Happy Birthday, little girl I love
My goddaughter who has legs up to her neck and avant-garde bangs (she cut herself, naturally) turned 7 this year. My girl loves a casual dress, and I love sewing for little ladies, so there’s the finished present.
I took this vintage Simplicity pattern thrifted in a packet of old patterns and lengthened the wrap top shown in yellow. The inside facing had to become longer, too, to hide all the denim fray, and I fused interfacing to a teal bandana to do that (pix here). Denim’s from Gaffney’s in Philadelphia, my very favorite fabric store.
Finally saw the little girl this past weekend, handed over packages, watched her twirl (despite the flu) in the dress *and* white on white embroidered cowboy boots purchased for a steal from Alcala’s Western Wear in Chicago.
Sweet!
Update again! It takes a lot of money to look this cheap: May 8
Dolly finally set her dates for Chicago. Poor thing had suffered back troubles and postponed her tour. Thursday (05/0 
isn’t as good as Friday (02/29) though May fashion possibilities totally trump Feb. fashion, especially in the Chi. My concert top’s in progress:
Next step: Stitch grosgrain ribbon along cut edges and turn under as a facing.
Update! It takes a lot of money to look this cheap
The news is bad. I guess it gives me more time to make a top though.
Upcoming Dolly Parton tour is a bust
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Country-singer Dolly Parton has postponed an upcoming US tour due to a back injury — and she reckons her legendary bust size might have something to do with it.
Parton, 62, said in a statement on her website Monday that doctors had advised her to take six to eight weeks off to recover, forcing her to shelve the start of a tour due to get underway on February 28.
The tour was due to coincide with the release of Parton’s new album “Backwoods Barbie” later this month.
“I know I have been breaking my neck and bending over backwards trying to get my new Backwoods Barbie CD and world tour together, but I didn’t mean to hurt myself doing it,” Parton said in the statement.
“But hey, you try wagging these puppies around a while and see if you don’t have back problems,” she quipped.
“Seriously though, the doctors said I will be good as new in a few weeks, and I can’t wait to get back out there. See you soon, Dolly.”
it takes a lot of money to look this cheap
My mister gifted me Christmas tickets to see Dolly Parton at the stunning Chicago theater at the end of February. What an absolute doll. Reading about Dolly and listening to her bluegrass stuff on library CDs is preempting a lot of my crafting. But Dolly, the brains behind the title of this post, I think, would appreciate a “new” outfit on me, clearly something sparkly. Otherwise, how will she see me in the balcony?
A cousin gave me this stretchy red jacket thing in a bag of hand me downs.
As you can see, it’s covered in square red sequins, and it doesn’t fit me right. I feel as dowdy in it as one with a bosom badly covered in red sequins can possibly be. It closes in the front with hooks and eyes. They constantly catch on the garment’s stretchy foundation. But the red is glorious and would match the cowboy boots I also plan to wear that evening. And it’s Dolly, for crying out loud, who herself has taste that’s a mess of glorious and awful.
So I’m thinking about lopping off the sleeves and finishing them as caps, and pulling the sides in a little bit to make a kind of top to throw over a denim skirt or dark jeans. Will not wear the star top in a mockery of America.
Wardrobe Refashion is full of good ideas, so of course, I threw the dilemma to them. Will document the sequined surgery here once it’s completed.
