Pattern give-away! (or, Cleaning up in prep for move)

Update:

The patterns all have homes!  Thanks!

Work in progress and an interesting meeting

Here's Elanor modeling my drawstring skirt pattern, version 2.0. I'm trying to work up a beginner-friendly pattern that's easy yet flattering and figure if I get a few nice things to wear in the process then, hey, bonus! It's made up from some rather icky linen from Joann's (that I didn't realize wasn't part of the LINEN SALE!! until AFTER it was cut - grr) that I really should have cut out on the bias rather than straight grain since, as is, it's got all the drape of a feed sack. Oh, well, sew and learn. I have a little over a yard left so trying to decide if I want to add deconstructed ruffles for weight or cut another on the bias (need to check if there's room) or something else so at the moment it's unhemmed. But I do like the shape and it is quite comfy so if it's never anything beyond a test and swimsuit coverup then it's done it's job.

In other news, yesterday I was chatting with my parents who are back in the DC metro and about five topics of conversation in dad mentioned that they had an interesting time last weekend. Apparently they went out golfing and just as they were about to hit the greens (or whatever the appropriate term is for getting started) the whole place went into lock down and men in black with little earbuds were everywhere. See where this is going? A few minutes later Obama walked by, gave my dad a wave and hopefully went on to have a lovely, relaxing day golfing. It was another hour until the security perimeter around him allowed my parents to go on with their game but, hey, they got a story out of it. And I got to tease my staunchly republican dad since he keeps having these sorts of random run-ins with democrat presidents. Never republicans. Just democrats. It amuses me. Mom's only comment was that Obama's shorter than she thought. Just another weekend for them... Life in the DC area, how I miss you!

Update on wall and projects

Some of the damage to our frames. Ick!!

Our apartment became the exhibit of the week today as first six guys from our head of housing to some maintenance guys who (it seems) tagged along to see the Mysterious Bending Wall came by to check it out and then later a few more people from maintenance popped in just to see our little curiousity. In fairness, our light fixture has some rust running from it that looks like dried blood so it is kinda a neat thing to see - bleeding walls! Now just need stuff to start flying around.



Fortunately no holes were opened up today - since all concerned asked just when we're moving out fingers are crossed that they're waiting until then to do the messy stuff. Of course I was kinda looking forwards to the excuse to avoid at least part of the move out inspection - so whether they do or don't punch a hole in the wall we win.

Unfortunately the reason we didn't get a holey wall is because they found MORE water damage in the apartment above us, home of a policeman working night shifts and his 8-month pregnant wife. So while things are quiet down here they lived through an unexpected day of deconstruction. Sorry!!

In the project world it's a small list of UFOs. I apparently haven't fully conquored the fear of buttonholes I built up with my first machine (and fully justified, I assure you) and a top and skirt are both sitting in the pile waiting for those last details. I also started knitting a sweater out of some beautiful yarn that just hasn't found it's purpose yet. It's been the start of three different cardigans, a wrap, and at least one other false start and each time it just wasn't right. This time it seems to be working. It's a veeery basic cowlneck sweater based on a lionbrand crochet pattern. And by "based" I mean I'm using some of the measurements and the overall idea and that's it. Instead of crocheting I'm knitting in rib stitch using fairly large needles (size 13) so it's fast, the fabric is sooo soft, and hopefully it'll fit. If not then, by this point, I'm very good at unraveling projects. :) Once it's done I'll try my hand at writing a pattern - it's about as simple as it gets (which I need, knitting's still new to me, I'm a sewer and crocheter first).

Here's the start - it's larger than it initially looks since the needles are so large. Thus the hand and magazine as size references. And the color's not quite right - it's richer and less sparkly than it looks in the picture. Oh, well. I like it. :)

That's ... not good.

So we're eating and chatting with friends last night at our place and I notice the one nice picture we have (most are just my own pics printed off at Target and slapped in Ikea frames) has condensation inside the glass. Hm. Go over, pull it off the wall and notice the back cardboard is severely damp. Hm again. Pull the next picture off the wall and ... wow. MOLD on the back. And pull another, more mold, and another ... in all four picture frames with mold on the back and another half dozen that were badly water damaged. What in the world?

Now everyone's gathered around the wall and one notices that when you touch it, it bends in easily. Not normal at all. And it's warm right where all the water damage happened, while the rest of the wall is nice and cool. Hm.

Our building apparently had some "quality" issues when built and water damage has been a bit of a constant for some rooms, but it's always been the windows that were the issue. Not interior walls. And this is definitely interior. But tracing it back, we did notice a few small things right after the big rainstorm a week ago, so it fits. But wow. Our apartment manager and a building guy (not sure official function) came by today after we sent him an email and from how he reacted it seems this is a new problem to add to his already long list of problems with the building's, well, building. Since, you know, storing water in walls isn't really a good idea. At least not this type of storage.

So tomorrow maintenance is coming by and odds are we'll be partially wall-less by the time they're done. Sigh. And we're just a few weeks from moving out, too. Oh, well... life! Guess I should make sure my fabric is nice and stored away from flying whatever that's behind that wall!

Sewing Classes!

I've just solidified my Summer sewing class schedule so if you are or know of a Dallas-area beginner or advanced beginner looking for lessons, I've gotcha covered. :)

Classes are $125 for all 6 hours of instruction while micro-classes will be $45. Full-time students get a sympathy discount. :) All classes are held at my apartment (low overhead cost!) near Baylor hospital. Precise directions along with class materials list will be sent out after registering for a class as I'm not so keen on posting my home address online for any to see. Just in case.

If you're interested email me at alicia.marshevans AT gmail.com (replacing "at" with "@" - doing it this way snags up the spambots) and I'll get you signed up!

You should have your own machine though I do have a couple class machines if you need one, whether because yours is too heavy to bring in or you want to take this with your child/parent/spouse/roommate/etc and you only have one between your or whatever. Just know that all classes past 101 have homework and you will need a machine for it!

Classes

101- Learning to Love Your Machine
For beginnings. Learn the basics of threading, tension, and sewing through making a number of small projects.

Session 1 - Mondays, 7-8:30pm, June 22-July13th (4 sessions)
Session 2 - Saturday 10am-1pm, June 27, July 11 (2 sessions)

201 - First Pattern (Apron)
Learn to read a commercial pattern while making a beautiful and practical apron. Cutting and marking will be covered.

Session 1 - Tuesdays/Thursdays, 7pm-8:30, June 30, July 2, 7, and 9th.
Session 2 - Saturdays, 2-5pm, June 27 and July 11

202 - Perfect Fit Pencil Skirt
Learn to fit and sew a pencil skirt that's perfect for your figure. Darts, zippers, facings, and basic drafting will be covered.

Session 1 - Tuesdays/Thursdays, 1pm-2:30pm, June 30, July 2, 7, and 9th.
Session 2 - Wednesday/Fridays 7pm-8:30pm, June 24, 26, July 1, 3rd.

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In addition I have some elective classes and micro classes (one session classes) that I'd like to do, if there's interest. Please note if one of these sounds good and if there's a general time that works best for you!

Possible "elective" classes (all need 101 experience - 102 very helpful but not necessary)

Full Classes (meet 4 times over two or four weeks)
- Sewing a maternity skirt (emphasis on making one pattern up in different ways)/maternity wardrobe (top and skirt)
- Sewing a camp shirt (buttonholes, collars)
- Little Black Dress

Microclasses (Meet just 1 time)
- Next Step Techniques - setting in sleeves, darts, zippers, and different hems
- Mending
- Fabrics - different properties, choosing the right one for a project, intro to knits, etc.
- Sew a Knit Top - it's really easier than you think!

Two new garments from May

The end of May I participated in the Wardrobe in a Week contest and, while I didn't finish all I'd planned, I did get two garments out of it and that's two more than I had before!

Here's the outfit together...



The dress is from McCall'ss 5576 and this is my second time making it. The first time I went by my measurements and sewed a 14 - yeah, shouldn't have. The only fitted part is the shoulders/neckline and I'm really a size 8/10 at that point. So for the first version the neckline was huge. I pulled it in through the back (the only place I really could) and while it now looks alright it cuts into my arms if I've got less than perfect posture. So for this version I went with a size ten grading to 12 at the hips and it's MUCH better. Moral - flat measure, pinfit, or make a muslin, just check before cutting!

The fabric is pure linen with border embroidery bought at my wonderful little local Joann's.



I made a few alterations for this version - first I changed the cutting layout so I could take advantage of the fabric's border print. Second, instead of gathering the neckline I took advantage of the fabric's linen crispness and sewed little darts, topstitching them to help them hold and to give a little added visual depth.



I also made the dress sleeveless. This must be the ONLY dress in McCall's arsenal that's doesn't have a sleeveless option - usually the problem is finding a dress WITH sleeves. The dress, in it's natural, sleeved state has a high armhole so I didn't have to modify that at all. I just redrew the facings to include the armcyc and sewed up as usual with this configuration. I had planned on putting a side zipper in but the dress slips on without any opening needed so I just ditched it altogether. I prefer having the zipper in the side rather than the back but I prefer not having to deal with a zipper at all, if possible. So there you have it, one summer dress/jumper!



The top is from my TNT knit top pattern, an out of print Butterick that's no longer on their site. Sad! I snatched the sleeve from Simplicity 4076. I used the flared sleeve, folded out some of the flare, then gathered into a band that's just a little larger than my bicep. I also gathered the neckline to match the sleeve. I like how it worked out. :)



Anyway, hope to have more to show you soon - tonight is DH's guys' night so I've got the place to myself and I plan to use it to sew along to all the music that annoys him. :)

Squee!

So friend comes over today and he's just sitting around chatting when he notices the sewing machines. And, likely, the dress form, fabric, rulers, cutting mat, pattern boxes, two inches of thread scraps on the floor ... anyway, he picked up the subtle clues that there was a sew-er in the house. So he commented on it with the standard "hey, cool, always wanted to learn, great thing ..." then so casually mentions that his mom sews ... for Disney. She's head of the costuming department for Disneyland. With a warehouse of fabric, a team of seamstresses, racks and racks of costumes, designers finding ways to make two dimensional characters live and deal with all those little technical details like keeping Mickey from passing out from the heat and making sure Belle can get out of her dress without too much trouble. Also she apparently convinced the Mouse to buy what's basically a giant fabric printer so they can print up their own stuff. This woman is my idol. And friend has promised to pass on my contact stuff since his mom apparently loves chatting with younger seamstresses and loves passing on stuff she's learned. Squee!! Seriously, combining sewing and Disney and it's like chocolate covered strawberries - double the fantasticness.

Anyway, had to share my excitement de-jour. :)

Faire Day!

Yesterday we made our annual pilgramage to Scarborough Faire and had an absolutely wonderful time. It wasn't too hot (always a danger in Texas), the crowds were quite manageable and the shopping was, as always, fantastic. Funny, I can go a full year without stepping foot in a mall (and I think I have ... I really don't remember the last time we went) but trade out generic trendy clothes with ren faire garb and bath and body works for small scale lotion and oil makers and I'm totally there. Got some of the best jelly ever made - Raspberry Chipolte from Mrs. McArthur's (sold by the lady herself) - reloaded on some scented body oil which also happens to be the ONLY thing that consistently works to tame my hair (seriously), and picked up a gorgeous hand-thrown pottery cereal bowl. All while enjoying the sun and demos and fellow patrons and shows and food and time with DH. Great days!



The guy and I - my dress is a modification of a self-drafted princess seamed dress made up in a light faux suede with a boned bodice and side lacing over a very, very basic chemise. I think I need something new by next ren faire (Wisconsin's is late summer/early fall so we're double dipping this year!) as the chemise doesn't fit right and tends to ride up, requiring constant tugging to make sure my not-so period undies aren't part of the visible costume. And, on the opposite side, this is the ren faire, the one time in the year I rather want to show some cleavage. So might as well. :) The shoes are from Payless and are some of my favorites for looks but they're hot and hurt like the dickens after a few hours of walking so one more reason to retire the garb to the costume closet. Like most things in there, I'm sure I"ll find odd opportunities to pull them out again. DH is wearing a shirt I made years ago and which he also wore for our wedding. Pants are just basic dress pants - he has a pair he's making but didn't get done in time. So he's slowly building his own collection of garb.



This is the most adorable, gorgeous sculpture I've ever seen - a little brass dragon just hatching. I love dragons in general and this little guy was so alive, so personable. And, unfortunately, so very, very out of my price range. One day!



DH didn't finish his pants but he did finish making these felt boots from Butterick 5233. After a LOT of modifications, they worked. Unfortunately he didn't use enough glue on the soles and they didn't give the ankle support he wanted (granted, he seems to think ski boots are the base standard for that, so take that as you will) so he switched back to his old black hiking boots mid day. Still, I think he did a great job on these boots! They're his first finished sewing project and he survived! He did note that my perfectionistic and planning-ahead personality seems to be far better suited to sewing than his more loose, go-with-the-flow style. Since most of life seems to reward his personality it was rather gratifying to find one area that rewards my style. :) Still, he did a fantastic job (in my biased opinion) and he's still talking about finishing his pants so he apparently wasn't scarred by all the seam ripping and little problems that inevitably popped up.

Back in the game!

I live!

After the craziness of finals and finishing up the SWAP I just needed a little vacation and took it, as much as I could, last week. Now I'm back and keeping busy. Whipped up a ton of little rice and flaxseed heat packs for the shop as well as some nice little cases for them and have a few robes in process. But that's boring work stuff. For myself I'm participating in the Stitcher's Guild's Wardrobe in a Week sew along starting ... today? Yesterday? Now-ish, either way. The idea is to whip up four garments that form a little mini capsule. I want to start on a summer addition to my SWAP stuff, with the end goal of getting ready for the trip to florida we're taking with the in-laws later this summer. We'll be doing the standard sight-seeing, beaches, and snorkling. Or at least everyone else will do all that - last time I went snorkling I nearly drowned. And since I was in the "learn to snorkle" pool at Disney World it was rather embarrasing. Five year olds were flippering past me as I clung to a rock trying to breath. The problem's the mask - I breath with my nose, not my mouth, and that led to a string of errors that wound up with me almost needing the cute young lifeguard to come out and rescue me.

Come to think of it, I should have let him. Hm.

Anyway, plan is to make up three florida worthy pieces and one piece that needs ironing so no traveling but I need in my life here.



Plan:
- Black drawstring skirt - mostly self-drafted by this point. It's in the background, being drafted.
- Black linen/poly sleeveless dress, with the white embroidered flowers at the hem. I think I'll add some more white details at the top... have to see what it needs. Anyway, cut out, will sew later this weekend.
- Blue TNT knit shirt from my old favorite, Butterick 3344. I'm playing with the sleeves on this one and cut out little bishop sleeves to see how I like them.
- Blue button-up shirt. I haven't cut yet but think I'll use Butterick 4985. A little labor intensive but if it takes longer than a week then that's ok.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. It's great to be back!

Also, I'm starting up summer sewing classes. If anyone in the Dallas area is interested please shout and I'll send you details.

Done!

Thank you for the encouragement and all papers and finals got turned in and I'm officially and totally FREE from semester related duties now. And DH did a fantastic job cleaning so the place was nice and I got to doze while watching the new Lie to Me (I think I'm getting hooked) and the in laws came and were great and brought Cheerwine and we went out for the graduating class picnic and free food and now we're back, things are quiet, and I feel so wonderfully free.

Such a great feeling.

And now to pry the contacts off my little overused eyes and sleep for a day and a half. :)

Well, not quite since tomorrow DH graduates and I want to be somewhat alert ... but still, sleep for as long as possible.

Then hit the fabric store to get on the ball with the stuff I'm selling through a consignment store. My first little chance to really get my stuff out there! Looking forwards to it.

But that can wait until after sleep. :)

Odd things you think of during all nighters

The last paper is 4/5ths of the way done and now just to get it that last fifth. I really shouldn't have let it slide this long but anyway... almost done.

But on another track, does anyone from the west coast remember the Nut Tree in Vacaville, CA? For YEARS the memories of that place have been ticking the edge of my brain but I couldn't remember the name. Red Oak was my most guessed yet consistently wrong attempt. It makes sense, looking at it. Two short words, treeish in nature... anyway, it finally clicked and I was able to find pictures and stories of that old tourist place. And dear heavens the 80s were ugly. And almost nostalgic in the way only childhood memories can be. Children of the 90s and millennium, hug your parents to thank them for the far better designed (if slightly more depressing and overcrowded) world they gave you.

Anyway, back to the Nut Tree, anyone else remember the rocking horses, playground mirrors, little train, and toy shop there? We never did eat at the restaurant, at least not as I remember since my family was still living rather meager on a lower ranked officer's pay. My little brother has no idea how good he has it, being born later into a less transient, more wealthy family. Funny how a few years can make such a difference.

And that's really all. The musings of a brain on too much caffeine, too little sleep, and worn out from a long semester. And my in laws arrive tomorrow. And the living room needs only a pizza box to look like the worst stereotype of a bachelor pad. Ok, if bachelor pads had sewing machines, fabric scraps, and a dress form. Still, messy doesn't begin to describe the disaster of papers and fabric that bear testimony to all I've gotten finished in the last week. Fortunately my in-laws are fab ... but it's still annoying that their first view of the apartment can't be a little nicer. And DH has a funeral to go to tomorrow morning (no one close, but a 95 year old woman he got to know through church) so he's out for cleaning duty. Oh well. I'll try to see the mess as one of accomplishment. Four finals, five papers, and a SWAP all finished and turned in. That's something to be proud of.

One success!

Got back my first final grade - 95%! Now to see if I can do anywhere near that good on the last one.

And still have three papers to get in. Eek!

Finals week in progress

Two finals down, two to go...

Three papers down, three to go...

SWAP finished, pictures still to go ...

I feel like I'm on that knife's edge - too far to quit, but still a lot to slog through ... but at least it's happening. Little by little it's actually happening. And many, many thanks to DH who's serving as my editor. It's fair, student wives have been doing it for ages. Time and past for a little equality. :)

Also joyous news, we got our move out date moved from next Tuesday (eek!) to the 25th. So I don't have to spend the weekend madly packing after a week of low sleep and high stress. You have no idea how relieved I am. We'll find out tomorrow if we got approved to stay through the summer but for now those extra few days are enough to make breathing far, far easier.

Writer's block

Seriously, brain is utterly blocking on me. I'm loosing the ability to form a simple sentence and all thanks to Turabian. Stupid formatting system - I know what I want to say but I keep getting tripped up with the footnotes and looking up exact details and my word processing program (endnote, not Word - endnote's free and minorly less glitchy) will NOT let me change it's standard formatting so I keep trying to fix it as I go which is NOT working. I need to give it a rest and just write the darn thing with bad formatting and go back and fix it later. I just hate how regimented it is - I totally get the need for some formatting and some way to cite sources so that facts can be checked or used to help others trace the trail of what you're saying but really, does it MATTER if I have my footnotes indented exactly 1.5" or whatever it is? Will you really have trouble reading my paper without that indent? Will my sources be any harder to find, will my research make any less sense if I don't spend a full half our changing every freakin' footnote to fit that arbitrary guideline? Grr. Making it worse, in college I got very friendly with APA style formatting and really liked it. For a bit there I could do perfect formatting without having to pause and look stuff up. And NO footnote citations, all in-text. Much nicer. Much easier. So now it's extra frustrating because not only can I no longer just type and format as I know how, I've got to use this incredibly complex, detailed system that my word processor doesn't like. Grr.

Ok, back to typing.

No SWAP photos today. :(

Meant to get the SWAP photos out of the way today but the weather went from dreary to drizzly to thunderstorm. Not so great for photos. However our apartment has the most fantastic view of the lightning strikes as the storm moves in - lots of air to ground strikes, very awesome. Must see if I can get a decent photo of that.


********

Update: So as soon as I got my camera the lightning strikes moved south and out of the line of sight so while they're still lighting up the evening sky quite impressively (and causing our router to go crazy for some reason), they're not very picturesque. Oh, well.

Finished! SWAP is Finished!!!!

Got the jacket finished (tricky, that, since the buttonhole die I was using on my buttonhole attachment broke part way through and had to hand sew the stupid things) and hemmed the two tops that needed it making me fully and officially done with this year's SWAP!!

I'd post a pic of all the pieces but
(A) that would require digging two of them out of the laundry and
(B) I still have a paper to write tonight. So going to do that.

Still, happy!

Last SWAP item - Just about done!

Yay! It's yet another Butterick 3344 shirt though the sleeves were stolen from a simplicity pattern. I like cap sleeves and that's the one thing the butterick pattern is lacking so had to frankenpattern. And this means that four of my six SWAP tops are from one pattern. Which I probably bought for 99c. I think that counts as a very successful tried-and-true pattern and a very good deal. :)

So the current SWAP standing (with one day left to do it all)

DONE
4 tops
4 bottoms

Still to do
- Jacket - put in buttonholes, buttons
- White top - hem
- Black sweater - hem

So close!!!

And this weekend we'll do a photo shoot so I can show off all my pretties. :) Gotta wash a few of them first- I've been wearing them like crazy. I think that's what we call a winning wardrobe!

Last SWAP item - Spray painted shirt

First, update: The coat is nearly done - it just needs buttonholes put in and buttons sewn on and it's completely finished. Yay! On the sad side, I lost two of my four green buttons so they're a no-go at the moment. Additionally, they were a little off from the green of the topstiching/buttonholes so I'm thinking black buttons after all. On the happy side I tested out my neato Geist/Singer buttonhole attachment and got the settings all tweaked to make the world's most gorgeous buttonholes. So tomorrow or the next day I'll whip those out. Happiness!

As for my very lastest item -

I realized I didn't have the time for the more elaborate silk top I wanted to make for my last SWAP item and, at the same time, realized I don't NEED an elaborate silk top. The items I'm wearing the most from my SWAP are all nice, pretty knit tops that I don't have to baby and can throw in a warm wash with all our other cottons. So went digging through my knit box and found a rather insane amount of white cotton/lycra knit. What was I thinking? White is NOT good too near my face. So began thinking and fiddling and thought - aha! - why not a white knit shirt with black screenprinting and a black collar? That should ensure it looks good on me and with the rest of the SWAP. However, I'm rather low on screenprinting materials. Like, none. What I did have is a bottle of black spray fabric paint and a small collection of stencils. I think I can do something with this.

I used a stencil originally intended for home dec painting or some such from Michaels and Tulip Cool Color Spray(c), also from Michaels. It's not the greatest fabric paint in the world and definitely has a bad tendency to squirt and drip rather than the nice airbrush spray it shows on the package, but it was significantly cheaper than the airbrush so it's not unexpected. And I rather liked the mottled look it gave. Rather faded and oddly designer-esque, if I may say so. We'll see how it looks when sewn up.

Since I wanted the stencil to be a little off the neckline I traced out the front so I could carefully position the stencil without worrying about the cut out piece stretching or moving like it always tries to do. Seriously, cut pattern pieces are slightly alive. After a bit of careful eyeballing and a lot of just throwing it in the right place and figuring it'll work I carefully covered up the rest of the top with DH's thesis rough draft (it was in the recycling bin) and sprayed until I was happy with the color. I liked it enough that I added another motif down at the bottom right hem. The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes and I like it, so far. I can see doing similar printing on other fabrics with other stencils - maybe a shadow of flowers or even an octopus. :) Fun results with low effort -works for me!

The paint needs to dry 24 hours so I can't finish the shirt until tomorrow. Good, since I'm still pounding out a paper and still have reading to get done. Sigh. The semester's nearly over, thank heavens! Now to just survive until then.

Jacket sneak-peak

Almost done! Just need to put in the partial lining, attach the belt loops, and hem it up! Oh, and a tad more topstitching. And button holes. Can't forget those. Especially since I now have an uber-gorgeous singer buttonhole attachment that makes buttonholes so very easy and so very perfect. So love my new toy.

Speaking of buttons and buttonholes, I pinned these green buttons on to see what I thought and ... not so much loving them. In real life they're not so pukey but they're still rather bright. I think I might do green buttonholes and some shiny black buttons with green thread holding them on. Might be just the thing to add a little color without going overboard. Must pick up some black buttons this weekend and see.

Jacket progress and topstitching love

I love topstitching. Is there any other little detail you can add that punches so much class with so little effort? For the coat, which I'm about half way done with now, I'm topstitching the black denim with green. Actually two slightly different green threads, giving just a slight bit of extra depth and varigation. These are two of the strips that get cut into belt loops - don't they look so finished? I love.



It's been a bit of a challenge to relearn how to top stitch now that my new (to me) machines don't have the blindhem foot that I used like mad on my old machine. And, sadly, the motor on old machine is dying so using it was only an option if I wanted to handcrank every single stitch. So learning how to topstitch using the zigzag foot to keep me on track was a bit of a lesson in creative make-do-manship. And it worked, for the most part. And I realized that in doing this I've gotten better at really controlling my machine. Of course, with that lesson learned I'm still going to go shopping for a good topstitching foot just as soon as I can.

The jacket itself is coming along really nicely - thank you all for talking me into the more trendy and fun style! The black denim, now that it's part of a garment and not on the bolt, has a decided motorcycle bad-girl air to it that just works so fantastically well with the slightly sweet empire waist and candy green topstitching. Such fun juxtaposition.

Also, thank you for the kind words about the paper - it's just been one of those semesters where writer's block has come to camp out and naturally I've got a ton of papers still due. Sigh. Happily the paper I was whining about is actually due NEXT week, not this. Yeah, slight error with my dayplanner there. But a happy error! I'm feeling much better about it now. And now I know what to do next time I'm trudging through molasses - make gingerbread! :)