They lie, or also what happens to people once they go to med school

So I cut my foot.

Pretty bad.

I came home from work wearing my most cute if I do say so myself kitten heel sandals with the dragonflies on them. Super cute. Lots of summery skin and toes exposed which is great as far as I'm concerned, despite my need for a bunionectomy on my right foot.

Anyhoodle, I was standing in the kitchen opening one of the sixteen boxes that arrived today, very run of the mill stuff for work. I was using those kitchen scissors that come apart at the center thingy? On purpose? And when they came apart, one of the sides dropped to the ground. No biggee.

Until I stepped on it.

And twisted my ankle, and somehow in that process the damn scissors turned and stabbed me in the side of my heel. Deeply.

I screamed out! NEIL! I'M CUT!

He came rushing into the kitchen to my rescue, in his underwear. Apparently he'd also just returned home from work and was in the process of changing out of his suit when I screamed bloody murder.

He cleaned up the wound, fainted a little, swooned a lot, put a bandaid on it and I went off on my merry way. Until I looked down and realized blood was gushing all over my foot. Dangit. More fainting from Neil.

So we went to the beautiful, clean, brand spanking new prompt care by our house, that has full emergency room care services available, and within thirty minutes I was stitched up and out of there! But not before The Big Lie.

I had a tetanus shot six years ago. Hurt like hell, and they said it would last me ten years.

OH NO. IT DOESN'T. For a stab wound like that, it only lasts five years. So I had a tetanus shot. And some lidocaine shots, all of which hurt like a mother and way more than the stitches they put in my heel to pull me back together. But I believe the doctor called it "a pinch." Apparently she's never had painful shots before, because they feel like painful shots. Not like a pinch.

Too bad the stitches didn't stop the bleeding. I've been losing vital fluids all night, to the point where my husband wrapped my heel in a diaper to keep the blood from ruining our home.

Nice.

- H

Details would be good, no?

Hmm, little details like the pattern number in my previous post my have been nice.

So I shall share.

I made Burda 7834, pictured here. I added six inches to the length because I'm not so much a fan of people seeing my muffin top courtesy of the two monkeys pictured on my righthand sidebar.

A reader (Indie House) commented that she made it, too, and had the same situation with the tightness of the band under the breastage area, so I hunted down her post and it's here. She also explains sewing curves, which I hadn't really thought about but I guess for a beginner sewer may be a bit confusing. I tend to avoid pins and hold the opposing pieces while taking one or two stitches at a time.

The other thing about Burda patterns is this: the pieces go together very nicely, but the directions are somewhat sparse. For instance, they'll have a picture of two pieces going together but they don't tend to label the pattern pieces in the diagrams. Or in the description. So it's kind of an exercise in looking at the names of the pieces instead of the numbers.

Don't the Germans know we Americans are lazy and just want sew by numbers projects??!!

Oh, wait. They probably know that. They probably do it on purpose just to mess with us.

And then they'll write a paragraph that includes four or five very important steps with absolutely no diagrams whatsoever.

Hey, by the way? When I first made a Burda pattern sixty four years ago (ok, twenty-two years ago), they didn't come with seam allowances on the pieces. These days? They've caved to the lazy Americains and all patterns include seam allowances.

- H

I'm in love with German engineering

Not cars. Although, if someone were to give me a BMW it's not like I'd turn it away or anything.

No, in this case I'm in love with German engineering in sewing pattern-making.

I swear, every single time I work up a Burda pattern I am awestruck at how perfectly the pieces go together. Seriously. Cutting errors included, those patterns go together like they were born to be that way.

And for sewers, that's almost unheard of. I was impressed with Amy Butler's patterns because they have a similar quality to them, but Burda takes the cake. Too bad their selection is a little strange and limited and whatnot, although I'm learning to overlook the strangeness and try it anyway.

Here's my latest Burda top. I had feather fabric printed at Spoonflower months ago and I just now got around to actually making something out of it. It's also a shame I just assumed what size I was and didn't actually measure anything and compare it to the pattern measurements.

Cause I kind of have to hold in my breath to wear this top.

It's a good incentive to shed the ten pounds I'm carrying around for no reason.

This is the kind of top that could be a nightmare because of the bands, but instead it was a dream!

I still have to hem it, ignore the loose threads.

- H

I've been in a coma

Nah. Not really. I just haven't had the oomph to write lately. There's a lot going on, mostly mundane things, plus the two little punks that follow me around from room to room are still following me, plus the job that keeps the roof over our heads is kinda busy right now. And then there's my all-consuming "hobby" if that's what you can call something so all-consuming and ridiculously all-consuming as my sewing obsession has become. If I didn't mention it, it's also very all-consuming.

One of these days I'll be back. The Old Me. Old Heather. Writing like a fiend about nothing in particular. About navel lint and BMs.

I hope it's soon, I miss my blogreader the most.

- H

Odds n ends, mostly odds

I just found out today that a fellow blogger had featured one of my Etsy items on her blog last month!

http://tulsadetails.blogspot.com/2009/06/baby-bird-finds.html

I put this pillowcase dress on hold a while ago because of my ADD. I seem to have a serious problem making the same thing more than once. Twice I can usually handle, after that I want to poke my eyes out for some reason. So I guess I should probably mention in my store profile that all of my items are one of a kind, because the creator has the attention span of a gnat.

On Friday my hubs had a surgical procedure. In a sensitive area. On the bumcakes. So this weekend has been full of caring for him, caring for the two children, and fending off extreme crankiness due to above-mentioned caretaking. I may just be suffering from PMS, but I feel like Monday morning cannot come soon enough.

- H

Fabric blowout sale!

All ye sewers and fabric hoarders, check out Fabric.com. They're having a designer cottons blowout sale, things like Jennifer Paganelli and Anna Maria Horner are on sale for $3.99 a yard plus free shipping!

I just spent way too much money, but I couldn't pass up that deal.

- H

Coming soon....

I hope to be back, writing about my ridiculously boring life pretty soon! Things are much much much much better with the hubs, I can honestly say I am happy again.

In the meantime, here's a little teaser on the things I've been working on.

Thanks for sticking around, friends.

- H

These are a few of my favorite things

I love this color. True robin's egg blue. From a robin's egg.

I love these shorts (okay, they're more like capris, but whatever). I made them for Griffin (twice) and the second time was success.

I got new labels for my Etsy store! True, woven cloth labels like store-bought clothing. From China. I think I might order tiny little foldover feather labels to go in sideseams, too. I love these things, they make me smile every time I see them.

- H