still brainstorming

Last night after fiddling around with some new stitches on my new baby;  I decided to reread some of the directions on the Helen LeMay sunburst pattern.  I swear this things looks like it was made for an engineer.   I know I am missing something on this program....maybe it's just an visual overlook on my part something is not registering.  I am determined to see if I can draft a pattern.  In the mean time; the skirt that I thought i was going to make is now history.  It's not complicated, but the measurements are way off.  Even though the pattern is giving the right measurements that's not what come out, and this is not a surprise.  Why do I bother?  The pictures look fantastic on the pattern, and I can see myself in them.  

  I am  now considering the Dress Shop 4 software.  There is another by Ginger software I've read about, and the women say they get more success with the outcome on the patterns.   This might be another avenue.  In earlier posts I do believe that I may have mentioned the software.   I am going to give the LeMay course another try as I did pay 198.00 for it, and have only drafted a vest.  The directions do say practice.  I just get frustrated easily.  The way this course is written stuff seems to be all over the page.  Of course this is just my take on it, someone else might see it differently.   Nothing beats a failure but a try.  So back to the drawing board I go. 
Another annoyance is the lighting is my room.  I have the lamp near the sewing machine.  That works fine, but it is the light that I need for the cutting table.   It would be silly to put a lamp on the cutting table.  I've got to find a way to get anther stool near the cutting table giving off enough light.  

Had I continued playing around with machine last night I would have been up at two in the morning.  I also corrected the thread problem.  It was user error, the machine was not threaded correctly.  I  hit the panic button too early.  So far the verdict is out on the 7700..............the women say they wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China.   I still can't believe it's here.  So many things have been racing through my mind lately regarding this machine.  Every time I test a design stitch I can think of way of putting the stitch to use.  Still not there yet on what i am going to do, but I know that I've got to find a way to make this work.    In the mean time the girls are giving me some type of mental stimulus in regards to ideas.  Sooner or later something will work.