Sleeping Today!

We didn't plan it, but today turned into mostly a day of sleeping. I've been so tired this week, that Jeff was sweet enough to get up when the dog woke up, before 8AM, and let me sleep in. I was very surprised when I woke up and saw that it was 10:45! I can't remember the last time I slept in that late. Granted we did get to bed later than midnight due to a late dance last night, but that's late!

Then, once I was up and about, Jeff went back to bed! And he slept three hours! I sewed while he was sleeping and got my skirt nearly assembled. I decided to make piping and put it between the gores. (What a pain dealing with piping in a gathered seam!) I also made some pretty funky ruffles because I was trying to use as much of the fabric as I could! Here's the skirt as it is tonight. I'll finish it tomorrow.










Last night, Jeff and I went to a square dance with a live band. It was awesome! We had such a good time. And I'm doing much better at being able to dance the whole night. I only sat out one square the whole evening and we also managed a few of the round dances. My father and stepmother and aunt were all there plus a couple of friends. It is nice to see family on the floor.

Today's Sewing Project

Another square dance skirt. I know I don't need more, but I just got this idea of what I wanted to do and I could hardly help myself from starting another.

I have this absolutely beautiful fabric made by Rose & Hubble. The fabric is called "The Magic of King Arthur" and I've been saving it for just the perfect project! But I bought it nearly ten years ago, and there it is, still on my shelf. Of course, while a square dance skirt isn't exactly the "perfect project," I will at least get to see and enjoy the fabric once in a while. Not just pull it off the shelf occasionally and dream about what I can use it for.

It was pretty hard to start cutting, but here are my gores! I just love the gore with the dragon! I'm excited to wear this one, though unfortunately it won't be tonight. I'm not that fast.

Walk to Breakfast

This morning we decided to walk to our favorite breakfast place—Stacks. It was roughly 1.7 miles each direction. We loaded the dog up with her backpack (which really just contained a couple of empty canvas bags, in case we went shopping on our way home) and off we went!

It turned out to be a very enjoyable walk. We found the most beautiful street! It was tree-lined, and filled with beautiful, historic houses! I'm so glad we walked, or we never would have found it! (Redwood City is really growing on me; I didn't realize how nice it was when we moved here last year.)


Last night, Jeff and I went square dancing again. We had a really good time dancing with the Katydid's down in Campbell. That's the club where Sharon's father and aunt dance, so it was fun to see family. We're really enjoying getting back into dancing again. (Oh well, the picture is a little blurry.)

The Katydid's is also the same club we started dancing with, way back in 1984, when we originally took a square dance class with a few friends. We're the only ones who have stuck with square dancing through the years; our friends all moved on to other hobbies.

We've got a pretty quiet weekend planned. Jeff is off to bed this afternoon for a nap (he tends to sleep a lot on the weekends). We'll also probably take a number of walks; it keeps the dog happy and helps me with my journey to better health. We're still debating about whether we will go to a round dance class on Sunday evening.

Finished—Maybe

I spent all day finishing my square dance skirt. But, as I was concerned about, the gathering didn't work too well. You sort of lose the hearts in the gathers.

I'm debating about whether I pull the skirt apart and try taking out two gores and see if it's still full enough. It would also look better with a fuller petticoat, but they're in storage... I may have to break down and get more square dance clothes from storage. I just don't know where I'll put them when I'm not wearing them...

Though, the best part of my sewing day was I got to remember how great it is to sew ruffles with my serger and sewing machine. I got to use my ruffle foot and rolled edge on my serger, and I got to use my ruffler and double needle on my sewing machine; it was awesome!

2/3rds Done!

Just 4 panels left! These are going together pretty fast.
I hope they still look OK once I gather up the waist. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

This is a pretty fun project. I've always loved making square dance clothes!

I have class again tonight so this won't get done today. Gotta spend this afternoon working out and then reading my Contracts textbook.

Jeff has a meditation class tonight.

Pieced Gore Finished

I decided to go to storage this morning. I figured I would spend more time fretting about whether I had the gore the right size than just driving to storage. I think I was probably right. Though, it turns out, my piece was pretty close to the right size for what I wanted to make.

This was pretty fun. Now I just need to make 11 more!

My Latest Sewing Project

With us square dancing again, I've been thinking it would be fun to make a new skirt. Then while I was hanging out this weekend, this idea came to me. I'm planning to piece it like a quilt. I think I'll need to make at least a dozen of these two-gore panels. I'm also planning to add a strip of purple between the finished heart panels to separate the hearts. I suspect this project will go together much faster than a quilt!


I'm still working on getting the gore pattern right, so I haven't started it yet. All my square dance patterns are in storage, so I'm trying to decide if it's worth the trip to go pick them up. A gore is not very hard to design, but you do need to make sure you have enough of them to make a full circle. Here are the fabrics I've chosen.

This is the blouse I plan to wear with it. It's always good to wear a purple blouse on a holiday when everybody else is wearing red!

Okay, it's too late for this Valentine's Day, but I'll be all set for next year!