Colour me intimidated

I've been on the library waitlist for the Pattern Magic book forever. It finally came in yesterday, I spent some time flipping through it, and wow, colour me intimidated! Creating my own sloper. Making the pattern manipulations to it myself. Lots of marking, slashing, spreading.

Hmm. I've been avoiding buying this book, on the fear that it would just sit in my bookshelf, unused. (Burda magazines, anyone?) However, I do think this might be one of those books that I should buy, and then set myself a goal of creating one piece every 3 months or something like that. I would learn so much that way!

My white shirt is a f***ing disaster. Because of the subtle stripes, I cut the fabric in one layer. Yesterday, when I was going to set in the sleeves, I realized I cut two identical sleeves. And I don't have enough fabric to cut another one. So, I'm going to go ahead and set my sleeve in backwards. Can you say disaster? Sigh. I just gave up and went to sleep last night.

Yikes!

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been! I got back super-late Sunday night from Montreal, and have had social engagements every single day this week. A few nights, I've been getting back home past midnight. So, no time to sew. My white shirt is languishing, half-sewn.



Biscuit is super annoyed with me, due to all the neglect. When I was in Montreal, my mother took care of her, and she was doted on and treated like the little princess she is. Then she returns home, and I'm flying in and out of the house? Serious cat crankiness. Yesterday, when I was leaving for work in the morning, she bit my ankles every time I went near the front door. Poor little bear! I felt really bad for her (and also for my ankles, a little.) To make amends, I went home for lunch and sat with her for a half-hour.

Ah, little cranky cats, the things we do for you!

I did have time to sew yesterday evening, but I didn't. Hmm. Anyway, I hope to get back to my white shirt tonight. Sure, it's a bit boring to sew, but I really actually *need* a white shirt.

Dressing for work during summer

Yesterday was gorgeous. It was the kind of early summer day that Toronto gives you to make up for the crap-tacular winter that we are subjected to. I wore this dress to work. And I felt out of place all day.

On the face of it, this dress doesn't violate any corporate dressing rules. (The rules that HR carefully reminds us of at the start of every summer, for fear that we might transform into an army of tank-top wearing drones, I suspect.) It has sleeves. It is of the right length. It does not have any corporate logos on it.

However... As I've become increasingly self-stitched in the last couple of years, my wardrobe has diverged more and more from my colleagues. They wear black pants, I wear skirts. They wear separates, I wear dresses. They wear jackets, I wear cardigans.

The thing is, I don't like to stand out. I like the idea of being stylish, not fashionable. I want my clothes to have an understated chic-ness. I want to be well-dressed, but not out-there.

In many settings, my dress works perfectly. Summer BBQ? Perfect dress. Beer with friends? The dress didn't attract a single comment. But, this is not the right dress for work.

Though I try to avoid the tough projects (pants, jackets, anything with button-holes), I think it is time I started exploring the idea of a work-appropriate summer wardrobe.

Sigh. This is a bit of a pity, I love my summer dresses.

I'm going to whine (and maybe goal-set)

This is ridiculous, dear readers. Absolutely freaking ridiculous.

Do you ever have times when you are crazy busy, but you can't identify why? That's what I'm going through right now. I'm busy every evening, but with no great purpose. I'm just busy.

I've barely cooked in 3 months! I've barely touched my sewing machine. Biscuit is pining away, neglected (ok, this is a lie. Biscuit is my best-est friend. She always gets taken care of.)

My life is insane.

But, there's a silver lining in sight. My brother comes to visit next Saturday - December 18, and in his honour, my calendar is completely, utterly clear from the 18th until the 31st. No evening plans at all. I'm even going to take a couple of days off work, and even though I'll be hanging out with family, I still think there'll be a ton of time to sew. (Fingers crossed.)

Before the 18th, my calendar is also completely clear on Sunday (I'm cautiously optimistic about this). I think I need a GOAL! A huge, audacious, Reethi-are-you-freaking-insane kind of goal.

Could I:

- make 2 skirts and 2 knit tops in a day?
- make one so-necessary lined woolen dress?
- get to those long-forgotten pants?

I'm pondering. I feel the need to do - something - anything! - to shake myself back to sanity. (Your suggestions are welcome.)

So I've been missing for a week?

My blogging really goes through stages. Some weeks, I've plenty to say. Other times - meh.

But I've actually sewed quite a bit since Friday. 3 pieces! I made a really simple knit skirt, a bag (I'm thinking of participating in the accessories contest on Pattern Review) and the Kay Unger Vogue dress.

The Kay Unger dress can *never* be worn without Spanx (by me, anyway), which I don't own, so a shopping trip seems to be in order. Dear readers - can you buy Spanx in Canada?

Pictures soon. It is pouring outside, grey and depressing, and it doesn't encourage picture taking.

The "Expensive Gym Membership" Effect

aka: Why I should stop buying fabric.

This excellent post on the Happiness Project really resonated with me.

I've been in a spate of pattern-buying recently, and before this, fabric. The fabric was relatively justifiable - I haven't been to India in years, and it was hard to resist amazingly good fabric, since I knew I wouldn't be back for a couple of years, at least.

But the pattern buying? No justification whatsover. I bought 5 patterns from Vogue. I've asked a friend to bring me another 6 McCalls patterns. Every month this year, I've spent $11 on Burda. I've made 0 patterns.

I'm too weak to call my friend and cancel the McCalls pattern order. But. Before I buy the next pattern, I'll wonder if what I really should be doing instead is making time to sew.

Mid-week mumbling

So, that portion in the last entry where I said I'd do my best not to buy anything in New York?

That was before I waded into the Garment district.

$66; less than two hours; 2 stores; about 15 yards.

At which point, I fled, and never returned.

In my defense - everything I bought was a must-have. It was cheap and pretty. (Ok, that's a weak defense, and probably applies to 75% of the stash, at-least.)

Other mumbling:

- I'm off tomorrow afternoon for a 2.5 day work trip (I fly back Friday evening.) No sewing for me for the next couple of evenings.

- I did cut the gray top tonight. I'm trying a frankenpattern, and it is giving me a wee bit of trouble. I could have stayed up and solved it, but instead I stayed up and browsed the internet. (With the tiniest bit of cleaning tossed in, to make me feel a bit better.)

- In related news, I should seriously consider turning off my Internet access for a month. And perhaps TV as well. When I moved into my apartment, for the couple of weeks when I didn't have cable or the Internet, I had all kinds of spare time. I visited book stores, wandered around the city... I am, however, afraid to take the plunge.

This week...

Tuesday: Watch Star Trek with a friend.
Wednesday: Book club (I'm reading Stumbling Upon Happiness, very very good so far.)
Thursday: Trivia night
Friday: Friend's birthday
Saturday: 3 hour French class; a house-warming party
Sunday: A talk on surviving off-grid; dinner with parents.

What's missing from this picture? Time to sew. Sigh.

Miscellaneous...

- Is there anything more annoying than getting in early for a meeting, to find out it isn't happening?

I am not a morning person, enough said.*

- My plans last night got cancelled, and I was quite relieved. The BWOF grey dress is cut out. I have an hour of spare time today, which I'll use towards this dress. I'm optimistic about getting it finished this weekend.

- I also pulled out the UFO basket. (Ok, if I'm being honest, the UFOs have overflown the basket, and are now threatening to take over the house.) I pulled a jacket out of it that I started in December! Added some buttons to it. It needs 2 more buttons, and then it is done! (It doesn't fit too well, hence the distinct lack of enthusiasm.)

- Cooking is a bit stalled - I'm out of groceries! (I loathe shopping for groceries.) But grocery shopping shall happen tomorrow morning, and cooking shall resume then.

* Funny story about me not being a morning person. I posted on Facebook that I had signed up for a 9.00am Saturday morning class (French, if you are curious) and people that I haven't spoken to in MONTHS wrote asking if I was ok. Evidently, the fact that I am not a morning person is widely known.

When you are in a hurry, take your time.

How true this post is, from the excellent Happiness Project blog.

Both my screw-ups yesterday were caused by me rushing around.

Screw-Up #1: I wanted to get out of work in a hurry, and I emailed the wrong file to the wrong person.

Screw-Up #2: And I wanted to make dinner quickly, and I didn't follow directions.

Thankfully, I didn't cut my fabric, because cutting fabric at midnight would have, almost certainly, caused Screw Up #3.