I want this too

How greedy of me to write three posts about the things I covet in one week. But I can't afford this Holding Pattern Overnight Bag from Modcloth anyway (it's $95 US) and would be mad at my husband for spending so much on a bag for me in these tough times. But maybe you can afford it. (And I wish you no harm should you run out and buy this bag. Really. I do.)

Or you could do what I did, and enter the giveaway at Burdastyle.com and then hold your breath for the next 24 hours hoping that you will win. Seriously, isn't it cute?

Holiday giveaways

I'm a little embarrassed to admit how obsessed I've become this month with holiday giveaways. Maybe it's because I've actually won a bunch of stuff this year, which has shown me that by actually entering you increase your odds by, like, I don't know...100 per cent (I never took Statistics, so this is a rough estimate from an Arts-based Brain).

This year I have been the ecstatic recipient of three yards of cool printed fabric, one vintage pattern, an awesome new pattern book, AND tickets to Saturday Night Live. So how could I not bookmark the following month-long giveaways, which I am going to tell you about — even though your entering will decrease my chances of winning by approximately 2 per cent (again: Arts Brain). Because if I don't win, at least someone who dedicates part of their day to reading these thoughts I cobble together should!

• Burdastyle.com is giving away something great every day. Already they've given away the Colette Sewing Handbook, a subscription to Selvedge magazine and a collection of sewing books. New giveaways are posted daily on the blog, so bookmark it!

• Apartment Therapy is giving away over a hundred fancy-schmancy gifts for your home. Each weekday they post SIX new giveaways, and they're pretty much all awesome. Even if you don't need a $900 shelving unit, you can sell it on Craigslist!

• The McCall Pattern Company is giving away a sewing-related gift each day, from shiny new shears to sewing machines! Like all giveaways, you have to provide your email address, which may result in more emails than you want in a day, but if that's the price to pay for a new serger, count me in!

• I love Wired magazine even more now that they're giving away $13,000 worth of techie stuff — including the very laptop my husband is required to buy for ad school in January. Make my dreams come true, Wired.com!

• And, of course, there are those lucky ladies of the blogosphere who give away stuff all the time: Katy of No Big Dill, Grosgrain (which has a Shabby Apple dress giveaway right now. And December 12 is Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day, so check the website for amazing handmade giveaways that week.

You can thank me later.

All I Want For Christmas Is...

All the cool kids are doing it. Sewing a Minoru jacket by Sewaholic, that is. (What, I wonder, does "Minoru" mean? Is it a hybrid minotaur-Suburu? ....uh, actually I just looked it up and the jacket is named for a park in Richmond, B.C. Moving on!)

I've been seeing amazing versions of this new jacket pattern by Vancouver's own Tasia (Home province pride!) pop up on all my favourite sewing blogs:  Julia Bobbin's in blue, Novita's cool version, another by lladybird. The jacket is designed to work with lighter-weight fabrics (canvas, twill, poplin, denim) and winter has barely begun in NYC, so it's not seasonally appropriate for me to begin sewing a decidedly springy coat just now....or is it?

Perhaps planning a spring coat in December is exactly the stroke of genius I need to make me go slowly and carefully. (Sometimes I just freak out over how excited I am to wear a new garment that I take stupid shortcuts). If I sew this coat (and spend $18 on the pattern, plus the cost of fabric, lining, zipper et al.), I want to do it right. Maybe even make a muslin — though I think I may not need to: Tasia's patterns are designed with the pear-shaped lady in mind, so for once I may not need to make any alterations! Halleluyah!

Anyway, in case you were wondering what to get me for Christmas (dear husband), this pattern would suffice. (Also three yards of cotton canvas or poplin in chartreuse and printed lining fabric, a separating zipper and 2-inch elastic).

I want this

I NEED one of these labels for the hoodie I am making my husband  — as a completely unsubtle reminder how much effort went into his Christmas gift this year.

They're $4.50 for four labels, at Sublime Stitching. I saw them in Bust magazine's Holiday Gift Ideas email.

The monster who hates her Christmas tree

For those people who consider themselves too selfish to ever be suited to having children: you are probably right. Because if there is one thing about parenting you should know, it's that all of your aesthetic aspirations will be trampled upon by the tiny feet you work so hard to care for. And you are  monster if you care about the fact that your sweet little darling put cut up pieces of twine all over your Christmas tree and 3/4 of the ornaments are clumped up on the bottom 18 inches of the tree like so many Canadians huddled along the border. And if you dare to redistribute them because the rest of the tree looks downright barren, your husband will give you a look that says, "I feel like I barely know you." Because then you are the perfectionist whose kid ends up in therapy because she's unable to accomplish anything out of fear her mother will swoop in and fix it. Oh, okay: not you. Me. ME! I am the one stuck with a tree that looks like this:

If we lived in a house in a city that didn't demand your dining table abut your Christmas tree, I would have two trees and my kid could cover hers in garbage, which is what she wants. Until then, the only thing for me to do is stop caring. Again: my husband thinks I am a monster.

Here's my contribution to diabetes this week: Homemade Gingerbread Caramels wrapped in origami boxes I made from cardstock:

Here's my assistant trying to sneak a taste (is it Food Safe (TM) to wrap candy in your underpants?)

That's all for today, folks. (P.S. I interviewed two people in Saskatchewan last week and they BOTH said "folks" repeatedly. Cute, right?)