How do I measure this year? Let's examine the Rent version-
Daylight: I work in a windowless building, so this is pretty limited during the winter, but abundant in the summer. Not sure it's a particularly useful unit of measurement as it fluctuates so much.
Sunsets: ditto
Midnights: okay unit of measurement, as that is my normal bedtime. I've seen most of the midnights this year.
Cups of coffee: .05 (I hate coffee)

Hmm, the Rent measurements aren't really doing much for me. Let's try Rent if it were written by a bunch of emo scene kids-
Oversized sunglasses: zero
Bottles of black eyeliner: three
Self-injuries: probably a fair number. I'm clumsy, and I did a lot of hot gluing this year. That always leads to pain. But not on purpose, so it doesn't count.
Concerts featuring people who wear black eyeliner and sing about cutting themselves: one

Hmm, worse than the first try. Perhaps the Scooby-Doo ending?
Large slobbery dogs: one, occasionally
Conspicuously painted pedophile-type vans: one, occasionally
Pairs of knee-high socks: one, occasionally
Old men in rubber masks who would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those darn kids: one, occasionally (I hate to ruin a good run)

So it looks like I have had, occasionally, a Scooby-Doo type year.

How I really measured my year:
Nights woken from terribly vivid nightmares about my horse, usually because I've been screaming in my sleep: 84 (yes, I kept track)
Weekends spent scanning and editing old photos of my horse: three
Times I've ridden: three
Friends lost because of horse: 1.75
Friends gained because of horse: 2

My life revolved around Dancer for so long that it has been a very strange year without him. I am no longer Dancer's owner, the 1st Level dressage rider, the girl who raced the school bus on horseback, or any of the other thousand people he allowed me to be. Now, I am just me, and I have to find out who that is after losing my point of reference. Hopefully, I've gotten a little closer to an answer after the last 12 months.

I went to 4Pi-Con this weekend, where I debuted the BFD that I started in November of 2006. It's finally (almost) finished!!!!!! It needs a wig and some touch-ups, and my dream costume will be done (for the moment, I'm ignoring the structural issues. I choose to believe that they do not exist.)

I just had one of those annoying days. The kind where nothing went wrong, things functioned smoothly, I accomplished what I needed to, and yet I feel that it was an unsatisfying day. I went to work, got stuff done, enjoyed a rainshower on the way home (and a thunderstorm after dark- yay!), talked with some friends, and made some progress on my costume, but it's somehow... unfulfilled.

God, I need barn time. That's the only thing I can think of. Where's a horse when you need one? Kitties just aren't doing it for me today.

P.S. LiveJournal, contractions do not require spell check. Neither does your name.
 

Ahh, one of my favorite parts of living on the Plains- massive, chaotic, and uncontrolled destructive forces of nature!!!!!!!

After the trip through Cimarron National Grasslands (see post below, which I finally finished) we camped at John Martin Reservoir in Colorado. This body of water blocks the Arkansas River, a rapid and narrow waterway before it pours into the reservoir, only to become a slow moving, widespread mudhole in Hutchinson. Shortly after eating dinner, a huge storm brewed over the lake. We battened down the hatches on the camper, took our gear to the shelter house, and settled in. Mom fretted, Shannon and Preston kept her company, and Tom and I stood outside to watch.

This is the hook of the storm. If it was a hurricane, it would be the eye. The hook is where the tornados form something like 99.8% of the time. The yellow bit shows the sunset hitting the clouds on the other side of the eye.

     

This photo was taken less than 10 minutes after the wall cloud illustration above. You can see how quickly the cloud has lowered, darkened, and gotten a heck of a lot closer. This is from the opposite end of the building.

Back at the front of the building (about 30 seconds later) you can see how much the wall cloud has changed. It's hard to see in the pictures, but the slow rotation that preceeds a funnel was very visible to the naked eye. Compare that bumpy bit in the center to the next photo, which was shot 20-30 seconds after the previous one.

That bump is considerably bigger, lower, and more menacing. The rotation has created a drop in barometric pressure, which is what draws the funnel downward.

In the next three pictures, you can see the rotation. The light triangular cloud in the center first appears on the left, then the right, then the center left. It's part of the wall of the funnel, not the funnel itself.

Nothing developed out of it while we were in sight of the storm, but we did get to see the Vortex 2 team drive by, 2 vans of which are from UMass-Amherst.

Immediately after the funnel crossed the lake, the hail hit our shelter house. Some of it was golfball size, and it did a good amount of damage to the vehicles. The camper has to have the roof replaced because of the dents, and Tom's Nitro needs to have a lot of dings removed. The larger hail was bouncing about four feet off the ground when it hit.
 

100%, the best part of my vacation.

Also along the way, we spotted this amazing fountain. This fountain was behind the Pratt statue and the Avenue of Flags memorial. You can see why, with its stunning structural and architectural elements, it was given pride of place in the park. From left to right, that's my mom, Shannon, Preston, and Tom showing their dumbfoundment. I think my favorite detail is the sewer grating.

Greensburg
May 4th, 2007 showed the world that there was a more terrifying force than that of an F4 tornado. Greensburg, KS is home to the world's first F5 twister. Estimates range that the base of the funnel was between 1 and 1.5 miles wide, with wind speeds in excess of 200 mph. The town had no idea that only 5% of their buildings would remain standing the next day. Instead of admitting defeat, this town drew together and decided to rebuild, with a positive side to the destruction. They were given a clean slate, and setting out to live up to their name, decided to create an enviro-friendly community, with low-energy construction, powering town buildings through solar and wind power, etc. The town is the first of it's kind in the country. It's also the home of the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well and the World's Largest Pallastie Meteorite, named Space Wanderer. Space Wanderer is currently stored in the saltmines in Hutch, and the Big Well is covered by a small structure you can peer into (and when there is a busted window, reach through to snag spare change people have tossed in. That would be me in the red doing the scrounging in the photo below.) There are signs around advertising free land to all takers who want to move in. Mom, Tom and I visited Greensburg three years ago on another summer vacation. The difference was astounding.

Oh yeah, see that diagonal pole slanting across the top of the picture? That pole is about 8 inches around and made of 3/4 inch thick metal. It used to be vertical. The wind pushed it over. If the tornado had touched it, that pole would be impaled through some piece of farm machinery two miles away.

Samson of the Cimarron
My mom and Tom went camping last year, and my mom is in love with this bridge that was near their campsite. Seriously, every time I'm home (and several times when I've called) she asks me if I've seen The Picture. It's a really impressive bridge, and it's a really great picture, so I can see why she's proud of it. I don't have a copy of it yet, but that's only because mom went to bed before we transferred all of her Kansas Vacation Images for the last couple of years. It's only a matter of time before I get to replace this stock image with The Picture.

While we stopped to eat lunch, I took pictures of flowers and this cool fence thing that we couldn't identify. I realized after I got home I didn't take a single picture of the bridge.

I Don't Think We're in Reality Anymore, Toto
One of the most recognizable Kansas superstars never existed. Dorothy Gale, Frank L. Baum's famed character from the Wizard of Oz , (and her little dog, too) were from Liberal. Of course, Liberal seized upon this golden opportunity, and built a house, garden, and museum to honor the books and movie. While we elected not to take a 30 minute tour of Dorothy's House and the Magical Land of Oz, we did go to the Coronado Museum (which plays the movie in a never-ending loop. All. Day. Long.) and walk through Dorothy's garden, where Shannon, Mom, and I violated the Tin Man. Talk about Buns of Steel! Mom started it.

I see lightning outside, so I will finish this tomorrow.

... aaaaand by "tomorrow", I really mean over a month later. (It's July 23rd now. Happy birthday, Das!)

Camping, Part One
Our next stop was our first camp site, the Cimarron National Grasslands Park. After driving on the highway through miles of prairie, we turned off of the highway to drive through more miles of prairie. We got the camp set up, then watched a lovely storm pass just a few miles away (notice the shelf cloud at the bottom right horizon, by the yellow patch of sky? That's a hail- and funnel-spawning cloud formation. We got the edge of the hail, but luckily the storm didn't generate any funnels that we could see). There was hail, some nervous tension, and afterward, a double rainbow, the second of which my camera couldn't capture.

After the storm, Tom read his new Clive Cussler book while the rest of us played some card games. When the 'rents went to bed, Shannon, Preston, and I made a campfire so we could have s'mores. While Preston and I were filling a cooler with water to put out the fire, we heard Shannon shout. The raccoons that had been rummaging through the garbage stole a bag of marshmallows from the table two feet behind her.

The Cimarron National Grasslands
My family took me seriously when I said living in Massachusetts made me miss the prairie an unbelievable amount. I miss the horizon, I miss the storms, I miss the smell, and I miss the feeling that the land is big enough to be yourself, which doesn't make sense if you haven't been there. I especially miss the night sky, which is so huge as to make you feel simultaneously bigger than the whole world and completely insignificant. I've never been somewhere that you can look out at the stars and be aware of how far away they are and, no matter how cliched, that they are close enough to gather into your hand and carry in a pocket. I'll put my poetic license away now (I think it's expired anyway).

We spent the next morning driving through the self-guided tour of the Grasslands. We saw an artisian well, passed the graves of the frontier sheriff's daughter, who died in a flash flood in 1914, and visited Point of Rocks, where you can still see the Santa Fe Trail stretching into the distance. If you want more pictures and info, check out this site, Kansas Photo Tour.

For those of you having trouble seeing the Trail, the most visible signs are outlined in red. The blue arrow points to one of the fence posts that have been placed along the Trail as guides. Check it out in the first photo and see if you can see what I'm talking about. This picture was taken from the top of Point of Rocks, one of the most significant landmarks on the Santa Fe Trail. If you didn't make it to the Point, and the springs there, you died of dehydration.

Every year a group of reenactors and history buffs hitch teams to wagons and drive a leg of the Santa Fe Trail. I think that would be cool, except as a woman I'd be stuck driving the wagon and taking care of a brood of chilluns, and true to one of my favorite games, I'd probably contract diptheria or drown fording a stream. 

This was one of my favorite parts of vacation. I felt a little bit more like myself after being able to stretch my eyes.

Three Corners
Less known and less popular than Four Corners, Three Corners celebrates the convergence of Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. It's four miles down a gravel road, and while we were impressed by it, there's not much to see, just a weathervane and this manhole cover, which is a geodesic measuring device thingy. It checks to see how much tectonic plate movement has occured and in what directions in comparison to other similar plates stuck in the ground around the world. Of course, none of the other plates have words written out in soldering iron, deliniating three states of AWESOME. I think this was my mom's favorite part, even more than the Statues of Liberty.

The next post is going to be long, since it covers what was probaqbly my very favorite part of vacation, and there are lots of awesome pictures.

I hope the three people who actually read this are enjoying my vacation!

(As a non-vacation-related side note, am I the only person who finds LiveJournal's lack of vocabulary disturbing? Stepdad, dumbfoundment, quadrant, reenactors, and artisian are not glamorous foreign words that it can't be expected to spell correctly, although I realize some of them may not be in everyone's blog. But "Chilluns"? "Chilluns" passes the spell-check with flying colors! Or would that be collers?)

I recently got my copy of Vienna Teng's new CD Inland Territory. It's marvelous. There is one song I don't like (much) but most of them are classic Vienna- a mix of gorgeous piano & vocal songs, and some songs that pull from different musical backgrounds. In case you want it, here's my review. (The picture is from a concert a friend and I went to in September 2007.)

2. White Light. Reminds me of another one of her songs, from a previous CD, but I can't come up with it. Tone, beat, key, all are similar to another. Argh! Why can't I come up with it? At any rate, it's an upbeat tune if you ignore the lyrics, which seem to be about everyone dying sooner or later.

3. Antebellum. One of my favorites on this disc. The intro piano and the tone of her voice at the beginning reminds me of Now Three. The male solo reminds me of early Michael W. Smith. The lyrics make me think of an interracial Romeo and Juliet set in the Civil War South, but instead of killing themselves in a horribly complicated and simultaneously underthought plan, they just go their separate ways.

4. Kansas. Best. Title. Ever. Having said that, it's also one of the strongest songs on the CD (and one of my top five). It starts out slow and moves forward to a soft conclusion, with stirring piano. I'm so taken with the song itself that I haven't bothered looking for the meaning in the song. Favorite lyrics: the start, which really does describe the Plains, "I'm nice and empty like Kansas."

5. In Another Life. The music makes me think of the soundtrack to a silent cartoon, perhaps about a carnival. I love the different lifelines presented- coal mine workers, revolutionaries, child brides. Not that they are enviable lives, but that they tie together.

6. Grandmother Song. Reminiscent of a revival. The storyline is excellent; I can see my great aunt telling me similar messages (only more polite. Maybe.) "How can you make a living doing that? Why aren't you married yet?" and the minute I bring someone home, "He's not good enough for you." The story of the grandmother is also good- the things she has lived through, the rights that we would have had in her time, and the modern life that we take for granted. Vienna's music is stronger for having included styles that aren't her normal fare.

7. Stray Italian Greyhound. The obligatory love song. Upbeat and not overly sappy. The song really moves once the percussion starts in the chorus. Favorite line: "The sudden burst of sunlight and me with my umbrella, cross-indexing every weatherman's report. I was ready for the down slide, but not for spring to well up."

8. Augustine. Reminiscent of the piano intro for Mt. Shasta. Good, but not outstanding. Favorite line: "Will you ring for Augustine tonight?"

9.  No Gringo. I can't decide if this is supposed to be a story of Mexican immigrants now or American immigrants in the future. Regardless, it is one of, if not my very favorite, song on the CD. The imagery is excellent- you can easily see yourself as the narrator. The clapping is similar to the gypsy dance scene in Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa. Favorite line: I dunno. I can't choose, but listening to it this time, it's definitely American immigrants.

10. Watershed. Intro sounds like Feather Moon. This song doesn't really do much for me. It's nice, but I can't focus on it, even when listening to it for the purpose of writing this entry. Favortie line: "I've done this many times before you watched the pattern take form."

11. Radio. Terrorism has never sounded so good. (As a song, not as an ideal.) I don't like the chorus, but the verses are excellent. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I wouldn't listen to this song because the chorus is so unappealing, except the verses are wonderful, and the bridge in the middle sounds like The Killers on Hot Fuss.

12. St. Stephen's Cross. My other favorite song. Thisone has it all- lyrics, a good story, quality vocals, and lovely lovely piano. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Vienna's ballads. Favorite line: "She found him standing, looking lost, in the shadow of St. Stephen's cross. He closed his eyes, and heard no sound, btu her breathing moved against his brow."



 

.     

The after picture shows a close-up of the two fabrics, before ironing. I know they still look short, but I do have my foot up on the edge of my sewing table. Trust me, they are nice and long You can see from the old hemline how much length I really added.

Back in the early fall, I picked up a lusciously soft men's button up shirt from Claiborne at the thrift store. I paid less than 5 dollars (we have an expensive thrifty's due to being in the Five College valley. They know the students will shell out more than the general public, but they also have a better selection most of the time, and high turnover of clothing.) It was too large in the sleeve, waist, and shoulder, and a little too long. I wore it all winter, but now that spring is coming, I wanted a short-sleeved option. Similar to the tuxedo shirt from several months ago, I chopped it up and sewed it back together according to Simplicity 4077, View E, sans ruffle. I think it looks much more flattering. I tried putting in a single dart along the spine instead of two seperate side darts, and I'm not sure I like the result, but I also can't undo it because of the fabric.

I wore it to choir yesterday, and it was very comfortable. I made the collar using the cuffs, and it feels too long since it overlaps if I button up all the way. I might change the buttons out, but I'm not sure what I'd prefer. The current buttons are a boring grey-tone. 
 

My kitties love to wrestle with humans- feet, hands, whatever- and feel that they have the right to do so without invitation. To help break them of this habit, I got some cheap stuffed animals and placed catnip in their tummies. I thought that might make them more appealing than my feet. (I've smelled my feet before, and I've smelled catnip, and I can guarantee you that I'd choose to put catnip in my mouth every time. Unless there were large sums of money involved. Then I'd reconsider.)

This is the quickest project, and gives your cat a safe object to bite, claw, and rabbit kick without leaving unsightly scarring. It might also let you sleep without the joys of being awoken by a vicious attack in the middle of the night. I think photographing the steps made the project take three times as long, and as you can see, I wasn't worried about getting any Glamour Shots.

Last year I found the cutest stuffed animals at Dollar Tree. They were all marine-animal themed, and I haven't seen them since, so I'm really glad I picked them up that first night.  After throwing them in the wash, I opened up their belly seams, stuffed a small bag of catnip in the middle, stitched them back up, and let the cats have them.

I've included pictures if you feel you need a step-by-step tutorial. Plus, there are cute shots of kitties fending for their lives against ravenous sea monsters, and that's always fun.

Step 1: Open A Seam
Use your seam ripper to cut some of the threads. The hole only needs to be about an inch long. Here we can see Mr. Nibbles, a hammerhead shark, showing off his abs (and his quadruple bypass scar) for the ladies.

Step 2: Make a Small Bag
Using some scrap fabric, preferably a light weave like the sheer I've used here, make a bag by folding a small rectangle in half and stitching two edges. Pour dried catnip into the bag, then stitch shut. You can see here that I haven't worried about the niceties of folding my bag inside out, trimming the seams, or even making sure it's squared. Trust me, your kitties are only concerned with the contents.

Step 3: Insert Bag into Toy
Stuff a catnip bag in each toy. Tuck it up toward the head area, as this seems to be the place most cats like to grab so they can rabbit-kick the crap out of things.  I'm not going to include a photo of this step- if you can't figure this out without image assistance, I'm not sure you should be trusted with needles and a sharp pair of scissors.

Step 4: Stitch the Toy Closed
I like to use a blanket stitch to close my seams. If you look closely on the following picture, you can see the faint scar on The Dugong, right below my thumb. This is where I inserted his first pouch of catnip last summer. He had tears in the seam both above and below my original stitching, so I guess the blanket stitch holds up nicely.

Step 5: Give Your Cats Their Fix
Kemmei demonstrates the finer points of killing dangerous stuffed toys here. For some reason, both of my cats prefer The Dugong. I guess it's true that the blood of the innocent tastes sweeter. I like to refresh the bags every few months. I figure if I can't smell the catnip, it's time to put a new stash in.
 

Waaay back in the fall of 2002, my roommate Cali and I decided that our dorm room desperately needed a beaded curtain. We drove to the store when the Christmas goods had just arrived, and bought six boxes of garland- three each of lavender beads and silver stars. In mid- construction of our curtain, the dorm supervisor told us we weren't allowed to hang any sort of coverings over our door, as it was a fire hazard. We took down what progress we had made, put away our craft supplies, and resigned ourselves to living in an incomplete dorm room for the rest of the school year.

Today, while looking for My Little Ponies in my closet Rubbermaid totes, I found the remnants of our purchased goods. Firmly believing that crafts follow the principle of 'better late than never', I now, 6.5 years later, have a beaded curtain. Due to the use of the supplies on a Christmas tree two years later, it is more of a beaded curtain/noren since it is only chest length instead of reaching the floor. I think this can only be a good thing, because of the cats.

I'm going to try my hand at making a tutorial now, and since this is a very easy project, it should be a pretty clear tutorial.

Supplies:
Garland
Scissors
pencil
Hot glue
Pipe, Dowel, broom handle, curtain rod, etc.

Step 1
Cut garland to desired lengths. I wanted a more organic look, so my garland is a average length, not perfect.

Step 2
Arrange garland in a pleasing pattern on your workspace (which, in my case, is the floor.)

Step 3
Measure width of door frame- I measured the opening, not the frame itself. Transfer measurement to pipe. If you were concerned about the asthetics of using ugly pieces of PVC, this is the ideal time to paint your hanging apparatus.

Step 4
Hot glue your garland on to your pipe.

Step 5
Hang and enjoy!

Now, without going into any detail regarding the comic itself (if you are interested, you can read the afore-mentioned review. It is NOT SAFE FOR WORK! (or, apparently, dinner conversation. Or discussing loudly with friends outside of the supermarket. Or whilst riding the bus to work. Not that I would know from today's personal experiences. Erm.)) I wish to discuss the possibilities of this becoming a nationwide media craze, akin to the recent interests in pirates. In fact, I spent the better part of today mulling those same possibilities over. I came up with the following gems, and in the interest of getting them OUT of my head, I'm going to give them to you. My mother always taught me to share...

The VEEJ Team (Vaginal Ectoplasmic and Enter-o-Gation Justice Team)
An elite group of paranormal investigators, sort of a cross between Naval SEALs and the Ghostbusters. The have the technology to enter the location in question and take care of things. Of course, their specialty would not only include awesome tech toys to bust some ghost booty, but also the ability to make seemingly innocent double-entendres, the kind that go right over the kids' heads as being perfectly legitimate exclamations, but that have the parents in tears trying to contain their laughter. I hope it becomes TGIF viewing.

"Vaginal intrusion alert in section two. VEEJ Team, we need you to penetrate the area."

"This fight was long and hard, men, but in the end, we stuck it to her."

"Pull out, before it's too late!"

"Good work, fellas. Keep it up."

"There will come a day when you freeze and you can't get up the courage to make it this far. You just can't get it up. You will fail to perform, and you will let some poor woman's vagina down."

"Why are we called the VEEJ Team, Sarge?"
"It's Latin for pussy, son."

"Who do you think we are, private investigators?"

There's always one character in any military-based show from the South. I think he'd say the word "T'ain't". A lot.

And of course, there would have to be commercials. "Worried about metaphysical feminine freshness? I took possession of my own body with the new Spectral spray. Now, I ain't afraid of no ghosts!"

I'm meeting with the investors later this month to discuss contracts and legal rights. Look for the VEEJ Team debut on ABC Family next fall. Nah, who am I kidding? This is definitely a FOX show.

 
P.S. Live Journal doesn't recognize "entendres" as a word. Low-brow dictionary.

I made the vest first- no progress pictures, but this shows it without the coat.12-4-08. It reminds me of a Japanese school-boy look.

The coat bodice, in progress. (12-5-08) This is the only time I think I've ever seen any part of a vampire look like one of Santa's elves on a bender.

The coat tails, in place. (12-6-08.) I found this part difficult to do, possibly because of the weight of the fabric dragging against the machine. I've really got to do something about fixing the hold in my sewing cabinet so I can open the wings out.

With sleeves. (12-7-08) Everything was cut in one sitting (in, um, September....) but the lived in a bag until I had time to work on it.

The coat with duster cape on. 12-8-08. The cape isn't attached at this point, nor are there buttons on the coat (They went on Dec. 26th)

Then, without warning, Christmas struck from the shadows and was upon us! I spent the next 20 days making gifts, cookies, cat sitting for friends, practicing Christmas Eve service music (3 bell pieces, 2 choir songs, and a solo), attending parties, and feverishly wrapping things a mere hour before I saw the people I meant to get the gifts. And of course, I spent three days recovering from the festivities. I returned to making this costume the 28th, starting with the hat.

It came out much taller than expected, giving it a very Dr. Seuss feel. I fixed it, it's now more the height I wanted. There are a few pieces of boning in the sides to keep it upright, a piece of plastic laminate in the crown to keep it flat, and wire in the brim to help it hold its shape. I think I might put pieces of laminate in the sides to keep it more rounded.

The next piece was the necktie/cravat/stock thing. Tying the bow was much harder than I remember from the two cravats I made last year for D'eon. Those were made using thin cotton and lightweight interfacing. The red bow was made using the same heavy brushed cotton as the coat and hat, and no interfacing (I was out and didn't want to wait until today when the fabric store is open). It's sewn in place, both along the neckline and on the bow. That sucker's not going anywhere. I don't have separate pics of the cravat.

I also made two guns, which may or may not be used. I am certain that the hot pink gun will (understandably) be vetoed. I bought a few toy guns at the dollar store, repainted them in the color scheme I wanted, and then glued some extra bits to them.

I'm still toying with the idea of making a holster, but I'm not sure I have the time or inclination to do that right now. Below is the costume as it stands right now. Like I said, I need to add a hatband, goggles, and maybe some light stencils on the vest, or gears on the lapel of the coat, as well as painting the back of the gloves.

I"m quite pleased with this, and I hope my friend also likes it.I will post pictures of us at the convention in February.

For those who might need a comparison to the original, this is the character design for Alucard. It was difficult to make a Steampunk variation for something that is already so Victorian. I hope I did a good job, and that people will be able to tell it is a variation, not just a cosplayer with the wrong hat.

Costume vest for Kitten. It needs to be taken in at the sides, since it fits me and she is smaller. Hopefully, we will have time at the convention. If not, well, there are ties in the back that can be tightened, and that will just have to do. As usual, made from dollar fabric and fully lined. The buttons are brushed brass shank buttons from JoAnn's.

I have made quick progress on the coat in the last few days- the bodice is constructed, sleeves are hemmed, although not attached yet, and the rest will be put together tomorrow. (I look like a Christmas elf with aspirations of piracy in this picture.) There are slightly larger brushed brass buttons for the coat, similar to what is on the vest. 

I can't wait to make the top hat. The shirt will probably not happen until next week, and I'm still not sure if I need to whip up a pair of pants or if Kitten will wear her own.

Kari helped.

Once again, I haven't got a 'before' picture, so I have grabbed the same-pattern dress (although a different color) from eBay. This is a B_Smart dress I got at Salvation Army for a few dollars, I love the pattern and color.

Basically, I chopped the skirt length off at an angle and gave it a lettuce-edge hem in keeping with the hem style found on the sleeves. So far, the best thing I've found to wear with the shirt is a pair of cords, but there is quite a range of temperatures in my office, ranging from wanting to kick off your shoes and ask for a margarita, to bundling up in a scarf and requesting hot chocolate.

Any ideas? I'm also taking suggestions as to how to fix the neckline and not flash more cleavage.
 

When taking friends to JoAnn's for the Black Friday sales, I picked up some blue tie-dyed fleece to make curtains, in the hopes that I can cut my heating bill some this winter. Last year it was $250 a month, and I really want to minimize that this year. I made curtains last week, but they were black and depressing and shut out lots of light but not much cold air, especially because they were a few inches too short for my window. These replacements only took about 30 minutes, and I'm rather please with the results. They aren't ever going to garner praise from the masses, but they will at least cheerfully block out drafts! I may sew the black ones onto the back for an extra layer. Right now, I'm using them as a photo backdrop.

I picked up a lovely cream chenille sweater at Sallie's on Friday, with the sole intention of making it into a pair of armwarmers. I had no idea what to do with the torso, until I remember seeing a tutorial on ThreadBanger about making a hoodie-scarf, aka, scoodie. I used the fleece strips left over from making my curtains.The sweater looked like this (but not red- I forgot to take a before picture, so this is from eBay.)

I cut all the pieces apart, to see what shapes I had to work with, and made the scoodie first. The hood I cut from the lining was a bit too small, so I used a strip of fabric between the two sides to flesh it out some, but as for the rest, I followed the directions on the ThreadBanger post. I'm really happy with it, and have been wearing it around the apartment.

I did, in fact make arm warmers. I think there are so many tutorials for armwarmers available that the world probably doesn't need another. Suffice it to say, they are quite cozy and I think the lettuce edge gives them a little bit of charm.

Here's to a toasty warm winter!!!!!!

On my first day at WRF, I stumbled across this awesome post about making a cute ladies shirt from a man's tuxedo shirt. When I went home in August, I raided my closet in the hopes that I still had an old tuxedo shirt from work hidden in the back. I found one, flew it back with me, and then realized that it was too stained to use as it was, and too synthetic to dye a different color, although I may try anyway. Last week at the local Sally's I found a perfectly crisp, white-as-snow tux shirt for three bucks, and of course, I grabbed it right away, without even trying it on. Any man's 2X will cut down to fit me, even in the bust. And I busted out SImplicity 4077's view E, sans ruffle, in an evening. I still need to make the vertical darts in it (and I really need to stop posting about stuff that is mostly-but-not-quite finished) but I wore it shopping with my friends yesterday, and I really love it. I tried it with the swooshy shirt jacket from the previous sewing post, and while I like it in theory, it feels too much like I'm getting ready to conduct an orchestra. (For those of you wondering, it does not, in the least, go with the awesome too-large-can't-wait-to-cut-them-down $5 leather pants I found yesterday.That's right- Five. Dollar. Leather. Pants. Real Leather. Lined. Huge, so I will never look like they have been heat shrunk onto me. It's been a long time coming, pants, and now, you are mine. I wore them around my apartment last night for about three hours. They are surprisingly comfortable, probably because they are four sizes too big.)

.              

I've never really seen the appeal in the day-after-Thanksgiving sales. You have to get up insanely early, drive in the dark to remote locations, flyer in hand, join the chains of cars roaming the parking lots looking for an empty spot (preferably close by so you don't have to haul your loot as far), end up parked in the hinterlands, hiking across an ocean's-width of blacktop only to wait in line, frequently in bitter winter temperatures, to be let in to your chosen store, surrounded by other glassy-eyed bargain hunters hoping to get their hands on this year's Tickle Me Elmo. When you are finally let in, there's a frenzied rush to the departments with the hottest items. (Toys and Electronics are always at the top of the list, but I wonder if specialty stores have the same department-heavy sales. Do people waiting outside the furniture store flood to the mattresses and dinette sets when the doors open or is it spread out to include bedroom suits and rugs? Maybe next year I'll go there and find out.) Then you face the press of people filling the aisles, and you have to worry not only about accidentally hurting the little old lady in front of you, but also about said little old lady beating you with her heavily-laden purse if you dare reach for the Furby she's eyeing. Once you've laid claim to your prizes, you stand in another line to check out, then trudge back across the sea of cars, trying to locate where you parked, this time tired and hungry, with a full shopping cart and a much lighter wallet, only to rush to the next store, which opens in twenty mintues, and start the process over again. It hardly seems worth the pain and hassle just to save a little bit of money.

No pictures at the moment- I can't seem to figure out exactly where to aim my tiny tiny camera so that I actually capture my reflection in the mirror and not the background. This shirt is made from buttery soft  black pinstriped moleskin (thereby combining my two previously posted fabric loves into one delicious piece) that I got at my favorite $1/yd sale a few months ago. I had initially meant to make pants, but I'm glad I made this instead. I used Butterick 4929, which was also used for these French Revolutionary dragoon coats and squire's jacket last year:

I combined views A and C, giving the piece a short peplum in the front and a flowing back. The back pieces were widened below the waist to increase fullness. I know it looks a little costume-like, but I am really enjoying it. I made the standing collar from black velvet (again, hooray for dollar sales!!! This is the $19-at-JoAnn's-stuff I mentioned last post.) I wore it to the Twilight movie last night, and got a lot of compliments from my friends. I can never wait to wear something I've made! I can foresee some tough choices after Thanksgiving, since I plan to finish several things over the four day weekend.

The shirt is warm, drapes well, and needs to be completely finished before I wear it again. I want to make military-like bar closures from velvet on the front and add velvet cuffsto the sleeves. I toyed with making the peplum from velvet, but it looked odd.

After several attempts to get a decent picture, I made it halfway and settled for two images in which you can see the reflection, even if you can't see much in the way of details. I'll have Captain take some shots eventually. The second image shows the length. I would not wear this shirt/jacket with a blue tshirt and green cords, but I wanted the contrast because of my camera.

                    

Kemmei and Kari made their contributions of kitty hair last night before the movie. I'm blessed to have such consistent and enthusiastic helpers!

Last month I found myself drooling over a multitude of pinstripes. Maybe it's in fashion (I don't keep up with that), maybe it's the promotion and the reputation for being business approrpiate, and maybe it's because I just like stripes, but I went home with a lot of fabric that day, all but one style striped. 

This first shirt is black with shiny silver stripes. It's a bit of a stretchy fabric, which you can see made it a little odd down the button placket. I'm really fond of this shirt, and have worn it three or four times in the two weeks it's been finished. I used Butterick 6085, view B. This is the same pattern I've used for the Seras Victoria shirt that I haven't posted yet, and the Seras shirt came out much much better. It fits better, it looks better, and I get more compliments on it when I wear it (and not just from fanboys, either). But I still think that this one is more approriate for work, at any rate. My biggest complaint is that I hate 3/4 length sleeves, and need to make them considerably shorter so they fall above my elbow. My smallest complaint is that there is too much fabric in the sleeve itself, probably because I used the largest pattern size available to accomodate my bust. I am hoping to fix both issues tonight.