Fiber Arts StuffI didn't do any quilting Sunday, but I did make some garb - yes, garb made in February - amazing. It's a pirate shirt. Everything's done now except the buttons and buttonholes. My new sewing machine has a special buttonhole maker, but I wanted to wait to try it out till I wasn't tired from 4 or 5 hours of sewing, and had time to experiment on some scrap fabric first.
Oh, and fixing that opening in the front ... I forgot, this pattern is designed for men, and that front slit needed shortened for me. But since I forgot to do it, it goes halfway to my belly button - a little more revealing than I'd prefer. I am going to add something or do something to it to close it up a bit. And I have to fix a slash I managed to cut into the back near the shoulder. Ooopsy. I didn't intend to make a pre-slashed pirate shirt, but it's kind of funny that the first time I wear it, it'll already be patched.
Oh, and fixing that opening in the front ... I forgot, this pattern is designed for men, and that front slit needed shortened for me. But since I forgot to do it, it goes halfway to my belly button - a little more revealing than I'd prefer. I am going to add something or do something to it to close it up a bit. And I have to fix a slash I managed to cut into the back near the shoulder. Ooopsy. I didn't intend to make a pre-slashed pirate shirt, but it's kind of funny that the first time I wear it, it'll already be patched.
My plans for this shirt are to add some embroidery - probably on the cuffs, front placket and collar. I can't decide what I want to embroider on it ... not leafy vines and flowers, on a pirate shirt. I haven't found anything I particularly liked in any of my embroidery notebooks (where I scavenge stuff from books and the internet, and put it in three-ring binders). I'm thinking I'll have to make up my own pattern, and either draw it on free hand, or find some way to transfer it to the fabric. (there's that problem again).
I'm glad I got this done in one day ... any garb sewing project that has to sit for awhile tends to lose its hold on me, and I have a hard time getting back to it. Also, knowing that I can make one (relatively simple) project in a day gives me more motivation to start new ones.
I've also been working steadily on the log cabin blanket. It's getting large and unwieldy already, and it's probably not even half the size I would like to make it. Wow.
I'm glad I got this done in one day ... any garb sewing project that has to sit for awhile tends to lose its hold on me, and I have a hard time getting back to it. Also, knowing that I can make one (relatively simple) project in a day gives me more motivation to start new ones.
I've also been working steadily on the log cabin blanket. It's getting large and unwieldy already, and it's probably not even half the size I would like to make it. Wow.
There is one thing I'm very confused about ... how I managed to get a dropped stitch in the middle of a patch, but then seem to close up the hole without fixing the problem.
I didn't know how to fix this, so I ended up just chaining up through the fabric above it. It doesn't look very good, but ... it's fixed, and this is a 'utility blanket' - not something I wanted to spend an entire day trying to fix a square inch of mistake.
I think, to fix it, I'd have had to drop several stitches from the needles down to the problem. Had it been stockinette stitch, I'd have been more likely to try it - but I can't seem to figure out picking up a dropped stitch in garter. Shouldn't be that hard, I kind of get it in theory, but just seem to have a hard time doing it.
Blather
In other news, I had a great day Saturday. My truck antenna has been broken since I got the truck, in 2002. It's not 'clear broke,' but it was sticking out of it's little opening at an odd angle, which looked goofy and always bugged me. I had it back to the dealership once to fix it, and they said something was broken inside, and they'd have to order a part. But it fell through the cracks that time, and a second time I had the truck there as well, and never got fixed. I kept putting off taking it yet a third time, because I figured even something that simple was going to cost a couple hundred bucks.
I like to wash the truck by taking it through the automatic car wash, especially in the winter, but the last time I did that, it pulled the antenna even further out of whack, and for over a year I've been afraid to try it again, for fear it'd rip it out entirely. But Saturday, while out running errands, I decided the hell with it ... the truck hadn't been washed in way over a year, it looked awful, and I didn't care about the antenna - I kind of hoped it would just rip it entirely out and I'd be done with it.
So I took it to the car wash, and when I came out, I saw that the car wash hadn't ripped it out entirely, but had skewed it even further than it had ever been. It was sticking out at an alarming angle. I thought, "This is bad. I can't leave it like this." I thought I was going to have to drive up the road to the dealership and make them fix it then and there, regardless of what it cost. So I got out to mess with it a little bit, and while pushing on it ... it suddenly just slipped right into place. Perfect! It's exactly where it's supposed to have been but hasn't been all these years. This is the first time since I bought the truck that it's been 'right' - and all for going through the car wash, which I'd actually avoided for over a year. So now my antenna's fixed, and my truck's clean. Too cool. I know, I know - who cares. Well, it's a really big deal to me, because that has been bugging the crap out of me all these years ... and to have it miraculously fixed so easily, especially by doing something I'd purposely avoided doing for over a year ... well, I thought it was pretty darned cool.
The only thing I have to find now is a replacement for the little rubber gasket that fits around the antenna base and covers the hole it comes out of ... that blew off in that last car wash escapade over a year ago.
Then I went to get new memory for my computer (we got a new program that required 512 MB and I still only had 256), and it was on sale, so it only cost $22. I thought that was a pretty grand deal. So now my computer should, in theory, be running a bit faster. (I say 'in theory' because I haven't seen a noticeable difference, which was disappointing - but at least I know it's better than it was).
So all in all, Saturday turned out to be a pretty great day. And Sunday was sewing all day, so it
was a good weekend. Today (Monday) I'm taking a vacation day to take my dad to an appointment. His doctor referred him to a congestive heart failure clinic at the local hospital, and today's his initial appointment. Since he doesn't hear well and seems to have a hard time understanding new things at first any more, I thought I'd go with him to the first appointment, to get things all sorted out. Then when he has to go back, he should be able to go on his own. I don't know how often they'll have him come in, but the idea is to monitor his condition so they can catch fluid building up early, before it lands him in the hospital. I hope it helps.
I like to wash the truck by taking it through the automatic car wash, especially in the winter, but the last time I did that, it pulled the antenna even further out of whack, and for over a year I've been afraid to try it again, for fear it'd rip it out entirely. But Saturday, while out running errands, I decided the hell with it ... the truck hadn't been washed in way over a year, it looked awful, and I didn't care about the antenna - I kind of hoped it would just rip it entirely out and I'd be done with it.
So I took it to the car wash, and when I came out, I saw that the car wash hadn't ripped it out entirely, but had skewed it even further than it had ever been. It was sticking out at an alarming angle. I thought, "This is bad. I can't leave it like this." I thought I was going to have to drive up the road to the dealership and make them fix it then and there, regardless of what it cost. So I got out to mess with it a little bit, and while pushing on it ... it suddenly just slipped right into place. Perfect! It's exactly where it's supposed to have been but hasn't been all these years. This is the first time since I bought the truck that it's been 'right' - and all for going through the car wash, which I'd actually avoided for over a year. So now my antenna's fixed, and my truck's clean. Too cool. I know, I know - who cares. Well, it's a really big deal to me, because that has been bugging the crap out of me all these years ... and to have it miraculously fixed so easily, especially by doing something I'd purposely avoided doing for over a year ... well, I thought it was pretty darned cool.
The only thing I have to find now is a replacement for the little rubber gasket that fits around the antenna base and covers the hole it comes out of ... that blew off in that last car wash escapade over a year ago.
Then I went to get new memory for my computer (we got a new program that required 512 MB and I still only had 256), and it was on sale, so it only cost $22. I thought that was a pretty grand deal. So now my computer should, in theory, be running a bit faster. (I say 'in theory' because I haven't seen a noticeable difference, which was disappointing - but at least I know it's better than it was).
So all in all, Saturday turned out to be a pretty great day. And Sunday was sewing all day, so it
was a good weekend. Today (Monday) I'm taking a vacation day to take my dad to an appointment. His doctor referred him to a congestive heart failure clinic at the local hospital, and today's his initial appointment. Since he doesn't hear well and seems to have a hard time understanding new things at first any more, I thought I'd go with him to the first appointment, to get things all sorted out. Then when he has to go back, he should be able to go on his own. I don't know how often they'll have him come in, but the idea is to monitor his condition so they can catch fluid building up early, before it lands him in the hospital. I hope it helps.
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