Twenty-Three before Twenty-Four: SIX.

This sixth 'significant thing' was quite significant (...like mega). For some reason, I made this project over-complicated at times, and I had to set it aside more than once for the sake of my sanity. However, with coffee and the Fleet Foxes as my constant companions, I finally completed my sixth significant thing...

Barley's Knickers!!!

These knickers started out as a pair of Dickies' from a Goodwill in Langhorne, PA and a twinkle in Barley's eye. When I visited in February, I brought them home with me to start the transformation.

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.

Finally, after over a month and a half of having these pants in my possession, the knickers are successfully complete and with their rightful owner.

Barley wore the knickers today (!) and sent me the following pictures as well as the following texties throughout the day. =)
Barley (10:24 am): THEY FIT GREAT

Jecca (10:28 am): Woot woot! I'm so happy.

Barley (10:30 am) Im so freakin sexy today. Holy crow.

Barley (11:41 am): These are so comfy!!! :]

Jecca (11:46 am): I slimmed the legs a bit. :)

Barley (11:47 am): Delicious

Barley (1:02 pm): IT SAYS BARLEY ON THE LEG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jecca (1:03 pm): You just now saw that. You're amazing.

Barley (1:05 pm): I just rolled up the cuffs to show the stripes on the inside and i saw it- lerrv lerrvv leerrrrrrrvv!
Soooo, there you have it--Barley's Knickers!!! They (ultimately) made me happy (even though they drove me insane a few times).

Lots of lerv to you, bloggy buds! Thanks for reading and following.

And lots of lerv to you especially, Barley. This Bud's for you. =)

*P.S.- I'm still taking suggestions for my list of significant things. There are at least 17 more things to do!*

Also, don't forget to submit your entry for my coffee contest! All entries must be submitted by Saturday and the winner will be announced on Sunday. Woot woot!!!

Twenty-Three before Twenty-Four: FOUR.

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.)

ooo! ooo! ooo!!!

Oh my gosh. Amazing mash-ups. (Thanks, Ham!)

a Girls' revelation.

One of my dearest friends (Hammie) and I share a love for a band called Girls. Their lead singer, Christopher Owens, was once a member of the cult "Children of God". You can read a pretty cool interview with him here...anyways...

The other day I was really having a "Girls kind of day". I told Hammie, and he told me that every day was a "Girls kind of day"... of course, I agreed. So, on the way home from work I had a Girls revelation while I listened to the song "Lauren Marie." You've got to hear it to understand it. Listen before you read anything else.

Lauren Marie - Girls

*I'm sorry if you can only hear a 30 second preview. You can read the lyrics here, or you can just sign up for lala and hear the whole thing.*

Ugh. The first two lines say it all.

I've been dwelling on all the things that make me just want to give up on life lately (i.e.- moving away from my dearest friends/family, Baby Matt moving back to CO, Mamba leaving to go back to GA, stupid work stuff, etc). I'm crying all the time because I'm so overwhelmed, and it's taking a toll on my health and my sanity.

The Girls reminded me that my life is not over, and I've got a job to do.

I may not be able to drive around town with Hammie while listening to the Girls whenever we feel like it, but I can sure as heck call him up and we can listen to the Girls separately yet together. I may be absent from the people I love, but I am reminded of them constantly. Those memories shouldn't make me sad. They should bring me joy, for Pete's sake! Now, this is not to say that I'm never going to be sad about these things again. As a matter of fact, I started writing this blog post over a week ago and had to postpone it because crap hit the fan and I had a melt-down and...eww. It was not pretty. This is, though, a reminder that life goes on. I'm still living as I write this. You're still living as you read this. Why shouldn't we take advantage of that?

Thank you, Christopher Owens, for making such beautiful music and speaking to my heart. Thank you, Hammie, for introducing me to the Girls and going to their show with me. Without you, I wouldn't have had this revelation...and without you in my life, there would just be something missing. I love you.

Christopher Owens

Girls show @ the Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia, PA

November 4, 2009

I don't know where I'm going,

but I'm heading somewhere

and it's not my time to die.

Take a look up, Jecca,

the clouds make way for the sunshine.