Where's Waldo?

Guess what we did today? We saw Ryan and heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! What a thrill!!! But even more thrilling for me was that they invited me to rehearse with them. How fabulous a birthday present is this?
Okay - quick, can you spot the Catholic girl?

Hint: she's the one not in a blue dress....

Happy singing!

Have a Fabulous Christmas!

Image from PhotoPostsBlog (love it!!!)

To all who celebrate it, I hope you have a Gorgeous Christmas. And I hope everyone has a Splendid Whatever!

Pattern Review - Jalie 2682 V-neck Top

Yesterday I mistakenly identified the Jalie pattern I planned to make for my niece. This is the one I really was planning to use. It's better suited for the fabric. So here you go...

Pattern Description: From Jalie's website, "Stylish V-neck top, raised neckline at back, with or without sleeves." I made View A with long sleeves.

Sizing: All sizes are included in the pattern. My niece is a size 6-8 petite, so I made a size T in Jalie's sizing.

Fabric Used: Fabulously Cozy Cotton Sweater Knit - Heathered Gray from Gorgeous Fabrics. I love this knit. It's almost got a berber-y feel to it on the face, and the backing is nice and soft in its finish, so you can wear it right next to your skin.

Needle/Notions Used: Stretch 75/11 needle. Metrosene polyester thread.

Did it look like the photo or drawing when you got through? Yes

How were the instructions? They were just fine. I had made the sleeveless version of this top for myself a couple of summers ago, so I didn't really need them. This pattern goes together beautifully.

Construction Notes: Because of the innate bulk of this fabric, I decided not to do it Jalie's way, which is to use two layers of the fabric in the upper bodice. One layer is the outer shell and the other is the self-facing. Instead, I just used one layer. I cut the front in two pieces instead of one piece on the fold. I sewed up the center seam with a 1/4 inch seam and turned the neckline edge under and stitched it down, as you can see here.

I serged all the other seams, and turned up the hems and finished them with a 1.0mm wide, 3.0mm length zigzag stitch.

Likes/Dislikes: I think this is a cute, casual top. She lives in Montana, and this will be good for wearing to school. I like the lines of the top. As I say, it's really well drafted. It sewed up in less than an hour, while I was listening to the second half of the Pats/Bills game on the radio (Yay Pats! Sorry Pam)

No dislikes at all.

Would you do it again? Would you recommend it? You bet to both.

Conclusion: It's comfortable, cute and a winner. I think she'll like it! Here are pictures of the front and back. 

Happy sewing!

Peeps Alert!

You know what to do. If you aren't a Facebook Peep, become one! You get special sales announcements, discounts and other great stuff.

Parting Shot: Let it Snow!

We have about 10 inches so far, and it's still coming down. We didn't get nearly as much as the mid-Atlantic states. But it is really pretty. And it looks like we'll have a white Christmas.

Happy sewing!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...

...the doctor's office.

Honestly, I've spent more time in doctors' offices in the last two weeks than I ever wanted. You know, when something like this happens, you just have to shrug your shoulders, set your spine and face it with a sense of humor and determination. So for your amusement, here are a few snippets from the last few weeks.

First off, I give you my new theme song, from the Tony Award® winning Broadway musical, "Avenue Q". The opening song, It Sucks to be Me!


Next up, some snippets of conversations and readouts. You say and see the damnedest things in meetings and reports like these. For instance....

Me: "Jeez honey, I've been felt up more in the last week and a half than I have before in my entire life!"
DH: "Boy, if I had only known, I would have changed my major in college and gone to med school!"
*smack!*

Doctor: "You're not a candidate for Medicine a, but Medicine B is just as effective, maybe more so. The thing is that we'll have to surgically induce menopause."
Me: "Okay, so about this surgically induced menopause - can I get a tummy tuck out of the deal?"

Doctor: "It's spiculated."
Me: "Oh, that sounds so... kinky!"

From a report: "The patient has a paucity of fat in her abdominal cavity."
Me: "Well, shit yeah, I've worked out 4 days a week for the last 25 years. I better have a paucity of fat, dammit!"

"I'm going to start putting notches in my belt every time some new person fondles me."

Doctor: "I need to ask you a question." (gets very earnest look on face)
Me: "Okay"
Doctor: "Is there any possibility at all that you might want to have another baby?"
Me: "Hell no!!!"
(both laugh)

In all seriousness, thank you to everyone for all your kindness, good thoughts, prayers and sweet notes. It's really touching in a way I can't describe without kvelling. I'll take them all; please keep them coming. Everything will be okay, and I'm going to beat this little bastard. In the meantime, life will go on. And speaking of which, I'm going to start on a Jalie top for my niece for Christmas. I had hoped to have it done by now, but as you can imagine, I kinda got sidetracked. I'm making her this Jalie top:

From this Fabulously Cozy Cotton Sweater Knit from Gorgeous Fabrics (natch!)

I think she'll like it, and it will be super cute on her. Stay tuned and I'll review it in the next day or two.

Happy sewing!

For Once I Wish it WASN'T All About Me

We have a running joke in my family that "It's all about me, all the time." Not just me Ann, but any of my siblings as well. It's just one of those sayings we have.

I kinda wish it wasn't all about me. After last week's diagnosis, I've spent more time talking about myself than I ever wanted to. Hell, even I'm sick of me! I find that the best remedy is to spend time with my family and to sew. So this weekend I finished the curtains for the family room.

Now of course, I have to redecorate the rest of the room, since it doesn't match the old color scheme. But it's bright; it reminds me of the Caribbean, and since the curtains are lined with flannel, they keep the room incredibly warm.

And now, a word from our sponsor... (bad language alert)

Folks, I try not to preach much, but I need to say something here. If you are a woman over age 40, make sure you have your annual mammogram. Fuck those bastards at the USPSTF. Mammograms work. And anyone who is an apologist for their recommendation that women in low risk groups (that would be me) under the age of 50 (that would be me) don't need annual mammograms? Take a good look at me, and try telling me to my face that the amount spent on mammograms to find the low percentage of breast cancer in that population isn't worth it. I'm worth it. And any woman is worth it. Ladies, get your mammograms. If you're due or overdue for one, call and schedule it. You could be saving your own life.

That concludes the high-horse portion of today's show.

Parting Shot - Mele Kalikimaka!

Some day I'll spend Christmas and the holidays in a place where I can hang ornaments on a real palm tree!

Happy sewing!

When the Going Gets Tough

The tough get sewing. I'm not going to bore you with details of my week, other than to say that if ever I receive an email that begins with the words, "I thought you might be dead by now, but if not..." I will personally hop on a plane (first class of course, drinking champagne the whole way) fly down and clock the email's author!

Anyway, today Camille and Phyllis and I all got together to do some sewing and followup from Susan's class. I finished quilting the pieces. Phyllis started cutting out the first version of her jacket, and Camille wanted to try to solve a drag-line problem. We had a great time. We all were sitting there sewing, chatting and laughing. Sewing truly is a wonderful therapy and having friends who sew makes it ever more joyous.

The other nice thing that happened was that Ken, the interim director at my old church choir, emailed me and invited me to sing with them for the holiday concert. They wanted to shore up the soprano section. So I showed up last night and sang with all my old buddies. It was great.

I'm hoping to get a bunch done on the jacket over the next couple of days. Now that the quilting is done, it should go pretty quickly.

Happy sewing!

Big Scary Things Happen

They happen to all sorts of people: good, bad and in-between. So what do you do? You panic first, then you talk to people who know all about Big Scary things and panic a little less. Then you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, take a deep breath and keep on keepin' on. And that is exactly what I am going to do!

Peeps Alert!
You know what to do. And if you aren't a Gorgeous Fabrics FB peep you're missing out. So click on the link up in the right hand corner and find out!

Happy sewing!