Sewing Failure?

Monday, July 26, 2010

(Photo from Freshly Picked)

I have held on to this awesome tutorial from Freshly Picked in my Google Reader for a while now. It looks so easy and just like the kind of skirt I like to wear... simple cotton, gathered, knee length... and with POCKETS! I've looked over this tutorial a million times and finally tried to construct it myself a few weeks ago. I got the inseam pockets on the first try (woohoo!) and all was going great until it came time to attach it to my 2" elastic waistband. I had kind of a hard time getting used to the whole stretching the elastic from both sides as you're pushing it through the machine thing. Then, I realized that instead of following the directions exactly, I had been slack and actually had 2 times the amount of fabric (my waist measurement) instead of 1.5 times. This really added up when I realized that the elastic wasn't stretching THAT much and that I had a huge bunch of fabric left over all wadded up in the front of my skirt. I couldn't just cut it either because one of my precious pockets was included in that wad! UGH! I put it down and walked away.
Jump to yesterday when I decided I really wanted that skirt. The fabric was too cute and I had made those pockets, dammit! I went outside and sat on my deck with my trusty seam ripper and went to ripping away the waistband elastic. I finally got it off and decided it would be best to pre-gather the fabric and then attach it since I now know that there isn't enough stretch in the elastic. I did that (have I mentioned how much I hate gathering with the basting stitches technique? I NEVER get them even enough to satisfy my OCD) and actually got a finished skirt! I was all proud of myself and put it on to show George. Know what he said after staring at it for a solid minute? "It looks HUGE!" Excuse me?! What did you say?! ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?????! "It's HUGE because I'm HUGE you jerk-off!" Then came my two year old tantrum. I knew what he was saying... it was too full but after the seam ripping and feeling like I salvaged the skirt it was all I wanted to hear. I can kind of agree with him, I should have gone with the 1.5 times my waist measurement instead of a full 2 times but STILL! Oh well, I'll still rock it. I don't care if I look bigger. I think the cute fabric and the pockets make up for it. Hmpf.

... and I call myself a blogger...pfffft!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Man, oh man. I am a horrible blogger. I always think of things to write but then realize that no one wants to hear about it. haha. Then again, I subscribe to over 400 blogs (or something equally embarrassing) and a lot of time I read crap I don't want to so I have decided just to go for it.

Some things that have happened recently in no particular order:

*My business, Thimble Kiss, is booming! I started selling in a local salon, Wink, and have had to replenish clips twice already because they're selling like hot cakes! Its great money for dropping off merch and letting it sit. I even had a girl come up to me at a huge craft show I just did and tell me that she bought one of my clips to wear for her wedding the weekend before! She saw my stuff on etsy but it was really last minute so she popped over to Wink and picked one up. I love those kinds of stories!

*Oh! And tomorrow is my one year Etsy anniversary! WOOHOO! I've sold way more than my 'sold' count suggests, but I'm fairly happy with this year's work.

*Said huge craft show was The Big Crafty here in Asheville. It is a semi-annual show that is definitely the biggest of the year here. I was included with 140 other vendors and had a really, really great day. I also got a pair of earrings from Figs & Ginger and met a few people who's blogs I read and who's names I've seen about town! It was SUCH a fun day and I'm really glad I did it (and made mad dough to boot!)

*My best friend, Christina, had her baby girl! Bailey Annabelle Bolton was born June 12th. I got down there as soon as I could before that new baby scent went away and got some snuggles in. She really is the sweetest little mush ball ever. I also have an affection for angry baby photos. =)


*My summer break is winding down now. We have had a few visitors come into town and had a great time this summer. I've been working and have enjoyed being able to come home at night and crash at seven pm if I want to. Classes start back up in August. I'll be sad to be in class until 10pm three nights a week (after working 10 hours all day...ugh.) but I'm getting closer and closer to finishing. I'm happy to report that this semester will be the last math class of my college career. EVER. I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

*In a few weeks I am heading west! I'm going to visit my bff in Austin. I have no idea what we're going to do except shotgun beers and dance like fools. Should be a good time.

*My friend Annie took some photos of me for my etsy store at The Biltmore Estate a few months ago. Its the largest private home in America and I try to avoid it like the plague. The grounds are vast and gorgeous though so we found some off the beaten trail places to shoot (ie: no where near the house!) and I am kind of obsessed with these photos. I know, its sick to be obsessed with photos of yourself, but there are a few of them that I swear I've seen in dreams. I have an affinity for wheat field/tall grass photos and we took quite a few. Needless to say, I haven't actually used any for my etsy store. I have a few that I am planning to use for some listings tomorrow and I'm excited about that. Honestly though, I need to make more flowers! After The Big Crafty and another shipment to Wink I'm nearly dry!


*I saw a great quote that I think could describe me pretty accurately today. I think it was on the back of a book or in some liner notes. I can't remember the source but it was something along the lines of 'I could never be president because the US media outlets can't say the word "fuck" and so they would never be able to accurately quote me.' I love my potty mouth. =)

So that's really it for now. I am seriously going to try harder to post stuff I find interesting and hopefully won't bore you to death. You can also find me on the virtual book of faces you never wanted to see again here: Thimble Kiss Fan Page
 
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