Yes!

Look who's fitting into dresses she made last summer, pre-pregnancy!

That's right! Me!!!

The only problem is that the bodice darts aren't hitting me correctly anymore. Anyone know how to alter patterns to fit gigantic breasts on a narrower frame?

A Summer of Changes

The last time I posted was just June 10th.

Since that time...

• John and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary
• Dottie celebrated first first year living with us
• I took on a client for sewing work
• I danced in the Ballet School's annual production
• Oh...and I got pregnant

So, nothing too crazy or anything. 

Our first anniversary was nice. My parents watched Dottie so John and I could go to Ojai for the evening. Ojai was boring, but we did attend a local wine fest. Being surrounded by a couple hundred drunk baby boomers was pretty awesome. It was Tommy Bahamas and Harley Davidson wear as far the your eyes could see. By 2pm they were all wasted and we were just starting. 

Dottie is doing great! She's 1.5 now and much more calm. To celebrate we bought her doggie cupcakes. She liked them very much. 

Yep, I took on a client for some wedding sewing. It turned out more involved than I planned (surprising right?), but in the end I was really proud of my work. I altered a wedding dress, embellished two bridesmaid dresses, added straps to the bridesmaid dresses, and constructed a lace edged shrug for the bride. Seriously, everything looked so wonderful and I cannot wait to see pictures from the wedding. 

As I mentioned above...I had my triumphant return to the stage. Well, maybe not triumphant since I was only a gypsy in one scene in a very long production. But really it was fun to get dolled up and dance in front of people. I only wish there were more opportunities for adults to perform more often. Plus rehearsing was really fun with the other gypsies. The hardest part of the performance was keeping my big secret that I'm pregnant. Found out two days before the show,but didn't dare tell anyone until after I got confirmation from the doctor. It was killing me to keep it from my Mom, but I did it and survived.

And so...now its baby time. 15 weeks 3 days today with a due date of February 26th. Will it be a leap year baby?

Being pregnant hasn't been easy so far. I've spent more time in a bathroom than I ever care to, I basically stopped eating for a few months, I'm tired all the time and get all kinds of strange aches. But at the same time I'm very excited about this baby.

At our appointment yesterday the baby was wiggling all over the place. So the only picture we got was this.

 That's a top view of the head. Not the most excited photo, but getting to see the spine and heart at work was pretty neat. No gender though. Little peanut wasn't interested in showing the goods. I don't want to know if its a girl or a boy, but John REALLY wants to know. So he can find out and torture me.

I'm also starting to show. Did I mentioned the upper arm spread? Sweet!

Next up...how to clothe my growing belly as I enter the busy season at the museum. I have both Halloween and Christmas events coming, plus regular tour guiding and I'm afraid my current outfit just isn't going to work.

Sewing...my first passion

Lately I've been making more of an effort to get back to my first passion, sewing.

I think if I could spend my days sewing sundresses and my evenings knitting, I'd be a pretty happy girl. So its been especially fun making a few things lately.

Sewing project 1 - Victorian blouse

What do you do when a major museum event is in 3 days and you don't have a top?

You dig through your fabric stash to find something suitable and then whip that sucker out.

Sorry for the poor quality photos, but I was on my own.

Here's the back.

I also recently made a new dress and finished a new sweater.

The dress is still a little plain. Could use some trim or a sash or something. The sweater...oh its awesome. Soft 100% wool. You would think that would be too warm for LA, but not really. Wool is pretty breathable in a hand knit, so this was just right for a day in the 70s.

There is also what I'm wearing today...

Not the most flattering photo...but I love this dress. Cute tie around the wait. And its a wrap dress. So it wraps around the back to create a V.

Can't wait to make a few more from my vintage patterns, and who knows, maybe this is my business plan. A little help from my husband for good photos and I could be on my way.

Oh, and here's Dottie's latest photo. She's sleeping with us now (not all night, but part of the night).

I think she's getting too comfortable.

Sewing on Commission

I've just starting taking sewing or knitting projects on commission again. Its been more than 5 years since the last time I said yes. But for very good reason...

I think a lot of craftsman will agree with me on this one. Once people find out you are a sewer, knitter, quilter, etc they will eventually ask you to make something for them. Its not wholly negative, but there are a lot of abusers out there hoping to get a lot for a very little bit of compensation.

So I haven't taken on many of these projects in the past.

I made a few Greek god costumes for Kathryn's high school play. (for free I think)

Made her a prom dress too (though I have never seen a picture, so in my mind I still don't believe she actually wore it) (Mom bought the fabric, I think)

I made lots of ballet costumes (but in return for discounted or free classes)

But I've only done one project where someone truly hired me to sew something.

It was not a positive experience.

A parent at the ballet school I was attending wanted me to make her daughter a pirate skirt. She purchased the materials and gave me a general idea of what they wanted. Now I should mention this was actually almost ten years ago and I've learn soooooo much about business since then.

Clue: She bought the cheapest materials she could find, and balked at the amount of material I requested.

I agreed to make the skirt. It took me about 3-4 hours to make AND I didn't have a pattern to go by, so I made it all up as I went along.

The finished product was a very full and shiny black skirt with pink net layered underneath. It was exactly as her daughter described. My work was good considering the crap I had to work with.

In return for my services I asked for the same hourly rate I was making at the time. I think it was slightly above minimum wage.

The woman went crazy on me. Why did it take so long? Way too expensive! Could have bought something at a costume store!!! Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!

Which brings me back to my point. Every one's handy work is worth something. Its just that everyone has their own price point for things. Frankly, most non-crafty type people I've encountered undervalue hand made articles.

So now when people ask me to make something for them, I have a much better tool belt for handling expectations.

When my friend Christina asked me to make her daughter a ballet outfit, I tried to get as many details as possible. But it was also a safe transaction. Christina is extremely crafty herself and knows how long things take. Plus she watched Dottie for a week so we could go to Boulder, so I was happy to refuse payment for my work. Watching Dottie would be more than enough for me.

When I was approached recently to take on costuming for productions at my job, I said I would happily refer them to professionals I know.

But when a fellow adult ballet student approached me to make curtains for her daughter's room...I said yes.

She came to class with the materials in December. I looked at the raw fabric, checked to make sure there was enough yardage, pointed out the flaws in the vintage fabric ahead of time, and gave her a realistic deadline.

Why take this project on? Well, I got the back story on why she wanted me to do it, and I could sympathize. She's had the fabric for 5 years and still hadn't made the curtains. She's reached the point where paying someone to do it was easier than looking at it in the closet for another 5 years, when her daughter will out grow the pattern and want something more cool. I totally get it. Plus, it was a simple project I was sure I could finish in about 2 hours. Not a big commitment for me, and not shocking for the client either.

So here they are...ready for delivery.

Now I'm looking forward to taking on more projects in the future. I just need to remember to only take on what I know I can realistically handle.

11 days and counting

My friend Kristin's wedding is in 11 days.

I'm one of the bridesmaids and decided to make my own dress. I'm still very happy with my decision except...this is the state of the dress right now.

Yep, its still in pieces. Why? I need a zipper, but more importantly...I need thread.

Now a few short weeks ago finding thread quickly would be no problem. There was a JoAnns right down the road. Not my favorite store for fabric, but thread and zippers were an easy find. Now the JoAnns in closed. (Tear) So I need to make a special trip to another town to get the notions I need. Sigh...guess what I'll be doing Saturday.