So it is difficult to find something to do with myself lately. I don't have school stuff at the moment, after 4 years of after school planning for teaching and 4 more years of studying for my own college experience, having no homework is weird. I feel like I am slacking when I am not doing anything, when really, I have nothing pressing to do right now.

I go to work and do my job; 10 hour days are tiring and I don't feel like doing much afterward. But on days like today, when I have work off, I feel like I should be doing something productive. Last weekend I did a lot of sewing...I made a few dresses for my friend's little girl and I made about 8 dog collars. I will probably do more sewing stuff this weekend but I'm not feeling 100% into sewing stuff.

What I SHOULD be doing is writing. I gave my hard copies of my finished book, tentatively named Trios, to some friends last week. The first couple people have returned it with good comments. The
teenager that read it for me wrote me a fan letter (my first fan letter!) and it was very sweet. Now the second round of friends have the copies and I am awaiting their opinions.

I am trying to give myself some distance from the story because I find when I write and immediately re-read and edit I think that everything is terrible. I'm too close to the story, I know it so well, I can't look at it objectively. I have noticed this with fanfiction I have written; when I go back and read it months later I wonder at myself for not finishing it, yet I know at the time I didn't think it was worth a darn. Distance forces me to look at my writing with fresh eyes and a more objective point of view.

Therefore I am not going to look at what any of my friends wrote edit-wise until after it's been passed around. Then I will re-read the copies and edit what needs to be edited. One of my friends from work does a lot of novel editing, or beta-ing if you choose to call it that; she already has it filled with pink sticky notes, mostly grammar things from my quick skim through. That's awesome. It can only help me improve, right?

In the meantime, I should be working on something else. I have Contender half written; I'm blocked on that because I have to write a scene killing a beloved character and I don't want to. That's been that way for a little over a year now. I have my fantasy/dragon story that is a little over half finished. I have no excuse for not finishing that other than I was trying to focus on one story and Trios came up the winner. I also have a dystopia/spy novel that is about 40% finished that I could work on. I could work on a possible sequel to Trios that may or may not every happen but I feel I should have something started. Not to mention the fanfiction I intended to write for my sister and finish by Christmas. So lots of writing to do. The problem is, I just need to do it. I can find so many ways to procrastinate on writing, it's ridiculous.

And I know I won't get anything done tonight. I have to work in the morning, I have to go to bed early so I'm not a crab apple at work. I am having lunch with a friend. At some point I need to take the girls to the dog park to run because walking them two-three times a week isn't quite cutting it. I want to make a fairy costume for my dog because Ren Fest is next month. So many excuses not to write....I need to stop that and just do it.

We will see. This blog, whether anyone ever reads it or not, will keep me accountable. I'll have to report what I have or have not done next week. We shall see if I overcome the procrastination monster or succumb to its temptations. Let's try to keep positive thoughts, shall we?

Wow! It's been a long long time...

So, yes, it has been a while since I have posted on this blog. School has been killer, along with work, and laziness. I admit, I have been a slacker of blogs lately. School has always been the best excuse. Why would I blog when I really needed to be using my Internet time to do schoolwork? Of course, I was using it to get stuck in endless YouTube loops where you start with watching two videos with ten minutes in mind then end up on the other side of the Internet three hours later wondering what in the world you're doing with your life. Not much, not in that moment.

So now, it's official. I'm done with school...for now. I have a Master's degree in Educational Technology...with no where to use it. Michigan, for those of you who don't know, is tough for teachers. If you have a teaching job then you're golden, if you don't, good luck buddy. Everyone wants to teach here because, A) Michigan is the best state ever, and B) you get paid well to do so. So, I am struggling to find a decent teaching job....but I really like my current job. If I could make an actual living working there, doing what I do, I would so do that.

Currently, I'm working at a veterinary clinic as an assistant. I can do about 80% of the things there, I can talk to you until I'm blue in the face about dog care, I'm pretty knowledgeable about behavior, I've looked a lot into nutrition, and I can recommend the best course for you to take with your dog depending on your living situation. I love working with dogs, to a lesser extent cats, and I love the people I work with (for the most part). It's a great job, it's just not a career. I can't support myself with it.

Mia, Tilwyn, Bailey...waiting for their nightly treats.

I will say, thinking about getting a doctorate. Seriously. I would love to teach college. I think I would be a great college professor. That's as much as I'm talking about it today, however.

So now, the question is being begged, what do I do with my time?  Finish up my book, of course. Well, the first one, at least. I have about 3 others in progress, none are a continuation of the first, though there is the possibility of the first being a series, possibly. In that vein of thought, I have finished my revisions, my third go round where I changed up some things and started the polishing process. Now it's time for line revisions and getting POV from a broader audience. So I ordered 2 printed copies to disperse to my friends, emailed my sisters and aunt the link to the Google Drive, and now to go through it with a fine tooth comb.

My goal is to have it out and then back by September, maaaaybe October to put the finishing touches on it. I want to submit to agents by the end of the year. That is my goal. The end of this year. Sooner if possible. It's a long goal, as to make it obtainable. We're at the halfway mark and I'm about where I want to be. We shall see what happens.


Meantime, I do want to sew as well. I have to finish up a binding for Beth's quilt that her mom made, that will take all of an afternoon someday soon. I have been making dog collars, martingale style, and I want to make more but the company I order the tri-slides from sent me the wrong size! They are awesome, however, and they will send me the right size with instructions on how to send back the wrong size ones, no charge to me. Which it shouldn't be, because it was there screw up, but still they could have been indifferent about it but so far they have been amazing. So if you need hardware for purses, or collars, or whatever, check them out. They are a Cali company, which is cool as well.

I also have fabric for some dresses for Stacey, and I'm looking into making these new things that are "in," hooded-cowl things. I can't find a good pattern so I might have to make my own. Meanwhile, the animal hats that I made 1.5 years ago are now all the rage so I might make some more of those. I need to get an Etsy store going again. ALSO, I am making a scarf of darkness and redness and whiteness....if you know what that means you are cool. But I have some other scarves and stuff I want to work on...oh YES and doggie dresses. So many things....and yet I waste time in YouTube loops....

I am off to work on something. Writing or sewing, one of the two.   In the classic words of my new obsession:

Making a purse, Butterick 4822, ruffle purse

So I would like to do a few how-tos on sewing, just to share some knowledge with the blog-o-sphere if someone stumbles upon this. When I learned how to quilt I started with patterns and worked forward to where I know kind of do my own thing. Same has been happening with purses. I assume it will eventually happen with clothes, but I'll let you know.

This purse pattern: Butterick 4822 has 5 different purses, this post is for purse E, the ruffle purse in the middle:

 

I am going to explain what I did to modify the existing pattern but in order to actually make the purse you will have to purchase the pattern from a store- not a big deal, all my patterns I buy when they are $1.00 at Joann's. The rest of this post is operating under the assumption that you have bought the pattern.

I made the purse for my sister Stacey and learned a lot from the first making of it. When I made it a second time I knew what I wanted to modify. Here was Stacey's final purse:

She had beaded fringe that I had found for cheap but it wasn't quite wide enough to cover the ruffle. It is not sewed on in the prettiest way but since it was for family I wasn't too worried about it. The whole thing turned out cute overall.

For my second attempt I cut the pattern pieces out about a week before I actually had time to sew it. I used fabric we had lying around (we have TONS of fabric lying around) but I ran out of the main fabric when cutting out the strap. No problem, I just used the lining fabric for the inside part of the strap and it all worked out, as you'll see in the end. The biggest thing about cutting out the pattern is the change I made here:

I like to have a facing so when you press the top edge seems if it is a little off it's not a major deal. Meaning the top half of my lining is the same fabric as the outside of my purse. So instead of one lining piece I cut the top half of my lining to the top cut line shown above and lining fabric from the bottom of the pattern to the bottom cut line. They are an inch apart so I sew the two pieces together with a half inch seam. The "top cut" line I drew is 6" down from the top of the pattern. When sewn together you have this for your lining piece: 

I think it makes for a nicer finish. Your interfacing is cut as one piece and goes on the back of this. After cutting all your pieces out and getting your two lining pieces to look like the picture above, you start following the directions.

Already, at step 2, hemming the ruffle, I am going to suggest a change. The pattern calls for you to hem the bottom and sides of the ruffles. I prefer to hem the top and the bottom of the ruffles instead. Reason 1, because you are going to sew the ends of the ruffles into the side seams (trust me), and reason 2, because the top hem is exposed. Even though it is covered, if you lift the top ruffle you can see the top hem of the bottom ruffle. It just looks bad. Hemmed looks much better. So hem the top and bottom of the ruffle as the directions say to do to just the bottom and sides. 

Your two sets of ruffles should look something like this:

They don't have to be perfectly even- they are going to be ruffled!

Now you look at your cohorts to see if they are having as much fun as you are:

I think I am having more fun but boy do they look rested. Sometimes I want to cuddle up under there with them. They look so comfy!

The directions in the pattern are pretty straightforward from here. You make gathers in the ruffles, pin them and sew them onto the front and back pieces:

The next change I make comes at step 9, sewing the front and back together. The directions say to not catch the ruffles in the seam but when I made my sister's purse I did one ruffle in and one ruffle out and the one inside looked much cleaner and prettier than the one out. So line 'em up and sew 'em in.

This will take a couple extra minutes to get it just right. Make sure you get the edge of the ruffles lined up with your seam as much as possible and don't get any extra caught in there. Make sure your ruffles line up well on the sides. When you're finished the side seams will look like so:

 Much cleaner and you'll be happier in the end with the results.

I sewed this part of the purse at my Nana's house but realized I didn't have any ribbon to finish it off over there. I thought I might have some at my mom's but I wasn't sure I'd have anything that would match the pink. So I finished the lining by adding my pocket:

And realized I had to go home to finish the rest of this purse.

Once home I found that I had more ribbon than I thought I did:

But surprisingly, the pretty ruffle ribbon didn't look good on the already ruffly purse. I ended up going with the grosgrain pink ribbon because the stiffness of it really worked the best with the softness of the purse. I did fold in half to make it a little thinner, however, because the full wideness looked too weird. You have to sew on the ribbon and decorative button or however you want to decorate your purse before you sew the purse and lining together. The ribbon is basically there to cover your stitches where you sewed the ruffle to the bag.

My strap was sewn together with the lining fabric on the inside and the main fabric on the outside:

 Apparently by the cutting board I did that at my Nana's as well. This was just a picture to see that you don't have to use the same fabric on both sides of your strap.

Finally, you can simply follow the rest of the directions. When I finish off a purse I have the outside shell of the bag right side out, pin the straps how I want them, then stuff it into the lining of the bag so right sides are together, then repin the straps.

Blurry picture of straps between shell and lining

First pin your sides, then your middles then the betweens around the edge. It helps distribute the fabric around the circle:

You can see my magnetic snap closures, I like to back them with extra fabric or interfacing to give them strength- the magnets are really strong. You have to put them on your lining before you finish, usually when you put the pocket on. They are super easy to install and I bought a bunch in bulk so I use them all the time. 

Anyway, now it's time to sew around the edge of the purse there on the top. You turn it right side out, sew up the hole in your lining, shove your lining in the bag and you are almost done! The directions say to sew on the button now but you should have done that back when you sewed on your ribbon. Press your top seam, getting it as nice as possible, the seam at the very top of the purse. Then top stitch about a quarter inch all the way around the purse. It isn't in the directions but I always think a nice top stitch looks neater than no top stitch. 

And voila! You have a cute ruffle purse.

Once you make one you'll want to make more! They are fairly quick, I made this in a few hours. I think they are so cute!

If you have any questions or need clarification just comment below and I'll try to answer.

Off to sew some other purses while watching one of my favorite TV shows, Falling Skies. I hope to post more tutorials/pattern adjustments here in the future!

Writing on the backburner

So so much has happened since my last posting. I have scrapped the last book I was writing. Not totally, but it needs a total make over, rehaul, redo, recast....so it's become something I don't want to look at right this second. Hannah and Caleb will have their moment. Just not this moment.

I have been thinking about my original book, as yet untitled, about Mia and Ian and dragons. I went back and re-read what I wrote a year ago; I have half a book written and written fairly well. I just need to sit down and write. Every time I try, however, I get distracted. By things.

It's my cycle- I am just coming out of a video game cycle. I would rather crush some Imperials on SWTOR than do just about anything for the last 2 months. Now I haven't logged on in a week. Now I'm in the sewing stage. And it is taking over everything!

It started with purses. I started small and then found out I have a knack for it and it's progressed from there. Now I can make some really knock out, professional looking bags. I recently got some sample size fabrics from the home decor section of Joann's for $1- two to three of those will make one small "date night" purse and it only takes me about an hour. How fun!

Then I started making clothes for my sister. The first shirt I made was a disaster, mostly because it was the wrong type of fabric. My second attempt, a dress, seems to be going much better. I did a muslin sample on her first to fit it, like I've seen them do on Project Runway, and so far it has been going well. I just need her to come over to make sure it fits and to hem it, finish up the lining and she'll be good to go. I am also working on a matching purse for which I have so many ideas it's crazy.

So ... my writing blog may turn into a sewing blog. I think I will try and take pictures of my next project just to document the journey. I have another dress that I am making for Stace- I am excited to start on it. It is less fitted so it should be even easier!

Off to work. Yes I am working, just not on the things I thought I would be...

Plan:

 

This is my next dress for Stacey, the one in black and yellow on the right. It's only 5 pieces, I think I am only going to do a muslin for the top as that is the part that is fitted. It is also not lined, thinking about trying interlining with it. I also got extra (end of the bolt! 50% off!) of the flower material for a cute matching handbag. I plan to have the muslin ready to try on Stacey next weekend when she comes out to visit.

Tomorrow: Purse to match black/white/yellow dress.  Some date night purses. Dogs to dog park if not raining. Take things to Salvation Army. Clean my room.  Busy day!

Some cuteness to end on:

So adorable.

PS. I love Hart of Dixie. Wade is so yummy!

Stalling

So let's see. Writing has stopped for the moment. First of all, I wanted to finish crocheting and sewing some stuff (pictures at the end of post) so I have been concentrating on that. Everyone is having babies so I have a lot to make. That has taken a lot of my time up. Yes, I could still write 100 or so words so I am slacking but I am full of excuses.

When I do start writing here again I think I am going to have to skip over most of Chapter 4. It's a plot mover, mostly dialogue and description, my least favorite to write. So I think if I skip ahead to what's next and write that I can go back later and fill in the rest. It's good to have a plan of what I'm going to do/focus on when I do get a chance to write again. So there we go.

Currently, Downton Abbey and Criminal Minds have both made me cry this week. For real. Great episodes, great acting, intense drama. In love with both shows. Hart of Dixie was less interesting this week but Wade did take care of Zoe in the end and it was super cute. I almost dread the next episode of Vampire Diaries; I do hope it is filled with Klaus as he is the reason I even watch it any more. Once Upon a time was a rerun. Sad.

Tomorrow I have to focus on school- I need to made an educational video some how about something. As you can see, I have not figured out on what yet. Oh yea! In the car on the way home from work I think I decided I would do one on bar graphs. I haven't quite figured out what/how yet, but I will figure that out tomorrow. I also have a mandatory meeting at work tomorrow so I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and have Dr. Aubry look at Tilwyn's cyst on his face to see if it can be removed without anesthesia. I think maybe if we put a patch on his eye, like a pirate, it may be possible. We'll see tomorrow. Bailey will go for moral support.

Pacifier holders

Ok so now with the pictures: First I made a few pacifier holders, baby safe safety pin them to the baby's clothes and when their pacifier falls out it doesn't get lost. I also made a baby quilt for my friend Karen's upcoming baby and mailed it to Georgia.

For Karen's baby

Then I have been working on a diaper bag for Julie, a girl at work. Her shower is in February. This diaper bag was made from a pattern I bought...from hell! I had to tear out more seams because the directions were wrote poorly. I almost threw the thing in the lake. In the end it was worth it, it is super cute, but boy was it a pain. I also made her a wall hanging quilt... though I cheated. It's made from a panel, meaning it was premade, I just had to quilt and bind it. No I did not applique the owls on. But as busy as I've been I am not worried about it. It's still super cute.  And that is what has been keeping me busy these past few days.

For Julie's baby, wall hanging.

Goals:  (In list form Stacey!)

1. Thursday: Homework, meeting, work on Heather's baby blanket with left over time
2. Friday: Work, get out any gaming preoccupation (GW2 has been calling my name)
3. Saturday: Work, hang out with Stacey and Mom, making pies, catch up on Project Runway, crochet with extra time
4. Sunday: Church, WRITE

So it will be Sunday before I get to writing again. That's okay. Gives me time to plan in my head. Then we'll see how things go next week. I may need to make another list...

Diaper Bag inside

Diaper Bag for Julie