DOCS roundup - 3/16

Plot summary for "DOCS - 3/16", in which two women finish projects unexpectedly and a third revisits an old friend.

The scene opens on a cozy sewing room with early afternoon winter light filtering in through sheer curtains and a fire dancing merrily in the background. In the center of the room is an arrangement of tables abutting the windows on one side. Three sewing machines sit facing the center, one on each of the three remaining sides. A woman sits at each machine with various fabrics and patterns spread out before her. The women chatter in gentle tones while working on the machines. A nearby table holds various snacks.

Donna - Donna deftly fingers the previously-cut black cotton with vertical patterning, holding it up for the other two women to see. She then holds up a pattern that was purchased two years ago (or more) and points at one of the drawings on the front. The drawing shows an impossibly thin female figure modeling a button-front, puffed-sleeve blouse with attractive ruffling around the bottom. The other women exclaim delightedly as Donna bends to her work.

Chelsea - Chelsea sighs unhappily as she reaches into the sewing bag at her feet and withdraws a partially completed dress. The dress is beautifully finished, with gathers and simple ties around the waist line and hoop closures for the small, round buttons that will adorn the front. She dejectedly pulls the dress over her head for her companions to view. As the other women proclaim the various merits of the dress, her countenance gradually lightens as she contemplates the project anew. With confidence now enlivening her movements, she removes the dress and begins work on the hem. Little does she know that her new found confidence will be severely tested as reworks the hem throughout the afternoon.

Cyndy - The grim cast to Cyndy's features tells the tale. She contemplates the sheer, pin-tucked blouse that has occupied so much of her time as of late. Her companions lend sympathetic ears while she regales them with tales of seams unravelling, stitches bunching, and fabric floating every which way. Bolstered by their compassionate utterances, Cyndy turns to her task with a fatal look of determination, knowing that by the end of the day, the unfinished project will have either perished or finished.

As the afternoon wanes, light fades from the windows and the day draws to a close. The fireplace has long since gone dead and the snacks have dissipated. At the table sit three now-triumphant women. The bodice of Donna's blouse has flourished under her tender care and now stands ready to move forward to the next stages. Chelsea's dress appears to virtually glow as she tries it on again, gloriously finished but for a few remaining buttons. Cyndy's exultant posture as she wears the finished pin-tucked shirt proclaims to the world that she has emerged from her ordeal victorious.

In the background, the sound of children's voices bubbling with excitement can be heard as the lights close on the happy scene.

DOCS roundup - 3/2

Before I launch into the summary of our next-to-latest DOCS (I'm behind by one!), I'd like to make a little side trip to explore why it is that when I coordinate these get-togethers via e-mail, I can't seem to match up the day of the week with the correct date. I double check and triple check and yet still send out things like "Let's plan to get together on Sunday the 2nd for our next DOCS," and then a sentence later adding "Looking forward to seeing you all on 3/3." Honestly, every single one of these I have made some day-of-the-week/date mismatch. Sigh.

So we had the four core folks on 3/2, and the theme for the day was sewing machines (sorry, Sam). Myself, Donna, and Chelsea have all recently purchased Pfaff machines to augment or replace our Bernina, Singer, and Elna, respectively. We very much enjoyed the machine talk, and we are now thinking of ways to lure Sam away from her Bernina to create a matching set. So far she's not budging.

On to the day's progress...

Projects worked: 6
New projects started: 2
Projects finished: 1, nearly
Snacks: lunch sandwiches, chips, chocolates, and ... okay I'm completely forgetting

Sam - Unexpected results
If you recall, the previous DOCS Sam was working on various mathematics to customize a knitting pattern to accommodate the yarn she wanted to use. Well, an off-by-one stitch gauge error compounded into a few rounds of knitting that would have accommodate Sam twice over, and probably Max and Colin as well (okay, not quite that far off). So she spent some time puzzling over that. Back to the calculation board!

Chelsea - Unfamiliar territory
If you talk with Chelsea, she'll tell you that she tends towards a certain style of dress: wrap or kimono, beautifully trims, stretchy non-man-made textiles, bold patterns and color combinations. While still retaining the bold pattern and stretchy fabric, she opted for a different sort of dress with a kind of double-gathered waist treatment with front ties and cute buttons down the front. The original pattern had put the gathers in the most unflattering location possible--empire--but she'd altered the pattern to drop the waist several inches, shortened it a bit once she'd tried it on for us to examine, then made good progress (with some amount of cursing) determining placement for the extra buttons she wanted to add.

Donna - Uncomplicated entry
For her first sewing project on the new machine, Donna chose some great flannel-backed black satin to make some simple pajama pants and went to it. After having carefully sewn the pants together incorrectly (if you have ever tried sewing simple pants together, it is remarkably easy to assemble them incorrectly--it is sort of like working out the reality of an Escher drawing to get it right), she spent some quality time with the brand new seam ripper that came with her machine, ultimately completing all but the gathering for the waist.

Me - Unsatisfied meandering
Apparently suffering from restless needle syndrome, I hopped from project to project a bit. Rather than finishing the pin-tucked shirt I had started first that needed much seam overlocking and trimming, I worked on an embroidered suede skirt that I had started second and added the waistband. Once I found out that I would need to take it in by an inch or so, which meant undoing the waistband and bringing in the side seams, I moved along to another shirt project in the wings and completed the cutting and the gathers in the bodice. Much work, little payoff.