Day 21, 79 to go: Dachshund pajama pants

I made this myself!

Last Christmas, I taught my then 9-year-old niece Anastasia to sew.  We made a nightgown together. I cut it out and attached the sleeves due to time constraints, but she did all of the other sewing.  I picked this fabric because she has a couple of dachshunds, Petey and Doodlebug.  

Peteys and Doodlebugs

So  here are the pajama pants she is getting for St. Nicholas Day this year.  It’s just covered in Peteys and Doodlebugs.   I am sending her extra fabric so she can make a pillowcase to match.  She took a sewing class at Jo-ann’s and made a pillowcase there.  I am so glad she is excited about sewing.  I love feeling like my grandmothers are living on in yet another generation.

Day 21.  I have been at this for 3 weeks.  Time flies whether or not you are having fun.  I thought I would count up my output to see what I have accomplished so far.

Crocheted hat: 1

Etsy Shop: 1

Embroidered tea towels: 3

Medieval Tunic: 1

Pajama bottoms: 9

Polymer clay earrings: 1 ½

Raggedy Dolls: 2

Raggedy doll nightgowns: 2

Red flannel nightgowns: 1 1/2

Xmas Tree Skirt: 1 started, 1 gnome (20 to go)

It’s a start. Once Xmas is over, I hope to move on to curtains, slipcovers, pillow covers, tea cozies and some jumpers, dresses and blouses… oh, and a resume…

Day 16, 84 to go: Starched bunnies and Medieval Tunic

Just a little starch

I pressed those dish towels I worked on during my travels on the turnpikes and think they just look so cute.   I am especially loving the pink one with the varied tones.  I have some green thread like it and may not be able to resist the urge to embroider more bunnies.

Gettin' all medieval on...

An old friend asked if I could whip up a medieval tunic with a cross on it that her kid needs for school.  I was happy to once I figured out the logistics to get it to her in Chicago in time.  This is made from some of that flannel I picked up over the weekend. I was really happy with the way it has a kind of sueded look to it.  Hopefully her kid will approve.  He says it has to make him look like a soldier.  That kid could use a lesson from the Master Thespian, Jon Lovitz—“Acting!” 

I am feeling so behind on my plans to make stuff.  Thank you all for your encouragement.  It really helps. It feels like Christmas is flying at me at top speed.  I keep thinking of all the things I want to get done before I head out to da burg again.  Tomorrow I hope to finish up a couple of half-made things to ship out and hopefully add a couple of gnomes to Zoe’s tree skirt. 

As long as Felicity and Fergus approve…

Day 15, 85 to go: Pink Bunny in Bowl dish towel

It was a bumpy ride.

Travel is exhausting.  And not conducive to making stuff.  Yet I persevered and managed to get most of this bowl embroidered on the bus yesterday.  It was a bumpy ride and more difficult than I remembered from when I was embroidering the green bunny last week.  Then I realized what was different.  I embroidered the green bunny on a bus to New York City on the New Jersey turnpike.  This poor pink bunny was subjected to the Pennsylvania turnpike. That explains everything.  The Pennsylvania turnpike was state-of-the art when it was built in 1940.

Color variations created under a cat.

I used an embroidery floss that has varied tones in it.  I tried to keep the darker hues to the right as I stitched, hoping it would give a kind of sense of a light source coming from the upper left.  I don’t think I accomplished that, but I do like the effect of the color transitions.  Those ladies stuck with Turkey red in the 1880s would be so jealous.

This post is late because I have spent much of today pinned under catlings.  My absence for the last few days made them quite vigilant.  Felicity decided the way to keep me from leaving again was to nap on top of me no matter what I was doing.  Fergus came along and did his checks as well to make sure I am still here.  They are the boss of me.   Lucky me.

Day 9, 91 to go Bunny dish towel

Almost done!

On the bus ride yesterday, I worked on embroidering another dish towel.  I was a little distracted by the conversation of two 20-somethings sitting two rows behind me. For an hour and a half it was the usual bands they liked, roommate problems etc. And then she starts explaining to him her polyamorous lifestyle. She saves THAT for the last 10 minutes of the ride?  Geez! Couldn't she have started on the topic sooner? 

Actually, it struck me as a sad story--apparently some guy in his 30s convinced her in college that polyamory was the way to go.  All I could think was that he was a pervy old man refusing to give up his long-term partner and finding a way to get some nubile college chick on the side.  Somehow she seemed to think she was getting something good from being in a relationship that could not possibly be exclusive while she was young.  But I never heard a word about love or intimacy or commitment. Not as components, not as intention, not as expectation.   That just made me sad. It sounded like she was trying to impose some sort of rational theory on relationships,. Sage old spinsta that I am , I could have assured her that was pointless.  At least in my experience, love sneaks up and bonks you on the head--no matter how rational you try and be about it.  I just wish I had had a copy of Keeping the Love You Find in my bag to hand her on my way off the bus.

L-R Nicholas, Gary & Tony

I didn't get anything done on my making project today because we went to Baby Loves Disco where there was 80s music, a bar and children dancing their butts off with their parents.   Here are the dancers in question.

Spinning Leelah in the Vortex of the West Village

After so many years of talking about each other, I finally managed to introduce Leelah and Tony TO each other.  Gary and Leelah hadn't seen each other since we were in college 28 years ago. Today, they ignited a bond over their mutual love of 80s bands and dancing... Tony and Leelah talked shop about being massage therapists. And then there was Nicholas. He immediately fell in love with Leelah as most men do.  He is an outrageous flirt. He spent a good half hour turning Leelah's chair into a carousel and spinning her around and around.  Leelah reports that this is not a good combination with Jack Daniels.

I shall return to the catlings tomorrow. I missed having them sleep on me, although Nicholas came and snuggled this morning while his dads slept in, so that was almost as good. :)  More portable making on the agenda for the next few days...