While I'm Confessing. . . .

I'll just go ahead and show you The Truth--because I opened a bin I'd forgotten about, one I'd packed up for Windows Week and put out here in a corner by the studio couch and then ignored. It contains--surprise!--all the "current" projects, meaning all the projects I've either started or gotten ready to start. You know: things I really want to do and am excited about (at least when I remember them), as opposed to things I once thought would be fun but later abandoned.

So here they are:

Rocket Dog shoes, bought new on clearance: I wanted shoes I could stitch and bead. Since I don't know if I would actually *wear* them, I haven't started. I don't know if I'd wear them until I wear them, you know? To see how they feel. But once I wear them, then I don't want to hold them in my lap and work on them, not unless I just wear them just around the house, which is what I guess I should do even though it's hard to get a good idea about shoes unless you wear them out doing some serious walking.

 Canvas bag from DharmaTrading.com, dyed and cool. It needs a big snap and some padding on the shoulder strap, and then I want to appliqué this from a t-shirt I had in high school. Or maybe it was someone else's t-shirt--whatever: I've had this since high school.

Ancient pair of falling-apart Levi's and some leather, including fabulous chaps I got at a garage sale for $5. I have this idea for a totally cool bag inspired by a Ralph Lauren ad but nothing like the bag in it--theirs was made from part of a rug, I think, and was a weird shape/size. I think I can beat that. But I'm intimidated, or maybe "daunted" would be the better word, by the prospect of piercing all those holes in the leather. It's thick enough that I can't just sew it, and I want the hand sewn look, rather than machine stitching. Sigh.

 Journal skirts needing more work. A LOT more work.

 Fabulous and expensive pants The EGE bought me years ago in Houston. They are black. Black yoga pants + house full of cats = ick. So I thought I'd cut them off and make a skirt (which I wouldn't wear down in the floor with cats in my lap). I did the cutting-off part but haven't had time to sit down and rip out the seams.

 Fulled-in-the-washer felt for appliquéd clouds, only now I'm not sure which skirt I meant to put the clouds on--this was inspired by a conversation with Wendy about her fascination with clouds, the conversation we had that led to the podcast, here.

 A skirt I think I like. Bought it, cut it off, hemmed it, hated it, cut it off some more. Cut off the waistband, stitched it. Now I need to wear it before I do a lot of hand work on it and then find I don't love it.

 Long dress I cut off into a dresslet and am beginning to embellish. These are some buttons off a Blue Fish dress someone sent me years ago. I loved them and was thrilled to start a project worthy of using them. This will be fabulous, but it's going to take a LOT of time. A Journal Dresslet. Yowza!

 Way cool artist's smock I bought years ago at an estate sale. Very soft, very cool. I embellished the fire out of it but never wore it--it was too long and cumbersome. Bit the bullet and cut it off and now need to start patching it and embellishing it some more. It's very fragile and hole-y. I hate that the original embellishing I did involved Vintage Lace Hankies and iron-on transfers. Ick. Got to remedy that.

 Lucky Brand tunic I shortened and will embellish.

 Very short, very small hoody--a size that lends itself well to lots of embellishment. I've started around the armholes. Lots of work do to on this one.

 A pair of Lucky Brand jeans someone gave me. I think they'll make a good skirt but amn't sure yet--need to try them on again to check for fit.

And then I piled together all the shirts for all the Swirlies I want to make--including some really long ones from long dresses I bought at various Goodwill stores on our way home from the wedding last autumn in Ft. Worth. Yeah, I'd forgotten about those. So these are all the ones I showed you in that last post plus half a dozen long dresses and a pile more t-shirts in a rainbow of colors I bought (79 cents each at Goodwill on Sunday) to do those MONTHS ago and then forgot about. I can see how my brain circles an idea, forgets it, comes back and circles some more--like a dog with a bone he keeps burying and digging up and gnawing and burying again.

I've got to brave The Dreaded Wal-Mart and find either a bin or a heavy-weight trash bag big enough for this pile in this last photo. I've got to get it out of the house and into the storage building, but I want to keep it all together and protected from dust (the building is metal, and dust seeps in).

So there you go. Scary, huh?