Reaching Out

- yesterday I baked a cake using the brown rice / white rice / tapioca flour / cornstarch mix I made. It tastes like tapioca, mostly. Which I don't know how to feel about. I think I'd like it better as a cookie.

- i made a sewing machine cover as well

- then I read David Eddings' Elenium for the first time ever. It is chockful of the usual racism and strange gender stereotypes. His usual cast of characters - the thief, the strange child, the sorceress, the "practical everyman" - were present. I don't care much for Sparhawk like I did for Garion, which might be on account of his age, but he's as old as Althalus and I think Althalus is more amusing. The Styricans as being less metropolitan but more civilized, in their own view, was really interesting, but it doesn't go very far since we only have one or two Styric characters. Of course there were some Laugh Out Loud lines and some philosophical passages. Also glad that his oeuvre includes marriages between immortal women and mortal men, partners of similar ages, because the Much Older Man + Aggressive Younger Woman thing kind of tweaks my nose a bit. They're easy books to read because of all that tho, very plot-driven. Definitely not the kind of stories I've been picking out for the SEAsteampunk antho at least XD

I got out of bed before 10am to work some more on my skirt, and around 2.30pm tore away from it to head to campus, where I met with PK and starlady to go downtown to the Mission Inn tour! We then went to get cupcakes, and hung out at my place for a bit before going to Marlen's for dinner, where I overstuffed myself with tacos. I always underestimate tacos!

Anyway, while walking home, first, there was a creepy guy behind us who was either talking to us or to himself, which freaked PK out so much she asked us to slow down so he could pass us. Then just as we thought we were safe, someone threw an egg from a car and hit PK on the side of her head. I thought it was a fucking litterbug throwing their juice out of their car and hitting someone, but no, dudes were lobbing eggs out onto the sidewalks. Awful end to what was a pretty good evening otherwise.

I got home and finished the skirt waistband and attached some hooks and eyes (might re-do those in the future, we'll see how I feel about it) and good thing I measured the waistband one inch longer than initially planned because the way I made the skirt, I underestimated how much for the waistband. I don't do shaped waistbands, and work with straight ones, so it can get a bit weird. I might try shaping my skirt segments next time. Anyway, some pictures of it!

I left Dr. HM a copy of The Last Unicorn in his mailbox a few weeks ago, because since we were talking about voices in novels ala Bakhtin, I thought he might find that a good novel to read. He responded by leaving a copy of The Complete Stories of JG Ballard in my mailbox! I can't bloody reading his handwriting but I THINK the post-it says "Jaymee yg baik" XDDDD

Had a meeting with the former VP of the dept GSA, which I am now president of, to go over the Constitution and other things. Then she and I went to JoAnn. She didn't have much time to spare, but she wanted to get a cover for a seat cushion. I just wanted to get a magnetic pin bowl and some red cotton jersey for underwear. She scored really awesomely; a beautiful chenille fabric she was super happy with, AND it was halfoff, and since she only needed half a quarter, it was even cheaper.

I went a bit mat and bought a bunch of 4 inch zips, and going to make a few little purses with the fun fabric I've got. I bought some remnants because remnants are fun--red swimwear and bridal lining lolol. I also got a pencil marking set and elastic which the packaging says is for lingerie. I'm going to give a try! The stretch cotton I got is also 40% modal which is reaally nice for underwear lining, so I'm quite happy with my spree this time!

Quite happy, quite happy indeed. I really ought to make more friends in the area who can sew.

Made my first pair of panties since taking the class last year, and it turned out rather well, I think!

Here are some pics of the process on Tumblr:
Gusset sewn in, still no elastics (I actually tried sewing it on last night and it went wrong)
Photos of elastic, elastic pinned in for the first round of sewing, then after it's folded over again with a straight stitch and the side seams
Finished product! With butts!

Am so glad the elastics came in when they did because my oven had a meltdown and I was freaking out and had to calm down by resolutely telling myself, "keep calm and finish the underwear" which I worked on while the workman was making his way over to my place with a replacement burner.

After a terrible day of waking up late and then not being able to do anything due to a migraine and attempting to rest but just, everything was bleh. It was a bleh kind of day.

So in the end I gave up the whole idea of reading and pulled out my table and started fixing my skirt! Turns out I still had to install a zipper, but with the elastic in place, it fits a lot better. I haven't bothered hemming it, since it already looks so busy, so no one will notice, so yay!

And while I had my sewing machine out, I started making a cloth pad! A matching set, even! (I haven't really bothered matching my pads... if it needs stuffing, I pick whatever happens to be handy.) So the day wasn't a total bust!

I also, for the first time in MONTHS, logged into Model Mayhem to read and respond to messages. I'm not really feeling up to modeling just yet, but it can't hurt to connect with local photographers.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive in terms of schoolwork.

Met up with Nalo today to hang out. She gave me a copy of SISTER MINE! ^_____________^ \(^o^)/ We bused to Day St, where I promptly forgot how to get to Jo-Ann and had to think a long time. Found it, of course, because it is not easy to stump me for long. I needed some ribbon for my dress, and she needed yarn. I also ended up buying some more fabric... to make cloth pads with :D Nalo said she might have green and yellow towel stuff that she could give me. And it's PERFECT because one of the fabrics I got is a set of Marvel characters XD I'm so excited! After finishing this dress I'll be drafting stuff for pads and experimenting with sizes and then I'll take them to WisCon with me.

We stopped into a home deco store because I needed some over the door hangers, since I'm a bit tired of my crap laying around on the floor.

Then we went into Michaels because, well, it's Michaels, and we are both craftsy people.

Since there wasn't much else we wanted to do, we headed to downtown Riverside to have some tacos at a very interesting restaurant she told me about, whose proprietor makes sculptures on his premises out of junk.

By the time I got home, it was 5.30, and I just about passed out.

I tried finishing my dress, but the elastics didn't work, and in the end, it just didn't fit well! =( I really underestimated how stretchy the fabric is. I'm still not sure what to do about it. I could go with the original plan of making a pinafore, or I could experiment with even more fabric (I still have a LOT of it left) and make a loose-fitting top with a split back that buttons at the top, and interesting sleeves using a trick Priscilla told me about.

Hmmmm, so many possibilities. Either way, I'll finish with the skirt first and then move from there.

Monday. What did I do on Monday? I can't remember. Maybe I cleaned a little bit. I know there was some back and forth with Dr. S about the final grades.

EDIT: I remember now! I filed my federal taxes. And spent time complaining about it on Tumblr as I did so. I also worried about whether I needed to do state taxes. (As it turns out, no, I don't, because I didn't make more than $15k. I wonder if I should do it anyway, just to get the hang of it.) I also called my dad at night. He didn't know it was me!!! =(

Tuesday, I spent the day with Chi. We went to Canyon Crest Towne Center, where I sent off my brother's stuff at last. We then wandered around looking for the shoe repair store, but the shoe guy told me he couldn't fix my shoes =( I think they're really gone. It still wasn't a wasted trip; Canyon Crest is a really nice place. There were a couple of places that were closed down, which made me really sad, but it gave me the idea of creating a workshop that people could come and rent tools and a place to work in. Then they wouldn't have to have more space or buy tools which they wouldn't otherwise use. It'd be like a sewing cafe. And every so often, there'd be a workshop for various things like gardening or woodworking or fixing lights, little life skills like that.

After that we had lunch at Busy Cafe, and went to my place where I taught her how to bake cake! She'd never done it before. I didn't have vanilla though. I think it makes a difference. Now that I've baked two cakes without vanilla, it seems to me that without the vanilla the cake doesn't rise. She also perused my books. She needs to read stuff on feminist theory, so I loaned her some of my stuff. We then went to campus. I returned books and cleaned out my desk a little. I've got to go back and get the rest of the stuff though.

Wednesday.... I went to San Diego! E and Ak came to get me in the morning and we drove to Dumpling Inn. After that we bought some cake and put it into a cooler, then went to the zoo! We covered almost everything... we didn't get to the reptiles or the petting zoo, but we hit pretty much every else. Except the pandas. I developed a headache from the sunstroke, but drinking a bit of water staved it off. We took the cakes out, and I had brought along my picnic mat, and we basically picnicked on the side of the road XD Then we drove to get onion rings for snacks, and since we had time, I got them to take me to a pet supplies store. I was hoping for a pet store with some actual animals but whatever. There was also a Jo-Ann nearby, so we spent some time there too. I have some red elastic which I'm going to put in the back of my planned dress.

We finished the day with Little Sheep Hot Pot which was pretty fucking amazing. Then we had to do the long drive home. By this time I was pretty sure that getting into a car right after eating a lot of food that involves drinking a lot of fluids is a bad idea but whatever. This happened.

I'm tidying up my apartment today, in preparation for the new quarter and also because I need to vacuum and minimize dust mites (aka DERMATOPHAGOIDES FARINAE). I'm also going to K-mart to buy some more dirt. I'm going to see if I can persuade anybody to take me to Home Depot or something so I can buy more dirt.

I'm also thinking about taking up pulping paper and making my own little recycled notebooks. That way I'll be less distressed about the amount of printing I have to do and the fact that there is no paper recycling center that's easy for me to get to. We'll see though.

I also really want a big floppy hat to replace the one I lost =(

The corset class is over! I was the second person to finish, and apparently the rest of this week they're going to learn how to make strapless bras. Boo! I want to learn how to make a strapless bra too! I want to learn everything, really.

But I have a new corset! It has DC superheroines on it and I am pleased as punch.

Turns out one of my classmates had been hankering to move back to Ontario, and if she'd known that I was moving and looking for someone to take over my apartment, she would have spent her weekends here looking for jobs (she's been here five weeks!! for the pro-fitting course and then these other classes). Sigh. She's run out of money so she can't afford to move now, oh well.

But yeah, gonna stay busy busy busy over the next few days. Almost done packing!!

When you teach me how to make underwear, and then put funky lace into my hands.

I REGRET NOTHING!

I think I'm going to make one more serious bra and then I'll be set for bras for a long while ^_^ My dad told me I should just bring home all the stuff, including my piano and sewing machine. I'm not sure he remembers how awkward it is to transport, but he seems to remember it "not that heavy" and since I have a 32kg luggage allowance, he seems to think I will fit it all OK. Um. I'm not so sure of that, and there's still the issue of, how can I get a big box to fit that piano?? But I'll also bring home some fabrics and patterns.

Next thing on my list that I MUST make: shorts! Short short shorts! With pockets!

Yesterday, went to Steam on Queen. Took pictures of mostly POC and have to email people now. Also began preliminary planning for a local Hamilton steampunk group that actually does stuff.

Today, had a bra class! It's a vertical seam bra (which has no pattern because the pattern has to be drafted from the classic bra pattern) and despite having to go home to get my power cord for my machine and thus starting a little late, I finished my bra on time!! The teacher was really pleased. Here's a picture.

I'm going to chill out tomorrow, and work some more on a new pair of shorts (I want something baggier, more flowing).