Alice In Wonderland at Sea

First, it was the legs.

Then the arms wanted to come out, too.

 Pattern: Simplicy 1801

Fabric: seafoam green cotton batiste, underlined with ivory cotton

Notions: invisible zip, light interfacing

Notes:

Well, I really didn't derivate from the last time I made this pattern.  This time I chose a crisper fabric, and both seem to work well. This time I also left off the sleeves.  I kept the raised neckline and altered waist pieces, so it was a pretty straight forward project.  It's nice sewing with well-behaved fabric.  

Especially when it's so fun to look at!

I purchased this from Mood on a whim, and while it was really out of what I'd normally wear, I really liked all the random bright colors together.  They described it as an Alice-in-Wonderland print, which I didn't really get, but it is wild and crazy and fun, and kept me constantly amused.  Maybe if Alice went through the looking glass and under the sea?  Maybe more Little Mermaid-y? I don't know.

Don't those look like ocean-y blooms?  And tentacles?

Said the woman who lives about as far away from an ocean as you can get...

 Anyway, I was careful with the print placement so I wouldn't end up with one of those explosive coral things anywhere titillating, but that was about as stressful as it got.

(Which is to say not at all.)

And the back view.

The photo above is probably the closest to true colors.  Crazy and bright, and just what I need after a long, gray winter.  You can tell these were taken pretty late in the day!

Just like last time, I underlined the bodice for a bit more stability.  This time, though, I lined the skirt portion, too.  Mostly because I try to avoid students seeing my underwear.

Both are lined with cotton lawn remants--not quite a yard left of the skirt fabric, and only large scraps for the bodice.

All in all, yay for warmer weather, yay for summer colors, yay for sandals, and yay for lighter-later evenings.

Bitter Buttons

This dress has the worst-tasting buttons known to man.

Just thought you should know.

Dress: Simplicity 2246, Lisette Traveler (OOP)

Fabric: Kaufman chambray, I think

Notions: 12 buttons, light interfacing

So, I made this dress in January and have worn it with tights a couple of times since, but finally decided to grab a picture.  The last time I made this, circa 2012?, I made a smaller size that ended up feeling too short to leave the house in.  And it needed something.  

Something to break up all the light blue.

This time I added sleeve tabs and contrast facing on the button plackets.  The sleeve tabs were a design choice; I liked them so much on the Pauline Alice shirt that I may have gone through a phase of thinking every garment needed sleeve tabs.  The constrast facing was just because I ran out of fabric.  But it looks great, so we're calling it a design feature.

Did someone already take a bite out of this one?

I honestly don't know what the deal was with the buttons.  
They were from Grandma's stash, on a card from the Ben Franklin store, 
and may have cost her all of 15 cents.

 I know I can't be the only person who uses her mouth as a third hand, so when I got frustrated with how little and slippery and tricky these were to pick up and place under the button foot, I threw a couple in my mouth for efficiency's sake, and OMG. I almost lost it right then and there.

I don't know if it was a finish, or if they're made of something bitter, but blech. It was like some horrible combination of dandelion greens and black walnuts.

I immediately ran up and asked my husband for a second opinion, who, if you know him, immediately and vehemently responded with,  "I'm NOT licking your buttons." Then he went right back to watching tv or checking email, or whatever he was doing, closing it down for good.

Disappointed, but undeterred, I may have tasted more to see if they all tasted bad.  

They did. I also hypothesized a run through the washing machine might help.

And for the sake of science, I tasted one after sending the dress through the wash.

Still bad.

And here's where this gets weird. (Weirder?) I'm afraid that's the first thing I thought of  when I got dressed in the morning, and throughout the day, it randomly came to mind.   And I wondered.

I'm seriously afraid someday, someone's going to come into my room during plan time, and discover me. Secretly licking a button. 

 You know, for science.

First Signs of Spring

Today I bared my legs for the first time this year.

And no one died.  Or shrieked in pain. Or claimed blindness.

Okay, one person may have cried, but I really don't think that was because of my vampire legs.

Pattern: Sewaholic Harwood

Fabric: navy/white geometric cotton voile

Notions: 1/4" elastic, light interfacing, and buttons.  A lot of buttons

So, this dress may be proof of my busyness.  Or laziness.  Or both.

I've had this in the works for over a month.

It waited a while for buttons.

It waited a while for hemming.

It waited a while for me to iron away markings.

And it waited a while for me to move that bottom button an eighth of an inch down.

Guess who finally just wore it today, with the bottom button unbuttoned?

And guess who noticed pink frixion pen during pictures?

(Maybe that happened at work?)

Notes:

Mmm.  I cut a straight size 10.  

I would normally grade down for the hips on a Sewaholic pattern, but it's a flared skirt, and grading felt like too much work.  It's fine.

This is the longer length version, which is a little longer than I usually go for, but a good transition length for shy limbs.  No special construction issues; Tasia writes clear, concise directions, and everything went together neatly.

I was originally worried the neckline might be too high, but it sits comfortably, and I don't feel choked.  I could probably tighten the waistline elastic a little more--it sits comfortably loose--and the belt helps it feel a little more secure. You can see it slipping a bit in the above picture, but that may have been due to yanking the skirt down after a particularly wild gust and a slight overreaction to the idea of my underwear and my husband with a camera. 

 

My house is a mess, and these are crazy bad pictures, but at least you can see the shape.

The only other thing to mention is these buttons from Grandma's stash.  They were the only ones I could find that I had enough of. I tried scouting different buttons, but there's not a whole lot of pizzazz when it comes to white 1/2" buttons.  These are thick and chunky, slightly frosted, and stand out from the print. 

Now if only I can make myself move that bottom one, I'll be good to go.

Gallery Tunic

Pattern: Liesl + Co Gallery Tunic

Fabric: Robert Kaufman London Calling--Periwinkle cotton

Notions: light interfacing for collar and cuffs, 4 1/2" buttons for cuffs

Time to complete: a couple evenings

So, I recently saw that there was a sewalong offered for this pattern, and since I already had it, and hadn't yet taped it up, I thought "why not?" and this jumped to the front of my to-sew pile.

I had originally purchased this fabric to make a sundress out of, but thought that might be too girly, and instead used it here.  I flat-out swapped the fabric I'd planned for a shirt with this, and now that's set aside for a sun dress. 

A not-too-girly sundress, but that's another story.

I made the long-sleeve verson with the collar in the shirt length in a size 8, and my only adjustment was to shorten the tunic by 2 inches.  Everything went together easily, and the sleeves are a great length.  Here I have them flipped up over my sweater sleeves, but they look nice buttoned, too.

Yep.  It's got green (check), and blue (check).

On the other hand, I think I need to stop saying I don't wear floral prints.

I purchased this fabric at KC Modern Makers in the fall, and it is nice.

It's from the Robert Kaufman London Calling line, and mental note to self--it's a good light-weight cotton for shirts. 

On a completely unrelated note, I was trying to get pictures done before the link up on the Oliver + S blog closed.  I missed it, but I still owe a big thank you to my sons for taking pictures for me.  We were able to negotiate a fair trade involving going out for pizza, which I think counts as appropriate compensation.

In addition, they snapped many a great gem, including, but not limited to:

"Let Me Tell You a Secret..."

"

"I Want to Be in the Picture, Too  (But Not Really)"

"You Can't Make Me Be in the Picture"

And my two personal favorites: 

"Exhibit A" ...

...and "Exhibit B".

Hope your February weather is as nice as ours right now!