Too late for the fireworks

But just about as red-white-and-blue as you're going to get. Though I'm actually trying to think of it as red-white-and-navy, which seems as little less in-your-face.

The fabric is cotton sateen from Fashion Fabrics Club recent sale. I bought the print in two sizes; the smaller is getting used for the top, and the larger scale will be a coordinating skirt. I'm going for a vintage vibe here, hopefully it'll end up where I think it will.

The pattern is BWOF 3/06 #104, called "blouse with cutaway shoulders." I was looking at back reviews on PR tonight, and apparently I've always liked it, because I made comments on two of the reviews, back in 2007. At least I'm consistent.

My original (as of last night, anyway) plan for buttons was to use white vintage buttons that I had on hand. They look vaguely like checkers except for the holes in the middle. I thought if I used white instead of red, and sewed them on with navy thread, it would kill a little of the 4th of July vibe, but when I tried the white buttons, they were too big and sort of . . . chalky looking.

These little round red ones are also from the button stash, and despite their very obvious REDNESS, they look more appropriate.

As far as the collar goes, first I cut it out in the sateen. Then, after I'd interfaced the collar, I decided that it would look better in white, instead of the whole blouse being so matchy. And what I wanted was a white pique - definitely a white fabric with some texture. And all I had was batiste, cotton/lycra shirting and eyelet. I cut new collars from the shirting, interfaced the heck out of it to give it more body, and then went to the thrift store to see if they had anything made of white pique that I could cut up.

As you can see from the collar, which is just lying on the pinned-back facings at this point, I found something. A suit, as a matter of fact, Jones New York, size 8. For $4.95. Freshly dry-cleaned, but there was a stain on the skirt right near the waist that hadn't come out. I bought it anyway, hoping that I could cut up the out-of-date jacket and rescue the skirt -I wear most of my tops untucked anyway, and it would have been a great look for this blouse - but while the skirt was marked 8, it fit more like a 2. As in more than 3 inches stood between me and the closing of the zipper.

The jacket, on the other hand, fits like a glove. The shoulder pads are a little big and the buttons are godawful, but those things can be changed. If I did white buttons on the jacket, maybe I could wear it over the completed 2 piece dress?

Just someone, remind me when it's time to wear it, not to put on my red shoes!

The house dress, updated

This weekend's project, once I got done wrestling with the cherry dress, was to try to knock off an old favorite. The original dress was from April Cornell, and I've had it for probably 15 years. Really.

I wore it to death when it was new, and then it sat in the closet for a few years, and now I'm back with it, but the wear it's getting these days is more around the house, across the street to the coffee shop in the morning, whenever I don't feel like putting on "real" clothes.

I realized last week that what it's turned into is more or less a house dress. Which made me flinch, because my aunts and my grandmom lived in house dresses and I think of them as shlumpy cotton dresses with cutesy buttons and too much rickrack, but serving basically the same purpose as my dress.

My new Liberty yardage has been sitting on the stash shelf, whispering that it wants to be used. When I decided to try to duplicate the April Cornell dress, I picked my least favorite of the 5 pieces. Which is not to say I don't like it, and I wouldn't have been mad as hell if I'd messed up, but of the 5 it's the one I would cry the least over.

I took the original dress, ironed it and put it on my work table. Then I used way too much tracing paper to trace the shapes of the pattern pieces. The bodice was actually pretty easy - other than the interesting seam shape, the upper bodice is plain. The skirt front is in 3 panels, and the pockets are basted to the side panels and then the pieces are attached. The original pockets were as long as the skirt and had much more gathering, but I was working with the limitations of my fabric and I'm pretty pleased with them.

For the back of the dress, I altered the original because (a) I didn't really want the buttons as I have never in 15 years unbuttoned the original; and (b) I didn't feel like making 12 buttonholes anyway and having to hunt for Liberty-worthy buttons. Besides, it's not the most comfortable dress to sit in or lean back, so I went for ease of duplicatino instead of complete accuracy.

The bodice back was cut on the fold. There's a dart at the waist. The skirt is 2 pieces, with 3 darts on each side to gather in some of the fullness. (Also because I cut the piece way wider than it should have been, but whatever).

The original dress had a neck facing and the armholes were just turned under and stitched. I always hated the facing because it crept, so instead I used the shape of the neckline to make a facing that was about 1" wide and used it as a binding instead. With my leftover fabric I made bias strips and bound the back neckline and the armholes.

All in all, I think it's a pretty good copy of the original. Most of the changes are changes I made deliberately - I wanted it shorter, I did actually want a little less fullness in the skirt, though I would have perferred the pockets to be more like the original

Mario's comment when he saw it (and this is coming from the movie junkie that he is) was that it looked like something Sally Field would have worn in Places in the Heart, which I think means I succeeded on the vintage house dress vibe. Anything else that may have been intended by that comment will be ignored, because I like it and I don't want to run him through the coverstitch.

Hope everyone had a fun and fabric-filled holiday weekend. Back to the real world tomorrow!

June: Month End Review

Stash parity was not achieved this month, not by a long shot. There were a few more yards purchased than sewn - 13.5 sewn, and 36 moved in.

Must sew faster.

This month I made 8 pieces, evenly split: 2 pairs of pants, 2 tops, 2 dresses and 2 more of the Ottobre tank, one from a remnant of gray knit (with hot pink stitching) and the other a recycled tshirt.

The pants were Ottobre as well, the capris from 2/09, with a little tweaking. The second pair of pants was actually a UFO from last year, and I still haven't gotten around to reviewing them.

The dresses were Simplicity 2724 (also still needs to be reviewed) and BWOF 2/08 #113, which I absolutely love. I love it so much made a second version - about which I've said enough.

One of the tops was for me - BWOF 4/09 silk/cotton tunic - and the other was for a co-worker. Every time I wear my BWOF 1/08 wrap top she says how much she likes it, so I finally got around to making one for her. Now if I could just get her to hold still while wearing it - I told her that photography is the price of getting something made just for her, but so far she's not cooperating, though she's worn it twice already. The fabric was a doily-print slinky from Fabric.com that I could never decide if I liked for me or not. It definitely suits her, though.

Cherry Bomb

The battle is over.

I won.

It was close.

It was bloody. There was swearing. There was wine.

There is, at the end of it, however, a DRESS. Full review is here.

After the zipper debacle, there was the complication of not having enough rattail left to make piping for the seam between the skirt and the flounce. No biggie - I just cut a 1/2" strip and sewed it between the two. It's narrow enough to look like piping and not as necessary down there.

Then there was my misguided attempt at tidying my workspace before I put the dress on Evelyn. Somehow while moving my rotary cutter from one side of the table to the other (yes, with the blade exposed) I managed to drop it. It bounced off the dress. It cut a nice hole in the dress. Thankfully it was in a low-stress area and I ironed interfacing on the back of the hole and then zigzagged over it on the front.

Anything else?

The sewing gods sat back and thought about it and decided no, that was enough.

I like the dress, I really do. I just can't look at it right now.

Ever have one of those projects?

You know, the kind that make you think you should stop sewing for the night? Or the week? Or longer?

I'm having one of those projects. What makes it worse is that I just made this pattern last week, and it worked. So what went wrong here?

After I got home from the vet hospital on Sunday, I needed distraction. I decided to make another version of BWOF 2/08 #113. To complicate things, I decided to add contrast piping to all the bodice seams. I made all the piping with my new adjustable zipper foot. And it worked.

Things didn't start to go wrong until I got to the zipper. There wasn't one. In my entire drawer of zippers, not one long black invisible. I briefly contemplated putting in a regular zipper, but I suck at those, so instead I called Kisha to see if she had a black invisible zipper I could have. That way, I figured, I wouldn't have to walk all the way to the fabric store at lunch the next day.

Monday we meet for lunch, I get my zipper, and we walk more than halfway to the fabric store in search of food. That night, I insert the zipper. And it looks like crap. Despite having basted, pinned and done everything I should have, the piped waist seam skewed by about 1/2" - and with contrast piping, it looks more like an inch. I rip out the zipper and put it in again. Not perfect, but better. Enough better. I stop for the night.

The next night, after I add the facings, I pin the side seams and unzip the dress to try it on. I hear something bounce off the floor, and when I look, it's the zipper tab. Unpick the zipper a second time and stop for the night.

Today, I walk to the fabric store at lunch for a new zipper, wondering all the while if I hadn't been so lazy on Monday, would any of this have happened? I get home, look at the condition of the CB seam, and decide to sew it shut and put the zipper in a side seam instead. Even with fusible interfacing on the zipper opening, cotton isn't meant to have a zipper picked out of it. Twice.

Oddly enough, when I sew the CB seam closed, the piping matches up perfectly. Go figure.

On the other hand, the second invisible zipper, inserted for the first time in the side seam, is a little bit wonky. The piping doesn't line up exactly, but it's better than it was on the back, and it's under my arm anyway.

I gave myself permission to leave it that way.

The world won't end, right? Right?

So, have you ever had one of those projects?

(All photos from lunchtime window shopping - top and bottom, Leehe Fai Boutique on 18th Street; middle, J. Crew).

The library is growing

So apparently I've had a little too much time on my hands at work lately. The lure of Half.com has been too great, and within the last week, the sewing library has expanded significantly.

I love sewing books. I read them in bed, I read them on the train - even though it does get me some pretty strange looks - and occasionally I even read them with the specific purpose of learning something. Like cookbooks, though, sometimes having them and reading them is enough, even if I don't use them.

This week's acquisitions are: Kenneth King's Designer Bead Embroidery and Designer Techniques, the Dressmaker's Technique Bible by Lorna Knight, and two books I don't know, The Expert's Book of Sewing Tips and Techniques and Every Sewer's Guide to the Perfect Fit.

The last 3 books were priced under $2 each, so even though I'm not familiar those last ones, I'm not taking much of a risk.

I also replaced two books that have mysteriously disappeared from the shelf: Claire Shaeffer's High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers and Couture Sewing Techniques. I know I had these books. I read them. And apparently I either lent these books out (highly unlikely) or misfiled them somewhere on the 3 floors of my junky house. Replacing them will make me find the originals, and then I will put the extras back on Half.

Thank you all for your kind words about Vlad. It's amazing how much I miss that guy, but I know I did the right thing. It's just hard to remember that in the middle of the night. If you have a critter, kiss it for me.

Vladimir Putintat, 1996-2009

Today is not a happy day in the House of Many Cats.

Back in January, I brought Vlad in from the cold, supposedly only until his paws healed. Then my friend told me he had small cell carcinoma and only had a few weeks left. At that point, I decided that Vlad deserved to spend his golden weeks in warmth and comfort, and eating as much 9 Lives Super Supper as he could swallow.

A few weeks passed, and Vlad was still ticking. He'd actually put on a little weight and was adjusting to life indoors. Within the first day, he'd figured out the litterbox. Drinking water out of a bowl took longer, but it sunk in eventually.

Toys never did. He never got the point of chasing something for fun; chasing was what he did to get his dinner.

As time went on, he slowed down a little. His big fat tomcat cheeks got bigger, and I began to suspect that although the tumors in his mouth weren't getting bigger, the cancer might be spreading into all that packed tissue. Toms grow those big cheeks to protect themselves when they fight - there aren't many blood vessels in there. Eventually the swelling started to creep under his chin, leaving only a little strip of soft fur to scratch there, but it didn't affect his ability to breathe or eat.

That was the problem - he didn't act sick. He slowed down a little more; he had trouble getting up on the bed but once my housemate donated her old aerobics step for him to climb up on, he hopped back up; he ate less dry food because of his mouth, but he still ate as much wet as was put in front of him. He still liked to cuddle every night when I went up to read with him before bed.

In the years that I've known that cat, it's been one thing after another - fights, bite wounds, infections, ripped up ears, and finally an eye wound that left him blind in one eye. I couldn't wait for him to show pain; I think he's had so much of it in his life that a terminal illness was probably almost restful.

I knew that sooner or later, I'd have to make the decision to let him go. Last week I talked to Mario, my housemate, and the two men around the corner who were his alternate parents. We decided on this Sunday because everyone would be around to go to the hospital with him to say goodbye.

Of course I immediately began second-guessing myself, and Vlad didn't help because he was perky and affectionate all week. Still, his fur was looking greasy and starting to thin, and despite his endless appetite, he wasn't putting on any more weight. I spoke to a nurse friend, and she said that it sounded like we were feeding the cancer at this point, and the cat was benefitting from the leftovers.

That was all I needed to hear.

When I decided to keep him inside, it was because I knew he wasn't well, and I wanted to be able to make the call when it was time, rather than have him disappear one day and worry that he'd died alone under a bush. Vlad deserved better.

And he got it. At 1:30 today, I put him in a carrier and took him downstairs to have a ramble in the back yard - his favorite territory and where I made his acquaintance 8 years ago. A few friends came over to say their goodbyes, and Vlad had a nice walk in the garden. He ate some plants, he peed on my roses, he rolled in the mulch and enjoyed the sun.

My neighbor arrived at 2:00, and we took him down to Penn's vet hospital. I don't like the place, they're ridiculously expensive, but they're very compassionate about euthanasia. The doctor took him back and put an IV in his arm, and then we got to spend some time with him in an exam room. He was a little stressed from the car ride and was panting and, being Vlad, managed to pull his IV loose before the doctor could touch him. Nothing was ever easy with this cat.

Finally we'd all said our goodbyes and kissed him on his big furry head, and the doctor gave him the sedative. He went to sleep in my arms, and then she gave him the second shot. He looked peaceful and about as kittenlike as I've ever had the privilege of seeing him look.

The house seems really quiet without Vlad bellowing for food, attention, litter changes, head scratches and what have you. He had more heart and more personality than a lot of people I've known, and he leaves a big space behind.

When I got home from the hospital, I hugged all my cats, especially the ones who were his. All the cats in the world don't make up for the one who's been lost.

It was time, Vlad. Enjoy your freedom. We'll miss you.

His ashes are going to be buried in my back yard, where they belong. If he had a stone, this would be on it: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ...Wow! What a ride!