Update from the Jones Sweatshop

.....because it's HOT up in heah....

Things are rolling along well. My goal is to be able to show these to the shop owner on Tuesday. Tops should be done Sunday, snaps and stuff should all be on by Sunday night. There are other quality checks I need to make and other finishing (you know, so sht doesn't unravel in the wash, or anything). And I need to press them.

To be honest with you, it'll be kind of hard to part with them, as crazy as that sounds.

But I have to make more, at least two more shorts in sizes 4 and 6. And um, I want to fit a pair of them in to the next run for little old me. I do have a pair that I made in these pictures, but now I can make them better and according to scale because of what I've learned throughout this process.

I'll tell you this. What I've learned so far could never have been given to me. The motivation to be able to create and sell something that won't be returned in 30 days, is powerful stuff. And upon hearing that many fledgling local designers were turned away from this shop because of:

- Inability to create more than one size of their design
- Inflexibility to alter a pattern to be appropriate for other body types
- Crappy work
- Not meeting deadlines
- Not seeing an opportunity and being able to change in order to take advantage of it

...have all been motivators to outdo the competition and do this really, really right. Something that is giving me a little bit of a shot in the arm to do this and other things in my life a lot differently.

Now don't get me wrong. I haven't spent my entire week off sewing. I've alternated it with copious partying, nursing hangovers and subsequent crappy attention spans, getting a little exercise in spite of a messed up knee, and doing all the things that a young single woman should do in order to enjoy her life. Today I had to turn down a boat party - which don't get me wrong, I wanted to attend - but right now I think I've had enough partying and I want this just a little bit more.

So I'm writing this as if I'm done, but I'm not. Besides, sometimes at the end of a project you're so thrilled at finishing that you've forgotten all the little thoughts you might have wanted to write down, anyway.

But by next weekend I want to have my own new pair of shorts complete to wear to a specific show at Bastille Days. It'll be appropriate for me to get my Jones on and be fabulous. Having an extra week to relax or make more outfits before the show is also a really, really nice option.