May Round-Up of Things

I was going to call it the round-up of awesome, but none of these links are actually about suits or Barney Stinson. So here are some things that caught my eye this month, not all sewing-related.

• I don't know how I've never seen this page before now, but it has an excellent collection of illustrated, detailed sewing technique guidelines.
• Amy of Sew Well made the awesomest jeans ever. I mean, check out the topstitching on the pockets! I look forward to seeing what C will be. I also look forward to the day that I will make my own awesome jeans. No word yet on when that will be. 
• This tutorial from Esz of Kitty's Drawings on how to make a belt without turning fabric is the best, as I hate turning fabric tubes. And I love belts, so it's only a matter of time before I get up the gumption to locate some belt buckles.
• Leimomi the The Dreamstress posted an excellent series of adorable photos of her cat, Felicity. That girl is beautiful. I'm pretty sure that if Walnut wasn't neutered (or an ocean away), he would totally have a crush on Felicity. I love seeing pictures of other seamstress' cats in action, so that post was as good as Cute Overload.
• Speaking of cats, I seriously cried reading this post from Winston's ex-owner. I don't know what I would do if someone said I couldn't see Walnut again. If you love your pet and need a good cry (or masochistically enjoy having your heartstrings tugged), read it with a tissue handy.
• LiEr of ikatbag had this excellent series of lists about things a competent seamstress should have under her belt, as specifically applies to her daughters, but also useful for adults. She also muses on what qualifies a seamstress as "beginner" or "advanced," something I myself have wondered. I've been sewing for two years-ish, and I've never made an evening gown or jeans, but I have made hand-worked eyelets on a tabbed pair of bodies. What does that make me? I wish there was a syllabus like in ballroom dancing, e.g. bronze level means you've mastered the natural turn and reverse turn, and silver level means you've got the reverse corte under your belt. I'm pretty sure tailoring your own coat is gold level sewing. 
• The Animaniacs was a staple of my Saturday mornings for a good while, and Pinky and the Brain was a family TV-watching event, so I loved this article about them on Mental Floss. Especially the video of every single "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
• This brilliant article comparing being a straight white male as the lowest difficulty setting in a game totally inflamed certain people, but my husband and I both thought it was an excellent metaphor. 
• The NY Times wrote about the effect that clothes can have on self-perception. I have felt the same way wearing my lab coat, despite not being a doctor. I still remember how heartening it felt as a first year teacher to don my coat, and feel slightly more authoritative and competent, despite being only three years older than some of my students. Incidentally, I also feel both geekier and happier when I wear my superhero/geek dresses.
• These articles are pretty old, but I only just came upon them this week thanks to a link from one of my former students. I was never a huge fan of Tom Bombadil, but I will never look at him the same way again. Even though I know these are just speculations (with their sets of issues), I love entertaining ideas like this. Also, I'm really glad I read these articles in broad daylight...if it had been midnight, I'm sure I would have been totally creeped out; I got the shivers as it was. Also, the author of the first article also wrote a piece about R2 and Chewie and their secret roles in the Rebel Alliance...I'm pretty sure this is now going to be my head canon since it makes Episodes IV-VI so much more interesting. 
• Tomorrow, Colleen Atwood's Snow White and the Huntsman opens in theatres! Oh, it's not hers? Because I'm pretty sure her costumes are the only reason why I'm going to see it. Seriously, check out this slideshow of her work in it...it's mind-bogglingly beautiful and intricate and everything costume design should be. And if you don't mind spoilers (I, for one, can enjoy movies a lot more when I know what's going to happen), this post also has a lot of excellent pictures and description of the costumes.

Also, this May marks the college graduations of many of my very first students ever. I still remember stepping into Room 16 for the very first time, being totally petrified of these sophomores, and wondering how I was going to teach them the basics of chemistry. And here they are seven years later, going off into the wide world, some of them with chemistry degrees (!!! was that my fault somehow?!), and I feel both proud and old.

This picture was taken during the Grand Canyon trip my very first year of teaching.
Are these kids really old enough to be done with college? They look so young here!

The beginning of June also means it's time to start packing up for the move to San Francisco. I don't know how I'm going to decide what to bring from my fabric/pattern stash. I'm thinking of bringing a couple of big projects (tentatively the VPLL #4016 dress, the The Duchess dress, the skeleton dress, jeans, and my Little Prince quilt), and maybe some embroidery. However, I will be leaving my machine and Cecily, which makes me slightly sad. It's funny how you get so attached to something as simple as a sewing machine, but I know all the quirks and tricks of mine, and even when I use someone else's exact same model (all of the people I've taught to sew either have the same machine as me, or are learning on my machine), it's not the same. If any of you have ever moved for just a couple of months, how did you deal with the sewing aspect of it? How did you decide what to bring, or did you even bring anything?