Project: No project weekend

It was one of those weekends where I got nothing done and just ended up making a big mess out of my studio space.

Friday after work, I finished up a project for my mom. It's been hanging over my head and over the arm of the office couch for weeks now. I had the supplies to finish it, I had the time to finish it, but I did not need to finish it because it is a Christmas tree skirt. I really enjoyed making it and I love doing nice things for my mom but who needs a Christmas tree skirt in January or February or March, even? Christmas in July, sure... But now it is finished and it looks gorgeous and she loves it and will probably use it for the next 20 years (or else).

I was excited to have that finished up so that I could start on something new (Plan B). I bought a pattern to make some cute sailor pants for Zadie a while back and thought I would get to work on those. Unfortunately, I was not able to find buttonhole elastic on my last trip to the fabric store and I don't need 5 yards of it so I need to wait until the next trip to a different fabric store before we'll have yellow elephant pants in our lives. I had forgotten about the stupid elastic so I feel like I wasted time getting everything set up and cut out only to have it sit there.

Plan C was to actually make something for myself and follow through on that pattern challenge I signed up for last month. I got out my teal silky fabric and cut out all the pieces (a huge pain as I did not have enough fabric to do it easily; I really had to make it work and had about 2" left in a weird shape -- it was like Tetris or something. From now on I'm buying more than the pattern envelope says). Then I had a lot of problems getting my brand new chalk marking pencil to actually make my dart lines and once I finally got to sewing, everything started bunching up because I probably need to use a thinner needle and I don't have any and there are no fabric stores open on Sundays within a reasonable distance. I was able to sew the front facing in because the sewing machine seemed to be okay with attaching the cotton to the silky stuff without bunching up. But anyway I can't get started on the rest until I get some smaller needles.

Plan D was to get started on that Burda dress. I got all the pieces put together and easily made the adjustments from the Danielle to the Maya shape. After I put Zadie to bed I was going to sew a "muslin" of the bodice out of some ugly blue flannel so that I'll be able to make adjustments to the pattern before cutting into my good stuff. I feel like the neckline might be a little low for me and I have no idea how European cuts are going to work on my body. I was too tired to do this so I watched Ruby and went to bed but couldn't fall asleep.

Fabulous. I feel like I got nothing accomplished and am still tired. The week ahead is a busy one at work so there's no way I'll be able to squeeze much into my evenings. Does this ever happen to you?

See flickr for notes on the photo if you want the mess explained.