Limbs and head flopped out to sleep. Looking d-e-d.Filed under: Gifted it, Love it, Made it, Sewed it | Tags: Christmas, Gaffney's, net, pink, skirt, tulle, tutorial, tutu, twirly
While picking out fabric for her Christmas dress, the twirliest girl I know wanted a tutu, and how do you say no to that?
So together we bought 4 yards of hot pink net. She wanted the thing to stick straight out, prompting a lady at Gaffney’s I’ve feared since high school to give me the business about making it Stick. Straight. Out.
So I started with a funny free tutorial (sorry, it was free in October) about making filled tutus, which my SIL says are all the rage in South Jersey where they live. It made you fold the folded net or tulle once more, for four layers of stuff. A lady friend I work with came over and made one too, in a peachy shimmery tulle for her niece.
Mine was good… but not pokey enough. The skirt definitely drooped. So I doubled the fold again, making the 72″ wide net into eight layers of 9 inch net. and jammed heart-shaped sequins in one of the folded layers.
Perfect.
Which of course made me think, what if you made the top layer fabric so it looks like a skirt w built-in crinoline? Like a zebra skirt with purple or red underneath? How would that math work out? Stay tuned to find out.
Filed under: Do it, Love it | Tags: Art Institute, Brancusi, Chicago, Klee, Leger, millennium park, painting, sculpture
My Mister and I scored a membership to the Art Institute of Chicago, many thanks to my sister.
We finally took a stroll through the new section, The Modern Wing, which opened in May while we were off getting hitched. It connects with a magical bridge to Millennium Park.
Inside, I recognized this young lady right away, from a childhood subscription to Highlights magazine, where I think I first saw anything about modern art.
Then I started noticing other ladies I liked the look of, doing my favorite things. If Klee’s girl is dancing, Leger’s is reclining with a book.
And Brancusi’s is snoozing.
Look at her beautiful face—
Filed under: Love it, Sewed it | Tags: company, movie, Rosalind Russell, sewing, UHF
I finished the top of my niece’s fuschia(!) Christmas dress, according to pattern. I took forever and a lot of care, binding the seam allowances and carefully topstitching. Since I always want to finish(!) projects(!) already(!), I promised myself I would only do the top last weekend.
Even better, I didn’t print out the tiered skirt tutorial so there’d be no temptations.
EVEN better, a kooky movie starring Rosalind Russell as Mother Superior was on the old UHF — Where Angels Go, Troubles Follow.
Hip shindigs, mod dresses, nuns looking fabulous and learning about modernity…
How is Rosalind *so* glam in a black habit?
No se. Has to be the sunglasses?
I love mindless movies to sew by — Svengoolie’s selections being my favorite. A good radio story works, too. A little Sewing By Nancy on PBS? Music’s ok sometimes, but I prefer a story.
Does anybody else sew to anything in particular? Songs, movies, TV? Silence?
Filed under: Fixed it, Gifted it, Love it, Sewed it | Tags: Christmas, dress, pattern, present, tiers, tutorial, twirl
The same little girl who got these dresses for her and her mom gets a custom Christmas dress every year made by her faraway aunt. I figure if I can’t spend time with her, I’ll spend time on her. And twirly dresses are super fun. Best part of all: We’ll get to take a trip to Gaffney’s together next weekend where she’ll get to pick whatever fabric she wants.
Kiddo wants something like this, the Love To Twirl. In green. I haven’t yet seen an exact pattern, with tiers starting right under your shoulders, but I found these two Simplicity patterns on sale at the JoJo that I think could work. How don’t I already have anything close?
So 2711 is for wovens and 2943 (Project Runway for kids now?!) for knits.
I think the trick’s going to be getting the upper body to fit her, then to chop the bodice high and start adding tiers. This tutorial should come in handy.
Filed under: Love it, Made it, Printed it, Read it | Tags: invitation, news, print
We made invitations to look like news.
Used these seal and send invites bought from LCI paper. They fold up nicely into a small packet that’s self contained.
And has a detachable postcard at the bottom that works suitably for a reply card (my mother won that debate).
It was the closest we could pull off to these AMAZING invitations I found at Tugboat Printshop on Flickr. We’re writers, not printers, so we had to cheat a little bit. Also, no envelopes and no extra paper waste (think: those awful little tissue paper inserts).
Ecru paper looks old since we’re both newspaper reporters getting married in an old Philadelphia newspaper building. Used some story text from Bruno Mancari’s murder trial where we met, to add some gray texture to the front.
And the story chosen recounts the outburst in open court of a witness’ wife who shrieks before the judge and jury that her husband (who now has taken the fifth amendment and reneged on his deal with the state) still! has! a! deal!
Lesson learned: Stand by your husband, even when he’s accused of burying a hammer in some poor slob’s brain. ESPECIALLY when he’s accused of such.
The Liberty Bell has remained a strong image throughout the few things we’ve had printed, as have the pointing fingers that appear on the front page of the real-life Public Ledger. The Liberty Bell was to be the main event on thank you cards, too, but my Mister protested about his Chicago roots. More to come about those cards soon.
Will just say for now that screwing up the plan often leads to a better plan. And securing a reputation for being a little off-kilter is a worthwhile enterprise that may spare later headaches.
