Slinky Top, Dress Form and Handyman Woes

I decided to go back to my stash of Slinky fabrics today.  I love the way the Slinky feels on my skin, but it can sure be a pain to sew.  You have to have all-your-ducks-in-a-row!  I started sewing with the set-up I had yesterday, and I could not sew two inches without major issues.  I put on the walking foot -- no help.  I rethreaded the machine -- no help.  I cleaned the bobbin case -- no help.  FINALLY, it dawned on my lightning fast mind that the needle was a sharp instead of a ballpoint.  Sometimes, that doesn't matter, but in the case of Slinky it matters a LOT!  I was about ready to take my machine in for service because I was so frustrated, but finally it sewed right with the ballpoint needle.

AND I am using Lucy to try my blouses on, and I really like her for that.  I just pinned this slinky to her.  The shoulder and side seams aren't even in yet.  It is like having a giant doll to play with! 

The fabric is what I call "Slinky".  It is from gorgeousfabrics.com.  I'm sure Ann had a fancy name for it.  It's a nice quality.  How do you like the way the heart landed right in the middle of my belly! 

This is my Sure-Fit Designs KNIT blueprint with the bust dart moved into a French dart.  It looks so much better, I think, although kind of hard to sew.

I'll post another picture of this blouse when I get it done.

So I did that today, and Kirk showed up his usual several hours late.  If he didn't do such good work, I would never call him again.  He really does do good work though.  You could have some guy that showed up at 6 AM but did a bad job.  The shower floor is fixed.  Let me run and take a picture!!!

It is not fake marble, but I don't care.  It sure beat the alternative of tearing out the whole bathroom and spending $10,000.  The day after tomorrow, I can get in my own shower again -- Yeah!  It has to cure or dry or something for 24 hours.

One of my readers -- also named Joy -- commented that my amoeba blouse looked like it was choking me (my interpretation), and I totally agreed with her.  Hence I made it a little bit deeper. 

On the left is what it looked like yesterday with the high "choker" neckline.

On the right is the neck after I lowered it a LITTLE today.  Still looked the same to me.

So I opened up the neckline AGAIN and lowered it some more.  Now, I like the neckline, but it looks like most of my others.  Still don't like the print, but I could clean house in it, I suppose.  I think I'm just SICK of this blouse! 

Or maybe it is all that GRAY hair on my head.  We will say goodbye to it in the morning! 

Just found out I'm going to Kingfisher in the morning to HELP Kirk finish the job at my MIL's house.  He missed one door that doesn't close right and a small crack in the ceiling.  Jerry wants him to redo the wall-to-wall ceiling crack in the Master Bedroom.  That was going to cost too much, so I offered to help him.  He took me up on my offer -- DARN!  Guess I'll be in the construction business now, lol.  Whatever my part is knocked $200 off the bill.  I'm taking my magic rags! 

I'm actually a very good painter -- of walls, that is.  My Dad, his brothers and his Dad were all house painters.  My Dad became a Design Engineer and worked for GE and later Motorola, but he still always painted our homes and taught us kids how to paint.  My sister, Janice, spent a Summer in Ohio with my Grandpa painting with him.  He called her his "left hand man".  How cute.  My Grandpa was a character, let me tell you.  At the end of every season, he would mix all the leftover paints together, and that is the color my Grandma's kitchen got painted.  I have a picture somewhere of Grandpa's car painted TWO-tone with leftover house paint. 

My Grandma would say, "I get SO provoked!"  That's the most horrible she ever "cussed".  She was an adorable Granny.  The Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies totally reminds us of her.  Her name was Hattie.  You didn't DARE tell my Grandma you didn't feel good or were sick because she would put together some kind of poltice -- smear it on your neck, and wrap a sock around your neck.  She had a cure for everything, and it wasn't a doctor visit!  She baked bread every Tuesday.  I used to stand by the oven and wait for it to be done.  I gained ten pounds the year I lived with her.  I lived with my grandparents my 17th year, and I sure do miss them both. 

Hugs, Joy