The beginning of a new life

The 9.5 months of waiting is over, and the work begins. 

Sleep no longer matters.  Eight hours a night?  Bah!  Five-to-six is now enough for me, thankyouverymuch.  Nevermind the headache.  Bring on the coffee and aspirin!

Food is no longer a culinary experience.  Well, not that it was ever a culinary experience...  (I just like food).  Now eating is just for fueling the body.

This new "thing" that just recently came into my life, that lately has been continuously occupying the most of my limited brain space, is:












(wait for it)














(wait for it)










A house!

A new freaking house!  Okay, it's actually 60-years old, but it's new to me!  And it's all mine!  (and husband's).  And it's ugly!  So we may or may not have overpaid but there's no use to crying over spilt milk, I say just grab a straw and drink it straight from the floor!

That said... I'll be taking time off from sewing and blogging in the next few months, to nurture this new source of stress and obsession back into a presentable shape.  I will return with hopefully some decent before-and-after picture, because without before-and-after pictures, we are less equipped to judge people.



P.S. If you're asking why it took 9.5 months, I have one word for you:  Banks.  Evil, incompetent, selfish banks that think they rule the world and expect everybody else to play their games and if they lose, they ask everybody to bail them out.  Okay, that's more than one word, but they do rule the world and got bailed out.

But I don't wanna be a bridesmaid!

Continuing with my stash-busting mission....

This is a magenta / fuchsia / deep dark pink (Robert Kaufman calls it "berry" - whatever) silk-cotton blend.  Because of the limited yardage (only 2 yards), I chose a simple sheath with minimal practically no details... Burda 02-2009-124A

 I was aiming for a simple yet bold work dress, but the result is more like the world's most boring bridesmaid dress that J. Crew tossed aside as FAIL:

I wore it to work as a top, tucked into my gray trumpet skirt, cinched with a black belt at the waist, and black heels.  Somebody at work said it shows a nice silhouette.  She also reports to me so it could have just been an obligatory compliment from her part.  I can't think of how else to wear the dress so that it doesn't scream bridesmaid.  Any ideas, readers? 

The pattern itself is very easy and very fast to sew.  It took me only a couple of weekends including tracing, pressing, sewing a muslin, fitting adjustments, and sewing the dress.  There's no lining, although I probably should have made one, since the silk-cotton fabric is rather thin.

PR review here.

By the way, buy this.

This greatest-hits compilation was in heavy rotation in my iPod since I bought it a couple of weeks ago.  Very, very good music!  And Jim Morrison!  This explains why they were a big deal back in the 60's.