you'd think I'd never done this before

I started on my skirt Saturday afternoon cutting out the front, back, waistband, and pockets; stitched the front and back together, ran the gathering threads and started to gather one side when I put it down for the night. Sometime that night I woke up and remembered I hadn't sewn in the pockets which has to be done when doing the side seams so Sunday I had to tear out the gathering threads and rip the side seams down to where the pockets would go. Damn, you'd think I'd never done this before.

I probably could have finished it on Sunday if I hadn't had to start out undoing nearly everything I did on Saturday. Then it took me three tries to figure out how to put the pockets in, again, you'd think I'd never done this before. Pinned one side, stitched it, then checked my work. Wrong. Pinned it a second time differently and checked it. Wrong. Finally got out one of my skirts I made last year and examined the pockets from the wrong side and finally figured it out.

I was down to finishing the waistband, inserting the elastic, and doing the hem. This is where I quit on Sunday as my back was complaining.

You'd think I would have had plenty of time to finish on Monday but it took forever to get the waistband and elastic done. I couldn't find my note for how long to cut the elastic so once more I consulted a finished skirt and got a good enough measurement, three tries to get the elastic in, too much trouble to explain why the first time was wrong, second time the safety pin pulling the elastic through the casing opened halfway through. Third time I taped the safety pin shut and got it in right. I got the length for the skirt measured and the excess cut off so end of day Monday all I had left to do was the hem and it was off to yoga class which Abby called late in the day that something came up and would I...yes, I'll lead the class.

So now...ta da! Once it's washed another half dozen times or so the gathers will fall more softly but it'll do for the wedding.

Here's the recipe for the Coconut Cashew Chicken (from emeals.com) I wrote about a couple of posts ago. Since there's just two of us, I cut all the quantities in half (my amounts in parenthesis):

2 lb (1) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed or use chicken breasts
2 1/2 tsp (1 1/4) curry powder
1/2 tsp (1/4) salt
1/2 tsp (1/4) pepper
1 (1/2) onion, chopped
2 T (1 I think, I might have used two) olive oil
1 T (1 1/2 tsp) minced ginger
3 (2) cloves garlic, minced
1 - 13.5 oz (7 oz) can coconut milk
1/2 c (1/4+) roasted salted cashews

Sprinkle chicken with curry powder, salt, pepper. Cook chicken and onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until lightly browned.

Add ginger and garlic to pan,cook 2 – 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add coconut milk and cook 7 minutes or until mixture has thickened and chicken is done. Top with nuts.

Side dish:

2 - 8.5 oz pouches microwavable jasmine rice (I used 1/2 c basmati rice and cooked it on the stove)
1 – 6 oz (3 oz) pkg baby spinach
2 T (1) lime juice
1/2 tsp (1/4) salt
6 T (3) chopped fresh cilantro

Cook rice according to package directions. Stir in spinach, lime juice, and salt tossing to wilt spinach. Sprinkle with cilantro. (Not everyone likes cilantro so eliminate that if you want)