Sweet Kate

Last night I hung out with one of my good friends and caught up on life, went shopping with her for costume accessories, helped my dad fix my antique welding glasses, balanced my checkbook and paid various bills. However, it doesn't feel like I got much of anything done because it wasn't at all what I was planning to do. Heigh, ho.

I take it as a sort of joke that I can't make a costume without going into the garage and using various tools. For instance, to finish up this costume I used wire cutters, a metal file, a hammer, a screwdriver and a drill press. It is most amusing that nearly all of my sewing projects (or nearly any crafty project) requires tools out of the garage.

Two unrelated items of interest.

Friday our cat, Sayers, was looking not that well, with huge pupils and just generally laying around. But we weren't sure she was sick, because she is the sort of cat that lies around all the time anyway. On Monday, though, she wasn't looking any better, so my mom took her into the vet. We were sure it wasn't diabetes, at least, because my cat Percy has diabetes, so we know the signs. It turns out that Sayers is having kidney issues, and has lost three pounds (which, for a fifteen pound cat, is 20% of her body weight). It was going to be ridiculously expensive to keep her at the vet, so my mom said she'd take the cat home, and give her an IV. This means that my mom has to get an even larger needle into Sayers than for Percy's insulin shots, in order to have an IV drip of saline solution for five minutes a day for the cat. Sayers also has a low salt diet, and hopefully this will help enough that she will get better. Right now she looks all small and pitiful and is bony (instead of being her usual round, well padded self), with huge pupils (she looks like an anime cat).

Monday night was fabulous, and I hardly knew what to do with myself, because I didn't have to be studying. I am instead reading Elizabeth Moon (some of the Vatta series) and catching up on my shows (caught up on Castle, but still have to catch up on Chuck, and I want to watch some SG1), and, most exciting, starting on my Regency short stays and chemise (from the Sensibility pattern). Tonight I will be tracing the pattern and starting on the mock-up, to determine exactly what size to make them, and what sorts of alterations to make to the pattern. It is exciting, because I've never worked with stays before, or sewn gussets, but it shouldn't be too terribly beyond my skill level. I'm also determined to do the eyelets properly by hand with thread instead of with metal grommets. It will be fabulous, and I hope to finish up in a month, because that is when the Jane Austen ball is, and it would be rather nice to be able to wear my short stays and chemise. I think it should help the dress fit even better (although it is almost certainly the best dress I have made, and is quite beautiful and fits me well and looks good on me).