Me? I'm Scared of Everything.

Me? I'm scared of everything.  I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all, I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you.

Maybe Baby Houseman isn't really a leading lady.  But damn, I love me some Dirty Dancing. I love her for her awkwardness, I love her naïveté, I love how she grows more confident throughout the movie, I even love the cheesy dialogue. And yes, it is cheesy, but that doesn't mean I don't automatically stop and watch in its entirety any time I find it on tv.   

When I read that the Project Sewn challenge for the week was "Leading Ladies", here's where I went:

 Hmm.  Maybe not there.

Yep. 

 Which went here:

And, well, we all know where this goes from here.

To sewing.

What were you thinking of?

As you can see, I chose the square neck over the embroidery.

Honestly, I tried it, but didn't like how it was turning out.

Plus, my fabric was already pretty special.

I have had this superfine cotton in my grandma's stash for a long time.  And apparently she had had it stashed for a long time as well, as it was about 2 yards long, but only 22" wide.  It was pretty sheer, so I underlined each piece with superfine cotton voile, interfaced the collar and back neckline, and faced those with quilting cotton scraps for opacity.  

This is probably my new favorite shirt. 

Even if I don't end up wearing it over to someone's cabin in the middle of the night.

 The Details:

Pattern:  Simplicity 1879: Lisette Souvenir blouseFabric: 2 yards vintage 22" wide cotton lawn, 1 yard ivory Kaufman supreme voile for underlining, cotton scraps for facing

Notions: interfacing, seam binding for shoulder edges

Notes:  This went together fast, and was super easy.  The only changes I made were to shorten the sleeves and fold up a shorter hem than directed.  I like the longer length tops that are sure to cover accidental crackage throughout the school day.

Also, I was really unsure of this pattern when this came out, but man do I like it now.

The Dress that Broke Me

So a couple of months ago, I was sewing along with the Project Sewn themes, and rocked my Twiggy dress.  And by "rocked it", I'm really saying, "I finished it."  Then came the pink project, and I faltered.

Pink and I, well, don't get along.

It's not pink, it's me. 

Don't get me wrong, pink's a lovely color.  On someone else.  Anyone else.

In anycase, I decided to TRY it, in the spirit of a challenge.
This is actually my second attempt.  I had one piece of pinkish/orchid-y fabric, and turned it into quite a brilliant pink wadder.

In a moment of interpretation, I decided that pink didn't mean 'all pink', and dug this out.  I had originally purchased this fabric with this dress in mind.

Amazingly, I had matching bias tape in my stash!

(Warning: notion porn ahead)

100% cotton!

Does your child sew?  How cute is that!

What is that?  If my bias tape fails, they'll reimburse me the cost of my materials AND labor?

*sigh*

I miss old notions.

And just in case you weren't tickled by the thread count information, they sneak in a free pattern for a bridge table cover on the back of the label.  You know, for when you play bridge.  As you do.

(Notion porn complete.  Remaining contents are notion-free)

When I could tell I wasn't getting it done for pink, I thought I'd just post it for shoes.  But when I realized I had no shoes for it, I was sunk.  

And then, the kicker:

I realized that I had added room at the waist, but moronically had added too much room at the waist.  

The thought of having to take out an absolutely perfectly installed lapped side zipper pissed me off.  

And so it sat, unhemmed, in time out, for about two months.

Until about 20 minutes before leaving for Easter lunch at my mom's, when I decided that was what I wanted to wear.

And hemmed it in my bra and underwear while everyone else waited.

Take that, stupid pink dress.

(That needs a belt.  And a different bra.)

The Details:

Pattern: Simplicity 2209--Lisette Passport Dress, with a gathered skirt

Fabric: Anna Maria Horner Mixed Signals voile, navy voile to underline bodice

Notions: bias trim, navy zipper

Time to complete: long enough

Project Sewn: Fashion Icon Challenge

4 surprise snow days + last minute inspiration = down-to-the-wire submission

I had the pattern; I had the fabric, I had the time....all I needed was the big fake eyelashes to 

unleash my inner Twiggy. 

Well, Twiggy style.

I tried to "Twiggy" pose, but was lost, so here goes:

The Facts: 

Pattern: Simplicity1609, the "Jiffy" Dress

Fabric: Inherited cotton/wool blend, which admittedly was silkier before I washed it.  Oops.

Notions: 22" zipper, interfacing, hem binding, and big fake eyelashes.

Here's a gander at the back: 

Details: 

So, this is actually the second time I screwed up the directions on this pattern, but at least this time, I screwed it up better.  I prefer to put zippers in flat, so I did that again, contrary to directions.  So in order to attach the facings neatly, I sewed the back facing to the back piece neckline and sleeves, and the front facing to front neckline and sleeves.  Then, I sewed the shoulder seams of the outside only, and handstitched the facing seams closed.  Much easier than the crazy origami thing I did last time.  But it does look clean. : )

Also, I used a lapped zipper instead for a Twiggier (more vintage) look, and hacked an extra 2" off the hem.

If I might add in here, I thought this would be easier fabric to use than the linen I used last time, and it mostly was, but good Lord, matching up those checks along the front seam about drove me crazy.  It's a good thing the snow just kept coming, because I probably re-did that seam 4 times.  Then I remembered that perfectionism is a disease, and declared it close enough.

I really have to thank my grandma for her wonderful taste in fabric--this stuff is awesome, and I had just enough for this.  The woven houndstooth pattern made it super easy to hide my handstitches for the invisible hem.  Plus, it is toasty warm, especially when paired with a wool sweater and tights.

In fact, my 6 year old told me I looked so beautiful when I came down for pictures, that I should wear this to work, and I will...maybe without the eyelashes, though.

My neighbor helped take most of the pictures for me, but before we stopped, my husband took this last one.

And in return...

I'm off to Project Sewn to check out the other amazing creations.