Meeting Mister Schnoz

Last week was a bit hectic.  I got back in town from Chicago Sunday afternoon and seemed to hit the ground running: laundry!  Dinner!  Groceries!  Oh, and then work!  The week flew by, which is good, of course.  I hate weeks that linger.  Just move on already.

In the middle of all this, Nick mentioned getting a dog--again.  When we lived in Jacksonville, we both had dogs: my family had a Florida brown dog (read: mutt) and Nick's had a bullnese who was born and bred at the next-door neighbor's house.  Then we moved to DC, and our apartment not only preferred cats, but really catered more to them.  The pet deposit for dogs was in the thousands (hardwood floors) and 700 square feet doesn't really lend to a dog's housing preference.  It can be done, surely, but not while we're both working 12 hour days and commuting at 6 AM.  We shelved our definite plans, but never stopped dreaming about our future brood of Corgis, Westies, Scotties, and Schnauzers.  The terriers, they call to us.

So while I was trying to desperately jump back into things, Nick and I talked about dogs.  I firmly believe in adopting.  In fact, the animals I've had--Puddin' and Eleanor, though I nursed Maisy back to health--adopted me.  They were strays, or rescues, and I always have room for another kitty.  I couldn't, in good faith, go to a breeder when I knew there were hundreds of dogs in Charlotte who needed a home.  I pushed Nick to go on Petfinder and just look.  Just look!  That way, you know what's out there.

Well...he found someone.  Lucas, as he was listed, a black miniature Schnauzer, nine weeks old and cute as hell.  As Nick was telling me about it, he was also emailing the rescue agency, and updating me as emails were exchanged.  We called the foster mom Tuesday night, discussing everything from his age to when we could meet him.  Nick was in love, and nothing was going to stop him.

As we planned and talked Wednesday through Friday, we realized we needed everything.  We have cats!  How will we raise a dog?!  So we started a list: crate, bed, toys, shampoo, etc., etc., adding to it every time we talked.  I read about miniature Schnauzers and checked puppy websites, scouted "hipster" and handmade dog accessories, and decided this puppy will, in fact, wear a coat in the fall and have a Halloween costume.  As his intended mother, I can decide these things.

Finally, Saturday came and we drove to North Augusta, South Carolina.  Have you been to North Augusta?  I hadn't either, but it isn't a stunner of a town.  But, the foster mom was there, and it isn't a bad trip from Charlotte, especially when the love of my fiance's life lives there with his four brothers and sisters and poor mother, all rescued from a puppy mill.  We met with the foster mom, who brought us Lucas and his brother (no name), and we held both and switched back and forth, talking with her about the agency, the dogs they rescue, the puppies' medical histories.  I made Nick play God and choose who we brought home, and he chose Lucas, the puppy he had fallen head-over-heels for just days earlier.  We paid the adoption fee, packed him up, and headed home.  He didn't even whimper until we got off I-485 at our exit.  A dream!

I won't bore you with more puppy talk, but Mr. Schnoz, or Schnozzy as we affectionately call him, is adorable.  And he's ours!  This is how new parents must feel.  Currently we're working on treats and training, but we have big plans for obedience classes, Canine Good Citizenship, doggy daycare, and outings to the dog cafes in the area.  This is exciting!  As someone who mostly loves cats, it's a whole new way of thinking and doing.  And it's fun.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the little pup.  If you have any puppy tips or help with miniature Schnauzers, please share!

Yes, that is a bowtie.

First bath at home!

I also wanted to note that the rescue agency we adopted from is Canine Rescue of North Augusta.  If you love Lucas, he has brothers and sisters who need homes!  And if you don't love Lucas, but you love other dogs, check them out.  They adopt all over the U.S., and the founders--Barbie and Jean--are very nice women.

Spring Belladone Dress and a Garden Update!

If you guys aren't converted to Deer & Doe patterns from my Datura blouse, maybe this post will convince you.  Because this dress--the Belladone dress, from Paunnet fame--is the nicest, most flattering, least frustrating dress ever.  Seriously!  It was actually a pleasure to sew, and I never say that. Usually by the end of a project I'm so ready to be done I vow to never wear the damn thing.

Woo!  Super dark picture from bad lighting!

Nick worked overtime tonight--funny story, he had to come home early anyway because there was a snake outside the house which rendered me scared and paralyzed--so I had to set up my own little photography studio outside.  This meant I dragged an empty hamper to the back patio, turned it upside-down, and stacked pot drainers on top until I thought it was tall enough for the camera.  It wasn't, really, but I'm resourceful and really just wanted to take the pictures and get on with my life.

I used another print from Timber & Leaf, so hopefully you aren't tired of Sarah Watts yet, because I'm sure not!  Again, I have nothing but nice things to say about Blend fabrics.  They're so soft and so great to work with!

I did wear this dress to work today, so if it looks wrinkled, that's why.  Also there was a breeze and I'm wearing cotton underwear, so there's a lot going on, okay?

Look at those chubby arms!  Yikes!

I really did enjoy every bit of this pattern.  It was extremely well-written, and everything came together beautifully.  If I could change one thing--and I will, because I plan to make more--I'd sew the top of the dress for about an inch before inserting the zipper.  I find hook-and-eyes tedious and I could have easily avoided it.

Action shot!

So get thee to a stockist, now, and make this dress.  It's so perfect for spring and summer!  I'm trying to think of what print I'll use next.  Hmm...all of them?

In garden news...

...my Green Arrow peas have flowers, but my sweet peas do not...

...my watermelon are about two inches high...

...Puddin' is a weirdo...

...my pumpkins are out of control!...

...the Fresh Salsa hybrid tomatoes are the only ones with flowers...

...the ranunculus and anemone are sad as can be.  Anyone have any ideas?...

...and we still look pretty crazy over here on Sposetta farm.  How are your plants?

Finished Datura Blouse!

I don't have a major update today.  Honestly, I debated starting another project, just so I'd have more to talk about!  But then I couldn't decide what to make (...again) so I figured if I spent some time blogging it would clear my mind enough to come to a conclusion on my next project.

So far?  Nothing.

Last weekend, after making a quilt, I started on my Deer & Doe Datura blouse.  I'm sure you're familiar with Deer & Doe by now, as they're all over sewing blogs, but I finally bought a couple patterns (Datura and Belladone, a dress).  They're adorable French patterns, similar to Colette Patterns in style--vintage-y and feminine--but French, so that makes them better, right?  Maybe not better, but at least as good, I think.  And I was able to buy the English translation of the patterns, so that's a major plus.

I can't get fabric to lay right on this mannequin ever.  Anyone have any tips?

I used two prints from Sarah Watt's Timber & Leaf collection.  If you remember, I used Timber & Leaf for my Amy Butler Lotus tunic at the beginning of the year and loved it.  The fabrics (from Blend) are so soft!  And they get softer with each wash.  I get it that they're made for a quilt, but I love them for apparel!

I chose the second view, with the Peter Pan collar.  I'm starting to wonder how much clothing I can own with Peter Pan collars before someone steps in?  Let me know before the intervention and I'll clean out my closet.

The pattern is rated advanced, and while I don't know that it's appropriate for view B, I will say the instructions weren't super helpful.  I know how to make a shirt by now, so I could guide myself for the most part, but there were parts that had me scratching my head, such as attaching the yokes.  I glossed over that, did it the way I knew, and everything turned out fine.

I did take a major shortcut and not make buttonholes.  I just didn't feel like it, and I'm running out of thread, so most likely I'd have made one hole and then been annoyed that I would need a trip to JoAnn's before making the other two.  If I notice it's hard to wear without the buttonhole ease, I'll go back and fix it.  Sometimes you just want to be lazy.

So now I'm wondering what to start next?  I have fabric pulled for a Belladone dress, a Sewaholic Alma, and another shirtdress.  What do you think?  And have you used Deer & Doe before?

An Ill-Timed Minoru

A confession: my title isn't very accurate.  While it seems inappropriate to make a jacket in April in North Carolina--with 80-degree-days staying through September--I am going to Chicago in less than three weeks (where are my party emojis when I need them?) and I usually am the same size year in, year out, so chances are pretty good that I'll have this jacket longer than a season.

What can be said about the Minoru jacket by Sewaholic that hasn't already been said?  The Chicago trip was what gave me the final push, but I've been wanting to make one for months now and just never found the right fabric.  I can't tell you how many times I've looked at fabric online, added some wool or twill to my cart, and then closed out of the site, unsure of my choices and decided to procrastinate than buy the wrong fabric.  As if there is such a thing.

Once there was a deadline--May 9!--I had to get my ass in gear.

I finally decided on organic cotton twill from Fabric.com.  Does the organic matter?  I'm not sure--it's cotton twill, not a strawberry--but the price was right and I wanted charcoal gray, one of my favorite colors, which wasn't available in the "regular" cotton twill.  The last time I sewed anything resembling twill was during the Great Shorts Experiment of 2012, which, coincidentally, was also the last time I used a Sewaholic pattern (I think).  Every time I use one of Tasia's patterns, however, I'm reminded of how good they are: they fit so well and, while the instructions are sometimes lacking, there's so much on the internet (between sewalongs and personal reviews) that I never have a problem.  In fact, I don't think I even used the written instructions for this jacket--I followed the sewalong and that was enough.

The lining is Edenham from Liberty of London.  Yes, it's Tana Lawn.  Yes, I know, it's a lining.  This was not an easy decision to make, despite how quickly I fell in love with it.  The price, first of all, was a major staller.  Spending that much just on lining fabric would render a me-made jacket less economical than buying one from Macy's.  Second, this wasn't a tried-and-true pattern, and as I mentioned in my last post, things could have gone horrible wrong.  Was I willing to risk 2.5 yards of Liberty?  Apparently I was feeling optimistic, because I bought it (from Pink Chalk Fabrics--I love their selection, even if it's smaller than Purl) and it arrived and now it's a lining, so whatever.

As a note, it sewed up beautifully, as expected.

The beginnings 

Hemming

I made a straight size 8, no alterations, though if I were making one for winter I'd probably make a 10 to accomodate layers.  I don't plan on wearing more than a light sweater or a shirt in Chicago, which makes this the layering piece, and lightweight at that.  It's in the 60s here today, so it wasn't sweltering when I dragged Nick outside to take pictures, but I think it'll make a nice coverup for breezes and chilly mornings walking to the donut shop.

Nick, thankfully, overdoes it when I make him take pictures, so have at it:

Nick mentioned it looked like a trench coat from the back.  I can see that!  My elastic didn't bunch as much as I expected, which is totally fine.  I love how it fits.

In every single picture it looks like my hems are uneven.  I promise you, they aren't.

The sleeves are a bit long, but I think I can always roll them up if I need to.  Honestly, I'm so happy with this, and am so pleased with how easily it came together.  The only part I swore during was inserting the elastic, because elastic never has been, and never will be, my friend.

So that's that!  In other news, we have a final count of 31 containers in our garden:

This is only one side of the patio, but I've shown them all on Instagram.  That little red one that looks out of place is my cousin's; I planted sweet pea and zinnias for her yesterday and haven't been able to get to her house yet!  It's a neat little deck planter.  Hopefully it doesn't fall!  I'm also giving her my desk succulent, because I smothered it with love and it rebelled, choosing to wilt from my kisses and water.  Fine.  Suit yourself, loser.

I hope spring is coming your way soon!  And I hope Nick mows the lawn soon.  Good god, we're that house on the block.

April Sewing Progress

T.S. Eliot once wrote, "April is the cruelest month," and I believe he was speaking of his spring sewing plans, too.  Perhaps he overcommitted himself as well, and things were coming crashing down around. Maybe he also had spent a small fortune on fabric and was afraid he'd just ruined a nice cut of Nani Iro Pocho.

It's totally plausible, but no, these things have happened to me.

I had pretty big plans for April.  I was going to make an April Rhodes Staple Dress, a Colette Laurel (for the contest, natch), and a Sewaholic Minoru.  And I had to design my do.Good Stitches circle's quilt this month.  And those were just sewing plans--let's not discuss personal or gardening schedules.

Things have been falling apart pretty steadily, however.  First, let me say how much I dislike PDF patterns.  I know they're convenient, and I know they're really inexpensive for small pattern companies.  I love small pattern companies and support them wholeheartedly (and always go to them first before the Big 4), but oh my goodness PDFs are the devil.  I had problems printing and assembling both the Staple Dress and Laurel.  Eventually I assembled my Staple dress (only to watch Puddin' eat it days later) but I gave up on the Laurel.  My printer spat out half the pages at an 85% scale for no discernible reason, and I took it as a sign.  Besides, I was only going to make the dress to be in the contest, and after reading about armscythe problems and being concerned about the length, I decided it was time to call it a day.

I did start and almost finish my Staple Dress, however.  I bought a really nice piece of Nani Iro polka dot Pocho from Miss Matatabi and imagined myself wearing this to farmer's markets and on vacations and doing all these things that I never do because I have other things to do instead.  The double-gauze was a bitch and clung together, stretched itself out, what-have-you--just enough to make me want to cry at my kitchen table.

I also had major fit problems.  I have narrow shoulders and a short waist as it is, but I had to repeatedly adjust the pieces to get something that didn't fall off.  I guess I should have made a smaller size, but seeing as how my measurements fit the medium, I thought I was safe?  Learn from me, kids: make a muslin.  I am terrible at that.

The final straw was when I noticed my shirring was having little-to-no effect on the shape of the dress.  Knowing what battles to pick, I gave in and grabbed my seam ripper.  Thankfully I can salvage the fabric and turn the skirt into an actual skirt or something, and the bodice that has been shirred can always be incorporated into a quilt.  It isn't ideal, but it's the silver lining.

Boo, you whore.

My Minoru has been a source of constant stress as well.  I had altered the pattern because, according to my measurements (which were begrudgingly taken by my helpful fiance), the jacket was about four inches too long and the sleeves would be hanging off my fingertips by six inches.  After folding, marking, and taping (but thankfully not cutting!), I had my mom check my lines before I dove right into my Liberty lining and organic canvas twill.  Yeah--I didn't need to alter it.  It would fit fine, maybe an inch too long.  So awesome, right?  All that anxiety for nothing.  I'm glad I didn't cut, but damn, it's no wonder I haven't been sleeping lately.

I do plan on cutting out the Minoru tonight.  I leave for Chicago in t-less than a month, and I need to get going.  

However, despite all my sad sewing news, I have been rocking in the garden lately:

Cucumbers!  We planted these six days ago.  I need to get a trellis for each!

I read that radishes should be kept in a bowl of cold water.  Is this correct?  The greens look...sad.

So I guess you can't be awesome at everything all the time.  Lesson learned, Emily, and take it slow.  But it is time to clear off the table and start on my jacket.  It won't cut itself...(unless things start getting more depressing with my progress, and then I might join it!)