Days u, 13, and 14

Day u was a fairly uneventful day which is why it got a letter rather than a number. I didn't get any pictures taken for that day because all I managed to get done was a bunch of vertical seams in the skirt. Twenty-one vertical seams to be exact.

The skirt just hanging around. Not really. It was getting ironed here. Well, you know, it was getting ironed before I took the picture and after. While I was taking the picture, the skirt was literally just hanging around.

Day 13 was much more eventful even though all I did was work on the skirt border. All day I kept thinking about Joanna and didn't hear from her until in the afternoon. She'd slept until 2:00 and was still tired. I was glad she'd been able to sleep but you know that feeling when something just doesn't seem right? Yeah, I had it. Sunday morning at 3:29 I found out why and if you've read my blog posts from yesterday, you know all about it already.

Edge stitching the border. That was a lot of fun. You know, seemingly endless miles of stitching. It was kind of like driving across Nevada.

Lots and lots of skirt with lots and lots of border.

Anyway, finishing the border required many many trips around and around. I won't recap them all because I'd probably forget at least some of them. It was at least eight and I think it may have been more. I can tell you that only about half of them were actually sewing.

Guess where I found this lovely piece of connectivity? Cedric had it for some reason. That would explain why I couldn't find it where I'd left it and why no one else knew where it had gone.

Day 14, yesterday, was the best. I finished hemming the organza layers and then I was able to move on to the bodice. Hemming the organza layers was an interesting thing. I started out by just doing a narrow hem but when I was about three-quarters of the way done with the first layer and had the second layer ready to go, I decided to do it differently because I didn't like the way it was turning out. I decided to go around the raw edge with the serger, turn that up and sew it down, turn that up and sew right along the edge. I'm happy with the way it looks now--kind of like there's a ribbon around the edge.

Lots and lots of skirt hems. I guess just organza; you can't really see the actual skirt in there. Still, it's pretty cool looking, I think.

Bodice pieces.

Bodice ready to be attached to the layers of skirt.

The bodice is where the real fun is. I wanted to at least get the lining pieces sewn together and the outside pieces sewn together and I did that. Because I was waiting to put some laundry on to wash for Cedric, I also got two pieces of boning in although one of them is only sewn on one side. Still, not too bad considering that I didn't get started until 11:30 which was not part of the plan and that I decided almost half-way through organza hemming to completely change the plan.

Wondering

As mentioned in my other blog, I would have pictures for you but I can't find the cord for the camera.

I did get some work done on Joanna's dress Saturday. A lot of sewing in circles. Round and round and round and round and you probably get the picture.

Yesterday, also as mentioned in the other blog, I got a phone call at 3:29 am from Joanna. In spite of the fact that the circumstances were perhaps less than desirable, I am very grateful that I was able to fill a need for her and spend much of the day with her.

I feel that nothing can quite prepare you for a miscarriage. This baby that Joanna carried for such a short time, although not planned for at this specific time, was nonetheless much loved and wanted. How exciting that this sweet child of mine was going to have a baby of her own! How infinitely sad that all the hopes and dreams packed into those few weeks will never be fulfilled in this life.

Having experienced the death of Daniel, I know that even after four years, three months and three days, there is still pain, there is still a hole, a hole I don't ever want filled because I hate to think what it would  mean if it were. I sometimes relish the pain because it reminds me of how much  love my oldest boy, of how very much I miss him, and of how very much I want to be with him.

What is it like to have a miscarriage? While I may have had one before I was pregnant with Laura, I did not recognize it as such and there was no sadness associated with it. I have read books about it, I have talked with friends who have experienced miscarriage.  I wrote a story in which the main character experiences a miscarriage and because I hadn't experienced one myself, I wanted to make sure that I got her emotions and actions as close as I could to what would have been real.

I feel that in many ways a miscarriage would be much harder than the death of a child. For example, Daniel was with us for fourteen years, four months, and 28 days, and those aren't counting pregnancy during which time he and I were getting to know one another. Joanna just had nine weeks and at least part of that time didn't realize she was pregnant. So for just a few short weeks she got to dream and imagine what her baby would be like; she did not even get to find out if her baby is a girl or a boy. She and Lincoln wanted a boy but would have loved a girl.

What I am left with now is wondering how long a grandparent mourns the death of a baby due to miscarriage. My heart hurts for Joanna and her pain which is most acute and my heart hurts for me and Lincoln and Joanna's siblings who were all looking forward to a baby nephew or niece.

I am also left wondering, "Why?" Not, "Why me?" because that would be completely selfish and would not stop to consider the pain of anyone else. Not, "Why Joanna?" because I know that these things happen. Just, "Why?" because I know there is a plan and I know there is a reason and I just wonder what it is.

Joanna wonders. A girl she works with is pregnant. She cried for weeks when she found out she was pregnant because she didn't want a baby. She smokes and does drugs and her baby is going to be born addicted to crack and cigarettes and who knows what else. Other than that, however, the baby is growing normally and seems to be doing well. Joanna wonders, "Why did I lose my baby when I want so much to have a baby? Why is the baby of this other girl doing well in spite of everything his/her mother is doing? Why?"

And so we are all left wondering as we take one day at a time and continue on through our journey. Will we ever know the answers? Is it important that we do?

Love the life you have.

Day Twelve

I liked the sound of Day Eleven. Day Twelve just makes it sound like it's lasting for ever. And ever.

Yesterday was full of fun surprises. I told you about Joanna's text in the morning. That guaranteed an interesting day. That kind of interesting I can deal with a lot better than some surprises. Surprises like the dog going outside, then coming inside, then peeing on the floor. And if that wasn't bad enough, she then tracks it over to where I am working at the table so now not only do I have to clean a huge pee mess up, I have to mop. Not only do I have to mop, I have to wait for the floor where I was working to dry. Am I happy with this dog? No.

Even with the additional three inches it fits widthwise on the table. Gotta love people who aren't very tall.

Cutting out strips for the band for the skirt. This is actually leftover fabric from Laura's dress. I'd gotten one set cut out of Joanna's fabric and thought, "Great! Don't need any of Laura's fabric!" Then I remembered that I needed two sets. Darn! Had to use some of Laura's because there just wasn't enough of Joanna's without piecing and that would take longer. Longer than I want to take.

The floor was dry so I continued working. I did not get as much done as I'd wanted but considering the things I accomplished that weren't part of the plan, I think things worked out pretty well.

Because I only use a chair as a trash receptacle while cutting out, this is the last picture of a chair with garbage. There is a certain beauty to a pile of stuff that I actually get to throw away. It takes up less space in the house and is just lovely.

The little garbage. It was added to yesterday. I finally got to the point of trimming the seams in the organza (both layers) last night.

Then I went to go to bed. I usually brush my teeth before I go to bed (sometimes I do it earlier) and that requires walking to the downstairs bathroom. What should I find? Another pee puddle. Since I had to mop up the last one, I mopped a large portion of the entire library area including where this new puddle was. I did not take the time to mop it as thoroughly as I will before I need to use the iron and ironing board, but I did have to take the time to do at least a cursory cleaning. Darn stinking dog. Would anyone like to now ask why I never want another dog in the house?

The pile of stuff on the ironing board. Katie is supposed to come try on her dress today. That means I'll be able to finish it up. It only needs a hem and maybe hook and eye at the top of the zipper. Amena's needs a hem and hook and eye and sleeve binding. Laura's needs sleeve binding and a hem. And the hem, you  may recall, is waiting until she is here and tries the dress on. And then there are the belts. 

The good news is that I was able to sleep in my own bed last night. I only woke up once. I did have to turn the fan nearest my side of the bed off, but that's a minor thing. The other good news is that I was having a bowl of Life for breakfast and I couldn't finish the whole thing.

Have a fantastic day!

Day Eleven

Well, while I'm still running behind where I would like to be, yesterday did see some progress made.

I really never dreamed that a quilting ruler would come in so handy for sewing in general. I used to make heavy use of a yardstick but I find the quilting rulers (I have two different sizes) come in even more useful. In this picture, I'm getting the pattern ready to cut off the excess for where the lacing will be in back.

Dress fabric ready to be played with.

Skirt pieces ready to be cut. I was attempting to get the scope of the project here. I opened the fabric up and had it spread out over the length of the table. It really is handy that Joanna is no taller than she is and that she has a slightly dropped waist because I was able to get the entire piece on the table at once without having it hang over the edges.

The skirt is getting two layers of organza. This is the first time pinning the last piece.

And my garbage at the end of the day. Isn't it pretty?

So, I thought things went pretty well, all things considered. Of course, Joanna texted this morning with this question, "Is it too late to make the skirt part longer?"

My first, automatic response was, "Yes." But that isn't entirely truthful. If Laura is willing to let us use a bit of her leftover fabric, I can cut out a strip like I did for Becky's skirt for the actual skirt. There is enough organza I'd be able to cut out a longer one and then we'd end up with one layer of organza as long as the actual skirt and one a bit shorter. Never a dull moment.

Right now, as soon as I'm done here at any rate, I'm working on the panel to go under the lacing in the back. Then, other than the skirt issue which Joanna will come over after work so we can discuss it, I'll be ready for construction. I really want to do the skirt first so I'll probably start by either sewing the shorter layer of organza or making the pattern for the strip at the bottom (assuming Laura lets us use her fabric).

Have a fantastic day!

Days X, Y, and Z

So little was accomplished in the past three days that I can't give them proper names. Well, you know, sort of. Really, though, my plan was to get Joanna's pattern done by the end of Monday, have the dress cut out by the end of yesterday, and begin construction today. The skirt would be done today, the bodice tomorrow, and the dress Friday. As you can see from the pictures, things have not gone according to plan.

Katie's dress at the end of Day X. All ready to be sewn together at the neck I wanted to be done by the end of this day.

A couple of sleeves ready to be turned and pressed.

Trash at the end of Day X.

Day Y saw so little done that I didn't even take a picture of it. All I managed to do is start Joanna's pattern and quickly realize that I needed to compare the pattern to her because according to measurements, I ought to shorten the bodice by two inches.

Joanna opted for the D&C yesterday morning so she was not able to drive. All that meant is that as soon as Seth and Joseph were done with school, we went to see Joanna. We took some soap and the labels for it, the papercutter, and the bodice pattern. Sure enough, if I shortened the bodice by two inches, it would be almost two inches too short. What on earth were these pattern people thinking? Once I get the skirt pattern pieces done this morning, I'll be cutting out a mock up for the bodice and will finalize that part of the pattern. Still ought to be able to have it all cut out today and have at least part of the skirt done by end of day.

Can you see how much shorter I'm making it? The orange lines on the right are for the new bottom, the black line on the left is where it was supposed to join with another piece. Of course, the pattern we are using was for a skirt like Kim's which was poofy and got tacked up so the over skirt was much longer than the foundation. I still just think it's funny that on all but one of the skirt pattern pieces we're cutting it off before the join.

Joanna wants a full skirt. Even though this is just half of it, I don't think it quite qualifies so I'll be adding probably twelve inches to the top and whatever looks good to balance that out to the bottom. And then I'll be cutting out and sewing skirt pieces for about ever. Luckily, Joanna isn't that tall so these pieces aren't all that long.

And that's all she wrote for these past days. There will be more next time. Really.

Days Nine and Ten

Well, Day Nine did not see accomplished as much as I'd hoped; neither did Day Ten. Still, I wasn't planning on getting any sewing done today and as soon as I'm done here, I'll be getting to sewing.

When setting the pattern aside, it is best NOT to place it over a burning candle. Just FYI.

Yesterday was a crazy day. The previous day two stuffed animals were washed with some sheets and at least one of them lost many little hard plastic pellets. I could hear them in the washing machine making funny noise and I debated just rewashing the load and decided against it. If I made things worse, I didn't want to be responsible for incurring cost if it might be avoidable. Instead, I asked Jessica A., a friend who is able to fix older, more mechanical rather than newer, more electronic washers if she might have some time to take a look. She was able to but hasn't got a car so I had to go to Fitchburg to pick her up and then to Fitchburg to drop her off.

Alterations on this pattern took lots of adding and subtracting and dividing and multiplying. Rather long project, really. The pink lines were places that needed to be sliced and space added. So much faster and easier to shrink a pattern but at least I have the skills.

Julia came over to paint Seth and Joseph faces. She wanted models willing to have their faces painted and photographed so she can show people what their options are. Since she was also willing to pay a dollar per paint, Seth and Joseph were willing.

This is the chair (aka garbage) at the end of Day Nine. I was hoping there'd be a bunch of red there as well but as you can see, it didn't happen. I did take another picture in the middle of Day Ten showing such a thing but it seems to have disappeared--can't find it anywhere.

On top of everything else, Joanna called and I could tell she was upset. She'd been to the doctor and while there, they were unable to get a heartbeat for the baby. I don't remember what all she said they did, but it was determined that the baby died about three weeks ago. What a blow for my sweet Joanna and Lincoln.

Had to engage in some creative cutting out to get the sleeves to fit. I unfortunately did not properly account for the correct size of this last dress. It's all good now, though. You can see from the pattern to the top right some of the modifications. It's a little harder to see on the sleeve, I think.

With everything that was going on, I was feeling worse than I had since Monday. I decided that I've got to slow down and take care of things so I pared my plans for today. Seth and Joseph and I did go to sell popcorn at the Post Office this morning and that was okay because all I had to do was stand there and talk sometimes. Seth and Joseph and I did still go to Seth's game and that was okay overall. I did have to use the bathroom once we got there so I walked down the hill to do that and was seriously wondering about walking up it again at the end of the game. It was a good game with Hubbardston winning 5 to 4. It was tied at the half but the boys were hot. Hubbardston scored in the second half and then Holden scored again almost right away. Then Hubbardston scored again and Seth was able to save the game as goalie and not let more in. Excellent game!

I found it! This picture was hiding away in Pergatory. So, this is what the chair (different chair, I know) looked like once I was done cutting out for Day Ten. No, I don't save absolutely every scrap like I used to. I don't have a bunch of little girls to make doll clothes for any more (although it is possible I will get a granddaughter who wants some or a grandson interested in such things) and I'm not as interested in making quilts. My interests are diverse but right now they do not include making quilts. Maybe someday. Anyway, I do keep the larger pieces so

Anyway, I now need to get this wrapped up and get on with sewing so I can have done today what I wanted to yesterday. Day Eleven will be a good day.

Day Eight

I don't feel like I accomplished much in some ways but in others I do. Laura's dress is the most finished currently. It just needs to be hemmed and have seam binding around the sleeves. I'm waiting until she is here for the hem to make sure it fits okay and doesn't need to be let out or taken in. The seam binding I'm not sure about because the stuff we got was too wide; not sure where my brain was when I grabbed it.

Getting ready to sew the lining around the zipper. Oh my goodness! The difference a smaller needle made! My finger still has a red spot from Amena's zipper. No new wounds from Laura's. This is one happy mama on that count.

Laura's dress at the end of the day. It's going to look much better on her (which isn't to say I don't like it now--it's just kind of lifeless and boring).

Still, Joanna and I were able to get everything (or at least so we thought) that I need to finish up. Now I'm really ready to get these bridesmaid dresses done to work on Joanna's because it's the real point of the whole project and going to be the most fun.

Up close of the left sleeve.

And the garbage at the end of the day. I thought it might need to be thrown away but I squished it all down so we've got another day of stuff left, maybe two.

I wanted to get Katie's pattern done last night but I've been pushing too much already so I did not push to get that done. I did get everything else put away so I have the table to work on but it's currently looking like after school. The good thing is that there is no practice or any reason to go out (other than a quick trip to the bank) until this evening so I should be able to get lots done.