That would be this morning’s monumental waste of time. I felt like making something though, and so I did. For a prototype, it’s not totally awful, but the pattern needs a little work … as do my rusty sewing skills. The next one will be even cuter!

At least this cat will always be sweet, adorable, and quiet, unlike the two living, breathing hellions storming around the house today.

One of the millions of artsy-crafty ideas that have been running through my mind since I got out the sewing machine has lead to a late afternoon experiment. What would happen if I coated a small stuffed object with a couple of layers of Mod Podge and then sealed it with acrylic coating? I’m not exactly certain how it’s going going yet. After two coats of Mod Podge, the fabric isn’t especially stiff, and the coatings do not crack or otherwise pull off the fabric when lightly abused. Once the latest layer of clear acrylic is completely dry, like maybe in the morning, I will test to see if “accidentally” spilling a little water on it messes up the (hopefully) fully-sealed Mod Podge.

Basically what I am trying to do is find a way to add a little dust and water protection to a fabric sculpture idea I am contemplating. I know there are products designed specifically for that purpose, but I don’t own any of them, and I don’t have the cash to go buy any of them. Therefore, I must experiment with what I have. Sometimes I get really different and interesting results. Why I may even try running it over the gas burner on the stove lightly to see what happens. Of course, I’ll use really long tongs and full protective gear, because it might just go up in a huge ball of flames … or, it might give a really awesome result. Won’t know until I try!

Oh, and canvas, what canvas I have been working on for the entire year? Yup, on the back burner again. Some ideas are too cool not to be thought out and attempted when first realized. I will eventually get back to that damn canvas!

Thanks to sqlrob over at Livejournal, I have the Spore Creature Creator demo running on my non-Leopard system! With some tweaking to two files, the demo can be run on Macs using OS X 10.4.11, maybe even others if you have all the other requirements. First you do this, and then you do this. Probably won’t work when the full game comes out, but at least I can goof around and waste time with the demo … which is exactly what I have been doing.

Also, if like me you hate things running fullscreen, here are the commands to toggle between windowed-mode and fullscreen:

Command + Return: Toggles the game between windowed and fullscreen modes.
Command + Tab: Minimizes the game when in fullscreen mode.

And, here’s a video of my first creature creation!

Not all fabrics must be washed before sewing.

With that said, and a load of fabrics in the washing machine, everyone should wash their fabrics before sewing. The reason is to make you look at the fabrics and realize whether or not they are something that needs to be washed first, and knowing that is something that comes from experience of working with fabrics and knowing how they react with washing.

For the first time ever, I can wash fabrics at home, without having to walk to a laundry room or drive to a laundromat, so why not develop a good sewing habit. Which isn’t to say I will always be washing fabrics before use, because I am lazy and I know what I can get away with.

Anyway, I have some light blue and bright red batiste and two obnoxious calico prints in the washer right now. I had planned to make two shopping bags with it, but I just noticed the light blue matches the blues in that stupid canvas I have been working on, so now I have to explore an idea first. Exploring ideas is the number one reason I never get anything done, after all.

I should be in bed. I have got to go to the grocery store tomorrow, no matter how I feel about it, and I already know I am not going to feel like going … which is why I am watching Slime People again and washing fabrics at 2:30 am. I hate my sleep cycle. Well, at least sewing and doing laundry is something I can do in the middle of the night without disturbing you-know-who.

Yippee! It took no time at all to get the machine cleaned up and the tension adjusted. In that brief amount of time, I was reminded of the reason I replaced that machine with a new one, other than wanting a hundred different stitch patterns. The bobbin chamber has to be the most annoying bobbin chamber ever designed. But, the machine works great, so now I can plan what it is I want to sew. Then I can take my small amount of mad money and go buy a few patterns and the notions I’ll need and get to it.

I don’t know why I had so many problems with that machine the last time I had it out a few Christmases ago. I guess it had less to do with an actual problem with the machine and more to do with feeling a lot of pressure to have to make a bunch of presents with stuff I had in the house and not wanting to do it. In fact, I don’t think the machine was giving me any problems at all. I think I just got frustrated and angry about the situation and put it back in the closet.

Well, I’m not frustrated and angry now. I am so excited and looking forward to doing some sewing!

Anyway, here’s my White machine. It’s very basic, but Lin got it at a thrift store for a bargain price when one of my Singer machines needed to go in to the shop for the hundredth time and I got sick of dealing with it (and paying for it).

Of course before I can sew anything, I will have to get back into that damn closet to get to the fabrics. At least those are all on the top shelf and accessible … and Myu hasn’t made a total mess of them yet.