is it really summer? almost?

it certainly feels like summer all of a sudden!

yesterday i sat on a patio, drinking gin and grapefruit juice, wearing linen, and knitting with cotton. perfect way to spend an afternoon.

and, i got a good amount of work done on the to catch a thief pullover. i had the shell finished, but didn't like the neckline - too wide. so i ripped it back and re-knit. think it will be better this time.

and, i found some cotton voile in the right shade of yellow to go with! it has been washed and pressed, will get that skirt made soon i hope.

i actually got more sewing done, too! i started with a simple four-gore skirt, because it was already cut and pinned, and had been for a good year. i did iron it, but apparently after being folded up and squished in the bottom of my fabric stash for a year, those creases don't want to leave. hoping some time hanging and a wash will help with that.

i likely won't wear it until fall, anyway. then i moved on to things i will wear sooner: the navy capris and jacket (mccall's 7938) here's a shot of the jacket bodice with collar interfacing:

maybe i will finish it today? the capris are basically done. i had them almost done on friday, before realizing i didn't have a zipper! boo. this morning i installed the zip and tacked the hem up so i could wear them today. and then we were unaccountably detained, so i actually would have had time to do it properly... sigh. tried to take a photo of them on - photographing dark colours is hard! here's the least blurry pic:

feeling very betty draper in my get-up. the top is one i made a couple of summers ago. for the capris, i used the same pattern (simplicity 8869) as for these grey linen trousers, which now have buttons! i wore them yesterday, and i love them. they have a very 1930s feel - not quite beach pyjamas, which i am slightly obsessed with, but a close enough shape.

finally, here's a shot of the bird dress i altered last week - the original midriff piece was more of a waistband, not even two inches wide. i found more of the fabric and cut a new piece. had to take out a bunch of seams, and the zipper (grr) and put it back together. but now i can wear it, after it gets a wash and a good pressing!

we've still three weeks to go before risk of last frost has officially passed, but i'm really starting to feel like summer is actually finally here!

things are getting done!

i feel like i am finally getting productive around here!

first, i planted some seeds, and they are almost all sprouted!

unfortunately this means i have to thin them out. which is my least favourite thing. i want them all to live! which they won't if i don't thin them out. cognitive dissonance. whatever.

i also have some sharp navy twill that i was thinking would make a pair of capris and a sweet little jacket, something betty draper-ish, along these lines:

after looking at all kinds of patterns online, i finally dug into my own stash and found this:

perfect! i also found this, which looks cheesey:

but with a couple of alterations (adding a high waist, and nipping in the back darts for a better fit), i have some awesome linen trousers. i just need to get some buttons.

and i also finished another long-awaited but super small/easy project - sewing up the pockets on these capris, as they are too small to use, and gape open awkwardly. hoping these look more tailored now!

the dreaded walk-away dress

i know everyone else discovered and made the walk-away dress a few years ago, but i somehow missed that. so when someone mentioned it recently in a discussion of 1950s dress, i instantly thought, "want!" even though most of the discussion was about how it's a terrible, terrible pattern that no one should waste their time on!

somehow, that kind of talk made me want it even more. my dress would be different and better than anyone else's, simply because it's mine. logic, right?

first i did a lot of googling. a lot of people have made this dress. many zillions of people have blogged about or made this dress. many, many, many. it was even featured on the great british sewing bee.

but a lot of the dresses i looked at... well, i could see why they weren't happy. they had used a fabric too heavy, or drapey, or without enough body. they weren't fitted through the waist. their bust darts were pointing the wrong direction. they had made strange choices for alterations, but blamed the original pattern rather than the changes. or, they just didn't have the right figure for the dress. in the 1950s, a tiny waist held in by a girdle and uplifted bosom was the order of the day. this pattern was designed for that figure - it won't work on someone who is more straight up and down, even if it's twiggy.

also, the "revised for modern figures" pattern butterick 4790 made some unfortunate changes, as you can see if you compare it to the original butterick 6015.

you can see the sides are distinctly angled on the original, but are straight and then curve on the new one. this gives the bodice less structure and support. even on the pattern company photo of the new version, you can see it comes down weirdly low under the arms.

the bodice looks loose and bunchy in spots too, and the waist isn't snug and sits too low.

how to "fix" these errors by butterick has been heavily documented on the blogosphere, with helpful tutorials.

here's a linedrawing of the original pattern layout - this is what i will be aiming for!

today, i bought the pattern. now, i'm keeping my eye out for a nice cotton poplin or chintz or even ticking - something springy, but with tons more body than the quilting cotton so many have used. i was kind of astounded to see the pattern itself recommends "lightweight broadcloth." are you kidding? that would be a mess!

and it needs to be inexpensive, because i need 4.5m of fabric. i need to find a day when i can spend some time down around queen street, preferably at king textiles i think. may take a while to find just what i'm looking for, but at least the sewing itself only takes a few hours!

my summer vacation day two: fish on the fire

lots of driving today unfortunately - it was time for the kiddo's cousin to head out, which meant a drive to the train station over an hour away.

the good news about that was that it gave me my only alone time of the week - in highway traffic for the most part, but i did get a moment to myself to do some speed-shopping at the little antique shops on fenelon's main street. my find? an awesome drinks caddy, very dorothy thorpe (although i've no idea if it's authentic at all), straight out of mad men, and a perfect match to my punch bowl. four highballs, four coasters, only $25! i call that a steal.

then home for dinner, and since i knew i'd be home late, we had something quick: fish. lovely rainbow trout and corn on the cob - all cooked on an open fire - with a bit of green salad. yum.

i tried a little trick with the fish, and it worked out quite well. i was concerned about the fish sticking to the grill, but I also wanted the skin to be crispy. what i did was this: first brushed a sheet of aluminum foil with olive oil, and then placed the fish on it, skin side up. i cooked it over the fire that way for a few minutes, brushing the skin with a bit more olive oil. then, i lifted up the foil, flipping the fish skin side down directly on the grill, and continued cooking till done. it was delicious! cooked perfectly, nothing stuck to the grill, and lovely crispy skin.

n.b. these summer vacation posts are one week delayed as the cottage is delightfully free of electronics!

yellow!

i'm a little in love with yellow lately. there was an episode of mad men - i've no idea which, as i watched almost all of them in a marathon a number of months back when i was sick or something - in which betty draper had a gorgeous dress printed with yellow roses and with a black band around the bateau neckline. and after a bout of fits and starts interrupted by the rest of everyday life, it's finally finished!



it took me a while to find the fabric, but i did (thank you king textiles)!



i am very happy with it. the basic pattern is one i drafted from a princess-seamed shift i have; i cut & basted it together and made some alterations before cutting the lining and sewing it all up. the black at the neckline is simply an overlay which i basted in place carefully, before sewing from behind. no visible stitches on this baby.



the hem was fun - i had to gather the edge to take in the extra fabric (the skirt is roughly a half-circle) and used a lace binding. two-and-a-half metres of it! and then all hand-stitched!



the black border at the bottom is actually attached to the lining of the skirt, and cut to be just a bit longer than the skirt itself so it shows a little.




but i still wish i could remember which episode this is from.

i need to sleep

did a whole ton of sewing today, and finally finished a mad men-inspired dress i started ages ago. and i've wasted an age now trying to find a pic of it online, to no avail! i don't even remember which season it was let alone which ep - maybe season 3 sometime? who knows! anyway i'll post a pic of my dress tomorrow when the sun is up. it's chintz with yellow roses, and i'm pretty pleased with it.

also did a two-piece dress in black linen/cotton blend; pencil skirt and boat-neck top. it feels like ages since i have done any real sewing so i am excited at progress! it almost makes up for missing maine. and, so much more prepared for the rest of me-made june.

c'est l'hallowe'en!

so i finally got around to starting h's turtle costume tonight. i was laying out the pattern pieces on the fabric and tg was hovering around making silly comments to which i would grunt in reply and then he said "look there's a cockroach on the counter!" and i turned around and instead of a bug it was actually a beautifully wrapped present! he had been trying to get me to turn around for 15 minutes but i was too caught up in what i was doing.

so i open it, and what is inside? a completely gorgeous pair of kai tailor's shears! and some extra bonus scissors besides! they cut like a dream, and the timing is perfect because i was just about to hack into the polar fleece not to mention all of the xmas pjs i intend to make and i ended up buying the elvis fabric to make a shirt for harry. so, lots of cutting in my future. triple yay.

i have now cut out all the pieces for h's costume (i wonder if i can cut through 4 layers of felt at once? yes!!) as well as a mad men-inspired dress for me. i think i'll cut out a skirt too before i go to bed.

and just for fun, here are a couple of snaps of my vv boutique haul for the corpse bride costume:

you would think

that considering i have been out of commission, i would be posting more. oopsie!

anyway i finished my ladylike sweater sweater during a mad men marathon that sadly ended with season two as those are all the episodes i could find online. not fair! anyway i thought it was a good match as i could totally see peggy wearing the sweater. don't you think?



now i just have to finish the mauve one, which is mainly a problem of staying awake long enough.



no pics of my other work-in-progress, since it's a gift, but you can see it on ravelry.