Monday, March 21, 2011

The Good Wife

I re-read my last post. Would somebody get me some wine to go with that whine?

It's Monday. My four-day man-free weekend is over. Can I tell you, it was a little weird? I did enjoy the time on my own, and all that I got done, but it was . . . not what I'm used to anymore.

I know. You can tell me. I'm married now, I'm supposed to like having him around. And I do.

I just still find myself surprised by that fact. It's not a place I ever expected to be, and the last few days have made me realize how grateful I am for the changes that have come my way.

Jeez. I've gone from whiny, uninspired non-sewer to some Stepford version of myself.

Let's try to find a happy medium. Let me tell you about the weekend.

Friday night: I faced down the mess in the workroom. I bagged up some of the mess, which was distracting me, and got down to business. First off, those green cargo pants. I ditched the cargo pockets, recut new jeans-style pockets, and by bedtime (which I admit was a tad later than usual), I had a new pair of Jalie jeans. I'm still not sold on their fly front instructions, so I used the ones from the Ottobre jean pattern. I'm not 100% thrilled with these pants, but I wore them on Saturday.

When I went out with Andrea. We hit the farmer's market, shopping, went to Jomar to fondle fabrics - and acquire a few. We went to 4th Street for lunch and then to look at a few more fabrics. Fabric acquisition was pretty restrained, considering I haven't been to Jomar since PR Weekend back in May. That may be record for me.

They had a good selection of sample cuts from Marc Jacobs. Problem: most of them are 1 yard cuts. I got 3 anyway, 2 sweater knits and a floral knit that will probably become a KwikSew tshirt. Not sure about the sweater knits yet. I also bought 2 yards of knit that are intended for a dress. Last but not least, I bought the shirting cotton pictured here.

I thought it would make a nice short-sleeved summer shirt for Mario. I had no particular intention of making it up right away, but when Andrea dropped me off, I had to do laundry anyway, so I washed all my new fabrics. The shirting dried without a wrinkle, and when I put it on the shelf, I took it right back down again.

This is KwikSew 2935, the same pattern I used recently for my boss's drinking shirt. The details are a lot easier to see with the lighter color. A nice glass of wine helped me with lining up the print on the center front and the pocket placement.

I started the shirt around 9:00 p.m., and finished it all but the topstitching and buttonholes, around midnight.

Sunday I had brunch with a friend, and then went back to her house to watch a BBC miniseries that she wanted me to see. I ran home first to throw in one last load of laundry, and managed to knock out the buttonholes and topstitching too. Then I brought the shirt back to her house and sewed on buttons while we wwatched.

I also managed to get the baby dress hemmed and finished. Photos of that soon - I'm sending it off tomorrow, and since the baby's mom reads the blog (or did, before motherhood probably ate her blog-reading time), I don't want to put the dress up here first.

Picking Mario up at the airport tonight. The shirt will be hanging in his closet when he gets dressed for work tomorrow.

In my world, nothing says, "I missed you, I was thinking about you," better than a new shirt.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow I want to have a weekend like that, you got so much done! I am inspired.

AllisonC said...

That is one speedy shirt, I must do a post about being uninspired by sewing and see if it has the same effect on me!

Vicki said...

How sweet! And a pretty nice shirt too. Glad to hear you got girl time in as well.

Marie-Christine said...

That is a seriously well-matched print! I'm afraid though that a glass of wine would have just the opposite effect on me :-). If I ever came home to a new shirt, especially one so good-looking, I would feel indeed like I had been missed :-).

Irene said...

What a great shirt! The pattern all matched up! Must have been a wonderful surprise for your husband.

Little Hunting Creek said...

beautiful shirt!

Eliza said...

I'm so impressed by your skills! Would you mind telling me which Jomar has the Jacob's cuts? I was at Whittaker on Saturday and didn't see anything like that. And thank you for blogging about your sewing. I have learned so much!

The Slapdash Sewist said...

I haven't been to Jomar since PR Weekend either. Hmmm.

I am thoroughly impressed by the print-matching on the shirt. That is awesome. I think Mario will be pleased!

Lisette M said...

Such an industrious weekend! The matching on the shirt is perfect!! Jealous of your outing with Andrea!