An update

Last night's dance class was a late one; I was there from about 6:15 till 10:00 (ouch). The show is 2 weeks from Sunday *boggle* and we're still learning routines (or in my case, re-learning) and putting things together. She brought the draft program and alas, the show isn't getting shorter - there are 40 songs listed. Its going to be a late night (starts at 6:30). I'm sorry you wonderful people that are planning to see me. I still don't know if I'll be limited in my ticket order (hopefully I'll know by Saturday).

Today starts the whirlwind of SW movie promotion. I'll be at Fenway tonight with the 501st, Swansea tomorrow with the Rebel Legion, Fenway Friday with the 501st, Danvers Saturday with the 501st and Danvers Sunday with the Rebel Legion. My Leia dress was done but I wasn't happy with the hood - it wasn't full enough. I took the collar and small hood off last night and sewed the bits for a new hood. Today at work I'll gather it and pin it to the dress, and sometime before tomorrow afternoon will sew it all back together again.

On a related note, I'm having a hard time getting the buns on the side of my head. Given more time I'd get some extensions to add to the mix, but I have no clue how to add them in (never mind the time to play with them to figure it out). I wanted to practice last night with my own hair but with getting back from dance class an hour late AND needing to do more sewing I didn't have time. Here's hoping I'm able to figure something out on Thursday. I'll shower and set my hair while its wet (and hope it holds up during the drive to Swansea). Seeing how I never got that girl thing as a kid (not being really proficient with hair-dos or makeup) I have a bit of a learning curve.

I miss my Brian, who is in Las Vegas for 2 days on Lucas Films and Burger King's dollar (see his journal for details, TK7602). I'm glad I at least have Max to snuggle with. He seems more affectionate when he gets his Jodi all to himself for some reason, and he was great purring company while I ripped things apart with the seam ripper before bed last night.

last week's premiere

I shared this link already, but there are a lot more pics here now (including some red carpet/celeb ones):
http://501neg.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=317

Serging

I forgot to mention - I've been using my serger for the first time with this sewing project. I love how clean things come out and I think its definitely saving me a lot of time. I'm still totally intimidated by the thing, but the more I play the less that will be the case.

It does rolled hems, and I'm going to try that out soon with a new bellydance veil (post this SW craziness). I picked up some sheer gold fabric to use for my cantina solo. Of course, I'll have to figure the best way to tuck it into my costume. The myriad of veil tucking methods eludes me.

I also need to hem my tap costume and told the teachers at the studio that I'd help with their sewing prep post SW, pre show. They are adding additional rhinestones, trim, hems, creating hats, shoe bows, etc for everyone. I remember the days when we'd get our costumes in a group and everyone's mom's would be instructed on how to sew little bits or alter as needed. Gone are the days when this skill is something most people have. Its kind of sad if you ask me (of course, I'm biased being a sewer/costumer) :) As with many things we're passing these tasks on to someone else, most often for a fee, since we've got better things to do. On the one hand it creates industries that weren't there before. On the other hand it leaves us kind of dependent on others for something that used to be a basic fact of life (kind of like house cleaning, or laundry, or cooking). It does my heart good though to know that I can take in a waistband, hem some pants, apply a patch or throw together a simple skirt or dress on my own.