6.17.2012

it's a love hate thing

first of all, can i tell you how happy it makes me that you fell in love with this man and his music like i did?  i have nothing to do with it other than being fortunate enough to have ruggy find it and share it with me, it's not like i can be proud of its existence in a creative sense, but somehow when peeps share your love of music it does something to you, personally.   


lots of blogger sharing has been going on these past months, and i did a little mixing of gifts from two loverly friends-- miss peanut butter macrame, also known as lady katza, and she of the perfect nose, tj. the former sent a box chock full of goodies for which i did absolutely NOTHING, and the latter sent a box chock full of goodies for which i went downtown and shopped a little swaparroo for.  so basically i got to shop and open prizes.  

HOW APPROPRIATELY AND SUPREMELY BRATTY OF ME. 


more details on all the prizes to come... but for now, look at this floral chiffon tj sent me and feel the jealous rage begin.  it's okay, you can hate.  i would if you had it.  you may quell your rage by knowing  it drove me insane.  slip.  per.  RY.   obviously, it's chiffon, i knew that going in.  so did i use any of the many tricks i've read about to cut it out?  did i pin it to my pattern, did i use an extra swath of tissue paper, did i EVEN USE MORE THAN ONE PATTERN WEIGHT?  no.  i threw a marble coaster in the middle of each pattern piece and call it good.

i don't know why i did that.  lately i've abandoned pinning for pattern weights.  let me clarify; marble coasters. they're flat, they're heavy, and they make a very nice place for my drink of choice.  but apparently, the cocktail was strong while i was cutting this baby. 


i used lady katza's gifted vintage pattern, an "anne adams instructor" pattern, one of those beautiful oldies with no pattern markings.  i like using them, it's a treasure hunt figuring out what all the hole punches mean.  

this is my attempt at those see through dresses you wear avec high waisted panties.  the pattern itself didn't call for bands around the skirt, i just slashed it where i wanted to insert lace, figuring my perfectly straight cuts would produce the results i wanted.  well.  the lace was straight.  the chiffon, she was quite drunk.  when i unfolded my slices, i found i had managed to make four perfectly U shaped panels.  i put them aside, refreshed my glass, and stomped away.


later on in the week i decided the world would not end if i sewed it up.  i eyeballed out the curves and somehow it all ended up straight (unlike the bottom crop of this picture).  i'm telling you: perfectly rectangular slices of lace + waterslide shaped panels of chiffon =  straight hem.  no clue how that equation worked out.  


now lemme show you the bad.  you'd think, after the sewing gods blessed my wonky ass cuts with success, i would appease them by finishing the insides perfectly.  you'd be 80% right.  i've never been good at divine offerings.  but i made a perfect little baby hem.  i french seamed all the lace.  i enclosed the raw edges at neck edges and waist seams with contrasting bias tape.  yet somehow i could not be bothered to line the waistband.  i just left the interfacing exposed.  THE GODS ARE ANGERED.


but i'm happy.

43 comments:

  1. Beautiful summer dress.. And chiffon.. Totally I love hate relationships for me...

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    1. thanks girl! this is my second time round with chiffon. maybe third time's the charm love/hate wise :)

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  2. gorgeous!!! I love the lace at the hem... totally adorable! oh, and yes, thank you for the musical introduction in your last post! loved it! do you know michael kiwanuka? his voice dreamy too!

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  3. Such a beautiful summmery dress you have made. Hopefully you love it enough to forget the frustration of the slippery fabric.

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    1. somehow that week off plus cocktails made me forget the frustrating bits :)

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  4. Cute as a button! It amazes me that your projects with issues still look COOL AS HELL. What's that about? You're amazing!

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  5. The dress is goddamn pretty I tell ya. Goddamn Pretty!

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  6. Yup, totally jealous of that fabric. And what a fit! Who cares that the waistband isn't lined?

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    1. not me. though i do wonder what the wash will do to it...

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  7. This dress is fantastic! I think I need one...if only I had that lovely fabric.

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    1. teehee. you know what, you reminded me that not only were my panels u shaped, they were also like 8 inches too long on both sides. i had to cut so much away....

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  8. It's so BYOOOOOOTIFUL! !sigh! I really REALLY am frightened of silky-filmy-wafty fabrics, though I would love a froufrou feminine wardrobe of floaty layers.

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    1. i hear spray starch works wonders & makes it as if you're sewing cotton! someday i'll actually try it.

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  9. beautiful dress Oona! Way to bend that chiffon to your will ;) Marble coasters? genius!

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  10. In a word? Fabulous. Amazing. Perfection. LOVE this. Love it. Would take it to dinner and get it drunk.

    strugglesewsastraightseam.wordpress.com

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  11. Niice! Good to see you got some use out of that fabric-is that the collar at the back? I use pattern weights too, but I use books (botanical manuals to be precise) they're the perfect size for pattern weighing XD

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    1. it sort of droops down at the back... i think i could've taken some length out but at that point i was stunned it was coming out at all :)

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  12. Some mystery person cleaned out a closet and deposited 10-20 "good sportsmanship" trophies from church-league cheerleader seasons 1988-1996 on top of the Lions Club trophy case last month. The Church Trophy Police removed the offending articles and disarticulated them (only trophies for the past three years are allowed, after a massive Church Trophy Police/Lions Club joint task force five years ago). Odd bits of drecky plastic were deposited in strangers' trashcans around town, but the marble bases (and the psuedo-marble and wooden bases, too) found their way to my cutting table. They are small, yet heavy enough to weigh down patterns AND to weigh the fabric onto the table when excess length hangs off the end of the table and threatens to drag what's on the table onto the floor. Have used cans of food for weights, but the rectangular slabs are better -- you can stand them on edge for skinny pattern pieces. LOVE the floaty flowery gown.

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    1. i have eyed SO MANY trophies... unfortunately they belong to people...

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    2. Sometimes I take the bits and bobs and reassemble them for my own trophies, to award things that don't normally get recognized (Great Job of Parking to Take Up Three Spaces with Your Beater Car, Happy Wednesday, etc). I think that some of the stand-uppy bits might be useful for home dec projects -- like threading them onto curtain rods in the middle of non-closing curtains. Hmm. Let me go count the windows in the spare room ... .

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  13. I thought I had successfully convinced myself I don't ever want to sew with the devil that is chiffon but now I see that your chiffon ended up being a total dream (trials & tribulations notwithstanding) and I suddenly feel jealous. Must source some chiffon for meeee.

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    1. oh i would LOVE to see what you'd make. grab a can of spray starch / stabilizer and do it!

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  14. This is SO cute Oona. And it is finished perfectly! The princess seams on my last adventure with chiffon are not for public consumption (did you use a rolling hem foot or stitch/iron/fold/stitch?) I think chiffon is fine to work with as long as you are okay with shit being a little wonky. Let go and let Singer, as it were.

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    1. i did stitch iron fold stitch. the rolling hem is not yet my friend!

      (let go & let Singer, i love it.)

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  15. A pretty summer number! I have been avoiding cutting out some chiffon for awhile because of all the slitheryness. I almost wonder if I should line my table with flannel or something to keep it from shifting. (I gave up on my rotary cutter awhile ago... blades add up to expensive!)

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  16. Gorgeous! I love the lace, it was worth a little fight. This summer I feel like breezy dresses like this one... you're a very inspiring lady, as usual!

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    1. thank you paunnet! i think maybe the lace saved all those wonky chiffon cuts :)

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  17. I am very impressed with the insides of your chiffon floral number, I would not have had that kind of patience! I think that the sewing gods are pleased it looks so fab on you! Cheers!!

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    1. ha! if by patience you mean happy cluelessness, i accept.

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  18. Beautimous work, Miss Oona. I can't help but wonder about the cocktail of choice and the soundtrack for each of your lovely confections!

    I, too, have slid past the stash slippery fabrics of late. You make me brave.

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    1. funny that... i'm planning a post which includes those two very inspirations :)

      now, just make up some of those delicious drink recipes you've pinned & get to that slippery stuff!

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  19. Wow- lovely work with the chiffon! Love all the finishing. I also hate the shiftyness of chiffon. Someone I know suggested using Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Sew Wash Away Fabric Stabilizer on silks. She spreads the stuff on the silk and lets dry. After cutting and sewing she washes the fabric. Claims it works like a dream. Haven't tried it yet but thought it might be helpful.

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    1. this is a tip i've been meaning to try since i heard it... do you think i might grab a bottle of the stuff? i forget EVERY time.

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  20. Heh, sounds like your lady luck, both with the waterslide-panels-making-straight-skirt and recieving that cuuute fabric and pattern. So pretty!

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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!