New Category

I hit the ground running this morning and just now sat down at the computer...

Yesterday, we received a letter from DS the Younger's high school. He'd been cast in the 2008 Lee Lyric Theater production of Pippin, and the letter contained all the parent info...such as the production fee due from each cast member (not going there) and the 'Parent commitment list'. We were to chose an area (or two!) in which to volunteer our time and effort in order to maintain the historically high quality of the production. Amongst the choices were set building, ticket sales, publicity, meals for the cast during lengthy rehearsals, etc etc etc and, you guessed it, costuming.

I admit I had a moment when I thought about arriving at the sewing site and saying, in my best Cheerleader Barbie voice, 'Oooo, pretty fabric! Can I help?'

But I figured I'd best help where I could best help, so I hauled my trusty backup Kenmore, a box of thread and a box of miscellaneous notions down to the school for the session scheduled for today.

And discovered that I'd arrived just in time to start cutting. Every cast member needs a floor length, long sleeved robe with a massive hood in which to hide their costumes for the opening of the show, so today's docket was to cut out 40 of these and see how many we could sew. But first, a prototype, just to make sure it would work.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have no idea what pattern it was, but the garment was a Bible costume with a hood, constructed from black Doe Suede (so much for 'ooo, pretty fabric'). We cut it and I put it together quickly; it was judged acceptable and so we started whacking away on the cafeteria tables. No one had brought any cutting mats, and my rotary cutter scratched the tables, so we were using shears.

When we had about 16 sets cut out, those of us who'd brought machines began sewing them. By the time I left at one, we had five more constructed (next time, I'll take my serger). The crew that stayed on had the goal of cutting out the rest before they quit for the day.

They'll be sewing again tomorrow afternoon and Monday; I've got some other things going on but we'll see how much I can manage (There's another project...not costuming...looming for church that needs to be done by the first of February. Gotta get moving on that one). I'd sure rather do that than get on the phone and ask folks for stuff or run around hanging posters. Anyway, I've got a new sidebar category now: School Costuming. There's a play coming up in April, and the one-act next fall...now that I've been, um, found out I'll probably have some more things to add to that list before the year's over.

Oh...no Choir Sundays post tomorrow; My Sweet Baboo and I have been assigned to other duty tomorrow so we won't be in choir (and we can wear whatever we want...). So I guess it's ok that I didn't get the Chopin blouse finished anyway. But I *did* get the ruching done, so from this point it should be moving a little faster.

If the volunteer sewing doesn't consume all my time! ;)

A !!!! Day

Boy, those transitions times are tough, aren't they?

I keep telling myself that once the fledgling leaves the nest things will settle out and we'll all be civil human beings again.

This morning is just one of those days that I'm saying that with clenched teeth and, I'm sure, elevated blood pressure.

I've some necessary household maintenance things to do today; hopefully I can settle down with a CD and my ruching later and get focused on something besides the brilliant argument points that seem to be tumbling about my brain at the moment.

It's just transition...it's just transition...

LOL

An oops fabric?

The Fabric Mart order arrived...or, sort of arrived...yesterday. Of the two fabrics I ordered, one was listed as 'sold out', although the first indication I had of that was when I picked up the surprisingly small box and felt how light it was. The black/white/red glen plaid was no longer available. Well, that's probably a good thing, since I had no plans to sew it up immediately...I just really liked it.

But I did get four yards (well, actually 4 3/8 yards) of one of the Anna Sui silks. Imagine my surprise when I laid the fabric over the chair to take a photo (it does not have the green/yellow cast that shows up in the photo) and saw that print discontinuity! It's there about every yard. I intended it for lining anyway, at $4.99 a yard it's cheaper than Ambiance, even after adding shipping, so I'm not devastated that I'd have to work around it too much, but it would have been *really nice* if FM had indicated on the website that this problem is there. I mean, what if I'd've wanted to make a floor-length dress with it? I originally added it to the 'Fabric In', thinking I might want a blouse out of it, but now that I've seen that little problem I think I'm going to move it out of 'Fabric In' to 'Yard Goods Notions' (that's lining and interfacing and it doesn't count against the stash). Not much chance I'll finegle it around for a blouse now.

Ok, I just convinced myself. This is lining, period. ;)


ETA Friday Morning: I sent an email to FM about the problem and got a reply from Joann at Fabric Mart this morning; she said they'd fix the description on the site and offered to send me additional fabric free of charge if I needed more for my intended project. For lining, it doesn't matter, so I didn't need any. But I checked the link above and it looks like the panel length is noted now, so hopefully it'll be a heads up for anyone else!

Add to the Catalog

I got a good ways towards being done with the ruched pieces yesterday; the collar's ready to sew onto the blouse, and I've got the cuffs almost half done. It's not coming out dead perfect; you won't see close up photography of the ruched pieces, but it's good enough to get by anyone who's not a home ec teacher or a 4-H judge ;).

So, confession time...I'm a little behind parity at the moment. That's ok, I think...so long as I sew it down before buying anything else (and there's a package coming from Fabric Mart any day now with two more pieces). But...I've given myself permission to take advantage of fabulous sales or unusual purchasing opportunities, so I'm not going to go on a guilt trip over it.

I've got three pieces in the 'in' column so far...3 1/2 yards of brushed-back satin, purchased for new jammies at Hancock's. I'd never seen brushed-back satin there, and it's my absolute favorite fabric for sleepwear, since the flannel back is warm and the satin face doesn't velcro up to the flannel sheets. It's been four years since I last made a pair of brushed-back satin jammies, and they're really starting to look ratty, so I've been kind of on the lookout for some.

The other two 'in' fabrics are both from Michael's latest sale...50% off of a black silk/wool suiting for choir wear, and 75% off a piece of black wool w/ uneven pinstripes...that'll be a pair of interesting pants, which will also be choir wear. It's very lightweight; I really think I can wear these year-round, even in Alabama. Nice, nice fabric!

And, that same trip to Hancock's netted a few patterns...

Butterick 4978, which may get made up in a lovely retro-looking floral silk chiffon that was one of my very first Emma One Sock purchases;

Butterick 5101, just because I seem to be on a wrap-top kick lately (at least I'm acquiring several wrap-top patterns...I really, really need to make one or two up...)

and, since I had a coupon for 10% off the day's purchases, Kwik Sew 3583 (the Kwik Sew site seems to be having technical difficulties, I'll link to it when it's fixed), a cute little dress that could be elegantly formal in the long length or cute and kicky in the short length. I thought DD might like it, but I shoulda known better. If I bring it home, it's forever tainted with the uncool Mom cooties....

I'm not likely to get anywhere on the ruching today; I've a dentist appointment and a ton of errands to run. But there's sleet in the forecast this evening; I suppose there's a *remote* possibility the evening's obligations will be curtailed due to weather. We'll see...

I am *Such* a Weenie

The next thing on the Queue is the Chopin Blouse. Another sort of Edwardian silhouette with high collar, full sleeves, long cuffs and peplum shaping. It's a fussy blouse, with shirred over panels on both the collar and cuffs. I've made it before, but I skipped the shirring, just cut the under collar/cuff pieces on the bias for the upper collar/cuff.

I'm still skipping the interesting horizontal pockets; I think they'd get lost on the striped fabric. But this blouse is going to have the shirred pieces...the upper collar/cuffs are cut on the bias, about twice the height of the under collar/cuffs, and shirred in three places to a paper template, then narrow strips of fabric (which have been folded in thirds to enclose the raw edges) are top stitched over the gathering. Finally, the paper template is removed and the upper collar/cuff is sewn RST to the under collar/cuff and turned right side out. Proceed as normal.

I've decided I'm going to tackle that bit of the blouse first...get the fussy stuff out of the way...and I'm dragging my feet. I'm not particularly patient w/fiddly stuff; as a Sanguine, I'm way more into fast-and-furious git 'r done sewing. But I *want* this blouse, it'll be fabulous. So I'm a little frustrated with my whiney foot dragging.

Especially after seeing Summerset's final 'Midnight Garden' photos (if you haven't seen them yet, click on that link. NOW. And click on her photos to enlarge them so you can see the details.) She imagined that outfit, then did all of that embellishment...from the silver quilting to the hand appliqued flowers to the individually stitched beading on all the edges. She embossed the velvet and created the little lace cricket. There are details on the lining you can't see. She started and stopped and rethought and redesigned elements more than once in the process. And she finished by her deadline. It's not garment sewing...it's art. And it's amazing.

So how can I fret about a little fiddly shirring in the face of such an epic of couture level sewing?

I will not have a car today, so I'm At Home until this evening. By golly, I'm going to get those shirred pieces done...

Blue Velvet Monday

So, the first two garments are the last two posted! I'll have a review up for the Vogue top shortly (it'll be on the sidebar).

Lessons learned: Stretch velvet definitely needs to be cut w/more ease than slinky. I've made three other Cityscapes dresses (see yesterday's post for that photo)...all from slinky...and this dress is noticeably (to me, anyway) more snug. I did think to lengthen it, as I knew it wouldn't grow in length like slinky (I let out two of the 1" tucks I'd taken in the skirt portion of the pattern), but I didn't think about it needing more girth. So I'll be happier with it if I manage to lose a couple of pounds. That didn't seem to bother anyone else, though...I got a bunch of compliments on it yesterday (including one lady who wanted to know where I got it). The Edwardian hobble silhouette is a little frustrating to walk in...and I laughed at DH when he suggested I just come round to the back and step up to the top riser. I could do that in slacks or even a long swishy skirt, but in that...no way! I'm not sure how it was dyed, though, when the blue lights hit it on stage it turned a deep purple. Interesting!

The snugness of the dress reinforced my idea that the Vogue top would be a little less snug in a thinner knit, too. So I'll probably try it again in something a little stretchier and less dressy.

Now...I've got paper templates to cut for the ruching on the Chopin Blouse. My sewing goal this week is just to make that top.

Choir Sundays - 2008 #2

This month's colors: Royal blue and black


Dress (yes! I finished! Details tomorrow) Sewing Workshop Cityscapes Dress from royal blue stretch velvet

A Disclaimer Just to Satisfy my Conscience After a particularly moving service (actually, two of them) this morning, it feels very superficial to be writing about what I wore. So I'm just mentioning...just in case someone reading this doesn't know...that there is a lot more to life and church than sewing and clothes. However, because this is a *sewing* blog, that's what gets reported on here. I'm actually considering starting a second blog to talk about Life Issues and Bible Study Lessons and things of Deep and Eternal value...but I'm not sure I've got time to really do it right. Maybe someday. Meantime, I'll just throw in an occasional musing about The Bigger Picture into this blog, which is really about just one little life facet, not the whole gem. ;)

We now resume our regularly scheduled program already in progress... :D

First '08 Projects Done...

Well, at least a couple of 'em. And I don't have any finished garment photos yet...

But I got the stretch velvet shirts done. DD really likes hers, except for the fact that the stretch velvet, being polyester, feels cold on her skin. I traced the next size up in the Jalie 2005 T for her; wonder how long this one'll last...

My stretch velvet Vogue 2945 top has a problem, though...largely stemming from the fact that this shirt is drafted for thin, drapey, very stretchy knits. The velvet is drapey, and even though it's not quite as stretchy as I think the pattern is designed for, it will stretch...but it sure ain't thin. I had to fiddle with it quite a bit to get it to work; I eventually cut away the 'stay' (read: front lining) just above the darts as it was just too bulky for an underlayer. And I think (hope?) the snug fit of the shirt was a result of the fabric choice; if this had been a nice 4-way stretch rayon/lycra jersey, I think it would've been a little better fitting.

However, the darts *are* too high for me; by about 1 1/4". I tried to fix that problem by shortening the darts 1". That actually worked somewhat to alleviate the overfitting, but I didn't think about problems that can arise when removing stitches from velvet. The right side, somehow, came out fine, but the left side is marred where the original stitching was (the white pin is the end of the new dart; you can see the old stitching around and past it). I've tried a couple of things to see if I could get the nap brushed back up; so far, no go. My last ditch effort is a trip through the washer and dryer. I suppose I *could* restitch the dart, but then it would be back to the original problem. I've no idea why one side came out fine and the other one didn't...and none of the other stitching I removed from anything in the process left marks. Maybe I pressed the dart on the left more aggressively than I realized.

I don't think I'll call it a wadder, though, even if the stitching lines don't come out. I can still wear it under a vest or jacket if I want; we'll see. But it was a good lesson to learn before I started sewing on the garment I actually purchased the fabric to make...and I'm about 1/3 done with the Cityscapes dress. I'm hoping to finish that today and wear it tomorrow...if not, then I'll throw a vest on over my 2945 top and wear that. I'll be funky either way...;)

The Hum of the Machines, the Snarl of the Ripper

Oh, yes, panne velvet is the Evil Fabric To Be Avoided.

In my excitement of finding such a lovely color,I had forgotten I had declared panne velvet OFF the sewing list.

But, let's face it, for some projects, it's just the Right fabric.

After cutting out the Sewing Workshop Citycapes dress, AND the Today's Fit drapey t-shirt, I still had enough of the royal blue velvet to cut out a Jalie 2005 t shirt for DD. When I finished cutting the duppioni top, I decided to start with the quickest-to-sew of the blue queue so there'd be something ready to wear by Sunday. And, being the put-my-family-first person that I am (yes, I'm being sarcastic!), I decided to do DD's t-shirt first. How unselfish of me! (honest? It's a guilt trip preventative...)

I got as far as the neckband...the second step...of the T before I had to pull out the seam ripper. The (grumble grumble) under side of the neckband had crept out from between the top edge and the upper side of the neckband and didn't get caught in the seam. Rip it, rip it, try again. Sigh. But her T is done to the double-needle hemming, which I'll do on all three garments at once. The Today's Fit T is ready for sleeves (and stretch velvet is not on the recommended fabrics for that pattern for a reason, but I'm Making It Work...sort of...). The Cityscapes dress is not started, but really isn't much more than an elongated t-shirt anyway. The Men Of the House are off on the Royal Ranger Winter Campout tonight, so I *should* be able spend quality time in the sewing nook. There *will* be a velvet something to wear for choir this Sunday.

Either that or my seam ripper will be worn to a nub.

Severe Weather Advisory

Well, apparently an approaching cold front is likely to trigger nastiness in our area later today...which means the kids cannot be expected to walk/ride bikes home after school. Which means I need a car in order to pick them up. Which means a lot of taxi driving to get everyone else where they need to be.

And I thought I was going to get a Day At Home To Work. Doesn't look like it.

But, to be perfectly honest...I won't mind some taxi driving, if the weather just doesn't get bad.

Maybe the school system will send the kids home early today; I hate to think of the scary mess if we've got severe weather when school lets out. (shudder)

The Chopin blouse is still on the cutting table; if I get nothing else done today, I *will* finish cutting that out!!!

Randomness, part whatever

Another multi-tasking day, with work done but nothing accomplished is behind me and in front of me. So, for something creative to post, I thought I'd share a bit of poetry.

I wrote this in 2002 after my final year of Bible Study Fellowship...the study of the Life of Moses. Recently I heard a sermon that reminded me of this; just for grins, here it is.

Maybe I'll have something to report tomorrow. ;)



Crossing Over

I was foolish when I was young; I ran from my folly and hid until he called me.
I was yet foolish when he called me – “Send someone else!”
But he would not. Instead he gave me my own staff,
a charge to bring his people out of slavery,
and a promise to be with me.
And he told me his name, and I went.

Only one request of mine did he deny –
to blot out my name from his book
if the people’s sin was unforgivable.
But he said no – those who sinned against him
would be blotted out of the book
I could not substitute my name for theirs—
And the people suffered a plague for what they had done.

Only one request did he partly fulfill –
‘Show me your glory!’ I begged,
Desiring to see at last the face behind the voice
To know even as I was known.
But he said he would show me his goodness instead,
For no man could look on his face and live—
And he proclaimed his name as he passed by the shelter he gave me.
I saw only his back, and it was too wondrous to describe.

All the rest he granted. Every last one.
He sent the plagues on Egypt, gave us water when there was none,
Sent his own presence with us, healed my sister…year after year,
What I asked for, he gave. You’d think the people would’ve noticed the pattern.
But each hardship seemed to confuse their memory—
Egypt, they remembered as a place of comfort and plenty (They were slaves!)
The miraculous provision they’d had since they left there they remembered not at all.
I finally lost my temper and hit the rock. Twice.
He had told me to simply speak.
What can I say? I was wrong.
At the very end, I asked one more favor -- to be allowed to go in and see the land beyond the Jordan.
But that request only made him angry; I will get no special dispensation.
I must bear the consequences of my own sin…just like the rest of my generation.
So now I am foolish in my old age, and Joshua will lead the people into their inheritance.

It has been a long walk from Egypt.
One more walk up the mountain to gaze into the land I on which I will never walk.
It is a good land, and green. If the people learn obedience, they will do well there.

Here I am. Yes, Lord, I remember asking to see your glory.
Do you mean NOW?

Ah, my Lord and my God! The glory! The glory! The glory…!

But, you said no one could see your face and live…
Why are you laughing?
I did?

Oh. I hadn’t noticed.

Multi-tasking mess

Or, how many projects can I have in progress at once?

--cutting out garments
--the eternal pursuit of the bottom of the laundry hamper
--de-decorating the house
--a writing project that's buzzing away
--completing the bedroom shuffle; our kids are kind of moving around in the house so the ones who currently need space have it

And today's an 'errands outside the house' day.

So, nothing's done, everything's wrecked...IOW, life is normal... ;)

New Year, New Queue

Well, a short queue. I think I'm going to try to avoid having a queue that would take more than two weeks of dedicated sewing to get through. It loses too much of the creative inspiration when it sits around. So I will cut one more thing...making a total of three...and then I'll put away the cutting boards and focus on sewing.

I changed my mind just before cutting the blue flannel; I didn't have enough fabric to make Butterick 5087. Even if I *hadn't* had to cut around moth damage, the under and upper collars are both cut on the bias and use a BUNCH of fabric...I didn't have enough to start with. So I decided to do one of my Loes Hinse jackets; they all are pretty fabric frugal. But as I was pressing the fabric, I noticed how very similar the right and wrong sides are and realized that it was a good choice for the ultra-simple Robin's Jacket by Silhouette Patterns. So that's what got cut out. Somewhere I have a remnant of the faux suede that I used to bind the edges of the red/silver plaid, but I haven't been able to run it down. If I can't find it, I'll just use the recommended black bias tape. On this jacket, the binding is the most time-consuming part of the construction.

Plus, I cut out Sewing Workshop's Cityscapes Dress from the post-parity-acquired royal blue velvet. That's a garment that takes longer to cut out and mark than it does to sew! And...there's a bonus...I've got roughly 1 3/4 yards left; I can have a stretch velvet t, too! I'm thinking Vogue 2945...I've got it traced already from a previous 'I changed my mind' moment. It'd look really elegant in stretch velvet...hm, maybe I should cut out *two* more projects!

The one I planned to cut out today is another Sewing Workshop pattern...the Chopin Blouse, from royal blue/grey/white stripe silk duppioni.

I think I could get those things made in the next two weeks....

And I'm debating a fabric order from Michael...just about everything is at least 50% off and I need some good black suit weight; my black pants wardrobe is beginning to look a little aged and I'd like at least one more fresh looking pair before long.

Think, think, think!

Return of Choir Sundays

This month's colors: Black with Royal Blue

Once again, a rehearsal photo. Obviously, the baby in red and the green coat that was worn because the sanctuary started out cold would be gone when we start service, but the young fellow front and center is one of the Master's Commission students from Iceland, and that's probably the closest he had to royal blue and black in his closet! Master's students rotate singing along with the choir, both to boost our numbers and to have experience as part of the worship team, so they generally have less stringent dress codes (I'm noticing that several of the black garments look sort of red/brown...must be that blue light special again). It just so happened that DS of the Rolling Eyes was part of the choir supplement this morning, too...he's in the middle in the blue shirt, black tie and, um, fauxhawk hair do. Ya gotta love those teenagers....

I did get a couple of royal blue things cut out yesterday; maybe I'll wear one of them next week. Meantime, I've got on the Vogue 8043 tweed jacket from SWAP '06, the Textile Studios Monaco Funnel Neck Shell, in a textured slinky, and the old faithful black cotton twill Vogue 7881 pants.

I discovered something: acetate/Lycra slinky has a shelf life. The texture on the shell has broken down considerably from what it was when I made it. It's still wearable, but I can really tell that it ain't what it used to be. Pity...it's a great color!

Al...most.....There....

You've probably caught the moaning and groaning about budget keeping (actually, the accounting process, not the discipline of Not Spending, although that's certainly moan-worthy, too) during the past year. Last January we switched home accounting programs to a completely revised and updated version of our old one and so had to essentially start over. But we had some compatibility problems and minor bugs that took forEVER to clear out. Result: when we finally got it up and running, the budget was about 5 months behind.

I've worked at it some over the year...a couple of times I got within 6 weeks of being caught up but then life got busy and we fell behind it again.

Now, after about a week of being chained to the computer, all I have to do is check off my December charge receipts against the bill and we're...caught up. Wow.

But, in the interim we've discovered that our budget is rather outdated and needs some pretty major adjustments to better reflect what our needs are. So that means we've got to overhaul our end of it again before we can start with 2008. Hopefully that will happen Really Soon so we won't get way behind again.

Do you see a New Year's Resolution in the making here? As in , "I resolve to sit down and do all budget keeping on a weekly basis?"

Sigh. Still no royal blue anything cut out...

A Promise Kept

Keeping promises is extremely important, but sometimes it's easy to let those promises made to oneself kind of slip away.

So yesterday, I kept a promise to myself. I promised myself if I made parity for 2007, I would reward myself with a Burda World of Fashion subscription.

I dropped some large hints about it for Christmas, but apparently no one caught them, so yesterday I went online and subscribed.

My first issue should arrive sometime after Feb. 15.

I'm looking forward to it! I've seen so many terrific garments made from BWOF patterns in the last couple of years; now I can do something besides gaze wistfully at them.

I'll worry about how to store them later...12 issues shouldn't be too bad.

RRRiiiiggght......

Blue January

First up for the New Year is Royal Blue sewing. Our choir will be wearing royal blue with black this month, so I finally have a reason to sew up the royal blue stuff in the stash. My biggest problem is deciding where to start; royal blue is probably my favorite color and I have quite a bit stashed up there.

Now, to add impetus to the whole thing, we usually do a jigsaw puzzle over the holidays. Because we were traveling, the jigsaw puzzle did not get pulled out until yesterday. I worked the frame and discovered that the card table is too small for this year's puzzle...I thought it was 36" on a side (the longest puzzle edge is 36"); turns out the table's just 34" square. So the only table we could use to work the puzzle is, um, my cutting table.

My first reaction was...quick! Alter those patterns and cut out a quick queue of royal blue so you can work that puzzle! But I'm trying to be less stressed in life; I think I will just put away the too-big puzzle and get out a smaller one. We'll do the big one the next time we DON'T head north for the holidays. And I'll plan ahead to not need the cutting table.

So, I've measured the alterations I need to get a fabulous fitting Sewing Workshop Chopin Blouse and I intend to alter the pattern, cut it out of that beautimous royal blue stripe silk duppioni I bought on the last trip to Textile Fabrics, put royal blue thread in the machines and sew.

Um, while I work on laundry and end-of-year budget balancing, too. Good thing I've got something available for Sunday already. I hope I get it done in time for next week.

Lessons from '07

Ah! All that's left of the holidays now is a little down time, a little (snort!) cleanup, a not-so-little Discover bill and some memories. So it's time to glean from last year's lessons and move forward.

Here's what I accomplished last year:
Fabric In: 157.93 yds
Fabric Out: 159.458 yds
Garments made for me: 52
Garments made for other people in my family: 17
Home Dec items: 2 tablecloths, 1 set flannel waterbed sheets
Accessories: Weekender tote bag
'Donations': 1
Things made for friends: 7 Weekender Bags, 1 Tamari Apron
Miscellaneous Church-Related Sewing:
4 Ladies Bible Costumes
3 Guys Bible Costumes
Green panne Medieval Dress
5 altar blankets
red drape for interpretive dance
6 tasseled stoles
4 swaggy-pennant drapes
Team Effort:
12 soldier tunics/shorts/capes, 4 soldier 'armor' tabbards
15 ladies' Bible costumes
2 priestly Bible costumes
12 guys' Bible costumes
6 kids' Bible costumes


For the third year in a row, I told myself at the start of the year I would make parity (sew at least as much fabric yardage as I purchase). In 2005, I was less than 10 yards from parity, but in 2006 I really didn't discipline myself and I ended up almost 34 yards over. That shocked me into deciding I *would* really stay on it in 2007, and I did pretty well until one fateful day in May when we went up to Sir's Fabrics in Fayetteville, Tn. Sir's is a fabric outlet, and they'd recently purchased all the inventory of an unnamed store in New York's Garment District, and I bought almost 50 yards of fabric.

In years past, I'd've written off parity at that point and just tried to be very disciplined in my buying for the rest of the year, but not this year. This year, I wanted to prove to myself that I *could* be disciplined enough to sew as much as I bought. So I went on a fabric fast and, as soon as I had a chunk of time available (it was the last two weeks in July before I got the chance), I lined up a number of projects and cut fabric until I had enough cut out to get back to parity. Then I started sewing. The only fabric I bought from that point until I got back to the balance point was a chunk of extra-wide flannel, which became waterbed sheets very quickly.

I sewed as fast and as efficiently as I could, sorting the queue into like colors so I could sew as much as possible without changing thread. And I had some wardrobe needs arise (ok, one or two were simply for my mental health) that I added to the queue, so that, even though I made parity, I still have a few things left from that cutting spree that are not sewn. At times, I chafed at the restrictions...it wasn't always my idea of fun. By and large, I was sewing with my inexpensive (yeah, some of it was cheap, too) fabric, not the Nice Stuff. But it was kind of encouraging to see the garments take shape and get crossed off the list...and I did make some things that had been on the 'someday' list. However, it took a lot longer to get back to parity than I expected when I was throwing fabric into the cart back in May.

I learned a lot about myself and my fabric addiction buying. Most importantly, I learned that I tend to buy to satisfy my imagination, not my wardrobe needs. That's not smart in any case, whether one is sewing or just buying RTW. So my number one behavior change will be to purchase fabric that reflects what I really wear, not just fabric that will make a smashing (whatever). I also need to let my buying reflect my sewing capacity. 10 - 12 yards at a time, to take advantage of a special opportunity (the sewing expo, road trips, unbelievable sales, etc) is not unreasonable from any perspective; I can sew that in a month or two. But I can't do three 12 yard purchases in six weeks' time. I need to plan what I'm purchasing so I can take advantage of those opportunities without overwhelming my actual ability to sew it.

And I need to shop the stash. Which means I need to Let Go of yesterday's visions. Fabrics that I purchased to make a specific garment which didn't get made when the inspiration was on me need to be released from that vision so that they can become inspirations for new visions. I think that is going to be the most fun/rewarding part of this whole revelation: I get to be inspired by some beautiful fabrics all over again.

And that, in a nutshell is my direction for 2008.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas....

We have finally returned. It wasn't such very long trip, actually, but a stomach virus hit us on the last half of our trip to visit the grandparents for Christmas and it SEEMED like we were gone forever. Hopefully everyone is on the upswing now and we can enjoy the rest of the week...

We are bucking the whole culture, I know, but we've still got Christmas presents to open around here. When we travel for Christmas, instead of rushing to open our gifts to each other before we leave, or the even more crazy idea of carrying them to the grandparents' home to open and carry back home (we did that when DD the elder was just a baby. It took us two years to figure out that was ludicrous), we just do Christmas all over on New Year's Day...stockings and everything. It works great, except that everyone else is DONE with Christmas. Ah, well, we tend to buck the culture in many ways around here; I guess that's just part of who we are.

I've been kind of catching up on all the blogs I missed while I was gone; I've noticed LOTS of people are waxing philosophical about what they accomplished in 2007 and what they hope to do in 2008. I'm not there yet; I'm still trying to get my brain around the idea that this is the LAST day of 2007. Maybe I'll get my perspective back and do some appropriate New Year musings before the week is over.

Meantime, Happy New Year everyone!

Holiday Hiatus

The Christmas Holiday starts today; Sew Random will be on hiatus for a few days.

The last fabric purchase of the year arrived last night; I ordered 6 yards, but found generous cuts that added up to 7 yards in. But I'd been busy, and after the costume sewing and the Last Project sewing, I'm still a yard and a half ahead of parity. So long as I don't purchase anything in the next week (and it's not likely)...I've made it!!!

But perhaps the Last Projects were spurred by laziness, rather than foresight. I didn't want to put away the remnants from the flannel sheets, so I made sleep pants for DD and I. Then I decided we needed tops to go with them, and I found some ANCIENT cotton interlock in the stash and made some tops, trimmed with the flannel on the bias, and we have two new pairs of jammies:


I would write up what I did, but the plain truth is, aside from the Burda No-Side Seam pants that are my PJ pants, they're basically various Kwik Sew patterns all altered up and finegled...and I made it up as I went (literally). But they turned out nice, and DD loves hers (even though they're too long...it's that making it up as I went thing...)

Anyway from all of us here at Sew Random (LOL) to all of you wonderful folks who've plodded along with me in this adventure, Merry Christmas!!

Just Say No

Or, how do YOU keep your family away from the Good Shears?


My good, super-sharp, wonderful Kai shears, purchased at last year's Expo, were AWOL for a couple of days, then turned up ON THE COMPUTER DESK. Where PAPER IS CUT.

DD the Elder (Life Philosophy: It's easier to get forgiveness than permission) was, of course, the culprit. She'd needed some scissors (she HAS scissors! EVERY ONE got utility scissors in their Christmas stocking last year) and maintained that these were the only ones she could find (well, they were right out on my cutting table. Imagine that).

I determined that she probably hadn't done any damage to the shears (as opposed to the time she borrowed my Fiskars to cut floral wire...but that was when she was in, oh, middle school?), then gave her a severe injunction to keep her hands OFF my good shears.

The resulting eye rolling prompted me to use a Sharpie to remind anyone looking for scissors that SOME are Off Limits.

And promptly got me labeled 'Control Freak'....oh, the injustice...

Perhaps another pair of utility scissors should show up in her stocking this year.

The Gift of Imagination

I've got the sewing part of the dress-up clothes for my niece finished; I used a couple of different patterns and got something, um, unique:. The cape pattern is Simplicity 5512, made without the hood in a size 5. That wild fabric didn't come from *my* stash; DD the elder actually has a box or two of obscure fabric, most of it obtained when the drama department cleaned out a closet her senior year of high school. This was one of the drama discards and DD said I could use it. It's pretty and sparkly but feels really icky...bristly like my Tailor Velvet board. It'll work for play, though.
The dress and belt are from an OOP pattern, Simplicity 9698. I actually made dress-up clothes for my brother's girls about 10 years ago with this pattern, so I dug around and found it...and realized that it is basically a glammed up Bible costume! You can really do a lot with a good basic Bible costume...and I need to remember that I have this one around, just in case I need to make some little kids' sized Bible-wear.

I'm also making a floaty tutu, following Angie's excellent Tied Tu-Tu Tute. It's about 2/3 tied off. I thought it could be an overskirt for the dress, but it's coming out much poofier than I expected. Oh, well, a 4-year-old will still have fun with it, even if it's not worn with the princess dress.

A trip to Claire's or Libby Lu's for a little tiara and that's my last Christmas project done and ready for wrapping.

Which is a very good thing; I have laundry to do and suitcases to pack ;)

ETA: Here's the finished tutu (I'm going to need a big box)

Nothing's Committed Until It's Cut

One of my revelations during the reach for parity is that I have way too many fabrics in the stash that I have consciously or subconsciously assigned to a particular garment; I'm realizing I don't consider them to be available resources, but projects in backlog.

This is a very stressful way to view a stash. It puts the emphasis on the production, not the creativity. Clawing my way back to parity after a big purchase also put the emphasis on production, and, between you, me and the fencepost, sewing just to be producing ain't the reason I sew, and that's going to be a big deterrent to future parity-busting purchases.

Now, I believe in purchasing fabric with at least a general idea ('this will be a jacket'), or even a specific idea ('I'll make that Today's Fit jacket and use the selvedge for trim'), but if that idea actually keeps the fabric from being sewn over time, it might be a good idea to Let It Go. It's time for a paradigm shift.

So...if that silk is not made into that slotted-seam suit by the time the appropriate season rolls around and gone, I need to quit thinking of it as a slotted seam suit and start thinking of it as a wonderful piece of raw silk available for whatever I decide it needs to be. Maybe a dress with a jacket? Maybe a tunic top?

What would suit the wardrobe? What garments do I need now, and what's in the stash that could be used to make them? Styles change, needs change...the stash needs to go with the flow, not back up behind an idea that may be past its prime.

I need to release some old visions, and see what new ones arise to replace them.

And I really, really need to realize that nothing's committed until it's cut!

That Love/Hate Thing

There are several discussions going around on the boards and on blogs... 'What do you love about sewing?' or 'What do you hate about sewing?' that have kind of made me remember...and think.

I remember my sister (who used to be a fairly accomplished seamstress; she made a leisure suit for Dad when she was in high school, but has gotten away from it) and I discussing 'What do we hate about sewing' once upon a time many, many moons ago.

Back and forth between us, we listed all the things that we found tedious and uninspiring. Keep in mind, this was back in the day before either of us needed (or realized we needed, anyway) any fitting changes made to a pattern. As well as I can remember, here's what we listed:
cutting out the pattern
laying out the fabric (we used a chest freezer for a cutting table; access only from one side made it, um, challenging)
Cutting interfacing
Fusing interfacing (it was cheap pellon then!)
tailor's tacks
finishing the edges (no sergers then! Everything was zig-zagged around)
stay stitching
sewing darts (how could anyone get those points smooth and even?)
gathering anything
putting in zippers
turning collar points
top stitching
sleeve plackets
trimming/clipping/grading seams
marking/trimming hems
hand sewing (buttons, hooks/eyes, hemming...)

In short, just about every single operation involved in the construction of a garment (except buying the fabric!) was on the 'Ick List'. But we both agreed that we 'loved to sew!' I remember pointing that out and we both laughed. It didn't make sense.

But realistically, any of those things is very tedious and not-fun when done as an isolated task. But constructing a garment is so much more than the sum result of a bunch of isolated tasks. It all works together. For instance, making a dart isn't fun...but watching fabric take shape as the darts are completed is.

And that's what we all love about home sewing...watching that garment move from a concept and flat yard goods into a three-dimensional garment that reflects the individual's style. When each of the elements are integrated into the whole, it does become greater than the sum of the parts. (Of course, improved equipment and techniques have probably improved my attitude somewhat in the interim also).

But to me, though, sewing is freedom. Freedom from the dressing room, freedom from the fashion cycle, freedom from poor quality/inflated prices, freedom from manipulative marketing strategies. (Well, sort of. I have been known to be suckered by enticing pattern envelope art...).

And I *love* freedom! ;)

The Purpose of Parity

Y'know, I really do not believe a stash is an Evil Thing to Be Avoided. A fabric stash is a wonderful asset...a place to play, a place to dream, a source of inspiration. I would never, ever want to be without a stash.

But I have limited storage space and a limited budget. When I found I could buy wonderful fabric from the internet, the likes of which I could NEVER find in a local brick-and-mortar store, and often at discounted prices to boot, the stash ballooned and the budget creaked. I cannot go on buying fabric like there's an unlimited availability of either one.

Plus,my stash needs to change. I've got waaaayyyy too much cheap stuff, which seemed like a good idea at the time but really doesn't reflect my sewing goals anymore, and just enough Really Nice Fabric that I find myself hesitant to use it ('Oh, I'll wait till I lose 10 pounds' or 'Must...Find...Perfect...Pattern') Some of the fabric may end up dontated, but most of it just needs to be used.

And I really don't like the idea of having a Dead Sea Stash...one into which fabric flows, but doesn't leave. I remember talking to Michael Bearman about stashing once, and he told me it actually saddens him when his beautiful fabrics end up just in a stash somewhere. He sells them for the lowest prices he can, just so folks like me will buy them and ACTUALLY SEW THEM (I am recollecting my moth-chewed Armani with great regret at this point). Fabric coming in is fine, so long as it's also going out...and hopefully the time between in and out is not excessive.

So I've decided I need to practice Parity as much as possible. This is the third year now that I've had the Parity goal, and the first year I was serious enough to actually do it. Not that a stash is bad; I don't want to outlaw purchasing new fabric or give myself a guilt trip for having a stash...I just want to be aware of how much I can reasonably sew and make an effort to not purchase more than I can make. Which should mean that the storage space and the budget should both be able to handle the fabric acquisitions...because there is also fabric moving out of the stash and into the closet.

So I need to find my Parity Point. Every home sewing enthusiast will have a different point at which s/he feels the stash is Big Enough. I'll be honest...I think mine is a little too big. It's not at a healthy point yet. The first goal to a healthy Parity Point was simply to achieve parity; I did that this year and I learned some things about my buying and sewing patterns that I can hopefully apply over the next two or three years to finally get to the point where I DO feel like I have a healthy rotating fabric stash.

Which will be a wonderful place to play, to dream, to be inspired...a resource that will allow the creative urges to find fulfillment.

Not to mention a place where I can find fabric in colors I love in order to make garments that suit me and my lifestyle when the fashion cycle denies me that option in RTW. ;)

Choir Sundays #16

This month's colors: Black with red
Jacket: Silhouette Patterns 'Robin's Jacket', from red/silver/black/white mini-plaid wool crepe;
Sweater: black RTW rayon blend fine gauge turtleneck sweater;
Pants:The new black wool gabardine Loes Hinse Oxford Pant. We were in the 20's this morning, so it was cold enough to wear them! I did add a little to the pants (middle-age spread, I'm afraid), so the legs are fuller than the pattern design.

No weird socks this week!

This will be the last choir post this month; we won't be dressing for choir for the next two weeks (hm. Perhaps a better way to put that would be 'we won't be wearing specific colors for a choir wardrobe for the next two weeks'...).
If you enjoyed the choir posts, let me know; I may just go ahead and do it a while longer yet....at least through January; I hope to get some nice royal blue stuff made up after the 1st!

It's PARITY, Baby!!!!!

WOOO-HOOO!

Once I changed the thread in the serger to the pink needed for the upcoming dress-up clothes, I knew I was going to make it. I had two fabric-consuming garments in the queue, both done to the point that they needed pink thread. And I finished 'em both.

Behold, the five-yard skirt and the almost-nine yards pants:

















The skirt has two layers of fabric; it's Butterick 4803, reviewed HERE, but the pants are something different. It's the same ol' Burda No-Side-Seam Pants, made in four layers of chiffon...a royal blue layer, on top of a fuschia layer, on top of two black layers. The black is definitely polyester; I think the blue and the pink are, too, but they're much silkier than the black (I haven't done a burn test). It came from Sir's, for about a buck and a half a yard. The topmost (blue) layer is sewn w/French seams; the rest are serged. I'm not completely decided about the hem; right now they're just rolled but the inseam has drawn up a bit. I might see if a small hem would even it out; plus,then I wouldn't have to wear heels. But it's not highly noticeable, and they are dressy pants...
for now, I'm calling them done.

I did two things to celebrate: First, I whipped out a frivolous top from glittery slinky purchased at the Atlanta Expo (it's Butterick 4347). I bought the fabric because I loved the colors, but after I got home with it I realized print placement would be a HUGE issue. I tried really, really hard to keep the flower centers away from, um, personal apexes, but was only sort of successful. I had barely enough fabric for the top, and I had very little room to shift things around. I thought My Sweet Baboo would think it was wild, but he actually liked it and said the print placement was ok... with so many flowers, he said, it didn't really matter. Well, it's not as bad as the original Salvaged Wadder, so I'll probably wear it...at least, when I want to please My Sweet Baboo. (On a side note, I assure you I have not lost 10 pounds since yesterday's Not the Holy Grail photo...amazing how much difference drapey vs. crisp can make, eh?)

The other thing I did was...buy fabric!!! 6 yards of fabric from the Oo-la-la section at Gorgeous Fabrics (specifically, 4 yards of deep royal blue stretch velvet and 2 yards of 'Well, Hello Gorgeous' slinky) will be heading my way next week. I said I'd like a stretch velvet Cityscapes dress...and royal blue is the choir color for next month!

I think I can even be six yards up before it gets here. Parity is MINE!!!

Woo-hoo! :D

Not the Holy Grail

I finished the Neue Mode blouse last night (Review Here)and I have two thoughts: 1) I'm glad I didn't use pricey fabric and 2) I'm glad this will get worn under sweaters. It's a mess...the front pulls and the back bags and the sleeves are too long. The collar, however, is just about perfect. So maybe I've got one good element from it. I could, I think, with a muslin or two and a lot of patience, get a fitted blouse out of this. I might even learn something along the way...but I'm not sure I've got that much patience.

I've got another, very similarly styled shirt cut from this fabric in a Kwik Sew pattern..I'll see how they compare once the KS shirt is done.

Today I'm changing thread colors and forging on; I've got just a hair over 12 yards to go to get to parity and some dress-up clothes to make for a Christmas gift. I can do this, I can, I can... ;)

"Mom, I had an idea..."

When DD the Elder utters this phrase, carrying a bag from Wal-Mart containing fabric and a pattern, my knees tend to get just a little wobbly.

Turns out she and some girlfriends are going to the swanky new movie theater in town this weekend, and they want to all dress in psuedo-40's glam (to suit the swankiness of the theater). So she wanted a glam wrap. Hence the pattern, Simplicity 3921, and 5/8 yard of fake fur. ('You do have some brown lining I can use, right?' Um, yeah, probably.)

She wanted view I, only with a wider neckline so that it looked less like a capelet and more like a wrap. Well, I was feeling too punky to go to church last night anyway, so I traced the pattern and altered it for her. I will offer great advice along the way. But she will cut the stuff out and sew it up. "Oh, this will be easy," she said, looking at the pattern guide.

Spoken with the optimism ignorance can afford.

I looked at the pattern guide last night, and made a couple of marks on the pattern tracing for her to leave open in the shoulder/side seam of the lining to turn the work; I'm thinking turning it through an opening in the bottom in the lining/jacket seam probably won't work so good. And I redrew all her seams at 5/8" (the front and bottom seam were 3/8") She can trim them after sewing them...the fur is bulky and I think she'd have a hard time sewing a narrow seam.

This will be interesting.

Wednesday Inspiration

It's Wednesday and I've got a really, really bad cold. Or sinus infection.
And there's a week and a half left before we head out of town; I've got a couple of Christmas gifts I've got to get cracking on and a white shirt that's only about 1/3 done (the collar's on it now); it had spent the last week lying on the sewing machine bed waiting on the final dart when I sat down to work on it yesterday.

So I'm not inspiring nobody this week; I'm just drinking liquids and taking decongestants and hoping this goes away without a trip to the doctor.

But that's not to say there isn't inspiring stuff going on. Go look at what Laura made last week (scroll down a bit; her week of sewing photos start with the coat). She didn't even take time off of work!

Amazing. If there was such a thing as a 'Fabulous Flying Needle' award, I'd give it to Laura this week! Go enjoy her work!

Weather Weirdness

Ok, I'm looking at all these photos of ice storms and wintery weather and feeling kinda surreal; we're setting record highs (76 yesterday) down here.

In March I'd think that was great; in December, not so much. We actually slept with a wide-open window and the ceiling fan going last night. The Christmas trees just don't even feel right. It feels really, really weird.

And kinda scary...with weather like this here, and weather like THAT north of us, I shudder to think what could happen when those cold fronts do make it down here. It could be ugly.

But this is just a weird weather year! We had bitter cold w/a hard freeze at Easter and now balmy warmth at Christmas time. And very little rain.

I'd love a good cold snap with a couple inches of snow! If we could just get there without any severe weather.

Chained!

But unlike Marley and Marley, it's a good thing. (Ok, that link did originally go to a photo of Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge with Statler and Waldorf as Jacob and Robert Marley, from A Muppet Christmas Carol, but Disney apparently doesn't allow direct image links; the URL is right but it only goes to the Disney homepage. Bummer.) I had never sewn the recommended chain onto the hems of my Vogue 8043 jackets, mostly because I couldn't find suitable chain. I'd checked at Hancock's several times, even looking in the home dec department for drapery chain but no go. Then I happened to be walking by the jewelry making section of Hobby Lobby last week and noticed that they had metal jewelry findings...including plain chain necklaces...at half price. There were only two chains of any weight and length (I think it was 18") there and I bought both of them. A little twisting with needle-nosed pliers and the clasps were gone and I had one long chain.

Then, while we watched our traditional Christmas movies (Rankin/Bass's Rudolf, Chuck Jones' Grinch, A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Muppet Christmas Carol)last night I stitched the chain into my blue/grey SWAP '06 jacket.

Erica B. is right...that chain makes a great improvement in the way the jacket hangs. I'm just going to have to start watching for those Hobby Lobby sales and stock up on some necklaces...unless someone can tell me where to find the real chain!

Choir Sundays #15

This month's colors: Red and black
Vest: RTW embroidered cotton velveteen; it's been around for, oh, a minimum of 6 years.
Blouse: OOP Kwik Sew that I haven't even reviewed yet. I think the blouse is older than the vest. It's a poly peachskin; pretty color, but, well, polyester....
Pants: Black cotton twill Vogue 7881 again. I wanted to wear the new black gab Oxfords, but it was 67 degrees F when we left for church this morning; I didn't feel quite like roasting in wool pants w/a liner. That was a good call; I was *plenty* warm in the velveteen vest! Maybe next week....

Too bad you can't see my 'red w/white and glittery gold poinsettias' socks! LOL

Passing along Thanks

D'you remember my friends who went to China this summer and adopted...and whose older daughter, Sophie, was in the Chick-fil-A 'cow picture' contest?

Well, Buffi posted that Sophie was one of the winners!.

She didn't win the big prize savings bond, but, wow, what will she do with that clock?

Anyway, passing along Buffi's thanks to anyone that followed the links and voted for her!

On the Mend

Now if I were mending blue jeans today, that would be a great pun...

Thanks for the well-wishes! In the long run, I think I was more embarrassed than hurt. Fortunately, I *didn't* hit my tail bone...I cracked that when I was in high school and know how long that agony can last. My glutes *are* achy, especially when sitting down and rising, but it's not that tail bone pain that can make me my ears ring; it'll heal.

I was afraid I'd have double shiners, too; I could just see myself in choir Sunday with raccoon eyes. But bruising has been minimal, so that won't be a problem. The little scrape on my nose broke open and bled sometime overnight and now I have this lovely little scab right between my eyes. I've got to put my contacts in because my glasses sit right on the sore place, so I'm going to go out looking a little dog
eared.

I did put yesterday to some productive, non-physical work; I printed out 120 copies of the Christmas Epistle so that we can get those in envelopes over the weekend and out in the mail. I had to babysit the printer the whole time; it did NOT want to play nice yesterday, having a penchant for jam (paper or carriage; we had both). I also went through two cartridges each of both color and black ink. Amazing how fast that goes. But, it would've cost us $240 to get it printed at Kinko's, so it was worth it.

The only thing I did that was sewing pertinent yesterday was nearly break my fabric moratorium. One of my favorite internet vendors sent out an email about a sale, and included in the sale was some fabric that I'd been eyeing since she posted it. I'm telling you, I had an email ordering some all ready to go...and I hit 'delete' instead of send (Note to self: Make sure you're about 20 yards AHEAD of parity by December 1 next year so you can take advantage of such sales). If she's still got any when I reach parity, I'm buying some. Period.

But the sinus-headachey feeling is pretty much gone today so I took My Sweet Baboo to work so I could have a car to go out and shop. Gotta get another whack on it; I really want to be done (or close to done) by the end of next week.

Then I can sew without distractions ;)

Me Fall Down, Go BOOM!

I probably should've known better.

Last night was our Christmas skating party for the kids' classes (Royal Rangers and M-pact) that meet on Wednesday nights at church. And, despite the back muscle spasm-type problems I've been having lately, I put on skates and skated.

I skated quite a bit when I was younger and was reasonably good; falling is a rare thing for me. But I had some problems with the tracking on the rental skates; the trucks felt kind of loose. I tightened the laces up after a couple of turns and then worked at figuring out the best way to handle them. I had two close calls, which made my back twinge, but I figured as long as I was careful I was ok.

I still don't really know why I fell. I was coming around the far corner, no one was close to me, I didn't trip or misstep, I didn't feel the skates do anything funny. I didn't even really have time to register that I was losing my balance and fight for it. Just suddenly my feet were going up in front of me and I landed so hard on my backside that I went full out flat on the floor for just a minute. It felt like all my innards were jarred. Unbelievably, no one really saw me fall. Slowly, I kinda rolled over to hands and knees and managed to stand up and skate off to the side, step up onto the carpet. I was heading generally towards the bathroom, because, well, the innard jarring made me feel like I might really want to be in the bathroom before something really embarrassing happened.I made it about 8 feet to the lockers and suddenly got so dizzy that I had to stop and lean against the lockers.

Sounds got distant, my pulse raced and I kind of remember thinking 'I really should sit down,' and I think I started to. Again, I'm not sure what happened, but I fell again...to my knees, and my face hit the floor nose first. Ow. When I sat up, my eyes were watering and my nose was running and I dug through my little fanny pack and pulled out a wad of kleenex, having a bad feeling about the volume of nose-running that was going on. Sure enough, my nose was bleeding profusely. I managed to prop myself leaning against the lockers, holding first one and then another kleenex up to my nose and pinching it hard to try and stop the bleeding. When I was down to one kleenex left, My Sweet Baboo happened to come around the far corner of the rink and I managed to get his attention and he came over. In all that time (maybe 5 minutes?) no one had noticed my distress (One of the other adults commented ironically later, 'Well, I guess we were all really watching those kids well, huh?').

Well, My Sweet Baboo happened to have some cotton balls in his pocket (in case the music had been turned up excessively loud), so I stuffed cotton up my nose and he took off my skates and fetched my shoes. By this time a couple of the kids had noticed that I was behaving abnormally and had asked if I was ok. My head had cleared and I no longer felt in imminent danger of, well, seriously embarrassing myself and others so I felt more foolish than anything. I had My Sweet Baboo walk me down to the other end of the rink where the tables and snack area were so I could sit properly with some back support. I was still holding paper napkins (I'd run out of Kleenex) under my nose...as much to hide the cotton balls in my nose as to staunch any blood that leaked through. I sat there for the last 15 minutes or so, explaining to the folks who now realized there was something wrong that I'd fallen on my nose. When my kids came over after they'd put their shoes on, I got much hugging and sympathetic, 'I love you, Mommy!'s.

I'd worn a black t-shirt over a long-sleeved white t-shirt; there's some blood on the black t but you have to look very closely to see it. Miraculously, there was no blood on the white shirt. I put a ratty pillowcase on my pillow last night so I wouldn't get any blood on the nice new flannel one I'd just finished. I didn't sleep too badly, considering I had cotton up my nose on one side (the left side was the one that was really bleeding so badly). I have a small scrape on the bridge of my nose that apparently was caused by my glasses, some pretty bad bruises on my right hand from catching myself on the first fall, the joint between the bone and cartilage on my nose is sore and swollen, but I don't think anything's broken and there's no visible bruising (yet, anyway). My nose is still seeping just a teeny bit of blood so I'm going to have to be very careful about not blowing it for the next couple of days. And my seat's a bit sore.

So, all in all I'm shook up but ok. However, having a stopped up nose that I can't blow means I'm breathing through my mouth, so I'm going to have to reschedule this morning's dentist appointment. I had planned to work some more on the Christmas shopping today; I think I'll go out tomorrow instead.

Now...can I stand to sit at the sewing machine today? Hm...maybe I'll do some tracing/cutting instead...or, maybe I'll just lie around and forget about trying to be the least bit productive ;).

Gift Giving and Kids

Yes, I'm sewing this week...at a snail's pace. Interfacing and one dart on the Neue Mode white shirt on Monday. Two more darts yesterday. I just haven't had a chunk of time to sit down and sew...

So I'm still musing about Christmas traditions. One of the hot discussions...both in the boards and on blogs...has to do with Santa. Do you do Santa with your kids? How and when do you tell them the truth? What do you do if the truth really shatters them? I've mentioned what we did with our kids in some of those discussions, but didn't really go into the 'why' behind it.

My Story:
I was a very, very believable child. I believed pretty much anything anyone told me; when my folks (mostly Dad) told me Santa brought the presents, I believed them.

I remember the first Christmas of the magic presents, although I didn't realize it was Christmas at the time; with two very young children, Mom didn't bother with a tree that year. We lived in a very small house w/only one bedroom. I was 3, my sister was about 18 months old. I remember my dad carrying me on his shoulders from the bedroom to the living room, saying 'Let's see what (here he said a name that I did not recognize and so it didn't register. It wasn't until I was an adult that I heard Dad use that same tone with my own kids and the echo in my memory recollected that what he said was 'Santy') brought last night!' And, to our wonder, the coffee table in the living room was covered with toys. I remember getting white, burgundy and gold plastic play dishes, a set of bongo drums (of which I have no other memory), and lollipops. I woke up the next day expecting to do it all over again; when we didn't, I decided someone in our extended family --and I suspected my great-aunt Tillie, although that would've been ludicrous-- must've come over after my sister and I went to sleep and left the toys for us. I'm sure we had Christmas celebrations at our grandparents' houses that year; we always did, but I didn't put it together. Nonetheless, by the next year I was a firm believer in Santa Claus. My dad got a real kick out of doing the whole Santa thing and I bought it.

Even my mother's Christmas Eve Sewing didn't tip me off. I believed. Even though it disturbed me that we didn't have a chimney for Santa to come down, I still believed. There was a radio tower on a hill not too far from us that had a blinking red light; I never paid any attention to the red light at any other time, but on Christmas Eve I was sure it was Rudolph's nose. I really believed...

By the time I was in fourth grade, though, I was the last in my class who still believed. Other kids laughed at me, telling me that my folks just bought those presents and hid 'em in the car or something. I staunchly defended my faith...not only in Santa, but in my parents. They wouldn't tell me if it wasn't true! I didn't even doubt.

But then I stumbled across a carom board stashed...not even hidden, really...beside the furnace in the porch/utility room. I asked Mom what it was; she said it was for our cousins. When it was under our tree, designated as a gift for my sister and me, I knew. I'd been had. And, as disappointed as I was that there was no jolly fellow coming to my house to bring me gifts, I was devastated that my classmates were right and I was wrong. I felt publicly humiliated. I think I subconsciously decided right then that I was not going to do that to my kids. Christmas lost its sparkle for me for about three years...until I found out how much fun it was to surprise somebody with a gift they really liked.

Now, at that time in my life, my family did not regularly attend church. When we did go, we went to the community church that basically went through the worship ritual, did some charitable work and some fellowship suppers and stressed being good, moral people. But it was shortly after that truth-baring holiday that Mom (Dad rarely went to church) took us (by then my sister and I had two little brothers) to the new Baptist church in town, which became the church of my coming-of-age years. That church taught from the Bible in a way the old church didn't...and the faith that has carried me through my entire life was born and nurtured there. Jesus became real...and I didn't confuse Him with Santa. It wasn't my parents who told me to believe in God...it was the Bible, a different authority altogether. And my parents didn't tell me to believe the Bible; the witness in my spirit was what led me to believe. And I came to understand that the wonder of Christmas wasn't about the Santa story, but about God who took on humanity so that He could reconcile humanity back to Himself. And that, as Linus says, is what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

So I never struggled with the idea of 'So, if my parents lied about Santa, what about Jesus?' thing. I didn't even see the parallel there, because it wasn't a parallel for me. But after My Sweet Baboo and I got married and moved into our first house, our neighbor kids told us that they didn't do a Christmas tree, because their parents didn't want them to believe in Santa. Oh, they celebrated Christmas and traveled out of state to spend it with family, but the idea was that our neighbors wanted to make sure that their kids didn't put their faith in something that wasn't true. No Christmas tree seemed a little extreme to me, but I saw the point behind what they did and when DD # 1 was born, My Sweet Baboo and I decided that we would make Santa a game; tell her and any siblings that she might have the truth about St. Nicholas, and how people give gifts and pretend that Santa brings them so that there's a surprise on Christmas morning. We wanted them to have fun with Christmas, but not confuse the fun with the truth. And we wanted them to know they could always trust us.

Well, you would've thought we were teaching our kids to stomp on bunnies from the reaction that got from various family members and friends. We were robbing our children of one of the joys of childhood! How could we do that! Scroogish, that's what it was! Well-meaning older ladies would see my kids in Wal-Mart and ask them what Santa was going to bring them for Christmas. It was a definite counter-culture attitude, but we stuck with it. And when the mall hired the portly gentleman with the white beard who lived around the corner from us to play Santa every year, we didn't have a problem explaining it to the kids. We have one Santa photo...my youngest DD wanted to talk to Mr Bob as Santa when she was three, so we went early in December and let her. It's a cute picture...and it's kind of neat to point to it and say, 'He lived just around the corner.'

Also, we didn't have to fulfill massive wish lists. We gave each kid five things for Christmas: something to read, something to wear, something to play with by themselves (toy), something to play with with others (game) and a craft or hobby item. It made shopping relatively easy; we had a limited, specific list and we knew when we were done.

We usually traveled for the holidays and didn't have to explain to kids how Santa knew where they were...or how Santa knew they wouldn't be home on Christmas and so would bring their presents on New Year's Day instead.

And you know what? Our kids do not seem to have suffered therapy-inducing trauma from having never been told that Santa brings gifts. And we still have fun with Christmas. And I have no doubts that we did what was, for us and our convictions, anyway, the right thing.

Which is the best anybody can do.

The Christmas Letter

Instead of following my plan yesterday, I spent the day working on the annual exercise in creative writing: the Christmas Epistle. It's an exercise because, like most exercising, the goal is to slim down. In this case, it's to fit the year onto one sheet of paper, printed on both sides, in a font that's big enough for over-40 eyes to read. I did finally come up with something that has been approved by everyone in the family except DS the Elder; he's not been home to see it yet. Assuming it's ok with him...and, if it made it by his sister, he shouldn't have any issues... I just need everyone's signatures and it's ready to replicate and send off.

But I have been reading 'round the boards, and there are some interesting topics pertaining to the holidays...what does your tree look like? How do you handle the stress? What traditions do you keep? Things like that.

It's a weeks worth of blogging material, easy! But since I'm still letter-oriented, I thought I'd post a bit about the much-maligned Christmas Letter.

I work pretty hard to make our letter chatty and informal and low-key (a lot like the blog, actually) and I do have folks tell me that they enjoy it, so I hope I'm on the right track. Like everyone else, I've gotten those letters that drip syrup right out of the envelope and those letters that get on the LAST nerve because NOBODY has a life that perfect and those letters that leave the reader with a little black cloud for the rest of the day because, well, how could anyone have so many disasters in one year, with not a single bright spot? But, overall, I like getting letters from people.

Because, despite the internet and email and blogs and cell phones, we don't communicate with people we love. And, to use a Southern term, that's just sad. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I regularly go MONTHS without speaking to any of my siblings (ETA: they are all a minimum of 400 miles away from us). Oh, there will be the occasional email, but even that is rare. And it's not that we don't get along (well, maybe we don't see eye-to-eye on all things and we do know how to push each other's buttons, but overall we're reasonable adults. Mostly. ;) ) Anyway, if I'm that poor about communicating to my blood kin, you can imagine how poorly I've been doing with friends. And I'm not going on a guilt trip; the phone/computer goes both ways...we're all just so focused on the day that the weeks and months get by without notice.

And before anyone knows it, it's December again and we haven't talked to anyone since the last Christmas Letter went out.

So basically I'm just grateful that the Christmas Letter tradition exists at all...one time a year when people stop and sit down and at least tell folks what the Big Deals in their lives have been in the past year. Because if it weren't for that Christmas letter, we'd lose touch completely with many of our friends. I can put up with the Awful letters-- they're really more a reflection of writing skills than superior attitudes, anyway--because they keep me in touch with folks that have somehow been a blessing to me or my family in the past.

And every year I make an Album. I put in a copy of our letter and every card, letter, photo, etc. that we receive in the holiday season. It's our record book of friends and family. And they do get looked at again. Sometimes not for a couple of years, but every once in a while I'll pull out an album (what year did they buy that house? Oh, here it is...) and enjoy the old greetings all over again. It's the only scrapbooking I do; and it's getting more difficult because the big,cheap scrapbooks I like to use have pretty much all been replaced by Memory Albums with acid-free paper and Sheet Protectors, which are useless for an album of cards and letters. I still haven't found a suitable book for this year's cards, but I'm looking!

So...is the Christmas Letter really as hated as its reputation implies? Or are there folks like me who are happy for news in whatever form it comes? Do you do a Letter? And...does it take a whole day (a day plus, actually; I made a good start on it Saturday night) to write it?

Or does the very idea of a Christmas Letter make you think 'Bah Humbug'? ;)

Laundry and PJs

The sheets are done and will be in their place today...it'll be nice to have a set to switch out on laundry day.

And, while I've got white thread in the machine, and the remnants of the flannel out, I think I'll go ahead and make the pajama/lounge pants...once I decide which two of the three of us I'll make them for.

Or...maybe I'll just make a whole set of PJ's for my niece for Christmas....hmm, there's a thought...

But there's laundry to be done today, and white shirts that I can make w/the white thread that's in the machines, and some patterns to adjust.

It won't matter that I won't have a car ;)

Choir Sundays #14

This month's choir colors: Black and red


Jacket: Silhouette Patterns Robin's Jacket, made last fall from a red sparkley plaid from Fashion Sewing Group

Dress: The original version of The Sewing Workshop's Cityscapes Dress, made in 2005 from black poly/lycra slinky. We had a Christmas luncheon after church today...I'm still avoiding the waistbands ;). ( The head tilt is an effort to avoid glasses glare. It sort of worked...minimal glare...but I'm not sure I think the resulting goofy pose is any better)

Love those sales...

Ok, I'm on a fabric moratorium...but that has no bearing on pattern purchases, as you've seen over the last few months! I still can't find quite all the hardware I need for the LaRue bags; I don't know if I'll get those done for this Christmas or not.

But I did look for them...at both the Hobby Lobby and the Hancock's on the other side of town. The Hancock's had completely remodeled since the last time I was there; I couldn't find much (it was a recent remodel; one of the clerks had some merchandise she was trying to put back in its place and she finally had to ask a co-worker where it went). But I did find the patterns; Vogues were on sale for 3.88 each, limit 5, so I picked up some that were on my ongoing list:


Vogue 8333; one of Claire Shaeffer's Couture patterns...it's a double-princess seamed jacket with an interesting little pocket-in-the-pleat detail. I'll blame that one on the overwhelming inspiration of everyone's fabulous jackets. ;)

Don't laugh...Vogue 1017. That one's been discussed on the boards, and, while the sample and illustration look like a hot mess, that shirt actually has some nice details, and I think it'll look cool once it's made without the front frou-frou.

Vogue 2882. The skirts are great, ok? And, you never know, I might get inspired to work hard and lose 25 pounds ...

Vintage Vogue 1019. I'm a sucker for anything from the 40's.

And, finally, a pattern for a Romona Coat (think of Tom Baker as Dr Who...)Vogue 1266. Oldest DD gave me a mile-long black and white mottled fringed scarf for Christmas about 5 years ago that's been waiting on a long princess seamed coat in red or royal blue or purple or grey or black so I could throw the scarf around my neck and be Romona...

And, Hobby Lobby had Simplicity patterns on sale for $1. Their stock is pretty thin; I almost think they just get the patterns when they're released and then don't restock them, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I got:
Simplicity 3557, which is reminiscent of a dress I had in the mid 90's that I loved. Those vertical lines...

Simplicity 4273. Should I do SWAP, this is a contender for the wardrobe pattern required. I'd have to add a lining to the jacket, though, and pockets to the skirt and pants, but it could be done.

AND, last night I tore the waterbed sheets down to size. I misremembered how much to order, so I had a chunk of extra fabric. I can get some NSS pants (i.e., sleep pants) for two out of what's left, since it's 108" wide. Maybe both DDs? Maybe a pair for me? Hmmmm.....