When things don't always go as planned

I thought I would write a rather jolly post about my floral inspiration board from Afloral.com, but right now, it's the last thing on my mind. It's been a really, really rough day.

Today began with an argument with my father, followed by a World Lit II exam I wasn't properly prepared for and two hours' worth of shop practicum, where I had to use a radial saw and build a 14' tall flat with curved edges. (Which is a pain.) Then I had to sit around and wait for rehearsal until 8:30, and I just now got home.

On top of that, this weekend heralds the end of Beau Jest. We perform Friday and Saturday, then strike the set on Saturday night. I've worked so hard on this show, and finally got a lead, and now none of my best friends (and BMs) are coming to see it.

The worst part is that today marks one week since my grandfather passed away. Some of my friends have been really sweet about it, making sure I'm okay and asking how my family's doing. Some of my friends- suprisingly, some of my long-term friends- haven't even mentioned it.

There are some days where it just seems like nothing goes right. I hate it, but it's inevitable.

So I called P and talked his ear off. I had a little bit of a cry (more of a tearing-up). And I drank a hot cup of peach black tea. So life is looking up.

Besides, tomorrow will be better.

Well, how about that?!

With my mini invitation crisis yesterday, I thought I would check up on some other key wedding items that I picked out early in my engagement to see if they were still there. For a while it looked like I was all right; there weren't too many things that I was terribly specific about. But then I made a horrifying discovery...

...the Juliana Coloriffics were discontinued!

I mean, just two days I ago I blogged about my debate with all these different shoe styles that I loved. I narrowed it down ("narrowed" being a relative term) to a handful of shoes that I really liked, but in the end I realized what I was truly looking for in my dream wedding shoe.

#1: a fairly substantial heel (I am under five feet tall, after all!), but not so tall that I would be tottering down the aisle, or worse yet, on the dance floor.

#2: an ankle strap

and

#3: a cute bow

And if it came in blue, I would not say no.

But the Julianas! The Juliana was gone! I searched high and low, but to no avail. The only pair I found was on Ebay, and it was a size 8 1/2...and I typically can wear only up to a seven.

So with a heavy and panicking heart, I turned to the internet, hoping to find my dream shoe. My search continued for several hours, as I searched frantically for some kind of wedding shoes. I don't know why I felt the need to find the PERFECT shoe RIGHT now...but I did. Maybe because I'm afraid the elusive Dream Shoe will be discontinued before I order them!

And I know what you might be thinking. "You had a whole list of shoes! Why not just pick one of them?"

Well, I thought about it. But I realized that while I love love love the idea of a retro-inspired shoe, I just haven't found a good one. They're all super pretty and I love them, but for each one there's something that holds me back from being completely sold.

(It's mostly height or the presence of anchors. Why so many anchors? I want to know.)

After a great deal of searching, I finally turned up a FANTASTIC shoe. It's a 3" heel, it has an ankle strap, and it has a bow! Plus, it's dyeable...so I can make it blue!

I now present the Christina by Dyeables!

As much as I love the Juliana, I adore this shoe just as much, if not more. The heel is a little chunkier than I originally wanted, but it fits all the other requirements I have. Plus it's super cute. I have a big love for the cute stuff.

I'm going to have them dyed light blue and add something to the center of the bow: a blue and white cameo button, maybe. I know JoAnn's has them...

But I just purchased them in a size 6 1/2. They should be here in 2-3 weeks. And now I'm so excited! I never get mail, and this is my first WEDDING MAIL. Let the anticipation begin!

In the meantime, I've started looking for a good place in Nashville to get these babies dyed. And that's when I found it. It being the article about Franklin Bridal Gallery. It closed.

I was flabbergasted. Bridal Gallery was fairly high on my list of places to look for my dress. After all, they were the only store in Tennessee to carry the Disney wedding dresses. And I love me some Disney wedding dresses. Alas, they were way, way, way out of my price range, so I didn't even bother trying them on. (I was deathly afraid of trying on the Snow White ballgown, falling madly in love with it, and then hating the cheaper dress I would inevitably have to settle with).

Now I'm incredibly grateful that I didn't go there. Now brides have paid for expensive dresses that they had their hearts set on, and they can't get them. That's terrible! I'm sad for those girls...yet relieved I'm not one of them.

I don't know what I would do if my dress shop went of business. What would you do? Or did you have to deal with that?

What happens when you're engaged too long?

I'll tell you what happens when you're engaged too long. Your wedding invitations get discontinued, that's what happens.

*sigh*

I thought they were so cute and easy to customize. And inexpensive! I'm a big fan of inexpensive. I thought I would put a bow of embroidered yellow and blue ribbon at the top, maybe back it in light blue or yellow paper. Maybe even gingham paper! But alas, unless someone can procure four boxes of these darling printable kits, I must find a different option.

And so I offer:

They're going to be a bit more expensive, but they're SO pretty I don't mind. It's eyelet, which was the most important part for me. I love the rounded edges. And I think that instead of buying ribbon, I'll use a pretty graphic or stamp or something. A font. A gorgeous font. Because I'm in love with pretty fonts.

So there. Crisis averted.

(or at least not as dire as I thought it was.)

Musical Monday #16! (I'm baaaack!)

With my summer lapse in blogging, I missed out on Musical Monday goodness. :( But now I'm back, chock full of new songs and sadness that I missed a fantastic theme series! Oh, well.

So. The theme is "my first concert."

Rewind to the late '90s. I was a seventh grader, and my absolute all time most favoritest band was Five Iron Frenzy. They were a Christian ska group that balanced super silly pop culture songs with really deep stuff- pretty much the precursor to Reliant K. (They also did the occasional Tom Jones or ELO cover).

Well, I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, mere minutes from the tiny college town of Wilmore. Wilmore has been the home of the Christian edition of Woodstock, the Ichthus music festival, pretty much since the beginning of Woodstock. And Five Iron Frenzy played opening night there every year. And I finally got to go!

They were amazing and fantastic and hilarious. I screamed out all the lyrics to "Suckerpunch" and "Dandelions" and "RIOT Gear" with all the power in my little middle schooler body. And then I got their autographs afterwards! They signed this super dorky denim hat that I decorated with stripes of gold fabric paint. Even Jeff the Girl! (She was my favorite. Her real name is Lenore, but she's the only girl in the band. She played the saxophone.)

My favorite silly song by them was "Pants: The Rock Opera." It's hilarious. It never fails to make me giggle in the (gasp!) ten years I've loved FIF. And these goofy college guys apparently love them as much as I do, because they made this video, reenacting the tale of the pants.



Ah. Classic middle school humor. Love it.

A shoe situation

Now that I have the dress and veil taken care of, it's on to the next crucial part of my wedding-day ensemble: the shoes. I'm not quite five feet tall, so I can wear heels no problem. And if I have a fairly substantial heel, I probably don't need to get my dress hemmed at all (it's a miracle!).

The trouble is, I don't know how precisely to proceed. My dream shoe is blue, with a bit of retro flair. I'd prefer it to have an ankle strap and a bow. But finding that elusive bit of footwear is proving harder than I thought. So, for your consideration, I offer this conundrum (and a handy-dandy poll at the top of the page.)

#1: Coloriffics Juliana ($55)
I can always get it dyed and add a pretty brooch or button to the bow. It meets all my basic requirements...I just don't know if I want to go through the hassle of getting it dyed.

#2: Sexy Blue Anchor Ellie Shoes ($46.95)
I love love love these. The bow, the peep toe, the blue stripe...so precious! But the anchor throws me for a bit of a loop. There's not a single bit of nautical in the wedding at all, and I don't know if that's a little too much. The heels are also 5". FIVE INCHES! I don't know if I'll be able to walk in them...

#3: Navy Mary Jane Pump with Chrome Heel ($44)

This one is only a 4.5" tall heel. But it's got an ankle strap, which makes me feel like it balances out the height. However, I'm not sold on the chrome heel. Not sold at all.

#4: Blue Patent Leather Peep-Toes ($44)
Again, what's with the anchors? I feel like I could take these off, though, and add a pretty button or brooch or something. These are 4.5" tall as well...and I'm not sure if that will work.

#5: White Patent Leather Mary Janes ($42)
They're very basic, but they have a nice retro flair. And again, a 4.5" heel.

#6: Gold Pleated Pumps ($42)
So they're not the blue shoes that I love, but they're pretty. I also feel like the gold would look nice with my ivory gown. And they're only a 4" heel! How about that?

Ugh. So hard to decide!

So that's why I have a poll. I need a second opinion. Or third. Or fourth. Or ninth....

When sleep is not an option

My sleep patterns are totally and completely off. It's dreadful. I have to get to the theater to get ready for tonight's performance of Beau Jest, and I simply can't fall asleep. I was going to take a nap, but I was in that "tired-but-not-sleepy" stage.

Oy.

Guys and Dolls rehearsal this morning went well. I got the blocking for "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" pretty quickly, so that was nice. I managed to get through this morning without too much turmoil, but right afterwards my friend Lindsey asked how I was doing and I just broke down and bawled. My grandfather's funeral is tonight, and I can't be there, and it hurts. But Lindsey and Carter hugged me and prayed over me and reassured me, and I felt better. I'm still not fantastic, but I'm better.

But it's time to go tease my hair, slip on my bangle bracelets, and yammer in a Yiddish accent while patting everyone on the cheek. I need to bring the energy for tonight's performance!

The all-important dress!

(Before I start this, I just have to say that I've gotten a lot of comments on the '50s retro dinner party I mentioned on my Thursday's Ten...so I think that as soon as P and I have moved into our apartment and are satisifactorily settled...there shall be a retro dinner party! But I digress...)

I just realized that I've had my wedding dress for almost a month, and I've yet to blog about it! But first, before I proceed...

IF YOUR NAME IS PATRICK BRENT TREVATHAN, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PROCEED! I SHALL KICK YOU IN THE KNEECAPS IF YOU DO! SO HA! GO PLAY SOME VIDEO GAMES AND FORGET ABOUT THIS!

And now that he's taken care of...

I knew that once I got home from Disney, I needed to find a dress rather quickly, so I could have enough time to get it in and get it altered. My original plan was to take Kat and Emma and go to Jacqueline's Bridal out by Opry Mills, because they were having massive sales. I emailed and called the shop, but they never got back to me. Through a long series of circumstances, we weren't able to go there.

(Seriously. I don't feel like telling the whole story, but I don't recommend going to Jacqueline's Bridal.)

So we went with another shop on my list, Bridal Warehouse. I wasn't completely pumped about going there- after all, it sounds like the Walmart of the wedding world- but I knew they carried Alfred Angelo bridesmaid dresses, and they sounded more inexpensive than other shops. I called them, fingers crossed that they would have an opening for that afternoon, and they did!

We got to the shop in the late afternoon and were greeted by several very nice ladies. They assigned Leslie to help me. She asked me a few questions about the kinds of dresses that I liked and some details about the wedding, told us how the shop worked, and then let us descend upon the dresses!

Kat and Emma leaped right into perusing the racks. Before I knew what was going on, we had about ten dresses picked out! Leslie helped too, offering suggestions and picking a couple that she recommended. And then we descended upon the dressing room.

We all liked the first dress I tried on. It was poofy and princessy, which I always dreamed about wearing for my wedding but I didn't think I could pull off because I'm short. But it was surprisingly flattering!

I also tried on two dresses in the style that I figured out I would wear- A-line, no poof, lace overlay, empire waist. But when I tried them on, we all had the same reaction. They were nice dresses, but they just weren't the "OMG I'm a bride!" excitement that I was looking for. So we continued!

The next dress was very structured, with a little poof. And it had a corset back, which we all lurrrrved.

The bodice was very pretty and slimming, but the skirt was a little too...I don't know. Too much like a deflated pillow top for my taste. I also didn't really like the line of beading so low on my waist. It made my torso look long and blocky.

So on to the next one!

As you can probably tell from my face, I loved this one. I tried it on as a total whim. I thought it looked like a Victorian-princess-circus-performer-ballerina. The bodice looked like a corset, and the skirt was all tulle and striped with lace.

Love love love!!...but....

This made me not love it quite as much.

It had straps. Big lace straps. It made a beautiful criss-cross pattern that blended into a low back, but the front...well, Emma summed it up best:

"This would look so much better if you were thirty-five!"

At first Kat and I were like "huh?", but then I caught on. It is a very princess-like, romantic dress, but the straps made it too modest and demure. And there was actually another woman in her mid-thirties who tried on the dress, and it suited her much better!

Leslie, seeing me caught in such a quandry, actually went out and got one of the alterations ladies out to help me. She asked me how I would want the dress, and she explained that because of the details of the bodice, it would be impossible to convert it to a strapless neckline because of the low back. She also explained that because of the lace detailing on the hem, the skirt would have to be hemmed from the top. So she held it up to demonstrate how much it would have to be hemmed...and instantly my love for the dress drooped. The lovely lace looked far too busy the closer it got to the lace-bedecked bodice, and I started to look more like an overembroidered doily than a princess bride.

So that dress, sadly, was eliminated. Sensing my dismay, my loyal team suggested that I try on the first dress. And the second I put it back on I knew it was the one. First of all, it zipped. The first time I tried it on, it didn't quite zip all the way, but this time it did. Leslie joked that I must've lost weight in the hour I'd been there! I walked back out so Kat and Emma could see me, and we all knew it was the one. Leslie pulled shoes, a veil, and a tiara so I could try the whole look, and it was perfect.

The big thing is that this dress is discontinued, and so I would have to buy the sample. So I'm quite glad it fits! Leslie also said that either I could get the zipper replaced for free (because it's a sample) or they can put in lacing in the back. She also said I could get the neckline altered to a sweetheart (which flatters me more than the straight line) and the sheer beaded cap sleeves can be made off the shoulder. And best of all, it requires very little hemming!

The dress is ivory, which I wasn't 100% sure about at first, but it turns out that it flatters my skin tone very well. Which is fantastic, because I really don't have a choice.

I bought my dress that day...well, put it on layaway that day. It was only...get this...$689! That's half the price than the Mikaella dresses I tried on at Arzelle's, and 1/6 of the price of the Snow White dress I loved! And I adore this dress. It's not what I imagined, but I love it. Also, because of a promotion at the store that day, I bought the perfect veil for 50% off. It has all this lovely beading on the edges that matches the dress.

Oh, wait...you wanted to see a picture of the dress? Well, here it is!



As you can see, I love it.

It has beading. Beading. I swore up one street and down the other that I wouldn't have beading. But what am I rocking out? Beading. But it's just so lovely and subtle that I don't care!

A lot of the elements that I love didn't make it on this dress: buttons on the back, a blue sash, soft lace. But that's okay...I have plans for that...maniacal plans...

(Don't worry. I'm not adding any aforementioned notions on the current dress. But you know how I swore I would never have beading? I also swore I would never be a two-dress bride. But that's another story...)

Thursday's Ten: Bucket List

This seems especially poignant today...but at the same time it's nice to think about something else for a little while.

My Bucket List:
#1: Get married and have children.

#2: See one of my books in print.

#3: Provide a voice for a big-name production (Disney, Funimation, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon)...it doesn't matter if I'm the lead or the ADR loop!

#4: Learn ballet.

#5: Get my MFA.

#6: Throw a 1950s-style dinner party- pearls, petticoat, apron, Betty Crocker recipes, Fiestaware, the works!

#7: Grow a garden.

#8: Sing in public.

#9: Get down to my target weight...and stay there.

#10: Win a sewing competition.

Want to participate? Go here!

Prayers

My grandfather passed away yesterday. His health has been failing over the past several years, and he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this summer.

My parents were going to wait until I got home from classes to tell me, but I found out via my cousin's Facebook status right before my noon class.

Please pray for my family, especially my mother.

And if you could keep me in your prayers on Saturday, that would definitely be appreciated. Because of my commitment to the show, I will not be able to attend my grandpa's funeral. It's going to be difficult.

Wardrobe Overhaul

I've decided to go through my entire wardrobe and purge it mercilessly.

(What a way to begin an entry, eh?)

My wardrobe is just so weird. I mean, my clothes fall into five different categories:

-Items I've had since middle school and high school and I've kept just because I haven't outgrown them.

-Items I bought on the spur of the moment, and I've never had the chance to wear.

-Items I bought because they were cheap. And only because they were cheap.

-Items I made.

-Items that I wear to death, and they're now falling apart and pilling and gross.

Plus, most of the stuff I wear either A) makes my boobs look huge, or B) makes me look like a six-year-old. Or a six-year-old with big boobs, which is very unsettling and I don't want to think about it at all.

P tends to give me very sensible fashion advice, but sometimes I just don't pay any heed to it. My mom isn't that great giving me tips (they mostly say something like "cover up your boobs!") and my sister is in her "artsy college freshman" stage, so I can't really get much fashion tippage there.

So, I mostly look online for my inspiration.

Sally at Already Pretty:
She has a lot of really good advice, both about your clothing and how it relates to you as a person. Plus, she's funny!

Zooey Deschanel:
She's very retro and fun and quirky. Have you seen the coat she wears in Yes Man? The movie's just all right, but that coat...that coat trimmed in bias tape...it's glorious! And I'd love to have her hair. At the moment I've got the color (just not for much longer).

Kate Nash:
She's my all-time favorite singer. And she's British. And she plays the guitar, plays the piano, and writes her own music. So in short, she's fantastic. That, and I don't know if I've ever seen that girl wear pants. She wears the absolute cutest dresses!

She's also really close to my body type, so I can definitely copy her styles without too much trepidation. And I've actually had her haircut before, and it looks really cute on me. I just don't have a picture of it...

The Pipettes:
It's another awesome British singer!...er, group. The three girls- RiotBecki, Rosay, and Gwenno- wear supercute retro clothes. And again, I want Rosay's hair (she's the brunette in the middle). Sadly, Riotbecki and Rosay left the group for solo careers, but they're still amazingly awesome. (And their backup dancers are three guys called the Casettes. I want one.)

Modcloth/Modlife:
It's an absolutely great website with classy retro clothing...and they show you how real people have put it together!

So this is rather rambly post, but I hope it makes sense. I'm ready to be a married lady instead of a little college girl, and I need to dress like one.

Hopefully I'll succeed. :)

Hair Dramaz Part III and Opening Weekend

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but my hair is...well, decent. I dyed it Natural Medium Brown (or Truffle, in Garnier language)...but it still came out really dark. Darker than I would like, to be honest. That first morning after I dyed it, I was a bit shell-shocked when I looked in the mirror. I was so shell-shocked, in fact, that I scrubbed it twenty times with Pantene that morning.

Twenty. I counted.

The color has softened a little bit, but it's still quite dark. A lot of people have told me they like it, but I just don't think it's flattering on me. Maybe if I had a warmer shade of brown, so it didn't make me quite as gothicky-pale. It's all good, though. I'm going to dye it red again as soon as possible.

Also, you might have noticed that my blog got revamped. Again. I just felt that the new layout was too cluttered, and I like this one a lot better. It just looks cleaner and prettier.

And now for the big story...

Beau Jest opened on Friday night, and it was fabulous! Dress rehearsal on Thursday night was rough, unforgivably rough. We had done well on Wednesday night, and I think we allowed ourselves to coast on Thursday, instead of focusing and bringing up the energy. So we were all nervous on Friday night. But it turned out to be great! The audience loved it and we had a blast playing off of each other. Of course, we had the requisite bloopers- parsley didn't make to the stage, lines were dropped, lines were swapped ("Can you get impersonated for arresting a Jew in this state?"), stuff fell over, an earring got stuck in my hair...you get the picture. But it was still great.

The greatest moment happened on Saturday night. Jake, our TD, came backstage to check up on us. I asked him how I was doing, as he's been the most forthright about my performance. He told me I was doing great and that I didn't need to worry. Then he turned to the others and said, "You need to focus more and be careful. She's stealing the show from the rest of you."

High praise!!!! Especially from Jake!!! I was incredibly excited.

I think it's my hair, though. Seriously. On Saturday night, I got a laugh on my entrance. My hair is absolutely enormous. It's teased within an inch of its life and shellacked with enough hairspray to prevent it from moving in a hurricane.

But now it is late. And I have to sleep, so I can finish my red coat tomorrow morning. And clean my room. And clean my bathroom.

Oy.

Hair Dramaz Part II: In which my true hair color is revealed

The Color Oops! worked wonders. The black is goooone! Huzzah!

So it turns out my real hair color is an ash brown with a reddish tint to it. Rather nice! If I didn't need to have dark brown for Beau Jest, I'd probably keep it. At least for a while.

Now I have dark brown dye smeared over my head, and I'm fervently praying that it turns out nice. And that my scalp will stop burning.

But if you wanted to see what my hair really looks like, here it is:

And now I'm tired. I just want to rinse this dang dye out and CRASH.

Hair Dramaz Part I: In which I had black hair for twenty minutes

Beau Jest opens tomorrow. And I have reddish-blondish hair. That doesn't fly. Ergo, I must dye my hair a rather dark shade.

I purchased Garnier hair dye, as that's my usual, but instead of my typical Chocolate Caramel color, I selected Sweet Cola, as it was also labeled as "darkest brown." I was going to pick a different shade, but Rebecca thought that this one would work.

At 11pm, I began dying my hair. It was great. It was fantastic. I've done this a million times. I even chatted with P while the goo sat on my locks. And then I rinsed and shampoo'd...all that good jazz.

Imagine my horror when I realized that "darkest brown," in Garnier-language, translates as "GUESS WHO LOOKS LIKE WEDNESDAY ADDAMS?! YOU, BEEYOTCH!"

Terrible. Simply terrible.

I washed it several times and blew it dry. Still terrible. I hopped back in the shower and washed it about four more times, this time with dish soap. Nothin'. Still black. And there ain't no fixin' it.

And the show opens in less than 24 hours.

Fantastic.

By now, it's midnight. I alerted my father, and an emergency run to a 24-hour Walgreens ensued. Thus armed with Color Oops! and Garnier in "Truffle" (or "medium natural brown," as they're claiming at the moment) I returned home and immediately set to work.

So now I'm sitting around with Color Oops! soaking into my poor hair. It smells like someone mixed fertilizer with industrial bleach, but at least this should save my color. In about five more minutes, I'll rinse it out. Then I'll blow it dry. Then it's time for color round #2.

I'm just scared that my hair will freak out. I mean, after all, it's pretty fine. I have a lot of it, but it's really fine.

But before I leave to rinse out my hair, I offer a picture (captured via my cell phone camera) of my gothic princess hairstyle.

It's just awful. It just soaks up all the light, like it's some kind of parasite.

Parasite hair. Great.

Two days left!

Rehearsal last night went...decently well. It was kind of rough, because we now have all tech and all costumes and all transitions, and we don't have them all down yet. The other main problem is our energy levels. They keep tanking. It's easy to enter with energy, but it's hard to keep it up when the rest of the cast is lost in self-consciousness.

Also, I was relieved that Vali didn't come observe. I love Vali, but I know that I'm not a very good practitioner of the acting technique she teaches. But instead of Vali, Chris came. He came, he gave excellent notes, he didn't pull any punches. Marvelous.

I think tonight is going to go well. I feel like Erin and Caleb are really going to take it up, and once they're on the right track, the rest of the show will follow.

Today is my last day as a redhead...for the moment. Tomorrow morning, I shall be a brunette. The color is Garnier Sweet Cola. So basically, as close to black as possible. It's going to freak me out, but I'll rock it hardcore. I know I shall.

In other news...I don't really have any other news. Right now, Beau Jest is EATING MY LIFE.

And I love it.

Ever'body better come see it. Or I will weep copiously.

No, seriously. I will.

I feel like I talk all the time about my acting experience, but this is the first time that I've gotten a big part at Lipscomb. I feel like I have to prove to everybody that I'm not a poser and I really can act.

And it makes me sad that a lot of people aren't coming. We run for three different weekends, and apparently none of them fit in their busy schedules. And yea and verily, I do weep.

But right now I have to look over that dang Sylvia Klein argument. It's gonna kill me.

It is so fracking cold in Shamblin it's not even funny.

But the set is gorgeous. Seriously gorgeous. And Patrick and I might buy the table and chair set. Because it's awesome. And we need a table and chair set.

And we open on Friday.

*a;lefdsklfdshyfioewjfkldsnfnaeyroiwejioewuof*

That is the sound of my spazzing.

Like seriously.

I'm terribly excited about it, don't get me wrong. But it's been so long since I had a sizeable part that it kind of makes me nervous. I know my lines, the part works for me, I love the show...I'm just anxious. Especially since Vali is observing tonight. As in the teacher who taught Advanced Acting last year. And we all know how well I handled that...

So yeah.

I'm going to post more later. But now I have to be prepared for makeup. Yayyyyyy!

Yoga Bag

YOGA BAG
Pattern: McCall's 4261
Fabrics Used: knit print, light green fleece
Made: September 2009
Time: About an hour and a half
Cost: About $12.00
Made for: Fitness Yoga class

I'm taking Fitness Yoga at school, and I needed a yoga mat. Did you know how expensive yoga gear can be? I found a cheap bright pink mat, but I wasn't about to pay $25 for a canvas bag...especially when I knew I had a pattern lying around that I could use.

The fabric was on sale at JoAnn's. I love love love this print...even though Patrick hates it. I also purchased cording and a button (well, two buttons, but I only used one). When I got home, however, I realized that I didn't like how thin the bag would end up. I wanted something a bit sturdier. Luckily, I remembered that I had a vast quantity of light green fleece lying around, so I used it to make a backing.

The main modification I did (besides the backing) was to make a strap using the knit on one side and the fleece on the other rather than using a length of webbing. I thought it was prettier...plus I forgot to buy the webbing. But it worked.

I also didn't add the velcro closure on the pocket. I'm not a fan of velcro, plus I don't feel like I'll be putting enough stuff in the pocket to merit adding it. So the button is just there to be pretty.

Something you'll discover as I post more sewing projects is that I hate interfacing. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I avoid it as much as possible. Therefore, there was no interfacing used in this project. I just used the fleece backing to stiffen the bottom of the bag.

Also, I sewed it with pink thread. I thought that pink topstitching added a nice touch.

What I should have done was measure the length of my mat. There's a good four to six inches of bag that closes over the mat. If I make this pattern again, I'll measure the bag so that it just closes over the top, rather than having all that extra.

So far, it works really well. It's sturdy but lightweight, and super soft. Plus I think that print is super cute.

Aaaand...things are looking up.

So yeah. Gap in blogging.

It's all good, though. 'Sall good.

As you've probably noticed, there's been a revamp of the blog layout. I got tired of the old one...and the old name. Thus, my blog has received its fourth name change. Good job, blog. Good job. I'm still working the bugs out, though, so bear with me.

I'm working on transferring the meager contents of my sewing blog onto this one. Goodness knows I have enough trouble updating one blog, much less two. So be prepared for blathering about sewing projects showing up on here.

Rehearsals for Beau Jest are progressing really nicely...which is a good thing, because the show opens in two weeks. Two weeks! Yikes. Oh, well. It's going to be fun. And do you know what else is fun? Dying my hair super super dark chocolatey brown for the show, because I need to look like Erin's mother, and goodness knows my hair isn't nearly as dark as hers.

(I've used the phrase "goodness knows" twice in the past two paragraphs. How old school am I?)

Oh, well.

I've got some sewing projects to work on, so get ready! I'll post them as soon as I can.

Whuch means that could be anytime in the next three months. Who knows?