Thursday, July 11, 2019

Thursday, the wind in out of my sails




     I have had a couple of really hard projects that are due out this week.  One was a ceremonial Regalia Indian gown.  I had to cut buckskin into fringe. This involve a rotary cutter and hours of time.  It is tedious work.  But I finally got it done.  Buckskin is heavy in some places and very thin in others.  You have to find the places where you can get the best cutting and then plan it out.


     So here is an example of what I spent several hours cutting after I had the strips cut out of the hide.


This is the dress that the buckskin will go on.  I had to put fringe on the sleeves and the bottom.  I figured 186 inches of fringe.  So about 6 yards of tedious cutting, but it is done.  Hooray!
 Here is the finished product.  I do many things for the local Indian tribe.  Making ribbon shirts, and helping women learn to sew their own.  It is fun ,but fringe is the pits.  It makes me admire the women that cut fringe with a knife.




I also have a $5000.00 dress that needs to be hand hemmed with a prick stitch. and I spent most of the day on this yesterday after I got the Indian gown done.  I was too fatigued last night to finish getting the edges moved up so that is my first job today is to finish this bugger. This all has to be done by hand as they want the dress to grow with the girl.


Look at the mess in the shop, I can feel a lecture coming on from Sissie. Oh by the way that is the ironing basket.  Yikes it is taking over the world.
Here is the difference in the hem.  I have to move up the horse hair braid and then keep all the material so the dress can be let down.  I also have to cut several layer of tulle that are too long underneath as the dress is about 5 inches too long.  Can't wait until this is finished.  It is painstaking work.  The dress need a god pressing to take out the demarcation lines but that will be done in Japan where it will be worn. So I won't bother with steaming as it will shoved into a suitcase.


I plan on trying to kick out a couple more wedding dress today after I finish the above monster.  I will feel good if I can get this done.  Maybe I can take away the sick feeling I am carrying about my purse.

I keep telling myself that this is not that big a deal,  I am fine and it is a pain and it is expensive, but I can live with that.  Just keep on truckin this too will just be a distant memory.

The funny thing is that when I went out this morning, I took the truck as I did not want to beg Hub's for the key to the car and get yet another Sheldon Cooper lecture.  I locked the truck after, and I made sure I had my purse and I hung up the key which is on a long lanyard that can be hung around my neck.  Then I took my purse and put it on a hook in the family room right by the computer.  See I can be taught

Yesterday I took pounded pork steaks and gravy into my friends house along with newly dug garden potatoes and a bag of frozen veggies.  I whipped up a mock cheese cake with some cream cheese, a container of cool whip and a graham crust  and a can of lite cherry pie filling everything came out of the storage so I purchased nothing.  I love to cook like this.

Well the shop is waiting and I am hungry so I had better get to work.  What are you guys doing today?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

16 comments:

  1. I am in awe of your sewing talents- seriously! I'm from Australia and have never seen an authentic Indian garment. What a huge undertaking and also the hem on that skirt. So much work. I live on a farm in drought ridden NSW, Australia's most populous state. 97% of our state is in severe drought and no crops planted as no rain. This is the 2nd yr of drought on our farm but others a few hours away are in there 7th year! Hard to comprehend! With climate change the outlook is not good. We run 500 goats on 2000 acres but not much left on the ground feed wise, though we have a bore for water, thank goodness.
    Today I'll make a chicken and corn soup for dinner with toasty garlic bread and make some little Christmas cards. I love cardmaking. I'll also make some chic brownies. Then I'll do a little sewing myself. I'd love to make a start on some linen and cotton tops and dresses for summer as last Summer was horrendous.
    The heat started in September and finally cooled down last month! So 10 mths of heat, it was awful. We've missed Autumn altogether and are into Winter. We are going to a Small Farms Agricultural Show tomorrow 2hrs away in Mudgee where 20,000 people go over two days so that's huge! Will be 12 degrees and strong cold winds so I'll need to rug up.
    Enjoy your day and so happy to have found your lovely blog. Best wishes, Lorraine xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My husbands parent served a mission in Australia for our church. They spent most of their time at Alice Springs. I am sorry about your drought. We have experienced them here also and they bring about terrible wild fires.

      Delete
  2. Good evening - I don’t either of these sewing jobs.
    I did a very simple recovering project to a rolling office chair. I wanted 2 rolling chairs for my sewing room but didn’t want to pay retail for new ones. We found 2 at the Habitat thrift store. One was already Apple green vinyl and now the other one is fabric Apple green. Total cost was $12.
    I also shortened a pair of black pants into capris for me.
    And sewed 2 barrel pillows for a camper my son is redoing. Strangest fabric ever- looks like cork with gold flecks and I don’t think it’s true vinyl but it worked with like vinyl. I didn’t like doing them but they turned out great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I personally love to sew, it actually relaxes me as long as I am not under extreme pressure. But sometimes things like fringe and 5000.00 dresses can scare me. Good for you rehabbing a chair. That is what I would do.

      Delete
  3. You always get so much done! The Indian garment is beautiful, but cutting all that fringe, good grief! I tip my hat to ya!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah it was quite the job. Very time consuming. Just happy it is done.

      Delete
  4. I know the fringe was a pain in the butt, but the hem looks like a task from the third circle of Hell. I am beyond impressed with your skills.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was or is a good description third circle of hell. I was so happy to see the back of that dress.

      Delete
  5. You are SO talented! That fringe turned out great. I have done nothing more strenuous today that cut up an onion, tomato, and romaine lettuce to go on a chicken sandwich for supper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I could have a chicken sandwich right now. My twin sister is due in here in two weeks and she is much thinner than me by about 25 pounds. I have manage to loose about 10 lbs and I am starving. She is constantly on me about how fat I am.

      Delete
  6. The Indian garment is lovely, and I can't imagine the work. I'm not a sewer, but get cold chills thinking of cutting into a $5k dress for any reason at all.

    Today, I worked in the yard for four hours, organized all of our photos, cleaned the kitchen & shuttled the kids around. I was exhausted after the yard work, and filled the yard waste again. Guess the rest of the yard work will have to wait for next week

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love yard work and it is great exercise. Just wish I could get out there more.

      Delete
  7. Cutting into expensive garments or fabric always is a little scary even though I never doubt my ability. Still! Diet Cokes made me gain weight. I lost weight as soon as I started drinking Caffeine Free Coke, the regular stuff. And, I feel better. Diet Coke is evil. But, I drank it for 30 years despite knowing better. Now, I do better.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good for you. It is a little nerve racking to work on expensive garments.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I know how you feel about cutting into expensive things... But I haven't had to do that in a while and I'm thankful!
    You GO GIRL!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Don't worry about the laundry basket...mine is in 2 houses as my iron DIED in the middle of sewing 28 curtains. Still banging my head on the wall and making due with Son 2's iron. Not sure what to buy to replace mine and really don't want to go look for reviews ... Take a breath.... let it out slowly... this too shall pass

    ReplyDelete