The Stuff Is Winning

Waaaay back in August '12, I was determined to get the basement organized and the wall finally painted. I worked my tail off, and made significant headway. I got shelves up for the action figures (which eliminated a lot of boxes). And then... I never finished the job.

Over the course of the next 16 months, Life happened. I got busy doing other things, had more inspiration, needed to devote time to more pressing projects. None of that stopped me from finding more stuff, however, it just meant that the piles got bigger.

I needed to finish a update for my book, and I did. I kept writing my ideas down in a sketchbook, and I finished some of them. I traveled. I gamed. I procrastinated... All the while, heading to the basement searching for things needed to complete whatever obsession was nagging me that minute. I've said it before, and I've meant it every single time, but this time I don't have any more excuses: It needs to get done. I'm tired of searching for things I know I have (and can't find). I'm tired of looking at the mess. I'm tired of not having that wall painted -- just one wall! I want my dance space. I want to be able to lay hands on the materials for a project I want to work on. I want to be able to go down there and relax over a movie*, without the mess distracting me.

I worked until my back hurt yesterday. I desperately want to work on it now (but the foul headache lurking behind my left eyebrow says uh-uh!) This may be a planning day, a couch day, because bending/lifting/sorting would make my head explode.

If I work on it a little bit, every day, I may be able to paint this summer. If I can get the wall painted, everything organized, and boxes and crates eliminated, I promised myself we could have a "geek tree" in the basement once it was all done. Plus once the space is free of all that clutter and stuff, I can actually decorate the space, like I've been planning.

I've got some pretty powerful motivation to get this done. Let's see if I have the strength of purpose to actually get it accomplished...


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* I sort of have ulterior motives with that -- we have a hard time getting out for "date nights." So I'm thinking, if I can get the basement all done to my satisfaction, we can have "date night" in the basement, and not worry about needing a babysitter!

Hats

I love hats, even though it's a rare day that I wear one. Oh, I'll put on a ball cap to mow, or a sun hat to garden, but I don't often wear one for fashion. Not too awfully long ago, I encouraged my husband in his quest to find a fedora. We drove into Chicago, to Hats Plus, and found summer and winter hats for him, and I think he looks dashing. I rather love fedoras myself and had a straw one (that I loved but rarely wore) when I was a teenager. In a recent closet purge, I got rid of some... I never wore them, so why keep them? But dammit, I am 42 years old, and if I want to wear hats, why shouldn't I?

Yesterday, whilst running errands, we looked at a few casual hats at Target and JC Penney's. What they had were mainly cloches, fedoras, trilbies and variations on the newsboy cap. None of the fedoras were quite right, the trilby brims are just way too small, Marc didn't like the newsboys or the cloches on me, and the sequined beret was right out. So, frustrated and discouraged, I conceded defeat -- to my daughter's relief.

Back at home I started surfing, looking for someplace that wanted to sell me a hat that I might conceivably wear and not look like a dork. As usual, my personal sense of style and what the garment industry actually sells are vastly different. This is one of the reasons I wanted to learn to sew, after all. I remembered that Mom had given me some patterns that she had bought to make things for me, including a pattern for hats, from which she made many many berets. (Those I still have.) I have miles of fabric. I have piles of polar fleece, and polar fleece is easy-sew, has some body without being rigid, and I thought it would make some awesome hats.

©1986 - does that count as retro or vintage yet? Twenty-six years old...
the pattern may or may not be vintage, but knowing that makes ME feel old.

I dug out the pattern, and decided to try the pillbox style first, mostly because it used a small amount of material and was a quick and easy sew. I'm pretty sure that this was the fastest thing I've ever sewn. Unfortunately, hubby didn't like the silhouette on me; too hard. "Old lady-ish," he said. (I think it's cute and warm, but perhaps he's right about the silhouette.)

The star detail is made of felt, three layers, and stitched on with a button.
I thought that such a detail would keep it from being a boring pillbox,
but the hubs apparently didn't feel it was enough to keep it out of Oldsville.

OK, fine, I'll try again. I dug out some larger pieces of fleece, and found a lovely warm ivory and a creamy beige and decided to do some color blocking. I cut the top in beige, cut the sides on a fold to double the height in ivory, and then cut another piece (slightly longer than the pattern piece called for) to make a cuff at the bottom in beige. Since I was making it up as I went, this took a bit longer.

First I sewed the sides into a tube and stitched the top on, just like the directions called for. The only difference was that my tube was twice as tall. I cut the long beige piece on the selvedge because it had a nice rolled look to it, without being rolled. The disadvantage there was the visible pinholes from the manufacturing process. No problem; I stitched satin ribbon over the holes and got more detail -- problem solved. I sewed that into a tube, and then played with the pieces to determine how to sew it together. This piece needed to be longer (half an inch, maybe?) than the other piece, because it was going on the outside of the main body of the hat. Fleece is bulky, and I needed to allow for that. Fortunately for me, eyeballing it worked.

Once I got the cuff sewn on and everything turned right-side out, I tried it on. I thought I could just sort of smush it down to get the effect I wanted, but no. Fine, gathering it is. I used the front, back, and sides to gather it down, using a basting stitch and ruching it. I pinned on some embellishment, and figured I was done. (DH still didn't care for it, but allowed if I was happy, he was happy for me.) It bugged me a little when I went to bed, and it bugged me while I slept. I needed to gather it more, and use doubled thread this time. The four gathers were just not enough, and they were pulling the crown out of shape. This morning I added four more, and am much happier with it.

You can kind of see here how the gathering isn't consistent, since it's only on four points
on the crown, distorting it. Once I added more gathers, I got a much more consistent look
and the crown isn't pulled out of shape.

The feathered thing I got a JoAnn's, and was sold as a pair of elastic bracelets.
*shrug* I dunno, I thought it was goofy, too, but it worked.

So if he thought the silhouette was too hard before, the doubled/gathered sides softened it, plus the addition of the ostrich plume thingie and the vintage brooch made it more than just a warm winter hat. I love this hat, I really do, and I'm proud of it. I love the subtle colors, I love the texture, and I like the way it looks. (Like not love; I'd really prefer something with a brim, but I'm no milliner, and this was an experiment to see if I could do it at all.)

I ordered a couple more sewing patterns, and will experiment with those, too. I think I have to try a fleece beret while I wait for those to arrive...

Writing

It's been ages since I did any serious writing (not counting blogging, and that's often pretty sporadic). I wrote Creating an Heirloom and got it published, and now it's overdue for an update, and I can't get moving on that. Basically, I only have a single chapter that needs rewriting, but it's a pretty important chapter.

Various professional writers will tell you to treat your writing like a job because it is one. Treat it like a hobby, casually, and that's how you can expect to make money from it. Since I was in high school (before, really), writing was something I wanted to do. Over and over, I've let it take a back seat to other things in my life. I've treated it casually. Since I've been pretty cavalier with it, it's not treated me any better. Creativity is a muscle -- it atrophies when you don't use it. And while I have been creative in other outlets, I don't treat that any more seriously.

I finished a short story, about 2500 words (too long for micro or flash fiction, too short for what most people consider to be a "short story"), and now have to decide if I want to shop it around or go the epublishing route that so many authors are using. I'd really like to sell it, but anxiety can be pretty crippling. It's what keeps me from doing most things, actually. I hate it, that evil little voice in my head.

A friend made a suggestion about taking the completed short story, and turning it into a series of related vignettes. I kinda like the idea, I think it would make a nice "package" to publish, but after the (somewhat crazy) inspiration of the first, I'm not sure the others will come as easily. (Back to that creative muscle again...) I got an idea for another story, but the inspiration for it is taking me in the direction of a considerably longer work.

There are other things, too, of course -- there are always distractions. I have an art show this weekend, the first commercial art-related thing I've done since the gallery closed in December. (Shame on me...) I've had some health issues come up this summer. Meetings and appointments for my daughter. Stress. Depression. Frustration. It's been a rough year. You'd think that losing myself in fiction writing would be just the thing! And maybe once I get back after the weekend art show, I'll be able to do that. But today will be consumed with the mundane: dishes, laundry, packing for the weekend.

It's only quarter after 7. Maybe I can sneak some writing in before The Kid gets home from school...