My Valentine

It's about time for Joe and my's annual Valentines Day tradition. We go to a store that has a nice array of Valentine's Day cards and we select the perfect one for each other. We exchange cards right there in the aisle, ohhh and ahhh, then put the cards back. The sentiment is there, but it doesn't cost any money and the card it's sitting around the house waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. It's romantic in it's own little twisted way. I'm not into the flowers and candy thing either. If Joe really wanted to surprise me with something special, he could bring me a bouquet of an assortment of yarn. I would be his Valentine forever!

A Stitch In Time (Or Not)

I like doing things for myself instead of paying to have it done. It's very satisfying knowing I saved a hundred bucks or so by installing my own garbage disposal or repairing other misc items and saving money on the service calls. I know however when to call a professional. I don't do anything electrical beyond changing out a light fixture or switch, and sometimes it does end up cheaper to hire someone especially if I don't have the right kind of tools for the job. So, when it came up that I needed a formal dress cut off and hemmed, I thought: piece of cake. There is no reason to send the dress to a seamstress when I have a perfectly good sewing machine right here. I started out by cutting the length. So far so good. Then, with the piece I cut off I practiced different stitches and different tensions. Why I thought I could hem the dress when I couldn't even get the practice right; I don't know. After having to cut off my crappy work twice I figured I'd better stop or I would end up with a mini dress. Did I mention that the material is stretchy knit and chiffon, not easy to work with. So I gave up on the hemming and I did what any person would do in this situation. I glued it. It was too late to take it somewhere to have it hemmed (I need it tonight) so I took some clear drying craft glue and painted it along the bottom edge of both layers. That way it won't fray and it will give the illusion of a tiny hem. Brilliant if I do say so myself. I will eventually take the dress to a real professional, but in the meantime this will work fine. I already have my story ready to tell the seamstress: "I bought this dress at a second hand store and look what some idiot did to the hem. Can you fix it?" In the future I will leave the complicated sewing projects to the professionals.