Tuesday, January 28, 2014

A Few More Thoughts About the Janet Jacket and Some Shots in the Arms

Today, the delightful Clothing Engineer sent me an email about some potential drafting challenges that she has encountered in making her own Janet Jacket muslin. I don't want to go into them - as I haven't yet had adequate time to reflect on Anne's terrific info - but it puts a slightly different slant on the experience.

Don't misunderstand - I still think I've spent a long time getting nowhere - but I hope that Anne will explore her findings in a post and that I have that much more to go on next time. And, likely, I'll explore the matter in more detail at some point in the near future.

On this topic, I can tell I'm going to have to repurchase the pattern, though when I do, I'm seriously considering getting the size 10 (not 12) for better initial fit in the shoulders. Sure, if I'd traced the pattern before hacking at it, I'd not be in this position. But then I'd have no compelling reason to get a different, and likely better overall, size.

Vis a vis cutting into patterns, btw, I vacillate wildly and go through phases. Right now, with all the work I do on fitting, I can't stand the thought of starting by spending an afternoon tracing the whole freakin' lot - even if that sounds totally counter intuitive. Tracing is the element that just makes it all seem like too much. So, if I've got to spend a whack of money to avoid it - and it is a whack of money shipping from Australia - so be it. Of course, I'll wait till next week when the free pattern of the month-with-purchase changes again. I already own January's.

Bizarrely, I'm thinking of joining the StyleArc club - something I've never been swayed to do with any other pattern vendor, because I do seem to be making my way through a bunch of patterns and they're pricey. Any thoughts on this?

Finally, my Style Arc patterns did arrive today - more on them and what I'm going to sew when in an upcoming post - but my Bengaline fabric must have been sent separately, because it did not arrive along with them. Frustrating. I want to see it and tell you all about it.

But gotta keep this post short because I'm typing like some hen, pecking at feed. I got two vaccines today, one in each arm and they are hurting.

Nothing like going out in the polar vortex (secretly, I just like using this ridiculous term) to get arm-hurty, fever-causing shots, one series of which (for Hepatitis A and B) I'm out of pocket on (as neither my insurance nor OHIP cover it).

And yet, my friends, I urge you to go and get vaccinated for - if nothing else - DPT (Diptheria/Pertussis/Tetanus). It's a combined shot and that pertussis sure is making a come-back. Just last week I learned about an internet friend who's dealing with it now.

Ontarians pls. note: DPT is covered by OHIP so it's free. But even if it weren't free, I'd urge you to pay the bucks and take the shot. Which is precisely the rationale that sees me spending 300 bucks ish on phased Hepatitis vaccinations on the strong recommendation of my doctor.

In truth, I lobbied firmly for MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) as those are the big-time, olde-fashioned, childhood illnesses for which, I assume, my immunity has waned. But apparently, these aren't making a comeback and I have no risk-factors. Over a certain age, it's highly unlikely that one will get these bugs, apparently.

In an ironic turn, my second vaccine today was for DPT. Why? Because big pharma doesn't detangle the three doses and I'm not waiting around for tetanus and diptheria. Furthermore, during the pertussis nightmare of 2011, the hospital lost my test swab so I have no hard evidence that pertussis is actually what I suffered with for months. (Of course, everyone's sure that's what I had, but no one can prove it.)

And on that note, it's off to put some ice on my arms...

21 comments:

  1. I can see the Style Arc club being right for you! (Bonus: If you join the club, you'll buy more patterns! :) And that would only be bad if you were on a pattern diet, which you aren't!

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    1. I'm going to do it if only for the mystery gifts and special sales. I love a gimmick.

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  2. I waited for ages before I joined the Style Arc club but the sooner in your Style Arc spree you join, the better value you get from it. Also about once a year they have a sale for members. I think I'll rejoin once my membership expires, though I have Many patterns yet to sew.
    Vaccinations - good idea. I had some nasty mystery virus at the millenium and resolved on my sickbed to get vaccinated for everything when I was vertical again. I put off the chickenpox one as my doctor thought I'd be immune, but when my sister got it I was tested and had no immunity. It's something to add to your list if you haven't been vaccinated as you don't want to get it as an adult. And we've got a measles outbreak here in NZ right now...

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    1. You're so right. Why didn't I buy at beginning of Jan before I'd spent 100 bucks?! I'm going to do it. And I thought measles was on the rise too, but maybe it's not here? Look, I'm so freaked out I want every vaccine known to man. I have had chickenpox - though a very light case - when I was a kid. But my own kid has had the vaccine.

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  3. I had the chickenpox more than once when I was a kid (never got it full blown like my sibs though), and I've considered the vaccine for that--you might need to do the same if you never had it very bad. I was required to get the Tdap when I was pregnant, even though I'm apparently kind of allergic to it (my arm was basically paralyzed for the better part of a week), so hopefully I'll never have to take that one again! But yes, vaccines are hurty--but better than IV's when you get sick! Especially if they miss the vein the first 2 or 3 times!

    I'm intrigued by the StyleArc club, you'll have to tell us about it if/when you join. I'd not heard of it before, TBH, I'm not always the most observant though. ;-)

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    1. I'm glad they gave you Tdap but man, that's harsh. Mine is still hurting almost 6 days later, but it's not bad. And you are so right about it being better to go through the shot than the illness. So true.

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  4. We have measles problems over here (uk) now dueto the autism "scare" (in inverted commas as it was largely invented by the newspapers). Did you have that in Canada? That there was a link between mmr and autism? As a result lots of kids weren't vaccinated and now we have measles prob and they are queuing outside clinics for the vaccine.

    Good luck with the new jacket (and trace trace trace!)

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    1. You see, I thought everywhere was having problems with measles but perhaps I was reading about the UK and NZ...

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  5. I posted this link to a great article on How Vaccines Cause Autism on Facebook the other day. It works better there, because you click directly on a link, introduced by the question, How do Vaccines Cause Autism? http://howdovaccinescauseautism.com/

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    1. Totally awesome! I want to send this to all the vaccinophobes I've ever met.

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    2. Just want to say that I saw that earlier this week via a link on Twitter and I almost spit out my coffee. I was expecting a rant. :-)

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    3. Genius! I have a friend who bangs on and on and on about this. Drives me crazy! Sadly, she would not see the funny side of this. ;-)
      K...I hope you're feeling better now.

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    4. It's much less hurty but I still have a ball under my skin where the shot was given. And it itches sometimes and is hot. But really, it's not a problem. It's just an irritation.

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  6. Ice is good but movement is better. Swim, swing them, move them a lot. Seems counter-intuitive but I was in the military and got more than my fair share of jabs so I've got a little experience. Movement, painkiller if you want, ice.

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  7. My GP is an immunology specialist in addition to internal med. I'm basically vaccinated to a point where I think I may actually be bullet proof. So, I totally applaud your effort (and understand your arm pain). It's scary that these diseases are on the rise when they are mostly preventable.

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    1. Oooh, that's a fancy doctor. I just don't want anyone to get something totally preventable. Can you imagine how the people from the era before vaccination would have kissed the ground in gratitude for this immunity we take for granted?

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  8. Good to know the three are combined. I know I had my tetanus shot about 12 years ago (how time flies now that I think about it) so I suppose I'm due for another as I think the tetanus only lasts 10 years, but at least I know I got the P part covered more recently than my childhood.

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    1. I'd check it out. It may be time to have it again...

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