Telling tales out of school

I was forced to lock a previous post as friends-only because several people decided to make critical comments there that they didn't have the courage to make directly to the person who was brave enough to share her project on a public forum.

It's not cool to praise me for saying nicely what you could not and then criticize her in my journal where you think she won't see it. You know, behind her back?

If you want to criticize this lady's work, have the honor and honesty to do so to her face. After all, SHE has had the honor and honesty to admit why she made the aesthetic choice she did.

Hakone Gardens

So, I was channel surfing last night and caught this on Bay Area Backroads. I spent the entire segment cringing. Doug, honey, I know you're a big white guy, but it's pronounced  HA-KO-NEH. If it was pronounced HA-KO-NEE it would be spelled Hakoni, not Hakone. Given the number of Japanese-Americans in the Bay Area who might actually be watching your show, you could've gotten this right.

Hakone Gardens are well worth a visit, particularly in the spring. If you care, it was used for location filming for Memoirs of a Whiny Mutant From A Vaguely Japanese Alternate Universe, as was Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Gardens.
 
Here are photos I've taken there. They would be the ones without Ken Watanabe in 'em.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/sets/72157603177702780/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/sets/72157603181936365/

Brown wool gored tunic

Armpit gusset:

Sleeve seam, armpit gusset, and side gore set into side seam.


All assembled by hand using running stitch. Seams will eventually be finished by folding the raw edges inward toward each other and binding with an overcast stitch. Seam allowance is about 1/2".

Edit: 4 PM. OK, so it was around 10:30 this morning when I cut this out. I haven't been working completely nonstop - there was a break for lunch and a run to the grocery store in there, but I have the sleeves, armpit gussets, two side gores and one center gore completely attached using running stitch. By hand.

OK, I knew I was fast, but I didn't realize HOW fast. In theory, if I needed or wanted to push that hard, I could complete an unembellished tunic with armpit gussets and four skirt gores in a single day. Make it two if I was going to fell all the seams.

Getting too dark in the apartment to get more photos today, but I had very good luck with the center gore by deliberately cutting the slit too short, starting up one seam until I got to the top and very carefully continuing the slit as I sewed a few stitches at a time, then turned the corner and stared back down the other side. There's a teensy pucker at the top because I pulled the thread a little too tight, but it's really not awful. I'm going to knock off for today because my fingers are getting sore.