Favorite Thing Friday: Stitches

With a muse as active as mine, the world around me is full of inspiration. Wherever I go something always catches my attention or inspires a mode of creativity. Sometimes I end up with an interesting project and other times something just makes me smile. I figured it might be fun to start a series that documents the things that bring me joy or trigger a mad need to create. Thus, begins Favorite Thing Friday.

This week it’s all about sewing! Recently, I found an interesting book called Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified by Cal Patch. I’ve been intrigued with the idea of making my own clothes for a long time, but I never considered the concept of designing my own patterns. Until now.

Sewing my own clothes ties in quite nicely with my new love of knitting. Not only can I knit myself a cute cardigan, but I can pair it with a pretty top I created with needle and thread. Sewing is nothing new to me, so the learning curve lies in crafting accurate patterns.

I’m starting the process of patternmaking with a little reverse engineering. I picked up a few Simplicity Patterns of various skill levels to get a sense of how a pattern works and how to modify them. The fun part is I’ll get some cute new clothes as I pick apart each pattern. The first piece I made is this little floral top:

Tailored to fit just right!
Photo and handiwork by: c.b.w. 2013

There are a few little mistakes, (I’ll never tell where), but I think it turned out pretty good. I even got to use my knitting skills to make i-cords for the draw strings in the sleeves. The fabric is Indonesian hand-dyed batik and I got it for the bargain price of $6 a yard, (what a steal!). For those looking for a project, the pattern is Simplicity New Look #6891.

As my day job winds down for the summer, I’m looking forward to more sewing and knitting projects. When I’m not writing, I’ll be stitching!

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What’s your favorite thing this week?

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c.b.w. 2013

Hidden

Words (2013) and Photo (2012) by: c.b.w. 

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c.b.w. 2013

Seeing Double in the Garden

Flowers are blooming in every corner of my garden, but I was greeted by two very interesting surprises this week. One of my gerbera daisy plants sprouted a double-headed bloom at the same time one of my sunflower stalks popped a set of conjoined twins! Seriously, what are the odds of two sets of twins blooming at the same time? I’ve decided this occurrence is a sign of good luck, for both my garden and life in general!

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Growing together
Single stem, double the joy
Sharing sunny days

Twin Gerbera Daisies
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

Gerbera Daisies joined at the hip!
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

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Sunbeam symmetry
Wild petals reach for joy
Yellow reflection

Double-sided sunflower!
Photo by: c.b.w. 2013

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c.b.w. 2013

Black Holes & Mischievous Elves

After looking at my stats for the first in months, I’ve decided it’s a good thing that I have a sense of humor. No amount of pretty graphics can hide the fact that my numbers are in a coma.

Really?

There is one silver lining in that I’m still receiving lovely comments and likes which tells me the quality of my posts is not in question, (at least I hope it’s not), so the writer in me can’t help but speculate possible reasons for why my numbers are flatlining.

1. My inner critic is getting back at me for ignoring her for most of the last year or so.

2. The subscription thingy is out of whack.

3. My blog is imaginary.

4. Fate is trying to tell me to focus more on refining Novel #2 and finishing my query package.

5. My counter is either malfunctioning or messing with me.  Or mischievous elves are stealing my hit counts and hiding them.

6. My readers want to read my novel more than my posts and this is their way of forcing me to work harder on getting an agent, (if only . . . . Lol!).

7. The internet is broken.

8. There has been a disturbance in the Force.

9. I accidentally jumped into a parallel universe where I am not a writer.

10. The garden rabbit nibbled on my numbers thinking they were a snack.

11. My computer desperately wants to take a vacation and its purposely hiding my posts so people can’t find them.  It’s hoping I’ll get so discouraged that I’ll stop writing and it can rest.

12. Everybody is at the movies or watching TV, (Hmmm . . . Star Trek: Into Darkness is pretty awesome in IMAX/3D).

13. People are reading actual books instead of firing up the computer (which isn’t totally a bad thing).

14. The universe is collapsing and I’m so busy writing, I haven’t noticed.

15. I accidentally set my blog on private.

16. My stats are stuck in a time warp.

17. I’ve lost my mojo.

18. I was inadvertently mean to someone and I’m being punished, (unlikely, but worth investigating).

19. The gods are trying to teach me a lesson for continually breaking the dress code at work (I won’t stop wearing jeans and Converse sneakers).

20. Solar flares and black holes are acting up again.

My muse and I are both scratching our heads for a way to get out of this funk. Meanwhile, many thanks to readers who stop by each day!!

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c.b. 2013

Irish Roots

Swallowed by time,
trees, grass, and lore
A small house stands,
rooted in stone
Rusted old gate,
on broken hinge
The well-trod path,
welcomes you home
Unlocked latches,
weathered wood
Where the door cracks,
the hearth is warm

A cozy home on the outskirts of Limerick, Ireland
Photo by: c.b.w. 2009

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c.b.w. 2013