Happy Holidays...

Yeah, yeah, I know it's WAY too early to be thinking about anything other than Halloween costumes, candy corn and that sort of thing. But in the world of a procrastinator, if you want to get anything Christmasy related *done*, you better start right around the first day of fall. Especially if you are as picky as I am.

I've blogged before with much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the lamentable state of little boy "fashion". I swore my son would only wear suits and ties and so on. And he does when it counts. Little dude has SUCH an affinity for Thomas the Tank and Uh-QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN (Lighting McQueen to the uninitiated) that in order to stop embarassing meltdown moments in the store, I've caved and bought him some of it. It all started with the unfortunate incident where Little Dude peed himself and his carseat right before grocery shopping at the SuperTarget. I ended up with a diaperclad boy looking desparately for ANYTHING that was cheap and fit. When he saw Uh-QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN it was all over for me. I was desparate and it just snowballed from there.

What does that have to do with Christmas? Well, not a whole lot. However, while I can find a zillion and one licensed shirts, hoodies and shorts, finding a vest and tie for Christmas portraits to be taken October 29th, has been a challenge to say the very least. Especially when I needed LIME GREEN. And shiny. To match the girls' fuschia and purple sparkly dresses. You try finding something THAT specific in Vacation Central where it's still 95 degrees and people are still wearing shorts despite it being "Fall". When you give up like me, you're doomed to make it yourself or go without. It's a good thing that costume fabric is 40% off at JoAnn's. I scored a yard of shiny green satiny polyester that has a nice stiff backing for $6. Enough to make a vest and tie with a bit leftover. But getting fabric was half the battle. You try finding a pattern small enough to fit your 2.5 year old who still wears 12-18 months in most stuff and has had to wear a belt for over a year to keep his britches up. You're in luck because McCalls makes such an item. It comes in size 2-3-4-5. Size 2 is just about perfect. A wee bit loose, but it's a vest so I can safety pin it in the back and be happy. Here's the final product:

OK, so it's not final final since it has no buttons and the tie thingy doesn't have a fastener, but close enough for government work. I have to make a run to the store to find the *perfect* buttons. But I will. And it will be good.

Next up... Halloween Costumes. Because I'm NOT spending over $100 for three costumes made of cheap crap by slave labor in China. I'm just not.

Beautiful Irony

I know I've been away for a while. I've had life. You know, the basics of laundry and child rearing and summer camp and 1st grade and Pre-K starting... Lest you think I've been all work and no play and thus become a dull girl, I'm going to tell you a tale of two books. They are beauty, they are the beast, but not a Tale of Two Cities.

The first is "Universal Beauty". It's the Miss Universe Guide to looking beautiful. And it's chock full of great advice on skin-care and such. And it's not really that geared towards the Pageant Girl.

The other great book I read was The Photoshop Elements 6 Book For Digital Photographers.

I've always wondered how and wanted to learn about making a good picture GREAT. Well, that book tells all! And how...

The irony of it all? There's not ONE picture in the first book that was NOT manipulated SOMEHOW using the techniques in the second. Take a good look at the cover. I promise it has been enhanced.

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

Or a rant on Why I Hate Modern Patterns.

Let me preface this posting by saying that I am NOT a n00b. I'm actually a decent seamstress and would call myself intermediate/advanced. Now that I've established my creds, here goes:

Modern patterns (a veritable snore of the devil) are NOT made with the same attention to detail, quality and general re-usability of patterns a mere 20 years old. Yep. Whoda thunk I was praising the 80s?

Going back further, patterns from the 1970s - especially childrens' patterns - are superb. If not for fashion sensibility, at LEAST for the fact that once a pattern was cut, you could use it again and again. Why? Because the paper was a MUCH better grade of paper. Thicker and easier to refold. Has anyone tried to refold what passes for patterns these days? Trust me, you don't want to try. All you will get is M.A.D. Or be left with little shreds of paper where it refused to cooperate. Or both.

My favorite patterns are those that range from the early 1940s (how I love printed patterns) to the 70s. Why? Because they came in ONE SIZE. Not FIVE. Multi-size patterns are yet another snore of the devil and the bane of my existence <--- which I've spelled three times and figure "e" in the middle looks better. Especially CHILDRENS' multi-size patterns. Help me boab! When you have five sizes ranging from 1/2 (yes ONE HALF) to 4, it's quite obvious that the cutting lines are going to be ridiculously close together. And don't try actually cutting out the notches. So HERE is the offender:

It looks deceptively simple. There's a mere 21 pieces to the pattern. Yes, you read that correctly TWENTY ONE pieces for standard pajamas.

You could scoff and say "just transfer the pattern to paper and THEN cut it out". And I'd tell you BTDT ThankYouVeryMuch. That was just as much a PITA as doing it the "normal" way. So now, I'm back to the cutting table to finish New Year's Resolution 7.128: DO SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THAT FABRIC THAT IS SITTING IDLE IN YOUR STASH. AKA: Just make the darn outfits before your kids outgrow them.