Single Minded Focus

Inspirational song: Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young)

I can't believe I spent the entire day with a needle in my hand. Well, nearly so. I used the sewing machine for the first hour or two, but for the last nine hours, I was making tiny hidden stitches in that costume. I sewed the neckline carefully along the seam inside the lining, and then delicately sewed the shoulder seams to each other "in the well," meaning carefully poking the needle between the four pieces of fabric between each individual stitch connecting shell and lining pieces together. I made it three quarters of the way down the center seam in the back, doing the same thing, when my thread knotted, broke, and the needle went missing in the living room chair. I took that as a sign that I was done for the night. I was exhausted, sore, and cranky. I skipped lunch and didn't remember to reheat anything for dinner until well past 9. For someone who just waxed poetic a few days ago about living deliberately, I let an entire day go by without engaging my brain in anything more taxing than operating my fingers. Not very well done of me. I had exactly one break all day, when my neighbor who is moving came by to talk me out of a few small raspberry canes as a parting gift, and I happily walked out and picked berries while she dug up the canes. I keep thinking fondly of that massage chain membership we put on hold during the move, and wishing I had time before the cosplay event to go start testing out new massage therapists. That new person could spend two hours on my mid back and right forearm, and never undo all the damage I have done just today alone.

I suppose I can show one more picture of the coat as it was this morning, until it goes under wraps before the final reveal. There are neat details to come, as we tested out yesterday, but I am keeping them hushed up for now. My little dress-up girl is going to look fabulous this weekend. She's come a long way from a green dragon onesie. She is lucky she is family. Anyone else would have to pay me hundreds of dollars for this amount of skilled labor. And I'm not sure I could ever be talked into doing it again. Not sure I'll ever top the precision of this one.