(Im)perfect Summer Dress

This week's sewing was trumped by house cleaning for the first time in a while.  My man was leaving town for a few weeks and my parents were coming to help pick up the slack on those days when I get stuck late at work.  I also have to prepare a 20 min. talk for the Center for Host-Parasite Interaction Conference next week.  And I need to get some more data for said conference talk.  And I may have to go to Michigan for a training session.  Whew.

The Sew Weekly theme this time around was a fairly loosey-goosey "Perfect Summer Dress".  You would think that between the two '40s dresses I have hanging up almost completed, the '60s linen shift I have cut out and the caftan I've already marked, I would be able to whip something up in a couple of hours.  But nothing seemed to catch my fancy.  Then I read Mena's post on xoJane about making the Sassy Magazine Pillow Case dress from 1992.  If you were a teen or young adult in the '90s, you probably loved Sassy.  Like I did:

(Yeah, that's me back in 1993 reading Sassy.  Sorry for the crap photo-of-a-photo, 

but I don't have a scanner anymore.)  

Now Jane Pratt has launched xoJane, and if you haven't seen it yet, go look now.  Go on; I'll wait until you get back.

And so I was suddenly gripped with the urge to make a pillowcase dress too.  I had a big blue batik pillowcase from Value Village that would probably work.  I should mention that I have a weird affinity for anything blue and batik.  I don't know why.  Here are a few shots from around my house, but believe me, there is more evidence of my strange obsession around here somewhere:

Tablecloth from India that I use as a sofa cover

Duvet cover

Detail of a jacket I bought 8 years ago in Saigon, in a great shop called Sapa Fashions.  They use tribal textile scraps to embellish modern pieces.  I also have a red silk skirt with silver bells and Hmong embroidery on the hem that I bought at this shop.  

This is a length of printed fabric that I got in South Africa a few years ago that I turned into a wall hanging for my daughter's room.

See what I mean?  I must have had some kind of indigo batik bed cover as a kid, and it has crept into my subconscious as The Perfect Textile.  Anyway, back to the Sassy pillowcase dress.  I basically just took my favourite neckline and traced it onto the top of the pillowcase, traced the armholes and tilted the shoulder seams a little bit (about 30 degrees).

Then I just had to take it in a bit on the sides and finish the neck and armholes with pre-made bias tape, et voilà. Before you scroll down any further, let me warn you that it is short.  I mean the length is OK for standing up and taking a photo, but you Moms know that we spend about 75% of our time either bent over or picking something up, and like Celie, I'm not one to show off the good china anymore.  

"No Tashi, I don't want the piece of your popscicle that fell on the floor."

Lulu and Tashi both get in on the shot.

"Please don't touch Mama's camera with those sticky popscicle fingers!"

Those photos starting to delve into Beangirl territory.  So then I had to resort to my usual photo in front of the bookshelf shot that I do every week ;)

The only way I'm wearing this out in public is with leggings or my nice white linen trousers that are in the wash right now.  So I can't rightly call this "The Perfect Summer Dress"; maybe The Perfect Summer Tunic.  Hell, I'm going to post it to Sew Weekly anyway.

Yay!  I made the Sassy Pillowcase Dress from a Value Village 99cent pillowcase!  and I didn't even catch lice or gonorrhea!

Geneology for IAAT

OK, so Katja gave me some press by including me in the IAAT meme that was going around last month.  Then I had to do my taxes.  Then I went to Cuba.  Then I joined Sew Weekly.  Then I made a bunch of stuff with them.  Then I got caught up in the daily get up-get the kids ready for daycare-get to the lab-get to the High Throughput Centre before it's too late-get home-get the kids from daycare- dinner - bath - bed - read too many blogs-fall asleep on the sofa that is my daily routine these days.  So better late than never, here are some of my favourite blogs that I think you should check out:

Academomia:  a great blog about being an academic and a mom (duh; I guess that was obvious from the title; guess I'm too tired from trying to be an academic and a mom at the same time)
Wry and Ginger:  a fellow sarcastic Nova Scotian.
verypurpleperson:  I'm sure you all know Novita, but I recently went back and read all her posts, right from the beginning.  Totally worth it.
mokosha:  new blogger with a cool site.
my other blog:  mostly family photos for the grandparents back home on both coasts.  I may be one of only 5 people on the planet that is interested in looking at countless photos of my yard apes, but whatever.

I won't pass it on to these blogs because one is me, two are non-sewing and will wonder what the heck is going on, and everyone already knows Novita and she's probably gotten every blog link out there.  Also, I think the red carpet season is over now that we're getting hail and thunderstorms.  But you should definitely go look at these blogs, because they are all that for a variety of reasons.

In lieu of passing it on, I'm passing it back:
I got my link from Katja  Of Dreams and Seams, who nominated these bloggers...

1. Honigbärenbiene
2. Another Sewing Scientist
3. Yoshimi the Flying Squirrel
4. Farmhouse Garden
5. Pedilu

...and she got it from Oonaballoona oonaballoona from kalkatroona (and roxietoxl too) ...who nominated these bloggers.....

"  emilykate: emily kate, beth: modern jax, reana louise: curves pattens and pins, katja: of dreams and seams, laurwyn: quirky pretty cute, lisette: what would nancy drew wear, and meg, of meg the grand, who actually awarded me a stylish blogger award, because as i have stated before i am so very awesome. and bratty. bratty enough to take the award, but not so awesome that i can think of seven more facts.

(but i can think of more blogs. want more sassiness? debi. jorth. don. tanit-isis. patty. oh go have a look at my links list, godsakes.) "

....who got it from the originator Beangirl at beangirl: the blog

Angie A. at Quality Time

Big In Japan at Big In Japan

Laura at Edgy June Cleaver

Heather at Li’l Miss Muffet

Tanit-Isis at Tanit-Isis Sews

Oonaballoona at Oonaballoona From Kalkatroona

So if you like reading too many blogs and falling asleep on the sofa, by all means, make like anothersewingscientist.....

Cape Town to Canada: Beaded Collar

If you read this post from early April, you'll know the backstory of Xhosa collars and remember that I started working on my own version, but didn't think I'd make much progress.  Well, once again, the Sew Weekly came to my rescue and hosted  Embellish This!, so I really had no excuse to let it languish any longer.

When I was shopping for a beaded collar in Cape Town, I could only find Kenyan wire collars like this...

 

source

...which I don't think a white girl in Quebec can quite carry off.  I wanted something inspired by, rather than imitation of.  

Ta da!  

Each of these rows took me about 1 - 1.5hours to do, and I was seriously cheating on the couching.  Instead of doing 3 beads / backstitch 2, I did 10+, then backstitched 2.  I think it would have taken me years if I had done this properly.

I thought it would look best if I photographed it against bare skin, but then I chickened out and put on this old linen dress.  

     You could wear this forwards as peter pan collar, but I think I prefer it backwards.  

Red White and Blue

I downloaded this pattern last year I believe, and I cut it out and traced the allowances back in March, then it sat on my desk in a dusty pile for two months.  You know the story.  

I have been trying to follow the Sew Weekly and this week the theme was "Red, White and Blue", so I got the kick up the arse I needed to finish it.  (Aside:  spell check just tried to correct the word "arse".  Really?  That's a word!  Well, in Nova Scotian it is.)

This tie-front blouse from Burdastyle 10/2010 has gotten mixed reviews.  Some people love it, some are indifferent but everyone agrees that the ties are ridiculously long and the instructions are crap.  So I ignored the instructions and just used my common sense.  I did french seams throughout because the fabric is so thin (somewhere between voile and shirting....what would you call that?) and very prone to fraying.  I also cut off about 25% of the tie length:

and now it looks better.  

My man was home this afternoon, so I actually got some outdoor shots.  Imagine that.  

And Lulu had to butt in.  Black wool pants are cat magnets.  

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Sewing Through the Decades Challenge Countdown: 

1940s  1950s  1960s  1970s  1980s  1990s  2000s  2010s 

Why don't more men sew?

Peter posed this question in February.   Maybe because it's a "girl thing", maybe because they don't learn in school, maybe because their Mamas don't teach them, or maybe they just need a project that inspires them!

Enter the ninja.....

I showed him how to pin once, then he did the rest.  He must have been paying attention all those times I prepped on the living room floor.

Cutting was the hardest part for him because the scissors are too large for his little hands and he is left-handed to boot.  I wonder where I can find kids' left-handed fabric scissors? 

Rightly proud of his results

Ninja!  Complete with Cheerio box throwing star! 

I took these photos about 5 hours ago, and he hasn't yet taken it off.  I doubt I'll be able to get it off for bath time tonight either....

So how was your weekend?

In which a boring rainy morning is transformed by a pattern jackpot

I've mentioned my special relationship with my neighbourhood charity shop before.  In fact, that was my first post.  With my man out of town and a long, cold rainy weekend stretching before me and the kids, I decided to get everyone dressed up in their raincoats and shlep over to the Saturday market just to get out of the house.

On the way back, I checked in at my VON charity shop, you know, just in case there was a pair of boy's pants for a dollar or two since my little guy has grown about 3 inches since Christmas.  I got the pants (after a bit of negotiation re: khakis vs. camo, but that's another story) when one of the volunteers said to me, "Oh, by the way, there are a few new patterns in the back we were keeping for you if you want to look."

Well, what do we have here......

A cute little set from 1963.  Unfortunately, the pieces for the overblouse and the instructions are missing, but this is a quite straightforward set of shorts with a wrap-around skirt cover-up, so I should be able to muddle through on my own.  

Caftan,  no.  Tunic, yes.  

I like the skirt with the buttoned front, but I will have to lengthen it quite a bit methinks.

My daughter pronounced these "silly pants", and I'm inclined to agree.

This is the pattern that Adey used for her Fly and Chill dress over at the SewWeekly, and I've had it in my favourites on Etsy for a while now, so it was a fortuitous find.

Two jumpsuits?  I know they're making a comeback, but I don't know what came over me.  Who looks good in a jumpsuit except a toddler?  

 This one is pretty plain, but I could always use a good basic sheath dress pattern and a princess seamed jacket.  (I've never seen darts in the neckline like this before, have you?)

 Another case of looking past the envelope to see the potential:  I've been on the lookout for a full skirt with pockets to make a Lauren-Bacall-in-Key-Largo-type outfit.....

I haven't yet had the nerve to attempt trousers, but now I have several styles in my pattern stash: narrow, wide leg, low rise, high waisted, etc.  Maybe I can give them a go.

A brand new, FF Project Runway pattern!

There was also a whole whack of patterns for girls:

This one doesn't look like much, but I've been looking for a pattern for girl's leggings, and this one is for sizes 3-8!

Nasty, nasty cover, but there is a basic circle skirt and tired circle skirt hiding under that clown-like styling.

I like this one best; I'll make it in a pillowcase or sheet fabric without sleeves for a nice summery dress.

My son was jealous that there was nothing for boys (yeah, why is that?), but there were a few costume patterns.  Sorry, no photos, but aren't all costume patterns basically a tunic with / out sleeves and some accessories added on?

Oh, and I also nabbed these:  

I've got to stop thrift shopping because frankly, I'll never get around to making most of this stuff.  But they recycle the patterns if I don't take them home, and I feel like I have to rescue them from an undignified death. Now I know how those crazy cat ladies feel...