a woman singing on stage with the words oh you 're halfway there ALT: a woman singing on stage with the words oh you 're halfway there

Scheduled display of skill or knowledge 2 of 4 this week is complete.

Feeling pretty blah. Too much death and too many presentations. I want a nap and I need a shower instead.

And illuminate!

It’s not that I don’t like the outside or don’t like outside hobbies. I just have so many fun things inside …with AC/heating and my cat.

Oh right. Sometimes I forget about the outdoor hobbies. I am mostly an indoor cat.

What do they even do with their time?

Oh jeez. I do not care for these parents at all. It can’t be for kids or for girls. Where’s the fun in that? Idk. I really loved complex Lego sets & off brand Lego sets. There are some really cool cut wood building kits as well, with mechanical parts. Like, building a clock or a vinyl record player.

There are some really cool STEM kits that involve fine motor skills and most boy parents won’t object to.

A pink cotton canvas pair of bodies (precursor to the corset and stays) lays face up on a dark wood table. Strips of white canvas with cats dyed in different prints line the edge of the pair of bodies, and extend beyond the bottom edge. Handsewn eyelets are placed along the lacing strips for spiral lacing. There are channels lining the mock up in half inch intervals extending out from a center busk that is slightly wedge shaped. These are filled with plastic zip ties cut to length for boning purposes. This is a barely different shape and measurement from the modified pair of bodies, yet fits completely differently!

Close up detail from the inside of the center back where the seam allowance folds over and is secured in place with little x’s. Here you can also see the lacing strips extending beyond the edges of the pair of bodies, with a length of green silk buttonhole twist tied on for lacing purposes, since the hand sewn eyelets are so tiny! The inside fabric is a basic cream cotton coutil on which the boning channels have been penciled in.

The inside of the mock up, in a cream cotton coutil.

Mock up draft 1, to confirm that the new draft fits me before I bother drafting on the boned tabs and cut into the specially prepared linen, complete with cat canvas lacing strips! Lacing strips are used to confirm proper fit under tension without having to sew/hammer a bunch of eyelets/grommets.

Clues by Sam A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!

I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Apr 13th 2026 (Easy), in 04:04
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cluesbysam.com

It’s rare for a republican to get lower than like 35% because of the diehards. He got that low the first time around too. Idk if the disapproval rate got that high last time though.

Clues by Sam A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!

I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Mar 23rd 2026 (Easy), in less than 7 minutes
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cluesbysam.com

Some parts of fursuit making feels more like upholstery than sewing. 😅

Then with fear of fucking up, I always make a mock up. I feel like with fursuits you might need to make sure the basic fabric you use has similar stretch & strength to your nice fabrics. At least if you have to stuff any portions. If not, just have your foundation stuff ready first.

I put on an audiobook for printing out and piecing together patterns. That’s usually the only thing I do for a day or two on the project. I don’t like having to do this part, but the audiobook helps me get unstuck and moving towards the fun part.

In some languages, it’s the same word.

Inside of the pair of bodies I made last year, shrunk down to my new size (1 channel or a half channel removed from each tab, and none from the front panel). The left side has been ironed and felled, and the only step left is to fold and stitch down the trim. The right side has been ladders stitched to close the extra channels, but not yet ironed and felled. I removed the reeds for the ironing and felling, it was just easier that way. For those who don’t know, felling is a fancy term for using a teeny tiny whip stitch to secure a seam flat against the body of the garment. It’s super useful when taking in garments you might want to take out again later, since it gets the excess fabric out of the way while simultaneously reinforcing the seam! In this case, I also flattened the tubes created by ladder stitching the front of the channel closed by first ironing them flat, then doing a running stitch along the channels. Had they been bigger, I might have tried pad stitching instead. Debating whether the reeds in the channels where folds landed are even necessary, since the folded channels are also effective stiffeners.

Front side of the same pair of bodies (precursor to stays and corsets). Look how nice the right (more finished) side looks compared to the left side!

I didn’t like how the bullion looked the first time around, so I’m trying again, following the shell pattern. This is the Hand & Lock by Bernadette Banner Regency Floral Kit.

Reworking projects

Sitting pretty at $3630. Know any orgs that can help support the cause? Can you? Please donate and share widely an every dollar helps keep Albi open!

End of Day 2: $1766, heck yeah! Let’s keep this up!

We raised $500 in our first day! 🎉 Let’s keep it going and keep our local Somali cafe’s doors open!

Support Innocent Victim of Viral Right-Wing Attack In Somali, “albi” means heart. Before 2026, when the surge of federal agents, right-winged agitators and social media influencers came to town, Albi Kitchen was thriving. A place of community and lovi...

Our neighbors need our support! Please donate to help keep Albi Kitchen on their feet during this unexpected downturn! (And go check them out, the food is made with love, with many recipes passed down through the owner’s family - it’s delicious!!)

chuffed.org/project/1689...

Convinced #sirgilesiii the healing cone is not evil, so now I can sleep & go places without fear of coming home or waking up to a bloody mess from him scratching open his chin again. He gets the donut while I’m around to intervene if he starts scratching at his chin, & the swelling is going down ❤️‍🩹🐈

A fluffy orange cat sits pretty against the background of a modernist geometric rug. He sports a navy blue pillow collar, and his natural ruff looks a bit bedraggled and damp in spots. His chin is a bit swollen and balding from scratched and infected acne, but his eyes are bright and green and he has just feasted on his usual wet food and new treats packed with omega-3s to support his skin health.

If you don’t know what it’s like to treat an unwilling cat with a warm compress, I hope you never have to. That and dealing with infected cat acne. Replace your plastic bowls, friends. Nothing is worth this misery. He may have forgiven me, but I’m scarred. The boi himbself, #sirgilesiii

a close up of a rabbit 's face with a checkered blanket in the background . Alt: a close up of a creamy tan colored rabbit 's face with a checkered blanket in the background . The rabbit is sniffing towards the camera and around, as if looking for something.

Guided meditation: let your focus drift to your nose…

Me: ululates nostrils like rabbit catching a whiff of carrot

Imbolc and the resistance were well aligned this year. It’s all about hope ❤️

Plan your Garden

Plant seeds that will blossom

The future still belongs to us

What’s that even supposed to mean, “nationalize the elections?”

A teal corduroy skirt hem decorated with a wide stripe of pale gold in a four-petal/bird’s eye weave bordered by teal and bronze gimp braid, with somewhat worn plastic pearls in the center of each flower. Next to a loose pearl, a sewing needle has been fixed through a bit of cloth with its white thread tail wrapped around the needle in a figure 8, securing it temporarily. The pearls are being secured before it’s sent to be cleaned.

“Putting a pin in it” - How do you pause your projects?

Here I’ve wrapped the thread tail in a figure 8 pattern around a needle I’ve stuck through a bit of the cloth. Beadwork is so much easier in a frame!

It was written after the dude’s kid came home from school and described getting the original polio vaccine. Which was free to all. Not that it hasn’t been used as capitalist propaganda, it just didn’t start there.

Oh my poor heart is breaking again