Game of Thrones Postage Stamps!

日本ではどのくらい有名なのか分んないけど、ジョージ・R・R・マーティンが書いているファンタジー小説、ゲーム・オブ・スローンズシリーズのファンです。テレビシリーズ化もされていて、2019年がラストシーズンらしい。日本でも衛星チャンネルで同時公開？

でも小説のほうはまったく新刊がでてくれないので、もうここまできたら（テレビ版が小説の先をいってるし）きっともう最終巻までいかないんだろうな、とちょっとあきらめてる。

そのテレビシリーズのキャラの切手が発行されて、買ってしまいました。切手なんて使うことないのに、買ってしまった。知る人ぞ知る。私、切手に弱いのよね。

The British Royal Mail issued Game of Thrones stamps and I had to get them. Yes, I had do.

See, I have a weak spot for postage stamps. Stamps are so intriguing. Lots of art and design in such small area. It's so pretty to look at. If I had endless funding, I would collect them. Since I don't have such endless funding, I buy fun stamps and I like using them. So I bought one stamp for each character.

What I thought interesting about the character selection is that they included Sean Bean and the Tyrell lady. Sean Bean was in the series for only 1 season but he totally made the top 10, huh? (Because he's Sean Bean, I get it). And the Tyrell lady? I don't know, I would rather have Brianne of Tarth in there.

I have been a big fan of the original book series for the past 16 years ever since MOTH recommended it. But now the TV series is so big and the final season is coming up in 2019, I have very little hope that the book series itself would get to the final book.

I like the TV series, but I don't love it: I like its production quality very much, but with limited air time, the story gets altered and chopped and things happen too quickly (like how Gendry can run back to the Wall). Argh, George, your writing is so solid, I wish your work habit was as good good as your writing.

Mind the Gap Fleece Jacket: Jalie 2795

寒いから、羽織りものが必要だな、ってことで、先日のオットのフリーストップと同じ布で、私用にフリースジャケットを作りました。これを作れるように余分に布を買っておいたんだな。
型紙はカナダの会社、Jalieの2795番。ここの会社の型紙は、ほとんど補正の必要なく作れるので大好きです。
型紙はフード付きとフード無しがあるんだけど、私はフード無しバージョンを作りました。

腕のとこには前に買ったワッペンもつけてみた。ロンドンの地下鉄のシンボルのワッペンね。スリッパ姿で失礼（爆）

Excuse my slippers :)

Using the same fleece as the Man of the House's birthday half-zip fleece pull-over, I made a fleece jacket for myself.

The pattern is Jalie 2795 zippered jacket. I made the one without a hood.

The fabric is the generic grey polar fleece. It's pretty lofty.

I cut a straight size S. My waist is thicker than S but the side seam was pretty straight so I kept it as is.

First of all, I'm so proud that I made a fleece jacket. I had this pattern for a few years (or more?) and always felt a bit intimidated. But the great English weather gave me an opportunity, or rather a much needed little push, to make it happen. I mean, even the cutting layout looks intimidating with all sorts of pattern pieces. (If you make a hooded version, there are more pieces!)

But the sewing itself was very straight forward since it's not lined or anything. The raglan sleeve is cut into 4 different pieces and the bodice pieces have princess seams, but they are pretty much style lines so no complicated sewing techniques required. Almost like a patchwork.

I wanted to differentiate this jacket from MOTH's pull-over, so as a design detail, I borrowed Jalie's cover photo idea and added an embroidered patch on my sleeve.

It's the London tube symbol, "mind the gap" patch. And to go with it, I used a red zip and a bit of red twill tape to cover the collar seam.

The sleeves are slightly long for me (I'm 5'3"). It's actually a perfect length if I make a thumb hole, but I prefer long sleeves to cover my wrist completely, so I wouldn't alter the sleeve length. What I will change is the bodice length. I don'g like cold draft getting in from the hem, and I just want 2 more inches to cover my tummy/butt to feel warm.

It was so fun to sew together all the small pieces to create this jacket. I actually made it over 2 days from cutting to finishing, so it was uber fast sewing for me. I just wish I could source better fleece inexpensively in England...

Jalie 2212 Men's Pull-Over Shirt

オットの誕生日に全然間に合ってないんだけど、先日のおーいお茶に引き続き、お誕生日プレゼントにフリースのプルオーバーを作りました。
型紙はカナダの会社、Jalieの2212番です。

Totally belated, but in addition to the Japanese green tea I got the other day, I made the Man of the House a fleece pull-over shirt for his birthday.

The pattern is Jalie 2212. The pattern package comes with the half-zip pull-over shirt and a slim fit T-shirt (perfect for under shirt) pattern.

This pull-over shirt has a very interesting sleeve style. It's basically a kimono sleeve? The bodice yoke and the upper sleeve are combined.

There were a lot of small pieces to cut because of the princess seam bodice and the 3 pieces for the sleeves, but you get less fabric waste.

The fabric is some medium weight fleece. I wanted to get a more technical fleece like Polartec but it's very hard to source technical/niche fabric in the UK so it's just a non-descriptive anti-pill fleece.

I cut a straight size T. Since MOTH is rather short (5'7"), I think the sleeves may be a tad too long (thus all the wrinkles) but he does not seem to be bothered.

I used a #5 chunky zip and finished the arm and bodice hem with fold over elastic. I also added a twill tape to cover up the collar seam inside.

I think all the seam lines (the bodice princess seam and lower sleeves) are actually just style lines so you can combine them if you don't want to cut so many pieces. But the seam lines (especially with top stitching) add just enough subtle texture to the simple shirt so I really like it. MOTH is not a color blocking type of guy, but that would be a great option for mine...

MOTH's Birthday

木曜日はオットの誕生日でした。注文したプレゼントの配達が一日延びて、誕生日に間に合わないかと思ったけど、なんとか間に合った。
プレゼントはお～いお茶。
イギリスでは1本400円ぐらいする超高級品です。

Thursday was the Man of the House's birthday, and I got him his favorite Japanese green tea.
You can buy it for less than $1 a bottle in Japan, but here, it is sold for over $4. Crazy.

Blue Calla Clematis Wristlet #2

クリスマスに全然間に合ってないクリスマスプレゼントに、この前作ったポーチ再び。
前回のチェック柄がすごく気に入ったので、今度は青いチェックとこげ茶のコンビ。
やっぱり冬はタータンチェックが似合うわぁ。

I liked my Clematis Wristlet so much that I made a few more for belated Christmas presents.

Again, the pattern is the free downloadable Clematis Wristlet from Blue Calla. I think the slight curve at the top and at the contrast fabric as well as the tiny darts at the bottom distinguish Clematis from any other easy wristlet patterns and tutorials out there on the Internet. It's subtle but it makes the difference.

This time, I bought all new fabric. Blue tartan check upholstery fabric for the main, teal color cotton fabric for the lining, and distressed suede-look vinyl for the contrast fabric. ByAnnie's Soft & Stable for the interfacing.

The wristlet uses surprisingly small amount of fabric (especially the main panel). I bought 1 meter of each and I can make dozens of Clematis! When I made the Clematis last time, I made a pattern template using manila folder so that I can cut everything on a single layer. It helped a lot cutting multiple sets.

The suede-look vinyl was much thinner and softer and more pliable than the vinyl I used last time, so it was easier to sew together and top stitch.

Since I was making multiple of the same, I went for the assembly line sewing.

 

My rivet setting skill is not quite good yet. I am having a difficult time lining the two rivets right...

I made 6 in the assembly line style. I have to say, I kind of got tired of sewing the same thing over and over.

I really like this pattern. Right amount of contrast, right amount of hardware, and a perfect size for cell phone and a bit of money/credit card/chap stick. Definitely making more in the future.

Happy Year 2018!

遅ればせながら、あけましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします。

年末年始はアメリカに一時帰国していたので、2017年の仕事納めは12月22日の金曜日でした。2018年の仕事始めは4日。久しぶりに2週間近くの休暇！

一時帰国のため犬を預けなくちゃならなかったんだけど、帰国が決まったのが12月の頭だったので、ペットホテルにいくつか電話かけてもどこももうクリスマスにかけて予約でいっぱいで、ちょっと焦った。幸い、近所の人が紹介してくれたところが、ちょっと離れてるんだけど（車で30分）とてもいいところで下見しに行ってすぐ予約しました。私たちの出発日は26日の早朝だったんだけど、25日は休業ということで、犬たちは24日からホテル住まいになりました。

うちはもちろんクリスマスの飾りとかないんだけど、隣に住んでる大家さんちのクリスマスツリーが巨大でした。大体さ、クリスマスツリーがホイールローダー（除雪車みたいなショベルカー）で運ばれてきたもんね。

クリスマスはご近所さんに招待されて、イギリスの伝統的なクリスマスディナーをいただきました。七面鳥とか、ミンスパイとか。イギリスのクリスマスケーキは、ものすっごいブランデーがしみしみしたフルーツケーキでした。

アメリカ一時帰国ではアトランタに行ってきました。なんでアトランタかって言うと、イギリスのビザ更新のため。ビザが年末で切れるので。なんでイギリス国内でビザの更新ができないのか未だ不明。ビザの更新費用は会社が払ってくれるけど、旅行事体は自費よ（泣）

アトランタに2泊後は、アラバマでオット家族を訪ね、11月に生まれた甥に対面。寒波に直撃されて、年末年始のアラバマは極寒！日中の最高気温が氷点下だったよ。犬を連れて散歩に出たら冷たい空気が痛くて凍傷になるかと思った。

預け荷物のスーツケースがベルトコンベヤーから出てこなかったり（次の便で届けられた）、24時間サービスというビザのサービスが私のビザだけ間に合わなかったり（パスポートは宅配便でアラバマに届けられました）、帰りの乗り継ぎ飛行機がキャンセルされて別の便に回されたので出発が8時間遅れになり、3日の夜にイギリス到着のはずが、4日の朝になったりしたけど、どのトラブルも、最悪な状況は回避できたのでよかったです。

Happy New Year.

My last day of work in 2017 was 22nd and I had almost 2 week vacation. I wasn't particularly happy with the timing, but we went back to the U.S.

Our trip to the U.S. didn't get decided until early December. I called a few kennels to board our dogs, but they were already fully booked during the holidays. Luckily, the kennel that my neighbor referred me to was pretty nice, though it was a bit far (30 min drive). We went out there to take a look and booked them immediately. Although our flight was early morning on 26th, we couldn't drop the dogs off on the 25th (kennel was closed), so the dogs had to go on the 24th. With extra nights and the extra holiday surcharges, the kennel cost was pretty pricey, but oh well.

We did not have any holiday decoration at our house, but my landlord who lives next door had a HUGE Christmas tree. The tree was delivered by a front loader. That is so his style...

On the Christmas Day, our neighbor kindly invited us for dinner and we had a lovely traditional English Christmas dinner with a huge turkey, lot of mince pies, and a Christmas cake. English (or British?) Christmas cake is basically a fruit cake on steroid. Lots of brandy in it. (Usually the dried fruit is soaked in brandy for weeks)

The reason why we had to go back to the U.S. was to renew our UK visas. I still don't understand why we had to go to U.S. to get our UK visa when we are already in UK, but that's what the company "solicitor" (=attorney) supposedly said. We picked the visa service office in Atlanta so that we could make a trip to Alabama to visit the Man of the House's family and meet the newly born nephew.

We were hit by the cold weather in Alabama and it was cooooooold. The day time high was below freezing and the low was single digit. I thought my fingers were going to drop off when I took a dog for a walk.

We had minor troubles: MOTH's suitcase did not come out of the luggage carousel (came in the next flight); even though the company purchased the 24-hour visa service package, my visa did not make it while we were in Atlanta (my passport was overnighted to Alabama 2 days later); and our connecting flight back (Atlanta to Chicago) was cancelled so we were routed to another flight 8 hours later (the cancellation was notified before we left Alabama so we just stayed there longer). But overall, we averted the nightmare scenario so it was good.