Fixing my cape

I started this project a few years ago as a way to use up the leftover fabric pieces from a coat I made. Not sure if it's visible but its made up of hexagonal and rhombus pieces. I had a thing for hexagons at the time and I needed something to keep my shoulders warm. I wouldn't recommend using hexagonal pieces like this unless like me you have a pile of odd shaped bits. This way produced a lot of little slivers and the pieces didn't really fit together as seamlessly as I had imagined. Though that may have been because I had... not forgotten about seam allowance but assumed it would all work out without it. I was partially right but not really.

Then once it was sewed together I didn't really do anything to it. The fabric is a bit scratchy so I haven't used it as much as I wanted. I planed to solve that by giving it a lining but wasn't quite sure how. I also didn't have that much fabric to make it of. (I did however still have a pictures of it so that's nice)

But now years later I have finally decided what to do. 

When I made my pajama pants a few months ago I bought a big piece of flannel. The first thing I did was to lay it out place the cape on top and draw the outline. Then cutting it out giving me a lining fabric that is identical in size and shape to the cape. I pinned the two pieces together and used the ribbon to bind the edges together. I must say I spent way to much time thinking about the ribbon. More specifically if I wanted a Red or black one. In the end I decided to simply check the store. If there were one that matched the red well enough I would get that otherwise I'd pick a black one. Luckily they did have some red in nearly the same color.

I was a little more than half way when I got the idea to check the rest of the ribbon would lay. I had up until now only pinned maybe 20 cm of ribbon at a time adjusting as I sewed. Laying out the rest I realized my mistake weather it had been in the original measuring or in the fabric being some what stretchy I don't know but one things for certain I would be short about 30 cm of ribbon. Now I could run out and buy more and then just continue. But that would still leave me with two seams where I'd attached the new ribbon. 

I did however have another ribbon the same width and type but of a different color (dark blue). Wanting to use up materials I already have I picked the blue one and to make it all look deliberate I decided to only use it for the collar. Also when wearing it the collar would be hidden by my hair so it's less noticeable, the only problem is that I have already sewed the collar so I had to spend the rest of the evening unpicking all the ribbon I have added so far. I suppose this is my punishment for not adding up when measuring.

Results

It's done, finally after far too long. The dark trim, despite not being planned it still looks quite nice. Also it matches the black lining

It does looks a little red riding hoodesc. But that's not the worst. Working on this I did realize how many items I have in exactly this color. 

More importantly it's booth warmer and not scratchy. Perfect for when I'm sitting at my desk. It's so warm that I have used it several times now. Unlike previously when it mostly just hung on the back of my desk chair. This is always the goal with altering any clothes. Making it better and getting more use out of something I already have.

A review of Undeath and taxes by Drew Hayes

 Disclaimer Undeath and taxes is the second book in the series about Fred the vampire accountant and his friends and this review will contain spoilers. I wrote a review about the first book, so read that and maybe the book first. 

Plot

In the last book mild mannered accountant Fred got turned into a vampire. This opens the door to a whole new world of different creatures and people but also friends. 

Having learned that the Parahuman (supernatural) community is rather more organized than he had anticipated. Fred has spent the time between the books learning about the parahuman tax code. Getting his diploma his first job is for Richard Alderson head of the local therians (werecreatures). 

While trying to make sense of the mess that is Richards receipts he is interrupted by kidnappers. They are there for Richards daughter Sally and thinking Fred is her bodyguard they take him as well. Taking advantage of both Richard being in a meeting and Gideon (Sally's ancient dragon playmate) being away Fred is feeling very much out of his depth.

My thoughts

Again this is a collection of short stories the plot section only talks about the first of them. If the first book was about Fred getting friends this one focuses more on world-building. Specifically we learn about the agents. We meet some of Krystal's coworkers and learn some of how it operates. 

Fred acclimatizes to violence and adventure very fast. This is a bit of a double edged sword, the book telling us he avoids confrontation but never shoving it. But I have a preference for active characters so if he had taken the outs he is given and left others to die it would have made for a worse story. 

Though considering this is all written as a memoir by Fred there is the possibilities that this is just him having a negative self image. An image that doesn't necessarily reflect the person he has become but rather the one he was in the beginning of the first book (when he did try to run away and leave people to die). 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Undeath.

Redecorating my study nook

One corner of my living room looks like this. It's where I pay my bills, write my books, edit this blog and other things. It's been fine, or rather there have been other things I had to focus on first. But since I'm going to study for my masters degree this year and the next I felt an upgrade was necessary. Also this is the view from my couch where I spend most evenings.

The desk will stay it's also my antique treadle sewing machine and I'll give it up over my cold dead body. It also fits in well with the aesthetic I'm going for. The rest however is up for I'll be getting rid of or at least move somewhere else.

But that is getting ahead of ourselfs because step one of any renovation or redecorating should always be cleaning. Nothing looks good if it's full of clutter and it's important to start in the right place.In this case it meant moving the wast basket and getting rid of things that aren't supposed to be there, hairdryer, cat toys and a ball of string lights, even cutting the tags of my chair. This did make quite a bit of a difference. 

But not enough. Even cleaned and sorted there is still three different colors of wood and I do have a need for more storage. This isn't primarily because I got more things but rather because, when I moved I got rid of one of my bookcases. Everything still fits since I also got rid of some books at the same time, but in my main bookcase things are sorted were they can fit rather than any other system. Also right now things are stored in open shelving that really should be hidden away.

I also have some pictures I wanted to put up and walking past a thrift store I checked if there were any nice frames. Preferably golden ones to match the noticeboard and other frames. But they were all a bit shabby and also about the same price as new ones so I'll keep an eye out for those.

Assembling a bookcase

But first is to buy a new bookshelf. I decided on a Ikea Hauga. Its not my favorite looking one or made of my preferred material but the wall I want to put it on is a bit short. More importantly I wanted one with closed storage to keep my eyesore printer in. So it's a compromise. 

The bookshelf came in three heavy packages which was a lot to carry upstairs in the almost 30 degree heat and this was September it's not supposed to be this hot. 

The first step was of course to emptying out the old shelf  and moving it away. That way I can put it in place immediately. In box one I found the instruction the parts for the bottom part was divided among all the boxes. The bookshelf is made of two parts which makes it easier to maneuver it in place. By now my living room is a mess with parts and packaging everywhere. Placing the upper part was difficult but worked even if it forced me to do things in a different order since I had to lift it myself. 

Now I just need to decide exactly what I want to have where and how. It is tempting to prioritize my pretty books for the new shelf but managed to contain myself. This also allows me to restructure my other bookshelves. Making them look less cramped and by books more organized.

Decoration

The new bookcase lead to a number of other changes. The chest no longer fit here if I want to be able to open the doors, so it got to trade places with a small side table and a plant. In general I did mostly look around my apartment for decor. I'm considering if I want to move my rug here. Maybe, well see.  For now I'm taking a trip up to my parents and the flea-market there. They had a large selection of frames and I snagged four for just 30 kr. However when I went to put them up I realized they were all smaller than the pictures I wanted to put in them so the hunt continues. 

It's not perfect, there's still several minor changes I want to make. But its better and for now that's good enough.  More importantly I have other projects I need to focus on. 

Review of A Master of Djinn by P. Djéli Clark

Plot

In an alternate 1912, Egypt has risen to prominence in the fifty or so years since the mystic Al-Jahiz opened the world to magic. Having embraced magic and the Djinn that came with it has allowed them to not become a colony and instead become a major player on the world stage. Al-Jahzi meanwhile disappeared shortly after this. 

Fatma, is one of the few female agents of the Ministry of alchemy, enchantments and supernatural entities, gets called to help the police when the murder of the members of a secret brotherhood shows clear signs of being made with magic. The victims being various rich and well respected Englishmen dedicated to the memory of Al-Jahzi does not make it easier.

Fatma however is distracted by first getting assigned a partner in the young and enthusiastic Hadia and then by the return of Siti. Her girlfriend/informant who has a tendency to show up and disappear as the mood takes her. She is also one of a rising number of people devoted to the old pharaonic gods.  

Then just days before a world peace summit is about to start in Cairo someone claiming to be al-jahiz is starting demonstrations. Showing the inequalities that despite the prosperity still exist causing riots and vandalism. 

My thoughts

So I feel I should warn that this is not the first book in this series, there is both a novella and a novelette that take place before this. I, when reading this book, did not know this and hadn't looked since this is described as the authors debut. This means that I was terribly annoyed by the frequent references to the things that had happened before and the general sequel feel of it. 

It's rare to see fantasy that's not western. At just a glance id say that at least a third of my books takes place in Britain or USA. This is an impressive bit of world-building both the alternate history bit of an rich and powerful Egypt, but also the humans and djinn living side by side. It also takes the time to show many sides of the society. The poor flocking to "Al-Jahzi", the kings at the piece summit, regular people and regular djinn. As well as the religious differences shown a bit in the contrast between the devoutly Muslim Hadia though she is still part of a feminist group, the secular Muslim Fatma, and Siti following Sekhmet which apparently gives one powers or something.  

The summit is a nice touch giving a sense of urgency in calming down the public and capturing the impostor. The insinuation is that all it's a lead up to the first world war and a lot suggests that while the magic might change things it wont stop it. 

My main complaint is mostly, does Siti need to be there all the time. Because she is. She shows up everywhere and I don't like her nearly as much as the author does. It's not even that she is a bad character it's just routinely showing up in the middle of police investigations will make you be considered a suspect not a welcome addition.

There is of course a mystery about who the Al-Jahzi impostor is and I can happily announce that I was wrong. However it wasn't contrived. I have a weird thing about being able to predict things in books, while I like figuring things out before the characters I don't like things to feel predictable this one straddles that nicely. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Djinn.

The longest day

So just a thing. My course did not start in november. It started in the first week of september and that was when I wrote this. But I value my upload scedule more than timeliness so it gets posted now.

The lead up to this started months ago when I applied to get a masters degree. I'm doing it online but the lectures on the first day will be on campus so 3 of September I need to be in Uppsala. I coincided a few different ideas for travel. Weather to go there the day of or the day before and sleep in a hotel. In the end I decided to take a plane there that day and then the train home. I book my tickets and basically forget about it.

Then about a week before I had the idea to write in all the lecture and seminars in to my wall calendar. I'm lucky I did because I now see there's not two lectures starting at 12 but rather three the first one starting at 10. By my estimate I would arrive there at 11 so this is a real problem. I double checked that it is correct and there won't be any more changer (they claim that the early lecture has always been there but I'm doubtful). I then re-booked my plane ticket, well not really mostly I just bought a new one since it was non refundable. Yes I'm still salty about this. 

3.50

After a night of restless sleep my alarm rings. The plane leaves at 7, the airport wants me to be there 2 hours early. This seems excessive but I haven't been there for almost 20 years, So what do I know. Anyway I have to wake up at 4. In preparation for this I have set my alarm earlier and earlier during the last week. The earlier departure time also means that there was no things done on that day. So everything is packed and prepared days ahead.

Still I packed up the last few things, feeding my cats I feel a bit guilty for leaving them and I'm off. It's still dark out and the streets are nearly empty. I say nearly there were maybe 10 people but that was one if the busyness streets. About the time I get to the train station and about now the tiredness gets to me. 

5,45

It only took me 45 minutes to get to the gate. But I can see how at a time with more passengers it would take longer or if I had more luggage than a single backpack. Having learned from previous flights I put all my tech things and liquids together in  bag. Of course I then got to go through the big scanner so I didn't have to remove my tablet anyway. Though both it and me got flagged for a further check. Once in the air I realize this might be cased by my smartwatch that I had forgotten to take of.

 Anyway I now have a coffee and an hour to kill. For which I brought one of my textbooks.

Also boarding started 6.30 so just one hour would have been difficult. It's so annoying when they are right.

I had bought a ticket for the cheapest seat in that i didn't choose one and let them pick whatever was left for me. Jokes on them I still got a window seat and a whole row to myself (insert evil laughter). The only problem was that most of my view was taken up by the wing but it's not like there are much to look at anyway.

8,10

Landing I had severely underestimated the time it takes to get to the train station. First 15 minutes to get of the plane, then ten minutes walk before I even saw signs to the train. Ticket weirdness and the nice 20 minute gap until the train was gone. Luckily there are several. Even though they were delayed.  

Despite everything I arrived with almost 40 minutes to go before the lecture started. Uppsala is a nice town. Like many others it's a mix of old and new buildings though far more two or three storied buildings than I expected. If I ever Have time I wouldn't mind exploring a bit. Not today though. It's odd Uppsala is the fourth largest city in Sweden but it does not feel like it. If I had to guess at the population I would have guessed half of what It has.

10.15 

This is the building the lectures was in. It's very pretty but has the most horribly echoy foyer. With a class full of students talking it's very loud.

Them the lecture begins. By now I'm tired, have a mild headache and has 6 hours of lectures to get through. My experience is that the first lecture are more about the course than anything else. Though the last one today was a proper lecture and as a bonus it gave me an idea about a thesis subject. It was nice meting other students and I discovered halfway through lunch that I can fall into another persons accent in as little as 30 minutes. 

16.55 

And I board my slightly delayed train for the first stretch home. It's old, worn and someone is siting in my reserved seat. This is just one of the reason I don't like booking seats. A transfer in Stockholm gave me enough time to get some dinner. Which was a burger, fries and soda from Burger king. I have had a craving for fast food fries for a while now, but I can't really justify something so unhealthy. However between the train being late finding my seat and eating the burger the fries were cold. Which was not what I had envisioned.  

23.15 

The delay in leaving continued and by the time I arrived it was half an hour late. Once again I'm walking through dark streets. Not quite as empty as this morning but Tuesday is not the night for vibrant nightlife. Still its a comfort to know that you are never truly alone.

I'm finally home and after doing the bare-bones of a nighttime routine and I get to bed. By now I have been awake for 20 hours.

Beter wordt het niet By Caroline de Gruyter

 This is a book that as far as I can find only exists written in Dutch, a Swedish translation and maybe German. Though I'm uncertain about the last. 

About

The author is a journalist who after living in Brussels for awhile she moved to Austria and Wienna. There she realized how strong the Habsbourg influence still is and how different the narrative her is compared to what she was taught about it. 

A theme of the book is this changing narrative. The modern day nostalgia over things they then complained about. Similar to how people today complains about the EU. Though that nostalgia might partially be because the time after was so much worse with the rise and fall of soviet. Stability is underrated until you loose it.

The book contains many interviews with different people, descendants of the former royal family, other nobles and politicians. It is the journalist influence.

More about the Habsburgs and today's Austria than it does about EU. But whole sections are about the Hungary whose position in opposition to the Habsburg definitely mirrors their complicated position in EU today.

It's mostly about the last parts of the empire and the time after. The slow decline that was in the end obvious and parallels to today where every crisis is talked about as if it will be the one to break the union. The most obvious parallel is the problems of keeping diverse people united and the need to continuously adapt to new pressures.

The Habsburgs led was a multicultural empire held together by bureaucracy and compromises. It's collapse was a messy time. People who had previously been able to move freely about the empire now found themselves living on the wrong side of a border. 

My thoughts

That it's written by a journalist and not scientist is obvious from the very start. This isn't really a problem it just means it has more of a narrative, less statistics and a lot of personal anecdotes. And it is a more pleasant read.

It's interesting but lacks something in structure. Not really clear what differentiate the theme if one chapter from the next. Mostly it's the same anecdotes, interviews with descendants of various people, histories about the family interviewed or about life in the empire. And how that relates to EU. I cant help but think Maybe simply naming the chapters would have helped.

A lot of the people interviewed were descendants of nobles. People whose family lost land and influence when the empire collapses and the area was conquered. While it is interesting to hear about the modern day Habsburgs and their thoughts. They might have a bias to the empire in a way that ordinary people might not have. 

It is positive about the EU points out that it probably wont collapse despite what headlines might say. Because at the end of the day being a part of it is better than not.

All in all its an interesting read about a place and time I know little about. 

If you have read it what did you think? Leave a comment. If you haven't read it you can check it out here Habsburg for the Dutch version and here Habsburg for the Swedish version.

Making some regency stays.

So, long story short I need a new bra, and my preferred size is hard to find. At the same time my YouTube feed started showing two separate videos about people making regency short stays based on this redthreaded pattern. So I decided to take my own shot at it.

This is a PDF pattern meaning you get the pattern as a file that you then print out.  I payed a bit more to get one for both short and long stays. But lets face it I'm going to make a full size corset someday so I might as well by a pattern now when I can get a bit of a discount.

Once printed you just tape the papers together and cut out the pieces. For this one most pieces were quite small, so only one had to be taped together. 

This also makes this an excellent project to use up some of my scrap fabric. So if I like the end result I'll probably make more. 

Clearly I'm incapable to just follow a pattern or instructions. Because as usual i made some adjustments, rather than just the two layers of fabric needed I'm doing a third padding layer of a thick wool I have. I'm also going to have as little boning as possible. 

So, a layer of cotton,  on of wool and once the flannel I ordered for my pajama pants project arrives a layer of that.

Sewing

For the wool I only did the front piece that was all I felt was needed. I also did it without seam allowance on the edges since it's meant to be inside the rest. This fabric doesn't fray and be cause of its thickness it's possible to sew it together just edge to edge, which is what I did for the gussets. Doing the seams the normal way would have made it way to bulky.

For the rest I did as one normally do, Cutting out the pieces and stitching it together by hand. I do have a sewing machine but I like doing my sewing sitting on my couch and watching videos. But also this is lots of small fiddly bits which is in many ways easier to do by hand.  

While doing one of the gussets I realizing it looked wrong. After actually looking at the instructions I tried a different way on the next one. The third one I did was the one I liked the look of (I'm working on the outside layer so I want it to look good) so I ripped up and redid the others.

At this point I did have to watch a video to figure out how some things should be done. Like the fold in the back and how the shoulder straps are meant to attach. There weren't any picture in the instruction and I don't understand what the text mean. I also decided that I want some boning in the front so I added the boning channel.

Then the project was put on pause.  I needed some ribbon to bind the edges but the fabric store isn't open on the weekends during the summer. There are probably others stores but not in walking distance. So I have to wait two weeks until my vacation to get the ribbon. Vacation starts and first Monday I'm there. Only to realize they have closed for lunch 14 to 15 which is odd time and right when I there. So I do some other errands first. Maybe I'll take it on the way home. This is starting to feel cursed.

I planned on buying black ribbon for the binding, but picked a dark blue instead, But now it's time to put it all together.

The back edge folds back and is sewn into channels for the boning, this is mostly to give stability for the lacing. I had decided to use leather for boning partially because it's easier to find. So four thin strips for the back boning and one thick as a center front busk. I'm putting the boning as much on the outside as I can. 

Something interesting happened. I have been unhappy with the fit for a while and I have been adjusting the shoulder straps to try an fix it. Some parts were too wide and some to short. Today I put in the eyelets and could for the first time wear it properly laced. All of a sudden the fit is so much better. I even moved the straps back to the original position. 

In the end I attached the straps the easiest way. Edge to edge and then covering the seam with the binding. Not the most elegant way but all the mess is on the inside so it doesn't matter.

Eyelets are put on to the straps and front the and then its done. I did consider not having eyelets on the front and just sew on the ribbon. But I decided I wanted to be able to change ribbon color in the future.

Results 

In hindsight I should probably have watched the videos to see how they did the binding before I started. On the other hand it worked out fine despite doing it completely differently. If I do this again I'll probably just make the straps and back piece into one part and avoid all this.

But it is comfy. More so than several bras I have since underwires sometimes dig in. It is meant to be worn with a shift or tank top underneath and something on top. Trying this it doesn't look too bad. 

Unfortunately the eyelets aren't as smooth as I would have wanted and I can feel them catch on the ribbons when I lace it.

Between the pattern, the eyelets and the ribbon for the binding (I already had the ribbons for the lacing) It was roughly double the price of just buying a bra. But the pattern was a one time purchase. And there is roughly forty eyelets left. So if I ever want to do another the price would be significant lower. I would basically just need the ribbon to bind the edges and that's mostly decorative.