So. Much. Fun !!!!

Current Mood : Christmassy. 

Got to sew today ! It took me longer to get ready to sew than it did for me to actually sew something new - half my sewing resources were unreachable under an avalanche of family papers, assorted tools, old freebie newspapers, and recent purchase debris. And I needed to scan my latest pattern acquisition, a set from the talented Nancy, of NG Creations, for the Monster High ghouls.

I tell ya, I love non-commercial patterns. Took me less than a half hour to scan the whole thing, including a freebie dress pattern you're already seeing more of ! Didn't have to iron or erase stray marks, it was scan a page, then scan the next page. So easy...

The dress pattern was easy, too. You can make it lined or unlined, and I went for unlined. I wanted something simple but fun, a design I could complete in one sitting. And this was it ! I'm looking forward to trying the rest of the patterns, and of course, you'll see 'em here. Directions were clear, diagrams explained any fine points that might escape a new sewist, patterns were simple to cut out, especially with a rotary cutter. I confess, though, that I traced the tiny neckline with a pen on the reverse side, and cut it out with scissors. Slow and easy, and the neckline was done, and it was the hardest part. Took maybe a half hour, start to finish. Not counting the cleaning.

If you'd like to see what I got, or want a set for yourself, look for seller "lovespaints" on eBay, or "NG Creations" on Google. Either will take you to the pattern creator's available auctions - and she's having a 15% off sale for the next few days.

Of course, I'd barely started sewing when Beloved Hubby came in from cleaning out the Diesel-truck, bearing a familiar shape. Yup, minutes after breaking in my new cutting surface, Beloved found my old one. It was muddy and slightly curling from its inexplicable time in the bed of the truck. I have no idea how it got back there, unless it slid out from a box during the move. It's been cleaned and placed between our mattress and box springs, where I hope it'll flatten back out soon. Even though I have a brand-new one, I still want my old one !

I also want to play with the simple dress design. Ya'll know me, if I can make it successfully, I'll then alter the neckline, futz with the sleeves, change the hemline, attempt darts, consider elastic, add trim...I could easily make one of these dresses for each MH ghoul character - or even each doll ! - and not have two alike. Shoot, I could do that just with fabrics ! Even though I'm simply not a huge 'Christmas' person, I've managed to accrue dozens of holiday fabrics.

I've been in a Christmas kinda mood all day today, as you can tell from DracuLaura's new dress. It's been really cold, with almost a hint of snow in the wind, the kind of weather that makes coffee smell extra-appealing. I also got tired of shifting our three-foot fiber optic Christmas tree out of the way, and realized I had no idea if it still worked or not. We'd gotten it super-cheap, then found another in a house we rented. Gave one away after a while, and never used ours. Had to break seals to get to the power cord. Works perfectly ! Dearest Son is entranced.

So I ended up finding a place for it - it helps that it's small - and arranging the branches so they weren't all squashed together anymore. It really is cute. Dearest is all happy, since we've never put a tree up this early before. Even though there's not much to go under it, and probably won't be much more when the 25th rolls around, it's still a pretty, shiny thing, and I think we needed one.