totchipanda

I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna knock out a post before my newbies arrive and distract me! The short version:

Friday night I ordered myself dinner (bc I could!) and then I went downstairs to sew a little bit before I headed out to pick up roomie M from work. Saturday morning I finished sewing (a Sagebrush top from Friday Pattern Company) and y'all, it's so cute. I then wore it out to tea at my aunt's place, where I was handed two enormous zucchinis, and had a lovely couple of hours spending time with my aunt and a few other people. After, roomies and I headed out to see Barbie (loved it).

Yesterday I cut out and stitched a hopefully-wearable Honeybourne bodice from Cashmerette's book. Then I made an amazing grilled cheese sandwich and took a nap! At 4:30, I had an appointment downtown, so I did that and then took a shower when I got home because it was hot and humid and I was sticky and gross.

All in all, a lovely weekend! This upcoming weekend is a long weekend, which is v. exciting. Hopefully I enjoy it more than the last one (which ended with my boss' blow-up)

The long version:

The Sagebrush top is SO DANG CUTE. I cut out a size large, and before doing so, held up the bodice pieces against me and took out 2" of height at the upper chest. In the end, this should have been only 1", I had to scoop out the armscye a lil when I tried it on pre-sleeving. But it went together SO easily and the fabric, a light dotted swiss cotton, was a breeze to work with. I wore it out to tea and the movie.

Speaking of, everything everyone says about the Barbie movie is true. And I mean everyone. The people who hated it for being anti-man and whatever else, they are right. The people who loved it for all the pop culture and celebration of all things Barbie and being self aware and a sharp criticism of patriarchy et al., they are also right. Choose your own interpretation. I loved it, for all the reasons everyone else who loved it did (there was a spot where a pair of Birkenstocks were held up, and I nearly cried because I was wearing my non-birkenstock leather-strapped-cork-soled supportive sandals lol). We laughed, we cried, we felt called out and attacked, it was great. I can definitely see how the people who hated it got to their conclusions but, they were going to hate it anyway, so we don't care about them.

On the way to the movie, my friend messaged me because a space opened up in her housing co-op. It had been extended to another person RIGHT before I posted on FB asking people to keep their eyes open for me, but they ended up not taking it. Would I like her to pass on my info? Sure! I don't know anything about housing co-ops beyond vague assumptions and one extremely exaggerated comedy show, but it would be a neat experience and I lose nothing really by at least looking into it. So that's what I did Sunday afternoon, and it was lovely! The unit is about the size of my old apartment, probably a little larger, and considered 1.5 bedrooms. The second bedroom is very small, and the whole unit is on an angle so there's a very pointy unusable space especially in that second room, but it would be PERFECT as a sewing room. There's a big common room on the main floor with a kitchen and lots of tables and seating for large gatherings, and residents can book the space for their own use. The downside is that the unit faces west, so it gets full blast sun for a large portion of the day, and it was hotter than usual, but the view is incredible. It's pet-friendly and while there was a decently large "damage deposit", it goes towards the upkeep of the building, which is maintained by the tenants rather than a management company or single landlord. I put in my application a few hours later, the hardest part being a section of "what can you bring to the co-op". Heck if I know! I can do lots of things poorly, and what I lack in experience I can make up for in enthusiasm. Would I spend an hour a week vacuuming the common area floors? Yes I would. Point me at it, we'll figure out how to get it done.

I have a viewing today as well, in an area that's CLEAR across the city from where I am now. I think I would prefer to stay more central and west-ish (the co-op is just east of where I work downtown, which is quite far from my usual haunt, but VERY well situated centrally) but it can't hurt to get a look at what's out there.

The Honeybourne dress. When I tested the Kersoe top with their recommended size for my measurements (12 C/D), it was not great. Too tight across the chest, too wide through the upper chest. Then, I think in the book itself, it says that their measurements are based on UK bra sizes. Well, I am an E in UK bra sizing, so for this one, I laid my 12 C/D tracing over the 12 E/F lines and redrew it. It's slightly wider than the C/D draft, with a deeper bust dart, and perhaps 1/2" longer over the shoulder. I chose not to take out the shoulder height I would take from a big 4 pattern, cut and stitched, and pinned in a separating zipper. And surprisingly, it was decently good straight out of the packet. I hadn't stitched the lower front darts to accommodate my belly, and it wasn't strictly needed; I put in the full dart after but I could do a narrower one. The back needed taking up roughly 5/8", which I pinned out in the upper area, and I took both front and back in 1" to bring the shoulders in. It sat nicely on mine after I did that. I wasn't wearing a bra though, so I intended to fit that again before committing, but once I got back from the viewing I was just hot and sweaty so the bra got abandoned. I will try again later this week.

The homeowner called and made a lot of "we" statements with regards to repairs and painting. Once we're out, there is no "we" anymore, it's all her. She then said it was a mistake to sell at this time, but too late now. When I told roomie M this, she said that she would have been happy to have taken the next year to sort things out and we'd be ready for next spring/summer, but NOOOOO Homeowner had to tell us to GTFO and now we are peacing the fuck out. Just a few more weeks and then we're done.