Making a Dirndl 12 - Sneak Peek

エプロンの裾の長さを決めるのに、ディアンドル着てエプロンつけてみた。

I needed to determine the length of the apron, so I put it on over my dirndl. Then I realized that I still don't have a ribbon for my lacing...

Making a Dirndl 11 - Apron

先月、ドイツの民族衣装、ディアンドルのワンピースが完成してから早かる～く１か月。
家を売る作業が一段落したところでやっとエプロンに取り掛かりました。ディアンドルにとってのエプロンは、着物の帯みたいなもので、エプロンなくちゃいけないのよ。
長方形の布をよせて紐つけたら完成な簡単なエプロンなんだけど、手縫いの多い方法で作ったのでちまちまと夜なべしました。

It has been way more than a month since I finished my dirndl dress. Now that the process of selling our house has come to a point where we just wait for the closing (which is early October), now I can work on my apron to complete the dirndl.

Above is my apron supplies all cut: sash, main apron (which is just a rectangle), gingham check strip of fabric for the width of my apron fabric, fusible interface for the wast band, and the wast band piece.

While I could use the pattern and instruction of Burda 7057, I did not like it so I decided to make my own. One thing I wanted to do was to gather the apron in a traditional hand-stitch way: rows and rows of equally spaced basting stitches pulled together to create a shirring effect. Hence the need of a piece of gingham check fabric.

Above shows that the long piece of gingham check fabric basted along the width of the apron.
Then I waxed and ironed 11 pieces of threads, for 11 rows of hand-basting.

After a couple of hours of meditating hand-basting, using the square of the check as a guide, the right side looks like this:

Then pulled the end of the threads together to gather the apron to fit the wast band. With the waist band sewn on, the apron looked like this...

which, I was not happy with.
Because my fabric was thin (silk dupioni), and probably it was not wide enough, the shirring looked a bit spacy and I could see the basting stitches between the gathers.

I slept on it, and I still did not like it.

So I smoked, though I had never done smocking before, with a contrasting color thread.

Not the perfect looking smocking, but this would do for me for now. I am now very happy with it.

Hemming is the only thing left for this dirndl journey.

Unrealistic Sewing Room

家を売ることに決めた翌日には売り手側の不動産仲介業者が家を見に来た。
これがまた、翌日来るとは思ってなかったので、汚れた食器はでてるは、郵便物は山になってるはな、全く片付けをしていない完全に自然体な我が家を見られてしまいました。

一応、基本的にはとてもいい状態なので、写真撮影用にテレビのリモコンは隠しなさい、とか、ごみ箱は隠しなさい、とか、台所のカウンターはシンプルに、とか、そんな助言をいただきながら家を見て回りました。

２階はほとんど使っていないので、ロフト、よし、客室その１、よし、客用風呂場、よし、客室その２、よし、だったんだけど、最後の客室その３（裁縫室）で、業者一瞬無言・・・。

人が来るとは思っていなかったので、それこそドイツの民族衣装、ディアンドルにつけるエプロンを作ろうと、布やら型紙やらが広げっぱなし、裁縫道具散らかりまくりだったのです。

裁縫室事体には感心されたものの、「ここは、写真撮影までには片付けておいてね」だって。

だから片付けたわよ、必死で。片付けるというより、隠しまくる、だけどさ。
写真撮影当日にまた見に来た業者にも褒められました。

せっかくだから、家を売る用にとってもらった裁縫室の写真公開。

The first thing that happened when we decided to sell our house was to meet with an agent at our house. Well, I wasn't expecting the Realtor to come the very next day, so she had to come in to our house at its most natural state, i.e. dirty dishes on the counter, junk box piled up with mail and miscellaneous things, tumbling fur ball (dog hair) on the floor...

So we went around and she pointed out things that we needed to work on before the photo shoot, like hiding the TV remote, hiding the garbage can, maybe getting some new colorful cushions on the outdoor furniture to brighten the backyard, etc.

Upstairs was easy, since we rarely use it: loft, ok, guest room #1, ok, guest bathroom, ok, guest room #2, ok, then comes the sewing room... she stopped at the door for a full second.

I had just finished the dirndl and started to think about the apron so I had the fabric out, patterns spread over on the floor, my notes, and all of my sewing tools on the table, etc, etc. 

She told me to clear the room before the photo shoot.

So I did.

The result is a very unrealistic sewing room. I pretty much hid everything. The ever present green self-healing cutting boards are hid behind the desk, all the clutter is hid in the boxes that are hid under the table that won't show from the plain view. I even hid my sewing machine's foot pedal. 

Pretty much impossible to actually sew in this room and maintain the "showing ready" state.

Sham & Cushion Cover

家を売るマーケティングの写真撮影で部屋がよりステキ！に見えるようにベッドの飾り用枕のカバーを作ったんだわ。
でも１か月もせずに犬に喰われた（犯人はユキ）。

で、もうオファーが入ってショーイングをしなくてもいいからとちょっと気を抜いていたら、急きょもう一つどうしても家を見たい客がいる、というメッセージが入ってしまいました。
なので仕方なく朝早起きして枕カバー作り直し。やっつけ作業ってやつか？
ついでだから角が擦り切れてるクッションのカバーも同じ布で作ることにした。

四角く切った布の回りを縫って、

縫い代にロックミシンをかけたら

できあがり。

この布、ワンピースを作るように買ったのに、結局ほとんど枕カバーとなってしまった。
もうカバー喰われてもカバー作り直せるほど布が残ってないです。犬たち、頼むぜ。

Before our house was listed on the MLS, I made a couple of new shams for the master bed for the photo shoot.
Well, not even a month has past and a dog ate a big chunk of it. (Blue Heeler is the culprit)

Then, last night, we got a message from a realtor that her customer really wanted to see our house, fully knowing that the house is under contract. So the showing again; that means I needed a new sham.

I also decided to make a new cushion cover for an old cushion that has frayed corner with the same fabric.

The fabric was damask design jacquard that I had bought intending to make possibly a sheath dress and a simple jacket ensemble (I was thinking of New Look 6302).
I did not enough fabric to fussy-cut so no centering of the damask design.

I still have to make an apron for my dirndl...

The Day Has Come

とうとうこの日がやってきてしまいました。
私の車の走行距離、１０万マイル突破しました！約１６万キロ。
私の車は２００７年に中古で購入した２００６年式なので今年で１０歳。さすが日本車らしく、全く問題もなく信頼度抜群ないいやつです。あと１０年は軽くいけるな。
ちなみに週末や長距離の移動はオットの車を利用するのが主なので、平均して１年で１万マイル（約１万６千キロ）っていうのはこの国の平均（１年で２万キロ弱）以下です。

The day has finally come. The mileage on my car has surpassed the 100k mark.

My car is a 2006 Scion xB that we bought in 2007. It has served us well over the last 9 years with no major issues, thanks to The Man of the House changing oil and filter every so often.

I have never owned a single car this long and I am still liking it very much. My boss always tells me to get a bigger car for safety but it's a perfect car for me.

Selling Our House

お久しぶりです。まだまだ４０度が続く砂漠地帯からこんにちは。

我が家を売りに出すことになり、先月は怒涛の大晦日の大掃除×２週間な毎日でした。その後マーケティング用の家の写真撮影があり、その二日後には家が売り家リストにのりました。

売り家リストに載ると、ショーイングと言って、見込み客が家に来て、家じゅうを見て回ります。緊張でしょう？ショーイングの間は家にいられないので、平日は仕事で留守だからいいんだけど、週末は朝から夕方まで外で時間をつぶさなくてはならないの。犬連れで、一日中外で時間をつぶすのは難しいです。気温４０度強だし。

ショーイングのために家を完璧にきれいにしておかなくてはならないというのはものすごい緊張だったんだけど、幸い１週間でオファーが入ったので、そのあとはちょっと楽になりました。

ショーイングの時と、その後の各種検査の時は犬も連れ出さなくてはならなくて、前もってショーイングがあるのがわかっている時は犬を仕事前にドッグシッターとなってくれた友人の家に連れて行き、仕事帰りに犬を連れ戻す、という日々でした。

オファーが入ったとは言え、まだ売買が正式に決まったわけではなく、契約予定日は１０月で、それまでに買い手が指定する家の各所を直す作業があります。２階のお風呂場の水の出が悪いのを直せとか、洗濯室のシンクの排水が悪いのを直せとか、割れてる屋根の瓦を直せとか。何十万円単位で出費がかさむのです（泣）

やることが多くて忙しいし、精神的にもストレスがたまる今日この頃です。

Still over 100 degrees in the desert here.

We decided to sell out house last month, and we spent full 2 weeks cleaning and decluttering the house. I had to spend a few hours every day after work on the weekday, then all day on the weekend, cleaning every surface of the house and hiding stuff from the sight. It was a bitch to clean up the backyard in the 100 degree weather.

What was most stressful was the showing. Not only did I have to maintain the house impeccable everyday, but we also had to deal with the dogs. During the week, we had to drop off the dog with a friend who volunteered to be a dog sitter for us before work and pick them up after work, and on the weekend, we had to be out of the house all day, with 2 dogs, in the 100 degree weather (more like 110 degrees...) because we had a few showings spread out each day.

Luckily, we got offers within a week from listing the house, so I was relieved from trying-to-keep-the house-looking-like-a-show-room stress, but we still had to deal with the dog situation every time different inspectors and appraisers came.

At this point, we just got the buyer's request of repairs and signed off the paperwork. Every bit of the house is in good working condition, but the inspector was pretty much nitpicking so we will have to spend a good chunk of money on repairs.

The closing is scheduled to be early October. Phew, we still have tons of stuff to do for selling the house as well as finding next place to live.