They say it's your Birthday

It's my birthday, too! And I got a BWOF subscription :) woohoo for a man who can take a hint!

I was having fitting woes, and so I spent my morning performing surgery on the dressform:

if you look to the right in the above picture, you'll see a sneak of the brocade for the bodice on my wedding guest outfit.

I slashed out strategic areas around the midsection and cinched it to the proper measurement with a belt. I then used twine to tie tightly around and keep the shape, and covered it all with more duct tape- I couldn't find the leftover white, bummer.
And when it was all done, I put my bodice muslin on and pinched away.


I actually jumped up and down and sang "It's working! It's working!". I felt like Jodi Foster at the end of Contact: I had no idea. I was so awe-inspired by the ease of working on the form that I decided, what the heck, I'll just re-draft the back of the bodice and make it princess seams.

stockings- so close... so close...

1 cent

Forgive the crude rendering, but I think I can pull this off for my cousin's wedding.
I have a lovely champagne brocade (thank you Mr. Kashi) that I plan to use for the bodice. - pictures to come- I'm thinking georgette or crepe pants.

Luckily, I already know what the bride's gown looks like, and I'll be nowhere near looking like one of those guests.

more to come. must sew.

UFO Sighting

Just when I was on a roll with Milly's Muslin, I got sick. The kind of sick that makes even thinking about sewing a formal Vogue pattern into a migraine. I was never going to get the dress done in time for my cousin's wedding- if I was even well enough to attend. And then, in a strange turn of events, I discovered that the wedding was postponed until the middle of October. Cool.

Yes. Cool. As in "Autumn". I was already pushing my better fashion sense by wearing a garishly yellow and fuschia, sleeveless, obscenely low-cut, chiffon dress to a mid-September wedding. I could not bring myself to even attempt it for mid-October. So I'm in the market for something fresh for the (now) October wedding. (All suggestions welcome). That means Milly's Muslin is put off till after that, and hopefully I'll have the finished Milly's Dress (silk painted and all) by Thanksgiving. That leaves the Christmas Dress for December, and Ladybird will take me through the new year. Phew. Somewhere in all this, I still want to sew some everyday stuff for myself - I've got a BWOF pattern from Karen and some silk jersey that is whispering to me from my "to do" pile.
And of course, there is all my crochet!

This is stocking attempt number one, following the instructions exactlyish.
This is the second (and third, fourth, fifth.... I started ripping back and adjusting as I went). I reduced the even rounds on the length of the foot after the toebox to give more shaping. If you try these for yourself, I suggest trying the stocking on your foot often during crocheting. It's coming along nicely, I can't wait to have the pair done! I am more than a little bummed at the color, though.
It's way too camouflage for my taste. I wanted a nice solid fawn color, but for some strange reason yarn manufacturers think we all love variegated colors. It's nice once in a while, but I prefer solid options. It was hard to find a sock-weight yarn with elastic, which is surprising because I am surrounded by 5 different craft stores. I finally found this Paton's stretch cotton blend, and it was only offered in variegated yarn. oi. I think I need to get past my Internet shopping avoidance. I've never gotten yarn, thread, or fabric over the internet. I need to feel and see and smell something that is going to be against my skin. But the selection available in bigbox stores these days is disappointing, and I'm starting to hate running from place to place.


Did anybody do International Wear a Dress Day? I did :)

In my dreams

I think Reem Acra is reading my blog...















Or maybe we have some psychic connection, because I'm LOVING every piece of this collection:

Who's In

the Malissa Contest at BurdaStyle?














I seriously considered it, and then I thought to myself, "There is a reason this dress is only offered in smaller sizes." I am still playing with the idea.

And how cute is that dirndl? My mom spent part of her childhood in Austria, and she tells me I had an adorable dirndl when I was little. From all of her stories growing up, I'm a bit taken with all things Austria. Sound of Music is one of my fav movies. I watched it 8 billion times when I was a kid. I totally wanted to be Leisl, she looked so sassy in that wiesn dirndl! It is one of the most figure flattering lines I can think of in a dress, for so many reasons! I think they are just so.... strong yet feminine. Kind of like Caroline Ingalls-ish (that's right folks, Little House on the Prairie). You can pull a plow in it and still look like a hot momma. I might have to dish out the four dollars for this one...


Progress on Milly's Muslin, but alas, no pics yet :) Should be done by the weekend.

Somebody stop me

How cute is this?

And this?

And the reason behind my purchase of the book Crochet Me by Kim Werker:

I adore those thigh highs. I love the trashy retro elegance of them. I love the way the sass of the mini skirt is girlied up with the tulle. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the shoes! I am going to attempt my first crocheted apparel.

What I love about crochet is that it's so mobile. It feels like the next best thing to having my sewing machine toting along with me. It's also kid friendly. I've gone so crazy for it that I've phased out buying Christmas presents for relatives over the years. ***ETA: Crochet is also very forgiving. You can pull your stocking apart 4 times and still use the same yarn.

In further insanity, I picked up Knitting for Dummies while in line at the supermarket the other day- I hear knitting uses less yarn and takes less time than crochet.

I've got 1 piece of the lining of Milly's muslin cut. woohoo.

Stovepipe steamer still in the works *ETA: and a little black skirt with tulle edge. :)

Trials and Tribbleations

and a PR Lined Jacket (un)contestant.

I finished the jacket and posted my review with a whopping 20 minutes to spare (phew!). I double checked the contest gallery, already had my first comment (thanks Karen!) and collapsed into bed. I awoke to find myself in the gallery, one of the last entries :) And then, suddenly, I was gone from the contest gallery. hmm. I have no clue... but I'm so thrilled with my jacket!

I love the way it feels, but looking at it now I wonder if it's a bit small across the chest. Not bad for $12 and a month of work.

Unfortunately, the frenzy of work on the jacket left me with an invasion of tribbles.

And do you remember SATs? Try this:

Toddler with lollipop is to sewing room as _________ is to Japan.

The answer would be Godzilla, folks. That's right. While I dash like a fool trying to stash dangerous objects - to protect the kid, ha!- he wreaks havoc. Next time I'm going for the silk first.

Full speed ahead with Milly's muslin.

And I'm torn- blog about nothing, and post often? Or wait till there's something to say sewing-wise, which happens infrequently, to put it politely. I always love seeing new entries on other people's blogs, sewing-related or not. I just don't know if I you want me to be that.... chatty :) And to be honest, I'd much rather sew than blog -woohoo!