The rain jacket part III

I find I don't sew properly if Pandora isn't playing.

I also need tea and a square of chocolate.
Or a few squares...

It's coming along. Not even slowly sort of at a surprising clip. I've taken my own advice and just look at one step of the directions at a time. Broken down it doesn't seem so bad. Make a pocket, I can make a pocket. There are a couple things coming in the near future that make me scratch my head, but I will get to that, maybe by then it will make more sense... Or maybe not. There is this one spot where I think I'll have to go off "the reservation" and that makes me a bit nervous. I've always been a "follow the rules" kind of gal especially when it's something I'm unsure of.

The mess.

I am so thankful for my sewing room. With it I have all this floor space to lay out fabric and pattern pieces and cut. My pattern instructions are laying in the middle of the floor completely spread out so I can look at them whenever I need to without unfolding it and finding my place.

This fabric is so long it takes up the entire length of the room.
I almost cut out the pieces upside down!!!

Because I'm sewing with plastic (basically) I'm sealing the seams with this really stinky glue stuff. Hopefully it will prevent water from seeping in behind the holes.

A Pocket!!

One thing that is super weird about sewing with this stuff is that you can't iron it. If you sew you know you iron a lot. This stuff will melt right to your ironing plate (thankfully I read about that before I did it myself. That is totally something I would do). Instead I stack books on top of whatever needs a crease, It doesn't work very well but it's what I've got.

I am really hoping to have this jacket done by October. For one thing if it takes much longer then that I won't be able to use it until the following spring and that would be a bummer! Secondly I'm going to a writer's conference then and I really want to wear it there. Why do I want to wear it there? I have friends that will be attending and who doesn't want their friends to ooh and aah over something they made? Really it's good for me to have an actual deadline or some things never get done.

Honestly this picture is for my sister Heather
and all other dog squishers out there.

I suppose that's why I'm going to this conference in the first place. I love writing (and I do consider blogging to be a big part of this) and I would love to put some of my fiction out there for other's to read. To be able to help my family financially would just be amazing. BUT I have the worst time being consistent at it.  The best luck I've had is when I'm around other writers; being inspired by them and pushed by them. I'm hoping that this conference (which my husband encouraged me to attend b/c I couldn't get past the cost of it. He's so good isn't he?) will inspire me to really get to it! To "Just Do It!" as the Nike saying goes. And, I have a big looming question I'm hoping this conference can help answer: when do you give up on an idea and move on to a different one? When do you accept that a story isn't very good at all? When is it truly bad and when is it just getting over the hump? I don't know how to answer those questions and their on my mind a lot. Almost constantly right now.  Well, anyway, I'm hoping to attend the Breath Writer's Conference with a smart new rain jacket and a quirky new skirt and find some answers. If your interested in what other local writers are hoping to get out of the conference check click here.

Thanks for sticking with me faithful readers. So many times I feel discouraged and even with this blog I want to throw in the towel. I'll start down the dark path that "no one reads this drivel!" and almost always I'll get an encouraging comment here, on Facebook or even in person, and it will bring me so much encouragement and hope. Thanks for that.