Oh, the thing's I've found...

I've got enough material to blog for a few days at least. Today there will be some pictures, though. I finally pulled the picture of Karen's bag off my camera, and got a picture of the wonderful Sauteed Summer Vegetables. And it's been raining like crazy here for the first time in months, so I have some pictures of the sky to share, too. Also coming today, costume talk. It is supposed to be dress-up day, after all.

First off, The Karen Bag. It's made of denim because she walks everywhere and it needed to be sturdy. She works two jobs, so it needed to be big enough to carry her uniforms. It's blue because that's her favorite color. I now present The Karen Bag.

I made it using a bag I made from a pattern my mom had a couple years ago. It's big enough to use as a school bag with a laptop, charger, and textbooks, and small enough to use as a large purse. The only problem is that it's really deep and it has a large opening, which would make it all too easy for pickpockets. I wouldn't carry it at a festival.

Time for something mouth-watering. The vegetable dish.

Oh, how I love this thing. Pardon my messy stove. Admire my collection of cast-iron. And drool at the glory that is nothing but fresh vegetables. For the recipe, click this link.

Rain! Glorious rain! It hasn't really rained here in about a month and a half. The last good rain we had was on my birthday, June 28. A couple days ago, a couple friends in Stillwater contacted me to let me know what was heading this way. Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. Loss of power, downed trees, and a little fear. I stood on the porch and watched in true Okie style. The photos that follow are in order of occurrence.

One friend sent a picture to me titled Aftermath. It was a picture of all the trees around his place that had lost limbs. I sent him the last one, also titled Aftermath.The sky was absolutely beautiful all through the storm, and when it had blown over, this is what it left behind in the sunset. We've been having weather like this for the last few days now.

And now for the actual Friday report: I'm getting a lightsaber! More specifically, I'm getting this saber. Sorry. It won't let me post an image of it. I'll get you one when it gets here, which might be today or tomorrow. Anyway... It's my birthday present, precious. I need a costume for it. There's nowhere to wear it 'cept conventions and Halloween, really, but that works for me. And it gives me practice modding patterns. See, I'm not going with the pattern-book costume Jedi mess for me. I want to still look like a female. I don't want the long skirt business, either. After a long-ish search, I found this:

Character design by commander-13

Very close to what I want! The top's a bit too racy for me, and I'll be wearing it mostly in colder weather (Halloween will be it's debut), so I figured I'd add another layer. A long sleeved shirt underneath should do well. Off to the pattern stash! For the under-layer, I found McCall's 7899, printed in 1995. I then looked at it again and discovered that for the tunic, the same pattern would work! I just use some different pieces and lengthen it, leave the sides open for the ties I want, and ta-da!

Tops A and F for the top half of the Jedi costume.

Instead of a narrow belt, as is shown in both the Jedi picture and the pattern example, I'm going with an Obi style belt. I like the width of it and the corset-y influence it has on one's shape.  While thinking about it this morning, I figured out a way to modify this, too. Instead of overlapping ends I'm going to make it just long enough so that the points meet and have them tie together there. I'll put a narrow belt over that in the middle to hide the tie and to put my various pouches on when I get them.

And for the pants, I'm using Simplicity 8186 printed in 1998. They've got pockets and they are tight enough to show I'm a woman, and loose enough to move around in. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to make anything with a hood or not. An asymmetrical mini-cape would be fun, I think.

Now I think I'm done for the day. There's still a lot I want to blog about, though. My experiences with Molten Front dailies, the tiered skirt measurement generator I found yesterday, my pick-nick dress, and the pictures of my new house dress that I haven't taken... Those things will have to wait, though. Now it is time for caffeine and an egg.

-Anny

From the Kitchen: Sauteed Summer Vegetables

It's summertime, which means that vegetables are coming up. Oh, man are they coming up. Probably not here, but the local Wal-Mart has some good ones from somewhere right now. Josh and I went to pick up some sandwich stuff and came home with a bag full of yummies. Squash, a tomato, some green beans, a few onions... And all of it went into my latest creation. This one's all me, too.

You will need:

1 small onion, sliced
1 T olive oil
1 medium squash, cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 handful green beans, cut into 1" segments
1 tomato, gutted and cubed
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

What you'll do:

Saute the onions in the olive oil until they're tender. Add everything else, lower the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, too.

Makes 2 servings

Yeah. It's that easy. I'm thinking about eating the second serving right now, to be honest. Sooooo good! Next time I make some I'll throw up a picture, 'cause it's pretty too. All the color!

I'll also put up pictures of the Karen Bag. They're still on my camera, right before the pictures of the fire that I've already thrown up. And maybe I'll get some pictures of my new house dress!

So my parents came to visit on Friday and my mom brought a bag of trims with her for me. As she carried it in, I saw a wad of orange fabric on top. And not just any orange; burnt orange. I. Hate. Burnt. Orange. Turns out it was a dress with some gaudy embroidery all over the front and it's shaped like a potato sack. There were ties in the back, though, so that wasn't so bad. I put it on the next morning. Keep in mind: Orange, potato sack, gaudy embroidery. Add to that list: too short to wear beyond the front door. This shapeless thing has nothing going for it! At all! I'm making another.

That's right, I've completely lost my mind. I love it! I'm wearing the orange one right now. And eventually I'm going to make a How to Recreate a Shapeless Garment thing and put it here, too.

The new one is, of course, purple. Instead of the tacky trim around the bottom but not the hem, I chose some black crocheted lace and used that around the hem. One one of the front corners (there's also scandalously high slits =P) I'm embroidering some cogs and a cool steampunk-y swirly thing, compliments of Urban Threads.

Personal information taken out due to Blog changes 7/2013

I started playing Minecraft. It's super-addictive until you get your house the way you want it and landscape your yard to perfection. Then it's boring. I got bored, which means that I spent a week mining for stuff and finding stuff and building a small castle and some waterfalls. All done. I'm actually a little bored with games. Am looking forward to Skyrim, though. Skyrim is the latest in the Elder Scrolls game line. While I missed out on Oblivion, I'm super-excited for Skyrim. Morrowind was just too amazing and I wish I could find my copy so I could get sucked back into that.

Games, food, sewing, jobs... I think I've covered everything! And now it's off to bed, off to bed...

-Anny