Nothing to Update...

It has been a fantastically crazy week, and starting today I will be at an academic conference that lasts through Friday. I am really looking forward to the conference, some of my colleagues and I will be attending the National Academic Advising Association Summer Institute. It is a week-long, intensive workshop in which teams from various universities bring topics that are of concern to them, and during the week each team will develop an action plan for their particular department or university. Fortunately, the conference is right here in town, so we can take a large team from our university...since we don't have to be concerned about travel and hotel costs.

This weekend was a bit mad, so I didn't really have a chance to do any sewing. On Friday, my cousin hosted a 30th birthday party for a friend, and my brother and I went. The party was at a bowling alley that looked like it had been transported from the 1950's. All the score-keeping was done on paper. I hardly remembered how to keep score! It must have been a funny sight to see a bunch of 20- and 30-somethings who hadn't bowled in about a decade without computerized scoring, clustered around a score sheet, scratching their heads over how to score two strikes, a spare, and then an open frame.

On Saturday we went to my dad's family reunion. We have the reunion once every three years, and my cousin and I are always the organizers. We had a really nice turnout, although I could have lived without the 98 degree temperatures (and that was in the shade!). I'm a little sunburnt today, but other than that OK!

Next weekend, my niece and nephew want to come over, so I doubt much more will get done than this weekend! My niece, of course, will want to sew. She has been bugging me to learn how to make jeans, so I will probably let her give the Jalie pattern a try. I suspect I will be doing all the topstitching, but it will give her a chance to make something that is a little bit more complex than the other projects she has been working on.

If I have the machines set up for top-stitching, I may go ahead and get started on my coat dress, a la Hot Patterns:


I am still trying to decide whether to do it as a shirt-dress with collar stand and placket, or the facings and revers. The denim is thick enough that I am re-thinking the collar stand and placket...I don't want it to be like a denim straight-jacket. I also don't know whether to do the short sleeves or long sleeves. I am leaning towards long because with the weight of the denim it will be much better as a fall dress. Although I can hardly think about sewing for fall right now, it is so darn hot!

I also have a huge pile of shirtings that I need to work on. About half of them are summer weight, and if I don't get to them soon they will just have to wait until next year. Not to mention, my husband wants more shirts as well. He has been wearing the plaid one to death. I have two really wonderful cotton shirtings that I bought for a ridiculous sum when I was in Portland. One is so fine and silky, I am afraid to cut into it. But, I have been making enough shirts for him that I feel like I am confident enough about finishing that I could justify going ahead and getting to them. I'll probably start with this blue and white stripe:


I also have some lime green lawn that I found little square MOP buttons for that have been dyed the perfect color green. I am thinking about making another version of this tunic:


But possibly adding pintucks to the bib portion of the front. Alternately, I have a purple and green madras of a similar weight that I could use as a contrast. But really, I am leaning towards the pintucks.

I hope everyone has a great week ahead of them, and I'll be back with updates as soon as I have a spare moment to finish anything!