To those of you who sew...

Um, how do you adjust pants? I need to take in the waist a bit (the hips fit perfectly, thank goodness), and I'm not quite sure how, though my thinking is to take in the side seams a fraction, and, if that isn't enough, enlarge the back darts as well. I don't really want to increase the darts, though, because I think that'll skew the shape and make it pucker more noticeably.

Yes, I will be playing around with it myself (after all, what I'm working on right now is just the muslin draft), but any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

Already I know that I have to shorten it quite a bit. Bah. But... better to be wasting thread re-sewing this together (and I think I've re-sewn it 3 times already!) than to waste the fabric.

And oooh, do I have some nice fabric for these pants.

( Fabric squeeing )

So, anyway, that's what's been occupying most of my mind lately. The exchange has been another part, and my lousy, lousy drawing has been yet another. Really, I should post this particular drawing as an example of why not to draw without the muse. I haven't drawn something so out of proportion and... stiff for a decade! Well, drawn and considered it good. I'm trying to make something out of it, but I don't know if I'll be able to. It's an illustration from the last posted chapter of SMHC... and if I can't even illustrate my own piece, my chances of illustrating professionally are pretty slim.

I will say that I got Snape and Hermione's faces and expressions (and Snape's hair!) to just about how I picture them in my mind. Just not their pose. :P

Oh, and speaking of getting hair right, Geoff just came home, and he finally, finally, finally got a hair cut! He's not shaggy anymore, but shaggable! Yay. (I'm not critical of other's appearances... except for hair. I'm not picky about the style as long as it suits the person (ironic, really, as I'm lousy at doing my own hair). Geoff's face really, really needs a short 'do, and it's been about 2 inches too long for about 4 months now. Although, looking at him the other night... If he wanted to go for the beach-geek look, he would look pretty damn hot with his hair about 2 inches longer than it was. If we ever move to the tropics, I'll suggest he adopt that look. :D )

Anyway, that's what's up here. Oh, that and I've actually been cooking up a storm. That beet salad with garlic sauce in the Greek recipe post is really, really good (and very garlicky), btw. And I forgot just how good quinoa is, as well. And... well, let's just say I've enjoyed the fruits of my labor. :-)

Oh, and an aside... the hematite has been working wonders in regulating my mood. I don't know if it's just grounding me, or if it is warding off others' energies, but I have been on an extraordinarily even keel since I started wearing it. Yay! Still tired, and occasionally fed-up, but no extreme reactions one way or the other.  It's like natural valium, without the side effects!

Yum

Dinner:

Sauteed Summer Squash

Sautee 1 onion and 1 clove garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil until translucent. Add 1 finely sliced & quartered summer squash and 2 - 3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley. Cook over medium high heat until squash is becoming transluscent, and then add a generous dash of lemon juice.

Quinoa (remember to rinse well under running water before cooking!)

Cold, sliced barbequed chicken

Chard wilted in olive oil, finished with a modest dash of lemon juice.


Really, this is super yummy. The sweetness of the onions and quinoa completment the tart of the lemon juice, chard and parsley, with the chicken adding via texture and slight tang (bbq sauce).