Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

So, the short version of this story is that I took on a somewhat ambitious project for friends (the Tadcasters) before Pennsic. I’ve learned to use several of the awesome features of my embroidery machine and gotten the hang of the digitizing software to some extent. The whole project took longer than I expected but not by much and I didn’t even curse people during the process. Plus, Andre has a spiffy new cloak. If you’ve never seen Andre fence with a cloak, you should. He’s amazing. Plus he has this new cloak you should check out.

The following are project notes, mostly for my own reference and rambling…

The longer version involves many hours poking at a sub-par image file to make it into something digitize-able. Why is it that every other group in the SCA has a pretty, clean, happy jpeg image of its emblem but the Order of the Golden Rapier has a poor photo of an enamel pin? Anyway, once I got to the point of digitizing, there were then several iterations to get things right… some test sewing… more edits and iterations… test sewing… changes… etc.

Thanks to IanRaven, the OGR has bottom fangs! HURRAY!

The digitizing is really quite fun once you get past the pixel-by-pixel editing in Photoshop to get a clean image to digitize! The software is slick and easy - and I don’t use these terms to describe software often. Given the original cost of the DesignerPlus software from Bernina, I’m glad it was so simple. The tutorial actually helped out a lot as well. Oh and the repetition of digitizing the same image over and over until it came out the way I wanted it to! This project took so many iterations in part because the original image was so poor. I’m curious to see how things will go with a cleaner original.

The construction of the cloak was pretty straight-forward, especially since I took the pattern from Andre’s original cloak (yes, that’s a gaping hole).

Corduroy and wool twill with generic machine embroidery stabilizer ($1.29/yard from Joann’s). The corduroy didn’t take the embroidery well - tufts came through. I might be able to remedy that another time I think. The math on the dags worked out well and there are 10 OGR emblems on the cloak. Trace, embroider, re-trace because the marking pencil wore off… cut, pin, sew… futz with the collar… hand sew (gasp) the collar closed…

It was presented to him by the Tadcasters at Iron Bog’s baronial court at Pennsic. The best part of the court presentation was definitely everyone grinning at Andre as he tried out the cloak. It apparently flies well and pleases the fencer because he has since been dubbed “Don Linus” for clinging to the new cloak. Hurray!

More photos over at Flickr… More Pennsic photos as time permits!

tags: bernina, bernina artista 730, designerplus software, embroidery, fencing, fighting cloaks, machine embroidery, order of the golden rapier, sewing, silly projects

We’re leaving in 12 hours or less. :)

This year, the manic sewing marathon yielded:

• 3 Pairs of Fop Pants
• 2 Viking Aprons
• 1 Green linen under dress
• Several repairs
• and a crazy project that took longer but was less stressful than expected

Not bad. I was afraid I wouldn’t finish any of the sewing for myself but some did get done. The sewing day yesterday was very productive. The Fop did all the packing of the truck and trailer while I sewed today. And this evening. And now I’m done. And I packed almost all my stuff today which was rather insane as well. Pennsic packing was rather last-minute this year… We have remembered something we meant to buy (and bought it! Super-sized ziplock bags FTW!) and also remembered what we forgot to pack (and bath stuff is now on the list to pack) so hopefully we have remembered everything else.

Tomorrow morning, I’m going to be a good little viking and raid Starbucks before the Fop wakes up.

Then, we drive, drive, drive! YAY! Hopefully it won’t be too hot when we set up camp tomorrow evening!

Have a fun time while we’re gone! See some of you really soon! YAY!

tags: packing, pennsic, projects, sca, sewing, travel

I think we’re on the 7th wave of thunderstorm blowing through here. This is awesome. The house is still bloody hot, but it has cooled down considerably outside. Sadly, the storms kept elzregina from coming up to take away basil, but the rain will mean I’ll have twice as much basil for her by the time she does come by. This all started here a little after 4 pm. It’s been storming on and off for 8 hours. What an awesome day! (…I should go check the basement before I got to bed…)

Much sewing has been achieved today. I somehow ended up making the apron dresses slightly too big in the bust (how does that happen???) and need to nip them in just a teensy bit. I may cheat and take a dart out of the top of the back panel… but really I should take it out of the sides under the arms. It’s probably an inch to an inch and a half that needs to be taken out. Pesky self-measurements. Unfortunately, I already finished the top seams so I’ll need to do a little bit of extra seam-ripping to do whatever I end up doing. The hems are done too. Other than the small measurement issue, I’m quite pleased with how they’re coming out!! Hurray!!!

I spent some quality time with the Goddess of Irons tonight too… I love my Rowenta iron. She sure uses up water quickly making steam too!

Of course, I’m starting to get the “not enough time” jitters. I haven’t really started any packing. Our garb isn’t even all on the same floor for sorting and inspection. I do have running lists of “things to buy” and “things to remember to pack”. I also have packed for Pennsic *mumble* times before so I suspect I can survive. I’m just twitchy and tired and blogging instead of sleeping because my brain is trying to convince me to keep sewing even though my eyes have already said, “No way!” to more sewing tonight.

What’s really excellent is that I’m excited about Pennsic! No pre-Pennsic blahs for the first time in several years!

tags: goddess of irons, packing, pennsic, sca, sewing, thunderstorms, weather

Hot days like these call for polar bears.

I borrowed slyppi’s shopping karma today, sort of in exchange for some zen I loaned her earlier in the week. I had extraordinary good luck at Kohl’s and Fashion Bug. I ended up with a dress for the wedding next Saturday without too much trauma! I also found 2 fabulous tops for work, 2 casual tops and 2 piratey tops (one is even pink to help me embrace my “pirate chickness” - I even have a flag). Finally, I snagged an awesome dress - black lace over red slinkyness. It wasn’t an awesome dress when I tried it on a few months ago and it was $70. But, at $14 this dress qualifies for awesome status.

I have also achieved a great deal of pleating in the past 36 hours. Stupid Fop pants. They still need buttonholes, but the cuffs and waists are pleated into their appropriate sizes. I hope. Can I mention one more time that I hate pleats? Yes? Good. I hate pleats. A lot. They tweak the little OCD chick in the back of my head and I end up using a zillion pins when I probably shouldn’t have to. There’s probably a better, easier and faster way. In fact, I expect an e-mail from my mother in the morning telling me there is indeed a better, easier and faster way to put in pleats and that I’m a silly goose for not realizing sooner.

I also finally got around to doing a mock-up of a Viking apron dress. I’ll be having Gertrude help me tomorrow with cutting the hem right. Then I’ll rip it apart and cut one or two out of real fabric. The apron dress does not involve any pleats. I’m excited by this. I’d rather do dags than pleats. The apron dress doesn’t involve dags either, it’s okay. I have a ridiculous list of things I’d like to get sewn for Pennsic. I think if I get a quarter of it done, I’ll be doing well.

This weekend has been stupidly hot. I hope all the folks at EKWC are drinking their water. Well, at this hour they’re probably drinking something else, but I hope they drank their water all day! I have been chugging ice water today. I was reminded earlier why I don’t usually drink ice water - I drank 2 big glasses very quickly. Ugh. Oops. I’m glad I could spend the day being productive in air conditioning. I am a wimp when it comes to heat. I skipped war camp this weekend in the interest of not starting Pennsic already cranky about heat. I’d be fine with a cold Pennsic this year - days in the mid-70s, nights in the low 60s or 50s… Yeah, that would be lovely.

Right, now it’s time to go to bed, but not to sleep… I haven’t finished Jhegaala yet.

tags: clothing, garb, heat, pennsic, sales, sca, sewing, shopping, weather

If you’re feeling brave, take a look at the photo at its original size. I love how this one came out. (Yes, I’m a little bit vain sometimes.)

The weekend was fun and productive. I got a lot done though not as much as I’d hoped. It looks like tomorrow I’ll be doing math during the Fop’s birthday/movie night. And by math I mean “figuring out how big the pleats in the Fop Pants need to be in order to fit the waistband correctly.” It’s not difficult math. It’s just pesky. I hate pleats. They are evil.

Work today seemed to drag on forever, hence the subject line. It really feels like it should be later in the week by now. I also got a lot done at work today but not as much as I’d hoped. This seems to be a recurring theme in my life. Tomorrow I shall drink More Coffee in order to combat the plodding of the day. You have been warned. [insert evil laugh here!]

tags: coffee, orange, photographs, sca, sewing, work

Apparently it’s random photo week here at Casa di Monster Cat. Here is a long-promised dead jellyfish photo. There were many, many, many dead cannonball jellyfish on the beach when we were in Hilton Head in April. They were really quite remarkable.

I’m not a graphic designer, nor would I play one on TV. Luckily, if I try really hard, I can color using Photoshop and a Wacom Bamboo tablet. Annoying and niggly work, but (hot damn) did it work. I think I need to do more coloring as practice. In my copious spare time.

I’m taking tomorrow off from work but will probably log in to see if any progress can be made on the current fire drill. I really am a sucker for getting things done.

Now, I should post Monster Cat and go to sleep. Really.

tags: cannonball jellyfish, random, work

So, while I was home in Maine my little brother grinned with glee, took my camera and scampered (yes, scampered) to the attic of Dad’s garage with the comment, “Oh you’ve got to have a picture of this!” And this is how I ended up with the Shag King on my camera. The Shag King is, naturally, a vacuum attachment for the 30+ year old Kirby vacuum cleaner in my parents’ house. Presumably, if it were attached to said Kirby and pointed at some shag carpet, the Shag King would indeed voraciously devour all dirt in its shaggy path.

I have redrafted the pattern for Fop Pants and cut out a pair. I have more fabric in the dryer. Apparently I’m still procrastinating my Viking apron dresses. I’ve got plenty of pre-Pennsic projects to do it with too.

tags: attachment, dad’s attic, kirby, random, sewing, shag king, vacuum cleaner

• Most creative tribute to George Carlin today at Indexed.
• King Arthur Flour has an awesome baking blog. Complete with step-by-step photos for the tricky (and non-tricky) bits. I can feel like I’m baking even if I’m too hot or too busy to actually do it! Seriously, it’s an awesome blog. Late summer there will be baking motivation!
• Here’s some random Neil Gaiman. Just because.
• I have a large amount of basil growing fiercely in my raised beds. I have a Fop who likes hazelnuts. Has anyone ever tried hazelnut pesto? I see a couple of different recipes floating around the web. (And if anyone in the area wants some fresh basil, let me know!)

tags: baking, basil, gardening, george carlin, indexed, king arthur floure, neil gaiman, photographs, tributes

The Peonies have POPPED! They are a lovely pale pink. Pink isn’t really my color but I’m beginning to accept it in my garden.

So, this weekend was not quite as productive as I’d hoped but I still achieved stuff! Friday evening was a delightful bbq, bunny and chat fest at casa di Ian and Annys. I had 3 cups of coffee that day so I got my second wind around 11 pm and ended up chatting with Annys until all hours while the boys played with and talked about their swords. A fun evening with a high concentration of laughing and giggling!

Yesterday I braved the Joann Fabrics. I now have fabric to make a mock up of a viking dress. I also have some yarn to beta test a headband pattern with. Linens & Things on Rte 1 in Springfield is closing so I also stopped there for a few things… Really I went in to find a fan (which I purchased!) and ended up with a drawer organizer and espresso pot. Oops. I haven’t made proper espresso in ages. Watch out world!

Today I woke up with a super-duper annoying headache which pretty much killed the first 4 hours of the day. The new raised bed containers for the garden are all ready for dirt though - so I did get something done. I also ran to Home Depot to get dirt. Dirt is remarkably heavy. I ended up only getting enough dirt for 1 container as I wasn’t sure I could fit more in the little Subaru. Turns out I could have quite easily, but oh well, I was pretty sure my muscles weren’t up for it anyway. (Side note: the Subaru is a really smooth ride with 10 cubic feet of soil in the hatch.) I got it all out of my car but not out back. Tomorrow I’ll start filling the first container, hopefully get to the point of planting and maybe even make another Home Depot run.

Best part of all this weekend? It was really relaxing. I was, at no point, feeling rushed or pressed that I had to get anything done “or else.” Yes, I need to get those containers filled so I can plant the rather enthusiastic hot pepper plants and such, but I’m not stressing about it as much as I have been known to do. Relaxation is such a novel thing and yet it really shouldn’t be! Maybe I just need more practice.

tags: espresso, gardening, peonies, pink, relaxation, shopping, weekend

I don’t quite have a “Somewhere Safe” but I do have a little box where I put little things that I don’t want to lose but don’t have immediate usefulness or relevance to my world. It is my little box of awesome. This is where I put the Spectrum Scientifics business card the Fop handed me. It’s also where the business cards of people like our accountant, mortgage dude and various doctors end up. Merchant cards from Pennsic and quilt shows? In the little box of awesome. Card for the random 60-something man dating a a 20-something guy my coworker tried to hit on in a bar in Mystic? Tempus’ card? Charles the potter’s card? Colleen’s card? All in the little box of awesome. I also keep the various membership cards and expired ID in this box.

But, most awesomely… I thought to put the pinnacle of handy things in the little box of awesome. Instructions, hastily written in metric units on two 3×5″ pieces of paper torn from a little notebook by a lovely woman (with a lovely accent) at Pennsic whom I accosted*** from the line for the ATM two or three Pennsics ago, to make a viking apron dress. I was terribly clever to put these 2 bits of paper in the little box of awesome. They would have been lost long ago if it weren’t for the little box of awesome.

I have transcribed them to one of my notebooks and ordered linen. I need crappy, ugly, horrible fabric for a mock-up. I might actually have an apron dress by Pennsic!

Of note, I apparently can translate metric to English but I fail at converting feet to yards. For a good 10 minutes I thought I was going to need 8 yards of fabric when in fact I only need 8 feet. I should sleep more. Now perhaps…

***To say I accosted her is a terrible exaggeration. Really, I remarked to lisaf that I needed to make an awesome apron dress like that fabulous one on the woman walking by. The lovely woman stopped, chatted a bit, and drew up a quick pattern which she then thrust upon me. She apologized for being in such a hurry - she was late for court preparations or something.

tags: little box of awesome, random, sewing, unit conversion, viking apron dress