This is Just for Sizing!

I can’t stress enough that this dress is just for sizing purposes! This is Bethie’s trial run of her sister gift. The theme I drew for her was 1950s, so I purchased a Vogue 1954 pattern in her size (more or less).

I naturally procrastinated quite a bit...I ended up sewing the following muslin-ish thingin' today. 

Chris said that he's never seen me sew a dress so fast, as this only took me about four hours to cobble together. However, it isn't hemmed at all (why hem the muslin before you have the recipient try it on?) and there are some sketchy parts of it, like the front yoke...don't look too closely at that. 

I look forward to making the legitimate version of this! It should be beyond awesome, all brown tweed and 50s.

Timber says, "merry Christmas!"

A Special Message from the Christmas Dragon

The best Christmas gift in the world is a saucer of whipped cream.

Or the whole aerosol container.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Ah, gift exchanges...you're bringing me down, man!

Today was our holiday party at the COG, replete with gift exchange. Below is an excerpt from the event appointment.

Please join us to celebrate the holidays SACOG-style with a potluck and "white elephant" gift exchange.  A sign-up sheet for the potluck will be placed at the reception desk the first of December. ...We've modified the gift exchange from previous years with the hope that people will bring a gift that others might actually want and enjoy.  For years, we had a white elephant gag gift, but we discontinued that tradition after people got tired of receiving the same old bad stuff every year.  A good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't enjoy receiving it, then it's likely no one else would, either.

 Well, that is fair. Except...if we're not supposed to bring white elephant gift, why is it still called a white elephant gift party? I know I'm arguing semantics here, but it makes me snort each time I think of it. This prompted me to augment my original gift selection.

Behold, the White Elephant power pack!

I guess it is misleading. If you look at this for a split second, you are most likely to notice the Hello Dolly album and little else. However, when you remind yourself that we don't live in a flip book, you notice the Ginger Elizabeth bittersweet candied almonds and the (damn nice, if I do say so myself) tote bag. And the burned ELO CD is just icing on the freakin' cake. 

You might have guessed this by now, but the person who did receive this gift disregarded everything but the Hello Dolly, so the legitimate gift of candy and a tote was lost...forever. He pawned all of the items off (minus the album, which he wanted to see if he could sell--ill-advised plan of action) on another co-worker.

I'm too sensitive for gift exchanges when there are handmade items on the line, as well as chocolate that I swear by. That was a damn nice tote--I finished all the edges (for once) and I think the color pairing is wonderful, if not a touch springy.

And Hello Dolly is WONDERFUL!

Correlation or Causality?

While working on this purse,

I broke two needles.

I feel rather confident in my assertion that the purse broke the needles. I will defend this stance in court. But I guess the real question is how did some upcycled suiting and quilting cotton break not one, but TWO sewing machine needles? Anyone?

Christmas crafting continues, though I have been procrastinating like nobody's business on a particularly difficult pattern that has me in over my head. Wish me luck!

Beagle!

Look at the cutest beagle in the world!

This is Murphy, who I found walking the streets of midtown, sans owner. Poor little pup was without human, so she hung out with Chris and me for a couple of hours until we were able to get a hold of her mom. Timber was "okay" with the whole situation, but I think he was pretty relieved to see her part. Oh gosh, I have an only child/dog.

Aside from that, I made a sunglasses case from found objects and wrapped a number of gifts. Exciting stuff!

Sacramento, get with the program!

Behold! The only fall color that I have seen in Sacramento. What the hell, it is NOVEMBER! I think apple season is over and it is still all Indian Summer out there. Color me (if not the trees) disappointed.
*Sister Theme update: our theme is Decades! The decades selected were 20s, 40s, 50s, and 70s. And I bought a quilt at the Bazaar.

 Eek! (Michelle and Sharon also bought quilts)

Current Status

Today is the Bazaar, which means that today is the day all of the sisters get together and bicker relentlessly determine the theme for Sister Gift*. I made a cake to smooth things over as we use the process of elimination to figure out what will torment us the most for the holiday season.

*Sister Gift is the drawing of names between Beth, Jenn, Michelle, and myself; each sister must get a special themed gift for the sister who they drew--today is the day we draw names and select the theme.

Regrettably, most of our sister proxies are not here--Leslie's cat is sick, Bryce's parents are in town, and Claire lives down south. Things are not looking good.

In other news, I purchased an obscene amount of fabric for Christmas gifts last weekend. As you know, there is nothing to motivate me to do things I've been procrastinating on than to give me a more daunting task. Once I got home from the monumental fabric trip, I mended my two brown skirts and finally made a holder for Timber's papers (for his walks, not to keep him in the country legally). I think it is pretty cute, don't you?

Well, it is time to go walk that dog before we head off to Stockton. Sneak peak of Christmas fabric below, whee!

No definite ideas for this one yet, but isn't it pretty?
Send thoughts, ideas, projected recipients to me! (there is much more than this, but I already have those projects mapped out)