Life In Technicolor

Queen Victoria's Birthday

Mon, 23 May 2011 21:13:16 GMT

Went to our May reenactment, Queen Victoria's Birthday, this past weekend and wrote a short blog post about it here.

Also, I stil have a ton of stuff left for sale on the Spring Cleaning post, so please do take a gander if you're looking for fabric, patterns, or reenacting clothes.

Spring Cleaning Sale

Sun, 15 May 2011 21:39:29 GMT

I spent the day organizing my sewing stuff, and have listed a ton of fabric, patterns, and finished reeancting garments over here on the other blog, as, well, they're taking up space and I'd like to pass them on to somebody who could use them. If you see something you want, head on over there and leave a comment.

Finished fan-front!

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:26:51 GMT

I finished the green plaid fan-front that I've been working on in time for the reenactment this past Saturday. You can read my review of the pattern that I used right over here.

Putting the "fan" in "fan-front"

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:06:18 GMT

I just finished the fan part of my fan-front bodice. I wrote a blog post about the process of how I did this, which you can check out here.

Buh-bye LJ (well, kinda)

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:21:04 GMT

I've been here on LiveJournal for a little over 2 years (last month was my 2 year blogviserary!), orginally joining because of the awesome (and still awesome) costume community here, but lately it seems like there is this huge exodus of costuming LJ-ers to more blogger-friendly sites like Blogspot. And this is something I totally get, since LJ is very informal and not the best host when it comes to online portfolios. With that in mind, I've been contemplating making a switch over to a more user-friendly site for showing off costumes (unfortunately, being a poor college student prevents me from buying my own domain name) for quite a while, and finally did so. With that I present to you my new blog, Anna in Technicolor:

http://annaintechnicolor.wordpress.com/

I'm not leaving LJ. I don't post here that often and I don't think I would be that sorely missed if I did leave, but I do like the informal nature of LJ and many other aspects of its quite informal nature. That being said, I plan my Wordpress blog to serve as a way to showcase my costumes in a portfolio setting, but also have a place to include tutorials and in-progress pics of costumes in a more organized manner than I can currently do on LJ.

I've already posted a few entries there, mostly about the dress and quilted bonnet that I've been working on this month. I suddenly have this huge urge to get back into costuming with a renewed fervor, and it is my hope that this new blog will showcase my costumes and include only (or mostly only) sewing-related content, unlike my LiveJournal which started with the same idea but was soon interspersed with "I hate school" and "look what I just bought" posts. I already have posts planned for the rest of the week, and am currently writing a little tutorial on modifying the LM Pereline pattern into a mantle. I definitely don't plan on posting everyday, but I do want to get in the habit of blogging more, and since I've been sewing everyday (after an internship falling through and taking an online class this quarter, I suddenly have lots of time on my hands) I now have more interesting things to post about.

I really have a lot of fabric

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:08:19 GMT

I decided to organize my fabric yesterday with the start of Spring break and a motivation to get some spring cleaning done now that I have the time to do so. Anyways, I have a shelf in my closet that I've been throwing my fabric into for a long while, so I finally got the idea to organize the stuff better and my solution in doing so was to get canvas bins and then group them based on fiber content. But first I had to take the fabric out of the closet.

Once I did so, I realized that I really had a lot of fabric (okay, so this wasn't a new revelation):

And readers, this isn't all of it. I have a basket where I put fabric for projects I'm working on currently and it's stuffed to the top with more fabric.

Anyways, it took 6 bins but I finally got everything nicely organized and categorized, mostly by fiber content:

Since you can't see the "lame" (according to my sister) labels that I made out of post-it notes for each bin, they are, from left to right: cotton twill, sheer and apparel cotton, cotton scraps, linen & reenacting, wool, and silk.

Since I'm a petite flower, I do have to use a chair to get a bin down (sinc they all managed to fit on the top shelf of my closet) when I need something, but it's just so nice to finally have this nice and organized that that's a small price to pay.

And in a semi-related note, I picked up the book Fit for Real People after hearing so many good things about it on several of the fabulous modern sewing blogs I frequent. Although the book has very odd photography and is a bit old school, I picked it up because I am intrigued by the whole concept of tissue-fitting, which seems like a fabulous alternative to making muslins. Confession time: I hate making muslins, they are my least favorite aspect of the sewing process, and they can be very time consuming. Although I am a bit hesitant to fit myself using tissue paper, since it is fragile. But their method of taping the seam allowances before you fit sounds like a good one, and I plan on giving it a try during my marathon sewing this weekend. Anyways, I'm trying to say that I highly recommend this book for those of you that do modern sewing!

Okay, off to go cut out some pattern pieces since that's all that I have energy to do tonight . . .

Sew Expo loot

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:32:31 GMT

I went to the Sewing Expo today with me mum, and since today was the last day it's going on, we got some nice discounts. They actually handed out little coupon books, which was a first this year. But as a poor college kid, I'm not complaining. ;-)))))

Right, so this year I got some fabulous items, but all aimed toward vintage/modern sewing! I got 7 yards of yellow wool from the Pendleton booth at the fabulous rate of $4 a yard (I'll be able to knock out a few modern projects with that), 3 cute ribbons for headbands, a 1940s skirt pattern, a lavendar linen with a white rose pattern (to make a copy of this Emma Pillsbury dress in a different colorway) and a very neat red silk print that is sort of like a men's tie fabric but will be made into the Sencha blouse (the pattern of which I got for Christmas!). Most years I come away with a ton of stuff for reenacting, but this year I'm more into using what I already have. Although I did buy some white batiste for undersleeves, collars, and cuffs (shown under the 1940s skirt pattern). But I didn't buy anything from the French laces guy (who is actually Belgian) and typically has fabulous stuff. This is my 3rd (or 4th) year attending, and I definitely have favorite booths that I always frequent, and it seems like their merchandise hasn't changed a whole lot.

I've had a crazy amount of deadlines (I had a scholarship, paper, and presentation due every other day this past week) which has kept me occupied and catatonic at night. But, on Friday night I somehow summoned the energy to mock up another fan-front bodice from the Laughing Moon pattern. I realized that it didn't fit last time because a) I cut it out a size too big and b) I used super cheap-o fabric that just stretched. So, I cut out the bodice in the right size this time and used actually sturdy muslin and that seemed to solve all my fitting issues. If only all bodices were this easy to fit . . .

I'm quite smitten with the results, although I might take some of the width out of the fan part of the dress, as it's quite full. I'm making this up in a green wool plaid that I got in remnants at the Pendleton outlet a few months ago for $5 a pound, and you really can't beat that.

So, this week's goal is to get the fan cut out and hand-gathered. In-between writing the 10 page paper I have due on Thursday. Have I mentioned yet how excited I am for Sping Break?

Back with a sewing list

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:48:19 GMT

We're more than halfway through February and this is my first post! Apologies for lack of updating. Lately I've had a lot of significant real-life things to attend to (like declaring my major and applying for internships for next quarter and summer study abroad programs simultaneously) which have taken up a good chunk of my time.

Anyways, with a little over 2 months before my first event of the year, I've decided to update my wardrobe and fill in some long-overdue gaps, while taking a breif hiatus from modern sewing. With that in mind, here's my to-sew list:

-Finish my purple wool coat
      - I've had this project since, oh, 2007 and worked on it in bits and pieces. But, I have the entire coat cut out and mostly sewn, and all that's left is attaching the velvet trim, sewing the sleeve lining, and attaching the sleeves. Oh, and closures.
-Green plaid fan-front dress
      - I adore my Neopolitan dress that I made last year, but I've been in need of a good basic wool dress for a while now. With that in mind, I think this one will be perfect to either dress up or dress down depending on the event. I got some gorgeous green plaid in the remnant section of the Pendleton outlet that will be perfect.
-Quilted Bonnets
     - I've been comissioned to make a silk quilted bonnet for my dear fake auntie based on an extant bonnet in the museum's collection, and in return I'm getting some lovely silk taffeta from Renaissance Fabrics to make my own! I'm using this lovely silk and I think I might make a bonnet with a longer tabs in the front.

And last project is a new silk apron for myself. The event is, afterall, called "Sowing to Sewing" and I'm planning to sew in the parlor. I'm using turquoise silk taffeta from the awesome fabric.com sale a year back:

Oh and the wrinkles are because I've been working on this project on and off for the past year and I just took it out of the bag it was folded in. I do have a lot of half-finished projects, which actually makes sewing faster. Well, when you finally get to them. ;)

Writer's Block: Timeless tales

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 02:06:48 GMT

What were your favorite books as a child, and why?

View 1772 Answers

In no particular order:

Matilda by Roald Dahl
Totally love one of the morals of the story that just because you're born into adverse circumstances doesn't mean you yourself can't be great or have a great life. Plus, the movie adaptation was fabulous.

The Boston Jane Series by Jennifer L. Holm
Okay, if I was actually a lady in Washington Territory in 1855 this would be my exact story. I would leave my comfortable Philadelphia home to follow my older and good-looking fiancee to Washington Territory, all the while falling in love with the tall, dark, and handsome sailer who worked on the boat that I took my journey on. Once I landed and found out what a traitor my fiancee was, I wouldn't feel bad about having made out with the sailor. It would be rough learning how to live and survive on the frontier, but eventually I would manage it.

Until Angels Close my Eyes by Lurlene McDaniel
Fun, modern girl falls in love with an Amish boy who wears a top hat and drives a buggy. Need I say more?

I've always had older tastes in books (reading teenage books when I was a kid and adult books when I was a teenager), so I guess that's why I'm lacking in really "little kid" books in this list.

In the spirit of being a copycat :)

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 03:15:25 GMT

It seems like every single blog I read had a new post today. So I suddenly feel the need to post, as well. ;)

I had a lovely 3-day weekend. Hardly any homework, so I got to spend time relaxing, sewing (almost done with my trench coat! I did marathon sewing on it Saturday and then sort of lost my energy and didn't do too much on it afterwards, so I plan on picking it up again this next weekend), and me and mum went on a gorgeous walk at the wildlife refuge. I also watched the first episode of Downton Abbey and it is absolutely fabulous. Gorgeous costumes, the story is so intricate and interesting to watch, and it has so many people from other period dramas I love and adore.

I know it seems like I haven't been posting much sewing content, but I have several long-term projects (both in regards to period and modern/vintage sewing) in the works right now that I hope to reveal soon. One is something that I have been contemplating for a while and is finally happening, and another set of projects is an inevitability of having too much fabric and being in a hobby where my outfits get a lot of wear and need replacing. But that's all I'm gonna say right now. :)

Alas . . .

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 02:58:58 GMT

. . . the snow turned into slush by the morning and school was not cancelled.

And I'm feeling decidedly tired considering that I woke up at 5 am like a giddy schoolgirl to check if school was cancelled and it wasn't. So, I half-sleepily, half-disappointingly went back to bed.

Oh, and in sewing news, I used the 19th century sleeve sewing method instead of the 21st century one when setting in the sleeves on this top that I'm working on. Unfortunately, I didn't bother to connect the little notches they have you make, because normally it's lame and common-sense where the pieces go. So the sleeve was all wonkily set and didn't sit right after I stitched it in and tried the shirt on. So, I had to take out the sleeves and resew them. Note to self: the underarm seam matches the side seam in modern stuff. I guess the pattern companies don't assumed that you're coming into modern sewing with a background of 19th century stuff. Because, really, before I started reenacting at 15, I could only sew lame things like pillows. And then I learned to sew fan-front dresses and petticoats and quilted bonnets. And after that came the modern skirts, dresses, and tops. :)

Random thoughts this Tuesday night

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 03:01:30 GMT

Hoping that it snows really heavily tonight. We might get up to 3", which would be fabulous since I have a quiz tomorrow that I didn't really study for. Plus, I'd really like a day off. Even though this weekend is a 3-day weekend. What can I say, I'm still adjusting to being in school after a measly 2 weeks off.

Oh, and remember my stalker from last quarter? He's back! Only now he sits diagnolly behind me and stares at the back of my head. Which is also creepy, considering that the class is in the same room that the history class I had last quarter was in . . .

I need to go to bed, but I want to post

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 05:28:36 GMT

While making lemon bars today, I accidentally grated my finger (well, my thumb, which I guess isn't technically a finger) instead of the lemon rind. So that kinda hurt. But I got out of doing dishes.

And school starts tomorrow. I really don't want my LJ to turn into a whiny "I hate college" type of thing, so I won't complain too much. And I'm actually looking forward to this quarter's classes, even though 'm taking 2 400-level classes.

And I really need to think of a title, but it's getting late and I'm tired.

Oh wait, just thought of one.

Not very unique, but it'll do.

And I'm going to bed now. :)

2010 recap meme

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 01:43:28 GMT

I saw this on meme several times on my friend page, and I thought it would be a nice succinct way to sum up my year. Plus, I just got back from driving to and from Nona's house for a sewing day, and 1 sentence answers seem to be all I can muster right now. ;)

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Move out and live on my own!

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore, so no.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.

5.What countries/states did you visit?
Just Canada. And Hawaii last week.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
To be content in the place that I am in in my life right now

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 2 - The day I moved out of my parents house and into my own studio!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Again, probably moving out on my own.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Moving back in with my parents after dorming for 5 months.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not in the physical sense

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Probably my 1950s/1960s grey and pink sheer dress.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Hmm, can't think of anyone!

13. Who's behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Can't think of anyone for this one, either.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, bills, fabric, and vintage clothes

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Summer vacation. And then I had to do summer school and the excitement kind of went away

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
"Dogs Days Are Over" by Florence + The Machine

17. Compared to this time last year are you?
a) happier or sadder: Sadder, unfortunately
b) thinner or fatter: Thinner
c) richer or poorer: Richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Travel

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wallow in self-pity

20. How did you spend Christmas?
At home, with family

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Unfortunately, no

22. How many one-night stands.
Um, none.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
It's a toss-up between Glee and Pushing Daisies (which I recently discovered and just adore!)

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate someone now who I hated this time last year. Does that count?

25. What was the best book you read?
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Glee!

27. What did you want and get?
A place to call my own in this gorgeous antique building, and the opporotunity to live with people who aren't hormone-filled jackasses

28. What did you want and not get?
A gentlemenfriend

29. What was your favorite film this year?
It didn't come out this year, but Inglorious Basterds was quite good

30. What did you do for your birthday, and how old were you?
For my 20th, we went to the Cheesecake Factory along Waikiki and then to my grandma's condo to sort through geneology and old photos.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasureably more satisfying?
Acutally enjoying college. Unfortunately, I'm still struggling with this one.

32. What was your fashion concept for 2010?
Vintage

33. What kept you sane?
Coming back home to my parents' house over the weekends

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most.
No one, really.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Healthcare

36. Who do you miss?
My dad. He's in Poland right now for family stuff.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
I met a lot of people, but none that I would qualify as "best"

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Life can suck and be hard and sometimes you have to grit your teeth and do things that you don't want to do.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"One day you will go away from this" from "Men of Snow" by Ingrid Michaelson

The big ol' x-mas update

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 01:01:27 GMT

In the craziness of my Hawaii trip and the recent holidays, blogging has fallen to the wayside due to being so busy and not having internet on my laptop because of the silly router.

Anyways, my recent trip to Hawaii was mostly uneventful. It was sunny for 2 days and then rained horribly the rest of the time. Plus, there was plenty of family drama caused (mostly) by my 90 year-old granny just having too much time on her hands. But that's a whole 'nother issue that I won't go into here . . .

I tried to dress in some of my me-made summer clothes while in Hawaii, despite the humidity and heat, so here are a few pictures from my trip:

On the hotel balcony with the vintage watch that my grandmother gave me (it doesn't work, but it looks pretty so I just use it as a bracelet):

I also finished the circle skirt shown at the start of the post right in time for Christmas. It's made out of a grey plaid wool that I got from the Pendleton booth 2 years ago at the Sew Expo and finally made up using this pattern.

The red purse was a lucky find at a vintage shop near campus. I've been looking for a vintage purse for ages, but the ones I find are mostly dark colors and very blah, so when I found this awesome one, I couldn't pass it up.

Anyways, this week will be spent sewing at a reasonable pace and sleeping in. I begin school again in exactly 1 week, and this break just feels like it's going by so fast. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Sewing sleeveless shirt dresses in December

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:22:41 GMT

It probably seems counter-productive to be sewing any form of sleeveless garment in December with the climate I live in, but I'm actually flying to Hawaii on Thursday. I've been very mum about this trip because we weren't sure if we were going to go so bought our tickets fairly recently and I'm just going to visit family (2 of my uncles, an aunt, and my granny live there). Seriously, when I told my Polish culture professor that I couldn't pick up my paper on Thursday because I would be in an airplane, everybody was like "Ooh, Hawaii" and I was like:"Calm down, this will be my 4th time there and instead of doing touristy things I will be watching Murder she wrote with my grandmother and helping her sort through her geneology."

Anyways, I started this shirtdress this past summer after completing a similar version of it in green. I didn't finish it because I promptly got bored of it, and stuck it in the closet thinking that it would be an easy project to finish when I felt like working on it again. Well, I need something sleeveless to wear in Hawaii's tropical climate, so I pulled this out yesterday and (almost) finished it. It's made of a pink polka dot cotton print that I bought like 3 years ago, but seemed very 1950s to me.

I based it on Betty Draper's pink dress that she wears while taking tea with Francine, although her dress is made out of a swiss dot fabric:

I left my buttonhole foot at my apartment, so I won't be able to do the buttonholes until tomorrow, which is why my dress is currently being held together with a pin. :)

So, tomorrow I will be doing my only final and then Thursday will be off to Hawaii. Our plans are to visit with family mostly, but we'll also be visiting the USS Arizona, doing some shopping and celebrating my 20th birthday. :-)))))) So, I probably won't see you all until after Christmas, in which case, have a very merry holiday season however you choose to celebrate!!!!

Phew!

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:39:09 GMT

In the past week (well, 5 days) I wrote 2 course papers totalling 16 pages and 42 footnotes. Which was just exhausting and more proof that procrastination really will get you nowhere. But the quarter is almost over with just one final next week, and I'm looking forward to winter break and finally doing stuff for Christmas. 2 weeks before the event. :)

What's black, white, and red all over?

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:30:28 GMT

My new basque bodice!

I finished this basque this past weekend for our 19th c. Christmas Event on Saturday, which was fabulous. The basque one of those projects that I started 2 years ago, got frustrated with, and stuck in the back of the closet. I finally pulled it out last weekend after wanting something "Christmas-y" to wear to the event and having no time to make a new dress. It turns out putting horizontal darts near the waistline is what solves a lot of the fitting issues. Oh well, at least I now know this for future reference. :)

The basque is made out of red wool and trimmed with black velvet on the sleeves and bodice edge. It closes with hooks and eyes, but I sewed on some black glass buttons that I had in my stash for a finishing touch. The red hair bow and collar are both ones that Nona gave in the past so big kudos for her for helping to (once again) outfit me for an event!

Back view:

Oh, and apologizes for my lengthy absence from these parts recently. Last week was crazy - I had 2 papers due, a final exam and a quiz, and combined with the holiday season, I've been short on time. This week promises to be equally crazy, as well, with 2 final papers due this week (but if you write your final papers the week before finals, you don't have to take finals during finals week, so I guess that's the trade off).

And a huge "thank you!" to Melissa (of MJ Ng Photography) who took the fabulous first picture of me with my fur muff and quite appropriately named it "Confessions of an 1850s Shopaholic." :-)))))

Red woolies

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:59:18 GMT

I have some time to kill before the 'rents come to pick me up for Thanksgiving and the subsequent weekend (school was cancelled again today), so I thought I would share pictures of the hat I made this past weekend. It's made out of red wool flannel (the same flannel I used in my 1850s wool petticoat, I might add!) with instructions from this book. The pattern for this beret in the book calls for it to be turned inside-out, with the stitches and raw edges showing. That just looked awful and my wool was starting to fray, so I turned it right-side out (or wrong-side out) and wore it that way.

As for the coat, it was a lucky find at the Junior's Department of Nordstrom. 60% wool at under $50, plus in my favorite color red. :)

And happy early Thanksgiving to everyone!

Snow Day!

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:17:25 GMT

Well, it's more like a "it's below freezing and the snow that fell yesterday froze on the roads and buses are flying into ditches" day, but still, classes are cancelled! Which is good, because my foray into circle-skirt sewing this weekend cut into my schoolwork time, and I'm a bit behind in reading and paper-writing. So, today is catch-up day, while wearing sweats and sipping cups of tea. But I wouldn't rule out naps or costume-drama watching during the day, either. ;)

A Series of Random Updates

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:55:36 GMT

Despite my impromptu post last night about Glee (it was a very good episode!) I realize that things have been quiet here on the blogging front. And that's due to 2 things, really: recent sewing projects going wrong and lack of anything exciting happening here at Chez Anna. Well, actually, lots of random things have happened to me over the past week, and since I can't seem to make them into a coherent post, I've decided to just update you about what's been going on in my life using bullet points:

Almost got my power/utilites turned off today. Good thing I checked my mail because both the bill and a letter berrating me about not paying showed up at my mailbox. I should mention that the letter was postmarked October 13th. So, when you send me my power bill 1 month late, it's going to be late getting back to you. It's taken care of now, but this was such a learning experience, since I've never had to pay for utilities before.
I've decided I need to go off gluten again. Too many sinus headaches (which is what happens when I eat gluten) and an expanding waistline are to blame for this decision. I've been eating rice with veggies and meat a lot for my meals lately, and it's both quite yummy and filling. The sinus headaches are not completely gone, but they are much better. Needless to say, I'm so glad that I have a kitchen this year because trying to be gluten-free while having a student meal plan last year was next to impossible.
I've also decided to put the trench coat aside for now and revisit it when it gets warmer in the spring. It has been very cold here lately (it might even snow here on Sunday!) and I've been living in my wool pea coat and scarves. Suffice it to say, I also messed up a bit in the coat in making the shoulder seam too tight after I took it in because I decided I didn't want shoulder pads because they remind me of the '80s. So, I have to do some fiddly work and I'd rather just do that later.
In news about my love-life (or, my non-existant love life) I think I have a stalker. Okay, stalker is probably too strong of a word to describe this particular gentelmen. He would probably be what you call an admirer. This guy is in my SE Asian history class (both the lecture and quiz sections) and at first I thought his actions were just random, but now I see that they're not. This guy will walk behind me into quiz section each Friday, wait to see where I sit down, and then sit next to me or behind me. In lectures, he sits 5 seats away from me and will stare at me during class. He's nice enough, but I am just not into him. He uses foul language and clicks his pens too loud. I really don't forsee anything special happening between the two of us, but it is nice to be admired by somebody of the opposite sex that I'm not related to. :)

Well, that''s what's been going on in my life. And sorry for the weird font - I wrote part of this post in Word and then pasted it here and it kept that font.

Tuesday night

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:14:29 GMT

Gwenyth Paltrow is on Glee right now! And she can sing (although being married to the lead singer of Coldplay can't hurt ;)).

My very crappy day just got a whole lot better. :)

A quick note before heading into the weekend . . .

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:23:15 GMT

Just wanted to post and say that I won't be going to the fun reenactment this weekend that coincides with the ALHFAM conference. :( This week was so crazy and exhausting with midterms and icky personal issues to deal with, and I just need a break. Plus, I'll be going to the Polish bazaar and film festival this weekend to practice my Polish and eat pierogi, so the timing doesn't work out either. I'll definitely plan on being at the Christmas event next month, now that I'll have time to think about something other than exams. :) And their won't be any Polish events then to get in the way then, either. ;)

Halloween 2011

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:29:47 GMT

Well, I ran out of time to come up with a Halloween costume for yesterday, with mid-terms and sewing costumes for both my sister and her dog (the former was a butterfly and the latter a lamb). But, for Halloween next year I totally want to go as Mia Wasikowska as Alice (from Tim Burton's creepy remake of Alice in Wonderland):

I only have 364 days to go. :)

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:15:02 GMT

We're supposed to get drenched this week here in the Pacific Northwest, and so I finally bought a pair of rainboots:

I find it very interesting that I've lived here all of my life and have finally bought a pair of rainboots. Although, they do say that true Northwesterners don't use umbrellas. ;)

I'm trying to get used to wearing them, but they bend funny when I walk up stairs. Also, they have a funny rubber smell that I hope will go away soon.

I finally got started stitching the trench coat today! I cut out all the pieces last week, though I had to get new lining fabric, since the china silk I bought at Dharma (per the suggestion on the pattern envelope) was just too flimsy and see through. I found a cute printed houndstooth fabric at Joanns this weekend during their mega sale in the "silky" section (so, yes, it is polyester, but I quite like it).

Although, I did read through all the instructions first before I started (first time I've done that) which sort of freaked me out. There are over 140 numbered instructions, although the number of instructions that pertain to my coat is about half of that number. I'm trying to get through about 10 steps a day, although we'll see how that goes. Today I got the interfacing pinned on, the pockets stitched, and the side front and side back sewn to each other. I'm just hoping that it'll turn out all right, since I decided not to make a toile. Which could either make things very time-effecient and I'll come out with a lovely new trench, or very stupid and I'll have wasted lots of fabric and have no new trench. I guess we'll see next week. :)