6.17.2013

palm trees and warm sand (and even a muppet)

oonaballoona | a sewing blog by marcy harriell | colette negroni

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 selvedge. 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!

42 comments:

  1. wooah that's one scary mask! The shirt though, the shirt is ace! I love the fabric. Your Dad must have loved his surprise.

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  2. The shirt fits perfectly and I love it.

    I don't want to seem greedy but when can you MAKE MORE?

    It was a most excellent Father's Day.

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  3. Incredible shirt and the pocket matching, top notch. I love the picture, too funny. I think you have an order for more!

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    1. i placed te pocket pattern over the cut bodice and traced the pattern beneath to match it! i saw that somewhere once...

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  4. Amazing work. Especially with difficult fabric. I am making the Negroni now. I have gone through FOUR different check fabrics that I bailed on as the checks wouldn't line up after pre-washing te fabric. So I have opted for plain white. At least then I don't have to worry about wonky checks while learning to sew a shirt. I think I will take your lead and get onto pattern review for advice too!

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    1. plain white is so classic, though, i sighed when i read it... those reviews are invaluable. a reminder that i should actually talk about process!

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  5. Great job with the shirt; looks like a really good fit!

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  6. Fit looks perfect, and I love the pocket!

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  7. Your Negroni looks awesome, especially the pocket! I made one for my husband for Father's Day too, and now I feel invincible.

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  8. Hilarious! The shirt looks great! :)

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  9. Beautiful shirt! It looks like it fits perfectly.

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  10. AHHHHHHHHHHH this looks AWESOME! The pineapples! I can't even deal! Well worth the cursing and cross-grain madness! Love this!

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  11. Real, live buttons? Like really, really, real? Your pops looks awesome Marci. Awe-sum.

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  12. Very nice shirt! I hope at some point you'll give us the scoop on what you're working on in Dallas so we can look for it? :-)

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  13. Bahahahaha!!! I... I can't even. That face!!! SO funny! (awesome shirt, btw)

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  14. It looks great, that picture is hilarious and scary :) I have offered to make my husband a Negroni, and he is not so interested. ???

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  15. Dallas has a fabric district!? I sense a trip to Dallas coming up! I'm down in San Antonio, so it's not too much of a drive. I'm going to be doing some sewing for my hubby soon. I need linen for him and of course something for me! :)

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  16. Love it. Coo - ell https://www.facebook.com/SassySewingBees

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  17. I like the idea of a "grillin' shirt"! It does look like a fine garment, with a good fit and suits him style wise. Too bad he's too ashamed to be associated with you in public!

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  18. Scary mask dude. Great shirt though!

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  19. Aw I love this! Fab shirt, fab fabric and your pa looks the business. I especially like the fact that he needs a shirt just for grillin'! x

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  20. Awesome job Oona, but that face.... :O

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  21. OMG I love this so much!! Big Daddy looks like a party animal!! Wish I would've made one for my dad!! My mom recently sent me a picture of my dad and his 5 brothers out by the grill, ALL wearing hawaiian shirts... and it wasn't planned!

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  22. Great shirt! Love the fabric choice and awesome job with the buttonholes! Those can be scary.

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  23. Awww, Poppabaloona looks awesome in his grill shirt! Looks like one seriously laid back dude.

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  24. What a great grillin shirt you made for Ruggy! So excellent of you to go crazy with the matching!

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  25. What a wonderful Father's Day gift! Love it!

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  26. Love the shirt AND photo! You and your daddy seem to be a lot alike !! :) My hubby would be so jealous if he saw this. Would you believe he bought a Hawaiian shirt LAMP last week when I wasn't looking?

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    1. we are :). and i hope that lamp has a rightly deserved place of honor. next to some rum??

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  27. Awwh, so sweet! I don't think I could ever make a shirt for my hubby, but I would tackle something similar to this for my dad.

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  28. That shirt is awesome! And that bottom photo is hilarious.

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  29. The shirt looks amazing - I'm sure Papa L-O-V-E-D it, and really admired the work that went into it! *sigh* You're such a talented and patient seamstress...can I become one of your "Grasshoppers", oh sewing "Master"? *LOL*

    Love,
    Mugsy

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    1. does that mean you'd be like, a minion? I WOULD TOTALLY TAKE A MUGSY MINION.

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    2. Anything for the great and powerful Ooona - ignore that person behind the curtain...! *lol*

      Love,
      Mugsy

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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!