buzz buzzed

eagle eyes may have noticed my new avatar over in yon sidebar.  that's basically what i look like these days. insane.  happy.  (carolyn, those scissors rock my world.)  insanely happy.  but truly also insane.  i obsessed for like eight hours over my "meet the designer" post, which is up now over at project sewn. HOURS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN SPENT SEWING!  AND MOST ASSUREDLY DRINKING!

truly, there are so many ideas buzzing around in my brain, my sewing room (read: four feet of space right next to ruggy's beleaguered desk) is filled with half finished projects as i flit from fabric to fabric like a drunken bee.  

so, i bid you happy lunch hour, i'm gonna go clang around for a minute, and please catch me over at my intro post on project sewn if you're so inclined!

if i could turn back time

i've been desperate for color, but all of my dreamcoat items are completely unseasonal.  so when the temperature climbed to a balmy 47 degrees yesterday, i raced outside like a ray bradbury story in my rayon linen tunic dress.  

photographeur extraordinaire ruggy is currently on sabbatical, as he's about to be overworked and underpaid BIG TIME for project sewn shots, so i hope you can forgive the slightly out of focus workings of me racing against the timer.  also i didn't iron.  did i mention all-summer-in-a-day?

look!  THE PORTALS TO MY BOOBIES!  apparently they reside in a technicolor land of fun and adventure!

you even get a roadmap to my extremely big mouth, which is uncharacteristically 70% shut here.

the land of my gams is treacherous.  cross them and they will cut you.  warning, sew speak ahead: i "fringed" the bottom of the dress by applying a wide strip of soft weft interfacing to the reverse, then i cut away the design around the orange spikey bits.  it's holding up nicely.  

and it makes me feel like vintage cher, so that's always a bonus.

pattern: burdastyle's contrast tunic dress

fabric: rayon linen from It's A Material World, $5/yd

notions: thread, y'all.  THREAD.

i actually banged this one out months ago, in a much needed break from my battle with the turquoise snoozer (which is ongoing and neverending.  it's the AI of UFOs).  if you want a quick fun make, jump on it like cher doing the pony: two darts in the back, simple sleeve seams, instant gratification.   

say say oh eeeeeeeenemy

holding a bra and t-shirt in my hands, i stood in front of the empty registers at the gap.  a cashier rang up a lone woman armed with eighty coupons and a small truckload of clothing.  another employee shambled aimlessly back and forth.  he finally shifted his baleful gaze at me and asked, voice dripping with irritation, do you have a question miss?

my eyes narrowed, trying to decipher what was not obvious about the situation.  no, no question, but i'd like to pay for these items.

he turned and walked away.  stopped in front of a register at the very end of the counter.  it seemed i was meant to follow him.  at this point i had seriously considered depositing the items on the nearest surface and leaving. the floor would do fine.  but january jaundice kept me there.  do you know about january jaundice?  i believe it's specific to cold climates.  that post warm december feeling: winter quickly gets old after songs like baby it's cold outside get packed away.  and the bleak, chilly future holds only hallmark made holidays and three more months of gray.  in mid january, every new yorker wants to kill...but they're too exhausted to do much about it.

so i followed him.  handed my sale items over.  he took them wordlessly.  i wondered aloud, with definite tonage: did i look particularly confused?

he considered his opponent.  no, it's me who's confused today.  we chuckled derisively.

translation: any specific reason you're a dick?  answer: yes, because you're a dick too.  WE ARE ALL DICKS IN JANUARY.

game on.  i'll need to see your card (i'm going to make you work for this and wring out every ounce of power i have here, you look like an identity thief).  i hold up my platinum card avec picture without handing it over, next to my face: it's to avoid confusion (you are not touching my card, peasant).  we smirk at each other.  WE HATE EACH OTHER IMMENSELY AND WE ARE ENJOYING THE HELL OUT OF IT.  he hands over the bag.  two pairs of eyes roll in lieu of a goodbye.

as i turn away, i am greeted with a rack of gray & neon blazers.  the gap totally stole my version of by hand london's victoria blazer!  was my new frenemy in on this?  i pause to snap my 100th instagram, feeling my companion's jolly attempt to bore a hole through the back of my skull with his gaze, and saunter slowly out of the store into a january drizzle, my heels clacking out a thanks, playmate.  that was FUN.

swish!

First of all, HI THERE and thank you so much for all the hollers and hooplas about Project Sewn!!! Currently I'm wading in a pile of half finished garments obsessing and losing Zs as predicted!!! And finding little time to reply to all the lovely comments but I appreciate EVERY ONE OF THEM!!! AS YOU CAN TELL BY MY MULTIPLE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!! I will try my best to do you proud!!! Second of all

I

LOVE

THIS

DRESS!!!!!

A LOT.

She is the latest installment from the lovelies at By Hand London, she is the Georgia dress, she fit RIGHT OUT OF THE PACKAGE. She is exquisitely drafted, she is my new little black dress, who would have ever thought I'd have two in my technicolor closet?

She's done up for my January Mood Sewing Network project, made with Mood Fabric's italian double face wool & lycra jersey. The fabric is thick enough to skim and hug in all the right places, and incredibly yummy to sew with. Except for the part where I godzilla steamed one of the bust cups and forever wrinkled it. I have recently become reacquainted with the steam function on my iron, after lladybird Lauren's mantra that'll steam out got stuck in my craw. Probably not the best choice on wool. To which Lauren would most certainly say DUH.

Not that noticeable in real life however, I'm all good with it (I desaturated the colors in these Ruggalicious shots so you could see the seamlines, those steamy wrinkles are far more subtle IRL, as the kids say).

I have a serious question for the ladies of by hand london: is it hard being so FRIGGING FABULOUS? I'M SORRY ARE YOU KIDDING ME! THIS DRESS MAKES ME CATCALL MYSELF!!! 

Ahem.  I'm admittedly proud of this one.   I can't help it.

I added stretch fringe around the bottom, simply crossing my fingers that such a thing existed and jumping for joy when I found it at Daytona Trimmings. Perhaps I was inspired by the BHL furry shoe'd photoshoot? I wanted length, but I also wanted leg, so I attached the 6 inch fringe to hit at the original hem, then cut the dress away underneath.

Couple pointers, check the length of your straps before sewing them in, I shortened mine by 2 inches after sewing up the bodice lining, high on the fact that it was all fitting perfectly, and zipperless. If you want a little more structure but don't want to mess with boning, I found that topstitching the cups of both lining & main gave them just enough oompf.

Now I need am oompfy occasion, as this jammie wasn't ready for New Year's. GROUNDHOG'S DAY. I AM TOTALLY WEARING THIS FOR GROUNDHOG'S DAY. Maybe that li'l bugger will come out when he sees this number. Nudge nudge, wink wink, knowwhatimean?

this swishy dress was made using my monthly fabric "allowance" as part of the Mood Sewing Network, and the pattern was provided to me in exchange for pattern testing (and yes, it got an A!)

counting seams

do you lie awake sometimes, maybe in the middle of the night, maybe early in the morning (for an actress at least), thinking about the half made garment lurking in the other room, its faults growing to monster-under-the-bed sized proportions?  i do that sometimes.  

it's far more enjoyable when i lie awake thinking about new monsters to create.  

sleep is good too.

this morning i sipped coffee and took a weary, wary glance at my dressform.  the creature was not as hideous as my 3AM brain depicted, thankfully.  though i may have lost one of the sleeves somewhere....

oh hey HI i'm competing in project sewn.  EEEEEEEEEK.  that's the real point of this post.  but lack of sleep is preventing me from connecting the dots from stress dreaming to stress sewing.  though i'm sure you can make the leap from A to B for me, non??  THE LIST OF LADIES IS ASTOUNDING.  

i see less Zs in my future.

but really i'm so hugely excited.  which makes little sense.  i compete for a living, and as sewing is the panacea to that, i should run like hell from this sort of scenario.  but when Elizabeth & liZ contacted me, my first instinct was hell yes.  project sewn has been a source of inspiration these past seasons, and more than that, i felt the "competitors" formed friendships.  made each other better.  this was no waiting room filled with actresses giving shade and false praise.  this was a gaggle of gals exclaiming over seams and perfect fabrics and tough techniques...

even if i'm out in round one, this had already been fun, planning and sketching... and the themes for the season are being announced tomorrow, so we can all sew along.  i hope you'll join me.  let's shake our asses together, yo!

there are worse problems to have

well y'all, i must thank you PROFUSELY for all of the great comments, advice and emails, and thought it only right to let you know i've put the bernina search on hold.  i know, i know.  but now that the holiday tipsy has worn off, i just can't justify spending that much when i have a perfectly good working machine. 

YOU BE QUIET NOW.  DO NOT TRY AND STRONGARM ME, RUGGY ALREADY TRIED AND HE IS NO DELICATE FLOWER.  I AM RESOLUTE IN MY DECISION.  I SAID BE QUIET.  after all,  you can't be too surprised, can you?  did you really think i would do as i was told?

plus, ignorance is bliss.  i only test drove a couple in ruggy's hometown, so it's not like i really know what i'm missing.  what knee bar?  what needle up/down position?  what automatic tension?  

at the moment my ricky & i are enjoying the hell out of some christmas fabric, but if you're in the market, there are some great links/advice in the comments section of my last post!