5.18.2011

girl power

oh hai!  nice to see you.  what have you been up to?  me?  oh, you know, i made a two hour dress.


YA HEARD ME.  come closer, i got somethin' to show ya.  i won't bite.


check it!  do you believe that action?  i have amazed myself.  admittedly, it doesn't take much. 


actually, now that i look at it, the gathering is a bit off center.  no matter, i am still tres pleased with my pairings.


i also need to fix le back du sway.  but, in the two hours i had to sew yesterday, i was hellbent on creating, as i was meeting the definition of sewing inspiration and newly dubbed queen of speed stitching the very next morn:


mizz mena trott!  she blew into town for a whirlwind trip and we were able to grab some breakfast and do some anthropologie stalking.  i'm sure the good ladies at chelsea market thought we were headcases as we picked at seams and embellishments on every garment, exclaiming i could SO make that every three to four minutes. nevertheless, i came away with a scarf and cardigan, and mena left with a snazzy belt that i'm sure you'll be seeing soon in one of her perfect photo shoots.  c'est tres cute.

mena just finished SEVEN colette patterns in seven days-- actually, six days, as the unexpected trip took a day away, so donning a frock that was already completed was really not an option.  some rising to the occasion was most definitely required.  the mistress of the sew weekly is wearing her crepe pattern that she finished on day five of her self inflicted torture challenge, and it just as gorgeous in real life as she is.  

as for the two hour dress: y'all, i just took the yoke of burdastyle's azalea pattern and changed the neckline to a v neck.  then i placed the bottom edge of the front yoke pattern piece on a big ass sheet of paper, and drew a new pattern for the bottom half.  and it goes a little something like this:


SO EASY MAMA! i thought rather than just hear i made a dress you might like to see how i-do what-i-do when-i-do my-loooooove-to-you.

(stevie wonder, anyone?  yes?)

sorry.  i'm a bit excitable today.  i've met such awesome ladies this week (frabjous marina, if only i had a good picture!  decrepit old iphone camera be damned!), and reconnected with fabulous gals already in my life but far away, and hung with glorious chicks i have the great fortune to see often...  can i just say, as a filly who mostly had male friends growing up: confident, natural, talented, funny, giving, caring, outspoken, kick ass ladies ROCK.  

(you rock too, don.  big ups, baby.)

32 comments:

  1. Cool combo on the fabrics, no doubt! I like the clarity of your sketch too. I'll have to figure out what I'd want to make mine out of to rise to the standard you've set. :)

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  2. YAY! AWESOME! I can't get away with the lace unless I fake it with skin colored something underneath.. the girls need help staying up.

    SO hey, I'm gonna be in NYC next month!

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  3. You should be tres pleased with your pairings. Awesome.

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  4. I love your posts! And your dress is so cute. I am very jealous of the meet up possibilities in NYC...

    And it is very cool to see your sketch of what you did to make the dress :)

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  5. I love this color combination! This dress rocks!

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  6. Oh Oona, I am jealous! I want to come to NY and pick seams with the cool gals, too!
    Anyway, I love this dress, I love the simplicity of the pattern paired with the ever-so-unusual combination of fabrics/trims/colors. And to link back to am older post of yours - you definitely have a style - tres chic, tres colorful, tres you!

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  7. Ack! A 2-hour dress!!! eep..you did it! I think I need to find a drink to toast you ;) The dress is uber fabulous! I absolutely love the braided trim....AND you got to meet Mena! How awesome! I bet you both had loads of fun!!!

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  8. Pretty. I love the lace yoke. I could never sew something in two hours. Sewing anything takes me a ridiculously long time. You must be some sort of speed demon.

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  9. lovely dress, oona
    and this color combination
    is just my kind of thing
    ..
    now that i think of it
    i do have some lace lying around
    might just steel your idea
    and do something fun with it

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  10. Super exciting combination! Not only did I fell in love with the lace upper part, but the binding, too is so cute. If I had seen the materials each on its own, I think, I wouldn't have thought that they might match!...Oona you are a magician! :D

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  11. aw love your variation of the burdastyle pattern! great idea that you added extra fabric for front gathering...also love the lace insert too!

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  12. That is one awesome dress, the fact that you drafted parts of it and did it in two hours just makes my jaw drop (don't worry, husband saw my open mouth and provided me with glass of wine to close it. He's good that way). I love how you can see all these different elements (lace, rainbow braid, jersey), throw it together and make something so gorgeous. And yay for meeting Mena - how exciting, hope you had a great time!

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  13. Love this dress, how daring the combination of fabric and trim is. I think it really suits you (although I don't know you in real life, hehe). By the way, I'm a little jealous you got to know Mena, I think she's doing a great job on the Sew Weekly and she's very inspiring.

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  14. Wow, that dress is really beautiful! I'd love to make a maxi version of it...or for you to make a maxi version of it so it comes out gorgeous.

    Kimberlee of Magpie Shinies

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  15. WOW, that looks amazing! I would love to work with lace oneday.

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  16. The dress is gorgeous and the lace trim combination looks awesome. What an inspiration!

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  17. Ok, so I was having a totally ridiculous day, and I was like, "Please fates, I need to escape from this drudgery for two minutes" and it was like the world suddenly loved me because there was a new post from you in my Reader. Hells. Yes. Best two minutes of the day.

    Love the dress - the lace is exquisite! And I LOVE that you got to hang with Mena in your new snazzy outfits. You are quite the stylish pair! Well done :)

    Word verification: Grans - Meg the Grand if she ever has grandbabies will thus be known as Grans. Or Oma. Whatevs.

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  18. I love how this turned out. What a great combination of materials used.

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  19. Marcy, this dress is stunnnning!!!!! What a great color, fabric and texture combination!

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  20. I like the color pairing! Probably not something I would have picked out, because for someone who loves prints as much as I do (and surely you can understand that!) I'm surprisingly timid when it comes to color pairings. I need to get over that. But your dress is gorgeous.

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  21. I need to make me one of those! You look fabulous and should be so proud! Great make!

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  22. Love, love this dress! Such a cool combo of colors and texture!

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  23. I love the combination of the fabrics and the trim.
    2 hours?? I dream of making dresses in 2 hours...

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  24. I love the combination of the fabrics and the trim.
    2 hours?? I dream of making dresses in 2 hours...

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  25. thanks y'all!

    seeks, mokosha & magpie shinies, i hope you make a version... a technicolor version...

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  26. I love it too! The orange with purple is great :)

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  27. Hi,
    Very pretty dress. I just stumble upon your blog. I couldn't help but notice the blue lace behind you. I have been scouring the web to find one like that for a knock-off. Would you mind telling me where you got it?
    Thanks.
    Pauline

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  28. OMG! I missed your post since I've been AWAY WORKING! YIKES you are cute to boot!

    How darling do you too look! I can't believe it! xoxo

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  29. @ pauline: sorry, i just noticed your query! i found it at chic fabrics in NY's garment districts, one of my faves. here's a link: http://tinyurl.com/66ya6po

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  30. Gorgeous! Very worthy of your favorite piece of the summer. And, you created it yourself. Once I find the right fabric pairings, I'll have to make myself something Two-Hour-Oona inspired.

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  31. You are so cool! I love the changes you made to the dress.

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!