More Sewing

I managed to get Christmas nightgowns made this year, but only barely in time. As in, I finished sewing, went upstairs to change clothes, and left to go to my Dad's for Christmas Eve. If I hadn't finished them, I would have put them on their doors so they could have changed first thing Christmas morning. Happily, they got to continue the tradition of changing wearing them to bed on Christmas Eve.

I used McCall's 5744 and some snowflake flannel with white bias tape. I thought about adding eyelet lace, but in the interest of time, didn't. I also didn't add the bias tape to the waist, but no one seems to care. These went together in about an hour, although I didn't hem them or turn in the cuffs. I did serge the edges, so they won't ravel, and I'll finish the hems eventually, although I think the girls like that they go all the way to the floor.

Dress Breakdown: Lauren

I said that Sarah's pattern is one I would happily make again and again. Lauren's is not. Lauren's pattern is one that I will happily tear up into little pieces. And burn. Seriously, I've never had a pattern make me cry before.

Lauren chose McCall 5742, and we even got the exact fabric that was on the pattern envelope. I didn't realize it until I was in the store that the fabric is flocked--an off white smooth background with black velvety pattern on it. I've never worked with flocked fabric before, but since I could see it finished on the pattern, I knew it would work and look OK.

As a rule, I read through all the pattern instructions before I make a single cut. Sometimes, I get to a part that I don't understand--I can't visualize it. When that happens, I think to myself, "Once is see it in the fabric, I'll see how it goes together." And that generally does work. It's like a puzzle for me, and once I get the pieces together, I can get them to fit. This dress, not only did I put it together wrong, I couldn't figure out what I'd done that was wrong. This was where the tears came in. Frustration, stress, and being really tired didn't help. So I put it down and went to bed. Even before I went to sleep, I started to realize what the problem was, and the next morning, I carefully took the pieces apart and fixed them. (I'd been worried that I'd need to buy more fabric.)

My goal for this Christmas' dresses was for them to be really well made, well finished. Although I think they look nice enough from a distance, I as more than a little disappointed in the quality of my work. I just think I could have done so much better.

Dress Breakdown: Sarah

For Sarah's dress, she picked Simplicity 3546 and a deep red crepe-backed satin. Looking at the front of the pattern, she wanted the one on the far right down at the bottom.

At first, I thought the fabric looked a little bathrobe-y, but in the end, I liked how it turned out quite a bit. My biggest concern was that I might snag it, so I bought new needles.

I had some trouble with the facings (as usual), and it was a little bulkier/not as sleek as I anticipated, but this is a pattern I will probably make again and again. I'm thinking that by summer, she'll have at least three more of these, probably in cotton, and maybe I'll be able to talk her into the contrast midriff and hem bands.

My sister in law commented that it's a more mature dress, not so much for a little girl, but it's not inappropriate at all.

I'm still alive

Here's why I haven't been posting much/at all lately:

Ready to Roll

This is the view as I left the basement 5 minutes ago (it's time to make lunch). Man, I had forgotten how much fabric I have! Lots of it is "inherited," and I don't know what to do with it. I'm hoping to make lots of totes and storage containers (for CDs, etc.) and use a lot of it up. There is a "shopping night" at our homeschool group meeting next Monday night, so hopefully some of it will sell. I'm also thinking about opening up an Etsy store, although I'm more likely to just give it away for Christmas of whatever.

Projects currently on the table are a mini messenger bag made from the leg of an old pair of jeans, and a grocery-style tote bag. Pictures will go up as things get finished.

Progress

So! The table is cleared off, and I've got some of the stuff out from under it as well. The carpet padding that was on the left is in the garbage pile by the stairs, waiting for Jeff to feel well enough to take it upstairs. The carpet remnants are over on the right, waiting for me to clear enough floor space to lay them out. I still need to get the TV and other assorted large boxes out of the way, and there's a table in another part of the basement that I need to clear off so I can use it to hold my sewing machines and other various items. And the laundry seems to have grown by a fair bit, but at this point, I'm just chucking it in the washer arbitrarily. Oh, and everything needs to be washed down--it's cobwebby and buggy and nasty.

As for the plan to put the tools on the shelves, some of them did make it over there, but most of the small miscellaneous stuff is in paper tote bags on the floor to the left. It's going to be even more difficult to get to those shelves soon, because that open area is going to be for the other big boxes and such.

But I see progress, and even a light at the end of the tunnel. At this rate, I feel confident that I'll be able to start sewing in earnest by Monday. Yay!

Frustration

I'm planning on doing a lot of sewing for Christmas this year. I mean, a LOT of sewing. And I'm really excited about getting started.

I use my dining room table to sew. And therein lies the issue. We use the dining room table for meals, and Jeff uses it in the evenings when he plays his online game. I have room for the sewing machine while he's playing, but it's loud, so it's hard for him to hear, and of course I can't do anything big like lay out fabric. Also, constantly setting up and taking down is tiresome and inefficient.

So a while ago, I decided to make a space in the basement to be a full time sewing area. I knew it would take a while to get stuff cleaned out, but the girls and I started working on it. We made some good progress, but then I ignored it for a week or two, so of course the mess crept back.

I started back on it yesterday, and again we made some progress. We already have a table in a corner of the basement that is right by an outlet and has great light (seriously, this bulb is amazing--it was in the house when we bought it, and it's like looking at the sun, it's so bright).

Here's the problem:
All the crap that is still ON the table. Pay no attention to the laundry--that's where the laundry chute dumps (have I ever mentioned how much I love having a laundry chute? The only thing that would be better would be a dumb waiter, so I could send stuff back up the same way.) so things tend to pile up. But the rest of the stuff . . . I don't even know if that TV works, the ceiling fan doesn't work, and then there's all the tools.

The "plan" was to move all the stuff on and under the table over to a shelf unit on the other side of the basement. Here's the problem with that:

I can't even get to the shelves. Yes, there is a bit of clear floor--that's the progress I made yesterday. Still, it's going to take considerable time to be able to get to the shelves, to clear them off so there is room for the tools, and then to move the tools themselves. I look at the whole thing and get so overwhelmed that I just don't know how to start.

I know, I know. Just start. But it's incredibly frustrating to still be so far from actually being able to get started on what I really want to do, which is sew. It's kind of like driving home from Florida, and you finally hit the Michigan border. You think, "Yes! We're almost home!" And then you drive for two more hours.

I even dreamed about it last night. I dreamed that Jeff went down there and cleaned up. I mean, there were boxes stacked neatly against one wall, but other than that, it was empty. It looked like we had just moved in! And I was so happy, because it meant I could get right to work. When I woke up, it took me a second to realize that it was only a dream.

At this point, I don't even know if I should keep working on it right now, or just cut bait and deal with working on the dining room table. If I did that, I could start right away, but I'd have to deal with making sure everything gets put away all the time and not being able to work whenever I want. If I go full bore on the basement, I might be able to get up and running by Monday.

Yeah, the pull of a dedicated sewing area is just too strong. I'll keep taking pictures and posting about my progress.

School Pictures

#0257

I decided to go vote early, to get it done. Jeff has the day off, so I didn't worry about taking the kids. I got up at 7:22, and was there by about 8:45. As I was getting close, I saw that there were a LOT more cars than usual parked along the street. When I got there, the line came out of the building, and snaked down the sidewalk to the parking lot (our polling station is at a local church).

So I got in line and started moving. Moving slowly, but still moving. Then not moving. I heard someone say that the machine that tabulates the votes wasn't working. So we waited some more. The woman behind me had her daughter with her, and even though she was only five, I was impressed at how patient she was.

Finally, we started moving again--the machine had been fixed. We moved slowly but steadily after that. By the time I got into the building, it was about 9:40. The line then broke in two, splitting the alphabet down the middle. This didn't work as well as I would have thought. My line moved much more slowly than the other; people who were well behind me in line outside ended up voting before I did, which was a little frustrating.

Finally, I got my ballot (I had to point my name out on the list), voted, and got out of there around 10:15. Jeff left when I got home and was back within the hour. Yeah, great idea I had to go early. :)

But now I've voted, and I need to run a couple other errands (and get my free coffee from Starbucks!) before I go to work. Then "my teen" is coming over to work on German, and I'm going to watch the election results. Should be an interesting night!

Happy Halloween!

Health

Of the two girls, Lauren is generally more prone to sickness. She has allergies, so it seems that for at least 6 months of the year, her nose is running almost constantly. When I realize that it's "that time" again, I try to make sure we've got Claritin stocked up so I can give her some every day. But I don't want to give it to her if she doesn't need it, so it can be a fine balancing act.

A few days ago, the runny nose started. The runny nose is usually accompanied by coughing at night--a result of post nasal drip, fairly easily solved by making sure she sleeps sitting up and maybe gets a shot of medicine, if she hasn't already had a dose.

This week seemed no different, until last night. Then, the coughing was much rougher, and she was breathing very fast, very shallow. I thought it might be bronchitis, so I canceled my classes today and made a doctor's appointment.

Nope. Not bronchitis.

We can't be sure until we see how she responds to treatment, but the doc is pretty sure it's asthma. In hindsight, it's obvious--that was classic "wheezing." I was surprised when the doc got her on a nebulizer almost immediately for a breathing treatment, though; that particular possibility hadn't occured to me.

That first treatment helped, but it's only a start. We have a month's rental on a nebulizer, and prescriptions for Prednisone (a steroid to help reduce the inflammation in her lungs) and Abuterol (the stuff that goes in the nebulizer). We're also getting the industrial sized Claritin, because it seems that the key to managing this is the preventive measures: keep the allergies under control, keep sudden cold air out of her lungs, and try to prevent colds as much as possible. Hopefully we won't ever need an inhaler.

Chinese Girls

What a Witch!

Heh.
(happier now?)

Ladies Who Lunch

Yes, these are the people I hang out with. The people I met at the library, no less.

Blame it on the Babysitter

Yeah, it washed out . . .

Flashbacks

Tonight, I went to a dance club for a friend's birthday. It's been forever since I was at a club, and maybe that's why I was having flashbacks all night. Or maybe it was just the music.

When we got an order of fried mushrooms, I flashed back to '86, when my boyfriend and I would get pitchers of beer and fried mushrooms or fried oysters at this little dive bar. Yummmmm.

When they played "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off," I flashed back to '87. I can't stand that song, mostly because one of my friends played it over and over. And over.

When they played Modern English's "Melt with You," I flashed back to '90, and missed my friend Pat more than ever, sniff.

I also flashed back to pretty much ever bar I've ever been in, because I couldn't hear a damn thing anyone was saying to me. God only knows what I was agreeing with . . .

Just Deal

That's my motto right now. That, or "Suck it up and deal." Whaddya think?

Sarah & I were supposed to go on a sleepover with her Girl Scout Troop this weekend. It wasn't an official Scout thing, just a fun get together for us. We were both really looking forward to it. I missed her meeting this week because I was working (Jeff picked her up), so last night I called to get the final scoop on how much it was going to cost and what to bring from the mom who was doing the bulk of the planning. She said, "they didn't call you?" Well, you know good news isn't going to follow that.

Apparently, they canceled it because no one can afford it. She said that the troop leaders were basically talking everyone out of it. She offered to call me, but they said they'd take care of telling everyone. Yeah, except not. I went in to tell Sarah, who was already in bed, and she was really upset.

So I was pissed last night. Not only do they wait until the last minute to cancel, I was completely out of the loop. I feel like this happens because we homeschool, and since Sarah isn't in class with the other girls, I miss out. I'm pretty much over it now; this morning, while I was talking about it with a friend, Sarah overheard me and said, "What's done is done."

I also realized that I need to stop complaining, even to myself, about my job. I'm teaching Windows Vista to senior citizens. It's at three different facilities, and I have to schlep five laptop computers around. Also, I'll be bringing them in the house at night so they don't stay in the trunk overnight. It's a hassle, but you know what? They're paying me really well for these classes. For what I'm getting, I can deal with a fairly small amount of hassle.

I need to remember that I have a lot of good things in my life, and focus more on all those positive things.

Not so crabby

Just busy.

Got the car fixed. It cost $200, which isn't great, but still a lot better than $500.

Had a very nice lunch date with Jeff. We actually talked about things other than the kids!

Got most of Lauren's costume done. Hoping to finish it today and Sarah's tomorrow.

Working tonight.

Crabby

I'm having a crabby week.

Monday was a true Monday. The girls had to have cavities filled, Sarah required nitrous, the bill was about double what I expected, because I forgot about the sealants for Lauren.

On the way to the dentist, the "low coolant" light came on. After skating (which was immediately after the dentist), I took it to the shop. An hour and a half later, the verdict came back: a leak in the intake, which will require $500 to fix. You know, I've loved this car. It was a gift that meant more to me than I can ever say. But I am ready to be done with it and get rid of it. I feel like I'm throwing money down a hole. That said, we'll spend the $$$ again to get it fixed. Again.

Monday afternoon, the kids said that there was water in the basement. We had a lot of rain a couple weeks ago, but anything from the storm drains should have come up then. Ha--it wasn't from the drain, but from the wall. Super. We mopped it up; the silver lining there is that we cleaned up a huge pile of crap from that side of the wall, throwing most of it away. Yay, a large pile of crap gone! There was a little more water yesterday, which I again mopped up, and Sarah says that there is a little more today.

So putting the computer in the basement = maybe not the best idea. However, I'm more committed than ever to cleaning it out, getting rid of ALL the crap, and getting the rest in plastic storage tubs and on shelves. There's still an enormous amount of work to be done, and although Purple Heart just came yesterday, I'm planning on having a lot more for them soon.

Yesterday was somewhat better--we went on a field trip and saw a bald eagle, which was cool. Today is Lauren's first Daisy Girl Scout meeting of the semester, and she's super excited. I'm less excited, because for some reason, I'm going to be a co-leader, so I have to stick around instead of dropping her off.

"Luckily," the Youth German class didn't get enough kids, so it's not running. Too bad about the lack of $, but good on the time that I don't have to spend on it.

There is absolutely nothing on our plate tomorrow, so maybe I can finally get sewing, or at least buy the fabric. Friday, Jeff has the day off work, so we're hoping to go on a date. Hopefully, I'll have a more cheerful post by the weekend!

Pendulum

I have two modes to my life:

1. no spare time because I'm working so much, but financially comfortable
2. no money because I'm not working. At all.

Seriously, there seems to be almost no middle ground at all. Last spring, I was crazy. Things dropped off severely in July, I worked exactly two hours in August, and I've had nothing this month. I was fairly confident that new classes would start again eventually, but no money right now is frustrating.

Finally, yesterday, I got the call about the senior computer classes. That was the call I'd been waiting for; it pays the best and it's pretty fun to teach. And instead of the three hours a week I was counting on, they need instructors for more of the classes, so I picked up nine hours a week. Happily, it's two afternoons and two evenings. I really hate being gone more than two evenings a week, and during the day, I should be able to get the grandparents to babysit.

At this point, that's "enough." I have no idea if the Youth German class I'm offering through our local community center will run. Last time I checked, only one kid had signed up. If I don't get at least four kids, it's not worth it to me to run it. If that class doesn't run, then I'll be disappointed, but also a little relieved. I don't know if the German class I was teaching in the mornings last spring will start up again. They indicated interest, but I don't know if there was enough interest there, or if they managed to get funding.

So my October schedule is looking pretty packed, between ice skating, Scouts, dance, co-op, library time, and work. I'm thinking I need to start my Halloween sewing NOW. In fact, I might need to start my Christmas sewing!