Cation Designs

Happy Geek Pride Day!

2012-05-25T14:02:00.001-07:00

Also, happy towel day, all you hoopy froods!

Hello, my name is Cindy, and I'm a geek. And proud of it! And what better way to show it than a return to my "roots," that is, a dress made from a geeky bed sheet. Although it's not quite as mainstream as Batman, Superman, or the original Star Wars, the Clone Wars cartoon is still sufficiently geeky and at least tried to give kids a strong heroine to relate to in Ahsoka Tano. How successful they were is not something I'm qualified to write about, not having seen much of the show, but I appreciate that they tried. If I had Katara sheets, I would've made a dress from those instead, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, I'm in good company with this dress, as it seems that Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano, has also previously worn a dress made from these same sheets! I don't know if she made hers herself, but that is pretty awesome.

If it looks like I'm wearing a bluetooth thingummy on my ear, it's not...

I am in love with my newest piece of jewelry, the Dragon Ear Wrap from ThinkGeek. If only I had cartilage piercings so that my Smaug could have a hoard! As it is, my husband says it looks like the dragon is eating my ear.

The ear wrap came with this awesome pin. Can you recognize
all the fonts? I can't...I'm a bad geek.

So in case you didn't know, today, May 25, is designated as Towel Day/Geek Pride Day, and can I just say that I'm so glad that things like this are actually celebrated now? Back when I was in elementary and middle school, things were pretty miserably for me. At the school I went to, if you weren't good at sports, you were a pariah; my inability to deal with round objects of any kind, along with my preference for reading over social interaction, ensured that I didn't really have any friends. In a school where the popular kids were the ones who could consistently make home runs in kickball games, my sole claim to fame was being Spelling Bee champion and the only girl in math club. When a couple of teachers took pity on me and let me hang out in their classrooms during lunch, I was ever so grateful. I mean, more time to read, less ridicule regarding my nonexistent catching skills? What's not to love?? Thank you, Mrs. Harris, Ms. Allen, and Ms. Lancelotti, for letting this girl intrude on your lunch hour. I tried to be as unobtrusive and helpful as possible.

Let's try jumping and throwing a towel at the same time.

So far so good...

With such a childhood, you'd think I would stay far, far, away from sports, but somehow I managed to find myself married to a sports geek; I am still amazed at how my husband manages to spout random stats associated with players a decade ago (then again, I guess I can recite lines from books I read years ago). Thankfully, he is quite patient with my lack of sports knowledge, and only makes fun of me a little bit when I can't catch anything round that gets thrown my way (I will walk over and pick up that lemon, thank you very much!). I've even managed to absorb a little bit about the mechanics of baseball and football through osmosis...although my fantasy football team two years ago was still chosen based on which players looked the most like thugs (reasoning being that the angrier they looked, the more likely they would be to tackle the crap out of the other team?). My first loves will always be dinosaurs and Star Wars Episodes IV-VI, but at least I know what "fourth down" means now. Thanks, husband, for bearing with my questions and helping me understand more mainstream topics.

Never mind. Even though towels aren't round, I still can't catch them.

So pretty! And it's got pocketses, of course (no ring inside, though)

Anyway, I was really excited to find this Clone Wars sheet while I was thrifting with Shayna earlier this year. It remained in the un-prewashed pile for much too long (I forgot to add in my previous post that I hate prewashing fabric!), but Geek Pride Day was the perfect time to get my act together and sew it up. I used Vogue 8319 for the bodice pattern, my first experience with raglan sleeves, that is, if you can even call these sleeves. I couldn't bring myself to mix prints for last week's Sew Weekly challenge, but here's my concession: using two different fabrics. I used black fabric for the raglan part, and then appliqued the symbols for the Galactic Republic and the Rebel Alliance (cut from the sheet) on the left and right shoulders, respectively. You know, kind of like those devil and angel cartoons that help you make decisions. Is that cheesy or what? The rest of the dress was pretty straightforward; princess seams and the skirt from my TNT New Look 6723. I did go the extra mile and seam bind all of the insides, as well as facing the neck and armholes with bias tape, so this dress better last forever!

It also says very courageous things like "Valor" and "Honor" and "First in, last standing."

Summary:
Fabric: 60/40 cotton-poly blend, flat twin sheet...pretty atrocious material, actually, but hey, at least it's got a lot of body?
Notions: 20" zipper, thrifted checked rayon bias tape, seam binding (both pink and blue, since I ran out halfway through)
Hours: Ergh. A lot, what with wrestling with the bias tape on the very curved armscye (don't look too closely!) and adjusting for fit since this was the first time I used the pattern. All the seam binding also took extra time. So I'm going to say...about ten.
Will you make this again? Yes. I really like the fit of this bodice, and the raglan shoulders (I'm going to stop calling them sleeves now) and princess seaming means I could try mixing up fabrics even more in the future.
Total cost: $7 ($3 for the sheet, and I still have enough for another bodice, $2.50 for the zipper, the rest for the tape and binding)
Final thoughts: Now that I look at the pictures, it seems that the bodice is a little long. I think next time I want the waist seam about a centimeter higher. But other than that, I'm very pleased with this dress. It's nice to go back to what I know suits me after some so-so experiments with chiffon (more on that later). So while yes, unfortunately, it is yet another a fitted-bodice-full-skirt dress, it makes me happy, and proclaims my geekiness for the world to see, unless they're far away, in which case it only looks like a bizarrely patterned bright blue dress combined with *gasp* a baseball (oh noes! it is round!) tee.

I only found out about the Trevor Project's It Gets Better campaign a couple years ago, but I think it's a message that needs to be heard by all teens who have ever been on the outside looking in. As a geeky kid being picked on for my glasses and poor hand-eye coordination*, I could've benefited from knowing that it gets better. Because it did get better, and I think my geekiness made me a better teacher, as well as allowing me to have all sorts of weird but awesome experiences (steampunk zombie walk! Ren Faire as Belle!). Granted, non-geeky people are probably just as enthused about say, going to a baseball game with front-row tickets (is that even a thing? does one even want to be in the front row at a baseball game? what if you get hit with a ball like in A Prayer for Owen Meany?) as I was about going to the HP7II midnight showing as Bellatrix, but hey, to each their own.

*This is not to say that my middle school experience was anywhere near as bad as causing me to consider suicide or self-harm, but I definitely had some miserable days. I don't want to make light of the seriousness of bullying (and worse) by comparing it to my own relatively mild experience; I understand that things are so much worse for LGBTQ youth, especially in certain parts of the country, and I think the It Gets Better campaign is a much-needed message for them.

Just to lighten things up a bit, here's my own Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.

I can't see you, therefore you can't see me, right?

Walnut is NOT amused to be likened to such an immensely stupid creature.

These Are A Few of My Least Favorite Things

2012-05-23T08:02:00.001-07:00

Inspired by The Dreamstress' post on her most hated sewing-related task and my most recent sewing project (back to chiffon, that tricky devil!), I thought I'd trace my journey in learning to sew by looking at what tasks I hated most at the time. It's funny remembering what used to stall me, and how I learned to move past those barriers.

When I first started sewing, I hated pressing. I mean, it's called sewing; I couldn't understand why I spent so little time actually sewing! It seemed I was always heading over to my dinky little table-top ironing board, which, due to lack of space, was set up over the sink in our guest bathroom. Running back and forth to iron on that tiny surface and not being able to slip anything over the end (because of the arrangement of the little legs it stood on) was the pits! But once we moved to TCOCC, we had enough space for a full-sized ironing board in my sewing room, and I began to take pleasure in beautifully pressed seams. It's amazing how a good pressing makes even the wonkiest seam look better.

Once I got over all the time I spent at the ironing board, my hatred of darts bubbled to the surface. Literally. My dart tips were always bubbly or pointy, until I learned about how to angle my stitching line so that it would taper off correctly. But the good thing about hating darts was that I perfected my TNT princess seam bodice, New Look 6723!

After I figured out darts, I was able to properly focus my hatred on hems. They're just so...long. And tedious. But if you mess it up it might throw off the whole garment, so then I had to make sure I was paying attention for the whole nine yards (literally, for some of my circle skirts!). And to be honest, there wasn't anything that made me magically love hems; I just...stopped hating them one day. Which meant I was no longer leaving dresses lingering sadly on the back of my chair, waiting only for their hems so that they could be worn. Now, when I get to the hem, I get excited because it's easy and and when I'm finished, I'm done with the garment!

Oh, except for sewing hooks and eyes at the tops of zippers. I couldn't stand that either, or any hand-sewing for that matter. Then I took up embroidery because it was the most portable needlecraft I could think of for Christmas vacation up north, and now I find hand-sewing quite relaxing. Good thing, too, or else I never could have bound all the tabs on my pair of bodies, or worked all the eyelets on my kirtle by hand.

My seam binding of choice.

While I was getting over hand-sewing, I was simultaneously falling in love with pretty seam finishing, thanks to the discovery of rayon seam binding. I've since gotten much better about taking care of my raw edges, either with the seam binding or by using French seams. Although, I must confess that if it's a sturdy fabric and I don't foresee wearing a garment that much, I'll still just pink the seam allowances.

And all this time, I thought that pants would be my Waterloo...well, that war is far from over, but I think I've got a good start. Let's hope it doesn't end up being a Pyrrhic victory (what would that even look like? Maybe I perfected fitting pants, but managed to stab myself in the femoral artery as I stitched the last button?)...

Which brings me to the current state of affairs: there are still a lot of parts of sewing that I'm not a fan of, haven't mastered yet, or haven't even attempted. In the first category would be tasks like gathering wide skirts (I can do it, but I don't like it), making pintucks (measuring constantly is not my forte; I'm more of a just-eyeball-it kind of pintucker), and rolled hems on chiffon (much better after my last two projects, but still not fun). Under the yet-to-master umbrella would be inserting invisible zippers (I just can't make mine look nice! Maybe I need to just buy a bunch and practice inserting them all in a row), getting the grain straight on slippery fabrics and ultra-drapey knits, and setting in sleeves (the few times I'm tried, they are always poofy at the top, or I can't raise my arms). And I haven't even tried working with wool or silk, or anything approaching tailoring. I managed to rescue a couple of lengths of gorgeous wool suiting from the thrift store, but they are sitting in a corner, unused and unloved (except by Walnut, who does them the favor of sniffing them every once in a while), waiting for me to work up the courage and skill to approach them. Maybe I need to make a silk satin dress with random invisible zippers inserted into all the seams, with pintucks everywhere and two perfect sleeves (with gussets, of course, because that's another thing that causes me to quake in my boots).

I just watched The Fall and absolutely fell (ha!) in love with the
costumes. I am kind of smitten with the idea of making this one.

I remember feeling so psyched when I made my first real dress a year ago, and that I could sew anything I could think of if I just tried hard enough. I still hold to that belief, but that is tempered with awareness now of what I don't know. Sewing is just like any other skill -- the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. But sometimes you just have to look back at what you've learned and overcome, and allow yourself to feel just a little accomplished, before you go back to staring wide-eyed at the work of Eiko Ishioka.

Incidentally, SHB is at the gosh-why-is-there-so-much-ironing stage. Not that my stages are the set progression by any means, but it's just the tiniest bit funny to me that that's her first sewing hang up, too.

Is there anything that you used to dislike about sewing that you've since moved past? Did you move through stages like me, and if so, what were they?

Prom, the Reprise

2012-05-20T22:17:00.002-07:00

How many people get the chance to go to prom with their spouse? Unless you're high school sweethearts, probably not that many. And if you were an ultra-nerd like I was in high school, you didn't even go to prom with a date. That's not to say I didn't have tons of fun at prom, though, as I went with my best girlfriends and had a blast being goofy and ridiculous. But I was still a little too excited when my husband mentioned that there was a prom at the end of the year in business school, of all things.

Prom wouldn't be complete without photos, and of course we availed ourselves of them.

I had grand plans for making a formal dress for the prom, but in the end decided that if my memories of the dance floor at prom were anywhere near accurate, I didn't want to make something lovely and precious, only to get all sweaty in it while dancing, have people spill drinks nearby, and potentially step on the hem. So I "settled" for wearing one of my favorite thrift store finds ever: a long, slinky, sexy-but-not-too-uncomfortably-revealing-for-my-taste, swishy, bias-cut gown which just happened to fit me perfectly. It was in practically new condition and had only been in the store for half a day, so it didn't even have the questionable thrift store odor, and it was only $15! Gosh, I love thrifting.

My husband went old school with a white-tie-on-black-shirt, which was all the rage when we were in high school. Also, these are actual awkward prom photos, not the fake ones we usually take when we are at weddings!

Back when Charlie's Angels poses were still cool. This scan of a
wallet-sized picture doesn't dojustice to the blinding nature of my dress.
Also, I am wearing clear plastic heels. *facepalm*

This is the dress I wish I had worn to my actual senior prom in high school. Although I really liked my prom dress at the time, that aqua, be-sequined dress (seriously, up close I looked like a mermaid, or possibly a medieval knight, if they wore bright blue chain mail) was a last minute find and really not my style at all. I distinctly remember seeing a girl from my class show up for prom in a long, flowing, backless, cream-colored gown reminiscent of 1930s starlets. She and I both looked totally unlike anyone else at prom (which I'm pretty sure is the goal of prom dress shopping), but hers was classic and gorgeous and mine was a disco ball come to life. That is the first time I remember falling in love with vintage fashion, and here I am more than a decade later, making my own vintage-inspired frocks. I never would have guessed, then, that this is where/who I would be now.

I think I was unconsciously trying to emulate my old classmate's retro glamour as I did my make-up and hair, and even afterward as I PicMonkey-ed the heck out of our pictures. The lighting was pretty atrocious, so we didn't get too many viable shots of the inside of the historic Millenium Biltmore Hotel, which, appropriately, used to host the earliest Academy Awards. Hah! I say that as if the hotel arranged its history to accommodate my look, instead of the other way around.

There was an absolutely beautiful staircase, perfect for descending in a manner not unlike Belle's grand entrance in Beauty and the Beast. When I walked in and saw it, I turned to my husband and announced that it had always been my dream to descend a staircase like it. He graciously snapped a photo as I posed at the top, in front of the resplendent Spanish Revival door.

I think I had too much fun playing around with the filters on PicMonkey, trying to make my photos look appropriately vintage.
Unfortunately, the effect is spoiled by my green no-drinks-included-in-your-ticket bracelet.

I am in love with the back of the gown, as well as the bias cut drape. It swished and flowed beautifully when I walked.

I know this had nothing to do with sewing or making, but I just wanted to enthuse about getting to redo prom the way I would have wanted to, if only I'd had the confidence (to wear somebody else's old gown? High school me would have been grossed out by the idea) and knowledge (regarding classic style, how to thrift, and that the slip I was wearing on that night is still in use in my wardrobe today) that I do now. I would also tell high school me that while going to prom with a date is definitely fun, don't worry, you'll marry a very nice man one day whom you'll get to go to prom with anyway, so just enjoy spending time with your girlfriends.

High-Waisted Nautical Shorts

2012-05-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

If I were a little more dedicated to awesome photos, I would've tried to figure out if I could sneak on board a yacht or something so that I could caption my picture "I'M ON A BOAT!"* But alas, I am not, so this will have to do.

I'M ON A PLAY STRUCTURE!

Blatantly ignoring the age recommendations! (And yes, that is a tiny, functional spyglass I'm looking through.)

Too loose over that dip, and not quite fitted through the thigh.

As you can see, I've finished my high-waisted, vaguely retro, nautical-only-in-that-the-buttons-have-anchors-on-them, wearable muslin shorts! The striped top I tried to make to go with it was an utter and craptastic fail, so instead, I cut off the bottom of what used to be an extremely long (to the point of unwearability) RTW tee for a whole nautical outfit.

I started out with a McCall's 6266 pattern from 1978, but ended up modifying it a lot to get closer to the look I wanted. It was originally a size 8, which fit in the waist and nowhere else; I took out a couple inches in the back and added an inch in the front, brought in the inseam, increased the crotch depth, and errrr, unsteepened the curve of the crotch in the back. I am pretty impressed with how the pattern fits my swayback without any darts, and the changes were time-consuming (quality time with my seam ripper!), but not difficult. I'm still not pleased with the bagging under my butt; it looks like I'm going to have to check out the fish-eye dart adjustment that Liz mentioned. I also need to figure out how to correct the front crotch area -- it's too loose over the weird dip between my pelvis and bulging quads. The looseness there used to be a lot worse, but I could only correct so much without cutting and sewing up a whole new pair of shorts. The thigh area itself suffers a little from my indecisiveness regarding the style I wanted, as I couldn't decide if I wanted them super fitted, or flaring out a little like Justine's playsuit...so now they're this weird amalgam of questionable flattering-ness.

The shorts as originally shown in the pattern are very short, so with all the added length they sort of turned into this vast expanse of dark blue. I felt like it needed something to add interest, so I sewed on two tabs and some gold buttons. The back, however, is plain, except for the unfortunately visible centered zipper. Tabs on the back don't seem to make much sense, though, so I'm just leaving it as is. Honestly, I don't have to look at it, so I'm not especially bothered by it.

The one side is ultra-wrinkly because of the way I'm standing.

The waistband piece in the pattern was really just a long rectangle, but this results in gaping both in front and back, so if I were to make this again I'd probably try to draft a curved waistband. It's not too bad, though, and the back gaping isn't anywhere near as bad as the gaping I typically get with RTW low-waisted pants, so I'm willing to let it slide this time. I must say, it's remarkable not having to worry when I bend over or sit down! As for the cuffs, they took some spatial reasoning at night while I was supposed to be sleeping, trying to figure out how to attach them so that my pinked seams wouldn't show. I still need to tack them down, but I like this look much better than just blind-hemming them.

I'm on an elephant!! Check out the relatively small gape at the back...I would never climb on play structures in my usual pants because of the low waistbands. I totally get Steph of 3hourspast's whole thing about high waistbands now!

Side view.

Summary:
Fabric: About a yard of slightly stretchy 54" cotton twill for each muslin...thankfully, this fabric was $1/yard (and the same as my 1912 scalloped skirt!)
Notions: Fusible interfacing in the waistband, 7" zipper, hook and bar, four metal anchor buttons
Techniques: Making alterations to a pants pattern? There wasn't really any difficult sewing here, just difficult fitting.
Hours: At least seven, including the 1.5 hours spent on my first, unwearable muslin. That pair (sans zipper) has been relegated to cat bed status.
Will you make this again? Not shorts, but I do want to make pants again! Almost immediately after finishing this pair, I wanted to try making slim-fitting capris, but (thankfully?) I didn't have any other suitable bottom-weight fabric. I want to get some stretch denim and heavier stretch cotton twill, possibly in some blinding color like kelly green or coral. But first, I should probably perfect my pants block.
Total cost: About $6, but I don't remember how much the buttons cost, as I think they were in a bulk bag from a discount bin (but I have so many gold-colored nautical buttons I could be remembering wrong).
Final thoughts: I think for my first foray into pants-making, these aren't bad, but they're not great either. They're comfy and I'll wear them, but I can see that a good pants block will take some time. In the meantime, these were easy enough that they're a good confidence booster. I'm not convinced that high-waisted pants are the way to go for my body type, but since I like high-waisted dresses and skirts I thought I would just start here.

Can I pretend I'm hanging off of rigging?
I mean, I guess technically I am, it's just that the rigging is all of a foot off the ground.

I'm wearing red ~~flippy-floppies~~ wedgie-wodgies?

*I'm not usually a fan of songs with excessive explicit language, but Lonely Island is my weak spot...I don't know why I find their songs so hilarious. I mean, "This ain't my dad, this is a cell phone!?" That's brilliant.

That Brutally Honest Friend, the Croquis

2012-05-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

[Warning: long and rambly stream of consciousness ahead. Feel free to move along if you're not interested in reading about my hang-ups. ]

I'm finished with my nautical high-waisted shorts, including the hem and buttons, but then I realized that I have nothing to wear them with, so now I'm frantically sewing up a stripey top. But in the meantime, as I look at myself wearing the shorts, I am beginning to realize that perfectly-fitted-pants-sewing is going to be a long and ever-changing journey. See, when you make fitted pants, they emphasize all sorts of things that fitted skirts don't do (not that I make a lot of fitted skirts).

I've already written before about my body image issues, specifically with my lower body, which is part of the reason why I'm always making dresses with fitted bodices and full skirts. In trying to fit my shorts (which are still not perfect), I'm realizing that I need to look at my body a little more objectively. Instead of shying away from looking at my thighs (quick! throw on a full skirt!!), I need to know what they actually look like so that I can cover them with fabric in the most flattering way possible (and not just by throwing on a full skirt). So I made a croquis. Two, actually, from both the front and the side.

If you're wondering about the awkwardly raised arm in the first croquis, it's because I was holding my camera up to my face. I decided to try to pretend it was behind my head or something. Also, what does one do with the arms in a side croquis?

Seeing myself in my non-Elizabethan undawears, rendered as a line drawing, is, for lack of a better word, interesting. Initial thoughts: I didn't realized that my head was so large, nor my feet so oddly stubby. I already knew that I had a swayback (and avoided ever having to make that adjustment by always sewing dresses with waist seams), and my dance teacher in college had already pointed out my swayback knees. Seriously, what bendy part do I have that isn't sway? Also, my measurements indicate that I should be a pear, but the width of my shoulders makes me more of an hourglass, at least visually. No wonder why I love belted dresses.

But the rudest shock was seeing my belly profile, as I hadn't realized that it was as rounded as it is. Before you protest that it isn't round at all, I will interject that when I was in college, it used to be entirely flat. I know, of course, that it isn't realistic to expect one's body to stay frozen at its peak, but I do wonder how much preservation work one should reasonably do. How much should one accept that aging happens, that as I get closer to thirty my body's metabolism will slow down, and it's a lost cause to retain my college figure? It just goes to show that the comment from one of Gertie's readers is SO. TRUE. "All 'thin' can ever be is 'not yet fat today' and 'not as thin as I could be.'" I need to walk away from that kind of thinking and focus on being healthy.

I was recently talking with a very dear friend about body image, and I had said that body image was not one of my "big" issues. That is, when I think about the demons I need to wrestle with, I am more likely to say selfishness, difficulty dealing with emotions, or a tendency to over-focus on the task to the exclusion of people, not body image. But looking at my croquis makes me think that maybe it was just a dormant issue, and it is now being brought to light as I think about getting older and the possibility of messing with my body by producing a small human being.

So how does making pants fit in with all of these unearthed issues? I'm not really sure. Part of me wants to stop the pants-making journey right here and go back to full skirts that sit at my natural waist, but another part of me thinks that I need to continue trying for fitted pants, as maybe that will force me to come to terms with and accept my body. Who knew that sewing could be such an effective excavator of buried issues?

Sorry for the scatterbrained post, but I just wanted a record of my thoughts. Also, I really do love so many things about my body; this post just sounds especially whiny because I'm troubled by sewing pants that fit. If you actually read this all the way through, thanks for sticking with me.

Sewing Pants Is Easy

2012-05-16T07:31:00.001-07:00

Don't you love how they're called smile and frown lines?

Sewing pants is easy...but fitting pants is a different story. Oh, I'm sorry, were you expecting me to reveal a secret sewing tip that would suddenly make pants-sewing (or trouser-sewing, so that my UK readers don't giggle madly) miraculously simple? Because I don't have one. As far as I know, there's no pants foot that I can install or lever to engage on my machine that will suddenly make all my pants look awesome. I will say, though, that sewing pants that fit is theoretically possible given enough time and patience. How do I know? Because I've decided to face my sewing demon and actually try making pants. Okay, actually shorts, since they take less fabric, but same idea.

Rounded and full...I like their adjective choice.

The picture also seems to promise that if you make
these pants, your legs will suddenly be 1.5 times longer.

What made me suddenly decide that I could take on pants? Well, first off, I thrifted this McCall's 6266 "Carefree Patterns" pants pattern, circa 1978. I knew I wanted to start my pants journey with high-waisted sailor-esque shorts, and this looked simple (and high-waisted) enough for me -- not even a dart or fly front to be seen! I was also thrilled to open it up and find an extremely helpful and confidence boosting "Pants Fitting A B C's" insert that explained how to make the most common pants alterations.

Armed with this insert, I proceeded to cut out and sew my first muslin. I didn't take any pictures because it was so horribly laughable, but I'll just say that it somehow managed to be both smile-line city in front (indicating it was too tight) and ultra-baggy loose in the back. Also, in a fit of concern, I cut the waist way too big and ended up needing to take it back in. I ripped out the zipper (my only 7" dark blue one in my possession!) and proceeded to alter the heck out of my pattern pieces. My second pair of shorts only took an hour to sew up (hence, sewing pants is easy!), but another couple hours to alter (hello, seam ripper, you are my good friend) into public-wearability status. Even so, they've still got issues, but I'm going to leave it for now as a good-enough-for-now pair of shorts. I just need to add my sailor buttons and hem them and then they'll be totally finished.

Friends, I have been bitten by the pants bug. I am now bound and determined to make my own knock-off Clovers, possibly in denim, and possibly with a fly front. There, I'm declaring it publicly; please hold me to my promise.

Blouse #0219 Step by Step Construction, Part 2

2012-05-14T08:19:00.001-07:00

Finished blouse, not tucked in so that you can see what it all looks like.
Also, I promise the front bottom edge is straight; no idea why it looks slanted here.

Here is the promised photo documentary of the construction of the cuffs and collar for this blouse from the VPLL 1912 Project. Part 1 of the construction is shown here.

Apologies about the poor lighting in these photos; I was working on the cuffs at night.

Rather than try to draft curved cuff pieces, I stuck with simple rectangles. To end up with a 3.5 inch long cuff (and with 1/4" seam allowances), and based on my wrist size (7" where the cuff would have started), I cut two pieces of fabric 7"x10" and interfaced them.

Fold the rectangles in half, right sides together, making sure that you are folding it the correct way to end up with the proper height cuff! Sew the edges and trim the corner.

This is what it will look like.

Fold over 1/4" (or whatever your seam allowance is) at the open edge, press.

I used one of my RTW blouses to help me figure out how to actually attach this cuff onto the sleeve.

I cut a 1.5" slit in the sleeve end, directly opposite of the seam.

I made self-fabric bias binding with the help of my handy little Clover doodad. I was aiming for a 1/4" double-fold tape.

I bound the slit edges with the bias binding, with some fudging at the corner.

Run two lines of stitching on the longest stitch length possible around the edge of the sleeve.

These will help you gather the sleeve into the cuff.

Pull on the bobbin threads to gather the sleeve. I found it easiest to gather it tightly, then stretch it back out to fit the cuff. I allotted for about an inch of overlap on the cuff. Pin the sleeve raw ends inside the little "pocket" of the cuff, then baste.

After basting the sleeve into the cuff's open end, I sewed it together. Since my cuff didn't actually fit around the free arm of my machine, I had to flip the sleeve inside out and sew while awkwardly trying to shove the other ends of the cuff out of the way.

Here's what it looks like after all the awkward maneuvering! All edges neatly hidden inside the cuff!

I opted to finish mine with snaps instead of buttons, because frankly, buttons are expensive and buttonholes are fiddly when trying to do your cuffs one-handed.

And now onto the collar -- thankfully done during the afternoon, so the lighting is better!

I used a RTW blouse to trace the general shape of a stand collar, making sure that it was long enough to go all the way around the neckline. I cut two of these 1 3/4" tall curved collar pieces and interfaced them.

Sew them right sides together, curving at the edges, and clipping at the curves. Leave the bottom edge of the curve open, of course, so that you can flip it.

Post-flip, press.

Pin, baste and sew the collar to the neckline, right sides together.

This is what it looks like from the other side.

Fold over the seam allowance, press, and sew it to the neckline, enclosing all the raw edges inside the collar.

I topstitched all the way around.

I love pretty the insides look! I sewed on the buttons and snaps, too, but neglected to show that.

I finished it up with bias tape on the bottom. I guess I could've used self-fabric bias tape, but honestly, I was too lazy to make it and I already had this more-or-less matching color leftover from another project.

I did gather the back portion of the blouse between the yoke piece and the side seam.

The back ends up being much higher than the front.
If I weren't making the blouse exactly as the pattern pieces dictated, I would have lengthened it by a good five inches.

Tucked into a high-waisted skirt. Also, digital cameras don't like stripes.

Summary:
Fabric: 2.5 yards of 54" wide 100% cotton lawn (darn that inefficient bias layout!)
Notions: 4.5 yards of brown piping, eight brass filigree buttons, 14 sew-on metal snaps, interfacing
Techniques used: Putting in piping, making bias tape
Hours: It's really difficult to say, considering that I was stopping every step of the way to take pictures and make notes about what I was doing. I think if I were just blazing through, it would take about 6-7 hours, but that's because sewing snaps takes forever and there are just so many little pieces to cut and and interface and yeah.
Will you make this again? I don't know if I will make this exact blouse, but I really want to try this method of sleeve construction on other garments. Of course, I also have no idea how to even begin drafting it into say, a dress pattern.
Total cost: $2.50 for the fabric, $4 for the piping, $6 for the buttons, $2 for the snaps, so about $15 total.
Final thoughts: I am so glad I just manned up (womanned up? seamstressed up? sewasaurus rexed up?!) and made this blouse, despite it being unlike anything I've ever sewn, and with no instructions to boot. I felt so alive and my brain so engaged while trying to decipher what order and where to sew which pieces. Seriously, solving sewing puzzles is like some kind of bizarre high. And the finished blouse works perfectly for my steampunk outfit. I am still considering if I want to add a little bow or jabot or brooch or something at the neck, though, as it looks a little unfinished there. I had toyed with the idea of adding piping there, but just got lazy. Oh well.

VPLL Checklist:

Pattern Name: #0219 blouse
Sewer’s Skill Level: I would say I'm probably an intermediate (ZOMG I feel so brash saying that -- I've always rated myself as a beginner because I feel like there's still so much I don't know, but I'd say that at this point it's not really the best description for me).
Pattern Rating: 4.5 -- I love the clever little design details (that amazing sleeve!) and the option to dress it up with trim around the yoke section. My only gripe is that cuff pieces aren't included, and the back is a little short.
What skill level would someone need to sew this pattern and why? There isn't really anything especially tricky going on here; I think a patient and meticulous beginner would do just fine.
Were the instructions easy to follow? If not, what needs to be changed? There were no instructions, so I did my best to show clearly what I did in case others want to follow along. That said, it was actually surprisingly easy to figure what to do, especially with the help of a couple of my own RTW blouses for study.
How was the fit/sizing? Did it correspond to what you thought? I'm fortunate that the original size of the blouse theoretically fit me already so I didn't have to do any kind of grading. That said, I think the blousiness of the bust area could probably accommodate a certain range of sizes (maybe a 32-36, but that also depends on one's shoulder width). The illustration of the blouse appears to have the yoke end right at the shoulder; my shoulders are especially wide for my size so the yoke doesn't quite reach all the way, but it is still comfortable and non-constricting. The waist measurement is extremely generous (a good 40+ inches, I think), so I imagine that with a length modification it could even work for a pregnant lady! However, because of that, it looks pretty boxy and unflattering when not tucked into something, which I expected based on my examination of other blouses from this era.
Did you make any pattern alterations? If so, what alterations did you make? Were they fit or design alterations? I didn't alter the main pattern pieces at all while cutting. When I sewed up the back to the yoke, though, I was about an inch short on both sides on the back piece. In the future I would either widen the vertical part of the back yoke piece or add an inch to the back of the main blouse piece. I ended up taking up the excess in my back yoke with a topstitched pleat. If I were making this blouse for anything other than an extremely high-waisted skirt, I would lengthen the back of the blouse.
Other notes: Obviously, I didn't do the topstitched, detachable collar. I don't like high-necked blouses in general, and the straight rectangle of the pattern piece didn't seem like it would fit my actual neck very well, hence my curved, self-drawn collar piece. I will leave it to someone else to try tackling that!

I hope these construction posts have helped you if you're making this blouse too! And in case you're wondering how you, too, can get a hold of this pretty awesome pattern (or other 1912 patterns), you can sign up for VPLL's 1912 Project here.

Previous blouse posts here, here, and here.

Steampunk-Flavored Blouse: Done!

2012-05-14T07:58:00.001-07:00

Please don't ask me what was going on with my hair. It looks like my head is on fire, except that the fire is...hair.

I am so in love with chevrons now.

Huzzah for me, for I have finished my first blouse! Complete with a front placket and cuffs and a collar and everything! And you know what? It wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid it was going to be! And I'm also almost done with my vaguely steampunk Edwardian walking skirt as well! Isn't this amazing? Not a floral-patterned bed sheet dress in sight! Although to be fair, the skirt is made from donated curtains.

I already wrote about the construction of the main part of the blouse, complete with tricky sleeve construction. Finishing the cuffs and collar was fiddly and time-consuming, but not actually that difficult. I think I know, now, why my mom made so many blouses when she was a young seamstress. I'm claiming this blouse as my Sew Weekly inspired-by-a-family photo challenge, even though I don't have a specific photo of my mom in a home-made blouse like this; she has plenty of pictures in blouses she made herself. I will post a full write-up of the construction of those pieces as soon as I can, but in the meantime I'm just so thrilled with how this outfit is coming together.

How perfect is it that a lady at church would be getting rid of old, huge curtains in such a wonderfully steampunk color palette, and they weren't even polyester monstrosities to boot! They're actually 70/30 viscose-poly, and they say in huge letters to DRY CLEAN ONLY; I ignored this directive, of course (I'm not going to pay good money to dry clean free curtains), and washed them in my bathtub in cold water and mild detergent (to be perfectly forthcoming, Method hand soap, in pink grapefruit, in case that matters) and hung them up to dry. Walnut was concerned to see these giant dripping things in his bathtub, but he got over it. Which is good, because let me tell you, these curtains badly needed washing -- not because they were dirty, but because they smelled like a candle store had wandered into them, gotten tangled up, and then died inside. Seriously, when I opened up the bag I felt like I was being physically assaulted by potpourri. Anyway, now my skirt is pleasantly, faintly sweet-smelling.

You can see here the weird shape of the waistband.

The skirt is a simple four-gored skirt, originally based on the OOP Simplicity 8375. I made up a size 10, my usual for Simplicity patterns, only to find the waist grossly oversized. Rather than take in all the seams, I settled for pleating the back to make a vague bustle-ish thing, which looks quite nice with all the stripes, in my opinion. The pattern calls for a simple long rectangle for the waistband, but between the shortness of the blouse back and the weight of the bustle/train, I knew I needed to have a waistband that would be much higher in the back. I ended up drafting this chevron thing, which looks nice in the front but needs some help in the back. I still need to figure out how to fix the closure so that it looks better, but at least it's high enough to cover the bottom of the blouse. I am also still waiting for my American Duchess Astorias to come in so that I know where to hem the skirt; it just hits the ground in front right now when I tippy-toe. I'm considering adding horsehair braid to help the hem stand out, but I'm not sure how that would work in the back with the dragging train.

I still want to make a shoulder-strappy-holster-vest-type-thing to round out this outfit, and then once I throw on all my various dangly things I'll be well on my way to a full-on steampunk detective outfit! The only reason why I chose detective, by the way, is because of my birthday magnifying glass from Anthropologie.

I'm technically not finished with the skirt, so I won't write up a summary just yet, and I'll put the summary for the blouse in the construction post. You're welcome, Shayna.

The awesome thing about the weird sleeve construction is what a wide range of motion I have, all without ever having to set in sleeves or make gussets! I seriously want to put this sleeve construction into everything now. And again, please ignore my hair.

My Mom Made My Dreams Come True

2012-05-13T12:51:00.001-07:00

Does Walnut's face look like he wants to use an exclamation mark?

I am only the "mother" of one cantankerous, adorable, mercurial, nosy, shedding-monster known as Walnut, and that is enough for now. Seriously, sewing with cats is nothing compared to sewing with small human beings! Even after my short once a week sessions with SHB, I must confess I get annoyed by her even-smaller-human-being brothers, so I know I'm not ready to be a mom anytime soon. I am so impressed by those of you who manage multiple small human beings, especially if they are of the under-five-years-of-age category.

Anyway, after seeing how difficult it is to wrangle three SHBs, I am even more impressed with my own mom. At one point she had a 6 year old, 4 year old, and a newborn, without even the benefit of any family nearby (my extended family was all in Hong Kong). I guess it was a little bit like old hat, though, considering that she had to drop out of primary school in HK to work to help support her family, as well as watch her multiple younger siblings. And somehow, with myself and my brother and sister underfoot, she managed to go back to college and earn her bachelor's degree in her second language, and go on to become a CPA. The crazy thing is that even while she was working that hard on making up for missed opportunities, I don't remember ever feeling neglected or lacking in attention from her in any way. She was always there to make our favorite foods for dinner, to make sure we were doing our Chinese school homework and practicing piano, and even teach us how to sew (we all made bean bags as our first project...filled with red/adzuki beans, of course, because we're azn like that). She laid down the law in terms of making sure we knew our Chinese vocab, but also let us constantly uhh, redecorate the living room...with Batman and Jurassic Park promotional materials, by rearranging all the furniture to make forts, and repaving the carpet with Lego pieces. As I got older, I took to hanging out in the kitchen with her while she made dinner, trying to learn Chinese cooking, but also sorting through feelings about boys. She is a veritable font of common sense and sound advice (even if I sometimes feel contrary about it simply because it is so sensible), and while not ooey-gooey-hugs-and-kisses-my-little-pumpkin, I have so many warm feelings when I think about the ways she showed she loves me.

One of those ways (I promise I'm being relevant to the fact that this is mostly a sewing blog now) that stands out most vividly is the dress she made for me when I was ten. Back then, I loved pink and Disney princesses and ball gowns, and I had dreams of a shiny, ruffly, fancy dress for my elementary school graduation. Well, amidst the busyness of caring for three kids, working, and studying, she somehow found the time to make me the dress of my dreams. And now that I've worked with polyester satin, I know what a fraytastic nightmare it must have been to make those multiple tiers of poly-satin (all of which need to be hemmed!), to attach all the pearl trim, and make sure the insides were finished enough that the dress lasted a whole year. I remember feeling so pretty (not a common feeling for me in those awkward years) as I floated across the stage, feeling all the tiers swish around me as I stopped to get my diploma.

Oh, 90s me, with the awkwardly large glasses and cluelessness regarding how one is supposed to produce a smile!

Now, of course, I look at the pictures of this reflective, dropped-waist (a style that most definitely does not suit me), poofy-shouldered, 90s horror, and I know I will never use it as an inspiration photo for one of those "re-create a favorite childhood outfit" challenges, but I loved it at the time and still remember the wonderful feeling and overwhelming happiness that my mom had made my dreams come true. Thank you, Mom, for your never-tiring efforts and inspiring example. Happy Mother's Day!

Blouse #0219 Step by Step Construction, Part 1

2012-05-10T07:57:00.001-07:00

This is a long post full of lots of pictures, so if you don't care to see the making of this blouse so far in nitty-gritty detail, content yourself with this picture of Walnut "helping" me tape the pattern together. Actual blouse construction after the jump.

Oh I'm sorry, did you need to tape this pattern together?
Also, I look like a kangaroo/T.rex with my huge back legs and front legs all tucked away.

Here is what the pattern looks like all taped together. It will not make a complete rectangle; three pages are "missing" but the pattern is actually complete. Apologies about the lighting; I was putting this together in the evening.

The pattern is missing a collar stand and cuff pattern pieces, and of course, there are no instructions! I have never made a blouse before, but figured it would be a good challenge to put this together to the best of my abilities. This is what I did; not all of it may be "right."

I cut two each (mirror images, of course) of the "blouse front and back" piece and the front yoke pieces. The back yoke piece is cut on the fold, so only one is needed. The button band is supposed to be cut on the bias, but if you're not matching a plaid/stripes, cut it on the straight grain instead so that it doesn't ripple out of shape. According to my method of construction, you will need four of them. Alternately, to minimize fussiness, you could extend the left front yoke piece by the width of two button bands, then add seam allowance at the edge, and fold that under instead of sewing on each strip on its own. As for the cuffs, cut a rectangle that is long enough to fit around your wrist, plus seam allowance and/or any overlap you might want, and twice as wide as you want it, plus seam allowance.

On the "Blouse Front and Back" piece, form the pleats by folding as directed on the pattern piece. Stitch across the top.

I also topstitched them down about 1.5" to reduce the poofiness, which you may or may not want to do.

I stay-stitched the neckline of all my yoke pieces, then stitched them at the shoulder seam, matching up the numbers on the pattern. (In case you're wondering why one front yoke piece is ultra-wrinkly, it's because I accidentally cut two left yokes and had to go back and re-cut a right yoke.)

If desired, add piping all around the edge of the blouse pieces. Stitch the piping on first using your zipper foot.

You will need to snip little notches to get the piping to turn corners.

To prepare the yoke pieces for sewing onto the main blouse piece, you'll need to reinforce the corners. Sew right at the seam line and use the shortest stitch length possible as you approach the corner, and then snip as close as you can to the line of stitching at the corner. Do this for all four corners. This enables you to stretch out this smaller angle to match the much larger angle of the blouse pieces.

Yoke and blouse pieces pinned together.

See how the tiny angle is stretched out to wrap around the corner? Also, for some reason my back yoke pieces ended up being much too wide for the blouse piece, so I made a few tiny pleats to make it fit. More on how that worked out for me later.

Sew the yoke and blouse pieces together with the blouse side facing up, so that you can see the line of stitching where you attached the piping. Try to adjust your needle position to sew to the left of that line.

Here's what the blouse looks like at this point. Finish the seams in the method of your choosing (I used seam binding) and then press the seam allowances toward the center of the blouse.

Back of the blouse. The pleats that I put into the yoke to make it fit ended up poofing out weirdly, so I pinned them down.

See? Hopefully you won't have this issue.

Poofs edgestitched down as best as I could.

Time for the tricky sleeve construction! Make sure yours are slashed in the corners (if yours says 1/8" seam allowance, ignore that and just cut down the middle of that part until you reach the point), and reinforce them as I showed before if you're feeling meticulous. I didn't.

Pin the side seams together first.

You'll need to do some maneuvering to get the underarm in place. I found it easiest to just pin the straight part and ignore the corners.

Continue up into the sleeve seam.

I found it easiest to leave the corners unpinned and then just manipulate them into place once I was at the sewing machine. I don't have pictures of the actual sewing, but it's similar to sewing in underarm gussets in terms of the sewing-around-a-corner bit. It was easiest for me to start sewing from the side seam until I reached the corner, then leave the needle down and pivot to get to the underarm edge. I only sewed halfway across the underarm, then started again at the sleeve seam so as to meet in the middle of the underarm. That way, the corner that I was spreading out was always on top so that I could see if I was actually catching all the fabric as I turned the corner.

Couldn't get the focus on my camera right, but hopefully you can see how the corner looks.

Some puckering on the other corner...

Still pretty good, though.

Phew, done with the scary sleeves! On to the button bands. Pin two of them together and sew down an edge.

Press the two bands together, enclosing the seam you just sewed. This is going to be the left button band, the side that is hidden and has the buttons sewed onto it.

Press the rightmost edge over at the seam line.

Pin the left, un-pressed edge to the left yoke. Sew.

Fold over the button band as shown above, so that the previously pressed edge hides the raw edge that you just sewed. Topstitch both side of the button band.

Here it is from the right side. Now all of the raw edges are enclosed inside the button band!

If you don't want piping (or some other trim) in your blouse, ignore these next few pictures and just make the right, overlapping, visible button band the same way. If you do want piping, sew your piping to the right yoke edge.

Sew another button band piece on top of that.

Flip that piece out, then add yet another piece of piping.

On top of that whole deal, add the last button band piece, with interfacing if your fabric is very flimsy. Mine was. From there, finish the same way the previous button band was finished: fold over the very last edge and press at the seam line, then enclose all the raw edges and topstitch.

Ta da! It's starting to look like a real blouse!

Now add some buttons. I didn't feel up to tackling that many buttonholes, so I made my buttons decorative and just used snaps underneath for the closure.

I hope that was helpful to somebody, and that I didn't just painfully slow down my husband's MW3:CoD game uploading these pictures for no good reason. I will continue documenting the rest of the process as I make the cuffs and collar.

Steampunk-Flavored Blouse In Progress

2012-05-09T08:30:00.013-07:00

This week's project: my next VPLL 1912 Project pattern, the strangely constructed #0219 blouse. At first glance, it didn't look too difficult, which is why I selected it. See, I've never made a non-stretchy top before (cat pajama Sorbetto doesn't really count), much less a button-down blouse. So, in the spirit of go-big-or-go-home, I decided that my first blouse pattern needed to not only be a multi-piece pattern, it also needed to be so vintage that it doesn't come with instructions. I thought that not having to do set-in sleeves would make it a lot easier, but let me tell you, it is the bizarrest sleeve construction I have ever seen! It's this odd zigzag of sleeve-to-underarm-to-bodice-side; I almost thought it was a mistake in the pattern at first. Anyway, after mulling it over and experimenting with pin-basting, I realized that it was not unlike sewing underarm gussets in technique, and proceeded wibble less, and sew more. And now that I've done it, I have to say it's one of the cleverest sleeve constructions I have ever seen as well! I may or may not try to duplicate this in the future if I'm feeling particularly ambitious...

The red line indicates the seam line...that's all one continuous stitch!

Also, in case you didn't notice, the fabric is printed all over with these little clocks! From far away, it kind of just looks like a drab, vaguely-floral, ugly prairie-dress print, but up close, well, you must agree with me when I say I thought it was perfect for a steampunk-y Edwardian blouse. I found it in the $1/yd bin at Fabric Planet (the same one Oona was recognized at!), so I'm not exactly sure what it is. It feels like a nice cotton lawn, though, so I figured it would work for a blouse. To bring out more of that ubiquitous steampunk-y brown color, I threw in some piping at all the relevant seams. After the brain-stress of the sleeves and the piping around corners, though, I didn't yet feel like tackling all those buttonholes, so instead I opted to just make my buttons decorative and have the front close with snaps instead.

Brass-colored filigree-ish buttons covering the hidden snaps underneath.
Also, they are attempting to distract you from noticing how rippled the bias strip got on the button band.

I'm really pleased with how nice all the seam binding looks inside!

Anti-climactic reveal of the blouse so far: pretty shapeless. Also, I didn't even try to match the print.

I know, it doesn't look like much yet. I promise it looks much better when it's tucked into a skirt and not just poofing out all over the place! So, the next step is adding the cuffs and collar. Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't come with a cuff pattern either, so it looks like I'll just be winging it with an appropriately-sized rectangle and lots of staring at the existing cuffed blouses in my wardrobe. As for the collar, it's supposed to detachable, but I really don't even know how that would work. Here are the pattern pieces...any ideas?

Both collar pieces are labelled "upper collar." You can also see the oddly shaped bodice/sleeve combo piece.

Pink Sew Weekly: Horrockses-esque Vintage Vogue 8789

2012-05-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Thank you again to all of you who voted and stated your opinions regarding the stripe placement on this dress! As you can see, in the end I went with vertical stripes. Reasoning being, I realized that working with twin sheets, I was restricted in pattern piece layout options; chevrons weren't going to work. As for choosing vertical over horizontal stripes, I felt that the flowers looked better going vertically; I do still want to try my hand at another Horrockses-esque dress with horizontal stripes, though. I've already put Shayna on the lookout for more floral-striped bedsheets!

Back view.

I'm pretty happy with the final dress; with my hair up and my red wedges, I felt very Sara Crewe in her rose dancing dress (from Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess, even though I know my flowers aren't roses and the dress is more 1950's than Victorian England). I'm still considering this a very wearable muslin, though, since the bodice could still use some more fitting. I wasn't sure what the sizing was going to be like, so I cut a size 12, which was, in hindsight, definitely wrong. I eventually took in the side seams to be more of a size 10, but from the gaping under my arms and the excessive waist ease, I could have gone down to an 8. The bust is definitely too large; it wasn't so obvious when I just had the bodice on, but with the weight of the skirts pulling it down, there's a lot of extra fabric under the bust. When I got home, I actually fiddled some with the darts and ended up trying to take in some more fabric by widening and shaping the darts a little. It looks a little better, but I think the fact that these patterns are generally meant for B-cups was somehow really emphasized in this pattern. Generally I'm okay without doing an SBA, but I definitely need to here. It's hard to say, though, whether this pattern genuinely runs large or I'm just used to wearing bodices with no ease.

You can see that the bodice is looser on me than my normal dress bodices.

Because of the excess ease in the bodice, though, I was definitely able to do justice to the ten-course wedding banquet! I do love going to Chinese wedding banquets; even at an average restaurant the food is still better than most catered or hotel wedding dinners. In case you haven't had the pleasure of attending such an affair, here's what we had Saturday night (vegetarians, look away!):

Some people take pretty pictures of their food all artfully arranged; I am not those people. Here is what it looks like, mid-meal-mess.

Cold meats platter: Roast duck, soy sauce chicken, BBQ pork, seaweed salad, and my absolute favorite, jellyfish
Winter melon soup, cooked in an actual melon (so that you can scrape down the sides like some kind of bizarro bread-bowl
Shrimp balls (the teacher of sophomore boys part of me wants to say "shrimp spheres") with broccoli, kind of like lion's head meatballs except with shrimp
Steamed red snapper: there is nothing quite as tasty as a fresh fish (as in alive thirty minutes ago) steamed whole, with tasty tasty soy sauce, ginger, and scallion sauce
Fried lobster with garlic and hot peppers: need I say more? The coating is like crack.
Mustard greens with shiitake mushrooms and abalone: my husband refuses to kiss me after I have mustard greens because their flavor is so incredibly assertive, but it's one of my favorite vegetables.
Bird's nest with filet mignon and asparagus: my parents never used to let me have the actual nest part (deep-fried things are too 熱氣), so it's always a treat to be able to eat as much as I want of those crunchy fried noodles as an adult.
Peking duck: roast duck is one of those things I really only eat at wedding banquets, as that half-centimeter thick layer of fat under the skin doesn't bear to much thinking about.
Seafood fried rice: honestly, not my favorite part of the meal, as it pales in comparison to everything that's come before. Still, it makes for excellent leftovers the next day.
Mango pudding: I know it's ultra-easy to make at home, but somehow I never do. It makes it all the more special at banquets.

It's the kind of meal where you can get full just reading the description of it -- pacing is definitely key! It's a good thing I didn't wear my Ms. Joan Frizzle dress, as there's no way I could have made it past the fourth course. Unfortunately, a side effect of such a meal is lots of oil-based sauces flying every which way (or maybe I'm just an uncoordinated eater), because I got fish sauce on the bodice of my dress...boo. It seems to mostly have come out, but I definitely need to make a note to self: don't wear light-colored (or tight) dresses to wedding banquets.

Anyway, the object of this blog is to chronicle my me-made garments, not other-people-made-food, so back to the dress. The skirt looked a little deflated when I first made it up, so 1) shortened it considerably, 2) added horsehair braid to the hem for the first time, and 3) wore the saddest crinoline ever under it. It's the saddest crinoline because it was so cobbled together last-minute (from some hideous polyester curtain lining, leftover elastic bits, and I-brought-it-home-from-somebody's-wedding-because-otherwise-they-would-have-thrown-it-away-tulle). It's so hideous that I'm too embarrassed to show a picture here, and you know I'm not too embarrassed to show pictures of my cat and I jumping on the bed in our pajamas, so that should give you an idea of how hideous it is. Whatever, it did its job and held out my skirts. I felt lovely and floaty (and self-concious about the bodice size, but knew that that was only an issue for me) the whole day, and it was really too bad that I had to leave the rocking dance floor to drive back to TCOCC and give Walnut a reprieve from himself.

You can see how the horsehair really helps the skirt hem to stand out.

My most invisible lapped side zip yet!

Summary:
Fabric: two thrifted twin fitted sheets, 100% cotton (surprising!)
Notions: seam binding, 14" zipper, 3 yards of 1/2" polyester horsehair braid
Techniques: Matching stripes to make chevrons, lapped side zipper (still not a fan of how difficult it is to take off such dresses), horsehair braid
Hours: 7? I kind of lost track, as I was pushing it to be finished in time for the wedding. Plus post-wedding dart-futzing.
Will you make this again? I do, in fact, want to make this pattern again! I really like the chevron effect in the bodice, and the all-in-one bodice+facing is very, very clever. I was hesitant about buying this pattern (even if it was on sale) because it seemed so basic, but I think it's worth it just for the bodice pattern pieces.
Total cost: $10 ($3/sheet, $2 for the zipper, $2 for the horsehair braid)
Final thoughts: I like this dress quite a bit, and it's definitely turned me onto chevrons. I originally planned to wear something else to this wedding, and only started on this dress because the pink stripes fit the Sew Weekly Tickled Pink challenge, but I'm glad I finished it in time for the wedding. At first, I felt a little silly wearing this giant, poofy-skirted retro floral dress when I saw all the other tiny Asian girls wearing their sleek cocktail dresses, but I felt better when, at the end of the night, a girl I didn't know came up specifically to ask me about my dress (sad, but sometimes I feel like it's not a "real" compliment unless it's from a stranger who doesn't know I made it myself).

Here's what the inside of the bodice looks like. I didn't bother binding the seams here, opting to just pink them instead, because it's cut on the bias and won't fray, and also because the pink seam binding shows through slightly. I love the chevron on the neckline facing, and I still need to tack down the armhole facings better.

I can't wait to try more chevron-ed dresses (especially with a chevron-ed skirt, too!), but it will need to wait until I've finished my next VPLL 1912 project pattern: this blouse that comes with no instructions! Call me crazy, but I've never made a buttoned, cuffed, collared blouse before, and I'm going to dive right in with a vintage one with no directions. Wish me luck!

The spiral staircase at the church was begging for an awkward prom picture with my husband.

These Are the Cats Pajamas

2012-05-04T07:41:00.002-07:00

LITERALLY.

They are also, in my opinion, the absolutely ugliest shade of beige for my skin, which is the only reason why this SPECATULAR (yes, you read that right; it's not a typo) fabric from my stash didn't get turned into yet another whimsical print dress. But I really, really, really like the cats playing all over it, so I had to turn it into something that I could wear and enjoy, but nobody else would see me wearing and enjoying -- hence pajamas. Only I just defeated the purpose of nobody seeing this fabric next to my skin by posting photos on teh interwebs, but I never claimed to always make sense.

I'm so happy that there's a cat back on my back.

When I first caught a whiff of Karen's Pyjama Party here in the sewing blogiverse, I ignored it because I like sewing frosting, and everyday-pajamas-that-nobody-is-going-to-see definitely fall into the cake category. Also, I thought all my pajamas were fine. Then, right as everyone started posting their super cute pj's and I started feeling a tiny bit of envy, my two favorite pairs of pajama pants ripped. Large, unsightly holes in extremely awkward places, or else I would show you. And it's no wonder, too, as these well-loved flannel pieces are, ahem, the same ones I've been wearing since college. Which, if you know that my first students are now old enough to be getting engaged to each other, is seriously kind of gross, although I promise I do laundry regularly. So then I figured that this was a sign that I need to get off the frosting train (what's next? pants?!??) and make some new pajamas.

Is this not the best thrift store sheet find ever?! I swear I did not pose Walnut there.

Okay, now that the awkward confessions are over, let's talk about the actual making of these. The bottoms are traced off of the less horrendously ripped pair (which I'll also confess that I patched up, as the hole wasn't that bad), then put together following Karen's instructions. I French seamed everything (these pajamas have some long-lived predecessors to live up to!) and even got to keep the hem of the sheets as the hem of my pants. Unfortunately, the previous owners of these sheets (of course they're thrifted; whose blog do you think you're reading?) seem to have used this queen-size flat sheet as a paint drop cloth (why would you ever do such a thing to such awesome sheets?!), so I had to cut carefully to not only place cats strategically, but to avoid paint droplets. Thankfully, they also seem to have been fairly good painters, as the drops are mostly small and near edges.

Check out my beautiful French seams!

So I usually just wear old free t-shirts instead of actual pajama tops, but then I was inspired by Leah's matched set and totally copied her and used the Sorbetto pattern to make a matching tank top, minus the pleat. I ended up having to lower the armscye considerably and take in the sides near the bottom (and the bust dart could stand to be lowered too), but all in all pretty decent for a free pattern. The seams are also French, making this my very first outfit (if it can be called such) with absolutely no exposed raw edges!! And now I can also finally join the ranks of people who have made up Sorbettos, albeit not in a wear-out-in-public form.

Summary:
Fabric: Some kind of poly-cotton blend sheet, I'm guess it would translate to about almost two yards of a 45" wide material. I've had these sheets for quite some time, but couldn't bring myself to use them because of the color, nor have I wanted to give them away/donate them because cats!!! Thankfully, they're well-loved sheets, which means they are scrumptiously soft and thin and airy.
Notions: 3/4" elastic, bias tape
Techniques used: French seams, making pants!!! I'm surprised I didn't manage to sew the legs together or something.
Hours: about three...so easy!
Will you make this again? Now that I know how awesome matched pj's are, yes! Also I still have enough sheet to make about four more sets, so...
Total cost: $3 (a dollar each for the fabric, the elastic, and the bias tape)
Final thoughts: I'm pretty giddy about these. I really wish they weren't such a hideous color, or else I would totally make a Sorbetto dress out of this fabric. What do you think, can I get away with it, or should I just make enough sets of cats pajamas to last for the rest of my life?

Can you tell how excited I am?

I decided Walnut had to join in on the jumping on the bed fun.

This might be the best picture I have ever posted on my blog.

Also, thanks to all of you who provided opinions about the stripe layout for my Horrockses/Horcruxes dress; I really appreciate your taking the time to vote and write out your thoughts. I realized I didn't have enough fabric to cut on the bias to make chevrons anyway (something you'd think I would've checked before offering it as an option, but I have lots of striped fabric waiting to be chevron-ed, so if you voted for that, I'll get to one eventually!), so I decided to go with the vertical stripes. Pictures to come post-wedding!

I'm too late for the party, but here's me and my current bedtime reading anyway: East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, one of my favorite novels ever. I'm rereading it for book club, and I can't wait to discuss it! Book club also means spending the night with Shayna, so there was extra incentive to make new pajamas (especially since she was with me when I got these sheets!)

Help! Your Opinion on Stripes Is Needed!

2012-05-03T07:16:00.002-07:00

I'm in the middle of sewing up my Vintage Vogue 8789, the chevron-ed bodice version. In my inspiration sketch, I had originally written that I wanted a circle skirt, but I'm kind of just not feeling it. So here are my new options, and I can't decide which to go with!

If you can read my terrible iPad handwriting.

Here's an example of a real Horrockses dress with horizontal stripes in the skirt:

Plenty more like this here.

This is the pattern envelope illustration, which has the vertical stripes:

From here. I'm making the one on the left, obviously.

And here's my inspiration for the double-chevron look (I don't want to just steal her photo for my blog, so please go look at her fabulous dress). Dapper Duds' choice of fabric+pattern is just awesome! I'm concerned about all the bias, though, as I want to wear this to a wedding on Saturday and don't know if that's sufficient for the fabric to finish stretching. The horizontal stripes might be too widening, or is that just a fashion urban legend? And the vertical stripes are just so expected. So there are my arguments. In case you need to see what my actual fabric looks like, and not just my doodles, here:

Quick and horribly green-tinted photo of the bodice so far. I am so sad that the darts cut off the nice stripes! :(

Two Turquoise Tees: BCT Chevrons and Sewasaurus!

2012-05-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Having finished my very involved faire garb, I needed something quick and easy to ease me back into sewing. I fished out this striped turquoise jersey from the stash, and inspired by Steph of 3hourspast's February hack of the Blank Canvas Tee, I made this chevron tee. I didn't think I could pull off the cutout in the front, so I opted to just use the back view for both the front and back. I also shortened the sleeves and ignored the binding, instead just folding over and topstitching to hem the neck and armholes. I didn't bother finishing the bottom because I intend to always have this tucked in, but I may go back and add a strip to the bottom à la Renfrew if I feel particularly inspired some day.

I'm pretty pleased with my stripe-matching.

I need to work on my v-necks though. Folding over doesn't work so well at the point, so both the front and back have awkward bits.

Iffy point foldover. I realized belatedly that I made this wrong side out.
Oh well. I doubt anyone will really notice. And if they do, hopefully they're
not so snarky as to point it out to me?

Summary:
Fabric: Questionable content knit from a thrift store; I used about 2/3 yd and still have 1/2 yd left for yet another tee? How many turquoise-and-white striped tees does a person really need?
Notions: none
Techniques used: Cutting (and sewing) on the bias, stripe matching (mostly successfully)
Hours: A mere two! An hour for fussy cutting and pinning, but the actual sewing went pretty quickly.
Will you make this again? Not this particular combination, no, but chevrons, yes, and BCT hack, yes.
Total cost: $2
Final thoughts: Eternal gratefulness to Steph for generously releasing her pattern for our use! Also, wondering why I ever bought this color, as it doesn't match anything else in my wardrobe except this black skirt (coincidentally sprung into being at the same time as my previous BCT hacks). Oh wait, I know, I was just so excited to find actual yardage (and not just another sheet) at the thrift store I just snatched it up without thinking too hard about its place in my closet color scheme.

This tee was also intended to be a low-commitment piece to warm up for the chevron dress that I want to make for the Sew Weekly pink challenge. I'll be using Vintage Vogue 8789 to make a Horrockses-inspired dress. Wish my cutting and pinning luck -- this is not a time to be committing sewing sins!

Obviously my drawing cut out a dress several sizes too big for her, not unlike most sewing pattern models on the pattern envelopes. And she's holding her arms out weirdly to help it stay on and look like it fits properly, thereby deceiving us pattern buyers.

But because I'm still a crazed sewasaurus rex at heart, and because I found a brand new tee at the thrift store (with nothing on it, so a literal blank canvas!), I decided to go ahead and make myself a "screenprint" tee with my sewasaurus rex graphic on it.

Reusing my freezer paper stencil, because I'm too lazy to cut another one. I had to throw it away after this, though, as I tore it when pulling it off. :( You'll also notice that I was too lazy to wash the Greek yogurt lid that I use as a paint palette after making Oona's bag. When I'm lazy, I'm really lazy.

Finished tee, sad nighttime bathroom mirror shot.

That's two turquoise tees in two days. Good thing I like this color, even if doesn't really match anything in my wardrobe except black bottoms.

It's Here, It's Here, That Shocking Time of Year

2012-05-01T08:05:00.002-07:00

Shocking as in, I can't believe that it's already May! It's May, it's May, the month of yes-you-may! The time for every frivolous whim, proper or "im!" Does anyone else like that musical? My dad introduced me to it when I was young, and while it's not my favorite musical, it does make me feel awfully nostalgic to remember my dad trying to inspire us with the ideals of Camelot.

Anyway, here is my list of interesting reading from last month, not all of it sewing-related:

I'm sure everyone has already seen Tilly's analysis of the real cost of sewing, but here it is again anyway. I don't think it's very true of me, mostly because I cut a lot of corners when it comes to fabric choice. I mostly sew with thrifted sheets, and even when I make clothes from "real" fabric, it's from the discounted bin and is less than $3/yd more often than not. I also use the really thin, worn down sheets as my lining fabric, so that also saves money. Lastly, my patterns are always bought on sale at Joann's or thrifted; rarely do I use a pattern that costs more than a dollar. That said, I think my spendthrift ways do limit me in terms of what I can sew; I have yet to find a gorgeous silk or sturdy denim in thrift stores or the sale section of a fabric store.
Sue at Sewin' Steady posted about the odd embarrassment that comes with talking about one's me-made clothing. Personally, I get weirded out (but in the best way possible!) when people I am only good acquaintances with talk about how they read my blog. Sometimes I forget that my audience isn't just other sewists (who presumably have something to gain by reading my prattlings about fit and sewing techniques) and my closest friends (who don't sew, but read my blog ~~out of pity~~ because they don't live in TCOCC and want to hear about my life). I also get concerned when people find out I sew and then they ask if everything I'm wearing is made by me. If that's you, and you're reading this, I don't make screenprinted tees and jeans.
Trena the Slapdash Sewist posted about the pricing on wedding (and RTW) dresses and concluded that non-sewists don't understand how much work it is to sew clothing. Having looked at the prices of lace and silk myself, I agree with her analysis. And I'm embarrassed by the fact that a mere two years ago (right before I started sewing seriously), I was outraged at having to pay $400 for alterations to my wedding dress. Now, I look at the lace appliques and the several layers of skirt (and with some experience sewing with chiffon and silk, and knowing how freaking annoying it is to take apart and alter a well-made garment) and think that my alterations lady really gave me a very fair price. It's akin to random solicitors who see my Star Wars dress and ask if I can make one for them for $30.
In a similar vein, this older article on Etsy about the history of the cheap dress was also fascinating, especially as I toy with the idea of opening an Etsy shop. And even as a sewist who values (and makes) well-made, custom-fitted articles that will stand the test of time, I'm still tempted to go crazy at the sale racks at Forever 21 and H&M. When my sister and mom come home with adorable nautical-striped acrylic sweaters, my resolve to buy only five items of RTW clothing this year is severely tested.
Not sewing-related, but still close to my heart: a blogger for Tor posted about the lack of diversity in D&D characters. I myself play a purple-eyed, silver-haired eladrin, but I definitely noticed his points when I flipped through my manuals. If there were Asian-ish characters, I don't know that I would play them (for fear of dragon lady/geisha association baggage), but it would be nice to have the option to reject them, you know?
Dressed in Time posted a brief catalog of odd-but-beautiful implements of yesteryear. I am totally going to be on the lookout for asparagus spoons now when I go thrifting!
In case you need some cute in your life: this video of a kitten drinking milk has the best noises ever recorded in the history of the world. If I didn't have a vocal cat myself, I wouldn't have believed it possible. And then there's this book of art depicting life for Darth Vader and Luke had the former not been an absentee parent. I love the references to lines from the movies!
Lier of Ikatbag had the chance to meet a legendary weaver, and graciously shared her experience with teh interwebs. I am always so impressed by people who are absolute masters (mistresses?) of their craft; I know I don't have that kind of dedication at all! I am more the type to try dabbling in everything (jack of all trades, master of none is totally me) and end up with half-assed attempts at all sorts of crafts. I did actually try tapestry weaving for a quarter when I was in college, and managed to produce this sad sampler:

At one time I entertained the idea of wearing this as a bizarre sort of scarf; now I just keep it in a drawer.

I don't remember what any of the terms are anymore, but I do remember that it was really tricky to keep the tension?
width? looseness of the weave? more or less even. The bit at the right was my very first section,
where I obviously had no idea what I was doing and made everything way too tight.

Eventually I lost interest and returned my rented table loom, but I have so much respect for people who do this for a living! I also can't even imagine cutting into fabric you wove. Have any of you ever tried weaving? Are you multi-craft dabblers, like I am, or do you just have one or two crafts that you strive to perfect?

Ye Olde Renaissance Pleasure Faire

2012-04-30T08:08:00.014-07:00

We got up super-early so that we could get out there in
time for the opening ceremony. Here I am in my full garb!

On Saturday, Elaine and her fiance, Mu, came with me to the Ren Faire in Irwindale. Mu is a real faire person, having worked at the faires in both NorCal and Tucson, and he got Elaine into it, and she got me into it, and The Dreamstress made me believe that I could make my own costume, and that is how I ended up at the faire in my own home-made garb! It was seriously so much more fun (and accurate) than my first Ren Faire dress-up experience.

Oddly enough, my black unlined unfinished-seam polyester fake suede bodice from last time (which was really so many kinds of wrong) was made using the same pattern that I used for my kirtle. This time, though, I have three additional years of sewing experience under my belt, and more knowledge about historical costuming thanks to many hours of research. Last time, I thought one could just throw things together in a generic, vaguely historical fantasy wench sort of look; knowing what I know now, I look at my uncovered, unsecured hair and crimson tiered skirts with a sort of cringe-face. I have to say that Mu was incredibly gracious last time in lending me a hat to cover my head and a belt for my pouch and generally helping me make the best I could of my thrown-together costume. This time, I still had to borrow his belt (not having located a suitable one in my thrifting adventures), but I felt much better about my whole outfit.

It was pirate weekend at the faire, so there were many, many people in generic pirate-y things, and I have to say that I was very tempted to just go as a generic pirate queen, but I'm glad I went as I did. We had lots of fun wandering around looking at the wares (I did indulge in a tiny working brass spyglass), eating overpriced faire food (a surprisingly tasty cottage pie), admiring the nobility's costumes (and wondering how they could stand so many layers on a sweltering day), watching various naughty minstrel shows (I especially enjoyed the Merry Wives of Windsor and the Poxy Boggards), and watching demos and learning about various artisanal crafts (leather stamping, quill pen making, blacksmithing, weaving, and blackwork embroidery).

One of the first things we did was make little stamped leather necklaces at the kids' table. Yup, that's right, and of course I chose a ~~triceratops~~ horned dragon. I'm just a kid at heart, what with dressing up an all.

With a "real" dragon.

Don't drop the Queen! The procession was very grand, and the costumes incredible.

The Merry Wives of Windsor, with some incredible stripe-matching to make the chevrons in their bodices.

The very nice lady at St. Ives who showed us how to clean, temper, hollow out and carve feathers for quill pens.

Blackwork embroidery on a standing frame.

Spinning and weaving.

Totally random: there was a Nazgul wandering around! I snagged a picture with him and his incredible armor.

We came home hot and dusty and tired, but it was so much fun. To cap it all off, Elaine and I indulged in all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, thereby adding another layer of smoky smells to our wandering-around-sweating-in-crowds smell. All in all, an excellent day. I'm so glad that Elaine and Mu were willing to drive out from Tucson to go to the faire with me!

And because I've been forgetting to post poems, for this last day of National Poetry Month, one of my absolute favorite geeky poems:

The Day the Saucers Came, by Neil Gaiman

That day, the saucers landed.
Hundreds of them, golden,

Silent, coming down from the sky like great snowflakes,

And the people of Earth stood and stared as they descended,

Waiting, dry-mouthed to find what waited inside for us

And none of us knowing if we would be here tomorrow

But you didn't notice it because

That day, the day the saucers came, by some coincidence,

Was the day that the graves gave up their dead

And the zombies pushed up through soft earth

or erupted, shambling and dull-eyed, unstoppable,

Came towards us, the living, and we screamed and ran,

But you did not notice this because

On the saucer day, which was the zombie day, it was

Ragnarok also, and the television screens showed us

A ship built of dead-man's nails, a serpent, a wolf,

All bigger than the mind could hold, and the cameraman could

Not get far enough away, and then the Gods came out

But you did not see them coming because

On the saucer-zombie-battling gods day the floodgates broke

And each of us was engulfed by genies and sprites

Offering us wishes and wonders and eternities

And charm and cleverness and true brave hearts and pots of gold

While giants feefofummed across the land, and killer bees,

But you had no idea of any of this because

That day, the saucer day the zombie day

The Ragnarok and fairies day, the day the great winds came

And snows, and the cities turned to crystal, the day

All plants died, plastics dissolved, the day the

Computers turned, the screens telling us we would obey, the day

Angels, drunk and muddled, stumbled from the bars,

And all the bells of London were sounded, the day

Animals spoke to us in Assyrian, the Yeti day,

The fluttering capes and arrival of the Time Machine day,

You didn't notice any of this because

you were sitting in your room, not doing anything

not even reading, not really, just

looking at your telephone,

wondering if I was going to call.

And if you wanted to hear it read aloud, I like this version because it sounds so grave and important. Thanks for bearing with all the random poems this month!

Sew Weekly Challenge: Kirtle?!

2012-04-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I managed to get pictures in my finished Ren Faire garb! I'm wearing just the chemise and kirtle here, though, and not my petticoat or pair of bodies (or my hat and caul and other accoutrements). After checking the weather report for tomorrow, I've decided against proper underthings (I know, how scandalous!) since it will be just too many layers. My torso will just have to be unattractively un-conical.

Hmmm, am I still fit to see the queen?

I've already mentioned the hand-sewn eyelets, but I did want to make a couple of other construction notes. This is the first time I've ever cut and sewn an entire bodice all from one flat pattern piece! That's right, the back, straps, and front are dart and sideseam-less; I obviously had to sew the shoulder straps together and the front opening has a modesty panel added in and all, but I never would have expected a pattern like this to fit so well without any shaping. I know it's only possible because I, errrr, have such a small apple dumpling shop, but that had better be good for something, right? Anyway, it looks properly conical over the pair of bodies. The skirt portion is just a giant tube very tightly gathered (I was so scared my gathering threads were going to break!); I didn't feel like, nor have time for, cartridge pleating.

And in case you're thinking, gosh, that blue-on-white combination looks awfully familiar, let me show you my outfit in another context.

Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar/ I wonder if she's feeling well/ With a dreamy far-off look/
And her nose stuck in a book/ What a puzzle to the rest of us is...

Yes, that's right, I deliberately chose to make my garb look like Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I'm pretty sure that the organizers of That's Sew Cinematic didn't have cartoon characters in mind, but hey, when I make impractical clothing, I really make impractical clothing. Go big or go home, right? Anyway, this falls into the "Frocks from the Flicks" category. How did I even decide to do this? Blame it on this example of a kirtle that caught my eye from Google image search, and combined with these historical Disney princess art pieces, my brain somehow spit out "hey, make your garb look like a Disney princess." I am aware, of course, that Beauty and the Beast supposedly takes place in the 18th century, and my garb is more appropriate for the 16th century, but hey, Belle's little town is extremely provincial. Like two-centuries-behind provincial.

Okay, that's all well and good, but how does this have anything to do with the Sew Weekly challenges? Well, last week's (yes, I know, I'm behind) Sew Weekly challenge was supposed to be inspired by a childhood photo/outfit. Here is my first inspiration photo.

I'm the one with the scary 80s-era eyeglasses.

Hmmm...cornflower blue overdress with a poofy-sleeved white shirt underneath? That works awfully well for what I was already toying with...and hey, a few pictures later:

Tie-dyed sweatshirt with Belle and Mrs. Potts. Oh dear.

Yeah, so, apparently I really loved Belle. And no wonder, as she's the nerdiest of the Disney princesses.

That inspiration was the main reason why I chose to make a collared shift, and not the square-necked
or drawstring-encased one that seems to be more common.

Summary:
Fabric: A twin extra-long bedsheet from my college dorm years was barely sufficient for making the entire kirtle. When I was drafting my pattern, I quickly realized that if I wanted my skirt to be sufficiently full, I wasn't going to be able to afford any seams on the bodice, nor even any attempt at paying attention to grainline. I lined the bodice with that stiff linen-rayon blend that I had originally bought for the chemise.
Notions: Two plastic cable ties for the bodice opening, a hook and eye for the skirt opening.
Techniques: Drafting an Elizabethan bodice pattern
Hours: Seven, but that's including all the eyelets. I listened to several months' worth of Radiolab podcasts.
Will you make this again? Unlikely. How many such outfits does one need?
Total cost: The blue sheet I've had in my stash for at least a decade so I'm counting it as free, and the eyelets and lacing were made with a $0.39-skein of embroidery floss, so with the cable ties and lining, I'll say $3.
Final thoughts: I really, really, really love dressing up. I really hope my kids like dressing up one day, because goodness knows, Walnut doesn't.

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere...

It looks a little bit like I might be flying here.

This Week in Fabric

2012-04-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

After spending a day recovering from the awesomeness that is Oonaballoona (more like telling anyone who would listen about how much fun I had with her), I finally got to work on 1) documenting the fabric I bought, and 2) working on that kirtle that I thought I had so much time for.

Beautifully embroidered chiffons, and an almost matching piece of rose-colored satin. I still have black chiffon left over from my GoF dress, so I'm thinking a black and pink evening gown. The cream colored piece will be perfect for an afternoon tea gown.

1) I came home with a good 20 yards of beautiful fabric, enough to make that Downton Abbey-esque evening gown and that Edwardian tea gown that I have so many places to wear to. Did that sentence make sense? Right, I need to stop making costumes that I can't wear on a regular basis. I promise, just as soon as I finish up the aforementioned two gowns and my chintz 18th century gown.

I also got a bag of trims that will be perfect for embellishing this imaginary evening gown. Of course Walnut had to investigate these new trims. Doesn't that brown beaded stuff make him look so distinguished? Actually, he looks more round than anything else.

Better picture of the trims. The whole bag was $5!

I also got some jersey for making maxi dresses for the summer, as well as a red and blue stripey woven shirting fabric that will be perfect for yet another nautical look. I think I could do a Me-Made-Nautical week. *Crosses fingers that SF will have some warm days this summer*

Fuschia and white knit with a huge lily motif (I know, this is a terrible picture), teal jersey, nautical striped woven.

Purple/blue/turquoise/indigo/black/white/gray rayon, a navy striped knit, and a hunk of real fur. Still attached to a very living cat.

As Oona mentioned, all of this at the astounding rate of $1/yard!

My new kirtle, hastily arranged on Cecily, who is a good half foot shorter than me, hence the green IKEA stool legs sticking out.

Laced with anachronistic braided embroidery floss.

2) My kirtle is done! It took a while just to figure out how I wanted to put it together, and the resultant garment isn't anywhere near as historically accurate as I wanted it to be, but hey, when you're on a time and fabric crunch, you've got to pick your battles, right? I decided not to pick the fabric choice, bodice pattern, or construction battles, and went for the hand-sewed eyelets battle. I've fought that battle before and know how to fight it well. I also went for the spiral lacing battle, and I think it worked out better than the first time I fought that battle, seeing as how this time I didn't make a random extra eyelet.

As you can see in the first set of pictures, I also thrifted a nice straw hat and made a little caul for my hair. And to top it all off, I even made myself a little leather pouch for my 21st century items (iPhone, ID, credit cards, lipgloss, etc.), using yet another scrap from the leather grandma pants. Seriously, those are the pants that never stop giving, as I still have a whole calf and several pocket scraps left. I guess in that way it's very grandmotherly, since grandmas are supposed to always be giving out cookies and milk and hand-knitted sweaters? Anyway, it's very non-historically accurate, this pouch, being bound with embroidery floss and fastening with the most vaguely medieval-ish metal button I had and an elastic hairband. Even better, the inside is lined with poly-cotton. I also put two straps on the back so that I can thread it onto my belt.

I'm going to try to make my husband take pictures of my wearing everything later. We'll see if it happens. Still left to do: hem my petticoat and figure out the shoe situation. I am so excited about tomorrow though!

Sewasaurus Rex Collapsible Tote Bag

2012-04-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of meeting up with the incredible Oonaballoona. I have to confess, I felt a little bit of awkward-kid-gets-an-invitation-to-go-to-a-cool-kid's-birthday-party anxiety. After all, Oona's Oona Does It! series is pretty legen -- wait for it -- dary, which is how I ended up being sucked into reading (and being reduced to giggle tears) her blog, and I haven't looked back since. So I was a little nervous when we started throwing emails at each other about meeting up to do some fabric shopping in the Fashion District. Would she like me? Would I be able to stammer out anything other than incoherent sentences about cats? Would my dress of the day not contain enough bright colors? I realized that the obvious solution was to bring her an offering. Like when the awkward kid is only allowed to eat lunch at that table in the cafeteria because she can do all the math homework.* Well, being that I have her (well, actually Ruggy) to thank for the term "sewasaurus rex," I decided to make her a thank you bag. And fill it with the Oona-est fabric I had in my stash.

Yup, it's one of those newfangled collapsible bags that are so popular among plastic bag eschewers.
Confession: that orange jersey was donated to me, and I was pretty sure that I would never use it.

This is what the bag looks like when collapsed in on itself. This is not what it looks like with the fabric inside, though.
It is not a Tardis or a wizarding tent.

She was really so gracious and kind about my little arts-and-crafts bag, not to mention ridiculously fun to hang out with. We traipsed around the Fashion District enabling each others' sewing purchases, talking up a storm about sewing and cats (yes, Walnut managed to sneak into the conversation), and reminding each other that "it's only $1/yard!" at crucial points. All in all a satisfactory day. Anyway, if you would like to be as cool as Oona and also sport this bag, here's how I did it:

Sorry about doing the whole thing in red pen; it's what I had. Also, gray shading = wrong side of the fabric, and the other colors were just to distinguish between the pieces. Obviously you are allowed to make a non-blue strap and non-pink outer bag.

Go here to get the download for the Sewasaurus Rex image. In the spirit of full disclosure, this is just the outline of the T.rex from Dinosaur Comics, blown up and traced by me, with the addition of a seam ripper. Once you print it out, you can trace it onto freezer paper with the use of the cheapest lightbox ever: tape and a sunny window.

Trace onto the non-shiny side of the freezer paper.

This is what mine looked like while it was drying.

I won't go into detail about making freezer paper stencils here, as there are quite a few out there on teh interwebs, but for a brief overview, I cut out the design, ironed it onto my fabric (a donated 70/30 poly-cotton blend IKEA curtain that was too hideous for apparel), then went to town with fabric paint (Tulip brand from Joann's). I free-handed the words "SEWASAURUS REX" in fabric marker, ironed to heat-set all the pigments, then got to work making the bag. This project also marked the first time I have ever made bias tape myself, and gosh, I don't know what I was afraid of. It's so easy and kind of addicting; now I'm sad about all the times I wasted money buying the packaged bias tape.

That moment when you peel off the freezer paper to reveal the finished image is kind of magical.
Also, ignore my blotchy paint job. It was only my first time ever making one of these!

The bag, all sewn up, before I added the drawstring.

With the drawstring.

This is what the inside looked like. Confession: I used blue because that's the only color where I had the correct combination of fabric paint, seam binding, and suitable ribbon.

So there you have it -- you, too, can have a collapsible bag that will fit in your purse for spur-of-the-moment fabric buying! And obviously you can put whatever you want on your bag; you don't have to put a seam-ripping dinosaur if you want to say, make a nice one for your mom for Mother's Day.

*At no point did Oona label herself as or act like the cool kid who copies homework. All my insecurities about my self-perceived awkwardness are my own, and Oona is a lovely, lovely person.

Four Sew Weekly Challenges in One Dress!

2012-04-23T07:59:00.003-07:00

I have fallen dreadfully behind in Sew Weekly Challenges. I think it started when I couldn't think of anything to make for the inspired-by-art challenge; my favorites all lend themselves to costume-y pieces, and good heavens, I've got enough costumes as it is. Then I got into getting ready for the Ren Faire, and things just fell further and further by the wayside. Well, I'm remedying that situation by completing four challenges in one fell swoop: is that a record? Please let it be a record! Anyway, here's the potentially record-setting dress:

Look! I'm a giant! With a giant, but perfectly fitted butt.

Side view: I am so happy with the fit!

Challenges accepted:

Mad Men: This is the curve-hugging sheath dress of Joan's, as I knew I should have just done in the first place, only in a totally not-Joan fabric. But I took the time to really fit the dress, even in the above-the butt area that usually ends up saggy. Because Joan would never wear a saggy-butt dress.
Pantone Colors: Here are Cabaret, Starfish, Sweet Lilac, Driftwood, and Cockatoo, all in one fabulous fabric (Odyssea by MoMo for Moda).
Very Important Pieces: I only had 1.5 yards of this fabric because I got the end of the bolt, and it's so unique that I knew I had to save it for something deserving of its awesomeness. This was the kick I needed, and I had barely enough for this sheath dress.
Local Color: A marine print for the city of my heart, The City By The Bay, San Francisco, where I grew up and am so excited to be moving back to for the summer! I was so thrilled that it was a gorgeous weekend -- so sunny and warm and clear and totally unlike its usual foggy self -- when my husband took pictures we were able to see all the way down to Ocean Beach and all the way over to the Colma Hills. That is very rare indeed! I wanted to hike up (because there are four huge hills) to the reservoir so we could get a shot with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, but we had a wedding rehearsal to get to, unfortunately.

Staring down at the ocean while my husband worries about us getting run over.

This dress, in case you don't recognize it, is yet another version of my TNT McCall's 5845. I finally got around to recording my changes to this pattern: wider and lower armscyes, lowered front neckline, raised back neckline, narrowed center back seam at the top, longer and more scoop-y back darts in the skirt. I also attempted to put in a back vent, but was thrown off by the lining. It's a little wonky inside, but nobody will see it, right? Oh wait, except that I once again tried flipping it inside out to wear: when I walked out into the living room, my husband's first comment was "Goodness, how many dresses did you bring with you?!" See, I did such a good job with lining it, he thought it was another dress! Okay, the fact that I used an old patterned sheet for the lining probably had something to do with it, but come on, give it to me.

It's like Miss Lavender goes to Hawaii, the sheath dress version!

The hem is finished with seam binding and invisibly catch-stitched. I love how it looks from the outside! The inside...ehh. I tried following Sunni's tutorial but was totally confused, so I ended up just winging it. And here's another question: when you make something with this many colors going on, how do you choose a thread/zipper color? I went with a cockatoo-ish thread for the fuschia zipper because that's what I had...I guess I could have hand-picked the zipper and switched colors for every section of color.

A closer look at the inside.

The back with the zipper and non-matching thread. Hmm, I should probably put a hook and eye at the top there.

Fish-scale belt! And a close-up of all the phaeophyta, and the weirdly branched sea creature tentacles?

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards 44" wide 100% cotton twill for the shell, poly-cotton blend sheet for the lining
Notions: 22" zipper, seam binding tape
Hours: Six-ish, mostly because of zipper issues (I had to rip it out and put it in several times), trying to figure out the vent, and hand-finishing the hem
Will you make this again? Almost certainly, as this is my sixth incarnation of this pattern, albeit only the second one with the actual skirt pattern, and even then with some significant changes...
Total cost: $8 for the fabric (yay for end-of-the-bolt discounts!) and $2 for the zipper, so $10! When I showed it off for my very frugal dad and told him how much it cost me, he approved (actually even my dad, who tends not to care about/notice clothing very much at all, was impressed with the level of fit I managed to get on this dress).
Final thoughts: This dress is what a bizarre Joan+Ms. Frizzle cross would wear for teaching about marine ecosystems. In other words, I love it. I am also pleased that I have a fish-scale belt to go with it! I think Ms. Frizzle would approve, although I'm still working on aquatic earrings and shoes. I only wish sheath dresses didn't get so wrinkly across the hips from sitting, but oh well, you can't expect to have your cake and eat it too (and this dress is definitely cake!).

My city is so beautiful when it's not shrouded in fog!

And for the perfect San Francisco poem (only the fog tends not to move on):

Fog, by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Now I need to get started on that kirtle that I thought I had all that time to make. We're going to the fair(e) this Saturday, eep!

Changes Are Afoot!

2012-04-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

I'm in San Francisco yet again, for yet another wedding, and it is but a preview of this summer's madness. Wait, what? Didn't you just move to TCOCC not too long ago? Yes, yes I did. Well, and guess what, we're moving back to the city in June! My husband has a summer internship in downtown SF, doing who knows what (wearing suits? sitting in a skyscraper? getting to eat lunch at the Ferry Building every day?!), so we're moving our clothes and Walnut up to my parents' house for a few months. It's going to be an adventure, that's for sure! I haven't lived at home for so long (since high school); it'll be interesting to see what it's like being a married adult, but back under a parental roof. But, as we do hope to relocate to the Bay Area eventually for the long term, this is the way to go for the summer, and it's hard to argue with free rent.

So what does that mean, practically speaking? I excel at making lists when it comes to moving, so here goes:

Walnut will have a very long, torturous car ride, then two other firmly established family cats to deal with. Fenxi, the older cat, already has issues with our younger cat, Gummy (Fenxi's kindergarten report card would have the dreaded unsatisfactory "U" under the "getting along with others" category), so Walnut, who is larger than either of them, will be an interesting wrench in the mix.
I can finally meet some of the other sewists who live in NorCal! I'm excited for potential meet-ups with Sew Weekly or VPLL 1912 Project people. That said, who wants to be my sewing buddy while I'm up here for the summer? I can promise lots of awkward interactions sprinkled with way too many comments about cats! Wow, I really know how to sell myself, don't I?
I can make my mom help me with sewing something other than dresses. She claims to not remember anything, but I'm pretty sure that's a lie.
I'm excited to hang out with my family again. I've been far from home for so much of the last ten years, so it'll be nice (I hope) to be around them again on a daily basis.
I will live a block away from Elaine again! We used to run over to each others' houses all the time in high school, and now we are doing it again a decade and half later...gaaah, we're old! Speaking of getting old, two of my former students (from the first chemistry class I ever taught) just got engaged to each other this month...part of me is so happy for them, part of me wants to grab them by the shoulders and shake them and demand "HOW ARE YOU EVEN OLD ENOUGH?! WEREN'T YOU 15 JUST THE OTHER DAY?" Umm, anyway, Elaine and I are planning all sorts of dress-up parties, because goodness knows, there aren't enough days in the year for dressing up. We're already planning a pirate party and a Downton Abbey party. Who wants to come? I promise, Elaine is much better at social interaction than I am.
I am going to be separated from my stash for over two months. My mom has her machine, and I'll probably bring some fabric and patterns with me, but it'll be different. I know the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of my own machine (should I name it?), and of course I'll miss Cecily and all her help.
I'm sure there are other things, but that's what comes to mind for now. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts as the time draws nearer.

Oh wait, one other change: I'll have more cats to help with the sewing.

Oooh, what's this? Can I help?

I like this new crinkly cat bed. I accept your humble offering.

And yes, I brought new patterns up with me so I could cut them out in case I got bored.

Thoughts on Teaching and Sewing Confessions

2012-04-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

That is exactly what it looks like: a neon pink
leopard-print nightgown (fabric donated to me, then gladly
re-donated to her, because when would I ever use it?) She
loves it though -- wears it every night, according to mom.

So I've been going over to Small Human Being's home almost every Wednesday since the beginning of the year, and it has definitely been a learning experience for all concerned: SHB, of course, SHB's mom, SHB's younger brother, and me! This is the longest series of sewing lessons I've ever given -- before I left San Diego, I held a biweekly sewing club with some friends of mine, but we only ever made non-apparel items over a couple of months. With SHB, her young age, and her goal of "being a fashion designer," I've had to think more carefully about how to approach sewing with her. We started out with making up our own simple patterns based on her pre-existing clothes, which works pretty well since she's a SHB, and therefore mostly cylindrical without the sticky-outy bits that we grown women must put in darts for.

Anyway, after several sessions involving a pillow (non-fitted), a purse (non-fitted), a muumuu (non-fitted), curtains for her room (non-fitted), a gathered knit skirt with an elastic waist (non-fitted), and a nightgown (non-fitted: are you seeing a trend here?), we have finally moved onto something that is not elastic or slip-on: Butterick 5443, an actual zippered dress. Thankfully, it is also something that I excel at: the sleeveless fitted bodice and full skirt look! This project is actually more of a me + SHB's mom kind of project right now, as she has expressed a desire to learn how to use patterns. I think my sketch-a-rough-pattern-on-wrapping-paper-and-think-apart-how-it-might-go-together approach scares her. As we started going over how to decipher the yardage charts on the back of the envelope, the layout diagrams in the instructions, and the pinning and cutting, I realized that I am not a very disciplined sewist.

See, despite having a science background, when it comes to my sewing, I'm very fly-by-the-seat-of-those-pants-that-I-have-never-made. I'm all about fudging things when I can, considering the measurements to be mere suggestions (much like lane markings in rural Taiwan), and making very, very good friends with my seam ripper. Tim Gunn's "make it work" is my mantra not because I try complicated things, but because I wasn't paying attention to the recommendations in the first place. You know all my Pattern Review reviews? They all say "I didn't use them" as the answer to the question about the clarity of the instructions. I think that's why I'm so hesitant to tackle sleeves and pants: those things require meticulous measuring and marking and cutting and following directions. Anyway, all those issues came to the forefront when I tried to explain things like matching the grainline arrow on the paper pattern to the fabric, or making sure to pin before cutting. I had to remember not to just eyeball it; I want other sewists to learn good habits from me, which they can then discard later if they choose.

So here are my sewing sins, as were brought to light through teaching; please don't judge me too harshly!

I usually don't pay attention to grainline. I usually eyeball it and try to get close, but when one uses old sheets as yardage, cutting layouts usually don't apply.
Okay, let's face it, I never look at the cutting layouts, even when I do have standard-sized yardage. I think today was the first time I did so seriously, and even then I managed to screw up on one piece.
I don't pin before I cut. I just arrange things more or less right, and then cut carefully with a couple of books as pattern-weights, and hope things don't shift too much.
I'm really bad at marking my changes on patterns I plan on making multiple times: every time I've sewn M5845, I've had to bring in the top of the back bodice when inserting the zipper...I guess I have a narrow upper back? Anyway, I was sewing yet another version of it yesterday night, and I guess it's been awhile and I forgot about that, because I had to rip out my zipper eight times to get it right. Also, my knit tee block invariable ends up too loose at the waist, which is an easy fix, but it's still a little silly to have to redo the side seams every. freaking. time. At least now I've documented these changes, so hopefully I won't have to make these mistakes again?
I never used to finish my seam allowances, but I've tried to change that since seeing Neeno's and Leimomi's glowing examples. It's still a bit of pick and choose, though, when I use seam binding and when I just pink, but at least I'm thinking about it? My consolation is that I've seen blouses from the 30s that survived just fine with pinking only, so I'll just wash my things carefully...
I don't trace my patterns. Not even the vintage ones. I cut them out, but I will say that I don't make changes to the pattern tissue. Those changes all happen as I'm sewing on the actual garment, which might explain why I don't have any of them documented for the future.

See? Just pinked! And it's survive

I conclude my sewing confessions by saying (hopefully, knock on wood) that none of my garments have turned out terribly despite the grainline ignorance (well, minus a couple of slightly wonky knit tees that didn't matter), and nothing has fallen apart in the wash yet, but I suppose I should really try harder to be careful, especially now that I'm teaching others the art of dressmaking. It's kind of like the one time that a student walked in on me prepping for lab without my goggles on (my excuse being that it was all in the fume hood and the partition was almost all the way down). I will say that the one area I never skimp in is ironing. I always press my seams flat, to the sides, and then open from both sides. But then, that might just be because pressing is what saves my garment from looking as terrible as the fudged meaurements/cuts/seams would have predicted.

Do you have any sewing confessions? Or are you all just super-duper angelic sewasaurus rexes?

See, that's all of you perfect little sewasaurus rexes over there in your clique, with your pattern instructions and pins and tracing wheel and cutting diagrams, while I'm the awkward one in the corner cutting up vintage patterns and eating Fray Check.

And finally, one of my favorite poems about teaching:

Did I Miss Anything? by Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel
or other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
to attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time the class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people on earth.

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been gathered

but it was one place

And you weren’t here

A Look at an Edwardian Lingerie Dress and Some Other Random Pictures

2012-04-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

I've been out of the sewing room for over five days, and boy does it feel weird! I never thought sewing would be such a big part of my life; I'm pretty sure the last time I did an activity almost every day for such a long period of time was play piano, and that was waaaaay back in high school. The reasons for the sewing hiatus were mostly good ones, though: my dear friends Ryan and Jeanine, of our-Hunger-Games-photo-shoot-fame, got married on Saturday. I must say, I don't think I've teared up so many times in one day for a very long time -- all the speeches were poignant and heartfelt without being too sappy, and maybe it's the teacher in me, but I just don't have a lot of patience for drawn-out talking without a clear point, so these toasts were all really excellent. Anyway, since this was our very own fake Katpee getting married, I went so far as to draw them a personalized card, instead of just picking up some generic greeting card from Target.

The inside of the card says "Haymitch applauds your kiss and finds it worthy of the sponsors' parachutes. Happy ~~Hunger Games~~ Wedding!" I know, teens killing each other is a terrible theme for a wedding card. So sue me.

Besides the wedding, I've also been having some bizarre pain/extreme soreness in my dominant (right) shoulder, so I've been doing a lot of sitting around on the couch reading the LOTR Appendices instead of wrestling with the iron and hand-cranking through the multi-layered parts of my latest sewing project. Since I don't have any of my sewing to show, have some photos of an authentic Edwardian-ish-era lingerie dress with lots of pintucks and lace insertion! I took these at an antique mall in historic Orange, where I also found some other sewing goodies that I'll be sharing later.

Apologies about the lighting and quality...I was using my iPhone in a basement.

Pintucks in the skirt portion.

Closeup of the lace chevrons and the pintucks.

With flash, but you can see how silky the material was and the sleeve cuff's details.

I'm hoping to get my hands on a nice blouse pattern from the VPLL 1912 project so that I can work on my own lace-inserting and pintucking, but that's going to need to wait for after this weekend's wedding and the Ren Faire the following weekend. And just in case you're wondering, I wore my not-so-little LBD to the wedding this past weekend, but managed to get no good pictures of me wearing it. So instead, have a picture of me at IKEA wearing my IKEA hippos dress. I was a little surprised that no one said anything about my dress; I think I felt slightly (and inexplicably) offended that nobody, not even the employees, found it comment-worthy that I was wearing a dress sprinkled with extremely IKEA-y hippos all over it, in IKEA. Come on, people, I'm a walking advertisement for your textiles section!

It was actually my husband's suggestion that I take a picture with this couch. People, this is why I love that man.

Posing in Mah Elizabethan Undawears

2012-04-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

I look dubious because I'm standing outside in only my shift! Good heavens! Mercy me!

I don't know if it's called a shift or a smock or a chemise, or all three are interchangeable, but here I am in mine. This makes me the Elizabethan equivalent of a centerfold. Only it's the awkwardest centerfold ever.

Close-ups of the details.

So yeah, I'm done with my shift/smock/chemise! Like the pair of bodies, it's made using Drea Leed's custom pattern generator (but with the construction directions given here), and like the pair of bodies, it's more hand-sewing than I normally do on a project. The collar and cuffs and neck slit are all done by hand with a combination of whipstitching, backstitching, and slip-stitching. I even worked up the courage to put in the ugliest underarm gussets ever. I can see that this is a technique I'm going to really need to work on before tackling those Vintage Vogue patterns in my stash. The resulting garment is exactly like every loose, mostly shapeless nightgowny thing I've seen, but it's super comfortable and the sleeves are excellent for being dramatic. Also, it makes an excellent base for a pirate outfit! Gosh, I really wish I could get away with wearing this out of the house on a regular basis. Dressing up is too fun to save for just one day a year.

With my red underbust corset, black boots, and a generic RTW gathered gray skirt. And unbrushed hair, because obviously pirate queens have better things to do than brush their hair. They're too busy buckling swashes.

I also need some giant gold earrings to make this work. And possibly a dirk between my teeth.

And in honor of my generic piratry, a poem from one of my favorite must-read-aloud poets:

Pirate Captain Jim, by Shel Silverstein

"Walk the plank," says Pirate Jim.
"But Captain Jim, I cannot swim."
"Then you must steer us through the gale."
"But Captain Jim, I cannot sail."
"Then down with the galley slaves you go."
"But Captain Jim, I cannot row."
"Then you must be a pirate's clerk."
"But Captain Jim, I cannot work."
"Then a pirate captain you must be."
"Thank you, Jim," says Captain Me.

Yucky underarm gusset. I think it would have made more sense to attach it
to the sleeve first, then sew the entire thing onto the body, instead of
this awkward fudging at the corner.

Summary:
Fabric: Three yards of 35" 100% cotton muslin
Notions: None! Unless you count the very anachronistic satin rattail cuff ties...what is one actually supposed to use? Lauren or Leimomi?
Techniques: Hand-worked eyelets at the cuffs, hand stitches, underarm and shoulder gussets
Hours: About six, but again, that's mostly due to the hand-sewing.
Will you make this again? I would like to make one for my husband (but obviously shirt length and without the side gores) to wear for a pirate outfit, but then he's not into dressing up so that's pretty unlikely.
Total cost: $6
Final thoughts: Good? It seems a little large for me, but that's easily fixable for the next time. I'm also concerned about the billowiness of the sleeves when it comes to fitting underneath a kirtle/through armholes. But then, a quick googling reveals that there are definitely some similarly huge ones out there, so I guess it's okay?

Now it's on to the kirtle, which will be equally materially inaccurate, being made from an old blue bedsheet and lined in the linen-rayon blend that I originally got for the shift, only it was too stiff. I may make a slight detour for a bit of a sewing break, though, and whip up another more modern dress. I've been totally ignoring the Sew Weekly challenges in favor of trying to push out this Ren Faire outfit, but now that it looks like I have plenty of time...oh gosh, I just jinxed myself, didn't I?