Good News, Bad News!

Good news!

I preshrank all my wool for my toggle coat project using the damp-towel-in-the-dryer method I first read about here.  (I've done it before with successful results.)

Bad news...

OK, not tragic: I mildly sprained my back yesterday lifting all those...well, you can guess, and still haven't cut my fabric -- or my pattern for that matter.  I am hoping to get started today, however, and plan to purchase one of those Clover bias tape makers to make my own bias strips to finish seams.  I have also decided to splurge on real horn toggles.  Good news for me, bad news for the cows. 



Good news!  Remember my vintage taupe (mushroom?) American Tourister luggage set that arrived with damaged or missing feet?  I asked the seller for a 50% reimbursement and he agreed to it. Everything looks better half-off, my friends.

Bad news!  I am currently researching how to remove the cloying stench of decades-old sachets from vintage luggage -- blech!  I think I'm going to try the cat litter method, which sounds like the most effective.  After airing out the luggage, you fill the bottom with absorbent, unscented cat litter, close the cases shut for a week and pray.  I don't want to mask the odor; I want it gone.

Good news!  I seem to have lost "Carol," the beginner sewist who had expressed interest in my Necchi Lydia, inspiring yesterday's post about choosing a basic sewing machine.  Thank you readers for all your wonderful comments and varied perspectives.  Now I can avoid the issue entirely.

Bad news!  Someone else has expressed interest, with different but somewhat related issues as Carol's.  This woman used to sew years ago and wants to get back into it and doesn't have a lot of money to spend.  A designer friend of hers saw my Lydia and believes it would be adequate to the woman's needs.  I told her she could try it out here and decide for herself whether she was comfortable with it or not, no pressure.  Can't avoid the issue after all.

Good news!  Visitors to Male Pattern Boldness have gone up nearly 50% in the last month!

Bad news!  This is almost entirely due to a posting I did about beards last October.  Google beards or beard styles and one of the first images you see links directly here.  These aren't likely new followers or male sewists, but rather beard-challenged men (women?) looking for style guidance.  I guess it could be worse.  It could be kathy girdle fun.

Good news!  Apropos of facial hair, remember how I talked about wanting to shave with a vintage safety razor, shaving cream, brush, etc?  Well I now have my razor, my safety blades, my vintage shaving mug ($1 at the flea market), my Proraso Italian shaving cream, and -- in lieu of a genuine badger brush -- my synthetic makeup brush borrowed from Cathy that seems more than adequate to the task.

Bad news!  I am so afraid of cutting myself that I have yet to start shaving this way, this despite viewing countless YouTube videos on the topic.  For decades I have been using modern disposable razor cartridges and I fear a steep learning curve with the new-to-me old-fashioned double-edge safety razor blades -- and a bloody one.  Maybe I should start on my legs instead of my face...

Good news!  In addition to five sewing machines, I sold a lovely mirror from Ikea I'd actually found in the street. (Is that wrong?)

Bad news!  I still haven't sold my two vintage telephones, fluorescent work lamp, mid-century table lamps, vintage Sixties Arabia dinnerware, old digital camera, or mens body form (a display form that's too big for me).  I'll post these again this week and hope for the best. 

Good news!  The seller of the Singer sewing table I'd admired agreed to take an additional $5 off the cost.  It's a cute little table and would cost roughly $50 with shipping from Upstate New York.

Bad news!  For her anyway -- I've changed my mind about the table.  I've decided to stick with my current arrangement which suits me fine.  If I need to sew flush with a table top I can use my treadle.  Bringing another piece of furniture into the apartment means having to sell something else, and I can't bear to deal with another Craigslist posting right now.

Good new!  I kicked the coffee habit.

Bad news!  I now have a tea habit.

Friends, I know there's a life lesson in all this, one I'm refusing to acknowledge.  OK, I think it's that you win a few, you lose a few.  You have to roll with life's proverbial punches if you want to keep your sanity.  That's it, isn't it?  What do you think?

Readers, we're out of time.  I hope you're all well and happily stitching -- or thinking about it.

Balanced tension and a wadder-free week to you all!