Let the summer begin!

I can't believe it's already May and a Canadian long weekend is here.  I'm still not used to writing 2015 yet (which is not helped that the software I use has been the "December 2014" version until a week ago).  We are off camping this weekend, our May long tradition.  The weather should be pretty good for May camping - today being the coldest day with a high of 18C and overnight low of 8C.  A chance of showers here and there but not a whole weekend of rain.  I can deal with that.

May has had some lovely weather.  It's well earned after that ever lasting winter.  This picture is from a week ago, all those trees have filled out since then  We put up a Manitoba flag in the back yard.  The previous owners had a short flag pole on the deck and it's made it feel a little more like ours.  We've been eating outside pretty much every night, admittedly sometimes with a little lap blanket as the temperatures are still cool in the evening.

This may be a bit of TMI, but anyone left reading after all the infertility crap should be used to that.

I never had a regular cycle and it became abundantly clear in all that treatment that I don't ovulate regularly.  So life without fertility treatments and hormones is the new "normal" for me.  Generally, it's pretty awesome not to have to worry about my period for weeks on end, but I'm sort of seeing the down side too.  When I do get my period, I am getting a pretty bad case of PMS, something I'm not really used to.  Two weeks out my breasts get heavy and sore.  Two freaking weeks.  And as those two weeks go by, my mood gets worse.  More apathetic, more likely to tear up at stupid things, less productive.  If I don't want to make dinner, sew or buy groceries, you can imagine how inclined I am to go to work.  And all this was at it's worst on Mother's Day - like one of the top 3 triggers for sadness and negative thoughts.

It is lovely to feel like myself again.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

Things are moving along on the adoption front.  We have an assigned worker and have a date in June to meet the whole team.  That isn't holding them back from presenting kids to us.  I can't talk about the kids, and I am not saying these are the ones, but we're at the point of making some pretty big and scary decisions.  It's pretty cool.

So now that I'm "ME" again, maybe after camping I can finish up the silk noil Hollyburn I cut out.

I sewed!

Sadly I'm not done yet so I don't have pictures to show you, but progress has been made.  It's been ages since I last sewed and I'd like to commemorate the event with a sewing room saga.

When my parents were in Florida, I had two pieces of corduroy shipped to them from Fabric Mart.  Sadly, I forgot to save the pictures from the web site and I haven't taken my own.  Mind you, black fabric doesn't photograph well anyhow.  So... piece #1 was black Ralph Lauren stretch pin wale corduroy and #2 is a dusky plum (hedging towards brown) very wide wale corduroy.  The reason pictures are moot is that they would not convey how soft both fabrics are.  I swear the dusky plum is like velvet in it's softness.  Both pieces are far better than the fabric I used for my grey skirt, the skirt that has me wanting another corduroy skirt.

I washed the fabric late last week.  I left it to finish the last drying over the railing in the upstairs hallway so it would be in my way, taunting me.  Sunday I had the whole day free.  I woke up and told myself I'm going to sew today.  And did I?  No, stupid Facebook games...

But the England/Germany trip is fast approaching (like two more sleeps approaching).  I thought of how much I want another somewhat casual skirt to wear.  So I did it.  I moved crap from my sewing room to the guest room, I chucked more stuff to clear off the cutting table.  And I was decisive and I cut.

A pencil skirt is pretty basic.  I have made a few skirts and didn't see an issue.  But then I started looking, I've mostly made A-line skirts, or patterns for stretchy fabrics (my mom loved Stretch n Sew patterns), or for a size 10 that would need grading even from the grading I did when I made it before, I couldn't actually find a pattern that was... perfect.  I have a UFO for the pencil skirt for Butterick 5147 but something went wrong at the zipper.  It's horribly warped and yes, I probably need to put some interfacing to stabilize it, but I think part of the problem is that my hip is not the right distance from my waist making it bunch up too high.  It was not the pencil skirt of my dreams.

Somehow, I thought it would be easier to work from a combination of a) measurements, b) the Lekala back skirt piece (no idea where the front piece is) and c) the front DRESS piece for Lekala 5432 just guessing where to put the waist based on the curve of the hip.  I've made Lekala 5432 many times, first as linked above for a wedding with satin and swiss dot, then again in a knit, then again looser in a light rayon.  Lekala has no seam allowances, but I also needed to add width.  The pencil skirt was 3" smaller than my measurements (with no ease),  I know that the dress I wore to the wedding that is the same size as the pieces is too snug at the moment and I used every bit of seam allowance, so it needed a little width too.  Added to this, I had the back pattern piece but no instructions (although it's no real loss, Lekala directions are well, worse than Burda), so I opened up another pattern to borrow the directions.  And yet, I chose to frankenpattern it up because the shape is right.  Mr. Lina loves that dress because he thinks it makes my ass look good.  I trust his judgement on something I can't see well myself.  I added the requisite inches (roughly) and cut away.

At that point, I became my usual terrified self.  What if it's too small?  I knew I wanted either lining or underlining, I've found tights get caught on my grey cord skirt. So I used the already cut corduroy as my pattern and cut out some Bemberg lining.  I sewed it up with the laziest (crappiest) French seams EVER, and pulled it on with lots of room.  Lots.

For my grey skirt, I finished the seams by zigzagging and while it works and it's fine now, there was a phase of finding loose threads everywhere until it essentially shredded back to the stitches.  While I was trying to find pattern pieces, I came across my shoe box of satin bias tape and I thought that would be lovely on the inside.  So now it's sort of a Hong Kong finish with ivory satin bias tape.  But in my slapdash mood, I just folded the tape over and sewed it up rather than two passes to sew it on like proper bias tape.  The plum stitching looks pretty on the ivory satin bias tape.

As I was about to figure out the zipper situation, Mr. Lina came up to bed.  A sure sign it's time to stop sewing.  I really didn't want to sleep with thoughts of how it could be big like the lining or too small.  In attaching the bias tape, I was also having second thoughts because the seam allowances were going to HAVE to be wider than the bias tape (and thus wider than my crappy French seams).  And the corduroy is a lot thicker than lining, there will be turn of cloth kind of issues, I used the cut cord pieces for my lining patters so the lining is naturally a little bigger... maybe it wouldn't fit...

So I set the longest stitches and sewed up the sides.  The zipper isn't done so I can't speak to the true fit, but it's going to be just fine.  It's not crazy potato sack big, it went over my hips and it's not obvious where my thighs end so I won't be crying as I give it away or wait for 10lbs to magically disappear...  it's going to fit.  I can't speak to the fit at the waist, I haven't sewn the front darts nor the zipper, but if there is a little extra room there I might add a little elastic to pull it in rather than using darts to remove it.  A little pretzel and schnitzel room so to speak.

I am going to wear it in Germany after all.

Alma V2

That's V2 as in version, not view.

A few weeks ago, I met up with K-Line and she kindly pinned out all the extra fabric on my first Alma.  While I think that shirt could end up being a wearable muslin of sorts (think camping), I didn't want to take her pins out and futz around too much and lose all the changes that needed to be made to the flat pattern.

I broke out my Ikea paper and traced new front and back pieces by looking at the pinned pieces and the original pattern.  I then cut out a new front and sewed up the darts.  It looked better just holding it up to my body, but I haven't had the time to get back to it.

Last night, I cut out a new back, sewed the front and back and then got playing with the darts.  I think the bust darts are okay, but some interesting things are going on with the lower darts. 

Let's look at the line drawing, View B is clearest because the belt isn't in the way.  The lower darts end before the hem, opening more fabric for your hips.  I had to take a lot of fabric in under my bust, my darts don't want to open back up.  They keep folding as if the stitching continued from the widest part.  So I'm going to sew them down to the hem.  I still have ease at my hips so I don't really need the extra ease space.

I took a whack of pictures last night and it was helpful to see what was going on.  It is so hard to see in a mirror since you have to twist to see things.  Or I pull the fabric straight so it looks okay, but really it's not when I stand for a picture.  I am not quite finished tweaking yet (and the camera is not with me) so I'm not sharing in progress shots today.  Writing this out is helping me take a step back and look at where I could adjust again.  Thinking time is sewing time.

Yesterday I was reading Lazy Stitchings blog, she posted her finished Mathilde blouse, a pattern by Tilly and the Buttons.  I've seen a couple of versions of the blouse, but I wasn't sure how it would suit my frame.  Would it fall from my bust line and look like a tent?  I'm all for hiding my tummy but not sacrificing my waist.  It was lovely to see a version that would more closely mimic my frame.  And while I was commenting, it clicked that it's similar to a top I want to replace in my closet.

Okay, so the Mathilde has buttons in the back and the sleeves are looser, but it's not those details I'm looking to replace, it's the place in my wardrobe.  Made in a cotton, it could be my go-to "it's too hot out to have anything touching my skin but I want my arms covered" top.  I like how Lazy Stitching thinned the sleeves a little, I'd copy that.  In a sheer fabric, it could replace this top:

It was like an epiphany in the middle of writing a comment.  So I bought the pattern, it's printed out at home, but Alma needs to be finished first.

Don't forget I have a Pattern Pyramid giveaway running.  There are some lovely dresses, the halter jumpsuit, a multi-cup Vogue blouse, Kwik Sew bra, Burda blouse...  it's a pretty good assortment to pick from.

And in non-sewing news...

Mr. Lina's film, The Post-Lifers, has won another "best short" award.  Saturday night we went to a horror festival in Hamilton, ON, not too far away.  The organizer went to the Blood in the Snow festival in Toronto in January (The Post Lifers also won best short) and thought maybe he could do the same in his community, focusing on short films.  Being the first year of the festival, it was small but successful.  All of the films were quite good, not all were to my taste, but well done for what they were.  Awards were decided on by the audience by paper ballots.  And what a great audience.  The theatre held 67 people according to the fire code and it was sold out.  All were real horror fans and clearly enjoyed the line up of films.  I hope he can run it again next year and expand the offerings. 

The next cool thing going on for Mr. Lina is the cast of TPL is being interviewed on Charred Remains, a horror blog run by Char Hardin.  Char named TPL her top independent short film for 2012.  It will be aired live on Saturday June 8th at 7pm EST, they will be taking phone calls and questions by chat.  After the broadcast it will be available as a podcast.  After that, I think the film is going to air in Calgary in August and a touring show in BC - 10 cities in 10 days. 

And in fertility news...  Today is Day 14.  In a 28 day cycle, this would be when ovulation occurs and hormones change from having high estrogen levels to rising progesterone levels.  For a Frozen Embryo Transfer, we're looking for the endometrium to be thick (it was 10.3mm this morning) and my blood work to check out.  I don't need to ovulate because we've already got the embryos on ice.  And I just got the call that we're a GO!!!!   Sunday morning (June 9th - deadline day for the Pattern Pyramid) we'll be transfering my embryos that are presently in a Manitoban winter.  This post is long enough, I'll let you know of next steps tomorrow.

Woo hoo!

Weekend Review - Bras & Decks

All in all, it was a really good weekend.  Super productive, lots of fun, worked my ass off.  It's like Ontario finally decided winter is over and skipped right to summer - lots of sunshine, warmth, the city just greened up overnight.

Our back yard has a two tiered deck.  We've had it painted twice and while the fence and vertical boards still look good, the horizontal boards flake by the end of the summer it's painted.  It was looking pretty awful this spring.  Our patio furniture is plastic that was given as a wedding present and while it's still functional, the time outdoors has not been overly kind.  The past two years we've said we'd get a new set and reached August without buying anything. 

I should have taken pictures on the weekend, but this is all I seem to have of the back yard, me in a Renfrew (and self made rather pointy Elan bra) and snow covered.



2012 - from upper part of deck.
 

Winter view looking over the upper part down to the lower part.

Mr. Lina decided enough was enough.  He sent me a link to patio furniture on Thursday afternoon, as soon as I said it looked good he bought it.  New furniture means our deck needs some TLC.  He worked from home on Friday and he started on that too.  Many, many, MANY 4 letter word were in the texts and emails I got from him.  Paint stripper did nothing, the paint peeler was only effective where it was peeling, the neighbour saw him struggling and loaned him a sander.  Well he couldn't find the right weight of sandpaper, each visit to Home Depot making him more frustrated than the last... it went on and on.  It didn't matter what I said to try and keep this in perspective, it just made him angry.  Saturday he tackled it again and I was very happy to have plans that removed me from the house.

I went into Toronto to see Kristin at K-Line.  We had a lovely afternoon comparing bra supplies, bras (I bought a new one, Suzanna by Fantasie), I put on Alma and she pinned the back and made suggestions for me.  It was a really awesome day and time just flew by.  I did have a dyslexic moment where I wrote down her address inverted (i.e. I wrote 121 not 212) and the wrong number didn't have a house and I didn't write her cell number on the map I printed like I thought I did...  So I phoned home and Mr. Lina was particularly grumpy.  He looked up her email for me but I can't say I enjoyed that brief conversation.  I knew it wasn't ME that was the problem, but I had enough of being in the line of fire.

I went home to a husband who was full of aches from being hunched over a sander all day and too tired to be angry.  We watched the third period of the hockey game (Toronto vs Boston), an Italian zombie movie, I made dinner, rubbed a few sore muscles and we split a bottle of wine... Very calm evening and early to bed (well, for me at least).   I spent Sunday by his side sanding the deck and I got my old husband back.  He appreciated my assistance (and massages) and while it's not totally done, we're down to the last quarter, maybe less.  It's good to have him back.

So no sewing but a very busy weekend.  I'm eager to transfer those changes from the blouse to paper. 

Thanks for the comments and support in the last email.  I will post about my efforts to make better food choices as a way to be accountable to more than just myself.  I did relatively well this weekend.  Today is a Monday where I weight pretty much the same as Friday (possibly 0.2lbs less, I can't remember the decimal from Friday) and I call that a win.  Friday night we were playing board games with friends and chips came out.  I tried to hold off, but once I cracked and ate one...  it was hard to stop.  Not a wise choice there, but all my other food choices were good on Friday.  On Saturday, I split a margherita pizza with Kristin and a salad, dinner was fairly healthy but what I'm more pleased about was a reasonable portion size and stopping when I was full.  With all that sanding, we stopped for a quick lunch of tuna sandwiches and I was too tired to make dinner.  We ordered take out sushi and edamame (rather fishy day now that I think about it).  So, a win in a healthier choice than other delivery options.

And FET updates... nothing going on but more communication from the clinic as to what's going on next cycle.  I wrote exactly that last post, but I got another email with a reminder that I'll be taking Fragmen (injectable blood thinner), Prednisone and the endometrial scratch (a small cut in the lining of my uterus).  I am really far down this path and my treatment is pretty far from standard.  But... they still try to use "standard" forms for me to outline treatment.  It seems like it's more work for them to cross out all the things that don't apply (or answer my questions when I raise an eyebrow) and write in the extras than to just start from scratch.  It's good they are writing things out in a document, and it did say I'm taking a brand of progesterone I haven't used before, but missed:  Fragmen, intralipids, prednisone, Provera, Humira, endometrial scratch, Lupron-Depot (which I still have not had conformation on) and Femara (again, no confirmation yet).  Kind of defeats the purpose of putting it into a document, no?  Emails are filling in the blanks but now I have details in multiple spots.  This doesn't stress me out, but I think it makes the whole cycle seem more overwhelming.

In the next 10 days or so, I need to:

1. Get Mr. Lina in for his screening blood work.
2. Sign all the permission forms.
3. Blood work that the clinic can't do, pretty sure it's testing for lupus and other auto-immune, I did this two years ago maybe (and not covered by OHIP if I remember right). 
4. Take Humira #2 on Thursday.
5. Check with the pharmacy on all the other drugs that are being called in, particularly Humira #3 since they will need to order it in again and Provera/Lupron that will be for Day 21 (May 13).
6. Send off all the forms to the drug company to claim Humira.  I'd like my $1,730 back.
7. Pay for the FET.
8. Actually do some work I'm being paid for.  My interest is waning as I'm looking forward to the cycle ahead.

WIP - Alma

What a week.  It's flown by so fast it's hard to catch my breath.  I have made some progress with my Sewaholic Alma, I have a few WIP pictures to share.  Not very flattering pictures, but that's what WIP and (hopefully) wearable muslin is all about.  Mr. Lina took these on Wednesday night but I didn't have a chance to post.  I made a little more progress last night but let's see where I was on Wednesday...

You'll notice the left and right don't look the same.  I (clearly) am not a small busted Sewaholic pear shaped model, a rather sizable FBA was needed.  Based on high bust measurements I cut a 16, but thinking about Myrna cutting a different size for front and back, I actually cut the size 14 for the back to see how that worked.  I added my FBA (can't remember how much, 1.5" maybe?  I think I needed about 3").  The thing is, I did a crappy job of lining up my darts.

What a mess.  My darts are way too low, there is extra fabric to pinch out and the lower darts aren't lining up with my bust.  I was rather disappointed but I could at least see where to start. 

So I marked my bust apex, redrew my darts and moved the waist darts to under my bust point.  (Side vent, after the terrible shaping above, I wanted to verify the right angle for bust darts and reference after reference would just say "and redraw darts to the correct place", and that correct place would be...?).

Don't I look perkier?  Not perfect but so much better.

Coming back to the top picture again...

On the right side I've pinned where I want the new dart to go under my bust (purple circle that looked far more noticeable when I added it).  The arrow points where the dart is.  When I did the FBA, I didn't think about how the lower darts would also need adjusting.

Last night, I fixed up both sides - tweaked the darts, gave them a better press and I based on the little sleeves to get a better sense of it without pins.  I didn't want to take it off.  I think I'm going to like this pattern. 

One question for those who have made it.  When I basted the side seams to check the fit, I started by leaving the zipper side open, but it seemed loose enough so I sewed it shut.  I don't need a zipper to get it off and on.  Am I leaving too much ease?  Is this normal?  Or is the zipper more important for the full sleeve options (I'm doing cap sleeves)?  I'm going to sew up the sides but I'd like to hear if there is a reason to add the zipper I'm not seeing.

So not much left to do.  I have not looked at the back with a critical eye, but it is not the obvious disaster that the front is.  There is space between my lower back and the blouse but I think it suits the style.  I think the most I'd want to do is end the back darts a little higher.  The sleeves need to be added on permanently and finish the side seams properly.  A quick hem and I believe this will be a truly wearable muslin, possibly even this weekend.  I don't think the pattern pieces will be going away prior to cutting out another one.

Is it the weekend yet?

Oh and not much to update on the FET.  I had some communication with the clinic about medications etc.  I will have 3 doses of Humira prior to transfer (so May 9th AND May 23rd - I'm going to need to buy more, $1,730 was for 2 pens not 3).  May 13th (Day 21) I'm in for blood work & ultrasound to see if I ovulate (doubt it) because that determines if I take Evil Provera or not.  Until then, I'm doing really well at taking my metformin, vitamins, (even flossing!) etc and making wiser choices eating.  I had some pretty bad PMS bloat going on with that period, I've lost 6lbs this week and I am quite certain that is not fat.  It's a good start that I'm aiming to build on in a very healthy way. 

You must read Falling Through Your Clothes today, it's exactly what I'm thinking about right now.  I'm not counting calories or following any stupid restriction (I am consulting a nutritionist, good timing for my work to offer up free access to a nutritionist for 6 months, no?).  I am simply paying attention to being hungry (which I have not been this week) and picking foods that are good for me.  I'm not happy at this weight, it does not feel comfortable.  My comfortable weight is higher than most charts, but it's a spot I can (generally) maintain and feel good.  That's what I want.

Perspective

There is an awful lot of research out there on the differences between how we perceive ourselves and what we actually look like.  I am no expert but I think I'm going through one of those phases where I am not connected to what I look like.

This is how Mr. Lina sees me.  Happy, cute, glowing.  I have pictures that are both flattering and not so flattering that he would list as his favourites because they are what he loves about me.

All pictures were taken by Mr. Lina with the good camera and house concert lighting.

I like my body, really I do.  I feel more comfortable with it a little lighter than my present weight but I don't think of someone who has huge body issues.  I love my rather ample bust, I love my legs.  I just like my pants to do up too.  The extra few pounds are messing with my head. 

Sunday night I traced out/cut out (depending on the piece) Tiramisu.  I laid down my red ponte knit and started cutting.  The Cake sizing system is unique, I had to take some measurements to figure out sizing.  After an afternoon of gaming (as in 4 hours of snacking on chips, bean dip and raw broccoli and cauliflower), my waist was 37", a bit larger than usual.  But I want a dress that fits me now, not what I want to be so I was going to aim a little short of the 37.5 waist sizing and use the narrower width (and skirt length) of the 35 sizing as I am short.  There isn't a whole lot of space between my bust and hips.  My high bust is usually around 38/39, but when remeasuring I realized it was higher when my arms were down.  Added to this, my full bust in a good bra is between 44" and 45", the concept of the 35 even with the D sizing working out had me afraid it would be too small.

I didn't need to worry.

We could fit another grapefruit or two in there quite comfortably.  Let's see that from the side...

He was so focused on lighting, he didn't look at my eyes.

So my thoughts...

• The band is too big, it's suppose to have 0 ease.
• The band is too low, looking at other peoples dresses that should be higher
• I've gathered too far to the side, there is bunching by my arm pit.

On the plus side, it's still not gaping when I lean forward (although it will sometimes if I'm standing up because I am not filling it).

I pretty much did the same thing with Burda 118A (which I'm not giving up on, it's just on hiatus).  I was so worried about grading that up I ended up taking inches off each side so it wouldn't look like a sack.  There is something going on between the measuring tape I can read and the final product and that would be my brain.  I think it works like this.

I know I am not a tooth pick of a woman, I do not have the genetics to be a size 2 and I'm honestly happy with that.  I love having curves (those stick figures are smiling, although the lack of breasts is more of a function of my drawing abilities with a mouse).  But I wish they didn't get blown out of proportion in my head.
So, next steps.  I won't be sewing until Wednesday night, that gives me time to think.  I believe I need to:

• Take the band off
• Trim the band down
• Torn about lifting from the shoulders as I rather like the seams but I think the v needs to be lifted
• Cutting off from the bottom
• Cutting off from the sides?
• Sliding the cross over because I'm cutting off the bottom

That's a whole lot of cutting and I'm a bit concerned about taking off fabric from the right places and not distorting the whole bodice.  I'm going to have to look at the 35 pattern piece to see the difference in grading so I cut from the right spots.

I was having a hell of a lot of fun last night.  If I can fix this, I'm going to love this dress.  If not, I have other fabrics to try the 35 and I might have enough of this fabric to recut the bodice for this dress if need be.  I have enjoyed the process of making it.

Oh, and did I mention I'll be going to Germany in March?  The Post Lifers got into a film festival in Landshut, northeast of Munich. 

Crazy Time

The end of year, end of time with one client and the upcoming holidays have made a shade crazy for me.  The few times I am home, I don't really have the umph to do much.  I am taking a sanity break between projects to say hello so you know I'm still alive.

• I finally finished that blanket for my neice, started in June, born in August, done in December. 
• I don't think I'm winning any aunt awards with that one.
• I still have to take pictures of it.
• I have made headway on Burda 118.
• I took in a lot more, went down to see what Mr. Lina thought and his first comment was that it looked like a sack.
• By that time I had stitching in the seam allowance from about 3-4 times of taking it in so I unpicked all of that, put in a clean row of stitching, cut some off and refinished the seam allowance (this stuff frays a lot).
• Now it looks less sack like but still lacks sleeves.
• Sleeves have been sewn, but are separate from the dress.
• We went to socialize with R's parents on Saturday and his sister dropped off her daughter for babysitting.  Last January I gave her a stuffed animal I made and it was well received at the party but you never know if people are just being nice.
• It seems she won't fall asleep without that particular stuffy, the only one she's named.
• I felt kind of good about that. 

I don't think it was this specific one, but similar.

Okay, back to work.  On the plus side, I only have to work the 27-28 between December 22 to January 2nd.  This craziness will end.

I made a sack!

Progress is slow but steady on Burda 2012-10-118A.  I had to grade this dress up and I did an awful lot of flat pattern measuring, measuring me, comparing to the chart, figuring ease, etc.  I marked the seam line, I cut wide seam allowances.

For some reason, I don't trust any of that work when the needle is going in the fabric.

This weekend I sewed up the side seams and it looked, well, like a sack.  You could see both bra straps, if I bent over you could see right down to my panties.  Not so good.  I didn't take any pictures because I really don't want to see it. Without any shape to the dress all I see is a fat sausage in the mirror. It's like I'm drowning in the dress (particularly since in a fear of cutting it too short it's about 3" from my ankles) like a little girl in her mom's high heels.  Not a bit of it was doing my ego any good.

This is not to say is a wadder.  The issue is that I made it too big, sewing in the big seam allowances rather than trusting my seam line.  I didn't take the back darts in enough.  The side gathers could start higher (that's a petite issue).  I have seen improvement just taking in those darts and side seams, but more will have to be removed from the dress before I put the sleeves on.  I do like the way Burda have you put the folded fabric of the cowl front into the back like a little sandwich, it's very tidy on the inside.  And when I cut away some of the extra seam allowance and moved the seam up, both bra straps were hidden.  I think it's always going to be the kind of cowl that you can't lean forward in, but at least we've moved to a little cleavage rather than panty viewing.

In other news...  Blood work for STD screening has been done for both Mr. Lina and I.  Wednesday morning I'm going for the sonohystogram and probably going to work from home.  It seems my doctor will be doing it which is good and baffling.  He's running a clinic with 3 satellite offices, that's a lot of patients.  There are other doctors who work in the clinic who could do tests like this freeing him up for other things, but I'm not going to argue, I like him.  However, I do not like that in order for him to do this, my appointment is at 7:10am.  That means I have to get up at 5:30 (because I know I'll hit snooze and get up at 5:45) to leave the house at 6:25 to be sure I'm there in time with Advil already coursing through my blood (while not the worst test, it's not fun) and breakfast in my belly (I feel remarkably stupid without breakfast).  On the plus side, I paid for it on Saturday so I don't have to add that time prior to 7:10.

Friday we're hosting a house concert with Tim Williams (side rant, why can't people commit?  We could have 8 people at the show or 22 based on all the replies of "maybe"), Wednesday night we are going to listen to Henry Rollins speak.  On Sunday I went to make something for lunch for us and realized I had no milk, no eggs, no tuna, no salmon, no cereal, it seemed like nothing at all.  And yet I had a cupboard full of food, a cold room full of food, freezers that were full.  The cold room is admittedly full of my mom's pickles, pickled beets, tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes.  The upstairs cupboards?  Well, I found a lot of expired food.  It felt good to clean that out but it did mean a stock up trip was in order last night.

With a busy week like this, I couldn't see J. P. Hoe in Toronto last night nor tonight (bowling).  Bah.  He was so good at OCFF, so personable, I really want to go but it just was adding one too many things to my plate.  Hearing him on CBC2 this morning was like salt in the wounds, so close and yet...  I can't go.

Ramblings

I have a lot of things swirling around at the moment, it's time for a list.

• I had a new roller coaster dream last night, but on the plus side
• I did not wake up
• I did not sleep walk
• I was not stressed out in the dream
• We were using the speed of the roller coasters as wind while having my picture taken, weird I know. 
• Particularly when it became apparent it was kind of a log ride so there was water involved.
• My mom's cousin's husband had a stroke on Sunday and I came into work to read an email about it.  He means a lot to me so it took a bit to swallow that news.  I get the impression that although they know there will be weeks of therapy, they are still in the midst of testing so not a lot of firm answers at this point.
• I like dark beers because of him.  I helped him with the statistics for his PhD.  As payment, we would go for a late lunch and we split a pitcher on an empty stomach.  I was usually pretty tipsy before my lunch arrived.
• Sonohystogram is going to have to be postponed, my period has arrived.  76 day cycle and it picks 4 days before my sono to come to an end.  If it started Monday that would have been perfect, but no, now I have to change it to sometime next week, I think they aim for day 6-11. 
• Overall though, it's good to have it here, my breasts can return to normal and we'll blame my eye leakiness today on hormones.
• And if I don't have to go for the sono on Saturday, I can either help Mom with the craft show or help my mom's cousin. 
• Hospitals take care of sick people, there isn't much I can do outside of visit (and I gather he is tired so visits may be too much just now).  But the immediate family (typically) need help so they can do what the sick person needs.  In this case, their daughter is the same age as me and she is autistic and dependent on them. 
• So this cousin of mine, let's call her Beth. She's awesome, we have a good bond.  We even have a not so secret pass phrase (which comes in handy when she needs to regulate and settle down).  I've offered some respite time so the wife can do what she needs to do without wondering what mischief the daughter is getting into. 
•  Beth memorizes movies and quotes them back, using their dialogue for her conversation.  If you watch movies with her, she pulls out props ahead of the dialogue, "You dirty rat" will result in a plastic rat appearing out of a toy box.  It helps to know the movies she has seen recently to get her context.
• For example, my pass phrase is "Yes, no, I don't know.  If that isn't a true blue miracle, I don't know what one is".
• Not everyone has a pass phrase and those who do have a phrase of their own.
• Now the first half is said in a silly sing-song voice with side to side head actions.  If she says that, I have to say the rest, and vice versa.  It's like proof that I am me.
• The second half is from the 1978 Christmas Eve on Sesame Street special.
• She also loves my Strawberry Shortcake dolls and is generally trying to manipulate them out of me.
• Perhaps you could have a garage sale and sell your old toys.  You would tell me when you have a garage sale wouldn't you?
• Do you play with your dolls, Sera?  No?  Toys need to be played with.  I would play with them.
• Every single visit to my parents she finds them.  I don't even know where my parents put them last but somehow Beth does.  Then we have to check that they didn't "disappear" into a pocket...
• I have taken a few more steps with the Burda dress, but last night was bowling so not as much as you would think, the back is joined and it has a zipper.
• I really did a good job on the invisible zipper part.
• The spot below the zipper, well, the seam ripper and I got to be good friends. 
• Stellar Parenting made me leaky.  I love her posts to her daughter.  I must remember the line "You were worth the wait" when I feel impatient.  One day I will feel like that.

Okay, I'm feeling a little more sorted out now.  Thanks for following along.

Nighttime Ramblings

I have mentioned this a few times, but I sometimes have problems with vivid dreams and occasionally sleep walking or talking.  I rarely make it past the foot of my bed.  If I do, I wake up enough that I still feel some compulsion to do whatever I started, but I'm a little more aware of what is going on.  I am quite likely to go to the bathroom at that point because it feels like that thing you do when you aren't in bed in the middle of the night. 

Most dreams that lead to walking are reoccurring.   The past few years, the dream has been some variation of thinking someone is in the room and I am concerned because I generally sleep naked and I shouldn't be naked with people other than Mr. Lina.  The practical solution was to wear pj's if Mr. Lina wasn't coming to bed at the same time as me (he was usually the "other person" since he wasn't there when I went to bed), so far that has worked.  But since we came back from Florida, I have woken up almost every night mid dream still believing it's real.  Three times I've gone to bed naked and woken up with pj's on (I do remember putting the pj's on but it's pretty fuzzy).  All but one dream involve going on a roller coaster (in the exception, I was a waitress trying to remember multiple tables orders).  The ending has shifted over the two weeks, starting with not knowing I was in my own bedroom and now I wake up surprised that Disney knew how to make the ride come back to my bedroom.  From that point I get stressed trying to figure out how I got to the ride naked (or how to get off the ride), which leads to me sneakily sleep walking to my cupboard (or laundry pile last night) for pj's.  I put on the pj's and I fall back asleep fairly quickly.  I don't lose a lot of sleep over these dreams but I don't like waking up feeling stressed and confused.  The practical solution will be to wear pj's for a while to stop the walking (although not the dreaming because I don't always walk), but it does hint to other issues.

In short, something is on my mind.  Something is bothering me.  I don't do this when I'm not stressed and over thinking something.

So what could it be... 

• Infertility treatments are looming, I know I'm feeling a little unsure in my decision to take Humira.
• Which reminds me, the sono/blood work I thought were booked for Saturday?  We went to the clinic to find out it is for NEXT Saturday.  And when I got home I remembered there was paperwork for me to sign/pick up that I forgot to ask for.  Sigh.
• It's our last cycle and as much as I am good with that, it doesn't mean it's all butterflies and rainbows.
• Performance review time is starting at work.  I know my manager will give me a good review but I tend to think critically of myself and don't like writing that out.
• I am juggling too many clients at work but part of "too much" ends today and I will be back to one day a week at my employers office rather than one day every 2-3 weeks.
• I really liked Disney and want the rides to continue?  As fun as it was, I don't think this is it.  I wake up either in line or at the end of the ride, I don't remember fun part of the ride and it's not the same as any of the rides at Disney, maybe the closest is the three seat tube like thing for Space Mountain.
• I am not feeling down like I did a year ago, I know I'm procrastinating horribly at work and hiding from reality in games/books so things aren't perfect, but I know I am in a better mental state than I have been.

I did do some sewing this weekend.  Yay!  I tidied up my sewing table so I could have some elbow room.  I have Burda 118 A cut out.  I am disappointed in myself for not paying attention to the direction of stretch because having the stretch going around my body just makes sense, but I think it will be okay.  It is suppose to be on the bias, but someone has cut it on the straight of grain and it's been fine, so it shouldn't be a fitting issue (or if it is, that's me grading up incorrectly).  It isn't overly stretchy so I don't *think* it will impact the hemline drastically.  I have found some flaws in the fabric.  Just a little thread pulling on one side.  Colour wise, I can't tell front from back of the fabric but those pulled threads have decided which is which.  I cut around the worst one but there are two small spots I couldn't work around (but I also can't see it on the right side where I could if I knew where to look with the larger one).  The stay stitching is done, it's fraying around the curves so I have already zig zagged the seam allowances for the front piece, the gathering on the side is done.  The more I touch the fabric the softer it feels (although burn test has me thinking it's completely synthetic) - I love the fabric.  I think I've been sewing slowly because I'm afraid of f*cking it all up rather than trusting myself to read and follow directions. 

Inspiration & Pattern Adjustments

Are you driven by patterns, fabrics or others?  Do you find yourself starting with a pattern and finding the right fabric?  Or holding a fabric knowing the right pattern is out there?

I think I am often inspired by fabric.  I love thinking of the potential for a fabric - a full skirt, a light blouse, a cosy shirt.  As I was working on Burda 118A last night, I realized that fabric had not even come to mind.  Here I was, tracing the thing out, taping tissue paper sheets together and starting to cut them out and I had no idea what fashion fabric I was going to use.  None.  It had not crossed my mind to find one.  How weird is that?

One thing I have come to realize is that I have bought lots of:

• Poly knits, probably purchased on a 3 for 1 sale
• Rayon fabrics thinking to make Senchas, Sorbettos and Pendrells for summer
• Stretch cottons bought this summer
• Sheer fabrics
• Silk noil
• Crazy fabrics (generally purchased with lingerie in mind so they are a bit costumey)

You know what isn't on that list?  Wovens (with the exception of the silk noil).  Rather, non-sheer and non-stretch wovens.  The few wovens I have must have a little lycra or spandex because they all have a little give in one direction.  Strange but true.

A year ago when I was up for jury duty (odd how I remember that trip to Fabricland so clearly), I bought this fabric.

From a distance, it reads as  a solid, but it's a really nice mix of a plum colour and black in a very small herringbone.  It has a little stretch to it, just a little.  I'm going to learn from Allison C's issues of the bias skirt causing problems and cut it so the skirt is straight and the bodice is on the bias.  The bit of stretch around my hips will help if my estimates on sizing up are a little small.  Am I right on that or will disaster ensue? 

I've been doing some flat pattern measuring to figure out where I need to add and how much.  One thing I found interesting in doing the many measurements that Burda has was the front and back body lengths.  I'm 5' and a half inch, not as tall as the 5'6" they are designing for.  I was really surprised to see that the front measurement from my shoulder to waist was pretty close to what they were designing for.  The back measurement, however, was off by 1.5-2" if I remember right. 

Obviously with a FBA, you need more width to go around and deeper darts.  I'm 43-44" at my full bust (depending on the bra) and almost 39" at my high bust.  The less obvious aspect is adding length to go over those breasts.  It seems that in having a fuller bust, I'm ending up with the right body length.  But being short, my bust apex is higher than the sloper.  In the back, I don't have breasts filling up that volume so I need to remove some length. 

Burda Site for Source

I have paused in making my FBA because I need to let my brain simmer a little on how this translates from flat pattern that exists, changes I know I need to add/remove, and my 3D body.  Added to this, look at the line drawing, there are no bust darts.  The side gathers make it a little hard to figure out where the apex actually is (or how much it matters without darts).  I was folding the tissue paper last night to make it look more like the flat finished shirt, tissue paper does not drape like fabric.

I am slow with this stage of sewing.  I like to walk away and ponder, maybe pick up something else for 10 minutes and return to it.  It's a simmering process for me.  As it was approaching 10pm, I also figured it was good to stop rather than push on.  I wasn't ready to cut into the fabric yet and that was going to take time when I was ready.

I mentioned in comments a few updates on the fertility process.  I passed the skin test for TB.  I had my chest x-ray done and here's hoping that confirms the negative test.  If not, well, I'm okay with that too except for the fact I'd rather not have a latent case of TB.  I am clearly not "pro-Humira", I think I'm more trusting in my doctors opinion than really wanting to take it.  A positive test would remove that decision from my hands.  I have also booked all the tests the clinic wants for Saturday.  So once the x-ray results are back and I've handed over some money and consent forms, we're good to go.

My experience at the x-ray clinic was awesome.  No appointment needed, I walked in at 5:20 last night and I was at my car by 5:30.  AND the receptionist (in having to type my birthday in) commented on how I looked so much younger than my age.  Score!

Adventures in Burda-land

I think this Burda project is going to require time, but expectations of small amounts of progress for the time spent.  It's a bit of a learning curve to sort out where to look for, well, everything.

Mr. Lina is sick, just a cold, sore throat, whatever.  I left him to video games last night and thought I'd tackle the dress I mentioned yesterday, 118A (B being the shirt version).  I pried back the staples and pulled the pattern pages out and started to unfold them.  I had a Jaws moment.

My goodness those paper sheets are huge.  I was already expecting a crazy eye chart of lines, but wow, that is really impressive.  I don't like marking patterns directly, but I don't see how you can find the right line to trace without making it stand out more.  So I got my highlighter out and was about to start when I realized I have no idea what size I am in Burda-land.

So I pulled out my measuring tape.  This was not fun at all.  I guess my belly was full of cabbage soup goodness, I am well aware I'm a little heavier than I was, but I had to check that waist measurement twice.  It turns out it was crazy bloating because this morning my waist was 2 inches smaller.  Crazy.  I'm still not sure what the "best" size is for me because I'm all over the map and heading more to their plus sizes (but I want the regular size dress!) so I'll be adding generous seam allowances and a FBA.

I had my pink highlighter in hand, patters are opened to Page A as directed.  I find piece 4.  It's small.  It's not suppose to be small.  I find piece 3, it is also small, and is suppose to be small but it doesn't look quite like the layout diagram.  Piece 1 and 2 are large so it's hard to see what the heck they DO look like until I've marked them in pink.  I don't see the very distinctive V shapes that will create the single side gathers.  The magazine refers to piece 1A and I don't see a 1A.  I was very confused.

There is a shirt version (118B) of this dress (118A).  Fehr Trade pointed out the difference in fabric between the "tweed" dress to the shirt.  The shirt has a metallic quality to it and seems stiffer.  So instead of a soft side gathers, it looks kind of wrinkled extra fabric at the waist.  I also think it's a little tighter across the bust than what is ideal. 

Source

I find the fabric description of "techno gabardine" a bit amusing.  Is it best used for light switch raves?

Anyhoo... back to the enormo-pattern sheet that just fits on the dining room table when folded into 4 so I only see Page A.  I look up the shirt pattern in the book and it says that pieces are on Page B, not Page A.  So I do a little origami to get page B facing up and sure enough, I see the V's, I only have one small piece, I have a sleeve, I have darts.  But I'm not that trusting.  I figure maybe there is something else wrong or a reason the shirt/dress are different, someone else has probably figured that out.  Google to the rescue!

So I send a special thank you to Allison C who already made it up twice and confirmed the misprint.  Doesn't she look awesome in this pinstriped version?  I also learned that I'll need to be sure I pick a fabric that has a fairly dense weave because the front skirt ends up on the bias and it's causing her problems with the cranberry version.  

I have also decided that since I have to piece 1 and 1A to make the front of the dress (and it's really wide), my usual tactic of using parchment paper isn't going to work so well.  I like parchment paper, it's easy to see through and I don't have too many complaints about not folding or tearing, but it won't tape together well.  One of my clients is near Ikea, I have read other people using their kids paper for tracing.  Any thoughts?

Oh boy!

We're off to Orlando on Friday.  The Post Lifers is airing at a film festival so we're going to take in that festival on Saturday and stay until Wednesday for some additional vacation.

You know what's in Orlando?

Disney.

I've never been to Disney and honestly never had a real drive to go.  Last time I was in Florida I was 5.  I remember parts of the trip.

1. My Winnie the Pooh colouring book I had on the plane.  It had stickers and I thought this was like some magical book that I could not only colour but place stickers - scratch and sniff stickers at that.
2. The spiral stair case at my grandparents apartment.  I seem to remember having a hissy fit when my parents just wanted to pop up to Nana and Papa's unit quickly and I wanted to take the fun staircase not the boring one that was closer to their unit.
3. Vague memories of the beach because my dad buried my brother in the sand and I thought it was funny.  But that might be a different beach and my mind is merging two trips.

Pretty Grievances has talked about going to Disney for a Halloween event and I thought that was super cool but never connected that it might still be going on.  We're going with the writer/director of the film (and his mom) and the three of us were planning the trip on Saturday and he brought up Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween.  Well now I'm stoked to go.

But what to dress up as?  We're leaving on Friday, I have a house concert on Thursday, we're seeing New Order tonight, that's not a lot of time to pack and make a costume.

Last night, we went to a few places to get some inspiration.  I have a cloak I made a few years ago that I would like to use, the black outside and red lining could make a good Evil Queen from Snow White if I could find a purple dress.

Source

Well, all the costumes either seemed to be the wrong colour, too slutty for Disney or it was just a tube of stretchy fabric. 

Not quite the look I'm going for but you can buy it here.

I can sew a tube, maybe add a godet.  It's going to be hot, I am okay skipping the long bell sleeves.   I have purple crushed stretch velvet at home... 

Stash to the rescue!

The problem is, there wasn't as much purple fabric as I thought.  I know I cut a pair of panties out of it but I must have cut something else out as well.  I had enough to do the front of a dress and around a bit to the sides, but not the back.  The cloak will hide the fact the back isn't purple but I am trying to keep it looking interesting in case I do need to take the cloak off.

Either way, it made me clean off my cutting table, dig through the stash and sew.  It has been so long since I've actually done something, I think I lost sight of the fun and just saw the big pile of stuff blocking my way.  I really don't care all that much about this costume so it's crazy slapdash styling, but I had a great time, sewing past my "witching hour" which resulted in some time with my seam ripper.  I got so slapdash I even just cut part of the seam out rather than ripping it.  Sad but true.  I have to go to Fabricland at lunch for my mom (another hunting expedition but this time last season's Christmas fabric) which gives me the opportunity to look for a gold braid to make the belt and see if they have more purple fabric at a good price.  I'd cut that back off again if I could have it all purple.

There is still some work to do on it, a bit of fitting, figuring out what to do for straps/neckline, but it's about 80% there.  The house is in okay shape, I think I can do what needs doing for the house concert and still have time to finish up the dress on Wednesday.  Maybe.

Update:  I went to Fabricland and they had the same crushed velvet on sale for $5/m, so it's going to be an all purple dress.  Yay!

My Contribution to Film

Mr. Lina is going to be filming the next movie from Friday to Monday so the long weekend we were running a few last minute errands for the film.  Mr. Lina mentioned he needed to buy a thong for the movie.  I said I could do that.  Really, it gave me an excuse to put off the zipper situation on the purple dress and it's two triangles sewn together.  I can do that.

This is made from pantie fabric from Sew Sassy - Y2705 (they spell it i.e., I want to spell it with a y, either way, it really does feel nice), picot elastic from Sew Sassy and some FOE I think I bought at Fabricland, I've had it for a while so I'm not sure.  Mr. Lina wanted it all black (oh so easy to photograph) so the FOE is actually inside out.  The proper side has silver threads on one side, when you stretch the waist band you can still see a few glimmers.  If I understand right, Mr. Lina wanted this to be as tiny and stretchy as possible.  It will be used more like a string than underwear.  The actress will not need to wear it, so sizing didn't really matter, I took the sizing roughly from a RTW thong in my drawer.  I made it a little too small for me and told Mr. Lina I didn't want it back, if the actress would like to keep the "wardrobe", she was welcome to it.

My sewing room really needs to be tidied up.  I have many shoe/boot boxes that keep things like elastic or ribbon or black bra supplies together.  It works pretty well for me.  Until I misplace the box that has the cotton knit I use for the gusset on underwear.  I must have spent half an hour looking for that box.  I still haven't found it (although I did find a RTW bra I was looking for), I ended up using a little snippet of pointe knit, same fabric I made my last Renfrew from.

Why does the couch look wavy?  I really should have taken my time last night.

The one challenge with this kind of project is keeping everything facing the right way.  Because the triangle in the back is not attached to the front, it's really easy to think you have the elastic facing the right way only to sew it all on and realize there was a twist in it.  Ask me how I know.  Between looking for the box and resewing the waistband on, this took much longer than it should have.

I also needed to get my ass in gear on the blanket.  My brother has gone back to the NWT, I think I'm healthy enough to meet my niece but Mr. Lina is still having some lingering coughing and congestion.  I don't want to go without him so I'll wait until after the film is shot.  I've started the boarder but each side has a different stitch pattern to get started so it's been slow going.  I think it's 4 rows of single crochet and then a few rows of the shells to make a wavy edge.

Sorry for the night time picture, it really is a pretty green.

I bought some pink, yellow and variegated yarns, providing options on what to use.  Mr. Lina liked all three but he really liked the variegated yarn.  I figure you shouldn't ask an opinion if you aren't going to consider it.  I liked pink best because I know who it's for but I liked yellow best because it was pretty, this felt like a compromise when I just couldn't decide.    We'll see how it looks when I have more than one row done.  I can always switch back to green for the wavy shell part.

One little whiny story.  I went to Montreal on Tuesday for work.  There were 3 newish employees who needed training on the product I specialize in and part of their time was associated with my client so I will be working with them.  My account director decided it was cheaper to send me to them rather than all three of them to Toronto.  I like training, I was happy to meet many people I work with on a regular basis but have never had the opportunity to meet.  I did not realize what the day was going to end up like.  I was on an 8am flight to Montreal (i.e. the alarm went off at 5:40am) and I was on a 5pm flight home.  Fortunately both my home and employers office are close to their respective airports, but it's still about 2.5 hours between the flight time and pre-boarding each trip to end up being in the office from 10am to 3:30pm and I spent all of that time standing at the front of the room talking.  Lunch ended up being a quick take out from the mall across the road because there wasn't time to have a social meal.  AND no time to go fabric shopping.  I mean really, what were these people thinking?  Why did I not speak up sooner?  I'd say next time but I have been with my employer over 6 years and 2 years being associated with a client that has a head office in Montreal, I don't know when "next time" will roll around. 

Anyone live in New Orleans?  The Post-Lifers has been accepted to the New Orleans Film Festival.  Mr. Lina also submitted to the New Orleans Horror Festival and is waiting to hear back.  We are thinking that we'll go to one of the two festivals, both are in October about two weeks apart so we can't stay for both.  I'm happy to have another reason to go to NOLA even if it's just for a couple of days.

Work & Life & McCalls 8098

I am feeling rather thoughtful, but it's not organizing into the broad strokes just yet.  I have started a few extra paragraphs to this post but it's not... flowing.  It's too detailed to be sortable, too long to be a bullet list.  So we'll start with a few details and maybe this week I'll gain some perspective.  I know there is something floating around in my head.

In my last performance review, I stated that I enjoyed teaching and it was something I'd like to do more of.  I sure am getting that opportunity, but it's wrecking havoc with my Mondays.  They should be spent on ad hoc projects or administration stuff, meetings with my manager, that kind of thing.  Lately my day seems to fill with meetings, the small spaces of time are filled teaching someone something and I get to 5pm and realize I still have my own work to do.  Sigh.

I am enjoying the time instructing others.  It's refreshing to see our data through new eyes and appreciate my own knowledge.  The one guy I'm working with is like a 24 year old puppy, so eager to make us all happy and show us how much he can do but you just want him to sit for a bit.  Working directly with people like that is good for me, it keeps me focused and productive.  I don't leave feeling useless like I did a few months ago.  Still, I worked quite late last night because I needed the quiet to focus.
The dinner with my family went... okay.  Mr. Lina found he couldn't look at my SIL and hung out with my brothers playing on very old gaming systems, like Super Nintendo, possibly even breaking out the Atari.  My SIL parents were there and they made things awkward at times.  I spent most of the evening avoiding them as they fawned over their daughter and talking about the baby or being grandparents or whatever (English is their second or perhaps third language so none of this phrased particularly tactfully but I get it's not intentional).  My other SIL (the one separating from Scot) was there and I'm still not sure who knew what.  Scot waited until Clone was out of the room to ask Mr. Lina if he knew, so I'm suspecting Clone didn't.  She said things about her new apartment around my mom so maybe they know, but Mom never said anything that confirmed that she did or did not know.  It was a very strange evening of keeping track of who to say what to.  I managed to stay sober and I didn't cry.  That's a win.

I did spend an awful lot of time in my sewing room this weekend.  ElleC graciously added McCalls 8098 to the "orange stash" I won in a giveaway.  I thought it might be nice in the silk noil.  The catch is that my bust in my (now favourite) retro styling bra is 44".  The pattern is for a 32" bust.  That's some serious grading/FBA to do.  My waist was about 10" off, hips 8" (as much as I have a round bum and like pants for curvy girls, sewing emphasizes I'm not a pear).  A LOT of flat pattern measuring was going on all weekend, figuring out my size, the pattern size, the ease, where I needed the extra inches and how much to add.  So, I am making progress, I spent a lot of time in my sewing room, but I don't have much to show off beyond really bad bust darts.  I'm hoping fresh eyes will see how to fix that particular problem.  The left side looks pretty terrible as I remember. The worst part is that the dart was fairly large and I trimmed some of the extra fabric, so just moving it up is not so easy.  Let's file that under "learning the hard way".  Last night it was too late when I got home to really do it justice, hopefully I'll do better tonight.  Mr. Lina is golfing tonight so I have the evening to myself.

The nightgown that does not want to be

When I was in my pj craze, I bought a small piece of striped seersucka (you know that's just stuck for me now).  It was just over a metre and what was left on the bolt.  I figured I just wanted pj's, how much would I really need?  So I took it.




Far right fabric.  Was I ever in a pink/red mood that day.


I decided instead of doing a top and bottom, I'd do a short nightie, again, how much fabric could that take?

Let's say more than 1m of 45" fabric.

I didn't figure that out until I cut the front out.

Oops.

So yesterday I thought I'd pick it up and see what I could fake about it.  Maybe the back would be pieced or two fabrics, there is always something.  I ended up cutting the back in two pieces instead of on the fold, one piece with the stripes up and down like the front, the other with the stripes horizontal.

I don't regret this, I actually like the way that looks and started thinking that would have made a nicer front than back.  I was feeling pretty smart when it went together.

The pattern calls for facings but I figured I'd go all Sorbetto on it and just do bias tape around the edges.  I made the bias tape and while I could have paid more attention to the direction of the bias stripes at some seams, it folded and creased easily.  Prior to attaching, I realized it was together enough to see how it looked.

So I tried it on.

My poor (tender and expanding) breasts are squished.  You will not see pictures of it on me as it because my nipples show through it's so tight. 

When cutting the back, I forgot that it was suppose to be on the fold and didn't add the extra seam allowance.  Thus, I did not sew with much of a seam allowance to make up for that mistake.  I could maybe gain a half inch in total letting out the side seams and using an overlock stitch to have a minimal seam allowance.  That might let me breathe but it isn't enough.

So, now the project is sitting waiting for me to have another brainstorm on how I can cut it open and make another "design feature" with the very tiny scraps of fabric I have left (the big scrap went into bias tape).  Maybe an insert at the front?  An extra V at the side seam?  A little chevron V a the middle front?  At least I'd have two places where the stripes were doing odd things and maybe look intentional.  It's okay around the hips (good because I do not have enough for a full side panel) it's really just a bust issue.

Past that, I really like it.  Enough that it's worth saving.

Again.

A Yellow Flag Day

I suspect today will be a yellow for caution kind of day.  I woke up feeling pretty good, I commented to Mr. Lina that I felt pretty happy.  I was a zombie yesterday at work, although I did perk up in the evening.  I was going to make up for the slacker day I had yesterday.

Groceries are a bit scarce in our house at the moment, no milk, no cereal.  I fried an egg, stuck it in a bun and figured I'd buy my lunch as there was nothing in the freezer to reheat.  And I drive the 42km to work in about 55 minutes, fairly typcical.  Back the car into a spot, give myself a high 5 that I can do that, and reach for my purse.

No purse.  Nope, it's at the front door at home.  Along with my corporate card to pay for parking, my drivers license, my money for lunch, my cell phone.  I have nothing with me beyond my laptop and I did put my pass to get into the building on my pants because I figured I'd forget.  But they ticket pretty aggressively, I can't leave the car to go into the building without risking a $45 ticket (ask me how I know the value of said ticket).  What the fuck.  It's my purse, I don't go anywhere (except bowling) without my purse.  How did I forget that?  It wasn't even hiding in the kitchen, it was AT the front door.

Bah.  So I'm working from home.  I just drove 84km round trip, I'm not driving back again. 

And in other news...  I did sew last night.  My red shorts look much better after adjusting the rise as suggested.  Mr. Lina is still a tad critical of the width of the shorts, I have taken some out but I think the hem will sort out what's left of it and I think it's more about the lack of drape in the cotton twill than truly too much fabric.  It is not doing the foldy-bunchiness of before.

I did not take pictures because I realized that I needed to get a move on my actual pj's for the fast approaching pj party.  Last night I cut them out, French seams for the inside and outside legs, I sewed the middle but as I was starting to iron the waistband, realized those seams still need finishing.  Tanit-Isis did a post on the rolled hem foot and The Perfect Nose said she used it to finish interior seams.  I figure this is a good opportunity to get some practice where people don't have to see the results.  Well, they weren't so stellar.  It would have been easier if I did the rolled hem at the outset prior to sewing the legs with French seams.  Given that it was getting close to bed time and I was tired, I just decided to zig zag it when my machine decided that it was indeed bed time.  We sometimes come to disagreements at bed time that are miraculously patched up within 2 minutes the next day. 

Hopefully today I can find some focus and energy that was lacking yesterday.  As I was sewing last night I was thinking about how doing anything - making progress on a project, starting a project, making decisions seemed impossible at work and yet there I was, 10 pm making pj pants.  I can do it.  Really and truly. 

Pants Update & Dreams

I did a little bit of work in the sewing room this weekend and will be returning after posting this.  Friday night I washed up all the fabric (except the swimwear) and it all came out just lovely.  The cotton/silk was still feeling so very soft, the red cotton twill is still vibrant and ironed well.  So, all is good.

I cut up another vesion of my pants blocker with the tweak to the front suggested from the last pair.  The wiggle at the side seam is gone, there was some extra fabric between the legs, I'm still finding the right amount to tweak there.  Sad thing is I did that version in some striped fabric passed along by my mom that could be cute pj bottoms.  I should have noticed how clearly I could see the green cutting mat under it.  Let's just say I'm not taking pictures of myself wearing those shorts even for myself just to be safe.  Mr. Lina was very happy with the view from the back so a big high 5 to The Consultative Dressmaker for that.  He is sometimes vague when things don't look right because he doesn't have the vocabulary (it comes out like "there are pleats there" even though nothing is pleated, the fabric is folding into itself), but when things are right, he finds the words.  At this point I feel confident enough to try the red twill shorts.  That's up for this afternoon.

I am quite certain I was dreaming about fabric last night.  I don't remember the dream, but I do remember rolling over and thinking "Oh I'll have to put that on my blog tomorrow".  Damn it, why can't I remember what the heck was going on in the dream itself?  Bah.  I'll take it as a good sign that I want to be in my sewing room and my brain is probably working on the shorts issue and what to do with that cotton/silk stripe fabric.

Given that I have no pictures to contribute with my poor choice in muslin fabric, how about some music?  May 12th we're hosting HOTCHA!  There is a bit of audience noise, but you'll get a feel for the pace of most of their music.



UPDATE:  Picture of my red shorts that are still a work in progress.  I still have too much fabric between my legs but wow, pinning did not work out.  Sure, I pinned out the extra fabric but the back side became a sea of wrinkles.  I'll keep fiddling around, but I thought I'd share my afternoon of work with you.

A little extra fabric in the thigh, but not bad through waist/hips.  Invisible zipper at centre seam.

Hmm, what's that extra fabric poking through by my leg...





What the heck is going on back there? 







Not too bad after pinning, you say?



What happened to my nice bum?  Pinning fail.