Friday, July 29, 2011

Better now

I'm somewhat recovered from my house-induced snit, but in the interests of full disclosure of why I was in said snit, the photos here should show the high (and low) lights. 

1.  Existing 100+ year old ceiling, with 2 big plywood patches over holes that were in the ceiling when I bought the house.  When it was only a 90+ year old roof.  Not visible in that photo: the single hanging CFL bulb in lieu of a light fixture. Snazzy.

2. Existing 100+ year old ceiling with plywood patches torn off, exposing very large hole cut in porch roof (apparently there was a skylight up there at one point; the logic of that escapes me), patched with another  sheet of plywood, and the cut off rafters and joist patched with stick-like pieces of pine. 


Contractor says this is bad, very bad.  I don't need to take his word for it.  I know it's bad, very bad.

3.  Existing 100+ year old ceiling with plywood patches and inadequate fixes torn out, new rafters and joist installed, extra strips nailed on to attach the new tongue-and-groove ceiling.

It was sufficiently bad that it cost an extra $800 in lumber and labor - 5 rafters, a new center joist, a full extra day of labor and my roof is now 4 inches higher because they jacked it up to where it should have been.  Amazingly, when I look out my bedroom window now, there is no pool of standing water on the roof. 

At least I know it worked.

4.  My finished porch.  Is it weird now that when I look at that long, smooth expanse of primed ceiling, I feel a sense of . . . anti-climax?  Before it was so horrible, and then it got worse.  Now, it's repaired and white and flat.  And kind of bland.  Paint will happen, probably next year.  After I can afford to fix the floor, which is in as bad a shape as the ceiling, especially after they put a leg of one of their ladders through it. 

I don't begrudge the money to my contractor.  He's an annoying, abrasive, opinionated man who does meticulous work and only does it in what he considers the proper way.  If I had vetoed installing those new rafters, he would have refunded the appropriate amount of my money and taken his tools and gone home; he wouldn't have done it half-assed.  I do appreciate that, but my savings account has the vapors.

Can you wave smelling salts the nose of a bank account? 

On the Etsy front, I'm not going to keep posting goodies here, I'll post them there, where they belong.  Just one final shot: the pirate's chest of rhinestone goodness that is the combined booty of the mom, great-grandmom, 2 great-aunts and a not-so-great aunt.  That's a lot of sparkle for women who never went out much. 

Not much sewing this week, but it's going to be hot again this weekend, so you know where I'll be.  More later.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Home Repairs = New Items on Etsy

How do you have a conversation with your house that starts, "After all I've done for you, this is what you do?  Really?" 

You can't.  You just look your contractor in the eye, swallow hard and write that check.  And then cry.

And then have a glass of wine, get yourself together and finally dump out that huge box(es) of vintage jewelry that you've been intending to sort through, photograph and list on Etsy so that (maybe) you can eventually PAY back the money you've just handed to said freaking contractor to keep your freaking porch roof from freaking caving in.

I'm better now.

No, I'm not.  I'm pissed at my house, but I found a lot of pretty things that I didn't remember scoring from the aunties, and some of them I'm intending to keep.  I can't turn all the vintage goodness out to find new homes. 

If you're interested, the link to my Etsy shop is here.  If you're not, no biggie. Enjoy the pretties and come back later for more sewing (and possibly a little more grousing about my house; I'm far from over it). 

Monday, July 25, 2011

Making Space

You'd think with an entire designated sewing room, I'd have enough room for everything. Not so. The fabric shelves (wovens) are full. The cedar closet (home dec, mostly) is full. The fabric shelves (knits) are full. The boxe(s) under the table are full of clothes to be cut up. The woven remnant bin (hamper) is full. The knit remnant drawers are overflowing, which means I have no place to put interfacing, lining and all the other random bits of usefulness that will get lost in the room if they're not in their properly labeled drawers.


Do I need 2 drawers of knit remnants? It's not like I'm ever going to find a use for the small bits. I don't quilt but I save random pieces of woven fabric, just in case I ever start. What's my excuse for 3x3 INCH scraps of knit?

There is no excuse. And they're gone now.

As are a lot of the larger remnants. Since it was in the high 90s (or higher) on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday, I didn't want to be anywhere but the air-conditioned sewing room. Problem: the heat leached all creativity from my brain and I had no clue what I wanted to sew. I just wanted to make something to justify my existence in the room. So I pulled out all my knit remnants and checked to see how many of them were big enough for me to cut out my standard KS 3338 tshirt pattern which I can do even with a sunburned brain.

Turns out there were 5 shirts worth of remnants, and those are just the ones that could be sewn with black thread, which was what happened to be in both the machine and the coverstitch.

This group of shirts looks like a brief history of my sewing over last several years: the green and black graphic print is left over from the BWOF drape-front dress; the black and multi "stained glass" print left over from another BWOF dress; both V1250s had a yard left over; and the turquoise and black floral was a remnant from a sundress a few summers ago. That piece actually had a small rotary cutter nick in it which I didn't notice until I'd cut out the back; I solved that problem by cutting an oval in the shirt back and binding it like the neckline. It's a nice change and very breezy in our current horrible heat & humidity.

A few of these shirts might get passed along to my friend Dianne, who is my size but taller, which is okay since I tend to make my shirts long. I don't even care about wearing them; this was production sewing, sewing to sew, sewing to keep cool. Getting something out of it was just a plus, and now I have some drawer space to stash my interfacing so I know where it is when I'm back to sewing clothes that require it. (It's too hot to think about structured clothes - the August Burda came this weekend and while I think I liked a lot of things in it, it was too hot to think about anything other than stretchy, absorbent fabrics).

I'm embarrassed to say that if change over to white thread, I could have a few more shirts. Summer's not over yet, so I might just do that. It takes me no time to cut and sew this pattern, and in weather like this, frequent changes of top have become necessary.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Ever have one of those days?

I had a nice, relaxing Sunday planned.  Mario got up early to go see his family, and I was going to sleep in, with the air conditioner (it's still 90+ in the a.m.), hang out with the cats, take myself to breakfast, and maybe get a little sewing done.

He left at 9:00 a.m., and I rolled over.  Not 5 minutes later, a high-pitched beep shatters the quiet.  Followed by another one.  Smoke detector battery?  Which one?  I get up, stand in the hall.  Not the one by my bedroom.  I go upstairs.  Not there.  Downstairs and to the hall by the kitchen.  I take the smoke detector down - and the carbon monoxide detector next to it goes off. Beep! 

By the time I've found the instruction manual, it's beeped another half dozen times, freaking out all the cats and not doing much for me, either.  Turns out obnoxious beeping every 30 seconds isn't imminent death from CO poisoning, it's just . . . low battery. Of course I have no spare batteries, because those were only 2 months old.

Back to bed.  Except by then the cats are all awake and demanding food and water and litter changes, so I do that, then go back upstairs.  Decide to stop in the bathroom, where the toilet begins to run - before I've gotten anywhere near it.  Just like the downstairs one yesterday.  

A few minutes later, I hear another sound.  An alarm, but not smoke or carbon monoxide.  I get up.  I listen.  It's upstairs.  I go up and it's coming from my housemate's apartment.  I bang on her door a couple of times.  Nothing.  I let myself in, and track the alarm back to her bedroom.  Her alarm clock is on the bedside table, going off full blast, and she's sleeping the sleep of the innocent, right next to it.  Her cat is freaking out.  I shut off the alarm and poke her to make sure she's still breathing.  Yep.  I've known her for 20+ years and I always thought you could march a brass band past her bed and not wake her up.  I think this proves me right.

I give up on sleep.  I look out the window and inspect my yellow, thirsty plants.  Watering them isn't giving them what they need; they need rain, and so do I.  Anything to cool it down.  I didn't know what 103 felt like, and now that I do, I see no need to feel it again.

It's not even 11:30.  I could still sew.  But the way things are going so far today, I'm afraid the machine might blow up. 

Anybody know how to un-jinx my Sunday?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

It's contagious

Borderprintedness, that is.  Carolyn's got a really bad case of it . . . but she's also got more of the cure on her shelves than I do.

I'm down to one remaining border print now, because this weekend I used up the second of the three I recently purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics

I tend not to wear yellow as it's a pretty unflattering color on me, but when I saw this yellow, gold and orange floral border print, I couldn't resist.  It reminded me (in a good way) of printed vintage sheets, but without the allover design.  I knew it was meant to be a dress, and I knew the border had to be at the bottom, even though I do like some of the print-at-the-top dressess I've seen.  No yellow flowers near the face, please.

This wasn't made from any particular pattern - the bodice was copied from an old blouse that I took apart years ago and tinkered with until I liked the fit.  Looking at the photos now, I think I need to do an FBA on this TNT, because things aren't where I left them when I drafted that pattern!  Close enough, with the right bra, but a little bit of fiberfill might cause an incident.

The skirt was just the entire 2 yard width of the fabric, cut with 2" to spare for hem and waist seam allowance.  I marked the center back, fronts and side seams, pinned those points, and gathered in between.  The bodice was underlined with white batiste because this fabric was much more sheer than I thought when I originally cut it out.  The skirt was lined with white lining fabric (because I'm starting to run low on batiste).  Because the bodice was underlined, I bound the armholes for a neater finish.

The collar used the last fragments of the border that floated toward the top of the print.  I know, I said no yellow near the face, but it was just random petals at that point.

They're not too visible in the photos here, but partway through the day my new ice-blue Fluevog shoes arrived in the mail and I ditched my brown shoes in favor of them. (These were the shoes I wanted for the wedding, so they're only 6 months late, but they were also half price and they weren't in January.  I'm a shoe whore, but I'm a frugal one).  The shoes will have proper photos taken soon.  They're so pretty, they deserve their own post.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Never too hot to sew

It was a hot Sunday afternoon.  Too hot to work in the garden; too hot to do laundry.  Too hot to do anything . . . except sew.

Due to the forecast of temps in the low 100s this week, we did finally put the AC in the bedroom window today, but we'll hold off using it until it's unbearable to sleep. 

Turns out I can sleep better in heat than I can sew.  The back of the house faces west, and it doesn't matter how I try to cover the windows, the afternoon sun beats in and turns the workroom into a sauna.  It's difficult to sew when you break into a full body sweat just by turning on the machine. 

So I turned on the AC instead, and got to work.  In the interests of the electric bill, and keeping it low, I made another version of V1250, both to work out a few kinks and because I only needed 90 minutes of cooling to do it.  And 90 minutes was taking my time.  Knowing where I was going this time made it go even faster.

I like the second version much better.  The knit is similar, but has a slightly better drape, and that matters a lot - for the sake of the drape.  Looking back at my last version, the side view shows the drape looking a little like it's hanging off a cliff.  Okay, I've got some boobage, but it made them look a little square and bulky.  This fabric curves and drapes off them and I LOVE the print.

The fabric is a Marc Jacobs remnant that I picked up at Jomar a few months back.  It was the first fabric I thought of when I decided to give in to the peer pressure and make this pattern, but I wasn't sure of the fit and I didn't want to use a fabric with a lighter color just in case it made me look thicker.  Turns out, the combination of the watercolor plaid and the strong vertical, plus the better drape, made a much better version of the dress. 

If I'd made this one first, I might not have bothered with a second one.  Photos of it on me at some point this week.  Today was just too sticky for photography.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Bits and pieces

First off, the winner of the Sewing in a Straight Line book is Pretty Kitty.  Lily picked her name out of a bowl - literally, I put all the entry names on pieces of paper in a bowl and put a layer of her favorite treats underneath; Pretty Kitty was the first piece dragged out in search of treats.  The things that happen when you don't have your camera charged! 

And second, Lakaribane asked for a closeup or a link to the shoes I was wearing in the V1250 photos.  Despite how often I cruise the Fluevog website, I am embarrased to admit that those sandals were from Payless

Womens Montego Bay ClubParty Cork High Wedge Sling

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Vogue 1250 - Pattern Review

Pattern Description: Close-fitting, draped neck dress.

Pattern Sizing: 6-20. I made size 12 and it was spot on. I don't sew that many Big 4 patterns anymore, so I was a little nervous and because of the oddly shaped pattern pieces, there's really not a lot of wiggle room to take it in or out.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Extremely. When I got the envelope I thought something was missing - one little sheet of pattern paper and the instructions don't even take up both sides of the page!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It's 3 pieces (including a band for the back of the neck), it takes minimal fabric and even less time. This is definitely a "whip it up this afternoon to wear tonight" kind of pattern.

Fabric Used: Stretch knit from Metro Textiles. I say it looks like olives - the dark and light green, and the (honestly) dark purply color. In my office under the fluorescent lights, it deadened down to charcoal gray - still pretty, but no olives.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: None, other than shortening it a bit so that it came right above the knee.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I think I'm the 26th review, so I'm not sure this pattern needs any more recommendations, but yes, I'd sew it again. Definitely.

Conclusion: I wasn't planning to make this dress. It's kind of like Harry Potter - when the entire world started reading the books, I decided that I didn't want to. I didn't want to read what everyone else was reading. If all those people were reading it, it probably wasn't that good. Right. That lasted until Book 3, and now I have tickets tonight for the 2nd night of the final movie.

Same deal here. This pattern came out, I thought it was cute, and then EVERYONE started making it, and I decided I didn't want to. It couldn't be THAT good of a pattern, even though it looked good on every body type, didn't take much fabric or time. It couldn't be that good.

Right. And here I am, planning my second version. Sometimes I'm contrary just to be that way, and it ends up biting me in the butt. Glad I got on the V1250 bandwagon before it left without me.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Sewing in a Straight Line

I recently came into possession of a copy of Sewing in a Straight Line, by Brett Bara.  While I'll say right off the bat that there's not a lot of new information in this book for me (possibly because I already have the Leaning Tower of Sewing Books?), I think it's a great book for beginners or near-beginners, particularly the fearless types that seem to be around these days!

You really don't need fancy techniques to stitch awesome things.  If you can sew a straight seam, you can make a world of projects, and this book will take you step-by-step through everything you'll need to know to get the job done.

The book is divided into 4 sections: Getting Started (which include basic tools and supplies, hand sewing, machine sewing, basic techniques and fabric basics); Straight-Up Chic Fashion, which features skirts, a blouse, a shirred maxi, a cardigan, and more; Cozy, Crafty Home - curtains, zippered throw pillows, shams, duvet covers, a quilted throw and a (deliberately) wonky patchwork quilt; and Quick, Cute Gifts, including fabric flower bowls, a baby quilt, an adorable sewing kit (!), stuffed animals and more.

Sewing kit - how cute!
What I really liked about this book was that the author tackled what many beginners would consider to be complicated techniques - the shirred maxi, for example - and breaks it down to something as simple as a rectangle of fabric, stitched along the top with elastic thread.  It's a straight line, get it?  Just the thread is different. Don't be frightened, pick up the fabric and see what happens. 

Don't be afraid - remember, it's only fabric and thread, and the worst that will happen is that you'll tear out your stitches and sew another seam.


Shirred maxi dress
There are no patterns in the book, other than templates for the diamond quilt.  Since all the clothing is based on squares or rectangles, the instructions simply tell you how and where to measure yourself, and how much ease to add to make it fit. In some respects this is way less limiting than following a pattern, depending on how your brain works.

You can customize each of the garments to your own body size for a fit that's sure to flatter.  Before you begin, take your body measurements (or better yet, have a friend take them) and write them down.  If you have doubts about any project, sew a muslin sample first to gain a firm understanding of the construction process and work out any kinks related to size, fit and sewing techniques.


Fabric flower bowls
Techniques that seem too complicated for the sewists this book is directed at, but aren't: shirring with elastic, basting, quilting and binding a quilt, installing zippers, buttons and buttonholes, elastic, French seams, sewing with vinyl/pleather, adding hardware to a bag, and more.

Go green!  Old clothing is a fantastic source of fabric for new sewing projects.  Scour the thrift store or your own closets for pieces to harvest.  (The men's section of thrift stores is as great place to start, as the garments are usually larger and sometimes the dressier pieces are barely worn).

Layout for diamond quilt
All in all, this is a great little book - clearly explained, well illustrated with drawings and photos, and full of projects that will appeal to a variety of people.

Matter of fact, it's the kind of book I wish someone had given me when I was starting out.  So . . . if you're a beginner, and think this book is for you, leave a comment telling me why you think it's something you need, and I'll ask Lily the Sewing Room Cat to choose a random winner on Saturday.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

That's what friends are for

Last May, for the Philly PR Weekend, a few sewing friends stayed at my house.  Elizabeth brought a great hostess gift - wine and fabric.  The fabric was beautiful, a gray, pink and black plaid, pictured here.

Unlike the wine, which didn't last long enough to have its pictuer taken, the fabric has been aging ever since.  But this past weekend, I finally decided what it wanted to be, and I pulled it off the shelf.  And there wasn't enough.

Normally, 2 yards is plenty for most projects.  Because of the complexity of what I have in mind, I needed more like 4 yards.  I knew where the fabric came from, and I tried there.  No luck - sold out. 

I mentioned to Elizabeth by email that I was looking for more of the fabric, and she said casuallly, "I have 2 pieces at home.  I'll put them in the mail for you tomorrow."

She's getting a thank you in the form of something from my stash, and my gratitude for helping a fellow sewist out of a tight spot.

This is why I love this community. 

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Invasion


Hey, lady, get off my porch!
 Yes, that is a raccoon.  And yes, that would be MY PORCH CEILING he's popped his head out of.

What the hell?  I've already given you my zucchini, now you want my freaking house?  I'll grant that they're animals and that they have as much right to tromp around in my veggies as any other wild creature that doesn't have a proper habitat because we humans have taken up all their living space.  I'll even grant them my zucchini, though it sucks to have a 4 foot wide plant covered in blossoms that doesn't yield a single veggie because of these little bandits.

But when you invade the physical structure of my house?  Game on, little man.  Game on.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

New Look 6587 - Patternreview

Pattern Description: Princess seam, button front dresses with gathered skirt, choice of 2 necklines (collar or scoop neck), short, cap and no sleeves. Optional tie belts. I made version E, scoop neck, cap sleeves.

Pattern Sizing: NL sizes 8-18, which are slightly bigger than the Big 4's version of those sizes. By my measurements in NL, I'm a solid 14, but if I'd cut a 14, I'd have been swimming in it. I made a 12, and the fit is good, but still a little roomier than I would have expected. Diet? I don't need no stinking diet, I'm gonna make a New Look pattern and LOOK like I went on a diet!

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, pretty much so. The scoop is almost Burda-low; it definitely requires my better bras or there'd be a little gappage.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn't really look at them until afterward (BWOF has me properly trained) but they seemed clear, and this is a pretty straightforward pattern.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? No dislikes. I'm on a dress kick right now, particularly dresses with skirts. Since I don't have the waistline I'd like, I'm creating the illusion that I do by adding more skirt. I don't know if it's fooling anybody, but I'm enjoying swishing around in all this fabric.

Fabric Used: Dark chocolate brown batiste with peach/orange and green embroidery, bought in Paris in 2008. Peach cotton broadcloth for the bodice lining, brown lining fabric for the skirt. Orange shirt buttons from the button box. Eleven of them. And the buttonholer didn't cough once. The fabric is beautiful, but the quality isn't what I would have hoped for - the embroidery is picky and unraveled itself in spots, and I can see this is a dress that's going to require way more care than I'm going to want to give.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Nothing major, other than adding horsehair braid to the hem to give it a little structure since my fabric is really drapy (or limp, depending on how humid your summers are).

Additionally, as a few other reviews have mentioned, this pattern is a little short-waisted. I lengthened it by an inch and it's just barely where I wanted it.

This doesn't class as an alteration or a design change, just as one of those things. I had the bodice constructed and was about to sew in the lining. Since I wasn't going to line the sleeves, I decided I should add them first, then hand stitch the lining to the armholes. I sewed on both sleeves, quickly (no easing, yay!) and went out to the couch to do the hand sewing. DH pointed out that one sleeve didn't look quite right, and that's when I noticed I'd sewn it on INSIDE OUT. In my defense, the light by my sewing machine is so strong that the two sides of the fabric look almost the same; it's only under the inadequate living room ceiling light that you can really see the difference.

I picked off the sleeve, turned it right side out, repinned, re-sewed, and went back to the living room. Where I discovered that the sleeve was right side out, but somehow, I'd sewn it on UPSIDE DOWN.

And it was only around 10:30 p.m. And there was no wine involved, really. Let's just say I taught the cats a few new words, stopped for the night and started over again the next day, when everything went well.

Come to think of it, that's probably why I managed to make 11 flawless buttonholes. The sewing gods were being apologetic after ruining my evening the night before.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'll probably give it another shot, next time with the V neck and collar, which is actually the view I wanted to make but which didn't suit my embroidered fabric. Next time I'll put a little more attention in to the details - add a little MORE length to the bodice, and make sure that the back neck isn't gappy. It's got good bones, I just don't think I can face it again too soon after all the issues I had.

Conclusion: Cute dress with a few options. If you make sure to sew everything together right side out, it doesn't take long at all!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Every which way but right

First batch!
Lotta weekend, not much sewing.

On Friday evening, it seemed so long. Three whole days of not having to go to work. Funny how that worked out.

Saturday morning we hit the farmer's market and I got way too many strawberries, because I had it in mind that I wanted to make jam. Which I did. And prior to which I had to make an emergency run to the hardware store because nobody ever freaking returns my canning jars when they're empty and I realized I had about 12 jars worth of jam and 3 jars left on the shelf. Thankfully the hardware store is a block away and I had the jars sterilized and waiting when the jam finished bubbling in the pot. 10 minutes in the canner (for every 6 jars - it's a small pot) and I had a dozen jars of strawberry yumminess.

I don't even particularly like jam, but I love making it.

I also met up with a friend and had coffee, did 2 loads of laundry and did some work in the garden.

Right side out . . . I think
Sunday was family day - my aunt, cookout with Mario's mom, sister and her boyfriend, and then a visit to his aunt, who is an 80-something version of me. She's had 2 hips and one knee replaced and she's cranky as hell that her body can't keep up with her mind anymore. She wants to be out in the garden, or sewing, or working on her house, and she can't. All she can do is cook and clean and play with her cats. Sound familiar?

Monday was back in the garden, then over to Mario's old house, which is getting renovated, then back into the garden again.

I didn't think about settling down to sew until 10:00 p.m. I had put together the bodice pieces (fabric and lining) for the brown embroidered dress, and I wanted to at least get the bodice constructed and lined, which I did. The dress has cute little cap sleeves, which I decided I should sew on before adding the lining (I'm not lining the sleeves) and then I could hand-stitch the lining around the armholes.

This worked fine, until I was sitting on the couch around 11:00 p.m. hand sewing, and I notice something awful. The right sleeve doesn't look right. And that would be because I'd sewed it on inside out. AND I'd already half sewn the lining down by that point.

I actually debated with myself for a few minutes whether or not the inside-out sleeve would bother me; it looks ALMOST the same. But I knew it would, so I picked out the lining stitches, then I ripped off the sleeve, turned it, pinned it back on and sewed it. Brought it back out to the couch, re-threaded my needle and realized . . .

Gratuitious cute picture of Harriet
. . . wait for it . . .

I'd sewn the sleeve on right side out that time, but it was UPSIDE DOWN.

Let's just say Mario and the cats learned a few new words, and after I picked off the sleeve for the SECOND TIME, I gave up for the night.
For those who are about to ask, no, there was no wine involved.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Friday, July 1, 2011

A little good news

Wednesday evening, I got off the train and started slowly down Farragut Street, looking on porches, under shrubs and cars, for the elusive Sophia.  I hadn't seen her since Monday night, when I scared off some kids who were throwing things at her.  She ran across the street - in between cars, giving me heart failure - and to safety.  Can't say as much for the kids by the time I got done with them.

By the time I got midway down the next block, I was about to give up.  Sophia had vanished.  And then I saw it . . . a tail, slinking around a bush.  Then out she came, straight into the middle of the sidewalk and sat down.  I started to walk faster,  wanting to catch her before she got away.  And I almost tripped over someone - a 20-something woman who was crawling out from between cars, with a cat carrier in her hands.

Wait a second.  Sophia, have you been unfaithful?  Are you leading someone else on?

Yep.

The woman is a volunteer with a local cat rescue group, and she'd been seeing Sophia after work on a regular basis too.  Even though they have no more foster space, she decided to grab her.  I told her that I'd had my eye on Sophia and that I had someone lined up who would probably be able to take her.  She thought that was lovely, but she wasn't giving up the cat.

Insert ridiculousness here: "I've been looking for her."  "So have I."  "I've got someone who wants her."  "I don't, but I can get our vet to look her over and give her the shots she needs."  "So can I, and you don't have space for her."  "No," she said, pausing for effect, "but I have the carrier." 

Point taken.  We settled, finally, on her taking my name and number - and the cat - to get her checked out.  I confirmed on Thursday that I do still probably have a home for her (not including mine) and then I emailed the folks at the rescue group, who I've met before, to let them know I have a claim on Sophia and that I'll foster her at my house.  If my person comes through, then fine, and if not, they can send potential adoptive parents to me to check out. 

I do have to say it says something about the neighborhood that I live in that two relatively civilized women nearly came to blows over who was going to get to rescue a stray cat. 

And as Mario reminded me, the important thing is that Sophia is off the street and safe, and will be well housed and loved somewhere.  Whether or not I'm the one who managed to achieve it is less important in the long run.