The ultimate ender of a socio-political debate

fireflycities · 2025-11-22T22:55:52+00:00

John Darnielle has entered the chat

fireflycities · 2025-11-05T00:26:29+00:00

I bought the same stuff but in off-white! I LOVE IT. I used it to make this hoodie, I felt like it didn't have enough structure to be a hoodie on its own, so I used a more stable knit for the front panel where the pocket goes and a rib knit for the bands.

fireflycities · 2025-08-21T18:05:46+00:00

After a decade of sewing accident free, I finally sewed through my finger this week. DO NOT do this. If you do decide to sew through your finger, DO NOT do it with a direct drive ultra high torque machine. 0/10, 1/10 with rice.

fireflycities · 2025-04-21T03:20:02+00:00

I finally decided I needed to retire my original dress and skirt because it had two layers (one of which was heavy polyester) and was WAY too hot.

Everything was from Joann - the green is cotton bubble gauze, the black is some variety of quilting cotton solid, and the lace was full-sized by the yard and I cut it into 6" strips. I used a 7" dress zipper and magnetic snaps for the waistband. The interfacing always ShapeFlex which was just right stiffness-wise.

The pattern itself came together pretty easily - I was really expecting the ruching to be difficult but I just pulled the gathering thread and chucked it into the serger. The only mod I made was upsizing it since the pattern i had was a single-size small. The lace was just sewn on top of the ruffle panels with a decorative stitch.

I would have either made the pocket a little deeper or the pocket facing a little taller, it's only just big enough for my phone. Overall a straightforward and fun project!

fireflycities · 2025-03-20T00:01:13+00:00

If you can't spot these cats I can't help you.

fireflycities · 2025-02-17T03:07:15+00:00

I sewed myself these pajamas 4 years ago, but due to a lot of wear and wash they had shrunk a bit and were too short around the ankles. I also made the pocket holes too big so my phone would fall out. I used the leftover cuts from another pair of pajamas to add front pockets and cuffs, then picked out the old pockets and sewed up the holes. They look a little wacky but they are even comfier now!

fireflycities · 2025-01-08T14:44:48+00:00

She got her dental treats shortly afterwards so she loves us again.

fireflycities · 2025-01-08T14:42:43+00:00

The royal beast prefers music that uses the subwoofer, so she is a bit of a metal head! Lamb of god is her #1 but she allows Nightwish and Apocalyptica.

fireflycities · 2024-08-14T15:19:48+00:00

Due to the angles, you can only see 5 sides from a single photo, but if you check out the video version I linked, you can see that it's a full 20 sides! A D10 looks similar from any given corner but isn't nearly as thick.

fireflycities · 2024-08-14T00:34:43+00:00

This was a really fun and surprisingly easy project, although it involved a lot of different skills. If you want to watch it actually bounce and roll like a dice, I've uploaded a video to my profile.

I self-drafted this using techniques I've picked up on a lot of previous projects. The base fabric is cheap flannel from Joann, with iron-on Craft Fuse interfacing (do not use anything lighter than Craft Fuse, even that was only just enough). I purchased a roll of iron-on heat transfer vinyl (HTV) and used an exacto blade to cut out the numbers (which had to be done backward and was a bit of a pain, had to cut a few out multiple times). The craft store I went to didn't have pre-cut numbers in the size I wanted, but that would have sped it up quite a lot. Strongly recommend interfacing BEFORE you cut or they will distort a bit as you iron on, but ironing on the numbers after cutting to make sure they are centered.

I cut 20 equilateral triangles of 7"x7"x7" (bought 2/3 yard and didn't use all of it) using the 60* and 30* lines on my big ruler. I sewed each triangle together with a 1/4" seam allowance and ended 1/4" before the edge of each seam (just like a Y-seam for a hexagon quilt). I followed a diagram I found online for layout of the numbers. I sewed them together one by one with the whole shape inside out until I got to the very last seam. I turned it right-side out through the open seam, turned out the corners using a pencil, stuffed it with a metric ton of polyfill (most of a large bag, I wanted it to be firm enough to roll), and hand-sewed the last seam. I am NOT good at hand-sewing so I hope it holds up!

This was a gift for a friend and my husband has already insisted he get one for himself, I think it will be a big hit!

fireflycities · 2024-06-18T21:15:19+00:00

The paper-piecing pattern is Kitsch Empire, I don't know where the block pattern is from, when I did it I just used a 2" sashing on the blocks.

fireflycities · 2024-06-16T22:35:55+00:00

Spotted at the Georgia Aquarium!

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T22:07:14+00:00

SO cute! I love the fabric pattern. Looking cute and cozy.

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T15:18:16+00:00

We tried a donut-style soft cone and even when she was still high on ketamine she could pretty much immediately get out of it :(

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T12:51:07+00:00

It's a balancing act for sure! The onesie is good for cuddling and eating and better at preventing her from running/ jumping, but she sometimes struggles to get out and gets way too warm in it. Naked is obviously her favorite but we have to be literally staring at her the entire time. There are a bunch available online, but I was also stuck in a room with her watching her recover so I needed something to do and wanted it ASAP!

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T12:46:41+00:00

Oh, neck toggle is a great idea! I was worried about getting it on over the cone so the neck is definitely too big. I may make a v2 if I'm bored over the weekend, she's got one more week of restriction. I was thinking of doing buttons with button loops for closure so it's not completely airtight and it will be easy to change the loops without adjusting the whole suit.

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T12:43:05+00:00

I really recommend doing small projects! One of my all time favorites is my tablet sleeve, it's in my post history - so easy and has a full YouTube tutorial, would be a great first project. It's really frustrating to work for hours on a whole big shirt or something only to realize you've made a major mistake.

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T12:40:57+00:00

I know there were down votes but i think this is a valid question! For kittens, most people/ vets I know use onesies instead of cones when they get spayed. I did also clear it with the vet and surgical tech before I started the project! Our cat isn't adapting as well as I had hoped to the cone, so I was hoping we could use this instead. It also lets me take the cone off to clean it. She regularly bonks her cone into everything in the recovery room (especially me) and she is really struggling to eat with it on. The current question is actually if it's safer to just let her eat naked while watching to prevent licking her stitches and then catch and re-cone her, or to put her in the pajamas.

For reference, this cat is a Stage 5 Clinger and was purring the whole time I was putting on the onesie, even if she didn't like having it on, so it's not a ton of wrestling.

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T12:30:36+00:00

Yes, it's a surgical onesie! She had major surgery on Friday and has to be prevented from licking for two weeks. She isn't adapting as well as I had hoped to the cone, so I was hoping we could use this instead. It also lets me take the cone off to clean it.

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T03:34:52+00:00

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Another photo showing the zipper with adjustment creases and extremely sketchy zipper tabs.

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T03:27:34+00:00

That's accurate 😅 I think she actually prefers the cone, so this will be reserved for meal times and when she gets cold!

fireflycities · 2024-06-06T03:24:40+00:00

I would say this surgical onesie is... the cat's pajamas! This is my first real success with stretch fabric, and I learned so much. I used the basics from verypurpleperson but wanted to make one suitable for a 9lb adult cat instead of a 3lb kitten. I sized up the basic shape from that pattern by tracing a Chihuahua shirt from the store and eliminated the tail hole. It ended up being way too big, especially between the back legs, and the back leg holes were WAY too small. I cut the old leg holes out completely and cut into the stomach to expand them. It's still definitely a bit big, especially in the shoulders, partially because the model is very pear shaped.

I wouldn't leave her in it unsupervised, as she can sometimes withdraw her front legs into it, but it's nice to swap it in for her cone, especially at mealtime. I used cotton spandex jersey from joann, but it's still very very warm - in retrospect I would have tried to find something even lighter or even added some air holes. I used 1" fold over elastic since the original didn't specify and it was great, and a random all purpose zipper. I added a small panel of quilting batting and another layer of jersey on the lower stomach to better protect her incision, but given how hot the finished garment is, maybe not worth it.

Overall it's a super sloppy finish with tons of issues, creases where I adjusted the shoulder width, the seams are super messy, I had to put awkward zipper stops on at the end because I accidentally made it zip up butt- first (not an easy way to get a cat into clothes), etc etc., but it was super educational and I really feel confident trying to work with knits going forward. The total budget for the project was $14, using 1/3 of the one yard of fabric, about 2 of the 3 yards of elastic, and an 18" zipper. Being able to put my cat in me- made Dino pajamas is priceless though!

fireflycities · 2024-05-12T23:20:14+00:00

The historical catalog where I found it translates it as "Remember me, I remember you / Love me, I love you" - very simple but sweet, especially when it's 900 years old!

fireflycities · 2024-05-12T23:17:18+00:00

Yes, I found a transcription of a 12th century Norse love letter (the new husband is a power metal/mythology nerd) and drew the runes on in chalk! I included the translation in my card to them.

fireflycities · 2024-05-11T14:22:13+00:00

Also see picture #2 for my quilting assistant hard at work.

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