Weekend Projects

I'm trying to learn to better manage my time (here I actually snorted out loud) so that I can work on projects on the weekend. This means I do more during the week and then try to step away from the computer. Not in the turning-it-off-and-leaving-the-room kind of way, no. I can't do that. Since I avoid phone calls like the plague, it's the primary way people get in touch with me, and vice versa.

But I do make a real effort to get all the deadlines for the week met before the weekend. I don't schedule interviews or podcasts on the weekends. And then, to really push myself, I pick out a bunch of stuff that, in my imaginary ideal life, I would tackle and finish in the space of 48 hours, never mind that the hand stitching I do on stuff takes days and days just by itself. I like to imagine I can do it all. This weekend I'm starting to add silk ribbon borders with beading to the crazy quilt jacket--I'll try to get some photos later. It had better look totally cool because, honeys, the only store in town that sells dyed silk ribbon is very, very proud of their stuff. As in, "Sure, we have hand-dyed silk ribbon. Bring us the title to your SUV, your diamond tiara, and the deed to your ranch, and we'll let you have a couple yards."

It had better look FABULOUS when I'm done, is what I'm saying.

Here are some other projects I want to tackle, along with a few more of the fabric stitching pieces that I'm preparing this morning. Please pardon my grouchy look. Since all the walls in our house are really brightly colored, it's tough to get accurate colors when we take photos inside. We usually take them on the porch--good light, no glare. But when it's 105, playing dress-up, esp. with jackets, is way less than fun. I was all like, "Hurryhurryhurry, I'm melting here!"

I like this, but it's a little dumpy. It's Eileen Fisher, size small,
 but it's baggy, mostly because of the way the pockets are built in. I got this dress for cheap; it was wrinkled heavily across the back, as if someone had sat in it for a while, and I suspect someone bought it, wore it, and then returned it. Fine by me--I wash everything as soon as I get it home. It's linen, and a great tomato red. I didn't have to dye it, even!

It's kind of funky because it has these pockets like a kangaroo pocket, so if you're not careful, you look marsupial. I can't resist pockets; if I have them, my hands are in them. Plus tissue. Keys. Thread. Yikes.

I think I need to shorten it to just at the bottom of my knees.
Since it has a separate liner inside, that's going to be a pain in the butt. That's Cocoa at my feet.

You remember this Bryn Walker coat-ish thing I got at the new-to-me thrift, right?
Super cheap, less than $20 and apparently brand new, probably because of those dorky-ass sleeves.
I over-dyed it.

I'm so hot and sweaty my shades won't stay on my nose.
This jacket is going to need some work. Top-stitching is first.

These sleeves are way too cutesy for me, but because they're lined to make them hold this shape, I'm not going to alter them; I'll just figure out how to embellish them to cut the twee-ness.

Totally weird collar. Don't know what I'll do with that.

It can be a kind of cape-collar thing if I ignore the buttons on the front.

I paid way, way too much for this Bryn Walker jacket/top thing. So sad, because I had one already, an acid green one (didn't EVEN have to dye it). This one was off-white, almost-white, and I couldn't resist it at
33% off. I should have waited to see if it went down to 75% off, but I had to have it.
I had nothing pink in the jacket-ish category, and the possibilities for this blank canvas are just
too much for me to resist. It grabbed me around the ankles and wouldn't let go as I tried to
Just Walk Away. To save myself the embarrassment of a screaming, crying jacket hanging on my legs,
I had to buy it. Right?

Gah, I look grouchy. By this point, I was roasting big time. I LOVE the cut of this. It's why I had to have it.

Yikes! My butt looks HUGE.

It will have to be top-stitched, too. Fuchsia, maybe? Orange? I'll have to think about it.

Then I've still got the last Jest to make--I have the top (Bryn Walker again, long sleeves, boat neck, I bought it and didn't like the way it fits) and the fabric. All I have to do is suck it up and cut that baby up the front and figure out how to create a new facing for it. Scary, which is why I haven't tackled it yet.

So that's what I'm going to be doing this weekend, I hope. I've gotten a good start this morning, along with trying out my new recumbent bike, which I'll try to show later. I'll be checking in, maybe with photos. If you're working on something you like, please post a link to photos so we can see, OK? We'll pretend we're all showing up at Starbucks every couple hours for a break and show-and-tell! Go have fun~~XO