Music Monday: Thursday Edition

All right, my internet has been awol for a bit, so my posts are scanty, but I can't help but want to insert one little medley in here for this Thanksgiving day. My favorite Thanksgiving song is the classic... well, I'm sure you all know. Is it something about Thanks? Nope. Close, but try again. Something about foxes? Why how did you guess? Here it is, if I can find it,

Okay. Couldn't find the fox was on the town-o but hey, any stephen foster works, right? So this version by Bing can transition us right into the Christmas, Holiday season. Are we ready? Of course we are! Happy Thanksgiving people!

Fashion Friday: Cute and Cozy Collide!

I like sweat pants. Not just any sweat pants, my DH's sweatpants that are like footie pajamas because they're so long and trailing under my feet. It's a sad day when the ankles get holes in them and I have to cut them off and wear socks like a normal person, maybe I could wear them backwards and get more wear out of them except that would require me to tie the thingy (called a tie;) from behind and I'm not sure if I'm that dextrous.

So the wardrobing that I've been doing, aka, examining my closet, has led me to realize some gaping holes. I have fancy clothes and schlumpy clothes and hardly anything in between. Problem? Um, since my life is mostly somewhere in between, yes, I'd say it is. And to think I never noticed this until forced (by myself) to do this fascinating closet analysis.

The reason for this gap is because I think wearable clothing is mostly too boring to shop for and too tedious to sew. I like new, exciting, twirly/silky/wool stuff that isn't quite as wearable as daily fare. So I'm going to try and incorporate cozy fabrics, like fleece, into sophisticated patterns that make frumpy clothes fashionable. I'm not certain this won't fail brilliantly, but I'm mostly okay with that. Has anyone else got gaps that they'd like to fill? Too much fancy? Not enough?

Writerly Wednesday: Wrimonano thingy going going going...

I was going to have highlights, but I can't find any yet. It's all kind of weird and cabbagey. You never knew cabbagey was a word but it is. The thingy is a little bit obsessive except that I've started to edit. The RULE of nanowrimo thingy is that you can't edit. You write write write write write write, then fall down dead. Editing puts a halt to that forward thrust you call insanity and leaves you asking questions like; "what is this book even about" which you MUST NOT DO! So I'm going to go and not do that right now:)

Music Monday: Sound of Silence

How did November get away so fast? It's practically over and I'm still trying to figure out how to make cropped fall pants. Maybe I'm not supposed to ever go there. Of course I will anyway:)

This is a winter coming on and it sucks but there's groovy on the other side, right? Of course right!

Yeah, we should all just get along. And get hair like that. So... I'm thinking of getting a perm. Not like that, one of those vintage dooeys they call sets. I googled it. Everyone who gets them looks totally cool. I will think on this, don't want to do anything rash with my hair even though I always do rash things with my hair. This also reminds me of Edie Brickell marrying Simon, Paul, and they're just a super cute weird couple, like Helen Bonham Carter and Tim Burton. Do you have a favorite cute weird couple that was just made for each other? Favorite hair style? Favorite winter coming on song?

Sew Saturday:Sweet Feet

Agh! I thought I would never get this project completed and it's quite cute, amazingly enough and what a relief because I thought this would never end. First of all, it's pattern number two so when I picked up piece number two I thought it was the pattern instead of the piece which is why there is no giraffe. I mean, there is one, it's just on the back. Yeah, you always wanted a giraffe on the back of your shirt, right? Of course! Brilliant! Totally intentional. Sigh. So that was a pain. The hat has a giraffe too, only it turned out placed badly so the neck is by the face instead of the head, just wrong, so I inside outed it so you can only see the thread, and it's not bad like that. If that makes sense, which it probably does. Oh, picture!

  

You can't see anything I'm talking about but that's okay. The booties and the hat are made out of a delicious wool they use for reenactments and shakespeare plays. Really rough weave that makes it almost look hand knitted without the time it takes to hand knit! I used a pattern from Burdastyle, 12/09 for the booties and I've never used their baby patters so I was leery, but it was fine. It didn't call for lining and was made out of flimsy cotton which would not do at all, so I elasticated the tops and made a removable cotton lining that can be used without the wool if you'd rather a light boot. 

And the hat was from Ottobre, maybe fall/11 and I loved how this hat fit. You can never know until you sew it up if it's going to be ridiculously small or huge but it worked! 

The shirt was also Ottobre, a different issue, but it was not my favorite shirt from them. It called for snaps on both shoulders which is lame because what baby's head is so big that it can't fit through shoulders without taking off both snaps. So I fiddled it, combined the front and back binding, put in only one shoulder snap, and the neck hole is still too large. It might have something to do with my not reading the instructions, but I say it's because the pattern was faulty. The double snaps thing was so annoying I'm not going to use this pattern again anyway. I think I'll stick to envelope tops because I don't like the metal of snaps touching skin, you know, metal sensitivities are not fun for babies. This top I double folded the seam over the snaps though so it doesn't touch skin, overall a pain. Hemming this shirt... um, I bought a double needle, very excited to use it, the first stitch didn't even happen because the bottom came off the top. Is that called a shank? Whatever it was called, that double needle is the biggest piece of junk the world has ever seen. I'm going to write a scathing review on Amazon, where I bought it. That'll show them. So I ran my straight stitch around twice. Not a big deal but I was going to be all pro with my twin needle. sigh. I tried this outfit on my baby for fit and photo although it's intended as a gift and not for her, because cute stuff is twice as cute on a cute stuff, or something, but she's not a boy although I like the pea green with pink. It's a great contrast. Maybe I'll try that on me:) WE could match! What do you think? Can you tell how tortuous this was to make?

Fashion Friday: I have Nothing to wear

Yes, your closet is full, your settee is overflowing with garments onto your hardwood floor, your drawers are spilling into other drawers and yet, you have nothing to wear. The scenario is played time and again in many a desperate scene.

Dreamscape: You wake up one morning with birds singing outside your window. You yawn, stretch, and sit up, the birds and mice have already pulled back your blanket and pushed your slippers under your feet. Mice? Make that frogs. treefrogs are really cute. And slimy. Anyway, you take a shower on the wood floor from a sponge held by a bird, and then the frogs mop up the mess, or you leave it there because you don't actually like the wood floor and are wanting a little revenge from the wicked stepmother, landlord, whatever. So, you raise your arms over your head and the flocks of fowl drop your garments onto your body.

If only it were so easy in real life. Wait, maybe it is! Some people take this kind of thing very very very seriously. That's mostly because they're terribly serious. We are not, but sometimes we try. (although we know what birds are most likely to drop on us and it's not trimmed in chiffon)

So we are going to do a nothing to wear segment where we will break down the wardrobe and figure out what works and what doesn't. Doesn't this sound fun! (that's not a question because I don't want any smart answers:)

First step, take out your clothes and take photos of all of them. Yes, this sounds fun! (again, no comments) It is an extremely smart thing to do if you're looking to maximize what you've got and figure out why all of these things add up to nothing to wear. Trust me. I'm a... trustworthy person? Anyway. This is what you do. You take pictures of all your clothes. Style them. Make them look good. Do a photo shoot worthy of an Anthropologie catalog.

After you've got all of this stuff organized, you go over to http://gochicorgohome.com/  where you have to be a member, sorry, get a membership first, it's like a facebook membership, no fees or anything, they just don't want spammers. ANYWAY after you go to the link above, you create your digital closet. You upload all your clothes and suddenly, you're eternally organized. You go online, take a look at your closet and suddenly, you can see colors combinations, shapes, things that go together that you'd never before considered. Oh yes! This is fun! And then, you wear said clothing and for the one day you get dressed all week, you look fabulous!

Writerly Wednesday: Kindles and lighting your borrow a book fire

Hello! So don't you just want to buy a new kindle so you can download as many books from Amazon's prime customer library as possible? It is a little bit exciting but I have no idea what's going to happen. Does anyone?

I'm booking in the nano wrimo thingy. (booking, get it?) So, that's what I'm doing. All the time. It's like a religion. With a requirement to stay in pajamas all day. It's  a tough thing to be so religious about writing. It must be terribly fun. I think everyone's going to be doing it one of these days. Can't wait. Want more books about trains.

Tuesday Trickster: Nautical Witch Every Body Every Where

Okay. I love Everybody Everywhere. It has real people. They wear polka dots. Nuff said. Otherwise I would rant about consumerism and how everyone has buttons that advertising, corporates, blah blah blah. I bought more fabric today. This is a bad thing because I have no space and stuff. Stuff costs more than money, it costs the space it takes up in your house and your mind. So editing is key. More is not better, it's more. But when faced with quality wool on clearance I absolutely lose my editorial mindset. It's the same with tights. Oh tights! So, Everybody everywhere is about colored tights. I actually only own one pair of colored tights. I have zebra print but that's black and white, not colored. Sigh. So here I look like something between a sailor and a witch. Witchy sailor, nautical witch, whatever.

Can you tell that I played with the light stuff in photoshop? I had way too much fun. Oh well. Life's short. And full of fabric. Sigh.

music Monday: Autumn Leaves

This morning, I walked out to find that the oak tree had thrown off the last of its burnt crimson dress. It crunches under my feet like last year's seasons. Perhaps next year the style will be a shade darker or lighter. It doesn't matter, it will be lovely.

Autumn Leaves, Nat King Cole, (old king cole? Bing cherries? Nan King?) of course is mahvelous. I had no idea the french version is so depressing. It's about dying in the leaves and not caring because love is dead so we should be too. Isn't that nice? Here's Yves doing it french. (if the video link works:)

It has a non commercial appeal. What do you think? Any favorite versions?

Sew Saturday: Swimsuit Edition

Prepare yourself for risque photos. Not really. I am excited to inform all and sundry that I am making a swimming suit. This is something I do every now and again to torture myself with something that is completely impractical and impossible to wear. Fun, no? What else to do in November? I brought together sundry resources, various swimwear, ripped apart a perfectly nice nautical suit in brown floral print to use lining, elastic, whatever odd bits and pieces I can, and have taken nice good art paper to make patterns. My mother always used brown craft paper but I haven't got any. So... I am very thrilled at the prospect, as always. It will be lovely. I'll try and persuade Daisy to model it after I'm done. She tends to be a little bit shy, seeing as how she looks larger than she is she doesn't like to show so much... skin? Anyway, it will be sensational!

Think Grace Kelly in High Society. Right. That is EXACTLY how it will look;)

Theatrical Thursdays: Monte Carlo

No, there isn't drinking, gambling, or anything else you'd expect from a movie of that title, although you do see the crazy road that turns on top of itself made famous by James Bond. What was that movie? Anyway, I personally liked it. Lots. Okay, it's girly, and sweet, and mostly about how fun it is to play dress up. What's not to love? It reminded me of one of those old Marilyn Monroe movies, how to marry a millionaire, or something with Doris Day. Running around, mistaken identities, handsome young men, that kind of thing. And the clothes were really fun. I liked the main girl, what is her name, Selena Gomez? Maybe. Anyway, she's a nice actor, managed to portray two different people wonderfully well. I liked the crazy aunt, the waitress, the screaming, it was all very nicely balance between different points of view and stuff. I got it while my DH was going to be off with his gaming dudes but they cancelled so he watched with me. He said it wasn't nearly as bad as he expected. Well, there you go:)

Writerly Wednesday: Nanowrimo or something like that

So why do we call it nano? No idea. But November for all you writerly and nonwriterly types is the month when people write ferociously to get to 50K. One month, fifty thousand words, and that way if you've wanted to write a novel but put it off because... whatever. Now is your chance. I have so far 3,896 words. Pretty cool. DH figured out that I'd need average of 2,000 words per day because I take off Sundays. I admit I did not start from scratch. I wrote a few pages of my prequel, Wild, House of Slide and thought it would be dreadful but it's actually perfectly splendid so I'm sticking to it. On, and on, and on, and then voila! A novella to chase away the winter blues. So this is my grand scheme. Anyone out there with me? I'll have to post the highlights in the future to show my progress, you know:) (supposing that there are highlights:(  

Happy November! (this is where I post some cute picture of a turkey frolicking in the leaves or something. Use your imagination!)