Hollywood 1805: Maybe Wearable?

I got almost nothing done today, because it was the Epic Battle of Three Year Old Toddlers Day, but during the naptime-that-wasn't-really-naptime, I did try to fix my Hollywood 1805 to make it more wearable for me.  I had taken the elastic casing out to see if releasing some of the tension at the neck would make the armscyes more comfortable, which it did, but that left me with a lot of extra fabric between the sleeve lines on the front and back.  Enough to fold over twice on both sides.

I puzzled it over a bit, and then just started pinning.  And unpinning.  And pinning again.  And again.  Until I had something that looked okay and more or less kept the sleeves on my shoulders.  I spent about 20 minutes with a needle and thread stitching it all down.  And then spent another 20 minutes restitching the back neckline because it was billowing out an extra 2" and making the shoulders sag down.  I think I've pleated out all the excess and have a stable neckline all the way around now.

Well.  It is still a bit blousy on top, but better than before, and the lower neckline is a bit more flattering on me, I think.  I swapped out the fabric sash for a wide elastic belt, which I think provides better contrast and cinching, but is still comfortable in the heat.  I added two decorative buttons in the front just for fun.  It looks better, and it is much more comfortable, but I just can't decide about the fabric.  Every time I look at the photos, I think something different.  Probably I just need to wear the thing for a day and decide how I feel in it.

Although, I think maybe it is growing on me, now that the neckline is stable and I don't feel like I'm wearing a 19th century chemise instead of a dress.  I did lose nursing friendliness in the effort to salvage the dress, but I almost never have to nurse in public any more, and Ponchik is mostly down to 2 times a day anway, just before nap and bedtime.  I think I can work around it.  It is supposed to be stupid hot on Monday, so maybe I'll give it a test drive then.

Part of me thinks that the fabric reads a little too tan for my skin, but it looks a little different in every photo, so I don't know.  I think maybe I'm being too picky.  If it were a vintage dress, I wouldn't be quibbling about it so much, I'd just wear it already!  

The trouble with sewing is that you have so much control over every detail, and then it becomes easy to obsess about every detail.

So I'm going to wear it, enjoy being cool in the crazy heat, and not worry too much about the rest.  At least it is going into my closet and not my scrap pile.  Win.

7QT: Toddlers, Toddlers, Toddlers. And a bit of Jon Snow.

Linking up with Jen for Quick Takes today.

--1--

I would like to state for the record that it is just after 10:00 a.m., and I've been wondering how early is too early for bedtime for the last hour.  Birdie is, shall we say, Having a Day.  In between battles over potty training (which is going well overall, but today is a fight almost every time the timer goes off, and since it is set every 25 minutes, well,...you get the idea).  And she just can't seem to stop bugging Ponchik every chance she gets.  And ignoring all the toys in the house in favor of climbing on the furniture, hanging on the window gates, stripping all the pillows off the couch and bouncing on them, and climbing up the stairs on the outside of the bannister.  So, yeah.  When is naptime again?

--2--

Speaking of sleep.  Last night was one of the most horrid nights I've had in a while.  I couldn't fall asleep until well after midnight for whatever reason, both girls were waking in 20 minute increments from about 10:30 p.m. on, and Ponchik refused to sleep altogether from 1:00 a.m. unless she was tucked up in bed with me, her head on my bicep.  And she is an active night sleeper.  And I'm still seeing a chiropractor for persistent shoulder pain.  And everyone was up for the day at 5:30.  Again.  There isn't enough coffee in the world for me today.

--3--

I had thought maybe to finish that last project I have waiting on my summer sewing list, but I'm just too tired.  I know I'll make dumb mistakes, and the girls are just unhappy and fighting, so it won't be peaceful at all.  When I realized that sewing wasn't going to happen today, I thought maybe about trying to do some creative writing, or something, but again, no one is happy today, and I'm trying to resign myself to a day in which Nothing is Done.  I hate being this tired.

--4--

Also: it is 84 degrees in the house, and the humidity is very high, so it is not exactly comfortable in here.  I'd go somewhere air-conditioned, but then Ponchik will fall asleep on my back or in the car and this afternoon will be terrible, so we're stuck at the house for the morning at least.  And: I'm too tired to go anywhere anyway.  We walked to the post office and Rite Aid earlier this morning and that was my limit for the day.

--5--

Right, so moving on.  This morning I put the red Koret skirt away.  It was a vintage pencil skirt I bought on ThredUp in the spring, and it was the perfect shade of poppy red to match my Tossed Flowers fabric, as well as being a nice shape and length.  The skirt fits okay in the waist and hips, but it is snug across the tops of my thighs.  So unless I want to wear a serious amount of shapewear and look like a pin up girl, I need to lose a little more weight before wearing it.  I was keeping it in the back of my closet in the somewhat vain hope that it might fit this summer, but as the summer wears on, and the belly bloat that arrived in early May seems to be persisting, I need to get realistic about things.  That includes putting stuff away that doesn't quite fit but I think might in the near future.  There is no reason to taunt myself with it, and if it is put away with the out of season stuff, I can more easily put it out of mind for now.  I also decided it was time to make peace with the stuff I made in the late spring and early summer that doesn't fit right or doesn't suit me and either donate it, or deconstruct it for another project.  I have plenty of clothes to wear that do fit and suit me well, and I just filled a major summer wardrobe gap with a RTW plain navy blue skirt from eshakti.com (which I hope fits!), so I'm feeling okay about the closet right now.

--6--

I just saw a trailer for Pompeii (which is available on DVD now on Netflix) and it went straight to the top of my Netflix queue.  Action, romance, Jon Snow, history, disaster, Jon Snow, special effects, did I mention Jon Snow?  (Okay, I know that isn't his real name, but I think of him as Jon Snow, and to judge by the comments on the FB page, so do a lot of other people!)  I've got Murder at the Homefront at home right now and am looking forward to that one!  I'm still debating about starting season 4 of Game of Thrones.  Part of me feels like I should let that one go, but I'm also curious to see what happens.

--7--

Well, this has taken me long enough to get us right to lunch time, so at least nap time is in sight!  Onward!

I am a selfish sewer, but that's okay

As usual, Sarai nails it.  I've said it before, I'll say it again, I don't really love sewing for other people.  I sew for myself because it is enjoyable for me, a creative outlet, and a way of self-expression and self-discovery.  I sew for myself because it is hard to find ready-to-wear clothing that suits me and fits properly.  To sew for others is to give more of me, pour myself out further, rather than taking something restorative in.   I do occasionally take on projects for others, out of friendship or familial love, or for a creative challenge, but I'm very picky about the projects I do take on because my sewing and creative time is so limited, and my internal resources so stretched.

I've had some wadders this week, which has been frustrating.  I might have made the dress from yesterday wearable (although the jury is still out on that one), but I still don't love it, and I made a skirt that is going straight to the scrap pile after I remove the fastenings.  I have one little project I need to finish this week or next, but then I think I need to shelve my sewing for the summer, for real this time.  I'm mostly too hot to think, and my body seems to be in rebellion against my best efforts this summer, so my shape is in constant flux.  

Probably I'll just stick to knitting and hand embroidery for the next little while.  And maybe write a little bit.  I've got big sewing plans for Fall for Cotton in September, though!

If something looks too good to be true...

...it probably is.  Recently, someone in my reenacting group posted a pattern image to our Facebook group, asking what we thought.  It was an early 1940s Hollywood pattern, and looked so easy!  And wonderful for summer, as it was essentially a muumuu with a sashed belt.  The pattern envelope art looked fabulous, and I thought, how hard can it be? 

I had some knock-off Liberty Lawn fabric from Robert Kaufman, and someone found that pattern mislabeled on etsy for $4 (!!) so I snapped it up.  It was the wrong size, but I figured that the blousy nature of the dress wouldn't matter that much, and might help, given how voluminous it might end up being on me if graded up properly.

Well.  The dress sewed up in a hurry--1 hour and 12 minutes, to be precise.  Raglan sleeves are so easy!  I did an elastic casing to make the neckline more nursing friendly, which was also easy, and machine hemmed the bottom since it was straight.  I left the elastic off the sleeves because elasticized cap sleeves look really really bad on me, and I like the flutter sleeve okay.  It is easy-breezy, to be sure.

And, meh.  The armscyes are a little too high up, and I don't really know how to fix it, so even though the fabric is lawn and super breezy and thin, I feel hot in it.  The sash doesn't pull things in enough and I think it doesn't do me any favors.

Oh well.  

Talking Tuesday: Death in the Forest

The mortal coil is once again on my mind today.   As we live in a society that is profoundly uncomfortable with death, and with dying, it is hard to know how to help people who are grieving, or even to comfort the dying.  It is a messy, intimate business, death, one that requires a lot of strength, determination, and sometimes, a strong stomach.  I think when death happened more often at home, when the family was responsible for preparing the body, when death was a more constant companion than now, in our age of advanced medicine (but not, curiously, the bio-ethics to go with it), people knew what to do.  There were rituals, Things To Be Done, and a certain gravity toward it all.  I'm nearing the end of Outlander once again, and I've had a few things stand out to me this read-through, and I'll probably be sharing some of them as time goes by, but this particular passage especially caught my attention.  It is hard to sit with the dying, to be quiet and still, without distraction, to simply Be, until the end.

The forest was very quiet.  No birds sang in the mist, and the men who waited patiently hunkered in the shadow of the trees, were silent as the trees themselves.  Dougal and I leaned close together over the struggling body, murmuring and comforting, sharing the messy, heartrending, and necessary task of help a man to die.  

The trip up the hill to the castle was silent.  I walked beside the dead man, borne on a makeshift litter of pine boughs.  Behind us, borne in precisely similar fashion, came the body of his foe [a boar].  Dougal walked ahead, alone.

As we entered the gate to the main courtyard, I caught sight of the tubby little figure of Father Bain, the village priest, hurrying belatedly to the air of his fallen parishioner.  Dougal paused, reaching out to stay me as I turned toward the stair leading to the surgery.  The bearers with Geordie's plaid-shrouded body on its litter passed on, heading toward the chapel, leaving us together in the deserted corridor.  Dougal held me by the wrist, looking me over intently.

"You've seen men die before," he said flatly.  "By violence."  Not a question, almost an accusation.

"Many of them," I said, just as flatly.  And pulling myself free, I left him standing there and went to tend my living patient.

~Diana Gabaldon, Outlander, NY: Delacorte Press, 1991, pp 142-143.

Feel the Heat

Sometimes I write these posts on clothing for myself more than anything.  It helps me cement in my brain why I like or dislike something, or to remind myself later when I'm making decisions about an outfit or a sewing project.  Also: I know I spend way too much time thinking and talking about clothing; it is a coping mechanism and a creative outlet, and my stress levels have been kind of high lately.

Anyway, summer clothing. Tasha wrote a while back that she felt winter clothing should have its own category. For myself, I think that summer clothing falls into its own category. I have two wardrobes: the 3 season clothing that takes me from late fall to late spring, and the summer clothing. I guess this is efficient, as I don't need to swap out my clothing more than once or twice a year.

The problem with summer is that I don't remember how miserably hot I am until we are in the throes, and then I'm scrambling to find clothing that is a) modest, b) not restricting, c) vintage-y, and d) natural fibers that are thin-thin-thin.  I made some clothes this spring thinking they would be great for summer, but in fact, were really better suited to late spring.   Because I spend our summers in a state of heat-induced stupor, I think I block out how hot I really am all the time.  We don't have central air, and the heat in the city can be really oppressive.  We often have weeks in late June and July where the heat index is well over 100 degrees and the humidity in the 70-80% range.  

I usually feel like summers are lost time for me, as I'm just too hot to do anything.  I can't think, I don't want to cook, I can't work, I can't write, and I definitely don't want to go anywhere that involves being outside for any length of time.  We have ceiling fans in every room of the house, and box fans in the windows when it makes sense to have them open, and run the whole house fan to recirculate the cooler basement air to the upper floors, and we also have two floor AC units on the second and third floors, which helps with sleeping, but not much else.   In short, we've done everything we can to make this house bearable in the summer, and it is better than our first year here, but despite our best efforts, the ambient temperature in the house is usually in the mid-80s by late June.  (And before I get suggestions to install central air, row homes are very hard to modify for central AC as there is no HVAC in the original part of the house, and it is prohibitively expensive for us to do a retrofit at this point in time).

We had a few days last week of heat-induced misery, and then some rain late in the week that brought back temperate weather, so I'm not complaining today, but those three days of heat last week reminded me of how ridiculously hot I am during the summer, and also what I like and dislike in my summer wardrobe.

First is that I can't bear to wear a girdle in the heat.  Which means any clothing I have that looks best with a girdle had better head to the back of the wardrobe.  This includes a couple of skirts and at least one vintage dress I had thought to wear a lot this summer, like the burgundy cotton-linen skirt fail.  Second is that I don't really want to wear a tight belt or anything restrictive around my middle.  So my lovely leather belts from beltparadise have to wait for cooler temps, and I'm using fabric belts or no belt at all.  Third is sleeves: I try to stay away from inset short sleeves anyway, but in the heat, a kimono sleeve is best; an elbow- or 3/4 length is just too hot.  I don't look good in sleeveless clothing because my shoulders are too narrow in relation to my upper arms, but I'm happy with kimono sleeves.  My Gertie Portrait blouse pattern is the perfect sleeve length for my arms.  I also swell a lot in the heat, so my body shape changes a little in the summer, especially around my waist and hands, and my shoes have to be flexible enough to shape to my swollen feet and not give me blisters.

  

I'm pretty happy with my summer shoes this year; my everyday pair is the lace up danskos I've shown before, and my alternate pairs are some canvas crocs (seen here) and my Sofspots, which have broken in nicely. I'm getting there with the rest of it.  The outfit I'm wearing today (pictured here) is not really great for above 80 degrees, but it isn't supposed to be hotter than that today anyway, which is why I pulled it out.  I really like it though! I feel good in it, I think it fits well, and the skirt is the bottom half of my Father's Day two-piece ensemble. I took the skirt in a little bit at the waist with some back darts and it fits much better now.  The wide elastic belt just seemed to pull it all together.  I also realized when I went outside to take pictures, that I had forgotten to put on any jewelry today!  Ponchik's crib is still in our room, and it is a tight squeeze around the bed and dresser, and she was scratching my back with her sharp fingernails this morning while I was getting dressed and it was distracting.  Hence forgotten earrings and customary brooch.  Such is life.

Outfit deets:

Ralph Lauren Black Elbow Sleeve Shirt: ThredUp

Elastic belt: H&M (I think!  It was a year or two ago)

Olives and Feathers Skirt: me-made, Butterick pattern

What I Wore Sunday: A Few Tweaks

Okay, so remember the New England dress?  The first one?  I wore it for Pascha, but after wearing it, I decided that inset short sleeves and a high neckline like that are the short road to Frumpsville for me, and I wanted to fix it somehow.  After making my Tossed Flowers New England dress into a skirt, I decided that the red dress should have the same treatment, and carefully separated the bodice from the skirt, added darts to the back to bring the waist in, and finished with double bias binding, as with the first one.  I also shortened it a few inches, as I felt the original length was too long.  I wore it with a solid navy shirt, and felt pretty pleased with it.  Until I was baby wearing, and I realized that the waist strap went right over the buttons, and was a bit uncomfortable, in addition to placing a lot of stress on the buttons.   So I removed the buttons on both skirts, and then decided to make a matching blouse out of my left over red fabric.  After fiddling with the Simplicity 1590 ad nauseum, I've decided that I'm just not happy with the way the pattern fits, and I am super happy with the way Gertie's Portrait blouse pattern fits.  But I don't want a lot of pullovers right now, so I decided to see if I could modify it into a button-down.

And it worked!  I'm pretty pleased, as I now have two separates that work great together and look like a dress, but also look pretty great on their own.  Win-win.  I plan to make a Tossed Flowers blouse to match the other skirt when I get a moment, as this blouse sewed up in 2 hours, plus maybe 30 minutes cutting time.  I did make a tiny mistake on the facing width at the button band (I made it too narrow), so I will fix that on the next go-round.

My only complaint about the blouse is my own dumb fault.  Because the facing on the button placket ended up being quite narrow, I had to work the buttonholes vertically and place them quite close to the edge, which means that there is a small amount of gape between buttons #3 and #4.  I think if I add a small snap to the space in between, that will fix it.  I might also move all five buttons out slightly to bring the blouse fit in a bit.

The vintage buttons I picked for the button-down came on a card with a matching buckle that is wider than my original belt, and the original belt buckle is just a little bit off color wise to the new buttons, so I'm going to remake the belt eventually.  I just didn't have time yesterday.  But the navy blue belt works well too!  It is nice to have several options.  The belt issue was one reason I took the buttons off the blue version of this skirt--it just didn't look right with the fabric self-belt, but when I took the buttons off, it looked fine.  I like my belts, so having three options for that skirt was worth the loss of button detail.

Wearing it with my maracas pin!  I probably should have chosen something a little more bright, but the colors matched so nicely.

I wore it to church today, and felt good in my clothes (I don't always, as I've said before) , which is always a bonus.

Linking up with FLAP, like we do

Odds and Ends Vol. 10

1940s cherry pickers

Time for another Odds and Ends!

20 interesting ways to reuse old things.  The bathtub couch is kind of intriguing.  Slightly weird, but intriguing.

Via

I've been watching the Starz production of The White Queen lately, which is set during the War of the Roses, shortly before the Tudors took the throne of England for good, and I found this article on England's Game of Thrones fascinating.

Gracy Olmstead considers the pros and cons of suburban life.  I've really enjoyed everything I've read by Olmstead, as I find it to be quite thought-provoking, and often in a direction I'm already thinking about.  I think we've pretty much made our peace with staying in the city, but this article gives reasons why it is okay to like the 'burbs.

I'm not going to post the photo here, as I'm not looking for search engine bait, but I think by now many of us have seen the viral photo of a very fit mom of three under three, with the title "What's Your Excuse?"  This photo bothered me on a number of different levels, although I couldn't exactly articulate why.  Mat. Anna pretty much says it.

Unbelievable underwater landscapes Via

The Nife En L'Air writes about how seeking perfection in everything around us can interfere with contentment.  As a person who struggles with perfectionism, this post resonated with me.

My friend Beth posted a Parent's Prayer.  Yes, yes, yes.

Hollie Klaassen tackles the tough world of high-needs babies and young children.  This post brought me back, helped me better articulate to myself my children and my mothering experience, made me cry a little, but also made me realize that I'm not alone.  

My friend Michelle responded to the Ms. Klaassen's post with a series of her own, discussing the isolation of parenting high needs children, but also the joy.

Wonderful Photography of Peter Essick

The heart of the Russian home is usually in the kitchen.  NPR discusses how dissent and counterculture flourished there under the Soviets.  I love the kitchen culture of Russia, and miss it very much.  

Kristen at Rage Against the Minivan sends up lifestyle blogging.  And those perfect Pinterest houses.  With aplomb.

This is just funny: A Manifesto Against Luxury Kitchens. Snark, snark, snark.  Can I just note that in my experience, these fancy, expensive showroom kitchens tend to be showpieces, vastly underutilized, while the kitchens that people actually cook in tend to be inefficiently laid out, small, and cramped.  But they have the essentials: a stove, a fridge, a sink, and a place to chop things.  One hopes.

10 Ways to Stay Sane on the Internet.  I think it is fair to say that we aren't going back to a non-Internet type existence any time soon.  This post lists good ways to set boundaries, keep it real, and at arm's length.

Let's all try to be courteous with our phones.  Pretty please?

In a related article, Rod Dreher discusses the role of the Screen in our culture and lives.  His conclusion is a little ambiguous, but I think that is the point.  Many of us have an uneasy relationship with the Screen, but it does enable a great number of things that make our lives easier, but that comes with a cost too.  

30 Amazing Images of Scotland Via

If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, you must check out this Tumblr, which has the Russian illustrations from someone's childhood edition.  Stunning.

Via

And we can't do this thang without talking a little shop, so bear with me.  Jennifer Lauren shared an excellent post as part of Me Made May (more about that later) on building a wardrobe of handmade clothing that we actually wear.  

Anastasia Basil blasts Minnie Driver and our whole culture that fetishizes women's looks above all else. (warning: strong language)

I ran across this post on how to understand body type and proportion shortly after reading Basil's piece, and it confirmed to me that understanding the quirks of your own body, and just being honest and open with yourself about what is under your clothes is the best way to flatter your body and feel good in clothing.  If you don't understand your body's quirks, you are always going to be frustrated with clothing.

Sarai discusses why shopping can be such a dissatisfying experience (and I would add that her observations apply to more than just clothing, but rather our whole consumerist mindset) and offers a way to channel desire into creativity.

And if you've made it this far, you might as well check out Gracy Olmstead's piece on developing a longer attention span for reading.  (Hint: it isn't by reading War and Peace)

All about the Dresses

I've been trying to pinpoint what it is about dresses that I like and dislike, and as usual, Sarai at Colleterie read my mind last week and wrote a post about what she likes about dresses. I don't usually read the comments, but I did this time, and was so glad to read kc's comment:

"I love myself a good dress, but only if it can be worn like separates. I will get TONS of wear out of a dress I can layer under sweaters, over shirts, under skirts, with or without belts, with or without tights/leggings, with shirts underneath, etc. I’ve got two dresses like this in my closet and they pretty much get worn year-round at least once a week. I should probably get to sewing more like them before they completely fall apart from overuse.

As for the other dresses in my closet, they fall more into Man Repeller’s assertion that “A dress is a commitment. To saying something and saying it over and over again.” Dresses are so easy to put on when you don’t want to think about coordinating anything, but once I get sick of the statement that particular dress makes (and once I’ve determined that it’s a terrible layering piece) it’s hard to get excited about wearing it."

This is exactly what I've been trying to say about dresses. I realized that the dresses that I currently love in my closet are ones that I wear like separates. I can dress them up or down, wear tights or bare legs, different accessories, cardigans, etc. to change how they look and work for the season. The dresses that I don't wear are ones that are "statement" dresses: the print is novelty, or the lines are difficult to pair with cardigans or other layers, or they are just too dressy for every day. I love it when someone clearly articulates something that I instinctively know, but can't quite say why. This clarity also helps me to hone in on the sorts of dresses to steer for, and what types of projects to make. I've already scrapped a dress project I had for the fall, because I think it will fall under the category of "statement" rather than dress-as-separate, and have plans to make a skirt and blouse instead. I'm shelving my dress projects for now, as the types of dresses I wear and want to make are the sort that Tasha has been cranking out this year, but are definitely not nursing friendly. I won't be nursing forever, and frankly, my body changes a lot when I wean, so it is probably best to stick to sewing and buying separates right now anyway.

The above outfit photos are of my first Portrait blouse, which I made with a yard (!!) of gingham fabric that came from my gram's stash in order to test the pattern. I had to get a little creative with fabric piecing, and forgot about matching the plaid (argh) so it isn't a great looking blouse overall, but when it is tucked in, it works fine. Plus it is super lightweight for summer. I'll probably remake it at some point, because the gingham is just great, and I've been wearing it a lot.

This is an outfit I put together just before Memorial Day. The blouse is from a feedsack, and I just squeaked it out (I sometimes think I should just title all my sewing adventures: In Which I Make Things From Ridiculously Small Lengths Of Fabric)

The skirt is a cotton-linen blend that I picked up from a local fabric store near fabric row. It is a good match to the burgundy in the blouse, but the fit is a little off. I can't quite figure out why--I used the same six-gore skirt pattern I've been using all spring, and the last few iterations have all been 1" or more too big in the waist, and this one came out slightly snug. I had to take off the original waist band, in fact, and reattach a new piece of fabric in a sort of faux bias binding way in order to have it fit at all. So I'm not as happy with this one.

The cotton blend keeps the skirt from wrinkling terribly, but the linen isn't high quality, so the skirt is just a bit on the scratchy side. It's not quite the easy-breezy linen skirt I was hoping for. (The turquoise one, on the other hand, is great)

I do like the blouse, however, and I used some 1930s or 1940s era green plastic buttons on it. I got the feedsack and the buttons from the same excellent etsy seller. Oh, and my Wardy Squirrel brooch from Acorn and Will that was part of my Mother's Day gift is the perfect complement. I did end up taking out all but the bust darts in this blouse, because the original version was way too fitted for summer wear (it looked great, but oh, so sticky and hot!) The blouse is looser without the darts, but much cooler.

A happy outfit

Note: I set this to publish last Friday, but somehow it didn't actually get published in the chaos that was my day last Friday, so this is a bit late.  Happy Wednesday!

I know it is Friday, and I should be writing Quick Takes, but my time is limited today, so you get an outfit post.  I think anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I get a lot of clothing/style inspiration from other vintage bloggers, particularly those who sew, and I'd say Rochelle at Lucky Lucille and Tasha at By Gum By Golly top the list.  Lately, they've both been exploring the theme of personal style in sewing: really narrowing in on what makes us feel good every day, what sorts of garments we reach for over and over, and trying to sew them.  Yesterday, Rochelle posted a wonderful piece about her latest epiphany in that process, and I continue to evaluate my closet and sewing projects to ensure that my sewing time is well spent on clothing that I wear again and again, that fits well, and suits my style.  I've had some hiccups this spring, as I experimented with some different garments and styles, but I think I'm starting to get there.  (And yes, I'm aware that I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking and writing about clothing, but I think I'm not alone in this; let's face it: clothes are the first statement we make about ourselves to the world, we have to deal with them every day, and having a well-defined style is the easiest way to prevent tears when getting dressed in the morning).  Personally, one of my clothing goals (I have several) is to get dressed and immediately forget about what I have on.

Which brings me to today's outfit.  I sewed nothing on it, but it makes me happy and feels like "me".  I think I need to stop kidding myself that I really wear dresses all the time, and that this season of my life (nursing a baby, running around after potty training toddlers) is all about the separates.   I realized the other day that my favorite style of dress is not nursing-friendly, and I'm sort of tired of trying to make nursing friendly dresses that feel good to me (because as a rule, they don't).

I dislike nursing-friendly clothing full stop, but as Ponchik is nowhere near ready to wean, I still need easy access throughout the day.  I realize this particular outfit is only marginally nursing friendly, but I can make it work for a baby who is only nursing 2-3x a day.  Also: a young gal stopped me in the street today to say that I looked "really pretty".  Win.

Outfit Details:

Blue elbow sleeve t-shirt: Lands End via ThredUp

Skirt: 1960s vintage via The Paraders

Belt: Beltparadise

Yellow bird brooch: Acorn and Will

Earrings: Target

Hair flower: hairflowers.net (I think!)

Slip (not pictured): a slip shop

Talking Tuesday: The Wildness of Death

My heart is heavy today for a friend and the terrible loss she is going through once more.  I read this short piece in The Week a while back and thought it appropriate to the day.  I would say, however, for us who have the hope of heaven, death has no victory, no sting.  We can take comfort in the promise of our Risen Lord, and we are sent a Comforter in the Holy Spirit, celebrated this Pentecost past.   We may still beat our breasts in sorrow and anguish, and feel the agony of separation, but we still have hope in the Resurrection.

"Death may be the wildest thing of all, the least tamed or known phenomenon our consciousness has to reckon with.  I don't understand how to meet it, not yet, maybe never....Facing death in a death-phobic culture is lonely....We have no dominion over the wild darkness that surrounds us.  It is everywhere, under our feet, in the air we breathe, but we know nothing of it.  We know more about the universe and the mind of an octopus than we do about death's true nature.  Only that it is terrible and inescapable, and it is wild."

"Into the Wild Darkness", The Last Word, The Week, May 23, 2014, pg. 40-41.

Make Do and Mend

Confession: I don't love everything I've made this spring.  I made about eight garments for Sew for Victory, and about half of them were super additions to my wardrobe that I wear all the time, and the other half, I'm sort of meh about.  Either the garment didn't fit well, didn't suit my personal style, or made me feel a bit frumpy.  In particular, the New England dresses.  I wore one for Pascha, and the other one I really haven't worn except to photograph it.  I tried putting it on one day in May, and I felt completely overdressed for an ordinary day.  And just a wee bit frumpy. Which was sort of defeated my purpose in making them, as they were meant to supplement my summer day wardrobe.  I don't have many special events to go to, and I can't really give over a ton of my limited closet space for clothing that gets worn only a few times every few years.  And: Frumpsville.

Bait shoes that I got at Bettie Page on clearance!
 Also: green toes for Penecost!

I decided to try and fix the Tossed Flowers dress to make it more wearable on a daily basis.  I tried shortening the sleeves to mimic the look of kimono sleeves, but that didn't really help, and then I decided the real problem was the bodice.  I don't like set-in short sleeves in woven fabric on myself right now, and the neckline was too high.   Also, as I said before, I'm finding this season of my life to be one mostly populated by casual separates, and my current "uniform" is a vintage-style skirt paired with a simple blouse or knit top.  

So I decided to make the dress into a skirt.  I unpicked the waistline, and very carefully unpicked the zipper from the bodice section, leaving it in the skirt section.  I left the buttons on the pocket section as I like the detail.  I tried on the skirt, discovered it was miles too big in the waist, so I added darts to the back waist, and used some seam binding to finish the waist.  (I was inspired by Lauren's Suit-A-Long post on skirt finishing--it is more of a 1910s-authentic skirt finish than 1940s, but whatever.  It fits well and I'm really pleased with how it looks.  Plus: that print!  Love)  I've decided to be less fussy about authentic finishing and more focused on fit and wearability.  Since I will almost certainly be wearing this skirt with a belt (either the one pictured, or the self-fabric belt I made for the dress), I'm not going to spend a lot of time fighting with a set-in waistband to get a good fit.

I'm still deciding what to do about the red New England dress.  I think putting a cardigan over it would casual it down enough for me to wear in the fall, and have plans to make a navy Datemaker, but I might just unpick the bodice and make another skirt out of it too as I wore the dress with a cardigan for Pascha and still felt just this side of frumps-ville.  In either case, I'm going to hem it up 3" to match the length of this skirt as I think the current length is too long for my frame.   I also have a ton of the fabric left (enough for a whole dress and then some), so I might make a matching blouse from my hacked Simplicity 1590 to make a faux dress like yesterday's outfit.

I'm super happy with this skirt now, and feel great in this outfit!  A win for a rainy Monday morning.  Now I'm off to the DMV for the dreaded driver's license renewal.

Outfit deets:

Ann Taylor Loft Knit blouse: Thred Up (last summer)

Tossed Flowers Skirt: New England dress pattern (bottom half)

Owl Brooch: Acorn and Will

Belt: beltparadise (ebay)

Earrings: Target (old)

Shoes: Bait

Head Scarf: Etsy

Nail polish on toes: OPI Jade is the New Black

What We Wore Sunday: Pentecost

Spraznikom!  Happy feast of Pentecost!!  I'm really on the ball today: I got photos of my own outfit and my kids'!  (Mostly because I wanted to show my penance handiwork)  Although I must confess that my own outfit photos were taken in a rush while I was waiting for a certain toddler to finish her unending potty sit this morning.  So apologies in advance for poor quality and lack of detail.  (But then, I'm pretty sure if you are still coming here after all this time, you aren't here for the photo quality)

Confession: I'm a selfish sewer.  I love sewing for myself, but not so much for other people.  I'll do it, but it's not my favorite thing.  That said, here is a tale of two dresses and two shirts.  I bought some Joel Dewberry fabric from an etsy seller's clearance rack, intending to make a skirt for myself out of it.  When it arrived, the shade was much yellower than looks good on me, and I decided it wouldn't work for my skin.  I don't like things to sit in my fabric bin that I can't use, so I decided to make Pentecost dresses for the girls out of the yardage.  I used the Hide and Seek dress pattern from Oliver + S that was super easy, but didn't really enjoy it that much.  While I was making the dresses, Piglet noticed, and then, when I said they were for Pentecost, looked at me with big puppy dog eyes and with a sweet voice asked, "Can you make me and Boo matching shirts for Pentecost too??"  Well, when you put it that way.  Putty.  

So I found myself back at the clearance rack, ordering two more yards, and trolling patterns online to find a boys' shirt pattern.  Lauren at Wearing History had a 1940s one on a Facebook auction for a song that was the right size, so I snapped it up quick.  And then procrastinated terribly on the make.  Finally on Wednesday, with the clock ticking, I made myself knock them out before I went on to anything else. They ended up a little on the short side, so I don't think they will wear them much past this summer, but they did have Hawaiian day at school on Friday and wore them as their "Hawaiian" shirts for the day.  Works for me!

  

My outfit is another Portrait blouse + six gore skirt.  No major details to report except I chain stitched in burgundy tread around the neckline again; there is a subtle burgundy accent in the feathers on the pattern, which I think means this blouse will work well with another skirt I made for summer (that I will blog soon!)  I went for a faux-dress effect with two piece skirt and blouse and I really like it!  I added pockets from a vintage Hollywood pattern.  I hand sewed almost the whole skirt, and the waist is an inch too big again, but I might insert a bit of elastic in the back to tighten it up.  It fits okay with a belt.  I did get a little lazy with the waistband and just used black quilt bias binding to finish the edge.  

Go see the other ladies at Fine Linen and Purple!