Late But Accurate

By in feelings No Comments

I saw this Instagram post on Thanksgiving and it hit me hard, especially the caption, which I will just copy below:

Thanksgiving can be the hardest holiday of the bunch. It’s centered on community and gratitude and all of it seems to highlight the empty place at the table.

[…] Gratitude gets presented to grieving folks as a cure for their ills: “At least you had them for as long as you did. Be thankful for the memories.” Parents grieving the death of a child are often told to be thankful for their remaining children. None of this is helpful. Gratitude and grief don’t cancel each other out, they sit side by side.⁣
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There are ways to celebrate and acknowledge the holiday that don’t unintentionally make things worse. It’s far more helpful to find gratitude for things that help us survive, that give us even a bit of comfort.⁣
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There are so many things in this life to be thankful for. For example, “I am so glad for the Off button on my phone. Thank you, technology, for creating this bubble of peace and silence around me.” Or, “I’m thankful for the birds outside my window, for bringing me company and beauty today.”⁣
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Finding things that companion you, exactly where you are, can be a great way to practice the theme of Thanksgiving.⁣
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Always remember that you can choose to ignore any holiday, no matter what anyone else says.⁣

 

Yes to all of this. I love it when someone (a writer, a therapist, a friend, an Instagram account about grief) can help you put words around what you’re feeling.

 

Tuesday Project Roundup: Shacket

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup No Comments

The fashion item du jour is the shirt-jacket (or “shacket”), a big unlined shirt-tailed jacket with some 90s vibes. I immediately jumped on that fashion train because 1. a shacket sounded like a good WFH layer and 2. the word “shacket” is so terrible, it’s great. I used it as much as possible while making this, always in call caps: “Time to work on my SHACKET!” “My SHACKET just needs buttonholes and it’s done!”

 

This is the Rya pattern from FibreMood, a German company. (They now include seam allowances in their patterns, but it’s a little tricky to tell which file actually has said seam allowances, so just be vigilant.) I took off a good 12 inches of length as drafted–8 inches at the lengthen/shorten line and then another 4 from the shirttail bottom, for less of a rollercoaster swoop.

 

I thought the instructions were good, with lots of illustrations. There’s no collar stand but there’s this crescent shaped piece to help with the roll (I’m sure there’s a name for it but I haven’t encountered it before outside of RTW). The hem is also bias faced so the finishes are all really professional.

 

I used a jacketing/light coating from JoAnn, which was surprisingly nice, with some wool and rayon in with the poly. Buttons were from Wawak.

I love those giant chest pockets (plus there’s side seam pockets!). Everything on this is oversized but that seems to be the point of a SHACKET, and I’m happy with the fit. I didn’t have to lengthen the sleeves at all for my long arms, so if you have normal length arms that allow you to bench press successfully, watch out for the sleeve length as drafted (and be grateful).

A Good Week

By in Toby, weekend report No Comments

I haven’t had a chunk of time off since…last year? so it was really nice to have a whole week. We went on two hikes, hung wallpaper (!), cooked different sides (!!) for solo Thanksgiving, started The Mandalorian, and put up the Christmas tree. (And, you know, sat on the couch a lot and looked at the internet, too.)

Friday Links

By in Friday Unrelated Information

1. Please enjoy one of the best things I’ve ever seen:


2. This, from this fantastic artist:

3. And on that note, I’ve got all next week off, so I’ll also take a break from posting. My family’s not doing Thanksgiving this year so Doc and I are going to watch movies all day. Stay safe, everyone. Wear your masks.

Another Coat Project

By in sewing

Am I really going anywhere? No. Do I have lots of coats? Yes. Did I already buy three yards of this black polka dot coating at the end of last winter? Yes. Did any of that stop me from buying fabric yesterday because I suddenly wanted a colorful plaid duffle coat? Of course it didn’t.

I decided on the Grainline Studio Cascade Duffle for a pattern. I feel 95% confident about the Grainline block fitting me well, but just in case I didn’t want to splash out too much for fabric. I try to avoid Fabric.com (they’re owned by Amazon) but they had a wool-heavy blend in the exact colors I wanted for $14/yard.

I even found a pre-quilted satin to use for the body lining at my old standby, Farmhouse Fabrics (a great source for flannel back coat lining, btw).

Since I started lifting, I’ve outgrown all of my colorful J. Crew coats but I was remembering how much I love bright outerwear, so here we are. Maybe I can get it sewn up over Christmas break.

Wednesday Essay

By in essays

Australian journalist Jess Hill writes in The Guardian about the converging crises of 2020, about lack of control, and about power and patriarchy. Great writing, great points, and an absolutely perfect final paragraph.

“It” won’t ever be over, because “it” is not just one thing. It is not the catastrophic fires of last summer (or the ones yet to come), it is not climate change, it is not racism and police brutality, it is not the ongoing epidemic of domestic abuse and sexual assault, it is not Trump or Brexit or Bolsonaro, and it is not the coronavirus – though all are emblematic of the mess we’re in. None of them are it – they are all branches from the same diseased tree, and the real problem is in the roots.

The roots are old – dating back around 12,000 years – but what grew out of them is not an inevitable feature of human evolution; in fact, it’s actually threatening our survival as a species. “It” is, in short, the shift we made from societies built on the principle of balance to what we have now: a dominant culture obsessed with “power-over” and control.

[…]

The original Greek word for apocalypse – apokalypsis – does not mean “end times”. It means “to unveil”. This is the apocalypse we are living through: a process of unveiling and revealing. Patriarchy is not inevitable. It is not sustainable. If we are to survive and thrive as a species, we must first reveal it, and then undo it: in our systems, and in ourselves.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Gym Baby Gifts

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup

The owner of my gym (and the guy I trained with when I first started lifting) and his wife are having their first human baby soon, a little girl. Their actual first baby is a Maltese dog named Sophie, who sometimes visits the gym–so clearly I had to find  fabrics featuring little white dogs and some dumbbells for a gift:

Both fabrics were from Spoonflower (using the vertical “Fill a Yard” feature, to get a fat half of each), with ribbing found on Etsy. Pattern is the Brindille & Twig One-Piece Romper, which is super cute but fairly labor-intensive (lots of ribbing to apply).

These were a big hit and, as I said in the card, I’m sure Sophie dog will be an excellent big sister.

Toby And The ROOMBA

By in Toby

Deeply unsure:

“Not on my watch!”

Detente:

(I’ve wanted a Roomba for years and we finally just bought one for early Xmas. It is WONDERFUL. TBD if Toby will accept it enough to ride on it.)

Friday Links

By in Friday Unrelated Information

1. Enjoy reading about the feminist history of the cardigan.

2. I thought this was really helpful: If You’re Already Dreading Winter, Here Are Some Small Ways to Prepare Now. Guess it’s time to buy some twinkle lights and add them to dark corners:

If you are resisting getting string lights for some reason that is slightly snobby, I implore you: get the damn string lights! They help so much when it gets dark at 4 p.m.!!!!

3. Please enjoy perhaps the best gif to come out of the election.  The “this is fine” dog feels like he’s actually going to be fine now.

Looking At

By in gram time

Some lighthearted memes that aren’t entirely political? Don’t mind if I do.

First two via

 

Actual footage from my bench workout Tuesday, via

 

Waiting for this, via 

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