It has Pocketses

 I should probably title this post: Sometimes I Can't Help Myself.   

I've had this double gauze sitting on my shelf, prewashed and waiting since about May.  I had originally thought to make it for summer, but then felt that it would work better with my fall palette.  There are always about 5-6 weeks of yucky heat in the first part of my fall rotation, so I like to have a few summer weight dresses in fall colors in my fall.  I originally bought the fabric to make a Pearl Shift dress, but gave up that dream after the disaster that was the first try with a different fabric.  I also worried about finishing since double gauze does need a lot of seam finishes and the Pearl has set in sleeves that need clipping on the curves.  I've seen it made in double gauze (which gave me the idea in the first place) but the maker had Frenched all the seams.  Um, no.  Just...no.  

So I decided to go ahead and make another Dottie Angel instead, since I decided I wanted to wear it this month and use it as a kind of transitional dress.  I'm kind of sick of my summer clothes at this point, and was eager for something new.  If it ain't broke, I guess...

I went with patch pockets because I discovered on the Blue Forest dress that double gauze+kanga pocket just do not play well together.  The kanga pocket stitching pulled in weird ways after washing, and the pocket had sad saggage.  So I ended up pulling it off after we got back to the States and swapping out patch pockets (photos at the bottom of this post).

Nothing to note about construction except that I added a tiny bit of length, as I'm kind of digging the mid-ankle length right now.  The hem is slightly wonky owing to the shiftiness of gauze, but it isn't too bad.  

I also didn't clip my undersleeve edge to make finishing on the inside easier.  I think it will be less fray-prone as a result and the double gauze is stretchy enough to be forgiving without clipping.  I'm trying it on a few other fabrics that have a lot of give to see how it holds up over time.

I worried that the color wasn't going to do me any favors, but I got a lot of compliments the day I wore it (including from my husband, who is generally oblivious to my appearance).  So I guess it does suit me!  I think it will look nice with a navy cardigan and boots once the weather cools.

Double gauze is incredibly soft--I wish I could let you pet the fabric.  It is so nice against the skin.

  

Not much else to say--a good dress.  I did decide to try another dress pattern in the fall (in addition to the Sew House 7 Tea Dress) called the Summer Jazz dress.  It is from an independent outfit called Snapdragon Studios and I found them by accident on etsy.  It is a great little pattern and includes long sleeves, which I'm eager to try in a woven fabric.  I'm feeling the need for some small sartorial changes.  And a lot of clearing out.

The shoes are a good match and keep my neuroma mostly happy.  I'm supposed to have a guided injection with ultrasound in a few weeks since the first one didn't take.  In the meantime, it feels like there are rocks and broken glass inside my foot, so that is fun.  

And here is the pocket swap on the Blue Forest dress:

I do like it a lot better now.  The wonk of the kanga pocket really got to me, especially since it was in my direct eye line when I was sitting down.  

And for a little domestic stuff, Birdie has been playing with Wiki Stix during quiet time the last few days (seriously, these things are the best) and making pictures of the family.  She told me this was me and my husband (I'm the pink one with yellow hair and he is orange with green features, including a small green beard).  She wanted me to take a picture.  Yesterday she made a whole family tableaux.  It is so hard to keep her amused for long; I'm so glad she likes playing with these for now!

I watched the Hollow Crown three-part arc of Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V and they are Magnificent.  Tom Hiddleston is amazing in them.  The production values are very high, and the casting is superb.  It is like a who's who of Shakespearean-trained British actors.  I showed the "once more into the breech dear friends!" speech to the kids the other day and they loved it.  I plan to watch season 2 to see Benedict Cumberbatch tear it up during the Wars of the Roses.  I used to have a pretty intense Shakespeare thing in college, and I realized recently that I've lost that over the years.  It feels good to get back to these plays and Shakespeare's work.

I'm listening to Florence and the Machine today and generally feeling pretty good.  I've gotten a ton of writing done this week (I've started to transcribe all the handwritten stuff I've been working on this summer onto a Word file and reworking some of the earlier scenes to reflect the changes I've made as time has gone on and the storyline has become clearer.  It is enormously satisfying).  I'm glad I've done all the initial writing by hand this time, as I'm finding it more portable and also a return to the way I used write.  I still have a lot of work to do on it, but it feels like it is time to start putting flesh on the bones.

Late Summer Blathering

I'm at that point in the summer where I'm a little stir crazy.  Our major trip for the summer is finished, camps are mostly done, and we're kind of treading water until school starts again in a few weeks. I'm not getting anything done that I really want to.  I'm trying to get all the school shopping done, get caught up from our trip to the UK (I'll try to post a few pics soon), and general household stuff, plus trying to keep the kids occupied and run them tired by the end of the day.

So I'm feeling a little restless.  I'm still writing, but it is very fitful right now, and mostly in my head rather than on the page.  I want to be cleaning out the clutter of the summer but it is hard to do when the kids are under foot all the time.  I'm also sick of all my summer clothes and ready for fall stuff, which means I want to be sewing, but it is a little hard right now, and I know that I'll (mostly) be happier if I can push it off to September when I'll have more time.

But the siren call to create something (anything!) is strong.  I did cut out some things to make for late summer/early fall today.  I tried a couple of new patterns and I can tell already that one isn't going to work.  I pin-basted it together and tried it on and it looked pretty awful on me.  Just a shapeless sack. (It is the Green Bee Patterns Pearl dress; it is a shame, because the samples are cute, and I really loved Rae's version in double gauze.  It was her samples that convinced me it was a pattern worth purchasing.  Either it doesn't work on my particular shape or it doesn't look right at the length I made it, hard to say).  I ended up cutting the Pearl plus the leftover fabric down into Simplicity 8101 dresses for the girls instead, as they have outgrown a few things this season and we still have at least another month or two of hot weather.  I'm hoping to sew those tomorrow or Wednesday.  I'm making a surprise birthday dress for Birdie and have to have that done in the next two weeks as well.

I ended my cutting session feeling like if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  I cut out two more Simplicity 1080s instead of diving into the Washi dress.  I am going to try out the Sew House Seven Tea Dress with some Robert Kaufman yarn dyed fabric and see how we go.  It seems like a really cute dress, and I'd like to try at least one new dress pattern this fall.  The Tea dress has some things in common with my Simplicity 1080, so I have high hopes.  I'm a little concerned that the Washi dress is going to end up looking frumpy on me, although I've seen tons of super cute versions online.  I'll probably convert the bodice to cut-on sleeves, which means a bunch of fiddling, plus I'll have to add length, so I'm a little put off by it at the moment.

I also continue to think about how Project 333 should inform my sewing, so I keep changing my plans and trying to think about my wardrobe in a different way.  We traveled for two weeks in the UK recently and I had five dresses and a cardigan and that was it.  And it was fine. I found that revealing in many ways.  (It didn't hurt that the weather was significantly cooler than here).  Part of me thinks it might be better to approach my rotations as micro-capsules rather than trying to look at a whole rotation.  This might work best in the spring and fall, as those rotations are always on the heavy side due to the extreme weather shifts we typically experience during those seasons.  I really love the simplicity of my winter rotation and am trying to work out how to carry that into my other rotations.

I have seen some really great movies this summer and want to write about those here soon.  I've also continued to enjoy the music I wrote about a few weeks ago, and feel like this music is the soundtrack of this summer.  I just can't seem to quit Hozier, Mumford and Sons, or the Lumineers.  I also just discovered Brandi Carlisle through a strange source and am enjoying a couple of her albums as well (Bear Creek is the better of the two I currently have).  I delved into the Rolling Stones a little bit in the past two days and I think I kind of like them.  I'm also on a big Hank Williams kick and have been listening to his top 40 greatest hits.  I have his Luke the Drifter album, but I want to listen to it with some attention, and lately the only time I'm in the car is with all four kids talking at the same time, so I'm saving it for later.

I am considering how best to reincorporate exercise into my daily routine this fall.  I have a neuroma in my left foot that is causing serious pain all day long, and I've had some treatment, but not enough.  (I go back to the foot doctor next week)  I may just have to do some weight lifting while I wait for that to get better, as I'm not sure I'm up for running.  A lot of days I'm just hobbling around the house for the daily chores and trying to limit stairs.

My keto-ish/primal diet is going pretty well.  I'll probably write a more detailed post about it soon.  The short answer is: I feel better overall and have a slightly better range of foods to eat on the daily.

I'm almost all the way through Echo in the Bone (again) and will probably re-read Written in My Own Heart's Blood next.  I also started Frank Frankopan's The Silk Roads, and it is interesting, but I'm definitely reading it in an academic way (i.e. the way you have read for a PhD program).  I'm just not invested enough in the book to read all the tiny details.  He does make some unique points, however, particularly about the rise of Islam in the 5th and 6th centuries.  I also put The Way of the Pilgrim aside for another time.  I think I'm not really at the right point in my life to read it.  I have Brothers Karamazov in the queue on my kindle, but I might save that for the Nativity Fast, as it seems appropriate for the season.   I gave up on Bittersweet a few months ago.  I read about a third of it, and I just couldn't get into it.  It's a shame, because I really love Colleen McCullough and The Thorn Birds remains one of my favorite novels.  I received some delightfully weird photo essays on Soviet shopping and Soviet bus stops for my birthday last month and have had some fun paging through them.

So, much more to write about in the weeks ahead!  I'm going to curl up with my sewing notebook and dream....