1.04.2018

Simplicity, With a Little Complication.

oonaballoona | by marcy harriell | a sewing blog

When we venture South for the holidays, my suitcase is stuffed with 20% everyday, 80% special occasion. Not that I don't dress for every day as if it were a special occasion! I do. I really do. But, this is the kind of bling that even I can't justify donning for what is, mainly, at-home family gatherings. 

Bling that has a slit up to here...

oonaballoona | by marcy harriell | a sewing blog

And that likes to get frisky...

oonaballoona | by marcy harriell | a sewing blog

With any little hint of a breeze...

oonaballoona | by marcy harriell | a sewing blog

It just doesn't say "holiday brunch and Scrabble," you know?

Still, I pack the things I can wear for all of 15 minutes, in anticipation of documentation in more forgiving temperatures. It was 64 degrees when Rob & I ran joyously outdoors to snap this dress, and I am 100% basted into it.

oonaballoona | by marcy harriell | a sewing blog

YES YES Y'ALL, I had my first zipper fail of my sewing career!! Hair and makeup ready, jewelry set, I went to zip her up, and the coil came FULLY away from the tape, right in the middle of the seam. It wasn't too tight, it was too old. At the time, the only zip I had of an appropriate color was my "basting zipper," a plastic job that had been used and reused so many times, I've lost count. 

It could've been worse, it could've happened during its maiden voyage, while I was singing in it 😳

oonaballoona | by marcy harriell | a sewing blog

When I trudged out of the guest bedroom in defeat, holding the wounded brocade in my clenched fists, Rob wouldn't take no for an answer. "You have a needle and thread? You have no problem."

I MEAN REALLY. He knows exactly how to goad me into competition with myself.

oonaballoona | by marcy harriell | a sewing blog

But I think I'll be inserting a nice, new, unused zip, now that we're home. 

Bodice: Mimi G for Simplicity 1115 (great!!) which I joined at the waist to...
Skirt: Simplicity 1099 (not great!! Why do I keep using this pattern?! I've made the skirt here and top here, and the draft on both cause gnashing of teeth at some point in construction. On the skirt, I always have to change the weird pleats on the front at the last minute.)
Fabric: Brocade from Janky Store in NY's garment district, lined with silk CDC from Chic Fabrics.
Zipper: In a trash bin somewhere in Arkansas.

Happy New Year, peeps! May you have all the closure you require... and needle & thread, should it fail you.