Blouse in progress

blouse in progress
Originally uploaded by kissingninja

So I know it looked a hot mess in the previous post about collars. But it actually looks like it might one day be a shirt, doesn't it? That's the dress form Ange (best friend) gave me for my birthday last year. I feel like I should name her.

Still to come: finishing the collar, sleeves, buttons and button holes--whew!

Red Winged Black Bird

is tres elegant.  He knows how to impress a lady.  He's a sharp dresser.  Elegant in black with just the right amount of contrast on his wings.

Mysterious, small but mighty.  Impressive voice.  He's where it's at, ladies.

Collars?!?

I will never look at them the same way again. How incredibly complicated! I never knew. I'm glad I'm taking this class, otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'd get frustrated and give up. I realize that one of the things that really stumps me in sewing is when two pieces of fabric do not match up. I always assume that it's my fault, that I cut the pieces out incorrectly... I never assume that there's some tricky easing thing going on.

With the collar, there's lots of clipping of the fabric to ease the collar onto the neckline. Who woulda thunk? Not me, that's for sure.

On a different note, sewing offers motivation to stick to one's diet. I started this blouse in September, and was unable to finish. It got put away. Now it's May and after the long hard winter, through which I obviously coddled myself with carbs, I am heavier than I once was. But there's no way that I'm going to work on this shirt and not wear it. Uh-uh.

Besides, I rode my bike this weekend. Bike riding, watching my shirt take shape, and the warm weather should do wonders for my figure.

A Step Beyond Beginner

I am officially a step beyond a beginning seamstress. Just a wee step, mind you. But it is a step nonetheless. I am making a blouse. I've sewn the darts. I've sewn the shoulder and side seams. It is beginning to look like a blouse (sans sleeves). It wil have sleeves! And button holes! And buttons!

Crazy.

The Ark

The Ark and The Flood didn't happen like they say. God's usually not that direct, you know. God's a mysterious force with a dry sense of humor.

Noah, you can call him Noah if you want, woke up one day with an inexplicable tickling sensation in his limbs. He felt a strange desire to use a hammer and nails. He was an accountant,well versed in the abacus, but for some reason felt drawn to hammer and nails and wood.

His wife certainly had a lot to say about the ruckus of a man unused to the swing of a hammer. And then there was the saw. She feared for his thumbs, his limbs, his mind.

How could Noah explain this strange urge to BUILD? It buzzed in him and kept him awake at night. The neighbors threatened to burn his house down if he didn't stop with the racket.

"What are you making?" his wife asked. But Noah didn't even know.

He did know exactly how many nails he'd used. How many pieces of wood.

And he knew he felt and urgency to complete his project. He could taste rain. It flooded his mouth and made him thirsty. He could smell it in the air long before the rain clouds cast their shadows over him.

The ship took shape until its shape became clear to everyone who saw it. All the gossipy angry neighbors pointed and laughed at the absurdity of it.

One night, the ship was surrounded by animals. Goats fled their goatherds, snakes came out of their burrows, mice crept out of their corners, tarantulas... Noah's wife was alarmed--but the animals banged their bodies against the boat as if scratching themselves against a post or as if they wanted to get inside.

The rain smell grew. It tickled Noah's nose until he decided--absurd or not--when a man gets an urge to build a boat in the desert and the animals all come out and try to get on it--there must be something to it. So he dragged his wife aboard and let the animals in.

All the while, the neighbors yelled--"You fool, Noah, go to bed! Get those animals out of here! Noah! That's my goat, you goat thief!"

And then the first rain drop fell

Cravings

1.
Oh do not taunt me
dark-chocolate candy bar
you know I luv you

2.
I will defeat you
Maybe not now, but sometime
tomorrow maybe.

3.
Wicked chocolate!
you speak so sweetly of luv
--smooth operator