thread palette no. 3

there's not much sewing going on here, as i'm coordinating emails and places and, umm, technicolor fake flowers. because a big blogger meetup always needs fake flowers.

but you can find me sewing away at a couple other places at the moment: karen of did you make that? has given me ugly amnesty for a particularly horrible tunic a la rainbow brite.  i think she may have been inebriated when she bestowed that honor.  however, her write up is absolutely hilarious and quick witted, so maybe she just holds her liquor really well.

god i like her.

and the latest oona does it! is up as well.  written at electronic gunpoint.

i'm off to do more coordinating.  peeps!  if you've requested info for friday, and haven't received an email from me yet, holler in the comments!  it seems some emails have been eaten by the interwebz...

a wee tease

i stopped by the ridiculously awesome paron fabrics today to alert the good people there: we will be taking them by storm this friday.  they're the first stop on the garment district hit list, and the only stop i shall tease you with here.  if you've never been, and you can't join us, find a way to GO.  it's mood, condensed like the sweetest of milks, a quarter of the size and a quarter of the price.  the hallway annex is an absolute steal.   the top two fabrics are both rayon (viscose and sateen).  is rayon a valued fiber?  i don't know, usually the stuff i get is mystery meat (and oh yes, there will be some of that action going on friday as well) so i don't think too much about content. i'm probably the only customer there who heads towards the man made and polys.  you should see the designer silks, oh my god. 

but the stuff underneath?  oh, the stuff underneath.  i know this stuff is precious.

                                       

when i walked in the joint, mssrs. gary and marc were poring over this fantastosity.  it's silk.  woven into this.  it has a removable backing, we assumed to help keep its shape?  the two yard cuts had just arrived today and i grabbed one... at a considerable discount... which i have no doubt the lovely gents at paron will extend to us all...

oh what shall i do.  maybe ichicogirl's free shrug pattern, finally?  i just can't stop touching it.  i don't even care that it's not technicolor!  

speaking of which.  you may have noticed the yardage of black lurking underneath that brilliant chartreuse and creme fraiche mix.  for the first time ever, i've been asked to be part of a bridal party (in real life, girls did not consider me friend material until just recently.)  in this party, we are to wear... black.  hey.  what can you do. what the bride n groom want, the bride n groom get.  this is the one area i'm all in, and unlike my last attempt in black, this one will HAVE to see the light of day. now: anybody got a pattern that will make me feel like i'm not wearing black?  yet appropo for standing up at the ceremony?

(ps: would you like to join hosts debi, meg and mena at friday's festivities?  would you like to eat and very likely drink the day away?  be sure to send me your email and i'll send you the details!)

The Saddest Thing in Life

Did you know this? I did not know this. Fortunately a couple ladies from the 50s did, and they wrote a sewing book. I found it in my magical Canadian library, and I am now learn-ed in the tragedies of hippiness. Matter of fact, they can school you on all manner of figure flaws. How I wish I could have taken this fount of information home with me...

We're currently watching Mad Men (not even on the end of season two yet, no spoilers por favor). Rob suggested it, and having seen the amazing inspired creations in the blogosphere, I was down. Now, I spend 2 hours a night in furious silence, blurting out at the lead: HE IS A DICKHEAD I HOPE SHE STABS HIM IN THE NECK every so often. What the hell with men in the fifties? What the hell with women in the fifties?  

That said, can you imagine the amazing Joan adhering to the rules in a book like this? I don't know what's in store for her character; maybe she loses all her morals like everyone else in this show (she was just passed over for the script reading position and I wanted to firebomb the TV) but god I love her.

I'm in the middle of a project that breaks several no-no's for the "short one / wee bit" depicted in these pages. Hopefully, I'll be breaking the broad-shouldered rule in the near future.  

That "wrong" picture is FABULOUS. I'm SO making that. 

Please do click on the pics to enlarge, I've uploaded them full strength in order to pass these words of wisdom on. What can i say, I'm a giver.  

tweeeeeeeeeet

i, oonaballoona, having not sewn for 19 days, do solemnly swear to make a finished garment from this fabric today.

(this is not like my S3 pledge where i packed a suitcase for the first two weeks of september with one handmade top.)

dorkoona and the goddess isis

dear calgary airport,

you are a hot friggin mess.

love, oona.

after a whole lotta back and forth and crazy work scheduling on my end, the lovely and fascinating tanit-isis and i had a wee 45 minutes in calgary's airport on the day i flew home.  i don't have to tell you how paltry that amount of time was.  she found me at the air canada kiosk, ferociously punching buttons on the touch screen and shoving passports into the scanner.  after repeating "i can't believe you're standing in front of me" enough to sound like rainman, i calmed down, we left ruggy in the customs line, and grabbed some tim hortons tea (the coffee is rumored to have MSG in it.  fascinating).  we fired off questions at each other in a race against time, lamenting the fabric depot just minutes away.  

in rare meetings of international sewing minds like this, priority one is le ensemble.  what did miss isis wear?

sha-BLAOW. you would not believe the absolute perfection of stitching going on here. um, do you see those fabulous tights? and i didn't even get a shot of the coat of dreams!  you guys, that coat is ridonkulous. it lay casually draped over the chair, softly gleaming, my hands twitching, evil oona on my shoulder scheming how to get it into the suitcase.  mais, isis is wise. she brought gifts to distract me.  only, like, the most insane print i've ever seen. and, surely due to her goddess powers of psychic precognition, something for ruggy as well.  

good thing.  when we were done with our tea, we strolled over to the customs line to find ruggy searching for us in a panic.  apparently there were big goings on in calgary that day.  the line that looked about 15 feet long turned into a snaking disneyland horror once you rounded the bend.  he had spent 45 minutes in it, only to be told he couldn't go through customs without wifey. actually, it worked out GREAT for me.  he did all the waiting and raced us through to the front, blocking TSA agents left and right like hines ward.  thanks babe!  you rock!  hope your blood pressure's chilled!

god was i a princess that day. ruggy did all the work and i got all the goodies.  and what did i have to give? NOTHING.  i didn't even have something oonamade to wear!  that's a target top up there.  avec bad bra.  total fail. however, it's probably for the best that i didn't know about our proximity till we were already on canadian soil sans outfit.  my sewing skills pale in comparison, and as i don't like to pale in anything, it would have come to UFC blows in the departures lounge.  judging from tanit's all around awesomeness, i think it would have been a really good fight.  i probably would have worn my bombshell dress.  come to think of it, that number might've helped us get through customs quicker.  but, i'd be all bloody and bruised from the kicking and punching.  six of one, half dozen of the other.

did that happen?  did i really meet tanit-isis wearing a pajama top and american eagle jeans?  isis, use your psychic powers to get you to the new york meetup!  we will get many pictures in many outfits!  i promise not to resort to jealousy induced violence! 

mr blue sky

sewing, here?  no.  but holy SHIT would that be awesome.  i pulled a mena and got a few oona does it!s in before our trip.  

(can i tell you how happy it makes me to type that exclamation point in every time?  i never thought i would be the type to consistently insert the existing punctuation in a title, but there it is. ) 

this one almost didn't happen, but the guy who inspired this challenge doesn't take no for an answer.  after cutting out the burdastyle pattern in my usual size, i realized this is one of the rare EXTREMELY slim fit jammies of their pre-magazine-marries-website collection.  there was no hope at the waist and hips.  so, i added a long rectangle, isosceles to be exact, between each side seam, tapering to nothing at the bodice (my itty bitties having escaped the slim fit unscathed). 

but now, my other guy is calling me to breakfast before a long day of work.  catch the rest of the dress & story over at the sew weekly, and godsakes, sew something for me today!  with a little liquid refreshment, mais oui.  it's 12 o'clock somewhere.

the ICE is gonna BREAK (no actually, it does)

welcome, my friends. welcome to the columbia icefields.

hop on board this monster (top speed 12 kph)

and keep your eyes skyward as you climb the second steepest incline on a dirt road in the world.  it felt like we were ramping up on a rollercoaster.  a rollercoaster covered in ice.

 some peeps used their feet, cautiously navigating the crevasses.  

we used our brains.  ruggy brought several water bottles (we had relieved them of their contents earlier in the week) and was happy to brave the frigid temperatures.   he came away victorious, and quite red handed.  the glacial water is DELICIOUS.  we're making coffee with it. 

this guy was the first of the behemoths to roll up the glacier.  i like the looks of him.

he watches over the melting peaks now, the glacial winds (below 76 F) and hot days stripping them both.

i would like to make a fabric of this landscape and walk around in it forever.

this is like the best place on earth.

I have in my hot little hands: Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting.  Norma R Hollen's Flat Pattern Making. And a couple more on draping and cutting, for good measure. For free. From the amazing library I just happen to have at my disposal. Did I mention this magical library is surrounded by mountain peaks? It is.

Rob offered to carry my books back to our room. Although my response should have been Delighted Schoolgirl Hands Them Over Giggling, I hugged the books to my chest and told him I would like to hold them FOREVER. Later on, my coworkers noticed my loot and asked if I made clothes, the next question of course being did you make what you're wearing? And I had to reply: yes, and no. Because I am an idiot. I signed myself up for "Self Stitched September," packed a suitcase for two weeks, and brought like 3 things self made, 2 of which are not really everyday wearable.

No biggie. I'll make stuff when I get back. With the help of Winifred.

i'm far too relaxed to think of a title

o the lovely thread palette i left sitting on my desk.  and i don't even care.

ruggy and i are high amidst the canadian rockies for the next two weeks.  today we've seen magpies and sat in the shade of mountains enjoying a chorizo and artichoke pizza.  now we're heading out to sample what the local brewery has to offer.  it's a travel day.  we're taking it easy.

do you think this means i won't be able to get you that tutorial?  hmmmmmm?  o rightfully skeptical crowd, have a drink and relax.  make it a double, in honor of the double agent dress.  i haz brought my measuring tape, notes, garment, and will be writing it up while we're here.  thanks for all the love on it! i hope it proves worthy of all this wait.  but then again, it being a free tutorial and all, i'm not going to stress too much about it.

do you have stress?  get rid of it, dog.  POST HASTE.  i just listened to a radiolab podcast on the very subject, and although i knew it was an unhealthy way to live, holy shit, it is a REALLY unhealthy way to live.  like, get adult onset diabetes and heart disease.  and die young.  and feel un-good.  if you have stress in your life, and who doesn't, jet on over (calmly, mais oui) and get this podcast.  it's uplifting and enlightening and all kinds of everything. 

i'm going to be spending the next two weeks working, playing, writing and creating as stress free as possible.  just call me chillooona.