Bad weather coming your way

I finally fulfilled my dream of being a tornado for Halloween! One pack of assorted farm animals from Rite-Aid (~$6) and your existing set of black clothes and you've got yourself a gift-card winning costume! Farm animals, Chris's miniature train tracks and trees, and some of my bike pins were among the items to get swept up in the dervish known as Victoria on Halloween-Monday. Things to know if you ever make your own tornado costume: a skirt is probably a better idea because the debris on my legs kept getting tangled, and make the strings on your legs shorter so they can't get tangled! I lost some of the items just walking around the office, so don't be super attached to any of your debris. Oh, and be ready to spin ALL DAY LONG. Still dizzy.

Here it is in action:

In other news, I made Jenn a black and white houndstooth-type dress in this pattern this past month, fulfilling my new year's resolution, and a fabric destash as well.

Compliments: Butterick.McCall.com

I used the black version with the bows as the selected model. I made a huge mistake in not taking her picture when she tried it on at my house, as the louse refused to send me any pictures from the party she wore it to. I'll get her yet. For the record, the pattern calls for interfacing on the bows, but that made them waaaay too stiff and I had to hand-tack them to the dress so they wouldn't poke people's eyes out. I would not do the interfacing on the bows again. Her friend Sara had the same dress made for her in blue taffeta (Mad Men party, if you're wondering), minus the bows. Tres chic! At the very worst, I'll be able to report on my version, which is a brown/gold linen blend with a red lace overlay, no bows. I need to hem that beast and document it! I kind of want to wear it to the bazaar on Saturday, so I better get moving. Unfortunately, I'm getting sick as we speak. dangs.

September Blues

September passed with a whisper. The entire month was lost to me, a transition month that failed to take me from summer to fall. September (and summer?) are gone now, and I don't feel that I have much to show for it aside from a lot of work-related stress. Though I feel like I fell back on my destashing project, I did manage some sewing in there: I made a long-overdue tote bag for Jenn, finished Merril's bloomers from the KDVS fundraiser, tackled a thrift store project, and thoroughly muffed up a Burda-style shirt (still trying to figure that one out). Since you saw a slew of bloomers earlier this year, and Jenn's tote was a duplicate of the gift exchange tote (though her version is lined and has pockets inside!), I'll show you two other projects I have pictures of, one of them a long time coming. And they're both blue!

Of course I could teach you macrame!

I got this dress at the thrift store for a dollar. It had some unsightly stains hip-level and the length was...questionable. It had a post-prairie missionary feel to me, but check out that border print! It definitely called for the skirt to be removed, shortened, and reattached.

Success!

Back in June, I complained heartily about making Michelle's maid-of-honor dress for Clara's wedding because the netting was such a nightmare. I sewed until my fingers bled--not exaggerating, I had to wear gloves and bandaids to keep from staining my powdery blue tormentor. But it turned out really well! (and I should hope so after the muslins and fittings and general anxiety) Here are some shots from a different wedding earlier tonight...

What is Michelle's exclamation lately? You know, it is shouted at parties, texted...hrm.

This was my second round using horsehair braid on the hem. It is still wiley and less-than-cooperative, but the effect is lovely and I *think* my technique is getting better. (it gives the bottom of the skirt that rolling body)

I was reminded tonight that the original inspiration for this dress was a lacey Erdem number, which tells me that I need to look at more fashion magazines/websites so I can strive to replicate (and re-interpret) notable things. I need to constantly remind myself of that.

Extreme close-up!

And that Burda style shirt...shis. What happened there? Well, first of all there were some ill-placed buttonholes, and the fabric might be less than ideal for the pattern (left over blue fabric from this dress)...you know what, I'm going to try to fix it. I'll let you know in a month or so if that worked out. Technically, it was my September clothing item to fulfill my resolution, but it needs more work if I'm going to ever wear it without a self-loathing grimace. Like I said, I'll get back to you on that.

Happy October!