30 August 2008

Efficient use of time

Here is the end of the month. The last two weeks have passed quickly. The election was on the 12th, and I have been working on the belt and yoke for my cousin's granddaughter. My sister was home for a week. The swearing ceremony was on the 25th and school board filing started on the 26th. All the latest gadgets are available for me to make more efficient use of my time. Hah! I need to narrow my interests is what I need to do. Doing Beadwork and reading are the most important parts of my life. Althooough, I did spend a good part of the last week surfing the Web. I haven't done that for quite a while. I spent a good deal of time in the craft store looking at projects that I might do in the future. Like three or four years from now. This winter I will be working on traditional clothes for my sons. They are in the 3XL size and over 6 feet tall. Oh joy of joys. Contemplating the ribbon shirts is what is daunting. I make a lot of traditional items and they are all hand sewn. I am learning to use a machine. When I bought my Brother machine, all I cared about at the time was that it sewed a straight line. I was making cloaks for my son and neice. I made one for one son's friend and it still needs to be hemmed. He says he's here and will stand still to be measured. Like yeah. Sewing ribbons on by hand isn't my idea of fun. I have a hard enough time with bias edging. My mom looks at me when I am struggling with something, then says she is going to lay down for awhile. Maybe I should use patterns. My mother doesn't have to use patterns. She looks at the cloth, cuts it and then sews. It works out fine. Maybe she has to fit it to the person once in a while. That's all she does. The boys are not picky about what they wear, as long as the clothes fit. I'm going through several designs in my head now and hoping the vests will work out. I asked my youngest for one of his shirts and he almost refused to let me use it. He thought I was going to cut it up. Children. My oldest is happy with most items as long as they are not outlandish; lime green and pink comes to mind. My dad suggested I put a big G on the back when I told him that I was going to get green velvet. He is a Packer fan. I laughed. Using patterns doesn't always work for me either. I used a dress pattern for my jingle dress. I couldn't find one with the style of sleeves I wanted. My mom (the look, cut, sew person) said to make the sleeves the way I wanted and use the pattern. Okay, I did just that. Then I tried it on. I forgot to adjust for the different sleeve and that part of the dress didn't fit. I had to take that part of it out and make do. It's almost enough to make everything using leather. Then it's too hot to dance in. But using a machine will make things go a little faster for me. I must learn. I think about how long it took to get my beads on right and console myself with the knowledge that one day soon, I will conquer the sewing machine.