Patchwork Underground

We dressed to kill and danced for our lives! That’s me with the phone strapped to my head…

OMG there’s Gaga….

And this is me stalking her after the show…note my fellow queer in the background also vamping before the bus…

As you can see, I did not wear pants. I know I told you all earlier that I was making the pointy-shoulder padded dress by Jeremy Scott that she wore on this one TV appearance….you remember, this one:

Well, I was totally all set to make that.  I had already developed the pattern and made a short blue version without the bolts.  What happened??  Well, a crazy heatwave hit Portland for several days right before the show and it made me not want to wear so much clothing to the show, which I already assumed would be HOT.  I had to throw this telephone-inspired ensemble together the afternoon of because I’m silly and of course I spent all the days leading up to the Portland show working on my outfit for the Tacoma show.  (You’ll see that doozy in a couple days!!)

Anyways, enough about my personal costume drama.  The show was amazing!!  When Gaga told the crowd that she had been biking around Portland I almost died.  (I crossed my fingers to see her at the Dollar Tree earlier that day in Oregon City but no dice.)  Julia, Kelly and I tried to stalk her and get her to sign our records after the show but I guess she ran away before we got there. Luckily, we are going to the show in Tacoma, WA tomorrow (Hello, Washington!!!!!!) so we’ll get another honest crack at it.

Next time: Binoculars.  Water.  *Successful* signature-getting.  More pictures of the crowd’s costumes!  I have to say the highlight of the whole evening was my on-going mutual lovefest with the other costumed folks.  So much FUN!

Just wanted to share a quick snap shot my friend, Lara Colley of Mountain Hearth, took of me in my costume I wore Saturday at Oregon Country Fair this year:

I think you can tell from the pic that I was happy with my outfit this year!  My favorite part?  It’s a tie between the crocheted garter belt and the towering hat/headpiece.  Such a great fair this year - I’m still recovering!

Oh my goodness it has been TOO LONG!

Sorry internet, I have been hard at work moving to Oregon City, getting hitched with Julia…(witnesseth:)…

…and finishing my first book, tentatively called Stripped Down Patchwork, for Leisure Arts.  (Yes!  So excited!  Keep an eye out next Spring for my little book of sweet modern patchwork goodies!  Lots more details to come…)

Phew, that was a lot of stuff. It didn’t seem like too much at the time but when I was finally done with all that I found myself on my face for a week or so after wards wondering what happened.  Still trying to get it back together…

Ok, the wedding.  Well, we don’t really know if it was a wedding, a hand fasting or a domestic partnering (barf) but it was fun.  We’re doin’ it for the fame (fame)!  I mean, er, health insurance.  You can see all the pics of our big day here.

Finally…a safe and beautiful new home found quickly and easily!

That was my personal mantra for the last month or so and it WORKED!   We moved into our giant 2 story (3 if you count the basement), 5 bedroom 1940s bungalow in Oregon City over this past weekend.  Going from living in a 32′ school bus conversion for 2 years to living in the biggest house ever has been quite a shock to my system but this sucker truly is the rental of our dreams.

Check the party basement with the trippy floor and built in bar - we’re thinking pool table and darts.  Also with two living rooms and absolutely no furniture we’re considering investing in some kind of video game system so that I can play Dance Dance Revolution all day everyday.  Julia was thrilled to finally get her breakfast nook.  Not only do I have a giant sewing room, I also have my very own personal DRESSING ROOM where I can put a vanity and my vintage hat collection.  So many personal dreams realized, too many to list.

A few words about the pics: Yes, that’s our backyard!  I think all together we have about 2/3rds of an acre.  (Did someone say chickens?)  The groovy 70s flower print is from the wallpaper in the kitchen.  The other random patterns are either floor or bathroom tiles.  I think the different patterns in the house are inspiring to crafty minds so I included them here.  The house was owner built in the 40s and the lady raised her 4 boys here and lived in it until she died.  Then the landlords bought it.  Only one other renter lived here but they moved out when they were busted for drugs (nice growing basement, huh?) and went to jail.  Then we moved in!

I expect things to settle down here soon so that I’ll be able to get back to my normal posting schedule.  Stay tuned for more!

You should NEVER do these things.

Here are five former bad habits of mine, for the world to see, in no particular order:

1. Not pinning.

Just like, not at all. Ever. Why?  Because pinning is for wussies. If things didn’t match up, it was because I wasn’t trying hard enough. (Never mind paying attention to the direction of my pins in relation to the seam - Pins? What pins?) When I started “experimenting” with pins, whole new worlds opened up to me.

I try to just laugh about this now.

2.  Winding more than one kind of thread onto a single bobbin.

I know, you only have so many bobbins. But when you do this – and you already know who you are – eventually you get to the break in the bobbin thread and it WILL snag and you WILL regret it. You’ll curse yourself for doing this to yourself (again) but then you’ll go ahead and do it about 100 more times before you finally knock it off. No one knows why.

3.  Smacking the presser foot down HARD.

It does make a satisfying noise. And you look like a badass to the uninitiated when you do this. However, the first time I did this in a professional sewing space I was almost crucified. Smacking the presser foot down is hell on the machine and wears out the lever mechanism faster. Doing this on someone elses’ machine is like flipping them the bird. Doing it to your own machine is suicide.  Don’t do it.  *Gently* and gracefully guide the presser foot lever to the down position.

4.  Never changing the needle

You only need to change it when it breaks, right?

5.  Trusting commercial patterns.

Pattern paranoia is healthy.  When I first started sewing, I blindly followed the instructions that came with commercial patterns. It said press, I pressed. It said baste, I basted. It said spin around 5 times and…you get the idea. I think it was Kathleen Fasanella at Fashion Incubator that said that sewing instructions for the big three – McCalls, Simplicity and Vogue – are written by sadists. I couldn’t agree more. Read their instructions if you want to know the least efficient, most painful way to possibly sew your pattern together.

Same goes with the sizing and the cover photo on commercial patterns. Every time, I wondered why my finished product didn’t look as cute as it did in the picture and why it was always too big on me even when it was the “right” size according to the pattern. When I first started sewing, I didn’t even know what a muslin was. Now I make a muslin of my pattern before I cut into my fashion fabric every time – and I always end up making significant alterations at that important stage. Imagine that!