YES!

My camera is working again! All it cost me was a new battery. The old two were giving me "charged" green light but they were lying. *hugs camera* I'm a camera hugger.

My son is a tree hugger:

New Label

Hello Dear Readers! I know a while back I mentioned I might do a bit more photography that is not quite sewing related. And more technology histories. And a few political essays when they cross over into the sewing room. And I assure you that scattered across my house are various bits of paper with ideas scribbled on them, but since I live in a barely controlled state of chaos, getting it together and putting it here is problematic. And my camera is at the camera doctor.

So. I've decided to give you another, somewhat spontaneous, occasional thing called "Sh*t My Family Says". Family here being a somewhat loose term to include people I interact with on a regular basis. Often I post these things to Facebook. Honestly though, some of them just need to be shared to spread the pain. And funny.  Pain is funny, right?  Like the other night:

Me: I don't hear any teeth brushing going on!

Son: I had to take my pants off!

And there you have it.

In other news, the trash guys hauled off  my porch decoration. And Friday I should be able to get pictures of Felicity in her robe. But not the Pebbles Dress. That turned into an un-mitigated disaster. I'll probably just turn it into a loincloth and call it a a day.

Here's a photo of Moran Freeman with a kitty on his head. 

 

THIS IS MADE OF SO MUCH WIN!

Merry Cthuhlumas!

It might win out for cool points over Wil Wheaton's Christmas Tree Topper.

Broke Camera, Throne on the Porch, and Oona Hair Impersonation

So this thing happened at work. It made me angry. Like, super red-headed-fly-off-the-handle angry. I'm sure the fact that my DSLR decided to just QUIT WORKING this past Saturday didn't help. Until I figure out if I can fix it or I have to buy a new camera body there will be a lot of phone photos. Which isn't terrible considering is has better resolution than my first digital ever did.

But back to this anger-inducing thing. In order to save my co-workers from the Perils of Red-Headed Anger I called my husband and was like "Get. Online. NOW.".  I need someone to talk me down.  So he gets online and I start typing furiously my rage and I suddenly get a message back  "So, we have a new toilet in the master bathroom".

"Buh? What? Why?" I asked.

"Well, I was trying to tighten the bolts on the old one and they just disintegrated and so I went and got a replacement and I'm taking a break before I go back and finish cleaning up the mess. Oh, and just so you know, the old one is on the front porch with the box over it as best I could."  He types to me.

*blink*

*blink blink*

I'm staring at the screen in disbelief.  I can't decide if I'm even angrier or proud cause my geek man managed to fix the toilet all by himself. So I relay the story to my friend Janel. Sorta. I said "So... hubby broke the toilet. And then fixed it".  She comes back with a "Man, I've had some epic sh*ts in my life but I've never broken the toilet".   I love that woman. She has the best lines.

At this point I totally lose it and start laughing hysterically. I don't care if my coworkers are looking at me funny. They have no idea the fate they were just saved from. Besides, they should be used to my maniacal laughter by now.

Later in the week I had decided to put my hair up in the headband wrap so it would be curly the next day. Except I put it up while wet and then left it in longer than I had before. I took it out and looked in the mirror. OMG! My hair is impersonating Oona! AWESOME!

FYI: this is why I wear mascara even if I put no other makeup on. 

In sewing news. All I have to do for Felicity's robe is buttons and hemming. And I'm making her a Pebbles Dress.  Not intentionally though. The girl officially has more leopard print in her wardrobe than I do.

So that was my week. How was yours?  Sewing anything for Christmas?

I Totally Made Pants!

I'm leh tired.

Ok, I managed to salvage these babies.  Also, this is the knit blouse I made several weeks back that is a bit large.  But comfy! Its warm and as long as I wear a camisole underneath I can wear it to work. And taking photos of yourself with a self-timer is totally a pain in the butt.  The ones that are in focus and I like I ended up cutting off my head. So the top photo is so you know that I'm not going headless on ya'll. Seriously.

Oh yeah, did I mention I went dark red again?  Here's some photos of the pattern adjustments I made on the pants.  In case you're just jumping in these are the Clover Pants from Colette's fall line of patterns.

Pencil line is where I changed the crotch depth, the two parallel lines are the height I'll be removing in the next pair.

Here the yellow chalk is what i took out on the sides. You can also see where I did a full derriere adjustment.

Ok, so what did I do to the pants?  Well, first off I took in almost an 3/4 inch on the hips. And then I took the center back in about 1/4 of an inch (For a total of half an inch? Make sense?).  I also had to do some adjustments on the front crotch. On my next pair I'll be taking about almost an inch in height for the front because I keep getting that sag that makes you want to yank your pants up. Its annoying but not devastatingly so. This is why I'm dubbing them my wearable muslin.

Headless Photos:

Ok, so this one isn't really headless.

Both these pieces of clothing while not on the top of my list for good fit are probably the most well put together. All my seams are finished. The neck binding on the blouse I was super happy with. I used this burdastyle tutorial.  I highly recommend it if you want to venture into knits. When I make this blouse again I'm going down a size and bra cup (its one of those Vogue Custom Fit deals). When the reviews said it had tonnes of ease they weren't kidding. I had to take in the sides by an inch. I also cut apart the top and bottom halves, took about an inch on the top half off, regathered and then sewed it back together using clear elastic. It probably doesn't help its a ribbed double knit and tends to grow.

Probably the most fun I had was using one of the tailor's tools Mom gave me called "Tailor's Clapper". Which kinda sounds like it would give you an STD. Really its an oblong shaped piece of wood that is flat on top/bottom for pounding layers of wool flat after steaming them so you get a really good crease (I don't think that description helped with the snickering, did it? Ya'll got dirty minds).  I'll take more photo details later but I'm just so excited that I finally finished something and it didn't completely suck. I had to share!

DID I MENTION I MADE PANTS???

A Little Encouragement Needed

Hello dear readers.  Once again I am posting with very little to show for my work.  The good news is that my Full Derriere adjustment worked and now the Clover back waist comes up where it should.  The bad news is I botched the pockets and the side seems at the hip are too bulky.  I'm gonna just take out the pockets and make this pair without them. I figure that once I finish and press the seam allowance on the out-seam, that will help.  Then I can take in if necessary.

It just seems like I can't get this right.  I'm frustrated with the results of the last several projects lately AND I've just been tired. So. Very. Tired.  I have a good plan laid (lain? I'm never sure on that one) out but I just can't seem to get over the invisible hurdle of frustration.

The other project I have cut out and want to get to very soon is another Sencha. I modified this one to be a boat neck and its in a pretty blue silk.  I think after this I'm going to make a few skirts and some dresses (with SLEEVES!).  But... again, there's that whole 'little me' black cloud hanging over my head that makes me feel like I just can't do anything well. And mostly I'm voicing it here because I've always felt that once you voice an issue it make it easier to deal with.

Modification in green, a more tapered dart to bring in upper back and let out over the derriere. 

pretty blue silk

Again, I still have to take pictures of the long sleeve knit blouse.  And make some pajama pants for both kids.  My awake-during-day hours have been few.  In other good news, my dear husband finally pushed me out of the house to get my hair and nails done. I hadn't done anything to treat myself like that before Mom died and it really did help. Also helping is the fact that I can work from home now. Not all the time, but like this week when one of cars is in the shop?  Makes a huge difference. It also means an extra hour of sleep and two hours gained at home NOT DRIVING.  Or if we have those incredibly weird snow storms like last year and the entire city gets shut down. Fun times.

Ok, I think I'm done feeling mopey. Time for sleep and then work!

Bits from my Camera

Since I have no sewing posts for you at the moment I thought I would share a few of my favorite photos from this summer of the kids.  Hopefully there will be some sewing this weekend. 

Picnic at the Lake

Probably one of the most awesome playgrounds in Atlanta.

With three story slide.

AND REAL SEESAWS!

synchronized cartwheels

And icecream after :)