Month: April 2022

I know this pattern is waiting for me at home; I think it came in the mail just as I was leaving (from eBay seller Simmons Books). It’s oddly perfect; it has all of my fetishistic desires in a pattern: square neckline, short kimono sleeves, midriff band, full skirt — it’s so best I’m nearly terrified to make it, as what if all those things together somehow cancel each other out? like the time I made tea (I was about ten, I think) thinking “I like tea with milk, and I like tea with lemon, tea with lemon and milk need to be GREAT!” (It wasn’t.)

Luckily this little break has not been me (as usual) trying to do all the things I like, all at the same time. I just chose ONE thing I really like (watching my kid have fun) and did that. So what if it involved amusement parks (or as they’re called here in Florida, “attractions”)? and accompanying him on rides that made me deliberately unfocus my eyes, the better not to sag against the WHOLLY inadequate “safety” restraints in gibbering terror? and eating only things that had been fried (twice-fried, if possible)? despite the grease, and the terror, and the finding out after three hours in the sun that the SPF 40 I’d been slathering on everyone within arm’s reach had expired in 2005, this little trip [turned out to be] surprisingly fun. So what if I ended up spending the whole (interminable) three circuits of the Ferris wheel staring fixedly at the floor of the gondola and imploring a wriggling seven-year-old to keep his little butt ON the seat? It makes a good story, right? (I didn’t used to be terrified of heights, and I’m still not, at least not for me. I don’t care if *I* die from an overenthusiastic application of the law of gravity. Everyone’s gotta go somehow, right? but I really, really, really don’t want to enjoy someone else go that way. especially not any individual I spent a lot of time and effort personally MAKING in my WOMB.)

So despite having really took pleasure in myself here doing just one thing at a time, I’m ready to go home, resume my normal semicompetent multitasking, and see if this overdetermined pattern is as good as it looks. If not, I’ll go find a pattern that has just one of my top-five fave details and concentrate on making that one the best I can.

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Libby sent me this image, a pattern she gotten at Funkoma vintage just for the illustration. I would have done the same. What on earth is going on in this picture? nothing good. What was the illustrator thinking? “I understand what will make women want this dress! Let’s show them exactly how catty as well as backstabby they can be while using it!”

I would like to understand what YOU believe these women are stating to every other … leave your dialogue in the comments if you are so inspired.

This likewise reminds me of An concept that I’ve had for a while. Why isn’t any individual selling big poster-size prints of excellent pattern images? If you scan them at a high-enough dpi you can send the pictures to any type of number of on the internet photo-processing locations as well as get a poster-sized print (which costs about $20, I think). as well as wouldn’t you want a significant blowup of a excellent pattern as a sewing-room picture? (Heck, I’d put them around the house!) somebody must be doing this on Etsy, frankly, as well as if nobody IS doing this, I present this concept to any individual who wishes to begin this as their home-based business, complimentary of charge. Go ideal on ahead. I bet you might fee $35-40 for it, as well as a lot more if you framed ’em or had them put on foamcore backing.

(Of program considering that a lot of of these pictures are most likely still copyright there may be SOME problem however I believe that a great situation might be produced these being a derivative work. as well as the pattern business sure aren’t doing anything with their pictures …)

If you do begin doing this, let me understand as well as I’ll publish about this here.

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I was flipping through some of my old sewing books a while back, looking for something (I can’t even remember what) and was arrested by this image, which of course is the popular Walk-Away Dress:

If you can’t read the caption, it is:

Even a beginner can make a dress like this one successfully, from two old dresses. This pattern is smart, adaptable, and easy to make since it only has a few pieces.

The book was fashion sewing on a Budget, and I have to say it’s one of the a lot more helpful of the ancient titles that I’ve accumulated. I think because it takes a “learning by doing” approach, which is the learning style I’ve always favored. (You make a lot more mistakes, but you learn a lot more from them!)

The online copies I’ve linked to above, on Amazon, are fairly pricey but my copy is marked “$1-” on the flyleaf and I’m sure I’ve seen this lots of a time in thrift stores and used book sales. keep an eye out in those places, if you want it.

I still haven’t made the Walk-Away dress, myself. I keep reading other people’s reviews and can’t decide whether to try it, and, if so, in what fabric … and, of course, where to put the pockets!

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I have no idea where this image came from (and no idea where it’s going, either) but I have to say that the idea of having a long, flag-striped TRAIN is startling. The whole effect is “Daughters of the American revolution go to the Circus”.

Where on earth could this be worn? Pageants? Prom at one of the service academies? (Who wears a train to prom — oh, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.) Is it a wedding gown? I got married on the fourth (Happy Anniversary, Mr. dress A Day!) and even I wouldn’t have worn this …

If you want one of these, you ought to be cautioned that wearing a flag dress in the wrong place at the wrong time can typically get you in trouble. There was the boneheaded teen who chose that her prom would be a spiffy place to wear her CONFEDERATE FLAG DRESS. Heritage, schmeritage, she just wanted to piss off a bunch of people. Also, I believe she shouted “Sequins today … seqins tomorrow … sequins forever!” while she was wearing it:

And then there was the Indian designer whose dress incorporating symbols from the Indian flag was confiscated, although she did get to keep her drink:

Not to mention the Chinese pop singer who wore a dress printed with the war-era Japanese naval flag. (That went over about as well as the Confederate flag dress.) Can’t find a picture of that one, sadly, although I have to say English-language Chinese film star gossip is way much more fun than the star or us weekly or whatever.

As well as this: “… a lecturer at Birmingham university by the name of sue Blackwell, described as a former Christian fundamentalist now turned socialist. (Her site was found to recommend a link to the site of a neo-Nazi activist.) At the AUT meeting, Blackwell wore a Palestinian-flag dress …” She was arguing for a boycott of Israeli universities by British scholars; no picture of that one, either. I can’t think of that it was successful as a dress, instead of as a rhetorical device.

So, where were we? Yes, flag dresses are really, really hard to pull off. even DVF had some trouble:

(I know there are better pics of that dress out there but I love DVF’s MySpace-style photo, so there.)

But Dame Shirley Bassey managed it, at the Rugby world Cup’s opening ceremony in the Millennium stadium in Cardiff (it helps to be in front of thousands of enthusiastic countrymen):

Do you have a favorite (or un-favorite) flag dress? send me a picture. this one best now is my fave:

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