Cushions

I actually DID do some clothing remodeling like I said I would in my previous post, but didn't take pictures.  I cut the bodice off a shirt-dress that didn't EVER fit right, hemmed it, gave it to the thrift store because maybe someone could use it as a shirt albeit more of a cropped style.  Then I cut the button placket off the skirt that was left, sewed up a seam instead, put a zipper in the back, added side pockets and a waistband, and called it good.  New stripey skirt:  check!  Get rid of a dress that never ever fit:  check!  I don't know if reusing the elastic from a pair of worn-out pajama pants counts, but did that too.  In a new pair of pajama pants.  Bright pink pajama pants!  I had considered trying to alter a shirt, but decided it would be too much of a pain so I just gave it away.  But, with all of this "make-do and mend" stuff in mind, I bought a skirt two sizes too big because it was A) pretty and B) $6.50 on sale.  I will unpick the waistband and take the side seams in by about two inches and have a pretty coral and brown nubbly skirt for winter.

My friend Amanda pointed me to this blog post (warning:  language) about altering and tailoring.  I must say I wasn't very surprised, in retrospect, by the idea that People With Money have all their clothes custom tailored, but I WAS surprised (and a little shocked) that I hadn't really thought of it that way.  I'm pretty sure I could teach myself some better alteration techniques and get more mileage out of my shopping that way, especially when one of my favorite brands has pants long enough but too big in the waist (I suppose I should be grateful for that but it's a PAIN IN THE NECK I TELL YOU).

Anyway.  To the cushions part of this.  I have my grandmother's cedar chest that was manufactured during WWII--it's a Lane and has a little card explaining that the metal latch and key normally installed in the cedar chest has been left out so all extra metal can go to the war effort.  It has a nifty, optimistic sentence that says "when Victory is ours, please write to the Lane Co. for your key and replacement latch".  I love it so much.  My mom spent DAYS refinishing it after my grandma died, and when it was done, she felt very strongly that it should go to me.  It is one of my treasures.  Because it sits against the wall of my room, instead of in front of my bed (as would be ideal), I'm thinking of using it as a bench/sofa.  In order to do that, I should make a cushion, right?  I think I'd like a REALLY BIG floral or pretty stripe (in pink, of course); it shouldn't be too hard to do if I get some 3" or 4" foam, cover it with muslin, and make a removable cover in a heavy cotton.  I'd probably need some piping and a heavy-duty zipper--if all goes as planned, it should only take a few hours to do everything.

Now.  To find the perfect fabric, which we all know doesn't really exist.  ha.

Make & Mend 2011

Yes, I'm participating!  I'm not sure how to do something like this, because I've never done it before, but I figure it's worth a try.  Besides, it will get me into the sewing room, right?  That's the theory, anyway. ;)

Weird sizing at JC Penney

So I ordered some stuff from Penney's last Wednesday night on their Thanksgiving sale.  Normally, I'd probably go into the store and buy stuff, but these came in tall sizes so I got them online.  Problems:  they sent a large sweater instead of the medium I ordered, and the medium t-shirt I got is larger than my Eddie Bauer mediums.  More problems:  when I took them back to the catalog department, I discovered I can't get them in a smaller size in the talls.  So now I'm faced with the possibility of either not having a light blue sweater, or of altering a sweater.

My life is so complicated.

The sweater alteration shouldn't be too bad, and I've finally come to grips with the idea that I will probably have to alter stuff to get it to fit right anyway, but MAN.  I didn't expect to be swimming in mediums, and I know that this anomaly has nothing to do with weight loss.  I guess they've revamped some sizing and that's ok, but it's frustrating.  I guess I'll go ahead and order the medium tall and use one of my other sweaters as a template for the alteration.  It shouldn't be too bad, right?  I'll baste it first and try it on before committing to a shorter stitch.  It's worth it to have the extra length...I hope.

Days 29 and 30

I'll tell you what, it's hard to blog at work, and then it's hard to blog when you get home and don't turn on your computer OR you don't remember to blog until after you're almost asleep and have to be up in a few short hours.  So, you know, I do feel a little like I should apologize, but I'm not out to make any big statement or anything with this, so I'm ok not apologizing. :)

If anything, this little experiment, focusing entirely on my creativity blog, has reminded me that I do have a lot of hobbies and genuine talents.  That's pretty cool.  The frustrating thing, though, is not knowing what to do with it all, besides not having time or money to pursue these hobbies as much as I want to.  I take comfort in knowing that I have an aptitude for craft and a passion for learning--it helps keep me going when I'm discouraged and frustrated by it all.

In any case, I plan to remember this little blog of mine a little more from now on, and actually post pictures of things I've made or talk about things that have been on my mind.  It's been fun.  Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in December!

Day 28

Just a quick update on a couple of things.  I bought the most beautiful (to me, anyway) corduroy last year (see above!), intending to make a dress using Vogue 8411, but after reading several reviews on PatternReview.com, I decided that maybe corduroy may not be my best option for this dress even though I can see it in my mind.  There are too many things I'd have to mess with around the neckline.  I got some good inspiration from Boden, though, and plan to go through my patterns to see what I can use/alter/smoosh together.  Thoughts, anyone?

Today, I worked out an arrangement of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" for my ward choir--it still needs some tweaking and a transition (I'm starting with the British version, to the tune of "I Saw a Mighty Angel Fly", and going into the American version for the third verse) but it's coming along pretty well.  I am also within about 4 rows of finishing an afghan for a friend's baby and should have that totally done by the end of the week!  I'm excited!  Considering the baby was born in August!  ha ha!

Anyway, I feel sufficiently motivated to cross a lot of things off my huge project list.  It's a great feeling!

Days 26 and 27 part two

I burned my thumb while getting pies out of the oven on Thanksgiving morning--the pot-holder slipped and I grabbed the oven rack with my bare thumb instead of the pot-holder.  I got it on my ear pretty quickly (really, it works!) to cool it down enough to get the pies out, and then, as soon as I had the pies out of the way, I held it under cold running water until it was numb.  Painfully numb.  Almost unbearably numb.  Because of that, I don't have two big blisters covering the pad of my thumb at lovely right angles; I have two big rough spots instead.  I'm really glad I was near the sink and I did the ear trick (my dad picked that one up in Korea when he was in his 20s, and it really does work for some reason), and I'm really glad it didn't blister.  If it HAD blistered up, I'd be almost useless to sew or knit or crochet.

One more thing to be thankful about. :)

Days 26 and 27

Just an update, because my stomach is hurting and I need to find food soon or it will just get worse.  Hooray for acid reflux...

I did a few mending things today, and I feel good about reducing that pile finally!

Gray pants
Cream-colored sweater
Blue pajama pants
Black and white striped skirt

So I've been productive, in between trying to figure out how to hook up my cable to my TV and my TV to my DVD/VCR which has proven impossible.  I can get sound out of the DVD player, but no picture.  Maddening.  Dad and I know there's a way to hook it all up together, but can't figure it out.  It would be easier if my TV has an S-Video slot, which it DOES NOT.  ugh.

Well, small things to gripe about, really.  I think tomorrow I'll do a muslin of at least the bodice of a dress that has a wide-ish neckline I'm concerned about.  I downloaded a couple of hat patterns from Ravelry that I can't wait to try out, but I'm determined to finish at least one baby afghan before making hats for myself.  If I go fast, I should have one done by tomorrow night.

Don't you hate it when you buy a lovely piece of fabric and have the perfect plans for it, and then it sits in a drawer for a couple of years and your plans change or you're no longer sure what to do with it?  I have some really pretty wool plaids that have been haunting me for at least two years (one of them for close to 10...eep) and I can't decide if I want to do a skirt with kick pleats or an A-line or a pencil skirt or if it should be mid-calf or just below my knee or ankle-length, and I'm worried that I'll cut into that pretty fabric, sew something, and end up hating it.  It's happened before, sadly, and so I sit on fabric for years and years because I'm afraid of hating it when it's sewn, and I won't have any extra to fix it or remake it.  It drives me NUTS.  And this is why I have so much fabric just sitting around in drawers and piles and boxes.

Sigh.