Welcome, February!

Happy February, ya'll! Although Indiana is still in this kind of mode:

Does this place look familiar? 

Here's a look at it in October - I drive right down that drive in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-xxtHwRlPc&t=57s

The temperature when I let the dogs out this morning was -4 and we are under yet another cold weather advisory. With snow expected tomorrow. And an unexpected dusting of snow that occurred yesterday. (As I write, a snowplow just went by.)

February, please do better than January!!

The silver lining of a terrible month of weather is that I spent a lot of time sewing. I cut out and finished seven chemises

and six trade shirts, three of which I completed just this past week.

This one was finished yesterday afternoon, and an hour after I posted it, it sold to a re-enactor in Nebraska. I had intended to take it to Kalamazoo, but I'm not going to turn down a sale.

This block print was a little tricky because of the regularity of the floral pattern. I had to center the pattern on it and then, when I opened the neck, I had to be sure to cut right down the center of the flowers.

But it was this block print pattern that gave me the most difficulties of the week.

It is a fabulous print, but it, too, had to be carefully cut out so that the print was centered.

The fabric also felt heavy and almost a little "sticky." I knew what that meant, and immediately I covered my ironing board with an old pillowcase and prepared for dye transfer!

Sure enough, soon my fingers were turning blue.

Even my fingernails turned blue!

After I finished it, I washed it three times to get rid of the excess indigo and now I feel comfortable that any dye transfer is under control.

Despite the extra work, the shirt turned out really cool and I think it will sell quickly.

One last gasp from January about sewing - I got a top of the line pair of Italian sewing shears from Craig for Christmas.***  I'd been wanting to splurge and get them for a long time, and he made that happen for me. (Thanks, Craig!)

Yesterday I was preparing for a marathon pattern cutting out session of more 18th century trade shirts and I decided to try out my new shears. As I opened them, the note on the back of the box gave me pause and then made me laugh.

They really are exceptional shears, but I would never say that the "countless details" in what I sew "have been shaped to reflect" who I am. Nor do I think chemises and trade shirts are part of my "skill and passion for self expression..." Seriously, they're just fun to make!

I quickly discovered, though, that it is true that my new Italian shears "are ideal for crisp, clean cuts" so I guess I will ignore the rest of the hyperbole and just enjoy that.

Here's hoping for better weather for February. If that doesn't happen, well, at least it's a short month!

*** Cole and Emily also got me a pair of electric shears for Christmas. I haven't tried them yet but I will and will let you know how they work. Thanks, Cole and Emily!

Catching Up with Life

Second Post of the Day

I have been unable to do my usual daily routine for almost a week now. And, I have not been as able to stay in touch via social media during that time, either. Today is a day of starting to catch up with life and possibly even doing a few more parts of my usual routine.

First, Breyer News

Breyer has announced a few guest horses for BreyerFest, some of whom have been Breyer models in the past. Hobbyists are cautioned that there will not be a model available for any of these horses. (All pictures are screenshots taken from the BreyerFest blog.)

Danash's Northern Tempest

Paddyngton's Mark of Distinction

Rain, a Pryor Mountain Mustang and daughter of Cloud

Biloxi, a Pryor Mountain Mustang and barn mate of Rain

In other Breyer news, their shipping department, CCG, continues to struggle and be the subject of many, many frustrated posts all across social media platforms. I share in that frustration.

I have made three orders since the first of the year - the Stablemate Brilliance set, Vintage Club Inferno, and Prague, the first release in the 2025 Exotic Destinations Series. I've had to send emails about each delayed order and I even called Breyer once only to get an answering machine. I left a message that was never returned, and the emails have only gotten an acknowledgment of having been received coupled with the remark that Breyer "would respond to your case as soon as possible."

Those Brilliance Stablemates have arrived as has Inferno, but there is no sign of Prague. There is still no shipping notice and the order is still marked "Unfulfilled" in my account.

Let's hope Breyer and CCG get this straightened out. It truly is a mess of gigantic proportions.

One last piece of Breyer news. 

Maddox is still available. I don't remember when he was first offered, but it was before my surgery last Thursday, so he's been up for a week at least. I almost went ahead and ordered him this morning but 1) I was leery about having another shipping problem to resolve, and 2) if I were to order him, I would no longer be able to check his sales progress.

Moving on to the Sewing Room!

With Kalamazoo only a little over three weeks away, time is short for preparing clothing to sell.  Not only did I write blog posts ahead of my surgery, I also cut out garments I'd like to have on hand to sell at the event.

I buy many of my fabrics in bulk so I had to first do some measuring and cutting off the bolt before I could begin pinning patterns to the fabric and cutting them out.

Usually fabric is either 42 - 44" or 56 - 60" wide but my white cotton is double folded on the bolt. It is 108" wide and with that double fold, I simply cannot use it unless I cut smaller pieces off the bolt and then open the second fold so that I only have a single folded piece of fabric to use. It takes time, but the fabric is cheaper bought that way. 

Normally I don't mind the extra time to cut things out, but last week I was feeling the pressure of the time lost to surgery as well as having to make those extra cuts in the cotton.

Still, I got three chemises cut out, marked and ready to sew as soon as I feel up to bending over the sewing machine. I also cut out a couple of pockets from some red wool and stacked those on top of the chemises in my prep cart.

Will I get to those projects today? I hope so. I love to sew and I sew almost every day. I am under a lifting restriction but I don't think my iron will be a problem. (I use my iron a lot - the key to really nice end products is ironing before, while, and after you complete the piece.)

Wish me luck - getting into the sewing room would be a huge step towards normalcy for me!