Catching Up: 9 Months of Sewing

Quite a few things got sewn in the past nine months, and only a handful made it to this space. It's easy to lose track, innit?! I keep thinking this past summer was our summer down South. Also, Christmas was yesterday. And maybe comes again before Halloween? LIFE IS A GAME OF JENGA AND TIME IS A ROUND OF WHACK-A-MOLE. Is it summer? WHACK. Nope, it's autumn. Is that murmur the sound of a gentle breeze in Fayetteville? WHACK. Nope, that's the dulcet tone of a New York City garbage truck.

This carnival game isn't helped by the multiple time-sensitive balls in the air. My creative life is one big piece of content, whether it's shooting for sewing, or film/tv/theater work. That might sound a little whiny--actually, I prefer holding the reigns on what goes out there. But when your main job is almost always ruled by an NDA, and your side gigs are a jumble of deadlines for future projects, the timeline gets a little blurry.

Some of these things might eventually make a proper appearance on le blog, but *just in cases*...I think it's time for a stroll down topsy turvy lane.

Pattern: Bootstrap Cinch leg jumpsuit

Fabric: @chicfabricsnyc 247 W 38th street, NY

Spring had burst out at the seams when we were gearing up to leave Fayetteville, much like this poor linen jumpsuit. Cut in March 2020, finished in January 2021, shot in April 2021, and promptly ruined when I accidentally washed it on hot. I loved this thing so dang much! It saw me through a sew-jo boosting video and several self-tape auditions--and got me into the final rounds on a few (one of which would have cast me as a rollerskating queen. Dream job). I might have to see if Chic has more...

Pattern: Half Circle Skirt

Fabric: NY's garment district (a store I don't usually frequent. Shopping there made me remember why.)

The merry month of May found us back in the city, and our return came with an avalanche of deadlines, one of which was the Sewing Weekender, hosted by The Fold Line and Charlotte Emma Patterrns. I taught a class on using wax print to make a half-circle skirt. Since everyone attending was there to sew, longer classes were welcome, and it was actually a relief to make a thirty-minute-long video and not worry about the usual YouTube attention span!  A shorter version of this tutorial lives on our channel. You see me use a half-circle skirt CONSTANTLY. It's got one seam, y'all. Fast track to drama. 

Pattern: Simplicity 9041. Muchly hacked. Muchly.

Fabric: @fabricsusainc

After two online galas, a demo recording for a freaking brilliant new musical, and some general malarkey (unpacking and busted pipes), the end of May found me hellbent on JUST SEWING SOMETHING FOR NO REASON AT ALL. Like in the olden days. But it took me until June to finish this yellow baby. I must have spent a full eight hours on the floor placing the print, which of course I loved every minute of. Come warm weather, she's getting a proper shoot.

It started out "as drafted," with sleeves--oh wait I'm lying, this was a trial run for an autumnal dress for Threads, there was a reason for sewing this. Why else would I be sewing sleeves with the promise of Summer around the corner? I am not that chick! The armsyce was hella tight, and the center front was hella frumpy, so sleeveless she went.

Pattern: Self Drafted & Draped

Fabric: @fabricsusainc

More June, more wax print, more sewing for the channel...this was my demo dress for the centered zipper tutorial, which includes a serenade from Rob. I cut the bodice of this one seven times until I got the print placement I liked. No exaggeration! I have evidence I'll share here someday...

Pattern: Self-drafted bodice + half circle skirt 

Fabric: Stonewall from the Love is Love collection (affiliate link)

June ended with this little baby-hued number, a collab with Matthew of Mister Domestic, to celebrate the launch of his fabric line. This pattern was designed in honor of Stonewall--I have it in the red colorway as well and am still considering a matching purse. Matthew unknowingly beat me to the punch on that one with a woven clutch, and I'm glad he did, because weaving a clutch would be waaaay more fetch than just sewing a few rectangles together. 

Although it's quilting cotton, it's quite drapey and worked well with this combo. I don't know what drew me to these hues, but I feel like a pretty pretty pastel princess, as can any human of any persuasion. Shout out to all my humans out there being who they are!

You can see the dress in action in this Baby Hem Tutorial.

Pattern: True Bias Ogden Cami

Fabric: Joann

The return to NY was a shock to the system, I'm not gonna lie, and shooting four tutorials in four weeks in four square feet of space had my brain over-easy. So we welcomed the chance to house sit in Connecticut for some of our oldest friends. Whilst listening to July birdsong and scrolling through my insta feed, I stumbled upon the Ogden Cami Hack month hosted by Kelli of True Bias. It reminded me that 1: it was JULY, and 2: I hadn't made my annual Ogden maxi dress! I found this butterfly fabric at Madame Joanns, and lemme tell you what, the Madame, she was maybe a little tipsy when she released this fabric. The print is obviously my jam. But the hand of it feels like a cross between vellum paper and popcorn. I refuse to do a burn test on it cuz I don't wanna know.

There's a decent chance I'll modify again, and hack this up into a floaty-sleeved top before I ever get a full-length snap of it....

Pattern: Camille Swimsuit by Sirena Patterns

Fabric: Stretch House, NY, 218 W 37th street

I guess my penchant for modifications is showing....in July, Makerist invited me to be a guest ambassador for their "Make It Yours" challenge. The brief was to modify a pattern and, you guessed it: make it yours. I was looking forward to jumping in a creek during our staycation, but ten thousand mosquitos had other ideas, so maybe next year she'll get wet.

(yes, that is what she said.)

Pattern: Pants, RTW Shorts Copy. Dress, Self Drafted

Fabric: @waxprintslacesnmore

WHACK! Suddenly it was the first week of August! I was in a race against time to sew for my birthday! Twelve yards of wax print arrived at our very temporary address, and I cut two dresses, one pair of pants, and a pair of shorts. In other words: MATCHING OUTFITS. Over the course of 24 hours, I sewed two out of four: this dress (another practice run for the bodice tutorial) and Rob's pants. Rob's pants suffered for my sewing delirium, that pose unwittingly disguises some very questionable print placement.

I didn't get the other dress and shorts knocked out in time, so we got...coordinating outfits? Cuz these prints so go together.

I got my matching outfit moment anyways, at the end of the long-promised bodice modification tutorial. This is also where I finally noticed, during editing, the unfortunate crotch area.

These might be #oonapants now.

Pattern: Self drafted bodice + half circle skirt

Fabric: Outdoor canvas from Madame Joann

Rob, probably seeking a break from all that matching, went away on a Rude Red adventure, and I was all tutorial-ed out. I spent a week eating like a frat boy and making this dress, for a stitch-to-finish video. I have to say I love doing these speed ramped semi-music-videos. I know they're not step-by-step, but they give me a little breather, and hopefully they're inspiring!

And now, it's time to sew something! Unfortunately for me, the "something" is hemming Rob's dress pants. Fortunately for me, this means we are about to dress up. Silver lining, baby. SILVER LINING.

Simplicity 8014: The Not-So-Rambunctious Dress

This is the dress that makes people behave.

Richie. RICHIE. WE GOTTA LEAVE. WE GOTTA LEAVE RIGHT NOW, I GOTTA SEE THIS HAIR. LET'S GO RICHIE.

I smiled despite my New Yorker game face, and turned to acknowledge the pair of gentlemen suddenly following me.

Are you filmin' sumthin? My hair admirer asked. No, I'm shooting my dress, I made it.

YA MADE IT? WELL THAT'S BEEYOOTIFUL! Oh, beeyootiful! Wouldn'tcha liketa shoot it in front of our buliding? Come on, it's right here, hop up on there on that planter! Here, I'll do it for ya! HEY WHAT BUTTON DO I PUSH?!!!

Maybe it's something about the solid color, but this is the dress that makes people behave. And act wonderfully. Could it be that all this time, all I needed was a solid maxi dress to tame the beasts of New York? Right after meeting my artsy gentlemen (who did, indeed, take a picture of me in front of their artsy installation, and then led me back to their 4 building wide courtyard chock FULL of whimsical color, to take another--sadly, blurry--photo) wait, that was a really long parenthetical, lemme start again.

Right after meeting my artsy gentlemen, I walked through a throng of 50 teenagers covering the sidewalk, then a battalion of construction workers on break. Such exemplary behavior! Girls and boys stepped to the side! Hard hats gave nods of gentle appreciation! Only one whistle! On the way home, a man stopped me in the middle of the crosswalk to tell me how fabulous I looked!

I'm not saying this to toot-toot-hey-beep-beep my own horn, I'm saying this because YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT SOLID COLORS. I told Ruggy about the magical powers of this dress, and when he opened his mouth to say you should make another I literally cut him off by stomping my feet on the floor in resistance. Babe, he continued, you should make another in a print, I think the dramatic silhouette is what's hitting people.

WELL LAH DEE DAH TIM GUNN! 

By the way, this is Simplicity 8014, maxified. It almost looks like I need an FBA in this, TO WHICH I LAUGH HEARTILY. I actually have a teeny safety pin above the super low neck snap, for audition purposes (you know, you like them to look at your face when you sing, and not necessarily your left boob when you turn to the side). But normally, I'd wear this indecently open. The pockets gave me a bit of grief-- way too small for my paws! I went back in after the whole shebang was finished, and sewed them in to the side seams at 5/8ths-- they were making a weird curve at the hip with the suggested 3/8ths. 

I also took the back in a bit, adding a center pleat on the back bodice.I had a little instagram vote on sleeves, and once again went with the advice of my own personal Tim Gunn, who weighed in on the opinion of the Cut In Sleeves party. They say it'll be too Rambo. 

He raised an eyebrow. And that's a bad thing because....?

(Rambo at the ready, in front of the art installation! Perhaps when I make one in a print, I'll head back to the courtyard for a shoot...)

I do think I'll be making another. I feel elegant walking around in this! Do you have an ensemble that makes people behave differently than you'd expect?

‪ménage à‬ shoes...

YES YES Y'ALL AN YOU DON'T STOP GOT STREP DON'T CARE IF I FEEL HOT

scusi, been listening to de la soul 24/7 and there it is.  my brain, hip hopped up on tunes and natural remedies.  

CAUSE THIS SHIZZ IS VIRAL, YO.

i'm actually feeling mui better now, but man, last week?  during the stitching of this?  WAS A DOOZY.  this was another case of a challenge i tried to prepare ahead for, with not one, but two outfits inspired by my sky high wedges... and another week where my left brain disagreed with my right and went merrily off in its own stubborn, woozy direction.

during what was certainly the height of my strep, i made the lace bolero/shrug out of guipere trim.  the lovely carolyn gifted it to me months, maybe even a year ago, and it was glaring at me.  i wanted to use this competition to push myself to be a better sewist, and hand piecing lace fit the bill.  see that triptych at the bottom?  lacey didn't come like that.  after draping the front sections to my liking, i held my infectious breath, cut into the lace...

and dove in.  once the cut was made at the shoulders, i pieced the back section together (unfortunately, my stylist did not catch the one little dangling blossom stuck in my dress, MEH INVISIBLE STYLIST).  tack on eight more hours of playing jigsaw with carefully dissected bits and bobs, reattaching them by hand to the lace to create shapes and seams: triangles at bottom front, waves round the underarms, the armhole, the shoulder & sleeve seams....and you have my sickly saturday. 

do me a solid and scroll back on up and see if you can find the sleeve seam.  I CAN'T YO.  

but let's talk about the kicks!  the inspiration for le challenge!  i don't know if you've noticed, but i don't like to be matchy matchy.  ruggy has certainly noticed.  babe, he said,  i like your outfit.  

really?  i'm really worried about this one!  REALLY REALLY!  (we've been saying everything twice like the olympics sports announcers.  "that was tremendously tremendous!")

no babe, it's great.

so you like the shoes?  you get it?

no.  but i never like your shoes.

MEH.  WHAT A THING TO TELL A SICK GIRL.

the pairing makes perfect sense to me, but then again i'm a bit nonsensical.  i love print mixing, and i love print matching...what can i say, imma mixed chick.  these shoes provided the opportunity for all kinds of interfabic harmony!

lookit the care they took in wrapping those cottony babies!  the shoes are perfect examples of print placement.  i wanted to put the same thought into this mexican cotton from hancock's, and man. SO MANY CHOICES.  i draped and redraped the skirt meself, being careful to match the more pronounced stripes up with the princess seams of the top, till i came up with the right stripey combo. pockets are a wonderful thing, i gots em. and these ones are big enough for a pint.

to play with the outlandish proportions of the supertall shoes, i went with midi skirt and teeny top.  i horsehaired the hem, can't seem to get enough of the stuff, and ironed it at the pleat edges on the bottom, creating a permanent crimp so the skirt would balloon out a bit without the help of a crinoline.

PLEATS TO THE LEFT OF ME, CHEVRONS TO THE RIGHT!  COTTON, AND YARN BOMBED EARRINGS!

i highly recommend yarn bombing some earrings.

the green and purple bits took center stage to contrast the tone of the shoes.  and heya heya... guess who used a facing.  YEP.  that little V in simplicity 1803 needed something, and it wasn't gonna be a full lining as i'd like to wear this medium weight cotton dress come summer.  (y'all remember summer?) much as i hate me a facing, the insides are PRETTY.  turquoise overlocked seams and magenta bias enclosed armholes!  i'll have some gutsy shots for you later in the week, along with some lacy operation bits...

and wouldja like to see the outfit that didn't make the cut?  mebbe i'll show ya?  it's PANTS!  I WAS HELLBENT ON SHOWING YOU I COULD MAKE PANTS!  at one point on saturday i said to ruggy i could hack this skirt off and make it into culottes.  ruggy gaped.  No.  No  One  Likes  Culottes.

french lace, mexican cotton, and ikat shoes... or are they more native american?  tribal?  either way, that's my threesome, my ‪ménage à‬ shoes for week the third, and i've got my fingers and toes crossed y'all like it enough to throw a vote my way.... EEEEEEK!   or as the olympic announcers say, EEK EEK!  week three is here, head on over to project sewn and make yer choice!

seductive sleeves

ooooh aren't i pretty.  i think soooo much of myself.  i am the most beeyootiful girl in the whole wide world!  you love me!  you want to marry me!  YOU KNOW IT!

just look at my cute little sleeves, they are so coy, so flirtatious, they tempt you with their unexpected pleats, you didn't even see them coming and now you can think of nothing else!!!

never mind the fact that i probably put them in backwards which resulted in an armsyce (that's armhole for you laypeople) that's lower than the dead sea.  just never you mind that, lovey!

wooooeeeee and wider than the grand canyon.  avert your burning hot gaze!  look, instead, upon the pleats!  the delicious pleats!  THEY ARE EXQUISITE!  aaaaaah, le sigh, you are too entranced by the sight of unintended flesh: is that an arm bulge?  is that her back?  armpit cleavage?  that is SO hot.

I SAID I KNOW YOU LOVE IT!!!

now, i made this about two weeks ago, and i do wish i could remember if the extreme dip is the fault of the pattern or the fault of the gin...so maybe y'all can tell me.  anyone out there tried this diddy?  don't get me wrong, i lurve it, i'm keeping it, i've rocked it not once, but twice in public now, leaving people lying in my stunning wake because I AM AWESOME I THOUGHT WE ALREADY ESTABLISHED THAT, but maybe i'll just raise that curve a li'l bit next time we dance.

(although it is a little snug. i may have dried it on hot while i was on vacation.  i guess i could wear it soaking wet and try to stretch it out again--)

I'VE GONE TOO FAR.  STOP DROOLING.  GO TAKE A COLD SHOWER.

notes of notish notiness:

pattern: simplicity 2337, of the project runway line

fabric: medium weight sweaterey jerseyish knit from the ever janky, ever closing It's A Material World

notions: twin needle, jersey needle

tips: don't dry sweater knit on hot. 

kick off your shoes and jump around like a firecracker

extra boozy points for anyone who can name that song.

this fourth of july, i decided to go a bit less literal.  i’ve tried the red, white ‘n blue route before, but the outfit usually ends up doomed to the costume section of my closet (there’s also a cow print skirt in there for when i have to audition for the role of Hooker With A Heart Of Gold).  however, italian fireworks are very much my friend.  so when i saw this symphony of italian stretch cotton color online at mood fabrics, i gleefully jumped into four yards of starburst.

i had previously pounced on a double face neoprene as well, found in-store before my dash to dallas.  when the two met in my hotel room, sparks flew.  one can never stand in the way of true love, especially when one of the star crossed lovers possesses the overpowering personality of neon.  i put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and left them alone for awhile.  

i must tell you now that this neoprene has the smoothest of touch.  absolutely slippery against the skin.  barry white, stand back.  the front desk received several complaints that day.

chastised, Neon decided to show its demure side.  the grey tone brought the noise level down just enough to make everyone happy (including those debating with me on facebook & instagram).  this split personality yardage was the perfect candidate for by hand london’s newest (fabulous amazing holy cow get in nownownow) pattern, the victoria blazer, the third lover in this threesome.   how amazing are those style lines?!  i adore that neckline dart! and once again, a perfect right-out-of-the-envelope stunner.  not a SINGLE adjustment.  unless you count the fact that i took advantage of the schizophrenic fabric to go for lining and shell all-in-one...  i will most definitely be making another with full on lining.

lemme just gush screamtype for a couple sentences more: THE DELECTABLE LADIES OF BY HAND LONDON ROCK MY WORLD.  THEIR BRILLIANT HANDS SHOULD BE DIPPED IN GOLD.  GOLD, I TELL YOU.

okay, let’s chat about the stretch cotton, we don’t want it to get jealous.  this italian can confirm, jealousy in a relationship is a killer.  i’d snagged simplicity 2212 on a joann’s grab-every-blue-envelope-sale-run, and the stretch was perfect for its figure hugging curves.  it's a medium weight, and it feels substantial on the skin (read: no underoo lines).  not a single little bit of color bleed in the prewash!  i spent a good five hours laying out my pattern pieces–although i knew i didn’t have enough to match up the print on this 14 piece pattern, i didn’t want any twinning going on.

or any firecrackers exploding in the wrong areas.  mount crackatoa is dangerous.  safety first, yo.

 happy fourth to those stateside!  may you be covered in color!

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

cheater cheater pumpkin eater

***as my fancy english friend says, STOP PRESS!  there is a delightful giveaway of some truly delicious retro patterns going on right now over at sew essentially.  if you don't know what to make for promaballoona, graca has you covered!  and miss graca... i do believe this puts you waaaay ahead in the running for Most Awesome Party-er.  we now resume our irregularly scheduled post.***

seriously, why pumpkin?  why not something more dishonest... like splenda?

i have many confessions to make about this dress, simplicity 1880 of the project runway line.  first off, speaking of, i did NOT see project runway last night, as we do not have lifetime.  huge boo and hiss.  i won't have a chance to see it online till SUNDAY.  weep for me.

hello slip!  i need a hot pink slip for this dress.  i like how it peeks out at the neckline... but a peek of color is ever so much more flattering than a peek of flesh tone lycra.

second confession.  you're going to be seeing a lot of these around the web today, i bet, as part of sunni's spectacular sewalong party.  i'm joining in, but i did not make this dress along with all the fabulous partygoers. nope, i'm just a brat.  i started this dress in the beginning of june, fueled by a recent viewing of punch drunk love (one of the best movies IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE.  THE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN UNIVERSE, I TELL YOU).

i used the selvage to finish the sleeves... love the gathering there.  hey, and this is the truth! at the time of stitching i did think sunni would really enjoy the delicate gathering on this bodice.  and BOOM, she picks it for a sewalong.  dr oona von dooma, master of puppets?  maybe....

or maybe i just like to twirl a lot.

actually, i loved making this dress and  i did think about joining up to make another, but i had already stalled on completing this one-- the center front was drooping down and i needed to rip out the waist and add a snapparoo... sunni had some wonderful tips on the finishing of it all, so i used the sewalong to fuel the finish of this make.  

and another truth which is probably completely self evident: i am so. impatient.  i haz no playalong skillz!!!  let me distract you with my contrasting back yoke!  happy about that decision.  not so sure, however, about that center back seam on the skirt.  the skirt has a lovely shape, but if you're like me and you insist on making dresses out of air that need a slip (this is some sort of netting found at levine's loft), and you possess a mount crackatoa of your very own, center back seams on skirts are not your friend.

but this pattern, like every simplicity PR jammie i've tried, is indeed your friend.  don't let the envelope fool you. whenever miss joann has a ten for ten sale, i go in and grab every blue envelope that does not have a child on it. you get so many options with this line, it's like getting three patterns in every joint.  i may just read through sunni's shirtdress version and finally tackle some buttons.  because her white shirtdress is giving me the vapors.

final truth: this house is not purple.  it is a stolid colonial blue.   come on, purple is so much better.

happy weekend!

you dress like a tourist

no for real, you do.   if you dress up, that is.  

i decided the best way to wrap up my oona does it!s on le blog would be to talk about where i wear them.  that way i might actually wear them somewhere, as opposed to my current abysmal average. 

so!  i wore my goldschlagger dress out to a birthday dinner with Holy Cow She's So Freaking Brilliant Friend and her husband, I Can't Believe You Cooked That Awesome Shit Chef.  (they were our thanksgiving guests.  we had a LOT to be thankful for.)

Brilliant Chica's birthday falling frequently on or about thanksgiving seems to have meant little to no birthday plans in the past.  as you know, in kalkatroona, this will not do.  i coaxed her into my campbell apartment dress (which fit Her Hotness like a glove), we raided the vintage jewelry stash, dressed the boys up as much as we could, and headed to one of our favorite french restaurants.

as we strolled down the avenue, i imagined us singlehandedly (well, double handedly.  quadruply? there were two of us) bringing back the age of style.  something like mad men, but without mad men acting like asses.  just very sane men like ruggy and Mad Chef bringing gallantry back.  they've already got sexy, in spades.

we got stares.  from several drag queens.  do you know what it takes to get noticed by a new york city drag queen?

i mean, my dress was faced in faux lavender leather.  (yeah, that's understitching, yo. i got skillz.)

check the orange and gold zipper.  and what UP matching gold shoes?!

she in teal lace, and i in sparkly gold?  truly we were the epitome of class, and should have been treated as such.  

mais, non.  we arrived at the restaurant and were seated by the kitchen.  birthday girl's entree was a total hackjob, which had to be sent back.  after our waiter, some new upselling species of shark, gave birthday girl the third degree on what was wrong with her moules frites, i decided i truly did not like him.  i lost all betty draper composure and barked GOAT CHEESE TART at him when he returned for the new order.  twice, as he tried to upsell Brilliant Chica to the special.  i did not want him talking to Brilliant Chica any longer.  he had lost that privilege.

eventually the owner, whom ruggy & i know and very much enjoy, came over and made everything nice again.   shark attack was all smiles after that. 

i would have liked to bash his teeth in.

were we too dressed?  did shark attack take us for rubes?  as i glanced at our surroundings, i saw peeps dressed in tattered jeans and t shirts, bags of black friday loot by their feet, looking at us like we were a little loco.  when did these tables turn?

oh yeah by the way, this is simplicity's project runway line, numero 2444, and holy cow do i love this line.  this pattern has pockets, always a plus, and was hella fun to sew and wear.  the home deco fabric i scored at joann's is the highly flammable bomb to work with.  but maybe better suited for drapes.  it itches like a motha.  i did the sleeves, mainly because i wanted to prove to myself i could do sleeves (i can't, those poofy pleats are totally born of me shrugging my shoulders and forcing the caps to fit), but now i think i might hack them off.  i feel a little too girly in it.

it's hard to kick a shark's ass when you're all girly.  next time, all sharks in the vicinity will see my guns.  

but they will be gussied up guns, dammit.  GUSSIED.  UP.