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mandie_rwStill kicking, just not posting! The first couple weeks after Covid I had just enough extra energy to either sew or post about it, not do both, so I went with the sewing. :)
Primarily was trying to get a new dress finished for tea with the Usual Suspects last weekend - fabric and pattern as seen in this IG post. At least 60% of the inspiration for that was because that almost-2-yards of wool was one of the cheap ebay lengths that I bought as apron options for the Welsh costume. Obviously I liked the other one better for apron purposes, but this one was still nice (just not quite the weight I wanted for an apron), and most importantly...I didn't want to dig out the damn wool bin from the basement to add it to the Stash!
Plus it, uh, might not have fit in the bin anyway. Obvious solution: make something with it now!
Pretty limited with the yardage, but eventually settled on the above pattern, using it as a jumper, and the capelet. Welllllllll I got pretty close, actually? When I started it I somehow thought I had one more weekend than I actually did. Also cutting out plaid takes forever an' ever, amen. Maybe if I didn't have Professional Development on Fridays for five weeks (done now, thank God) and the house would just clean itself...but alas.
So Friday I made the executive decision to whip the raw waist edge of the almost-finished skirt over, and that I'd sew myself into the thing Saturday morning and just wear it as a skirt this time. xD I'd finished the capelet first so I really wanted to wear that!
Worked well enough? The shirt I wore was weirdly stiff and poochy (last-minute Amazon order because I was expecting it to be chilly and then the forecast a few days out said it would be 73, which it was, and I didn't want to wear the warm turtleneck I'd planned for!) so not the most flattering and it wouldn't stay tucked in (needs a couple of washes and tumble-drys, I think), but I dug a little pink hat out of my vintage hat bin that I liked, and of course everybody at the tea house thought we were ADORABLE.
And really the best part was spending an afternoon with the girls, most of whom I hadn't seen in at least six months! They ended up staying for pizza dinner and we hung out on the very scenic wee back deck at the apartment (it faces the parking pad and some dumpsters LOL) until the sun headed towards the west and it started getting chilly.
I do still intend to complete the actual dress with the top half, partly because I think it'll be more flattering and partly because I don't have a skirt zipper in this length & color, don't want to buy one, and definitely don't want to sew myself into a skirt every time I want to wear it, hahaha!
We also hit up one of my local thrift stores after tea, because Alice wanted to look for a couple of specific items, and thrifting is usually a fun afternoon, so why not? I didn't find anything I couldn't live without (be amazed), but Robin got the score of the day with a giant silver punch bowl/ice bucket thing. "We don't need this right now...but should I get it anyway?" The on-sale-for-$30 tipped it over to a "yes"! At the very least it'll make for an amazing centerpiece for fancy costume dinners when we start those back up again (probably next year)...
I want to get back to my Venetian outfit, but I also want to finish off that plaid jumper so I can add it to the work clothes closet...this probably means I will do neither this weekend! We'll see.
And hey, after the just plain weird week at school, I might just need a break! (Said week culminated yesterday in a dramatic incident where it was discovered that one student had stolen another's credit card info after that student accidentally left his phone in the bathroom, and ordered over $1000 worth of Amazon stuff...to be shipped to the culprit's home address. Makings of a criminal mastermind, eh? Victim student just turned eighteen, and had to be physically kept in another room to stop him beating the shit out of culprit student, with reminders that YES THEY WILL PRESS CHARGES IF YOU ASSAULT A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD AND NOW YOU'RE A LEGAL ADULT, YES EVEN IF HE STOLE YOUR CREDIT CARD while culprit student was whisked out of the building by mom. I wasn't directly involved as I don't teach either of the students in question, but good grief.)
OH and I also started accumulating supplies for the wedding dress. (That still sounds weird to me? I'm not tagging it as such because making it as a non-white 50s cocktail dress means it can be worn again!) Figured that might be a good thing to start doing, as we've reserved our date - at the town's community center ballroom, not terribly atmospheric but we like the price. Since I'm taking the summer off, I figure I'll focus on sewing the dress over those six weeks, so want to get all my ducks in a row by then. I might start earlier than that if I feel so inspired, but depends on what else pops up that I want to sew!
The pattern's still on its way, but I have the silk taffeta and the jewelry - which I may combine with my "Madeira topaz" Dames a la Mode parure if I'm feeling extra fancy; will see how it all goes together - which wouldn't photograph nicely. They're both a blue-based green but the blue came through much more in my quick cell phone snaps in late-afternoon light; they're darker and more emerald-looking in person. Whatever, they do coordinate nicely and are pretty much exactly what I wanted...which doesn't always happen on the first try, so woo hoo!
Primarily was trying to get a new dress finished for tea with the Usual Suspects last weekend - fabric and pattern as seen in this IG post. At least 60% of the inspiration for that was because that almost-2-yards of wool was one of the cheap ebay lengths that I bought as apron options for the Welsh costume. Obviously I liked the other one better for apron purposes, but this one was still nice (just not quite the weight I wanted for an apron), and most importantly...I didn't want to dig out the damn wool bin from the basement to add it to the Stash!
Plus it, uh, might not have fit in the bin anyway. Obvious solution: make something with it now!
Pretty limited with the yardage, but eventually settled on the above pattern, using it as a jumper, and the capelet. Welllllllll I got pretty close, actually? When I started it I somehow thought I had one more weekend than I actually did. Also cutting out plaid takes forever an' ever, amen. Maybe if I didn't have Professional Development on Fridays for five weeks (done now, thank God) and the house would just clean itself...but alas.
So Friday I made the executive decision to whip the raw waist edge of the almost-finished skirt over, and that I'd sew myself into the thing Saturday morning and just wear it as a skirt this time. xD I'd finished the capelet first so I really wanted to wear that!
Worked well enough? The shirt I wore was weirdly stiff and poochy (last-minute Amazon order because I was expecting it to be chilly and then the forecast a few days out said it would be 73, which it was, and I didn't want to wear the warm turtleneck I'd planned for!) so not the most flattering and it wouldn't stay tucked in (needs a couple of washes and tumble-drys, I think), but I dug a little pink hat out of my vintage hat bin that I liked, and of course everybody at the tea house thought we were ADORABLE.
And really the best part was spending an afternoon with the girls, most of whom I hadn't seen in at least six months! They ended up staying for pizza dinner and we hung out on the very scenic wee back deck at the apartment (it faces the parking pad and some dumpsters LOL) until the sun headed towards the west and it started getting chilly.
I do still intend to complete the actual dress with the top half, partly because I think it'll be more flattering and partly because I don't have a skirt zipper in this length & color, don't want to buy one, and definitely don't want to sew myself into a skirt every time I want to wear it, hahaha!
We also hit up one of my local thrift stores after tea, because Alice wanted to look for a couple of specific items, and thrifting is usually a fun afternoon, so why not? I didn't find anything I couldn't live without (be amazed), but Robin got the score of the day with a giant silver punch bowl/ice bucket thing. "We don't need this right now...but should I get it anyway?" The on-sale-for-$30 tipped it over to a "yes"! At the very least it'll make for an amazing centerpiece for fancy costume dinners when we start those back up again (probably next year)...
I want to get back to my Venetian outfit, but I also want to finish off that plaid jumper so I can add it to the work clothes closet...this probably means I will do neither this weekend! We'll see.
And hey, after the just plain weird week at school, I might just need a break! (Said week culminated yesterday in a dramatic incident where it was discovered that one student had stolen another's credit card info after that student accidentally left his phone in the bathroom, and ordered over $1000 worth of Amazon stuff...to be shipped to the culprit's home address. Makings of a criminal mastermind, eh? Victim student just turned eighteen, and had to be physically kept in another room to stop him beating the shit out of culprit student, with reminders that YES THEY WILL PRESS CHARGES IF YOU ASSAULT A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD AND NOW YOU'RE A LEGAL ADULT, YES EVEN IF HE STOLE YOUR CREDIT CARD while culprit student was whisked out of the building by mom. I wasn't directly involved as I don't teach either of the students in question, but good grief.)
OH and I also started accumulating supplies for the wedding dress. (That still sounds weird to me? I'm not tagging it as such because making it as a non-white 50s cocktail dress means it can be worn again!) Figured that might be a good thing to start doing, as we've reserved our date - at the town's community center ballroom, not terribly atmospheric but we like the price. Since I'm taking the summer off, I figure I'll focus on sewing the dress over those six weeks, so want to get all my ducks in a row by then. I might start earlier than that if I feel so inspired, but depends on what else pops up that I want to sew!
The pattern's still on its way, but I have the silk taffeta and the jewelry - which I may combine with my "Madeira topaz" Dames a la Mode parure if I'm feeling extra fancy; will see how it all goes together - which wouldn't photograph nicely. They're both a blue-based green but the blue came through much more in my quick cell phone snaps in late-afternoon light; they're darker and more emerald-looking in person. Whatever, they do coordinate nicely and are pretty much exactly what I wanted...which doesn't always happen on the first try, so woo hoo!
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Date: 2022-03-25 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-27 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-25 10:58 pm (UTC)Wow. Kids. *shakes head*
The fabric and jewelry look fabulous!
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Date: 2022-03-27 06:54 pm (UTC)And...I know, right? As a small school we thankfully avoid a lot of the ridiculous drama, but... that made up for it! FFS.
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Date: 2022-03-26 04:49 am (UTC)And you look wonderful too, of course!
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Date: 2022-03-27 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-26 03:13 pm (UTC)Your outfit is super cute and everyone looks great, as always.
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Date: 2022-03-27 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-28 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-01 06:55 pm (UTC)Entirely. 1000% dumbassery abounds. Apparently it was a thousand dollars' worth of mostly weed paraphernalia, which somehow makes it even better?
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Date: 2022-04-04 12:03 pm (UTC)Second, while I support weed legalization, there is a reason it's called "dope".
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Date: 2022-04-04 03:17 am (UTC)YAY! Glad you finally got some face time with your usual suspects.
I have the silk taffeta and the jewelry
OMG, that is GORGEOUS! (Green is just about my fav color)