I'm Betsy Ross!!!

But with technology.

First, image of flag from Wikipedia:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/CSA_FLAG_4.3.1861-21.5.1861.svg/500px-CSA_FLAG_4.3.1861-21.5.1861.svg.png



Put the flag image into Illustrator and made it the real life size I want:



Traced the lines:



Hid the colored image, set printing to page tiles.


I only need sheets 1 and 2 to get started. Now there's NO guesswork about how to line the stars up in a perfect circle or how big to make them.



I really don't know how Betsy Ross did her seams. I don't know how Confederate flags were sewn in real life either! I doubt it was zigzag seams, so I get an F on authenticity, but if I actually get them MADE I will get points from my little guys :-)

Happy pills

Got my Flash assignments more or less done, see this week's project here,
http://janelwashere.weebly.com/flash-2.html

Yes, Flash is a lot of fun!
But it's hard to do what you're supposed to be doing if your brain's bursting with great ideas for something else.

I've been working on a peasant dress pattern, one that would be right to start with, not have to be adjusted in all kinds of way. Why do commercial patterns always seem to have immense necklines? Half the stuff I make, the neckline has to be raised three inches just so my bra doesn't show. Really why ALTER when you can just start from scratch and then share the pattern on the internet :-)

Got busy with AI. I absolutely totally love AI for making patterns, it's just the greatest thing since candy. I did a little scooting on the raglan pattern I already had (for the spiral dress, before I cut the sections apart) so it would work with neckline elastic, then measured the lower edge, drew two immense circles in AI, and cut a section with the top that measurement.



See that box "document info"? That shows the length of CURVED lines. Makes it super easy to make pieces of fabric fit to each other.

The ruffle's just a square. I wanted to do this this morning so I could go by later and get some $1/yd fabric for testing, but how many yards do I need? NO PROB with Illustrator, just draw a square 44" wide and start arranging copies of the pattern pieces, stretch the square long enough to enclose them all and divide by 36 :-)



Six yards!
Playing with this stuff is just like taking happy pills!!!