Are Your Shoes Afraid of the Dark?

No, there just wasn't enough room for all of them in the closet.  Given my recent dissatisfaction with the contents of my closet, I thought I should figure out where the problem lay.  I've started to go through everything I own and weed out everything that I don't actually wear.  Don't worry.  I'm not planning on going into this much detail for any other part of my project; it's just that my shoes are the most cohesive part of my wardrobe, so I thought they could tell me the most about who I'm trying to be.

Here's what went into the donation pile (doing my part to lower our taxes). 

Just because you're not right for me anymore doesn't mean that you aren't going to be perfect for someone else.

So, these are the shoes that I don't wear for one reason (the red ones pinch the top of my foot) or another (what was I thinking with the pirate boots?).  The pointy-toed black pumps just don't fit in with the clothes I'm actually wearing in my closet, so even though they're classic, they haven't seen the light of day in well over a year.  I mean, they needed dusting.  I don't need more than one pair of black flats, and the green sandals were bought specifically to match a dress that I've been meaning to finish for the past year or so (just needs a hem and some hand finishing) but the whole outfit was only appropriate for a summer wedding.  In a garden.  In the south.  In 1989.

I would totally have fit right into the cast of Steel Magnolias.

So now, my shoes all fit into the closet with only a little spillover to Mr. flyskim's side, and the only time he will have to ask me why my shoes are under the coffee table is when I've been too lazy to put them away (which is, let's face it, most of the time) and not because there's no room.  Where does that leave me as far as shoes go?  Still pretty loaded.

Sandals (because stating the obvious is the new black)

I have not had a good year so far as sandals go as I've managed to kill off every single pair that I own except for one (e.g. my brown sandals died in a dramatic bus-catching episode and my black succumbed to old age), so every pair above is new this year except for the brown flats on the end.  Nordstrom Rack loves me at this point.  This will work out over the long run as I tend to wear sandals for a number of years (until I damage them or they wear out).

Heels.

Because I wear dresses and skirts so often, I do have a pretty diverse selection of pumps.  I like and wear most of these shoes regularly.  For the ones I don't wear regularly (hello Steve Madden blush-colored pumps), they fill a very specific need in my wardrobe and thereby earn their continued closet space.

Boots.  This is where Mr. flyskim made the observation that he hadn't realized how many shoes I own.

Having to take two pictures to fit all the boots in is when I started to worry that I may have a slight shoe problem.

So, during the fall, winter and spring, I live in boots.  Which is why I have so many?  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  The hiking boots need no explanation.  I wear them hiking.  And pretty much every weekend when it's cold and rainy.  I could probably get rid of the black ankle boots, but then what would I wear with my one pair of trousers?  And I question the continued wisdom of the gray rocker boots.  I generally get odd looks when I wear them, too.  They may only last another season.

Dressy flats.  Because I've reached the age where I cannot wear heels every day.

Again, Nordstrom Rack is my friend.  I rarely, if ever pay full price for shoes.  Except for the red Mary Janes on the end.  I splurged and paid the full $12.99 at Payless three or four years ago for those beauties.  Best purchase ever.  They're comfortable, they've held up really well and because they're some sort of plastic, rain and mud have not effect on them whatsoever.

Casual flats. 

I don't think these need any explanation.  A girl needs casual shoes (although if I'm truly worried about being age appropriate, should I really still refer to myself as a girl?).

Evening shoes (my preciousssss)

Even at the Rack these were a splurge for me.  But I needed something dressier than my everyday black pumps for an event a couple of years ago, and when will I ever find Kate Spade at a price that I could afford again?  (Pretty often as it turns out thanks to our Nordstrom going high end when Macy's moved in and sending all the designer scraps to the Rack, but as fate would have it, I don't like her stuff all that much).

Up for elimination.

I am reluctant to send these shoes on their way.  The yellow squeak without socks, but they're awfully cute and were a great deal (Amazon.com is another great source for bargains on shoes if you're willing to take a chance on fit).  But if is really worthwhile to keep a pair of yellow slingbacks that you can only wear in the fall and spring?  The black t-straps just don't get worn as much as my black Mary Janes

So, now that I've made you sit through the parade-o-shoes, did I get a better idea of my personal style as I move into my mid-forties?  Yes and no.  I'm not surprised that my shoes are some weird combination of vintage, modern and utilitarian.  I am surprised that the era I see reflected most strongly is not the 1940s as I expected with my love of t-straps and wedges but the 1970s.  This makes some sort of sense because that's the era where I probably developed my ideas about what style was.  And then I did a little research (very little and online only), and it started making a lot more sense. 

One of the major themes of 1970s fashion (along with disco and hippies) was nostalgia.  There was the pretty obvious Victorian influence, but 1970s fashion also took some cues from the 1920s (The Great Gatsby) to the 1940s (shirt dresses, wedge shoes, not as they actually were but through the rose-tinted lenses of 25-55 years of history.  There was even an article about the 1940s revival in fashion in Seventeen Magazine in 1974.

So, it's not much, but it's a start.  I wonder what I'll find out from the rest of my wardrobe.

Grandma Jezebels in Mini-Skirts and Halter Tops

 "Too many women—and men—dress to look far younger than they are. In the summer months, Madison Avenue is littered with grandma Jezebels in miniskirts and halter-tops. Preposterous. I’m proud of my 54 years and I wouldn’t go backwards for anything. I know better than to wear muscle shirts and gym shorts and dress like a teenager. At the same time, I don’t want to look dowdy or frumpy. I dress for my age and my role in life. Last year, I covered red-carpet fashion at the Oscars for the “Today Show.” Who was the most stylish and sexiest? Helen Mirren, that’s who." -- Tim Gunn

One of the topics that is close to my heart is dressing appropriately for your age (or at least my dressing appropriately for my age).  Pretty much from birth through high school, my mother exerted considerable control over my wardrobe.  The majority of clothes that I owned were clothes that she purchased without any input from me at all.  As a result, I was the only 8th grader I knew who owned a three-piece, black polyester pantsuit.  I once asked my mother why she bought that for me, and she told me that she had wanted to get me something that made me feel grown up.  She could have gone with heels or pretty underwear, but no.  My mother had very specific ideas about what I should wear, and it usually boiled down to what she liked to wear which meant that until I was able to afford my own clothes, at least half of my wardrobe was more appropriate for a woman in her late 30s to early 40s.  Because of this, I had no personal style and no taste.

Color it black, and this was me.  I wore it once.  To school.  Everyone asked me who died.

I pay a lot more attention to fashion now, and while I'm not cutting edge by even the most liberal interpretation, I feel that most days, I look at least put together.  Now I find that I gravitate towards separates and dresses with a liberal sprinkling of denim thrown in.  Thanks to my step-dad whose sweaters I used to steal constantly, I've never met a cardigan that I didn't like. 

Here's my mom in a typical outfit a few Christmases ago.  She likes sets and things that match exactly.  Grown up Garanimals.

Thanks to a combination of my geriatric childhood wardrobe and my regular missteps in dressing myself that come from not really having figured myself out yet fashion-wise, I've kept things pretty safe.  I've managed to control some of my wilder fashion impulses like knee socks with skirts and dresses, miniskirts and ruffles (although I will admit to owning a purple, ruffled pleather satchel) because I suspect that they might not be cute on me as they look on the 18-year-old sales person at Anthropologie.  But lately, I've noticed a dissatisfaction with the items in my closet and a hesitation to wear things previously loved (like my biker boots with a floral dress and boot socks pulled up over the top.  No, seriously.  That was last year's Thanksgiving outfit).  I mean, that was my uniform in the early 90s, but should I still be wearing it?  It's been said to the point of cliché, but if you are old enough to have worn a trend the first time through, you're too old to wear it when it comes around again.

Look how cute that Mr. flyskim and I sort of match.  Too bad you can't see the boots, but this is the only picture I have of me from Thanksgiving.

So how do you tell if your closet needs to grow up?  I've been reading a lot on the subject, and the one thing I've been able to figure out is that the answer to this question is different for everybody.  It's not my goal to provide a bunch of rules so that everyone can dress in some version of what I think is appropriate (although if you are well into your 50s and get on the bus wearing a halter top and Daisy Dukes with your Uggs -- true story -- I will mentally judge you).  What I'd really like to figure out is who I am today clothes-wise.  At my real age.  Keep the parts that still work but let go of the things that don't.  And not be boring.  God, there are days when I feel so boring I can't believe that people don't fall asleep just looking at me.  

Anyone have a guide for that sort of thing?  I will think on this and let you know what I figure out.

If You Don't Make Mistakes . . .

. . . You don't make anything.

So, even though this shirt is wearable, we'll still chalk this one up to experience.  This is my first version of Butterick 5497.  I made view B, but I like the shirt well enough that I plan to make all of the views eventually.

Also, no flowers in embarrassing places.

I made this top out of a cotton jersey from Fabric.com, and I loved how vintage it felt.  I was saving it for something more interesting than a basic t-shirt, so when Butterick came out with several new patterns over the summer, I decided to jump in.  I think this pattern suits the fabric in that it also looks a little vintage with it's raised waistline, kimono-style sleeves and ballet neckline.  It's a fairly easy and quick sew, and the mistakes I mention above are all due to user error.  Don't you just love it when the world reminds you that you don't know everything?

The major change that I made to this pattern was to alter the back into a single piece that's cut on the fold.  The back of the short-sleeved versions of this top as designed is a deep v-neck held together at the base of the neck by a strip of your fashion fabric.  From the pictures on the Butterick site, it looks like you can wear a regular bra with the top as designed, but I didn't want to take that chance.

I altered the back piece by comparing it to the back piece of view C (the long-sleeved version).  I straightened the v-neck so that it could be cut on the fold and raised and extended the new neckline.  It's not a big alteration, and I can undo it easily if I want to make the back of this pattern as originally drafted.

So, here's where things went awry.  The pattern instructions have you gather the shoulder seams by first sewing the shoulder seam at the seamline and then making a casing for elastic in the seam allowance.  Having just completed Vogue 1020, I decided to use the same method to gather the shoulder seams as in that pattern:  put in rows of gathering stitches, gather to the right length using the elastic guide and serge the seam together.  My first attempt did not go well.  I put the gathering stitches too close to the edge of the fabric, and when I serged the seam, the knife cut off the seam allowance, and the seam didn't gather at all.  This led to my first time having to pick out serged seams, and I'm sure that it won't be the last.

I tried it again, this time putting my gathering stitches inside the seamline.  When I serged the seam this time, it was gathered appropriately.

Here's where I got myself in more trouble.  If you look carefully at the left side of the picture just above the seamline, you can see my gathering stitches.  I got the brilliant idea to pick these out.  Want to guess what happened?  That's right.  All of the gathers came out again.  As a last ditch effort to save this project, I used clear elastic of the appropriate length and sewed it directly to the seamline.  Not pretty from the inside, but it works.

You can't see from any of the pictures, but the shoulder where I had to use the elastic also had a small hole in it that had to be stitched together by hand.

So, it's a cute top, and I think it looks good on.  I am going to give this another try to apply what I've learned now that I know what won't work.  Problem is, I have to figure out what will work.  Maybe I should break down and take that serger class I've been looking at.  Or watch the video that came with my machine.  Or read the instruction book that I picked up.  I feel a little foolish that I thought the hardest thing about using a serger was threading it (not that hard at all) and worrying about cutting my finger off with the knife.  Like I said before, I love when the world lets me know that I don't know everything.  Keeps things interesting.

ETA:  Fixing a small spelling error.

Is It Fall Yet?

Helen: Oh, Jakey, do you realize what a momentous summer our girls have had? Quinn learned she's smarter than she thought, and Daria has her first boyfriend.

Jake: It's summer already?

Actually, for the past two weeks around the San Francisco Bay Area, you wouldn't have known that it was summer.  It didn't top 75 degrees the entire time I was there which was fine with me because I was not meant to survive with the temperature much above 80.  But now I am back in Portland with its actual summer weather, and I dream of fall.  Tights?  Yes, please.  Boots?  Definitely.  Sweaters?  Did I ever really take them off?  So here are the projects that I have planned going into fall.

Vogue 1191

 

I've been saving a wonderful piece of two-way stretch wool knit for the past two years for just the right pattern, and I think this is it.  I'm planning the above dress for Thanksgiving with Mr. flyskim's family.  The fabric is this really pretty raisin color, and I think it will be perfect.  Okay, given my recent lack of success matching fabric to pattern, I hope it will be perfect, and I'm trying not to psych myself out so much that I'm afraid to cut into the material.

Please ignore the cat hair. 

Vogue 8663

View A

This calls for a two-way stretch knit, and I just happen to have one lying around my stash with enough yardage to put together a dress.  I hope the pattern isn't too busy for the neckline detail.  I think this will be great with a cute little cardigan and some tights.

Vogue 8603

View D.  I know that a bold floral doesn't necessarily scream fall, but this cotton jacquard has a good weight, the colors are rich and the pattern is smoke-like.

Simplicity 2512

Either view C or D.  I haven't decided which one, yet.  I'll have to see how my fabric drapes.  I'm thinking of using this large-scale plaid pattern.  It's a poly suiting, but it feels really nice, and I think that it will make a great modern interpretation of a kilt.  No giant pin holding the layers together, though.

Simplicity 2501

Fall in Portland is relatively mild, so I can use a great blouse.  I've been wanting to make this forever (well, at least since the pattern was published), and it's going into the production queue.  I'll make view F with the short sleeves.  

This is a Liberty print that I picked up from Josephine's Dry Goods back in February, I think.  I got it because I thought my dad would get a kick out of it.  After it's done, I'll have to make sure I wear it around him.  The print is really small scale, and I love that it's mostly neutral.  I'm also going to make a simple skirt out of the stretch twill below, but I'm not sure which one, yet.

It Doesn't Look Too Bad From This Angle

But don't let that fool you.  I have the skirt pinned within an inch of its life.  The picture below is my attempt at Simplicity 2579, and it didn't work at all.  I managed the full bust adjustment fine, but the real problem with this dress for me is the skirt.  First, the skirt puffs out at the sides where it attaches to the midriff piece.  Then there's the puffery at the gathers in both the center front and back.  I wish I had taken a picture of the side view because I looked like I was carrying twins; one in front and one in back.  I suppose that this is really my fault because a review of the recommended fabrics shows that this pattern is meant for something drapey and not my crisp little cotton lawn with its pretty green and blue morning glories.

Please note the bird decoupage.  That is an original flyskim piece from 5th grade.

Luckily, I has some fabric left over and the skirt is made out of several large pieces, so there is enough of this lovely fabric to try something else.  Enter Butterick 5485, view C.

Because this is a faux wrap, I have barely enough fabric, but I do.  In fact, the only reason this works at all is because the bodice pieces are cut on the bias.  I picked apart the unfortunate dress above and have altered the Butterick pattern, although I want to make a muslin of this before I cut into the fashion fabric.  I really don't have any room for error.  I plan to wear this to the wedding of two of Mr. flyskim's dodgeball teammates (that's right, dodge ball) the weekend after I return home.  Their reception is in an upscale school gym (I feel like I'm going to homecoming), so a game might break out.  I will be hiding in the girl's room if that happens.

Sad little pile of fabric and lining.

I'll be working on this the minute I return home in hopes of having the dress ready for the following weekend.  I think that this dress will be really flattering, and I love this fabric very much.  I'm very excited and have the perfect cardigan to wear with it.

To Be Successful at Sea, We Must Keep Things Simple

Disclaimer:  I'm blogging away from home, and I had to anticipate the pictures that I would need ahead of time.  Upon review of the available photos for the next three projects, I find that they are utter crap and don't show the projects well at all.  Unfortunately, I don't have the option of rephotographing because I don't have the garments with me, and even if I did, I don't have any way to download them to my dad's computer.  Please bear with me.

Vogue 1020

My version of the top from the wardrobe pattern Vogue 1020 is a perfect illustration of how a fabric choice can dictate the feel of a garment.  I first noticed this pattern when The Slapdash Sewist made the dress from the wardrobe.  I also checked out the reviews on Pattern Review, and the other versions of this shirt/dress are stylish and sleek and a little bit sexy.  I originally intended to use a modern paisley in wines and deep reds, but because I purchased this fabric a while ago with no specific pattern in mind and because I hadn't realized how much fabric this pattern, took, I had to rethink.

In my stash, I had this nautical-themed cotton jersey (it's really a very white background; the picture looks a little yellow).  

I heard that nautical was in for the summer, so trust me to interpret that as literally as possible.

With a little creative wrangling, there was enough fabric to make the shirt.  (The pattern pieces, really?  Cut in single layer and bent at this really weird angle to accommodate the side gathers).  While I do like the end product, the shirt is really casual and part of me wonders whether the print isn't a little too juvenile.  And sometimes I look at it and think maybe I should have used this for a nightgown instead.  Oh well.  Far too late to turn around and undo it.

Jeez, from this picture, you can't even tell that the side is gathered.  Or recognize the skirt below.  I have to work on taking pictures so that you can actually see the clothes.

I like this pattern, and while I probably won't make the dress, I will give the top another go in a more formal fabric.  The pattern itself is simple enough -- front, back and two sleeves.  No facings.  This was also my first serger project, so I'm glad that it was mostly successful.  The instructions were clear, and I mostly followed them.  The only change I made was to sew the sleeves in flat and then sew the side and sleeve seams in one go (the pattern instructs you to set the sleeves in). 

I don't have a coverstitch machine, so I took a chance that there was enough room in the hips to hem the bottom with a double line of straight stitching, and I got lucky because that seems to have worked out.  I've worn this several times in the past month, and nothing's popped yet.  I finished the sleeves and the neckline with the double line of straight stitching, too.

I really like the asymmetrical gathers.  They are a nice detail to a relatively simple design and are very forgiving on those days when you might not feel your cutest.  The pattern tells you to gather each side to the correct length prior to sewing them together, and that's what I did.  I didn't have any difficulty getting everything to line up.  I dodged some kind of bullet here because I made Butterick 5497 a few weeks later and used the same method to gather the shoulder seams, but when I serged them together, the gathering all came out (I want to get more detailed shots of my mistakes and fixes, so that review is pending).  I'm sure this has something to do with my being a serger novice, but I wanted to mention this in case it was actually something wrong with the theory and not the execution.

So, cute little top that got me off on the right foot with my serger.  It's red, white and blue, so I wore it with jeans on July 4th.  Because the fabric was preshrunk, I can wash and dry this without worries of it not fitting later.  All in all, I'll chalk this one up in the "win" column.

Simplicity 2411

The jury's still out on Simplicity 2411.  I made view D but without the pocket details.  I used a stretch denim that was probably better suited to something more structured, and that's probably the cause of half of my problems with this skirt.  The other half?  Poor pattern choice and poor execution ( I should know better than to make anything with a yoke waist).

You'll have to trust me that this is the same skirt that I'm wearing in the above photo.

I'm going to have to give this skirt another try with a drapier fabric and reassess, so I'm not sure what I think of this pattern.  While I like the skirt as it turned out, it isn't really what I had in mind, the fit is off and it's too short.  I didn't bother to do any fitting on this pattern, just cut the size closest to my measurements and went for it.  Serves me right.  The waist is just small enough that it rides up too much which brings up the hem.  Given that the length of the of the view I made was right about where I wanted the hem, I did a narrow hem, but with a stiff fabric and a fuller skirt, I think it really needed the weight of a deeper hem to make the skirt hang correctly. 

The bottom of the yoke hits me at just the right part of the body that it gives me a nice little pot belly, so super flattering (yes, that's sarcasm).  Not that I'm going to tuck anything in with this skirt, but I would have liked the option, so something else to work on (either by fitting the skirt properly or dropping a few pounds; don't ask what's happened to my exercise schedule since my life got complicated back in April).

The directions were very straightforward.  I noticed that while there are separate pattern pieces given for the front and back, they are identical which saved me a little when I inserted the zipper into the wrong side of the skirt.  I just turned it around and called the front the back and the back the front.  The only real change I made was to insert a lining so that I won't have to wear a slip when I have tights on.  I used the regular pattern pieces for this and hemmed the lining fabric an inch shorter than the fashion fabric.  This worked out well, but I can't help but wonder if the slick lining fabric is one of the reasons that the skirt rides up so much (and not making the correct size; or gaining weight; we can all dream). 

I think the idea of the style is cute on, particularly the way I'm planning on wearing this.  However, I need to address the above issues before this is a go-to piece in my wardrobe.  I may make another version in a black or navy doubleknit.  I don't think I'll lengthen the pattern, but I will try a faced hem.  This was my original plan here, but I lost my leftover fabric in the nightmare that is my stash closet, so I had to make due.

I'll definitely be trying both of these again in the near future, and I'll let you know how it goes.

I Turn Over A New Leaf Every Day

I know that turning over a new leaf doesn't actually refer to plant leaves, but the beautiful print of this fabric looks just like a leafy summer day to me.  And every new pencil skirt pattern that I try is just another opportunity to get it right, so the title just seemed appropriate.

This cotton stretch sateen is from Fabric.com, and I knew the minute I saw it that it wanted to be a pencil skirt. 

I was very excited when Butterick 5466 was released.  I know the pattern seems pretty basic, but it has some design features that really work for me.  First, instead of single darts at the waistline, this pattern has double darts in both the front and back.  I have been interested in trying a pencil skirt with double darts because I was hoping this would be easier to fit to both my hips/thighs (largish) and waist (proportionately small), and I've had problems with skirts where the front is one solid piece in the past.  However, the double waist dart is a detail that's more common in vintage patterns, so this came at just the right time for me.   

Second, the pattern has options for this skirt both with and without a waistband which is great for me because I don't like how waistbands look on me.  It's not like you're ever going to see one on me because I don't tuck in my shirts often, and when I do, I've most likely stuck a belt over it.  In both those cases, a waistband just feels wrong.

Third, there's no slit in the back, and the skirt doesn't need one.  The last slit I made turned out horribly with too much everything everywhere and bad stitching, so I've been avoiding them.  I know I'll have to master this skill eventually, but luckily for me, this skirt didn't require it.

Enlarge the picture at your own risk. I warn you. I have scary old lady neck, but the skirt looks fantastic.

The pattern itself is not complicated.  It's only three pattern pieces and the waist facing, and despite the double waist darts, there's nothing unexpected in how it's put together.  I just gave the instructions the barest glance. 

Because of my hip/thigh-to-waist ratio, I cut out one size larger than my actual hip/thigh measurement and altered down at the side seams.  This allowed me to adjust the seam lines to match the exact curve of my hip (I have a little high-hip fluff).  I was originally going to peg the bottom, but in the end, I decided to do a straight side hem.

The only thing I'm going to change the next time I make this pattern (and make no mistake, there will be a next time), is to lengthen the skirt.  I liked the length of the skirt unhemmed, so I finished the bottom edge on my serger and did a narrow, single-fold hem.  Not the most professional, but it's neat, and I got the length that I wanted.  And because the skirt is narrow and the fabric is lightweight and stretchy, the hem didn't really need the extra fabric to weight it to make it hang properly (please do not shatter this illusion because I love this skirt).  With a heavier and drapier fabric, a narrow hem might not work so well.  I may also go back and add hem tape to better protect the raw edge, but I'd had a rough week and wanted to wear this to work, so I fudged a little. 

I used an invisible zipper, and I need to practice this more because sewing that back seam after the zipper is installed is always a tricky proposition for me.  There's a little pull in the back seam just under the zipper that I'll need to fix.  I had also considered putting in a lining, but when I tried the skirt on after I installed the zipper, I changed my mind and decided to keep it as light as possible for wear in hotter weather. 

The fabric was a great choice as the stretch content made the skirt easy to walk in without the back slit and helped minimize the wrinkling.  All in all, I'm pleased.  This might just be my first tried-and-true pattern.  And the best part is that the pattern uses so little fabric that I still have enough left to make another skirt at some point in the future.

In the Home Stretch

So, after a late start and a longer-than-expected surgery, my dad is cancer free.  His doctor says that his response to the chemotherapy and radiation couldn't have gone better, and he came through the surgery with flying colors.  Because we got this news just before 8 p.m. and my dad was still intubated in the recovery room, my grandmother and I were told to go home and to come visit in the morning.  I've had gin and dinner since then and am looking forward to a good night's sleep.  Finally.  See you in the morning.

There is a Skeleton in Every Closet

And here's the one that's currently in my mine tucked behind my wedding dress.

In celebration of my recent promotion (and as an anticipatory reward to myself for not killing my dad while I'm down in California taking care of him for the next three weeks following his lung resection), I spent money.  I was not supposed to buy a new handbag.  I was most definitely not supposed to spend what I spent on it, either.  But it's pretty, and I can afford it, and buying plane ticket after plane ticket and traveling so much for not very fun reasons for the past three months has taken its toll.  I broke, and now I have a beautiful, new bag.

Now, because of all of my recent family-related expenses, I have been on a spending hiatus.  And I'm still supposed to be on one because the boy cat needs minor surgery, and that's happening next month.  So the pretty bag has to live in the back of my closet until September so that when I do pull it out, not only has my bank account fully recovered, but I can honestly say to Mr. flyskim, "What?  This old thing?  I've had that for months.  You just must not have noticed it."

Actually, I'm not really going to say that.  But I don't want any evidence around that I broke my shopping fast until after things have calmed down here.  I'll be updating from the dad's house over the next few weeks as I perform my daughterly duties of housekeeper, cook, bottle washer and chauffeur.  I've completed a number of new items and am excited to share them.  I'm also going to take the opportunity away from my sewing machine to catch up on some knitting.  Wish me luck.

Long Overdue Update

Sorry I've been out of the loop for so long.  I didn't intend to, but my April and May sucked ass.  My dad started his chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and just as that seemed to be going well, my grandmother (my mom's mom) passed away at the age of 99 last week.  Needless to say, I've been a little distracted.  But hopefully things will calm down soon.  I have a couple of newly finished projects to share, so I'll be back with those soon.

P.S.  Do you ever lose the urge to post when someone you know finds out about your blog and starts stalking it?  Just me, then?  Thought so.

Merry, Merry, Pick A Cherry

I found this great cherry-print fabric at the Mill End Store a few weeks ago and knew right away that it would made a perfect summer shirt dress.

To be honest, I'm not really sure what to say about this dress.  Because I haven't made many button-down shirts or anything with princess seams in years upon years, I followed the instructions to the letter.  At least, I think I did.  For the most part, I found them quite good, but then this is pretty basic construction.  I used my new serger  to finish the facings (and attach the skirt) rather than folding them under, but I think that's the only thing I did differently. 

I would have liked a little more guidance on the collar band because I didn't realize it would need as much easing as it did, and my easing needs work.  I'm sure there are a couple of places where the fabric got caught, but since it's under the collar, I'm not worrying about it too much. 

 It looks all sad and shapeless on the hanger.

I shortened the skirt by six inches and took a half inch off the bottom of the collar as well.  If you look at the product shot, the collar really does look like something that Tony Manero would have worn to win a dance competition at 2001 Odyssey (that's my roundabout way of saying that the collar looks like it came straight out of 1977).  And I love the buttons.  I had to go to three different fabric stores to get enough (the pattern calls for 11).  The remind me of cherry candy, and when the light hits them correctly, they sparkle.

Please ignore the unsnipped threads.

I think the dress is cute.  That's not damning with faint praise because I loves me a shirt dress, and I'll wear this often once the weather gets going.  But it's not perfect stylewise.  I think I would like something with a fuller skirt and maybe not with buttons all the way down.  I'm going to take a look at some vintage patterns.  That being said, I may make another view of this dress:  the one with the round neck and cap sleeves.

I'm thrilled that my little, red Mary-Janes go with this so well.  I got these shoes for $12.99 at Payless Shoe Source about three years ago, and they are the best shoes ever.  I've tried to replace them with something "better" and haven't been able to find anything I like half as much.

I'm not sure what I'm working on next.  I'm currently doing pattern alterations for several things including a vintage skirt pattern and two blouses.  I also need to look through my dress patterns because I've recently picked up some really pretty floral lawn.  But since the serger is all set up with white thread, I might do a couple of cotton jersey tops.  And then I have to hit the Simplicity sale at Joann's.  I have some lightweight denim, and it's calling for this pattern.

Let's Play A Guessing Game

The white Four Runner?  My boss's car.  The view?  Out the office window.  The question?  How much work do you think got done in my office today?

All kidding aside, no one was hurt.  The two cars the Four Runner landed on drove out under their own power.  Word is still out on the Four Runner.

The Easter Beagle Will Never Let You Down

Okay, the title has very little to do with the actual post.  Other than Easter.  As usually happens around the holidays, Mr. flyskim and I trek out to the middle-of-nowhere Hillsboro to spend the day with his cousin M, M's wife, R, their adult children, sister-in-law V and her husband, G-man.  I was in charge of desserts, and even though we had been warned that there were only going to be 11-12 people there, Mr. flyskim suggested that I make two different items.  Far be it from me to turn down an extra baking opportunity.  I don't get to do it anywhere near often enough because Mr. flyskim doesn't eat sweets, and I'm trying to avoid gaining weight as I head into my mid-forties.  So, I started with my fallback chocolate cake with standard, sugar box icing.  This recipe has never failed me, and if you ask me to bring a cake somewhere, it's probably going to be this one.  I'm not much of a cake decorator, so I usually just dye the icing and stick things on top.  If I'm lucky, it'll actually look like something.  As I noted in my last post, Mr. flyskim insisted that we put Peeps on the cake, so I colored the icing green and put the Peeps bunnies out in the middle of the Easter egg field. 

If it had been up to me, this would have had an Easter bunny harvesting a giant carrot and candy flowers.

My second dessert was a Raspberry Streusel Tart from the Joy of Cooking.  I've only made one real pie crust, and it turned out okay, but I didn't want to risk it not turning out, so I did then next logical thing.  I made something I had never even tried before.  I used a press-in shortbread crust, and I think my tart pan was a little too big because I had some issues covering the whole thing, and it cooked in under 15 minutes (recommended time was 18-22 minutes) in my oven where baked goods regularly need the maximum time for a recipe plus some.  I was glad I decided to check it early, because I got it out before it started to burn.

Isn't it pretty?  The shiny comes from an egg wash to seal the pastry from the wet filling.

I'm glad I used a sweet crust, because it was a nice contrast to the tart raspberries.  The recipe wisely does not call for a lot of sugar in the filling.  The streusel was made with flour, brown sugar, crushed walnuts (Mr. flyskim's people are walnut farmers in the California central valley, so we always have a good supply on hand) and cinnamon. 

 

I'm not 100% certain that I cooked this long enough.  I'm not exactly sure whether the streusel is supposed to be crispy, crunchy or cake-like. It doesn't matter much because it was yummy.  Here are my creations waiting to be hacked into.

 Aren't they pretty?

Since I'd way over-baked, and Mr. flyskim was wrong for once about his cousin inviting every neighbor off the mountain to dinner, my co-workers had to do the dirty work of polishing these off for me yesterday.

Next up on the sewing table:  New Look 6587, view A.  I'm using this great cherry-print stretch cotton and the cutest little red buttons.  I have the bodice and the skirt put together separately.  The next step is to put the two together, add the collar and sleeves and make button holes.  If I'm focused, I might be able to finish by this weekend.

A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman . . .

. . . but loose enough to show you're a lady. - Edith Head

I think I've managed to accomplish this with the sheath dress from McCalls 5818. 

(Yes, I was geeky enough to bring my camera to work specifically so I could take a picture of myself in the full-length mirror in the bathroom.  What?  There's decent light, and we don't have a full-length mirror at home.  The wrinkling in the middle of the dress is due to the wonky way I was standing to actually get myself fully in the picture.  On an unrelated note, I was having a fantastic hair day.)

Dress as still life.

I love this dress.  I love the pleating at the neckline and have wanted a dress with this detail for ages (particularly after a failed attempt at McCalls 5466; stupid bias-cut skirt).  I love that there are no side bust darts, so there is one less opportunity for darts that stick out.  I love that there were only two pattern pieces.  I did a full bust adjustment and distributed the additional fullness to the neckline darts.  I also graded up in the hips and thighs probably one full size.  The pattern instructs you to use a regular zipper, but I had just received my new invisible zipper foot, so I had to put in an invisible zipper to justify the purchase.  It also gave me the option of machine stitching the lining to the zipper.

There is supposed to be a slit at the bottom of the skirt, but because this hits me just above the knee, it wasn't necessary (and I completely forgot about it because I ditched the instructions).

My only real beef is with the instructions.  Other than referencing them to make sure I was making the pleats at that neckline properly, I didn't really use them because I wanted to try the method for lining a dress outlined here (which was fantastic and gave a great result after I enlarged the shoulders so that I could bring the front pieces through after sewing) and, seriously, two pattern pieces, three seams, a zipper and a hem.  Even I can put those together without instructions.  But this is a Palmer/Pletsch pattern.  One of the bonuses of these patterns is that there are supposed to be some instructions to help with fitting, and while the instructions did walk you through all of the most common adjustments (full bust, broad back, forward shoulder), they used the jacket pattern as the example.  This does make sense because the jacket is the most complicated piece in the wardrobe, but it leaves you flying blind for the dress.  Well, not blind exactly, because there are the handy alteration lines on the dress pattern, but they address the full bust adjustment by creating a side bust dart which turns this into a slightly different dress than the one on the pattern envelope (also, see above re: loving no side bust dart).  The pattern does not take the next step and explain how to take the fullness from that side bust dart and rotate it into the neckline pleats.  If I hadn't altered this pattern in the Fit For Real People class, I would have had no clue.

I used a polyester suiting and lining for this.  I know, the evil synthetic fabric.  But it has a nice feel and drape to it with a little bit of stretch, and now I have a work-appropriate dress that I can throw into both the washer and the dryer.  Additional bonus?  The hanger shot above was taken after the dress has spent the night (okay, two) wadded folded up in my gym bag.  Minimal wrinkling, which is important when you plan to wear a sheath dress while sitting at a desk all day.

All in all, I am really pleased with the result.  The dress is classic with an interesting enough detail to keep it from being boring, and I got a lot of compliments at work the day I wore it.

For those who celebrate Easter, have a great holiday.  I'm off now to frost the cake Mr. flyskim and I are bringing to his cousin's house.  Just a basic chocolate cake from this recipe.  Easy as anything and really tasty.  It's the same recipe I used for this cake when a co-worker moved to Austria so that his wife could pursue a job opportunity.

That's even a Lufthansa plane (he's a pilot; it makes sense).

I use the frosting recipe from the back of the powdered sugar box, and we're going to color it green and decorate it with a bunch of Peeps rabbits.  That would be Mr. flyskim's contribution to this venture.  I wanted to make the cake look like a meadow with candy flowers and an Easter Bunny.  But noooooo.  He thinks Peeps will be funny.  I'll post pictures later.