I almost have a dress

I made tons of progress! I finished the bodice, broke my sewing machine, briefly thought I was going to have to pay too much money to have it fixed, used the internet to figure out what was wrong and fixed it, and then sewed everything together! I have to put the zipper in and hem the bottom. I will also be messing with the elastic and hopefully not destroying the bodice. This pattern just isn't up to dealing with my boobs! After adjusting the gathered section so it fit the skirt, it became apparent that the elastic was too long, so it needs to be shortened. Then, I will have a dress! And there will be pictures of it!

Progress!!

I have a bodice! Well, most of one, anyway.

In case you're wondering, no, that little strip of fabric is not enough for my ample bosom, but I've read that the dress fits loosely so I think I can cheat a bit with the empire waist. If nothing else, I'm sure I can find a very nice strip of lace somewhere to sew to the top!

Also, my very first gathering!! I was so proud, I didn't even have to Google it. I read the instructions and looked at the pictures until I understood. Has that always been a Thing?

I'm back, and I'm sewing

Woo, it's been a while! About 3 years. Not much has changed. I still start projects and never finish them. I'm still fat. I still like to bake. One new thing is, I've started sewing!

I learned to sew when I was 10 for 4-H, and pretty much haven't done any sewing since. I was recently sent a link to this AMAZING quilt show going on in DC and it made me want to sew things of beauty, too. I pulled out the old sewing machine that my parents bought me when I went to college (quote refurbished unquote, and probably older than me), and ..... sewed absolutely nothing because it apparently couldn't take the years of neglect and committed suicide. Luckily, this was over the 4th of July weekend and if there's one thing Americans like more than mixing alcohol and fireworks, it's sales on holiday weekends. Joann's had a good deal on a basic sewing machine, and I was back in business. I made a couple of quilt blocks and, pleased with myself, decided to try making clothes.

When I was in college, I decided that I hated my green bedroom wall with floral print border that only 3 years earlier I had begged for, so I bought like a bazillion yards of fabric to cover it (ok, maybe not that much, but I have no idea how to measure fabric. I just have to take the nice lady at Joann's word for it that she really did give me 3 yards. Anyway, there was a lot.). I held on to it for whatever reason and was able to use it to make this "practice" skirt to remind myself how to read patterns. I learned a lot, like that the people who made the pattern actually do know what they're talking about when they show you how to lay the pattern out on the fabric, and that when the diagram says to lay something out on the fold, you should keep the fold and not cut through it. (Why would I cut through it?? Seriously, Diane.) I was vaguely confused on the skirt part, but I figured that maybe the pattern assumed I was smarter than I am, and would know that if it called to sew two parts of something together and I clearly had in my hands four parts, I should repeat the step. It was only when I got to the yoke that I realized I had done something wrong, and only when I started on the next pattern (see below) that I realized WHAT I had done wrong.

Satisfied that I had learned all I needed to know (ha!), I moved on to a harder pattern, McCall's 5619 (View A, if you're wondering - I hate puffy sleeves). I bought some pretty light blue fabric with embroidered flowers and eyelet lace, and some plain white to go underneath so I could wear it in public without traumatizing children or getting arrested. At this point, you're expecting me to chronicle how spectacularly I failed, but I haven't yet!! I successfully cut out the pattern, paying attention to the funny little pictures and words, and equally successfully used fusible interfacing for the first time. Tonight I hope to (successfully) sew parts of it together.

Because I just can't help getting ahead of myself, I also spent time yesterday looking for the perfect sweater to wear with it. I'm leaning toward this one, because I feel that the boob area is the most interesting part of this dress, and most other cardis button at the top and sort of cover it up. Another option is a see-through, laceweight meshy design.

Cakey goodness

A cake made for a friend's 30th pirate-themed surprise birthday party. Her 30th birthday party, I mean, not the 30th party she had that was pirate-themed and a surprise. That I know of. *sigh* Anyway, the cake turned out better than I expected, what with the bottom layer breaking in half while I was putting it together and refusing to go back into a square and all. I also had some issues with the frosting and making it the right temperature so that I could actually decorate with it - the first bag was waay too soft and so some of the stars don't have definition at all. So I put it in the freezer and the second bag was perfect, but then I left it in so the third bag was too stiff. The skull and crossbones was pretty much the crowning achievement of the cake, considering I wasn't really expecting it to look like anything even approaching a skull and crossbones. Overall, it was very yummy.

This was my first cake using my brand new Kitchen-aid 9 speed mixer courtesy of my parents!! Yay. I used this recipe, with this frosting recipe. The frosting was AMAZING. It was cream cheese, but also buttercream. Highly recommended. The vanilla (it was supposed to be lemon but I made it vanilla, using 1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla instead of the 3 of lemon) was more cream cheesey than the chocolate, so it helped to balance out the cocoaness of the chocolate. I also made the cappuccino-fudge cheesecake. I made the ganache without Kahlua this time, because Kahlua is expensive and because there were little kids at the party. I did, however, attempt the lattice on top, which I usually don't.

Friday!

So the sock .... I'm finished with the cuff and ready to start on the actual leg pattern. If I ever pick it up again, I'll know where I am!

I've been working on a couple of little guys from Creepy Cute Crochet - another grim reaper, a cthuhlu, and a "Day of the Dead" guy, requested by my best-friend-since-6th-grade. I'm actually almost done - I have to do eyes, a scythe, and a jacket for the DotD guy. Yay, I might actually finish something!

I found a pattern for a really neat hoodie last night. The link is saved on my home computer and I'm at work, and I don't remember what it's called or the name of the yarn used, so I can't post it here. But it's really neat! It has bell sleeves, with the trim and a vertical "stripe" up the middle of the sweater done in seed stitch. I'm thinking it would be awesome in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, navy or oregano. And my husband was totally cool with me spending $50 on yarn, provided I actually finish the sweater. Therein lies the rub ......

In non-knitting news, I finally gave in and read the Twilight "saga," (is it really a saga if the whole thing takes place in the span of 2 1/2 years?) known in our house as the Teen Vampire Mormon Porn (because romance novels are porn for women). In about 3 days. The plot is ludicrous and gets more and more so the farther your progress in the books, and the dialogue is terrible, but I was obsessed anyway. I suppose it could be argued that the plot to Harry Potter is pretty ludicrous, too, though maybe executed a bit better. But ... I was obsessed anyway. My only regret is that when I let my brother-in-law's girlfriend borrow the books, I didn't have a brown paper bag on hand to wrap them in.

** Edit**
Here's the linky to the sweater!

Slight re-working

The second sock so far:

I'm all done with the cuff pattern, and getting ready to do the ribbing. Yay!

It's not a huge deal, and nobody probably even noticed, but I went through my list of books and changed the links to go to the publisher's websites instead of amazon.com. I couldn't find 1000 Sweaters or The World of Knitted Toys, but other than that, the sites should be there.

I got Creepy Cute Crochet yesterday, and I've already made a little Grim Reaper! The pattern suggested making his scythe out of polymer clay, something I've never worked with, so I went to Michael's and picked up a little beginner's Sculpey kit. I was supposed to make a knight, a dragon, and a wizard. Instead, I made the scythe. Twice. The first one was too short, so I decided to try again. When I made the second one I added three little holes before I baked it, so that I could sew it onto little Grimmy (the book suggested glue). And here he is:

I seem to have an aversion to faces on my little toys. His hood was a lot bigger than the one in the book - perfect for obscuring the head underneath. I thought the mouth in the book was cute, but I didn't have any black felt for the eyes and didn't feel like going back to the craft store. Besides, you aren't really supposed to be able to see his face, right? That's kind of the whole point of the hood. For the head I used Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, and for the hood/body I used TLC Amore, which is really soft and velvety-looking. Who says Death can't have a little luxury in his life?

The sock revisited

So last night I frogged what I had of the second sock, because I didn't remember where I was on the silly little pattern, and started over again. I'm excited about finishing it, even though I know I have a loong way to go. I had a dream about the socks last night, that I finished the second one in like, a day. But then when I put it on it only went up to my ankle, not my knee like it was supposed to.

I broke my cheesecake ban in a spectacular fashion, by making two cheesecakes this weekend, a toffee caramel crunch that I've made before, and a chai cheesecake with ginger crust that I have not made before. The toffee one turned out really well, and was mostly eaten Sunday at dinner (we also had something slightly more nutritious). I haven't tried the chai one yet .... we'll either eat it tonight or on the 4th. Based on my um taste tests of the unfinished product, it should taste really yummy.

Someday soon, I will sit down and compile a list of all the cheesecakes I've made so far!