Vacation

I'm back.  Thanks to all you non-existent readers for your patience.

I took a full week off from work and feel pretty damn good about it.  I got some general spring cleaning done and am several steps closer to having my sewing room.

I watched a fair amount of bad TV with my feet kicked up and my jammies on.

I dealt with Critter Control because, unbeknownst to me, Raccoons are very fond of nesting in open chimneys.  So, a couple traps later, we are raccoon free and have a heavy duty steel cap on our chimney now.

I bought a new (vintage) sewing machine.  I found a Singer Fashion Mate 237 at an antique store for $20.  I may need to replace the motor on it, but I'm still getting a better and stronger machine for a fraction of the cost of a new one.

Not my actual machine, but that's the make/model/color.  While doing the research on the machine I have found that naming a sewing machine is sort of a thing.

Should I, shouldn't I?

DOMS

Yesterday I posted that I was sore from an excessive workout on Monday.

Today, I learned the term Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.  I only thought I was sore yesterday.

I can barely walk.  Stairs are a horrible, horrible thing.

So, today is a learning curve day.  I am looking into causes of muscle soreness, i.e. pushing myself way to far during a fitness class, as well as cures and prevention.

Under cures I am seeing a lot of rest and light no-impact exercise (walking) and don't be such a macho dumbass next time.  Under prevention I am seeing: keep on working out and eventually your muscles will get used to it and you won't feel this way anymore.  Also, things like whey protein shakes and such.

Ow...Ow...Ow

So I stopped in at the gym I mentioned yesterday.  To get a feel for the place, one of the owners invited me back to a spinning class.  I figured, what the heck?  Exercise is good for, no matter what form, right?

Ow.

Ow.

Ow.

My legs are still a bit wobbly and quite frankly, my butt hurts.  Ow.

Back in the military our fitness coordinator encouraged us to try different forms of exercise, not just running and push-ups.  One time he talked a group of us into trying a step aerobics class.

Picture, if you will, a group of about a half-dozen men in their twenties to thirties who think that they are in shape and pretty bad-ass.  Now picture them waltzing in to a step aerobics class with a bunch of military wives and an instructor who has been doing this for years.

We thought it would be easy.

We thought we were in decent shape and coordinated.

We were wrong.  So very wrong.

I honestly cannot even describe how much of an uncoordinated and awkward mess we made of that class.  The instructor did her best to encourage us, but it was a lost cause.  It was like dropping a blindfolded orangutan into a ballroom dance.  We hung our heads with humble shame and left afterwards, never to return.

The spinning class, for me, was kind of like that.  Except that this time, I'm going back for more punishment.  I'm so going back there.  Possibly for another spinning class, but they also offer weight training, HIIT, and boxing classes (non-sparring).

Ow.
__________________________________________
Current stats for my own tracking:
Weight 245
Body fat 30.51

Monday Update

So, over the weekend, we did some spring cleaning as referenced in my previous post.  I'm coming down off the allergy attack that followed.

We did some basic shopping and as a step towards working my way further into the low-carbohydrate lifestyle I downloaded an app to track my foods and exercise.  According to several calculators I am at about 30% body-fat which is just unacceptable.  I've gotten better about the foods I have been eating, now it's time to focus on the exercise.

I mentioned a few posts back about my new running shoes and a few of my goals.

Overall I have been updating those as time moves forward.  My goals as of today are: run the two races I have planned.  Be able to do 50 push-ups by the 1/2 marathon in October.  Get my body-fat down to 20%.

I don't think that any of those are unreasonable.  Each and every one is achievable with discipline, effort and discipline.  Did I mention the discipline?

There is a gym pretty close to my house.  I'm considering joining.  Not a chain gym, just a little local one that seems to offer the sort of classes I am looking for and has some activities that should line up with my goals.

Spring Cleaning - BEWARE!

So, the wife and I have begun the Herculean task of cleaning out our upstairs storage/pit of no return.

The upstairs in our house is a finished & carpeted area with minimal heating or cooling.  Therefore, in the summer it roasts and in the winter it freezes.  So, for the most part we have been using it as long term storage.  This can also be identified as pretty much anything that we just don't want to make a decision on in the next year, goes upstairs and is never heard from again.  Our upstairs area currently resembles an episode of Hoarders.  We probably won't ever resemble an episode of Beautiful Homes of Whatever, but we would like the upstairs to actually be useful to some degree and not have so much stuff that it will eventually collapse in on itself and create a black hole above the bathroom..

The cats of the house, who do NOT approve of change, are upset with us and are underfoot.

Our primary goal is to clear out the upstairs, while sorting everything into three main categories.  Keep, Trash and Ukazoo (local second hand bookstore that buys used books).  My goal is to make sure that the Keep pile is the smallest of the three categories.

If we are successful in our tasking, then we can get a good idea of what to make out of the upstairs area.  A simple space heater and sweatpants would fix the winter chill and possibly a portable AC unit would take care of the summer baking.  In which case I think that it would become an excellent sewing studio, with a couple of comfy reading/relaxing/knitting chairs.

Running Shoes vs. Laziness

I bought a new pair of running shoes over the weekend.

Brooks Addiction 10

I am closing in on 40 years and my most recent physical went just fine.  However, some of the bad numbers are starting to creep upwards, while a couple of the good numbers are dwindling downwards.

I have done a bit of running on and off over the past few years and to be honest, the best I have felt physically in the past few years was just after completing my first 5K race.  My waistline was slimmer.  My energy was up.  My overall self image was good.

My problem is that I have a tendency to be habitually lazy.  I know this to be true.  I know that I can overcome this laziness when I want to; but in being habitually lazy, I don't always want to.

One way I have found to motivate myself is with pre-paid goals.  In this case, I have already signed up to run a 10K next month and even if I friggin limp & crawl across the finish line, I will finish.  Immediately after that I am going to sign up and start prepping for a half-marathon in October.  That will cost me a small chunk of cash to sign up as well as upgrading my drivers license to accommodate the international aspect of the run.

I am going to make certain that these running shoes will not be a fashion accessory   They are a tool to aid in my fitness quest.  I will earn a medal for my 10K and I will run across the Ambassador Bridge and earn a medal for completing a half-marathon.

These are my fitness goals.

One Comma Rule

One rule I try to live by is something I learned during my time in the military.  I forget who first explained it, but it makes so much sense.  In a world with about a bajillion choices for everything and people getting more and more self-centered and thoughtless, it's time to recognize the one comma rule.

Simply put, when ordering anything, most common issue is fast-food or at a restaurant, you are only allowed to modify your order with one comma.  That's it.  I don't include standard ordering commas, such as adding a drink or a side item.  I'm concerned with the modification commas.  Take a look at the following examples.

"I would like a Quarter-Pounder, no tomato."  You see, one single comma.  Simple and easy.
"I want a Big-Mac, hold the sauce, toast the bun, double cheese and extra pickles."  Too many commas, too much nit-picking.  You are wasting everybodys time and patience on crap like that.

"I would like to order a tall latte, add a shot of caramel."  Easy.  Not too complicated and quick.  No extra explanations or changes necessary.
"I want a half-soy, double-mocha, whipped, venti, chai tea, with a shot of decaf espresso."  What the hell did you just order?  And I don't want to hear anything about exaggeration.  You know you have been stuck behind this person in line any number of times.

"I want a cheeseburger with bacon, hold the mustard."  This will get made correctly because you have probably not annoyed the living hell out of your server.  You even snuck in an extra modification, but it's a logical order and will be overlooked by most waitstaff.
"I want a cheeseburger, only I want it with bacon, hold the mustard, add extra onion, could I get the mayo on the side, and could I get that on grilled rye toast instead of a bun?"  What is the chance of your server not spitting on your burger at this point?  Pretty slim.  If you want a patty-melt with bacon, ask for a freaking patty-melt with bacon.  If you have to modify your order with more than one basic comma, then you don't actually want what you are ordering and you need to find something else to purchase.

Also, as a side note of the one comma rule is that you must actually adhere to what is on the menu.  I have heard the following statement several times: "I know this says no substitutions, but could I get item-B instead of item-A?"

No.  You may not.  The establishment that you have chosen to eat at has asked you not to make any substitutions.  That means that you may not substitute item-B for item-A.  It's that simple.  You are not above the rules.  You are not special.  If a menu says that your meal will come with coleslaw and fries and you do not want coleslaw and fries, don't order that item.  Order something else.

If you cannot find something on the menu that you can safely order without violating the one comma rule, then go eat somewhere else.  If you are so picky about what you are eating that you will be forced to violate the one comma rule, you are eating in the wrong restaurant.  Go to a restaurant that has the type of meal you actually want to eat instead of tormenting the waitstaff by insisting that your Big-Mac be modified by five commas and then complain when it is not exactly how you ordered it.  No amount of commas will turn a McDonalds Quarter-Pounder into a Burger King Whopper.  If you want a Whopper, go to Burger King.  Don't take out your inability to cope with reality on the kid behind the McDonalds counter.

 

Flu - Blargh!

Ok, so it's been a couple weeks.  Mea Culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Some of the time can be blamed on a nasty little flu bug.  No need to go into gory details.  If you have ever had the flu, you know what happens and all that.

So, now I attempt to get back on track.  Work was actually fairly easy to catch up since most of the trouble calls that would have gone to me, went to another guy.  He was glad to see me back cuz his workload doubled for a few days.

I got back on the treadmill yesterday and did fifteen whole minutes before getting a bit woozy in the brain-pan.  Don't push too much too fast after being sick.  You will wind up undoing more than you intend to redo.

As for the sewing section of my life, I need to clear off my desk and take a look at making some repairs to my McCalls M6613 shirt project.  The button placket and I had a little disagreement and it did not work out quite right.  I got a bit discouraged and set the whole thing aside for a few weeks.  Now, I think I can look at it objectively enough to work out how to fix it without pitching the whole thing.

What can I say.  I was the sort of kid that got halfway through a model car, got a superglue fingerprint on a windshield and wound up tossing the whole kit in the trash as a result.

Self Image

I'm working on my fitness level...again.  I'm reading up on various dietary guidelines (AKA/PC Lifestyle changes) and have been exercising for a week now.  I know in my logical brain that I am overweight and need to loose some pounds.  I know this as fact.

But I didn't understand.

I have been cruising the fitness tags and fitspo and and all that crap on Tumblr.  I cannot count how many before/after photos I have seen.  How many of you can guess where this is going?

That is correct.  I just worked out, took off my shirt, kept the shorts on you sick monkeys, and took a photo of myself.

Wow...ouch.  Nothing will kick you in the self-esteem balls like a photo of your own unrealized stomach.

Those of you with small children should run screaming from the room now.  You have been warned.

This is me after one week of exercise and a moderate diet.  I hope that after a few weeks and then months I will be able to post after picts.

McCalls M6613 - 2

Ok, back to work on McCalls M6613.  I spent yesterday afternoon copying and tweaking the pattern based on the results of my muslin.  I'm going to be making the main shirt in black with a royal blue contrast fabric for details like the inside collar, inside yoke, and possibly the sleeve button tabs.  Just a few bits and pieces of color to keep it from being solid black.  I have all the pieces cut and ready to start sewing.

Plus, I have enough leftover of each color to start considering what to do for my next shirt.  After I complete this project I might be able to do up a second short-sleeve version.  We shall see.

Sewing reminds me a bit of cooking.  Most anybody can follow a basic recipe and get a basic result.  If you drop some flour, baking powder, yeas, and water into a bowl, mix and apply heat, you will get bread.  Now, will it be the nice fluffy consistency of store bought bread...no.  Will it be a tasty muffin or croissant?  Nope.  Same with sewing.  If you follow the pattern and instructions, you will wind up with a garment that greatly resembles a shirt. but it's still very much a learning process.  How does you machine handle this fabric or that.  Will it run a simple seam at the same even pace as a felled seam?  How does this fabric work with that interfacing?  How do you turn those collar points right side out?

I'm learning, slowly & steadily, garment by garment, seam by felled seam, I'm learning.

Valentines Day Gift

SO I made something for my wife for V-Day.  If you have read this blog in its entirety you may come to realize that she is a bit of a Marilyn Manson fan.  Just a bit...*cough*FANGIRL*cough*

I had the idea a few weeks ago that a Manson themed stuffed animal would be absolutely adorable for her for Valentines Day.  Her favorite incarnation of Manson is a character referred to as Omega and is depicted with a rather Bowie-esque make-up job of blue eye-shadow, red & black hair and multicolored contact lenses.  I found a downloadable pattern for a stuffed bear that I thought could possibly evoke a cat if I pointed the ears and tail.  I'm not looking for absolute physical accuracy, just a passing resemblance, you see.

Well lets recap:
Concept - A+
Thoughtfulness - A+
Preparation - B+
Execution - umm...well...We both agree its sort of a bear/cat/raccoon hybrid that is a bit on the creepy side. Now, fortunately, creepy appeals to my wife.  Especially when attempting to invoke the Manse.

He is slightly under stuffed, due to being my first attempt at making such a creature.  He does have the Manson inspired multi-colored eyes and red embroidery on his black head stripe thingy as well as on his paws.

Fashion vs Style

It's sort of a sexist thing to say, I understand this going in.  However, I believe it to be true.

Leave fashion to the women.  Men should work with the concept of style.

Another way to say this would be that I will never make a pair of skinny jeans.  Or bell-bottoms for that matter.  Both are examples of fashion overriding common sense.

If you managed to find a pair of Levis from 1913 that were miraculously preserved (and that fit) you could wear them today and they could easily be incorporated  in a styled appearance.  Case in point:  The following pict is a reproduction pair from the design specifications of 1933 and this guy could walk down the street now and nobody would even look.  Likewise a pair of basic straight leg jeans produced today would be just as useful to a modern gentleman of 2113.  Now try that test with anything that is considered a fashionable garment or part of any trend.

Now, for some contrast examples:

See what I mean?  Fashionable in the 70's does not equal style...anywhere...anytime.  Hipster kids need to go eat a cheeseburger and then buy clothing that fits.  

Guys need to stick to classic style and personalize it a bit here and there.  If a guy tries to follow a fashion trend, eventually there is a going to be a time of regret.  Usually pictures will be involved.  Possibly polyester or slogan t-shirts.  Please, can we stop this madness.

McCalls M6613

My first work-in-progress post. Woot!

This is a muslin for a shirt I am working on using McCalls M6613 sewing pattern.  I'll probably modify it slightly to suit me better and I've got this cross posted to a sewing forum to get construction/fit tips.  The end shirt will be basic black with royal blue highlights.  I'm going to at least do the inner yoke and collar lining in the blue and there is a version with the little tabs that fold up and button when your sleeves are rolled up.  So, probably those in blue as well.  Also, I think I will keep the mandarin collar.  The pattern has a standard fold down design, which is nice, however, I have always liked the banded collar look.

I already have a list of things to fix on the pattern before I work on the final draft.
-The cuffs are two different sizes due to a folding issue.  Note to self: Your eyeballs are not nearly as calibrated as you think, use a friggin ruler.
-I need to figure out how to shrink the collar about an inch all the way around to get that fitting correctly.
-There is a little puckering at the armscye which should clean up if I do a bit more ironing during the construction stages and take a bit more care with the pinning steps.

I have David Page Coffins book on shirt-making which I will be referencing quite a great deal over the next week or so.

Wish me luck!

Camera!

Ok, between this blog and a forum I have been frequenting, I have commented on the need for a camera a few times.  This is the point I will casually smack myself in the face.

I have a camera.  Not a huge fancy anything, but a reasonably decent Olympus point-n-shoot.

The picture is more to test the Blogger picture function than anything else.  I'm fairly sure you all don't really care what my camera looks like.  But now that it is plugged in and charging, one of my goals for tonight is going to be to take a couple of snaps of my shirt-muslin.  I want to be able to do a basic work-in-progress and completed project theme in this here blog, but well...without a camera its sort of pointless.  I mean really, I can tell you that I just hand tailored a traditional styled bespoke suit out of the most wonderful tweed.  But without picts to back that up I'm probably lying out my ass.

So, hopefully tomorrow, I will be posting a snap or two of my current work in progress.

Also, I found Hot Patterns.  I'm thinking that the name is a little hokey, and they only have three patterns for men, but, the three patterns are about perfect.  I ordered a shirt pattern that is sort of a vintage railroad work shirt that has a bunch of the style and design ideas I have been thinking about and a jeans pattern that is both simple and classic at the same time.  I am very excited to see what these two look like in person and then eventually completed as wearable garments.

If I can get to the point of being able to turn out a button-down shirt and a pair of jeans that can pass as store-bought.  I may never have to shop for clothing again...well, except for socks and underwear and whatever else I might want.  Oh, and shoes.  

Don't judge me!

Buttonholes!

How the hell did society exist before the internet?  Everything and anything is available online.  If price/cost was no object I could buy an island have a house built and fully stocked without leaving my own living room. Yes, I already have plans for the Powerball Jackpot that I have yet to win.

Basically, I am excited because with the power of the interwebs at my beck and call, I was able to track down the exact part number for a vintage buttonholer add-on for my vintage Kenmore 385 sewing machine, find a new-old stock one for sale and get it shipped to my door for ten bucks.  How freaking cool is that?

So, last night I made buttonholes...lots of buttonholes...big ones, little ones, standard oval shaped ones and even keyhole buttonholes.  WOOT!

I was able to finish off a shirt-jacket that I had constructed a few weeks ago and was completely finished, except for buttonholes.  Now, a good steaming and ironing and it will be fantastic.  All I need now is some interfacing and some buttons and I can start working on my next project.

He he he...buttonholes...Give me a cutting table and a few more sewing machines and I will take over the world!

Ok, maybe not the whole world, but my front room at least.

This post is not a post

Not really a post, I swear.  Just random thoughts I have floating around my brain.

My next sewing project is going to be a shirt.  Sort of a basic collared camp shirt/bowling shirt.  Design-wise, whats the difference?  Not too much by way of a collar stand, light interfacing in the collar itself.  Buttons and short sleeves.  Whatever.  Its going to be black with dark blue insets and collar.  I may try to do a Nehru/Mandarin collar, blue outside and black inside with stiffer interfacing.

Or, what I probably should do is actually follow a pattern until I get a bit better at the finished product stage. I have McCalls M6613 (Version B) that will suit nicely I think.

Balance

Ah, the quest to find balance in life.  The happy medium between fantasy and reality.  Basically walking the line between what is wanted or desired and what can one can afford.

I want two or three new sewing machines and a ton of fabric and a cutting table and extra rulers and paper and books to teach me pattern drafting and...and...and...

What I can afford, hmm, a needle and thread and a roll of leftover Christmas wrapping paper.  If you open my wallet a tumbleweed falls out, how it got there to begin with I'll never know.

So, the quest in life, is to find the balance between the two.Scale down the dreams and work within the bounds of reality to make dents in the fantasy.  While at the same time, not lowering yourself to a puritanical existence.  Don't let the reality of the situation stop you from having some fun and getting some of the things you want, or doing the things you want to do.

Case in point: My wife and I went and met Manson (as previously mentioned).  Was it cheap, no.  Was it an easily afforded expenditure of time and money, again, no.  But we had a BLAST!  We took some time off work (vacation days earned through dedicated work over the course of years) and used some rainy day cash that could have been more responsibly used for bills.  No bills went unpaid in the course of this adventure.  No utilities are going to be turned off as a result.  No animals were harmed as a result of filming.

What good is working 40+ hours a week, every week, if you never do anything for yourself?  Is this your life?

Monday - Work
Tuesday - Work
Wednesday - Work
Thursday - Work
Friday - Work
Saturday - Laundry, errands, clean the house, and sometimes Work.
Sunday - Finish the errands, change the catbox, worry about having to go back to work on Monday.

Make time for fun and adventure and enjoyable activities.  Balance the work with some play.  Don't let the bills pile up too much, but spend a little something on yourself once in a while to remind yourself why you work so hard.

Entropy

Entropy is basically the natural and inevitable descent into chaos.

There are times when I feel that life as we know it is simply pushing back at entropy.  Eat so you don't die and decompose.  Shower so you don't get filthy and stink.  Earn money in order to eat and keep the lights on in your house.  Clean the house so you don't live in a chaotic mess.  Procreate so the human race doesn't die out.  Buy a car to support the economy so that others can do the same exact thing.

Nothing is permanent, nothing at all.  Even the pyramids will eventually succumb to chaos.  But centuries before that happens, you and I and our houses and businesses and cars and cities will be long since forgotten.

So do things with your life that are more than just pushing back at entropy.  Fight it.  Do something that will last longer than you do.  Make something that will last.  Make something that will become an heirloom.  Paint something that people will still look at when your generations grand-kids are old and gray.  Write something that will collect dust in the Library of Congress until someone stumbles across it decades later and thinks it's the best they have ever read, like it was written for them.  Sing a song that has never been sung and winds up being hummed by happy people for ages.

Turn off the computer and go do something with your life.  Not everybody will be DaVinci or Picasso, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.

Pattern Recognition

Pattern Recognition, in addition to being one of my favorite novels of all time, is a valuable and oft neglected life skill.

Another way to explain this is with one definition of insanity, repeating the same action over and over while expecting different results.

My final example is a quote from Aerosmith who were paraphrasing Mark Twain: "If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.”

Recently one of our stores was broken into and some of our equipment was stolen.  Bummer, but it does happen.  Such is life.  We replaced the equipment, repaired the front doors (rock through the glass, reach in & unlock) and went on our merry little way.  Last night, it happened again.  Broken glass, reach in, unlock, wander out some time later with our equipment in their grubby paws.

We failed the pattern recognition test.  We proved to the thief that there were no real repercussions and no changes in our awareness.  Minimal effort yielding adequate results.  Ten minutes of work and the net result is probably five-hundred bucks of stolen equipment.  Not retail value of course, but sell it for quick cash money.  Our cost to replace will be close to three grand.

Now, the next test will be, will we learn from this second break in?  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me...Fool me a third time...ouch.

Next on the list

I really need to get it together with some photography.  I have a couple finished/nearly finished sewing projects that I wouldn't mind sharing with some of the online world.  However, I'm more interested in the process of adding new techniques to my repertoire and possibly a new machine to my table.

This weekend I finished up a pullover lounge hoodie thing in an homage to green lanterns uniform.  Its dark blue and dark gray with a general superheroic sort of design on the front, back and sleeves.  I'd put it at about 80%.  There are a couple flaws: a spot where the fabric folded a bit on the top-stitch and this stuff is NOT forgiving if you try to undo stretch stitching.  Also, one shoulder seam is misaligned by about a half-inch on the front, the other shoulder misaligned on the back, still a mistake but less noticeable.

Any new machine I get will need a couple of seam & flat feller feet (foots?) and a buttonholer.  I am in serious need of a buttonholer and better seam/hem making.  I have a shirt/jacket thing that needs a bakers dozen buttonholes that I just cannot bring myself to do by hand.  I made a vest with four buttonholes by hand and they turned out nicely, but 13 holes just seems too hard to get started on.  Now if I had a Singer 301/a, like the ones I have been tracking on Ebay, with the buttonhole accessory...oh buddy, look out!

I'm getting mildly better at hems/seams by hand, but they are time consuming and a bit fiddly.  There is always going to be a bit of extra effort needed to produce a garment that I will wear out in public, but at the same time I dont really want to spend half of the construction effort of a shirt on the buttonholes and seams.  Those are supposed to be details, not main points (or roadblocks) to construction.

Bureaucracy...what fun

Just a brief note.

I work for the IT department of a fairly well known organization that shall remain nameless.  Specifically, I run the point of sale register system.  Recently one of our stores had a server crash that took a few days to repair.

In order to rebuild the data from the days that were missing I called the store to get some subtotal information that they should have had readily available.

The store called the finance department because they didn't keep the reports from those days like they should have.

The finance department called me about getting the missing days rebuilt because the store called them to get some subtotal information.

This is me smacking my head against the wall with more effective results than dealing with these people.

Next Projects

Yesterday I felt like making something.  I have a good amount of fabric for a set of jammie/lounge-wear bits.  I'm figuring on a set of dark gray and blue pants and hoodie combo.  But, I didn't feel like working from someone elses instructions.

Ok, materials check, I still have a good amount of 500D Cordura from my first purse/bag projects.  I have about a yard-ish of twill from my vest and shirt/jacket project.

Hmm, I also have a closet full of clothing that definitely includes some never to be worn again garments.  What happens if we decide to make an outer shell of Cordura and line it with material salvaged from a pair of khakis that have an oil spot on the front?  Let's find out shall we.

I'm working on both my baseline sewing skills and the ideas of pattern drafting.  So, I drew a few rough sketches of what I wanted and measured a few bags that I already have and started drawing pattern pieces. I already have the parts cutout, a front-flap applique (skullhead!) and about 50% of the bag completed.  Tonight may see it's completion.

Note to self: You need a desk that has more room than your pattern paper, not less.

Back to Normal

Normal, what a horrible and limiting concept.

I'm back at work after an extended weekend.  Despite the emails and phone messages left in my absence, the world did not collapse.

Personally, I'm still slightly in recovery mode.  There was an inordinate amount of social contact during my weekend.  I met Manson for crying out loud.  There were crowds, fans, bouncers, assistants, more fans, more fans, drunk fans, photographers and general populace abounding.  By the end of the weekend all I wanted to do was put on jammies and hide under a blanket with my Kindle.

I am an introvert by nature.  Even this anonymous blog, unseen  in the vast reaches of inter-web-space-stuff, is more social contact than I normally prefer.  I decided a year or so ago that occasionally it would not hurt me to be more social.

You know the face that a child makes when they have to take medicine or go to bed earlier than they want?  Yeah, that's the face I make when I think of being social with my fellow human beings.

So, baby-steps.  I force myself to talk with co-workers, even when I really could not possibly care any less about what their children ate or watched on TV this past weekend.  I have practiced at keeping a pleasant yet neutral expression on my face, instead of the default expression of faint annoyance.  I swear that I am not actually that bitter and grouchy, it's just how the muscles in my face relax when left to their own devices.  I could be having a perfectly fine day, but if I don't actually make a concerted effort to put a pleasant expression on my face, people think I'm pissed.

So, here I am back at work.  My back to the rest of the office, repairing other peoples mistakes and accounting for their errors.  And I will not allow myself to curse them, swear at them, or even scowl at them. Because that would be rude and unprofessional and anti-social.

Dear internet...If my head explodes will you clean up after me?

WHAT?!

Yesterday I did laundry, washed my next batch of project cloth and ironed both it and the pattern pieces for my next couple garments.

Today I went and met Marilyn Manson, got his autograph twice, got a picture taken with him, saw the concert from absolutely great seats.  Tomorrow, my wife is getting his double-M sigil tattooed on her shoulder where she got him to sharpie it.

One day I'm planning sewing patterns and wondering if I have enough of the right color thread.  Next day, watching a girl screamo band, the Butcher Babies open for Manson.  I almost typed this post in all caps to mimic the extra loud talking cuz I cannot hear over the ringing in my ears.

My like is more WTF than ever before, but I am having fun and just living with the experiences.

First Project Post

I completed my first wearable garment sewing project today.  I made a wool hoodie using McCalls M5252 pattern.  I wanted a casual garment that was comfortable, however, I wanted to start updating my wardrobe to more 'real' and 'adult' clothes.  That means steering myself away from t-shirts and sweatshirts and more towards slacks and shirts.

So, for this project I picked a light suiting weight black wool.  It turned out quite nice I think.  Since it's a suit wool it has a decent weight and will probably be a good layering garment over a shirt and tie.  It still needs a bit of tweaking, in that I need to hem the sleeves by an inch or two and if I use that pattern again I may snug up the waist and sides to slim the line a bit.

Form vs. Function

I made a garrison cap last night.  Why, do you ask?  I really had no specific plan for its use.  I've always liked them, even have one leftover from my military days.  I made the new one out of leftover fabric from a vintage military greatcoat.  Heavy gray/green wool, very cold-war.

It brings me to the topic of form versus function.  Form being the appearance and style of a thing and function being the use and operation of the same thing.

In this case, the form of the garrison cap worked well.  I managed to get some good seams and a bit of piping on the border and the whole thing looked like a piece of military surplus from some long-forgotten Northern European naval unit.

Function, however, is another story.  I guesstimated a bit on the size and got it wrong.  A garrison cap is not supposed to fit loosely and come down over the tips of the ears.  If it doesn't fit like it is supposed to then it will not serve its function as a hat.  Simple.

I dislike when the balance of form and function is off.  Too much of one or the other is a bad thing.  Cases in point:
High fashion super-model runway shows where stick thin women are parading around in car parts and peacock feathers.  Never will you see that outfit in your local supermarket or on a bus.  Nobody ever actually decides to wear those outfits because of how flattering they are.  They are all form and no function.
On the flip-side there are the mechanics jumpsuits.  Pure function of covering your regular clothing away from the dirt and oil surrounding you.  If absolutely nobody cared about fashion, these garments could completely replace every bit of clothing we own.  Pure function and no form.

Coke

I don't feel well today.  Something I ate yesterday made me spend the evening curled up under blankets acting like a twelve year old.  I just wanted to watch cartoons and be miserable.  I crave Coke when I'm sick, not ginger-ale.  Coke (slightly flattened) was what my Dad would get me if I had an upset stomach as a child.  Some things get imprinted and pop up at random, decades later.

But, I'm back at work today, still not feeling great but not bad enough to call off.

It takes two weeks

According to common lore, it takes two weeks of repetition to turn something into a habit. Let's see if I can turn a blog into a habit.

Last night I stitched up a new case for my Leatherman Super-Tool 300. I just didn't care for the one that came with it and I had various bits of strapping and seat belt on my work table so... About a half dozen episodes of Pawn Stars later that evening, I'm an hour overdue for getting a full nights sleep but I have a cool new holster-case.

Plans for my upcoming five-day weekend:
  -Head up to the Rust Belt Market or antique stores
  -Check out a new fabric shop I read about in Royal Oak.
  -Start laying out my hoodie pattern

Oh yeah...go to a meet-n-greet with Marilyn Manson. Not kidding, my wife is a huge Manson fan-girl and since he is doing a Meet-n-greet at the Philmore, we are going to well, meet him and greet him and such. We get photos and autographs and then probably hearing loss at the concert itself. She (the wife) made me promise not to hit him if he grabs at my crotch. Apparently this is a serious possibility based on previous Meet-n-greet photos.

I'm an almost forty year old man. What life turns did I take when my weekend plans involve sewing and mentally preparing for the possibility of having my crotch pawed at by Marilyn Manson?

A New Beginning...Again

The only certain thing, is uncertainty. I'm pretty sure somebody has said that before, and probably with more eloquence. Whatever.

This is the beginning of my new blog. I have attempted a few before this on a variety of subjects and well, judging from the fact that I am creating a new one, you can guess how they went. The thing is, I miss having my own tiny little dusty corner of the internet. I miss the creative side of the web. Once in a blue moon I get the urge to create and express myself. This is one of those times.

Recently, I have taken up sewing and as an offshoot, pattern drafting. While this is not exactly a common pastime for a nearly forty year old man, it's what has my fascination at the moment and I'll roll with it. Plus, the idea of actually being able to create garments and objects out of decent solid materials that fit and will not disintegrate like whatever Wal-Mart pablum is readily available, appeals to me on several levels.

Ladies, Gentlemen, and whatever else is out there...You may call me Darkling. I am not here to entertain you. I am here to entertain myself. Watch, learn, read, follow...or don't, it's entirely up to you.