WIP Wednesday: Finding Some Light

Tags

Astoria, bags, clothing, Oregon, sewing, travel, WIP Wednesday

Blue Scorcher Bakery in Astoria, Oregon.  I’m kind of wishing I’d brought this little electrical sculpture home with me . . . .

WIP = Work in Progress

So . . . how’s everybody holding up?

If you’ve been following what’s happening in the U.S. lately, it’s felt like a deluge of just ghastly news, day after day after day.  Just one hit after another.

I was going to write about it, but, you know . . . let’s not.  I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling frazzled and overwhelmed.  I’ve been hooked on politics since Watergate, but I really think it’s time to re-balance my life a little.  Between the stress of the news, health worries, family worries, relationship worries, and more, I’m feeling anxious, not sleeping well, and spending a lot more time staring at my fabric than actually sewing it, and that lack of crafty me time is making all the hard stuff even harder.

So let’s look at some nice pictures and relax for a minute, shall we?  Part of coping is just taking a rest from coping once in a while, I think.

I did finally make my car trash bag, though I never did manage to muster much enthusiasm for the project.  Not like me at all, as I tend to fall in love with sewing projects and get obsessive about them.

I used this tutorial (again) just for the measurements, and ignored the instructions, as I now have way too many opinions about the proper way to sew bags.  This time I shortened the handle by about half, just to keep it closer to hand when I’m in the car.

The stripes on that blue fabric were not at all printed on grain, so it took a little work (and luck) to make them look all right.  I cut the larger bottom piece so that the horizontal stripes would fall in the seam allowance–fewer visual cues as to the wonkiness–and tried to do the same with the top section, though I didn’t quite make it there, as you can see on the top left.  And I cut the green corduroy with the wales running vertically, to just avoid the whole problem.  I am never going to be one of those ribbon-winning quilters that have perfect grain on everything, but I can fake it well enough to get by.  🙂

Here’s the exciting action shot of it in use.

I actually like it much better in the car, as it adds a nice little bit of color to the gray interior.  Oh, and there’s also that having-somewhere-to-put-trash thing, too.

Next up is another knit top, and here is the fabric combination:

That fun orange and green print is a cotton/rayon/spandex that I got on sale from Girl Charlee; the white rib knit is from the late, lamented local SCRAP store ($1.50 a yard!)

And here’s the pattern:

This is Chelsea’s Women’s Crossover Top from CKC Patterns.

I settled on this combination of fabric and pattern maybe a week ago and no movement has happened yet, but AS GAWD IS MAH WITNESS, this puppy is getting cut out tomorrow!  [shaking fist at sky]

Also!

Travel pr0n!

We took a trip to Astoria, OR, the first weekend of June to see off one of our friends who was doing the Trans-America Bike Race.  It’s kind of a strange “race” because it seems that only a few of the riders are actually racing to be first; most of them ride it with the goal of simply finishing (a big enough challenge, certainly).

Mount Hood on the way to Astoria.

Some of the riders milling around at the start of the race; Maritime Museum in the background.

Everybody lined up for photos at the start; our friend is in there somewhere . . . .

So we saw him off, then had some time to wander around Astoria, eat fish and chips, and tour the Maritime Museum before heading home.  It’s a cool little town with some quite grand Victorian architecture from the old days when it was A Very Big Deal and awash with shipping, fishing, and canning riches.

Rainbows for Pride.

If I had a job where I could work remotely, I’d snap up one of those lovely Victorian houses in Astoria and fix it up.  Or maybe not . . . I’m not sure wrangling Victorian plumbing is the way to reduce stress in your life.

Anyway, I hope you have a great week and take good care of your wonderful self.  Get your rest; the world will still be there tomorrow.

STH