Print Phobia

I have had to constantly remind myself all day today that I didn't have time to sew a dress.  Oh, I did, but I had other stuff that needed doing and I couldn't do both.

So, as I did the other stuff, which included driving around and sitting around waiting on appointments and such, I spent a good bit of mental time puzzling over my lack of decision making skills.  And I think I figured out my problem...or at least a good chunk of it.

The fabrics that I have pulled to turn into dresses are prints.  Lovely prints.  And I realized that I am afraid to turn a print into a dress...afraid it will have placement problems, look too girlish for my, ahem, current life stage, just afraid that it will look home made, as a dress that is beautifully constructed out of a poorly chosen print tends to do.

I will make a top from a print.  I will make a skirt from a print.  But making a dress from a print is, for some reason, now outside of my comfort zone.

Meantime, it is somewhat ironic that the dress I will be taking to wear to the festivities is a print (Textile Studio's Madison Avenue dress, which is unfortunately a bit snugger now that it was when I made it and wrote the review.  I will be packing shapewear). And it works for the pattern.

One of the fabrics is a stretch woven...a rayon-and-lycra blend.  It stretches as much as a knit; it's as drapey as a knit; I'm thinking I should just treat it as though it were a knit...just add a zipper and go on.  Maybe.

But these are summery fabrics, and when I get back from the wedding I'll be ready to start sewing September choir clothes.  In fact, I must...I have nothing mauve or dusty pink in the closet at the moment.  So the summer fabrics are going to get packed back up into the stash for another season.

Maybe by then I will have worked through my phobia.

The Paralysis of Analysis...

My niece is getting married this weekend, and the Princess and I are roadtripping up to the ol' stomping grounds for the festivities.

I'd *really* like something new to wear, but, well, this is a busy week and it's not likely to happen.

Not because I'm so short of time, necessarily, but because I can't make up my mind.

I have a several nice pieces of fabric that I've purchased over the last couple of years, intending to make dresses...maxi dresses, knit dresses, sheath dresses...yeah...yet I just can't commit any one of them to a particular pattern.

I can make a knit dress in three-ish hours...but not if I spend two of those three hours pulling out patterns, mulling over patterns, and looking for alternate patterns.

The real problem is that I don't have a TNT for what I want.  And that's the truth.

So, instead of making a decision and cutting something out, I made a necklace and earrings that will coordinate with next month's choir wardrobe.

Not terribly happy with this, either, but I can always cut the wire and restring the beads if I get a better idea (or if I learn to finish off the ends better...)

So, yeah.  Still not sewing....

Choir Wardrobe 0812

Wow, that looks awfully...um...balooney?  I think it's an optical illusion; it looks like the purple scarf is on top of an empire waist top; actually, that's the Jalie 2919 cardigan over the Jalie 695 tank top, both made from a tealy blue rayon blend knit.  And it looked a lot better in the mirror.

Wait, you say, that's an odd color combo.  Well, we have an entire palette of colors to choose from for choir this month; I'd post the photo that we were given on our private Facebook page, but I couldn't get to the original source and I didn't want to repost something I couldn't attribute.  The colors on the palette were aqua, dark tealy turqoise, purple, mossy green  and a taupey cream color.  With the exception of the purple, they all look rather muted to me.  But our director called them 'peacock colors'...and I always picture jewel tones when I think about peacock feathers.  So it was with some trepidation that I chose things to wear with the CWC knit jeans today...I wasn't 100% sure what the colors were.  But, since I haven't gotten ANY laundry done since we got home last Monday (something going on every.day. this. week.  And most evenings...), I kinda had a limited selection from which to choose.  Hence the ...different....combo.

Although I kinda like it.  ;-)

I'm actually contemplating September's wardrobe, brown, mauve and cream; I have another short out of town trip coming up at the end of the month, and we have some duty assigned to us next week that could easily preclude singing in the choir...so in all honesty, this may be the only post for August.

If I could manage to get any time at all w/ the sewing machine, though, I could use some stuff for next month...

Successful Fundraiser

I didn't manage to sing in the choir yesterday.

The Teen Girls Clubs (Friends, grades 6 - 8, and Girls Only , Grades 9 - 12) spent all day Saturday in the church kitchen baking cookies.  We baked well over 1,000...we had 500 bags, each of which had 2 - 6 cookies in it (depending upon the size of the cookies and who was bagging them...)

We set up a table in the church lobby/fellowship hall and sold the cookies for a suggested donation of $1/bag to raise funds for a young lady who is in Moldova for a year, working with the Stella's Voice ministry.

At the end of all three services, we had 12 bags of cookies left and I'm pretty sure we cleared about $500 for our missionary.

Then I came home and started doing the backed up laundry, which all has to be done ASAP as we're trying to get out of town to visit our parents.

When I get back, I get to work double hours again to make up for being gone.  Not that the bosses are expecting that, but I'm only part time, so if I don't work I don't get paid.  Not good for the budget.

So, maybe about the middle of August I can slow down a bit and catch my breath. And do some sewing... ;-)

No Singing Voice Today

Somehow, I came home from Girls' Ministry camp with a cold; today is Day 4 and I'm coughing and croaking.  So no choir wardrobe post.

But I did a first pass muslin on the Vogue 1250 dress.  A friend gave me a couple of pieces of black and white knits from her stash for my birthday; I decided I'd whip up the 1250 dress from the poly matte jersey.  I expected something wearable.

Um.  Not so much.

I had some problems with the neckline/shoulder seam intersection; not quite sure what I need to do to fix it.  I see that it is designed to slash to the intersection point on the front; I think in my alterations I assumed that the cowl would wrap around w/o slashing. When I modified the cowl on the Vogue 8669  top; I did NOT need to slash the cowl facing and I tried to make the 1250 work the same way.  So I think my shoulder seam on the facing is at the wrong angle.  I need to work on that...either redraft the facing so the shoulder seam is at the correct angle or redraft the back neck so that it is wide enough that I don't have to slash it.

And my attempted correction on the underarm  to avoid the too-low lingerie flashing some of the reviewers mentioned resulted in an armhole that was downright tight.  I actually had to slash the side seam  open about an inch under the arm just to get enough ease to move (making this attempt an actual not-to-be-worn muslin), but it still felt tight going over the shoulder.  I thought I'd forgotten the square shoulder adjustment, but when I checked the pattern I saw that I did indeed do it. So I'm not sure why the top of the shoulder was pulling so badly.  I may need a hyper square shoulder adjustment here.

But even that wasn't the worst of it. The dress looked AWFUL on me.

Part of the problem may have been that the knit was a kinda beefy jersey in a kinda scratchy polyester and just didn't have the drape necessary to look good, but it emphasized all the bad things that have happened to my body since the Great Hormone Shift a couple of years ago. It wasn't tight anywhere other than the armholes, but it did some weird draping just above my upper abdomen and cupped under my lower tummy. 

It was truly scary.  Ugly.  Bad.

So I think it's going back into the envelope and back into the cabinet.  If I can get myself motivated to lose some weight, I may try it again and work on other issues, but for right now, it Just Isn't Going To Work.  Time to move on.

Sigh.

Choir Wardrobe 07/15/12

I still can't find my yellow top.  It's not really that big of a deal, since I have plenty of coral and gray, but it would be nice to know where it's disappeared to.  I've looked in all the usual lost garment haunts and all of the unusual ones I can think of...no luck yet.

So, I'm just using the alternates.    The Jalie 2919 cardigan, Jalie 2682 v-neck top, aging Gloria Vanderbilt straight leg jeans (the closest I'll come to skinny jeans!) and the yellow plastic jewelry again.

And...a report on a finished project.  This upcoming week is dual camp week. First the annual Massive Youth Group Trip to Florida (last count: we have 17 other churches coming to our camp this year.  Wow.), which my three unmarried offspring will be attending; one as a camper and two as workers/counselors.  Secondary to that, it is the State Girls' Ministry camp, and I actually have five girls who, for one reason or another, didn't go to Youth Camp and who are going with me to the Girls camp.  We all leave bright and early in the morning.

The youth group actually did a pre-check in today and all the kids had to have their luggage in to church this morning; they were loading it up in a HUGE Ryder truck.  So all the packing had to be done before we left the house at 7:30 this morning.

Well, a couple of days ago The Flute Player pulled out her swimsuit and the elastic cracked and broke when she stretched it (well, it IS at least 3 years old...).  So, I figured it was faster to make her a suit than to traipse around town late in the season looking for one that was conservative enough for church camp.  Plus I still had a goodly chunk of nylon/lycra left from the last suit.  However, last time I made a girls' suit; this time, it's a Small in the KS misses' range.  And we needed bra cups.

So, I made a quick trip to Hancock's for bra cups and spent exactly as much on them as the remnant of fabric I had at home for her was worth.  A basic swimsuit is pretty simple; however, I had a time trying to figure out how to arrange the bra cups so that they were even and right and...I sewed them onto the lining backward and had to take them off and do it over.  But I did it while I was doing laundry, and I still think it was easier than shopping. ;-)  However, I finished it about 12:30 this AM and it's already on the truck, so I don't have even a hanger shot.

And I did have a bit of fabric arrive from a sale last week and a friend gave me a couple of pieces from her stash as a birthday gift; I think I'm actually going to do another variation of that Jalie cardigan again from one of the new arrivals.

After camp. ;-)

Why not...

I've been crazy working this week trying to make up for the time I took off last week; next week is the girls' ministries camp so I'll be crazy working the next week again to make up hours I'm off at camp.  Ah, the joys of the part-time job...

But The Flute Player is in need of a new swimsuit for youth camp next week (they're going to the beach...I'm not...) so part of our errand running today included a trip to Hancock's to pick up some cups to insert in a new swimsuit for her, which I can make in much less time than it would take to find one at a store.

Turns out Hancock's has McCall's patterns on sale this week, so I went ahead and purchased the dress pattern that is the darling of the internet at the moment...McCall's 6559 .  There are, at this moment, 34 reviews  for it already on PR. 

Will I make it for me?  Um, the jury is out on it at the moment, but I thought I would go ahead and get it, since I was there...

PJ's for for the Flute Player

So, church youth camp is coming up next week and The Flute Player did not have suitable PJ's.  I got the note-printed knit from one of Ann's significant sales, and used my modified Loes Hinse City Dress pattern for the top and the good' ol' Burda No-Side-Seam pants for the britches and...happy musical daughter.  The only fly in the ointment was that she has grown more than I realized and the pants are very nearly too snug.

But they'll do.

Incidentally, I cut out a second pair of the Burda pants in my size; PJ bottoms for me, from what was left of the note fabric too.  Working on a fuschia tank top for the top...literally made from scraps...to go with 'em.  I'm going to camp next week, too, although it's not the same one.

I put different colored ribbons in the backs of the pants so we can not only tell the front from the back easily, but tell whose is whose...

Choir Wardrobe 070812

Yup.  It's the Adri jacket.  With the near-matching Vogue 2925 shell top underneath.

And a yellow crinkly cotton scarf from Wal-Mart.

And Lee bootcuts.

Coral, yellow and gray.  Only I skipped the gray this week. ;-)

The frizzy hair is starting to get to me.  Maybe it's time for a haircut.

Adri jacket done

Twelve teeny mitered corners later, and I have a jacket.  Actually, it's more of an overshirt than a jacket, but for summer choir wear it'll be just about perfect.  Once I decide I can live with the inevitable linen creases. ;-).

I finally decided to skip the bias binding on the neckline; if I'd had the time and the inclination I could've made some samples and figured out a way to miter a binding-meets-hem corner, but the linen was stable and pressed very nicely so I decided to just turn the seam under and go.  Here's a detail shot of the collar/neckline/mitered corners; you can click to make it big enough to actually see.

This will probably show up in tomorrow's choir wardrobe post.

Mitering Away

I'm making good progress on the Adri jacket.  It's really a simple thing to put together EXCEPT...all the seam allowances are pressed open, then they are turned under and topstitched.

Except for the neckline seam, which has a single fold bias binding over it.

And I'm fussy when it comes to points that show like that, so I'm doing little bitty mitered corners.

Counting the front lapel, there are 12 mitered corners.

Except I can't figure out how to miter that front lapel corner.  It's a double turned 5/8" on the front edge, and the single fold bias binding on the  neckline edge.

I have Linda Lee's little booklet on miters, which covers several different corner arrangements, but bound edge meeting hemmed edge is not one of them.

I may skip the binding and just fold under the neckline seam, too.

Pondering that while I do the other 10 corners....

Choir Wardrobe Jul 1, 2012

...the 'Egg on Face' Edition...

And, of course, all email history has been deleted so I can't go back and try to figure out what happened.

However, somewhere in the last 6 weeks I was convinced that the colors for July had changed from coral, yellow and gray to coral, yellow and oatmeal.

So yesterday, My Sweet Baboo and I happened to have an errand to the far side of town, over in the Coldwater Creek neck of the woods.  I had a partially used CWC gift card, and I decided I needed something oatmeal.  So we scooted around to the fancy schmancy shopping center where the store is located, and I thought I did pretty good...picking up a jacket, a lace trimmed t shirt (both oatmeal) and a necklace and some complimentary earrings on a pretty decent sale.

But I didn't mean to wear any of the new stuff right away; no I had a plan for this morning.  The only problem was that I could NOT find the yellow top that was a crucial part of today's plan.  Anywhere.  So I had to make a plan B, quick, which was the new oatmeal jacket, knit CWC bootcuts, and a top from about 4 years back, the tankish  top from Vogue 2925, fashioned in a coral modal/lycra knit. With the yellow plastic beads, it looked ok.


Until I got to church and saw that most everyone had on shades of gray with their coral and yellow.  Um, oopsie.  I stayed in the middle of the pack today. ;-).

But it's ok; oatmeal is really the new white, as white does bad things to the lighting and the shaders in the AV room have asked us to please avoid white.  So I'll be wearing it, I'm sure.

Just not for the rest of this month.

Now, where is that missing yellow top....

Postscript...the heat wave has finally arrived in Alabama.  This is  up on the north-facing front porch, on which the sun does not shine until late in the evening.  So, yup, 98 in the coolest spot outside...

Starting from Scratch

"Oh," says the lounging kitty,"Were you working here?"

Thursday morning, My Sweet Baboo headed out the front door to go to his early morning men's Bible study, and to his surprise he found our strictly-inside; no-front-claws kitty sitting on the front step.  She bolted into the house...leaving behind her break-away collar and shredded tufts of fur all over the front walk.  She had to have slipped out of the house Wednesday night amongst the goings-and-comings of the family;  I know she was in the house when I left around 5:30, but after that we just don't know.

I heard a noise in the bushes beside the front door when I came home around 9ish, but I assumed it was a possum or a squirrel and didn't investigate.  It was dark so even if there had been fur tufts on the front walk then I'm not sure I'd've noticed them.

She was unusually subdued all morning; I saw a small scratch on her nose and another just above her lip on one side, so I called the vet and ran her by before I went into work.  They found a couple of nasty scratches and one puncture wound on her back and she was running a fever.  Two shots and an oral antibiotic later we were headed home.

She is just now beginning to move more like her old self; I suspect she had some pretty sore muscles along with the scrapes and bites.  Hopefully she has learned her lesson and won't be so quick to try to dart out the door now.

But she must be feeling better; she has plunked herself down on the pattern I'm trying to trace for the coral linen jacket.  I've settled on Vogue 1055 (I've no idea how long that link will work; it's currently OOP), an Adri designed wardrobe pattern.  The jacket is constructed in one layer...no linings, facings or under collar....  But I haven't made it before, and the reviews on PR only discuss the skirt and one of the shell tops, so I'm actually debating a muslin, although I want to get it put together next week.  If my typical Vogue alterations work, I'm ok.  I hope. ;-)

But first I've got to move a pitiful kitty...

Choir Wardrobe 06-24

Ayup.  This would be the New Stuff...McCall's 5860 khaki jacket, and the purple rayon jersey Vogue 8669, worn w/ the knit Coldwater Creek bootcuts.  Khaki as a color doesn't do a thing for me, but, well, it blends with everyone else in choir, so it will do.

And now I can get rid of that annoying tan crocheted sweater, for which...wouldn't you know...I found the spare button in my button box.  So I can sew the originals back on and drop it into the 'donate' pile with a clear conscience. ;-)

A Selfish Sewing Day

Well, I did do some laundry and cook supper, but by-and-large, I spent the day communing with my sewing machine.  The khaki jacket is done; it will be a good tan top layer, even though it looks seriously like it should have a 'Carhart' or 'Dickies' label on it.  I was hoping for an Aussie bush vibe...oh, well.

Then I decided I needed a quick project or two.  The border print Vogue-1250 wanna be fabric was still annoying me; I decided to just find something that I could use that fabric for.  In the end, though,  I had to ignore what the fabric wanted to be and just make a pattern that would work.  Turns out I only had 1 3/8 yards anyway; and there was that striking graphic that would only work if laid out carefully.

So it ended up being another Simplicity 2630 top.  And it worked...more or less, anyway.  I'm not sure how that flower thing looks with the drapes in it; it kinda loses its floral appearance and resembles...well, something else.  But at least I can quit stewing on it.

And, tomorrow is the last day for purple in choir, at least for the foreseeable future, and I had some gorgeous deep purple jersey that was calling to me (It really is much darker than the flash shows; but without the flash it looked royal blue...).  I carefully cut out another Vogue 8669 sleeveless cowl, and, if I'm lucky, I may be able to squeeze one more top from the remnants.  But that will have to wait.  I raised the underarm on this iteration and it feels much more secure.  Next time I'll do the FBA; this fabric was much stretchier than the matte jersey I used for the first top so I thought I could get by without it.  It's ok, but I think it will look better with just a pinch added.

I'm guessing it will be the purple top and the khaki jacket tomorrow... ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 0617

Well, needless to say I got nothing at all done on the khaki jacket last week and I found myself in need of a top layer again.  So I pulled out the sweater that I vetoed last week, hunted everywhere I could think to look for a possible spare button and, finding none, I cut off all the other buttons.  To be honest, they were really ugly buttons and no one will be able to tell from anywhere anyway.  It really was not a smart purchase, as it's never hung right and the shoulders fall off and annoy the stew outta me, but I got it from Kohl's when I was desperate for some kind of tan topper, and I pretty much only wear it when I have no other options.  As soon as I get a replacement made for it, it's going in the donate bag.  Enough already.

Is it sad that I'm starting to think like a costumer regarding my choir outfits?  The rayon/lycra Jalie 2682 top is pulling out at the bottom of the V, too...only you have to look REALLY close to see that.  Still, its days are numbered.  This is the second 2682 to tear like that on me.  Hm.Maybe I should start reinforcing that area just a tad.

But, I threw the deteriorating orange top and the buttonless aggravating sweater on with Lee bootcuts and a purple cotton scarf from Coldwater, and, well, it worked.  More or less, anyway.

The sewing deck is cleared.  On to the khaki jacket. ;-)

Twin Shirts...Delivered

Last night,  several of us made the trek (about 2 hours worth) down to the state Royal Ranger Campsite to see the Frontiersman Camping Fellowship call out for the Alabama district.  They told us this was the largest recruit class ever for the Alabama FCF; My Sweet Baboo was among those called out, as was our Senior Ranger Commander and two of the boys (twin brothers) from the Tuesday night Urban Ranger program.

Urban Rangers (and the related girls' ministry, Urban Mpact), is the outreach to kids in low-income neighborhoods.  The church sends vans and busses round to pick the kids up, brings them in and feeds them pizza or burgers/chicken sandwiches and takes them through the same curriculum that the regular classes teach during church on Wednesday. The National Royal Rangers even did a video on the program at our church:


My Sweet Baboo was one of the guys instrumental in starting that ministry (and the Senior Commander in this video is now our Men's Ministry pastor, so the Senior Commander who was called out with Bruce has stepped into that position since the video was made), so it was very cool that he and the first two Urban Rangers to earn their FCF level were in the same class (not only were they the first from our church; they are the first Urban Rangers in the state to earn their FCF).

In FCF, the guys are given nicknames and expected to dress in frontiersman/historical garb from (I think) pre 1850.  They are encouraged to do research and build a character based on someone from that time period.

Every FCF recruit must be sponsored by an active FCF member, and it is traditional for the sponsor to give the recruit appropriate gifts at the call out.  Since the Urban boys are, well, urban, the expense of the dress requirement could be an issue, so one of the gifts their sponsor wanted to give them was appropriate shirts.  I know I grumbled about the last minute developments on that, but the truth is that I'm quite honored to make the shirts for these boys and it did give me an opportunity to pray for them, specifically, as I sewed up their shirts.

Now, to be truthful, for the shirts to be authentic they should've been hand sewn.  But the authenticity is really only an issue for the guys who are into competitions about such things; basically, so long as it appears more-or-less authentic it is acceptable.  So I made small  buttonholes (neither of my machines will do eyelets!) in the shirt plackets instead of using metal eyelets, which were not used until right at the end of the designated time period, and I made sure the buttons were cut from shells instead of plastic.  The lacing is deer hide cording that MSB found.  The fabric is uber nice linen..but after seeing them on the boys, I'm wishing I could've made them a bit longer, but I was a little short on fabric for that.

They put on their shirts as soon as they got 'em; for now, anyway, they'll do just fine.

 

The tomahawks were also part of their call out gifts; their sponsoring leader has a forge and he and the boys made them.  

Can you believe I've already been asked how much I would charge to make those shirts for others?  Um, right now, you can't pay me... although there are likely to be references to future costuming for My Sweet Baboo, once he decides what type of character he's going to portray.

I foresee more costuming research in my future...but I found myself looking at the guys in costume, thinking "I have that pattern...I have that pattern...oh, I'm pretty sure I have that one, too...." ;-)

Twin Shirts

...which are actually for twins, believe it or not.  They're from Butterick 4486, made from a piece of linen that I ordered from Michael for a song several years ago for some costuming and then decided it was a bit too lightweight for what I needed.  I meant to turn it into costume shirts for The Actor and The Flute Player, but, well, these shirts needed to be finished by tomorrow so I had to use what I had.

I left work early yesterday and stayed home from work today; I had to teach my class at church tonight so I actually finished 'em at 12:15 AM; thank the good Lord for a part-time job with very flexible hours 'cause I might be a bit late going in tomorrow as well...

Hopefully My Sweet Baboo will get a picture of the shirts on the boys;  I'll tell you the story when I post that...right now, I'm headed for a date with the sand man...

The Box Arrived

...and it was a pretty big box, too...containing 22 yards of fabric, plus a couple of chunks of interfacing.  'Course, six yards of it was in a free bundle...anyway, first the yardage I ordered:

The star of the whole box is that coral linen; it's actually a deep rose pink cross woven with orange.  Gorgeous.  Next up is some stretch broadcloth; it is actually a little lighter than I had anticipated, not sure now what I will do with it. I wanted a smart little black and white dress, but, well, I think it's too thin for that. Gonna hafta study on it a while.  The black and white solids are both poly-rayon-lycra gabardine; it feels very nice but the white is a trifle on the translucent side.  I'd thought of making a dress or skirt, but it'll need to be lined.  But, hey, it was a dollar a yard, so I can use it for muslin and toss it and not be out anything, really.  The black will definitely be pants...nice pants...


The freebies...well, sometimes you hit it and sometimes you don't...

I have a powder blue poly micro-crepe that drapes beautifully, but is a color that really doesn't do much for me.  It might look good on The Flute Player, though, and she needs a dress to wear to her cousin's wedding in a couple months.  This might do it.  The white in the middle actually has black crossweave pinstripes; it's a crinkly chiffon.  It's sheer.  It'll either be a floaty overblouse or a scarf for me and a couple more to give away. The black is a dog.  It's poly crepe-back satin that feels yucky and has some damage from tape.  I may not even use it for muslin...

However, I was surprised to get it this quickly.  It came Fed Ex all the way.  For $8.  I won't complain about the icky fabric. ;-)

On the Charitable Sewing Front, I came home from work early today and went to work on the linen shirts.  I cut them out yesterday and got them about 2/3 done today.  I reckon I'll have to come home early again tomorrow...or maybe I'll just go in late...they MUST be done by noon on Thursday.

Choir Wardrobe 061012

The, um, 'Never say Never' edition.

Or at least, never say 'I do not think I will be....'

'Cause, of course, I just did what I said I didn't think I would be doing.

Color blocking tangerine and purple.

I had a little tannish crocheted sweater to go over my Tangerine Vogue 8669 top, but when I put it on just before walking out the door I noticed one of the buttons was dangerously loose.  Then I noticed that another one was missing altogether.

So, I had to punt, and the only suitable thing I had handy was a heathered purple sweater knit cardigan from Coldwater Creek.

It was a cool, rainy day, so it was ok. Sort of, anyway.

This was after all three services and a leisurely lunch; the kitty was feeling very friendly after being left alone....

And the weekend has passed and I still haven't cut out those charitable shirts. 

So you know what I'm going to be doing for the next two evenings.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....