Lack of focus

[clevermanka]

Between my day job and the all-consuming costuming nightmare project of Sherlock, my brain is...failing.

At the office, I've had three fairly substantial problems crop up in the past two days, and one of them is my fault. BLAH. I have too many balls in the air, and I was bound to drop one. As balls go, it's a small one--but embarrassing and annoying.

On the Sherlock front, I maybe might have decided late last night to ditch the pattern design for the back of the coat and redraft it without a top yoke. I've never inserted a box pleat into a piece of fabric without stitching it to separate top and bottom pieces. This should be an adventure. Thanks to jessamygriffin (someone I stumbled upon via a Google search), I have pictures of the interior of an actual Belstaff original coat (the coat that Sherlock wears). Inspired by the information I found on her recommendation, I joined The RPF community because holy shit that's a lot of good information over there--on all sorts of costuming.

But...yeah. Starting over on the back of the coat tonight. Good news, the sleeves and collar work with the previously-drafted bodice pieces, and I won't need to change those with this most recent alteration.

I'll leave you with this, courtesy of cklarock*. Not terribly work-safe, but no F-bombs or nudity, either.

*Whom I somehow had not yet friended. How do I manage to fail at this on a regular basis? JFC.

Comments

Remember, Caesar, thou art sort-of-mortal...

[sdemory.livejournal.com]

I've started to accept the fact that small work-related stumbles are less a sign of incompetence on my part and more a sign that I've created a myth that's pretty astounding by being alarmingly competent. I expect it's much the same with you... people know that Red Can Handle It, so they assume that one more thing will simply morph into the It that Red Handles.

Might be a sign that you need staff.

So... pictures of your Watson coat floating around anywhere?

Re: Remember, Caesar, thou art sort-of-mortal...

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

small work-related stumbles are less a sign of incompetence on my part and more a sign that I've created a myth that's pretty astounding by being alarmingly competent

This is a much better approach, and I shall adopt it immediately.

No pics of the coat yet, but msmitti is picking it up tonight. I'll see if I can get her to model it for previews. If she is amenable, I'll have them up tomorrow or Thursday.

Re: Remember, Caesar, thou art sort-of-mortal...

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

And I've been surprised by my own screw-ups lately as well. I have been caught just utterly flat-footed by them.

I've finally realized that starting a new job after 10 years at a previous job involves... learning new stuff. (SHOCK!)

Re: Remember, Caesar, thou art sort-of-mortal...

[sdemory.livejournal.com]

Yep. Proof of your ridiculous competence... you're so used to being a golden god that you've forgotten that you have to learn. Been there... won't take long for your apotheosis, though.

Re: Remember, Caesar, thou art sort-of-mortal...

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

You may have misspelled "apostasis."

Re: Remember, Caesar, thou art sort-of-mortal...

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

chronovore wins the internets for a comment. Again.

Re: Remember, Caesar, thou art sort-of-mortal...

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I like the idea of CR getting staff to help with these things.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's gonna happen.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

;-D

[sdemory.livejournal.com]

Understand and empathize. With any luck, though, mention of additional staff is met with uncomfortable, gulity silence rather than stifled laughter. That's the sign that you've arrived.

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

Those small balls are just easier to drop, I think.

LOL on the vid!!

And I hope you get that coat done, my goodness.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I hope you get that coat done

So does msmitti. =D

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Do you not get notifications of friend requests at a frequently-checked email address, or perhaps have them filtered into a particular folder (or spamtrap)?

(I don't know what your default LJ view is; mine has a little thing at the top of the page with an envelope with a number beside it indicating any unread messages, of which I keep two for things that I don't want to lose complete track of, so anytime that is >2, I know there's something new there....)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I get notifications of comments on LJ, but not new friends. I should check my main LJ page more often, apparently.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I think there's a setting that musses with that, but don't know where it is of the top of my head.

(I don't get comment notifications, and can't imagine how much my mailbox would explode if my place was as happening as yours is!)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Comments here kinda go in fits and starts. I have weeks that go by with only five to eight comments on any post. I think I've just managed to push some buttons lately. =)

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't even realize there is such a page! I just have a bookmarked page of friends (well, three bookmarks, each larger, depending on how much time I have and how broadly I can read that day).

[etcet.livejournal.com]

My f-list has quieted substantially, though I haven't actually culled it much, so I don't have to-read user groups (just a handful of filters defining who can see what, on the rare occasions I post something that I don't feel like having all and sundry hear about, or may only be of interest to a subset of folks), so I can't say I've ever done much with the filtered reading thing (and have never had enough free time to peruse the friends-of-friends page)

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

I see why you found [info]jessamygriffin to be so useful!

That coat is BEAUTIFUL.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Well, that worked well-I tried to copy his/her name from your post, and it screwed up the code....

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

To link a LiveJournal user, use this code:

<lj user="jessamygriffin">

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Tnanks! *tattoos instructions on inside of eyelids*

I don't put code in often enough to remember how to do it!
I've looked it up myself several times, then I forget again.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Finding her LJ was such a boon. And yes, it's a glorious coat. Here's hoping mine comes out as well.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Did I understand that you were planning a back yoke on the coat? I've done yokes on a couple of items (shirts, mostly), and I always felt they were MUCH MORE TROUBLE THAN THEY WERE WORTH.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was planning to do a back yoke. I like yokes. I like how you can use them to finish the interior of a garment, and I like the design line, and I like the subtle easing you can incorporate to give a little more room without pleats or whatever across the back.

It helps that the first men's shirt I ever made had a back yoke. And I made, like, a zillion of those for my partner at the time. So I'm used to them.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. Whereas I have done some box pleats like that, and I find them easy as well. ;)

BUT I don't think I've ever actually created a heavy coat with all the extra tailoring like that-the sewn in lining so it hangs right, etc....

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I haven't either! It's an ADVENTURE!

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH COAT. THAT IS ALL THERE IS TO IT. *nods*

Those grannies, omg. *rolls*

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the words of enthusiasm and support!

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

Costuming can be so frustrating. And as a relentless perfectionist, I'm always unhappy :p But the compliments make it all worth it at the end of the day!

I'm not that experienced at sewing; everything I know I picked up from the other half. I'm so envious of anyone who has the patience to make anything from scratch, regardless. I've done it once for a sort of regency-era day dress.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

PS: Must find the video that is subject of the grandmas' excitement....

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Don't expect me to watch it with you.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

I've looked and looked at that icon every time I see it-what is it a pic of? I can tell it's some sort of animal. Is it a puppy?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Looks like a panda to me!

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Oh, LOL! I nearly added that to my statement, but my mind kept telling me the colors were backwards!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yep! Baaaaaaaby panda!

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Oh, LOL! I nearly added that to my statement, but my mind kept telling me the colors were backwards!

Sherlock coat

[gamera-spinning.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this is useful, but I remember that Laura got Gareth a Sherlock coat for his birthday. I recall because I was visiting when it showed up, but I forgot where it came from, only that it was shipped from overseas.

Re: Sherlock coat

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

It's probably one of the ones I've seen on a lot of the cosplay sites. It's not a bad repro, but after seeing pics of the Belstaff, I think I'm better off going with those as a reference. Thanks, though! Good to know there's a local in-person source should I need it.