star photos
Checking out how to use the fancy camera for nighttime star shots.
big dipper and the tail of draco
Sort of ok for the first try, right? I used a 30s exposure, the largest aperture on the camera f/3.5, and the lowest iso for less noise (200). It was a full moon tonight and there was a lot of ambient light from the street.
This is all in preparation for a fancy sky show in two weeks when there will be a new moon and the Perseid meteor shower will peak (generally the best of the year). I think next time I will try 400 iso since it'll be much darker, but keep the same shutter speed to try to catch the meteors.
Handy links:
- a friendly nighttime photo info page: they recommend 300 iso, 30s or longer, 35mm or wider.
- making a cardboard dew shield
- meteor photo tips
- downloadable star chart for your month and hemisphere
(All the other websites I found for astrophotography were way too full of technical jargon, but they have very pretty pictures of star trails.)
what are the chances
that the pattern would match (almost) perfectly across the back waist seam?
back of the almost done, most likely way too big, tara top from burdastyle
Actually, you could probably calculate that, given that:
- both pieces were laid on the same back center fold of fabric
- there's probably a half inch give on matching patterns vertically
- the pattern repeat is x" tall
But I won't.
declutter: books
S and I have so much stuff in our apartment that friends pre-emptively tell us that if we ever move, they're not helping us. We're trying to work on it .. after cleaning out my closet, we tackled the books.
There were 5 bookshelves crammed full of books (every-which-way and even double-layered in the case of novels and manga) in the living room, plus a random drawer-full of sewing/doll books in the bedroom, and piles stacked under assorted tables. We pulled them all out into the living room and boxed up about a quarter/third of them that we didn't love or need to keep.
maybe 3/4 of all the books we have?
Here's what we did with the extra books:
- sold or gave away one-third at work (yay for internal mailing lists)
- took the rest to Bookbuyers, a used bookstore with a trading policy. They don't take everything, but we got rid of about 1/2 of what was left and got about $70 in store credit
Now there are just three paper bags-full of books that we can donate to the library. I think that's a pretty good job!
This came too late for me, but if you are thinking of doing the same thing, Zenhabits had a useful post about what to do with extra books (found via the awesome Unclutterer blog).
built by wendy
Because I like collecting patterns I never sew (and also because JoAnns had a sale with $2 Simplicity patterns), I went and got myself a neat little Built by Wendy pattern. She designs really cute modern simple clothes.
image from Simplicity
I like the middle one, though the gray tunic is tempting. It'd be perfect for making a dent the small Japanese fabric stash I have from 2 years ago. The diamond could be the white with green polka dots and the body could be green with white polka dots.
Before I get started on this, I'll make that BurdaStyle Tara top and use up the silky brown + gold fabric I got waaaay long ago. I printed it out and taped together all the pieces tonight .. now I'm waiting for their re-designed website to un-bug-ify so I can find the instructions.
And lastly a little blog note: I think I figured out how to let feed readers grab the whole blog post instead of just a teeny excerpt. It'll be much nicer for those of you who use readers, but now I'll have no idea how many people are coming by. *chirp chirp*
order matters
(almond syrup + half&half) + carbonated water = fizzy foamy goodness
(almond syrup + carbonated water) + half&half = weird chunky curdles
pleat dress done!
After 2 years ... how embarassing.
A big part of it getting enough energy to undo the major seams and refit it from the perfect dressform shape to my shape. I couldn't do anything about the princess seams in there, but it's close enough that there are only a few minor wrinkles. I did most of this work around last Thanksgiving (eeps, more than half a year ago) and this past week, I finished it off with the hem and the zipper and a nice last press.
I'm pretty happy with it .. though I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to wear it. Maybe the colors make it more of a fall/winter dress, paired with black stockings and turtlenecks.
Would it be useful to have a finished project page that links to all the right blog posts per project (ex. something that lists all the posts about the chipao)?
sewing!
I'm so excited! I got an honorable mention / design merit award in the BurdaStyle design contest for the tab-waisted top I just posted about on Tuesday. The coolest part is that the design might get a chance to be part of a future BurdaStyle collection, so that means a pattern may be available for downloading and sewing from.
In the meantime, for all you new visitors coming over from BurdaStyle, you might be entertained by looking through monthly blog archives, my Flickr sewing and doll photo sets, or a little animated love story. Thanks for stopping by!
sewing?
I decided to enter the BurdaStyle design contest since you just needed to submit a sketch, no sewing required.
drawn before fancy new monitor-tablet came. took so loooonnnnggg
It's a more Asian variation on that tab-waisted collared shirt I made for momoko. I had fun with the different color and pattern combos.
But, I was showing off the few things I've actually made this weekend, and I'm thinking maybe I'll pick up sewing clothes again. Or maybe at least finish that old pleat dress that's almost done -- only need to reset zipper and hem the thing.
Other inspirations for sewing:
- Simple dresses on the Wiksten-made sewing blog
- Modern designs on the non-fashion-industry fashion blog Clothes-pin
- Easy Tara top at BurdaStyle
cake and goodies
I got strawberry cake, yum.
I also got a humongous tablet monitor and Adobe CS3 stuff as presents. I can draw on the computer again! S is the best.
quick drawring with shiny new toys
loot from taiwan
One of the fabric stores had 5 jars stuffed full of little plastic kewpies, in graduated sizes. I got two of the teeniest.
katamari apron
Finally made something for S and finished it .. about a month ago?
I got a chocolate-brown twill and made a basic apron with a front divided patch pocket. Being lazy, I just cut an approximate shape out of newspaper and worked from that as the pattern.
And the best part? The Katamari prince on the pocket! Daaaa da da da da da da da da da ...
I outlined him with stem stitch since it seems to be the stitch of choice with crafters out there. It made a really raised thick outline. I don't think I'll try it again. It's really hard to get line precision, and the corners were tough (it ended up not being possible to add the prince's face). I like my regular not-official-backstitch technique.
stem stitch directions
http://www.coatscrafts.co.uk/Crafts/Needlecrafts/Howtos/stem+stitch.htm
