10.19.2012

ruggy's mood: THWARTED.


Oh Ruggy. Will I ever sew you anything?

This plaid flannel was truly meant for my husband. I had all the best intentions of making him a cozy fall shirt, partially egged on by Amy's rage inducing make for her soul mate. WHATEVER AMY. As I pored over Mood's online site, bookmarking fabrics to my portfolio (I love that wee feature, I can see all my wants right on one page), my mind quickly wandered back to myself, and I let out a little gasp when I saw this chenille. Unfortunately, Mind Reading Ruggy heard my gasp, looked at my screen, and asked when I might be making something with my Mood allowance for my loving husband.


Must learn to keep emotions hidden.

I promised I would pick up something for him the very next time I was in the store, and indeed I did... after spending an hour and a half poring over boucle for myself. By the time I got to shirtings I think the fuzz from wools had coated my brain. Aided by Nate, I dug into the racks, looking for something that wouldn't bore me half to death. When the strapping Nate yanked this bolt off the shelf, he deemed it edgy without being Oona crazy, and I was sold. But I was too precoccupied with the boucle in my arms to actually touch it.

Arriving home, I was still too enamored of my own find to lay hands on it, shoving it in for a pre wash so I could get back to fondling wool. Later, as I ironed it, I patted myself on the back for the sheer magnitude of my kindness in making my husband the second shirt of my five year sewing career, trumpeting to the general public of cats and man that it would be killer, with pearl snaps and a contrasting back yoke made out of thick olive green jersey.  


Then I noticed the plaid wasn't quite matching up... had it gone off grain in the wash? I asked Ruggy to pull opposite corners with me. After all, it was destined for his closet, he could do a little work. So we pulled... and realized I had purchased a flannel that was surely meant for the likes of Stretch Armstrong. I'm talking trampoline worthy.  

Now, my Ruggy is picky man. He eyed that lycra stretch, and I knew it wasn't for him. Sweat glands like a delicate flower, that one. No matter! I happily chirped. I'll just make something for myself and I'll get you some nice 100% cotton next time for sure kaythxbye!!! And I was off to my pattern stash.


I chose Simplicity 2337 of the Project Runway line, my favorite of the big 4 for sure. Seriously, if I'm near a chain store with a sale, I just open up the drawers and pull out every blue envelope that doesn't have a child on it. I love the variations in these patterns, but rather than try one of their infinite perfectly drafted options, I was moved to sketch my own: a dolman sleeve. Which I royally fuka'ted. See how that seam curves down to the front of my arm? Yeah, I TOTALLY meant to do that, it's a design element, thankyaverymuch.  

The rest of the pattern went together like a charm, princess seams on the front, two darts in the back, vent.  


Oooooh and my current trick for dealing with the excess fabric around my back shoulder section: cut the offending excess out! HA. I call it the Posture du Dancer's Adjustment. I love a good PDA. 


The neck and hem are finished off with bias trim (can I just say I hate facings? I HATE FACINGS. I said as much to Carolyn the other day. I love it when someone who really knows what they're doing tells me it okay to do whatever hairbrain thing I might be doing at the time). The neckline is actually sandwiched in trim, and since I had to rip out the very last bit by the zipper head so many times it was a holy mess I just decided for the fun of it to add this little ribbon & pearl embellishment at the top.

Ruggy snapped these photos for me. Wearing an old Gap sweatshirt. Oh, the humanity. A police van was parked next to us. A female officer leaned out the window: Okay, I gotta ax. You took like a hundred pictures already, whaddayouDOIN. After some shouting about sewing and Mood, I informed the officers that the plaid was meant for the man behind the camera, and that sent me and the male officer into gales of laughter. He seemed to understand completely. My Ruggy grinned acceptingly like the wonderful guy he is. 


I would say I'd make it up to him soon... but I don't like to lie.

(But! Notice anything different about this post?  Apparently my ee cummings style of lowercase typing confuses the hell out of the Rugster.  So I'm throwing him a bone. Whaddaya think?  Shall I stick to it?)

this dress was made using my monthly fabric "allowance" as part of the Mood Sewing Network.

76 comments:

  1. I too hate facings! Super annoying-the interfacing, the narrow hemming, the flipping around and poking out while you are wearing the darn thing. I think I need to ask for a bias tape maker for Christmas so I can make reams of fabulous bias tape and skip all of those annoying facings.

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    1. you will ADORE the way of the bias. and if you have a clear ruler, it's super easy to make them without a fancy doodad. in fact, i like it better!

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  2. Lovely dress! You always looks so classy. What are you going to be for Halloween??

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    1. NOTHING. que sad! ruggy's bday is the day before, so we're always either still celebrating, or recovering from celebrating :)

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  3. Oona you are so gorgeous. That dress is spectacular on you. And I love your crazy photo story. Oh, I also personally like caps. Stream of consciousness is nice too (v. artistique), but I agree with your husband that this is easier to read.

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    1. thank you both!!! and so far caps is winning. are winning?

      either way, apparently if i am on my non correcting keyboard, looks like my comments shall be ee cummings.

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  4. That is true love. If I'd have usurped Mr Ooobop's fabric I'd never had got such brilliant photos!!! Having said that, If M.O. had that fabric lined up I may have taken the risk. Amazing fit on that dress honey. Love it!!

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    1. thank you! PLEASE MAKE MY HUSBAND A SHIRT. i'm sure mr oobop will understand.

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  5. Love the dress! And re the sleeve, when I saw the pics first (reading comes 2nd) I had a feeling you'd cut it on the bias... And as for sewing for hubby - I have some Paul Smith striped shirting I bought about 5 years ago now for my other half. Thing is, pieces keep disappearing out of that bag and end up in either my or my daughters' cupboards as blouses or shirts, bypassing his completely! :D What are we like?

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    1. re: sleeve, i guess i did? i just extended it from the side panel piece. ah well.

      at least they end up on your daughter!

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  6. Great job, especially matching that plaid !

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    1. thank you, TOTALLY LUCK. i was so blindsided i didn't even try to match the plaid!

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  7. HATE FACINGS! DARN THINGS! your dress is fabulous Oona, as always.

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  8. I do that with fabric I buy for my kids a lot! Great dress Oona

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  9. I HATE FACINGS! I have been replacing them in all my recent projects with bias tape - and I have LOTS of bias tape. This could go on forever before I run out. LOVE this fabulous plaid dress on you - perfect for Autumn, even if the fabric wasn't perfect for Ruggy. No worries, Ruggy - your day will come! Rob's day will come too - hopefully before he turns 50 somewhere down the road. I told him I would make him a shirt for his birthday - but that was three birthdays ago. Whoops! Boy shirts are hard. I don't need to care about neck measurements for me but it's a different story with men. Blergh.

    Love you and your marvelous dress :) Perfect pairing with those shoes!!!

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    1. isn't it just so much better?! i'd even rather have an overlocked edge over a facing. and oui, i'm thinking this dress says thanksgiving. warm and snuggly after turkey. maybe i need a detachable peplum to cover up the post dinner tummy.

      i've promised ruggy so many birthday garments, i've lost track. maybe you & i should have a rob n ruggy sew off.

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  10. I hate facings when they do all the crazy things facings are wont to do; but I love me a good facing, like the topstitched ones on my LBD.
    That said, I love your bias here. And that button? Cuuuute!
    And V-neckline in the back. I love that too. See my LBD again for proof... (Well, you've seen it.)
    It looks like the perfect Fall dress.

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    1. ooooh yes, that dress was perfect! http://marmota-b.blogspot.com/2012/04/little-black-dress-in-practice.html for y'all that haven't seen it...

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    2. Eee, thanks!

      Oh, and I'm with Ruggy on the caps issue, no offence. It's just easier on my eyes because I'm this good little proofreader. (For real; I proofread the youth magazine I volunteer for.)

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  11. Dress is da bomb (does anyone still say that? Why did I type that?) But really, love the plaid, love the silhouette, love the cozy, and love those wacky dolman sleeves - gimme some space in my armpits! Poor Ruggy - I always view sewing for my husband as a chore - but it kind of always breaks my heart too because the two shirts I've made for him he wears to pieces... makes me feel like he should have some more... but then again....
    I also had to change my all lowercase blog typing because it made my Mom's eye twitch.

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    1. um, yeah, saying "da bomb" is da bomb DIGGITY, yo.

      "I also had to change my all lowercase blog typing because it made my Mom's eye twitch."

      HAAAAAAAA.

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  12. Facing, not my fav either esp when I always changes the neckline shape... Your dress is great!

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    1. good point, i'm always messing with the neckline too... i forgot how much i hated it when i realized my pre cut facing became useless!

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  13. I am not a real fan of plaid; dang if you don't make me like it with your cute dress. Love the trim.

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    1. thank you! i'm not such a fan either, then suddenly when this fabric became mine, i pulled out everything plaid in my closet and put it all on. at once.

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    2. You know, I immediately got a mental image similar to that scene in Friends where Joey puts on all of Chandler's clothes... And this is crazy, because normally it's my sister who keeps throwing Friends references in this household and I'm the one rolling my eyes on her! :D

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  14. Super cool dress...and I have that pattern!!! I love it as always. You are the best for inspiration!!!!

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    1. have you made it? i just remember pretty dresses, were any of them this?

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  15. Ruggy is of course, a gorgeous hunk of a man, but that plaid looks WAY better on you than it would have on him! TRUTH. I mean, the back view is the best part haha.

    If it makes you feel any better, I STILL have a yardage of plaid flannel that is supposed to be a Landon shirt... his Christmas present from 2011. OOPS.

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    1. technically if you have the yardage, that is still a present.

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  16. Bahahaha!! ohh the humanity is right.... hilarious that the officer got it - and what a good sport is Ruggy!! :)

    So you deal with excess back neck/shoulder fabric by drafting a back v-neck? Did I read this right!? If so... genius!!! Lol, I struggle with the same issue & try with all my might and much swearing to fix it but I like your idea way better!

    Also I hate facings too - they're evil and your finish is much nicer!

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    1. yep, just cut out the offending material! it's very biblical.

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    2. Now THAT remark...
      Today, I'm just meant to laugh at the computer.

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  17. I love your dress! And oh darn now you have to go back to Mood to get something to make the shirt... Yeah it sounds like an ok problem to have.

    Anyway, I have to agree that I am not a fan of facings either - I think your neck finish looks lovely though.

    And, I will pipe up that I think the use of the Shift Key makes the posts a lot faster of a read... Don't know if that is good or bad, but I was able to get through the content faster and spend more time staring at the pretty dress pictures instead.

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    1. i know, life is hard!!!

      yeah, i'm thinking caps is the way to go. though my comments will prolly still be crazyface.

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  18. Love that plaid — the color combo is amazing. Do you think there was some subconscious thing going on when purchasing shirting with stretch? That's what Ruggy may be thinking. Poor guy.

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    1. TO. TA. LLY. but i didn't consider it till you said it, dammit.

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  19. Whenever I am in NYC with my husband we always go to Mood to pick out shirting for HIM. It's the only way I can get him there. He always picks out something boring though. No imagination. Your dress is wonderful.

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  20. Facings make me want to scream. I avoid them when at all possible. Why do so many sewing patterns have facings yet so few rtw items? I always wondered about that. Love your dress, especially with those fun blue shoes!

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    1. seriously, WTF? i don't think i've EVER seen a facing in RTW.

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    2. Now I'll have to show you some, because I own some. Pity I cut up the skirt I'm re-making without taking photos... I'm impatient like that.

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  21. You look gorgeous in plaid and I have issues with neck jumping out ang guess what.. I love your solution.. Next time I face this issue I will follow your lead my friend

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  22. Love the dress! I have to say before I got to the end of the post where you specified the difference, I did think to myself that I was having an easier time reading through your post today. I think the variation is easier on the eyes somehow? Anyway, love your blog whether you shift or not!

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  23. Great story and you look beautiful! Your skin is amazing. Do you sleep in an oxygen tank or something?! I LOVE your dress.

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  24. Facings are terrible. Your dress, on the other hand, is beautiful.

    Ruggy's loss is definitely your win.

    (I love capital letters in the right places).

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  25. I really, really love this dress. It's just so great! Sorry, Ruggy... :( And I'm right there with you with facings-- they're always sticking out funny or something. Ugh!

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  26. Ha, it's gorgeous and I'm sure he approves!

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    1. he does. partly because he truly believes i will make him something before december.

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  27. Woman! I love your shoes!!!!!!
    Oh and the dress is great too but that goes without saying :D
    So funny that the fabric was meant for your hubby hehehhe

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    1. aren't they AWESOME?! and they were something ridiculous, like 3 dollars on super stupid sale. they make me giggle.

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  28. Your edging is inspired- it girlies up the plaid in a surprising way- love it.

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  29. oh i hate facings too.. and somehow always end up doing it, 'cause i hate making bias tape more than that (and i'm too cheap to buy me some bias tape, most of the time).. and, lovely oona, i love love your new dress, i might make myself a similar one..

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  30. True story: I bought a blue plaid for a shirt for my husband, made it up beautifully, and then husband decided he didn't really like it. I should've just skipped to the part where I took the plaid and made it up for myself, like you did.

    Love that back neckline!!

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  31. Love your dress! I know for sure I'll never promise to make Stef anything anymore :) I'm teaching him to make his own Negroni. And forget about that Shift key! The no caps style is part of your blog identity.

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  32. I love your dress - it is so cute - you have cleverly made plaid not remind me of a school uniform! I have never made hubby anything, thankfully he is too afraid I will make us matching outfits!! Great, more sewing for me!

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  33. Hello
    Love the dress but am really commenting on the lower case letter usage!

    I work in publishing and my skills for sniffing out red pen worthy writing don't automatically turn off when reading blogs unfortunately. BUT I'm also off the clock when I read blogs and since they're meant to be more conversational in tone I don't mind if the rules slip a little.

    It would never make me stop reading a blog and I'm probably guilty of not editing my own posts properly (if you do it all day you don't want to carry on when you get home).

    Don't let anyone give you too much stick for it. Not even Ruggy. But if YOU decide you like it with correct caps, etc. then it can only make things neater :-)

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  34. HA! I looked at the photo of the dress before reading the next paragraph and looking at the sleeves quite literally said, "Ooh design detail!" I think you did the magnanimous thing making the dress - consider yourself the saviour of Ruggy's sweat glands! I've managed to avoid the trap of promising to make Nick anything...I reassure myself that he's got a unique...ah..."style" that doesn't really go with handmade sewing. That's what I tell myself anyway. The day I convince him to throw out his Gap hoodie is the day there will be drinking and dancing in the streets. Until then, just drinking.

    With the font thing...hmm... I'm usually a pretty hardcore grammar fiend (you know the annoying kind that points out grammar and spelling errors on signs and menus) so USUALLY I'd be all CORRECT CAPS DAMMIT! But I think the lower case is uniquely you - I like it. Sure, correct caps may be easier to read but then if you speed read you miss stuff.

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  35. I am so in love with this dress! I don't particularly like this resurgence of love for plaid, but I would wear it every day with a dress like that! The matching of the plaid looks really great as well. Did you find that particularly difficult? I've never sewn with stripes or plaids because it seems far too annoying.

    Also, I've always been one for interfacing, but I think I'm going to try out bias taping (did I say that correctly?) this weekend, so hopefully it works!

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    1. actually, i didn't try hard at all to match the plaid. it's ridiculous how it lined up. i just put the neckline at the same place and hoped!

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  36. Oooooooooooo!! I love this pattern! Must go find it for myself now.
    Whatever punctuation works for you. I kinda liked the way it read in my head without the caps.
    PS. Nice seeing you the at the Lace seminar. Sorry I was a bit tongue tied.

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    1. i turned around and you were gone! we needed to hang more...

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  37. Wow, this is cotton? You and Daughter Fish in your tartans are driving me crazy. And I love what you did with the sleeve!

    It's funny, because I got near the end of this and thought that your rhythm was different. Now I can't say if the caps made the reading rhythm different or using them made you write differently. Who knows... back in the early 90s internet-y days I did emails and chats with no caps because that's what everyone was doing. But it just felt so silly coming from me, because I was an editor and a former spelling champion and one of those annoying people that corrects its and it's. But IT's a part of your voice and I love it!

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  38. The dress is, predictably, gorgeous. However, I think I have fallen in love with your shoes. Where are they from?

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    1. sadly, they're from the daffy's down the street that closed. i didn't even get to say goodbye to it, i was in la... and the shoes have no branding. THEY WERE LIKE THREE DOLLARS.

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  39. I thought I wanted to learn how to sew but really what I want is for you to just make me this 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!