the names we give clothing

The last week of this month I'm going to be in Arizona for work (at a resort(!) which looks awsome, but which I'm not going to ever see because we're totally booked from 7am-9:30 at night either in meetings, or "breakout sessions" or in dinner/networking (which to me is just forced mingling and after ALL day, I tend to just want a little time to myself with my knitting needles and no need to be "on", but that's the deal.)) Anyway, the point is that is says we should wear "resort casual" clothing, and gave the example of shorts and tennis shoes being fine during the day. In my mind, shorts and tennis shoes are going to be paired with some kind of golf shirt or polo shirt (those might be the same thing) and I just don't do that look. I don't own a pair of shorts. I think "resort casual" says I get to wear a summery dress with a cardigan and flats! So I'm making this dress - I'm making the one on the upper right (the black one), but with straps like the one on the bottom because I want to wear a bra.

Granted, I'll never wear it without something like a cardigan thrown over it, so whether or not my bra straps show is probably moot, but I guess it's the principle of the thing. And note the fact that it has pockets, which I LOVE! I'm making it from a fabric which apparently is nearly impossible to photograph - here's a bigger piece of it.

Anyway, it's flowy and drapy and I think i'll be just great! I found the fabric in my stash, which is also great because, like with a yarn stash, it feels great to make use of something you bought with no real plan! I'm back to my old Kenmore machine and I just have a total newfound love for it! I don't think I'll replace it for a while. Oh, and another thing that makes sewing great is this little wrist pincushion that my friend Catherine made for me.

My appologies if I've mentioned it before, but it's so darn cute and totally handy! and a handy thing , when you're sitting on the floor, arms and legs going every which way, twister-style, trying to cut out pattern pieces, is a very good thing to have!

Ooh - today I also cast off side #2 of my mom's requested ponchette!

They're blocking and hopefully I can seam it up and take it to her tomorrow, which is my brother's birthday dinner at my parent's house - so how handy would that be? I suppose I could also take my SIL the baby quilt and it could just be presents all around! I can't even remember when she's due - I'm a horrible sister in law, I guess. But this IS baby #5 and I know, I know, they're all special, but it's just much less of a production now, I suppose. Anyway, the point of all this was that I'm almost done with that darn poncho and I kind of hope my mom has some overpowering AC in her office, because otherwise a wool poncho isn't terribly useful this time of year! she did say that she wants to wear it at work when she's chilly, so I think it'll be ok!