the closure I put on it. The pattern includes neckline facings, but I think a bit of bias tape makes a nicer finish; not to mention the bias never flips to the outside. ;)

I extended the bias just a bit on one side, though, so I could use my snap setting tool and hammer on a nice, sturdy snap:



We'll see how well it holds up for her. If it does well, that may be the new recommended finish for the necklines of the costumes...so far, everything we've tried (velcro tabs, ties, invisible zippers, hooks/eyes, safety pins...) has only been so-so; I want a closure that is 1) quick and easy to do 2) easy to open/close and 3) not visually distracting. Maybe this will do it.

Today I'm determined to clean my laundry/sewing room...it's gotten to the point where it's almost not functional. Time to do something about it!

Call it four hours

Older DD will be going into her third year in Huntsville Master's Commission in just a few weeks, and this year the program directors have decided to require the students to each bring their own Bible costumes...much like the flagship program in Phoenix. I expect that the church sewing ladies will be having a couple of sewing days related to helping out some of the other students who neither sew nor have a sewing relative, but I thought I'd go ahead and do DD's costume, just to make it one less to do later.

I know I started clearing the table to cut out McCall's 2339 last night after she left for a 'going away' party...call it about 6:15...and I finished the robe to the hems for her to try on a little before she came home at 10:35. That included adding pockets to the side seams, and I worked a bit on a braided headband for her in that time frame, too. After she got home, she tried it on and said the lengths were fine...but since I'd serged the edges in white thread (on a beigey fabric) I turned the serging under and zig-zagged it down. Took about 15 minutes.

So...a bible robe with a hammered-on snap fastening and pockets: from cutting to hanging...about four hours.

I've still got to finishe the edges on the tie and head wraps; I'll get a picture of it all on her sometime this week.