belle epoque

Do you know that song? Do you have any idea what the heck it is actually about?  If you do, please tell me. I don’t, but it seemed to fit with today’s post so there you are.

Last week I went for a loooong overdue haircut (I last went in…September?), so my hair was just all long and hanging there like a beat-up Raggedy Ann and he said, “Well, we have to do something about this! You’re not a hippie chick.” And this is true, but it wasn’t always true. In college I had two floor-length tie-dye dresses (some of my East coast friends saw this as a sign of California conversion)! But to be honest I was probably always a little bit too into grooming and shiny platform shoes to ever consider myself a hippie chick– I just liked to don the costume on occasion, and in smaller ways sometimes I still do.

So when I saw this pattern I knew I HAD to have it, and even if I wore the dress with my not-at-all-hippie-chick layered haircut I might feel just the teensiest bit boho

Now, the version I was planning to sew originally was the floor-length one with the ruffle on the bottom. But I had to do all kinds of cheating because I used a stretch fabric (not in any way recommended for this pattern) and had I added the ruffle everything would have fallen apart. So, it is less boho than I originally intended. I think it would look entirely preppie, in fact, in a cheerful printed cotton voile, and absolutely elegant in a watery blue patterned silk in the super-long ruffly version. Maybe one day!

But back to the actuality of it– it is very, very comfy, and I think would be particularly great in wildly hot weather, as the fabric is extremely light. The pattern is only a few pieces and very easy to put together (even cheating like I did), so I’d recommend it if you’re feeling the hippie chick vibe yourself this spring!

I  know!  I promised you skirts, plural, but all I have for you is skirt, singular.  But it is a really great skirt, are you ready?

Now it is time for me to sing the praises of the wonderful book Sew What! Skirts. Oh, this book is fabulous. The authors teach you how to make all kinds of skirts based on your very own measurements, so they fit like a dream and don’t do weird bindy or gappy things, or cling in the wrong spots (I’m looking at you Burda skirt patterns). Anyway, I said “skirts” yesterday because after making the skirt above out of a vintage tablecloth I found at Goodwill for basically free, I was all revved up to make more in different styles. Eventually I will, it just didn’t happen today.

The centered zipper technique in this book is great too– I always have zipper issues, which if you aren’t a sewer you don’t know are HORRIBLE. For non sewers: you most often put in the zipper when you’re almost done with the whole dress or skirt, when you really really want to be finished with the darn thing, so you’re impatient but also totally nervous about messing everything up at this stage at the game. Anyway, I often end up with wiggly zippers wet with tears. But the zipper in the back of this skirt? Smooth and subtle as can be, thanks to the very clever authors and their fool-proof centered zipper advice. Lovely.

So, if you are a relatively beginnerish seamster like me (i.e. you’re not a professional tailor or in design school and drafting your own intricate patterns) and you like skirts, definitely buy this book. You will be ever so happy that you did! And be honest about your measurements– it is more depressing to try on the skirt and find it unflatteringly snug than it is to write down a measurement that is a wee bit bigger than you’d like (not, um, from personal experience with my own vanity or anything).

*Update: A Sew What! Skirts Sewalong is starting April 30th! So head over to Flickr to join the group!

I have wanted a DVF wrap dress since the summer of 2000, when a terribly chic Swedish girl I knew had one in a kind of coral and black exaggerated herringbone pattern. She had a lovely svelte figure and wore nearly all designer clothes, but without any trendoid or fashion victim overtones– it was effortless, and as though she just sort of threw them on and looked wonderful (which is something stylish people obviously achieve with clothes of nearly any pedigree, as you can see in Wardrobe Remix!). Anyway, since then I actually have tried on the DVF dresses and been disappointed with the fit, or didn’t care for the fabric, or just felt a bit faint at the cost. But then I found this fabric I decided it was just time to make my own!

I used Vogue 8379, which fits perfectly.  The fabric is extremely soft and comfy (and machine washable, yay!). I could swear I’ve seen this fabric somewhere before, as a garment in a store– was it Forever 21? If you remember, let me know. It also reminds me of Anthropologie, with the overblown flower pattern in soft pastelly yellow and lavender. I can’t wait to wear it somewhere fun, and like the Built By Wendy top I made awhile ago, I want to make at least 4 versions of this dress so I can wear it almost every day. But I shall control myself, especially since I haven’t any more cotton jersey in my stash.

If you have a hankering to make one and would like more info on putting together the pattern, head over to my review on Pattern Review.com. I’ve only just started spending time there and I really like it– the people are very friendly and the reviews are very helpful if you’re wondering whether a pattern will work for you.

Tomorrow?  Skirts!

My friend Anne participates in “Things I Like Monday,” which I think is a lovely idea. I love the idea of themes for a day, though I’ve not been able to stick to other ones I admire, as I am not much of an illustrator, and it seemed to stressful to have to clean up or decorate a corner each Thursday (which I think is exactly the opposite of the point of that theme!). But as I like lots of things, I thought I’d give this Monday theme a try. Today I like:
*Polka dots

for obvious reasons

*Cables

because they look so fancy but are really so easy and soothing to knit.
*Friends who return from Big Trips and meet me for crepes at Ti Couz
*The dress I have almost finished making (just have to set in the sleeves and hem it)- I can’t wait to show it to you!

Hope there are many wonderful things for you to like about today!

I’ve been doing this and that the past few days, like…

*A lovely breakfast with Nancy today at The Grove on Chestnut, where they made art out of my mocha,

and I presented her with a jar of the strawberry preserves I made the other day:

She is kindly being a guinea pig, as I’m afraid the recipe wasn’t quite right– the sugar/strawberry ratio led it not to gel properly, and to taste something like cotton candy. Next time I’m using Martha’s recipe!

*Experimenting with the wee tiny metal jewelry stamps I received recently:

I love bon mots and words/phrases/sayings in general, so being able to arrange the letters and bang them into jewelry is a dreamy way to spend a few hours. Either there is a surprising dearth of information on the internet about this particular jewelry craft, or I’m just not searching the right terms. If any of you know of a good resource for tips on metal stamping, or metal stamping supplies (I think somewhere they sell something that darkens the stamped bits so you can see them better), please share! This is definitely something that requires a bit of practice (above you see my first try, and evidence of my sad spatial relations skills), but that I can see having all kinds of applications I haven’t thought of yet. I only wish my letter set was a smidge bigger than it is! And I could find some better, chubbier metal blanks.

*Swooning over the Jen Corace t-shirt and letterpress print set over on Tiny Showcase today- they just keep getting better and better!

*Admiring the lovely handmade goods for a good cause over at The Wonderland Retreat Etsy Shop. Particularly Susan’s awesome skirt kits!

*Thinking about making a skirt or two, or three…

After a splendid blowout Friday evening at Boulette’s Larder (want to know who the original Boulette is? Click here.) we spent the weekend here

doing mostly this

photos courtesy of Moondoggie
Then we came home and I sat on our little deck admiring our little garden, wearing a big hat, drinking lemon water and reading Alexander McCall Smith, whose writing I adore so much that I think I might enjoy his shopping lists and tax returns.

The weekend was not totally without craft, as I received my much-anticipated copy of The Apron Book from the lovely lights at Adorn magazine(oh! it deserves a post all its own), and started in on drying two huge bunches of mint cut from the wildly overgrown “garden” at the beach. I have some fantasies about making my own vintageof mint tea, but we’ll see…

Not much crafty going on around here the past few days!  I’ve been doing eminently productive but unphotogenic spring cleaning- lugging bags to the charity shop, and the trash.

But my wonderful husband got me a thrilling brand new camera that has all kinds of amazing features that are crying out to be used. Plus some of you, I know, are in places where spring is not behaving properly, so I went out on a walk and took pictures for you. Click on the picture below to pop over to the flickr set and browse around if you need a little dose of sunshine!

I plan to wear my tulip dress to a special dinner at Boulette’s Larder tonight. Inspired by Nancy’s news about the big bead expo, I broke out my jewelry supplies and made a pair of earrings to go with my outfit. And then made a few more…

Strawberries to go with dress, and oranges because oranges are great.

And some shell shoulder dusters, because once I got started I couldn’t stop. I definitely have more earrings than I wear, so the oranges and the shells will likely make their way up on to etsy sometime soon!

And because the macro feature on the new camera is so wonderful, a wee garden update. There are new colors of nasturtiums blooming every day:

bright yellow with a deep red center, and I’m waiting impatiently for this one, which looks like it will be a scarlet stunner:

Whew! That’s enough for now–I hoped to have time to make a little bag to go with my dress (it strikes me as a dress that can stand some matchy-matchy), but I may not get around to it…

And oh! I almost forgot– the amazing Emily of The Black Apple has started a new blog to track her outfits and clothing loves. I adore her mod-victorian-bohemian aesthetic, so I’ll be visiting as often as she updates! Do check it out.

Happy Weekend Friends!

I’ve wanted a pair of city shorts for awhile now, and seeing the latest array on Anthropologie’s website tipped the scales. I broke out my trusty Simplicity 3867 envelope and cut out the shorts from some stripey canvas I got at the thrift to approximate these.
The result?

Circus pants! They are very, very comfy (perhaps just a little bit roomier than necessary?) and were super easy to make.  Thank goodness, because I had a crafty crisis yesterday that I’m still trying to rectify (hopefully I’ll figure it out, or else I’ll have to consider my prized red and white polka dot fabric a sacrifice to the fickle gods and goddesses of craft).  Wish me luck!

 And wait! There is something else I have to tell you- I’ve never hidden my love for Tiny Showcase, and tonight? They’ll be posting a print from Amy Ross. Her work is the perfect combination of beautiful and strange that makes you look twice. The prints always sell out over there just about instantly, so pop over as soon as you can once 7:30 eastern, 4:30 pacific hits!

I finally finished the tulip dress, though not in time to actually wear it today. Ah well!

It is from a Butterick retro pattern(4790 if the link doesn’t work for you) from 1952, and considered “very easy.” It was easy as it didn’t require a zipper or anything fancy, though it did take quite a lot of fabric!  I need to iron down the darts (looking at the picture I see there is a rather unfortunate bubble at the top of one!), and it needs to fit just a little more snugly at the waist, so I’m going to fiddle with it a bit before calling it done and hanging it in the closet. I am not quite as thrilled as I’d hoped, but once it fits properly hopefully it will grow on me!

In other springy news, things are going very well in the deck garden these days. We now have a rainbow of nasturtiums,

full morning glory leaf sprouts

and lovely green sweet pea sprouts (new this week!).

Now I just have to be patient and take care of them until they twine up the trellis and start to flower in 90 days or so. Seems like such a long time!

Oh! And yesterday night we went to see The Killers in concert, and they were fantastic. One of the opening acts was Howling Bells. The lead singer has an eerie, lovely voice that reminds me of The Sundays and The Innocence Mission. You can hear some of their music if you have the sound up on your computer when you go to their website. Sadly they are not on iTunes, and it appears Amazon thinks their album is only available as a spendy import (I wish I’d bought a CD last night!), but certainly if they’re opening for the Killers some US label will release it here sooner or later. I’m always on the hear-out (ha) for new-to-me music, so I thought I’d share in case you are too!