Michael found my camera yesterday!!! He was being his usual sweet self and cleaning our bedroom. He picked up our clothes, made the bed, and he pulled all the teddy bears out from under the bed. Judo likes to steal the bears and drag them under the bed to violate them in who knows how many ways. She also likes to steal under garments, and used tissues, and hair rubber bands. While he was rescuing all our "lost" belongings from Judo's lair, he found my camera! It had been drug all the way into the center of the bed!
Now, the last time I saw my camera it was on the kitchen counter. I inspected it this morning and found lots of new scratch marks- I think I know how they got there. There is a very definite snag in the wrist strap, and a few new scratches on the edges. I think Judo found a new heavy silver treasure (my camera) on the kitchen counter a couple weeks ago and started batting at it. Things probably got a little out of hand and the silver treasure ended up on the floor. It probably made some noise, which caught Annie's attention. When Annie came running over to check things out, Judo probably grabbed the wrist strap to make off with the silver treasure before Annie could get her paws on it. I can only guess that Judo started dragging the silver treasure away from Annie and put it in the only safe place a sink-dwelling monkey cat can stash things; under the bed with the violated bears. Once she got it there, I'm sure she was distracted by a stuffed shark toy or maybe an especially tantalizing bra (Judo loves to steal bras), and completely forgot about the heavy silver treasure.
But Michael found it! And my camera and I are reunited!
Pictures to come soon.
For Easter, I made Michael a skull shirt in his usual pattern. He chose the fabric at Joann, and we found the cool sterling silver skull buttons on eBay. I wish I could get him to actually model his shirts for pictures, because they look really great on him! After making this one, we realized that this isn't really the best collar 
and front facing style. For his next shirt, (red/black Ninja fabric) I'm going to draft him a new pattern. I have a Lutterloh pattern for men with a collar stand and top-stitched front facings. I think he'll like it much better. But, he wore his skull shirt at Easter with my family. It looked really great on him, and he got lots of compliments.
the great dinner, he had a dozen roses waiting for each of us when we met him at his office Friday afternoon! I'm such a lucky girl! I also made my mom a shirt with her signature Simplicity 4077. This time I used view D. It has 3/4 length sleeves with a really cute cuff. I used some Tracy Porter quilting fabric that I got for a steal after Christmas 2006. I've been saving it in my stash for something special, and I think a shirt for mom was just the thing. It's a really soft brushed cotton in light yellows and greens. I found some buttons that look 
like they are some type of shell in a light alabaster/green tone.
hems! I'm pretty sure the method for turning hems was invented by Satan himself. The cuffs are just doubled and sewn onto the bottom of the sleeve. Then I serged the edge to finish it, and pressed it up toward the sleeve. She loved her shirt and actually wore it for Easter. I made her an Easter dress (I forgot to take pictures), but I think pants and a blouse were more comfortable for running around helping the grandkids find Easter eggs at Aunt Deb's ranch. The shirt fit her great, and she really looks beautiful in pastel yellows and greens.
skirts. Plus, I pretty much dress like a boy for work everyday. So, I wear dresses and skirts every chance I get. I haven't watched Project Runway in a couple seasons, but I think it's so cool that Simplicity has patterns inspired by the show. I used Simplicity 2951. Basically it's a empire dress that can be strapless, sleeveless, or has a couple different sleeve variations. I used the puffed 3/4 length sleeves and I used the pockets.
I used some$1/yd (my favorite price) green polyester. I actually like polyester. I don't know why I like it; I just do. Anyway, it's pretty thin, so I had the line the skirt. I used a bed skirt I bought to use as lining fabric for 95 cents at a thrift store. This is the second dress I've lined with it! I absolutely love this dress. It is so comfortable and easy to wear! Plus, it's super easy to make. It was so nice to just mindlessly follow the pattern instructions. I didn't do any crazy design changes and the sizing was perfect for me; no alterations! I think I'll make it in black eyelet next.
