Seersucker for Pentecost ~wiws~

Happy Pentecost!  Cпразником!  The girls both had terrible nights, and Birdie seems a little unwell today, so I stayed home with them and will take them to the church down the street in a bit.  I should really be wearing green for Pentecost, but it is supposed to be 90 degrees today, and my new seersucker dress seemed like just the thing for the weather.  It is teal, which is kind of in the the green family, so that counts, right?  #horseshoesandhandgrenades

Anyway.  I made this dress exactly the same as the Fa So La and Baby Got Quilt Back dresses.  I found a 4 yards of NOS length of all-cotton seersucker fabric on ebay for a very good price and I loved the print, so I decided to make another summer dress with it.  Seersucker is kind of strange--it is a woven fabric, but I wouldn't describe it as a stable woven.  Because of the nobbly texture, it actually behaves more like a knit (although, I will say that this 100% cotton seersucker was better behaved than the cotton-poly seersucker that I made the 1934 McCall's from)  The fabric was extremely narrow--33" wide.  Standard wovens these days are 44-45" wide, although you do get some that come 54-60" wide.  My cotton-poly seersucker was about 57" wide, I think.  Most vintage lengths are 35-36" wide, or occasionally you can find a 44" wide length, but I'm actually wondering if this fabric is from the 1930s, given the width.  You do see patterns from the late 1920s and early 1930s with yardages given for fabric at this width.  Who knows.  Honestly, though, if I didn't know it was vintage fabric, I wouldn't have been able to tell it wasn't new and modern--it is in absolutely perfect condition and had never been washed.  

I did shorten the bodice a bit more, and I think somehow the skirt came out slightly shorter than the other iterations, but it is still past my knees, so it works.  The sash doesn't really want to stay put, but the print is busy enough not to be noticeable, I think.  

The buttons are two from my stamping days--they are based on a vintage design I've seen around, and the red is so vibrant and lovely, I've been waiting for the right project to use them on.  They have a double pie crust edge on them and I really like the detail (which was hard to photograph because of the color).  I had just two, so the buttons needed to be used as decoration rather than functional.  The red in the center of the medallions is a true-blue red, and the buttons seemed to work.  I considered teal buttons, as I had several that matched, but the fabric seemed to need a little pop of color to bring out the red.

Another side zip--I happened to have a nice teal one on hand that was the right length.  

A small aside:  this dress is partly self-drafted, but definitely Franken-patterned together, but I've been researching the famous 1-Hour Dress from the early 1920s in preparation to make one,  and was gratified to realize that my design has precedent in my era!  This version is much shorter-waisted than the ones from 1924 on, but the construction and shape are very similar.

I finished the edges by hand again--I didn't like the way the teal thread looked against the fabric and wanted an invisible finish around the sleeves and neckline and hem.  It took about an hour to do after the bias was in place, so not a big deal.  I've been constructing these dresses in a different order lately, doing the bias tape last, and I'm not sure whether I like it better or not.  I do feel like the construction goes faster when I do the bias last, as it is the most fiddly with pinning and such, but I do have to manipulate the whole dress through the machine when I do the bias last, and also risk stretching the neckline as I'm working with things, so there's that.

The miracles of photography--I did not touch up these photos, but I did adjust the color to be more true, and my shoes magically look cleaner and polished.  I will admit, one thing that has stayed with me all these years after living in Russia is to have clean and neat shoes.  Russians are pretty fastidious about their shoes, and many women (myself included) carried a small shoe polish kit (just a sponge in a plastic case that had shoe polish in it) and used it whenever we went out on the street.  The state of the streets kind of necessitated it.  I still look at people's shoes first when I'm out and about.

The color of the teal was kind of hard to accurately photograph--it is a very rich peacock teal, but it photographed kind of blue for some reason.  I happened to have some teal bird earrings that were a good color match (and incidentally work well for getting certain lego pieces apart.  Don't ask me how I know)

I'll do my final Me-Made May wrap up post in a day or two.

Details:

Teal Medallions Dress: vintage NOS fabric via ebay, Holly Berry buttons from Stampin' Up! (long retired), new peacock colored bias binding and thread.

Danskos: via ebay

Sunglasses: ebay (retronettie)

Earrings: target (old)

Linking with the FLAP girls, like we do.

Big Ideas and Not So Deep Thoughts

I've thought a lot lately about how the content of this blog has shifted over time.  It started out as a way to chronicle the ways we were trying to live simply in a busy urban environment, raising a large(ish) family in a small space, and coping with all the realities that accompany it.  I used this space as a way to think out loud about various Big Ideas and Deep Thoughts and to consider better ways of doing in our house.  I developed a few regular features over time, such as Talking Tuesday and Odds and Ends, as well as some overwrought thinking about the intersection of post modern life and technology.

I know this past year has been mostly the Urban Simplicity Sewing Network and I feel a little guilty for neglecting the topics that made me start writing here; for those of you who came for the Big Ideas and stayed along for the sartorial ride, thank you!  It seems that sewing and writing about sewing is all I have the energy for these days.

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Virginia with some dear friends--the same trip we took last Memorial Day weekend.  Being there a year later, with a similar laid back schedule of activities and fellowship, I realized how much more tired I am, how much more frazzled I feel, how high my stress levels are compared to last year this time.  I'm no longer nursing Ponchik but I am still getting up with one or more times every night with at least one of the girls, and they are waking crazy early almost every day.  My efforts to go to sleep earlier have been thwarted by terrible bouts of insomnia. 

I'm mostly just surviving, running on caffeine and adrenaline, and that has taken a huge toll on the amount of mental energy I have for the Deep Thoughts and Other Intellectual Topics I keep wanting write about.  I want to get back to creative writing, but I never have enough time or mental energy to even start basic outlining.  This past year has been extremely difficult--we had a very difficult health season that I didn't write much about here because, well, I don't know.  My husband argued another case before the Supreme Court this spring, which meant he was essentially out of pocket for several months this fall and early spring when our sick months were most intense.  I'm sharing less about my kids because I don't know where to start with it all, and also because I'm increasingly concerned with blurring lines between public/private life both on the internet and in the public square.  We are in uncharted territory with social media and the fast encroachment of online life into real life, and I am frankly at a loss to find a good balance.

 I've tried to change the way I interact with the internet, placing some limits on my time spent online, particularly the time spent on social media.  I'm trying to find other things to keep me busy during the day and off the computer (hence the Sewing Network)  One of the reasons I stopped doing Odds and Ends is that I was spending far too much time reading every interesting article that came my way, but hardly ever reading books.  I love books, and I love getting lost in a story, and I didn't like what all that article reading was doing to my attention span.  So I'm intentionally reading less online and more in print.  I gave myself permission to not read every word of The Week magazine and to give The Economist a miss most of the time.  I'm reading less about current events; it bothers me on some level that I'm not as well informed about the world as I think I should be, but on the other hand, the constant stream of yuck from around the world has had a pretty deleterious effect on my mood.

I've given myself permission to stop reading with the intention of writing about it later.  So fewer written notes, post-its, and dog-eared pages, but less writing about what is on my mind too.  

Mostly what is on my mind is growing older.  I'll be 36 this summer, and while that is not old by any calculus, it is old-er.  I'm no longer young, and am full immersed in the world of adult responsibility, school drop off and pick up, supervising homework and at-home reading, paying bills, running the household, and generally tied down by the needs of the children.  

It is okay, this growing older.   I don't mind the gray hairs, the sagging skin, the stretch marks, the age spots, or stiffness in the joints (well, not much anyway). I am about the age I've always felt myself to be, but I think I'm feeling a little lost going forward.  My body has changed a lot this year, particularly this spring, and I feel like a stranger in my own skin.  I don't know how to dress myself most of the time.  Sometimes I make stuff and it doesn't fit a week later.  I feel a bit adrift in other ways too, caught between the responsibilities and exhaustion of caring for very small children, and my own desire to contribute something intellectually meaningful beyond raising a family.  I know this is not necessary, that raising a family is enough, but it is still there, this pulse in my brain.  

So. That leaves me in a quandary about my (very little) corner of the blogosphere.  I don't know that I want to write so much about life in the city anymore--it is gritty, it is difficult, there is a lot of yuck I wish I could un-see in my daily life.  It is hard to maintain compassion for the human condition when under the sort of sensory assault that the city metes out on the daily.  I kind of said what I wanted to say about it at the beginning of this blog and things have evolved from there.  That said, I am still interested in exploring the simple life, as well as thinking about domestic matters big and small, including those of the sartorial nature. 

Honestly, we don't do much worth writing about on a daily basis. We just go through our days with the kids, manage the health issues and special needs, the medication schedules (3 kids, five medications each, dosed twice a day, and that is when they are well), make sure the homework gets done and the spelling lists learned, go to church and keep a liturgical rhythm at home, have dinner together in our small kitchen, cram other families in around the table for fellowship, work very hard to maintain friendships in the busy busy that is managing health problems and city living, try to overcome the basic rudeness of the city.  There is so much on the web that is negative and full of complaint, that I'd rather this space have some goodness, some beauty, some creativity, something to feed the soul.  I'm not one of those writers that can easily exalt the mundane into something worthy and good.  I'm not even sure I want to be--there are so many wonderful writers out there, thinking great thoughts about life and difficulty and meeting it all with grace, I'm not sure I have anything worthwhile to add.  

I'm still sewing a storm, obviously, and researching historical clothing as a measure of how people lived, and also as part of thinking about body image and how women really looked and the rhythm of their lives.  (I've got lots to say about that, but can't seem to cohere it all into something readable)  I sew because I always feel better when I've sewn something, even if it doesn't ultimately work out for me, so there is a kind of creative therapy in the process at least.  I enjoy creative and academic writing, but the way I like to research and write is pretty intense and difficult to achieve at this stage of my children's lives.  I suppose that is why I am heavily focused on sartorial matters, setting aside the body image/aging stuff.  It is easily picked up and put down, small enough to put in a corner of my mind, to turn over in small quiet moments and put away when more pressing needs arise, as they always do.

Sometimes, I don't even know what I'm doing here.  I wish I had more to say.  Or less.  Or something.  But I'll keep on keeping on, and hope that things take shape moving forward.  Thanks for sticking around for the ride.

Baby Got Quilt Back: The Backstory

One of the things I love about vintage clothing, fabric and sewing notions is that often there is an interesting backstory to it.  I even find mundane backstories interesting because it is part of the history of the thing, something that I can take around with me during the day.  The historian in me loves it.

I found this 4 yard length of fabric on etsy from a seller I've bought from previously.  It is a nice cotton percale or possibly lawn from the 1940s, and was unevenly faded, plus had some hand stitching remnants up the selvages and bits of blue yarn threaded through a few of the blue leaves.  I was quite perplexed, as the ends of the fabric were raw, and there was also a French seam running directly up the middle of the length, around the 2 yard mark.  The seller thought it had perhaps been part of a pieced quilt backing, hence the yarn bits.

The fading was a little challenging to cut around, but I decided that the least faded part would work for the front, and then I'd cut the back from least to most faded, started with the back bodice.  It actually worked out pretty well, as I cut the pockets last, and they are the most faded, but it doesn't show much.  The print is busy enough that the variation doesn't show much.  

I cut the dress almost exactly the same way as my Fa So La dress, as I really like the fit of it.  I cut the skirt as two rectangles and then pleated them at the dart points on the front and back to match the width of the bodice.  

It has a loose fit around the middle, so if I bell out during the day, it still looks okay.  I decided to make a tied sash instead of a belt, and used some vintage pink buttons from the stash since the color match was so nice.  I had a bright pink 9" zip that I installed on the side for a little extra pop of color.  

It is a little longer than I usually cut, but I think that is okay, actually.

I'm totally happy with how this dress came out, and as it is a swamp out there today, it is the perfect thing for the weather--light and airy, and breezy.  Construction was a breeze, as I finished all the edges with bias on the machine, and the sash was just a tube turned right side out and finished on the middle edge.  Easy-peasy.  

This style feels good for summer.  I'm nearing the end of my summer sewing pile, and my plan for the rest of the season is to work on slopers.  I'd like to figure out why I get terrible drag lines with a v-neck on this bodice sloper, but not with any other neckline shape.  My mom has promised to teach me how to do a lapped zipper when I visit her this summer, and I'm hoping to experiment with some other pattern drafting type things.

I'd like to get a well-fitted raglan sleeve bodice sloper, as well as a well-fitted set-in sleeve bodice sloper.  I've got a few patterns I'd like to muslin up, and I think having the freedom (and muslin fabric) to do so will be a good heat-wave type activity as the pressure is off for a wearable finished garment.

In the meantime, these will do.  I'm finishing up a seersucker dress from a vintage NOS fabric length, and have some Thoughts About Seersucker and Other Sartorial Matters to share soon.  

Details:

Baby Got Quilt Back Dress: vintage fabric via etsy, new bias binding, vintage buttons from etsy, zip from a rainbow pack bought on ebay

Danksos: via ebay last year

Earrings: Target (several years ago)

Butterick 3918: 1931 Floral

I bought some Cotton and Steel fabric in April, intending a summer dress with it.  It was from the Cookie Book line, and I had some in the green floral colorway that I was saving for fall, but I thought the pink was so pretty for summer.  I do have trouble wearing pink because my skin is so fair, but this pink is peachy enough that I think I can get away with it.

I really scratched my head over what to make with the yardage, though.  I wanted something easy for summer in the heat, and you really can't beat Japanese cotton for soft and comfortable, but I also wanted to try something different than my standard Frankenpattern, but also keep the finished look in the early 1930s.

Enter the Butterick 3918 from 1931.  I had saved this pattern image a long time ago because I really liked the tab detail on view C as well as the easy one piece layout.  I realized I could easily use my Frankenpattern for it if I cut it all in one and eliminated the waist seam.  It would be less fitted than how I normally make these, and I'd have to put patch pockets on (which aren't my favorite thing to attach), but I wouldn't have to draft anything from scratch.  I was looking for something less fitted but not super loose, as my last experiment in a looser style came out okay, but I'm not interested in a closetful of that particular style (I'll blog it when I can retake the photos as my first round didn't really turn out well).

Bam.  This dress was super easy on the construction--just two side seams and finishing the edges.  I put the zip on the side and used the pocket piece from my Swirl pattern (it is a nice shape and easy to work with) and modified the size a little to scale it to the dress and pattern.

I did a soft sashed belt with buttons and snaps instead of a buckled belt which allowed me to keep the fit pretty loose.  

Today was disgustingly hot and humid, and I have to say, this dress was just the thing--it was non-binding, cool and soft, but still within my visual stylistic norm, so I felt pretty comfortable.

I really like the little tab at the neck--just gives the dress a little somethin' somethin'.  I've been experimenting a bit with 1930s hair styles too, as I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my hair on the daily.

I still have to sort out what I'm doing with the green colorway of this print, but this pink dress is going to be a good summer piece, I think.

My original vision for this dress was based on a mid-1930s image that included an asymmetric row of dark green buttons and a coordinating green buckle, but when it became obvious that I needed to give up fitted belts for a while, I gave up the green button/buckle idea too.  Maybe I can try it on something in the fall if my body settles down by then.

So when I found I had three of these buttons and the color match was perfect, the rest just kind of fell into place.  

It is probably my best top-stitched patch pocket to date.  I'm quite pleased with it.  I did end up hand stitching all the bias binding down instead of by machine, as I'm enjoying the handwork process a bit when I have some down time in the afternoons, plus the tab treatment just seemed to work better with invisible seam finishes.

As a little bonus, while I was making this dress, Lucy at 1940s Style for You posted this wonderful jumper from 1936 that she made for a client, and I realized my tab detail would be lovely with a scarf or matching cravat type dealio through the tab at the top.  I've not yet had a chance to make one with the leftover fabric, but it is on my list.  

Image via 1940s Style for You

Details:

1931 Floral Dress: Butterick 3918 (but self-drafted from my own slopers), Cotton and Steel Cookie Book Mini Flowers in Pink fabric, vintage buttons from etsy, vintage bias binding from etsy

Shoes: clarks via ebay

Earrings: handed down from my mom

HSM #5, Practicality: 1934 Seersucker dress

I've been a busy bunny this month, and managed to make a second entry for the Historical Sew Monthly challenge for May: Practicality.  I mostly sew practical garments for myself since I'm at home with my kids, doing housework, running errands, doing the school drop off and pick up, etc. I am usually making a garment that is era-specific, or a combination of several garments, but I don't often try to replicate an image.  Sometimes, however, an image completely captures my imagination and I have to make it.  Enter the McCall 8272.

I'm making more of an effort to sew with "garment" fabrics, both to challenge myself, as well as expand my horizons and explore some different sartorial choices as I sort through how best to dress my changing body.  I had bought some seersucker on fabric.com earlier in the month as part of this effort, and thought a long time about how to use those stripes.  The fabric is very light but doesn't drape well.  I did think about some frothy mid-1940s housedress (I had several in mind), but I'm really trying to steer my clothes more to the early 1930s, plus I wanted to minimize stripe matching and pattern drafting.  I mostly wanted an everyday dress that would be cool and breezy in the disgusting sauna that passes for summer here. 

I loved the McCall's 8272 from 1934, and spent several days analyzing the details, trying to figure out the collar.  I admit, I was stumped.  I could not figure out how that collar was attached.  I asked the HSM forum on Facebook, and there were a few suggestions, but in the end, I figured it out myself.  I don't think it is quite right to the picture, but close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades.

I studied the pattern art more closely and realized that the collar was attached like a flat style collar and didn't wrap around to the back (the pattern art shows the scarf at the back of the neck, along with two neck darts, a feature I always add to my bodices anyway to account for my narrow shoulders). I drafted my pieces to match the neckline of the garment.  I used this tutorial to figure out how to attach the thing and went from there.  I should have made the triangles slightly different angles and had them wrap a little around the edge of my neck, I think, but not bad for my first self-drafted collar and flat collar attachment (I've only done butterfly collars up to now; they are constructed completely differently).

I put in another side zip (I'm really liking them now that I understand how to put them in properly!).  I did debate whether to put in an actual fabric overlap on the front of the garment, as in the pattern art, but decided that it wasn't worth the trouble, as I really dislike wrapped garments, and I thought the faux button finish would look similar anyway.

I modified the design to have kimono sleeves not because I don't know how to do set-in sleeves but rather because I prefer the fit and ease of a cut-on sleeve.  (I also like the fabric efficiency)  I did goof a little on the sleeve cuffs--the stripes are supposed to run the opposite direction from the striping on the sleeves, but I didn't account for the direction of the stripes on the kimono and cut the cuffs on the cross grain.  I should have cut them bias like at the top of the pocket, but live and learn (and get Luvs).  I could go back and change it at some point, I guess.

I couldn't quite match the belt buckle, but again, close enough.  The dress does look nice with a burgundy belt, but my middle is too swollen for that mess right now, so I put on my self belt instead.  I cut it kind of long so that I can adjust the tightness as needed.

I realize I'm not anywhere near as svelte as the pattern art, but honestly, I've seen tons of extant photographs from the era, and almost no one was.  And much of the pattern art is pretty disingenuous--if you look at the line image and compare it to the shape of the pattern pieces, it doesn't line up.  I just cut a dress from 1932 that looks straight up and down, as on the McCall's 8272, but if you look at the pattern art, the skirt section is very a-line.  Ditto for several of the one-piece dresses that were popular in the early 1920s.  

These were not the buttons I originally planned to use on this dress, but they ended up working out beautifully.  I really like the pinwheel detail, and they coordinate nicely with the fabric.

I have several buckles in this style, but other colors--it must have been a popular style!  I do think that I need to move away from buckled belts and toward sashed or buttoned belts instead, as I'm finding they can accommodate my body issues a little better right now.  I spent this morning cutting out fabric for my next round of sewing projects, and all but one project has an adjustable sash around the middle instead of a buckled belt.  I'm a little sad about it, as I love using my matched button and buckle sets, and I also have a lot of buckles that I like to use (plus, I just like the look), but I'm trying to accept that my body is in rebellion right now, and going through a lot of changes, and this is a season.  I can always get back to buckled belts later.

I include this image from 1915 as an example of fashion parentage.  I'm constantly finding images from the 1910s that have details on them that are replicated almost wholesale in the 1930s and 1940s.  I get a secret little thrill when I find one.  The dress in the center has the same asymmetrical button placket as the McCall's 8272, and a similar collar treatment.  The sweep of the skirt is obviously quite different, as is the overall look, but I think the line of descent is fairly obvious.  

The Challenge: Practicality

What is it? A practical summer day dress

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Classic Striped Seersucker, cotton/poly mix

Pattern: McCall's 8272 (I didn't actually have the pattern, so I modified my own dress sloper and drafted or borrowed the collar, pocket, and cuffs to fit the details)

Year: 1934

Notions: Vintage Penney's cotton bias tape from the 1950s, vintage pinwheel plastic buttons from the 1930s, vintage belt buckle, probably 1940s, modern all purpose zip from the stash

How historically accurate is it? 8/10--I used a cotton/poly mix seersucker, as it is almost impossible to find 100% cotton seersucker in modern fabric.  There is more cotton than polyester, however, so it doesn't seem too bad on the breathability.  I also used all purpose polyester zip and thread.  The original dress was an asymmetrical front wrap and wouldn't have needed a zip closure (and in any case, most dresses from the early 1930s don't have them anyway), but I don't like wrapped dresses and so modified the front with a faux button line down the side.  I also modified the sleeves to be cut-on instead of in-set, but kimono sleeves are perfectly period appropriate.  I straightened the skirt pattern slightly, but based the shape of my skirt on several other patterns from the same time frame.

Hours to complete: Hmm.  I had to do a bunch of hand finishing on this dress, plus extra drafting, so probably 7.

First worn: May 26, 2015 on a hot day to test its practicality in hot weather!  (It wears well in the heat, but I wish it looked better without foundation garments so as to be really cool and breezy)  Alas and alack.

Total cost: $7.48 x 3 yards of fabric, plus zip at about $2, plus vintage notions around $10, so let's say ~$35

Me Made May Round Up: Week 3

Nothing much to report for this week as far as Me Made May goes.  No new observations, still struggling with feeling good in my clothing.  While I generally think that tucked in shirts look better on me, I'm experimenting with wearing some of my shifts untucked for a longer line and more comfort around my middle (which has been terrible with a capital T this week)  I often gain and lose 3" on my waist throughout the course of the day, and it is so frustrating to wear belts right now.  All my photos are taken around 7:00 a.m., so often the belt is off by dinnertime.

One thing I forgot to share about the Wildwood dress yesterday is that I successfully put in-seam pockets on the skirt!  I honestly could not get my mind around them before I ran across this brilliant tutorial.  I'm still trying to visualize how it works with a detached pocket piece, but for now, this works.  I drafted the pocket on the fly, and would change it slightly if I do this again (I kind of prefer yoked pockets) and they ended up slightly lower and shallower than is ideal, but they are functional and have the advantage of easy access while wearing the ERGO, which I've never had before--all my other pockets are up too high and get covered by the hip belt.

I've finished two other dresses I was working on (one of which is my June HSM entry) and I'm pretty pleased with how they came out.  I've got some stash-busting projects planned for June, and I'm doing some thinking about body image, getting older, visual norms, clothing, and other related topics.  I've got one post nearly finished, and hope to write a follow up later this summer.

Wildwood Dress

You sick of my mug yet?  No help for it, I suppose.

I've been thinking a lot about about what sorts of silhouettes appeal to me, and what kinds of things suit my figure and basic style (as well as my stage of life).  I still think that my basic Frankenpattern dress is a good fit for me, but I'm experimenting with some other things too right now.

But sometimes, you just want to make a quick and easy project.  I was sort of looking to create another Tokyo Train Ride type dress--very straight forward, no frills, a basic up and down dress.  I really love that dress and feel pretty good in it every time I wear it.

I've had my eye on this fabric for several months, and decided that this dress would be a good straight up and down project.  I've been doing a lot of handwork on my June Historical Sew Monthly project, and I thought it would be nice to have something quick and easy.

I call this: Fantastically Weird Things to do with your hands while taking photos.

As it turns out, I ended up finishing all the edges on this dress by hand.  I used some coordinating bias tape that I had in my stash, but it was 7/8" wide, and I usually use 1/2" to finish the edges and then machine stitch it all down.  For whatever reason, that bias did not want to lie flat around the neckline.  I don't know if it was the shape (I cut a sort of U-shape) or the width of the bias or what, but I could tell I wasn't going to be able to machine stitch it down.  And I didn't want to hand finish the neckline and then have machine stitched sleeves and hem.  So I hand hemmed the bias on the hem, sleeves, and neckline. 

I almost left the buttons off, but decided that the small busy print could use a little something.  I had some coordinating blue buttons and a small blue buckle that worked out well.

I did make a contrasting belt from some navy blue fabric that is from the same collection (Wildwood by Elizabeth Olwen for Cloud 9 fabrics) but it didn't quite look right.  I had made the self-belt first, and liked the low contrast better.  I might try it with the contrast belt sometime just for variety, though.

The second button is on a little crooked, so I'll need to reattach it, but it is okay for today.  I wasn't sure about this dress, to be honest--sometimes those quick and easy projects don't quite come out as expected, but I think it is a good dress.  The colorway suits my complexion, and I still really like the print.  The belt is a smidge tight (thank you, belly bloat), but I could fix that by making the overturn at the buckle a bit smaller.

And a good hair day!  Plus a high of 66!  I think it must be the start of a good day.

Details:

Wildwood Dress: Wildwood cotton fabric via etsy, vintage buttons from the stash (but via etsy), vintage bias via etsy and a peach zipper

Cardigan: Banana Republic

Shoes: Clarks via ebay

Earrings: hand me down from my mom

Watermelon, Watermelon, Redux

So I made a blouse out of the leftovers from my Watermelon Not-A-Swirl dress.  It took me a while to like it, frankly.  I wasn't crazy about the fit, and the black buttons I put on originally were too high contrast--it just didn't look good with anything.

I think this style would look fun with floppy linen 1930s-style palazzo pants.  Note to self: make linen palazzo pants.

I swapped out the buttons for some light pink ones in my stash that I was eager to get out of the stash, thinking that a) they looked nice with the fabric, b) if I ended up donating the blouse, at least it would be with buttons that I wasn't super attached to, and c) it might help me to like the blouse better.

So I think it works now.  One little aesthetic lesson I'm learning right now is about high and low contrast with regards to garment details.  Sometimes a garment needs a high contrast, sometimes low.  I'm still figuring out when each is called for.  

Much better, no?  Dansko has some sandals that are royal blue this year, and I kind of want a pair.  But I don't want to pay retail for them.

(The Lime Flowers dress was just saved by a high contrast belt, for example, as was the Spring for Cotton dress)  But back to the blouse.

This blouse, however, needed low contrast buttons.  I think it is because the fabric is so busy and bright.  The dresses that needed the high contrast belt/button details were busy small prints that weren't brightly colored at a distance.

This is a basic Portrait blouse, with my modifications, plus I added the sash from the dress to try some different ways to wear it.  I think I like this third option best for now:

It has just that small amount of visual interest and waist definition that I tend to like.  I'm still not in love with the blouse, but I think it will get some wear this summer at least.  The skirt is a little bit too big, so I need to figure out the best way to take it in.

Outfit details:

Watermelon Redux blouse: Gertie's Portrait blouse, modified, plus watermelon fabric and vintage buttons/bias tape

Kim Rogers linen skirt: via ebay, shortened by me (it had an under-ruffle originally that made the skirt nearly ankle length.  I thought this length was better on my frame)

Watermelon earrings: etsy

Shoes: dansko via ebay