Babbles of a Procrastinating Grad Student

So last week was an absolute bust for my thesis, but pretty good for sewing and my suddenly present social life. Last Wednesday, I had both a date and a Tiki party to attend (for which I sewed myself a dress), both of which were lots of fun. Mmm...tiki drinks. I started another blouse earlier on in the week, although I was pretty much useless the rest of it.  I did, however, manage to find myself a ballgown ($25 at Value Village WOOP!) for a friends birthday dinner for Saturday night, at which everyone showed up in black tie and ballgowns.  We had a great time eating dinner at a nice restaurant downtown and playing an interesting card game called Munchkins at a house party while drinking far too much wine.  AND THEN on Sunday, I went out for a BBQ at a friends cottage, where we alternated between relaxing on the dock and jumping in the lake.  I haven't been that relaxed in years.

My poor liver.

All in all, this has been a great summer socially, although not so much so academically.  And I'm alright with that.  Oh, I'll stress out, I'm already stressing a bit.  But today has been decently productive, and I feel like I now have a better handle of my project, which is a nice change.  I have a lot to do, but it's doable.  And if it takes a bit longer, well, I can live with that.  Better to take a bit more time and enjoy my last few months as a student, than to lock myself in my basement and pound out the thesis, but in the end hate the experience.  IMO, that is, and that's really all that counts.

And I guess my supervisors, who is paying for it.  ;)

I've had no luck sewing lately, and it's getting downright disheartening. I've started a pair of pants that aren't working. No surprise, pants are hard. And then I made a skirt that, while it's adorable and I really like it, I hate what I lined it with and I've lost steam before doing the hemming and buttonhole. And tonight, I finally gave up on a self-drafted muslin I was constructing based on a top I saw over at Mod Cloth. I talk about, well, all of them in a series of posts over at my sewing blog.

*sigh*

Despite trying to finish a M.Sc. thesis, I decided to make things even harder on myself and sign up for a contest. But not any contest, no, I've signed up for a contest where we're supposed to sew a 10 piece coordinating wardrobe for ourselves by September 1, hosted by Pattern Review (sewing.patternreview.com/ because the linky thing isn't working). Don't ask me what I was thinking, I haven't figured that out yet.

The point is to make 4 tops, 4 bottoms, 1 topper (jacket, cardigan, etc), and one free item of your choice that all coordinates together, so that you're never stuck staring into a full closet thinking that nothing goes together. And hey, even if I don't finish (because I guess the thesis takes priority *rolls eyes*), I'll still have some beautiful pieces (I hope!), and a much better understanding of how to coordinate clothing! :D

I've created a storyboard containing the patterns and fabrics I plan to use. Well, some of them, anyways. I haven't quite worked it all out yet, but I figure I've got 3 months to work out the kinks. :)
( Storyboard behind the cut to save your flist... )

Wish me luck!

(omgwhatamidoing??!)

Just because I found it helpful to keep me honest and motivated, here is my To-Do List of doom for this weekend. 

• bake bread Mmmmm!!!
• re-run XANES data that are wonky
• write out flow sheet thing for water, sediment, and XANES data correlation
• finish pencil skirt
• start cutting out pattern for shirt
• go to fabricland to get fabric for a new messenger bag Decided against doing this (my wallet thanks me)
• come up with correlation graphs for data
• make introduction and basic geochem slides for presentation (start, at least)
• download and install university's presentation template
• bake muffins
• clean bedroom

Oh man, thats an ambitious list.  But at least I won't do my normal thing of 'oh I have nothing else to do, I'll just watch tv for the next 5 hours' when I'm pretending I'm finished everything.  :D

Alright, so I miss the Prairies all the time, for various reasons (many of them weather-related).  HOWEVER, I'm not minding this gorgeous 23 C weather at all.  

Went for a bike ride this afternoon (but not before coming back to change into cooler clothes), and although I'd planned to do this tomorrow, my bike ride took me near the movie theatre, so I figured, what the heck, I'll go see How to Train a Dragon.

AWESOME AWESOME MOVIE!!!  Awesome doesn't even really cover it.  I want to go again!  I'm definitely buying myself this movie when it comes out on DVD.  And although the 3D was awesome, it didn't dominate, and you know it'll be just as good in 2D.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I love what they did at the end, too.  I'm glad they went there.  :)  

So, in keeping with my Long Weekend Off Of Thesis Related Stuffs (other than some marking on Sunday), I'm going to spend the rest of the evening, well, cleaning my kitchen, but then sewing up a storm.  Maybe I'll even finally finish the cape I've been working on since January!  Or...maybe not.  Ick hemming.

I have very little summer clothing, mostly because I don't really like exposing my body too much. But you know, I'm sick to death of the clothes I have, and it'd be nice to be comfortable for once.

SO, on the way home today, I stopped at Phase 2, a used clothes store here in Kingston. (I try as much as possible to buy used. Not only because of the cost - since I am a broke student - but also because I believe in recycling where I can.) I not only bought 2 tops that are just darling, but I also found a skirt.

Now, I don't wear skirts that often. I've always had monster calves and awful ankles. But I like how they look on people dammit, so I figure, too bad. Plus the only person who will probably give a damn is me, and I can just suck it up already.

This skirt? It's very simple. Black, pencil skirt-ish, with two tiers of subdued black ruffles on the bottom. The impact? It has made me re-evaluate ALL the clothes in my closet! I can actually wear a lot of the tops that I couldn't wear with jeans (my usual bottom). Plus I can dress it up and down, so bonus!

And the best part? I feel good in it. Hands down, best clothing purchase this year.



Now, I wonder if I can work out the pattern and duplicate the skirt in another colour?