Excuse me, is there a monkey in the office?

It seems like it's been a long time since I wrote on my blog, but it's bene a really long & busy week for me.

On Friday, I went to work. Huh? Yep, work. For the first time in over 8 years! DH pointed me toward a position at our alma mater, Elon University, for a part time, summer-only job in the same department where I had worked as a student! I am coordinating the Challenge Course (also called a ropes course) and having a blast when I'm not feeling totally overwhelmed. I have to get ready for several groups coming in the next 2 weeks, and the people I need to talk to always seem to be out of the office! I've been working all week long, and learning how to juggle my schedule as a working mom so I'll have more time for my family and my sewing, too.

The big production of In His Steps was last weekend, and the costumes were just to die for. I'll put a few pictures up when I get them off my camera. Have you ever had that feeling of emptiness when something is over? I totally felt like that on Sunday. No last minute costume details to take care of, no running downtown to check on things at the theater...

a hard lesson to learn

The big production of In His Steps is this weekend, and I finally got my last costume finished up last week. It was the coat from this pattern, probably the most difficult construction I've ever done. To add to the stress, the costume was for the head costumer's son, and she's a professional seamstress. He's 6'4", and is one of the leads in the play. This coat was gonna be noticed! Yikes! I took it in to the studio last week and left it because she wasn't there. And I didn't hear from her. Uh oh. I got glowing reviews on my first two costumes, and then nothing. So I finally got up the nerve to ask, and the sentence began with a long, drawn-out Southern "weeeelllll..." Not a good start. Apparently in my concern for constructing such a huge garment, I forgot to pay attention to the nap of the black corduroy I was working with. Fortunately, the problem areas were limited to one cuff, and the tail section. But I was crushed. I felt so stupid for not noticing! And under the stage lights, it was apprently to obvious for him to wear it. She was very gracious about it, and told me not to worry, but it bummed me out for the rest of the day. The way she was initially talking about it, it sounded like the whole thing was a loss, and she would be scrambling for a new, very important costume piece at the last minute.

Today, the coat is back in my hands. Thankfully, they had extra fabric, and I am going to rip apart and redo the wrong parts (by tomorrow!) I'm chalking this up as a life lesson, and this experience has served to provide me with valuable instruction. It's a mistake I will hopefully never make again.

Patriotic Pride!

Here's what I've been working on in my little monkey studio this past week:


Ready to ship, size 2/3/4 (it's quite roomy on my barely size 2 model!) Bow & bracelet are included in the auction!


Ready to ship 4 piece set, size 3/4


Ready to ship, size 5/6


I loved this one so much that I decided to offer it as a custom for the boys! Sizes 2-8

The boys' sets are for Planet Boy's Patriotic Parade Launch (search PTBYRWB on eBay)

Now it's back to the costumes for the play... it's less than a month away now! As soon as I'm done with Jordan's coat, I can dig in to my gorgeous new Bell Bottoms fabric for Adagio Bleu's Sis Boom Celebration. Okay, I've had enough early morning fun with the linky button this morning. Off to find some caffiene!

Where have I been the past 2 weeks?

I've been busy on the homefront with what seems like an endless stream of soccer games and baseball practices, but I have managed to squeeze some sewing in, because--Hallelujah!!!--my machine is home!

I completely forgot to share this little ready to ship gem with you when I listed it on Friday. I came across this Disney princess fabric in my stash and it just screamed at me to make something with it. Screaming fabric is not a nice thing, so I gave in and whipped up this little Farbenmix Vida dress, size 4/5. It would be perfect for a Magic Kingdom vacation trip(can you tell how badly I wish I was there?!?!?) You can see it here Several of my groupmates made coordinating pieces; you can find them all by searching ABSD

Remember this pile of fabrics? Here is what they became!
Next, I get to work on a suit for a 6' 4.5" guy! Yikes!

The waiting game and In His Steps

After nearly 2 years of faithful service, my sewing machine blew a fuse and had to be sent of for repairs. This was two lonely weeks ago and I am still waiting for the service center to call me. Meanwhile, I've been getting by with my back-up machine, and antiquated Pfaff hand-me-down from a friend of my MIL. But it just doesn't do all the cool stuff "my" machine does.


I'm also waiting on some out-of-print patterns that I ordered; they shipped today so *hopefully* they will be here by this weekend. They are for play costumes that I mentioned what seem like 100 years ago. Well, first of all, I was on the wrong side of the turn-of-the-century; the play is set in 1896 (late Victorian) instead of the 1910's Edwardian era, which means the styles were totally different. The funnest (yes, I think funnest is a word!) aspect of the design is that this was at the tail end of leg o'mutton sleeves being in fashion, so the costumes for the very fashionable ladies will look something like these.


And this is the pile of fabric and trim that await me (and the patterns)

In case you are curious, the play these costumes are for is called In His Steps; which is a WWJD story that was written over 100 years before all of those bracelets & bumper stickers because trendy. This is a costume that I finished last week. No big sleeves; it is for a working-class character. It'll look better on it's intended wearer ;o)