sugar tooth

hey guess what!  sick cat allowed me like sixty extra minutes of sleep last night!  I AM POSITIVELY GIDDY!!!! and check it out, yo!  my first crack at flatlocking!!  I LIKE IT!!  it's tim burton esque!!!!!!

i solemnly promise to try to limit my use of the exclamation point key from this sentence forward!

when carolyn and i set up camp in the lace shelves at mood over a month ago, i couldn't help but pull every technicolor bolt out for a snapshot.  carolyn quite rightly reminded me: oooooooooona. we're here to take pictures for everyone else.

i am not the best listener, especially when distracted by fabric.  she had to remind me of this repeatedly.

but i abstained!  i did not walk out with my own lace that day!  (the promise of lazzara's pizza helped.)  instead, i let the bolts simmer in my head for a week, and returned to find this crazy pink and orange diddy hanging out in the fancy lace section.  putting on airs, for sure.  this poly assault on the senses did not belong in the fancy lace section.  i carted her lovingly over to silk prints, and found her mate in this jungle boogie cacophony.  (did you click the link?  oh, do.  please do.  otherwise how will you see the folly of my ways?  that's a zebra colored cheetah with butterfly wings.  for realz.)

after i made my drunken picks, i emailed carolyn with utter joy: i'm going to look like willy wonka!  three weeks later, still eyeing my intended match folded on my sewing desk, i realized with utter dread: I'M GOING TO LOOK LIKE WILLY WONKA.

yeah.  well.  something had to be done, obviously.  i had set myself the goal of two lace posts, and a kalkatroonaan does not like to accept defeat.  enter six iterations of this lace.  at one point it was attached in flatlocked pleats to this pale-as-ice blue ponte knit (meant, bien sur, for leggings).  it was the definition of overworked.  one could even call it underpaid.  then a memory of janine's excellent comment on my feathery skirt via the MSN blog came floating back to me: "Note to self: KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)."

simple!  my kingdom for simple!  yes, the built in columns in this candy hued lace wanted to fall into pleats.  but they didn't have to be hammered into submission position.  you would have thought i'd used a saws-all and cement mixer to make this dress.  

i wish i'd snapped a photo before coming to my senses and severing the parts, but alas, a kalkatroonaan also does not care for incriminating evidence.  most of the time.  after amputation, i attached a soft lavender poly charmeuse lining to the skirt, and folded over a waist band, inserting a nice wide flat elastic.  the gathered waistband relaxed into instant pleats, with no work whatsoever.  oh, the hours of cursing wasted.

although some of those hours were not for naught.  this lace pattern runs vertically to the selvedge, with selvedge edges being nothing special.  i say this because i heard fairy godmother susan khalje in my head: pay attention to the pretty bits and include them in the garment.  before the amputation, i spent several sessions handstitching the side seams together into a disappearing act, and i carefully trimmed a long column of leaf motif and handstitched it to the hem of the dress.  of course it's a beginner's crack at it, but i think it kind of looks like the edges were made that way, non?  I AM EXCEEDINGLY PROUD OF IT, YO!

i cropped the top of this burda dress pattern (issue 06/09, mod 116) just enough to  show off the waistband.  i find that, on me,  if you can't see the waistband on gathered skirts, i suddenly have no waist.  not that you can see the waistband here, as the top is pulling, 'cause ooooh hey, guess what else i don't have? A C CUP.  tell that to my new bra. this tank top fits, i swear.  but not when i'm having delusions of grandeur.  i blame k-line.  YES, THAT'S RIGHT, MISSY!  you and your glorious tatas...

speaking of grandeur, i got so caught up in the lace aspect of this challenge, wanting to make something spectacular with a fabric i've always adored playing with sans fear, i forgot to listen to the yardage in hand.  it was amazing how it fell into place when i stopped going for extravagant.  now i've got a great staple in my closet!

(yes.  in kalkatroona, this is indeed a neutral staple.  see: willy wonka.)

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