Cleaning Out My Closet, Part 1

I spent a few hours yesterday moving the winter clothes OUT and the summer clothes IN. This involves a great deal of dusting, both mental and physical. (For instance, why did I let another year pass without wearing my turquoise shantung hostess coat?)

Every time I make this switch I *vow* that I will finally pare down my closet to essentials. Just a few well-chosen pieces, blah blah blah. The truth is that I am not a "few well-chosen pieces" kinda gal. I am the kind of gal that has fifty cotton summer dresses and wears a different one every day, if she can.

However, I *am* getting rid of a few things, such as this brown-and-gold wool crepe wiggle dress. I made it several years ago (maybe even five or six?) and wore it, I dunno, once. I was having a wiggle-dress moment, back then; I don't know why. (Perhaps it was the joy of no longer looking mildly pregnant?) Anyway, I spent a lot of time on it and figured I should now set it free to live a full life with someone who will love it the way it ought to be loved.

Here's a closer view of the bodice:



The points on the tabs are a little lumpy, I have to say. Luckily the buttons are so nice (vintage!) that it draws the eye away.

This dress measures B 36-38, W 32, H 46, and the skirt is 28 inches waistline to hem. From the front neckline to the waist is 13.5 inches; from the back neckline to the waist is 14 inches.

So here's the plan: I'm going to put it up on eBay, at a very very low starting bid. If it sells for that, fine. But if it sells for anything upwards of $25, anything over that will go to charity -- I'm thinking helping victims of rape in the Congo. How does that sound?

Here's the link: Brown Crepe Wiggle Dress.

Seriously, I am cornering the market on shirtdresses

I could barely make out the line drawing on this, and the seller said she had no clue whether or not it was complete ... and I bought it anyway. It's a sickness, right?

I am a sucker for these Butterick Four-Yard-Line patterns, though. I love the football reference in something marketed exclusively to women (and supposedly thrifty women at that!) but I liked the open collar with the front band and the full skirt a little more. I think this one will be fun to make.

I'm seriously considering making this shirtdress in a solid color, even. Wouldn't that be a switch? I just can't decide WHICH color. Pale blue and green are too hospitally; yellow shows too much dirt; black is too boring to sew, ditto white; red a little much for all that skirt ... I'm bored with pink lately, and orange would just be insane (not that I'm against insane, usually). I don't like brown in summer, and I never wear beige (or purple) if I can help it. What am I forgetting? Ooh, maybe a deep blue?

But *this* one has a zipper!

Even though I now probably have enough shirtwaist patterns to paper my sewing room with them (not that I *would*, but I could), this one caught my eye ... it has a zipper! A center-front zipper, which you hardly ever see on non-athletic clothing any more.

If I made this I'd do it in some kind of fine black lawn with one of those fancy rhinestone zippers. Which reminds me: I really need to do a big online notions/zippers/etc. order: what sites do you all recommend? I should compile a list ...

And speaking of lists, yes, this marks the second Friday that has been bereft of linktasticness, but my wifi connection while traveling has been a bit ... unreliable. And linktasticity needs, above all, reliable internet, so I can follow all those links to their stunning conclusions. But keep those links coming; the next one is likely to be overwhelming. You'll need to set aside a whole morning just to click them all ...

(Oh, and in this picture, don't you think Flowered Dress has just said something completely inane to Green Dress? I think so, too, but I can't decide what it was. If you know, leave a comment, please!)

Stripes and Pockets Forever

Frequent link-sender to the blog Robin is making a little room in her closet by listing some dresses on eBay, including this wonderful 1940s stripey dress. Robin thinks it may have been a candy-striper's uniform ... but it could certainly have a new life at work or play, no sponge baths required. Think of it with little navy wedge shoes ... It's B36/W26.5.

I love these 1940s striped outfits -- they're so precise! And that center-front zipper is just perfect. This is a no-nonsense, get-it-done dress, but it can still have fun.

I think Robin has the right idea, too. If you're not wearing something, you should set it loose into the world to be free and be loved by someone who will wear it. (Which reminds me, I should REALLY do a purge of my own over the next month or so. Especially of shoes!)

Rainbow Warrior

Robin sent me this eBay listing this morning (click on the image to visit the auction page) and ... well, I don't even have to tell you, do I? You could go out loaded for BEAR in this dress. Cell phone, iPod, paper and pencil, wallet, business cards, breath mints, five lipsticks ... and that's just the red pocket in the front!

And, yes, I realize it's a bit extreme, but sometimes you need to be extreme to make a point. Or to carry all your stuff. And is it any more extreme than this?




I could fit my SON in that bag. And he's EIGHT. (And he doesn't go anywhere without his Nintendo DS, so the bag would also play tinny Japanese videogame music.) In fact, I almost expect a bunch of clowns to start extricating themselves from that handbag. (The last one out toots a little horn, and looks suspiciously like Tom Cruise.) Also, that bag costs more than many people's houses, while the dress is at only $26 right now!

Now, I know I carry too much stuff around with me (the four issues of New Scientist is not negotiable, though maybe I could clean out some receipts and lollipops) but the alternative is being bored out of my mind when the inevitable delays occur. Maybe I should take up meditation?

Aye, Kalumba!

Ebay seller laluthan has, by some arcane process, not only managed to turn up tons of the (discontinued) Liberty twill, but also has some of my favorite, favorite patterns available right now, including the "Kalumba" print, above.

So far, I've bought this in orange (twice), green/lavender (once), blue (in silk! I can't bear to cut into it!), and now, the brown/teal here.

The first time I bought some Kalumba (orange #1) I made it into a very simple and comfortable A-line skirt. Unfortunately, I endowed it with insufficient pockets, which FILLS me with remorse every time I pull it out of the closet. (I was so young then, so unworldly! I thought all I needed was my ID, twenty bucks, and a lip balm!) Now that I'm older and wiser and carry too many personal electronic devices, I need more pockets, so I plan to make MORE Kalumba skirts. Maybe I'll even make one in each colorway, and wear them all the time, like Diana Vreeland wearing the same Balenciaga shift dress (but in different fabrics) every day.

I recommend laluthan highly -- her stuff is gorgeous, comes quickly, and she's very good about shipping overseas (fast, too!). And last time I ordered from her she threw in a little scrap of blue twill Kalumba, just because ... which is going to make a perfect waistband facing on one of these skirts.

And thank you all, so much, for your sympathetic comments on yesterday's post. Dad never did quite figure out exactly what "that blog thing" was for, but now I think he probably gets it. Obviously, the blog is "for" proving how kind people on the internet can be; I consider it now established beyond all doubt.

I think I'll move to Australia.

Lesley sent me the link to this dress, on Ebay Australia. I love Ebay Australia; even though the shipping can get ridiculous. I think I just like answering the question "Where did you get THAT?" by saying "Australia!"

(My favorite geek t-shirt comes from Australia, now that I think about it ...)

This dress is up to about AU$27, and is about B33/W30. And here's what it looks like full view:




This is such a perfect spring-y Easter-y dress. And I really want some spring-y, Easter-y weather so I can wear something like this ... the weather was warm (50 degrees!) where I was the past few days so now I am all about the shirtdresses (even though I'm back in Chicago where it's freezing again). Expect numbers 4 and 5 in the series shortly.

Of course if I DID move to Australia, I'd be settling in for winter now. Hmmm. Maybe I'll stay in Chicago ...

In Which I Answer Some Random Questions

It's been some time since I answered in a general way some of the common questions that are emailed to me, so maybe it's time to do so again ...

The #1 question I seem to get lately is not so much a question, but a request for me to make people stuff. I wish I could, really, but being able to sew well for other people is a special gift and requires vast reserves of time and patience, neither of which I have. At all. So, while I sympathize with your desire for the prom dress, wedding gown, or shirtwaist of your dreams, you must make those dreams a reality in some other way.

Probably question #2 is "How big is your closet?" to which the answer is, "Not big enough!" Heh. I do make a LOT of dresses, but I tend to rotate them in and out of service and keep the things I can't POSSIBLY give away (fewer than you'd think) in big plastic tubs. Also, I'm a klutz so it's the rare dress that avoids life-ending ketchup or ink stains for more than a year or so.

Question #3 tends to be "Will you link to me?" I'd like to, I'd really like to (okay, not the skeevy spam-farming fake-watch-selling people, you KNOW who you ARE) but right now I'm idly contemplating a site redesign and waiting on that to mess with my links, since changing all that is going to be a huge horrible PITA. Any suggestions for the redesign would not be taken amiss. (Oh, and if you are asking me to link to your latest me-too "fashionista"-type site that has NOTHING to do with dresses or vintage but is instead all crappy overpriced handbags, celebrity sunglasses, and embellished jeans: who do you think you're fooling? Either you've never read this site AT ALL, or your reading comprehension has been adversely affected by the Giant Freakin' Logos unevenly distributed about your person. Ahem.)

Question #4 seems to be "Would you like to participate in our banner ad campaign?" to which the answer is also "No, thank you." I only want to run ads on this site that are for small businesses who support home sewing or sell vintage fashion. This means I've turned down dunnohowmany jeans companies (Again: what is it with the jeans people and READING COMPREHENSION?), major diet companies, financial services companies, etc.

Question #5 is "Will there be more Secret Lives?" Answer: yes. Soon. I promise.

I'm assuming the question that will be most often asked in the comments on this post is "WHERE can I get that pattern up at the top of the entry?", so I'm heading it off at the pass by saying that it's on eBay right now (from Rita at Chez Cemetarian). Feel free to click through and visit it!

Still thinking about shirtdresses ....

I've made three shirtdresses/shirtwaists so far and I have to tell you: it's NOT ENOUGH. I have three more patterns lined up and just bought this one, too (from The Sisters Five on eBay).

A few things: making a shirtdress takes roughly TWICE as long as it takes me to make a dress that doesn't have thirteen buttons and buttonholes. It's not a four-hour task to make a dress any more; it's a lot like eight. Or possibly ten. And, no matter how many buttons I buy when they're on sale, I either don't have the right color, or, if I have the right color, they're not the right size, OR, if I have the right color & size, I am short THREE. (One or two, I could fake, but THREE is really impossible.) But despite all this, I am committed (or is that, I should be committed? Different "committed") to doing more of them. Like this one, which caught my eye with that fabulous color green, but kept it for the stripes (with that jaunty half-turned-up collar). I seem to have purchased quite a bit of striped fabric lately and the thought of matching them all ... is not a good thought. Thus the raglan sleeves, yay!

Oh, and for interfacing, especially of light cottons, I've been using silk organza, instead of any fusible stuff. You can buy it cheap at Dharma Trading, and it really works well. Nice and crisp without being crisp-y; sewing it in isn't too onerous, and it never bubbles the way cheap fusible can. I bought some Shirt-Tailor interfacing but it was just WAY too stiff for me. I only use the organza to interface the collar and the front buttonhole/button facings; I baste it in just inside the foldlines of the front facings and then zigzag over both the fabric and the organza to finish the raw edge -- and it's worked out nicely, so far!

Eventually I will have pictures of the three I've made, I promise.

Surprise!

Remember that pattern I posted yesterday? The shirtwaist? Well, I bought it Friday and yesterday I got a package in the mail ... I was sure it was my shirtwaist ...

But when I opened the package, I found this, instead:




I emailed Jody at My Kids Drawers right away, and, well, she is a *really* nice eBay seller. She apologized, said she'd send out the right pattern right away, and told me to keep this one! That's how you do customer service, folks. (You might want to check out what she's got listed now, there are quite a few nice patterns, and on sale, too!)

In fact, I've had more good transactions buying patterns on eBay than just about anything else ... patterns seem to attract nice people. (Unlike the guy I bought a Swatch from, who, when I refused to pay an additional -- and highly illegal -- "Paypal fee," decided it would be fun to smash the watch with a hammer before he sent it to me.)

The serendipitous thing, of course, is that I would have never given this pattern a second glance, but now that it's in my hot little hands I can see all sorts of lives for it. It only takes two yards of 50" fabric ...

(If you want a copy of this pattern for your very own, there are at least two copies of it on eBay right now, plus a really nice one from Michelle at Patterns from the Past, too)

Femme Fatale

Did anyone's New Year's resolutions start off with "1. Become femme fatale"? If so, this is the pattern for you. The jacket alone would drive a good man to a life of crime, right? (And notice that all of the women in the illustration are wearing the same shoes, standard issue in femme-fatale boot camp. In fact, at femme-fatale boot camp, you sleep in four-inch heels. It builds (lack of) character.)

Sadly, my resolutions are all of the mundane kind ("achieve world domination, clean out hall closet") so this dress isn't for me. (I think, for world domination AND cleaning out the closet, you need sleeves, or else how can you roll them up to get started?)

If you do buy and make this, I would suggest staying away from black-and-red as a color combination; it's a bit cliché, fatale-ly speaking. Why not try a very deep, almost poisonous green, with a chartreuse-yellow lining to the collar? Daring and absinthe-ish, no? Or maybe a leonine gold-yellow, with a deep chocolate lining (good for brunettes). And why not two shades of pink, pale and hot? For blondes, I'd do that deep cobalt lined with a sky (or Carolina) blue. With your sapphires, of course. (Which you acquired in a slightly underhanded way. But don't worry, it's not your fault the bank went under. How were you to know that darling Mr. Wilkins was so unstable?)

If you, like me, think being a femme fatale is too much trouble, perhaps you should consider this dress instead. Much more practical.

Thanks to Jen (at MOMsPatterns, who got it from Julie at Damn Good Vintage ...) for the link! Click on the image to visit the eBay auction (and to see a much bigger picture).

Little Match Girl

Julie (of Damn Good Vintage sent me a link to this amazing dress ... I'm just showing you the fabric, because that's what I'm coveting. (It's listed by Capricorn Vintage, click on the image to check out the actual dress part of this dress.)

My list of "fabric I'm gonna make when I have a spare minute (and figure out how)" is getting really unmanageably long. I mean there's these matches, and then there's the little pies, and the robots of many descriptions, and then there's all the alphabet-y, font-y things I want to make, and the gingko ... and on and on. And I haven't gotten any further than buying this book on fabric design in Photoshop. (It looks good. I haven't read beyond the Introduction. Oh, and I found this mysterious plug-in, too, but at 600 Euros I'm not buying it any time soon.)

What fabric designs have you been searching for?

[Oh, and edited to add: the 2008 Bloggies award nominating ends this Friday ... if you enjoy this blog, might you consider nominating it? I have no idea what category suits best ... maybe "topical blog"? (Although "topical blog" sounds like some kind of blog ointment, for when your blog has a rash!)]

Possibly A New Obsession

Flight back was fine; empty plane, plenty with me to read, and my only disappointment was that the in-flight movie, advertised as "Ocean's Thirteen" (I love a good -- or even a bad -- heist movie) was, in fact, "Hairspray" -- which, fine, nice dresses. But. Whoa. I am sooooo jetlagged -- woke up at 5 this morning, feeling as if it were noon. Ulp.

But I have managed, at least, to open my mail to find this pattern, which I ordered before I left (from eBay seller Treasure from Galilee Shore):



If you look at view D you can see those are FRENCH CUFFS. And on view A, yes, that is a bias placket. This is a serious dress, requiring much contemplation and selfless dedication. And serious interfacing, which I'm not much for using, but this needs it, the good stuff.

Needless to say, if I can master this pattern I might make this one over and over, forever. This dress never goes out of style (not that 'going out of style' is something I usually consider, but ...) and it fits with my cardigan-and-penny-loafer lifestyle.

I'm pretty set on the full-skirted version (for better inclusion of pockets) but the perfectly coordinated woman in fuchsia is very, very tempting. She has fuchsia shoes; *I* have fuchsia shoes (and four yards of fuchsia shantung) ... I don't have the hat, although I do have pink eyeglasses. Think that will do?

Back Again

I'm back from Las Vegas, where I did not buy ANY fabric whatsoever. Not an inch, much less an ell. I was discouraged from attempting any explorations after my unsavory experience walking from the In-N-Out Burger back to the Strip ... let's just say that I have a new appreciation for the wonders of zoning. (But an In-N-Out burger is worth any number of two-mile walks past assorted 'gentlemen's clubs'.)

Anyway, even though I didn't buy any fabric, I did manage to buy the pattern above, from eBay seller nateesh. Isn't it pretty? Square necklines with underbust gathers will get me every time.

In other clothing-related news: a TSA employee at O'Hare complimented my new camouflage-print skirt. Which totally made up for the "subcontractor" at the Las Vegas airport who not only ARGUED with people and made them beg for bins for the conveyor belt, but also DROPPED my laptop into a bin after deigning to give me one for it. (Yes, I complained. So I'm probably on a no-fly list now.)

I'm hoping to announce two fun Dress-A-Day-related projects this week. They're exciting! And geeky! Look out!

Solve This Puzzle

Héloïse sent me a link to this eBay auction -- the picture is not of the best, but really, do you need to know any more than "1950's crossword-themed dress?" before you start mousing around for the "Bid" button?

It's 36-26(ulp)-39, and the bidding right now is about $25.

As you know, I already am the proud possessor of a crossword-themed dress, but I'm keeping an eye out for more crossword fabric -- the tournament does last three days, after all.

I can't tell if the buttons are little squares or not, but it looks as if they are. And it has pockets, to hold your pencils! What more could you ask?

Click on the image to visit the auction, as usual.

All Paquin Bulletin

Has anyone seen this pattern? I mean, for sale, out in the wild? Mary P. was outbid -- sniped, really -- by just a smidgen when this was up for auction last week and she's been mourning it ever since. Leave a comment or drop an email if you have one you're willing to sell/trade.

I know it's hard to tell from the picture -- and while we're here, can I just rant about sellers who show teeny-tiny pictures of patterns? A hint: if you can hold the actual object up to the computer screen, you can run the photo of it FULL SIZE, people -- but it looks amazing. I'd love for Mary P. to find a copy so she can make it and send me the picture.

And in a fit of selflessness (because now you're all going to outbid me!) may I remind everyone again about eBay's Favorite Search feature? When a search comes up empty, save it, and then eBay will email you when your holy grail shows up again. At the very least, getting a dozen emails from eBay every day will test your desire for whatever the item is -- I've canceled more than a few saved searches when I realized that my annoyance at dealing with the email was more than my desire for the item. (You can also get eBay searches through RSS, but I haven't done that yet. Probably should!) Saved searches are most useful when you save a very detailed search -- looking for a pair of shoes or a pattern in a particular size, fabric in a particular color -- so that you don't waste time looking at pages of stuff that's not quite right.

In fact, I think being able to do Boolean or regex searching is an indispensable skill in the post-eBay, post-Google age. I might just have to go volunteer to teach a couple how-to-search sessions at my son's school ... although probably not using eBay as an example!

Thinking about Prom, or Holiday?

I know, I know, it's early for prom, but a lot of kids have winter formals and suchlike, yes? This is just such a great dress for a formal dance, especially for younger women who crave sophistication (c'mon, we were all there once). This is an easy way to get it without being kitten dressed as cougar, if you know what I mean. The sweetheart neckline and sweet full skirt can be dressed up or down pretty easily. Add a fakey tiara and long gloves to the narrow-skirted version and you are Holly Golightly; make the full-skirted one in pink and you are Sandra Dee. (I personally would avoid the brocade version for the under-30 set, but hey, if brocade makes you happy, go for it.)

The full-skirted version would be just lovely in a pale yellow organza. Go nuts and sprinkle the bottom third of the skirt with heat-set rhinestones. You only live once ...

This listing ends today, I think, so jump if you want it. Click on the image to visit the eBay auction.

Everything Must Go!

Friend-of-the-blog Nora is doing a little pattern divestiture on eBay -- you can check out her listings here.

Now you all know I have nothing but love for the professional pattern-sellers, but I have to admit that my heart quickens when someone tells me that they're selling off some of their "collection". I think it's because, rightly or wrongly, I figure that they are selling off things regretfully, only because they need some space, and that regret is because what they're selling is freakin' awesome. (Which seems to be true in Nora's case -- nice pattern up above, what?)

This belief of mine is carried to a ridiculous extreme when I think about estate sales -- I mean, c'mon, this is stuff people DIED holding on to! It must be incredibly great! And no matter how many times I go to a sale that consists only of wash-and-wear polyester 1970s housedresses, archival issues of TV Guide ("Who's the Boss?" always seems to feature prominently), and ABSOLUTELY NO FABRIC OR PATTERNS even though "sewing machine" is listed in the ad, I keep believing.

[Of course, I am SO EVIL -- so evil, that if I ask about patterns and the estate sale runner is dumb enough to tell me that they threw them out, so sorry, I always say "Oh, that's too bad -- you know, some of those patterns go for $30 each, or more!" Even if I *know* they probably tossed a box of 80s-puff sleeved monstrosities. Such cavalier behavior on their part must be *punished*.)

But back to this pattern. Boy, I love that yoke! I'd make this in a charcoal gray with red buttons and wear it with a red belt (but not red shoes). So cute!

I Just Don't Know

I've had this site, OurThreads.com, open in my browser for a week, trying to decide whether to blog about it.

The pros:

• it's a site that promotes swapping of clothes as well as buying/selling


• it lets users donate the money they make from their closets to the charitable cause of their choice


• the interface looks pretty nice

The cons:

• sites like this are only as good as their user base, and their user base right now (although they all seem like very nice people!) isn't very large


• it's only slightly less trouble to take pictures and list items on a site like this as it is for eBay, and eBay would probably net you more money


• there were only 19 dresses listed when I last checked.

Anyway, I'm not sold yet. I think what would really make this site work is a something like Amazon's "Resell Your Books" feature. Sign up a few big online clothing retailers (GAP.com, Amazon, Bluefly, Overstock.com, Zappos, etc.), and get them to let OurThreads.com users upload their purchase histories. Match people who have similar sizes/purchase histories, and then alert them to each other and see if they want to trade.

They could also let you (with a widget/bookmarklet) "shop" on other, non-partner sites and mark things you've bought, which would add that thing automatically to your "closet".

For every person who says "eeeew ... used clothes?" there will be two who will buy that extra sweater if they know they can sell or swap it in a few months for something new-to-them.

Having people upload their own stuff is so old-web, and too much work. Make it passive, or nearly passive, and you're more than halfway there. A really useful site would know/figure out (with my permission) what I've already bought, and then would ping me when people who have similar tastes mark the stuff THEY already bought with a "willing to trade/sell" marker.

So I pose the questions to you, my dear readers. Would you use a site like OurThreads.com, as it is now? Would you take pictures of your stuff, describe it, put it up on this site, and then field requests to trade a pair of barely-worn GAP grass-green ballet flats for your barely-worn grass-green cardigan? (Not that I have a pair of shoes like that gathering dust in MY closet ...) I'm not sure I would. But I'd sign up for a passive, automatic-info-gathering clothing-swap site in a heartbeat ...

(And while I'm talking about advances in shopping tech -- someone has finally implemented my dream of a shop-by-color application. It's here at Yahoo! Shopping. Of course, in my dream it was by Pantone, but hey. You take what you can get. Now do you see why my pitch for a shopping-by-color service got third place in the Web 1.0 pitch contest at Wikimania 2006? Vindication is suh-weet.)

I Don't Know What You People Are Thinking

Seriously. Holly at LuciteBox Vintage has had this up as a Buy-It-Now on eBay for like, a week now and it's STILL THERE. I was looking at my list of to-be-blogged topics and thought "There's no way that dress is still up," but when I went to check, it was. Sheesh! What is up? Is everyone still getting back from Labor Day vacation? Are you still trying to get that last week of wear out of your summer sandals? Does everyone have the horrific head cold I came down with?

I mean, check out the back:




That alone should have made you hit that handy "Buy It Now" button.

Anyway, it's navy, B36/W26, and just plain gorgeous, and pretty affordable at $74.

Everyone should have a very structured dark dress for the days where you Mean Business. This is a brook-no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners dress. I have one that is black crepe and insanely severe; but it can go from lady-scientist to hardcore-vamp with a change of shoes and a slash of red lipstick. This is one of those dresses, and believe me, once you have a dress like this you feel a renewed sense of confidence. It's like having a $100 bill in your pocket, an unmetered parking space, a new pair of kickass shoes, and a fantastic idea, all at once. Even when you're not wearing it. Just having it in your closet, ready to pull out in case of emergency, is enough.

So why is this one still available? I don't know. I am going to have to fall back on my traditional there's-no-good-explanation explanation: sunspots.

Be Afraid!

Oh, yes, for nefarious reasons of my own I have purchased TWO HUNDRED YARDS of rick-rack trim (from Threadart, on eBay).

Why? Well, that's for me to know, and you to find out, as the elementary-school kids say. Let's just say that if it works it will be dreadful and exhilarating in equal amounts. I hope.

If you turn up your computer speakers you'll be able to hear my evil-genius cackling.

Don't worry, though. I have no plans to blow up the moon. At this time.

Looking For a New Obsession

I'm not going to have a lot of time to sew this autumn, so I've been really thinking about doing some kind of SWAP (Sewing With A Plan) program so that I don't do as I normally do, which is make completely random items that coordinate only in the sense that they all fit me (more or less).

However, I want to base my planned sewing around a new dress template (don't worry, I still want to make a Duro or two) and I can't decide which one. This is very distressing, especially to someone as decisive (not to say impetuous) as I am. Seriously, I feel most things are Not That Complicated: the important thing is to pick something reasonable and DO IT.

That said, the something I'm going to Pick and Do will have something like this kind of bodice: a center seam with a faced collar. They're very easy to sew, they look nice with cardigans over them (a problem for the Duro), and they do well with prints. I need to make one up and see how it does with a little jacket over it, too. I'm just not OBSESSED with them yet!

Unfortunately, this one, from Turtle Bay Trading Company, is just *slightly* too big for me.

And -- aren't the psychodynamics of this pattern envelope amazing? The woman on the left (who looks a bit like Téa Leoni, I think) is obviously being confronted with some entitled upstart (look at that nose in the air!) and is on the point of delivering a well-deserved set-down. Either that or the All-Beige Wonder has just said something so staggeringly inane that Ms. Leoni is looking at her and wondering just exactly how much brain activity is required for standing upright, and revising her previous estimate downward.

Sexy and Complicated

That's what Rita at Chez Cemetarian called this dress, and I agree. Wholeheartedly.

The pattern's up on eBay right now; click on the image to visit her auction.

This dress has me completely bowled over. That's one ... engrossing ... project, right there! I've seen simpler skirts on wedding dresses. In fact, this would make a pretty kick-ass wedding dress. Or I'd love to see someone wearing it at the Oscars. Heck, I'd love to see someone wearing this in their living room. I just want it to be worn!

Also, I'd never seen an "Advance Import" pattern before, but you can be sure I'll be looking for them now. This one, as you can see (and is discussed more in the listing) is from Battilocchi of Rome.

Oh, and if you check the back of the pattern (helpfully provided by Cemetarian) you can see that the width of the Incredible Skirt at the hem edge? THIRTEEN YARDS. That's five or six packages of bias binding, to put it in perspective. Thirteen yards of hem ... again: serious project.

I wish I could see just one version of this made up -- actually, I wish I could hover unseen over the shoulder of someone making this up, back in the day. I've never really been into sewing shows, but I'd make an exception to watch someone putting this together ... of course, if they were filming me they'd have to bleep a lot. Those godets! The in-seam folds! Matching all those seams!

I think I have to go lie down now, and I just got up. Thanks, Rita!

Electron Deprivation

My DSL went down at about 11 last night. "No worries," I thought, Pollyannaishly. "I'm sure it will be up in the morning."

Of course, this morning I awoke with a start just at seven, filled with foreboding .... something was wrong! Something terrible!

Whether my body just recognized the lack of a wifi signal permeating my bones, or whether I just sensed the sad lack of blinkitude of the DSL light on the modem, I don't know, but there was no connectivity again this morning. A good night's sleep, it seems, is not what cures an ailing internet connection.

However the good folks at Speakeasy (LOVE them) got me back up and running in just about four hours, so I was able to see that I'd won this:



How tempted am I to do the striped version of the skirt? Extremely tempted.

I bought this pattern from eBay seller sewingwithdogs. She's got other stuff up, mostly vintage girl clothes ...

You'll Need Fourteen Bakelite Buttons

At *least* fourteen. If you want to make view A, of course, and who wouldn't?

Marie Christopher just sent this to me, completely bumping what I was going to post today (don't worry, it'll keep), commenting "Totally Katherine Hepburn -- buttons! Hat!", which sentiments I echo.

As much as I love 1930s clothes, though, it's always accompanied by the tristesse that comes with knowing that I am totally unsuited to them. Totally. And not in the good way -- the way where you KNOW something doesn't suit you, but it makes you so happy that the wearing of it casts a glow, a glamour of happiness over you that cancels out the unsuitedness -- but in the way where I look like somebody's least-liked bridesmaid.

If I could only go a couple minutes in Willy Wonka's taffy-pulling machine, like Mike Teevee, then I could "do" 1930s. A few more inches, spreading my body mass across a slightly longer frame, and voilà! A Hepburn's life for me.

Until that technology is perfected and marketed on late-night cable (as the Wonkamatizer?), though, I'm afraid I just have to look. But some of you, I know, can rock this look backwards and forwards, so go ahead and click on the image to visit VicVelvet's auction. And start looking for those buttons ...

Found it! (almost)

Remember the "Let's Go To Florida!" dress from here? Well, a full-on dredge of eBay turned up one (not my size, alas) from seller On-A-Moonbeam, who nicely included a scan of the entire front pattern envelope, so now we can really see the lines.

And, hoo boy, look at that skirt! Those are godets, are they not? Four of them. The listing shows the back of the pattern, which tells you that the width of the skirt at the hem for a size 16 (B34) is 262 inches. That's about seven and a quarter YARDS. No way I'm hemming that ... except, isn't it gorgeous?

This pattern doesn't look too difficult to do; this might be a good starter for someone who wants to start off with something glamorous. Only don't make your first version in satin or velvet or anything slippery and expensive ... try a lightweight cotton, okay? Believe me, this dress would be a knockout even if you made it in cotton flannel. Not that I'm recommending that, but hey, if that sounds like fun to you, who am I to quibble?

And thanks to everyone who gave me recommendations for Tokyo; I did go find Tomato fabrics and I did buy nearly my own weight in cotton prints. I'll have pics in a day or two, I hope ...

To the Max(i-dress)!

Holly tipped me off that a bunch of eBay sellers are doing a special promo on the maxi-dress through August 8. The dress above is part of the promotion, and you can find other dresses by searching for the label TVMF ("The Vintage Maxi Factor").

Despite hardly ever wearing them, I *love* maxi-dresses. They're so hippie-glamorous. I feel that they should be worn at home, entertaining, with bare feet. There should be something jazzy playing on the stereo (or coming from your iPod), none of the seating should be more than eighteen inches off the floor, and all the drinks should be at least half ice.

All of which would explain why I hardly ever wear maxi-dresses, because all the above prerequisites are hardly ever met, at least for me. But maybe I should relax a few of those conditions, so I could snap up dresses like this. This one is COTTON (a lot of those maxi-dresses are synthetics, which I really don't like) and it's got such a great print! If only it weren't beige ... I can't really wear beige, unless I want to practice looking naked and/or invisible. But if you had darker skin than mine (I will NOT say the dread word TAN) this would be gorgeous on you! And look both elegant and effortless at once.

And maybe your feet wouldn't HAVE to be bare ... flat colorful sandals would work. No heels, though. Heels with a maxi-dress is Trying Too Hard.

This gorgeous maxi is from the eBay seller nomusicnolife and is B38 ... and in great condition! If you are looking for the perfect fancy beach party/casual outdoor wedding-guest dress for this summer, I think this is it.

Make sure you hold one of those froofy parasol-required drinks while wearing it, though. That's one condition I won't waive.

Three in One

Remember the pattern I promised I'd find for the pink dot dress? Well, this isn't it. But it's close!

And better yet, there are THREE of them listed on eBay right now. The one above is B41; click on the image to go to the auction. For B35, click here, and for B37, click here.

You know, if you a see a pattern you like on eBay, it's usually a good idea to search on that pattern company name and number, just to make sure you haven't overlooked a nicer copy, or one in a better size, or just one by a seller you like better. And if you see one you like but it's NOT your size, you should save your search ... then eBay will email you when a new one is listed.

I hope this is not stating the obvious, but I went out to give a talk at eBay on Monday and it turned out that perhaps some of the things I think are obvious about eBay shopping are not ... anyone else have any eBay tips? You know where the comments are!

Of course, because I was talking at eBay I felt that I had to show them a picture of my most recent eBay purchase ... which was this:



Isn't it lovely? (When I bought it there was at least one more listed, too ... )

The Perfect Larger-Size Vintage You've Been Waiting For

I get quite a few emails from people who are a modern size 14 or 16 and can't find anything vintage they like in their size. "Be patient," I tell them (which is horrible of me, because no one EVER likes to be told "be patient"). "Keep checking eBay, your perfect dress will turn up eventually."

So if you were one of those emailers and you don't bid on this dress (B46), I don't want to hear any more whining from you, young lady. This dress is about as perfect as you'll ever see, and I can't believe Holly's actually selling it (she's lost some weight and it doesn't fit her any longer ... of course, if I had this dress hanging in my closet, I'd be tempted to slam back the malteds until it fit me again, too, so I understand).

I don't know where to start with what I love about this dress. The Orla Kiely-ish print? The scallops along the side? The buttons? It's so hard to decide ... did I mention that it has a pocket? And that it's lined in red?

If this fits you, you should jump at it, because I will bet you will wear it to pieces (and probably, if you're anything like me, hold on the pieces for years in the fashion equivalent of a reliquary, or like a jar of ashes on the mantel). It's just that kind of dress.

The auction ends Wednesday, so hop to it!

Busy, Day Dress (or Busy-Day Dress)

Okay, so for the last day of this incarnation of fabric week, I thought I'd show something made up ... I bought this fabric on eBay, I'm pretty sure, a decision based solely on that color green. I love that shade of green.

Of course, as with all fabric I bought in 2006, it was supposed to be part of a Duro dress. I could never find anything to match that raisin-y brown, though, and I thought matching the pink or the green would be too Lilly Pulitzer. So it sat in my fabric closet (which is not of Tardis-like proportions, despite rampant speculation in the comments, but is pretty darn close) for a while.

Then I needed some fabric to "test" a new pattern -- this is in fact the bodice from one pattern and the skirt from another; I'd show the images but I can't find them, arrgh -- and thought of this stuff. The idea was the pattern would be SO BUSY that any bobbles in the construction wouldn't show.

Of course, I wasn't able to match the large medallions right on the bodice:



But the pockets turned out okay (they're curved!):



Despite the many flaws of this dress (the facings like to turn out, despite practically supergluing them down, and for some reason I got a bad spool of thread so the seams are weak and constantly need repair) it's actually incredibly wearable. The pockets are just the right size and the bodice is very comfortable (it's the same bodice as this dress). In fact, I'm thinking of making this again but in red with white polka dots ...

Good Intentions

I *absolutely* meant to post about the Etsy/Instructables contest, but the last few weeks have been pretty hectic, what the conferencing and the travel and the husband-gone-fishing-in-Canada-ness of it all. But right now I am looking at a week with very few conference calls in it, and only three or four deliverables, so isn't it good that they extended the deadline to July 16! That's a week from now, plenty of time for you all to enter and win a NEW SEWING MACHINE!

I also meant to post about the BurdaStyle contest ... they extended their deadline, too, to July 15. That's plenty of time to design, sew, and mail, right? Right?

I think there's some other stuff I was going to post about, as well. Maybe I will catch up this week, stranger things have happened.

Oh, and someone in the comments a few days back asked for another fabric week, and well, seller atticcon has listed a ton of vintage fabric, including the blue silk up above. Blue-gray *textured* silk. Mmmmmm. Perhaps my good "I'm not buying any fabric until I go to Japan" intention is going to take a workout this week.

Anything else I've forgotten? Leave a comment or email me ...

Dress or carapace?

Crystal sent me a link to this pattern, which is listed on eBay Australia (click on the image to visit the listing), and all I can say is that I hope "fiberglass" is not listed in the "suitable fabrics" section. Doesn't this look more like a hard case for the top of your car than a dress?

Of course, saying that doesn't mean I don't like it. I'd love to have a completely rigid exoskeleton dress. (Exodress?) Stains would roll right off, yes? No one would crowd you on the subway. If someone pissed you off you could just walk slowly and menacingly toward them, they would realize you could simply crush them into a wall, and rethink their behavior.

So if this were an exodress, I would make it in shiny, shiny aluminum. Or perhaps Kevlar. Wouldn't you? And is it just me, or is the shoulder detail above actually the latches that hold it on? I think they are ...

Miscellanea

A few things I wanted to post about, but haven't had time to work up into full-fledged posts:

Chez Cemetarian has the Butterick "Walk-Away" dress listed right now! It's B32, but even if that's not your size, click on the image above and go read up on the info she's tracked down about it.

This article from the LA Times talks about the rise in popularity of the dress. (Registration required; try bugmenot.com if you're not registered.) Best stat? "Market research firm NPD Group ... recently reported that sales of dresses soared to $5 billion in the 12 months that ended April 30. Dress sales were up 30%, while sales for all women's apparel rose just 5%." Not that I'm taking any of the credit, mind you. (Thanks to Stacy for the link!)

I blogged about what I'm reading for the new site Writers Read -- my entry is here.

And I don't usually post email folks send me (unless they ask me to), but lately I've been hearing from more and more men that they read this blog. They always say this sheepishly, as if they are the ONLY GUY IN THE WORLD to ever hit this URL. So, because I don't want them to feel alone, here's a recent email I received (posted with permission) from Joshua Ferguson:

Okay, so I’ll make it clear that I don’t really care about fashion.

First I’m a guy and as such I prefer function to fashion. I like cords, cargo pants and clothes that bring out the green/blue of my eyes and I prefer them all at the same time. That’s pretty much as deep as I go. If I can’t wear it with Vans shoes (unless in a formal setting) then it doesn’t need to be worn unless it has a specific function (read: hiking boots, gortex, et cetera).

Anyways, I was helping the girlfriend look for a dress to wear to her upcoming cosmetology graduation (something in a retro black/white polka-dot 50s style) that we could actually afford. I ran a Google Boolean search for [cute “black and white” “polka dot” god damn dress] and voila somehow I hit your site and landed squarely in the archives of October 2006 looking at a Chess Dress from way back when. It was awesome.

Awesome enough for me to read the description which was amusing enough for me to read more of the site. Finally I bookmarked it and have found myself reading about patterns and eyelets and whathaveyou and yet I don’t feel the need to renounce my manhood.

Truth be told I grew up around this stuff because my grandmother was a seamstress who worked for Chic Lingerie in Los Angeles but still. I find your site to be well written, fun and informative even if I have no intention of ever sewing another stitch in my life (it’s just not cost-effective to design my own clothes I reckon).

So, with all that said I end with a simple thank you. I have been amused and my scowl was turned upside down for the time being.

Cheers and keep it up as you would regardless of this email.

I have to say I enjoy the emails from people who say "I hate dresses, but I like your site," because that lets me know I'm not just preaching to the choir (note to choir: I love you guys, too). It's the same thing as when people come up to me and say "I thought a talk by a dictionary editor would be SO BORING, but I really enjoyed listening to you!" Hearts and minds, people, hearts and minds. Someday this will be a big ol' dictionary-usin', dress-wearin' world, and I can retire, my work done.

Surgeon General's Warning

This is terrible, terrible fabric. Seriously, it's just plain wrong. Usually I'm a connoisseur of the wrong (remind me to make my favorite bologna-and-baby-spinach on whole wheat sandwich for you sometime), but this is just a step too far. I cannot imagine a wholesome use for this fabric. (Or an evil one that would be worth the trouble.) Exclusively-branded cigarette girl outfit? Insincere "I know you can quit" quilt project? Reupholstering your donk?

Allison sent me this link so that she would not have to be alone in her eBay amazement. (Which reminds me: didn't there used to be a great "weird stuff on eBay" blog?) Right now there's just one bidder, and the seller estimates there's at least ten, and maybe THIRTY, yards of this fabric. So I'm sure you can work something out, but you SHOULDN'T. Please. Making something from this fabric is sure to be hazardous to your health, and has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

the flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la

This, I'm afraid, is another tiny-busted wonder (pay no attention to the endowment of the illustrated women, only to the measurement on the envelope). It's from eBay seller oncillakat, who seems to have a lot of fun stuff up right now.

This caught my eye, though, for the repeated petal motif. If I were to make this dress (which I'm not, because, well, it's not my size) I'd go way over the top with it. I'd make it in pale green satin and cover the whole thing with intricate Callot Soeurs-type silk ribbon embroidery. Tiny flowers, or some such. You know what I mean. I'd have a horizontal vine motif running through the midriff band, too. Maybe even with beads -- and I don't usually wear beaded things, so you know I'm serious, here.

Another wonderful way to play up the tulip skirt would be to embroider it as if it were an actual variegated tulip. Imagine this kind of coloring on that skirt, done in satin-stitch embroidery, or, better yet, bugle beads!



[tulip picture by Sheila Steele.]

Of course, since I don't do silk ribbon embroidery, or beading, or, even satin, really, this dress remains purely notional. But if YOU do all the above, please, feel free to take this idea (and buy this pattern) and run with it. Just send me a jpg, 'kay?