parent teacher conferences outfit 2

this might be my new favorite skirt.  i got so many compliments on it today (haha, i sound like i grovel for compliments...) and it's comfy.  not too short, no chance of a wardrobe malfunction, and shinyyyyy

amanda took the pics for me at work, between conferences.  she accused me of not looking fun.  so, here's what i think looking fun is like:

my only wish is that i had sewn the pockets closer to the center of the skirt so that the gold pocket flap was not so close to the gold zipper.  boo!

i'm currently working on neckties.  quick little projects.  pics to come soon!

parent teacher conferences outfit 1

the cream and purple dress has made its debut!!  i had a student take pics for me before the parents and their children rolled in.  here i am mid-sentence hehe:

not liking my derpy face here, but whatevs, at least i now see that i need to get my hair cut!

so, funny story: this morning, while walking to work, i noticed in my reflection in windows and doors that the slit in the back was quite high.  like scandalously high.  upon arriving at school, i rushed to my friend amanda's room and made her help me stitch down a bit of the slit.  phew.  fashion emergency resolved!

too bad you can't really see that the sleeves are actually a deep deep purple velvet.  looks more luxe than a black velvet would be.  i've gotten so many compliments on this dress today, from coworkers and parents!  yay!!

sgt pepper skirt

i bought this orange tweed ages ago from my fav fabric store in the dc area.  there was only a yard, as it was a fabric sample.  this whole time i had planned to make a skirt with it but was just more inspired by newer patterns so i never started this one (which would be based on a pattern from my twinkle sews book that i have used twice already).  however, this christmas, shirley got me a gold zip, which i had been envisioning as an exposed zipper for a skirt... and thus, my sgt pepper skirt was born.  

shirley came up with the name, sigh.  i rather like it (the skirt) though.  we all know i heart shiny like the best raccoon, again, hehe.

i could rotate the pic if i reloaded it to blogger, but eh, just turn your head to view it.  the gold is this gold metallic woven fabric that i got from carin, my former colleague with the german tailor mom.  shirley was using it to make me a new pillowcase while she stayed at my place over winter break... one day, she will finish it for me hehe.  i lined the inside with a cream satiny pillowcase that i found in my closet.  

not exactly sure whose pillowcase it is... i certainly didn't buy it.  i caution all of you against leaving fabric around my apartment.  you might not get it back.  it might be sewn into my garments hehe.  around back:

like my monkey flannel pj pants and rei hiking socks?  =)

bunks had quite the weekend:  bunny roasting by the open fireeeeeee (sing this to the tune of "chestnuts roasting by the open fireeeee")

he and squeaks have become best friends.  we caught squeaks grooming bunks yesterday!!  so cute!  at night, squeaks will lay by bunks' cage:  "why is my buddy spending the night in jail again??"  virgil, eric's other kitty, still isn't amused by the bunny yet.  

i'm going to be wearing this skirt and the cream dress i just finished to parent teacher conferences this week.  stay tuned for pics!

happy valentine's day!

i've never been that big of a fan of valentine's day, but this year, i was a lucky gal!  eric surprised me with homemade chocolate chip pancakes, 

a pouch of 100 small leather hearts that he punched out himself (!!!), and really fine houndstooth wool from italy!  it's got a slight sheen to it in the black.  we all know that i heart shiny like the best raccoon!!

i think i want to make a classy suspendered pencil skirt with it…  we shall see.  tonight i made homemade chocolate chip cookies with the rest of the chocolate nuggets that eric bought for the pancakes.  soooo yummy!

happy valentine's day!

from a gala to parent teacher conferences

at the end of january, eric's aunt was being recognized at a big retirement dinner at the really posh pierre hotel in manhattan.  after fretting about "what to wear," i decided i wanted to make a dress for the event, as eric's immediate and extended family would be there, and what better audience would there be for my sewing??  i chose "view a" of butterick 5520, the dress all the way to the right on the envelope below:

i paired a deep purple velvet with this cream boxy-woven wool from shirley.  (do note that "from shirley" means luxe... real luxe... girl has some amazing taste in fabric!)  i didn't want to be a drab new yorker dressed in all black.  here i am using my me-built table to cut fabric!  i figured that cutting cream wool on the floor would get it all dirty.

i ended up lining the velvet shoulders with a thin green and red plaid wool that i had in my stash of fabric scraps because the velvet was much flowier than the wool, and attaching the velvet on top of the cream wool would make it too thick and stiff.

i wish i had a good pic of the purpleness of the velvet.  i love it.  it's just the slightest hint of purple.  

this was where i ended by the time the dinner came around: the bottom had to be hemmed still and the zipper in the back was not installed yet.  =(  i felt like i had lost on project runway.  it was upsetting.  i worked until 30 mins before i had to start getting ready for the event, but eventually came to terms with the fact that i just wouldn't be done in time.  i ended up wearing a black jacquard strapless dress by theory with a black blazer.  #drabnewyorker  =(

last night, i finally finished!  yes, on feb 11...  all but 2 seam lines/darts match perfectly!!

here's why the dress took so long: the shoulders were very mooshy because of the wool lining, the silk lining, and the velvet, so i had to handstitch it all down so that it flowed like one piece of fabric.  so tedious!  and yes, i lined this entire dress with my silk-egyptian cotton blend bedsheet!  i figured the luxe outside warranted a luxe inside...

the back of the skirt had a slit!  i've never made a skirt with a slit before because the way one has to attach the lining to the skirt around a slit can get complicated.  this one wasn't so bad:

look how narrow my shoulders are!  the purple velvet sleeves are SO close together.  i took it in by 4 inches across the back.  this pattern was intended for a linebacker!

i'm going to wear this dress to parent teacher conferences in 2 weeks, dressed down with black opaque tights and knee length boots.  i'm also going to break up all the cream with a thin black patent leather belt.  eric promised me we'd go on a fancy date as well, so i can wear it to a fancy event.  i'll post pics of both!

how's bunks doing?  he's good... making friends with large cats and bossing them around.  he's taken to chasing them instead of letting them chase him.  are you surprised?