Wow, life came up and bit me pretty good this time. Between projects and unexpected surprises, I've been swamped.

Firstly, I finally finished my big commission for the 10 matching tea hats, huzzah! I've had just about enough of yellow tulle to last me several lifetimes. Secondly, for some reason I've been on a patterning kick lately. Haven't done much with the patterns yet (which are for all sorts of different items), but I will eventually. Certainly doesn't hurt to have a pattern library. Thirdly, I ended up making a bunch of Halloween costume pieces for friends back home who are having an "Alice in Wonderland" themed Halloween party: Alice's dress, Alice's apron, Alice's headband, the Mad Hatter's hat, and the Cheshire Cat's ears. Tons of fun

Recently I've discovered a love for heavy duty, double-sided fusible Peltex interfacing. It doesn't give me quite the range of shapes achievable through buckram (obviously no pulled crowns), but it saves on mess and space and I LOVE it. I'm currently planning on using it in a bonnet as foundation material.

On the other side of the coin, my main computer has been down for the count for the past month after I got an especially nasty virus/malware infection. This wouldn't seem so bad, as I have a laptop to work on, but it's put a bit of a cramp in my style. For the past year, I've been saving image files and documents relevant to costume history and have organized them into a decade-by-decade visual encyclopedia. It includes period photographs, period ephemera, period patterns, and photos of existing garments/accessories. Literally thousands upon thousands of files. And I can't currently access them, right when I want to look for bonnet ideas, boo.

The other current issue is the car. It is really starting to show its age, and the DMV is being difficult in not letting us register our next vehicle because they don't like the title we currently have. Our current car seems to have a new issue every week. Two weeks ago, the radiator blew and we got smacked with a $360 towing fee. This past week, the power steering completely died, so we're driving without it. I really hope this all gets resolved soon, money is getting tight. That and it would be nice to be using a car that doesn't have its upholstery duct taped together.

Oh well. Things will work out, they always do!