Back to old haunts

Due to financial constraints from every which way, I've decided to take a hiatus on sewing altogether. So, for now at least, I'm defaulting back to my original drug of choice: cross stitching.

My mom, before we were born and when we were little, was an avid crocheter and cross stitcher. She taught my two sisters and me when I was about eight or nine (still have my first cross stitch stashed somewhere) but I was the only one who stuck with it, and I've been hooked ever since.

So fast forward to high school when, during the summers, I would cross stitch religiously, like it was my job, for four, five hours or more. During school, and throughout college, I didn't have the time, but it was still the one thing that I did on my downtime that truly relaxed me.

Then I got into sewing in 2010, and cross stitching has gone by the wayside, but I pick it up on occasion. At the very least it's made me adept to other forms of embroidery, such as flossing for corsets.

So now I've narrowed my cross stitching niche down to two categories: Asian cross stitches and zodiac/celestial cross stitches, but I'm very very picky about what I do. Currently I have a project in the works for both, a series of small but complex zodiac designs from Julie Hesler's Fantasy Cross Stitch (which I believe is out of print) and "Oriental Lady Beauty" from Joan Elliott's Oriental Odyssey. The latter's easier, so I'm picking away at that now.

No fancy pics and whatnot. Cross stitching's not very photo worthy until it's done anyway!

In sewing no man's land again...

So, it looks like my lavender and yellow dress is on hiatus. I've been frustrated with it, and the only thing that's going to come of this is (to me) a mediocre finished project. So I'm going to finish tacking the pleats sometime in the near future so the masking tape doesn't leave a residue over time and tuck all of this away until I feel inspired to fix the problems (mostly the overskirt) and start it up again. I do like the design and the colors, so I will finish it someday. Just not right now.

So where does that leave me now? Not sure. I'm low on money right now, so buying a ton of stuff won't do. I do have a red and black Natural Form dress and winter coat planned for fall/winter activities. I'm not inspired by that dress yet except for the bodice. I have a few months yet.

One thing I do intend to make is a simple Rensaissance outfit for the faire in May, so maybe I should focus on that and get my mind off of Victorian stuff for a while. We'll see!