Woot woot!!! Number Fourrrrrrr!!! I didn't set out to start or complete a "significant thing" this weekend, but it happened.
On Friday night, I got a little inspired. I was all tired and ready for bed around 8pm (Old lady, I know.)...but thennn.... I saw a pile of fabric in the corner of my room, and BabyGirl was just staring me down. So, I just started turning her dials and making her my size. I cranked her wide open (without taking one measurement) and thought that I'd just go from there, but then I got a tinge of doubt. What if this won't really fit me? How can I tell...Oh! There's a "piece of my clothing" on the floor of my room that I could try on BabyGirl and see for sure. Whoa. It didn't fit. I cranked her back down to the base size and...bada-boom...we were set to go.
(Then I went to bed. Yep. That was it for Friday.)
The picture above and the picture below are the only ones I took during the process. I was in the zone. There were no expectations, no patterns, no measurements, and no deadlines. Just me, my music (Fleet Foxes and Lightspeed Champion--my constant companions), coffee and what felt like 3 million pins. I just kept pinning (and re-pinning) and chopping and singing and stitching. *Jonah's not feeling very well. His tension is all off...so we had a bit of a go every once in a while. Poor thing. I need to get him some help.*
That was my Saturday. As you can see, I ended up with this top...I'd like to call it a tunic, because I don't think that "shirt" accurately describes what it is. I'm not sure that it's actually a tunic though, either. Call it what you will. (It doesn't really matter.=] )
This creative expression needed to happen. The process was very cathartic and made me extremely happy. It felt really good to make something from my own hands, out of my own head and to wear it with pride. Instant mood-booster.
So there you have it. Significant Thing Number Four.
As usual, I'm taking all suggestions into consideration for the remaining 19 things on my list. (I guess it's more like 15 or 16 things... I already have a few in the works.)
Lerv, lerv.
P.S.- I really loved this picture taken this afternoon. (The subject of the photo has asked to remain nameless. Fair enough.)
T-Diddy helped me out a couple times (thank you!) with measurements, because these were mostly a surprise. I also had just a few random measurements from Barley to work with. From those, I decided to cut off about 8" from the bottom of each pant leg. I deconstructed those legs and used the fabric from them to make cuffs.
After taking the front and back panels apart from the cut-off pant legs, I ironed the pieces and seamed them together to make a longer piece for the cuffs.
Hosh agreed to try on the knickers probably twice during the process. He's closer to Barley's size than I am, but let me tell you...he is NOT a fan of straight pins. I begged and begged him though a couple times and got him to help a sista out! After he tried them on the first time, I marked the inseams and slimmed the legs up a bit.
From the time I started these knickers, I knew I wanted to include a couple things, and some hand-stitching was one of them. Something about embroidery is really fun for me (I say as I look longingly at a current project featuring just that). I don't like patterns (I HATE patterns), so I don't use them when I stitch things. This first part ("Barle") took all of about 10 minutes.
The "Y", as you can see, posed more of a problem. I just wasn't happy with it the first two times I stitched it. (Yes, I tore out the "Y" twice before I decided I liked it.)
After I finished the cuffs and made (sort of) slits in the outsides of the legs, I pinned the cuffs onto the bottom. This was difficult...flat cuffs, curved pant leg. Ha. 
This picture was taken in my car on one of my lunch breaks at work. By the middle of this project, I had a kit all put together to take back and forth with me wherever I was headed so I could work on it during my spare time. During this particular time, I was sewing on buttons. I didn't leave any of the original buttons on the pants. 
The night before I sent the knickers on their way to Perkasie to find Barley at home, I put them on and took a few pictures, just in case this was the last time I saw them. =)
This is Nessie and he is way cooler than the Dickies' label that was there before I ripped it off. Also, this was copied from one of Barley's tattoos. 
Barley (10:24 am): THEY FIT GREAT
Barley (11:41 am): These are so comfy!!! :]
Barley (1:02 pm): IT SAYS BARLEY ON THE LEG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Soooo, there you have it--Barley's Knickers!!! They (ultimately) made me happy (even though they drove me insane a few times). 
The picture above and the picture below are the only ones I took during the process. I was in the zone. There were no expectations, no patterns, no measurements, and no deadlines. Just me, my music (Fleet Foxes and Lightspeed Champion--my constant companions), coffee and what felt like 3 million pins. I just kept pinning (and re-pinning) and chopping and singing and stitching. *Jonah's not feeling very well. His tension is all off...so we had a bit of a go every once in a while. Poor thing. I need to get him some help.*
That was my Saturday. As you can see, I ended up with this top...I'd like to call it a tunic, because I don't think that "shirt" accurately describes what it is. I'm not sure that it's actually a tunic though, either. Call it what you will. (It doesn't really matter.=] )
This creative expression needed to happen. The process was very cathartic and made me extremely happy. It felt really good to make something from my own hands, out of my own head and to wear it with pride. Instant mood-booster.
So there you have it. Significant Thing Number Four. 
