OH. RIGHT.

So because this is my personal lab book on daily life experiments as much as it is a blog, i’ll note this here for the inevitable next time:

Is the machine skipping big swathes of stitches while at the same time having rampant birds-nest-ing? You have the needle in backwards, ya bloomin’ idjit.

Madeleine’s needle goes in with the flat side TO THE RIGHT.  Not the left.

I’m going to go back to the sewing corner to make amends to my machine, while trying to ignore the sound of my beloved grandmother spinning in her grave.

The bright side:  I have the zipper in, now!  And since it’s only quarter-to-ten, i might get most of the rest of the skirt finished before bed.  Also, at least Crabby Media’s tablecloth for the Portland Zine Symposium is finished now, and a fine piece of over-sewn (i was testing, alright??) sewing it is, too.

Ladies and gentlemen!  Our e-stenciler works!!!  [paroxysm of joy]  Once we’ve sobered up from our celebratory drinking, we’re going to start planning a test run of the mimeo/duplicator.

Rex Rotary 2202 (e-stenciler)

*  Today success smells like burning because the stylus actually sparks and burns as it’s making the stencil.

About a month ago i pulled apart a skirt i’d made back in 1999.  I think it was only the 3rd thing i made when i returned to sewing as an adult.  I could just imagine my grandmother rolling her eyes as i tediously pulled out every single seam, but i really wanted to save the skirt.

Tonight, finally, i had the time to sit down and sew it back to together.  I’d cut out the pattern pieces last month, too, but i’d just never gotten the hours-at-a-stretch block of time i needed to get the sewing done.

Simplicity #9569 -- made uncounted times

The pattern i used was this one: Simplicity #9569 (do not be deceived that the envelope says it’s a 2-hour pattern — the sewing alone took me FOUR).  I’ve made this pattern … lots. I’ve made it in 4 of the 6 styles, too.  I haven’t made either the straight- or A-line mini-skirt, because i don’t like wearing skirts that short anymore.  But i like the straight-line knee-length as a sophisticated skirt for work and i like the A-line knee-length for pretty much everything, but especially with t-shirts.  I’ve made the long straight-line skirt with swishy fabric (faux satin & faux velvet).  I did try a long straight-line skirt in a heavy fabric, thinking it would make a nice pencil skirt, but it didn’t — turned out to be hard to walk in even with side slits.  I’m going to chop it off to make a knee-length skirt.

The iteration i made tonight was the 1st long A-ling skirt.  The skirt i unsewed was originally a long A-line, but back when i started sewing i wanted things simple, so it was an elastic waistband.  Which was great for awhile, but these days i prefer clothes that fit my body a little better and the looseness of that skirt (and the other, oh, 7 i’d made to the same pattern) was starting to drive me nuts.  Also, i’ve gotten wicked good at putting in zippers.

Four of the 8 skirts have been / will be cut down into the long straight-line pattern.  Two have been cut down into A-line knee-length skirts.  There were just 2 left, and i wanted those to be long A-lines.  Now i have just 1 more to go.

finished skirt -- 1 down, 1 to go

Here’s the finished product — not looking so hot in part because i don’t have great lighting anywhere in the house for taking pictures of clothes, and also because my phone’s camera doesn’t have sharp colors.  You can sort of see that the waist still has a wrinkly effect from having lived as an elastic waistband for 10 years.  You can’t quite see that there is a slit on each side seam, to make it easier to walk.  Also, the 1 modification i make to this pattern is to make it a bandless skirt.  I like the smooth line of having no waistband.

The biggest reason this picture doesn’t look so hot, however, isn’t lighting or camera: it’s that the fabric is faded almost to nothing.  (Which also made the fabric flimsy and difficult to work with as i cut out the pattern and did the sewing.)  The skirt this cloth was originally made into was, as i said, 10 years old.  And the cloth was 10 years old before i ever made it into the original skirt in the 1st place.  I bought the cloth when i was still in high school because i absolutely fell in love with it.

And that’s why i wanted so badly to save the skirt and make it into something i’d want to continue to wear for awhile.  Because even tho’ the cloth looks like this these days:

faded cloth

Once upon a time, the cloth looked like this:

cloth in its original glory -- such rich colors!

I was inclined to pick up this book based on Karen Healey’s quick review on her LiveJournal (you’ll have to scroll down to find it in the list):

It’s about the difficulty of hope, how terrible things happen for no reason, how the mechanics of poverty and oppression keep great people down, how they can be combated, and how faith – of many kinds, including in one’s God, in one’s self, and in one’s friends and allies – can be maintained, lost, regained, and blaze like a beacon for others. There’s barely any hints of romance.

Unfortunately, for me, it’s told in 1st person point-of-view, and i’ve found that with 1st person you have to actually like the narrator’s voice well enough to keep on.  And i didn’t.  Perhaps if i’d pressed on i’d have gotten past Amber’s irritating narrative stylings, but these days i don’t waste more time on a book than i have to.  Sorry, book!

One of my odd hobbies is picking up grammar advice books and seeing how long it takes me to get angry.

This book didn’t bring me to towering heights of rage.  In fact, in my skimming, the advice all seemed pretty solid and, more importantly, advice i agreed with.  The only thing that bothered me was the “devotional” format.  It’s a cute idea — a different bit of grammar advice for every day of the week.  But, personally, i’d rather my grammar advice be sensibly organized rather than presented in a quasi-religious format.

Not something i’ll be buying for my collection, but not bad to flip thru’.

The bulk section in PCC Markets has these awesome dried tortellini.  We’ve found them to be super convenient for when we’re in a hurry or when we’re stumped for meal ideas.  Today they made me 5 minutes late getting back from lunch because i couldn’t stop eating this.

First. Bring a pot of water to boil, then toss in a handful or so of tortellini.  These take about 12 minutes to fully cook, so meanwhile….

Second. Heat some butter in a skillet.  I use cow’s milk (unsalted) butter, but i’m sure vegan butter or your choice of cooking oil would also work well.

Third. Chop a couple (i used 4 medium-sized) shiitake into bite-sized pieces.

Fourth. Toss the shiitake into the skillet and stir them around a bit to get them coated with the butter/oil.  Then sprinkle a little salt, pepper, onion, and garlic on them.  (These are my 4 usual spices.  Of course use whatever sounds delicious to you.)  I sauteed the shiitake over medium heat — i wanted them browned, but certainly not crispy.

Fifth. When the tortellini is finished, drain them well — get off as much water as possible.  Water is bad for the next step.

Sixth. Toss the tortellini into the skillet with the shiitake.  Saute everything together to coat the tortellini with the (now-flavored) butter.  You don’t want to leave things in the skillet too long — maybe just a minute.

And then eat.  Oh my goodness, it was so delicious.  I didn’t even have time to take a picture of the final dish (which was very pretty, with the shiitake nestled amongst the tri-colored pasta!) because i was too busy eating it.