Fiber facts!

Dumb title--I know! Anyway--I was working on my gown today and thinking about the similarities between fabric and yarn made of the same fiber. Silk feels either wonderfully soft and slick or crunchy with that sticky feeling. By sticky--I mean that it will stick to itself. Cotton has a harder feel with little or no elasticity as does linen. Wool handles well and is easily molded and shaped --particularly with steam. I've been working with silk. This project taught me one thing--always use one of the fabrics recommended on the pattern. I did not do this. My pattern recommended Crepe back Satin, Shantung or Peau de Soie--all of which are somewhat heavy with either a somewhat crisp hand (particularly the Shantung) or a lot of body. I used Silk Charmeuse which is thin, soft and drapey. Fortunately I underlined the whole thing with organza which is sheer but crisp. I made friends with a fabric glue stick. If you ask me, it's nothing more than a regular school supply glue stick which costs more! I dabbed it in the seam allowances of all the pieces to put the fabric and underlining together. That alone took an entire night! Everything else has gone okay, but I'm anxious over how I'm going to press the darn thing! I purchased a hand steamer a while back so I think it's time to break that baby out of the box. Poor Sophia will have to have her little tushie scorched when that dress gets steamed while she wears it. That's okay. I've heard that she has a little kinky streak. Tomorrow I will hem and bustle the dress so I can wear it tomorrow night. I tried it on tonight before doing the hand sewing and it was a perfect fit! I was really nervous because the dress is bias cut and the pieces were stretching out like nobody's business. I will post some photos this weekend. I may have to settle for photos of Sophia modelling the dress if no one is around to take a picture!

Greg kept me company all day while I was working. We have some expressions in our language which I was thinking about--"cat nap" and "sleeps like a dog." Cats are not sound sleepers. They often sleep with one eye open or at least ready to pounce if they hear the slightest sound. Dogs, on the other hand, zone out! Greg is a cat who sleeps like a dog. He will get between DH and me on our bed at night and roll over on his back. He will still be there in the morning twisted in a different direction but still very much asleep. We've actually pulled on the covers and watched him bounce without waking up. Keep in mind that we still sleep in a double bed which has little extra room! I'm glad at least he learned his lesson about the sewing room. Last night, Harley came in, walked around my cut out pieces and found a place away from the fabric to sleep. Greg, tried twice to get on the silk and was ushered out of the room after the second offense! I guess he finally figured out what to do!

Bushism of the day:
"Mr. Vice President, in all due respect, it is --" I'm not sure 80 percent of the people get the death tax. I know this: 100 percent will get it if I'm the president." --George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., October 18, 2000

Kitty cam:
So I took photos of how Greg spent his entire afternoon on the cot in my sewing room. Of course this all started with his little ritual of "kneading biscuits" before totally zoning out over a period of 3 or 4 hours.