This year for Halloween Andrew, Sarah and I took on the iconic cartoons from “Daria”. We spent much of the summer trying to find the episodes online to watch and ended up borrowing the DVDs to finish up the series in October, but I knew I wanted to be Daria at the beginning of summer.

A little more confident in my sewing “skills” I bought the cheapest material I could find (6 yards for $8) and went at it using some sweatshirts and an old jacket as a pattern. The jacket I created has two layers, and while the front didn’t lay as well as I’d hope it would, I think it got the point across. I think the black edging added a nice effect as well. The skirt I could’ve easily bought, but I made it since it was so simple. Of course the outfit wouldn’t be complete without the wig and boots, and by the way if you’re ever planning on wearing a wig, pay the extra $10 and get one at a wig shop… it makes all the difference in wearability and believability. I’m still breaking in the Docs, but I’m looking forward to winter in them.

Trent was alot of fun to put together for Andrew. Mostly because he was so perfect for the part. I used some old black eyeliner for his facial hair and eyebrows, and we used black-tinted spiking gel to do his hair. The jewelery (rings/necklace) was made from oven-baked skulpy, and we bought a bunch of earrings from Kmart and basically pinched the semi-sharp ends into his ears (what a good sport).

Because of the simplicity of the outfits I feel like alot of people didn’t make the connections, but there were a few people that knew exactly what we were, and alot of friends that just didn’t recognize us at first, so that was alot of fun. I hope you all enjoy the costumes… and if you have never watched “Daria” before, please watch, it’s a great show… and for those of you who remember watching it when it was on MTV, re-watch it. It holds up very well.

Quite a while ago I helps Sara pick out a bunch of fabric so that I could make a costume for her, well I apparently made her over-buy one of the most expensive fabrics we laid our hands on. So what does one do with a plethora of pearly-white fur?

The solution is obviously to make a bunch of shallow pet-carrier sized pillows for her cat. After months of procrastination, I took the blizzard outside as a sign that I should cover my floor in shredded white fur (more so than it usually is) only this time, it would be because I was cutting fabric, not because I haven’t ran roomba in a while.

Zin loves her new pillows and was gracious enough to stop kneading and eating the fur long enough for me to snap a picture

I started this design a month ago as a Christmas card. The circular part was an ornament, though it didn’t make much sense that the city was chilling on top of it. I also got bored with holiday themes and started playing with grunge techniques, which looked cool, but really didn’t capture the spirit of the season.

So as soon as I scrapped that idea, I started working with a winding road, which ended up looking like a Pac Man-type design, so I added perilous little teeth, and thought immediately of Philadelphia’s bike paths. So I came up with this.

I also finally figured out illustrator’s 3D art mapping tool, so I was able to get a nice effect on the road. Though, the effect doesn’t seem to be scalable which I’d hope there’s a workaround for.

A (previously) close friend from High School’s daughter passed away the other day, and I can’t help but think about how she must be feeling. I’m not going to sit here and spout the usual melodramatically spiritual words that I’m sure people in need may get tired of hearing. The bottom line is, I can’t imagine what it must feel like, thinking about it makes my head hurt. If there is a God, and he is all-knowing and all-controlling, he’s a fucking selfish ass for taking this little girls life.

Personally, I am of a mind that sure, perhaps there is a creator. A being or mind that started this little life of mine. I also pray every once in a while, mostly because if there is a god, he’ll make my cramps go away (yes I said it), or my grandmother will be able to check in on me. Even through the occasional (some would say lapse in judgment) cry for help however, I have faith in myself, not god. Faith in myself and the people I love. So far, they haven’t let me down. I realize that I may be in the minority as far as this is concerned, but to me something tangible seems like a more responsible (although more infinitely riddled with potholes) notion.

I with my full heart believe that the doctors and nurses of my friends little girl must’ve done everything they could for her, I know I would’ve. My faith lies with them, not with god. I’m not knocking faith. Not at all. Faith is something that can get us through some tough times, whether it’s in god, the human race, family, friends, yourself, or even a spaghetti monster. You do what you’ve gotta do. But at the end of the line, it just comes down to how strong you are. How you deal with what you’ve been dealt.

I regret that I haven’t kept up with the people who were in my life, but who are still important enough to me to be eliciting all the emotions I’m feeling right now. To the person I’m thinking about, I say this with the deepest respect for whatever you’re beliefs are or ever will be: I’m truly sorry, and if there was anything I could do, I would do it. But I know there is not… so I’m just going to keep sitting here, thinking about you and your family, and hope that maybe someday we’ll be able to reconnect so that I can get to know you again, and learn at least a little bit about the life that should’ve never been lost.

Yes, I bought a sewing machine. Obviously, I had to make my Halloween costume. And Sara’s. And fix Amanda’s. And Andrew’s.

One character I’ve always loved has been Dixie Cousins from The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Which is one of my (and my father’s) favorite shows. Dixie was a saloon singer in the wild west, and got into all sorts of shenanigans. And of course, had fantastic outfits. The costume I went with was modeled after what she wore in the pilot episode, the first time her character was introduced (she was singing on stage of course).

The two nights that I wore it, not a single person knew the reference, but everyone loved it anyway. (And lets be honest, the show is pretty obscure, and Dixie wore MANY outfits!) I had alot of fun with it anyway and look forward to darning it again!

Sara’s costume was Mrs. Monarch from The Venture Bros on Comedy Central. She bought the black unitard and I sewed lots of gold spandex into tubes for the gloves and boot covers. The ribbon was a little hard to attach to the unitard, but I think we got the point across quite nicely!

So I finished this quite some time ago, but I kept forgetting to upload the finished project. I used this pattern, and it turned out great! Apparently my nephew sleeps with it every night.

I’ve been slacking on my knitting (and a little crocheting) since I finished this, but the other day I started working on a cabled hat and scarf set. The hat is done and fits perfectly, so I hope the boredom doesn’t hit before I finish it’s mate.

(and yes… she’s vomiting rainbows)

I asked my mother if the $70 special at Kmart would get the job done, Made a trip to Pearl, and to Fabric Row and I had everything I needed to get started. I’m too cheap to buy a pattern so my first project was a scrunchy. It’s the only thing I remember how to make from my brief stays in my moms sewing classroom from when I was little. That was easy, and completely pointless. Who wears scrunchies anymore?

Without wasting any time I dug out an old pair of pj pants and got to tracing. Nothing scientific, and definitely not precise, but I had the shapes cut and sew together in one night! Last night I added a band to the top to even out the extra space I needed in the back and to insert the pull-ribbon into. Sadly at some point the little machine turned on me and started freaking out. After much failed use of several different screwdrivers, I managed to get the screws of the plate off and fixed the problem (2 hrs later). I even used a fancy little zig-zag stitch to attach the band!

All thats left is the hems on the pant legs and some finishing on the loose edges. (sorry if I’m not up on the all the terminology yet!) With any luck I’ll be wearing them tonight. I’ve never had pj pants that went past my ankle, so this is incredibly exciting!

I’m not cool with hanging around and then up and deciding to do something completely different. For most people that would be fine, even welcome, but for some god-forsaken reason when I plan on hanging around, that’s what I want to do. If it turns out dull, I’ll search for another plan or adapt to make it better. Isn’t that being spontaneous? No. Because I gave it a shot first, there was no abandonment without good reason. I find that if I don’t make plans, I end up utterly lost, and I normally don’t have fun. There’s a mindset I need to get into. If I have nothing to do and I end up sitting at home and looking at the internet all night, I feel dejected and bored. If I plan on sitting at home and define some activities (ie: knitting, tv watching, wine), I tend to enjoy my time a lot more.

Don’t get me wrong, I love spontaneous people. Generally they’re a lot of fun. They’re just not in control, at least not until a specific decision has been made. Perhaps that’s it. I have control issues. If I’m not in control, I at least someone who I trust to take it over. I like to be responsible for fun, I thrive on it. Unfortunately most peoples ideas of fun are based on spontaneity. Sigh.

I wish that I could be happy rolling with the punches, but I’m generally not. If I’m gonna get punched, that’s fine, I’d just like to know in advance so that I can throw a bag of peas in the freezer.