Ruby Mae Dress

I've been poking away at my sewing pile this week and finished another Frankendress, among other things.  I'm quite pleased with this one too, and the zipper insertion went much more smoothly this time.  I tried a slightly different method, and the finished zipper line is a bit cleaner than some other ways I've done it.  Still pesky though, those zippers.

Not much to say about construction, as I did it almost exactly the same way as the Union Station Calling dress.  I just went back to the square neckline I'd originally drafted and brought the shoulders in about 1/2" on the inside line.  I'm quite happy with the new kimono sleeve construction, and the bias tape on the sleeves, neck and hem make for an neat and easy finish.   I've been buying up de-stashed bias tape on etsy and ebay every so often, so I've got a nice little collection to choose from, which is helpful.

Used some vintage black buttons from the stash--can't really tell how old they are, as they could be 30s, or could be 50s.  They came in a mosh of black buttons, so no button card to help out.  

Ditto for the belt buckle--hard to tell how old, but it does have nice detail.  The belt is too long (as per my usual miscalculations) so I'll probably have a go at shortening it this coming week.    

The color is a bit hard to describe--somewhere between burnt orange and red.  Ruby, I guess.  (Hence the dress name: Ruby Mae) Red thread worked just fine, so I guess it is red?

My hair is giving me a pain lately--I'm thinking of getting a perm (I know, gasp!)  I have naturally curly hair (that I happen to like very much), but the curl is uneven.  It is tight kinky curly on the underside by my neck, but more wavy toward the top.  

I've stopped wet setting it these last months because my scalp has been protesting a lot about it, and I'm searching out other ways to style it that don't look modern but are relatively quick to do.  I really love Caitriona's hair in Outlander, particularly the updos.  I used to wear my hair like that a lot, and have been playing around with it like that again.  

Details:

Ruby Mae dress: Frankenpattern of Emery bodice, McCalls 4275 skirt, Simplicity 1797 pockets, Denyse Schmidt fabric

Cardigan: Express via ThredUp

Earrings: from my mom

Wellies: LLBean mid-calf wellie

Tights: Foot Traffic via Sock Dreams

Sunglasses: Retronetty on ebay

Talking Tuesday: Letters to Saint Lydia

I started reading Letters of Saint Lydia this week, and I think this will be the first of several excerpts from this excellent book.  It is geared for young adults, but frankly, I think anyone would benefit from reading it.  The insights about human nature are true and profound.

"We will hope for better things for this young man.  Every child is born for heaven, even this 'egomaniac,' as you call him.  Perhaps something has happened to him that grieves him or frustrates him.  Perhaps his egotism is merely the face he shows to the world because he does not know how to do better.  Perhaps he is only frightened.  At some level, most people are.  Most of the evil that comes into the world has its roots in the fear of death.  It is a sickness, and only the knowledge of eternal life can cure it."

Melinda Johnson, Letters to Saint Lydia, Conciliar Press (now Ancient Faith Press), 2011, pp 26-27, emphasis mine, italics in the original.

Union Station Calling ~wiws~

I think I've cracked my ideal dress pattern.  I was initially disappointed with my Frankendress, but after wearing it several times (and receiving a ton of compliments every time!), I decided that maybe the pattern only needed a little bit of tweaking to be just right.  I really love this dress!  I cut it out on Friday morning, sewed it during the afternoon yesterday, and wore it to church today!

I made a few drafting changes to the Emery bodice, including lowering the bust darts 1/2" and shortening them by 1" and omitting all the waist shaping.  I realize I could have gone up a size and kept them, but I like the slightly looser fit this way, and I'm happy with the bodice without them.  I also decided to cut a round neckline on this one instead of square, but I like both, so will probably alternate on future iterations.

I also redrafted my kimono sleeves so that the pattern pieces meet under the arm and are part of the side seam, rather than the more basic style I've been using this past year (I can make a little tutorial if anyone cares to know what I did)  The change gives me more ease of movement with my arms, which is always a plus.

It's probably the second-worst zipper insertion I've ever done, but it is functional, and the worst part is hidden by the belt.  I'm still struggling to understand how to make a clean insertion when a zipper has to cross the hemisphere of bodice/skirt.  I had to piece the belt together as I decided at the last minute to make one, and had cut my fabric without allowing for it (and I was cutting it close on the yardage as it was), but it worked out in the end.  It isn't a beautiful self-belt, but it works.

I opted to use bias tape instead of facings, and to hem the bottom with it as well, which made things go very fast.  I also omitted the lining, as my main complaint about the Florence dress is that the self-lined bodice is too thick.  (I may yet take it apart and finish the edges with bias instead; if only I hadn't finished the inside waistband so nicely!)

I used a 1930s button/buckle card that worked perfectly.  I also used a pocket pattern from another vintage pattern I have, and I'm much happier with how they look on this skirt, plus the overall shape is very nice.  They are still patch pockets, but they were much easier to place because they are set into the side and waist seams.

Details:

Union Station Calling dress: Me made from Emery bodice + McCall's 4275 skirt + Simplicity 1797 pockets

Cardigan: 1960s era, from my aunt via my mom

Orange circle brooch: etsy

Earrings: target

Tights: Foot Traffic via Sock Dreams (Heather Mocha color)

Shoes: softspots via ebay

Yarn Along: Out of Africa Costuming Obsessions and Overdressed

I finished a few things last week during my respiratory-infection-induced torpor.  I'm still kind of junky and congested, but at least the cobwebs are starting to clear.  I was able to do a bit of sewing Monday and Tuesday, and I spent this morning drafting and cutting out a few more projects that have been in the queue for a while.  I may have made a closet orphan.  Oops.  (More about that in a future post)

So, knitting. I finished the Katniss Cowl that my sister asked me to make for her (with big sad puppy dog eyes, so I relented about not making things for other people)  The color is better on her, but I wanted to take a pic to send her before I mailed it.  She's pretty happy with it, I think!  

I knitted a hat from some of the leftover yarn (my first adult-sized hat!) and a V for Victory scarf.  I've been wanting to try the pattern for some time (it was issued during WW2 for people to knit at home and send to the soldiers) and had some red yarn just sitting around.  It was an easy and almost mindless project.  It was also the first project to benefit from blocking, although I think perhaps a more aggressive block might be in order, as the edges still want to roll a bit.  

I've also finished the back and front of the 1940s Twisted Rib jumper, and am on to the sleeves.  I'm lengthening the sleeves to 3/4 length as I think it will be a bit more useful for my purposes with slightly longer sleeves.

I also started reading Overdressed: The Shockingly High Price of Cheap Fashion, which piggy-backs very nicely onto Cheap.  I enjoy her writing style (although not the editing, oy!  Check the grammar, people!) and I'm finding a lot to think about.  I'm curious to see where she goes with it, as my chief complaint about Cheap was that it was not prescriptive enough.  I'm hoping for a little more of that with this book.   

In other news, I re-watched Out of Africa (for the umpteenth time!) and, in addition to the story, I so enjoyed the costuming this go-round, as I hadn't appreciated it so much until now.  I'm now kind of obsessed with a dress that Meryl Streep wears in one or two scenes and am scheming ways to recreate it.  I found a dressmaker's diagram from 1917 that is basically the same dress, and I think I might be able to draft the pieces from the sketch (combined with a few patterns in my stash).  

Go see Ginny for more Yarn Along!

Talking Tuesday: Restoring Mayberry

A few months ago I started reading this blog called Restoring Mayberry, written by an American living in Ireland.  Oddly enough, he is from Ferguson, MO (yes, that Ferguson) and is living a back-to-the-land sort of life with his daughter in Ireland.  He blogs about a wide range of topics, including survivalism, conservation, oral history, homeschooling, and local life.  His posts are usually brief, but always interesting.  Last week, he posted a brief post about a conversation with his local postman, and the last little bit of it really stood out to me.

"Why don’t you deliver the post by bicycle any more, I asked?

“Ah, they’re making me take a car,” he said. “And people get big deliveries these days, to a house full of stuff. Not the same as the old days. But the older people still greet me the same as always.”

Brian Kaller, Restoring Mayberry, 15 October, 2014, emphasis mine.

I'm reconsidering how much we "buy ahead" and store for a rainy day.  It isn't much, actually, as our city space is rather prohibitive in terms of storage, but I'm thinking a lot lately about how, historically, people lived much more hand to mouth, and paradoxically how the abundance of products has made us worry more about having enough.  Perhaps it is time to think about what "just enough" means in terms of food and household purchases.  I think Brian Kaller would say there's nothing wrong with being prepared (he advocates survivalist-style preparedness on his blog), but I do think there is something to be said for being prudent also.  Anyway.  Things to ponder.

WIWS: What This Dress Needs is Gauntlets

Today was one of those days that I wished I was a continental knitter (as opposed to an English knitter).  Continentals hold their yarn in the left hand, making them lightning fast, whereas us English knitters hold it in the right, which slows us down.  I have nice tension, but I'm not speedy.  One of the things on my to-knit-soon list is gauntlets (specifically, these ones), and I was thinking that this dress in particular would benefit from them, especially as the weather has turned.  I think a matching capelet or cowl is in order too, yeah?  

Anyway.  This is what I wore to Liturgy today.  Knit dress from eshakti, scarf from ages ago, tights, danskos.  Feeling a bit dumpy, and Geneen Roth says the best thing for dumpy is to wear a red dress, so out this came.  I've got to say, she's on to something there.

It's not quite cool enough to bust out my boots, but I think boots + knitteds and this dress would make a killer Outlander-esque outfit.  I think it would work with a chemise-like layer underneath as well, for additional warmth and visual interest.  I'll have to experiment a bit.

Owl brooch, old earrings.

Details:

Dress: Eshakti

Scarf: Target (several years old)

Owl Brooch: Acorn and Will

Danksos: ebay

Earrings: Kohl's (several years old)

Tights: Foot Traffic in Heather Mocha via Sock Dreams

Hair barrett: St. Augustine Vintage (etsy)

Linking with FLAP.

What You See Is What You Get

We survived two weeks with my husband away, and I'm still getting my feet back under me.  I've got a pretty bad chest infection and the kids are all sick, so I think it is just going to take some time.  On the upside, I've gotten a lot of knitting done this week, as I have little energy to do much else.  

I took a few quick snaps of my outfit this morning, because it is an easy comfortable Saturday morning ensemble.  As my sewing mojo has fled for the moment (and my sewing frustration threshold remains low), I've bought a few things from eshakti lately, just to fill some wardrobe gaps.  

One was a chambray skirt.  I had one two summers ago that was too big when I bought it, and after I lost weight that year, it was just miles too big and looked it, even with creative pinning.  So I passed it along, but really missed having a chambray skirt in my closet.  

When one came up on eshakti that was not a gathered skirt, had some nice detailing (trapunto stitching!!), was on sale, and I had a coupon to use, I decided it was time to get another.  It is perhaps a smidge longer than what is ideal on my frame, but I've come to the conclusion that I'd much rather have something an inch or two too long than risk showing my knees when baby wearing (which naturally rucks my skirt or dress up a bit). 

My only complaint about the chambray that eshakti uses (and maybe this is true of chambray more generally) is that it bleeds blue onto everything!  Even the edge of my kitchen counter turned blue after I washed dishes the other night.  But otherwise, I'm a happy camper.  Pockets, check.  Nice length, check.  Good weight for spring/summer/fall, check.  Now on to other things.

Deets:

Red shirt: Ralph Lauren Petites, thrifted

Chambray skirt: eshakti

Clock necklace: etsy (birthday gift)

Earrings: Modcloth

Shoes: dankso via ebay

Odds and Ends hiatus

I know that many of you have expressed your interest and appreciation for my Odds and Ends posts, which are curated link lists of things that strike my fancy, or inform something I'm thinking about, but I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that perhaps I should step away from this particular category for now.  I do like compiling the lists, and I appreciate the discussion that is often generated, either in the comments or in private, but I'm also finding the task to be burdensome right now, and I question whether continuing to discuss these topics in an online forum is really the best place for them.  I know the internet has sort of taken a life of its own these last few years, and I'm concerned about how much discourse happens there and creates an echo chamber.  Much of it is good, and does inform my thinking, educate my crafting, or simply enhance my world, and I think it serves a purpose, but I'd like to keep the boundaries a little more clear.  Lately they seem blurry to me.  I don't want to make some grand pronouncement about there never being another Odds and Ends post, but to say that they are on indefinite hiatus.  Perhaps I will resume them at some point, perhaps not.  I'm feeling pushed to make some small changes right now, and this is one of them.  I think you may expect a bit less more generally from me in this space for a little while.

All tied up in Celtic Knots

Another day, another dress.  I'm calling this one the Celtic Knot dress.  I'm super original like that.  (When I was a child, my dolls all had super original names like "Special Dolly" or "Grandma Ropps Dolly"; I figure it's not worth fighting the impulse at this late stage)

I have a ready-to-wear dress from a few years ago that is quite similar in style to this one, and I wear it quite a bit in the summer, so I thought this pattern would be a good one to try.  I'm still not sure about this dress, however--the pattern has some issues and I did some dumb things during construction, but at least it (mostly) fits.  The fabric was inexpensive, so I don't mind considering this a wearable muslin (because it is wearable), but I don't think it is going to be my TNT dress pattern.  There are some fitting issues, and while I didn't mind working 9 buttonholes by hand, there were a lot of fiddly bits to this dress.  I'm also perplexed as to why this dress *just* fits--the sizing on the envelope would indicate that it should be too big all over (and I've made this vintage size before and it was too big)  It's a good job I didn't grade it down at all.

The first problem is that the bodice doesn't begin to fit on the skirt section with the waist shaping as indicated on the pattern.  I had to pleat the skirt 5" to make it fit, and then realized there was no way it was going to fit around me, so I pulled out all the pleats and tucks and just attached it straight (this after finishing the waist band with seam binding--oy!)  When I fixed that, I realized there was no shaping in the bodice at all, so I threw some pleats in under the bust.  After I wore it for a few hours yesterday morning, I realized a) I couldn't breathe or move and b) the pleats just looked weird, so I took them out and redid all the photos.  I have to say, the fit is a lot better now.  Breathing is good.  

I should add that I tried on the dress with almost every stage of the project, but sometimes it is hard to see how it is going to finish until you actually get there.  I finished the whole dress, buttons and all, and realized that the bodice was at least 2" too long and there was a ton of fabric pooling in the small of my back.  As in, it looked like a drop waist on me. 

I know I'm short-waisted, but really.  It was too much.  After pulling out the seam binding and reattaching the bodice twice, I wasn't in a hurry to repeat the experience, so I just pinned up the bodice and sewed a seam right along the original one.  So now there is a bit of extra bulk along the waist that I don't love but at least it sits at my waist now.  Fortunately, this fabric is fairly thin, so it can take a little bit of bulk here and there.  It is quilt-weight cotton, but it has a nice hand and drape, and is much thinner than some of the quilting cottons I work with.  

I used vintage green seam binding to finish the sleeves and hem, although the skirt ended up too long (again!) so I just turned it over once more and blind stitched it.  So it looks like a 2 1/2" hem, but is really closer to five.  It is neat, though!   I ended up cheating the seam allowance on the sleeves because I could tell they were going to finish too small, and as it is, they just fit. 

 I do like how the sleeves are constructed, and I love that shoulder dart, which I probably should have deepened just a smidge as the shoulders want to slide around a bit on my narrowness.  There was something goofy in the pattern instructions about reinforcing the underarm area, and there was an extra pattern piece that didn't fit where the pattern said it should.  It is possible that the extra piece would have made the bodice fit better with the pleats, but it was at least 3" longer than the bodice, and I could not work out how to fit it into the side seams so I left it off.  It appeared to me that the piece (which was rectangular) was just supposed to lay over the side seams as reinforcement on the inside, but maybe it was supposed to widen the bodice under the arms instead.  So at least some of the fitting issues might be due to that.

And these buttons!  I found them from an etsy seller in a set of ten, and I knew they were the perfect complement to this fabric.  The design is similar to the celtic knots in the fabric.

My dummy mistake was not using interfacing on the facing section of the bodice.  I really need to pony up and get proper interfacing, as the pellon fusible I've been using for most of my projects doesn't always hold up well.  I find interfacing so pesky.  Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't, but this is the first time I really should have and didn't.  I should also state for the record that I'm very grateful that this pattern had a shaped facing pattern piece, so that I didn't have to draft one (my previous experience with drafting shaped facings has not gone particularly well).  I really like the unusual shape of the neckline.  I did opt for straight sleeves instead of the notched version that went with this neckline, in part because my experience with notched sleeves is that they curl with wearing, and also because I just didn't want to mess with it.  

I put my selvages to good use on this dress (having examined the insides of my RTW dress that was similar) and lined up the folded over edges of the button band on both sections of the dress along the selvages.  I did not attempt any pattern matching, but even though it is directional, I think the design is subtle enough not to need it.  I left off the inseam pockets because they were tiny and in a weird place on the skirt, and I have in mind to add patch pockets at some point.

 

That said, I like the fabric and the color very much, and I do think I'll wear it.  I have a green belt that coordinates fairly well, but I think I like the black for contrast. 

Celtic Knot Dress: Simplicity 4260 (from 1953)

V for Victory Felt Brooch: Wacky Tuna Vintage

Earrings: from gram

Shoes: Softspots via ebay

Belt: H&M (old)