mermaids

On Tuesday I fussed at a girl for wearing microscopic shorts.  Today, she was wearing a microscopic skirt.  (I did not have her in a class yesterday, so who knows what she was wearing.) 

Me:  The skirt….way too short.  I’ve already spoken to you about the shorts.  What’s the deal?

Her: What?!?!!  It’s not that short.

I ask her to stand up and do the fingertip test.  She pulls her shoulders up to her ears and curls her fingers under.

Her:  See, it reaches my fingertips.

I tell her to drop her shoulders and flatten her hands.  Hmmm, the skirt barely reaches her wrists.

Her:  Well, it was long enough this morning.

Me:  Darling, you didn’t grow 3 inches in the last 4 hours.  Call your mom.  She needs to bring you another outfit.

Lots of sulking and glaring followed.

Ok, I took more than a 5 minute break…more like 30 minutes.  I reminded myself that a large chunk of sewing time is not simply going to fall from the sky into my lap.  I need to get back to sewing a few minutes every day, or at least mostly every day.  After dinner, I threw in a load of laundry to assuage my housekeeping guilt, then headed to the sewing room. 

I am working on a pair of longer shorts.  The school administration is finally cracking down on the dress code.  (Hallelujah!)  While I don’t wear super short shorts, mine wouldn’t make dress code.  They are using the standard “finger tip” rule.  Well, my really long arms put me at a distinct disadvantage.  There are a few end of the year events for which shorts would be the optimal choice.  I want to set a good example.  Besides, my legs are getting a wee bit old for prancing around in shorter shorts.  They are fine for times when I am doing something remotely active and need the freedom of movement.  However, for hanging out at a picnic, a little extra length is more age appropriate. 

A student started to snark at me today.  His friend leans over to whisper, “Dude, don’t go there.  Big mistake.” 

See, they can learn!   

This week is Spanish Spirit Week at school.  The students are encouraged to dress in the flag colors of various Spanish speaking countries.  There is a different color scheme for each day.  Yes, we had to take inventory of the wardrobes to make sure the boys were set for the week.  There is a wonderful friendly rivalry between the various world language classes.  The boys are a bit torn because they take both Spanish and Latin.  Tomorrow is the annual World Language Soccer Match.  The classes play against each other, no one really keeps score, no one really knows who won, but they have a lot of fun. 

The boys asked me to customize their shirts for tomorrow’s big game.  It was not as hard as I thought, but it was more labor intensive than I thought.  I could have just programmed it all into my embroidery machine, but the boys liked the more “artsy” feel of the appliquéd letters.  I drew the letters by hand, then traced over them with a Sharpie.  I pinned the applique fabric to the front of the shirt and pinned the paper to the inside of the shirt.  Since I traced the letters with a Sharpie, I could easily see the reverse side. I stitched the outline of the letters from the inside.  It took some time and patience to stitch around each letter, lots of lifting the pressure foot and turning.  Once it was all stitched, I trimmed the applique fabric from the front about an eighth inch from the stitching lines.  Yeah, cutting out the inside of those little e’s and o’s was lots of fun.  Pulling the paper off the inside was just as bad.  I used regular computer paper.  If I had been smart, I would have used a thin tear away stabilizer.  Nonetheless, the boys are pleased and it gave me something to do while we watched television. 

Sitting Practice

by Caroline Adderson

The novel opens with a horrific car accident that leaves a brand new bride paralyzed from the waist down. The husband is unsure of how to help. This is not the marriage he signed up for. Turn the page and the reader is hurtled forward in time. The couple has relocated, opened a cafe, and seems to have accepted life with a wheelchair.

The plot eventually picks up again. The couple still has issues to work out. Life in the cafe includes some mildly interesting and quirky characters. I was grateful that the story was brought to a conclusion, wrapping up quite a few loose ends.

After the last page, I felt those characters still had more to say. That is an indication of good character development. I wanted to know if the sister ever found a satisfying, healthy relationship. Did the couple ever have a child of their own? Did the little boy outgrow his quirkiness or was it symptomatic of a mental disorder? I like a book that ties up the plot line, but leaves me curious about what happened next.

Sitting Practice was not the most gripping book I have ever read, but it was certainly better than most I have read for as an early reviewer.

It is time to finally admit that I am not a “stay at home” mom.  I work.  I have a job.  There, I said it.

The substitute teaching began as a “once in a while” thing.  A teacher was out for a few weeks due to surgery.  I agreed to cover her classes since the schedule could be arranged so I only worked half days.  The teacher never returned.  The school year ended and my name was on the sub list.

The plan was to work perhaps one or two days a week.  It would be a nice way to spend time in a classroom without the pressure of a full time job.  The extra money would be fun, too.  One or two days a week turned into three or four. 

The tipping point was the district’s decision to use a web based program for scheduling subs.  Previously, teachers had to call in requests for subs.  Requesting a particular sub was cumbersome, if not impossible.  With the new program, a teacher can see if her favorite sub is available and simply click on the sub’s name to request.  Suddenly, I was getting called every day.  Now I have teachers stopping me in the hall and requesting me weeks in advance. 

I have been in denial about my working status.  I have been trying to run the house as though I were still at home every day.  My volunteer activities have reduced only slightly.  I am operating under the premise of “Oh, I can do that tomorrow when I am not working.”  Tomorrow comes, I am working, and nothing gets done at home. 

As of Monday, I am already booked to work half of May.  It is time to adopt a new mind set.  I am a working mother.  At times, I am a working single mother thanks to Hubski’s travel schedule.  It is time reprioritize some things and rework my schedule.  I need operate under the assumption that I will be working every day.  The days that I don’t get called to work will be a bonus. 

At long last, here is *the* dress.  Was it worth the wait?  It was a long journey.  Ok, it wasn’t really *that* long of a journey, but it felt like it to me.  I can usually pop out a project at a good rate.  Lately, everything I do, sewing or otherwise, seems to take forever.  Anyway, the dress is done, it fits, and I am pleased. 

Like most Ottobre, simple sewing yields great style.  Any complications I had were entirely the fault of the fabric, a beautiful silk charmeuse from Hubski’s most recent trip to China.  The incredibly soft hand was perfect for the flowing skirt, but devilish to sew.  I heavily starched the fabric before even cutting it out.  I marked each piece as I cut, using more marks than usual.  For the bodice lining, I used a very stable cotton broadcloth. 

Remember the fits the binding was giving me?  I tried severely starching the bias strips, but was still not happy with the result.  Next I tried fold over elastic, but the shade of red was not quite right and the FOE just didn’t look right with the silk.  Finally, I stumbled upon a piece of red pima cotton in my scraps.  It was the *exact* shade of red that I wanted.  After having done one armhole with the matching bias strip, I decided that contrasting fabric really was needed to show off the design details.  Besides, silk charmeuse on the bias was making me crazy. 

The pattern calls for shirring with elastic thread just below the bodice.  I did not have any elastic thread and did not have time to get any.  Once again, the dress sat on my sewing table.  On the positive side, this gave me time to think.  I feared the empire waist and shirring would give the dress a maternity look.  Now the question became “How to keep the empire waist, but not look pregnant?”  I decided to skip the elastic thread and do some sort of pleating.  Since the dress has a zipper, the elastic is strictly decorative.  Pleating or even tucks in charmeuse would have pushed me over the edge.  Not being one to fight the true nature of a fabric, random pleating was the solution.  I cut a piece of the cotton broadcloth the same measurement as the lower edge of the bodice and 3 inches wide.  Next, I ran a gathering line along the upper edge of the skirt to fit the lining strip.  A hot iron pressed the gathers into somewhat random pleats.  In keeping with the random theme, I did some free motion stitching in a random wave pattern to hold down the pleats.  To further emphasize the waist area, I added two bands of the red pima cotton at the top and bottom of the pleated band area. 

As for the fit, it was true to size in true Ottobre fashion.  Since I always need to take in the bust a bit, I overlapped the front piece a bit more.  This had the added benefit of making the neckline less revealing.  The pattern directs you to ease the front bodice pieces a bit which helps keep the neckline close to the body.  There is also easing in the armholes to prevent gaping.  This is a very nice touch that Ottobre adds. 

Had I made the dress with self fabric binding and the shirring, it would have been a pretty dress.  The fabric is rather spectacular so it would be challenging for it to be anything less than pretty.  All of the roadblocks that prevented me from finishing the dress in the day (which is totally possible with any normal fabric) were actually a blessing.  Inspiration struck at the most unlikely times.  I am far happier with the end result.  At first, I thought using contrasting binding would make the dress too casual.  Instead, the contrast draws attention to details that would have been lost on such a busy fabric. 

I wore the dress to school on Friday.  There were lots of compliments from students and adults.  The best part is the dress was so easy to wear.  Yes, it is a bit indulgent to wear such luscious fabric to work, but some days we all need a little indulgence.  

Most twist top patterns should come with a warning label, “Extreme plunge ahead.”  Given my build, such a daring neckline did not seem like a good choice.  Jalie patterns are sized from little bitty girls to Rubenesque women.  I felt confident that I fit somewhere in that vast range.  Though it is something I could easily draft myself, the “modesty panel” further encouraged me that this pattern had potential. 

I traced off my usual Jalie size.  The pattern is designed with a low scoop in the back.  A tie is added to hold the shoulders in place.  In the words of Tim Gunn, this is “overdesigned.”  It also seemed a bit on the saucy side for a middle school teacher.  I just raised the back neckline.  I also lengthened the sleeves to full length. 

Jalie directions are not overly detailed, but adequate to get the job done.  The illustrations are quite helpful in figuring out the twist portion.  The sewing is actually quite simple.

The neckline is a bit low, but such is the nature of twist tops.  Fortunately, the neckline really hugs the body.  There is absolutely no “peek a boo” factor when I lean over.  This is very important when working in a middle school.  There is a little ease in the waist area, providing a bit of camouflage for any tummy fluff.

Jalie 2788 is one of those “memorable” patterns.  I don’t want more than a couple of these in my wardrobe.  The ruffled trim is cute, but a bit fusy for me.  You definitely want to use a thinner knit.  Heavier fabrics would cause too much bulk at the twist.  FOE would work well for the neckline finish.  The modesty panel could be in a contrasting fabric to give the illusion of a cami underneath.  A little lace would really reinforce that concept.

Oh, the fabric….it is a crepe-y type knit from Mood Fabrics.  Due to the seam down the center front, stripes or a very obvious print would be tricky. 

Ideas come out of the blue and zap me like a bolt of lightening.  Sometimes I think I am slow because the idea seems so dreadfully obvious once I think of it.  Anyway, I finally came up with a solution for the Ottobre dress I was pondering a couple days ago.  In my defense, this week has been too busy to even remember my name, much less troubleshoot a pattern.  I think I have a remedy for the slippery silk charmeuse binding issue.  Hopefully reality will be as fabulous as the image in my head.  Stay tuned……

I am working on design #7 from the 02/08 issue of Ottobre Woman.  It is a sleeveless dress with a shirred waist…very simple, very cute, looks very comfortable.  The fabric of choice is one of the yummy silks Hubski bought in China.  The silk charmeuse will drape beautifully and be scrumptious for summer.  The armholes and neckline are bound with bias strips.  Silk charmeuse and bias strips should not be in the same sentence.  I have done one armhole and I am not pleased with the results.  Using tons of starch to give the fabric more stability has helped.  So, now I am pondering alternatives to the bias binding.  FOE is my favorite binding material, but not appropriate for this project.  I may experiment with cutting the bindings on less of a bias.  If this were a cotton or linen, this dress would go together in a snap.  The silk is beautiful but definitely has a diva complex.