Playing Catch Up Again

I was gone last week and just now getting caught up with various and sundry. DH and I were at his army reunion in Vegas. Yes, Las Vegas again. Next time we go out of town, I'd like to go someplace else. Please. Surely, Southwest Airlines has other places we can go. It's not that I don't like going there, I do. But I'd like some variety--San Diego is a quick flight and DH's niece lives in San Francisco. Those are my votes for next time we go away. We do have some guests in town next month: DH's best friend from the Army and my in-laws (DH's sister and her husband).

I'm in progress with a couple of sewing projects for me, another pair of TSW's Trio Pants and my TNT t-shirt pattern, Kwik Sew 2565. What I should be doing is working on a vestment project for church--the sewing will be quick but the planning is what's bogging me down.

Anyway, on to my projects...

TSW Trio Pants: I originally made a pair of these in black linen in time for the ASG Convention that was in Albuquerque last year. I made a Medium but later took out a full 2.5" of ease. After sham's praise of this pattern, I decided to re-cut the pattern as a Small--by coincidence, it measures 2.5" smaller than the Medium. Hmmm...I had some embroidered camo fabric in the stash from JoAnn's and decided it would be a fun choice. I also decided to play around with the pocket fastenings, using D-rings and grosgrain ribbon to give it an outdoor/military feel. I gave them an initial try-on this morning and I love the fit! Small is much better for me. I still have stuff to do before they're finished, but so far so good.

Kwik Sew 2565 T Shirt: This is an old workhorse of a pattern that I've made a bunch of times since buying it in the mid 2000s. Of course, it's out of print now but Kwik Sew probably carries something similar since it's a basic T. I retraced the pattern since I couldn't find the right pieces, so this one is basically a prototype to check the fit. I'm making it from a remnant of onionskin knit left over from a previous project. That project was a long sleeved T from Kwik Sew 2565. See, if you sew you can re-make all your old favorites (hahaha).

Just touching base for now, more later...

Housekeeping and Q/A

A shout out to Qwest for the great customer service they provided this morning re: my wifi network connection. It was easy to fix and the representative was friendly and extremely helpful.

I also had a problem with my iPhone last week after returning from Vegas and the customer service rep was great. Of course, this is what I expect from AppleCare.

Bloglines is shutting down as of 10/1/10, so I converted to Google Reader. OMG! Why didn't someone tell me how much better it is? It was also very easy to make the switch. If you use Bloglines, be sure to make this change so you don't lose all your feeds. Bloglines posted instructions on how to do this the last time I accessed their page.

*****

I've received several inquiries about Smudge. He went back for another checkup on Wednesday. The vet is happy about his progress and prescribed a different eye drop. He remains free of the dreaded e-collar but is restricted to the house until the stitches are removed next week.

julia left a comment on my last post: "This sounds like fun! Is this "Trading Post" a NG event or a chapter one? How does it work?"

julia, this is a chapter trading post that was started several years ago. The Albuquerque Chapter is a little different from some of the other ASGs, in that we have monthly chapter meetings and the NGs are secondary. We have a table at our meetings where members can bring items they want to get rid of--usually fabric, patterns, magazines or notions. Other members can then take those items by leaving a small donation. It's all on the honor system. Personally, I generally leave a dollar per item. More if something large, like several yards of fabric or less if something small like a zipper.

A Great ASG Haul

The Trading Post at ASG was great last night! Here's what I got:


Yeah, that's right. Four Loes Hinse patterns! One minor disappointment, the pattern for the Basic Pleat Front Pant was incomplete. However, I already have other tried and true patterns for pull on pants as well as a couple other Loes Hinse pant patterns, so I'm ok with it. On the other hand, the patterns for the Boot Skirt, the Wrap Skirt, and the Tank Dress Group were unused and factory folded.

I also picked up some navy fabric with woven stripes. I think it might be home dec cotton. My plan is to treat it like denim and make a pencil skirt with it. The color in the picture above is more accurate, but the washed out picture below shows the detail better. The front side is a tone on tone stripe, while the other side has gold stripes.

My preference is the tone on tone side, but perhaps the gold side could be brought in as an accent somehow. Plenty of time to figure it out.

Another TSW Mixit Tank and No-Pattern Skirt

Well, it's only a couple of months late...


This outfit would have been perfect for Kauai in June, but oh well. I always think I can get more sewn than I do.

I made this in mid-August and planned to model it myself for the blog. Since we're into September and summer is over, I decided to post a dressform picture instead. As I often say, "done is better than perfect." If you follow this blog, you've already seen a previous version of the TSW Mixit Tank on me.

This project started with the skirt because I love border print fabrics. I was experimenting with a way to make a border print skirt simply, while still matching the design at the seams. So, I pulled this cotton from the stash and just started folding and draping around my body, then I ripped the fabric accordingly to form a rectangle. I used the Textile Workshop Brussels Skirt for reference but basically worked from the draping of the fabric. I matched the back seam by pressing under a seam allowance on the left side and basting it in place with Wonder Tape. Then it was just a matter of seaming, attaching elastic for a waistband, and hemming. Or so I thought.

Originally, the skirt was going to have just the single back seam. However, it was too wide on me and had too much ease, so I pinned out 3/4" on either side and added side seams. The amount was an arbitrary number based on pinching out what seemed to be necessary for a closer fit. It was not possible to have all seams matching and the desired circumference, so each of the side seams has a break in the pattern. This was the least obvious place, so I'm happy with how it worked out.

I realize the skirt is long, but it's in keeping with the Island-y vibe. I also tested the length in several places (including DH's choice of above the knee), but this particular fabric looked best in a longer length.

The top is based on the same TSW Mixit Tank pattern that I made in green linen. This one was shortened 4" by folding out the excess length in two places, then truing the seams by chalking a new cutting line with a french ruler right on the fabric. The result was a shorter, flared tank that (barely) fit the fabric remnants left over from the skirt. I'm planning to draft another short version that has all the length removed at the lower edge, resulting in a top that fits closer to the body

A Quick Trip

Yes, another Vegas trip. Say what you will, it's an hour flight from New Mexico and a world away. This time it was a quick visit, only a little over 24 hours. DH is a fan of Chelsea Handler, and several weeks ago he discovered that she would be at Caesar's Palace on Labor Day weekend, so he put together a little junket to Sin City for us. We flew out via Southwest on Saturday afternoon and returned on Sunday.

The venue was the same one as Cher's, so I got iPhone pics of some of her costumes. How fab are these? Say what you will about Cher as a performer, her costumes are absolutely beautiful:




I hope I can persuade DH that Cher should be the reason for a future Vegas trip. I bet her show would be a lot of fun. We do have another trip coming up later this month, but that one's for DH's Army reunion.

I'm glad we got away for a little while at least. Otherwise, there's too much of a temptation to veg out and do nothing on a long weekend in Albuquerque. We went to the Mirage's pool, had a nice meal, saw a show, had a room service breakfast. What's not to love?

Now that we're back in New Mexico, domestic tasks. Other plans for Labor Day weekend include a trip to Home Depot to look at washer/dryers. DH really wants front loaders...hopefully they're available in red!!

Farewell, Fred

I was fortunate enough to take several classes from Fred Bloeblum at ASG Conferences I've attended over the years. She always did a wonderful job of organizing and presenting her classes, and I always came away feeling that I had gained a lot of information. She was also always gracious when answering questions and offering suggestions about her pattern line, La Fred, when working her vendor booth.


I'm so glad that I took an extra day to attend the Insiders' Tour of Santa Fe after last year's ASG Conference in Albuquerque. Fred put a wonderful tour together. It included a trip to the Santa Fe Opera and a visit to her second home in Santa Fe, where she hosted a trunk show of buttons and jewelry by local artists.

Fred passed away on Saturday, so unfortunately, I won't get to see her again. But I have memories of some lovely moments talking sewing and for that, I'll always be grateful. Thanks Fred, for your warmth and grace, and may you rest in peace.

Forgot to Mention...

Oops, I neglected to report on the other cat in our household! Smudge underwent surgery for entropion, an eye condition in which the eyelid folds inward, causing the eyelashes to rub against the cornea. Although he's a short-haired cat, his fur is thick like a plush toy. It doesn't really surprise me that this would be an issue, especially since he's been treated for it before.

He went in for surgery, basically an eye-lid tuck, late last week. Both eyes were treated, since the original eye still continued to roll after the first surgery. Yuck. In addition to surgery, he's endured the Elizabethan collar, antibiotics and painkillers since then. He's sleeping a lot, but that's normal for him. In spite of the picture, he's doing better and will be going back to the vet next week for a check-up. Hopefully the stitches and collar will go away then.

Except for the surgery, Smudge is enjoying being the Only Cat in our household. I hope he'll realize this is only temporary when we get a new kitty.

Like Trudging Through Mud

Last week was frustrating, and my mojo took a hiatus. I had little energy. Like the title of the post, I felt as if every activity involved trudging through the mud. Objectively, I got things accomplished--my house is cleaner than it's been in months, I got more applications sent out, we even had a dinner party on Saturday. It wasn't all gloom, I even had fun at times. But overall, it was a hard week.

New month, and I'm working to regain my spirit and rev up my life. I made it back to the gym yesterday, which helped. And this morning I'm on the computer, but writing instead of reflexively surfing. Small gains.

Now that there are the smallest hints of fall, I'm thinking of what to make for the season especially since I need more at-home, casual clothes. But casual does not have to be schlumpy! We also have DH's Army reunion to attend, so I'll need some clothes for that.