Meet Winston

This is Winston. I made him out of two gloves. He is awesome.

He has a little necktie, as he has learned from his CEO that it's important to dress well so you can be noticed at work. However, Winston is but a lowly production assistant and can't afford any clothes besides the tie. All the better, Winston thinks, because he'll be noticed for sure!

I have nearly zero sewing skillz, but I was guided by this neat book, Sock and Glove and it gives instructions for sixteen charming little projects. And even if you're not an expert crafter, the little wonky flaws make your little softy so much more adorable. At first I didn't think Winston looked so great, but as each day passes, I like him more and more.

The essential wedding day emergency kit

I was in San Jose, CA for ten days for my beloved cousin Jessica's wedding. I was probably there earlier than I had to be, but the airplane ticket was so much cheaper going on Friday after work. Anyways, with me being paranoid, I prepared an emergency kit. It had a nail file, sewing kit, Tide-to-Go pen, and band-aids.

While Jessica was walking around the restaurant in her gown, which had been bustled up, I thought about advice that had been given to me by the Rutgers Bookstore merchandise manager. She told me that if I want a gown with a train, get one that's detachable, rather than one that bustles, as her husband stepped on her dress and broke the bustle so she was dragging her dress around for the rest of the night. And the same thing wound up happening to Jessica, although not to the same extent. One of her bustle hooks ripped and left the bustle all uneven.

So it was off to the bride's changing room to figure out how to fix the bustle hook before the first dance. I'm sure this is very riveting subject matter to those who don't care about weddings. But we couldn't use the sewing kit (from the hotel I stayed at for my last business trip) to fix the hook because it wouldn't hold up the weight of the train, what with our meager sewing skillZ.

There was only one solution: run to my mom, expert seamstress and maker of clothing. Within 2 minutes, my mom fixed Jessica's bustle hook with a length of hotel kit thread and needle. She had me thread the needle 4 times and she did this awesome thing where she braided the thread together and made a thin cord that she then anchored as a loop into Jessica's train, replacing the old bustle hook, and bang! It looked like nothing had happened.

So that just shows you that you shouldn't have a wedding without my mom there. Or just get a wedding gown with a detachable train.