Everybody's Waiting For the Man With the Bag

So here at Chez flyskim, we've been feasting on roast beast (ham, this year) and toasting the season as we do every Christmas Eve.  But we wanted to take some time out to wish you a very merry holiday, and may your new year surpass every good expectation that you have for it.  Merry Christmas!

"He knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one!"

Is the Worst Gift Fruitcake?

Or is it possibly a hand-knit scarf in a novelty yarn?  Let's hope not, because my niece has been breathlessly waiting for me to cough up with one since she saw me knitting a baby blanket last Thanksgiving and asked if she could have something, too.  My sister-in-law told me that she spent the first couple of months of this year waiting for the mail.  In my defense, I never gave her a timeline, but I don't think that gets me very far.  After all, she's only seven.  So, earlier this month, I buckled down, and this is what I came up with.

The yarn is Bernat Baby Jacquard Florals in the Rosebud colorway.  I picked it specifically to match A's new Build-A-Bear that she was proudly showing off at Thanksgiving.  I think it's really cool how the yarn creates not only a striped effect but also the tapestry-like sections.  Here's a detail:

The pattern is the body portion of Sadie & Oliver's A Little Ruffle scarf.   The pattern is simple, and clearly written.  Just what I needed when working on a deadline.  The main body of the scarf is stockinette stitch with increases on one side to get the shaped effect.  The ruffle, had I added it, is picked up and knit from one end, down the shaped side and across the other end.  I left off the ruffle because not only is the yarn particularly girlie and I feared that the ruffle would throw it over the top but it's not really A's style.  I also made the scarf smaller and shorter than called for in the pattern so that it's better sized for a little girl.  I also made a little garter-stitch scarf for Berry.

Teddy bear scarf as modeled by Manda, who is still very well-loved.

I mentioned A is seven, so I wanted to make sure that the yarn I used was machine washable and dry-able.  The only problem is that it's acrylic, and I have no idea how to block acrylic, so I most definitely did it wrong.  As you can see from the picture above, the scarf is still doing that annoying curl thing that stockinette stitch does.  These are one their way to California as we speak to be opened, and hopefully enjoyed, on Christmas morning.  Personally, I think the teddy bear scarf is the best part. 

I'm also making the full-sized version of the scarf as a gift for my sister-in-law, so I'll have a fuller report on the pattern as written in a day or two. 

A Tree Never Hits a Car Except in Self Defense

Every year, getting our Christmas tree home is an experiment in engineering.  I think this year we have finally reached the limits of how much tree you can fit into the backseat of a Toyota Camry without bending the laws of nature.  That's approximately 8.5 feet, just in case you were curious.  We've tried tying the tree on top of the car, but the last time we did that, it ended up with me hanging out the window trying to keep the tree from sliding into the street because we didn't manage to tie it on tightly enough.  Inside the car works better.

In case you couldn't tell, the Camry is the car equivalent of a senior citizen, so we choose to go the the local Boy Scout lot instead of cutting our own.  I'm not sure what the Camry would do with a muddy dirt road, but I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't be pretty and would involve a tow truck at the end of the day.

We actually got a Noble, but I didn't take a picture of that sign.

So, the Saturday before last, we headed down to our favorite tree lot and interviewed potential candidates.  For the past several years, I've had to pressure Mr. flyskim into getting a tree that's taller than me, so imagine my surprise when this year, he made a bee-line for the 9-10 footers.  Up until last year, the biggest tree I've managed to wangle him into was 7 feet. 

Not that this surprises me in the least.  When we first bought our house, I suggested really neutral colors for our bedroom, bathroom and office (they're a suite of rooms) and then carefully negotiated the yellow in the living and dining rooms by pointing out that the color was actually called Windham Cream, so not really yellow, no matter what it looks like.  The next thing I know, I've got a brick-red accent wall in the living room and an orange kitchen.  And I didn't choose either color.

Here's Mr. flyskim with our tree.  He's 6 feet tall, so you can get an idea of the size of the tree.

We carted off the tree.

And got a fresh cut (very important because Boy Scout trees can be dry).

Then we stuffed it in the backseat.  Anyone else thinking of The Grinch stuffing the Who Christmas tree up the chimney?  The Boy Scout dad who helped us load up the tree was so impressed, he took his own pictures. 

This was the side we had to worry about because we didn't want to cause any property damage on the way home.  Needless to say, we stuck to the deserted side streets. Once we got the tree home, we soaked it for the better part of a week, not because it needed the long-term soak, but because we just didn't have a chance to get it into the house sooner.

And it finally came to rest in the corner of the living room, none the worse for wear.  My buddy C thinks that we could actually manage to cram an even bigger tree into the car next year.  But as you can see from the tree top brushing our ceiling that even if we did get the tree home in one piece, we'd have to cut off part of the tree to get it to stand upright.  So, that was our big tree adventure.  We're still in the process of decorating because we're doing a little each night.  I'll have more pictures once it's done.  Oh, and if you haven't guessed, there's been no sewing going on around here, but there has been knitting with a couple of different finished projects.  More to come on that, too. 

Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season.  We're sure going to try.

To Melt Into The Sun

When last I posted, I described our plans for the flyskim dad to move to Portland at the end of November.  The world had its own ideas.  After my dad was released from the hospital, his condition appeared to improve for the first week.  And then it didn't.  And then his condition worsened, and he decided that he was done fighting and elected hospice care.  (My most heartfelt thanks to the great staff at Sutter Hospice, in particular our nurse case manager, Betty.  This would have been impossible without your care and support.)

My father passed away on November 23, 2011 in his home surrounded by family.  Bye, daddy.  I love you.  It was a real blast being your kid.

The Only Sin

In case you were wondering, it's hanging onto the past when change is afoot.  And change is heartily within our midst.  The flyskim dad is on the verge of being released from the hospital, but our usual residences are 653 miles apart.  To say the least, this makes keeping an eye on him while he continues to recover from his bilateral pneumonia a little difficult, not to mention coordinating and being involved in his upcoming cancer treatments.  So, the population of chez flyskim will be expanding by one come the end of November.

It was a difficult decision for my usually independent and active dad to make, but in the end, it makes the most sense for all of us.  He'll have people he can rely on if he needs help in the future, and we'll be able to spend as much time with him as possible.  We understand that there are a lot of stresses involved in becoming a multigenerational home, particularly when our home really isn't built for three adults and two cats, but we're going to make it work.  This is something that Mr. flyskim and I have been planning for a couple of years now, so we're not coming into this without a plan.  And that plan?  Involves a lot of changes to our house.

Because of his health, we don't want the dad climbing the stairs to the upstairs bedroom (currently serving as my sewing room), so he'll take the master bedroom downstairs, as well as our current office space, which is attached to the master.  We hope that this additional personal space will help make the transition easier for him. 

I don't think that there is anything that will make the transition easier for the rest of us.  Mr. flyskim and I will be moving into the former guest room/sewing space.  The room is small and doesn't really have any closet space.  We plan to put up a hanging rack and use as much underbed storage as possible.  We're also going to be paring down our wardrobes.  This move is only temporary, and the boy cat will be overjoyed because there are few places in our house that he loves more than the upstairs bedroom.  It's his room, as far as he's concerned, and now he'll get to sleep there every night with his people.

The rest of the upstairs is a very basic half bath that is large enough to be a full bath and a large but unfinished attic space.  Our plan is to turn this into a third bedroom that will be much larger than our current guest room and to finally turn the half bath into a full bath.  The only problem is that we will have to wait to start this until next spring when the Portland weather improves, so we're in close quarters until then.  Of course, given that Mr. flyskim and I will be camping in the living room once the construction starts, close quarters doesn't seem quite so bad.  We may also have to evacuate the cats to my sister-in-law's basement during the construction.  They already have two cats, three dogs and a teenager, so I'm not sure they'll even notice.

Not our attic, but you get the idea.

So, close quarters, no space to sew, camping in our own home which will be a disaster area, a possible lack of pets and a dad who will be undergoing regular chemotherapy.  They really got it right when they said that living in interesting times is a curse. 
But you know what would be worse?  (Other than my dad not being here to move in at all?)  Fighting that this is what needs to happen (there are a number of factors that I have not explained that led to our conclusion that this is the only workable solution which include, among other things, a 92-year-old grandmother and a twin brother who cause my dad far too much stress, my being an only child, financial planning based on "what if" and not on what is, and additional contributing medical issues).  Just accepting that this is the right decision for all involved makes things a lot less stressful, and it gives me something to plan and do.

The good news?  Since I've been in California, Mr. flyskim completed the window seat staining and did the last few items left on the kitchen remodel checklist, so those projects are officially completed (except for the kitchen curtains which I will begin in December).  Many pictures to come once I get back home to photograph.  And even though my family has really not caught a break in the stress arena since 2010, and 2012 will come with its own set of challenges, it's comforting to go into the year with an idea of what could go wrong instead of being completely blind.

So what's going to happen around here?  Well, sewing on the dining room table, for one thing.  Given all of the changes, I really need a pretty new dress for Thanksgiving.  Either Vogue 1191:

I have a great raisin-colored wool jersey for this one.  My fitting skills may not be up to this pattern

or Vogue 8685.

I have an Anna Sui stable knit that has a birdcage print earmarked for this one, but it may be too similar to last year's dress.

There will also be a detailed view of what happens to a family when they rip the top of their house off in a desperate bid for more space (this is assuming that we can afford it).  Once everyone gets settled and the holidays are over, we'll be hiring an architect and drawing up plans.  Then the work will start and all hell will break loose.  I was just whining about feeling like we always lived in the middle of a half-finished project, and now, because we're positive that remodeling the upstairs will require a lot of sweat equity on our part, my house is going to turn into one giant half-finished project just as two things on our already long list got completed.  Oh, and we're landscaping the backyard.  I could seriously have a breakdown.  I may have to film that because inquiring minds may want to know.  Stay tuned.

Report From The Trenches

Just a quick post, mostly to amuse myself while I hang out in the flyskim dad's hospital room.  He's being treated for double pneumonia, and given that he's short half of his left lung as a result of his cancer treatments from last yefar, it looked pretty serious for a while.  However, his doctors tell me the prognosis is hopeful.  He'll need at least another five days in the hospital before they think he'll be ready to go home.  I'm not sure how much longer I'll be in California, so the fall sewing is on hold for the foreseeable future.  I should have brought some knitting with me, but I packed in such a hurry Monday afternoon that I forgot to pack any pants.   So here I am with four cardigans, five t-shirts and the jeans I wore on the plane.  Maybe some shopping is called for

Whenever I Feel Blue, I Start Breathing Again

So, it seems like forever since I last posted.  Probably because it has been forever (I'm not exaggerating, either.  Five weeks and forever are totally the same thing.).  Life has really been living up to its reputation lately and requiring constant attention which leaves little time for sewing and less for blogging about it.  So I consider it a major accomplishment to have completed Vogue 8615 (a very modified version).

I actually started another version of this dress a year ago, and it's still a work in progress (story of my life).  That version is for Christmas, and I'd always thought of this as a more formal dress.  But then I tried on this dress at H&M, and it was the most wildly unflattering thing on me ever.

The waist was too high.  In order to get some more length in the skirt, I sized up, so the top was too big.  And it was mustard yellow.  Not my best color.  But I became obsessed with the idea of a 3/4-sleeved, full-skirted dress that was warm and soft as a t-shirt.  And then it hit me.  Vogue 8615.  But in a doubleknit.  This is the exact opposite of the advised fabric for this pattern (think shantung or taffeta).  Doubleknit can't even pretend to have the crispness of these fabrics, but having seen the H&M dress, I knew that the fabric would work with this style dress, although it wouldn't look like the picture on the envelope.

I had already done all of my pattern alterations when I started on my silk shantung version last fall.  These included a full bust adjustment, a shoulder adjustment and enlarging the sleeves for my fuller upper arms.  Since I had fitted the dress as a woven, this allowed me to treat the doubleknit exactly like a woven when sewing it.  Well, except for one place, and I'll get to that in a minute.  I'm really pleased with the fit, although I'm rethinking the ballet neck because I'm looking a little well-endowed in all of my pictures.  Trust me, certain objects that you see in the picture above appear larger than their actual size (and I'm not talking about my legs).

And then we get to the back.  I'm really glad that I've been taking pictures of the backs of garments.  I'm going to have to start doing this during the fitting process as well, because I might have realized how badly I need some sort of alterations.  Partly that's my refusal to do a sway back adjustment most of the time (which I really need to get over), and part of it is just my body shape, but there's also definitely something going on with my fitting.

You can also see that the sleeves are a little baggy.  That doesn't bother me so much, and there are a couple of reasons that this happened.  This is a stretchy fabric, and it looks like the sleeves have stretched out because of my elbows.  Now, the sleeve itself is supposed to be really fitted per the pattern, and I can tell you that when it's made out of a woven fabric and lined, it is fitted.  Really, really fitted, and I suspect that this played a part in the drooping as well.  Or more to the point, how I dealt with the fitted sleeve in order to hem it.  Let me explain.

When the dress is made out of a woven, the sleeves are fully lined, and the sleeve hem is finished by sewing the wrong sides of the fashion fabric and the lining together at the sleeve hem.  You then turn the lining to the inside of the sleeve, understitch and hand sew the sleeve lining to the lining of the bodice at the armscye.  Since lining the dress would have defeated the purpose of wearing what is essentially a long t-shirt, I wanted to finish the sleeve by turning the hem under and stitching.  Well, the sleeve is so fitted that it is too small to fit around the free arm of the sewing machine.  Or at least my sewing machine.  So instead of figuring out something that didn't require the distortion of my fabric, I just stretched it around the free arm and figured that it would spring back when I was done.  Now that I see the pictures from the back, it didn't spring back so much.  Here's what the inside of the sleeve hem looks like.

Another thing that I had to figure out when I decided not to line the dress was how to finish the neckline.  I ended up constructing facing pieces using the bodice pattern as a guide.

You can see in the above picture that it's a pretty narrow facing.  That's because the neckline is so wide.  If I'd made the facing any wider, it would have had to have been tucked into the top of the sleeve, and I would have had a much more difficult time tacking it down.  To draft the facing pattern, I traced along the front and back neckline edges and then extended the pattern piece down 2 1/2 inches.  The bodice has seams at both the center front and back, and I wanted to avoid adding too much bulk, so I trimmed the seam allowance from the center seam and cut both facings on the fold.

Because the facing wanted very badly to roll to the outside, even after it was understitched, I tacked it down to all of the interior seams. 

So, all in all, a very successful project.  Will I make it again?  As I mentioned above, there's a half-finished, emerald green silk shantung version up in my sewing closet.  That's for Christmas.  I'd also like to take a stab at this with the v-neck mirrored in the front.  I love a wide v-neckline.  I'm not sure what's next.  I might put together a denim skirt, or perhaps get started on my Thanksgiving dress.  I'd better figure that out soon, because I'm starting whatever it is tomorrow.

Zucchini on a Diet

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~ Jim Davis 

 

And if ever a zucchini needed to go on a diet, it was this one.  Our neighbors, M and C, had a banner squash year and gave us a real monster.   I didn't think to take a picture of the poor thing before I started hacking into it, but it was nearly a foot-and-a-half long.  The remaining portion you see in the picture about is about 1/4 of what we started out with.  

The real problem when you let your zucchini reach such epic proportions is what to do with it.  You can't just cut it up and cook it or you'll be eating the vegetable equivalent of leather.  I started out with bread (which was wonderful and I will cover in another post as I still have the remnant above to deal with), but then one of my co-workers suggested zucchini-chocolate chip cookies.  He had fond memories of his grandmother's cookies, and it was just off-center enough to be a must-try.  I used this recipe, and my final assessment is that while zucchini cookies are interesting, they're not as good as bread.  I was assured by my taste testers that the cookies were good, but for me, they were too cake-like.  I still search for the perfect crunchy, chewy chocolate chip.  Also?  It's easier to convince people to eat the familiar bread than the weird-sounding cookies, and this is a major consideration because while I love to bake, I can't be responsible for consuming 100% of what I produce and Mr. flyskim doesn't really like sweets.  My co-worker took some home but had no plans to tell his daughters that there was zucchini in the cookies.

The recipe calls for two cups of shredded zucchini.  I used a really fine grater, and the result was pretty liquid.  I ended up draining it a bit to cut down on the moisture.

Even with the eggs and butter, the batter was pretty crumbly until the zucchini was added in.

You end up with a pretty standard-looking cookie dough.  

And some pretty standard-looking cookies.  You can see the zucchini bread making a guest appearance on the cooling rack.  My one real beef with this recipe is the portion estimate.  The recipe calls for you to drop the cookies by the teaspoonful for a total of 36 cookies.  No further guidance.  A heaping spoonful?  A scant spoonful?  I used a tablespoon and wasn't stingy on my dropping, and I still ended up with 30 cookies.  I also used the recommended cooking time.  If I'd used a teaspoon, not only would there have been significantly more cookies, the cooking time would have been really off.  This could just be my problem as cookies are something I have difficulty with, but there you go.

Here's a beauty shot of the last dozen before they went off to a good home.  I still have a good 5-6 inches of giant zucchini left, so there will be more bread.  I'm not sure if I should stick with my standard recipe or maybe branch out towards chocolate again.  More to come later. 

Oh, and we are still in our hot weather for another week, but after that, it looks like we're becoming more seasonable with temperature in the mid-70s.  That means the sewing room reopens and I can finish my first fall dress!  Super excited about the season.

"Color Is My Day-Long Obsession, Joy and Torment"

~ Claude Monet ~

Over-exposed, I know.  But the backyard was bright, and I had to set the exposure ahead of time for Mr. flyskim.  I think we've all had the dilemma of wanting a good shot but not wanting someone to have to take 9,000 pictures for you, so once he got something semi-in focus, I called it good enough.

So, as I mentioned earlier, there's actually been a good amount of sewing but not much blogging here at Chez flyskim.  My friend H got married at the end of July, and for once, I wanted to actually finish a project in time to actually wear it as intended.

Enter Simplicity 2176.  H got married in her mother's backyard, so I knew that I wanted something lightweight and summery.  I had this pretty cotton stretch sateen from a spring fabric.com order that fit the bill, and I thought that the vintage feel of the Simplicity pattern would suit the fabric beautifully.  For once, I seem to have done a good job pairing the fabric to the pattern, because this dress is just what a summer sundress should be:  light, airy and yet with a little body and shape. 

The pattern was simple to put together.  A princess-seamed bodice with a top band.  I made a size 12 in the bodice with my usual full-bust adjustment (dropped the bust point 1 3/4 inches and then added about 3 inches in total fullness). The full bust adjustment did not affect the bodice band itself, so I cut the size 12.  Then I freaked out a little and added 1/2 inch at each side seam for insurance, and it turns out that I needed it.  I have tried starting with a 14 recently because of this exact problem, but I've ended up with a lot more fit issues that have just frustrated me, so I took a chance and went with the 12 this time.  Turned out well because the fit around the bodice is great. 

I used the thicker straps because I wanted the option of wearing a standard bra and still be able to take off my sweater if I wanted (you eventually reach and age when visible bra straps are just tacky).  This means that I did not use the markings given for attaching the straps.  Instead, I tried the dress on without straps and pinned them on to match my bra straps.  Because the straps are sandwiched it between the top band and the facing, you need to do this prior to attaching the facing for this to work.  In reality, it turns out that I didn't need to worry about it so much because I actually prefer the dress with the sweater.

Oops.  I was in such a hurry to wear this, I haven't tacked down the facings yet.  Better see to that.

I also cut a 16 in the skirt but had to bring it in a little at the side seams, not because I should have cut the smaller sized but because the skirt seems a little large to me.  This is straightforward because the pleating on the skirt does not alter from size to size.  The size of the skirt is entirely dependent on the side seam.

The lace was a simple addition.  When I first planned the dress, I expected to have to catch the lace in the seam between the bodice band and the skirt band, but the instructions just have you tack it on to the outside.  I started out by hand sewing the bodice lace on because I thought that would be less visible, but that was time consuming, and since my hand stitches didn't seem to show, I took a chance and stitched the skirt lace on by machine.  Good thing, too, because I finished this up right before lunch on the day of the wedding. 

All in all, a very successful venture.  I did think that this dress was going to be pretty versatile, but I've discovered that it's a little too dressy for general weekend wear for me.  But with a cardigan, it's a pretty addition to my business casual work wardrobe. It's probably because I like the look of this dress better on me with a sweater as it's been too hot around here lately to wear one if there's no air-conditioning (which we only have in the bedroom) and by the time it's general sweater weather again, the dress will be too summery for me.  Something else for me to consider in the future when planning garments.

Kate Middle-aged-ton?

The above title is a poke at my quickly advancing age and not a poke at the Duchess.

I am a big fan of this black jersey Issa dress worn by Kate Middleton back in April.  I am also a big fan of a lightweight black dress for the summer and have been without one since last year when my stalwart Banana Republic cotton dress finally gave out.  When I first saw this picture, I knew that I had found a suitable replacement but was not going anywhere near the $575.00 price tag of the original.  This is where being able to sew comes in handy (as you all well know).

My first step was to find a pattern that had the same feel as the original.  As you can see, this is a wrap dress with a draping detail at the waistline where the dress wraps.  I settled on Vogue 8631.

While the details are a little different (pleats rather than a draped front, a little more pronounced tulip hemline), I thought this pattern had largely the same easy feel as the Issa dress.  Add in some very lightweight jersey of unknown fiber content (the bolt said only that it was a "designer" fabric, but it had the right feel and weight and was dead cheap, so I took a chance), and I was in business.  (The fabric turned out to be either a poly or a water-based rayon jersey.  I washed a swatch with no shrinkage, so I took the plunge and pre-washed the entire piece of fabric.  It turned out beautifully.  Good think it's so lightweight and air dried in a snap because I didn't want to take the chance of putting the fabric in the dryer).

Here's my interpretation.

So have to work on taking pictures indoors at night.

I absolutely love this dress.  It was simple and straight forward to put together.  Once the pattern was fitted, it only took a weekend, which is lightening speed for me.  There are only four pattern pieces (you cut two of each), and the kimono sleeves further simplify the construction (set-in sleeves are totally my Lex Luthor).

The view from the back is no more visible.

I pretty much followed the instructions for the construction of the dress.  I omitted the pockets and shortened the skirt by 2.5 inches as the dress looked a little out of proportion as drafted.  I considered just doing a narrow hem instead of the bias tape hem finish, but in the end, I went with the bias tape as the tape actually was a little more stable than my fabric, even with the bias taken into account.  It also gave the skirt hem enough weight for it to hang well.

Here's a detail of the bias tape on the inside of the neckline.

 After attaching the bias tape, I fully folded it to the inside of the dress so that it would not show on the outside.  I thought that this gave a nice, clean look to the dress, and it also avoided the problem of the blacks not matching perfectly.

Here's a detail of the front.  See how you can only see the white cat hair at the neckline edge and not the bias tape?

One other change that I made was to stabilize both the shoulder seams and the waistline seam with clear elastic.  I have been using clear elastic to stabilized shoulder seams for a while now, but I got the idea to use it on the waistline, too, after a close examination of a couple of my jersey ready-to-wear dresses.  They had this construction detail as well.

I just serged the elastic in at the same time I serged the skirt to the top.

Same thing with the shoulders.

Even though I was working with a stretch fabric, because the majority of the suggested fabrics were wovens (with a lightweight jersey thrown in at the end), I fitted the pattern as I would for a non-stretch fabric.  This meant cutting my usual size 12 and then doing a full bust adjustment to get the proper ease (despite how the dress looks, there is surprisingly little ease in this dress; only the barest 2 inches of wearing ease).  I think this was the way to go as there is enough ease left in the dress to really let the pleats drape.

The six-million dollar pattern.  We can rebuild it.  We have the technology.  If you can really consider pattern paper and tape technology, that is.

One of these days, I'll chronicle how I do a full-bust adjustment with a pleated front and no darts.  I tried once, and it was so confusing.  Here, I cut off the kimono sleeve prior to making the adjustment.  Instead of a side dart, I rotated the additional fullness equally into the waistline pleats.  I also took a very large tuck (like 2.5 inches) out of the neckline tapering to nothing where I cut off the sleeve so that I could still take advantage of the ease and draping quality of the fabric without any neckline gaping.  When all those adjustments were done, I reattached the sleeve and filled in the resulting gap with tissue.  Does anyone else have to make a consistent adjustment to any wide v-necklines to avoid gaping?  My breastbone is apparently very short.

Oh, and about that neckline, it's fine for casual without anything underneath.  I wore this to a bachelorette party by itself with no gaping and no accidental flashing.  But for work, I have to wear a camisole underneath (see the pictures above; I think it looks kind of Edwardian, personally).

Here we are on the hanger.  The kitchen gets some great light in the afternoon, and you can see the front details well here.  You can even see the big, white cat hair on the skirt if you look carefully enough.

So, because of the mild summer we've been having, my sewing room has stayed largely inhabitable instead of making its usual annual transition into the 7th layer of Hell.  So, there's been a lot of sewing going on.  I've also completed Simplicity 2176 and am about 2/3 of the way finished with a modified version of Vogue 8615. 

I'll have the post up about the Simplicity pattern in another day or two, but here's a preview of the Vogue.

We're in the low-80s right now, so pretty temperate compared to other parts of the country, but the upstairs just traps the heat.  Right now the skirt is just basted on, as is the back seam.  I've used a heavy double-knit, so I was testing to see if I could get away leaving out the zipper, and it slips on just fine.  I still have to hem the sleeves and take several inches off the skirt hem.  I also need to draft and cut facings for the neckline as I neither need (nor want) to line this dress.  I think I can get this done in a couple of chunks in the morning over the weekend and hope to have this nearly completed this week.  My goodness.  The first sewing for fall.  Where has this year gone?