Shopping With a Non Sewer

Now I've seen proof that Karl Lagerfeld has a sense of humour. I went to The Bay yesterday to help a SIL confirm a dress choice. It was going to need some alterations and therefore my approval. As we walk through the store they have a section for Karl Lagerfeld designs. Out front is a cute rip off of a Chanel jacket. Does it count when a designer rips off his own designs? Now Coco would say that such behaviour is wonderfully reassuring, but I thought it was just funny.

She did get a great dress, and the shoes and clutch are like icing on the cake. The shoulders are out of whack and need something. Not sure what. They seem to be in a constant state of 'shrug'. Hopefully it won't be a difficult fix.

Now this was an expensive dress (now about 75% off). For those of us who sew, and love fine fabrics and great sewing techniques - it was hard to look at the racks. The overly exuberant sales woman was most keen to get me a dress too.  There was no way anything in that place was going to fit me. Well, maybe a cute loose fitting sweater I saw. Where does someone 5' tall with normal shoulders (for that height), a G/H cup size and hips that match my belly shop?

Pup tents, aisle 3!

A proper fit for me is not going to happen in a chain store.

So I really need some new clothes for the next family wedding at the end of October. I best get at it. I will also be packing a sewing kit with thread in the bridal colours. The last wedding saw me take in the bride's dress between ceremony and reception! It's not good when the bride's skirt falls down.

I wanted to stop the ceremony and get that done, but there seems to be a time and a place. She had a perfect attitude about it all. Look! I really did lose weight!

Namaste Everyone

Where have I been?

I don't know. Just here and there.

The garden overflows. I got cherry tomatoes everywhere! The pressure is on, however to produce several good size squash as awards for the October car rally. I did this a few years ago and it was well worth the fuss. I have a few contenders.

I have a niece and then a nephew getting married over the next month or two. One of the weddings will be in Fort Myers - currently being destroyed by Hurricane Erma. They have 6 weeks to get cleaned up. I have 6 weeks to make and fit into a new dress. Should be the same sort of work involved.

However I only have 2 weeks before the niece gets hitched. That outfit needs to get a move on. The sewing room is in a terrible state of disarray, so I need to clean off some space and get to it. Better idea. Can I come and sew in your sewing room?

And what do you get the young couples of today? They already have their homes set up. Both have limited space, so the gift needs to be thoughtful and designed to fit into their carefully orchestrated lives. Money would probably work, but it seems so cold and rather ho hum. I'd always rather make something, but I want them to like the 'whatever', and that puts pressure on me to get it right. I hate pressure. I prefer to make stuff and then offer a choice of gift - or not. Then both giver and receiver have no pressure and much more fun. I make a basket of gifts for events and let those who would like to pull one out. Maybe I need a basket of wedding gifts. There are 13 nieces and nephews. Hmmm....

I am trying yoga this fall. I did not know the warrior had so many positions! Happy baby pose was also completely new to me. The class is great so far but full of these radicals who want to start a petition for a change of room. Something about not being able to breathe. I'm just keeping my mat in the corner and ignoring the crazy people. I have hips that won't move and a butt that needs firming. Namaste.

Sewers! Felting is the new thing. Melding and joining fabrics, embellishing, painting with wool - I am intrigued with the possibilities and I have a huge stack of wool waiting for some excitement in its life. I have an embroidery machine that will felt and a stand alone felting machine. I haven't used either. I want to take care of that problem very very soon. Perhaps a coat? Scarves? Bags? Cushions? Actually cushions might be a good way to start. I feel a basket of christmas gifts coming on?

Christmas. Well yes, I guess fall is here after all.

Women's Hockey Grows Up

I watched the Canadian women's hockey team lose to Finland last night at the world championships. It was a tight game but Finland took them down. It's the first time they have ever lost to anyone other than the USA at a world level competition.

I couldn't be more proud.

Our women have brought international women's hockey to a level where it's not just 2 teams anymore. They raised the golden bar. It took decades of hard work and setting an example for others to aspire to. Finally other women are able to stand toe to toe with them. And I hope those Finnish women remember to say thank you. They could have never reached this level without those Canadian women setting a blazing example for them.

Now, I should say thank you to the USA team. But I don't like them. However they just set an amazing precedent in the USA by demanding and getting a reasonable pay level. So, yah ladies for that!

Things learned in the sewing room this week.

• When your thread and fabric keep catching on the needle (yes, that's a thing) switch to a single hole faceplate. Big improvement!
• Those funny felt circles that came with your machine will keep your thread from spinning too fast when you use a vertical spool pin. I have wondered for 40 years what those things are for!
• There is a thread cutter up by my bobbin winder! Who knew?
• Patterns sized for a D cup are a step in the right direction for me, but not the last step.
• This monthly calendar of projects started and finished is really helpful for me. I forget what I have done and it feels great to see I did get something finished.
• I can move decorative stitches to the left and right as well as flip them over in both directions. This is a whole new world!
• I found a use for the double ribbon stitches on my machine. I had little hope for them as they seemed impossibly frivolous, but I did find the perfect use and learned how to execute them in a straight line to boot! (details some day soon)
• Reading the machine manual leads to good things.
• The #3 foot (blind hem) is amazing! It makes an amazing edge stitch and should be used more!
• I really do need to clean up more often.

I might need a new phone. It is at least 8 years old. Pictures are not as easy to manage as they were, and it needed to be rebooted to recognize its SIM card sometimes. So, if you want pictures send me money. Go Fund Me!

Just kidding. 

Hot Air Travels

It has been a seriously long time since my last post. My apologies. I have been thinking about why the drought, but I don't have an answer.

Perhaps this may be of help. Last week I donated $2 at the grocery store towards their charity and got a helium balloon for my troubles. I took it home and let it hold my page in the current book for a few days. It had a clothespin for just this purpose.

So DH and I are sitting around this weekend, watching the balloon, when we remove the clothespin. It had been getting saggy. Next we attached a few bits of Kleenex to get the buoyancy just right, to drift just at ceiling height.

So, over the weekend our balloon made several circuits of the new kitchen island, ducked through doorways, travelled up and downstairs and showed a remarkable preference for the laundry room. We rarely touched it, other than to mess with the tissues or rescue it from the crawlspace behind the furnace. I can plot the air flow from almost anywhere in the house now.

Don't knock it till you try it. Just saying.

However, doesn't this just speak to a lack of exciting events around here?

Open For Dinner Invitations

Sophie the swimsuit is in a drawer. She is having a little time out to think about what size underwire she might like, and why the cups are too big.

Yes, I said too big.

We are renovating our kitchen. It looked like this as I came down here to post, and I hear plaster smashing as I tap away.

I think the beam between the kitchen and family room is biting the dust at this moment. It has a sag, brought on by it's inadequate size. Size matters when it comes to beams. We will be going bigger.

This all started when I wanted to paint the cabinets. They were mid tone oak. I was tired of that. However, this means removing the cabinets and sending them out to be painted. (Have you priced that lately!!!!!) Of course, a new countertop would set off the paint job nicely, and let's get a backsplash while we're at it. Repaint the walls - oh, let's do the whole house. It looks old.

So, what happened to the walls? Well, why not throw in a little insulation, check the wiring and reroute the heating ducts? No, the flooring will not match the new decor, so it's going and will be resurrected in slate with underfloor heating.

My man's imagination knows no bounds. At least this sort of thing keeps him out of trouble. He is happiest when holding tools and being professional. True to form he kept the dishwasher hooked up and running. Certain creature comforts cannot be abandoned! However, you do need 3 hands to do the dishes. One for the dish, one for the rack and one to keep the whole thing from falling flat on its face. They tip easily, apparently, when not hooked up under a counter.

I try to be helpful. I tote, fetch and admire. It's what I do best. We eat a lot of toast.

I shall be hiding out in the sewing room. I just finished a quilt. I pieced the top on my 1893 Singer treadle and quilted it on my 2016 Pfaff Creative Sensation Pro 2. It doesn't get any better than that! I really do need to measure and work to a plan. My quilts are often a bit strangely shaped. This one is too long and too narrow - and I cut some off as it was! I just get carried away, and the math takes time and makes my head hurt. This is the Lotus pattern from Jaybird quilts. I'm betting that reading the instructions more carefully might have helped with the finished size. The pattern uses the Hex n More ruler. I do like a nice hexy. I was a bit worried about dealing with a lot of bias edges, but they worked out just fine.

Sophie and I Make Out

The duck pack is now huge! It's hard to tell which one is mom! Discovered the neighbours all feed the duck pack and none knew about the others. At least they seem to be getting all the food groups covered, from the reports I hear.

Momma deer and tiny fawn have not been seen in a while.  However her last year's child is still stomping through my garden and chewing on everything in sight! S/he will not leave until physically threatened (seems I'm not enough, DH must be called). You should hear the haughty snorts of derision as it finally leaps off, flagging its white fluffy tail!

But I am avoiding the topic at hand. I am building myself a swimsuit. The annual girls week in Montreal approaches, and I need a suit. Closet Case Files just released Sophie and I liked the look. It has a very fitted bra style top. It could be great for me, or not - but well worth a try.

I've also got her jeans pattern, but haven't tried it yet. She seems to get good reviews though. First to impress me was the cheat lines so nicely in place for me! You print off your size according to your bust and she has nested the lower part of the pattern with 3 sizes up and down in light grey lines. You have your size and all the alterations right there! This alone is worth the price of admission! Practical genius at work!

Things would have been just swimmy if I had bothered to read the Big Bold Red Print. I printed out the size based on my upper bust, as I usually do. She bases the size on your under bust measurements and then a cup size factor. Yah! I got to go down a few sizes! And I got to practice my gluing. Always need more practice with that.

She includes 5 cup sizes and I was most hopeful for cup size 5, even though the measurements she gives are not in my range. My cup spillith well over that, methinks. Me right. She helpfully suggested making a foam muslin from the foam inner cup pattern. I did and well, brilliant idea. Saved me a lot of tears later. She may need to expand beyond 5 cup sizes. This Sophie was not going to fit left to its own devices!

However, this foam muslin idea led to plan B. I made up a foam cup from my fav bra pattern and them cut it apart in the same lines as the Sophie pattern indicated. This gave me new pattern pieces for the cups, but not the suit that they needed to connect to.

This is why a girl needs toys. I have a flexible ruler (it's wiggly and can be used in interesting ways) so I measured the new cups along the bottom edge from centre seam to side and centre, curved the ruler along the original seam lines of the cup cradles built into the suit and just dipped the line until it would contain the beasts. I was surprised at how little fabric need to be removed to add the seam length I needed.

And that is where I am now. The suit body is together and needs leg elastic next. Then the cups go in. Then I hope I can find an underwire in my collection to fit. Swimsuits are huge investments of time. However, this one is princess seamed, 1 or 2 pieces, colour block friendly - and suitable for the slightly squishy body I seem to have.  Well, I'll let you be the judge of that in a few days. Or not. I need to see it first before I decide if it suitable for the public eye.

Ducklings!

I looked out the window around supper tonight. That's when you check on the cracked corn before the ducks arrive for their nightly feed. The single girl arrives first, and then there's a flurry of 5 that circle the yard once and then land with a crash.

I look out - and there is the single girl - trailed by the seven most obedient, adorable little ducklings ever! When you get ducks in a row, you just know! Sorry, no picture of that.

I sent DH out with a scoop of our finest feed. The little ones turned up their cute little bills but mom had a good meal. I think the little ones are still on soft food. We would be feeding the school ducklings cracked corn by now, but wet. These guys had other ideas.

Next the gang of 5 arrived. She could see them coming and moved her flock off a bit. The others gave her a nod and took over the food. Mom headed her group down the yard and we followed. There were a few tense moments as we stopped traffic, but the crossing was successful.

I can say that AFTER we decided that 7 did reach the other side, even though DH only counted 6. Mom counted them after they cleared the ditch. She would know. DH and I searched the ditch and stream just in case. People never know.