The bustle is still not turning out the way I wanted it to. I had thought about purchasing a bustle sewing pattern and then work out the measurements from there but bleh, too much effort. I know, so is using my own body measurements since I have to stop randomly and check against my body if it's going to work. My thoughts are that I just didn't plan it out properly. I have a bad habit of that, get an idea and just jump right in without thinking it through and planning out the steps.

I thought this would be a good project for when I needed a break here and there between editing the CZMA. That in itself is a hard task. I want to add to it but I don't want to add anything that would kill the interest of the readers. I want to take away some stuff but that would result in me having to pick and choose what I should get rid of and to be honest, this is one of the few stories I've written and then gone back to read where I haven't just hit the delete button on the whole thing. And I've already cut out a whole lot of crap from it. It was 50104 words, now it's hovering just over 23000. That's more then half but it was honest crap I removed. I wasn't going to turn into an Anne Rice and spend pages describing the intricate details of tables and doors and walls and all sorts of boring crap. No offense to Anne Rice, she's a really good writer but tends to go a little heavy on the details that have no bearing on the stories in her vampire books. I prefer her non vampire books, they don't take a whole chapter just to describe a door and have more interesting storylines if you ask me.

Okay, I'm not sure how talking about crochet frustrations turned into my writing frustrations but that's the way my mind works. I have a childless weekend so perhaps I should get back to both my projects. It doesn't help that I also have to finish a hat I'm being paid to make as a christmas gift.

*air smooches*

Hustle a bustle and you get a sad face.

So the crochet bustle idea is not working out as well as I thought it would. Now I have to frog it like crazy and rethink how I am going to do this. So many stitches now have to be torn out, the ball rewound and the project restarted. I think instead of going from the top and working my way down, I'll work it from side to side and use either buttons, a drawstring or an elastic band to close it at the top. My thinking is for the elastic band although the drawstring will mean I can wear it still even after I finish losing the weight I've been getting rid of. If this reworking doesn't work, I will probably go with the petticoat idea I've been toying around with. I dunno why but I have a thing for ankle length skirts, lace and frills.

*air smooches*

Back to designing...

If I've not mentioned it before, on this blog at least, I have plans to design an entire Steampunk costume done in nothing but crochet. This is a big project for me since a) I'm new to designing my own crochet designs, b) I've only written one pattern before and that was for my first pair of leggings, and c) I'm not allowed to go yarn shopping until the yarn I have is nearly completely used up.

I have an image of what I want this outfit to look like. It's beautiful, it's full of lace and ruffles and it features a lot of my favorite colour, purple. So why am I so nervous about doing all this? Because I tried to draw the finished outfit on paper and it looks like shit. That's because I'm a horrible artist. Even my stick figures look terrible. On the plus side, I'm a very stubborn lady so I will have this made. I will make this, I will wear this, I will look fabulous.

So tonight, even though it is 10PM as I write this now, I am plotting the first piece. While I know the smart thing would be to start from the inside out, I figure I'll save the bloomers for when I'm feeling confident enough to tackle bloomers. Since I've already got the leggings, I think I can skip the undergarment for now and head straight to the next layer. I'm going to start with a laced bustle. This seems like a very simple place to start and after looking at thousands of pictures of Victorian Bustles, I believe I can make one. I know, I could quickly sew one up but a) I need to use up as much of my yarn as possible with this outfit and b) I like the challenge.

So wish me luck darlings. I might post the pattern. I haven't decided yet, we'll see how it turns out and how generous I'm feeling.

*air smooches*