Dressing Well and Fascinating Womanhood

Confession: I was a tomboy. The scarred legs, mystery bruises, ripped clothing type of tomboy.  I always thought boys had more fun. You could not pay me to wear anything pink; blue was my color.  I wanted nothing to do with girls. Of course my views softened over the years, but my fashion didn't catch up until much later when I couldn't get enough of flirty looks.

After a few years of snarky and damaging comments from people, I went back to tomboy mode.  I felt unsafe and a bit conspicuous because I was ALWAYS dressed up - even to go to the laundromat.  I enjoyed it though. The clothes, the makeup, the perfume.  It all made me feel so fabulous.  I still can't pinpoint the moment when I decided to revert to blending in, but eventually it became my default. I wore jeans and t-shirts everywhere and panicked if I was invited somewhere nice because I knew I didn't have anything nice to wear.

Until now.

I've been weaning myself off jeans.  I dress up at least once a week (I have to start somewhere) and I've dusted off my trunk case of makeup and my beloved Ruby Woo lipstick.  This past summer, I had a Dorothy Dandridge moment with a white off-the-shoulder top and black pencil skirt with my leopard print pumps and it felt wonderful.  So now I'm trying to get to the place where every day is like that day.

I'm also reading the controversial book Fascinating Womanhood in an effort to smooth some of my rougher edges. I know a woman who naturally behaves this way and men are drawn to her like bees to honey. I always wondered what her secret is and she always said "Just be open."  I thought she was holding out on me, but now I understand what she meant and I've been making an effort to open myself to new experiences. Anyway, I'm still reading and I post a review when I'm finished, but so far so good.

Tale of the Circular Ruffle

I still can't believe how much time I spent trying to figure out how to put ruffles at the bottom of my skirt.

Know what I learned? Ruffles are gathered to fit the edge they're being sewn to, flounces have one edge that fits but the other edge is much wider which creates the ruffle.  So after hours of searching I finally figured out that what I need is a circular ruffle.  It's kind of like a flounce in that you sew it on straight, but depending on how large you do the circles, you control the depth of the ruffle.  I found a great tutorial here that helped me understand the concept.  Now I just need to finish cutting them out and then I can move on.

This is the pattern I came up with

The outer circle is 14" in diameter, and the inner circle is 6" in diameter.  It's pretty much trial and error at this point so I hope it works.  I'm going to finish the underside with the chocolate brown lining fabric.

I also changed the skirt a bit and made the back 1-1/2 inches longer than the fron to give it a bit more flare.

While I was searching, I found this fabulous skirt on Communing With Fabric.  I'll probably omit the hip drape, but that ruffle has my name all over it.

Finally, I'm signed up for the coat sew along at Gertie's Blog so I need to get my fabric and get a muslin done by next Monday.  Totally doable, and I think I already found my fabric.  It's a mid-weight grey tweedy looking fabric and I want a hot pink lining (a nod to one of my favorite designers, Schiaparelli). I'm so excited about making a coat.

One more thing (I feel like Columbo): I signed up for two classes on Craftsy.  One is Gertie's Bombshell Dress class and the other is a Couture Dress class by Susan Khalje that I'm super excited about.  Okay, both are for party dresses, but the principles can be used on any garment.

Success!

Well the muslin for my skirt fit almost perfectly. I had to take in a bit on the center back.  So now I just need to sew this baby up.

I went back to the fabric store for more brown polka dot fabric and I bought a yard to make flounces.  Problem is, I didn't know how to make flounces so I've spent much of the last few days looking for instructions. (Show of hands: who knew the difference between flounces and ruffles? I sure didn't.)

Anyway, tomorrow is the big day and I'm psyched now that I know - or at least have a better idea of - what I'm doing.

My next big challenge: the shelf bust.  Here's an example:

Gorgeous right?  Yep, I love them.  Now if I can just deconstruct the pattern, I'd be a happy girl.

First Project

So for my first project, I'm making a pencil skirt out of some brown polka dot material I found while I was looking for fabric for something else.  Isn't that always what happens though?

I decided to try the rub off method (sounds rather dirty doesn't it?) to copy my favorite pencil skirt.  It has an invisible zipper and some side detailing that makes it fit me perfectly (and I am generous of hip). Basically you trace around your old garment and transfer all the markings to pattern paper. The original skirt has a vent, but I was going to put ruffles at the bottom of this one. Unfortunately I only bought one yard, so no ruffles for me.  Then again, maybe I'll just go back to the fabric store and see if they have any more of this polka dot goodness.  Hmmm, decisions.

Anyway, behold my somewhat messy pattern:

I was going to just cut into the fabric, but I think I'll make a muslin first.  Did I tell you that I made my first muslin ever last week?  Now I'm sold on the method. Yeah, we'll talk.

The waistband on my skirt has a separately cut facing so I'm going to copy it because I love, love, love that skirt. We'll discuss my muslin results in part two.

The All-Important First Post

Lately I have two obsessions: anything retro and sewing.  Some of my favorite blogs like Gertie's Blog For Better Sewing and  Julia Bobbin combine the two. Until I read them, I never thought to do it.  But the idea is perfect. Like chocolate and peanut butter. Actually like chocolate and pretty much anything.  But I digress.

I love the unabashed femininity of the 1950s - gorgeous silhouettes, beautifully detailed clothing, scarves, heels,

Right now, I'm immersing myself in books about vintage sewing techniques and I'm thrilled because I absolutely love hand sewing.  Sure, it takes longer, but I feel like there's more of "me" in the garment when I put more work into it.  Don't get me wrong, I love a quick pattern.  I whipped up an off-the-shoulder blouse because I needed something to wear, but I also love the look of hand stitching.

I'll be posting pictures of my work as I create my wardrobe.  I'm especially excited about making a coat for the fall.  Gertie is doing a sew-a-long for her coat pattern (Butterick 5824) so be sure to pop over there and sign up.  I can't wait!