Painted silk bustier dress

Somebody call Guinness (or better yet, pour me one) because I'M ALL WORDED OUT. I don't even have a catchy title in me.

I mean, I've been making this dress since last July. First it was my birthday dress, then anniversary dress, now it's a candidate for New Year's Eve...

(I say "candidate" because I haz made a secret pajamas maxi dress. YOU GUYS ARE SO TOTALLY BANG ON RIGHT ABOUT THIS SECRET PAJAMAS THING. It is currently the front runner.)

Don't be sad, dress. You will be worn.

Honestly, I'm glad it took me this long-- firstly, because a big beautiful box of Ruggy's Grandmother's hats were waiting for me on our holiday trip. Secondly, on Christmas Day, it was a balmy 65 degrees, and when I decided to gussy up on the spur of the moment, Ruggy took one look at me, took the tripod out of my hands, and happily tromped around the yard with me. 

We ended up out by the shed for a shoot. SO GLAMOROUS! This Italian silk is actually crying at its lot in life. Seriously, dress, I promise you'll be worn in a real life situation, not involving wet gravel or peacock poop. (Yes, that bird is still hanging around.)

Shall I talk about the actual dress for a minute? Yes, let's do. It's the Burdastyle bustier dress, included in the no-longer-available Craftsy bombshell course. This time I refitted the bodice and did most of the steps on my own, referencing the course to be sure I was on the right track. Although it's nice to have all the info you need in one series of videos, if you're itching to make a dress like this, you can certainly get by piecing together info from the world web webby web. And Susan Khalje's courses on Craftsy & on her site are, no surprise, brilliant.

Having very little speech left about this dress, I have no way to smoothly segue into the painted aspect. Ahem. Using jacquard paints, fabric markers, and healthy helping of cocktails, I painted onto this digitally printed silk, when the white flowers proved too prominent for the shape of the dress. You can play where's waldo if you like-- they're all pink hued! 

(answer: one in the right upper bust cup, and two on the skirt (right waistline, and almost smack bang center.)

THAT'S IT! I HAVE NO END!

Boundless Style in the wild!

OH HAI! Here's my crazy ass trying to pull off one of those ever-so-quaint "Blogger By The Christmas Tree" shots! A bit of a fail. I only broke one ornament in the process, when I tried to go Full Blogger and hold a vintage bauble in my hand just so. As if the plaid corduroy and merry red free standing lace embellishments weren't holiday enough.

(The shoes are another story. One day I'll get around to painting the other heel gold.)

Ah, but this post is not so much about the ensemble as it is about the book that brought it to be! I was a tester for Kristiann's new book, Boundless Style, and I don't know how I kept this choose-your-own-adventure delight under wraps. 

At the time, I only had private eyes on the super cool app: Lookbook. You know the drill by now; you choose a configuration, like a Frankenstein's monster of fabric-- only, the good doctor Kristiann has done all the work of fitting the connections together for you. Pattern hacking without the work of hacking! Using Lookbook, I chose to test the Georgia Bodice + Farrah Sleeve, done up in some truly awful cotton voile. My stash & workload didn't allow for a trial skirt, but it was a very successful (hideous fabric notwithstanding) test. Beautiful bishop sleeves, and lovely little bodice details...I believe my notes said something like YOU KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK GIRL.

Here's the Georgia Bodice + Bardot Sleeves + Sophia Skirt. As a thank you for testing, Kristiann handed me a copy of this beautiful tome at her launch party at Workroom Social. Fun fact: Kristiann has a voice like dusty church bells. Tell me I'm lying.

I went with the Jackie Bodice + Sophia Skirt for my second round of Boundless Style, and my latest round at The Sewing Party. The holiday corduroy was a lovely surprise from my girl Alicia at Pandora Sews! THANK YOU BEAUTIFUL! You can read and see more about it over at The Sewing Party...

But back to the book! I read this cover to cover, and although I'm not a newbie, I still thoroughly enjoyed the comprehensive chapters on skills and techniques. Kristiann packs a lot of solid information into this book, and doesn't skip things for the sake of "dumbing it down" for newbies. She talks about all the good habits that are great to employ from day one-- like grading to reduce bulk, the importance of pressing, setting in a sleeve cap. The patterns are approached in the same way-- for example, there's a specific lining for the vented Sophia Skirt, rather than the usual "cut 2 fabric + lining." The Jackie Bodice uses twill tape to stabilize the wrap neckline. Although many of us might use those techniques based on our own knowledge, I find that a lot of new books aren't thoughtful enough to include them. And you get finished garment measurements as well, we all know how much we want that!

There's a map for the finishing touches on your beautiful monster...

And a disc of all your patterns in the back! HOW PRETTY IS THAT SKIRT. GIVE IT TO ME. (Don't fret if you don't have a disc drive, there's a digital link available for the patterns.) You print exactly what you want, which is ever so brilliant. I'm a PDF lover, but printing out all pattern pieces, when maybe you only need the top half out of a giant map, well, it saps your printer ink AND your mojo. That juice is 'spensive. Here, you print out exactly what you need as you go, which gives me great big digital hearts for eyes. I now have a TNT bodice, skirt, and lining, all printed out and ready to go.

There are a gazillion places to grab a copy...if your Santa happens to have eyes on an Amazon wishlist, you can find Boundless Style here, or you can get it through Kristiann's shop. Only the Amazon links are affiliated (ETA: if you're new around here, I use my Amazon affiliation to further my sewing and blogging habit, and I will always tell you if I use an affiliate link), and Kristiann did not ask me to review--I'm doing it because I really love the book and the outcome! She truly did a bang up job, and out-of-the-box thinking to boot. I think you'll love it too!

Wildly Chic

Guys, Saks Potts and I are sharing a brain!

Only their brains are more chic and more expensive, while my brain is less expensive and more Clan Of the Cave Bear. Maybe I should hack my Genghis Chic coat off at the sleeves, and make sleevewarmers? I'm being totally serious here! I wear my faux fur legwarmers like most people wear a beloved pair of jeans.

Speaking of Chic, if you're in the NY area, and itching to buy fabric, run and see the beautiful folks at Chic Fabrics (225 West 39th st) before the end of the year. I've heard from two peeps now that they're officially closing come December 31, and have yet to find new digs. Hard to believe I might miss them before this happens...Chic has been a favorite of mine since this sewing monkey climbed up on my back. And 39th street in particular is my favorite block in the hood! There's Vardhamm & Daytona for trims, Janky Store for jankiness, Steinlauf & Stoller for specialty supplies... and then there are the great, good good people of Fabrics For Less and Chic Fabrics. Surely, I am about to misspell his name, but Souk (? pronounced kind of like shooook, but shorter) of Chic Fabrics always makes my day better. He's much like the infamous Sam, of Fabrics For Less, who is often over at Chic. They're kind of companion stores, from what I've gathered. Both are tiny and stuffed to the ceiling with fabric. Chic always has an entire wall full of insanely beautiful silks, and bolts of things that are the stuff of dreams, like this silk and sequin print that I've yet to cut into... 

I hope that they find another space. If I can swing a kamikaze December 29th visit, I'll holler here-- maybe we can descend upon them and do our best to lighten their moving load. (I'm employing good feng shui here, and saying moving in the hopes that we're not really just lightening their closing load.)

ETA! The good mistress of Stirling Knits has reported in the comments that Chic is moving 4 doors down! They'll be closed next week for the move, but happily open in 2016. Thanks for sharing the great news, m'lady!

What Was I (Drink)thinking #3

No one, including me, should be seen in this TRAIN WRECK OF A COAT.

I have therefore altered these photos to protect the innocent, although I am, most assuredly, also the guilty party. Hey, what can I tell you, I'm a Jekyll 'N Hyde sort of gal. I'm every woman, it's all in me.

And what a sexy woman! HEY BABY! Check out those quilting lines! What curves you have, Mizz Jekyll!

YOUR TRIM IS EXQUISITE!

OH MAMA! THE CARPET MATCHES THE DRAPES!

But wait.... there's more....

MEET HYDE.

Listen, I can't with. I can't with MYSELF. I CAN'T WITH EVERY INSANE SIDE OF MYSELF.

What Was I Thinking:

Well, Ruggy and I had been binge watching Marco Polo last January, and actual historical events not taken fully into consideration, I wanted to be Kublai Khan. Go on, watch it, you will too. The costumes! The textures! THE FLOOR PILLOWS! It was the winter that Ruggy dubbed my style "Genghis Chic." I didn't get to throwing the button loops on this reversible monstrosity (A 2008 Burdastyle magazine pattern, the pattern itself should not be blamed) till very late in the seasonal game, so I put it aside. Threw it on a few weeks ago to run out for cocktails, and couldn't stop laughing. It did not come out drinking with me.

What Was I Drinking:

Gin, chilled, straight. Broker's, I believe. This is my drink of choice whenever Ruggy forces me to watch a new show that I am certain I will loathe. When I am that certain, I am usually proven wrong, as was the case with Marco Polo. FOR REAL WHEN DOES THE NEXT SEASON START. I did admit defeat, and I did make Ruggy pause episodes repeatedly, while I eye fondled costumes and hollered Mongolian style.

What I Learned:

Even when it doesn't work out, faux fur is fun. Hacking up trim is fun. Quilting curved lines is fun. And Photoshopping censor bars is MAJOR fun.