palm trees and warm sand (and even a muppet)

what is UP y'all.  i've been silently stalking you like mad, commenting in my head on rehearsal breaks and such. oh, the dialogues we've had!  the witty repartee!  what, you don't remember?  are my powers of telepathy waning?  must work on that.

i've also been stalking peeps who've made up colette's negroni.  big daddy needed a grillin' shirt for father's day!

yes, you're right, i've made one of these before, for ruggy.  but his UNDYING FIT PICKINESS made for a less than stellar outcome.  (i love you ruggy.)  and, according to the fitmaster, i needed to go with a larger size if this was intended for backyard barbecuin'. mommaballoona stealthily measured a favorite shirt flat for me, and i cut with held breath and crossed fingers.

and also some cursing.  this fabric hails from dallas' garment district, golden d'or, to be exact, which i raced away to on an unexpected half day off.  y'all, they are not lying.  everything IS bigger in texas.  the district is comprised of warehouses full of yardage, rugs, jewelry, shoes...it's pretty insane.  now, bigger is not always better...these warehouses hold mostly closeout yardage.  there are treasures to be had, and this cotton/linen blend is very nearly one of them, but when i went to iron after prewashing, i realized the palm trees ran horizontal to the selvege.  in other words, that split back yoke you see up yonder is the only pattern piece placed properly.  had to go cross grain everywhere else.

oh, the cursing.

i went so match crazy on the pocket, i decided to change up the flap so you could actually SEE the damn thing. and HELLZ YEAH THOSE ARE REAL LIVE BUTTONHOLES.  have you seen my late night buttonhole instagrammification?  it's a whole new world, yo.

the peeps at pattern review had the usual stellar info on process, which i devoured in short 2am bursts. one of the whopping 23 reviews made an interesting point: going bigger than a size L could send you into grading issues. since this was arriving via USPS, i stuck with large, but redrew the side seam from underarm to hem (after raising the waist 1 1/2 inches.  we kalkatroonaans are a petite people.)  i was pretty sure this would throw the grain off, but went for it anyway.

did it work, you ask?

i screamed when i saw this shot!!!  wait, why are you screaming too?  no, no, don't run away, big daddy is not a masked serial killer.  he's just a wee bit internet wary, and asked if i would paste this jerry rubin ventriloquist puppet head on his face instead.  

(oh yeah, i played jerry rubin via a ventriloquist dummy in a musical about john lennon.  as you do.)

hope every dad had a wonderful father's day!

news flash

 
HEADLIGHTS!
 

if you're in need of an ooner nooner, i'm flashing my highbeams (which are actually of a fairly low wattage) over at christine's lovely blog, city stitching, and at MSN...and both posts are pretty much sponsored by the luscious lladybird. the vintage rayon you see above and the vintage zipper that compliments this month's mood fabrics pick are both gifted by her awesome hands!! tis the season for cross blog pollinating (which reminds me, thanks y'all for the tillytanitisis rasta love!).

 

 

head on over to christine's for some maxified derby dress love, and MSN for some quilted circle skirt action. i'll just be over here in texas acting like a deity. (no really, i get to be mother water. MOTHER WATER, YO.)

 

tilly, tanit isis, and tomes: a trio of treats

continuing on the train to Catch Up Town.... next stop, miette.

when the delightful tilly asked if i'd help test out her latest adorable pattern, i wrote her a long winded email explaining the amount of plate-age i had going on, and why i sadly couldn't test, and by the end of the email i had totally talked myself into testing.  the center front seam was stuck in my brain.  to be honest, i don't care for center front seams, but, they are AWESOMESAUCE for playing with prints!

you lika my rasta vibe?  courtesy of none other than the goddess tanit isis.  what?!  you cry!  she has such wild prints in her stash?  yep.  until we scream-met in corner of a canadian airport whilst ruggy had a coronary in the security line.  during those precious minutes, she handed this baby over, practically giddy to have it out of her possession.  i was brattily empty handed, and happy to accept.  which reminds me, i gots some payback to do. AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT PAYBACK IS.

a golden opportunity for chevron stripes was stuck in my craw, but life got in the way of the search.  then i remembered miss isis' gift.  though the colors called out to me on a daily basis, it had sat in my stash for well over a year.  upon inspection, this crazy print had even more neurological issues going on than first impressions would show.  the border print of black ran through thrice, the third wheel running about three quarters of the way through.  this made it impossible to get any large pieces out of it on the fold, as the center line always ended up with different patterns on each side.  but i realized i could make this print work with the miette's center front seam.  i spent a good hour laying out the pieces over and over, trying to eke out a maxi skirt.  in the end i had to go with the intended knee length (which, really, probably best, as i was meant to be testeroona, not hackeroona.)

i managed to find a recurring pattern in the print (those stripes were hellacious) and was able to eke out mirror images.  unfortunately i wasn't able to get a careful placement on side seams no matter how i tried, i'm telling ya, someone was having a good toke when they made this yardage.  but hopefully the psychedelic colors distract from that.

ties.  i am forever shaking my head at patterns and extending ties to drastic lengths, but i'm happy to report this tilly tie was already long enough for my standards!  the front pockets would have disguised the print placement, and as i'd spent many minutes of my life on that, i sacrificed a place for my phone.  i love me some pockets, but if you're using the center front seam for print placement, i'd suggest abandoning pockets.  you could always add side seam jobs!

aaaaand i'm happy to report, there will be no sighting of mount crackatoa in this wrap skirt.  i'd love to find some yardage wide enough to extend this to maxi length.  maybe something will pop up on my hunt for tanit's payback...

speaking of payback, let's talk payOFF!!  for my girl nikki's brilliant giveaway of her delicious book, you sew, girl! we had 57 contenders (duplicate entries were deleted & shout outs not counted).  magic random number generator, take it away...

congratulations beth!  shoot me an email at oonaballoona of the gmail sort, and we'll get the book ball rolling.  if fate wasn't on your side and you'd like a copy, you can grab yours at the book depository or on amazon, you won't regret it.  big thanks again to nikki!

polka dots and crescent moons

oh hai!  do you like my megan neilson crescent blouse?

because i made it into a dress.

YEAH I DID!!!

spring seemed to overflow with opportunities to share-in & shout-about sewists' offspring.  lemme break it down: nikki's book, tilly's skirt, superheroine missions, tempest's sewalong, heather's sew bossy, but still, when megan put out the call for pattern testers for her stunning breakwater collection, i couldn't tweet fast enough.  i was honored to test the absolutely delicious crescent blouse and one more bit of good goddy goodness i'll show you later on....and let me tell ya, these patterns are DELIGHTFUL.  in fact, they're so good, i felt my first try at the crescent didn't do it near enough justice, so i immediately made the sequel.  megan's tweaking advice in the back of the sa-weet pattern booklet suggested going for a dress.  ah yes, please, i could live in dresses.  Summer.  Is.  The.  BEST.

(well, fall is good too, it's ruggy's birthday season.  also winter, for christmas.  okay everything pretty much rocks except for that half-light-time right after valentine's day and before spring finally hits.  that time suckity suck sucks.)

i simply made the pattern as directed using only the bodice sections.  the sequel you see here is sans collar, but my first go has the sweetest little peter panner you ever saw.  unfortunately, my fabric choice made the collar the only good thing about that run.

to make the skirt portion, i used two very long rectangles of this floaty rayon from fabrics for less.  the owner sam and i marveled over the drape (and i marveled over the price.  you know sam?  sam rocks, he is the nicest man in the garment district.  just ask seam ripped).  

next, i sewed the rectangles together at side seams... the wrong side is very similar, so once i had my skirt tube, i folded the fabric to the inside down to slip length, sewed along that tube fold to create a waist "seam", and attached it at that seam to the bodice.  then i opened up the long side seams to just where the slip hits. 

instead of using elastic, i grabbed this extra leather buckle from my technicolor boucle jacket (or i should say, mommaballoona's boucle jacket, IT LOOKS AMAZING ON HER).  hand stitched them to the waist, and buckled her up...

she moves in the breeze with no worry of a peep show! 

(obviously these were taken in new york, before my secret agent journey to texas, and before spring decided to take a long nap in the east coast.  sending some warm breezy thoughts your way, ruggy...mwah.)

you sew, girl! and have a prize while you're at it.

update: all right y'all, i've got my cocktail handy and will announce the winner shortly!  bonne chance, peeps...

happy memorial day, all!

some time ago, probably when there was still snow on the ground in new york (which actually could mean any time at all, couldn't it?) brilliant gal sewist nikki of you sew, girl! asked me if i might like to have a peek at some of her garment patterns, but most importantly her book, to celebrate its northern american release at the book depository.  nikki has always been a favorite blogger of mine, so i gleefully accepted...

OH HAI PRETTY BOOK.  you want one???  read on...

yes spiral binding.  THERE MUST ALWAYS BE SPIRAL BINDING.  and look at that, there's a wee kalkatroonaan running around in a tutu!!  almost enough to make me sew up some girly clothing for a child or two...

what's that you say?  I DO NOT SEW FOR CHILDREN?!  you are (mostly) correct, my friend!  luckily it's an equal divide for the over-21 set as well.  (and i'm not above making a tutu or two for myself.)  

after comprehensive chapters on equipment, skills, and techniques, we begin sewing with all-ages-access to accessories.  tutus, belts, hats, bags-- let's talk bags.   confession:  i am sore afraid of making a purse.  did it once: a diaper bag for a new mom, to be exact, and when it was done, i was certain i would never ever never make one EVER NEVER EVER again.  the hate mail i wrote in my head was long and stupendous, pages of it, had they ever materialized the pattern company would have drowned in my novela, never to be seen again.

but nikki's drafting desk would get no such mail!  she holds your hands and your eyes with detailed, calmly worded steps, which is great for visual learners like me.  i've been slowly purchasing carefully selected parts for a go at the City Shopper.  or maybe the Bus Stop Bag.  (and speaking of parts, i read every bit of this lovely book, although i assumed i'd know most of the 43 page "skills" section.  i did not.  learned a thing or seven, including using a dowel for tubing.  MWAH.)

the book finishes with garment goodies, both adult and kid sized.  nikki's approach now takes a different path than the structured accessories: here, you need a sense of adventure, a pencil, and some well explained diagramming.  patternless!  i LOVE this, obviously.  and this isn't "sew-two-rectangles-together-and-call-it-a-couture-top."  you're instructed to use everything you've learned in the previous chapters, and really think about the shape of the body, the shape of the fabric, how they jigsaw together, and let fly.  and you've already gone through bagmaking sans terror, so obviously it's time to wing a cowl top.  

(you can also see how her garment brain works in her draped t-shirt dress pattern, which i tore through for tempest's bowie sewie.  i have three of them now and they are in HEAVY rotation.  i like to stare at the line drawing like it's a television show.)

appetite whetted?  want a copy of this gem?  nikki would love to give one away!  we all know shipping is a bear between the hemispheres (dude, we need a teleportation device STAT) so this giveaway is a happy dance meant for northern america.  if you call usa or canada home, to grab your chance, hop over to nikki's blog and have a peep at her three delicious bag patterns, then come on back and tell me which is your favorite in the comments here.  or, if you're garment minded, peep her line and lemme know which pattern floats your boat. (of course, feel free to say hiya to nikki while you're browsing the goodies.)

the winner will be drawn a week from today... if you just can't wait that long, you can snag a copy at the book depository or on amazon.  good luck, and thanks for the giveaway, superstar nikki!