When I get started on a sewing project I tend to get a little obsessed.  To the point where I spend my every waking non-work moment in my sewing room, regularly staying up waaaaaaayyy too late past my bedtime, allowing my intermittent sinus problems to become more present. And the chores to build up in the house.  And the dog gets pouty and needy from lack of attention.  Come to think of it, Ryan does too…

However, this does produce results my husband (who knows next to nothing about costumes and sewing) constantly ooohs and aaaahs at.  Not that I’m complaining on the compliments that I ever so gently fish for.

Also, I may have overcommitted myself in projects lately… but first things first. Since I have Kate’s dress, Ryan’s outfit, and a little more to accomplish before April 22nd this year I indulged my obsessive side and GOT MY GREEN/BLACK OUTFIT (almost) FINISHED! A couple of weekends actually spent at home helped.

I’ve been updating a Facebook photo album, since that is easier to upload from my phone/ipad, but I thought the project deserved a more thorough explanation here. We left off with the creation of the hat, which provided encouragement and motivation sitting on the dress dummy.
​

The hat itself is actually a little floppy, and I secretly hoped Kate had used a hot glue gun to assemble hers.  I know she owns one... But no.  Sigh.  She sewed everything in place, so I would too.  Also, she somehow got an ostrich feather that was much bendier than mine, so these hats are not completely identical.

And here it is completed!  I nice evening's work.  The side of the brim is held up in place with a thread going from a button on one side, to a button on the other.  That way I didn't have to try to tie a huge knot somewhere in the mesh of the fabric.  

​Progress on the short chemise in the next post...

Valentine's Day was this last week, and up until this last year and as the (most of the time) single twin, I've never had a date for Valentine's. In fact, until the actual day this year, everything seemed status quo. But that is a longer story, and not the point of this post, so...

Back in the beginning of January, I signed up for a Valentine card exchange through a single's group I belong to on Facebook. It was my way of acknowledging the day, hopefully making some other single person's day a little brighter, and negating the tiny bit of bitterness that comes with being single on a day when the world seems especially insensitive in reminding you that you are alone. Also, this was an international exchange, and it's always exciting to get mail from overseas. Fast forward to the beginning of February, and I had forgotten all about the exchange until the organizer PM'd me with two names and addresses - one in Virginia, and one in Ireland!

And then the mild panic set in. What in the world could I send? And how do you send a Valentine's card - something that is usually sappy or silly or sweet, but always a little intimate, to a stranger? After eyeing the card section with yards of commercial Valentine's cards in the grocery store, I decided to make my own. That and I wasn't going to spend $4 on something so impersonal. After scouring Pinterest, and letting ideas ferment in their own creative juices in my brain, I finally produced these: 

With Rachel's help (and donation of several of the supplies), we came up with what I like to think of as the whole Librarian Valentine package. There is a page out of an already weeded and gutted former library book, a due date slip, a card pocket, a check out card with book recommendations, and a genre sticker on the back of the card - all on black acid-free archival card stock with non-yellowing non-toxic glue. What's not pictured is an additional handwritten note on another check out card introducing myself.