Project: Taxes

I'm starting on my taxes tonight. Yuck.

Back tomorrow.

Project: Jane Austen book club . Persuasion

I just got home from the second meeting of my local Jane Austen book club. Because of work, I got there late and missed a good bit of the discussion. I had to confess that I hadn't actually finished the book. The first five chapters were just so hard to get into and I was just so tired that it never happened. By the time I figured out who was who and what was going on, it was too late to finish. Most of the group felt the same way (although it seems they had all read the book and many had watched the movie).

I didn't say much but I really enjoyed the conversation. At one point a couple of the ladies started going on about Dancing with the Stars and some astronaut who's had some work done and his wife, "now she's had some facelifts." Also, "that Kate."

Next up, Sense and Sensibility. I'm not sure I've read that one so I'm excited about it.

The photo is from kellynch.com, a website devoted to the setting for Persuasion.

Project: Welcome Spring!

Last week was Spring Break. I had planned on posting just a couple of times but ended up just taking the whole week off from the blog. The weather was gorgeous and I had a ton of work to do. However, I did finish up a few projects and got started on a few more. The teal shirt is done (woo hoo!), Zadie's got a cute dotted swiss robot dress in progress (must finish taxes before getting back to that one), and I found some buttonhole elastic and got started on those sailor pants.

The pollen in the air (and my eyes and throat) has really gotten me all excited about our garden. We used to have an amazing garden. Then we had an amazing kid (who somehow enabled us to kill our garden through sheer neglect -- of the garden not the child). We have big plans for this year. I know there are some people who manage to have children, perfect houses, massive gardens, and beautiful flowers and stuff. Not so with us. And our local farmer's market was one heck of an enabler with all that delicious produce. But now that Zadie is older, she will be put to work like it's the early 1800s. The Easter Bunny brought her a wheelbarrow to haul weeds to the composter, a watering can, and some gardening tools.

The photos show the first blooms on our forsythia, new buds on the lilac (fingers crossed there will be no freeze before it's time), and the current state of our garden. Mr. Lemon covered the whole thing with black plastic last Fall thinking it would kill all the weeds but there is something growing under it. Oh well. Soon we he will till it and we'll start seeds in mini greenhouses: tomatoes, spinach and other greens, lettuce, cucumbers, lots of different kinds of squash...

Project: No project

I have spent what seems like a million years making a shirt that does not want to be made. I sewed in some amazing sleeves and then I finished the belt (that's too short, I swear I'm not joking) but the hem is being a beast. I really don't think a pattern envelope should suggest a certain type of fabric if it requires one that needs so damn much easing.

Project: Rompers

This is the romper pattern that I'm going to use for that amazing alligator/crocodile fabric that I was going on and on about before. How strange is this? I bought the size 4 at a thrift store up in Pittsburgh and my MIL had the size 2. The cheaper one is from 1970 and the more expensive one is from 1972. It's like they just "updated" the hairstyles and changed out the applique. I love it. Check out the beret on that kid.

Project: My invisible zipper

Here is a sneak peak at my shirt. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have cropped out the part of the zipper that's not quite straight. This fabric is super slippery and I did not do a perfect job. But I think the best way to learn how to do something is to learn the hard way.

When my Dad taught me how to drive did he let me learn in the family sedan? No. He made me drive the monster Dodge Ram full-sized pickup truck through the tiny streets of our neighborhood. Were pedestrians leaping off the sidewalk and into the safety of their shrubbery? Yes. But I honestly think I'm a better driver because of it. And I'm not making that part about the sidewalks up. I really did drive up on the sidewalk. Listen, that's a big vehicle and that was a tight corner.

Anyway, if you're going to sew in a zipper after never having done it before, why start on muslin or thick cotton? That's too easy. Around here, we go for the gold (or in this case faux satin shantung).

I read a million tutorials online and watched 400,000 videos on YouTube but the most helpful piece was this one on Sew, Mama, Sew.

Project: cool buttons

I saw these cool buttons for sale on a website that was not Etsy. I don't remember where it was but I am thinking that it might be pretty easy to make them (these are commercially made -- if they were handmade, I'd just buy them). Maybe a different shape because you'd have to use a covered button maker and I've only seen round ones. What do you think?

Apologies to the owner of this photo. I did not plan to write about these so I just pulled the image to my desktop in order to not forget about them (figuring that I would actually forget about them but I can't stop thinking about them) so now I'm in quite a predicament.