So, What Did YOU Do Yesterday?

I spent most of Monday under my son's new (old) car, a 1993 Jeep Cherokee. He and a friend installed new front brake rotors, calipers, and pads on Sunday but his friend had to take off early and the brake lines still needed to be bled to remove the air in the lines before the job was finished. DS bought this Jeep about 2 weeks ago and has been very impatient to get it fixed up so he can drive it. His main car for the last 2 years has been a 1965 Mustang with lots of looks but no air conditioning. He loves that car (and still has it) but wanted a "crapper" that he could tool around in and not really care where he parked it and, more importantly, one with A/C. I can't imagine driving around here in Florida in August without it, but he's done so for a while now. He'll get A/C for the Mustang one day but for now, he's sittting cool (finally!) in the new Jeep.

You would think that an 18-year old "dude" with a love for cars would also have some experience fixing them, right? Hah! He's handy but not very experienced in the car maintenance department since he has not really needed to be. Until now. I know a little from my dad and from my days as the teenage girl friend (not girlfriend, but female friend) and neighbor of Guys Who Drove Muscle Cars. OK, for a while I was girlfriend to one of them, but I digress. So anyway … I promised DS that I would help him yesterday and we would get his car road-ready or bust!

DS did the muscle work by jacking up the car, putting it on jackstands and removing the wheels. I studied the service manual, looked on the internet for more info and was ready with the how-to. Then we worked together to bleed the brake lines and to install new spark plugs and wires. Years ago, when I envisioned our mother-son bonding, I can tell you I never thought auto repair would be on the list. But it was actually a fun day together, even with the grease, brake fluid, and sweat. And we're happy to tell you the Jeep is braking like a champ, running smooth with the new plugs/wires, and DS will be driving it to work this morning and with hundreds more dollars in his bank account than the repair shop's.

Before Cook Auto Repair opened for the day, I did actually get in some sewing-related activities. Remember this Burda WOF top?





Well, I tried on the paper muslin again yesterday. Over TWO MONTHS after I first traced it. Sheesh. Time flies. I spent some time contemplating what I'd need to do to alter it and my head hurt. ;-) Not because it would be hard, but it would be time consuming and I'm short on time these days. So, instead of slicing/dicing my 42-to-48 graded-up pattern tracing, I decided to try recreating it in my pattern software. Which is what those doodles below are.



I'm nearly finished with the front pieces. I still have to create the neck and sleeve bands and then work on the back pieces, but so far my pattern pieces look nearly identical to the Burda pieces. When I've got mine finished and printed, I'll overlay the Burda pieces and do a final finesse to incorporate any subtleties missed during the "copy by eye" process.



Today, I'll try to finish up my pattern, get it printed and taped together. Maybe tomorrow I can squeeze in some time for a muslin.

Sewing Nibbles

Can't quite figure out what that's a photo of?? Well, let me help. That's one of the comforters on my bed. Post-Dani destruction and crude sewing job to seal the holes. This is one of her few puppy vices and she seems to know when the bed hasn't been made immediately upon getting up for the day.

It started out a few months ago as a little nibble out of one edge. OK, no big problem … a few runs of zigzag stitching at my machine and it was almost as good as new again. Well, not new since we've had it a while, but you know what I mean. Then some subsequent Saturdays later, we got up and left the bed unmade for a while, and when I went back upstairs to get dressed for the day, I was greeted by a big pile of stuffing and shreds of comforter in the middle of my bed, and, of course, Dani plopped in the center of the mess with bits and pieces hanging out of her mouth. The look of glee on her face was almost too much. That one took a little more creative sewing to patch up but I did it.

After that I'd been really good about making the bed as soon as I get up. For whatever reasons, she leaves it alone when the bed is made and she hasn't yet attacked the good top comforter that we turn back for sleeping. But today, I got up before DH and when he got up, he didn't make the bed. I went upstairs a while ago and found another big pile of stuffing and shreds. This time, however, the gleeful criminal was long gone. ;-)

The pic above actually looks better than it is in real life. That corner of the comforter (sor far, she likes only that one corner … DH's corner) is severely distorted, ugly and lumpy with all the haphazard fix-it-fast sewing all over. I'd buy another comforter right away except Dani is still a puppy and if when this happens again, I'd prefer it not be on a brand new one. So, we'll limp along with this ugly thing for a while longer, try harder to remember to make the bed immediately, and dream of the day when it's safe to buy a replacement.

(Another of her bad puppy vice is shoes. Dani has claimed and destroyed one pair per each member of our family and we've all learned that shoes not put up and away are fair game. The silver lining is that my teenage sons are now not leaving their shoes laying around the family room anymore.)

The other sewing nibble for today is my re-make of the annual football tee shirt Friday morning before starting my rounds of football meal pickup/delivery/serving and attending the game. These pics aren't so great and are after I wore my remade tee Friday night, so bear with me please. Here is one of the original man's tees:



And here is my remade version on top. I bound the new neckline in navy cotton/Lycra ribbing and used navy thread for coverstitching the sleeve and bottom hems for a bit of contrast. The whole thing took less than hour, start to finish, and it's the only sewing for me I've done in over a month, but it felt good to actually be sewing for me.



And the back view. Last year, this DS was "Cookie, Jr." since big brother is/was "Cookie." Now, he moves up to just "Cookie." This is the coaches' nickname for him, not ours.



Friday night's game was interesting in many ways. First, it was rain-delayed, which was good since we were going to be a bit late. (Ahem. Someone, and I'm not naming names, DH DH DH DH DH, has absolutely NO sense of direction.) And the trip home was delayed for everyone by 30 minutes spent parked on the interstate waiting for a huge accident to be cleared (surprisingly no serious injuries and no one involved that we know). But the game itself was great! Our team blew theirs away, 30-6, and my sophomore baby actually got to play when the starting Center was injured in the 4th quarter. Nothing serious, thankfully, and I had to explain to his mom (another red-headed Debbie and sitting right next to us) that I wasn't cheering for her son's injury but for my son's Varsity debut. They're our friends, so they understood. I hope. ;-)

The Guilt Trip … It Worked!

I'm still not really back to blogging but I couldn't stand another cute little sad plea for my return. LOL! Angie, Sondra — YOU CRACK ME UP!! Plus, I thought it was time to supplant that pic of the stuffed dog with a photo of real poochies.

Life is still rolling along here. Older son has deferred college until the Spring semester and is currently working two jobs. One is at The Cheesecake Factory, where he brings home TONS of tip money, more than should be legal for an 18-year old! The other is at The St. Pete Times Forum (in downtown Tampa), where the Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL hockey team) play and bands, shows, etc. perform. That job usually runs through the middle of the night when he and the rest of the "Conversion Team" change the floor from or back to ice. Thursday night was an Alice Cooper & Black Sabbath show and DS floated back home after actually talking to some of the (geriatric) rockers. ;-) DS is really liking that job and has been interested in sets and stages since his Drama days in high school. Who knows, maybe it will actually lead somewhere for him.

DS#2 is a sophomore this year. Our district changed their schedules and we've been adjusting to that. Until this year, we were on the "block" system, which meant four 90-minute classes per day, and only one semester per major class. So for instance, Biology would only take one semester instead of a whole year. Now, because of budgetary and legislative class-size concerns, they are on a traditional schedule with seven classes per day and all classes (except electives) last the full school year. Apparently you need less teachers/classrooms this way. DS is in all Honors and AP classes so he's a bit loaded down. But he's doing great and was the only kid in his World History class to make a 100 on a surprise test the other day. I hope he keeps that up!

And, yes, there's football. I'm still in the middle of the annual tee shirt sales and still doing the Varsity meals every Friday. DS#2 was supposed to be on the JV team this year. He is only a sophomore after all. But the Varsity second-string Center quit the team and so the Varsity coach moved DS up to the Varsity team to fill the gap. It's a mixed blessing because what it really means is that he won't play much and that disappoints him (and us). And no, he doesn't have a choice. Even with me as the Team Mom, there's no extra pull. LOL! But he's adjusting and the current Center is a senior this year so DS is definitely IN to be the starting Varsity Center his junior and senior years. I suppose it's good for him to learn some patience, right?

The biggest change around here is that DH and I have decided to get out of the self-employment biz. DS has been in training classes for the past couple of weeks with two more weeks to go before he moves into a slot with his former employer, a major transportation company. It will be nice to have regular paychecks and company-paid benefits again. But it also means DH will be on the road traveling a lot, leaving me to man the fort at home alone. That will take some getting used to after 15 years of a set-your-own schedule. Sigh.

The second biggest change is we're down to one vehicle between DH and I right now. The lease was up on our gas-guzzling SUV last month and we've just been too busy to slow down and decide/shop for what we want. So, of course, I've needed a vehicle during the day more than I usually do and we've had to do some shuttling. Ugh. With DS's Mustang in the shop the first 3 days of this past week, it's been ugly. But his car is out (long rant coming on that another day), and he's actually buying an old Jeep tomorrow to be his daily driver, so we'll be back to 3 vehicles in less than 24 hours. And once DH is out of the classes, we'll shop for our second and the family's fourth. Oh Lordy, be still my insurance rates! But I will say it's been nice to NOT have to $$fill up$$ the honkin' big V-8 SUV anymore.

And me. I haven't sewn a thing for myself since whenever I last posted I did. But I have been sewing. A LOT. And not doggy diapers, although I'm still doing them in dribs and drabs. I stumbled on to some private customers that at another time I might have turned town, but it's been lucrative so I'm giving it a shot since we need the income right now with DH in training mode and me officially un-self-employed. But, man, that Burda top is still calling to me every time I open the stash closet and see that beautiful fabric. Sniff, sniff. It will be hot/warm here for quite a while yet, so I haven't given up on it. And I will have to convert a football tee to a female version very soon. So, hang in there … there will be sewing on this blog again soon.

More Than You Ever Wanted To Know …

… about doggy diapers. ;-) (Sorry, no Burda top yet.)

So, along with making Dani some new diapers since she likes to chew on them (grrrr!), I decided to take some of your and my family's comments to heart and experiment with making others to sell. I figure between a flyer I'll put up at the dog park next week, Ebay and some other local venues, I might just gain a small customer base. There seems to be a need because many small dogs have piddle accidents in addition to those going into heat, but the "RTW" dipes you find in the chain pet stores are, frankly (and excuse the pun), butt-ugly. And many of the dipes on Ebay are horribly-sewn and still selling (although to be fair, some are very nice too). So, who knows if this will lead anywhere.

I've done some research and test sewing (one of the reasons I've been blog-absent). First, I went to the pet store with a measuring tape and notepad to get a better idea of the sizes & shapes. I figured why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already done the calculations. Then I made another trip with the measuring tape to the small dog side of the dog park since I'm limited with my own live "fit models." It was interesting convincing pet owners to let me measure their poochies' crotches. ;-)

Speaking of models … I also looked for and found (whew!) a free downloadable pattern for a stuffed dachshund. Oh, I love the internet! None of the Big 3/4 pattern companies have anything remotely useful for this or I probably would've bought that since finding a pre-made stuffed toy dog at Walmart was also a bust. I've seen my own photos of Dani (Hi Sherril) plus others using real dog models. It's very hard to capture a live dog photo which looks like they're enjoying the modeling session and/or the diaper. Since I don't think it's particularly good salesmanship to use humiliated models, I decided a generic dog was in order.

But smack me if I ever want to sew a stuffed dog again, OK? Sheesh. Flashbacks of Home Ec in junior high with a stuffed green & white gingham hippo (which I think my mom still has!).

The free pattern was fine, but talk about fiddly. All those Y intersections, sharp curves and tiny seam allowances and me with ravel-ly twill. I almost gave up in the middle of it. But when I went back at it the next day, things worked out better. She didn't turn out perfect but she's more than acceptable for these purposes. My sons think she's "freaky" because she has no face. I think she's kinda cute, and she makes a great pincushion. Ewww ... doggy acupuncture. ;-)



So, where was I? Oh yes. Patterns. Until 2 weeks ago, I'd never even contemplated making human baby diapers let along a doggy version. But I had my prototypes from Dani, measurements from the dog park and plenty of tracing paper, pencils and my french curves. Working out the basic pattern was pretty easy. Refining it and working out the fastest sewing order took a little more work.

If you remember, my first Dani dipes had a tail hole like this:



But I saw others on Ebay that had ribbing (or bias binding) like this one I made for Dani:



At first I thought the ribbing would be easiest. Ah, how wrong I was. It's hard to tell scale in my photos, but the tail holes are not that big and there's barely enough space to maneuver a sewing machine presser foot, let alone a serger or coverstitch machine foot.



Back to Plan A, but with a better sewing order (another of the prototype dipes for Dani).



Deciding on this tail hole did mean a pattern redraft of all the sizes but now I've streamlined the sewing and can spend less time and materials on the dipes because there's no ribbing to cut, sew/press in a circle and then attach and topstitch around the hole (swearing like a sailor the whole time!). On top of that, this unbound tail hole makes the diaper easier to put on and take off, especially when you add fur to the scenario. Plus, with all that seaming and thread at the dog's nether region with the bound version, I think it's got to be less comfortable. I do know that Dani chewed hers with the ribbing and has left the plainer tail holes alone.



Next up was deciding on the lining and interior. Flannel is soft and absorbent but little piddlers need a bit more protection. I settled on two layers of microfiber toweling sewn onto the wrong side of the flannel lining before assembly. It's soft and very absorbent without being too thick for the dog's comfort. Those with bigger wetness issues can also add a disposable pantyliner, etc., like we've been doing while Dani is in heat.





So here's one of the final dipes (Chihuahua or Yorkie sized). There's elastic inside at the tummy and leg areas to prevent gaping and leakage and heavy-duty Velcro at the waist for easy-on, easy-off and adjustability.



Here's another with a removable skirt option. Am I getting carried away now? ;-)



The last thing was to make myself a logo, of course! ;-)



If you'd like to make your own stuffed dachshund, here is the link. The original is much cuter than mine because it's made from faux fur and has a face. But don't say I didn't warn you about the sewing! I can't even fathom it with the fur.

Nothing Exciting

I figure I'd better post something just to let you all know I'm alive and well. Thanks for all the notes of concern. I really appreciate it!

I'm fine, but busy with life-stuff. Some sewing, some not, and a bit of computer burn-out which happens from time to time.

I've made not one iota of progress on the Burda top and it still sits in traced pattern form pinned to my dressform as you last saw. I'm hoping to work on it over the weekend.

The only sewing I've done since my last post is more panties for Dani since she likes to EAT them (sigh!) and some others to try to sell. More on that later.

I'll be back to posting regularly soon.