Wrapping up gifts and birthdays Winter 2016/17

I made pajama bottoms for the men

I finished the quilt for my friend

Finally made myself tights (pattern taken from a pair that fits)

Almost finished my McCalls vintage blouse but can't bring myself to put in the pleats on a shirt I won't get to wear for months and months. And yes, the plaid match at the front is PERFECT. There's an overlap and buttonholes there.

City maps available on www.spl.org website. I love the library!

I made a lot of tea towels out of fabrics I made the designs for on Spoonflower and didn't take photos of the towels. Or the awful scarf I made for my sister. Infinity scarves are not my forte.

Two hats from one sadly felted sweater vest.

The pussy hats will get there own post later, when I have the photos to prove it. Although I have a feeling that getting fashion photos is not on her agenda during the Women's March in DC this weekend. It was a gift, not a photo op. I'm good with that.

lousy photos I know. The dress has left the building.

I knocked off a dress for my niece

My niece is transgender, and has a lot of unrelated agoraphobic issues about shopping, leaving out the whole 'nothing is going to fit you because you're not a size  0 - 14 so you should just disappear' thang.  On top of every other thing she's dealing with, that is a crappy thing to discover that everyone else knows about it. "What? There's no size 40 A cup bra? You're not rioting in the streets?"

Eh, no.

Anyway, my sister and my niece were walking out of Macy's and saw a Michael Kors dress in the window and Niece pointed and said Yes to that dress.

So they found it in the store, got one that mostly fits, and I made a straight copy, different color, of it for her over the holiday.

Since I am trying not to swear quite so much, I am making up a profanity for use regarding this fabric.

Cotton stretch sateen is a snurbswobble. The lowest rung of hell kind of snurbswobble.

It was a perfect rectangle until I ironed it.

So many puckers and bubbles. But the exposed zipper was a breeze for once.
I guess you give up a lot but you get one back.

 It won't take a hard press, it has just enough stretch to pucker and pull when you're topstitching, and this dress is ALL TOPSTITCHING. 

There is an epic tragedy under that wobbly patch. Actually less wobbly in person, but still tragic.

There is an entire roll of Wonder Tape in this snurbswobble, and even that wouldn't quite grab enough to stop the shifting. I couldn't press hot enough to fuse the fusibles. I pinned the nonsense out of this mother-snurbswobbler!

Wouldn't it be cool if that multicolored fuzzy thing was the sleeve extension? It's a purse I made almost ten years ago that hangs on the wall so I will see it and figure out how to make it functional. It's taunting me.

There will be no modeling yet. Aren't there yet. Looks good; she picked out the fabric and the notions, and while the fabric is a demon from hell, it's a good choice for the item and a good color for her.

This is my sister and that's the best view of the Space Needle from a pizza restaurant you will ever see. It's even better from the bar of that restaurant; the bartender has the best view in the house. For a change!

I had a birthday on Monday, I'm now roundly and soundly 58. Every day above ground is a good one.  Thing One turned 20 as well (same day) and he got snowed out of his Whistler skiing trip. It was his prepaid birthday present from me, so every penny he can get back from that is still his gift. Sorry sweetie. The irony is strong with this one.

And my favorite card. So favored, I could not give it to its intended recipient.

See, we can cross borders and boundaries in sewing with humor. Or the other thing.

Dad jokes forever!