it's a love hate thing

first of all, can i tell you how happy it makes me that you fell in love with this man and his music like i did?  i have nothing to do with it other than being fortunate enough to have ruggy find it and share it with me, it's not like i can be proud of its existence in a creative sense, but somehow when peeps share your love of music it does something to you, personally.   

lots of blogger sharing has been going on these past months, and i did a little mixing of gifts from two loverly friends-- miss peanut butter macrame, also known as lady katza, and she of the perfect nose, tj. the former sent a box chock full of goodies for which i did absolutely NOTHING, and the latter sent a box chock full of goodies for which i went downtown and shopped a little swaparroo for.  so basically i got to shop and open prizes.  

HOW APPROPRIATELY AND SUPREMELY BRATTY OF ME. 

more details on all the prizes to come... but for now, look at this floral chiffon tj sent me and feel the jealous rage begin.  it's okay, you can hate.  i would if you had it.  you may quell your rage by knowing  it drove me insane.  slip.  per.  RY.   obviously, it's chiffon, i knew that going in.  so did i use any of the many tricks i've read about to cut it out?  did i pin it to my pattern, did i use an extra swath of tissue paper, did i EVEN USE MORE THAN ONE PATTERN WEIGHT?  no.  i threw a marble coaster in the middle of each pattern piece and call it good.

i don't know why i did that.  lately i've abandoned pinning for pattern weights.  let me clarify; marble coasters. they're flat, they're heavy, and they make a very nice place for my drink of choice.  but apparently, the cocktail was strong while i was cutting this baby. 

i used lady katza's gifted vintage pattern, an "anne adams instructor" pattern, one of those beautiful oldies with no pattern markings.  i like using them, it's a treasure hunt figuring out what all the hole punches mean.  

this is my attempt at those see through dresses you wear avec high waisted panties.  the pattern itself didn't call for bands around the skirt, i just slashed it where i wanted to insert lace, figuring my perfectly straight cuts would produce the results i wanted.  well.  the lace was straight.  the chiffon, she was quite drunk.  when i unfolded my slices, i found i had managed to make four perfectly U shaped panels.  i put them aside, refreshed my glass, and stomped away.

later on in the week i decided the world would not end if i sewed it up.  i eyeballed out the curves and somehow it all ended up straight (unlike the bottom crop of this picture).  i'm telling you: perfectly rectangular slices of lace + waterslide shaped panels of chiffon =  straight hem.  no clue how that equation worked out.  

now lemme show you the bad.  you'd think, after the sewing gods blessed my wonky ass cuts with success, i would appease them by finishing the insides perfectly.  you'd be 80% right.  i've never been good at divine offerings.  but i made a perfect little baby hem.  i french seamed all the lace.  i enclosed the raw edges at neck edges and waist seams with contrasting bias tape.  yet somehow i could not be bothered to line the waistband.  i just left the interfacing exposed.  THE GODS ARE ANGERED.

but i'm happy.