Gwendolyn

Working at a fabric store can be inspiring, but customers never ever fail to make one doubt in humanity.

Customer:  Do you have any muslim?
Me:  Er, do you mean muslin?
Customer:  Yes, do you guys have any muslim?
Me:  *boggles* We have some MUSLIN in the warehouse...
Whereupon I kindly pointed out our muslin, and even more kindly didn't ask her if she was looking for any other religions while she was at it. 

But I have a dress! With sleeves! And lining! It might not have a petticoat, stomacher, or trim, but it's a dress and I'm wearing it. I seriously cannot wait to finish this project and have the thing... I really hope nothing goes wrong, because I'm in love with it even before all of the critical bits have been sewn. I only wish the camara was working...

And to round off the evening, I also feel compelled to fill out sewphisticate's costuming meme.

1. Are you the type of stitcher who works on one project start to finish, or do you work several different projects at once?
Can I be both? I might have more than one project started, but I only ever work on one at a time. For instance, the Violet B. dress is in progress, but upon starting the Sleepy Hollow Stripey, I've worked on nothing else, and won't touch anything else until this dress is done. I think by nature I'm a start-to-finish sort of girl, but one who is easily bored.

2. How do you decide which projects to begin? Need? Whim? Herd mentality?
Whim. I've never really had a NEED for a costume (except for Star Wars stuff); and not being in physical contact with the costuming "herd", I would only find it depressing to follow a trend. Yeah, I make stuff totally on whims.

3. What are the sorts of things that will cause you to hurl said project(s) into the corner and consign them to the pit of Hades?
I haven't. The only time something like that happened was when I was trying to bag line the 3/4 circle V.B. skirt, and after the third try I finally got it right, only to realise I'd run out of bobbin thread at the begining of the seam. It was hurled into a corner, but only stayed there for an evening. I think at the begining of my costuming life I was happy with poorer jobs, and since becoming more perfectionistic, I've been very, very lucky.

4. Once consigned to Hades, will you ever return to the d*mned project and complete?
Er, yeah... see above...

5. What about those projects you complete, and then decide you hate for whatever reason (doesn’t fit, don’t really like how it looks on you, etc.) How do you dispose of them?
All of the stuff I made the first couple years of sewing is basicly crap, but I haven't had the heart to get rid of anything... I keep thinking that even the worst costume might come in handy in the future.

6. When disposing of old costumes, do you pick off the good bits (the nice lace, the vintage buttons, etc.) to use on future projects, or does the dress move on to the great wardrobe in the sky more or less intact?
I haven't disposed... all the bad stuff is just pushed to the back of my closet.

7. Of course imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but have you ever gone anywhere (including to various Web pages) and found a gown that looks suspiciously like one that you created? 
No... *sigh* I'm quite sure movie costumes don't count...

8. Have you ever lifted design elements from the gowns of other costumers? (Let me be specific: Not vintage garments, not film costuming, but gowns created by costumers you have come across, either at events, cons, or on the Web.)
Not conciously. If I have, I haven't meant to...

9. If you could pay someone to do one hated task involved in sewing, it would be…
IRONING! Oh, how I hate ironing... I seriously can't describe how much I loathe having to iron.

10. What are you working on now?
The Black and White Sleepy Hollow dress is my main project at the moment.
Technically, I'm also working on the Violet Baudelaire dress, though I haven't touched it since Dec.
Oh, and I'm putting together a Slytherin student outfit for July.