Well, as a reader of Bramblewood Fashion, I have been tagged to answer her eight questions. Yay! And if I understand the rules, I get to write my own eight questions, and then you, Gentle Readers, get to answer them.

1. What's/was your favorite subject in School? Art, Creative Writing and Home Economics were my favorite subjects. In high school Mom set up a pattern making and -alteration class, and it's been such a wonderful skill to know.2. What music genre is your favorite? That which is commonly called “Classical” but is actually Baroque/Romantic (Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethovan, stuff like that). I also like Renaissance and old Medieval-type folk music. And we mustn't forget Irish jigs and reels!
3. You can go anywhere in the United States, where do you go? Hmmm...for starters, we'll head down to Lassen Park and Crater Lake, stop off in a little town in California called Grass Valley (and the surrounding area), then head back up the California coast, stop in Mendocino to visit Aunt B and y cousin (assuming she's gotten moved in by the time we can afford this trip, LOL). Just visit some places we've been before but weren't able to enjoy as much as we would have liked due to time constraints and what-not.

'Course, it'd be fun to see the San Diego Zoo, Monterey Aquarium, Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns—places like that, that we've talked about but never been able to get to. Oh, and Yosemite. Maybe Yellowstone, too.
4. Favorite ice-cream flavor? Mint-Chocolate-chip, Pistachio or Death By Chocolate. If we were talking frozen yogurt, now, there'd be a whole slew of other flavors....
5. Dogs or cats? Cats. They clean up after themselves, keep themselves clean, and they purr. And they don't bark at every stinkin' thing. Not that I hate dogs, mind you; they just tend to be more hassle. :-P
6. What's your favorite artist {painter}? E.B. Leighton and John William Waterhouse. Their paintings are so lifelike! (Mind you, Waterhouse's subject matter isn't always G-rated, but that's why they invented Photoshop, wot?)
7. Favorite Bible verse? “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are My servant.' I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:9-10
8. Favorite Starbucks drink? Do they serve hot cocoa?

I actually don't go to Starbucks, as I'm not a coffee-drinker. :-P

So here are my eight questions for any of my readers who wish to answer...on your blog, if you please. Otherwise the comment box gets to be a mile long! ;-)

1. Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt?
2. How many siblings do you have?
3. What is your favorite hobby?
4. Did you have a different hair color/texture as a kid, or has it always been the same?
5. Do you like to go places, or are you more of a homebody?
6. What is your favorite main dish?
7. Do you wear jewelry? If so, describe your favorite piece(s):
8. When was the last time you went to the movies, and what did you see?

Have fun! ^_^

I worked on that dress mock-up (Butterick 4827) last week and actually got it put together! Well, minus the left sleeve. The part that goes under the arm got cut short somehow, so I left off the whole sleeve. Observations:

• Plain, fitted sleeves just don't work for me. I can't lift my arms even level with my shoulders without the thing tugging. So that option is OUT for any garment. Which is a bit frustrating, as I had a pink underdress in the planning stages that I wanted that kind of sleeve for.
• As per usual, the front princess seams are about an inch too high.
• This pattern has the opposite problem of Simplicity 9891—the princess seams in the latter were too far in, whereas on this pattern they're too far out. Oy, can we find a happy medium here?? ;-)
• Mom said there was a lot of excess fabric in the back seam when she pinned it to fit me comfortably (well, as comfortably as possible when it's too tight across the front because the seams are in the wrong place, LOL).
• The neck is at a PERFECT height—not too low, not too high. A bit wide, but that's fixable. I seldom find a commercial pattern with the neck in just the right place, so this is a big deal.
• I am definitely cutting off at least 8” from the hem. What genius ever though hems dragging on the floor (and about a foot behind) was a good idea?!

Mainly I've been practicing for the special music at church this Sunday, and for the concert at the school Mom teaches at, which is the following Thursday. Not just recorder, either—tone-chimes, too. I know it sounds like fun, but it's hard work, too. But the music is getting familiar enough that it's pretty easy to play now. God helping us, we should do pretty well.

(And if it sounds like a big commitment, it's more so for Mom and Peter—the orchestra they're in has a concert the Friday after the school concert!)

What crazy, schizophrenic weather we've had of late! It's STILL cold and cloudy most of the time, and yesterday it would be partly sunny one minute, then snowingthe next! And the hail...Oh. My. Word! Some of it got up to an inch in diameter—I though the skylights would break in! (They didn't.) I don't think I've ever seen hail that big. And the weird thing about it was, it was cone-shaped! My crazy brother went out in that mess—while it was still hailing trolls and oliphaunts—and fetched one to show me. Fascinating. I dubbed it “popcorn snow,” but Peter declared it was “corn-snow on steroids”!

Oh yeah, and then it snowed afterwards. It melted by the end of the day, but for a while everything was pretty white.

Quote of the week:

PETER: What would be the opposite of color-blind—where you start seeing all different colors?

ME: Psychedelic. :-P

PETER: Well, yes, besides that.

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~

In Which Tom Is a Little Sew-and-Sew

I think, by God's aid, I've figured out the fake-flowers/ribbons thing. A thousand apologies for the mopey tone of that last entry. I never was very good at sticking to my resolutions. :-(

Anyhoo, I've decided to wear ribbons when I feel like it—providing it's appropriate to the occasion—and as for flowers, well, methinks I'll just make meself some pretty barrettes. A full-blown wreath is too theatrical for aught but Ren Fest or the like. :-P

“Wood Violet” is officially finished! PTL! >Confetti< It fits great, looks smashing (if I do say so myself), and best of all...it irons out beautifully. :-D Not like some cottons that you practically have to iron soaking wet in order to get >most< of the wrinkles out, LOL. I'm so lovin' this blouse. And did I mention that it's PURPLE? ;-) I was going to get rid of the pattern (Simplicity 5663, circa 1982) because of the high armhole thing, and because Mom and I found a Butterick pattern very like it. However, “Wood Violet” fits so nicely, and it really wasn't that hard to fix the armhole, that methinks I'll keep it for my future blouses, and let Mom use the Butterick pattern for herself.

So now I'm on to testing out Butterick 4827—that Medievaloid costume pattern we bought a while back. Scraping together enough fabric for the mock-up was...erm...fun. Thankfully, there was indeed enough, but I had to piece several panels. Looks like I need to get me some more old sheets from the thrift shop! ;-) It's quite a motley-looking dress, that mock-up, with half the panels white and the other half yellow, and some of the yellow panels with white tops...hee! Oh yeah, and some of the piecing seams ended up on the outside. Oy. But as I keep telling The Boggart (and my mom reminded me the other day), IT'S JUST A MOCK-UP; it doesn't have to be *perfect.* :-P I'm pretty much sewing it up as-is (baring the lacing in back) to see what's going on with it, how it fits, what this kind of princess seam looks like on me, things like that. Then I can tweak it and use the mock-up pieces as a pattern (once it's the way I want it) when I cut out my fashion fabric (eek!).

...providing there's enough of anything in the stash to make a dress out of, that is. I don't really want to go buy more because I have fabric coming out my ears! :-P Just not all of the same stuff, LOL. But hey, at least I'll have this pattern all ready when I do have enough fabric for it! :-D

So far my observations are as follows:

• Yikes! Shorten this thang about a foot!
• As-is, this pattern is a fabric hog
• Wow! The neckline is actually at a MODEST height! Fancy that
• Erm, the waist looks a bit snug....
• The grommets (for the laced closure) are put in a separate band that's sewn to the back opening of the dress, and therefore easily omitted (we'll see how easy it is to install a zipper instead)

So we'll see how it goes once it's all sewn up.

In the meantime, I still have several long-sleeved blouses to finish up. Because eventually, the weather will get to be warm enough to doff the bulky sweater-sets and throw on a nice cool blouse. ^_^ And when that happens, I want to be ready this year.

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~