I'm Not Above Bribes

Okay, so let's be honest.The community viewing is totally unfair. While I love my project and I'm really happy with it, I've already accepted the fact that mine will not be as popular. Neither will many others. Why, you might ask? Why wouldn't they love original songs or totem poles or dresses? Are the parents crazy?

Well, maybe some of them are crazy (joke!), but the real reason is because of our competition: the evil, mean, awful, parent-hogging foodie groups. Don't get me wrong, I love food, and I love many of the people doing food projects. But, really? Canoles? Bread? Rich, creamy, delicious, chocolate logs? Even if we tell the parents that they're bad for their waistlines and that they'll regret gorging on them later, they still gravitate to the food! How are we supposed to compete with that?!

As a result, after some restless nights and some pretty hefty comfort eating (one is actually true--I'm sure you can figure it out), I've discovered a master plan, brace yourself...

Operation SEW

As promised (though, granted, a little late), I'm back and ready to fill you in on what went down at T minus zero hours!

Operation SEW

Image via http://entertainment.youngester.com/2011/04/james-bond-movie-nov-9-2012.html

Location: Neighborhood, Indian Hill High School

Mission: Pass high school

Details: Okay, sorry I just had to do that. Anyway, the judges were really nice and friendly and while I was sweating buckets, they asked me questions and I talked to them about everything I did and so on. I even had a Project Runway enthusiast there as well, plus two actual seamstresses! Yay!

Anyway, that was pretty much it. I actually had fun and I'm kind of sad it's over :(. Luckily, we still have the community viewing! Watch out for an update later!

Literally a bucket of my sweat...okay maybe not.
Image via http://weirdscaryandusualstuff.tumblr.com/post/4257126600/trip-and-slip-wait-until-your-victim-is-in-the

T Minus Zero!

Hey friends, today's the day! At 2 PM today, I present my project to the panel of judges. Feels a little like American Idol, no?

Image via http://jennifer-lopez.me/american-idol-judges-dish-on-season-10-finalists-the-new-randy-and-more-445/

Hopefully, they'll be more J-Lo and Paula than Simon, but I wouldn't mind Steven Tyler randomly showing up either. : )

Don't worry though (or don't get too excited), folks, this won't be my last blog entry ever. I might update you all later today on what happens and for the community viewing next week.

But as this project comes to an end, I probably should explain to you all my inspiration for my sewing adventure, my grandmother, Lola Naty. Even in her mid-eighties, she's still an avid sewer, and whenever she visits on the top of her list is a trip to Jo Ann's to start making us beautiful dresses and skirts. While she's thousands of miles away in the Philippines, when I sew it's a little like she's here with me. 

Anyway, thanks guys and wish me luck!

Smile with your Eyes!

If I'm being honest, I must confess that I'm a reality t.v. junkie. And as any reality t.v. junkie knows, no one does marathons as frequently or as addictive as Tyra Banks's America's Next Top Model. If there's one thing I've learned from my years of watching Tyra and her antics, it's how to "smize", AKA "smiling with your eyes", one of Tyra's favorite phrases. I've also learned that at 5'6 and well over 110 pounds, it's highly unlikely that I'll ever be a fashion model, but that's a whole other story entirely.

Luckily, thanks to Tyra and her aspiring models, I was able to impart my "smizing" knowledge to my lovely and fabulous models today when I had my first photo shoot! Actually, I really doubt any of my so called direction was any help, but I had fun pretending to know what I was doing. Props to my skinny and gorgeous models Miss Elizabeth and Miss Irena as well as my sister Ramona, who was a good sport. You three were beautiful! I'll probably post more pictures later, but here's a taste of what went down at La Casa de Espaldon.

Oh and by the way, if any of you readers are some fancy schmancy modeling agency, like Ford or Wilhelmina, I  know they're fabulous, but I found them first!!

Land of the Sea and Sun

Hey sewing fans! As promised, my surprise comes in the form of something slightly tropical and yellow. To get you in the mood, take a listen to one of my favorite songs ever, "Land of the Sea and Sun". While the movie, My Father the Hero is kind of strange, the song is awesome, so enjoy and get ready!

Okay, so now that you're in the whole tropical, island mood, take a look at what I've been working on!

A Work in Progress

Remember this?

After spending hours pinning and pressing and cutting, to create this beautiful pile:

Unfortunately, with the freak power outage and everything, I don't think I'll be able to complete my dress by my presentation tomorrow. Sad, but as the French say, c'est la vie. But don't worry! I'm determined to finish it eventually, if not for tomorrow.

And have no fear, my two followers (and other unidentified readers), I have a new surprise awaiting you all in my next post! Think yellow and tropical. Exciting stuff, huh?

Houston, We Have a Problem

I love Twister, the movie.

Image via http://mediafire-strain.blogspot.com/2011/02/twister-1996.html

I'm deathly afraid of twister, the severe weather pattern. Unfortunately, Monday night Cincinnati had its own tornado scare. While thankfully nothing serious happened in our neck of the woods other than a night of Espaldon family bonding in the basement, the storm did cause our power to go out. For a day and a half. 

As such, just as I was about to get into the nitty gritty, my little sewing adventure had to take a momentary hiatus. If only I had this, I could've just kept on sewing!:

An old school sewing machine, complete with pedal and all!Image via http://www.preparedness1.com/treadle-sewing-machines.html

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I just thought this was a really cool picture. It pretty much summarizes the whole sewing process for me. Make three stitches, undo four. Okay, carry on.

Press to Impress!

Hello. This is an iron. It irons things. If you are in the 0-18 demographic, you have probably never ever used one before. You may have never even seen one before. Ask your mother, sister, grandmother, housekeeper, etc. They can explain it to you.

If there's one thing I've learned from this project so far, it's that prepping the fabric and pattern and everything takes infinitely longer than the time spent actually sewing stitches. For all inspiring seamstresses out there, and any other interested individuals, I'll try to give a short, and by no means thorough, overview of what goes into making a skirt.

First, you have to cut the pattern pieces, which you then press along with the fabric. Pressing is just a fancy way of saying iron.

A pattern piece

Then you have to pin the pattern onto the fabric--the biggest hassle, especially when you have a lot of pieces or if you just have some klutzy fingers, like me. How other people do this so fast and don't poke their fingers, I have no idea. 

And then there's the cutting! This may be weird or whatever, but I personally love cutting, whether it's fabric or paper or anything. I just find it so satisfyingly relaxing! Weird? Maybe. Do I care? Nope.

So then you're done! Well except for the part where you actually have to sew and everything. : )

A Skirt Fit for Royalty

It's been such a busy few days that I haven't had time to update you all, but I have some good news! I finally finished sewing something! Read more to see the picture of my best friend modeling my new creation!

That's Not Annoying at All

I guess it was bound to happen sometime. Oddly enough, however, it wasn't me who made the first big mistake--it was the book.

 Yes, this is the same book I had referred to earlier as my favorite book after Harry Potter. And it let me down, it did. 

Yesterday I was all set to start cutting and pinning and sewing my skirt, when I opened up the package of patterns attached with the book. I looked and looked but the Easy Breezy Wrap Skirt pattern was nowhere in sight. Instead, the manufacturer had made duplicates of half of the patterns and forgotten to include the other half!

Image via http://minheespills.com/blog/?m=201009

Luckily, I had purchased another sewing manual, Sew U:

Image via http://mystylelounge.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

And you know what? Who needs an Easy Breezy Wrap Skirt? I like Sew U's skirt better anyway!

Auf wiedersehen!

Image via http://project-runway.otavo.tv/download-project-runway-episodes

I turned on the TV today, and guess what was on? Project Runway! Not only was it on, there was a seven hour marathon. Being someone who always does her homework, I of course had to plop myself down in front of the screen and do some diligent research. After an hour or so of meticulous note-taking (totally kidding), I started to wonder what Heidi would say about my own sewing project. I'm pretty sure it would go something like this...

Define Easy

At Jo Ann's today, I picked out Pattern 2196, because apparently, "It's so easy it's Simplicity!" Well, when I got home and opened the package with bated breath, I discovered that the word "easy" has many different connotations to many different people. For the makers of Simplicity, I found, the word "easy" can apparently be defined as "extremely complicated and confusing with tons and tons of steps".

Which Fabric/Seat Can I Take? (AKA So MANY Choices!)

So today marked the first actual day of senior project, and thus began my sewing adventure in earnest. The past week was just super hectic, but today I was free to really get sewing, or rather, shopping. To express how I feel about this, I must quote my favorite singer EVER, Rebecca Black, who said it best:

"We-we-we so excited!"