the coral dress that never was

but then was!  an old friend from childhood, yes you know who you are, asked me to be a bridesmaid.  she wanted all of us to wear coral.  being the organized type, i went ahead and bought 2 yards of coral silk (i bought charmeuse, but used the back side so the dress wouldn't be so shiny-- the color is like that in the upper right of the pic), 

coral thread, coral serger thread, a coral invisible zipper.  

i even picked out a pattern, simplicity 1877, view b, the one on the right, with a ruffle on the shoulder, a triangle detail at the waist center, gathered skirt.  the designer of this pattern is leanne marshall, one of my fav winners of project runway from many seasons ago.  simple, clean lines, nice subtle details.

and then this friend changed her mind and didn't want coral and wanted longer dresses.  so, project died.  but, then i decided, i'll just make the dress anyway and wear it to the rehearsal dinner, or whatever other fancy thing i'll be required to attend in my future.  so, full speed ahead i went.  the fit wasn't easy.  my waist isn't narrow.  i had to let out half of each back dart and each side seam.  here i am, trying on the dress with the zipper just basted on.  the fit ended being my best yet!  bust darts end exactly where they should.  the dress makes my shoulders look like they're of normal width.  my waist looks like it goes in, when really it goes straight down.  MAGIC!  look how feminine i appear!

i didn't hem the bottom of the dress in the back when i tried it on.

finished view of the front:

zoomed in view of the triangle detail at the waist.  this wasn't easy to stitch.  the pleats were slippery because of the silk charmeuse, and thus i had to stitch it 3 times before i could finally get it not to pucker.

back view, hemmed!  

look at what a good job i did matching up the left and right waist lines:

my fav detail is that this dress has pockets!

and finally, here are the shoulder details tacked down so they don't flop everywhere.  i made a bias binding for the neckline, but with the slippery side showing up.  the ruffle is also done with the slippery side.

i just missed wearing this for graduation, so i guess the next event i have where i could wear this is for the rehearsal dinner for the wedding.  hehehe, still wearing coral to it, i guess.

and the fuzzfeed:

lil' fuzz is exhausted after mowing the lawn.  we paid him in blueberries for a job well done.

privacy curtains

let's face it, nobody likes to be viewed when doing their business.  our cats have their litterbox under the stairs, with the vacuums, and lil' fuzz likes his tucked in the corner of his cage.  however, to provide further privacy (like behind lil' fuzz so no one can sneak up on him), i sewed all the animals privacy curtains.  mind you, we have some modest, fastidious boys in the house.  before:

the wire is a curtain hanging wire from ikea.  eric had a hard time getting the left part in because of the narrowness of the corner.  and after:

a little crooked, but whatevs.  the fabric is canvas from ikea.  fuzz's former privacy curtain was rather bootleg:

yes, a hand towel hahahahah.  i used the same green canvas from my vacuum bag and the curtains in the apartment to make a custom cage curtain:

sharp, right?  look how perfectly it wraps the corner!

they're attached to the top rung of the sides with 4 velcro flaps.  i wanted to be able to remove it in case i needed to wash it.  i don't trust lil' fuzz's aim, hehe.  i've since switched fuzz's teeny corner litter pan to a kitten litter pan.  he kept peeing over that shorter edge too frequently.

now if only we can neaten up his eating habits.  he tears through his salad (picked fresh from our garden out back!!).  fuzzfeeding:

since my last post, back in april, we've been munching on these new cookies i baked.  a bit sweeter than i prefer, but the crunch is lovely.  clove cookies:

and finally, i end with a cheerful, beautiful pic.  my former coworker from philly, for whom i made a jar of stars and who helped move me to brooklyn with his 2 kids, sent me this pic yesterday:

see, my jars of stars can be useful!!  happy may!

western top

i finally got a chance to use a pattern from the sewing patterns book basic black, which eric got me for my bday.  i used pattern a, a peasant shirt.

i actually have minimal amounts of black in my wardrobe.  i prefer COLORS!  i was inspired to make this top from anthropologie.

shirley got me checkered cotton double gauze from her most recent trip to japan.  i particularly love that the checks are rectangular and not square on her fabric (unlike anthro's top which has square checks)!  here i am cutting the fabric, with lil' fuzz grooming himself in the background.

this fabric is so soft.  and even though the fabric is double-layered, the material is thin enough so that it is super breezy.  this pattern called for turning bias strips into...

bias binding.  blehhhh, my worst nightmare.  there is nothing i hate more than making and using bias binding.  i would rather handstitch 2 buttonholes than make bias binding.  i have this nifty gauge to make bias binding, but this fabric was too thin and fiddly to use the gauge.

i had serious doubts my narrow shoulders would fit the boatneck top, but the shoulders of the shirt are holding on for dear life!  it fits perfectly!  whoo!

i wore this on the 1st day back from spring break.  eric snapped pics for me in the morning before i left.  i wouldn't normally wear the ties tied, but at school, i have to be more modest hehe.

of course i had to test out the swingyness of the peplum bottom!

wheeeeeeeee!  i caged lil' fuzz just to make sure i wouldn't stomp him by accident.

back view, but blurry because i am such a speedy spinner:

the blue in the fabric started bleeding into the white whenever i ironed it with steam, so i still need to wash it in vinegar to hopefully set the dye.  didn't stop me from wearing it to school though!

and, the fuzzfeed:  this weekend, it was 68 degrees on sunday.  we decided to introduce lil' fuzz to the outside for the 1st time.  we started by confining him to this pen that eric got, just so he could get accustomed to the noises of nature (or brooklyn).

this lil' guy is bold.  he quickly started nosing around at the door, trying to figure out a way out.  soooo, we let him out!

fuzz went to town on the lawn.  he seemed to think there was a limit to the supply of grass available, so he tried to eat as much as possible.  i thought i'd be nice and show him the wild mint, as it is better for him to eat than random weeds, but of course he then started decimating our wild mint collection.  this might be my fav pic of the day:  "oooooh, fresh herbs?"

the fuzzfeed

there's a new bunny in the house.  we've named him lil' fuzz (like lil' wayne, lil' kim, and lil' bow wow.  side note: bow wow should shorten his name to lil' wow, hehehehe).  he's already a year old and quite the little mischief-maker.  here he is on his first day home.  poor little dude is a bit stressed after his neutering.

he's wild with energy.  eric has built him several tunnels, and the little guy loves to run under and through everything. (fuzz, not eric hahahahha)  here he is in his temporary digs and working on his potty-training.

for a white rabbit, lil' fuzz does a fantastic job grooming himself.

he has brown patches over both eyes and has spotty brown ears.  he also has brown at the bases of his ears.  his head is super fuzzy, hence the name lil' fuzz.

between his ears in the back is a stripe of white fur that always sticks straight up.  eric's been calling him magua, after the character in "the last of the mohicans" with a mohawk.  

last weekend we lit the last of our wood haul from ct.  lil' fuzz enjoyed his first fire.  it was toasty.  he loves to snuggle.

he also liked to sit right up to the warmth, just like the cats and bunks.  it was rather toasty.

stretching out after spending the day tunneling:

eric just bought him a luxury loft rabbit condo.  it was made in slovakia.  he spent all saturday putting it together.  not easy.

we're calling all lil' fuzz updates the fuzzfeed, like buzzfeed.  hehehehe.

shorts in time for shorts season!

well, shorts season a year later, hehehhehe.  i started these shorts last year.  right after i finished eric's navy carhartt work pants.  that was last april.  these used the same pattern as those pants, but with slightly wider leg openings and cargo pockets!  facings and pockets were made with interfaced navy fabric.  topstitching was done in navy too.  check out the fly:

so proud of it.  i only had to restitch it 4 times...

the cargo pocket was longer than i would have liked.  next time, for the next round, i'm going to make them a little shorter.  topstitching all the details was quite fun.

naturally i used navy vintage buttons for the waist and 2 per cargo pocket (next time i'm only going to do 1 per pocket).  eric picked them out.  yes, maybe an hour was spent on button-selection again, hehe.  i hate making buttonholes.  HATE IT.  eric was in charge of splitting them open.

the back:

check out those cargo pockets!

happy shorts season!  i really should make myself shorts, not like these though.  one day.

new pillowcases!

spring break was so productive.  i gave these sad pillows a facelift!

the botanical print linen was from ikea.  $9.99 a yard, from which i was able to make 2 pillowcases!  i still have a bit left and plan to make a lumbar roll once i get my hands on some stuffing!