2.22.2015

scorched

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdress

Hey everyone! I am currently sitting, staring at my computer at 9:30 pm on a Saturday night (because my social life is off the hook). I think I've written these first couple of sentences a dozen of times, only to delete each one. I told myself that I wasn't allowed to write about the weather, or the fact that February seems to have gone by very very  fast, and as a result I'm finding myself with absolutely nothing to say. It's at times like this that I wonder if we're given a finite quantity of creativity in our lives, and if I've squandered all mine on dramatic readings of Us Weekly performed for my cat...

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdress

To be fair, those readings have been some of my finest work, but don't expect Mister Muscles to back me up on that because he's a tough critic!

Well, since it seems like the insides of my brain currently consists of one, long, obnoxious, fart sound, I'm gonna take the liberty of skipping the niceties and jumping right into the sewing talk. Trust me, it's better for everyone this way. Besides, I have a lot to say about this silly, flowy, voluminous dress!

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdress

This was my February make for the Mood Sewing Network (you can read that post here, which is probably way more informative than this post is going to be).  I had initially planned on making a spring jacket, which is much needed in my wardrobe, however our crazy 'winter' turned unexpectedly balmy for a week or two there and I just couldn't muster the enthusiasm to sew outer wear.  So instead I made what is essentially my ideal spring dress. Of course, it has since returned to being cold and drizzly, and now I'm really wishing I had that jacket - so back to the front of the queue it goes!

This dress was made using this White and Gray Striped Linen-Blended Woven from Mood online.  I'm not totally sure why this fabric caught my eye, as it certainly isn't the sort of rambunctious print I usually gravitate towards when I'm buying fabric with my Mood allowance. But I do know that when I saw it I thought of light and airy spring dresses with a sort of folksy, bohemian, Ladies of the Canyon kind of vibe.  The kind of thing you wear with minimal sandals and lots of jewelry (bonus points if you're lucky enough to own some genuine turquoise...) and long, flowing locks. The finished look might veer more towards 'a man's sleep shirt from the 19th century' or faintly Laura Ingles Wilder, but I'm actually pretty cool with that too! 

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdress

I'm going to reveal something incredibly nerdy about myself right about now - when I was a kid (and probably a little older than would have been considered 'cool'... like, oh, say 15) I was in love with American Girl dolls. My favorite doll was/is Kirsten (R.I.P. Kirsten, as you are no longer available) who was the 'pioneer doll.'  I mean, pioneers are pretty badass! I even had matching dresses so I could dress up like my doll and pretend that I, too, was a pioneer girl. Well. I would be lying if I said that this dress doesn't make me feel a bit like my 8 year old self, playing dress-ups with my Kirsten doll. And after doing that google image search I'm realizing just how much it resembles Kirsten's nightgown (which I also had in my size). Sigh. I mean, aren't we all just trying to satisfy our inner 8 year old? 

Another fun fact - my nieces are just getting to the age where they are getting into American Girl dolls, and I swear, this past Christmas I was almost as excited as they were to receive their first doll! I literally had to stop myself from being like, "here, let me show you how to brush their hair..."

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdressDSC_0094

But I was trying to write about sewing here (see above, re: brain = fart sound). So I saw this fabric, I decided I wanted to make a folksy, springy dress, and I chose a pattern, like you do.  This is Burda 10/2010 #122, the same pattern I used to make my green dress. I love that green dress so hard that it only made sense to add another version to my closet.  However there were a few changes I wanted to make. For clarity sake, I'm gonna go with the list format:

  •  Lengthen the entire dress by about 3 inches. The curved hem makes for some scandalous thigh moments on my green dress, so this length is much more modest.
  • Narrow the shoulders by 1/2 inch (using this method). My green dress actually fits very comfortably through my shoulders, but optically I feel like it makes my shoulders look wide(er). Since this is such a roomy dress I felt like I could get away with narrowing the shoulder so the shoulder seam sits in a bit more, which I find visually more flattering on me.
  • Used a different method to sew the front placket because when I followed the instructions from Burda on my first version of this dress I felt like the placket got really gross. I don't remember now exactly what I did, I just kind of made it up as I went along. I'm sure if you were to have watched me sewing the placket it would have been like watching a chimp perform brain surgery. No offense to any primate surgeons out there - but it was definitely touch and go there for awhile! But we got there in the end. I'm actually really pleased with my placket on this version.
  • I used the same wide, gathered sleeve pattern that I made for my first version, but this time I added 1/2 inch to the overall length, and changed the sleeve to an exaggerated bishops sleeve, so it's a little bit longer in length at the back of the arm than it is at the front.
  • I omitted a lot of the topstitching and interfacing on this version because I wanted a very soft, rumply look.
  • And finally, I left off the pockets. I'm generally a fan of pockets in dresses when they fit into the overall design of the dress, but I often think in-seam pockets seem like an afterthought, and they always flap around uncomfortably when you wear the dress. So out they go!

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdress

Perhaps the change I'm most pleased with is the sleeve adjustment I made.  The bishop sleeve really does fall in a very lovely way around the arm, which I think is really key for making this kind of poet sleeve work.  And it's just really fun to wear! I'm actually already imagining other patterns I can slip some bishop sleeves onto, and next time they're going to be even more exaggerated! Puffy sleeves for all!

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdressDSC_0096

Perhaps after all this rambling you're wondering why I would title this post 'scorched' (or maybe you've just caught on that my post titles are only tenuously related to what I'm talking about and you've just learned to ignore them, in which case, who can blame you?) Well! That has to do with a little lesson I learned about my new iron. Oh, I never told you I got a new iron? Well I did! For Christmas I got a Sapporo gravity feed iron and it makes me feel legit. I also love knowing that I will never have to buy another iron - or at least not for many many years (fingers crossed anyway, appliances are always susceptible to giving up the ghost, but from what I can tell, these things are lifetime companions). Although it hasn't been all sunshine and roses with my new iron. There's definitely been an... adjustment period (we're still getting to know one another). This thing is just way more serious than any other sewing appliance I own! Take, for instance, the sewing of this dress. While working I decided I needed a cup of tea, which of course turned into a snack, and then I sat down to check my email, and read some blogs... Anyway! An indeterminate amount of time later I returned to my sewing room only to find that in my negligence I had flung my work-in-progress across my ironing board, leaving the corner of the dress to rest against the iron! Now, as I've said, this iron ain't your mama's Rowenta! This sucker gets hot. And the whole base gets hot, not just the underside. Also, there's no auto shut-off like there was on my old conventional iron, which means the entire time I was lolly-gagging about, my dress (which I had just painstakingly manhandled a beautiful front placket for with all the precision of a chimp surgeon) was being scorched. I've never had an iron burn anything I was working on before! While I did want to cry when I saw the ugly, brown scorch mark on the front of my new dress, in retrospect I actually feel really lucky that I didn't start a fire! 

So! I would like to offer myself up as lesson to the sewing community! Do as I say, not as I Do! Learn from my mistakes, dear ones! Take care with your works in progress, and beware hot, powerful, irons!

Mood Fabrics Gray Stripe Linen | Burda shirtdress

And this picture is for Nick, who really liked the scale of me in amongst all these palmettos and tropical greenery. 

Until next time friends!

xx

29 comments:

  1. This is super cute, and I'm eternally jealous of your ability to pull styles like this off. But most importantly, I had a Samantha American Girl doll—complete with multiple outfits, her armoire, and her bedding set. I loooooved all her pretty things. I actually got a bed that matched hers shortly after I got her—all ruffly and girly and 1900's looking. It was amazing! & I can't believe they no longer make Kirsten. I always wanted her cool loopy braids!

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  2. Yes! Samantha was the prettiest! Between me and my best friend, Liz, and her sister, we somehow managed to have all the dolls (that they had at the time... Kirsten, Samantha, Molly, Felicity...) My mom was always trying to get me into Samantha because SHE loved her stuff, but it was always Kirsten and her loopy braids for me! Thanks for sharing Sara!

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  3. Also! I don't think they make Samantha any more either! As I said, I'm all up on my American Girls at the moment because of my nieces, but I couldn't BELIEVE they retired Samantha! Her stuff really was the prettiest!

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  4. Amazing!!! I love the Bohemian floatiness - Laura Ingalls Wilder is my heroine. So jealous, I have no idea what American Girl dolls are but if i was American I'm sure I would have had one.

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  5. This would look really cute with one of those silver and turquoise concha belts from the '80s. Personally, I loved the Little House books and read them over and over. (Never liked the tv show, though - a bit too moralistic for my taste). I'm thinking about the Long Winter book, and the tunnel Papa made through the snow. We're buried in ice here in the NE; love seeing all your Galveston greenery...

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  6. Ooh, pretty, also love the styling/setting. I'm not AG generation but I did make Kirsten's night gown for my daughter a few years ago as well as one for her. I guess it should have suggested itself to me but I wouldn't have put the two together without your mentioning it. Lovely.

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  7. i love this second version as much as i loved your green dress! it's n unusual silhouette, and not everyones favorite, but i love it, and i literally live in that type of huge dresses these days (when i'm not wearing huge tops with leggings, that is).. thanks for reminding me of that pattern, i really need to make one of these for me.. also - that last photo is gorgeous, i agree with nick

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  8. Oh wow, how sad about the scorch! Is there a way to hide or clean it? I'm super sorry...

    Also, American Girl dolls were the toys that got away from me... I always tried to save up my birthday money for them, but could never get it done! But I loved the books so much and I don't think I could ever have chosen one! Kirsten was probably my favorite, but I also loved Samantha, and then when Felicity showed up and she had a horse, well, these are the kinds of gut-wrenching decisions that wrack a child's brain!

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  9. I thought about chopping this into a long tunic, since the scorch mark is down by the hem, but I just love it as a dress so much I can't quite bring myself to do that. Nick suggested making a very subtle patch out of the same fabric. I don't know. For the time being I'm just wearing it with the scorch mark. It's so voluminous that it gets lost in the folds anyway!


    Also, Felicity was totally my second favorite, and her horse, Penny :) I loved the books too. I was really very nerdy about them! It was truly YEARS of my life that that was all I wanted, just American Girl doll stuff - so many teeny tiny clothes...

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  10. Thanks! I really love this pattern. It's just like a huge shirt. Of course the pattern comes with a regular shirt sleeve, which looks more classic and would cut down on the overall voluminous look - but what's the fun in that?

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  11. Oh hell yes!! You are making me wonder if I need to use some very similar striped linen in my stash to copy you... I love the added length and the added sleeve pouf. So epic!


    I think one thing I'm still mad at my parents for is never springing for an American Girl doll, even though my adult self can understand why they thought the books should suffice!

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  12. I was in the market for a new iron a few months back and really wanted to purchase a gravity feed like yours after using, and loving, one in a sewing class. I ended up purchasing a Rowena because I really was not sure I could trust myself to go without the auto-off!


    Anyway, the little scorch is hardly noticeable amongst all the gorgeousness of this dress + you in it. The extra length & fullness in the sleeves is sooo lady of the canon dramatic and lovely. Plus your clogs, your enamel bracelet, and your long hair looks all 70's amazing.

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  13. Love the dress. I was a big American Girl doll nerd too, until I was similarly a little too old. I had Felicity but Kirsten was definitely my second favorite, I particularly liked that she was Swedish like my dad's family and had lots of cute Nordic accessories.

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  14. So relaxing! I love the sleeves so much!

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  15. Aaaahhahahahahahaha "one, long, obnoxious, fart sound" made me laugh so hard I had to put my tea cup down.

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  16. So lovely! There is nothing quite like a flowy dress to make you welcome spring! The detail shots are particularly lovely. I am sighing over the change of stripe direction! 💕

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  17. Oh my gosh, American Girl! I always wanted one (Kirsten was my favorite too), but my parents would never buy me one. One of my best friends had several of the dolls, and even had the cookbooks, and I can remember her mom helping us make some rosewater cookies from one of them. I always thought she literally had the best life ever.

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  18. Oh, and have you heard that there is an actual RESTAURANT where you take your American Girl doll?!?! And if you forgot your doll, they will loan you one! Annnnd there's apparently one in Houston, so maybe you need to take a little day-trip and go to the restaurant and borrow a doll, haha! :)

    Or, I guess, you could just read about it: http://gawker.com/the-best-restaurant-in-new-york-is-the-american-girl-ca-1546979492

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  19. Well, your know how I feel about this dress, given our year long love affair and recent convo with oversized shirt dresses.... you looks amazing. If anything, you've persuaded me to stay the course....

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  20. LOVE THIS DRESS!!! I need this pattern now, ASAP.

    p.s I also got into American Girl Dolls when I was much older than you're supposed to be, because that's when my family had extra money to buy me said doll ...for my 13th birthday, I think? I was obsessed with Felicity! Also, "scorched" is the reason why I can never have nice things like gravity feed legit irons. If I don't have auto shut off, my house would probably burn down haha! ...That's actually not funny because it's scary/true.

    But seriously, I love the dress and those billowy sleeeeevvveeesssss <3 <3 <3

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  21. Screw the scorch mark and wear it proudly! You look like a beautiful boho doll in this...love it on you! And seriously loving your hair...you siren!!!

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  22. This looks beautiful on you, and I love the fabric! I always loved Kirsten - especially her St. Lucia outfit (candles on her head?!?!) - but alas, I never got to have an American Girl doll... I just had to be jealous of my neighbor friend (she had them all including Bitty Baby).


    Perhaps the thing I love the most about this post, though, is the reference to a chimp surgeon... and all the chimps who might be offended by your comparisons to them while making a placket. :D

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  23. I love that last shot!

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  24. That iron story scares me! One of my biggest fears is forgetting to unplug my iron and burning the house down with my cats inside, so I obsessively check to make sure it's unplugged :(

    The dress is beautiful and I can't see the burn mark in any of the photos of you wearing it, so maybe it's not too noticeable? I hope you do end up wearing this a lot, it's too cute not to!

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  25. Your pictures are like something out of Alice in wonderland! Yes the scale of you and the giant palms is fantastic. You know I love this dress. You can do big and billowy like no other. I'm going to go and search my burdas now for this pattern. Gah, those sleeves! That hem! I am really digging this.

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  26. Such a pretty delicate fabric for such a feminine creation! I love the whole look - and the shots of you among the palms has me green with envy as it is snowing outside - AGAIN! I'm sorry about the scorch but grateful it wasn't more serious! I guess it couldn't be carefully bleached???

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  27. I love talking about the weather! Especially because today is the first day I brought out my winter coat (will probably be the only day...)


    You know I love these poet dresses... so 70s chic! Especially in a pinstripe. Perfect. The scorch is a bummer but I'd probably just carry on as if it wasn't there ;).


    And funny enough, I was just talking to a friend of mine about American Girls and how much I wish they would have been around when I was a kid. While I loved Barbies, and my grandmother made us Barbie clothes which was very special in itself, the American Girls have such fascinating stories, clothes, books, this whole educational aspect I would have really gotten into. I remember seeing the Kristen doll and that was one of my favorites.

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  28. You do look very Laura Ingalls in this dress with your hair down! Not a bad thing at all... Those sleeves are wonderful.

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  29. You needn't suffer the scorch mark! Seriously, fixing it is super easy and you likely have what you need on hand. All you need is some peroxide and a scrap of muslin. Take a piece of muslin and wet it down with the peroxide. Wring it out until it is just damp. Set you iron to a nice hot cotton setting. Dress on the ironing board with the scorch mark front and center. Lay the peroxide damp muslin over the scorch and iron both the damp muslin and the scorched fabric. You may need to rewet the muslin a time or two and run the iron over it again, but the mark with lift and disappear without bleaching out the muslin or your fabric. Voila! Good as new! I've done this on everything from very delicate embroidered white voile to heavy duty dark teal canvas and even my ironing board cover without harming any of those fabrics. Scorch happens, but you don't have to live with it. :D

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