A bit of whimsy...

 So, the last couple of weeks....

My Sweet Babboo is, as I have mentioned before, part of a historical group that recreates 18th century frontiersmen...it's an extension of the boys' ministry at our church.

And, a couple of weeks ago, this organization had its every-other-year Territorial Rendezvous...a 3-day frontiersman- era campout for all the guys in the Southeast Region.

And it just so happened that this event was at a facility that was about 15 minutes south of where our youngest daughter , AKA The Flute Player, now lives in Florida.

So you know I tagged along, and got dropped off at said daughter's for the weekend whilst hubby shot black powder rifles, bow and arrows, threw tomahawks, etc. in the woods.

After the campout, he picked me up...we took the kids out to dinner (her brother The Actor is now on staff at the same church, so he and his new wife are in the same area, which is convenient; we can see them all at the same place), then we drove up to Holiday Inn's Orange Lake Resort and checked in for the week.  Timeshare points being put to use.

Now, this resort literally backs up to Animal Kingdom at Disney World.   So we spent that week Doing Disney.

And, as it just also so happened, My Sweet Babboo's birthday happened to be Tuesday whilst he was there.  And he wanted to do Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  So the kids came up and joined us and we were there from about 5 to midnight.

Now, this is a costumed thing.  And we did it in 2019 when we did the very first family Disney trip.  I managed to put together an Edna Mode costume, whacking up what had been intended as a wearable muslin for a Burda magazine dress,  but didn't get any good pictures then.  But, hey, it's been 4 years, and it's a good costume, and it's just hanging in the closet...so I wore it again.  And this time, I made sure my sweetie took a picture.  He took two, actually, but one was dark and the other was over exposed.  So...going with the dark one.

A couple of days later, I did a meet-and-greet with Edna Mode herself, lol, so you can see if I was close on my costume...

I will likely forever be looking for opportunities to pull that out and wear it, lol.  It's just too fun.

But...whoa, y'all. We were gone nearly two weeks, and jumped into a really busy week when we got home and...my laundry pile is as tall as I am, lol.  I'm gonna have to excavate that mountain before I do any significant sewing again...

Deja vu....

 Welp, I did it again.

This time it was a rotary cutter.

I don't even know how it happened; somehow, whilst cutting the very tight inner curve on the front facing, I caught the far side of my left pinky and cut right through the fingernail.  Then my fingernail wrapped up in the blade and tore loose from the nail bed...I think.  I have a nick on my actual finger, a horizontal cut into the fingernail that suddenly goes up at an angle and then turns again parallel to the first one.  I don't know how much of my finger underneath is cut...or if it just ripped up the nail.  I wasn't going fast with the cutter, but it was a brand new blade, 'cause I was cutting silk...

It's going to take that puppy a minute to grow out.  Gonna be a nice look for the wedding next weekend. :rolleyes:

So I didn't finish cutting the silk shell out until tonight.

But.. I have the lining put together, and I got the darts in the front and the back seam ready for the zipper. before I decided it was time to quit before I messed something up.

The next two days are pretty full; I'm going to try and get the zipper in after I get home tomorrow, then I can put the front and the back together on Thursday...and maybe get it hemmed. Then Friday morning I can baste the lining in...and start the process of cutting and piecing the lace.

I'm gonna be hand sewing all weekend.  And maybe Monday and Tuesday evenings.

At least the bummed up pinky shouldn't interfere with that too much.

It's gonna be a puzzle...

 I've got the patterns with the final edits...it's not perfect but I haven't got time to tweak it four more times for perfect.  I think it's going to be at least as good as ready-to-wear, so I'm calling it good enough.

And crossing my fingers that the final fabric doesn't do something weird that wasn't showing in the cotton muslin, lol.

But I do have a dilemma.  My lace is a very scant 40" wide.

Which means I have this problem:

I put the pattern on just to see how things were going to work.  The hemline is at the bottom, but the top kinda runs off the edge.

I have been puzzling over this. all day.  Finally, driving home from work, I recollected that two years ago I added 6" to the girth of a bridesmaids dress with crazy piecing.  I figure if I can do that, I can piece a bit on the shoulders.

The underfabric is a sandwashed silk with a gorgeous drape that's been in the stash for...ages....  I think any piecing should disappear right into that matte background.  

It's going to be lined with a lightweight Bemberg.

I also made a tracing with no seam allowances; I will lay that on the lace and thread trace the seams. I am probably going to be sewing the lace overlayer pretty much by hand.

But this weekend is the annual women's conference at church...so not much sewing is likely to happen. I will probably cut and sew...at least as far as I can...the lining and the underlayer before I cut the lace. If it turns into a disaster, I will omit the lace and just have a black silk dress.  

I may splurge on a dressy jacket if that happens. But I'm hopeful it will work.

The wedding is two weeks from Saturday.  Deep breaths.

In which some progress was made...

 So, I have slightly less than 4 weeks until I need the next MOG outfit.  This wedding is at a state park in the next county, so it's a bit closer to home.  But it's also a bit fancier.  IE, the bridesmaids...and the MOB...will be in black, mostly so they will show up against the sky behind the bluff on which the ceremony will take place.  But they are all wearing long black dresses.

So, yeah, I'm gonna hafta go a bit more upscale.

Now, I *do* have a failsafe;  we went to my hubby's 50 year class reunion two weeks ago and I wore something that I can just dress up a bit more with a better topper, shoes and jewelry...Under the Chico's sweater are a couple of Loes Hinse patterns...a black slinky Twinset shell and a Swing skirt, sans flounce, added pockets from the Oxford pants.

Not quite as uptown as I would like but if I have a fiasco in the sewing room it will do...because I'm doing a technique I haven't tried before. I am starting with this Vogue dress pattern; 

It's a simple sheath dress...you can see it better in the line drawing:

Today I finally got around to doing the first go at alterations...I did my normal narrow square shoulder adjustment, a FBA, and added some extra width.  I also added an underlap to the center back slit...I prefer a vent to a slit.  There are only two pattern pieces.

I had a huge chunk of nondescript gray cotton fabric that I bought 3 years ago to make face masks...I have no idea why I got so much?  It must've been on sale, lol. Anyway, it will do fine for a muslin.

I added a seam allowance to the center front; I will sew up the back seam and leave the front unsewn so I can just pin up the center front to close up the muslin.  Save messing with a zipper.  I'll put the seamline on a fold when I cut The Good Stuff.

I am omitting the vertical darts... I don't need that shaping (thank you middle age spread), but after doing the FBA that is one honkin' big bust dart.  I would  just convert it to a princess seam but...the whole reason I'm doing this simple pattern is because I am doing a lace overlay (which I have not done before) and I want to keep the structure as simple as possible, to not interfere with the lace.

We'll see how it looks once the muslin is sewn up.

And...after it all...

One of the pics of the spectacular sunset after the rehearsal dinner...so Facebook will have a better picture on the link, lol

I did get a picture of the dress being worn...after we finally got home from The Day's Festivities (which were about an hour and forty five minutes away...)

As I said...this is not the dress to make me look thin and willowy (that would require something capable of David-Copperfield level illusions, I fear)   It does hide a multitude of...middle age spread, lol.  And it is HUGELY comfortable.  As I noted in a previous post, this is the PERFECT floaty summer maxi dress.

And of course it has pockets.

When I laid the fabric out, I noticed the ditsy floral pattern did have a very faint grid design.  So I used one of the subtle lines as the center front...and I'm really glad I did.  I think had I not done that, the dress just would have looked 'off'...without a really noticeable reason why.  But it looks balanced, even if it's not really perceptible.

Thanks to the Great British Sewing Bee for teaching me that little lesson.

I will wear this dress over and over.  And maybe make another one.  Or two.

But the main thing is...The Actor and the Little Red Haired Girl are now a family.  It was a very sweet wedding.

(photo creds go to big sister, The Princess, for this shot...)

MOG Dress 1....

 

Just a hanger shot, I'm afraid.  I will try to be intentional about getting a pic of it on the day, lol.  It's not whatcha call terribly slimming, but it is the quintessentially perfect floaty summer maxi dress.  I have a blue linen jacket to put over it and make it a wee bit dressier.

I did have a booboo that I didn't even realize until I was finishing it up...I cut the bottom ruffle tiers wrong.  They were supposed to be a yard and a half from side to side; I just did some sloppy assumptions and cut them at 48" instead of 54".   If I had actually done the math...I'd've been ok.  But for some reason I didn't do the math and just whacked them at 48".  It was when I realized that the middle tier had more gathering than the bottom tier that I walked backwards and realized the bottom tier actually needed another eighteen inches around to be properly full.

But I don't think anyone will actually notice that.

And I think next time I do this I will go ahead and leave the bodice at the slightly below the waist length.  It hits exactly at my waist, which is what I wanted, but it feels like it's short. Just a pinch.

However, the dress as a whole is light and airy and flowy and I think I really like it, lol.

Much better than the last Mother - Of -The dress, which was a hot mess from the beginning.

I DIDN'T make sure to get a pic of that day-of,  and we didn't actually get the pictures downloaded from the wedding until last month (2 years later...).  And there wasn't a really good picture of the dress in any of those pics; the best I have is the one of us with the happy couple.  And I later found an old lace collar and sewed it to the neckline of the wonky dress and put it in the church costume closet.  It'll be fine for on stage.

But THIS dress... this dress will be a welcome addition to the closet.

And, if anyone hasn't noticed...it works with the 2022 Start with a Scarf wardrobe, too.  Bonus.

Wearing the Wonky Dress

 Or, How She Put a Brave Face On and Wore the Dress that Would have Auffed Her from Any Sewing Reality Show.

Unfortunately, I basically have no pictures.  I didn't carry my phone with me...we were, after all, paying a photographer to take GOOD pictures...but none of the pics snapped by friends and family really showed the dress.  The professional shots will be available in something like a month, lol.  All I have at the moment is this (snort) not so flattering shot, but it does prove I wore it...

 

First, the fabric...I probably should have ditched the project when I realized that I was going to have to cut it cross grain due to the direction of the print.  But I was foolishly brave...or bravely foolish...and thought by extra careful one-layer cutting I could Make It Work.  Ha ha and ha.  I am pretty sure it slid off grain as I was extra carefully moving it around...but even the center front, which was the first piece I cut on a fold that had been meticulously measured to be even, hung skewed.  The whole freaking dress twisted substantially...I kinda think it may not have been a square weave to begin with.  I mean, rayon crepe is notoriously unstable in all its ways anyway, but the consistency of the twist has me thinking that at least some of it was in the weave...because all the pieces had to be cut going the same direction (again, due to the directional print).  The bottom of the zipper...which was entirely superfluous, I could pull the dress over my head without touching it...was a good 3" to the right of my spine.   And...while the colors in the print were dead perfect for the day, they were also very superficial. The least little abrasion resulted in white pull lines  I used some brand-spanking-new tailor's chalk to try to mark the hem after My Sweet Babboo had pin-marked the level, and just marking along the wrong side with the chalk caused pulls in the fabric.  Whoa.  I ended up using an ink pen...I was cutting the line off anyway...but sheesh!

Fortunately it is a very busy print, with white twiggy things all over it anyway.

Then...the fit... I did do a muslin, but just from the waist up. And, being a bouncy cotton, it didn't reflect the drag that would happen with the full weight of the rayon pulling down.  I should have done a petite adjustment in the armsceye and upper chest.  The upper bit was just simply too big.  I looked in the mirror and was immediately reminded of the farm-wife dresses that my great-great-aunt Lena wore when I was a preschooler.  Not exactly the vintage-y look I was going for.

So, between the twisty skewed fabric and the oversized upper chest, I kinda looked like a cross between Aunt Lena and Quasimodo.  Again, not the look I was going for.

A bit before the rehearsal on the day before, the Flute Player wanted to make a quick run to the mall to seek out a dress for the rehearsal/ going away outfit, so with about 45 minutes to shop, we headed out.  I just wanted to see if I could find SOMETHING that would work better than the Wonky Dress.  We had time to hit exactly one department store and I wandered through the offerings in Better Dresses with increasing dismay.  It was a SEA OF POLYESTER.  Scuba knits, even (so the scuba dress in the finals of The Great British Sewing Bee wasn't as much of a ...stretch...for formal wear as I thought).    I found exactly TWO dresses in my size that were not polyester...a seersucker gingham and a rayon/linen sheath dress with ruffles going over the shoulders.  The seersucker had, as it turned out, oddly puffed sleeves that looked ridiculous once I put it on...nope.  The sheath dress didn't fit too badly, but the neckline plunged WAY farther than I was comfortable with.  I did have a scarf at home that I thought I could possibly use to fill in the gap, though, and since I was out of time I bought that dress...just in case I decided I just couldn't brave the Wonky Dress. If I did wear the Wonky Dress...I could return it.

We were nearly  half an hour late to the rehearsal...because, well, we had to stop by the newlywed's apartment to try and find a foundation garment for the bride amongst the stuff that had already been moved...that turned out to still be at the house.

After the dinner, we sat up visiting with the kids who were in town for the wedding and I hemmed the Wonky Dress.  Put it on one last time before I went to bed to see if it was still Wonky...it was...and then laid in bed trying to figure out what to do.  The scarf was a near dead-match for the sheath dress...

Pros of the sheath dress:  it was the right blue, it matched the scarf, it was a much slimmer silhouette.

Pros of the Wonky Dress:  it was still a light, floaty rayon fabric that would be about the coolest thing I could wear.  It had pockets.  It matched the accessories I planned.

Cons of the Wonky Dress:  Aunt Lena-Quasimodo

Cons of the sheath dress:   It really wasn't very dressy; I would have to fiddle with the silk scarf to get it to look right and that silk scarf, wrapped around my neck, would be HOT.  And...NO POCKETS.

Ultimately, comfort won out.  I wanted pockets for my lip gloss and a couple of tissues, just in case.  Maybe no one would notice the wonkiness if I just kept moving.

Y'all, I got compliments on that Wonky Dress.  I laughed every time someone commented on it looking nice; I couldn't help myself.  I knew that dress was A. Hot. Mess.  Of course, I didn't point out the issues, and I thanked the very nice people for complimenting the dress, but I still laughed.  I guess I moved enough.

Who knows what it will look like when we get the Official Wedding Pictures...but I was about as cool and comfy as I could've been.  

And the Flute Player was so gorgeous that I had to keep reminding myself it really was my jeans-and-tshirt-and-pigtails wearing youngest offspring...

Photo creds to my BIL David...

 

 

 

 

It all went well; the Wonky Dress didn't hurt a thing.  The sheath dress will be going back to the department store on Friday.

A little practical sewing...maybe

 Back in the day, when my kids were babies, I had a stack of Curity gauze diapers.  They were great, useful for everything from spit up rags to mopping up various fluids ejected from baby to actually being pinned on as diapers, with plastic covers, to increase the discomfort of soiled diapers and encourage the move to the potty and big kid undies.  And, because they were so soft, 3 of my 4 kids actually used them as security blankets for the first couple of years  (One of my kids, who shall be nameless, was HORRIFIED to learn recently that the well-remembered security blanket was actually a diaper that had been...USED...no matter how much I assured said child that it had been completely washed and sterilized and was no worse for the wear).

I still have about 5 or six old, fraying Curity diapers that I use as pressing cloths.  They work great.

So, my standard gift for new moms was a package of cloth, preferably gauze, diapers.  When I could no longer find Curity diapers at the local retail outlets, I went with the Gerber diapers that were shaped a little differently and were the birds-eye weave.

Then, a few months back, with Covid restrictions and all, I decided to just order several packages of cloth diapers, as I had several near and dear who were having babies. I went looking for the Curity diapers, thinking I could find them online.

Yeah...at ebay, for about $250/dozen.  Apparently they are no longer being manufactured.

So sad.

So I looked for the Gerber diapers and found them and all was well...until I read the reviews.  I was shocked to see that the cloth diapers I had been cheerfully buying in sealed packages and giving to friends were little better than cheesecloth. Bad review after bad review mentioned that these were nothing like the old Curity diapers.

So...what was one to do? 

I ended up buying a 15 yard bolt of 36" wide 'diaper fabric'...a cotton birdseye weave that is supposed to be good for diapers.

I measured my Curity diapers and found that they were 20" x 40"...so I cut  5 40" pieces and split them in half lengthwise so I had 10 18" x 40" rectangles and ran them through the serger.  I wove the serger tails in and added a drop of Fray Check to the corners to hopefully keep them from unravelling.

Then I washed them twice.

The gold standard...and the slightly smaller reproduction.  They did shrink a bit, the next batch will have to be cut a little longer, if it turns out to be a problem.

                                                  

One of them had a spot that apparently had a flaw in it, because there was a 3/8" diameter hole frayed out in it.  I darned the hole, but it was rough and scratchy and not suitable for a diaper and I threw it into my rag bag.  But I now have 9 roughly-Curity-sized-and-shaped birdseye weave diapers for product testing.

Folded and stacked for use.

                                                     

 

And I just so happen to have a handy product tester recently added to the family...

Number 1 Grandson, born to the Princess and Prince Charming on 11/10/20.  He lives just a fuzz under 2 miles away, but in Covid season it might as well be out of state.  So far all we've had are porch peeks and photos.

But, this too shall pass.  And we'll see how the home crafted diapers hold up. If they prove as useful and versatile as the the good ol' Curity diapers...well, I've got about 9 1/2 yards left and I can make a stack of diapers for gifting.  If not...well, it will be kitchen towels, lol.

A Birthday Fundraiser

I am interrupting our regularly scheduled (HA!) programming for a little public announcement.

I'm turning 60 in a couple of weeks (oy).  And, being a Facebook person, Facebook suggested to me that I create a fundraiser in honor of my birthday.

After pondering it, I decided to create one for Compassion, International.

We have sponsored kids in the Philippines through Compassion for a number of years; they really do good work with the kids, providing centers where the kids can go and be safe, be fed, get tutoring help...and, incidentally, learn about Jesus.  Compassion also has programs to help families, not just the kids, but the whole family.

And it hit me...reading about the atrocious conditions along our southern border...what if we could help the families where they are...and save them the long, dangerous journey to the border?

It felt..right...to me.   An answer to the 'What can I do, Lord?' prayer.    I realize there's a whole lot more involved and there is no simple, one-off solution to the problem, but what if helping one kid/one family made a difference to that one family?

So, we signed up to sponsor another child...a girl from Honduras, one of the countries from whence a number of the folks at the border have come.

I'm not trying to throw guilt on anyone or make some kind of political statement.  Just share the small thing.

If it sounds like something you might be interested in doing, you can visit  https://www.compassion.com/

No pressure.  Just sharing.

Now...back to the denim dress...which likely won't be done before midnight tomorrow anyway....

What worked!

Hey, y'alll, I'm finally feeling not-so-jet-lagged after spending a week basically working and sleeping.  There is a MOUNTAIN of laundry to be done, so whilst the machines are running I thought I'd give you a little rundown of the wardrobe I took with me to Israel.

Once I had everything packed, I realized I pretty much just took black and white, with a pinch of denim/chambray.  I took white tank tops, black tank tops/sleeveless knit tops, and some black-and-white striped tops, both sleeveless and sleeved; my journey home top was the black and white stripe T from the April wardrobe.  My 5-pocket Lands End yoga pants were the airplane pants, and I took my gray denim jacket for those chilly over-airconditioned planes, and it was a good thing to have when I got up before dawn to take sunrise pics in the Judean desert as well.  I took 3 long sleeved white shirts to wear as sunshades; I had a fourth shirt but it needed a tank top, specifically under it as it was a gauzy pull-over and I messed up and wore the tank tops with the button up shirts.  So the gauzy shirt rode there and back.    I took a pair of jeans and a pair of denim crops, but the best thing I took were the tencel gauze pants that I made back in 2003...Let's see if I can find a pic...

Bingo!  The photo from 2003.  When I was considerably smaller than I am now, but those pants are so blousy that they still work (elastic drawstring waist helps!).   The desert breeze flowed right through.  I was wishing I'd had about 4 pairs of pants from similar fabric.  The final pair of pants that I wore was the ponte pants I made for January's outfit.  They worked on the last day of the trip, where we were primarily in a museum and riding in the bus back to Tel Aviv.  I changed in the airport.  I have a lightweight wool challis scarf that I sealed in a zip lok bag in my carry on so I could pull it out if I got chilly; that worked much better than those silly polyester knit blankets the airline provided.

I took shoes for the airport that were easy on/off and had adjustable straps to allow for swelling; I had two different pairs of tennies that I alternated in country.  I took some sandals, but I ended up not wearing them because I didn't want to worry about sunscreening my feet (why didn't I think about that before I packed them?)

One pair of earrings that I wore all the time was the only jewelry I took.

So, yeah, I didn't really look fancy, but I stayed reasonably cool (there was ONE day when I was borderline uncomfortably hot), had no problems with sunburn (thank you 50 SPF), and managed to keep the load to my small suitcase, a canvas carry on that I did not have to gate check when they announced they were gate checking all wheeled bags for the connecting flight, and a backpack.

The hat packed great and held its shape wonderfully.  I need to remember to go leave a nice review on Amazon, lol.

I've been posting pictures on Facebook; I made the album public so I think you can see it by clicking on that link; if you click on the pictures you can see the running commentary. It was an amazing adventure and I still have a lot of personal processing to do.

And laundry, lol.

Bravery required....

The Alabama State Royal Ranger Leadership retreat was the last weekend in October; always a nice break to get away to the state AG conference center...which is a beautiful spot a couple hours south of us.

 

Every year, missionaries come in to share their ministry; this year, we had both home and foreign missions represented....including a young couple working in India.  One of the areas they are working in had a lot of women with very little opportunities, so they began a small business, employing the ladies to sew from home making Kantha quilts.  They taught the ladies how to sew the quilts and now these ladies actually have a marketable skill and can help their families.

They  had some small and medium blankets with them for sale, plus scarves and headwraps.

I got excited.  I'd seen so many GORGEOUS projects made from Kantha quilts.  It was quite a challenge to go through the pieces they'd brought to find something that I could use.  The largest blankets they  had with them were medium, which are about 40" wide and 6 feet long.  I could get a jacket front and back from one piece, but I needed another piece for the sleeves.  Finally I found a medium blanket and  a  small blanket with comparable pinks and close-enough greens.  The  larger piece is 5 saris thick (two outer ones plus three layered inside) while the smaller one is 3 saris thick (only one inner for batting).

They have a website, with quilts available, as well as a link to meet their artisans and learn their stories:

 ReMade India

The blankets have labels with the names of the ladies who made them.  Whatever I make, the labels are going to be part of the finished product.

First issue:  deciding on a pattern to use
Second issue: Placing the pattern on the quilts to best use the fabric design
Third issue:  Being brave enough to cut into it.

Not sure when this is going to happen...but I gave myself the challenge to finish it so I can wear it to next year's conference. ;-)

Making one post work for two...

Not sewing related at all...although I did wear something I made...

We spent last weekend at the ol' stompin' ground, celebrating my In-Law's 70th wedding anniversary.

Rather than re-write the post and re-load the photo...I'll just link it up to the Other Blog.

;-)

Home again, Home again, Jiggety- Jig

It's been a few weeks... and I freely acknowledge that this is the kind of blog post a lot of folks skim or skip.  But I feel like I've been gone for ages and need to 'splain!  LOL...

In that few weeks, we made a trip to visit family, which also turned into a bit of a tour of Hoosier history...

 Prophet's Rock at Battleground.  A turning point in history...a tragic conflict that should not have happened.

A bit of the restored Erie-Wabash canal in Delphi.  Hard to believe the barge will actually fit under that arch.  There's quite a nice park there...and a very chatty blacksmith.

 

Learning Nine Man Morris at the general store at Connor Prairie's Pioneertown.  That was a fascinating day...all the costumed folks are one hundred percent in character for 1826.  Hope to go back and stay longer.












We also hit the family favorite, Turkey Run State Park

 Headed for the boulders on Trail 9

 The famous ladders of Trail 3











And there was the epic high school reunion...Four class  years ( '76, '77, '78 and '79) all together.  It was awesome.  So many folks I hadn't seen in, well, forty years...

Me and my BFF BJ...who could only stay a few minutes as she had to beat it across town to play in the pit orchestra for a production of Annie!  I have SUCH talented friends!  And, btw, she sews better than I do... ;-)











There was also some work going on, as my mom had had bypass surgery about two weeks before we made the trip and she was still in rehab.  So I did a little cooking and kitchen cleaning and laundry for Dad while I was there.

Once back in the Rocket City, we had just enough time at home to get a few work hours in and laundry done, then My Sweet Babboo and I hit the road to celebrate our 37th anniversary and, incidentally, see the eclipse.  Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee has been on our 'we need to go' list for years and MSB made reservations in APRIL OF 2016 so we could be there this weekend.

The park is HUGE...it's really intended for folks to drive around to the various (spectacular) views, but we did some hiking (a large portion of it along the road, which is not so much fun) just the same.  I had over 18,000 steps recorded on my fitbit both Saturday and Sunday.  

Fall Creek Falls, from which the park gets its name

I'm telling you, if you've never seen a total...put it on your bucket list.  I don't think I've ever seen a black as absolute as the moon completely covering the sun...which, of course, doesn't really show in the photo at all.

We ended up staying an extra night, just to avoid the projected traffic crush, and drove back Tuesday morning and went into work a wee bit late.

Hopefully I can get the laundry, et al, caught up soon and get back in the sewing room...I've a pair of Helix pants that have languished about 1/3 done the whole month.

NOW I feel like fall can come! LOL.

A perfect surprise...

So, yeah, there was no choir post last weekend.

Instead, there was a conspiracy.

My Dear Daddy had a significant 'ends-in-a zero' birthday, so my sister, who moved from Northern Indiana to upstate New York just before Christmas, flew in.  All four of my kids  rode with me (My Sweet Babboo had a statewide campout that weekend that he was somewhat responsible for, and Prince Charming was returning from a business trip too late to hitch a ride with us) and we drove up.  We got to the home place about half an hour after the New York contingent.

Dad, of course, had no idea we were coming.  My two brothers had just told him they were taking him to dinner, and his sisters and their hubbies joined us.  We all had dinner at an eatery in Thorntown, IN, that has some of the best onion rings you'll find anywhere.

Dad's not a birthday cake enthusiast; in fact, on a Facebook meme a few months ago I answered the question 'It's your dad's birthday!  What kind of cake will you make  him?' with 'Pecan pie!' I baked 3 pies and took them up, only to find that my mother had also baked some fruit cobblers, because, you know, Dad wanted pie for his birthday and she kinda had to make some because she couldn't tell him I was bringing pie...we ate pie all weekend...

The  next day, my niece, her hubby and 15 month-old, the only great-grandchild, flew in from Pennsylvania.  And, of course, Dad didn't expect that, either, although enough of us slipped up that if he'd  been paying strict attention he'd have known.  But that didn't really matter.  The baby was the icing on the cake. I don't think Dad stopped grinning all weekend.

And me...well, it's always something of a respite to walk around on the farm just a bit.  I breathe a bit deeper there...

Quick Trip Weekend

No choir post this week; we watched first service via 4G as we were driving through southern Indiana.

My father-in-law turned 90 on Friday, and all the far-flung children and grandchildren congregated for a surprise celebration.  Only one in-law couldn't make it, due to an unalterable schedule conflict.

Just to make this applicable to a sewing blog, I will say I packed jeans, my gray Jalie Jeans jacket and an assortment of TNT Jalie T shirts; it was no-hassle packing and dressing.

But we drove 26 hours in 4 days.  Not sure when I'm going to catch up and manage a coherent blog post... ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 11 09 14

How often does the choir wardrobe and a classic old hippie concert intersect?

After church yesterday, we got ourselves something to eat and then hit the road for a little jaunt up to Nashville to attend a James Taylor concert....still celebrating My Sweet Babboo's 60th birthday.

We enjoyed concert...nice mix of old stuff and some new stuff, very nice lighting/video work along with the music, and, the best part, time spent with my favorite guy.  Our seats were in front row of the balcony of the arena...not good for someone who tends to acrophobia...but I managed.

But, wow, the concert didn't start till 8...it was after one AM when we got home.

He actually took some time to sign autographs at the start of the second set...which was utterly charming, but I found myself thinking, 'People!  Let him sing!  You're cutting into my sleep time!'

Old Hippies.... lol...

So...with gray, burgundy and yellow to choose from, I went with gray.  Well, silver is gray, right?


The dressy CWC jeans, the Jiffy Pop top, and woo/lycra blend Loes Hinse Bolero Jacket that's, like, 10 years old... It was fine for both church and concert, although to be honest, pretty much anything would've done for the concert.  Folks ranged from t-shirt-and-ratty jeans to some pretty snazzy dressy clothes.  I was pretty much in the middle.

Oh, and I wore the Epic Trench Coat on top of it all to walk around downtown Nashville.  It's working great. ;-)

Don't forget to leave a comment somewhere on the blog this week to be entered in the 9 Year Blogiversary pattern giveaway...I'm drawing this Thursday...

Indy Expo Report, part 3

I've been using a lot of 'I'm not buying fabric' willpower this year...first, no fabric until I finished the trench coat, and just right after I finished we started planning to go to the expo and I wanted to save my fabric dollars for the good stuff there.

So, you know, I totally used it all up by the time I walked in.

 I will throw this out as well...all those wonderful instructors make exactly NO money teaching the classes.  All their income from the show comes from product sales.  So I make a point to purchase SOMETHING from the booth of each instructor who teaches me during the course of the expo.

And this year, I had a bunch of instructors...

From Kathy Ruddy, I bought 2 rulers (including the SA curve ruler with the straight edge...love the 'just curve' I've got...the straight edge will make it perfect) and swedish tracing paper; they're not terribly exciting and I didn't take photos of those.

I came home with four patterns...and I intended to just put up links so I didn't take photos, and I JUST discovered that not all of them are link-able, so I'll describe them now and maybe put up photo next time...I got a jacket pattern from Cynthia Guffey (I also got her hand sewing DVD, but that came with the class),  Louise Cutting's 'Blouse Perfected', and two Sewing Workshop patterns...the Eureka top and skirt, which came with the class, and the Helix top and pant pattern.

So.  That leaves fabric.  And as I said, all my willpower was used before I got there...

Ten Pieces.  Doesn't this look like a SWAP to you?  I really didn't do it on purpose, but, wow, they all go together.  Maybe I'll use that for 2015...'Lisa's Expo SWAP'...if I don't get to it before then...

Black  and black/gray stripe bamboo/lycra, and a yummy   black/gray stripe/tan pinstripe tropical wool Vogue fabrics, who were there with a booth about 1/3 the size of their usual Atlanta booth.  The floral rayon challis in the middle is from them, too.  The white fabric is a pique cotton shirting...that and the large floral, which I think is a linen/rayon blend,  in the next to last spot came from Louise Cutting.  The other four pieces are a 'black denim-look' rayon blend doublknit and 3 yummy silks, which came from Nancy Erickson.

Detail of the silks; the gray is a rich crepe; the turquoise is a jacquard and the fuschia is stretch silk/lycra.  I got a yard and a half of each for a drapey top of some sort.  They are all frequent choir colors; I bet I will wear them to death.

One piece is going to be a challenge.  This is that (I think) Linen/rayon blend from Louise.  See that stripe on the selvege edge?  It is on both sides, but it's clearly not a typical border print.  The assumption is that it was printed with the intention of being cut for use as a detail on whatever the garment was.  I am not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it will be fun trying to decide.  Inserts between gores of a skirt?  Plackets down the front of a blouse?  Cuffs on sleeves?

Lots of possibilities, no?  Who has other ideas?

 I'll take a photo of the patterns and make that the last Expo post for this year.

And of course, I hope to get some sewing done sometime soon...

Indy Expo Report, Part 2

Aside from meeting up with cyber friends, the next most compelling reason to go to a sewing expo is the classes.

I had a full load...probably the most I've ever done at one of these.

 I had classes from Kathy Ruddy, Nancy Erickson (2), Sandy Miller, Louise Cutting, Linda Lee and Cythia Guffey.


Kathy, Nancy and Sandy were mostly inspirational...Kathy gave a talk on variations to a sheath dress; Nancy, of course, showed us jaw-dropping Chanel RTW and gave us tips on recreating it; Sandy talked about the history of sportswear and demonstrated building a wardrobe out of what was really capsules...using Cutting Line Designs patterns, of course.  I didn't take a lot of notes but I did see some really lovely things and picked up a couple of really good ideas.

Louise gave us just a ton of tips regarding interfacing, pressing, tools, matching stripes and plaids...she just started and kept going until her hour was up. She also told us a bit about how she buys the fabric that she offers to us; that was really interesting.

I actually had a hands-on construction class with Linda Lee.  After the last Expo I attended in Atlanta something like 5 years ago, I stated that the next time I wanted to make something to take home with me...so I looked the options over and decided to take Linda's 'Eureka Top' class.  We had to split our time between two classrooms...one for cutting and prep and another for sewing, and we had to be precise about when we left the first room for the second, so there was some time that I kinda lost after I had the prep work done before we could go sew.  I didn't finish the top, but I did get it sewn together; I finished it after I got home last night and wore it to work today:

It's kind of a crepe-y knit that feels like a polyester; it's probably not a knit I would've chosen but I think I like it just the same.  I love the colors in the print.   I've got it on over a red Jalie 965 tank top and La Fred's Daphne pants.  I got several comments on it today, which was rather fun.

We only used sewing machines in the class; although I did come home and finish off the armholes with my serger.  It was a novel idea to me to sew a knit top with a regular ol' straight stitch.  I'm not sure I'm really crazy about the results, but as this is a very loose fitting top I don't think the straight stitch is going to be a problem.  I think I could have finished the top in the allotted time quite easily if I had access to a simple serger and regular machine.  The machines in the sewing class were TOL from a well-known brand that is reputed to be both wonderful and expensive.  I found it extremely frustrating, as EVERYTHING was controlled by buttons and electronics.  Even raising and lowering the presser foot.  'You'll save 5 minutes out of every hour of sewing by using the knee presser foot control,' the sales rep told us.  Well, my knee didn't hit the bar just right and I had to bat it with my hand to get the presser foot to lower; I had to push the button to get it to raise up.  And it took its sweet electronic time to do both.  I guess some folks don't have any trouble getting used to that, but I'd much rather have a machine that I can push around to do what I want instead of having to politely ask it to do something and wait for the machine to align itself.

But it was fun to actually sew at the expo and have something cool when I came home.

I had three classes with Cynthia.  The first class was supposed to be the Core Sewing - Next Step class, but there were so many people in the class who had never been in one of her classes before that she started with her discussion of grainline on cut edges.  I've heard it before, but it's been a while and I've learned a lot since then and I understood it better.  She encouraged us to take her 'convex to concave' class at the end of the day Saturday;   I thought it was a fitting class that I had taken before but she said it was about sewing a concave curve to a convex curve. Hmm....

I took her hemming class Thursday evening; I'd taken her handsewing class at the very first expo I attended and wanted a review, particularly of the rolled hem stitch after bailing on it earlier this year.  I think I was doing it right...I just need patience and practice. ;-).

The next morning I decided to sign up for that last class w/her and I'm ever so glad I did...that was the best class of the weekend.  It was stuff I hadn't heard her teach before and was altogether pivotal in a lot of ways.  Cynthia is a Teacher ...one of my dreams would be to take her sewing intensive, although she'd probably scold me something awful for my costuming-inspired quick-and-dirty sewing techniques. 

Next:  the shopping...

Indy Expo Report, Part 1

It's really cool to pair a trip to the sewing expo with a trip to the ol' stompin' grounds and a night at my parents.

My traveling buddy and I certainly did our part to support and encourage the Indianapolis venue.

She came home with a bells-and-whistles-Pfaff.

I came home with...well, a bunch of stuff that I'll be sharing over the next few days.

Anyway, one quick story before I fall into bed for a night that's going to be way shorter than I wish...

At the end of Cynthia Guffey's evening hemming class, a lady came over to me and said, 'I read your blog!'

She had driven over from Illinois and her name is Valerie.  And I was really surprised.

I forgot to take my camera over to the expo until the very end of the last day, but Miss A took a photo of me and Valerie while we were twiddling our thumbs waiting for the final Grand Prize Drawing (nope...didn't win anything...)

Meeting sewing buddies...one of the best things about going to a sewing expo!

I've got lots more to tell...but for now, goodnight... ;-)

Indy Expo

Off  in the morning with my sewing traveling buddy Miss A to the Hoosier state; not sure, but I think this is the first time the Expo has been there.

It's a long drive, but we'll spend one night on the farm with my folks, and we'll collect the Flute Player, who headed up with her grandparents for a bit of a visit.  All in all, it will work well.

I have a full load of classes on Thursday, but I should have some time to shop on Friday and Saturday afternoon.  I've been holding back from fabric purchasing just so I could have some leeway to add to the stash if I find a Find. ;-)

I packed some rather random stuff to wear; two skirts and a pair of pull-on pants (I'll wear jeans up and back). It's  mostly all stuff I made but it's old and fit better when I made it.

Not that there's any pressure to wear sharp self-sewn things at a sewing expo...

But...the good thing is that it's all stuff that has been photographed about a million times on the blog, so anyone who sees me should recognize me...