Merry meet all,
Summer is almost over. The heatwave is still on. The next turn in the Wheel of the Year is Mabon. Mabon is the first of the three harvest Sababts. I’ve seen some autumn leaves already! Soon pumpkins will be displayed at our fave grocery stores and kids will be back in school. Fall is my favorite time of year.
I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of a particular book: The Book of Oberon: A Sourcebook of Elizabethan Magic. I can’t wait to get my mitts on it. I ‘m also waiting for a Viking drinking horn to arrive. The waiting is the hardest part.
Wicked Shadow Press is publishing my eighth flash fiction story, The Cries of Dead Children, in their anthology Pocket Full of Posies. I am very happy and I look forward to reading the anthology. Reading what other authors have written really helps me with my own writing.
I read the amazing novel Relics by Tim Lebbon in three days. I just love that book. I don’t know why the book sat on my shelf unread for so long. It is the most amazing book ever. There is a reason why I read the books by other fellow horror authors. They truly do help me with my own writing. I break out of a rut/ shell. I would recommend Relics in a heartbeat. He is an author with a real imagination. Wow.
I plan to organize all the books tonight. I have a ton of books to organize. It’s a very good thing that I have a system. I really want my own apartment but it costs a fortune. IKEA will not come to pick up the pieces of the bed frame. I guess we are stuck with the assembly. Last time I ever order anything from them.
I’m sewing myself a Samhain skirt. I am using the Butterick pattern B6999. The skirt has three tiers and has a ton of gathering. The skirt is orange and has a print of black ravens. The first tier is orange broadcloth- solid colour, no print. The two tiers are made from the printed quilting fabric. I am also adding a lining made from voile. The waistband is elastic. I want to sew on black ribbon to the tiers as well. I hope it turns out well. I am making a modification though. The sewing pattern instructions say to do the gathering in one long seam. I hope that is the right word. The third lower tier is the hardest part. I have to do the gathers. I have already hemmed the tier. I sewed a narrow hem. The lower tier has five sections to gather. Now I plan to modify by sewing it in five individual sections. If I follow the original sewing instructions, I can’t get the long thread tails that I prefer. If I do the gathering basting stitch in the five sections the way I want to, then I can get the long thread tails. I will wrap the threads around the pins in figure eights and secure the gathers with clips. Then I can sew the lower tier to the upper tier and then finish the skirt this weekend.
I cut out the pattern pieces very carefully. I know my readers know that but I wonder how many people ever think about cutting out pattern pieces to get the line of the fabric. The garment is designed a certain way. Once you cut fabric, that’s it. The expression “measure twice, cut once”. exists for a reason. Since I cut the pattern pieces with care, I can easily determine the top part of the skirt pieces from the hem part of the skirt pieces. The fabric has a print too and I made sure the ravens were all facing up and not down or mismatched. I stitched with an even 5’8 inch seam allowance. That insures the skirt seams won’t unravel and that I will fit in it and the pieces lock together much better. I always press my seams, sometimes on the right and wrong sides of the fabric. Pressing seams on both sides ensures that the seam is pressed its very best. I like to make the seams lie flat, like very flat.
Of course, the orange halloween skirt will be worn all year-round. Ha ha just kidding, it will have to be worn in the fall. But then, I am a Halloween person.
I have a lot of leftover fabric. I may make a Halloween bag with it then use the bag to hold Samhain charms, candy or pendulums, tarot cards or runes! Cat treats. Who knows?
The best time of year is almost here. Fall vibes, autumnal breezes and the swish of a halloween skirt… bring it on!
