A lot

I haven't posted in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!

Let's see, I finished painting my office/sewing room, have made a few more corsets, hemmed pants, made a big floor pillow for Uly, and have finally almost finished moving and spreading the ten bobcat scoops of mulch that I paid to have dumped in my driveway by means of a red wagon that was supposed to be for Uly...

That's a lot of project work! Pictures to come...

Really, I did finish the last corset I was working on. I swear. I even have the pictures to prove it. Where are they? On my computer. Why are they not here? Because I really am that lazy. I'm making matching cord skirts for myself and Judie next. Pictures will show up sometime in the next year or so.. haha

Ok, so I still haven't posted pictures of the finished product... Shame on me. Soon though, soon!

Almost done...

This is the fully boned, turn-of-the-19th century transition stay I began several months ago. I've been working on it for a week now, hand-sewing at every opportunity. I think it has turned out fantastic! I am very impressed with the instructions provided by Saundra Altman (the woman who drafted the pattern based on a museum piece). This picture is a blurry representation of the inside of the corset, opened up flat. The bones are made of reed and come in a circle like a wreath and so need to be soaked and steamed after inserting them into each channel in order to flatten them. All I have left is to whip-stitch and put the binding on the top and bottom edges and sew in the breast-bone casings which will house to metal bands to prevent boob-smooshage. Heh. I'll update the pictures when I replace the batteries in my camera.

Threatened with the prospect of help from my mother-in-law, I'm pleased to report that I have actually begun to finish some of my latest (some, VERY late...) projects. I have switched bathrooms with Gavin, learned to use hot rollers in my formerly uncooperative lengths of hair, and launched fearlessly into my first hand-sewn project in earnest. I cut out the corset many months ago and have been making fearful glances at it ever since, until last week. I am so, so (sew--ha ha.. *buh-dum-dum*) glad that I did. It turns out that hand-sewing is EASY. Not only is it easy, it's EASIER than using a machine! AND you're not STUCK somewhere!

For those of you who know me, and I'm guessing you do if you're reading this blog, you're aware that I am the harrassed stay-at-home-on-the-go mom of a rapidly moving toddler, and toddlers don't care much for hanging out and watching mommy sew, or cook, compute, or anything else that disallows thier participation. But hand-sewing is different. It's small, it's uninteresting, and it's totally mobile.

More on this later, with pictures too!

So the room is re-arranged, the closet is mine, and there is blue prep paint covering about 3/4 of the window and door trim. Painting is still a ways off and I'm looking at a shirt I started making (two years ago...) and getting closer and closer to busting out the ole' sewing machine. I hand stitched a pair of pants for uly that are also unfinished, but almost done. That seems to be a major theme in my life. Almost there!

I've decided that I'm not going to plug in my sewing machine again until I finish the minor maintenance on the master bath, and after that I'm going to paint and re-arrange the office and claim the walk-in closet here for my very own. All books, diplomas and electronic gadgetry that could be useful-but-aren't will be packed up and gently placed in what will then become Gavin's walk-in closet. I've come to the understanding--at last--that part of a happy, healthy relationship with another person is to reserve some space for your very own to be as tidy or piggy as you like and not be nagged about it or constantly nagging.

This room will be mine. It will be blue. I will put shelving up to hold all my sewing supplies. It will have white curtains. My son can play in my closet with my shoes without fear of injury.

It's going to be awesome!