Menagerie Dress

Graham Greene wrote that happiness is to much harder to write than misery.

"The sense of unhappiness is so much easier to convey than that of happiness. In misery we seem aware of our own existence, even though it may be in the form of a monstrous egotism: this pain of mine is individual, this nerve that winces belongs to me and to no other. But happiness annihilates us: we lose our identity." (Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, pg 36). 

I write this to say that this year has been tough.  I think anyone reading this blog will know that something has been up for a while (or more accurately, down).  I think perhaps I'm on the other side of it at long last.  Happiness is perhaps not the right word for it, but it feels as though I'm through the storm that enveloped me this year.

The past week has brought some insights, and with those insights, a sense of equilibrium and (dare I say) positivity.  I am, for the moment, at peace with myself.  I also had a great idea for an organizing principle for the novel, which in turn sparked a whole line of thinking about the book, so that has been positive as well.

What to say about this dress?  Not much.  I made it very similarly to my Cross-Hatch dress, except I left off the waist ties.  I like the ties on the  Cross Hatch, but they are limiting in terms of layers.  (I've worn that dress a TON this fall).  I wanted this dress primarily for my winter rotation, and I know I'll be wearing this with cardigans and scarves, and wanted my layering options to be maximal.  I started with sleeves that were slightly below the elbow, as with the Cross Hatch, but ended up shortening them to elbow length (same with Cross Hatch).  If I do this sleeve treatment again, I'll probably just start with an elbow length.  

This fabric was one I waffled about a lot after I received it.  I had preordered it in late spring, for delivery in August, so by the time it arrived, I had forgotten about it.  I wasn't really in love with it, to be frank.  It is the latest collection from Rifle and Co.'s collaboration with Cotton + Steel.  I actually put it in my bin to save for the girls for next summer, but about two weeks ago I decided it might make a nice addition to my winter.  I made the big ol' patch pockets I've done on my last few dresses.  I seem to get in a rut with pocket styles.  So we'll see.  I actually like it better than I thought I would.  

I cut out some vintage wool I got from an etsy seller several years ago to make an Everyday skirt with a lining; we'll see how that turns out.  I have one other skirt to make for my rotation, and possibly a Christmas-related item or two.  The next couple of weeks are so crazy busy I might just use my spare time for sewing instead of trying to get writing done, but we'll see how things shake out.  For now, I have a stack of sticky notes with ideas and dialogue on them for when things settle down again.