Award Thanks and Miscellany

Some thanks past due.

Last month, two readers nominated me for this award - thank you, Skip and Bobbie!
and last week, Les Petits Anglais sent this my way:Thank you, ladies, for making my day(s)!

There are several rules involved in this award thing, but while I am thrilled and grateful, I am also very poor at following rules. So I shall do something completely unrelated and and answer some FAQs from you instead!

Q1: What is this ikatbag? And how do you pronounce it?

A: "Ee- kutt". Not "eye-cat". Ikat is a woven fabric, like these. The word "ikat" means "to tie" or "to bind" in the Indonesian language. See here for a better explanation. I find it funny in a tragic way that I have no actual bags made of ikat to show you.

Q2: Is LiEr your real name?

A:LiEr is my middle name. People also call me Lorraine. However, when I am signing my name, like on cards, I prefer LiEr because it has only half as many letters. And I am very, very lazy. Especially when I have to sign many cards.

Q3: How do you "get so much done" with three young children?

A: Um, am not sure what "get so much done" means. I don't take naps. I don't fold the laundry. Everyone gets a basket that's theirs and their clean laundry goes into it. I don't wash the dishes - the dishwasher does that for me. Some days I don't sew at all, and go shopping at Costco instead. Mmmmm. Some days we order in pizza. Some days I let the kids watch a video while I make dinner so they're not under my feet driving me nuts while there are hot pots on the stove. I don't homeschool my kids. I've given up trying to make Kate take naps. And three children play together quite nicely most days.

Q4: How do you find time to sew?

I never start and finish a project in the same day. Often not even in the same week. Anything that requires concentration (like drafting or cutting pieces out) gets done at night after the kids are in bed. Anything that requires hand-stitching or stuffing also gets done after the kids are in bed. The actual sewing is somewhat mindless so it gets done in the day whenever there is a spare moment. Like if I'm carrying a load of laundry downstairs and pass the sewing room, I'll think, "I've got two minutes before I need to start lunch, so I'll run off a few seams now." The kids like to climb on me when I'm sewing so I have removed my sewing chair to the opposite side of the room. Standing and sewing (the table is counter height for that purpose - less backache when cutting, too) means they cannot climb up to the sewing table and pull my hair, mess up my bobbins, poke their fingers on the needle, or change the stitch length on my machine when I'm not looking. However, they can (and have) press the machine pedal so now I turn the machine off if I have to leave the table, even for just a moment.

Q5: What's your favorite thing that you've made?

A: Anything that took me a long time to complete. My kids, for instance - they each took about 9 months.

Q6: What program do you use for your patterns?

A: Pages on the Mac. The husband installed it for me for a birthday gift because I'd been struggling through Text Edit (like Wordpad - primitive beyond description; no fonts!) ever since we swopped our PCs for Macs. At least now I have fonts. Ah.... Anyway, it also has templates for things like flyers, newsletters, brochures etc that you can alter to your liking. My pattern cover pages are all made from a newsletter template that I modified so that they look nothing at all like the original.

Q7: Why do you have nutella in an IV drip when you sew?

A: So it's not on my fingers, messing up my fabric, duh.

Finally got started on the girls' summer dresses/shorts/skorts/skirts earlier this week. Cut out about 10 garments (and counting), which are now in various stages of progress. I give myself just this week to finish whatever, after which the sewing machines get put away so we can pack. And just decided last night that maybe Jenna needs a backpack for the plane. And maybe our little videocamera needs a pouch. And maybe Kate needs some overalls. And maybe I need a skirt. Corduroy, with top-stitching. That would make um.... 14 projects in 7 days. Sounds manic, but I don't have the time to be rational this week. As of tonight, have finished 9 garments and halfway through the backpack. Whoo. My motto for the next three days is, "Don't think; sew".