The Fashion Nerve

 I'm writing today to share with you my latest sewing adventure. This project has little to do with my impending departure South of the border. That post is coming soon.  Instead, I'm going to tell you about something I made with my very own hands. My dear friend, Chelsea, is getting married and she became even more dear when she let all of her bridesmaids choose WHATEVER blue-ish, green-ish dress they wanted to wear. This was thrilling news because, to paraphrase from another friend of mine, the "fashion nerve", found directly beneath engagement rings, often gets pinched during these exciting times.  Many a bride, who would otherwise be a very reasonable person, ends up making, ahem, fascinating fashion decisions for her friends. Let it be known: Chelsea trusted her bridal party enough to dress themselves! So off I went to make a dress based on a pattern made by McCall's. Yes, it is the year 2011 and I am following a sewing pattern I purchased at the fabric store! (Shout out to  Ms. Natasha for the guidance in picking the dress pattern.)

 This pattern was "easy" as it could be made with a jersey knit (aka t-shirt material and aka no fraying fabric!) It also required no zippers or buttons...just an elastic band and a million yards of fabric. The whole project only took me (ha-CHOO)# %$@# hours and 34 minutes. EASY!

 No, really, it was a pretty forgiving  pattern because-as you can see-I had sewn two long tails that I could twist and wrap around all the crooked stitching. It's a unique dress in that I can re-twist it into different styles to suit the mood and occasion.

 Which style is the best?! Maybe one for the ceremony and one for the dance floor?

Style #1

Style #3

Style #2

Style #4

Style #5

Spooling fooling words?

My new hard drive has arrived, my pictures are loading...ah, sweet sweet blogging can resume.
I have been continuing to tear up my journal writing and make those winding paths seen in previous works.
The latest piece has been a "spool" of my writing. "A thread of thinking" or "Unraveling my writing."
I'm sure there are other phrases. In fact, it feels fairly cliche so I'm either original with this spool of words or have plagiarized someone else's work. Has it all been done before? Those who have seen it already have told me they've never seen it before.

It reminded me of a story I heard about Paul McCartney writing the song, Yesterday. Wikipedia confirms it:
According to biographers of McCartney and The Beatles, McCartney composed the entire melody in a dream one night in his room at the Wimpole Street home of his then girlfriend Jane Asher and her family.^[1] Upon waking, he hurried to a piano and played the tune to avoid letting it slip into the recesses of his mind.^[2]
McCartney's initial concern was that he had subconsciously plagiarised someone else's work (known as cryptomnesia). As he put it, "For about a month I went round to people in the music business and asked them whether they had ever heard it before. Eventually it became like handing something in to the police. I thought if no-one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it."^[2]
See the full story here.

I don't claim this spool of words will enjoy the success of a Beatles' Song, I just hope I haven't subconsciously stolen another piece! Whatever the case, I think I'll continue spooling and fooling around with it.