Last year, my family decided that for Christmas, we would all make each other presents. By “my family decided” you might suppose that there was some sort of democratic vote. Not really. Perhaps a treaty reached by the negotiations of elected representatives? Wrong again. It was more of a “council of wise elders” kind of thing. In short, by “my family decided” I mean everyone but me made this decision and then informed me of it.
So I’m kind of on a Regency era kick. My friend Jenny has a collection of films made from Jane Austen’s books, and upon hearing that I’d never seen Pride and Prejudice set out to correct this grievous oversight. Well, you know me; I’m a sucker for anything with pretty costumes and I ate it up, all 5 hours of it. Now I’ve seen all the movies in her collection several times over and I’m working on the books.
So the first round of Volume 2 of The Crow has been distributed, the Bird costume for Peter and the Wolf is half way there and I've taken on yet another project to form the complete soundtrack to Fraggle Rock. . . but just while I'm researching the colonial dress I'm planning on making even though I have absolutely no place to wear it.
I've made it through one full week back at the ballet studio after the holiday break. My instructor came back full of energy and ideas and she's stepped up the difficulty level in all her classes. After observing the change on Thursday and Saturday, I was truly afraid for last night's Intermediate II class. I made it through alright though. As per usual, if I'm feeling conflicted about something in my life, then chuck some dance at me. Our recital piece this year will be a petit allegro (read: lots of jumping) to a Vivaldi piece. That woman has a serious crush on Vivaldi.
Welcome to sewing circle.
"Well, the hem needs to be raised. That's for sure."
"We could do a jagged cut around the bottom but I don't think it's the right fabric for that."
"Or the right cut."
"Right."
"We could cut it on a slant so it comes up higher on one side."
"Maybe."
Sounds normal enough, doesn't it? Keep listening.
I don't have a belfry; I have a bat box. In the early summer when the mosquitos descended upon us, Shawn bought a bat box. We mounted it on a tall post in our backyard, against Jenny's garage. Shawn, Jenny, and I looked at it hopefully for a few weeks. Summer, though, is not bat moving season. That's spring. We knew we weren't expecting residents anytime soon.
I pulled a late night last night and finished up my pirate bodice. Done. Fits me well too. I'm pleased with it. Now I can stop scaring the neighbors. Let me explain. I made this bodice with a tried and true method known to many a renaissance fair seamstress...duct tape. Yep, duct tape. You put on an old t-shirt (preferably one you're not fond of) and take a deep breath and have a good friend bind you up in duct tape starting at the waist and looping around and around up the chest.
