&#034Life is a long lesson in humility.&#034 – James M. Barrie

Well, technically, I haven&#039t actually done any real sewing on my latest artsy-craftsy project, but I have taken the first step: call my sister. I picked up several sewing patterns to make an attempt at making sundresses (the only dress I like much at all), and a few weeks back while at my sister&#039s place, we went shopping to get supplies to make them. Since the apartment isn&#039t really all that big and the largest horizontal surface we have is being used (the kitchen table for the TV and VCR in the living room we never use), I really didn&#039t have the room to lay everything out and begin on the project. Now that I have the new desk/table combo, I have a large horizontal space that I immediatly wheeled in the middle of the room and put the ironing board on. I was determined to start my project.

So, after ironing the several yards of material, I stared at the flimsy pieces of paper that came in the colorful envelope with skinny, smiling models on the front. I stared, read the papers, stared some more, reread them, then asked my husband to hand me the phone. It was WonderSister time. Katie sews a lot (made all the dresses for the entire female part of my wedding party), so I knew she&#039d have a clue as to what the hell all the rambling print and doodles on the flimsy papers meant. I mean, I&#039m sure I could have figured most of it out on my own, but it makes me feel better to have someone tell me for sure that I&#039m fucking up. Katie was in the process of painting over the rainbow colors of her kids&#039 toy room, giving herself a good coating of not-white-but-some-variant-of-it-with-some-prettier-name-than-&#034not-white&#034 on herself and in her hair. The husband played video games on both his and my computer while this process was going on, so he was fine not having to try and answer my crazy questions about diagrams and symbols.

Cutting and pinning is harder when one has the use of only a hand and an elbow (the hand for holding the scissors or pins, the elbow to hold down the material or pattern) due to the phone on one ear, but Katie was having just as much fun trying to fill paint trays and paint with one hand. Finally, I got the material cut, but since it was nearing midnight, I decided not to start actually sewing the two pieces together. I folded the material with the patterns still attached and put it up high where I couldn&#039t sit on it on accident (because since I inherited my grandma&#039s ass, I also inherited her knack for sitting on anything if it were on a bed or chair without seeing it first like her glasses, my little brother, plates, etc.) and get needles in my derrière. Tonight is DnD, otherwise I&#039d go ahead and sew the pieces together. Hell, I might have enough time to do so before the game starts… That&#039s an idea. Of course, I still have to figure out the uh, anti-biased strip of fabric for elasticity or something. Can&#039t remember the actually term for it though. I&#039m not that good at sewing yet… Gimme time. I doubt I&#039ll be as good as Katie, but I&#039m just making clothes to bum around in, not to wear to a wedding.

Posted: June 22, 2004 at three in the afternoon or so.