home at last
Nov. 14th, 2024 12:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
totchipandaI've been home since Tuesday evening, but took some time to just not be "present".
Short version: Vacation was good! Once the ridiculously long travel time was over, I stayed put for three and a half days, went to the ball, stayed inside for two more days, and then had another ridiculously long travel time to get home. The kittens were more interested in the smells of the second suitcase I had to bring back bc no way were my new goodies coming home in one lil carry-on sized case lol.
It takes a loooong time to get to where I was staying in Michigan, not helped on the way there by a change of planes that was delayed more by the replacement being late. Also I probably made myself ill by not drinking enough on Sunday and then not doing anything about the maybe headache? on Monday, but I spent the entire first two legs of the journey trying not to throw up. Plus it was a full flight and the woman next to me couldn't get settled, and she had long curly hair that she kept gathering over her shoulder and it would fall against me. I didn't sleep basically at all, so by 9pm eastern time I was conked out.
The days were all largely the same, K and I watched true crime first and then Great British Baking Show, sewed a bit, constructed about 70% of a booknook kit, snacked, at lunch, drank coffee, and generally lazed around the house doing things at our own paces. K worked on Friday so I had the house to myself, where I slammed out a good portion of an open robe in the most *delicious* silk brocade ever.
On Saturday I finished enough of the robe that I could finish most of the stitching in the car on the way to Lansing, the very last in the common room, and still have time to eat a little before the ball started. Once it started, I danced a few dances and caught up with some peeps I'd met at CoCo '17, and it was all over by 10pm.
Sunday was very much a "do nothing" day, and we did it with gusto! She went to bed early, and I was still somewhat on mountain time (helped by my phone telling me what time it was in my home region), so I spent some hours tracing off some patterns and watching Netflix.
Monday was more chilling, but we did run out of the house to go visit the farm where they had the friendliest barn cats ever, more than content to be held and petted and purring up a storm. Then to a local-ish mall so I could get an exclusive edition of a book, then Joann (boring; mostly interesting to me as they have fabric and patterns, but not the ones I wanted of course) and ice cream!
Tuesday it was out of bed early bc we needed to drive across the state again since getting well-timed flights was hard AF, apparently, and you know how travel goes. Its a lot of hurry up and wait. I was so ready to not be around people anymore, there was a lot of unsettled dudes (the guy behind me kept pushing his knees against my seat), a lot of coughing and sniffling, a couple of kids talking loudly (they're kids, and I recognize that I was not my best self), and a couple of bros talking about their jobs in oil and gas, well peppered with f bombs, and shooting raccoons with crossbow bolts. Could not get out of there fast enough. I got home right around 7pm, JUST as I was getting used to eastern time lol.
I came home with the open robe, the leftover fabric I cut from it, a length of pink silk, some dark teal silk, a skirt that will be picked apart and reused, the backpack I purchased in 2020 and shipped to her house, the aforementioned book, a partially constructed booknook kit (by me; I was missing a piece and also held off on constructing the rest because how would I get it home?? Getting it packed was hard enough!), and a knock-off Oodie which is the best thing ever.
In letting the kittens smell all the things, I unpacked my suitcases and have them ready for storage. Who is she???? I mean I still need to do ALL THE LAUNDRY but unpacking was a pretty big task, really. I'm glad its done, it's not looming in my mind as a to-do.
Late on Tuesday I remembered that I have another event tonight! So yesterday, I cut out another Black Snail Edwardian blouse with very large sleeves, and I wish I'd made more progress on it. Or maybe I should have focused on finishing the pink one I already had started. Alas! Too late now. The new blouse is not really wearable, there are several places where my yoke treatment wasn't secure, I messed up the collar so now it's ridiculously tight, and the cuffs could have used some adjustment. I brought it with me to work today to sew on snaps, but they are only half done and I messed those up too. I'm going to safety pin myself into it and call it good enough for a dinner.
Blouse: 1.5 yards (barely) of a light-mid weight cotton, some scraps of a curtain, and a chunk of poly broadcloth. With the 2 yards of wool from the last project, that's 26.5 left for the whole 30 challenge hehehe. Slowly but surely!
In my quest to start the blouse yesterday, I opened almost every box or bin of fabric that I have. So I now have a better inkling of what I have to work from. I also glanced around at the storage space and trying to decide the best way to get the fabric organized (eventually). Alas the best wall for my sense of storage is taken up by the second pane for the back door that I will need to change soon. I am also fired up for sewing ALL OF THE THINGS only to have that pesky voice go "what for? Where will you wear it?" Listen here, pesky voice. Sewing something I might never wear is better than sewing nothing at all!
Before I can get on to the fun things, I need to make some of the underthings. I need new regency stays for SURE, all of my old sets have been sold. I want to try some of the transitional styles, and K even sent me home with a cut-out pattern that she'd started many years ago. The pattern (Fig Leaf) was drafted with "authentic" seam allowances of about 1/4", so even at the adjusted size she cut, it is likely too big for me. In other words, perfect for playing around with. I'd still like to try the Bernhardt stays and experiment withchocolatepot's Cherry Hill draft too. Maybe even finish up my first attempt at the Augusta stays, which I had shortened, and use them as a transitional set. If I could find them.
Short version: Vacation was good! Once the ridiculously long travel time was over, I stayed put for three and a half days, went to the ball, stayed inside for two more days, and then had another ridiculously long travel time to get home. The kittens were more interested in the smells of the second suitcase I had to bring back bc no way were my new goodies coming home in one lil carry-on sized case lol.
It takes a loooong time to get to where I was staying in Michigan, not helped on the way there by a change of planes that was delayed more by the replacement being late. Also I probably made myself ill by not drinking enough on Sunday and then not doing anything about the maybe headache? on Monday, but I spent the entire first two legs of the journey trying not to throw up. Plus it was a full flight and the woman next to me couldn't get settled, and she had long curly hair that she kept gathering over her shoulder and it would fall against me. I didn't sleep basically at all, so by 9pm eastern time I was conked out.
The days were all largely the same, K and I watched true crime first and then Great British Baking Show, sewed a bit, constructed about 70% of a booknook kit, snacked, at lunch, drank coffee, and generally lazed around the house doing things at our own paces. K worked on Friday so I had the house to myself, where I slammed out a good portion of an open robe in the most *delicious* silk brocade ever.
On Saturday I finished enough of the robe that I could finish most of the stitching in the car on the way to Lansing, the very last in the common room, and still have time to eat a little before the ball started. Once it started, I danced a few dances and caught up with some peeps I'd met at CoCo '17, and it was all over by 10pm.
Sunday was very much a "do nothing" day, and we did it with gusto! She went to bed early, and I was still somewhat on mountain time (helped by my phone telling me what time it was in my home region), so I spent some hours tracing off some patterns and watching Netflix.
Monday was more chilling, but we did run out of the house to go visit the farm where they had the friendliest barn cats ever, more than content to be held and petted and purring up a storm. Then to a local-ish mall so I could get an exclusive edition of a book, then Joann (boring; mostly interesting to me as they have fabric and patterns, but not the ones I wanted of course) and ice cream!
Tuesday it was out of bed early bc we needed to drive across the state again since getting well-timed flights was hard AF, apparently, and you know how travel goes. Its a lot of hurry up and wait. I was so ready to not be around people anymore, there was a lot of unsettled dudes (the guy behind me kept pushing his knees against my seat), a lot of coughing and sniffling, a couple of kids talking loudly (they're kids, and I recognize that I was not my best self), and a couple of bros talking about their jobs in oil and gas, well peppered with f bombs, and shooting raccoons with crossbow bolts. Could not get out of there fast enough. I got home right around 7pm, JUST as I was getting used to eastern time lol.
I came home with the open robe, the leftover fabric I cut from it, a length of pink silk, some dark teal silk, a skirt that will be picked apart and reused, the backpack I purchased in 2020 and shipped to her house, the aforementioned book, a partially constructed booknook kit (by me; I was missing a piece and also held off on constructing the rest because how would I get it home?? Getting it packed was hard enough!), and a knock-off Oodie which is the best thing ever.
In letting the kittens smell all the things, I unpacked my suitcases and have them ready for storage. Who is she???? I mean I still need to do ALL THE LAUNDRY but unpacking was a pretty big task, really. I'm glad its done, it's not looming in my mind as a to-do.
Late on Tuesday I remembered that I have another event tonight! So yesterday, I cut out another Black Snail Edwardian blouse with very large sleeves, and I wish I'd made more progress on it. Or maybe I should have focused on finishing the pink one I already had started. Alas! Too late now. The new blouse is not really wearable, there are several places where my yoke treatment wasn't secure, I messed up the collar so now it's ridiculously tight, and the cuffs could have used some adjustment. I brought it with me to work today to sew on snaps, but they are only half done and I messed those up too. I'm going to safety pin myself into it and call it good enough for a dinner.
Blouse: 1.5 yards (barely) of a light-mid weight cotton, some scraps of a curtain, and a chunk of poly broadcloth. With the 2 yards of wool from the last project, that's 26.5 left for the whole 30 challenge hehehe. Slowly but surely!
In my quest to start the blouse yesterday, I opened almost every box or bin of fabric that I have. So I now have a better inkling of what I have to work from. I also glanced around at the storage space and trying to decide the best way to get the fabric organized (eventually). Alas the best wall for my sense of storage is taken up by the second pane for the back door that I will need to change soon. I am also fired up for sewing ALL OF THE THINGS only to have that pesky voice go "what for? Where will you wear it?" Listen here, pesky voice. Sewing something I might never wear is better than sewing nothing at all!
Before I can get on to the fun things, I need to make some of the underthings. I need new regency stays for SURE, all of my old sets have been sold. I want to try some of the transitional styles, and K even sent me home with a cut-out pattern that she'd started many years ago. The pattern (Fig Leaf) was drafted with "authentic" seam allowances of about 1/4", so even at the adjusted size she cut, it is likely too big for me. In other words, perfect for playing around with. I'd still like to try the Bernhardt stays and experiment with
chocolatepot's Cherry Hill draft too. Maybe even finish up my first attempt at the Augusta stays, which I had shortened, and use them as a transitional set. If I could find them.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-15 01:38 pm (UTC)I'm sorry you had to deal with people, they really do ruin everything.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-15 02:27 pm (UTC)Costuming as a hobby rather than a purpose seems fine. I mean I know quilters who have like 5+ times as many quilts as they have beds even after making quilts for their family, so it's not like they need another quilt. Besides the "Idle hands are the devils workshop" thing - like think of all the crossbow damage you might get into if you didn't sew and write.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-15 03:11 pm (UTC)That is a good comparison, actually. Similar skillset, similar "finished product", similar purpose lol. I think I would enjoy quilting.