stitchin: frosted pewter rennie {patterning hers}

you can check out the inspiration post here

i started playing around with the faux suede that i was sent, and while perfect for  his doublet, it was too visually heavy and stiff for her dress. i attempted to source new fabric locally, but matching grey fabric in terrible fluorescent lighting is more than a headache.....{this one's too brown, this one's too blue, wahhh!} so taffeta and faux duponi fabric samples were ordered.

even though i can flat pattern and design in my sleep, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. so i dug through my newly organized pattern stash, and found this lovely Simplicity 3782. it has a low and square neckline and the corseted, cylindrical shape we're going for, so only a few {ha!} tweaks were needed. 

once i had all of the pattern pieces cut out and ironed {quite a task in itself, thank you exacto knife!}, i started in on the bodice for view a {with the shoulder rolls}. but, i couldn't wrap my head around the adjustments with the way this pattern bodice was constructed, so back to the tried and true McCall's 6097.

this pattern already had a higher back, so i made the front into a single, longer piece, reworked the waistline from front to back, and narrowed the front shoulder.  then added some channels and steel boning, and tada!

the bodice insides are done :/ pattern matching {and a lot of swearing} came next.

 otherwise, the last modification request was for a 2-piece dress. it's much easier to get in and out of a skirt and bodice combo, and much easier to construct it all in 2 pieces anyways. {ummm, you want me to gather allll of that skirt and attach it where?!?!?!??}

stay tuned, sneak peeks of his are coming soon!

doing: december 2014

kickin ass on my small biz christmas goal

decorating our {real} christmas tree

stepping on lots of needles {sewing and tree}

struggling with my monthly mileage

celebrating love #GretchenEls121314

drinking a lot of red moscato

burning woodwick's Fraser Fir candle

riding my bike to work {still!!}

getting excited for Downton Abby in january 

fulfilling bow tie and pocket square orders {online & local}

{photo from Woodchuck's Ciderbration, waaay back in august}

where do you keep your house key?

i'm very low-key {ha!} when it comes to running. i don't listen to music or carry water. i put on my shoes, watch, Road ID, and head on out. it's just me and my thoughts {watch out!}. but nothing annoys my brain more than having things jingle and jangle around. followed closely by the paranoia of loosing my house key in the woods somewhere.

so i turn to the always handy binder clip. just unhook one of the metal legs, thread your key on, and put it all back together. 

clip it to your waistband and tuck the key inside. ta-da! now if i could only get some of those awful random tunes out of my head.

what's in your filing cabinet?

it's been a while since i've organized any of my bills or other adult paperwork in manila folders and hanging files {hooray for digital!}, but there is still a lot of other paper things in my life. mostly in the transparently thin, giant sheets of uber fragile tissue paper variety. which also involves the attempting-to-return-them-to-their-envelopes wrestling match when i'm done with them. now, they've got room to breathe {and all of their "modification" friends too}, and i still have hair on my head.

i used to keep all of my patterns in one of those plastic drawer thingies, left over from my college days. while it worked well enough, {aka kept them upright and off the floor} i'd have to pull them alllll out and dig for what i wanted. no bueno. so now they're sorted by category {party dresses, purses, rennie, etc} and super easy to search through.

also, the printer paper, printable labels, scrapbook paper, and other flat "crafty" things i had laying around. but wait, who needs 10 different kinds of printer paper...?!? filed and organized my friends.

this is probably old new to some, but it's been 3 weeks and still blowing my organized mind. seriously, where have i been? under a rock?  {more like a giant pile of UFOs...} right now it is all housed in file crates and the awesome printer stand the FIL made, but i've got some grand plans for a big lateral file cabinet in the near future, fyi greg ;)

while this corner of the studio is now oh so neat and tidy....turn around and you find this....yikes!

snacking on: dark chocolate espresso beans

ummmm yum! that's all i can say. soooo good.  Trader Joe's has outdone themselves again. the roasted crunchy arabica beans are covered in a super dark chocolate {dairy-free, yay!}, and a handful of these will definitely hit the spot. but be warned, a tooth-check is needed afterwards, you don't want to be the crazy person with coffee bits stuck in their teeth.

hello december 2014

last month was a struggle with the cold and darkness, slowly but surely i'm adjusting {no other options, right?}. i got lots of stitching and running done, and this month looks about the same:

 

> small biz christmas: oh target, you've got me hook/line/sinker with so many lovely things, but big box stores, are the problem.  so kickin it up a notch from last years goal, i'm shooting for 75% of my gifts to be from small businesses and/or handmade {by me or others}.update: success! between wandering into small shops around town, finding fun things on etsy, lots of stitching, and stocking stuffers from Trader Joe's, only a few books were ordered from Amazon. yay!

> blog revamp: new year, new fresh and shiny spaces. that's the dream, right? well not much can change in our rental house, so i'm thinking it's time for a blog renovation instead. also, not nearly as expensive or messy :) update: i've got a {secret} pinterest board of inspiration, but so far, nothing ready to go live.

> finish rennie garb: i always forget how complicated these outfits are. mostly it is the pattern adjusting or the coordinating fabric finding that slows it down, but now that everything is in house and cut out, it's time to pull it all together. update: still working on them, and i'm oh so close to being done. it's always the finishing bits and buttons that trip me up.

> run 50 miles: ahhhhh! that's all i need to get my {adjusted} goal of  300 miles this year. i'll be super pissed if i miss it by a handful of miles. super. pissed. update: eff, eff, eff. i was going strong the first few weeks, but then a week of heavy nor'easter rain, a wicked cold, then focusing on christmas presents.....and that's where i'm going to end the excuses.