my bday labelmaker!

i finalllllllly opened the labelmaker jimmy got for my bday last year.  it's pretty fancy!  fancier than the labelmaker that my colleague had!

check out my new "buttons" label on my shelf of sewing stuff.  the label-less tin to its right is the gift tags tin, which got a label shortly afterward.  i'd take a pic of it, but i already packed it in a box for my move next monday!  YIPPEE!

grad gifts

i got invited to a graduation party for these twin brothers one of whom i taught last year and the other i taught for 2 years.  for alex:  "alex, in case you ever need to know the 1st 100 digits of e in a jiffy... -helen"  ah, yes, admire my fine wrapping job!

e, euler's number, is quite useful in physics, math (obviously), and business (alex's intended major in college).  i had 2 pics of bunks leftover from christmas cards that i sent years ago.  i wrote out the 1st 100 digits of e around the border of the mat that i made.

 "jarred, should you ever wonder what the 1st 100 digits of pi are... -helen"

pi, a transcendental and irrational number, is also super useful...  jarred hasn't quite figured out what he wants to major in (he's changed his mind 3 times this year already)... but i'm sure he'll use pi at some point!  these are really the 1st 100 digits of pi:

congrats, class of 2012!

mille grazie!

some star jars for my 2 italian teachers, franca and chiara.  i'm going to miss them!

graduation dress

my june garment was one heck of a project.  right after i finished my may garment, i dove right in, hoping to complete a new dress for my students' graduation, friday june 8!  i used this fabric (that is stain resistant!), that i purchased from g street fabrics near dc years ago,

and vogue1174

this project was no small feat.  i had my serger and sewing machine on at the same time and my apartment looked like this:

 poor bunks was bored out of his wits:

the bodice required my usual adjustment:  skinnier up top, wider at the waist

putting the bodice together was a huge pain in the butt.  there were 7 pieces for just the front half and i wanted to make sure that the pattern continued smoothly.  also, each piece was split by piping.  ahhhhh!!

the pattern made the skirt super long.  we all know i'm not that modest... so off came 2.5 inches.

around back, i lined up the fabric so that the zipper split a reed right down the center!  suffice it to say, cutting fabric for this project probably took 5 hours...  sigh.  

the inside of the bodice had a foundation (as vogue calls it), otherwise known as a modern day corset.  sewing boning is WORSE than sewing in zippers.  too bad there were 6 pieces of boning to sew in.  ack. 

the final result was quite stunning, if i do say so myself.  the kids were thrilled that i finished (many heard about this project), as were the few teachers who i told.  here's a pic of em and i outside independence hall, after graduation.  i had cute gold wedges on, but got tired from walking in them, so here unfortunately this pic is of me in gold sandals.   

we finished, bunks!  we finished!

now off to finish dad's shirt that was for xmas, his birthday, chinese new year, and now father's day.  oops.  i'm a terrible daughter