The Vintage Family ~ domestic escapades with a vintage twist

Some housekeeping...

2011-08-23T12:23:00.000-04:00

I'm still on hiatus, but I had to do a little sidebar housekeeping. If a blogger in my "Blogs of Note" section hadn't updated in 4 months, I deleted the link to their blog. If a blog was no longer interesting to me, it got deleted. I'm going to be adding new blogs as I discover them, though, as I work on getting a definite plan for this space roughed out.

Stay tuned...

2011-07-21T15:13:00.001-04:00

I'm going to be taking a little break until school starts August 15th. I know I haven't been as visible lately and that's largely due to the fact that I'm still recovering from the issues with my back. Most likely I'm going to be having a procedure done soon to help alleviate the worst of the pain, and the recovery time for that can be a couple of weeks. It has to be done during summer vacation so that I can deal with the whole back to school thing.

That said, I've realized that one thing that really helps my back pain is a corselet/corset. There's something about having my back strapped in that keeps the muscles from spasming and irritating my low back joints. So I'm in the process of researching either making(?!?) or buying a corset. If you're interested, please check out SewCurvy. I found them via Gertie's blog and I'm very excited. The prospect of Not Being In Pain is a very heady thing.

Have a wonderful reast of your summer and May The Force Be With You!

Sorry about that last bit... My kids have just put on a Star Wars movie and I typed it automatically. :-D

Crafturday Saturday, Mirror Ball Trophy Edition!

2011-07-16T09:00:00.011-04:00

Offical DWTS Mirror Ball Trophy

Today, my middle child is competing in her first ballroom competition at the ripe old age of seven. Her goal? To win the above trophy. By 4 years old, she had her life plan mapped out including: compete on So You Think You Can Dance and Win!11! and then move on to Dancing With The Stars and Win!11! So in honor of her determination and drive, I've made her her very own mirror ball trophy.

You don't get a trophy, but you do get a tutorial in how to make your own!

First you need a trophy and a mirror ball. You could buy them online and pay a fortune, or head to your local Party City (or equivalent) and hit up the "awards" aisle for the trophy and the "party decor" aisle for the mirror ball. For today's project, we're using a "jumbo" trophy and a 4" mirror ball. And PLENTY of hot glue.

To make the mirror ball sit in the trophy, you're going to need to saw off the rounded parts at the top of the trophy. Grab a hacksaw and get to gettin'. It won't take long and if you're careful, you'll have a great result. The plastic is cheap, so it saws through pretty quickly.

The bottoms of my trophies were hollow, so I filled them with poly pellets used for stuffing animals and closed them off with a piece of cardboard and some hot glue and then glued some 3mm thick "foamie" sheets to the bottom to have it be a non-slip more finished looking trophy. I used a a paper cup to hold the trophy in an inverted position to make my life easier and to keep the mother-lovin' pellets from going EVERYWHERE. Do NOT omit this part if you want to keep your sanity.

Once you finish off the bottom of the trophy, flip it over and press it down a bit to make sure the warm glue gets really stuck in and the trophy is level. At this point you're ALMOST done, so pat yourself on the back and get out your disco ball. Resist the temptation to hang it up and rock out in your craft area. You can get your OWN disco ball later. They're much better for groovin' if you get the LARGE one and not the baby sized one anyways. Ahem. Not that I know anything about that. Not at all. Ahem.

Okay, now here's the part that's tricky. You want to get the hot glue inside the trophy but NOT on the outside. It's a PAIN to get off if it blurps out. So make one line of glue about 1/2 cm from the lip of the trophy, test the ball in the trophy being sure to put the dangly part INSIDE the trophy. Apply another layer of glue nearer the edge of the trophy but staying inside. THEN eyeball the mirror ball and apply glue to the ball itself in a dot pattern around the ball. Smush it down on the trophy GENTLY and it should stick nicely with all the warm glue bonding to itself.

For bonus points, use Photoshop to create a nifty label for the trophy. This part took way longer than putting together two mirror ball trophies including shopping for supplies! Extra bonus points if your last name starts with "S". Like so:

I used a Xyron label maker to turn my plain paper printout into a permanent label. W00T! for using all sorts of crafting supplies in one project.

What makes a pattern "chubby"?

2011-07-09T22:12:00.000-04:00

I don't have any antagonism towards the term, and honestly, I think I prefer it to "obese". Chubby brings to mind a little extra padding, while obese gives me flashbacks to the "People of Walmart" video that went viral not so long ago.

I know this is kind of a heated topic to bring up in "back from the dead" sort of posting, but I've been laid up in bed recovering and I've had some time to ponder not only my belly button lint, but also the mysteries of the universe and so on. And this is one of them.

I've been told that I have a very odd way of getting around to topics, and so I'm going to give you some backstory as to how I got to this point! So here we go.

I suffer from a medical condition known as "Multiple Hereditary Osteochondroma Syndrome". Which is a VERY fancy way of saying "I've got a lot of bonespurs all over my body and it makes me abnormally SHORT". Yay? Well, my oldest child just had her 9 year old well-check and among other things, she's started to "develop". Which has me running for the hills screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" at the top of my lungs. And the pediatrician - while not overly concerned since 9 is in the range of normal - was a little worried since there's this whole genetic disorder (see above) AND she's freakishly short for her age while still being in the range of normal for weight.

Shopping for her was relatively easy until this last year when NOTHING started to fit right. Everything was too long in the legs but too narrow in the waist. And her chest to waist ratio is OFF in a big way. I remember having a body shape like that, but that was back in the 80s when you could wear boxy jumpers and all was well with the world.

So now, here I am pondering the benefits of "chubby" patterns. Invariably when I make her clothes, I have to widen the waist but attempt to keep the smaller breast size. Shopping for school uniforms is nightmarish. In order to get them to fit her mid-section, I have to buy them a size or two up, but then they don't fit in the length or chest. Argh. Does anyone have any sage words of wisdom for me? Will "chubby" patterns help us at all?

What IS a chubby pattern anyway? What's the difference between just grading up a normal pattern? And how do I compensate for her short torso? Is she doomed to live a life of Regency inspired dresses? Not that I have anything against them, but I'm not sure that Jane Austen Couture is going to cut it with the Powers That Be at school. The child can't live in capri pants and shorts all year either...

MIA - Updates

2011-06-15T15:30:00.000-04:00

Gracious me. I know I've been MIA for a while. First it was the school play and the book fair and the last days of school and Nana being moved to Assisted Living and the Elder Princess Ella turning nine and between ALL that having two rounds of steroid injections into my lumbar spine to deal with the arthritis in the lumbar facet joints. Now THAT is no fun. It also lays me out flat for DAYS at a time afterward. It's getting progressively better, so I can't really complain.

In the meantime, I got a new smartphone - HTC Inspire 4G - that I love. I confess that Angry Birds has taken the time I *used* to use to blog. Mea culpa! Instead of sewing I've been flinging feathered projectiles at porcine sentries. Ahem.

Lorenzo (5) the Magnificent has started taking ballroom classes with his sister, Anabella (7). He's not quite ready for prime time yet and he has a serious crush on his teacher, but hey, what's a proud mama to do?

And the winner is....

2011-05-18T23:18:00.000-04:00

[drumroll please]

ashley0107 !

Please send me your address via email at empressg1973 gmail com and the notepad is yours!

Follower giveaway is tomorrow!

2011-05-17T14:15:00.000-04:00

There's only a couple of entries, so your chances are GREAT!

Mother's Day!

2011-05-09T10:29:00.000-04:00

Leaving aside the whole "picture says a thousand words" cliche...

Quelle Surprise!

1. Yes, my hair is that bright!
2. Yes, that's the Wearing History "Tea at Two" in action!
3. Yes, those are my gloves hiding under the Easter wrapping paper.
4. Yes, that's my mom sitting next to me and no, she didn't "get in trouble in the third grade", lol.

First the gifts:

Two books on pattern making that came highly recommended by sewing bloggers I trust. Made my day. I went home and read the big one cover to cover. I'm mindblown. And to the naysayers in high school who say "I'll never use this crap (crap = algebra and geometry) once I get out of school!", shut yo' mouf. Because this book is chock full of algebra. I'm in HEAVEN. I love solving weird equations algebraicly. I'm a nerd/geek/dork/whatevs.

On to the outfit:

ROCK ON Wearing History, ROCK ON. I swear, this had to be one of the MOST comfortable things I've ever worn in my entire life, even including my "birthday suit". I kid you not. It just was *perfect*. It turned a couple of heads at Mass, but I think it was my hair more than anything. I mean, really, have teenagers not seen someone with pink hair before? There's plenty of old ladies with blue hair, so is pink THAT far fetched?

Once upon a time, my mom tried to color her hair red for Mother's Day after being blonde for a long time (thanks, Mother Nature!) and her hair went pink. Of course, instead of taking pictures, she had my dad run to the store and buy her a blonde hair color. And she thinks my hair is "weird". She started it. ;-P

Follower Giveaway!

2011-05-07T16:24:00.001-04:00

Happy Cat has notepad to share!

I would love to give one of my new notepads to a follower, but I need to have at least a few more to make it possible.

Here's the rules:

1. Follow this blog.

2. Pick a project and tell me which one you like best in the comments section of this post.

3. Make sure you put your email in your comment so I can contact you.

Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday May, 18th, Midnight GMT to make sure that everyone gets a chance to get in on the goodies. I will gladly ship internationally, too!

How cool is this?

Good luck!

The Glove is OFF!

2011-05-03T14:51:00.000-04:00

Or on as the case may be. The Tea at Two pattern from Wearing History needed gloves and a hat to make it complete. I'm still working on the hat aspect, but for now, I've got gloves. Or at least a left glove.

The pattern called for stretch fabric which I totally didn't realize until I'd already cut out this faux suede cloth I picked up on clearance. After realizing my mistake, I attempted to make the gloves out of knit. And then dye them to match. We won't talk about that!

The third and final attempt was a success after cutting the fabric on the bias to get a little bit of stretch so the gloves fit like, well, a glove and not a mitten. The knit version was... roomy. Interestingly enough, the pattern size says S-M-L, but there's no difference in the width/length of the fingers! Only in the cuff width. Which is weird to say the very least.

Here's the story, of some pretty glovies...

I made Alice (the one in the center) and used the decorative stitching on my Bernina to create the hem. The gloves themselves do have sort of a vintage feel. Especially Jan and Alice.

Reference Picture

Size: Ain't Nuthin' But A Number

2011-05-02T11:51:00.001-04:00

I've come to the realization lately that I really - REALLY - like to sew clothing patterns from the 1930s for me to wear. I have my best success with them, really. I was wondering why when I came across the "measurement chart" on NewVintageLady's blog. According to that chart, I'm almost spot on a size 42 with a 42-36-44 personal measurement. Contrast that with McCall's/Butterick/Vogue's size chart, which has a highest measurement of 42-34-44. See the comparison chart I've created:

Click to embiggen

You can easily see the "vanity" sizing of the modern era. 6/8 is the new 12. Personally, I prefer the bust size as pattern size as it makes it simple to find the correct size pattern. Notice that the waist of the vintage patterns allows 2" more than a modern pattern and the hips allow an extra 1"+ in the more mature lady's size. The younger lady would get an extra 1"+ in the waist and 1/2" in the hip. In other words, if you've got curves, a vintage pattern is your best friend because there's a lot less monkeying around that needs to be done to get it to fit.

This is why I don't sweat garment and pattern sizing any more.

Wearing History Pattern Test - Part IV

2011-04-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

The pictures!

The full length view
aka The Robin Hood Dress

Dig those buttons - vintage repro!
and the belt which I scavenged and remade.

Wearing History Test Pattern - Part III

2011-04-27T11:58:00.000-04:00

Whew! For all the fiddly aspects of the bodice, the skirt was a simple, straightforward and most importantly EASY finish. The peplum/skirt pieces went together perfectly smoothly. The pattern is so perfectly drafted that there are NO mistakes or fiddly bits at all in that part.

I have to say that I was cautiously optimistic about this section because it had the potential to go very, very wrong. Kudos to Lauren for excellent quality control on this. Pattern pieces that do not go together well is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine. That sort of hot mess has had me uttering words that no woman, child or small animal should EVER have to hear. Simplicity, I'm talkin' to you, here.

At this stage of the game, I've got the dress complete except for my totally awesome buttons being attached, the hem being finished and to steam it out because the fabric I used can't really be ironed. Drats. Next time...

Speaking of next time, I kinda really adore this pattern. Actually, adore isn't quite strong enough a word. I will definitely be making this dress again. Like next week. Hell is freezing over, peeps, because I'm making it in white. And I don't wear white ever. Not even at either of my weddings. Which, ironically, is why I'm making it in white. My marriage is being *officially* blessed in the Catholic Church {long story!} and so I wanted something somewhat bridal as it IS a big deal but I wasn't trying to squeeze myself into my vintage silk 1950s wedding dress. I'm so excited I could spit, actually.

So Wearing History is going to get a two-fer pattern review out of me on this one as the next one will be the long sleeved version.

Stay tuned, gentle readers, stay tuned!

And now for the legal yada yada:

*In the interest of full disclosure, I received this pattern for the express purpose of testing and I will be duly noting this in each subsequent post.

Crafturday Project Time - Live Fast and Dye Your Clothes

2011-04-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

With apologies to Tish and Snooky of Manic Panic.

I whipped up a couple of those easy-to-do dresses from pre-smocked licensed fabric from the local Fabric Mega Mart for my girls and instead of doing ribbon ties like last time, I decided to make them into the dresses that just layer over a t-shirt. For modesty's sake, the girls wore matching stretch pants underneath.

Unfortunately, my younger child, despite me REALLY taking hers in is so skinny that her dress kept falling down around her waist. I had to find a solution, because I really like this look. I figured that if I got a tshirt and sewed it to the dress with a stretch stitch, it would work out fine. The problem? Where to get coordinating t-shirts/stretch pants for both girls? I checked my local Target because they have great prices on kids' clothing and I get 5% off with my Target Debit Card AND they give a percentage to our school. But woe was me that there wasn't something that really worked well.

Until I remembered that the Target tshirts for girls are super soft, contoured AND take dye like a dream. They are 100% cotton so it just works perfectly. I'd already done this twice before for other projects which I can NOT believe I didn't blog about. Holy cats!

The first was this outfit for my oldest - dyed with Dylon Ocean Blue

Custom lace appliques and beading

The second was the top to a pair of lounging pajamas for my middle child - dyed with Rit dye in Violet

Custom appliques

With both tops I did a bleed effect where the bottom edge was darker than the top. It's harder to tell with the blue top...

For this project, I wanted coordinating leggings and tops to go with the dresses, so I just dumped the shirt/tights in the vat of dye and let them sit until they were close to the color I wanted.

Ariel dress got the shirt/tights dyed with Dylon's Bahama Blue which gives a light robin's egg hue. Rapunzel dress got the shirt/tights dyed with more of the Rit Violet which as you can see in the photo above gets pretty dark when left to sit for a while. I left the tshirts long inside the dresses to allow for a light barrier/modesty panel and for comfort as well. That faux smocked fabric is ITCHY on the inside and leaves marks.

The best thing about this project was that I already had the dye on hand from past projects so it didn't cost anything extra. The tshirts were $4.99 less 5% (thanks Target!) and the tights were $1.98 for 100% cotton on clearance (plus 5% off again).

Bonus Socks

Bonus socks from the cut offs of the tights. It's a win/win here, folks. And next time I'll actually publish the post on the day in question. This week was a weird one because it was Holy Week and I observed "radio silence" this past weekend on the blog front.

Wearing History Test Pattern - Part II

2011-04-25T14:42:00.000-04:00

I've started the construction process and mostly finished the bodice of the short sleeved version.

I like to think I'm a pretty accomplished sewist, but the instructions that accompany this pattern are not necessarily intuitive. That's to be understood, though, considering that these are the original instructions from the 1930s and haven't been updated to more modern sewing processes.

My notes on the bodice construction:

If you are making the short sleeved version, the instructions for the short sleeves are on the last page rather than near the front even though the sleeves are one of the first parts that you are supposed to make.
The bound buttonholes are a total pain in the neck. AND the facing doesn't allow for them to be done all at once. The instructions call for pretty much the entire bodice to be constructed THEN deal with the facing/buttonhole dilemma. In the future, my advice is to mark the buttonhole position on BOTH the facing and the bodice front FIRST. Then, make machine buttonholes on the facing and do the bound buttonholes on the front. When making the bound buttonholes, don't stitch them down completely until you turn the facing. THEN you stitch around the bound buttonhole and machine buttonholes and everything is neatly done and fully encased, etc. This eliminates the need to slip stitch around the slashed buttonhles in the facing. It's not period authentic, but hey, it's a cleaner finish and will save time/thread.
Dealing with the "Vestee" was also counter intuitive. The illustration shows the top buttonholes with nothing to attach the buttons to. And the attachment of the vestee to the bodice was slightly strange. What I did was to hem the facings all the way around before adding the vestee and then I hemmed the top edge of the vestee before attaching. If you want, you could blind hem the top so the stitches don't show and you then don't have to slip stitch. I'm NOT a huge fan of hand sewing, so I will do anything at all to avoid it.

*In the interest of full disclosure, I received this pattern for the express purpose of testing and I will be duly noting this in each subsequent post.

Next up: The skirt and attaching the bodice

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

2011-04-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

Guess what I found inside a 1930s vintage purse I picked up yesterday? Not money... I wish! But BETTER. Photographs of the owner (presumably). They're in terrible shape because of the age and lack of proper storage, but they are totally awesome just the same. Here's the pix as the looked straight out of the purse:

I'm going to attempt to restore them somewhat in Photoshop. Wish me luck! As a side note, I wear my hair the same way as the lady in the pictures. I wonder who she was and what the occasion was for the pictures and where did she get that purse? What dress and shoes did she pick it out for?

The Easter Frock

2011-04-19T16:13:00.000-04:00

Vogue 8701 in fashion fabric. Normally I am SUCH a stickler for having my plaids/patterns match. You should ask my sewing instructor, Alexis, how long it took to cut out the fleece for a jacket in class at the local Fabric Mega Mart.

Yes, I know I'm nearly certifiable in that regard. I think it's the hyperfocus that goes along with being ADHD. Oh well, that's life, that's what they say, you're flying high in April...

Ahem. Frank Sinatra has left the building.

I've only got one gripe other than the pattern match where this iteration of the dress is concerned: the LINING. I understitched as directed, but my lining fabric is SO slippy that it will not stay put. When I make this dress again, and I will, I am going to change up the bodice construction a bit to ensure that the bodice lining doesn't roll up at the neck.

I used Gertie's narrow hem advice and it worked out well. For like the third or fourth time in a row now. I think she's on to something...

I've styled the look with my fabulous $4 shoes that I picked up from Ross about 3 Mother's Days ago. Yes, really. $4. On Clearance. And perfect match to my go-to Sunday-Go-To-Meetin' dress. I love that dress because it's got an amazing vintage style, but honestly, after wearing it repeatedly for three years, I was getting sick of seeing it. It was my ONLY "nice" dress and was a bit more formal what with the sheer overlay and all... I'm not getting rid of it though, not by a long shot.

The other main accessory is my very real black pearl (no relation to the ship of the same name) from my mother-in-law. I have NO idea whatsoever what I will stick in my ears. Most likely my diamond studs which were a wedding gift from my late father-in-law and my mother-in-law back in 2000. They are just plain studs big enough to be seen but not big enough to put anyone's eyes out. They'll go nicely with the silver threads in the dress.

Wearing History - Test Pattern, Part I

2011-04-18T14:08:00.000-04:00

I'm thrilled to testing Wearing History's, Tea At Two vintage reproduction pattern. Today I received it in the mail and will be testing Size Group B. In the interest of full disclosure, I received this pattern for the express purpose of testing and I will be duly noting this in each subsequent post. I don't want to run afoul of the FTC, nor do I want the lovely Lauren to either. I'm NOT going to follow in Martha's footsteps. ;-)

Today's project was to determine A) what view to make and B) what alterations needed to be made to the pattern to "make it work" for my shape/size. The largest size the pattern goes to is a 22, with measurements of 40-34-43 and mine vary considerably from those. I will be giving my edits to the pattern in both inches and centimeters, though, because I like working with cm because they can be much more precise (for me). Centimeters will appear in brackets [like so].

My measurements are 43-36-44 [109 / 91,5 / 111,75] (on a good day when I'm standing tall) and I'm a whopping 5'2" tall, so I will need to shorten the whole skirt by a good 1.5" [3,8]. The garment has a total of 7.25" [18,3] ease in the bust and 3/4" [2] in the waist/hip area for the largest size as drafted. I am not changing the bodice at all because the wearing ease that is built in will accomodate my chest just fine with a good 3" [7,6] to spare. The bodice lower edge is gathered to the waist, so it will not be *as* full on me, but that is OK. Another reason I'm NOT GOING THERE with changes to the bodice is that the sleeves are a bit more complicated to alter and I typically do not succeed with sleeve alterations. In fact, I typically have to go down a sleeve size or two to get them to fit right and not have me look like I'm wearing my mother's clothes to dress up in.

I added 5/8" [1,7] to each side seam of the waist which gives a bit more ease than the original pattern and accomodates my 2" larger waist. To the hip area, I added 7/8" [2,2] to accomodate my 1" larger hips and give a little more wiggle room. I tend to have a long stride, so I don't want to pop any seams if I have to dart after one of my children. I know that "ladies who dressed" didn't run after their children, but they didn't have my kids, either!

So far, I am very happy with the quality of the pattern received. I like the fact that it came on ONE continuous sheet of heavy duty paper. Typically, I either trace all my patterns or run them through the large format copier at Kinko's (spendy!!!) so that I can make my personalized edits. This saves me a HUGE amount of time and expense. The pattern has an MSRP of $22, but if I were to take a 99¢ "Big Four" pattern to Kinko's to copy onto the same type paper, it could EASILY run me the same price - if not more. So for value, Wearing History gets 4 ✂ out of a possible 4. Anything that saves me time and gas money is a win. One improvement I would make if at all possible is to have a "finished garment" measurement for the bust/waist/hip or an idea of "garment ease". This might not be possible, but it would have saved me a good 30 minutes or more because I had to measure each pattern piece about eleventy times to make sure I got it right. Having that info handy to begin with would be less frustrating. However, since not every pattern available provides this info, I'm not counting off for it. :-D I might like a scootch more room between the skirt pieces and the ones directly next to them as my teeny alteration would run right into the piece directly adjacent, but again, NOT a ding against the pattern. If I were smaller around, this would SO not be an issue. And really, copying two pieces is not a deal breaker since I'm used to SO much more effort to get a usable pattern.

Next up will be the muslin attempt and fit concerns. After I find the fabric I intend to use for it...

Kicking the Malaise

2011-04-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

I think that making the Vogue muslin really cleared the palate and got the creative juices flowing again. Today I graded Ladies Home Journal 1047 from 1933-35 up from a 28" waist to a 37" waist and made another wearable muslin.

Pattern Description: Ladies' long skirt
Pattern Sizing: Size 28/Waist 28

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Suprisingly, yes. I wasn't sure at first, but it really did. Obviously when you're going up 9" in the waist, you're not going to look like the willowy illustration on the envelope.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Pretty much. There was one pattern piece that I couldn't make heads or tails of, so I omitted it without any functional issues.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It's a good wardrobe staple and has gentle wearing ease. The instructions were my least favorite part of the pattern. They weren't terrible, they just assumed a lot.

Fabric Used: Some form of heavier cotton that was leftover from a project. This gave it a nice body.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Graded up in size and changed seam allowances from 3/8" to 5/8". Omitted the "inner belt" in favor of a traditional lapped waistband.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and Yes. I plan on redrafting it for sale as a repro pattern eventually with the modifications I've made to it.

Muslin Malaise

2011-04-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

Have you ever ended up at the point in a project where you've hit a wall?

I'm sort of there right now. I conquered my nemesis pattern and it felt good, but afterward... well... there's this sense of "what now?"

I'd planned to make a 1944 Vogue vintage reissue suit and blouse with the nemesis pattern, but I needed to clear my head. So I decided to work on a more modern Vogue pattern that had a vintage feel.

I made the dress in the upper right corner of the image. Since I was making a muslin, I opted to use a thrifted twin size bed sheet and some leftover white cotton from my stash. I have to say, that the common thought that Vogue patterns are more complicated than others really is bogus. In my opinion, a modern Vogue pattern is far superior to their less expensive counterparts by the other Big Three pattern companies. Simplicity, I'm looking at YOU.

There was only one little quirk where I scratched my head a bit before proceeding. The sleeve cap/lining was a teeny bit tricky, but once I got it dealt with it was an a-ha! moment. From there on, it was extremely smooth sailing.

I started with a size 20 (bust 42") since that most accurately reflected my bust size and graded the waist up 3" to fit. However, this dress must have had a TON of ease, because after getting it together, the sleeves were 2" too wide at the shoulder and the bodice back was 2" too wide at the top of the zipper and 1" too wide at the waist. I probably could have used the size 18 pattern and graded the waist up a teeny bit rather than adding 3/4" to each side seam and then cutting it down again by 1" in the back.

Since I traced the pattern off, I'll just make my adjustments to the traced pattern and go from there when I'm ready to make my "real" version. For now, here's the *very* wearable muslin!

Blast from the past: McCall's 6074

2011-04-11T18:18:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time I embarked on a Voyage to Vintage. I was full of plans and schemes and exuberance. I would collect vintage clothing items on ebay and vintage sewing patterns - all the while full of grandiose dreams of what I was going to do with them all. Newly married and in our first home together - built in 1921 - we were going to live the vintage life.

I collected FireKing Jadeite and Fiestaware and 78 records and so on. I tried to make my better half highwaisted pants, I bought Blyer wedges and we went to USO dances, but it never really clicked. Perhaps because we're not living in another era? I don't know. This post isn't really about my headspace, although I'd be willing to explore it at some other point.

My first experience sewing with a vintage pattern was McCall's 6074, a play suit. You may recall that I dubbed this one "The one that got away" because I'd thought I'd lost the pattern. Recently inspired to look in the one place I hadn't looked before, I found it, none the worse for wear. I actually did finish this in 2002 - roughly a year after starting it. By the time I'd finished it, I was pregnant with our first child and I converted it to a maternity playsuit by adding a wide elastic in the front waistband casing. At the time I'd put it together, I'd botched it pretty well and didn't know what I'd done, so adding an elastic waist seemed to be the best solution. It worked like a charm! I've only worn the outfit once though. And try as I might, neither I nor Hildegarde can fit into it. That was 9 years and {ahem} pounds ago.

I remember being pressed for time when I was finishing it to wear to our annual Easter Party at my aunt's house and so I totally cheated and used iron-on hem fastener or whatever it is it's called. I will say that 9 years later, the bond is still pretty good. No loose spots or anything. I must have had some trouble reading the pattern, though, because my sleeves don't have the cuff. Instead, it acts like a facing. Ahhhh.... How much I've learned in the intervening years!

One other "flaw" is that the pleats aren't nearly deep enough. I think that's where I went wrong with the waist. Maybe? I'm definitely going to put this pattern back into the rotation of things to make because I really love the look of it. I remember that when I made it, the bust fit *perfectly*. Ahhh jeunesse... Motherhood has taken it's toll on the mammaries (and other places)!

Pattern Description: Misses playsuit

Pattern Sizing: Size 18/Bust 36

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? YES! I was pleasantly surprised.

Were the instructions easy to follow? For an advanced sewist, yes. It's a printed pattern, but even so, I had trouble following it (the first time). At this point, I'd probably be able to breeze through it since my skill level has grown by leaps and bounds.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I love the style. It's a fun alternative to tank tops and cargo shorts. I don't like that it doesn't have even the tiniest pocket. I love pockets.

Fabric Used: 100% Cotton.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: None

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and Yes! Except for that fact that I can only find one other one out in internet land for a hefty price... I might draft a repro version of this, though.

New direction to come?

2011-04-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

I'm pondering this over at my other main blog, Musings from the Throne Room. I'm trying to figure out what goes where, and what direction to take. Bear with me!

Now that we've found love

2011-04-02T22:15:00.000-04:00

My nemesis has been defeated and I've found that I actually LOVE the pattern. Crazy, huh?

I posted about it over at Sew Retro. Now that I've made the muslin and found success, I'm at a bit of a loss as to which project to complete next. Should I make the "official" blouse or try something else? I'm happy that I used one of the items in my "refashion" stack. Maybe I should try another refashion?

I've still got a mess of patterns left to log in my pile. Maybe I should do that instead?

Now that I'm finished with the costume...

2011-03-31T20:54:00.001-04:00

I'm getting ready to plan my sewing projects for Early Summer (aka April/May in Florida). I've got some loose ideas of what I want to accomplish, so this is totally in it's infancy.

I've got some great fabric that I want to work with that's driving my "spring" sewing.

1. Awesome robin's egg and grey plaid suiting to be made up using Vogue 8701, View B (dress)

2. Robin's egg/black/ivory striped suiting to be made up using Vintage Vogue 2885 Reissue

3. Silky blouse fabric to be made up using Vintage Butterick 3052 (my nemesis pattern) to go with #2 above.

4. "Project Runway" button fabric to be made up using Vintage Simplicity 2844

5. Awesome manga inspired fabric that is OOP to be made up using ~~Wearing History's~~ Sew Chic's "Clara Bow" apron.

6. Amazing (polyesther) voile in turquoise, ivory and green for a blouse. Most likely to be made with my nemesis pattern. The fabric SCREAMS for pintucks.

That's an AWFUL lot of sewing for 8 weeks, really. Especially considering my obligations as PTA President at my kids' school. If I were to prioritize, I'd do #4 & 5 and then get to the rest in July/August in time for "fall" (aka Late Summer).

I've also got a boat load of patterns I need to log into my spreadsheet. Whoops! I thought I had them all...

Strictly Ballroom - FINISHED!

2011-03-31T19:02:00.001-04:00

One of my all time favorite movies!

NDCA has some rules regarding preteen costuming. They're not long and they're not onerous. See?
(1) Skirt with top or simple dress with attached under garment or leotard top with full skirt

(2) Skirts
(a) Plain or pleated with minimum 1 to maximum 3 half circles. One plain simple underskirt allowed which is no larger or longer than top layer, and is the same or similar color as the outer skirt
(b) No uneven hem lines, use of boning, frills, splits, openings, fishing line, "lettuce edging", etc
(c) Length of skirt must not be shorter than 3 inches above the knee cap and no longer than 1 inch below the knee cap

(3) Necklines
(a) Boat, high neck, v-neck, sweetheart, 'peter pan' collar, and regular collar are allowed

(4) Sleeves
(a) Long, short, elbow length, cap, puff. or sleeveless styles are allowed
(b) Cannot be replaced by trimmings, frills, or edging on the shoulder line
(c) No "finger loops" allowed

(5) Materials
(a) Fabrics MUST be only one color throughout
(b) No glitter, metallic thread, or fabric creating 'light or pattern effects'
(c) No use of feathers, fringes, bows, belts, frills or sequins
(d) No flesh color fabric
(e) Any use of color coordinated 'see through' fabric must be lined from waist to shoulder; for use on arms no lining is needed

(6) Shoes
(a) Heel height not to exceed 1.5 inches, and must be block heel style if a dance shoe

(7) Other
(a) No use of arm bands, chokers or headbands
(b) No decoration is allowed on dress or in hair
(c) No jewelry is allowed
(d) No makeup allowed
(e) Use of fake eyelashes, fake fingernails, colored or glitter hairspray is forbidden
(f) Socks: White ankle socks or flesh colored pantyhose must be worn
(g) No fishnet tights
(h) Gathering or shirring on the bodice is not allowed.

The finished product:

Reunited!

2011-03-30T10:52:00.000-04:00

I can't BELIEVE that I found it! The One That Got Away! It was in the garage in a box of miscellaneous "stuff". Here's what my copy looks like after 9+ years in the garage:

And the B-side of it is Ladies' Home Journal 1073, an unprinted pattern from the 30s:

These were two of the first vintage patterns I purchased after getting married in 2000. That would explain why they were in the box they were in. You can't imagine just HOW thrilled I am. You really can't. It's like finding your long lost love.

The playsuit I wore on Easter 2002 to our family gathering. I was 6 months pregnant at the time. I snagged the only pic I have of me wearing it from my cousin's facebook album:

You can't really see it's awesomeness in this tiny slice o' pic. One of these days, I'll manage to iron it and slap it on Hildegarde so you can see it in full. #WINNING

Incidentally, there's only ONE copy of that pattern available out in internet land that I can find and it's a whopping $58. It's Bust 34 and available at Heavens to Betsy Vintage. Not that I was frantically searching the interwebz for it to rebuy it or anything...

The one that got away...

2011-03-29T19:26:00.000-04:00

I used to have this pattern. I made an awesome playsuit with it. But I didn't care for it properly and now it's gone. Can't find it anywhere. And I'd LOVE to make it again.

If anyone has a copy they'd like to part with, I'd be ever so grateful. I'd even just copy it and give it right back!

Gibbs...

2011-03-28T09:00:00.003-04:00

Not Barry, Robin & Maurice, although their hair and swagger are epic...

No, I'm talking about Willcox & Gibbs. I recently scanned the manual for my treadle machine and uploaded them to my website. If you want to see them, feel free to click the link to view or right click and save as... to have them forever.

Front & Back Covers
Inside Front Cover & Page 1
Pages 2 & 3
Pages 4 & 5
Pages 6 & 7
Pages 8 & 10
Pages 10 & 11
Pages 12 & 13
Pages 14 & 15
Pages 16 & 17
Pages 18 & 19
Pages 20 & 21
Pages 22 & 23
Pages 24 & 25
Pages 26 & 27
Pages 28 & 29
Pages 30 & 31
Pages 32 & 33
Pages 34 & 35
Page 36 & Inside Back Cover

Wash On Monday - A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Taking a page from the post over at Glamour Daze, I thought I'd compare/contrast my day in 2011 with Mrs. McWeeney's day in 1946. Bear in mind that my children are all school-aged, there are no nurselings in our house and no one comes home for lunch so there are going to be some fundamental differences from the get-go. That said, on with the show!

click image to embiggen

As you can see, her day is pretty full while mine is... not. Yet I always feel like I'm behind, behind, behind.

One thing Mrs. John McWeeney didn't have that I have is the internet and all the new-fangled things like fully automatic washing machines and dryers and dishwasher and so on. Or the internet! But she had an infant and those take a TON of work. Notice that "change the baby" was not listed on her side of the list. And she got a NAP!? I know for certain we don't do anywhere near as many dishes per week as she did.

Mondays around here are pretty hectic in the morning because I have to listen to the litany of "I HATE SCHOOL!11!" from the peanut gallery and they have to practically be dressed/shoved out the door. I usually make my kids' lunches and send them to school and my husband takes his lunch to work most days as well, so there's no "make lunch" for anybody but me. And that's usually a microwaveable something or other. If I remember to eat anything.

Today my husband is home sick, so the "routine" will change a little bit. I had to chuckle at the notion that Mrs. McWeeney makes beds. FIVE of them. We've got four beds and we're lucky if ANY of them get made regularly. Of my three children, my middle child is the one who makes her bed. The youngest doesn't have a top sheet, just a "fuzzy blankie", so his bed is generally pretty neat. And our bed isn't getting made because it's occupied.

Question of the day: Do YOU make your bed EVERY day? Do you have a truckload of toss pillows and other stuff on your bed? Or is it pretty plain?

A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-27T09:00:00.006-04:00

Sometimes you get inspired in the strangest places. This musing was inspired while having a rare treat - a bubble bath. As the scent of Lemongrass and Green Tea soothed my frazzled nerves, I began to wonder... What was the housewife of days gone by's life *really* like. Not what we see on RetroTV or in black and white films. But REALLY.

How does her life intersect with ours in the 21st century? Did she have more or less spare time than we do? Was there a concept of "me time"? And if so, how did she spend that time?

Dear readers, this is a topic I've wanted to explore for quite some time. If you have any insights, please, please share them with me in the comments! I'm thinking of making this into somewhat of a regular feature.

My great grandmother had handtowels made of flour sacking that had the following embroidered on them accompanied by an illustration:

Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Mend on Wednesday
Market on Thursday
Clean on Friday
Bake on Saturday
Rest on Sunday

I find this blog to be very interesting as our home was built in 1921. It's a little window into what life might have been like in our little town during the same time period. Too bad the last entry is from July of last year. I'd like to have more to read.

This blog entry sums up a day in the life in 1946. I find it particularly interesting because we are a household of 5 also.

I dreamed a dream...

2011-03-26T17:01:00.000-04:00

I have a dream...

Of one day owning a quaint little shoppe in our quaint little downtown area. I've even got a location all picked out. The pictures are courtesy of the Sanford Historic Trust.

1923

2011

I want the corner space on the right, bottom floor. It's got GREAT street visibility and is right next door to the Sanford Visitor's Center/Historic Trust. When I first moved to Sanford over a decade ago, this building caught my eye and it spoke to me. That's how these things normally start, right?

So more about my dream.

One thing this town needs desperately and doesn't have is a children's boutique. I remember going to "Nana's Kiddie Shoppe" or something similar when I was a little girl. It had fluffy dresses, pretty underthings, fancy shoes and hair dos and some toys, but not many. They sold suits for boys, too. The thing about Nana's was the QUALITY. Quality that you just don't find very often these days. And I can promise you that there isn't a store like that in our area unless you're willing to DRIVE. FAR.

So I want to fill that need. I think I became most aware of the "lack of" in this area when my oldest was a baby. I had to drive 40 minutes just to get a decent christening gown. And we won't even SPEAK of what passes for children's "fashion" over the last almost a decade. I have contented myself with shopping for my kids in three places: Target, The Children's Place and Justice with an occasional side trip to the Disney Store. And even then, I like the stuff I make best. So do my kids.

Which brings me full circle.

Imagine a working studio...

The front windows would have displays of things I've made in the past for us while an lcd monitor on the wall shows images of things I've made for others in a slideshow while gentle music wafts from the speakers mounted near the ceiling. In the front fourth of the space there will be a rack of some children's clothing I've made to sell. There will also be super comfy seating and a play area. To separate the work space from the "retail" space, there will be a wall that is only 4' high allowing a clear view through the work space to the front windows.

The remaining three fourths of the space would have all my machines, adequate work areas and a private consultation area. The walls would have shelves with racks of fabric and patterns and all manner of sewing stuff. It would be inspirational and functional. And MINE. ALL MINE.

A girl can dream can't she?

PS: I've already got a label name for my designs, but if I told you what it was I'd have to kill you...

Strictly Ballroom - The Dirt!

2011-03-24T15:50:00.000-04:00

I made a few minor alterations to the muslin - how I love my Goodwill sheets for this! - before cutting into the "fashion" fabric. I can't say "fashion" with a straight face since seeing this:

Sexy mama, fashion girl...OK, back on topic...

For some reason, the pattern for a 6 year old girl had bust darts. Which looked RIDONKULOUS. I mean, REALLY? SRSLY? Bust darts? for a little girl? So I had to ease the darts out. Miss Thing has a really defined waist and a narrow back, so I had to make basically turn the back into a princess seamed shape so it would fit properly. The shoulders were also a wee bit big, so those got moved a bit as well.

Other than that, it was a pretty straightforward process. I wanted sheer sleeves, but you try to match a 12 year old bolt of neon pink jersey knit to anything made nowadays. Right now, I've got some nylon chiffon on the line with some neon pink fabric paint that I sprayed on. Fingers are crossed that this works the way I want it to. It's a shot in the dark, but hey, I'm easy to please. If it looks close, I'm a happy lady. If not, no harm no foul.

Blast from the past!

2011-03-22T10:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Peter over at Male Pattern Boldness (have I ever mentioned how much I ADORE that blog name???), I took the plunge and bought a new belt for my Willcox & Gibbs treadle machine from 'Aught Seven (1907ish).

Thanks to an online friend who is also a W&G owner, I joined the TreadleOn mailing list.

Here's the Facebook album. And a sneak peek:

Strictly Ballroom!

2011-03-21T15:53:00.000-04:00

My middle child will be competing in her very first ballroom competition this summer. I couldn't be more thrilled and our mutual coach thinks she has a lot of promise. Add that promise to her determination to "go on So You Think You Can Dance, win and then go be a professional on Dancing With The Stars" and well... It was inevitable. Miss Thing just turned 7 a month ago yesterday and has been giving us that speech for the last two years at least.

In the past, children's costuming has been... a little over the top? But now the rules are extremely restrictive. So goes the pendulum, I guess. Here's a pictorial example of what's allowed:

Image from NDCA website

Since there are limits on what could be worn and how, I decided that going vintage was going to be our best bet for a costume. I'd be sure to get a decent amount of skirt width for sure! So I gave my middle child a choice of three vintage patterns and her choice was Simplicity 3243 from 1939. I haven't done a ton of 1930s sewing, so this will be fun to work with and will go towards the "Sewing Through The Decades" challenge as well.

She chose the middle one on the bottom row since the dress must be knee length. The only modification we're making is to not use any decorations at all. Another rule is that the costume must be made of ONE color. That's OK! Because I've got a bolt of neon/dayglow/electric pink/salmon knit jersey that looks a little like this:

It's Electric!

The monitor of course doesn't do it justice. It's a bit more peachy and when light hits it, it GLOWS. Which is always a good thing.

What it won't look like? The "Her Name Was Lola" look from Strictly Ballroom:

It's a piece of cake to make a pretty cake

2011-03-19T16:23:00.000-04:00

If by "piece of cake" one means "takes three days AND some creativity to make sure that the pudding filling isn't too runny because you subbed coconut milk for moo juice."

I'm hoping that Lorenzo the Magnificent's 5th birthday cake doesn't end up looking like one of Jen's Cake Wrecks...

The plan is to make a rainbow half circle cake with a pot of gold at the end. Sound familiar? It might because Lorenzo is a St. Patrick's Day (and yes I spell it out because I'm like that) Baby.

Right now, the cake has been baked and one side has pudding on it waiting in the fridge for it to set (please please please!). I made the cake itself a rainbow by using just 3 colors of tint. Can you guess? That's right, kiddies, Red, Yellow & Blue. I took my handy dandy bamboo skewer thingies and made a circle in the batter with each color and then I blended the colors between the primary colors to make the whole rainbow. And guess what? It baked up FABulous.

After Mass tonight, I'm coming home and finishing up so that I can just enjoy tomorrow's party time. Yes, we delayed it... Don't ask. It involves a birthday dinner out and copious amounts of liquids and a bucket.

Housecleaning Haiku: Sewing

2011-03-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

One project too many
Sew much to do, too little
Time, is ticking by

Beware The Ide(a)s of March!

2011-03-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the Ides of March. Today is the first day after that ridiculous invention "Daylight Savings Time".

Let me just say that having it happen on a Sunday really blows. Do the Powers That Be have ANY idea how hard it is to get one's children up and out the door for school the day after the time change? UGH. I'd rather see it happen at 2AM on SATURDAY so that you've got an extra day or so to get used to it.

I'm appropriately jetlagged after the time change *and* the oak pollen infestation. And a marathon of "24" episodes. Whoever decided that shooting it with the jumpy camera style is on my hit list. Thank you for a migraine that WOULDN'T stop despite heavy doses of meds and caffeine. I'll find you. Just you wait. And you will pay. Only 16 episodes into Season 8 and I can safely say... Get a different plot line. Please. It's the 8th time Jack Bauer saves the world from terrorists. It's the 8th time there's a mole at CTU. It's the 8th time something BAD happens inside CTU. It's the 8th time there's a director of CTU that needs to grow a pair. Are we sensing a trend here folks? For Season 9 I want to see Jack Bauer blown to smithereens in a nuclear - that's NUKE-LEE-ER, Jack, not NUKE-YOU-LER - blast where there's no chance of him coming back, for Tartarus' sake. Even Herculers and Xena gave up the ghost after 6 seasons. Buy a clue. Quit while you're ahead.

Back to our regularly scheduled posting...

I participated in the Vintage Sewalong of 2011, and I've not finished my dress yet. I've got reasons, but no excuse. It's cut and pinned but not finished. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of Lent.

I participated in the MPB Men's Shirt Sewalong and finished 3 shirts(!) which is probably WHY I didn't finish my dress....... Who me? Obsess much?

I'm taking part in Sewing Through the Decades and I'm still up in the air on some of my projects. I'm hoping to get a grip on myself here pretty soon.

Is there any word on Project Runway? Any word at all? The blogosphere is strangely silent...

In other news, we repainted our bedroom and bought a new armoire for me. Will make a more thorough post on that, pinkie swear! It's totally cool. I need to sew new curtains - oh the agony of straight seams - before I can post the pix.

In the midst of the repaint/renov. of our room, a lot of stuff fell by the wayside... So I'm off to rectify that! See you later, folks!

Housecleaning Haiku: Shoe Storage

2011-02-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

I love me some shoes. It's not without good reason I earned the nickname "Imelda" back in high school. I can't resist an awesome pair of shoes. In my old age, I've become more selective about which shoes I keep. But when ShoeDazzle and JustFabulous debuted, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Designer shoes? Delivered to my door? Are you kidding? BLISS. Unfortunately, between my shoes and the shoes of my progeny and my better half's three pairs of shoes, we're sort of running out of space in our shoe bin by the front door...

Imelda's Woes

Shoes, how I love you
Too many overflowing
bin inadequate

It Is Finished!

2011-02-15T12:12:00.000-05:00

The Male Pattern Boldness Men's Shirt Sewalong, that is. At least for me. I finished both shirts that were on the plan by February 15th. That gives me 13 days to finish my dress/fluffer for the Vintage Sewalong.

Originally, I'd planned to give a blow-by-blow of how my progress lined up with the MPB sewalong, but since I'm not using the Negroni *and* my shirt choice is constructed slightly differently, it just made sense to finish up and then post.

First things first! I sewed a flat fell seam or three for the first time EVER. And while I think it's a nice way to finish a seam, I can't see myself doing it with twitchy fabrics. I WOULD make the seam allowance deeper, though, because 5/8" isn't really enough for me to work with and I have TINY fingers.

The short sleeve version is vintage fabric and it's plaid. Now *some* people would say not to take on plaid as a first attempt because it's so "hard" to work with. I found the opposite to be true. I LOVE working with plaid. Why? Because if the colors are bold enough and the blocks clear enough, it's like a freaking AAA TripTik pointing the way you're supposed to do. Sure, you have to exercise caution when cutting, but no more so IMNSHO than with regular fabric. Of course, I'm the girl who obsesses over pattern matching on EVERY fabric, so plaid was WAY easier for me.

I LOVE the way it turned out, don't you? There's only one little visible flaw. See if you can guess what it is! The pocket had to be pieced because I ran out of fabric.

Mad About Plaid Men

The next one I did was the long sleeve version. The fabric cost me $8 and the buttons $12. The fabric is a spandex/cotton(?) blend. It did NOT take well to being ironed/pressed. It just wouldn't hold it's shape unless I cranked the iron up to high. It's got a LOVELY drape, though. And it's soft, so my better half SHOULD wear it. He better.

The pattern on this one is also a plaid, but it's so tiny it was worthless to try and use as a guideline. This fabric also shrank and went off grain like CRAZY. I mean for REALZ. I had to lop off a TON on either edge after washing and *hanging* dry. God only knows what it would've looked like had it gone in the dryer.

Here's a nice close up of the cuff. I did the continuous lap but screwed it up a teeny bit when setting in the sleeve to the cuff. And yes, those buttons ought to have been gold-plated for how much they cost/cost over fabric, but they were totally worth it because they just MADE the shirt.

Fancy dancy buttons!

The one thing I LOVED about this pattern is that the sleeves are sewn in using the flat insertion method. When they're cut properly, this method is BY FAR the easiest nicest method for making sure the sleeves are eased properly. I hate setting in sleeves the *other* way with the fire of 10,000 suns.

As for whether or not I'd make this pattern again? Oh heck, yeah. I LOVE it. It's easy to put together, didn't cause me to curse the pattern piece gods OR the pattern instruction sheet gods, so it's all good. The deal is, you HAVE to have great fabric to pull this shirt off. Don't go with wimpy fabric that is boring. Next time I might do the yoke/collar in a contrast to the main shirt/sleeves just because I can. Which reminds me, I'm making up a much smaller version for my son's 5th birthday on St. Patrick's Day.

I've done a little research and it looks like this style of shirt was pretty popular in the 50s. It's been called an "Italian" shirt on an Advance pattern from the time period. It was made for girls, boys, women and men. The flat front shirt was also pretty popular as well with an asymetrical front yoke. I'm so on that.

Housecleaning Haiku: Dust Bunnies

2011-02-15T11:00:00.004-05:00

I live in an old house. It was built in 1921 by a banker in the Celery City and we're approx. the 4th owners since it was first built. Like most Florida houses of that era, it's NOT airtight. Not even close. So the amount of dust we get is prodigious to say the very least. An antique dealer friend of mine once claimed that dust was the "protective finish" on antiques. And while the lazy side of me might agree with her, the technogeek side of me protests mightily. As you know, dust is the nemesis of electronic gadgetry. And since we're a highly connected household, we have to keep the dust at bay. Well that and the fact that my better half gets strep EVERY TIME the poor man cleans the paddle fans. Dust is evil.

Dusting the furniture

Dust bunnies, evil
Eradicate you, I must
Force with me, it is

Yoma

Crafty Saturday!

2011-02-12T12:12:00.001-05:00

I've recently been cleaning out my ~~clothes horse~~ middle child's drawers/closet and culling out things that she no longer wanted or that didn't fit.

The Children's Place
circa 2006

After collecting a bag full for donation, I asked her about this white cotton dress from The Children's Place. It had belonged to her sister a couple of Easters ago and it still fits my little fashion plate to a "t", but she's not a big fan of white. When asked "Do you want to keep this?", she replied, "I don't like the color. Can you make it a different color? Then I want to keep it." I asked what she'd prefer and her response was "hot pink". In the words of Iago from Disney's Aladdin, "I'm gonna die of not surprise". She's my pink girl, that's for sure.

Image credit here

As for the dye, I've used Rit, Dylon and iDye, and of those three readily available products, I have to say that Dylon is my absolute favorite. It doesn't stink like iDye and the colors are truer to the example on the packaging than Rit. There aren't a million shades of Dylon available, but Flamingo Pink fits the bill nicely. If you click here, you can see the range of Dylon colors available.

The process of changing the color is pretty simple. I've dyed tshirts before and dyed polyester dresses before with the expected result. I use my humongous stock pot and place it in the work sink on the back porch to make sure I don't splatter anything important.

The finished product hanging on the line!

Instructions should you care to do something similar

From the package:

1. Weigh dry fabric. Wash thoroughly, leave damp. 2. Using rubber gloves, dissolve dye in 4 cups warm water, stirring thoroughly. 3. Fill bowl/stainless steel sink with enough warm water for fabric to move freely. 4. Stir in 4 Tbsp salt. Add dye and stir well. 5. Submerge fabric in water. 6. Stir for 15 mins, then stir regularly for 45 mins. 7. Rinse fabric in cold water. Wash in warm water and dry away from direct heat and sunlight. Helpful Hints: * You will need 1/4lb salt(4 Tbsp) * One pack dyes up to 1/2lb fabric (e.g.large shirt) to full shade shown below or larger amounts to lighter shade. * Suitable fabrics: Cotton, linen,ramie and rayon. Wool, silk and polyester/cotton mixes will dye to lighter shade.* Not suitable: Pure polyester, acrylic, nylon & fabric with special finishes. * Wash separately for first few washes to remove any excess dye. * Please note: Color mixing rules apply (e.g. blue on red gives purple.) WARNING: Eye irritant. Exposure may cause allergic reactions. Precautions: Avoid skin contact. Keep away from eyes. Keep out of reach of children. First Aid: If eye contact occurs, rinse with tap water for 5 - 10 minutes. If irritation persists, seek medical care. For further health information, contact a poison control center.

Here's how I do it.

Forget weighing and washing. Rinse in warm water and then squeeze out most of the water.
Dissolve the dye packet in the 4 cups of warm water using a wooden stirring apparatus. I've used paint stirrers, leftover bits of moulding and wooden spoons. I don't use gloves.
Fill up my stock pot almost to the brim with warm water amd add the salt.
Put items to be dyed in the pot and shove down with the stirring apparatus. If I'm going for a gradient effect, I'll hang whatever it is on a hanger and dip the bottom edge in and let the dye creep up the garment. I'll dunk the garment up and down a bit and then submerge a little deeper to make the dye move farther up for the gradient design. Otherwise I shove the whole thing down, swish it around and then leave it there for an hour or so.
Remove item once I'm satisfied with the result.
Transfer to washing machine and set to COLD wash/rinse. Delicate cycle or handwash with extra rinse. While the washer is filling, I rinse the item under the water stream and then add a teeny bit of mild soap.
Remove once wash/rinse cycles are complete and hang on the line outside so any drips of dye go in the dirt and not all over.
Thoroughly scour my stock pot with HOT water and a scouring pad so that I don't poison my family next time I make a batch of Pho Ga.

Fashion Friday: Vintage On A Budget Part 1

2011-02-11T09:00:00.002-05:00

As promised, I'm going to give you my tips for how to go "vintage" on a budget. Understand this, you won't be able to do "authentic" vintage or repro vintage without some serious cash to invest. However, you can go for and get a vintage feel for less than what repro costs in many cases.

Since the devil's in the details, I'm focusing on accessories. Specifically my favorite accessory: SHOES. While I've owned vintage shoes in the past, the sizes/widths available and the cost involved make them almost impossible to have at this time. So I make do with vintage inspired stuff.

If you've got the cash, Dillards is the best place to get brand new, vintage inspired shoes. Every shoe I've linked is under $100.

Oxfords were the workhorse shoe of the 30s/40s. These are a more 40s style.
T-bar sandals like these or these were worn dancing and ballroom dancers still favor them today.
Sandals and wedges were worn during the 30s/40s for "play" time.
Mary Janes like these or these or these have a retro feel without being necessarily time period specific. This pair is early 20th century in feel. Maybe 1920s/30s.
Round toed pumps like these or these hint at those shoes popular during the war years.
While peep-toes like these, these, these and these say 1950s.
Moving on to pointy toes takes us into the 60s with these, these & these.

While those are available at a major department store, there are shoes to be had at lower end chain stores and big box type stores.

Payless has (all under $50)

Pumps with a 40s feel.
Slingbacks that have a midcentury vibe.
Peeptoes that say "Mad Men!"
Mary Janes that allude to the 30s.
Kitten Heels that remind me of Ann Margaret in Bye Bye Birdie.
Pointy Toe Heels that are reminiscent of the 60s.
Wedge Sandals that are dying to be worn with a sunsuit or sun dress.
Pointy Toe Kitten Heels that are to die for.

Moving on to Target! Again - all under $50 with many under $20. And if you've got a Target RedCard (either debit or credit) you'll get an extra 5% off!

There are flat oxfords and ones with heels.
There are pointy toes in heels, kitten heels, faux croc and ballet flats.
There are peep toes galore! Plain, Platform, Party shoes and Ankle Straps that could've belonged to Ginger Rogers.
There's a plethora of pumps. From Conservative to Demure to Sassy!
Then there are T-Bars with closed toes and sandals.
Round toe ballet flats that remind me of Leslie Caron.
Espadrilles both plain and frilly.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I'm not getting anything for these links - just so you know. I own some of the above and some of them in multiple colors. :-D Here's my collection of retro inspired shoes.

Handbag c. 2004 - Payless Shoe Source
~$20

"Mia" brand found at Goodwill - $4

Shoes to match the handbag - ~$20 at Payless

Gianni Bini peep toes, year unknown - $7 at a thrift shop.
Retail price was probably in the neighborhood of $80.
Ginger Rogers wore a pair similar to this in a few movies.

Currently available at Target for $25
Again, very much a 30s/40s feel.

Currently available at Target.com for ~$20.
I picked them up on clearance for less than $7 last week.
I also have them in camel.

These are only a sampling of the shoes I have that are vintage/retro in feel. There aren't that many vintage shops in my area and the thrift stores are getting to be fewer and farther between as well. Most of what's available as "vintage" these days is pretty much late 80s/early 90s and prom dresses. Gone are the days of finding that special one of a kind piece stuffed in the back of a rack for who knows how long. Since Vintage Style became so popular beginning in the late 90s-early 2000s, the availability for a decent price has just disappeared.

Until next time!

Sartorial Splendor

2011-02-10T18:15:00.000-05:00

Fair warning, this post is going to be word-intensive and picture-light.
Solanah over at Vixen Vintage had a post not so long ago that caused a combox uprising! She was irritated with those that wear "dirty PJs" to the grocery store and let go with a little bit of a rant on the topic. Let's just say it didn't earn her a lot of friends. Many combox posters were kind but some were downright mean.

I agree with BaronessVonVintage's thought that perhaps Solanah could've been a wee bit more diplomatic and that would've headed off the ire at the proverbial pass. And yes, one's blog is one's home turf and one should feel absolutely free to say what they really feel without editing themselves.

When I was younger so much younger than today... I used to be very, very opinionated and had very little brain/mouth filter. Which led to people thinking I was stuck up and a "mean girl". I'm going to blame it on having ADHD and not being diagnosed and not having the same emotional maturity as my peer group. That sounds like a pretty good scape goat, no?

Once upon a time, I wore authentic vintage clothing a lot. I had vintage 1920s sheets and furniture and dishes and whatall. And then I turned 16. 20 odd years after that, I live in a vintage 1920s home furnished with some vintage pieces ranging from the early 1900s to mid-20th Century. I don't dress in authentic vintage any more and for GOOD reason. Vintage clothing is DELICATE. If I can't toss it in the washer and hang it up to dry and not think too much about it, I'm not going to be bothered. Why? Because I have three adorable school age children who are in Girl Scouts and Religious Education and go to a performing arts magnet school and who take ballroom dance class and I have to be able to DO stuff without worrying if I'm going to spoil my antique whatever-it-is-I'm-wearing-today. That doesn't mean I don't still OWN vintage clothing or appreciate it.

I think I appreciate it more now that I'm older and realize just how freaking RARE some of the pieces are. I've got a 1960s coat by Balmain, a 40s era coat that I can't remember who the designer was, some gloves that belonged to my nana in the 50s, a sweater from someone famous in Scotland, that sort of thing.

Over at A Dress A Day, the issue of vintage vs. retro repro was raised and I fall squarely in Erin's camp.

I see repro as supporting lots of things I love: independent fashion, vintage aesthetics, and a deeper, more thoughtful relationship with the clothes we wear. And traditional vintage should only be helped, not hurt, by the repro movement: once you make a Claire McCardell pattern, your taste will definitely be whetted for the real thing.

To me, the limiting factor in wearing DIY repro vs. wearing the real deal is not only one of the rarity of the real deal but also the $$$$$ involved. I don't know about you, dear readers, but I don't have the hundreds of dollars to spend on *a* garment or *a* pair of shoes! Remember those three adorable kids up a ways? I've got to keep them clothed and shod too! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a pair of shoes. I love lots of pairs of shoes. Kitten heels, classic pumps, peep toes, wedge sandals, sling backs, even canvas sneakers. I love them all. As long as they fit my feet. Heck, I'm a member at both ShoeDazzle AND JustFabulous because they offer me shoes - lots of them - every month.

Sorry, folks, for a second I got lost in my contemplation of shoes, glorious shoes!

One commenter on Solanah's blog suggested offering ideas for dressing with vintage style or more glam on a budget since not everyone has access to the sheer amount of vintage that Solanah does. I think that's a great idea. And I'm going to steal it. Be on the lookout for more on this in the near future. I've got to get through February's Sewalongs before I can commit to any more serious blogging. But rest assured, I've got your back!

Housecleaning Haiku: School Papers

2011-02-08T11:00:00.001-05:00

With kids in elementary school, there are ALWAYS papers coming home. Thankfully Tuesday is designated "backpack mail" day. Let me tell you that I DREAD Tuesday afternoons. Because with two kids, I get DOUBLE the ~~crap~~ information. Which is ironic really when you consider that our school is LEED certified. Or working on becoming such. And next year, Thing 3 will be going to the same school. The extra paper just goes in the recycling bin, but really, folks, do we NEED to waste the energy making/distributing extra copies? Could we NOT have an online version???? PLEASE??? I'm drowning over here! And then there's all the worksheets/homework sheets from school. With rare exception, it's all headed to the recycle bin, too.

School Papers

Killing Trees, so sad
Duplicate papers, so bad
Drowning here, I'm mad!

MPB Sewalong Day 5!

2011-02-06T16:31:00.000-05:00

So I was a total slacker on Day 4. Yes, yes I was. But I'm still up to speed with the rest of the gang. I totally need to add my pics to the Flickr group, though. Today we're supposed to start putting it all together, but it's Sunday and we rest on Sunday. Or at least we try. And we've got a get-together to go to this evening and it's a school day tomorrow and [insert justification here].

However, I have managed to construct the yokes/collars of two shirts *and* the sleeve plackets of the long sleeve version. There was a little bit of difficulty with the continuous lap (there always is in my experience), but overall, I'm happy. I wasn't able to do the cuffs yesterday other than cutting them out because the cuffs are inserted AFTER the sleeves are inset into the shirt. The McCall's 3087 uses a flat insertion method which I GREATLY prefer to the eased in method.

Another thing I've managed to do is to create a boy's version of the McCall's 3087. So I'll officially be sewing THREE men's shirts for the Sewalong. I know, I know. I'm crazy. Especially since I've got to finish my Vintage Sewalong dress including fluffer this month. This morning I woke up with the clearest of clear visions of how to make the McCall's 3087 into a boy's shirt. So I did. I'll be drafting it up and putting it in my Etsy shop for sale pretty soon. Or something. But only after I test drive the shirt I cut out for The Boy for his birthday shirt. Since he's a St. Patrick's Day baby, I always make him something themed for St. Pat's for his birthday. This year it's a shirt like Daddy's.

Back to yesterday though... I made an apron for the Etsy shop! But not just any apron. A retro repro of an Advance Pattern offered through Penney's in the early 50s based on Walt Disney's Cinderella. Cinderella is my favorite movie of all time and when I saw the pattern come up for sale, I snapped it up quicker than you can say "PATTERN SALE!!!" Of course I'll have pictures of everything coming up soon! Stay tuned!

MPB Sewalong Day 3

2011-02-03T14:32:00.000-05:00

Okay dear readers and sewalongers, first a recap from Day 2:

I panicked when I realized that I didn't have enough fabric for Shirt #2! While the girls were at Scouts, I made a quick run to the local fabric mega mart where I originally scored the $2/yd fabric. I nearly passed out when I couldn't find the fabric right where I left it. Good news, though, there was still enough for me to get the remainder (long sleeves). The bad news is that the price had gone up to $4/yd. So the shirt was $4 and the sleeves were $4. Which brings me up to $20 for Shirt #2 including thread/buttons/tax.

No on to the pix from yesterday...

Cut It Out Already!

Remains of the day(s sewing)

Can you spot the piecing?

Pieces of Pocket

Today (Day 3) was a light sewing day since I'm making the McCall's 3087 and not the Colette "Negroni". I managed to sew the collar and the yoke and attached them to each other. I'm calling it a day for sewing. Pay NO attention to the spots on my ironing table. My poor Rowenta has an incontinence problem.

Check My Plaid!

Male Pattern Boldness Sewalong Day 2

2011-02-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

OK, so yesterday I was a TOTAL slacker. Make a note, right here, right now that the term "totes" drives me UP A WALL. Totes are what we carry things in. And also a brand of umprellas and such. It is NOT an expression that means "absolutely" or "completely". I don't care that certain individuals - I can NOT call them "ladies" or "gentlemen" - use "totes" inappropriately. Maybe I'm OLD, but there's my line in the sand.

Day 1 of the sewalong was nearly gone by the time I was able to catch the blog post and see what we were supposed to be up to. I managed to sneak in a little time tracing the pattern out. I finished the tracing this morning before the Day 2 post went up.

Today we're supposed to cut out our muslin. I don't "do" muslins for the most part. It's a waste of fabric (at least to me) and time if I know that the size I'm using is the correct size. In this case, since it's a men's shirt and it's the correct size already, I don't really need to make a muslin so I'm using Fabric #1 for the short sleeved version. I'm making TWO shirts during the sewalong - one short sleeved and one long.

For #1, I'm using a vintage fabric of which there is JUST enough to cut the pattern out without facings. I'm musig over what I'm to use for facings. I've got some vintage cotton from a crib sheet which might fit the bill since it's white and the plaid background is white.

As a reminder, here's the fabric and pattern for #1:

Perfect Plaid!

Short Sleeves!

Housecleaning Haiku: Laundry Quandary

2011-02-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

I don't know how we manage to ALWAYS have laundry piled up since we wash nearly every day. I swear the stuff breeds. I can manage to get through all the laundry and then the very next day it's like I never washed anything.

Laundry

Mt. Washmore, so huge
Where'd you come from, nemesis?
Will it never end?

The 10 Commandments...

2011-01-30T20:38:00.000-05:00

of good grooming for women, not THE Ten Commandments (for everybody) popped up in my blog feed over at "It'll Take The Snap Out of Your Garters!" I'm a dead sucker for vintage grooming tips and such and this was right up my alley.

My quick takes?

1. You mean I can't wear ill fitting clothing?
2. I'm good here. At 5'2" tall, I'm not trying to make myself any shorter than I already am!
3. Done! I don't WEAR hose. They're an abomination!
4. Done! I can't stand worn down shoes.
5. I'll go for clean, but I don't particularly like my hair to smell of ANYTHING. It competes with my favorite pefume.
6. Well enough, I guess. I rarely wear cosmetics.
7. Notice they didn't say ANYTHING about loud HAIR. ;-D
8. I'm working on it. I just realized I need an actual slip to wear under an actual skirt.
9. Notice she didn't say ALL THE TIME, just "often". I'm so ON right now.
10. To thine own self be true and as the night follows the day thou canst (ugh Shakespeare!) be false to any man.

(Fan)Boy In The Hood(ie)

2011-01-28T11:26:00.000-05:00

My son is a Thomas the Tank Engine Fanboy. And Christmas 2009, he got this Thomas hoodie as a present.

Before

Well, it didn't take long for his little 傻瓜 (sagwa: lit. "melon head" or "fool") to outgrow the head hole, much to his consternation and dismay. He begged me not to donate it. So what's a mom to do?

I figured that I could mod it so that it was a zip up hoodie since the body and sleeves were still the right size. So off I went to the local fabric mega mart this morning to acquire a zipper that would work.

One Perfect Zipper

Amazingly enough, the first zipper I laid my little hand on was the right size *and* color. That NEVER happens. I figure that his guardian angel was looking out for him.

Ready, Steady, GO!

A quick run up the center to split the hoodie, pin the zipper in, stitch close to zipper teeth, turn the edges back and topstitch the front and VOILA! instant zipper hoodie. Thomas is a wee bit crosseyed, but in the immortal words of Oswald Fielding III, "Well, nobody's perfect!"

A really useful - if crosseyed - engine!

(Not Quite An) Ikea Hack

2011-01-27T13:45:00.000-05:00

I was inspired by the chalk table hack over at IkeaHackers. Really inspired.

Recently, we had a dinner party and I hauled the kids' table from my son's room for the smaller kids to dine. It hadn't yet left the dining room because I've been a little distracted... I was recently using the table to take some pictures for my Etsy shop and realized the table was pretty messed up. Pondering the question "Who paints a childrens' table WHITE?", I realized that a chalkboard surface would be PERFECT for this table.

Before!

I took the sander sponge and went over the top of it lightly and then wiped it clean with a damp paper towel and left it to dry overnight. This afternoon, I dragged it outside and taped the edges off, but neglected to take the legs, etc. You can tell by the overspray. Whoops! That's a happy accident, though, because the white paint is pretty messed up and I've got some turquoise that I can hit it with later on to match the bookshelf in the boy's room.

Gratuitous product shot

I used Krylon spray chalkboard paint in "old school green" as the Helpful Guy at my locally owned hardware store called it. My son was born on St. Patrick's Day, and he loves green, so I thought "What the hey! He'll LOVE it." and you know what? I love it too. With the turquoise, it's going to look really cool.

On to the painting process. LIGHT application. Really. You don't want to over do it and leave the spray stream in one spot or it will make nasty puddles. Spray paint is one of those things that there are no shortcuts at all. Do it right or don't do it at all. I followed the instructions to the letter including the "shake can for 2 minutes after ball starts to move inside before using". It's like a "shake weight", but WAAAAAY less suggestive.

Pretty cool, huh?

After I'd gone horizontally and vertically a few times, I let the table sit and dry while I went and dealt with the dresses that I posted about earlier. Then I went back and repeated the process. Then I ate some lunch and fooled around on the internet for a while to let the paint dry completely before removing the painters tape. Let's just say I'm DEFINITELY repainting the table turquoise. ;-D

Oh and here's the Shake Weight commercial. I wasn't kidding when I said it was suggestive!

There's even a His and Hers version! OH MY.

A Dress Of A Different Color

2011-01-27T13:28:00.000-05:00

My MIL sends my girls dresses just about every year. And for the last few years, they've been cream/ivory. And that wouldn't be bad except for the fact that we now have multiple ivory formal dresses in multiple sizes. Right now, I've got an armoire full of fancy dresses that are in perfect condition, some never having been worn.

So, I decided that rather than donate them to the local charity shop, I could change them up a bit. After all, the dresses are lovely and were fairly expensive.

Dress #1: a Barbie branded sleeveless number with lace overlay.

Before

Just out of the dye bath

Product used: Dylon Bahama Blue for natural fibers. The result was pretty much what I expected. The girls are ecstatic about the robin's egg blue dresses. After washing the dresses, I need to tack down the trimwork by hand just to make it look more finished because the lace got a little floppy on me. But I'd have done that anyway.

Dress #2: Gold threaded embroidery embellishes the bodice

Before

After

Product used: iDye Poly in brown. I like the result. It's a sort of aged antique rose shade. Which works well with the bodice embroidery. But Pee-yew does it STINK. I will never use iDye Poly again. I'll stick to Dylon or Rit for natural fibers and take my chances. I expected for the result to be darker, but the dresses were in the bath for a full hour each. You'd think that a dye that is for synthetic fibers would actually result in the color on the packet. Notsomuch with this one.

Male Pattern Boldness Sewalong Update

2011-01-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, so I'm not running the sewalong, but I had to update on my progress before we begin. I'd already committed to making McCall's 3087 in a bright blue/orange/white plaid for the sewalong, but I needed buttons. So off I went to the local fabric mega mart. I didn't get the buttons (I forgot!) but I did browse the red tag fabric section. While I was browsing, I was lamenting the loss of the $1/yard fabrics from Walmart. For about a nanosecond. Because the WM fabric was generally second grade, you know? Not soft and nice stuff. While I was in the midst of my reverie, I spied a red tag. "$2/yard", it said. I picked up the bolt and the fabric was a nice shirting that had some stretch to it. With a color "story" of muted blue/grey and grey/green, I thought "This is PERFECT! for that shirt but in a "work" type". And for $4 total, who can pass that up right? That's cheaper than my local Goodwill, folks!

I was SO enamored of the fabric that I had to get Just The Right Buttons. I looked high and low and finally settled on these.

Let the record show that two buttons set me back $5.95 + tax while the fabric for the shirt was a mere $4 + tax. They just kill you with notions these days, I guess. We will not tell my husband that the buttons came from the "Belle Buttons" line nor that there's a woman's sillhouette on the card. No indeed. He already has issues about manicures and pedicures being "girly". Harumph. That's a rant for another day!

So now I'm sewing two identical shirts for the MPB Men's Shirt Sewalong. And I still need buttons for my original fabric choice! Whoops! Good thing my pattern got here today. I'd been biting my nails waiting for it.

Project Toddler Runway - Accessory Challenge

2011-01-26T13:53:00.000-05:00

I only wish I could have been in on this from the get-go. Maybe next time. :-D But Shwin & Shwin are having link parties for people who aren't official contestants to post their interpretations of the challenges.

I've had this dress in my "refashion" pile for the longest time. Both my girls got a lot of wear out of it, and I didn't just want to toss it because the skirt part is still in great shape and the fabric is SO soft. And the beads are still attached! How cool is that? I mean, just because there are chocolate milk stains on the top doesn't mean it's still not usable, right?

Okay, so I finally got up the gumption to work on this project. I've been feeling kinda poorly lately (as my late great grandmother would say) and so I had a bunch of stuff waiting for me to get better and get back to work.

So, here we go. First I carefully, CAREFULLY detached the skirt and petticoat from the bodice and lining. Then I serged the petticoat and skirt back together making sure to keep the fuschia band out of the way. Disengaging the knife worked very well for this. And for some bizarre reason, my knife on the serger keeps bungling things.

I was going to just make a skirt out of it and call it a day, but I really felt that a dress was the better option. But did I have any leftover fabric that would match? As luck would have it, I had just enough scraps of green gauzy stuff to cut a whole new bodice from Simplicity 2943, an "inspired by project runway" pattern. Which is totally appropriate, no?

I used the bodice and sleeve pieces from the floral dress on the left. I omitted the band of trim, though. Because the fabric was SO diaphanous and itchy, I lined the bodice and sleeves fully with a vintage crib sheet. Why, Miz Scarlett, I can't believe you would do such a thing! Frankly my dear, I was out of velvet curtains. So fitted vintage crib sheet it was! The fabric matched the weight/hand of the original skirt very well. Almost like they came from the same lot. But I know better!

I even scavenged the invisible zipper from the original dress to put a size zip in. Why? Because the pattern called for knits but I was using wovens. And there's nothing worse than getting stuck and not being able to get in our out of a dress. So I whipped out the bodice in a little over an hour including serging all the raw edges and turning over so that everything had an awesome finished look on the outside.

To attach the bodice to the original skirt, I zig-zagged the two pieces together and then topstitched the fuschia trim up onto the bodice. The end result? I think it looks pretty sharp myself.

This project cost exactly $0 including the original dress as it was a gift to my oldest daughter 4 years ago from her grandmother. SCORE!

The "Ballroom" Skirt, Redux

2011-01-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

A couple of years back, I made this skirt - American Weekly 3889. I made it on the bias in green wool with hand finished hem and full on pleating in the back. It was nice but HEAVY and as I wore it, it got larger and larger in the waist! I swore if I ever again was going to make the skirt WITHOUT the massive butt-pleats and a wee bit smaller in the waist.

Since I've joined the Thrifty365 thingummy and the Sewing Through the Decades sewalong, I figured this skirt would be an admirable way to accomplish two things.

1. Remake my nemesis skirt
2. Use up some leftover fabric and notions from my stash to make it Thrifty365
3. Use some skillz that I've acquired since the last time I attempted this

I had some real "fun" trying to get the skirt body cut from the just over a yard of fabric I'd chosen. The fabric originally had made a pair of denim slacks for my nana for Christmas and was slated for a skirt for me. I came across it while I was clearing the mending from my sewing table. So off I went. I shortened the length by about 2.5" because Ballroom Skirt 1.0 was WAY long on my shorty self. 5'2" is short no matter how you slice it, and this skirt was almost ankle length on me while on the illustration, it was a mid-calf number. Gotta love it!

This went together fairly easily. Actually, it went together MUCH more easily than it's predecessor. I'm not sure if it's my skill level that has increased or the fabric was a better choice, or what. I did have to make an FGA (Full Gut Adjustment) to account for my rotund lower abdominal area, but that too... Piece of cake.

The pattern has 4 pieces: skirt body (cut two), pockets & facings (cut two each) and waistband. It uses one button and one zipper.

I finished one partial spool of thread, 2 partial bobbins, 1 leftover button and a spare zipper. I didn't purchase ANYTHING new to make this. So, I guess it gets this:
In my previous attempt, I didn't use the pockets and I used the full on pleating in the back. You could call it a mullet skirt for all the business in the front and party in the back that it had going on. This time I eliminated quite a bit of the pleating, but I still had enough fabric in the waist for some smaller, gentler pleats. Which I forgot to photograph. I'm not totally thrilled with my zipper choice, because it's a LIGHT blue that sort of sticks out since it's not an invisible zipper. But it's what I had.

I used brown thread for the pocket embellishment and the hem. Gertie's skirt hem advice really worked! Paraphrasing, you iron up a tiny bit, sew it down, iron it up again and sew it down again and you get a narrow skirt hem that eases the fullness perfectly. I was skeptical, but it DID work! See?

Housecleaning Haiku: The Living Room

2011-01-25T11:05:00.001-05:00

We don't have a "family room" or a "formal living room". We have a living room. Our house is small with just 8 rooms plus the back porch laundry "room". Even though the kids have HUGE rooms by modern standards - one bedroom is 13x15 and the other is 10x15 while most modern houses have 10x10 ancillary rooms - they seem to bring their STUFF into MY living room. Which I can't stand. Sure we have the TV and the game consoles there and the kids love to watch Netflix on the TV, but come OOOOOOON people. It's a living room, not a "drop your crap all over the floor and under the sofa and hide things in MOM's ottomans" room.

The Living Room

Living Room, not Kids' room
Why must you trash it daily?
Take your STUFF away!

Down but not out!

2011-01-22T22:30:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: This is post #111 and it's Jan 2011. How cool is THAT? Okay, back to your regularly scheduled reading.

I've been down for the count since Wednesday with some mystery virus. I'm alternating between, woozy and headachy and downright putrid. However, that doesn't stop the wheels in my head that keep turning since I first saw that little old man... Okay maybe channeling Gaston from Beauty & The Beast is probably not the best idea ever but it's completely understandable since it IS the school musical that will happen in a couple of months.

Anyhoo, I've been playing around with Spoonflower.com and making my own fabric designs. It certainly is a time intensive process. The textile design challenge on Project Runway has ALWAYS been my fave challenge. I've wished I could do something like that. And Spoonflower has contests that sort of follow that idea. I've entered the Jokers and the Year of the Rabbit contests and hope I make it to the top 10. I didn't in the Rococo, but that was my first (weak) attempt. Every design I work on gets better. I just have to hone my skillz. Which is hard to do when you're flat on your back on the sofa with your dress form MOCKING you from the corner.

Back to the topic at hand. Once upon a time, I wrote and illustrated a story called The Very Busy Mouse based on the events that happened at a friend's house over the course of a week. Let's just say I have a warped sense of humour. VERY warped. But she liked it. Well, fast forward a couple or three years and I had this inspiration... Wouldn't that make a terrifically funny comic strip fabric? If your sense of humour is as twisty as mine, you would. ;-D

Here's the link to it. You might need to embiggen it a bit to see the word bubbles. But it's worth it. I promise! In fact, I'm thinking of offering 1 yard of this (or any of my fabric designs) in a "100 Follower" give away. Which at the rate I'm going is going to be a very long ways out, but it will build excitement, no?

Tutorial Thursday - "Chinoiserie" "Chest" of Drawers

2011-01-20T09:30:00.051-05:00

and when I say drawers, I ain't talkin' 'bout no knickers, Willis.

Let me take you back to 2003. Why 2003, you ask? Because that's the date on the newspapers that I used to re-something my crappy fiberboard "chest" of drawers. Once upon a time, there was a shoe rack. It looked something like this:

The Ugly, It Burns The Eyes

And so because it was awful in it's stark whiteness, it needed to be "decorated" to match the Asian-themed decor in the front hall. Or so I was told. Well, years passed (almost 9 but who's counting?) and the shoe rack was donated to the local charity shoppe because it had outlived it's usefulness. But the myriad papers that were purchased to make it nicer? They remained.

In the winter of 2011 (or what passes for that season in Florida), I was purging. I believe I might have mentioned something about that earlier in the year, no? And the papers were destined for the charity shoppe. However, they got mislaid when the rest of the charity-shop-bound items left the house. And feeling somewhat guilty that they were never used and the person who had purchased these can sometimes be a travel agent for guilt trips (any guesses who that might be?), I decided they needed to be USED. That way I could honestly say "Look Ma, I used those papers you bought me all those many years ago!" and the papers would actually be USED. Not laying around collecting that "protective coating" that my antique dealer told me of so many years ago.

They are even uglier in person!

A while back, my son was using some drawers that look like the image to the right. They had belonged to his sisters, and were "well loved" or as we parents of small children call it "totally used and abused". Since the drawer faces were falling off and had been wood glued and screwed together to the point that they resembled Frankendrawers, I opted to buy him a NEW set of 2 drawers because what kid needs more than 2 drawers for their outside clothes? and use the battered ones for my fabric bits/projects in progress.

So off to the "office" - what was supposed to be my better half's "man cave" and which now more closely resembled a fabric shop that had stomach flu - went the drawers. Where they happily resided until about a week ago. On MLK, Jr Day, I got a wild hair that those drawers needed doing RIGHT NOW despite inclement weather and so I took my three adorable children with me and off we went. Never mind that I had to go out to get 650 dum dum lollipops for all the children of my kids' school. Luck would have it that the Target by the Costco that DIDN'T have a case of dum dums was right next to a Home Depot. For $25 including tax, I got: 2 8' strips of narrow molding, 1 pack of finish brads, 1 can spray adhesive, 1 can spray lacquer (which I am NOT crazy about), a pack of mending plates and I think that's it. Oh yeah, I spent $14 on drawer pulls at Target, too. They are COOL.

We got home, I plugged in a movie for the kids, popped them some popcorn and gave them some candy and called it "movie night" while I went to work on the drawers.

Step One: Sand the finish LIGHTLY with a sanding block. The surface is paper, so going at it with a belt sander will be a no good, very bad thing.

Step Two: Use two mending plates to bolt the sets of drawers together. This is SUPER important since we're going to be making this into "real furniture".

Step Three: Remove drawers and set aside.

Step Four: Measure molding and mitre cut being sure to match the mitres. Using a cutting box is so overrated. I started with my better half's crummy battery powered Dremel tool and moved on to the hack saw that was hanging out in the "office" for the better part of 6 years for who knows why. Lucky me! Now I know why!

Step Five: Get a garbage bag and place it on the dining room table. Get the can of paint you've been using for other "furniture" and bring it in. Stir with a leftover piece of molding and dig around back porch for a slightly dirty but still usable paint brush. Lay out molding strips and paint them. Yes, paint FIRST. I'm not crazy, there's really a method to my madnes..

Step Six: Open the dining room windows so you get plenty of ventilation. Normally, this step would happen outdoors, but with it being dark outside and wet, that wasn't happening. But the project? It WAS happening.

Step Seven: Take the newspapers that you're using and peruse them for images/sections you want to feature. Since my papers were from 2003 and Chinatown, SARS was prominently featured. I did NOT want a "SARS chest" so I had to cherrypick them.

Step Eight: Spray the sides and top of the chest one at a time with your general purpose spray adhesive and apply the papers in a pleasing manner. Lightly smooth them down so there are no wrinkles/bubbles. Those will come later. Be careful not to overspray. My dining room floor will never be the same, I don't think.

Step Nine: Go to town with the lacquer. Newspaper will get wrinkly and distressed looking with spray lacquer. Since that's the exact look I was going for it's a win/win for me. I will say that the spray lacquer doesn't really impress me much. But it's easier than dealing with the can-based variety.

Step Ten: Put your supplies away for the night THEN realize that you forgot to make the middle molding strips and paint them. Say "screw it" and you'll come back to it later while the kids do their homework tomorrow.

Step Eleven: Set the kids up with a snack and homework and get back to work. Empty those drawers out and take them outside. Repeat Steps Eight & Nine AFTER removing the drawer pulls that are stupid and cheap plastic. WAIT FOR THEM TO DRY. About 1 hour or so.

Step Twelve: Measure and square cut the middle sections of molding. Paint them with the same paint you left on the dining room table and let them dry. Make dinner while you wait.

Step Thirteen:While dinner is in the oven, steamer or being delivered, bring two drawers in and measure twice, drill once. Or more accurately measure thrice, drill twice since each drawer pull has two screws. Mark the position with pencil! It won't show on newspaper like a sharpie pen would. Drill holes, insert screws, tighten new handles on.

Step Fourteen: Using the finish brads, hammer the painted moldings in place. Don't stress if the mitres aren't perfect. There's always Photoshop for that! Or if you don't want to use Photoshop to fix the pictures of the item, when everything is really dry, just use a teeny bit of wall spackle in a tube, squeeze out a bitty little ball, roll it around in your fingers and shape it a bit and then fit it into the spaces and the with a damp finger, smooth it out. When it's dry, you can touch up the paint. You're going to need to touch up the paint anyhow to cover the nails so this is no biggie.Also, while you're here, use the finish brads to secure the fronts of the unit together. Nail down from the top opening into the bottom and then from the bottom up into the top so that the piece stays secure. You'll thank me!

Step Fifteen: Realize you don't have enough time to finish drawers three and four right now but take pictures anyways because you're really excited about the progress you've made.

Step Sixteen: Finish the project quickly because you really need your dining room back! About 20 more coats of lacquer should do the job...

Distressed paper & awesome handles!

Housecleaning Haiku: Lunchboxes

2011-01-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

With kids in elementary school and nasty school lunches, you can guess that we do lunch from home a lot. And since I love the Earth and don't want to add to the waste in landfills, I send lunches in reusable containers. And pray they make it home at the end of the day because I HATE HATE HATE nasty overnight lunchbox leftovers.

The Lunchbox

Kitchen sink overflows,

lunchboxes, how I hate you,
left at school overnight

MPB Men's Shirt Sewalong

2011-01-14T19:06:00.000-05:00

Pattern acquisition SUCCESS!!!

So I totally had to get my hot little hands on a copy of the same pattern that Peter has with that funky front. Etsy, how I love thee. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? So longing for the same pattern is not wrong, is it?

Anyhow, the pattern has shipped and I expect it to arrive in the next day or so. I'm so excited to make the short sleeved view in the orange/blue vintage plaid fabric. What's weird is that blogger won't let the pic use the "transparency" that it was saved as. Instead, it has a black background... Meh. Just the normal blogger weirdness I guess.

Storing Vintage Patterns

2011-01-13T17:41:00.000-05:00

or the method to my madness...

First off, I dislike separating the pattern from it's envelope and instructions. Why? Because I've got ADHD (SRSLY!) and I will lose the parts if they don't stay together. I know some bloggers prefer to use a binder/sleeve/drawer multi-step process, but keeping them all together in one spot works best for me.

To keep the papers safe from degradation over time, I use silver size comic book sleeves and silver age cardboard backers. Both are acid free, 100% archival safe.

I store them upright in medium fabric bins from Bed, Bath & Beyond and categorized by type.

My categories are:

Vintage Women's
Vintage Repro
Vintage Children's
Current Children's
Current Women's
Costumes/Outerwear/Unisex/Men's&Boy's (these are those father/son patterns)
Infant Layette/Accessories/Home Dec/Aprons/Crafts
Toys/Dolls/Clothes/Animals

I just handwrite with Sharpie pen on the little cardboard inserts that come with the bins. This makes it easy because if I need to shift anything around, then I can without wasting too much time/money on labels.

Which leads me back to my pattern storage. I use my labeler machine to make a label with the Pattern Company - Pattern Number - Date and affix it to the upper left hand corner of the cardboard backer. Currently, I'm only doing this for my truly vintage patterns.

The fabric bins then reside inside a Closetmaid Cubeicals storage system from Target. I have a 6 cube in espresso and a 9 cube in celery green (discontinued).

I'm about to get a 2 cube in espresso to go with the 6 cube so that all 8 of my bins of patterns can be together and I can free up 2 cubbies in the 9 cube for projects/manuals. I love the versatility of these pieces. They aren't huge, they aren't ugly and they're moderately reasonably priced *and* they are easy to assemble. Even if they are heavy as a mofo when you're trying to wrangle them into and out of your cart at the store.

I recently took some pictures of my sewing space and they show the bins/cubes pretty well. I'll see if I can't upload them in the near future. Blogger is being a PITB today regarding picture uploads so it might take a while.

Just so you know, I don't get anything in return if you click a link and decide to purchase anything. I'm just putting the links there so you can see how much it might run you if you decide you want to do something similar to what I'm doing.

Housecleaning Haiku: The Bathroom

2011-01-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

Inspired by the instant gratification that comes from cleaning our small (and ONLY) bathroom, I present the first installment in the "Housecleaning Haiku" series. Feel free to add your own in the commbox. :-D Today is

The Bathroom

I hate to clean you,
smallest room in house, instant
gratification

I really DO hate to clean the bathroom. But I'm eternally grateful that we only have one even if we do have 5 people sharing it. The funny thing is, I've been admonished that we should've moved to a bigger (aka more bathrooms) house when we first had kids 8 years ago. Let me tell you, I'm so glad that I've had 8 years of only ONE bathroom to clean while potty training. I hate dealing with bathroom mess. The thought of having it spread through more than one bathroom honestly gives me panic attacks.

With a sewalong here, and a sewalong there

2011-01-10T19:42:00.000-05:00

Here a sewalong, there sewalong, everywhere a sewalong...

This "Old MacDonald" has a whole lot of sewing going on.

For the Vintage Sewalong of 2011, I chose a mail order pattern from SewMrsP's etsy shop. I'm using a peachy-fuschia stretch cotton satin for the top and a border printed cotton for the skirt. I've had to draft a skirt yoke that fits and I had to fiddle with the top part a bit, but overall, an easy one to make. I've got the fashion fabric pinned together on my dress form as we speak.

For the MPB Men's Shirt Sewalong, I scored this great plaid on ebay. I'm not sure yet which pattern I'm going to make it in. I might make a father/son version if I've got enough fabric. It's an actual vintage piece of fabric, so depending on the pattern I chose, I might use it for the Sewing Through The Decades sewalong.

Speaking of which, I haven't a clue what I'll be sewing for that. I'd like to try my hand at some 60s and 70s since I haven't done any of those. And I've got a 1915/1916 pattern that I've got fabric all picked out for, so I can start with that or maybe end with it since it's a fall style.

In preparation for all this sewing madness, I've been cleaning out my sewing "space". As you know, I'm purging patterns. And I promise! I'll add them to my etsy shop soon. I've also got a ton of "extra" fabric that I'll want to unload as well. What do you think of bundling smaller bits (fat quarters or less) together for childrens' sewing projects? Do you think anyone would want that?

Out with new, In with the old

2011-01-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

As you know, I recently finished cataloging all of my pattern stash. As you might have noticed, I joined Thrifty365. What do those two things have in common?

As I reviewed each and every pattern I own, I asked myself: "Am I EVER going to make this? Am I too darn old for that style? Have my children outgrown this pattern? Why do I have TWO of these?"

As I delved deeper into my stash, I realized that there was a common thread with many patterns and I came to the realization that as my skills have grown, I'm able to borrow from Pattern A and add it to Pattern B to make a design that I'm truly in love with. Sadly, some of my patterns were not treated as well as they should've been. I'm going to delve deeper into the pile that I've culled and when I'm done, all the patterns will be listed in my Etsy shop. I don't need them anymore and if they can work for someone else, then WAHOO.

The highlights include:

Simplicity 5785 - A reissue of "fashion doll" clothes from the 50s/60s.
A whole bunch of brand new, factory fold Big 4 patterns
Children's clothing patterns that are in factory folds but the envelopes have markings on them
Patterns I've messed with but didn't actually make

It's going to take me a while to list them all, but my purge is your gain!

Fun With Statistics

2011-01-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've posted before about my obsession with cataloging my patterns. And how a 99¢ sale at the local Mega Fabric Mart is like a siren song. Well... This morning at a quarter to two EST, I completed my catalog. At least of the patterns that are complete, in envelopes and readily at hand. I'm not counting patterns that are in the garage in a bin (not too many of those) or empty envelopes that I've no clue where the pattern pieces went (two of those) or the patterns that are en route to me from a variety of Etsy sellers.

Nope. Just the ones at hand. I found exactly TWO duplicates in my stash of 292 patterns. They can be found in my Etsy shop. Now on to the stats:

288 Unique Patterns

135 Vintage, Vintage Reissue or Vintage Repro Patterns
1 Backpack Pattern
10 Apron Patterns
89 Children's Patterns
20 Costume Patterns
1 "Cozy Wear" Pattern
42 Craft Patterns
61 Women's Dress Patterns
2 Home Dec Patterns
7 Jacket Patterns (there are 2 copies of two patterns because I needed both size ranges)
7 Lingerie Patterns
3 Needlework Patterns
8 Skirt Patterns

By Era:

6 1980s Patterns
20 1970s Patterns
13 1960s Patterns
35 1950s Patterns
32 1940s Patterns
7 1930s Patterns
1 Early 1900s Pattern
1 Regency Pattern

By Pattern Company:

4 Advance Patterns
1 AmericanWeekly Pattern
5 Burda Patterns
46 Butterick Patterns
8 Mail Order Patterns including 2 Grit, 1 Pictorial Review, 1 Ladies Home Journal, 1 Let's Sew, 1 Capper's Weekly, 1 Vogart Needlework and 1 Superior Needlework
1 Kwik Sew Pattern
1 Hollywood Pattern
27 McCall's Patterns
20 New Look Patterns
140 Simplicity Patterns <--- The irony of this is not lost on me. Why? Because "Simplicity" is an oxymoron when it comes to their pattern instructions. I find Vogue patterns easier to comprehend.
27 Vogue Patterns
1 Wearing History Pattern
1 Sense & Sensibility Pattern

Are your eyes glazing over yet? Because mine are. And that's not even close to a fully accurate breakdown.

I dated all my vintage patterns as closely as I could using the guide over at Cemetarian. And my better half is working on an app for Windows Phone/Windows 7 that will hold the catalog - complete with pattern envelope image. Once the app is finished and tested, we'll offer it for sale. Sorry iPhone/iPod Touch users, Apple is so uptight about programming for their devices that we won't be offering an app for you. I can't say too much about the app as of right now, but it will be "Teh Awesome" and an "Epic Win" once it's finished. I'm such a lucky girl!

Once I get done with digging out the lurking patterns in the garage and receive all my ordered ones, I have a feeling I'm heading for 300 - dun dun DUN!!!!

Tonight we sew in heck! Or something like that...

C is for Color!

2011-01-03T10:22:00.000-05:00

Don't hate me because I've wanted to do this for... ever. I'm not a weirdo, I promise. I'm just a mom who is sick and tired of grey hairs and needs a little oomph! Besides which, my better half says it's "a little naughty" and likes it. Like "like" likes it. Of course, he said the same thing when I shaved my head. I love that man. :-D

Post bleach, pre wash Post bleach, post wash

The part

The front

Now I kinda like this look. Apparently, the bleach gave my hair a little more texture rather than being all flatsy in the front. I normally need gel or something to get that lift in the front. The pink is less of a fuschia and borders more on coral in the spots where the dye took less. It's nice. I'm not much of a "pink" girl, but I like this. It fades from pink to brown in the back. And if I didn't like it, it will grow out in probably 2 weeks anyway. :-D

For reference, I used Manic Panic "Red Passion". You can click the pic to get more info!

Long Time No C!

2011-01-02T23:09:00.000-05:00

C is for Color, Color starts with C! Apologies to Cookie Monster.
For a very long time I've wanted to do something outrageous to my hair. It's been every color under the sun, and then some. From platinum blonde to chlorine green, with a stop by Lucille Ball Orange and Black Cherry, even.

However, for the last almost a year, I've had my "natural" color. It all started with Bald For Bucks - a campaign to raise funds for a charity that had helped a little girl whose mom I know through an online forum - how's that for 6 degrees of separation? Anyhow, I shaved my head last March. And I found that I like my hair cropped short a la Audrey Hepburn. It suits my face and personality. The only thing that didn't suit was the color. Massive amounts of GREY do not suit me at all, at all. I'm not old and grey hair is for old people. I've lived with it. But I haven't liked it.

Mother's Little Helper

So tonight, I did something different. I pulled out the "Flash Lightening" kit that had been languishing in my bathroom cupboard for well over a year and got to work. The box says that it will lighten any hair almost to white. Which might seem counterintuitive when I'm trying to ditch the greys. But I've got a plan. And it's not to channel Lana Turner or Marilyn Monroe. No sirreebob. Not unless the blonde bombshells have a couple of friends named Tish & Snooky. No, I'm thinking more Stefani and less Madonn-y. ;-)

Once the sections that I've painted have lightened up enough - and it looks like it won't take the full 2 hours! - I'll wash and add some color back.

Bag Head

Stay tuned for the results!

[insert resolution here]

2011-01-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

This is the time/place that I'm supposed to make a resolution or something. Well, FUHGEDABOUDIT. Resolutions suck. We ALL know what happens to a resolution by about January 10th. Yeah. So instead of a reSolution, how about a reVolution?

Beatles - Revolution
Uploaded by harrison73. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
"It's going to be all right." That's my motto for 2011. Rock on into the new year, my friend, rock on.

Holy Blogroll, Lego Batman!

2010-12-30T19:19:00.000-05:00

At last count there are 61 - count them 61 - Blogs of Note in the sidebar. And here I thought I had nothing to read.

Here's the thing: if a blogger doesn't update pretty frequently, they lose readers. It's just the way of the world. So as of January 1st if a blogger in the list hasn't updated in at least 6 months, then I'm dropping them. I know life gets in the way and dealing with things offline takes precedence over online stuff. But throw me a frickin' bone here, people.

So happy new year and hope to see you soon.

Poor Baby

2010-12-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

The youngest of my progeny has a baby doll. This doll came from the Dollar Tree, so it's not like we have a whole lot invested in it. Except for the fact that my son LOVES this baby doll. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Poor Baby!

Except for the fact that Baby was bursting at the seams! In fact, Baby has been bursting at the seams for quite some time. I've tried new zip ties to keep it's head on to no avail since the neck casing basically was disintegrating. So what do you do? You go back to the Dollar Tree to find a replacement Baby. But when you get there, you realize that the Babies there aren't as nice as the one you bought 3 years ago. No indeedy. THIS Baby has sleepy eyes that open and close and a pretty face. The newer Babies have painted on eyes and smushed faces. So you go home, pray that Baby stays together another year or two and then you can put it away in the keepsake box.

Baby has gone to pieces!

HAH. Good luck with that. So eventually Baby starts to really go to pieces. And you, as the Good Mama™ that you are pull out a couple pieces of cardstock, disembowel Baby and make a pattern from the remains of the cloth body. This part is the easiest part. Really. I used fuschia cardstock and a pencil and some spray adhesive which I'm STILL picking off my fingers. Baby was constructed of five vinyl pieces and four fabric sections: body front, body upper back, body lower back and neckband. The pattern pieces were rough outlines drawn on the fold because I'm lazy like that and like to use the fold whenever possible.

Baby got a [new] back!

The How To:

1. Sew the upper back and lower back together with 1/4" seam. This makes Baby's butt-tocks.

2. Sew back to front with 1/4" seam. Match the crotch and armpits and ease everything else to that. It doesn't have to be perfect. <--- Advice to myself. Leave one shoulder unsewn.

3. Fold the neckband in half lengthwise and sew a 1/4" seam. Then attach to neckhole starting from one open shoulder and easing around the opening.

4. Sew across the bottom of the legs. This is important because it's how you're going to attach the feet.

5. PANIC because you're out of the right size zip ties AND hand sewing needles.

6. Breathe in and out a few times slowly and raid your oldest child's sewing box to find hand sewing needles.

7. Put the feet INSIDE the body that is still wrong side out. Attach the feet the old skool way by sewing them in rather than using zip ties. This means that you're going to take a few stitches every so often and then pull that sucker tight and then wrap the thread around the groove about 4 or 5 times then secure with about 10 knots in various places.

Did I mention that I haven't made a doll like this since I was uh... TWELVE????

8. Turn the body right side out except for the arms. Shove the hands inside and then fold the raw edges over so that you can see the vinyl arm opening. Take that hand needle with a nice long piece of thread and sew *through* the vinyl and fabric to attach the arms like they were originally. Bonus points for you if you A) use a thimble to keep from impaling your thumb and B) use the existing holes! Why reinvent the wheel, right?

9. Pull the arms out so the body looks almost normal and stuff that sucker with the original stuffing.

10. Freak out because you don't have the right size zip tie to put the head back on.

11. Put the head on the same way you did the feet. Gather the opening up with thread, making darn sure that it's tight because the LAST thing you want to happen is Baby's head popping off after a session of "loving" play.

Baby's got a new booooody!

12. Take a picture of the final product and post to your blog before handing Baby back to child.

13. Listen to the cherubic "Thank you Mama for fixing Baby!!!" and smile knowing that you're Good Mama™ for at least another 5 minutes until you don't let them eat unlimited fruitcake and cookies.

And there's nothing wrong with that!

New Year, New Leaf

2010-12-27T16:00:00.000-05:00

or something like that. I know it's been for almost stinking ever that I've blogged regularly. Mea culpa, dear readers. All two of you. ;-)

To catch you all up on what's been going on, we've had a round robin of sickness including confirmed flu *and* strep over the last three weeks. So I think that buys me a "get out of blogging free" card, right? This is going to be picture light and text heavy, so grab a cup of tea and put your feet up.

We made it through Christmas and the pyjamas/house clothes were a huge hit as always. I've got a couple of sewing contracts coming up in the next two weeks, so I've got to get on that, but before I go there, I really, REALLY want to get my sewing space set. If I could, I'd kick my son out of his room (my old sewing room) and be done with it, but there's no other room in the house that can hold his massive collection of Thomas trains, so there you have it. My dad used to make fun of how many Barbies I had as a girl, but this boy? More Thomas than I ever had Barbies. We counted locomotives last night. There are 17. Each one with at LEAST one coal tender and most have another car after that. And we won't go into how many pieces of track there are. No, we just won't. I promise I'll take pictures once I'm done with the furniture rearranging in there.

Which leads me to my newest project. By way of the Kitchen God. As you may know, my better half is half Chinese. So we pay a little homage to his ancestry by quasi-following some traditions. Most notably is Chinese New Year and angpao. I was explaining to my oldest child the other day about the Kitchen God and Chinese New Year and out with the old, in with the new, etc. For the Chinese, that happens later on, but for us on the whatever it is calendar we use (Julian?) it starts Jan 1. So combining the tradition of clearing out the old to usher in the new (it's like "spring cleaning" except it's Darn Cold) and New Year's Resolutions (or goals as we call them) leads to moving furniture around (getting our chi right), cleaning up the detritus of the holiday and overall clearing the foggy spaces in my head.

I moved the armoire from the front hall to the boy's bedroom. He was starting to need his own closet space anyway and the armoire was too bulky for the front hall. Which led me to have to go through all the c.r.a.p. inside it. Which meant my LPs moved into the office which meant my fabric in space bags moved to the floor and the homeschool stuff in the armoire is ALSO on the floor, but sorted into piles of donate, sell & keep. Despite that, the front hall looks actually CLEANER than it did before. I'll be taking ONE room at a time - thank God for small houses! - and working from front to back in time for New Year's. And if I don't make it by January 1, I can still make it by Chinese New Year. Which is apparently February 3rd and is the Year of the Rabbit. Which according to http://www.theholidayspot.com/chinese_new_year/ is "A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger. We should go off to some quiet spot to lick our wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year.". You know what? I think they're on to something. Because the Year of the Tiger just about kicked my sorry backside.

Anyways, here I am, almost one "room" done. To remind you of how small our house is, there is from front to back: front hall/office (used to be one space), living room, dining room, kitchen. that's the left half of the house. The right half is long hallway with bathroom at end and three rooms that open off said hallway. From back to front: kids' rooms (2 connecting rooms) and our room. That's it folks, one tiny house. I could count the back porch since it's our laundry "room", but I won't. I only use it when the weather is good.

So today is front hall day. I've got my messes sorted into neat piles. Which for the ADD person is the equivalent of Martha Stewart's best organizational skillz. I'm in the process of clearing the flat surfaces (piano, console, stereo) of c.r.a.p. I've got ADD, so if stuff starts to pile up on a flat surface, I just don't see it until it starts to slide into the floor in a heap. This is why I HATE tchotchkies. And I mean HATE. My mom, on the other hand, has all kinds of that sit-aroundy stuff and is able to keep it neat as a pin. She totally doesn't get that I can't STAND having little bits of stuff because my brain sees ALL of it as c.r.a.p. So the fancy dancy candy dish and the pile of receipts and keys and cell phone all look the same to me. Ergo, nothing sitting out = looks good. I've managed the console and the piano top. And I might finish the stereo, but I'm not sure. But that gives you an idea of what I'm up against.

After all that, the office (pit of despair) should be up next, but I think I might have to save it until next week. The living and dining rooms aren't terrible and will take wayyyyyy less time and give me much more satisfaction. As will the bathroom. It's in great shape considering that 5 people share one tiny bathroom. And one of those 5 is only 4 years old and still working on peeing standing up. We won't talk about the kids' rooms. Part of it is my fault for not putting the shelves and stuff back on the walls after moving the kids around.

But this year? All the Christmas Decor will make it's way to the garage instead of hanging out in the dining room all year. See? An improvement already!

Mom, there's a wormhole in my backpack!

2010-12-07T16:05:00.000-05:00

At least that's my assumption these days. And it's a waaaaay better excuse for forgetting homework than the lame-o "the dog ate my homework" cliche.

Due to my oldest child's medical diagnosis of ADHD, she has in place a 504 Plan with her elementary school. Among the accomodations listed are for her math homework to be emailed to ME and I will hand her the relevant pages from her workbook which is now kept at home. Said child is getting BETTER about writing down or at least memorizing the math sheet of the day, but we're still working on her planner.

Ideally, she should be writing her assignments in the planner issued to her by the school. But we don't live in a Utopian society. Or even Lake Wobegon, for that matter.

Today's email exchange:

Dear Awesome Teacher:

Gabriella said they didn't have any math yesterday that she remembered. What is the homework for this week?

Dear Mrs. Sulu:

She should be writing it in her planner everyday as well. Yesterday Ms. Intern verified that she did, but I did not see her planner today.
Dear Awesome Teacher:

The planner "disappeared" but then "reappeared" in her backpack. I'm assuming there's some sort of space/time anomaly regarding her backpack. It's really the ONLY plausible explanation since gremlins are right out.

She'll have 125 AND 127 for class tomorrow. Whether or not the wormhole that exists in her backpack will divulge the papers is another story all together.

Live Long & Prosper,

Mrs. Sulu

Here's the thing, if I didn't laugh about this, I'd cry. And really, any excuse to use the phrase "space/time anomaly" does my little GeekMom™ heart good.

The Ariel Cosplay!

2010-10-29T19:17:00.000-04:00

I'm so thrilled that the artist, Mirian, who inspired the look dropped by! Here's the costume in it's entirety:

I know the boots aren't really all that visible, but I made my best effort to recreate Mirian's work in fabric.

Tūt Tuesday – Cosplay for Halloween

2010-09-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

This year for Halloween, my oldest child has decided she wants to dress up as Ariel. Which is no real surprise. She lurves her some Ariel. But the same-old same-old fins and a bikini top were just not going to happen here. So after Googling for some inspiration, I found this picture at DeviantArt.com.
What makes this doubly cool is that not only is it Ariel with a Lara Croft twist, my daughter LOVES rpgs. Kingdom Hearts, specifically. So this is what Ariel would look like if she were the heroine of Kingdom Hearts. WIN! Until my daughter informed me that she would need the Crabclaw Keyblade.

GREAT! At least I’ve got about 6 weeks to scratch build it. I’m not a cosplayer, so this is uncharted territory for me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE cosplay, I just have never done it myself. So the next few tūts are going to be related to the Halloween costume. On with the tūt!

Like George Foreman isn’t going to pay a lot for a Meineke muffler, I’m not going to pay a lot for a costume prop. For an eight year old. I wouldn’t even do it for myself! So after a trip to the local Dollar Tree ($4) which included earbud covers for her Christmas gift and my local craft store ($11) I called it a day. I figure $13 is good enough for a custom weapon and parts of main costume.

I scored:

Plastic sword - $1
Disney princess chain bracelet with Ariel - $1
2 pack of mermaids - $1
2 cans of Valspar touch up paint in pink pearl/gold - 2@$1.99
3 sheets of self adhesive glitter foam - 3@$1.49
1 shell wooden thingy - 29¢
1 crab wooden thingy - 29¢

Step One – Cut a hole in the box

I scanned the crab into Photoshop at 200%, selected the crab image, deleted the background, put a 5px stroke around the crab image and printed it out to use as a template. Cut TWO from the RED glitter foam and set aside. Repeat the process for the shell. The size of your finished shell will depend largely on the size of your sword. In this case, size DOES matter.

Step Two – There’s so much we can do

Take the sword outside and spray the HILT only, the little mermaids and the chain from the bracelet only GOLD. Let them dry WELL. While they are drying, take the wooden shell and cut out TWO from the BLUE glitter foam. Set aside the shell template for later. You’ll use that again on the costume. Cut two larger shells from the template you made in the computer. Set aside. Once the sword is dry, spray the BLADE only with the pink pearl paint. I lucked out that my sword came apart by unscrewing 3 screws on the back side.

Here’s the tricky part. You need to attach the golden mermaids and the chain to the hilt. I’m using some clear elastic bead wire and superglue for that part. Then you need to attach the larger set of shells to the hilt. Depending on your hilt shape, will depend on how you attach them.

Step Three – It’s just you and me

Attach the crab and small shells to the blade and chain respectively. Match up the edges and use the self-adhesive of the foam to adhere it. I made a tiny hole using the pointy end of my trust Cinderella mechanical pencil and then made a slit to allow the chain through. Once the chain was inserted, I used a teeny dab of superglue to hold it together.

Step four – I can give you more

MUCH, much more! Check back next Tuesday for the boots! Meanwhile, check out the finished product!

Not too bad as a reasonable facsimile of the original concept, if I do say so.

UFOs

2010-09-01T09:00:00.007-04:00

or Unfinished Fabric Objects

They lurk in every sew-person's stash. They hide in obscure places waiting to jump out at you and stick you with a straight pin when you least expect it.

Today, my UFOs were put on notice: "You will be complete. Yes, you will."

I've taken the pledge not to begin one more sewing project until all my UFOs are dealt with appropriately. I'm only a little bummed about this because I wanted a spiffy new outfit for our 10th anniversary dinner tomorrow night but oh well.
I solemnly pledge not to begin any new projects until these are finished or lower in priority.

Here's my list (in no particular order):

1.Denim skirt repair
2.Denim skirt finish
3.Flannel jumper finish - for Fall
4.Crib blanket finish - post to Etsy - needs blanket binding
5.Captain Jack Sparrow t-shirt finish
6.Hem Gabriella's jeans
7.Replace Lorenzo's button - needs buttons
8.Batik blouse finish
9.Girls' sundresses finish
10.Boy's pjs finish - for Christmas
11.Kids' robes finish
12.Kids' t-shirt refashion/transfers - for Christmas - need measurements

I've cleared three UFOs last night - some machine embroidery for the kids' Christmas gifts.

Why, yes, yes I am a GeekMom™

2010-08-30T09:00:00.003-04:00

Our oldest child has ADD. To say that getting her to remember even the basics like "turn in the homework that Mom sat with you to help you finish" and "bring home your homework assignments, lunchbox and anything that you wore to school today" has been a challenge to say the least... Well, my friends, it's the understatement of the millenium.

So I made her a checklist. I shall laminate it so that it doesn't get all nasty. You wanna see it? You KNOW you want to. It's Geekalicious™. Jen at Epbot, this one's for you.

PipBoy3000 Elementary School Edition

You think this will help? I might cut the PipBoy3000 out for added effect. What say you?

Okay, so I went ahead and trimmed it and laminated it. Here's the finished article:

I changed the font color so it would show up better on the black background.

Ask and it shall be given!

2010-08-26T09:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the rye-less rye bread test, courtesy of the Gluten Free Goddess. It came out well, I think. The bread is slightly crumbly, but overall it tastes like rye bread and makes a great pastrami sandwich.

On my other blog, I have a feature called Fortune Cookie Friday where I post the wisdom found in a fortune cookie. On Fridays. Which is all well and good when you can eat the fortune cookies. I love fortune cookies. But fortune cookies have gluten. Which means my trips to the Panda Express are going to be limited in the future. So I thought to myself, what am I going to do? How am I ever, ever going to be able to do another FCF if I can't have fortune cookies? Never mind the fact that I don't HAVE to eat the cookies and I won't break out in hives if I touch one... So I thought to myself (again), I bet I can conjure up a recipe. That's the ticket! But then, I thought some more and said, Just let me Google it first. I bet someone else has ALREADY done the work for me! And they have. Over at Celiac.com, there's a recipe for Gluten-Free Chinese Fortune Cookies. Too bad they don't come with the fortunes already. Oh well... At least I can still steal my kids' fortunes and post them. :-)

First things first

2010-08-25T11:22:00.000-04:00

My apoligies for not updating sooner. I've been away for the entire summer and then school started and we're just getting back into the groove. Bewaaaaaaaaaaare the groooooooove!

As you may have noticed, the blog background has changed! I noticed this for the first time today when my spiffy background, courtesy of The Cutest Blog on the Block, was MISSING. Since I had to track down my background and reinstall it anyway, I figured it was time for a change. And let's be honest, the other background was just a little too foofy for my taste but at the time was the best I could do.

How do you like the new background?

In other news, I learned that I'm gluten intolerant. While I haven't had the testing done to see if it's full-blow Celiac's Disease, my doctor has warned me to not eat gluten. So one thing you'll see a lot more of are posts about my adventures in gluten-free baking. Right now, I've got my first-ever loaf of gluten-free anything in the oven. It's from the Gluten-Free Goddess and it's a rye-less rye bread. This had to be my first thing to try because I'm a serious fan of a Reuben sandwich. And since my eldest child is off gluten thanks to her ADD diagnosis - which I know hasn't been "proven" in a double-blind controlled study - it's just easier for everyone to eat what I eat. We'll see how it tastes. I've got pastrami in the fridge waiting for bread.

Favorite Jeans + holes in the crotch =

2010-06-06T21:41:00.000-04:00

a major refashion!

SRSLY, what's a girl to do, right? You've got this favorite pair of jeans and they've been worn to DEATH but you just can't let them go...

In my case, it's a pair of Converse One Star from Target that set me back ~$30 2 or 3 years ago. I know, right? But the fabric was just sooooooo sooooooft. So today, I gathered all the get up and go I could muster and headed to the Local Mega Fabric Mart for some microsuede and some pleather. I know, I know PLEATHER. But really, when used tastefully and in small amounts, it's really not all that heinous. I promise. See?

What I did:

Cut the legs open on the inseams
Cut off the belt loops
Cut microsuede on the bias in two long triangles and sew in the space between the legs to fill in
Cut pleather on bias for hem binding and new waistband
Sew using a zigzag stitch and a denim needle

I'm not sure if I'm done with this yet. I keep thinking it needs "something" to give it a bit more "oomph" but we shall see. I did score some clearance stretch lace with sparklies that's the same color as the pleather, so I'm definitely making a matching blouse with pleather neck trim (Willow had a shirt like that on "Buffy"). And I got enough pleather to make myself some boots to go with, so it's all good. Yeah, you heard right: BOOTS. Over the knee, I'm thinking. I just have to make the lasts for the base part and get some tooling leather and heels going. Shoe making is SO going to be my next hobby to take up.

I bet you never knew

2010-04-22T18:33:00.000-04:00

that a preschool learning activity is also recycling! Bonus points if you did know.

One of my all time favorite activities from my days as a preschool teacher was taking broken crayons (Leftolas) and melting them into custom crayons. How it works is you get all the broken crayons together - and believe me, with 15 littles aged 2-5, you're GOING to have broken crayons - and then sort them by color family. Take a paper (not plastic!) cup - waxed preferred, put each kid's name on a cup and let them put their favorite colors in the cup. Then, you put the cups on a cookie sheet, toss it in the oven @ 350 for 4 or 5 minutes or so. When they're done, you take the whole affair out, open all the windows and doors to air out the room and then wait for them to cool. Once they've cooled, peel the cups off and there you have it: little crayon disks.

So when Crayola came out with the Crayon Maker toy back in 2002, I wanted one so badly I could taste it. But I wasn't going to part with my hard earned money ($25 or so) for a glorified Easy Bake Oven for crayons. This past Christmas, the local Fabric Mega Store had the "new" version which only made MINI crayons for $30 that I coulda got for 50% off, but who wants MINI crayons???? If I my kids wanted mini crayons, they'd color with the broken ones, ya know? So when I hit my local Goodwill this week, what did my wondering eyes spy but the 2002 model for $4.99?! SCORE!!! 60 watt candelabra bulb included!

So this afternoon, the girls and I sat on the dining room floor and peeled all the leftolas and started up the crayon maker. And there were quite a few little leftolas to peel!

After one round of heating, the glitter/metallic Crayolas didn't want to melt, so I cranked it for a second round to get them nice and warm and melty. The standard Crayolas melted just fine, though. The only hitch to this wondrous contraption is that you MUST use Crayola brand crayons. And I'm fine with that. I'm a bit of a crayon snob anyhow. I refuse to use anything BUT Crayola crayons. They've got the smoothest feel and the deepest pigment of any brand. And getting a pack of 8 for 12¢ on clearance just can't be beat.

Observations from the Peanut Gallery:

Oldest Daughter: So changing the ingredients changes the melt time! Even though the are the same brand, the melt times are different because the metallic ones have an added ingredient! COOL!

So I had this scheme all laid out...

2010-04-20T18:35:00.000-04:00

And like every other one of my hare-brained schemes, it came to naught.

I'd planned on posting my cleaning bonanza as a pictorial thingumy and well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men, right? So anyhow, I got caught up on the laundry and stuff and all of the sudden, out of the blue, I started ironing. Yeah!

And then I got the sewing area sorted out. And then the dining room. And then the bathroom and the bedroom. I was so industrious that I sorted my drawers and closet and filled up a huge bin with clothes to take to the charity shop. I tidied up the living room, ditched the ruined rug and generally got it all squared away.

As I mentioned on my facebook wall, if I didn't know better, I'd say I was nesting. At any rate, the plan of going area by area to get it all tidied before our trip is nicely out of whack. At first, I was beating myself up because I wasn't doing it in "order". But the reality is that doing it this way is more organic and peaceful for me. Attacking each area as it arises doesn't feel forced or contrived.

And while it's not perfect - and I don't ever expect it to be this side of heaven - I'm happy with it. I'm finding the oddest times to carve out a moment to take care of the "little" jobs: scouring the tub/shower happened last night at 11:30. Laundry got tossed in after that and switched over this morning. Yesterday afternoon between my work and picking up the kids from school, I did a load of sheets and remade the bed. Today I folded laundry while watching a documentary - Wild China - on Netflix. Yesterday while the kids were in the bathtub, I mopped the bathroom floor. While my oldest kid was at CCD, I cleared off my dresser.

Now I'm no expert, and I've been subscribed to FlyLady since 2002, but I'm just not good with a "schedule". I don't know if it's the ADD or what. Having a rigid schedule just kills me. But fitting things into my outside commitments? For some reason, that's easier.

Cross your fingers that the roll I'm on stays rolling. I'm a lot happier when my environment is pleasant and stress-free.

A little departure from the "plan"

2010-04-11T17:16:00.000-04:00

I'll readily admit that I'm terribly scatterbrained (my oldest comes by that trait honestly!) and I can get sidetracked super easily. Especially when there's fabric involved. ;-)

So I took a bit of a break from the kids' stuff and the cleaning stuff and cut out a new skirt and top for *me*. I've got this amazing green eyelet and burgundy/brown/green batik fabric that jumped off the shelf and into my cart at the local Fabric Mega Mart.

The green eyelet will become this skirt:

McCall's 5431

I added 2" to the waist at the center tapering to the hips. This pattern calls for a back zipper, but I don't like them, so I omitted the back seam and moved the opening to the side. This skirt is very close in style to my favorite skirt ever (DKNY, purchased in Jakarta 2.5 years ago). The length will be the same as the picture, but it will be solid eyelet without a contrast band. I'd rather have something that I can wear with more than one thing, ya know?

And the batik will become the first top (but with the lower neckline):

I don't plan on putting on a collar because I like a more streamlined look. Besides, the pattern of the fabric doesn't lend itself to any frippery. The only modification to this pattern was adding 1/2" to the waist to have enough ease. Cross your fingers that this works out because the fabric is $13/yard and I don't want to have to buy more.

More pictures will come as I complete more projects.

Beach Party!

2010-04-08T00:07:00.000-04:00

The Dress for Thing 2. It all started as Simplicity 2989, a Project Runway pattern. This was one of my 99¢ pattern finds that just SCREAMED "Anabella" to me. Or at least the blue and white one did. One thing I love, love, love about the Project Runway series of patterns is that you've got OPTIONS. Lots of 'em. Mix it, match it, you name it. The only real problem I have with it is that it's a Simplicity pattern. Which everyone knows is an oxymoron. USUALLY, the sewing instructions in a Simplicity pattern just plain suck. I don't know about the ones for this pattern because I didn't even bother with them.

I had some AMAZING fabric in my stash from a couple of years ago - and when I say "some", I really mean close to 5 yards worth - that had been acquired to make all three of my kids matching outfits. The funny thing is, I bought both the girls sandals for the summer this year to match that fabric, so it was imperative that I make it up. See how adorable the sandals are? I mean really. How could I not?

So off I went with my rotary cutter - my new best friend - and miles of fabric determined to make something awesomely awesome. Until I opened up the pattern. You see that lovely contrast band on the bodice up there? Guess what. It doesn't wrap around the back of the dress. It stops under the armpits. Now SRSLY folks. It's the DETAILS that matter and take an outfit to a "who' nuvah level". So what's a girl to do when faced by such a travesty? You got it. Redraft the pattern piece! Now don't get me wrong, I make no claims at being an "expert".

Now my biggest pet peeve is mismatched patterns. Or off-center motifs that draw the eye away in a weird way. So when I was redrafting the piece, I realized that with the contrast fabric I'd chosen (a wavy stripe), it was going to need to be cut all in one piece, rather than three pieces. I think the result is pretty good, if I do say so. While I was in the modifying mood, I added the piping to the edges of the bodice and straps and waist to really define the pattern and draw attention to the hula dancers. This also acts as a distraction. If the bodice and skirt patterns aren't perfectly matched, you can't tell because the pink line bisects it and makes it look like a distinctly different section. Check out the pattern envelope up top and just look at the right side of the bodice/waist junction. Think about it for a second. THAT was what I was trying to avoid. In the words of the judges of Project Runway, "I can't believe you'd send that down the runway".

While I was at it, I really wanted to give the new Bernina's zipper foot a run for it's money, so I opted for an "invisible" zipper. Now I've had mixed success with them in the past, largely owing to the fact that I didn't have a zipper foot. But hey, this machine came with one! So I had to try it out. And boy howdy does that thing work GREAT. See what I mean? A truly invisible zipper! And check out the matchy-matchy of the piping! SUCCESS!!!

Check out my happy girl during the first fitting. She's so happy with it and it wasn't even halfway done when she tried it on. I added some piping to the bottom contrast piece as well. And for the lining, I added two rows of rick rack trim and let Briar Rose (the Bernina) kick out an awesome decorative stitch of bows. The slip part will probably never show, but I just had to embellish it. See? Anyhow, the dress is finished except for finalizing the straps in the back. That will happen tomorrow. Then on to the outfits for Thing 1 and Thing 3. I'm using my "go to" pattern for Lorenzo's shorts/shirt. It's Simplicity 5982. I could make that one in my sleep, I've done so many of it. For Gabriella, I'm making McCall's M5798. It's a replica of a dress that I bought for her at Justice (if I remember right). It's one of her favorite styles.

A RANT: Separating the "men" from the "boys"

2010-04-06T16:12:00.000-04:00

You've been warned. I just have to get this off my chest. You know how people who are well-versed in [a field] can't help but notice flaws in examples of [their field]?

Like the grammarian who can't help but notice the abuse of apostrophes, commas and so on...

Or the video/movie afficionado who screams "continuity!" or "focus!" at the screen...

Well, it also afflicts the seasoned sew-er. I can't bring myself to use the term "sewist" because it makes it sound like a religion. Anyhow, I suffer from this condition. I can't go out in public without scrutinizing hems for "blind" hem visibility or side seams for pattern mis-matching. How I wish that these things didn't pop out at me, but they do. It's almost a curse, really. I don't MEAN to judge your clothes. Honest. But it makes me want to poke my eyes out and run screaming away "ALLOW EXTRA FABRIC FOR PATTERN MATCHING!!!!!!!"

It has been pointed out to me on several occasions that this is what separates the couture (the men) from ready-to-wear (the boys). However, I don't believe that there is where the line is drawn. Because any given episode of Project Runway will show you that "designer" ≠ well-constructed or thought out. No matter how many times Tim Gunn says "make it work", you just KNOW that some seam somewhere is going to be awry or a pattern mismatched or SOMETHING. It's just the way the Universe works.

I know I shouldn't let this affect me this way, but it does. So much so, that I A) overbuy fabric "just to be sure" I have enough to match pattern repeats and B) spend HOURS making sure patterns are "just so" before constructing the garment(s) in question. And really, it's not something I'm proud of. Just like I'm not proud of wanting to scream at apostrophe abusers or whoever was in charge of continuity in whatever film it was I last saw that drove me nuts. Lord knows that my children don't appreciate my obsession over those details. At least I use my "powers" for good and not for evil. Besides, "they" took away my red marking pen. So abused apostrophes and misplaced commas are safe. For now.

The Countdown Cleaning Master!

2010-04-04T18:06:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's the grand "plan" to get "perfectly" cleaned and organized in anticipation of our "Summer of Travel". Before I abuse any more apostrophes, on to the posting!

We have a small house by American standards. Weighing in at about 1425 square feet under heat/air, we're smaller than the average American home. In fact, we're smaller than the average home 40 years ago! That's what we get for being built in the 20s. Apparently, we're 1.5x the size of the average American home in the 1950s, too... However, for our neighborhood (platted out in the early 1900s and former orange grove), we're smack in the middle size.

Our office/front hall were originally the front porch, to that expanded the house somewhat. Moving on from there, we've got a spacious living room that gives onto the dining room. The dining room's main feature is the window seat that really sold us on the house.

Beyond the dining room is the kitchen and back porch (laundry "room"). That is fully half the house. The dining room and living room both have doors that connect to the hallway.

From the front of the house there's our bedroom, the kids' rooms (ensuite) and at the end of the hall, the bathroom. In the 20s, this would've been considered a 3-bedroom home, but now it's considered 2 plus a "bonus" room.

I can't believe that with all the repainting and stuff that I've done in the last few months that I don't have any current pics of the living and dining rooms. How bizarre! Anyhow, here's the plan. Working forward from the front hall to the laundry area and then back up the hallway by way of the bathroom and kids' rooms, I'm going to tackle everything. You might say "How on earth do you plan to do that?" and I'd reply "The same way you eat an elephant or repaint a house! One bite/room at a time."

Look for posts on:

The Front Hall
The Office
The Living Room
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
The Laundry Room
The Bathroom
The Girls' Room
The Boy's Room
The Hallway
Our Room

I've got just over ten weeks to do it all, and more than ten areas to accomplish, so I have to bust this out faster than one room/week. Since this week is Spring Break, there's NO WAY I'm going to touch the kids' rooms. Not with an eleventy-million foot pole. That would just be an exercise in frustration and I'd be popping Zoloft like they were M&Ms.

What I will be doing is swallowing my pride and photo-journalling my progress. I really don't feel all that bad about it because, hey, even on my worst day EVER my house was never as bad as the "Messiest House In America". Not even close, no matter what my mom says. I've NEVER had an infestation of rodents and a flooded anything with 6' piles of crap. Because I'd have burnt it to the ground and started over. So before I lift a finger to clean, I'm going to haul out the Nikon D70 and document, document, document. And then, room by room, area by area, you'll see the transformation. I'll even throw in the "why" behind certain areas becoming "hot spots" for clutter. Heh. Never thought you'd see so much brutal honesty on a blog, didja?