AT LAST! A PANT SLOPER

I am so excited! Yesterday I finished my pant sloper and met with Debra for a final fit. It is a good fit and now I am ready to make pants. But to be on the safe side I am going to Jo-Ann's tomorrow and hopefully buy a decent piece of twill or denim to make sure I am going to be happy with all aspects of fit before cutting into my black wool from Paris. Although I heard that airfare to Paris is only $250.00 right now it is not like I can just make quick little trip to replace the piece in the event the pattern doesn't work as well as I'm hoping. I used a Dusan system to make the sloper which basically allows you to take your measurements and plot them on a pre-made pant sloper and then connect the dots. To adjust for my large thigh I extended the crotch point 3/8" on the front and back crotch pieces. In the muslin this amount gave me the right amount of ease but it may need to be extened more in other fabrics. I always use a 1" seam allowance so it should not be a problem if I need to add more. I don't deal well with disappointment so I really hope this works.
Now my next challenge will be to find on my computer the pictures I just took of this process. New camera, new software - old brain.

They say, "IT'S LIKE RIDING A BICYCLE."

but apparently they didn't say that about roller skating because it didn't come back to me like I thought it would! Grace's 6th Birthday party was at the roller rink and I was so excited because I have always loved to skate and it was one of the few atheletic things I was good at doing. My sweet Jim reminded that is was 35 years since I skated and a fall could do serious damage. (I think he just concerned that he might have to be the one to nurse me back in the event of injury-- I admit I'm a lousy patient.) I ignored his advise and smugly laced up my skates. I learned immediately that if you want to discover if you still have "it" it may be best to find out the news in private. My first trip around the rink took a good 5 minutes. It was like a B rated horror movie, " inch by inch she crept, ever so verrry, verrry slowly." Half way around it hit me- the floor that is. Smack on my well padded bootie, I think I probably bounced. And then I couldn't get my feet steady enough to get up but thanks to a kind and well balanced stranger I did not suffer in embarassment too long. I made it back around and decided that the problem was not me but bad skates. Sure enough, another pair of skates fixed the problem and I ended the evening skating without another fall and feeling rather proud of myself. I even considerd buying my own skates and making it part of my fitness lifestyle.

That was 3 weeks ago and then this week there was the news of Natasha Richardson and I am now rethinking the skates. It can happen so quickly and even the most seemingly insignificant accident can change your life or the lives of your loved ones in an instant. I know you can't lock yourself up and be safe from everything but rather it is a matter of choosing the things that are really important. So I guess for now I won't be purchasing any roller skates and later if I decide I want to skate I'll purchase a matching helmet.