Pyjama Party

So last week my class voted to have a pyjama party as their marble treat (you know... they get a marble in the jar each time they do something good... when it's full they choose a treat). I promise that I did not influence them in this. Not at all. Even though the next thing I knew I wanted to sew was a pair of pyjamas. I've been planning them for ages - I even made a practise pair out of an old sheet - but it took the inducement of being permitted to wear the pyjamas not only outside the house, but at work, for me to finally get started on them.

Here they are. It's surprisingly difficult to take good photos of one's own pyjamas, particularly when you're inside and it's dark, and your husband has gone to the seaside without you and so cannot hold the camera for you. I tried to go for some fun jumping-off-the-bed shots, but as you can see it didn't work out perfectly...

Things I learned
- Measure carefully before you make buttonholes. Like, really carefully. (I managed to put them in the wrong place not once but twice, by which time I was so fed up that I left them where they were).
- Bias tape is AMAZING!*
- Sewing to a deadline when you feel kind of poorly on a Monday evening isn't nearly as fun as messing about making interesting looking pockets on a Saturday afternoon.

I got extremely cross with the sewing machine whilst I was making these. Particularly those buttonholes... so much frustration... and the pyjamas don't even have any buttons! Noah was in the room at the time and witnessed my grumpiness. I don't think he'd realised before what the actual process of making stuff looks like... he was kind of surprised. And understandably so: regardless of creation frustrations, I'm always insufferably delighted as soon as I finish a garment!

*Seriously amazing. Just put that stuff anywhere near an iron and suddenly you can transform it into whatever shape you like!

Purple Patchwork Dress

This week I finished making my sixth item of home-produced clothing (if you include pyjamas... which I definitely do). Anybody who knew me during my look-like-a-boy phase (that is, between the ages of about 4 and maybe around 16) would be astonished to discover that two of these items are skirts and that the sixth itself is, in fact, a dress.

A dress!

Now, I'm very excited about this dress. So excited that I'm choosing to disregard all the probably quite shocking sewing techniques I employed, instead boldly and gleefully posting photos on the internet. I'm finding that it's hard not to be proud of an item of clothing you've made yourself - even if you know it's really messy on the inside, or the waistline is wonky, or it only has one pocket because you forgot to include them in the original plan and couldn't work out how to add one to the side that doesn't have a seam.

Technically I believe this is what they call a 'refashion', because I made I the dress out of an old patchwork skirt I bought ages ago (on a college chapel weekend away in Sheringham) but didn't wear very much - partly because the waist was actually rather tight, and partly because full-length skirts don't get on well with bicycles. In fact I wore it so infrequently that I couldn't really find any old photos of me in it - this was about the only one, taken on Northern Cross in 2010.

Anyhow, I decided that the skirt had gone unworn long enough (and my sewing craze had gone on long enough) for me to try turning it into something else. I wanted to try making a dress anyway. So I got my t-shirt pattern (drafted with the help of Design-It-Yourself Clothes by Cal Patch), found the best parts of patchwork at the top of the skirt and chopped away. Now, this pattern was drafted for use with jersey fabric (nice and stretchy). My old skirt was made of a woven fabric (not stretchy at all). My clever solution to this discrepancy? Add an extra centimetre or so and hope it'll still go on over my head! This I did - I could get it on (just) but it looked very shapeless. So I improvised some darts (no idea if I put them in the right place) and could still, just, get it on. So far so good... I had a bodice part, unfinished, without sleeves. Never having made or used facings before, I decided to try them. Using a pencil (shock!) I traced round the neckline and armholes of my front and back bodice onto an old white sheet that my mum gave me... a bit of cutting... a bit of sewing, clipping and pressing... and hey presto, facings! I don't know if I did it properly though: the armhole facings always stick out when I put it on and I have to tuck them back in.

Next challenge: join the shoulder parts together. If I had planned in advance I could have made the strap parts longer than they needed to be and fastened them with a button (making it easier to don the dress). If I had cut and sewn extra neatly, then the straps would have been the same width and I could at least have sewn them together neatly. But no... I pondered for ages (overnight in fact!) before realising that I could sew a curved end to each strap (with the strap/facing combo inside out) then join them together with zig-zag stitching on top. What can I say? It... works. I'm too impatient too spend ages getting it to look perfect, but it holds together.

All this and I still only had the bodice part. It was getting quite late on Monday evening when I suddenly decided that I had to finish the dress in time to wear it for work on Tuesday. Why, I'm not sure - I guess I knew I wouldn't really get any more sewing time until the following weekend. So I took the bottom part of the skirt, with hem still intact, and cut it in half (it was very wide). I made my first attempt at gathering (only partially successful, because of the patchwork catching too much on my threads), sewed a side seam and joined the skirt to the bodice. Yay! Finished!

Except, oh, what about the pockets? I hate not having pockets in my clothes - and especially when I'm at work, where my classroom is separate from the rest of the school and I need a key fob to get in or out of anywhere. So, now truly hurried as it was already past my bedtime, I ripped (and ripped really is the word) an original pocket out of one of my remaining skirt scraps. I (slightly more carefully) ripped open the single side seam of my skirt, spent quite a while puzzling how to place the pocket so that I could access it; so that no stitching would be visible from outside; and so that no holes would be left in the side of my dress. Finally I sewed it in, adding extra stitches for security at the top and bottom. Amazingly, it worked!

Trying my new dress on with delight, I completely failed to notice that the waist (and consequently the hem) was extremely wonky - I'd say there was a couple of centimetres difference between one side and the other. I noticed as I lay in bed that night, looking at my lovely new dress hanging on a hook on the door. "I don't think the waistline is quite straight," I said. Noah's reply: "Oh, I thought you knew that. I thought it was meant to be like that. You know, like a kind of fairy dress."

I've been wearing it anyway - and feeling very happy indeed :)

What's New

So... I haven't exactly been making frequent blog posts over the last year...

There are a couple of reasons I'm starting it up again. Here they are:

- I've recently got interested in making my own clothes. I've started reading a few sewing blogs and I feel like I want to be part of the conversation! I have a lot of questions to ask...

- It's pretty fun. Me and Noah aren't always that great at keeping in touch with our families (let alone close friends) and it's a good way to let people know what's going on.

- I've hardly written anything at all since I started teaching (apart from notes and comments in the children's assessment folders). I even stopped writing my diary when we got married (because I used to write it in bed just before going to sleep, but that seemed kind of weird with someone else there). I miss it.

That's all for now. I'll come back later and tell you all about St Albans.

My New Home

28 hours after departing from Gainesville in a tiny plane, here I am in my new house ready to start my new life in my new town of St Albans. I'm exhausted - as is Noah - we went on three planes, a bus and a train before packing Suzi and the trailer full of stuff (mostly mine) and driving to Noah's new house. We unloaded some of the stuff there, had a bit of a look around, then drove over to my new place (only about ten minutes away!!) to unload my things.

Noah's house is lovely. It feels very peaceful there, and kind people from the church have already furnished it with two sofas, two beds, two rugs, two benches and a table. There's even a barbecue in the charming garden behind the house (not to mention the shed or the composter). And - the height of classy living - there is a serving hatch between the kitchen and the lounge. Who needs corridors?

Anyway, more details on St Albans at some other time, when I'm a bit less exhausted. We have to get up early again in the morning to go back to Godalming and collect the rest of our belongings. We looked into van hire but it didn't work out, so it's just Suzi and the tiny trailer. Noah reckons at least three more trips - I'm hoping we can do it in two.

San Francisco

Yesterday (that is to say, Saturday) we went to San Francisco. Just me and Noah. Early in the morning (well, about half past eight) we set off on a 90-minute drive through beautiful mist-wreathed hills (driving on windy roads sometimes above the clouds, sometimes below) to Vallejo, whence one can easily take a ferry across the bay. It was quite a dinky ferry but good fun - you could go out onto a little side deck, where we quickly became thoroughly windswept. One man's hat blew off as he was taking a photo, and hit me in the face! It took about an hour to get over to San Francisco.

Once there, our only knowledge of the city (other than hearsay, and clips from films) contained within a free city map we'd picked up at the ferry, we decided to start by wandering towards Chinatown, as it seemed fairly close to the ferry building. It was, indeed, very Chinese. We almost went for lunch, but decided against it when the "vegetarian restaurant" we had picked turned out to serve such delights as pork, prawns and beef. Instead we each purchased a set of souvenir chopsticks from a shop full of knives and fireworks, none of which, sadly, we felt we'd be able to take home legally.

After Chinatown we decided to wander towards Pier 39, as someone (he doesn't remember who) had recommended the area to Noah. On the way an old man asked us for some money; Noah obliged and he gave us directions through Little Italy. There we had some pizza slices (mmm, cheese and pesto!) before continuing our walk though the picturesque city. Some of the buildings would be quite at home in London (given a good coating of grime); others are decidedly more colourful and American-looking. The city is full of fun murals (especially a huge one of two whales by the sea). We passed a Spanish-speaking church outside which was a band and a group of people dancing and singing hallelujah. It looked pretty fun. I contemplated joining in, but didn't think Noah would quite want to - and indeed, when I stepped forward to walk away, he did give me a very nervous look.

Anyway, we made it down to Pier 39 and saw lots of touristy shops and - right in the midst of boats, piers, tourists and all - loads and loads of sealions! It was fun to watch them clambering on and off the floating docks, gleaming from the sea, tiny and huge slithering across each other. Next we walked down in the direction of the distant Golden Gate Bridge, stopping off at Coldstone for me to buy Noah his victory ice cream (his reward for managing to watch all three Lord of the Rings extended editions in one day). Mmmm, cake batter ice cream with peanut butter cups and peanut M&Ms!

We walked through a little park, taking photos of the distant bridge, and then - I had my first ever ride on an American bus! Woo hoo! It took us right up to the bridge, where we took a good many photographs (to be put online as soon as I can) and walked up to the first tower. It's - well, it's a big orange bridge. Very... bridgey. Yep, it's a bridge.

After the bridge (and the enormous queue for the toilets) we took the bus back into town, handily getting off right outside a Taco Bell. So that was dinner sorted. Then we walked along some expensive shops on the way to the crookedest street (so it's marked on the map, although I think the official name is Lombard). It was a crazy wiggle of a road, too steep for cars to go straight up and down. It really made me laugh that some people still have driveways and garages on it. There were hordes of tourists (ourselves included ) clustered at each end, walking up and down, and driving along with cameras thrust out of their passenger windows.

It was getting late, so we headed back towards Pier 39 to check the details about the ferry home. On the way we paused at a streetside stall where I parted with some of my birthday money in exchange for a swirly glass necklace and a spirally bag (I've been needing a new one for ages). We found the place where we thought the ferry would come. There was no information whatsoever, the offices were all closed, and there wasn't any indication that our ferry company used the dock at all. However, we remained fairly confident that the ferry would turn up. We just had time to dash over to Subway (the nearest place where we could get something to drink) and back again, to see the ferry in all its glory. Pretty exhausted by this point, we climbed aboard and enjoyed flicking through our photos on the way back to Vallejo. We both had a really good day and arrived home somewhat fatigued.

Oh, and San Francisco definitely makes it onto the list.

Speedy Update

So...

We did indeed go for a swim in the lake. It was quite a golden afternoon: sunny - the water warm - a gravelly beach beside the lake - fixed rafts ('docks') to climb on and jump off. We swam for ages, enjoying beautiful mountain views as we did so. Then we lazed about on the beach chatting and eating local fruit (grapes, strawberries, peaches!) for lunch.

Yesterday (Thursday) we went on a tour of some Napa Valley wineries. The first one, Sterling, put me in mind of a Spanish monastery (purely in architectural terms), with white plastered walls, a very square shape, arches and bells. Before setting out I was surprised to hear that the entrance fee included a ride on a tram - I thought this an odd form of conveyance for a hillside winery. I had, of course, forgotten that in American 'tram' means 'cable car'. It was fun! At the top, we wandered around in the sunshine, sipping different wines and gazing out over the glorious scenery. In the afternoon we visited another - this one was orange, and didn't include wine, but then, we didn't have to pay. It was another interesting building and full of art and sculptures (we posed for some very silly photos). When we got home we went to the pool and had a swim (I can still dive right to the bottom, but I'm still pretty terrified of drowning). Then we returned home to one of Noah's absolute favourite meals of all time: manicotti (It's like giant penne stuffed with a ricotta cheesy mixture and covered in tomato sauce - yummy). It was a beautiful clear night, so we sat out in the garden looking up at the sky. We saw a few Perseids, as well as the vast array of stars. It was good!

Today was a day of exploration. We drove to Middletown, the nearest town, to visit the Post Office (woo hoo!) then to Lakeport, a larger town on the shore of a beautiful (but stinky) lake with more gorgeous mountain views. We strolled by the lake, looked at some shops - and then I was treated to my first visit to Noah's all-time favourite restaurant franchise: the glorious Taco Bell. He was so delighted to be reunited with the wondrous purveyor of tacos, nachos and unlimited refills that we stayed for an hour or so, nibbling our burritos and nachos (with liquid cheese - yes, liquid cheese) and sipping mountain dew and pink lemonade. Mmm, pink lemonade. Today's exciting culinary experiences, though, were not over: this evening (following a bike ride and an afternoon of reading) we visited the local frozen yoghurt store. It's like this. Imagine ice cream factory. Now imagine there are about eight types of ice cream (except they're all frozen yoghurt) and a whole wall full of containers with different toppings. And nine kinds of syrup. I still feel kind of sick.

I've been taking plenty of photos (at least, memorable snaps - not exactly works of art). I'm working on getting them up on Picasa, but the internet seems to be a little slow here. Anyway, tomorrow is San Fransisco. I'll keep you posted!

It's all about the food...

I'm astonished by the beautiful scenery around here: big, jagged, ridgy hills, mostly covered in trees. The trees are green, but most of the grass is yellow, parched by the sun. It's warm, but not too warm (apparently it's unseasonably cool) and the sky is mostly blue, with occasional wisps of beautiful white cloud. I haven't taken as many photos as I'd like, but I'll try and get some more today.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we visited a nearby town called Calistoga. It's fairly small, with some interesting buildings, and an entire street full of murals, which I liked. I had my first trip to an American bookshop (very like an English bookshop, but, you know, in America). It was fun to look around, particularly a little art-gallery-shop-place with some impressive tree sculptures. On the way home we stopped at a place called Havy's to have some Mexican food for lunch. I had the most massive burrito I have ever seen (seriously, it was nearly as big as my face!) and enjoyed it very much (although Noah had to help me finish it). The owners seem to know Noah's mum (sorry, mom) quite well. He told them we'd come all the way from England, and they brought us free dessert (also delicious). In the afternoon we stayed at the house, reading, chatting and playing on the Wii. Noah is way better than I am at everything. We had some delicious potato soup for tea, and in the evening we played Scrabble, at which Noah was also victorious (apparently he's made this fact very apparent on Facebook). Oh, and we went for a walk around the subdivision (I think that's what it's called - like an estate but bigger and greener and further away from anywhere). It was beautiful - a pleasantly warm evening, with crickets chirping in the background. We strolled around the golf course and I found a tree to climb.

Today (Wednesday) we've already been out for breakfast (I had true American pancakes - to be totally honest I didn't like them especially - they were nice, but not as good as English pancakes, and not as good as the ones Noah made for me at his house - and they came with this white stuff that looked like cream but tasted salty, and Noah insisted was butter). And we've played Wii games again (Noah once more soundly defeating me). I think we might be going for a swim in the lake soon. And probably lunch...