Above: A sneak peak of this week’s project! It’s actually all finished, and awaiting photos this weekend. I went with dark brown piping, as it was the overwhelming winner! Does anyone else feel like they can never get piping the way they want? I have the special piping foot, but my zipper foot works better… even so, it’s not as close as I would like!
I’ve been tagged by Karin at Ancien-Nouveau for the Beautiful Blogger award, and I’m supposed to list 10 things you might not know about me… here goes!
1. I’m pretty much nocturnal. I work in the afternoons and evenings, and play gigs late at night. I sleep the hours when most people are beginning their work days. I don’t go out in the bright sunlight if I can help it – I’m extremely fair, and I swathe myself in spf 75 and hats if I have to venture out. And my sewing? Happens almost entirely late at night, or on weekends. You do not want to see me on the Sundays when I have to get up early to play mass (fortunately not that often anymore!)
2. I have an absolutely shameful addiction to historical romance novels, especially the regency novels of Georgette Heyer etc. Admittedly, I will read just about anything to feed my appetite for fiction, but there really is no excuse for loving these books. Are they formulaic? Heck yeah. Should they offend my feminist sensibilties? Probably. I don’t care though… for me they are the comfort food of books!
3. Speaking of, I’m also a feminist. I wouldn’t mention it, except that when people find out my hobbies, or that I teach music lessons, they tend to assume that I’m not. I also wear a lot of dresses, and unfortunately many people buy into the old stereotypes of a feminist. As I say, the freedom be what you want includes the freedom to follow a more traditional path (and to dress however you like!)
4. I have a weird diet. I pretty much don’t eat meat, though I’m not a vegetarian, and I will eat the same thing for lunch for a month running (yet rarely do I repeat recipes for dinner!) I also like the world’s most bland snack foods – plain saltine crackers and pretzel sticks are my favorites, and I will choose them over any other snack (especially sugar… I do not really like sugar.)
5. I like what my husband terms “old man drinks.” Vodka gimlets, gin and tonics, rusty nails, the Manhattan, the sidecar… you name it, if your grandpa drinks it then I probably like it. My husband, meanwhile, has never met a drink with an umbrella in it that he didn’t like… and he has a deep and abiding love for sweet madeira wine, which I think is disgustingly sweet.
6. I am really, extremely shy with new people (and always with large groups!) My whole life people have assumed I’m being snobby when, in fact, I am desperately trying to remember how to make small talk. I do completely fail at small talk – I just can’t do it!
7. My Meyers-Briggs type is INFJ, one of the rarest types. My best friends have the same type, which must be why we get along! The description on the Wikipedia pages sounds exactly like me!
8. When I was a child I wanted to grow up to be a novelist. I still love to write, thus the blog (and various unpublished stories that I write for fun!)
9. I met my husband when we were both dating siblings (ie, he was dating the sister, I was dating her brother.) It’s less sordid than it all sounds, really… one day we found ourselves both single, and hey – we already had something in common! His ex (we are still friends) recently introduced her new boyfriend to her brother’s girlfriend as “your future husband.”
10. I had to buy a cabinet to store my nail polish in, because I have a nail polish problem. I can’t grown my nails long, so I like to at least make them look pretty! Right now I am sporting taupe nails (Orly Country Club Khaki) to match the dress I just finished sewing. My students stare at my hands all the time, and I like to think they appreciate my extensive glitter nail polish collection!
Whew… that was hard, and I bet they weren’t all new – but after 4 years of blogging I can’t even remember what I’ve mentioned before!
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 
I’m 50/50 introvert/extravert so I tend to bounce between INFJ and ENFJ depending on whether I’m having an introverted or extraverted day when I answer the test!
I completely approve of your cocktail choices. Do you like sloe g&ts?
I thought I was the only person who loves saltine crackers! We also have the nail polish collection in common, although I really don’t have any excuse for it. Are there any books you would recommend?
I love Georgette Heyer! I went on a binge a few years ago and collected almost all her books (even the 1930s detective stories) off of eBay. Of course, once I did that, Harlequin republished a bunch of them. Oh well, I like my old, yellowed copies from the 1970s (some of the cover art is hilariously awful).
I’m an INFJ! No wonder I fav your blog! 🙂
I’m an INFJ, too!! And I adore saltines, I basically can’t stop myself from eating an entire sleeve of them if I open one up.
I am getting addicted to reading your blog. And I am not sure of my Meyers-Briggs type because it changes every time I take it. But I must have something in common with you as we buy all the same dress patterns! As for reading, my favorite comfort reads are vintage British mysteries from Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers.
Happy reading (and sewing).
p.s. I found out about the mystery foot for the Rocketeer, and will be trying it out an posting soon.
Two things:
1. I love LOVE crackers. My ‘comfort’ snack.
and 2. your title says ‘Esty faves…’ but I either I can not see entire post or the internet glitched it. Anyway, I really wanted to see your list of Esty faves.
Just saying….
I am a member of INFJ too. We must all be subconsciously congregating to your blog, which is kind of neat. (Makes me wonder where all those extroverts hang out…). Thanks for posting the wiki link — I felt understood. I love the part about the “rich, inner life.” Totally.
I have that same fabric and was going to use it for a skirt. Now that I see what you’ve done with the piping I’m defintely thinking of having some contrast on the pocket trim, or similar. I’m looking forward to seeing how you use it.
It was a sad, sad day for me when I read the last Georgette Heyer novel that my local library offered. I agree, they’re completely formulaic and should offend my feminist sensibilities, but they’re so light and fluffy and happy and everything turns out right in the end. Just what I want when I curl up with a book! I’m moving across the country in two weeks, so I’m hoping the library system there has more Heyer novels that I haven’t yet read. 🙂
I’m an INFJ, but that’s besides the point, haha. I wanted to recommend Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series to you. There are currently 6 I think and she’s working on the next one, but they are set during the Napoleonic Wars and follow a ring of spies from England. They’re very Scarlett Pimpernel which was fantastic to me because that’s one of my favourite books.
This is so funny. I had never heard of Georgette Heyer in my life, but then I read this post this morning and this afternoon, this is on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127749209. I guess you have your finger on the pulse of something!
BTW I really like your latest dress.
I’m an INFJ too! I was thinking that was probably why I enjoyed your blog so much, but I see others have already mentioned that possibility for themselves. 🙂 This post is making it hard for me to believe that only about 2% of the population is INFJ. I don’t know if I’ve commented here before or not, but I do really enjoy your blog and am always so impressed and inspired by the things you make. Keep it up!
Love your finished dress as in your separate post, am loving your blog as well but just had to comment on this post as a first comment on your blog. I am an INFJ too and I haven’t heard of Georgette Heyer before. Might just be my kind of book. I love to read but am always picky in my choices.
I’m new to your blog, but I’ve been poring through the archives – I’m also a knitter and (in the past) was a sewer. Your work is wonderful! I’m an INFP. We’re in the same family (of idealists). 🙂 Take care! Stephanie
Georgette Heyer is fantastic and is nothing to be ashamed of. The essential plots may be predictable but the writing is top-notch, especially the dialogue. I’d always turned up my nose at her because of the covers, but I did an MA in 18th c literature and many of the staff on that really rated her, so I gave the books a go and am now a huge fan. Heyer is da bomb!
Oh my gosh!! I. Love. Georgette Heyer!!! Devil’s Cub is my all time fave romance novel and I don’t care who knows it! Ha!!
We’ve alot in common, I write unpublished novels too and always dream of “some day”. :). I likewise don’t eat meat, but not a vegetarian, and pretzels are my snack of choice. I keep bags of them at school in my desk!
My youngest son is an INFJ. It’s a hard thing to be, I think. I am an INTJ,also very rare, which I think is a lot easier, because of the T part of the equation. The world doesn’t wound me the way it does my little boy because I have that T detachment, while he feels every tiny slight all the way to the bone.
I think this is one of the most flattering dresses you have made and the brown piping on the waistband looks fabulous! I’m sure you will be reaching in your wardrobe for this dress often.
I’m an INFJ as well! It’s almost scary how close I am to the INFJ wikipedia page. I love, love that dress! I’m just about to buy the pattern myself 🙂
If you ever make it out to LA, you should go to Campanile and order their sidecar – it’s so delicious!!
I am also an INFJ…you are really bringing us out of the woodwork!
I just had to take the test after reading your post, turns out I’m ENFJ, though not a terribly extroverted one. Wonder what about the NFJ-bit makes peolpe take up sewing (and blogging), it seems awfully common here, interesting!
Oh, and I totally agree with your taste in drinks, thanks for mentioning a couple I haven’t tried.
I once switched drinks with a guy in a bar, we had realised he liked sweet drinks and I like not very sweet drinks. We decided to experiment, and both asked the bartender for “a nice drink”. I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy with a drink as I was then, and I usually tell the bartender to not make me a sweet drink. Conclusion, blond, girly looking girls MUST ask for specific, not sweet drink if they like them dry, nothing else works. Unless you marry someone you can switch drinks with, well done ;-)!
Thanks for posting!