totchipanda

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:18:29 GMT

Had a great sleeping schedule all weekend, getting 8 hours in both nights and a 2 hour nap yesterday, but then I came out of a doze at 2:15 AM and didn't manage to drop off again. Not helped by the 5:20 AM thunderstorm. It is going to be a long, long, loooooooooooooooong ass day.

Finished the Ginger pants on Saturday, and I mean FINISHED them. Waistbands on the night before, buttons sewn on, hook and bar sewn on, hemmed. The whole shebang! I hung them on a door to admire. It was early enough in the day that I printed out a new pattern, trimmed the pages, taped them together, AND started cutting out a new project before I had to leave to pick up M.

Movie was good, basically a scene for scene remake of the OG. In some ways this was better than the Disney modus operandi of "let's remake it, but better" (and it's never better). It was a live action remake, the end. Toothless looked great, Gerard Butler reprised his role as Stoic and just ate scenery the entire time (he was having so much fun), the other dragons were also great, all in all super fun. Of the Disney remakes, I liked Cinderella the best because it was not a scene-for-scene remake, but when they did Beauty and the Beast I really did not like it because it WAS a scene-for-scene (but they changed my favourite one). No, we don't need more pointless remakes. I do hope we get another HTTYD.

After the movie we hit up two Walmarts for blind boxes of dragon plushies (I walked away with two Disney boxes to get the Kuzco figures; M got the dragon she wanted and another one), the small-batch ice cream shop sort of local to me, and the bookstore next door. When I got home, I finished cutting out the new project and went to bed.

On Sunday, new project got fully sewn from neck to hem and is already done. That's knit dresses for ya! I made it because people in the Discord said they had made several iterations whenever they needed an easy win, and one had gotten it down to a matter of hours. It took me about 5 hours, WITH a break for lunch and putting in unaccounted for pockets (may or may not have been successful). Some day I'll have a whole whack of photos for these, but for now you'll have to trust me that it is STINKING CUTE. I almost wore it today but my quick try on yesterday revealed that the bodice is just too long overall. I ought to raise the neckline (easiest fix) because I will definitely be flashing people and that's not a mood at work.

Other random thoughts:
I really need to look into a new Windows machine. The laptop with the Adobe wot does layers is so ancient at this point. It takes so long to do anything, and I mean it is really noticeable. Downloaded a pattern, Firefox said "Opening, 0s" and it was 2 full minutes later when it actually opened. It is an exercise in patience when I want to print. The Chromebook has very limited print functionality and mobile Adobe sucks monkey butts. I will have to struggle through for the next who knows how long until I can make that happen.

My hand is very very very sore. It was fine yesterday until I woke up from my nap, and ever since it's just been ow ow ow.

I have almost a meter of the knit fabric left over so I fully plan to make a shirt of some sort.

No sewing tonight. It will be a miracle if I make it through the day.

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Fri, 20 Jun 2025 13:58:59 GMT

Sewing was a wash yesterday. I did go ahead and lop off 1/2" at CF tapered to nothing at the sides, did rather a hack job of it, and immediately sewed the small CF waistband wrong. Twice. Called it then and there, the longer bands were NOT going to go well.

Another sleepless night thanks to this stupid organ, punctuated by a most malodorous smell. I typically ascribe those smells to my weed-smoking neighbour who stands barely past my window and stinks the place up, but this had an added layer of a petrol refinery and it permeated the entire back side of the house. Did a skunk wander by and have to discharge its back end at something? I've never smelled skunk spray that was fresh. It took like an hour to clear out enough to open the window again. The sun was definitely rising as I attempted to sleep again. At least this time my dream wasn't deep enough to pull me back so firmly into sleep when my alarm was going off.

But more unpleasantness awaited me. Was reading on the train, as I normally do, and my body suddenly decided it didn't like, not one little bit. I managed to make it to a station, got off and immediately plunked my butt down on a bench. I started looking for the nearest bin bc I was about three seconds away from puking. When my motion sickness decides to rear its head, it does so ferociously! Not helping at all is that I am also dehydrated enough to be dizzy when my head changes positions, and I've been having trouble focusing through my glasses, looking down more when I don't need to and getting that awesome reading lens watery effect. I'll have to get a pair without the reading portion for travel like this.

Anyway, I am super tired and still not feeling like my tummy is settled and I really need a drink. Send good thoughts, it's gonna be a long day.

Oh yes, and tomorrow's plans are the new How to Train Your Dragon movie with M! That will be fun. I expect my pants to be finished this weekend.

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Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:59:48 GMT

Got home and was so excited that I had a project to work on. First I needed to attach all the interfacings. Then I said FIIIIINE I'll serge edges too and did that. My serger is still... not working 100%. I prefer the look of 4-thread but it doesn't always catch them in the outer thread, and in a few places it barely caught any at all. The fabric is not shreddy so I'm not worried about it.

Happily stitched away until it was time for the zipper, and now I have a grump about zipper lots on Amazon. I got a pack of 100 invisible zips for like $30 and that was great, all the same size, lots of colours. I bought a pack of regular zips for about the same, but it was a mix of sizes, 20 each of 5 lengths. Which is fine, but it does mean I have much less colour selection than the invisible pack. What is up with that! All of the regular packs were like, 40 max, unless you wanted 3" zips. Grump grump. There wasn't anything close to a match in the regular zips, but one of the invisibles was perfect, so I prepped my zipper for that.

After the zip was installed, I put the legs together and the crotch so I could try them on! They are pretty good, actually. The front waist feels high (one of the antique sewing manuals I read said that ladies with prominent tummies should lower the front of their skirts 1/2" to swing it backwards) but looked ok in the mirror. I think I will feel the unbalance once the waist band is on so that is something to consider before I do it. Another concern is that the pattern itself has a curved hip area rather than darts, which always looks a bit off on me. My body is not rounded there, it's pretty straight and it's when you get to the top of the femur that my muscle bulges and I need fabric room. But it's not excessive and overall, the fit is nice. Just something to keep in mind for future makes.

Tonight I will get the waistband on and hem it. That's all that needs to be done! The waistband is gonna be complicated though, I will need all of my braincells for it. I had a dark o'clock wake up to deal with my stupid uterus that I couldn't get back to sleep from until nearly dawn, and then I was deep in a dream when my alarm was going off that I kept dropping back into once I hit snooze. I am so tired today.

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Wed, 18 Jun 2025 13:48:00 GMT

My heart was a damn liar and the hockey season is over. At least Florida didn't win it in our house. It was a better game too, the Oilers were really trying, but Florida was just that much better and their goalie is disgustingly good. I would be so thrilled if he played for us but he does not and so I am annoyed by how good he is lol.

I was grossly hot when I got home so it was an immediate strip down and into the shower. Then I wanted to wear my new dress, so I did. The skirt is large enough to pull things off of other surfaces when I brush by hehe. While the game was on, I moved some of the fabric bins around, and somehow forgot that I had inventoried the blue ones? I really ought to label them or else my fabric "catalogue" is useless now that I've forgotten which one was which.

But it allowed me to find the length of green cotton that is stained, so it was the perfect fabric for the Ginger pants. I dropped the end of it off the table edge and only remembered a few minutes later that the cat fountain was there, and sure enough, the end of it was now SOAKED haha. But I could still cut out the front and all the waist area bits, which I did. I had enough for cropped pants, which is perfect. Tonight I will cut out the back legs and then get to work. Debating if I want to make it into a jumpsuit, since the legs could not be cut side by side I have a length of uncut stuff down the center. But I already cut the waistband so... no. But I could use that extra for another mockup, probably. It is not a very pretty shade of green.

Also need to do laundry, I have been putting it off for a really long time.

This morning, picture this: I have flipped the blankets down into place. Calcifer leaps onto the bed and into the corner made by pillows, and starts digging at them like she knows something is underneath. Sophie jumps up and onto her with such force that she goes right over and for a moment, they are just a ball of fur and legs and tails. Two kittens is definitely the way to go <3

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