Halloween Weekend
I've been riding my bike to work even now that it's dark outside in the morning, and even though it's raining. I pulled the dragon cover over the Torch helmet on Friday. The light doesn't shine through as much as I'd like, for safety's sake, but it does shine through some. I may or may not have yelled "RAWR!" on my way down the hill into my work parking lot. I got lots of compliments on it as people passed by throughout the day and saw my helmet sitting on the table in my office.
On Halloween proper, we just stayed home and had a quiet night in. We don't like dealing with trick-or-treaters with the cats - too many opportunities for the indoor-only cat to get out, plus too many doorbells and knocks for the newer still-skittish cat. Plus, we're too damn lazy to keep getting up and answering the door, and then we eat all the leftover candy too.
On the other hand, we did go to a Halloween party the following night. Michael did a last-minute costume of Jack McReady from "The Thing". I went as a paper doll, complete with multiple outfit pieces, two hairstyles, and a couple of accessories. We didn't get much for pictures, but here's one of me standing next to Iron Totoro (yes, *that* Iron Totoro from recent Cons).
Elsewhere in the weekend, I'm on Day 6 of my 4-day sewing class. I'm making an A-line skirt with lining and some fancy top-stitching. I've got at least 4 more hours to go on it, I think. It's really starting to look like a skirt now. I think I've just got the top-stitching and hemming of both main fabric and lining to go, plus a closure for the waistband, but I thought I was a lot closer to being finished last time, so who knows.
I really like the idea of making one or two nice things to wear per year. It's easy enough to make elastic-band skirts, and I'm sure I'll keep doing that. But it would be nice to make a couple of things like a blouse or zipper-skirt or dress or pair of pants each year that actually fit me properly. Must keep practicing, because that's the only way I'll get better or faster with it.
I also found a class for making shoes. As in, actual, wear outside of the house, leather shoes. It's $450 for the least-expensive class, but they're nice looking shoes that should last a really long time. Maybe I can save up for doing that in spring. In the meantime, I've also got to look ahead at getting a new computer and pay for a graduate-level class for professional development. Gah.
In the meantime, I think I want to make some fabric slippers for cruising around the house.
On Halloween proper, we just stayed home and had a quiet night in. We don't like dealing with trick-or-treaters with the cats - too many opportunities for the indoor-only cat to get out, plus too many doorbells and knocks for the newer still-skittish cat. Plus, we're too damn lazy to keep getting up and answering the door, and then we eat all the leftover candy too.
On the other hand, we did go to a Halloween party the following night. Michael did a last-minute costume of Jack McReady from "The Thing". I went as a paper doll, complete with multiple outfit pieces, two hairstyles, and a couple of accessories. We didn't get much for pictures, but here's one of me standing next to Iron Totoro (yes, *that* Iron Totoro from recent Cons).
Elsewhere in the weekend, I'm on Day 6 of my 4-day sewing class. I'm making an A-line skirt with lining and some fancy top-stitching. I've got at least 4 more hours to go on it, I think. It's really starting to look like a skirt now. I think I've just got the top-stitching and hemming of both main fabric and lining to go, plus a closure for the waistband, but I thought I was a lot closer to being finished last time, so who knows.
I really like the idea of making one or two nice things to wear per year. It's easy enough to make elastic-band skirts, and I'm sure I'll keep doing that. But it would be nice to make a couple of things like a blouse or zipper-skirt or dress or pair of pants each year that actually fit me properly. Must keep practicing, because that's the only way I'll get better or faster with it.
I also found a class for making shoes. As in, actual, wear outside of the house, leather shoes. It's $450 for the least-expensive class, but they're nice looking shoes that should last a really long time. Maybe I can save up for doing that in spring. In the meantime, I've also got to look ahead at getting a new computer and pay for a graduate-level class for professional development. Gah.
In the meantime, I think I want to make some fabric slippers for cruising around the house.