Greetings! It has been a couple of years since I've posted here! I started using my Livejournal to post when I had something to share because I regained access to it during my work day. However, over the past couple of years many of my friends have moved on from LJ due to problems, so I thought I would revisit this blog. I probably will post the major highlights from my LJ here eventually, but if you would like acess, just drop me a line there. Wow, do I have some excited news! (Please note: slight sarcasm!) Since I started sewing, back in...oh 2005, I have been attempting to get a ducttape dummy made. I actually had one early on, but after a few years it got sticky and died. Since then, I have been using my Uniquely You dress form for anything I can except drapings & fittings, which I have managed to, mostly successfully, on my own body. Evenstill, for some things, this is less than ideal. So last year a group of gals had a ducttape dummy party, and I got a new one made! I haven't had the chance to use it very much because I've been trying to solve a problem that I've had for years: how to use a beautiful cast iron stand I got for a song to support my dummy. Since the stand wasn't intended for this use (actually it used to have a vintage gumball machine on it, just like the one pictured below except mine was yellow >.<) this presented a problem. Thankfully, we have a good friend who is an engineer. One day I showed him what I was working with and we came up with away to make it work. A steel floor flange and pipe. It wasn't easy to find a flange that would hold a pipe large or small enough to work with, but in our last attempt we found one! Success! To finally finish this project, I have been wanting to retape my dummy for weeks with this cute Duct Tape I found at Michael's Last night was my first chance to get it done. I knew it wouldn't be a simple task, as I overstuffed my dummy to the point where she wouldn't compress at all. I need her to wear my corsets for fitting, so I had to unstuff her, retape the opening, and then find a neat way to tape her using the patterned duct tape. I bought the 2 rolls of tape the store had in stock, but I knew it wasn't enough, and I confirmed that last night. Now I'm just waiting until I can find more tape, then, maybe you'll get to see a picture of my excellent, polka-dotted, duct tape dress form. It's been years in the making and I am so close to getting her done!
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I still haven't checked into what's wrong with my sewing machine. I hoped that I could figure out whether or not it needed repairs so that I could drop it off before leaving for Colorado, but here we are and I haven't even really thought about it.
We've been kinda busy thus why I haven't looked at the machine or done any sewing....getting ready for our trip, problems with our aquarium that needed to be addressed before we left, before that-Brad's birthday, two Vikings games (one at the Metrodome, and one on TV), Avatar 3-D, and trying to work out regularly--on top of work and school, too! Whew! Things won't be winding down for a few weeks either, but I am hoping to get some sewing done when we get back from Colorado. I'm hoping to bring some small handsewing along, maybe I'll start working on the trim for the Victorian. I have received confirmation that my registration for Costume College made it in, but I'm not sure if I'll be attending yet. I'd love to go again but need to feel things out a little first. Eitherway, there is plenty to do on my WANT list, but before I can start moving forward, I gotta make that blue Victorian wearable so I can put in the closet and mark it off my list! First I think the simplest part to finish will be the skirt ruffle, the ruffle is mostly made, but since my machine is Kaput! I think I'll finish it by hand, though attaching it by hand doesn't sound like a good idea. To be done with the skirt I need to add the waistband, which I can do when I get my machine working. Until then, I can sew in sleeves and attach trim. Since I've been working out, I'm waffling on whether or not to finish the closure. By the time I get to that point, I suppose I should try it on again and see if any there has been any change in the fit, then decide. The 2nd Victorian on my list for this year is in the works...I thought I had a pretty clear idea of what i wanted but haven't decided on a bodice pattern/style yet. And, I need to located the copy of the Diderot stays I have and start mocking that up, too! Sounds like a busy start to February, but I've put the Victorian aside for long enough and I'm itching to work on it again! It seems I've had sewing projects since August. Probably because I have but as you probably have gathered, I'm a slow worker. Most of my costumes are always works in progress, which I'm beginning to loathe.
Usually the ongoing projects are due to time constraints and Costume ADD, plus I have two active venues of costume which run into each other, Renaissance Festival which normally runs until I need to start getting my Masquerade Ball costume finished up. But I do have other interests. Actually, I wanted this blog to be about all my interests: cooking, home decor, general crafting, fashion, thrifting, and costume but I haven't been able to branch out much since the wedding, even though I've wanted to. Lately, I've been drawn to thinking of our house. We moved in our house in April 2008 and have mostly moved in, but some things still need tweaking and some rooms still need painting. I'd like to get our guest bathroom & kitchen painted this winter. Our kitchen is really just two walls, and the bathroom is small, so this isn't an unreasonable goal. In addition to that I am hoping to get started on the remodelling of our "mud room" which is the size of a largish bedroom and currently is a living area for my turtle, Talula, kitty HQ (food and litter) and is a "catch all" space for junk! My IKEA craft table has found its way here and under it my craft storage solution (which is a big white box with huge plastic drawers inside) from a previous apartment, my cubbies which house books, crafting supplies, even our shoes. Finally there is a BIG and unattractive cabinet in the corner of the room that is mostly a waste of space. I have taken out most of the shelving and put my fabric containers and project bins here--there is also laundry area off the mudroom that can be hidden behind a bi-fold door in which the sink is in a hard to reach = hard to use area. It's a nice room but these space could be made so much more functional. So all these home improvements have been invading my head and with another semester of school fast approaching and sewing projects piling up I need to find a way to make a happy medium. In an effort to feel more positive about my crafting space (which is currently just craft storage space since it's uninviting and I don't want to spend more time in ther than I have to) I have started stealing away to organize it. My hubby, which I've known for a little over 2+ years knows I like to talk about organization but that I have poor follow-thru (which is only because I don't usually ave the time). I'd like to focus more on being organized in 2010, which was my resolution last year---but we planned a wedding in 6 months, so that never happened (though I was pretty organized during that whole thang!). |
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