On a Little Bit of Carroll Fun!

Still here...just can't manage to get all the posts I've started writing up in a timely manner and I was determined to get this one up before the year ends!

In October, I had the pleasure of going to the opening of an exhibit on spectral science and technology and a magic lantern show. 

This required the making of a coat, of course. A fellow Carrollian brought this marvelous Mad Masquerade by Riley Blake fabric, which is made up of advertising cards with illustrations from Carroll's Alice books, to my attention quite some time ago, but I'd been putting off using it because it's such a busy print and I wanted something that would do it justice. I ended up deciding that my revised pattern version of McCall's 9130, would do very nicely. 

Aside from choosing to cut it out during a heatwave and not really clearing enough space to do so in a convenient manner resulting in very sore muscles for several days, this coat came together without too many issues. As an added note, unlike last time I made it, this time I happily remembered to include facings and the front seam allowance.

Normally I would spend a significant amount of time searching for the perfect buttons. Nothing I looked at seemed quite right for this coat, though, and then I couldn't decide between what I did have. As a result, there are two round metal buttons, two grey rose buttons, and two cream colored rose buttons, which I find perfect considering the theme.

A wide width ribbon tied in a bow finished off the outfit! 

As for the exhibit, the big highlight for me was seeing a distorting mirror that belonged to Lewis Carroll! As you can see, I was upside-down with delight over it! 

Other fun things included a board of Houdini's keys used by his wife in attempts to contact him after he died (part of continued efforts to expose frauds, which became a large part of Houdini's later life), a variety of magic books and tricks, and several magic lantern projectors. 

 

As someone who doesn't go out and about often, it was a delightful event to attend! 

❤ ❤ ❤

On a Thanksgiving Pie Skirt

For various reasons I haven't been sewing clothing items for the past year, but when I saw this pie fabric early or mid-summer, being a pie baker I just couldn't resist and knew that even if I had to push myself I was going to make a circle skirt for Thanksgiving. 

In September I decided that if I could at least get the pieces cut out I would then be able to sew them together at a later date, which ended up being Veteran's Day weekend and this past week. 

Sewing a circle skirt together is fairly quick, although when I reached the hem I found I forgot how to use the narrow hem foot on the sewing machine. As usual the hem waffled, but as I always shorten the pattern when I'm tracing it, I never have a perfectly curved hem anyway, so this probably just adds to it doing that. While not typically considered ideal, I actually like the look.

I had wanted a baby ric-rac on this, but for some reason neither fabric store had off white and I ended up finding a nice olive green medium sized ric-rac for purchase by the yard, which I'm rather happy with as it was the color I wanted in the first place. 

Only a few things need to be adjusted on this. I need to go back and fix the 1/8 inch worth of white selvage that is showing in the one side seam (I spent about an hour unpicking the other side seam to remedy this problem and just could not handle unpicking a second seam, thought I'd be okay with it, but it bugs me) and I think I'm going to try using a fabric marker to color the bit of white showing at the zipper opening (I will NOT be redoing the zipper). Last night I also managed to sew the hooks slightly off from where they are supposed to be and as I didn't make my typical adjustment for my larger than me pattern, this skirt needs all the help it can get it terms of it being tighter in the waist, so they'll need to be re-sewn on.

That being said though, it's a very nice skirt for Thanksgiving and while it wasn't going to get it made this year, I already have the Wearing History "Harriet" Drop Shoulder Blouse pattern and some white on white print fabric lined up for a matching blouse.

  Happy Thanksgiving!♥

On Random Movie Related Thoughts

I've been in a rather nit-picky observatory mood this year when it comes to horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and noir movies, and have been recording some of my more amusing thoughts on them. I now subject you to them.

Frankenstein (any and all versions)

-Why does the topic of smell never come up given what the monster is made of especially given the fact that it's basically been fried to bring it to life? There has to be some sort of odor!

Labyrinth (1986)

-In regard to the Bog of Eternal Stench, why doesn't stepping on the rocks make them smell? Those rocks clearly came up from the blog all covered in goo and, therefore, should be just as smelly.

-Why does the dad ask if she's home at the end? Did they expect her to run away because she was so upset? Isn't it night time?

The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)

-If you're not a child in an old movie, you really should avoid milk. Especially if it's glowing. (This builds on thoughts in relation to Hitchcock's Suspicion, in which he intentionally made the milk glow.) 

Earth vs. the Spider (1958)

-If the spider has to break down the wall to get out of the gym/auditorium, how in the world did they get it in there in the first place? 

-Yet another example of a giant bug/insect/arachnid movie in which the creature can miraculously move about stealthily without creating any air current and therefore sneak up on everyone before they can run. 

The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958) (Semi-spoilers in this one, although it's pretty predictable) 

-Soooo many oddities in plot of this B movie. 

-The hundreds of years old talisman is wearable, but the chest has to be guarded from theft? And given that there were only a few people who knew about the chest in the first place, what merited the need for it to be locked up in a room and guarded by not one, but TWO people?

-If you found a head in a chest wouldn't you just close it?

-Given the purpose and value of the talisman, how and why did it end up at the base of the tree? Also, very convenient finding it the same time as the chest after all those years.

Invisible Ghost (1941)

-How terribly sad to be "Attractive Blonde" in a news article describing one's death rather than to be described by profession or by name.  

Dracula (1931)

-Why are there armadillos!?! Are they just running around the house? Could they not get rats for the scene? Isn't it too cold for them?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

 -What is boiling in the pot that's in the fireplace? Why isn't anyone concerned about the fact that it keeps bubbling over? Clearly it must have something that either doesn't evaporate or is important enough that keeps getting refilled since it's in multiple scenes.

 ♥ ♥ ♥

On a Watermelon Dress

I completed this dress somewhere between May and July, but was so put out with all the various issues I had making that I didn't wear it until the beginning of October when we had a brief heatwave and now it's November, so I figure it's about time to get this posted.

I've had the 1953 Advance 6320 pattern for a while (since January 2019 according to this post) and while I want to make it using the flamingo fabric in the aforementioned post, since it involves cutting the fabric crosswise rather than lengthwise (as the pattern calls for) to have the flamingos go the right direction it keeps getting put off for when I actually feel like doing math and figuring out exactly where the piecing together seams should go so they aren't too obvious. 

Having time on my hands in April, I decided it'd be a great time to test out the pattern as a lengthy shirt/short dress, which would eliminate the need for the yards and yards of fabric and allow me to use the 2 yards of cute, cheerful watermelon fabric I had bought on a whim. 

The pattern has a very full skirt. For the yardage I had after the bodice pieces were cut, I had the options of cutting the remaining fabric in half and piecing it together to get more pleats or to just work with what I had and have a longer dress with fewer pleats. I went with the later and learned that I really, really, really don't enjoy trying to figure out how to reconfigure inverted box pleats to fit a bodice. It involved much more math than I actually wanted to put into what I thought would be a good way to get my mind off what was going on. However, after what amounted to a several day struggle of pinning, unpinning and redoing measurements, I got them in the right places (and wrote down the measurements for future reference) and sewn.  

Thinking it'd be a breeze from there, I then managed to goof up the sewing on of the waist inset and ended up doing a lot more hand sewing than the pattern called for, but persevered and got it sewn on too. 

Next came the zipper...all 18 inches of it. It had to be ripped out twice and I decided on the third try that while it wasn't perfect, and does in several places catch the fabric when being pulled up and down, it would have to do with the reasoning point being I only have to use the zipper when I'm dressing and undressing. At that point, I decided I really wanted to avoid hemming anything, so I went with bias tape to make it easier on myself. I managed to cut it an inch too short somehow, so I ended up having to add a little extra, but thankfully it all worked out. 

 

 

And with that I folded it up and stuck it in the middle of one of my fabric piles and pretended it did exist until October when I stopped being irritated with and decided it actually didn't turn out too badly. 

 

♥🍉♥

On Sewing Thoughts In Progress: A Photo Post

Rainy weather brings about thoughts of warmer weather and which pattern I want to use for this flamingo fabric. Currently leaning towards the Advance pattern that just arrived in the mail today.

Also gives me something to do until I buy more of the purple fabric I need (because I bought one yard less than I needed) to continue working on what I am starting to think of an my "ice cream parlor coat". 
 

 ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

On a Christmas Print Dress!

Finished up my Christmas dress just in time yesterday and am happily sharing it with you today!

Having been given a bunch of fabric recently that included this Christmas print, I decided to do a test run for Hollywood pattern 1881 before attempting it with the other fabric pictured below and for once the pattern actually fits pretty well.

This dress presented a nice opportunity to pull out my vintage shoes. 

I might still swap out the buckle, which I spent a good amount of time thinking about. For now I feel that it's a good match for the dress, though.

One interesting thing about this pattern was the collar. While the button and loop hiding under the tie part wasn't unexpected, this is the first time I've done a collar where the flaps are attached to the side of the dress and the tie attaches along the back to form the back edge of the collar so to speak. 

And for a festive touch, I lined the pockets (apologies for the blurry photo) with green for an extra festive touch!  

Overall, with this dress having turned out so well, I can't wait to make a few more in the coming year!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

♥️ ♥️ ♥️

On a Delighfully Crabby Shirt

A little belated in posting...I didn't get all that much sewing done this summer, but I did manage to fit in one beach themed shirt before the summer reached it's end. 

When I found this cute crab print I instantly knew I it had to be used to make Simplicity 3223 from 1950.

Working with this pattern proved to be quite interesting, since everything you would normally fold inside the shirt as facing was folded to the outside and top stitched meaning that I really needed to be careful about things being just so. The curves on the armholes and the neck were a pain because of it, but, overall, they don't look too bad, in part I think due to the material being just busy enough to allow for tiny mistakes to go unnoticed. 

The one exception to the facings ending up on the right side was with the plackets. After machine stitching hems on the sides, I hand stitched them to the shirt and think I did such a nice job on them that I'm subjecting you to a picture of one of them. 

I did end up taking the time to get a near perfect print match on the pockets and while I tried on the button part it was cut at a slight angle, which only allowed for getting close to matching (very happy with it, though!).  

I also ended up having the perfect vintage buttons for this! Because I don't have high waist shorts to match at the moment, I ended up having to add a snap at the bottom due to lack of any more buttons. 

Of course, one needs a matching hair scarf and, as a finishing touch, I added a rope belt I've had taking up space in my trims box to get the perfect beachcomber look.

♥️♥️♥️

On a Fabric with Keys: A Photo Post

If one buys Cotton+Steel fabric with keys and keyholes, should one use it to make a dress with a keyhole neckline to continue the theme? 

♥️ ♥️ ♥️

On a Postal Outfit

Finally getting this up!!!

When I came across this airmail fabric, I knew I wanted to make a skirt with it (for those who have been following awhile, get ready to see good old Simplicity 3773 again).
 

This very quickly became a "if you give a mouse a cookie..." sort of outfit after I started working on the skirt. First, I decided I needed some sort of mail themed brooch and so I went looking for a postage stamp one, but managed to find this darling envelop instead! 

Having found a brooch, I clearly needed a bag to go with it, which ended up being my favorite part of my outfit. For me the obvious choice was to make a large envelop, since the Tim Holtz fabric set that included the print I used for the skirt also had a striped print that could be made into bias tape and used for an airmail envelop.

That established, I still needed an address to put on the bag and after a bit of thinking I turned to one of my favorite non-fiction books, 84, Charing Cross Road, which is a collection of letters exchanged between a woman named Helene Hanff and the people who run Marks Co. Bookstore in London starting in the 1940's. To take it a step further, I did a quick search to see if I could find what Hanff's writing looked like, found a few letters online, and then freehand embroidered the addresses on my bag to look like her handwriting. 

Here I'll admit to getting overly ambitious and it took forever (the return address alone took a little longer the length of the movie 84, Charing Cross Road), but it was more than well worth it! 

 

I think I bought all but one or two of the fabric designs in this set to make this outfit....

And when it all came together, I had the perfect outfit (and the perfect excuse to sing "Mail Myself to You")!

 ♥️ ✉ ♥️

On Using the "Lazy Suzy" Cooky Cutter

Today I finally got to use my Wear-Ever "Lazy Suzy" Cooky Cutter, which I mentioned in February, and try out the sugar cookie recipe that came with its box.

While I'm certainly not going to eschew using regular cookie cutters, I have to admit that I had a lot of fun using this one once I got the hang of making sure I was spacing the rows enough not to cut into the already cut out shapes. 

It was easy to use and I loved being able to just roll it out and end up with a handful of shapes without thinking about where the next one would fit best in order to avoid overworking the dough by rolling it out too many times. I also like the variation in the shapes. 

To finish them off I did some frosting (one batch was rolled out too thin, so I started with the burnt ones) and ended up with some very pretty cookies!

♥ ♥ ♥

On Antique Store Finds!

Yesterday I stopped off at the antique store while running some errands and ended up bringing home some fun new to me things!

Last time I was there, which was early fall, I saw a velvet purple cow toy that I decided to pass on and periodically since then I've thought about how I wish I would have bought it just because it was so funny looking. It was still there and I now own this tipsy little creature (and, in honor of national poetry month, I agree I'd rather see than be one) making it my second purple cow to come from this antique store. As I mentioned to a friend, propping it up with and positioning it next to the milkmaid was completely unintentional, although she does look appropriately shocked to see it.

Here's a better look at the above lunch set, which still has its original label and is still stapled to it's cardboard backing. 

  
The final photo I have to share is this straw hat, which I love in part because it makes me think of Disney's Swiss Family Robinson. It's in great shape with the exception of the one flower, which I'll have to repair, and I'm looking forward to getting to wear it in warmer months!

Other than these I also came home with a small artist palette brooch, purple scarf, a ziplock bag of vintage sequins, and a wonderful beaded bolero.

♥️ ♥️ ♥️