Chicken Butt

A good deal

My sis called to let me know her newly repaired jeans are awesome. Her favorite jeans had torn on both back pockets at the inner top corners and a spot by the butt seam was worn through one layer and not yet hole, but very close to baring her bottom. We picked a cute pattern from my stash. I used a method I saw on Craft: How-To: Patching Pants with Stylish Stitches. The patch fabric goes on the inside and you just zigzag stitch over it in all directions, like a sewing machine scribble. The blue thread I used was practically invisible and the actual holes small so only one small area shows the pattern. Okay, looking at that first link again, we should have used a heavier patch fabric. We were going to do a reverse appliqué on her knee like this, but the knee wasn’t a hole quite yet. Both those posts are from their March Mending Month series they did this year. There are a lot of good ideas from those posts.

What’s the good deal? Sis gets uneasy doing nothing and couldn’t sit and watch me work. (I know, weird right?) So she washed my dishes, wiped my counters, took my garbage and recycling down to the garage, broke down boxes from new shelves and a lamp I assembled on Saturday, and vacuumed most of my home. She did all that work and then thanked me for helping her out. She needs me to hem pants for her oldest, so maybe she’ll wash my windows next weekend.

Do I even like making things?

Yes, I do like to make things, though no one could tell this by my actions. I must seriously ask myself if I like making things or just shopping for the materials. When I’m home with time on my hands I’m too tired, too engrossed in my book, too sore, too close to bedtime or too uninspired. When I’m just a tiny bit inspired I want to drag my projects out and figure out how to work on them from my recliner. I have a craft room. It has 40” widescreen TV, a large sturdy work table and a good office chair. The lighting is not good yet, but I’m fiddling with it. The room is not cozy or friendly yet. There is too much disorganized stuff in it. All that wouldn’t matter if I really wanted to make something.

It is 37 days until Halloween and I’m working myself up a bit. I have four costumes to make this year: a pirate, a snowman, a ballerina and a dark fairy.  I have patterns for everything this year. Or I will when the Snowman costume arrives. Thank you Karen, my Canadian friend! (Burda has a cute pattern, but will not ship to US.) Not having to pull ideas out my ass to design the things should make things less stressful. The thing stressing me out right now is that I have to make adjustments to the pirate costume to make the shoulders and everything about one size wider. I must excise my perfectionist tendencies and just start. Once I get going I’ll start enjoying myself.

Too many light mysteries?

“If this was fiction, someone would be dead tomorrow.” That was my thought as I walked home in the rain last night. I had to park on the street (not my garage or court) because they are sealing blacktop today. I heard an argument through a neighbor’s open windows. A man and a woman yelled abuse at each other. The drapes were open so I could see him standing and yelling at a woman across the room.

I’m surprised they still live there. Condo association gossip said they were being evicted by their bank in July. He was kicked off the condo board last year because he wasn’t paying the monthly fees. The guy is a prick and made a huge fuss in June about broken rules and parking sign verbiage.  The sign was changed. I keep meaning to post a picture of it. It is a solid reminder of why I stifle the occasional urge to get involved in the association.

I have to park on the street again tonight. Will I see him bundling a suspiciously heavy carpet into his trunk?