Another day, another dress

Last Saturday I finished another dress. It's funny, I had very little desire to sew dresses from October on until the weather started warming up, and suddenly that's all I want to sew. It's just the weather. I don't like cold legs, so I don't like to wear dresses in the winter.

For some time, I've been searching for the mythical "instant gratification dress". I want a dress pattern that is both quick and easy to make, but which is flattering. I made a couple of dresses in high school that were "2 hour dresses" (although believe me, they took me longer than that), and the reason they were so fast is that there was NO SHAPING and no details (pockets, collars, belts, etc). So they weren't very flattering, and I didn't wear them often. Unfortunately, I've decided that I probably won't find the kind of instant gratification pattern that I am looking for, because I like details and shaping, which add time to both cutting out and sewing.

Another feature of this mythical dress is that it is something not too dressy, that I would feel comfortable wearing on everyday occasions. A day dress. Now, if you've seen the last two dresses I've made this spring, neither of them is what you'd call a day dress.

Though it falls short of my lofty ideals for an instant gratification dress, this pattern comes as close as anything I've seen (it's the only pattern I've liked enough to actually try). It went pretty fast, but I still spent between five and six hours on it, including cutting out, but not including the changes I made to the pattern itself before I actually cut the pieces out.

The changes I made were: adding side seam pockets, lengthening it by 6 inches (the previous user of the pattern had cut it to the mini-length view), and changing the collar shape. I also omitted the top button and loop, so that the collar would spread out and turn to expose the facing a little.

In the end, I only spent a total of $0.59 on this dress, since the tan fabric came from Goodwill, and the contrast collar fabric was given to me, as were the vintage buttons and the belt. Okay, and maybe a quarter's worth of interfacing on the collar and facings.

Although the dress looks okay without a belt (better on me than my dress form), the belt does improve it a bit.

Indiana Jones / Patsy Cline Dress

While I was making this dress, I happened to do a google search for images of dresses that Patsy Cline wore (The Internet is great, instant whim-gratification!) and noticed that when she wore dresses they were often the slim-skirted style, instead of full. So I began thinking of it as the "Patsy Cline dress". I usually prefer full skirts, and so this dress was sort of an experiment for me. I prefer the look of full skirts, but then you have to buy four or five yards at a time, and so slim skirts are definitely less expensive. This dress took just under three yards, and if I'd been more careful with the layout, might have taken less.

The night before I finished the dress, when it was all starting to come together, I had Brandon pin it up the back so I could try it on (before hemming and the zipper, before the belt was made). I nearly quit right then, because it looked sort of like a potato sack. A bright blue potato sack, but still. Brandon said something about Mormon religious compound ladies. I figured since I'd come that far, though, and I loved the fabric so much, I'd at least try to finish it.

Actually hemming it (it called for a 3" deep hem) to a more flattering length helped a lot. Putting in a zipper helped some too. What really makes the dress, though, is the belt, which I modified from another pattern (from the 1970's).

I think of it as the Indiana Jones dress because I finished it right before we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie, and I decided to wear it. I always have an awful itch to wear something the moment it is finished, and I was literally cutting the last loose threads off as we got into the car. I was a little over-dressed for a matinee, but the movie was set in the 1950's, so I was decade-appropriate.

Then I wore it Brandon's cousin's wedding, which was actually the reason I was making the dress now and not later. Weddings are a great excuse to start a new dress.

Baby Chicken Grab Bag!

Three weeks ago I ordered chickens. You have to order them ahead, and then basically wait for them to hatch. Then they overnight them to you, via USPS. Today the baby chicks came! They hatched Sunday. I am simply amazed that you can mail baby chickens. One did die in transit. I don't know why.

We got an assortment, basically odds and ends of whatever they had left over after filling other orders. They're cheaper that way, and I like variety. About half will be roosters, and my mom wanted some for eating. A couple may end up in our soup pot too. We will give a few of the hens to Brandon's parents, and keep a few ourselves for eggs.

There is nothing wrong with this chicken:
It is a breed characteristic. They're called Turkens, and there were some in Ecuador, or a breed that looks very similar. I have some sort of odd attachment to them because they are so ugly (the black ones look like vultures). I was very excited that there are four in our assortment. One yellow (will grow up to be white), one red, and two black.

There are also a couple that look like they will grow up to have fluffy topknots. I think those are cool, too. One has feathers on his/her feet, which means it is a Cochin. The others, who knows. I looked at the chicken catalog again, and I can narrow it down by the baby chick pictures they show with each breed, but there are several yellow chick breeds, several black, several splotchy black and white. Only time will tell.

Past Projects #3

This is probably my favorite dress that I've made myself recently (recently as in a year ago, actually). It was my going away dress for my wedding. I love it, but it takes so much fabric, and so long to cut out, and hem, that I will probably not do another one.

And an action shot:













(Yes, our "getaway vehicle" was my a truck. We drove it to where the car was parked and went on from there.)It isn't a vintage pattern (it was McCalls, darn if I remember the number), but it has a very retro look, to me. It's a wrap dress, so at least it didn't have a zipper, but the circle skirt was a big pain to hem. It wraps very far over, and even on a windy day it doesn't come unwrapped, however, so I guess all that fabric and hemming was necessary.

We're Off to See the Wizard

Both of these pattern envelopes seem to have been designed by someone who'd seen The Wizard of Oz one too many times. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Busy Like a Bee

I have been busy the past three days getting two things ready: one, my mom's Mother's Day present, and two, Connor's baby quilt. I am going to Texline this weekend for Mother's Day, and Sam and the baby will be there (so I am told). There is nothing like a deadline to get me motivated.

The apron pattern is a sort of heirloom; my grandmother gave it to me after finding it amongst some of her stored things. You can see in the picture that a mouse has nibbled on the priceless heirloom. When she gave it to me, my mom strongly hinted that she would really like one, too.

It turns out to be a size large, a bit too big for me, but it will fit my mom better. I did take a few inches off of the shoulder straps in the hopes that it will help the fit. My mom isn't really a large, either. And given that she is just about five foot tall, the apron will be even longer on her than on me.

The quilt is finally done. It only took so long because I procrastinate. Once I got all of the pieced squares made, I sewed the top together and quilted it in about five hours split between last night and this morning/afternoon. I learned a lot doing this one (Like, had I known about strip piecing, it would have been way, way faster to strip piece the tiny border rectangles, instead of cutting out a bazillion tiny rectangles and sewing them all together individually), and since the pink baby quilt came before this one, I was able to apply a lot of what I learned with that one. The walking foot helped a lot, that's for sure, and the corners are mitered more neatly.

I hope Connor will enjoy it for several years. I'm glad that he turned out to be a boy, since I bought most of the material intending to make a sort of unisex quilt, but the orange seems to me to make it more of a boy quilt. (Lesson learned: just go ahead and wait until you know the sex of the baby. You'll have plenty of time. Unless you procrastinate. And even then, the baby won't care if it's a little late.)

What I've been up to lately

Ever since we got back from Dallas, where we went for our anniversary, I haven't been doing much sewing. Until last Friday, when my best friend from high school called and said she was going to come visit.

I had been thinking I'd like to do some plus size clothing for my Etsy store, so I took the opportunity to get her measurements and make two skirts - one to sell, and one for her. Both were fairly simple patterns that I drafted from her measurements. The brown one has a paisley design, and is the one I made for her to keep. I'm not entirely displeased with the way it turned out, but I need more practice sewing from just measurements.

The red one is made from a tablecloth and the ruffle off of a vintage curtain, both of which I picked up secondhand. It has an elastic waist, to fit a broader range of size.