two projects come to a close

I made these for youuuuu!

Okay, so technically I made these for me but I'm making this post for you as I've been long overdue finishing these. Remember that shirt I told you I was making from scratch? Well, after not touching it for over a week, I committed to finishing this beast today. And believe me, as tame as it looks, this was a beast.

I used left overs from two of my sewing class projects as well as some new bias tape. I was happy to find that I had just enough green fabric to do the top, though sadly not big enough pieces to do it without that center seam but hey, it's not so bad. I'm ecstatic to have those side seams finished because that means no more pesky threads! I love that poke-a-dot fabric but man is it a pain sometimes. I need to tack down the ends of the bias tape I used to finish the sleeves but other than that, it's done! And my sewing machine still works and I still have all my fingers, haha. 

And a picture of me "modeling" my creation because it looks different when you're wearing it and, hey, I can't remember the last time I've been in a picture.

 So I recently acquired a new sweatshirt as the temperature plummeted unannounced recently and my old sweatshirt really isn't up to another season. I bought my old sweatshirt at the end of my freshman year just before flying home for the summer and, bored as I was at home, one day I randomly decided to embroider the left sleeve - pictured below. When I first did it it looked a lot better and there weren't so many visible ends poking out but the last three years have demanded a lot from this poor garment, so much so that it's almost see-through in certain spots now.

"Time is making fools of us again."

Of course I decided that this new sweatshirt should be christened in a similar manner but I chose to go after the back this time because it gave more room for possibilities. The hardest part of this process is always selecting the quote and I agonized for a day or two over a list that I made. I finally settled on this one because I thought the whimsy lent itself well to the style of embroidery.

Now, I don't want anyone thinking that I might have free-handed this. I didn't because I can't even write in straight lines on blank paper and I didn't want my whole design to come out completely lopsided. Of course, I totally spaced process pics again but I just took a piece of tissue paper, cut it to fit the back of the sweatshirt, then drew a center line and lines for the text which I penciled on in big, simple script. When I finished that, trying to keep the type as centered as possible, I pinned the whole she-bang to the sweatshirt and threaded my embroidery needle. Happily, I had the exact color of thread that I had wanted to use but I still needed to buy another skein of thread to finish the whole design, even having split the thread in half to 3 strands [which I would advise anyway because the full 6 would be way to chunky for my liking]. I just stitched through the sweatshirt and tissue paper, making up the style of the script as I followed the proportion and spacing of the penciled type. I don't love how every letter turned out but overall I'm pretty satisfied with the end result  : )

 "I know who I was when I got up this morning but I think I must have been changed several times since then. - L.C."

[Bonus points to whoever can tell me where both quotes come from without googling them.]

As theoretical and academic as my pursuits generally are, sometimes you just have to do something with your hands, you know? 

In other news, I had a job interview on Monday for a part time position that was pretty much exactly what I've been looking for. I feel like the interview went super well but I was told that I would hear back by Wednesday and I haven't heard anything yet... I'm trying not to panic. A friend works in that office and she doesn't think any decisions have been made yet, for whatever reason, so I guess I just have to be patient. That can be hard for me though as I've long believed that it's better to know - even if it's bad news - than to not know. At least then you can react, haha.