January 2015 – Page 3 – Better Living Through Literature

Tuesday Project Roundup: Christmas Shirt

January 6, 2015January 6, 2015 Karen1 Comment

Here’s the last of the secret sewing projects of 2014: A shirt for Doc for Christmas. I was inspired by this Prana shirt, which seemed in his wheelhouse, so I started with McCalls M6044 and Kaufmann “Mammoth” plaid flannel. Then I decided to add a back yoke, flat fell all the seams, and add real tower sleeve vents, which required re-drafting the sleeves into one piece (and adding 2 inches of length; Doc is tall).

Sleeve vent detail (and flat felled sleeve seam)

This tower sleeve vent tutorial was very helpful, as was this one on collar construction and this tip to get perfect collar points.

Overall it was a lot of fun to sew but adding all the classic shirt tailoring steps made it take longer (duh) so I was getting a little anxious by the end. But I got it all done the weekend before Christmas and it turned out how I thought it would in my head. Even better, it fits him and best of all, he likes it.

Words For 35

January 5, 2015 Karen1 Comment

My “theme” for this year is from E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End:

“Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.”

In context, Forster was talking about connecting the “animal” and “intellectual” parts of our natures. But to me it also means connecting the different parts of myself into a better whole. Connecting to other humans and the earth, in the words of this Neil DeGrasse Tyson quote. Connecting in my relationship and making joint decisions. Connecting my dreams into workable plans using the insight from this post (a great read, if you’re a procrastinator–the author could be describing my brain). Living in fragments no longer.

As I said a couple times last year, this year is the year I want to get a tattoo. And I’ve had this quote picked for it in the back of my head for years. Here’s a design I’m 98% certain about, courtesy of a designer at work who does amazing hand lettering:

As soon as I’m sure the other 2%, I’m going in. Because it’s a good book and good advice and this will be a good year–and I want a reminder of all of it.

Thoughts On Turning 35 Tomorrow

January 2, 2015 Karen

Notes:
1. That is not Toby; I found the image making the rounds on Tumblr. (I would never sneak up on Toby with a dinosaur!)
2. I’ll have real birthday goals/New Year resolutions on Monday, when I recover from the shock.

New Year, Old Birthdays

January 1, 2015 Karen

Happy new year! And happy birthday to two of the authors in my Top Ten: E.M. (Edward Morgan) Forster and J.D. (Jerome David) Salinger.

For the new year, here’s Salinger’s Zooey telling it like it is about this world:

“God damn it,” he said, “there are nice things in the world–and I mean nice things. We’re all such morons to get so sidetracked.”