roseate spoonbill

I can't say I've ever had a particular affinity for birds. Growing up, the only birds I could actually identify were Canadian Geese, of which there were an abundance of.  I also got pretty good at identifying goose poop... of which there was also an abundance of... Which is why it's pretty remarkable that these days I'm able to recall the names of a lot of our feathered friends that I see about.  Galveston has some pretty spectacular birding, and I guess it's the sort of thing that just rubs off after spending time in a place.  But of all the birds I see about, there's really only one that I get super excited about when I spot it, and that's the Roseate Spoonbill.

I remember the first time I saw a Roseate Spoonbill I was driving across the causeway that connects the island to mainland Texas, and out of the corner of my eye I saw this flash of pink in the sky.  It was shortly after we had moved to Galveston and I remember coming home and saying to my husband (not totally sure if I had imagined the whole thing or not) "Nick, I think there are pink birds here..." He, of course, already knew about the pink birds, being much more... well... just generally better informed about these things than I am.  To me, living in a place with such technicolor fowl flapping about, makes me feel like I'm in the most exotic place in the world, even if it is just costal Texas.

So why am I waxing romantic about pink birds today? I swear there's a reason, and that reason does indeed tie into one of my two newest makes. So let me introduce you to...

My second Archer, made up in a silk crepe de chine.  This silk started it's life as plain white, and I was truly this close to leaving it white, because there is something pretty classic about a white, silk, button-up shirt, is there not? But I felt like maybe I could love it a little bit more if it was, I don't know, a little pinker.  So I dyed it.  Easy peasy.  Just a one step, good ol' fashioned, dunk-it-in-a-bucket-and-swish-it-around dye job. I mixed just the teensiest amounts of chocolate brown and coral pink dye (both from Dharma) to get the color I was aiming for.  And the color on my mind, my inspiration, was the pale shade of rose that the Roseate Spoonbill displays on it's soft, downy feathers.  See? Told you I had a point with all that bird nonsense!!

As this is my second time making Grainline's Archer, I won't go into too many details here (to read about my first Archer, go here). And while I wear my first Archer a ton (like, multiple times a week, sometimes) I did make some changes to the pattern this time around to get the fit closer to how I like my button-ups.  I've been very jealous of the fit on all of Andrea's Archers, and so decided to take a page out of her book and decrease some of the width through the shoulders (I used this tutorial) and take in the side seams a bit at the waist for a more feminine shape.  The changes were subtle (only half an inch at the shoulders and about an inch at the waist) and I think my finished shirt keeps some of the 'boyfriend' vibe that I love so much about this pattern, while making it just a bit more flattering on my body.  Score. 

Sewing this was also one of those experiences that sewists simply live for.  Everything came together absolutely gorgeously, the silk pressed beautifully, and because this shirt has so many sweet little details on it, it was one of those makes where you can actually see that you've made progress with your technique.  Very satisfying indeed.

I also made up Tessuti's Suzy Pants pattern in this navy and white patterned silk crepe that I scored while in NYC.  I can't remember the name of the store, because I was in such a post-blogger-meetup euphoria that I wasn't really paying attention, but I do remember that I spotted it and immediately thought, "Suzy Pants".  I've been obsessed with Kelli's Suzy's since she posted them, and felt like they would make the perfect transition pants for fall.

I had already made one of Tessuti's patterns (here) and found them to be perfectly delightful to sew with.  I think much like Kelli, I was drawn to the Suzy pattern because they closely resemble a lot of the pleated, lightweight trousers that I've been seeing a lot from ready-to-wear lines.  While I probably could have done the work and converted my beloved Built By Wendy pants pattern to this style, it was much much easier to just download the Suzy pattern! I made these in a size XS, based off of my measurements and the finished garment measurements, and the fit was just what I was hoping for, loose, but not baggy. I also took a page from Kelli's book and made my Suzy's with a flat-front waistband and just elastic in the back.  I tapered the leg towards the ankle, and cropped the length, as well. I always think a tapered leg looks most stylish when it's cropped, plus, now they're the perfect length to wear with my fall/winter staples - my black booties! 

I made these a few weeks ago, now (they go together super quickly) and have worn them at least twice a week since (and sometimes I change into them when I get home from work, because they are just that comfortable). So I guess that is testament to how much I love them? My husband kind of chuckles at me when I wear them and refers to them (fondly I'm sure...) as my fancy Zubaz pants.  I mean... I guess they do sort of have a '90's Mom' vibe (maybe in a cool way???) but definitely not a bad 90's pants vibe... right?? Right???

Man, taking blog photos is just always awkward, right? Today the weirdos were in particularly rare form (or am I the weirdo in this scenario... so hard to tell...) While I was darting back and forth between my posing and adjusting the camera I noticed that there was some old dude in a BATHROBE standing on his porch watching me!! Just, like, leaning up against the post, giving me an eye-full of his silvery chest rug.  So I say, "Hey there" and kind of wave, and dude just growls at me in the thickest Russian accent, "Are you Russian?? You look like you could be Russian..."  Um. Huh? So I smile and say, "No, I'm not Russian"... And my man just keeps on standing there, smiling and staring!! Thus, the incredibly uncomfortable look on my face in that second-to-last picture! So finally I ask if I'm bothering him, and he says 'no' and goes back inside (to continue to creep at me behind his lace curtains...) but not without leaving a strong whiff of heebie-jeebies in his wake! Granted, I was taking pictures on the sidewalk right in front of his house, so, yeah... not really sure who's the bigger weirdo in this scenario... I mean, I did just shame a dude off his own porch so I could take pictures for my sewing blog on his private property.... Like, clearly  the robed Russian is the weirdo... right? Right...?

xx

floral

Can we just talk about this dye-job for a minute? I decided this fabric was so special that it deserves it's own dedicated post before I start hacking into it.  (Ouch. It hurts my heart just thinking about that!)

This is just a smidgen over four yards of a light weight silk crepe de chine, dyed up in a pretty, autumnal palette of navy, dusty rose and gold (it may not feel like autumn here, but that doesn't mean I can't sneak some fall colors into my palette!)  Perhaps some of you spotted this post by the ever glorious Heather Lou? If you haven't, I highly suggest you give it a read, as it tells the beautiful story of two friends and ten yards of silk (shouldn't all great love stories begin and end with a crap-ton of silk??) 

Anyway - the short-short version goes something like this - Heather sent me ten yards of silk, half of which I dyed for her and shipped off to Canada (like a mother bird sending her young fledglings out of the nest: a bit teary, but bursting with pride) and the other half I kept for myself.  You see, I work for silk. Heather then commenced to make the most breathtaking dress ever imaginable with said silk, and I sat on my half, hemming-and-hawing as I am wont to do.

So what does this silk have to do with Heather's silk? Well. Everything is a learning process with me. See, while I was working on Heather's silk (the interior dialogue of which sounded something like this: "Expletives expletives expletives.... omigod no.... cursing cursing cursing... I've f*cked it up!!! Okay... wait... maybe if I... alright... okay... that's better... yeah... okay... this might not be so bad... OMIGOD I LOVE THIS!!") I discovered through sheer accident that when you mix sodium alginate (used to thicken dyes to a more 'paint-like' consistency and reduce the 'bleed' effect) with your dyes that it also acts as a very subtle resist - meaning other dyes will not run right into it and muck up the color.  You can, of course, buy commercial resists, or use a wax resist (typical in batik fabrics) but I was interested in the fact that this would allow me to still do a one step dye job - no washing between layers - and, best of all, I already had all the necessary components!

So I brewed up the idea of painting a floral(ish) motif and then painting by hand the negative space around it - allowing the thickened dyes (pink and yellow) to act as a resist, and thereby also preserving some of the white of my fabric.  In this way I was able to create the effect of a lighter design on top of a darker background color.  

But, still, it's always trial and error with my dyeing experiments! I thickened the pink dye more than the yellow, so there is some bleeding happening along the edges of the design. I actually don't mind this at all - I think it's a really lovely element to this fabric, but still, unplanned. Also, since the dark blue color was literally painted in by hand (with a much too small brush, might I add! I might need to remedy that soon...) it takes on a slightly mottled appearance - again, just a little quirk of the handmade!

It's actually quite funny to see these fabrics in real life, because my hand changes as I work down the yardage - becoming more relaxed and maybe trying out a few different design ideas.  In the beginning I'm always over-thinking and over-working it! You can see this in the image above: on the right, you have what looks, to me, like a hydrangea cluster, and on the left you can see what it slowly morphed into... perhaps something one might see underneath a microscope?

You can tell I love this silk very very much, because when I'm in love with a fabric I go all Pre-Raphaelite up in this shit! 

Now... the real question is - what to do with it? I had my heart set on an Anna, but after swanning about with it draped all over me I'm beginning to lose my resolve... Is this begging to be turned into something else? Does anyone else see this silk and immediately think it must be turned into a certain pattern? Or am I just, once again, over-thinking this? Inquiring minds want to know...

xx

how to act like a lady

Gah! I'm so sorry for my recent silence around these parts. I didn't mean to just disappear like that, but sometimes it happens! For whatever reason, I really wanted to slow down and take my time on this dress. I'm sure a lot of you can relate to the feeling of pressure to push through a project just in order to get it up on your blog, a feeling that I like to shake off every now and again. I also usually make dresses like this with an event in mind - usually an opening at my gallery or some other type of occasion - but (thankfully) my social calendar has been pretty quiet so there was no real rush.

This is the dress I made using my hand painted silk habotai. The entire dress is lined in white rayon bemberg. The pattern is essentially Simplicity 1880 - the same as my earlier, purple version - but with a few modifications: 

Obviously this version is sleeveless.  I felt like the little cap sleeve on my first version made my shoulders look a tad football-player-ish so I decided to leave them off this time around. Also, it makes it easier to layer under cardigans and such. And whether or not a garment is cardigan-ready can really make-it-or-break-it for me! 

I also cut the skirt as a half-circle skirt rather than the four sections that came with the pattern. This eliminated the center seam and the weird fall of the bias that happens with the Simplicity skirt. 

And finally I shortened the front bodice pieces by about 1/2 inch in the center, tapering to nothing at the side seams in order to prevent gaping at the center front. While wearing that purple dress I've looked down a fair few times to see that one or both boobs were on high display. I'm not particularly modest, but I still put fixing that issue pretty high up there on my "things I'd do differently..." list.

Hmm... maybe I should have taken some length out of the center back too...

After the initial excitement of painting my own fabric died away, and my joy passed that the dye actually took and didn't, like, wash right down the sink, I had a hard time deciding what to make with my fabric. In my post-fabric-dyeing sobriety I gave the fabric a cold, clear, critical eye, and I sort of felt like it looked like a Target shower curtain. How underwhelming! But really, it depended on my mood. I still loved the watercolor-like bleed of the spots and there are areas where the colors overlap and become really nuanced. But I guess once I had the finished fabric in my hands I felt like I needed to do something really artistic and daring with it.  But nothing really seemed quite right. After draping the fabric around myself like a toga for about a week and a half I finally decided to quit over-thinking it and just go with my original plan, whether or not I still felt like it was the 'best' one. And you know what? I'm glad I did. I'm starting to sense that might be the story of my life... You'd think I'd learn...

The original idea for this dress, fabric and all, came from a dress I saw well over a year and a half ago in the window of one of my favorite stores in Houston, Leap. I can't remember who the dress was by, and I think I've tried to describe it to every person I know who works there. There's a possibility the dress was made by Electric Feathers, which wouldn't be surprising because I'm often inspired by their work. Regardless, it was a white, wrap dress with delicate blue brush-like marks hand painted all over it. My fabric came out a bit more spotty than I remember this dress being, and the overall look much more classic, but it's still quite lovely, and fulfills my long desire for that other dress.

Now I just need some occasion to wear it...come on life! Get fancy!

xx

a self-stitcher goes shopping

So here's a story for you...

Yesterday I decided I needed to venture off the island to buy myself some lining fabric for the dress I'm making out of my hand-painted fabric. I wasn't really feeling up to making the long trek allll the way to civilization (Houston, in my book - and where the only mildly decent fabric stores are) so I settled for the JoAnne's conveniently situated at the halfway point. 

First of all, JoAnne's was in total, full-out, Halloween cray-cray mode and I was slightly terrified, but I soldiered on because I'm brave like that. Turns out that the majority of their fabric, including their skeptical selection of lining fabrics, was on a 50% off sale! Awesome! So I pawed through the polyesters, setting my "natural fiber" bigotry aside for the time being. I mean, a sale is a sale. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) I'm pretty incapable of impulse buying these days - especially on mystery fabric - and so I pretty easily talked myself down from purchasing anything other than what I came there for: white rayon lining fabric - the bemberg variety.

Well they were out. Completely. They had orange and black, but... you know. 

So I'm feeling a bit deflated because this means I'm going to have make the long haul up to Houston anyway. But, alas, I wasn't going to do it this day. However, there I was, in the midst of this huge shopping complex, and I decided to do something that used to cheer me up in my pre-sewing days - I decided to go clothes shopping. 

Now this wasn't a total coincidence - word on the street had it that the Houston area is finally home to an H&M, and it just so happens to be at my halfway point - right across the street from my JoAnne's. Once upon a time I used to love me some H&M. It fit my graduate school budget and it catered to literally every look and occasion. Trendy? Check. Office appropriate? Check. Hipster? Check. Bohemian? Check, check, check....

I have grown up some since those college days (thank god) and so have my tastes in clothing - helped along mainly by the fact that I've sewn every major new garment that's been added to my wardrobe since 2010.  I'm far more pickier about fit, fabric and quality than I used to be. And I'm a fair bit more educated on the, shall we call them "dangers" of fast and cheap consumption, especially within the clothing industry. But despite all this, a morbid curiosity drew me in. And I'm glad I went, because otherwise I would have never known that Kelly Clarkson was still making music (where have I been?!?)

Truthfully, I knew from the outset that I was not going to buy anything (see above, re: impulse buying).  But I figured this might be a fun opportunity to try on some trends I've been thinking about and see if they would actually work on me.  The looks I wanted to try? Oversized sweaters, leather leggings, wild prints.

So without further ado, here are some of the outfits I put together on this pretend shopping spree:

Glitter sweater and faux leather pants.

I first became aware of my desire for faux leather leggings while trolling one of my favorite style blogs, sea of ghosts.  The inspiration to pair them with an oversized sweater perhaps came from Pinterest? Not really sure. Anyway - these H&M faux leather leggings were not very stretchy. I grabbed them in a size 6 and a size 8, not really sure what my size is in that store and mainly eyeballing the waist. The size 6 fit the best, but oddly. Tight in the waist, baggy in the crotch. I'm not sure why I was surprised by how... squeaky these were... but there you go. Squeaky pants. The sweater was acrylic and cozy, but I probably wouldn't actually pair these two in real life (I think I can come up with a better top for leather leggings, don't you?)

Cable knit sweater and crazy print, cropped trousers.

I was very drawn to this whole display of stuff in this wild, floral digital print. There was a ton of it. Apparently Lucky magazine put this stuff as its "top pick" because there were signs all over the place! So these trousers are a size 2, to give you an idea of the crazy sizing. They only had a size 2 left, and I decided to give it a go. They fit, but they are what a friend of mine once fondly termed "yeast infection pants" - meaning the crotch seam was where no crotch seam had a right to be! So I'd probably size up in the pants and size down in the sweater (there's oversize, and then there's sloppy...)

Crazy print dress

This dress was the most ill-fitting of the bunch. It was made from a stretchier fabric than the pants.  It was rather loose in the upper chest, and real tight over my belly and butt. The waist line also kept wanting to hike up. And it was short! Like, whoa! When I first spotted this dress I thought that if it fit it might actually make a fun work dress, but it would need at least 6 inches!

Another crazy print dress.

This was the last dress I tried on. This was a thinner fabric than all the rest, pretty silky to the touch at first, but even for the short time I had it on it became kind of scratchy.  It's a simple A-line shift dress, but I liked the way the pattern was placed. There was even a bit of tricky seaming that happened at the shoulder to keep the illusion going - an unexpectedly thoughtful detail.

All in all, I have to admit that the quality wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be! Of course there is no telling how any of these things would hold up with repeated wearing and washing.  In the end, I came away from this little pretend shopping spree with some ideas for fall/winter sewing, and feeling like my style mojo might have just got a kick in the pants. This isn't to say that I intend on copying these looks, but sometimes you need to step out of your daily routine to get the old wheels a-turnin' !

Does anyone else go pretend shopping when they need a bit of inspiration? I'd love to hear about it!

xx

witchy woman

Oof! I swear the sewing blogger gods did not want me to get this post up! They were just throwing me one curve ball after another. However, I'm trying to do less whining in this space so I won't really go into detail...

Oh what the hell... I'll just tell you the worst of it - my bike was stolen yesterday (this is the 5th bike in the matter of two years...seriously) and my bike was my number one source of transportation (and I loved it) sooo... boo!

Alright! Thats that off my chest! Lets talk about this dress shallll we? This is the Satsuki Dress from Victory Patterns made up in black silk crepe de chine.  When the new collection of Victory patterns came out I, like many other sew-ers out there, kinda went apeshit. I seriously felt like Krisitann had been digging around inside my brain, making notes on my deepest wardrobe desires.  I believe I even uttered the following phrase aloud, while gaping at my computer screen: "Holy shit,Victory Patterns! Get outta my head!!" I am, if nothing else, extremely eloquent.

Oddly enough, the pattern I was most drawn to was this simple, kimono inspired dress - labeled for beginners. You guys. I can't even tell you how many little mistakes I made while sewing this up. Like, so many. Which is ridiculous because the pattern was printed perfectly and the instructions were beautiful and clear and easy to follow... basically my difficulties were in no way the fault of the pattern - I'm just really dumb sometimes.  I'm blaming it on it being that time of the month and moving on. Are you with me on this one?

Since I've been living in Texas I've found autumn to be a very difficult season to deal with.  I feel that growing up in the northeast I've been hardwired to think in terms of four seasons, and there seems to be some seasonal depression thats just in my bones.  Here in Galveston the weather has certainly cooled off some, but its still hotter than many places get during the height of summer. I mean, I spent both of my weekend days at the beach...

I'm really not complaining about the weather - I love the balmy falls and mild winters of East Texas. And for the first time in my life my feet are actually warm(ish) for the majority of the year! But what I'm trying to get at is that I'm struggling with incorporating a fall feeling into what is essentially a summer wardrobe. I feel like this dress hits the nail on the head for me. It's still light and breezy (thanks silk!) but there's a certain moody quality to it that seems far more appropriate for October than it does June.

And having nothing to do with any of that... If you've ever looked at my pictures on this blog and wondered if I just wander around posing in front of other people's houses... you would be absolutely correct! I've pretty much overcome my awkwardness at being spotted preening by myself in front of a camera, and on the rare occasion that someone actually asks what I'm doing I usually just mumble something about being a photographer and give them a stink eye of such magnitude it could fumigate an entire city.  

But every so often I get caught doing something totally weird that even I have to slink away from with my tail between my legs. These photos, for instance, were basically taken in someone's driveway. No, I have no idea who's house it was - I just liked their trees, okay?! The owner of said house opened his front door to let the cat out and spotted me crouching in his driveway, right by his car, fiddling with my camera settings. It was my turn to receive some serious stink eye. I tried with all my might to look like it was the most natural thing in the world for a girl to be squatting in someone's driveway, dressed like she's got a hot date (at 5pm on a Wednesday) and taking photos - presumably - of some gnarly bit of curb as I grabbed my stuff and scurried away.

And on that note, hope you're all having a lovely week!

xx

its whats on the inside that counts

wow... its already december! is this giving anyone else anxiety attacks? i feel like my life has been going in double time recently, but i guess thats just the time of the year...

well true to my word i've been spending every ounce of my time not filled with other obligations (work, commuting to work, sleeping, eating, parties and events **siiigghhhh** my life is so hard) voraciously re-watching lost and obsessively hand sewing. i think i fellstitch in my sleep...

i have a confession... i've never tailored anything before. i'm such a newbie! and for some reason i decided to follow claire schaeffer's instructions in her book couture sewing techniques - which if any of you have read you know that the instructions on tailoring are extensive, sometimes cryptic, and involve language like "spank it briskly with a clapper" (exsqueeze me?! claire please! this is a family blog... sorta).

the idea of tailoring is really appealing to me, though - through an interior structure of fabrics, tapes and stitches you're basically shaping and molding the fabric to the body. but, for a first-timer, doing this on your own can lead to some ... um ... less-than-family-friendly interior dialogue. i thought i would share with you some of the revelations, frustrations, and wtf?!?!? thoughts that have passed through my head with this recent sewing project:

1) wool. when they say "use a cool dry iron" they aren't kidding. that shit is like shrinky dinks! and we all know that what shrinky dinks do best is shrink....

2) prewashing wool suiting and goat hair canvas (purchased from this lovely lady) made my apartment smell like a barnyard. as a matter of fact - it made the whole floor of my building smell like a herd of sheep. sheep farts really...

3) i machine quilted together my cotton underlining and the hair canvas interfacing. i made neat little 1 inch squares that followed the grain line. upon reflection i think this was an absolutely useless step and i do not recommend it. but it looks fancy. and it was a great way to use up my half-finished spools of thread and random colored bobbins....

4) is pad stitching supposed to be neat or not? claire recommends "staggering" ones padstitching to avoid ridges. well i staggered - and that shit looks gnarly.

5) when following claire schaeffer's instructions - if i'm not really sure what i'm supposed to be doing i just hold my iron and my jacket pieces like they do in the picture for a few seconds, move it around a little (heat optional) and consider that step done.

6) after steaming my collar i let it dry out while pinned around my tailors ham. this kind of made my tailors ham look like a dumpy lounge singer.

7) taping the roll line and the front edge of the jacket is kind of like magic. and when magic happens i like to boast about it to my husband ("look! see how this lapel hangs straight?" "uh huh...." " and see how this one curves around the body?" "yeah..." "thats, like, totally a couture trick....." ) he's incredibly kind and always acts really impressed. best. audience. ever.

8) i think my cat knows something i don't and has been attempting to sabotage this little red jacket every chance he gets...

in conclusion - i have to admit that i'm very nervous about this jacket. i'm hoping that all the little weirdnesses work themselves out in the next few steps. i'm pretty relieved to be done with the majority of the hand sewing at this point - at least until i get to the lining.

speaking of the lining - i'm having a hard time determining what sort of print i want to use on the inside.... is leopard print too much??

xx

inspiration for the cold that never comes

images from the no. 6 blog

i'm not really sure what sort of lifestyle would render it possible for me to dress like this - but whatever it is... i want it. "swedish ranch hand" perhaps? "post-apocalyptic gypsy"? "mongolian sheep herder socialite"?

i just don't know.

but what i do know is that in another life i lived in a place that had cold weather. and when that cold weather hit i seriously contemplated wrapping my duvet around me, belting it, and calling it a day. maybe i'd throw on some super stylish clogs too.

but in all seriousness (sorta) its no secret that i love a little bit of drama in my looks, and there is just something about draped and layered fabric that has a certain theatricality to it. can you imagine the billowing that happens when the wind blows? when she walks? gasp! what a silhouette!

you can bet that when if the cold weather ever comes to my part of texas i will start eyeing up my navajo throw. and i suggest you do the same.

xx

sailor knots

after the marathon that was sewing my bombshell dress i was really feeling the need for something easy breezy lemon squeezy. in my mind, that means its time to sew a knit. some people get pretty freaked out by sewing with knits, and i can see why. they're stretchy, they require special machinery or tools - and sergers are scary. however you can't beat a knit top for comfort. and more importantly, its so easy to fudge sewing a knit!!

this little striped top started out as burdastyle 09/2011 striped top however after i basted it together in my size it was just.... really unflattering. so unflattering that i didn't even keep it on long enough to get a picture. so i did what any self respecting sewer would do and i rolled it in a ball and stashed it in a drawer.

i kept hoping that divine inspiration would strike and i'd know what to do with my striped top. i even spent some time searching anthropologie's website - the queen of quirky/cute knitwear. after some deliberation i decided to just make what i had work and started by lowering, and widening the neckline a good three inches. then i exaggerated the dolman sleeves because, while some people might dislike the dolman, i just can't get enough of that saggy armpit look! i shortened the sleeve and added ties - which i really debated but i think they gave the top just a touch of cute. i also narrowed the torso to further exaggerate the fit. all this was done fairly blindly - which is why i love sewing with knits - you just fake it till you make it. so yeah, total 360 from my bombshell dress.

you may remember from this post that one of my goals for my fall palette wardrobe was to sew a striped top. well friends, here it is in all its glory and we have officially completed one two garments for the fall palette challenge!

in closing, i'll leave you with this...

xx

my new shoes

when i buy something new - its kind of a big deal, to me at least. i usually hem and haw for months, putting things into virtual shopping carts, seeing the total with shipping and then flaking out. so when something actually makes it to my door, i consider it a triumph.

ever since my new worifshofer shoes arrived my husband has been giving my feet the sort of look he usually reserves for small children who are acting weird. you know, like, " oh honey... you are special..." looks. which has my once confident shoe purchase a little, um, deflated.

i first saw a pair of worifshofer shoes sitting by the front door of a friends house. upon declaring how cute they were, said friend replied, "oh yeah! i got them off this website, endless.com. they have alllll the good granny shoes". i later saw another friend wearing the slip on variety. i asked her about them and she declared them the. most. comfortable. shoes.

i opted for the lace-up, sling-back style. double trouble! i thought they had sort of a quirky style to them that i really liked. kinda 70's, kinda punk, whole lotta golden girls, and arch support! sold. i'm sure all these recommendations should have prepared me for my husbands concerned looks at my choice of footwear. but i didn't think they were that orthopedic looking!

i'm finding myself reliving a sartorial situation i have been in a number of times throughout my life. like the time i bought this pink high-waisted skirt from a thrift store. when i wore it around my family for the first time it garnered some weird looks, especially when i announced that it was the exact same brand my grandmother favors! isn't that funny? i then went on to say how it had this great, comfortable, elastic waistband... then there was the time that i went out to a bar with my brother and his friends. before we left my brother gave me a withering up and down look and asked if that was what i was wearing? "that" referred to yet another high waisted skirt, a cardigan, scarf and heels! he put a fraternal hand on my shoulder and said "sallie, you're a really pretty girl. why do you have to dress like an old lady?"

there are many other instances of this sort of thing in my life (high waisted pants, loafers, short haircuts, lace...) and it leaves me wondering if, fashion wise, i've missed my mark. have i somehow bypassed the "sexy librarian" look and just landed at "librarian"? are my new shoes granny chic? or just granny granny? at least this isn't a blog about my bunions.... yet.

but there is even toe support! sigh.... granny or no, i love my new shoes.

xx

in the meantime...

things are crazy, but then they are always crazy, aren't they? i am still waiting for my fabric samples to arrive from mood. did irene flood their warehouses or something? if thats the case then i understand. i'm just getting a bit twitchy about this slow progression of sewing. i'm also waiting on the mail in order to finish the, uh, rather large project i've been working on for the past - hum, month and a half. and to make matters worse, my sewing hours the past two weeks have been pretty few and far between. but such is life, no?

so while we're waiting, lets do a bit of planning? isn't there some saying about "good planning makes...well thought out... plans...?" or something to that effect? well whatever, thats what we're going for here.

Clover by Colette Patterns

remember these? in this post i talked about the reasons i am drawn to this pattern, the most important reason being that this pattern looks perfectly adaptable to whatever my dreams pants may be. when i shop for patterns i usually look for things that i can use as a base. something that i can tailor to fit my proportions, and then use almost like a pattern block (a simple set of patterns drafted using your own measurements) for future projects. now i could just make my own pattern block - but why do that when colette patterns does it for me?

my inspiration for the pants i would like to make for my fall palette challenge come from this little pair that is available from madewell.

Chimney jeans from Madewell

now i could buy these jeans for a pretty $110.00 big ones. but i say "why buy what you can turn into a major pain-in-the-ass project that sucks up way more than $110 worth of your time?" see my logic? no. well i don't either. all i know is that $110 outright hurts me a lot more than $110 in materials spaced out over the course of a month. did i lose you? my apologies. lets get back to brass tacks....

looking at the details of these pants, there are some pretty notable differences. lets start with the big one... the fly - or as the case may be - lack of fly!

you will note that the madewell jeans on the left sport a rather typical center front zip fly, with a not-as-typical tab closure at the waistband. our colette's on the right, however, simply have a center front seam, with an invisible zipper sewn into the side seam. this makes for more of a dressy 'trouser' look, and also makes them easier to sew. for anyone who has ever tried sewing a zip fly you know they can kind of be jerks until you figure out whats going on. so why am i opting for the jerky option? because i'm a glutton for punishment i take every opportunity i can to perfect new techniques. see what i did there?

to draft the zip fly i plan on frankensteining my patterns. taking the fly from one pattern and basically grafting it to the colette pattern. that should work, right?

now lets look at these pockets. the madewell jeans have more of a trouser pocket. i'm not really sure what its called, but for our purposes we'll call it "the side slash pocket". that makes it sound pretty cool. you will note in the photo above of the colette pattern that they have placed the pockets rather discreetly underneath the waistband. i think this is a really pretty touch, and something i will probably do on a future pair of pants, but for these i'd like to go for more of that masculine/feminine look that madewell does so well. to achieve this look i'll re-draw the side seam of the front pant from about hip height up to the waistband, and then create a separate pocket piece that will be sewn into the side seam. that last sentence may not make sense to you, but don't worry, it made sense to me, and thats whats really important here.

now lets have a look at the tush...

hellooo ladies...
once again, the colette pattern is pocket free, while our madewell friends are sporting some welt pockets back there. welt pockets are easy enough to add to any pattern, and while they take some time to get all the measurements in there, they really aren't too difficult. what is key, to any pocket on the rear, is placement. as we all know pocket placement can make your butt look bigger, smaller, more shapely, etc. etc. etc. notice how the madewell pockets are placed higher on the rear, right where the darts end. did you notice? good. me too. on the first pair of pants i ever made the welt pockets accidentally ended up somewhere on my thighs. it looked like little mouths were on my legs. lesson. learned.

and one final thing to note:

the folks over at madewell.com very kindly made this little "fit" guide for me. all the better for me to copy their design! thanks madewell! you can bet your panties i've made a note of that little "11 1/2" leg opening". noted aaaaaand noted. if there's one thing i will not abide it is a 11 3/4" leg opening. i will not abide it!

now that that little scheming session is done, i guess its back to waiting on the old mail system, eh? come ooonnnn mood fabrics! you're killing me here!!!

xx