We Interrupt This Jacket...

Yeah, didn't I say I was making a fleece jacket for my sister? Well I actually got the whole thing cut out, then I realized I needed a dress for a cancer benefit we're attending in a couple of weeks. I was thinking of a fancy skirt and top I have...then I was told it should have some pink since it's Breast Cancer Awareness month - doh! A sewing challenge is born. I actually have a chance to sew up that Butterick 6582 retro dress with the smoking hot blonde on the front!

So here's the fabric - it's "polyester shantung" for $12.99 at Joann - I debated the silk at Hancock's, but it was more expensive and even more obnoxious than this color.



And here's the muslin in $3.99/yd jacquard from fabric.com - I considered it a muslin since it was cheap and in the stash for over a year. I think it's a hell of a muslin myself!



Forgive the wrinkles, unhemmed-ness, and hanging threads - I was so excited to finally get it fit that I wanted to take pictures. My mom helped me with alterations and was my camerawoman, but she made me put on lipstick and refused to take any of the poses I wanted. (You know, my attempts at being sexy that are so totally...not. She's so serious sometimes.)



I see a side seam that I need to straighten, but I'm hopeful that the widely spaced shoulders in back will balance the wide load below.



This dress was officially started at 1 PM yesterday and pretty much done by 10 PM, and subtract about 3 hours for dinner, zipper run and Scouting event at 5 PM, and 3 loads of laundry. And this pictured below, which was begun by Lucas at 8 PM and finished at 10 PM after 2 tries. He really did this by himself but didn't understand what I meant by "seam allowance," so the first attempt was half the size he wanted.



The lady at Hancock asked what I was going to make and I told her HE was going to make something, to which she replied, "Are you going to sew on your mom's machine?" He said, "No, actually I have my own machine, but I don't know what I'm going to make yet." She exclaimed that we had a designer in the making (good response, lady, and God bless you!) and asked him to bring whatever he made back in so she could see it.



If you look closely you'll notice his name, and you'll be amazed to know that he freehanded it at the machine. Takes after his mom, that one.

Robot Movies and Boring Trip Photos

We got on the topic of how you would freeze in outer space and Lucas said, "I guess I've just always thought that outer space is room temperature."

I let him watch 2001 A Space Odyssey after he read about HAL in a robot book from the library. If you've ever seen 2001, you can imagine that I skipped long parts of it...the apes at the beginning, the part in the middle discussing the monolith on the moon; but I didn't skip the psychedelic ending - he sat through that whole thing while I was on the phone. At the end, when the giant baby made its appearance (pardon me, the "StarChild"), he looked at me and said, "I don't get it! What was that whole thing in the room?!"



That robot book also mentioned Westworld - one of my favorites! (They actually had a picture of Yul Brynner in the book - I'm questioning the educational value of this book.) But he has to wait a few years to see that one - remember when the robots go crazy they start killing the resort guests - a little gruesome for an 8-yr-old.



And just to make sure you sleep well tonight, here are some pics of Fort Morgan near Gulf Shores.



We live so close and have never taken the kids there - they were mightily impressed. (This reminds me of Kitschy Coo's pictures of a castle in Edinburgh...yeah, okay, it's not so much like a castle, but an interesting stone structure with pretty grass around it?)



The little museum there has the coolest photos and letters - we spent several hours touring the whole thing.



This moat (I forgot the official term) is the coolest part to me.



Well, no, maybe this view of Mobile Bay and nearby Dauphin Island was really the coolest. There was a traffic jam of boats out here - oil spill business I guess? Alright, finish your glass of wine and go to bed - I'll put away the slide projector and lock up after myself.

Butterick Teepee - Done!

Well I finished B4251 yesterday afternoon - hooray!



Forgive me for not matching my stripes on the front.



Do you like sewing straight seams for hours at a time? These panels are about 6 feet long, and there are 5 of them not counting the front door. That's why the child can stand up inside - they're very LONG panels. Do you have 10-12 yards of unwanted fabric sitting around? I had this giant roll from a church sale - $5 for the whole roll, and I still have some left if you're interested!



Dean drilled holes in the PVC pipes, so a special shout-out to him.



But it was all worth it for the happiness it brought (Jake enjoys the teepee as well), and my child gave me 2 extra hugs with thank-you's, plus he slept in it last night (did I mention it was really big?).

Now wasn't I supposed to be working on a fleece jacket?

Animal Fun

Well, I'm still cutting out jacket pattern pieces, and Lucas's teepee is underway but I have nothing to show yet. So, enjoy these 2 videos in the meantime. If you haven't seen OK Go's White Knuckles video, go do it now - especially if you're a doglover. Jake loved it and wants to be in the video, too!



And these little guys are just fun to watch. Not very smart, though - they think that wheel is for standing on and trying to jump out. They've never actually run on it. But they do love a good toilet paper roll!

Taking a Second for Blogging...

Okay, so I'm 2 lectures down and 3 to go, but they're spread out over the next couple of weeks so I can take a breather. And I'm one den meeting down and a pack meeting to go, but there's always planning that next den meeting. I'm also taking an exercise break. (I don't think walking on the treadmill two weeks in a row qualifies as a habit I'm taking a "break" from, but I'm sticking with my terminology.)

So instead of exercising while Lucas was at karate, I hit Hancock's giant 53% off sale to finally commit to some fleece for that Kwik Sew jacket. The fleece WAS $9.99/yard and up, but I got this red stuff for $4/yard!



And I finally committed to a waterproof overlay, so we'll see how this charcoal-ish stuff goes with the red (it was $4/yard too). I'm considering this my muslin and will send it to my sister for comments. If she likes it, she keeps it and I'll make myself another one. If she no-likey, she no-keepy and can send it back to me without guilt so I can make whatever adjustments are needed. I really can't picture how this will look, so I may be ripping the overlay off and just wearing a plain jacket - we'll see.



We did manage to get in a bit of this last weekend - that's Lucas standing up on the tube and not flying off.



And this is Lucas on Drew's back, but Drew never got up on all 4's for the picture I was planning.



What I was aiming for was something worthy of Cypress Gardens (thanks to RoadsideAmerica.com for the pic), but you can only do so much on a tube.



And doesn't this make you wonder if there were any deaths at Cypress Gardens training camp? How could you fall from this pyramid and not be killed instantly? I guess if you fell backwards. Random morbid thoughts...

New Oyster-Eating Champion

This is from an article by Dan Murtaugh in the Mobile Press Register today, about the new oyster champ at Wintzell's. The deal is if you eat 403 oysters in one hour and keep them down you break the 7-year-old record and win $25. I did not make this up and transcribed it straight from the paper. Enjoy:

"Half an hour gone, Orndoff stuck Nos. 398 and 399 on his fork and swallowed. He speared No. 400. The crowd bubbled with excitement.

That's when Orndoff vomited.

It started slow at first, just a tiny stream coming through his fingers. But he couldn't hold it in, retching a violent gray-brown river into a trash can next to his feet.

He cursed, slapped the trash can. The crowd groaned.

"So close!" one woman shouted.

Then Orndoff pointed to the trash can, looked at a shucker and asked: "If I eat these in here, can I keep going?"

Donlon nodded her head.

Orndoff filled his cup with what had once filled his belly, and guzzled the regurgitated bivalves.

He quit after another 22 fresh ones, ending at 421 oysters.

Orndoff kissed his wife [ewww!], accepted the $25 check, then pondered the moment.

"I'm full," he said. "I've never been this full. I actually want to go throw up again."

Accessory Makeover and $.89 Patterns!

Yesterday I was supposed to meet with some mighty important people from out of town, and this was all I could find to wear.



I had to work so I didn't want to wear a skirt, and my Jalie pants are now too short to wear with fashionable shoes (they're fine with flats, but then I look dumpy). It was also too hot to wear my nice Jalie top that I think is so cute. So I asked Dean if his first thought was "she looks tall and skinny" (because of the low-riding pants and tall heels) or "she looks like a man." He said I looked like a tall, skinny man. Then he asked if I was wearing his belt.

So, fast-forward to one hour before the meeting and I'm done with work, so I drive over to Dillard's because they have the best shoe department in my opinion. I whiz through and at the very last moment find the perfect pair of shoes I've been dreaming about - kitten-heeled (doesn't that just SOUND feminine?), pointy (which is always sexy, isn't it?), and shiny leopard-printed (RRRRRRRow!). I stuff my socks and shoes in the bag and tell the saleswoman I'm wearing these suckers outta here.

Now to the belt department - at the last minute I find a gold chain belt - gasp! I rip off my old brown one and ask the saleswoman how exactly one wears a belt like this (being so new to feminine womanhood, you know). I came in as a man, and I go out as a sexy hot momma...or, you know, looking more like a woman. I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, seriously, except without the whole prostitution thing. I guess this is the opposite of that. Never mind.



And the Buttericks were on sale for 4 days - hooray! I spent a grand total of $3.85 on these. I have no idea why I bought this Retro 6582...well, yes I do. I usually buy patterns because a pretty blond woman is wearing something sexy, and I assume I'll look like her if I make this outfit. Does anybody else do that?



Obviously this is not a pretty blond woman, and the orange shirt was very off-putting to me, but the 5391 will be another attempt to get some decent pants to wear to work every day.



Here's 5542 which I'm considering for a Mardi Gras dress.



And thanks to Butterick for including one craft (4251)that a boy might want to make!