A moment of silence, please.

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel
October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007

evelknievel.com

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Hello, good Citizens

Neilochka has posted his First Annual Blogger Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair, and it is an honor to be among (amongst?) so many talented artisans and writers! Really, boys and girls, I’m so pleased to see everybody’s work in one, easy-to-shop location. Etsy is great (heck, it’s where I sell my own wares), but it can be overwhelming.

We now return to our regular programming:

I switched over to flannel sheets last night, and it felt soooooo good. I should have done this a week ago. The only downside is that my new white flannel sheets make my “old” white duvet cover and shams look dingy. Perhaps it’s time to bring out the OxyClean.

We’re having a Sample Sale at the office today, so I must be sure to get to work on time so that I can actually get some work DONE before I join the chaos.

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Boldog születésnapot, Tomi.  As always, I miss you.

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Ah, Christmastime.

My Christmas list is made. That is, the names are written down. It does not mean that I have actually decided on gifts for everybody yet. I do, however, have gifts for most of the people that I already had ideas for.

My Christmas cards are designed. That is, mostly. I still need to tweak them a bit, and then send them to the printer, in hopes of giving myself enough time to actually write, address, and mail them.

My December business trip has been booked. That is, the travel coordinator told me she was booking tickets, but my creative director told me that she wants to “go over some details” with me.

I got a Christmas wish list from a local Needy Kid, and went shopping. But you know what? Littlest Pet Shop is fekkin’ SCARY. Here I’m thinking, “Hey, cool, she likes animals.” Those things bear little-to-no resemblance to actual animals. They look like pets the way Bratz look like humans. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. But it’s what she wants, so I’ll have to suck it up and go back to the store. Can anyone suggest an intelligent DVD about animals that might entertain a 9-year-old girl? I’d like to balance the crap with something decent.

My etsy store has been updated for the holidays. No caveat there, it’s actually been fully updated. I even added a new line of necklaces! My “photo studio in a box” kit arrived today, and I reshot my entire collection while I simultaneously cooked dinner (Käsespätzle; I did not make my own Spätzle) AND listened to the TV in the other room showing the 75th annual tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. I’m feeling very accomplished at the moment. Anyway, now I should be nice and ready for Neilochka‘s “First Annual Blogger Holiday Online Arts and Crafts Fair.” Let the sales roll in!

I’m not putting up a tree. It bugs me, but at the same time, I’m on the road for a business trip, and then driving down to Santa Fe (heh-heh, SANTA Fe) for a few days. An unwatered tree just seems like a fire waiting to happen, and I’d feel weird asking my housesitter to crawl around under the tree to water it. I have a fake tree I could put up, if I felt like rearranging the new living room arrangement. But have no fear, dear readers! I’ll still be decorating for Gillerin’s annual New Year’s Eve party. The theme is The Golden Age of Hollywood (because there were a couple of drunkish Marilyn wannabees at the Halloween party where this was decided) and the black/white décor from last year will be at least partially repurposed for the black/gold theme this year.

Along the lines of gold décor and no tree… I bought a gold glitter/bead encrusted conical tree form thingie. It’s about three feet tall, and just so happens to perfectly fit on my Buddha’s head. I described the look to Erin as “serene, flamboyantly gay gnome.” Ah, how Christmasy.

Wishing you all visions of sugarplums.

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A few more sewing patterns

After posting yesterday’s blog regarding dress patterns (and doing just about anything EXCEPT sewing them), I realized that I also have a few vintage patterns that I don’t actually have any plans to sew at all. I bought them because they’re pretty, though not necessarily in my size. If anybody can share information about the manufacturers or years where I don’t have them posted, I’d appreciate it.

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loose threads

Inspired by a holiday-festive circle skirt I sewed the other night, I bought two new dress patterns today.

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McCall’s ‘Easy Stitch ‘n Save’ M5292 and

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McCall’s ‘Evening Elegance’ M5319. Which looked much prettier as an actual sample dress in the fabric store than it does on the package. These patterns will join my growing stash of unsewn patterns, which include:

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Butterick Retro ’52 B4790 (reprint ©2006)

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Simplicity 4265 (©2006),

and the oldest of the bunch,

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Simplicity 7206 (©2002).

I have fabric for all except the “evening” dress, which I grabbed on an impulse while I was waiting in the line to check out. I also have fabric for a no-sew bathing suit and two no-sew skirts (both patterns downloadable from Blueprint magazine) in addition to fabric for a number of handbags that I haven’t gotten around to stitching up.

The ONE pattern that I’ve managed to complete is for a simple, A-line skirt:b4710.jpg

Butterick ‘See & Sew’ 4710, which I bought specifically for a lovely (and expensive) animal-print fabric, but I first did a “test-sewing” in a more affordable skull bandanna print called Baddanna. The test skirt is cute and wearable, but technically too big. I still haven’t made the “finished” version with the expensive fabric. I haven’t yet decided whether or not to adjust the pattern, or to save the fabric for a pencil skirt instead.

But, to make fabric cutting easier for all of this sewing that I should be doing, I bought a gigantic 36×60 self-healing mat (on sale for $30!). I will now be able to cut out whole pattern pieces without having to cut/shift mat/cut/shift mat the way I have been doing.

I would pick a pattern to start with tomorrow, but I’m heading with friends to “Créme de la Chrome,” the annual Rocky Mountain Rod & Custom show. And then I’ll find numerous other distractions to keep me from sewing. Okay, fine, I’ll leave the patterns out and allow them to give me dirty looks until I finally break down and start one. Which, if successful, should lead to another, and another…

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