Fabulous Betzina Quotes

I have laughed out loud at some of the things she says on this Craftsy pants fitting class! Here's what I like so far.

"I think sewers, we are eternally optimistic. We are having a wonderful time until we try on the pants, and then UGH, the party's over - they look terrible!" (I totally relate - one of my Mardi Gras dress posts is titled "And Now The Usual Depression")

"Most of us haven't seen light [between our knees and our crotch] in some time." (Regarding adjustments for full thighs)

"I need to get like an inch and a half, do you see, to cover that butt!" (Regarding raising the waistband)

PLUS, God answered my last post about draping. This morning I got another email from Craftsy saying they missed me and offering 60% off my next class. It's like in Flight (with Denzel Washington, have you seen it yet?) when her drug dealer says, "Keep your money, take the [class]."

On a tangent, Flight was a very good movie (the hotel room scene - hiLARiously acted), but I found it to be more about alcoholism than the cool thing he did with the plane. That was just the hook. Over, Under. (Prize to the first one who gets the reference...)

A Draping Class and Waiting Rooms

Man, I hate posts without pictures, but I just don't have one. So my question is has anyone taken a draping class? I got an email from Craftsy today - seriously, they are the drug dealer of the sewing world, are they not? I mean, I'm up to my crotch in pants class and now they bring up draping?! (Which would have been so cool to do with my Mardi Gras dress, seriously.)

So I was considering it, then I read about it and realized I don't even know how to make a sloper, etc., then I read this post at Shop the Garment District, and that kind of pushed me over the edge. I think I'm going to sign up unless any of you have had a terrible experience with it.

Okay, and now can I tell you how much I hate doctor's waiting rooms? I'm a private person, so I don't think this is the spot to make friends. (I'm also hateful on airplanes, if you were wondering.) So today Lucas got his full set of braces, and I brought my knitting for the 1.5 hour wait. I was the only one there till this couple from out of town brings their daughter in, who is also apparently there for a couple of hours. The staff told them they could leave and come back at lunch, but they didn't know where to go and didn't want to burn gas, so they sat down RIGHT NEXT TO ME. (An empty waiting room is like an elevator to me - why would you get next to someone?) Inside I'm burning with anger, then I realized they were staring at me. The lady asked me if I could crochet something big like a sweater, or just small like a towel. Well my little crafty personality overruled the haughty loner (I'm not the only one with multiple personalities, am I?), and we proceeded to chat about sewing and knitting for the next hour. Her husband went and sat in the truck, which made it instantly less creepy. I found out her aunt worked at the Vanity Fair plant her whole life and owned 2 or 3 sergers, and her step-mother sewed her wedding dress, but this lady was just learning to sew and was looking for knitting classes. I gave her links for the sewing shops in Mobile, Pattern Review, and generally schooled her on the merits of YouTube when learning a new craft.

So that turned out to be a nice experience, but then we had to go to the pediatrician. Now THIS lady with her 2 twin girls was sitting across from us and put one of them in her lap, saying, "I love you so much. I love you. Do you know that? I just love holding you." Okay, instant creepiness, and I'm thinking the authorities may need to get involved. I pointedly ignored her (while appearing obsessed with knitting), but Lucas looked at her and reported that she was staring back at him the whole time. She then starts laughing really loudly and telling them to count chairs, etc. When they finally were called back, Lucas leaned over and told me how creepy he thought she was. Seems he shares my feeling that one should not perform for others in a waiting room.

Well, I guess this wasn't as bad as the lady at the dentist's office talking on her cell phone about a dead body the police had just found....

Alabama Chanin, Anyone?

I saw the Alabama Chanin book in BAM when I was looking for my knitting book quite a while back,

then I saw Gwen's post about it sort of recently, then today I was looking at my AAA magazine (I cannot currently think of what that stands for - Auto Association of America? - but it's not to be confused with AA, which doesn't publish a magazine that I know of), and guess what I saw?

Alabama Chanin (do yourself a favor and look at that beautiful website - I bookmarked it so I can go back and gawk some more) has workshops where you come in and create something using their materials and designers. They range from a couple of hours to a whole weekend - neat! They also have something called DIY, where you order a kit apparently, and they mail you the fabric in your choice of color, plus whatever else you need to make it yourself. I'm not sure what to think about that. I mean, I love this dress...

but I think I'd feel funny claiming I made it. This particular one is $340 (yowza - that's up there with my Betzina jeans weekend!), and you choose your size, fabric color for the leaves, and thread color. It says the dress is stenciled, so I guess you hand embroider the leaves around the bottom? Very interesting concept, but it makes me think of color-by-number...which would be fabulous for people like me who have no vision, but maybe not so much for people like Gwen, who are artists.

So has anybody done one of these? I may have to have a second look at that book....but first I'll finish my Betzina pants class on Craftsy. I'm proud to say I've been watching the lessons and actually cut out and adjusted all my pattern pieces today - woohoo!

That Cool Map Thing!

I'm copying from Kadiddlehopper here, well really from Another Sewing Scientist, who started a map of us sewing bloggers, or blogging sewers - wait, that sounds like something that needs a plumber. Look how cool it is at this link (because I have no idea how she imported a picture of the map - when I right click to save the image it acts like a map). I pinned myself already - had to log in at the top right with my Google account, and don't forget to click done at the top left when you're finished. I've already found a Japanese blogger (so important when planning fabric shopping there in May), plus another lady nearby who thought she was pinning Dallas - oops!

It would be fun to get together with someone at a workshop in the area, but the biggest use I see right now is having their blog link to communicate with them, like asking where the best fabric stores are, etc. Anyway, that killed 30 minutes of perusing pins just now, so I'll sign off. Hope to see you on the map!

Knitting Purchases

I forgot to post some pics from the fabulous knitting store in New Orleans. I took several pics in the store, but this one stood out. This yarn has shiny stuff all over it like tinsel! I have no idea what you'd make with it, but it's cool.

They wrapped up my purchases so nice and Mardi Gras-ly...

I bought 1 big skein of variegated cotton and 3 skeins of this blue cotton...I have no idea what to make with them, but I love them. And this was the first time somebody actually wound it for me - that's really why I took the picture.

Squirrel?

Waiting for squirrels to fall from the sky. Alas, we'll be eating venison lasagna tonight instead of squirrel stew.

Tree stand

Lucas tries out redneck-hood for the first time...

Zumba

Did a little bit of this with my SIL....and yes, I did wear my sister's belly-dancing bangles! Zumba is definitely more fun than Pure Barre, but PB is still addictive. Now to find a Zumba close to home to alternate with PB...

Last of My Mardi Gras Pics

This is self-explanatory. If a lady with a see-through tutu is following Elvis, you're in the Quarter.

This group paraded around the tables and down on the floor with a drummer and shook everything they had, which was not covered by very much. This lady had on the most conservative outfit; the rest wore thongs and bikini tops - go girls!

My outfit was not nearly as exciting.

This is a new float with 9 sections, longer than a football field, representing Pontchartrain Beach amusement park - didn't get a great picture but you get an idea how long it is in the Superdome.

And finally, the requisite shaky video ending when I get hit with beads. This is the Dracula float and Dean is the fourth guy behind Dracula dancing there near the end. They had already run out of beads to throw because of a record crowd, but you get an idea of how awesome it is to watch a parade while a band plays in the Superdome.


We now return to our previously scheduled knitting.

Another Dr. Fun?

Nah, he just stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

This Isn't the Topless Bar...

Pure Barre Strong!

Picked up a guy at the bar yesterday....

The Fun Begins!

I'm Calling it Quits!

I'm at that point where I start finding everything wrong with it, so I'm officially done! From far off, it looks pretty darn good, though. And I did find a nice necklace to wear with this, but you have to be realistic - it's Mardi Gras and you'll lose your necklace under your beads. This is the Endymion signature bead from last year - the color's perfect!

I will NOT be detaching the lining to straighten the fabric at the slit. No matter how nicely you line everything up, this fabric just slides and puckers when those feed dogs hit it. I'm sure there's a special foot for that, but I don't have it.

Okay, the dog photo-bombed me, so I'll do it again. He keeps hoping we'll paint his picture and put it over the mantel. Seems like he did this 2 years ago when I made another Mardi Gras dress too...

If you notice the wrinkle on my back, it just means I'm standing still too long and not dancing enough!

I'm not really excited about the $32 shoes I found at Shoe Station, other than the fact that they're low enough to be walkable, and they're comfortable without squeezing my toes, but I really would love to go back to the pointy ballerina straps. Nobody liked those, though. I may have to go shoe shopping in New Orleans...

Oh, and I also found out that I knitted my sleeve WAY too long for my beige sweater. I was getting it long enough to meet the shoulder seam and completely forgot they have directions to knit a sleeve cap - doh! If I get bored in the French Quarter, I'll pull out my knitting. Have a happy Mardi Gras, and I'll post some New Orleans pics when I get back on Sunday.