I saved another 18 dollars. Last night, I watched the terrible but oh so good chick flick, The Prince and Me, you know the one with Julia Stiles and she falls in love with the Prince of Denmark, and I hemmed up another pair of jeans. I'm telling you, maybe I should start soliciting my services and make some money on the side. Whataya think?

How to Avoid Paying 18 Dollars

Last week, I went to the tailor to get 4 pairs of pants hemmed. Getting pants hemmed is part of my life, something I rarely am able to avoid, being vertically challenged and all. Two pairs were jeans (one pair I bought at a yard sale) and two pairs were pants for work. After I tried them on for the tailor, and she pinned the pants where needed, I braced myself for the total. When I saw her writing down the amounts on the ticket, I couldn't believe it. I asked "It's 14 dollars to hem a pair of jeans?" She said, "Oh no, to hem a pair of jeans it's 18 dollars. 14 dollars is for the other pants." I can't believe I left the store without the pants, but I did. However, the very next day, as soon as the store opened, I retrieved my pants and vowed to do this myself. When hemming jeans, it's very difficult to use a standard sewing machine because most can't handle the girth of the materials. And as for dress pants, they need to be done by hand so as not to see the stitches through the material. So, I went to the local fabric store, and bought some jean thread and needles, a total of $3.30, and faced the challenge. Let me just tell you how good it feels to not spend $18 on hemming a pair of jeans, especially when you bought them for a dollar at a yard sale. It feels damn good. And they turned out really good, if I do say so myself. You can't tell that the hem is done by hand. As for pics, if I had any, that would just be too over-achiever-like of me.

I've been looking for a way to organize my circular knitting needles, so they're easily accessible. When I come across a pattern requiring a circular needle, I turn the page, unwilling to search through the tangled mess. I once came across a pattern for a sewn circular needle organizer, but I didn't have access to a sewing machine...until now. I went searching for that needle organizer to sew up a few nights ago. Instead, I came across this. Crazy thing is that I just picked up empty wooden spools a few weekends ago at a yard sale in hopes of coming up with some crafty project. It was fate! Here's an action shot, with all the circulars.
And here's a close-up.

I didn't have enough spools to add decorative spools on either end, but I think it turned out okay.

N went downstairs to the basement to throw in a load of laundry and discovered sewage in the basement. Our sewage pipe(s) is (are) backed up. I have no idea if there is more that one sewage pipe, but I do know that the huge tree in our front yard has invaded our sewage system and now we got some s**t in the basement. Literally, s**t. Stay tuned. It will be an interesting week.

When I first arrived in Virginia, I continually referred to the prosecutor as the State's Attorney. But I was very quickly corrected. They are not State Attorneys. They are Commonwealth Attorneys. Yes, I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia, not the State of Virginia. You wanna know the difference? I bet you do. Well, there is no damn difference. Virginia decided to remain a Commonwealth. I bet it's because it sounds more prestigious, like "Yes all of you other feeble minded states, you could never compete with a Commonwealth like us...haa haa haa."

Look What I Did!

Two weekends ago, N and I went to a Y'art sale. Kinda like a yard sale, but it was for art supplies and art pieces. I went nuts, buying 6 grab bags of fabric and wood block paint while N picked up an old-school hand crank pencil sharpener, wooden wall art and drafting pens. With this fabric, I made my first pillow cover. Whadya think?

It was very easy and for the next one I make, I'm hoping to write a tutorial to pass along to anyone who needs some guidance. As you can tell from this pic, the cover is a tad bit bigger than I'd like. I've been on the lookout for a snap or eye hook to use in the back to tighten it up. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.