bunnies

TinLizzie-ing in a Time of Coronavirus

We are well into social distancing and lockdowns and stores closing, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Mechanic and I are both teleworking, which suits me – my desk is right next to the bunnies’ pen, so I get to watch them All. The. Time. Few things make me as happy as watching them snuggle together and play – also, two of them squeak-snore, how adorable is that?!??!?

Being a naturally anxious person who worries about everything, the uncertainty of our current state of affairs is hard to suppress. Luckily, there are distractions beyond the bunnies, namely, sewing, biking, and Spring flowers.

Hooray for warm weather biking! This cotton lawn shirt was lightweight and comfy, just as I’d hoped it would be!

When you inadvertently dress like your Galaxy’s Edge reusable bag….

Speaking of Star Wars (which we weren’t really but whatever), this Star Wars print cotton I ordered on clearance from Joann Fabrics arrived yesterday – if only all telework days could include fabric deliveries!

My telework days don’t really give me much more time to sew, so I am looking forward to staying home this weekend to finish this shirt I started last weekend. It looks like my bunnies! I’m trying a new shirt pattern with this one, and yes, it will have white reflective piping on it. Stay tuned! I’m playing a telework game of sorts with myself – I am going to wear each of my print shirts every day until I’ve worn them all. Most of them I’ve made myself but not all. I feel like I don’t wear them enough, which is silly, since I love them, so now is my time! I’m calling them my telework uniform. Soon the bunny shirt will be in the mix too.

I can make it through several weeks with all these shirts! (and clearly I don’t really need to make more…..)

How I telework – do you have a telework style?

I’m thankful that my company has the ability to let us work from home. So many small businesses and my friends in the theater community are suffering from loss of employment and revenue. I don’t want to talk too much about my work when they are losing out. I wish I could support all the small businesses I love, but I can’t afford to. I just hope they make it out in the end, whenever that comes.

My wine sippy cup from small business Stonemountain and Daughters Fabrics arrived just in time!

Luckily, it’s spring, and trees and plants are in bloom, and the grass and leaves are returning. I’ve been trying to walk at least once a day, but I’m aiming for twice. I need to be more disciplined about getting some exercise! Just seeing all the green things brings a bit of peace and comfort. We’ll get through this. We’ll return to normal, regardless of what that looks like a year from now.

Wrapping Up November (Where Has the Year Gone?!)

Anyone else mourning the speed with which this year has flown? I guess it happens every year, but I still think that somehow, some year, it will be relaxed and I’ll be able to let it unfold slowly. But no – and now we are weeks away from 2020!!!

Things that have been keeping me busy this month so far – Sewing, friends, and bunnies. And sometimes a combination of those, like the day a friend and I took a bunny yoga class, a fundraiser for one of the local rabbit rescue groups. Not often you take a yoga class where the instructor keeps say, “Just watch for bunnies before you _____!”

First, to catch you up on October sewing: I finally finished my Zodiac mesh top! I appliqued the Taurus image onto the back – I am a Taurus, so why not show it off! Besides, I hated to not use as much of the gorgeous fabric as possible. I also made a skirt, McCalls 7891 – it’s probably too long but I won’t shorten it until the warm weather returns. The reflective piping and heavy drape of the fabric makes me soooo happy! I like this skirt pattern a lot and have a ton of plans to use it again.

I also bought some fabric on our West Virginia trip! Fayetteville, WV has a Ben Franklin Crafts store, so *of course* we had to go in. Some of the fabric was so cheap! I bought four yards of this blue fern/leaf cotton because it was $2/yard! I think it will be a dress eventually but who knows. The green batik will be another McCalls 7981 skirt (probably without reflective details, ha), and the turquoise butterfly print will be a fun summer shirt of some sort. Doesn’t fabric make the best souvenir?! I’ll always remember how amazing that trip was when I wear something made from these fabrics. Most of my November sewing has been Christmas presents sewing, so I can’t share photos right now. But I did squeeze in a super easy and highly satisfying Hey June Handmade Lane raglan tee out of this adorable (but most likely licensed…..) Star Wars print I found on Etsy. If you remember, the pattern and the purple knit I bought at Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver, CO earlier this year – yet another souvenir of a great trip! And part of my wardrobe for a 2020 trip with some girlfriends to Disney World (90 days but who’s counting?!?!). In other crafty but not sewing news, I took a class to learn the basics of spinning! My long-term goal is to be able to use Sullivan’s angora fluff to make yarn. The class was at Fibre Space, in Old Town Alexandria, and the class was taught by Maiah, who spins lovely lovely things. #goals I’m still not interested in knitting, but the idea of spinning and dyeing yarn is rather appealing. I just have to get much, much, *much* better at it! Our fluffsters have been taking up much of our time (#parenting lol) because they are not getting along as well as they should, so we’ve taken drastic bunny bonding measures. Basically this means going on car rides, because yes, you do sort of scare them into being friends. They are mostly friends, but occasionally, poor little Gaston (the oldest at 6 years old but the smallest at 3lbs) freaks out and runs from Sullivan. He’s totally falling for Henrietta though, and likes to snuggle with her. Awww…. SO worth the work! The remainder of the year will include more sewing (of course!), more bunnies, lots of holiday cheer with friends and family, squeezing in bike commuting when it’s not freezing cold, and making plans for 2020. What do you have planned for the rest of 2019?

Sewing March19: Bunnies Take Over

Not much sewing happened in February because the bunnies took over our lives. Seriously, three little rabbits, the largest not even 7lbs, and all we did was watch them every minute we could. Bunny bonding is not for the lazy or distracted.

Pretty much how I spent all February

L to R – Sullivan the Angora, Henrietta Rosalia Miracle, Gaston the Lionhead

In November, while we were on a family trip to Disney World, one of our angora rabbits unexpectedly died. Apparently Quinn, sister to Sullivan, was the glue to our happy fluffy bunny family, because Sullivan and Gaston, our little 3lb lionhead bunny, ceased to be friends. We took them speed dating at three different rabbit rescue group events, and eventually chose a new girl to be their friend. Henrietta Rosalia Miracle (I like the name Henrietta; she hid under a rose bush for 6 months after her former abusive owners threw her out of the house; Miracle is what the rescue group named her) came home the first weekend of February. Although Hetty and Sully and Gaston spent a week together at the rabbit rescue group and seemed to get along fine, we kept a close eye on them. All seemed to be fine for the first week, and then they started brawling. Yikes! Sully liked Hetty so much that he was mounting her as much as he could (which is a normal part of the bunny bonding process; its how they establish their natural hierarchy) – but she didn’t like it. So they started fighting, which is a *bad bad* thing. So we separated them, rebuilt the pen to keep them all apart, and called the rescue group for advice. For the last two weeks we’ve done some careful bunny bonding steps to reintroduce them in smaller neutral territory, and it seems to be working. Whew!

Although I haven’t had the free time to sew that I had hoped for, I finally managed to finish my Charley Harper children’s sheets top. Clearly I have no idea how to determine ease on patterns any more because I cut a size that ended up being massively oversized. So I took it in and hope that I like it. I did a rather crappy job on the neckline but I can’t imagine anyone else will notice. I have enough fabric (sheets) left over that I plan to make a summer top, too, yay! I ordered a Burda 6678 pants pattern then decided that I ought to test it first before I use the tencel twill I have in mind for this pattern. So I found a quilting cotton at JoAnn Fabrics on clearance and bought the last 2 5/8 yards. Hopefully that’s enough after I lengthen the pants! I may try to make those before our upcoming trip to Texas mid-March, but maybe not. Then I have at least four tops I want to make – I really don’t need more tops but they are so much easier to sew than the things I really need, which are pants (bah).

Burda pants muslin cotton quilting fabric – not the best for this style but cheap and ultimately wearable

Considering changing my mind and making both fabrics with the Vogue 8772 pattern

My mom and aunt visited Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics last week and bought me yard of this fab-u-lous zodiac embroidered mesh I asked for. Do I have anywhere to wear a fancy top made out of this amazing fabric? No – but do I care?!?! Look at it!!! Thanks, Mom! (totally envious that they got to go, since they are nearby and I’m on the other side of the country….) It’s almost spring, though, and our icky weather will soon be behind us! Has anyone else started their spring or summer sewing yet?

Season’s Greetings from Sewing Cycling Santa

Merry Christmas, everyone! I’m sure Santa was busy delivering presents by bicycle (although I hope he used a cargo bike!) last night!

I am celebrating by spending some Me Sewing time. The Mechanic and I are both in our happy places working on projects, while thinking about loved ones near and far – and you too, dear Readers!

Enjoy your day, however you celebrate.

Happy Christmas from Gaston and Sullivan!

Bunnies, Biking and Building

It’s been a busy few weeks, from a friend’s visit to a marathon IKEA-Home Depot-Beth Bath & Beyond day to building more and more IKEA pieces. In between, I am getting used to a new bike commute and we are all still adjusting to the new rabbits. Whew! We can’t wait until the long Thanksgiving weekend when we can hopefully finish and relax.

First, the bunnies. We have begun to let them out into the living room and watching their antics as they explore is highly entertaining. Quinn is the explorer of the bunch (girl power!) and is always out hopping onto things.

Er – on the tub on the bookcase – probably not a good place to be…

Sully is less excited to explore but has his moments.

“Didn’t you put the treats over here?”

Gaston has been happy to return to having lengthy pet sessions. I am more than happy to comply. Love this little bunny! Speaking of bunny love, I stumbled upon a Kate Spade ring on the Rent the Runway site and decided I had to have it. Thankfully it was on eBay at half the original price. This is 100% what my mom and aunt call an “F&M” – as in, “a fool and his money are soon parted.” And you know what? I totally don’t care. I bought another bauble at the Coach store, a personalized embossed leather tag for my super old Coach bag. They had the embossing machine in the store so I got to watch it get made. This is also an F&M – I need to start sewing again to keep me focused!

This is the closest to sewing I get these days – I am attempting to participate in #BPsewvember on Instagram, a sewing photo a day challenge during the month of November. As my sewing space is still in piles and my machines still packed up, it’s not been an overwhelming success so far.

I am getting some baubles that are not F&Ms – I ordered progressive sunglasses. I’ve reached the point where I want to be able to read my phone, menus, labels, and anything else in a small print when I’m out and about. Its annoying to carry glasses around and put them on when I need them (maybe I’m lazy), so my regular progressives have become super useful. But maybe I’m delicate – I need some sun protection too! So with a balance in my FSA account, I visited a new eye glasses shop and picked out a swanky pair of tortiseshell frames. Can’t wait to get these babies back!

My new bike commute is almost a mile longer; that is, the route I prefer lengthens the commute about a mile. I could go another direction and it would probably be equal to what I’ve been doing. But I like going through the neighborhoods, not on the main streets, and who doesn’t need a little extra exercise?! So now I’ve got 4 miles each way, slightly uphill in the mornings. I need that too. I have been on the bus a lot, due to a variety of reasons, and now it’s *cold* in the mornings again, and I’m having a hard time adjusting. It will come, but I’m not as excited when its around freezing when I wake up.