Fashion Feature: “English Lavender”

~Taming the Purple Monster~

Introducing the latest frock in Tom’s Closet—christened “English Lavender” after the sweet-smelling herb (although “Klära” also came to mind, as it reminds me a wee bit of the illustrations in a children’s book based on everyone’s favorite Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker.)

The original bodice design

It all began with 2.5+ yards of deep-lavender poly-rayon gabardine— the last of the bolt— purchased at Hancock Fabrics in August of 2010. Like most fabrics I buy, this one had to marinate in the Stash for a while before I could use it. Yeah, that’s it. :-P (Actually, it takes me a while to decide which of the dozen different designs floating around in my head would look best made up from my fabrics.) Fast-forward to July of 2011. Our family had just seen Disney’s Rapunzel, and I fell for her adorable little frock. While my gabardine wasn’t the same pinky-purple-almost-plum-and-mauve as Rapunzel’s, it’s definitely a better color on me. Long story short, I based my design on New Look 6206, drafting my own custom-fitted princess-seamed bodice (since commercial ones hit me too high) with a sweetheart neckline, and using my own drafted patterns for the puffed upper- and fitted lower sleeves. (BTW, I should mention here that my fabric was 60” wide.)

I’ll spare you a detailed account of all the brick walls Mom and I hit trying to make this dress a reality. Between fitting issues, feeling like a 40-year-old in a 6-year-old’s Disney Princess costume (even though I gave up the “Rapunzel” idea fairly early in the construction process), and the vintage zipper I’d worked so hard to install breaking when I went to try on the dress for the umpteenth time…Tom was not a happy monkey. The dress (such as it was), all the pieces pertaining to it, and every last scrap of gabardine were tied up in a plastic grocery sack and chucked into a dark corner under the big cutting table (and then that night I slipped on the ice and tweaked my hip just in time for my own birthday. Oy). Suffice it to say that I learned the hard way NOT to use my fashion fabric for tinkering, experimenting or otherwise noodling with patterns I’ve never used before. Especially if the fabric/color goes out of production. Which this one did. :-P Is it any wonder this dress earned such epithets as:

~The Purple Monster

~Gownzilla

~LavenDiva

…when I didn’t just call it “that infernal dress!!!”?

Chop-chop!

However, the story has a happy ending, for all that. In May of 2012 I finally felt calm enough to look at the thing again, and the creative juices started flowing once more. Gownzilla still had several tricks up its as yet uninstalled sleeves, but by God’s aid and Mom’s faithful assistance (I love my Mommy! ♥), I was able to convert it into the dress pictured at the top of this page. The original pointed waist proved to be too confusing—sewing it in didn’t work, and folding and top-stitching was too fiddly—so we chopped off the point and made it an Empire waist instead. The skirt looked dreadful with it, however, so we took it (the skirt) apart, trimmed the slanted tops of the two front panels (originally to be sewn to the pointed bodice) and used only three panels in the skirt. 

The 3-panel skirt

The fourth one we used to make new lower sleeves, as the ones I’d cut out were too short and ended up too tight when pulled up to the correct height. Of course, pulling the skirt from natural waist to the Empire line made it shorter, especially since the former front panels ended up shorter still once we trimmed the tops. 

No, the pic isn't crooked--it's the hem!

It was still below-knee-length, but too short for the style it had developed into, especially for a cooler-weather dress. So I took every large scrap I had left (including the too-short original lower sleeves and linings), trimmed them into strips about 4” tall (ish) and sewed them together into a ruffle. 

Original lower sleeves and linings, folded to be cut

Measuring and marking a large scrap

Ta-da! Ruffle-strips!

 

I’m too old for fluffy gathered ruffles, but I love the look of what I call “micro-pleated” ones seen in this pseudo-Victorian/Steampunk costume. There wasn’t enough fabric make tiny knife-pleats all round the ruffle, so after some noodling (and snarking and growling), I was able to make “clusters” of three ¼” pleats with a 1” space between clusters. There is a cluster of six pleats in the center-back, and a 4” box-pleat flanked by four pleats on each side, in center-front.

1st attempt--straight micro-pleats

What might have been but for a bit more fabric!

Final solution--three-and-one

Overall effect

I’m not sure I’d do this sort of thing again, as pressing all those little pleats turned out to be more difficult and fiddly than I expected. Some of them disappeared entirely at the bottom, while others hang at a slightly drunken angle…but from a distance it gives the right effect.

As I said, the “Rapunzel” idea faded pretty quickly once I realized how impractical a near-faithful reproduction would be for Real Life. Pretty, yes. Relatively simple, yes. But with the pink ribbons and pink-and-blue embroidery on “purple” fabric…it seemed a bit Easter-eggish. However, a solid-colored dress always seems rather plain to me—a blank canvass for some (modest) embellishment. In the end I used this amazing vintage lace (still on its original card!) purchased at a yard sale this past Summer.

Looks like Irish Crochet roses--perfect!

A better view of Gorgeous Lace

 And what do you know? There was enough not only to fill in the neckline (which felt a bit low for a Spring/Fall dress) and accent the sleeves, but also to go round the “waist” seam and the skirt where it met the ruffle. And there’s a good yard or more left over! It that a God-thing, or what? :-D

Photo courtesy of Bro, Peter

 What I’m Wearing:

Shoes: Bone “Granny” Boots—thrifted*

Stockings: White Sweater-tights—hand-me-down from Mom

Dress: “English Lavender”—made by me

Necklace: “Wild Irish Rose”—Wild Rose Designs and Laurie Sarah Designs

Hairstyle: Variation on Regency Updo (which unfortunately doesn't show up very well)

*These shoes—I love them, but they’re size 9s, which is two sizes too big. I thought they’d work out, but they just don’t fit me right. So I’m in the process of offering them for sale in a Virtual Garage Sale…once I figure out how to do that….

This picture was taken on November 11^th, “English Lavender”’s debut at church…which, ironically, was also the first day of The Migraine From The PIT, which lasted over two weeks straight, followed by a week of neck pain from stiff muscles and a strained spinal cord. OY! I always knew this dress was a sweet little headache, but really!

But its second wearing on December 8^th—our church’s annual Christmas Dinner—was more pleasant, and waaaaay less painful! The only differences this time were my hair and shoes. I did “Swedish” braids (having run out of time for anything more elegant—silly Tom!) with side-curls, and switched out the granny-boots for my more comfortable White “Kid” Slippers (which, sadly, I don’t have a photo of). And of course, I wore my trusty Wild Irish Rose necklace, this time set with an Amethyst cabochon:

...which is so dark it looks black. Need a lavender cab for this frock!

The dress still has some issues to iron out (if possible)—mainly that the sleeves need to be moved inwards. Between broad shoulders and a long upper chest area, I tend to look a bit top-heavy in this frock. But my seam-ripper isn’t allowed anywhere near it until Summertime, when it’ll be too hot to wear the dress anyway. :-P Eventually, I may top-stitch the remaining lace into a V-shape on the bodice-front, to connect the neck and “waist” visually. And Lord willing I can afford it, I fancy some 3/8” velvet ribbon to cover all the lace-edges. Won’t that be elegant?! :-D

On the whole, though, I’m fairly pleased with how it turned out. It’s quickly becoming my “party frock”!

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless

~“Tom”~

♥

Birthdayness...belated

A conversation with Miss Kellie a couple weeks ago made me realize I'd left my Gentle Readers kinda hanging as to my injured hip. Oops! A thousand pardons; that was rather sloppy, aye? So below is the blog entry I'd started shortly after my birthday...and finished just tonight. Better late than never, wot? ;-)

--------

Twenty-seven. Such a strange number. Seemingly so much older than twenty-five, yet a bit younger than thirty.
But I really don't feel any older than I did last year—not drastically so, anyway. Not like the change from 19 to 20...but that's another story. Actually, I've been telling myself that I'm “practically thirty,” so twenty-seven doesn't seem so very old. :-P


The celebrations began on Friday, January 27^th. Friday night is Movie Night at our house (meaning we watch something longer than an episode of Star Trek or Murder, She Wrote during supper), so we decided to start my movie marathon then and go clear through the next Friday. So we began with the BBC's miniseries of Wives and Daughters, which we haven't seen in almost a year. I'd forgotten how much I love that movie. Almost as much as P&P (1995). We watched Parts 1 and 2 that night and finished with Parts 3 and 4 Saturday night.
On Sunday night we watched Emma (circa 1970's). Not the best version, but it tells the story more fully than the Miramax one (although that one is livelier). I think my favorite Emma is the 2009 (or was it 2010?) miniseries starring Ramola Garai, but we don't have that one...yet.

Monday night we had to settle for something shorter, as we had Bible study that night at our pastor's house...and that's how I came to be lame on my own birthday.

Monday had been a bad day anyhow, as I *think* that might have been the day I had my new dress all sewn up and put it on so Mom could take the hem...and found out the lower sleeves were so tight I couldn't bend my arms! It's been like that all through the sewing process—every time I try it on, we discover some new issue. Now you know why the thing has earned such epithets as “The Purple Monster,” “GownZilla” and “LavenDiva”...when I don't just call it, “That Infernal Dress!!!” :-P

So, erm, yeah, Tom was not in a good mood that day.

We had arrived at our pastor's house for Bible study, and Peter pulled into the driveway so as to be closer to the house, as there was still some ice and snow on the roads. For some reason I decided to walk round the back of the car, perhaps because we were parked too close to Pastor's rather prickly-looking barberry hedge. I don't know. All I do know is that, one minute I'm sulking my way around the car, and the next half-second I'm on all fours in a patch of crunchy ice. Normally I'm pretty good at walking on ice, but it was so dark the wretched stuff was invisible. Nothing hurt, and nothing broke, God be praised, although I landed with my left leg at a funny angle. And apart from adding to the “stick-a-blowtorch-in-my-ear-and-we'll-call-it-the-end-of-a-perfect-day” factor, and a bit of stiffness, I was fine all the rest of the evening. It wasn't till Tuesday that the trouble began. It was as much as I could do to limp my way about the house! Very probably I spent most of the day reading or napping. And my knees were still purple and yellow for several weeks afterward. Not fun.
However, by a miracle of God, my hip was so much better Wednesday (my birthday) that I could hobble about much easier than before. So I was able to move about better while Mom and I attempted to make truffles. I say “attempted” because it's harder than it looks to roll flavored cream cheese in melted chocolate and not use too much. Especially when the chocolate decides it wants to re-solidify fairly quickly. Even when it's still in the double-boiler with hot water under it! (Plus the strawberry flavor ended up runny because we didn't thicken the berries like we did with the raspberry filling. Oops.) I daresay our confectionery endeavors wouldn't make Better Homes and Gardens, but overall they were still pretty tasty.

It's been a sort of tradition the past few years for Mom and me to go thrift-shopping on my birthdays, but this year I just didn't feel like it (and this was before my injury), so we planned a quiet day at home. I hadn't expected any presents this year, but by Wednesday there were several on the little tray-table we set up in the living room!

Birthday Basket from the R family, with the lovely card it came with

The R family (who live just down the street from us) brought over this loverly little basket of goodies the day before, since they were going out of town and wouldn't be able to deliver it on my actual birthday. Notice how nearly everything in it is purple? Apparently Kayla (who takes sewing lessons from Mom) was asking at her last lesson when all our birthdays are, and our favorite colors, etc. Hee!

 
The first thing I noticed was this dainty china pitcher, painted with violets—one of my favorite flowers...and my birth-flower! (Although I notice violets don't bloom until March or April up here.)

Next came a box of Wild Berry Zinger tea, a pretty candle, an adorable kittens calender, a lavender-scented sachet (currently keeping one of my new dresses smelling pretty) and a package of Good & Plenty candy.

A Barbie-pink envelope from my Aunt B and loving Cousin Brenda contained a beautiful picture which Cousin drew just for me! I'll try and get a pic of it later. Eventually I want to have it framed to protect it from yellowing and dust...and dirty little kitty feet. :-P

Lastly, Mom and Peter gave me my very own copy of Nourishing Traditions, a fascinating (and sometimes alarming!) cookbook that challenges what the Powers That Be tell us is healthy, and educates the reader on the practices of our ancestors and how to emulate them in today's world...or try to, anyway. We had a copy once, but a couple years ago I went to take it off the shelf it was sitting on, and discovered it to be soaking wet! The shelf was under another, and the ceiling was dry. There was no water on the shelf, and none of the other cookbooks were wet (although the one directly next to it was a bit damp). And it wasn't the cats, neither, because it didn't smell at all (until it started getting moldy from being wet, that is). We tried to dry it out, but in the end we had to give it a decent burial*...$25 down the drain. :-(

So it was nice to get another copy—for less!

* Give [something] a decent burial = Throw it in the outside trash can. This treatment is given to particularly nasty and potentially smelly garbage, such as moldy cheese and packages that held raw meat.
~Tom's Dictionary of Whacked-out Terms and Old Family Sayings

The rest of the day we watched the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice (which is fast becoming a tradition) and made ravioli (courtesy of Costco) and meatballs with Alfredo-marinara sauce. Yum!

The rest of the week we watched a few more special movies, but I don't remember exactly what they were now. I do recall us giving Ivanhoe a try...and then switching it off because it was too graphic. O.O

Now I know that some of my Gentle Readers really like this movie, and I am not in any way putting you or your tastes down. Not at all. But seeing poor Wilfred—shirtless and bloody-nosed—being whipped because he won't tell where King Richard is (what a way to open a movie!), a dog being caught in a net, roughly-handled, having a spear thrown at him (it missed) and then licking his bloody paws (those who've read the book know why), and then...oh my gosh...a bunch of Normans on horseback chasing and trapping a pig—a sow who looked like she'd had piglets recently, to boot—and then spearing her for dinner (off-screen, but still...!)--all in the space of about five minutes...well, Mom and I just couldn't stomach it. Like Peter said, it was quite different from the Jane Austen flicks we'd been watching all week. I know things were gritty back then, but do they have to rub it in our faces?? Eesh.

It was all I could do not to think of those poor motherless piglets...and tell myself that it wasn't real. Editor's note: Too much information, Stupid! :-P

Oh. My.

So we watched something else instead. And more Jane Austen-type things the rest of the week.

So that was my birthday.

Fast-forward to the present.

CU of the print

I brought this little number home last Friday from work.

I call it "Jubilee" because the print is so cheery! :-D It looks vintage-y to me, just because you don't see prints like this much anymore, and the pattern used to make it was popular in the '70s (although the upward-pointed Empire waist and flared skirt look seems to be making a comeback). And the little piece of white sticky-tape on the neck facing--the writing all but gone now--makes me think it might have been a stage costume at one point. What fun!

Because the zipper was broken, and the back seam had ripped several inches (if not a whole foot) below it, and the insides of the collar and cuffs were stained (eeeew), and there was a good-sized hole in the hem...well, had it come in any other day, it probably would have been thrown in the Green Cross bin with all our other “rejects.” But the Lord had other plans for this cheery cotton print—He wanted me to have it! So I adopted it...and as soon as I got home, I threw it in the wash with a generous splash of white vinegar because it REEKED of mildew. That helped, but it still has a faint odor to it, so I plan to give it another wash later.

When I tried it on Friday night, I came to the conclusion that it probably would have fit just about perfectly ten years ago...back when I was 17 and under 100 pounds. :-P So yesterday and today I spent my sewing time happily ripping it apart, with evil plans to alter it. (Incidentally, it seems to be more relaxing to dismantle things than to sew them up...bizarre-o.)

Anyway, I noticed that the sash/ties were cut on the fold and fairly wide, so I opened them up and pressed them flat. That gave me two roughly 18” strips of fabric about 4-5” wide. I sewed one of them into the former back seam (having disposed of the busted zipper), trimmed off the excess and am preparing to use it to add some length to the shoulders (so the upward-pointing Empire seam hits me in the right place; it was too high before). Then I need to:

• Add 1” to the bodice front side seams, as it's a bit tight still
• Shorten the skirt (taking off fabric from the top) till it fits comfortably when zipped up
• Re-do hem to remove hole (which of course is right smack in front)
  
• Make front insert, because the neckline on this thing is shocking! :-O

...Oh yeah, and sew it all back together. :-P

And since this post is already over three pages long in Open Office, methinks I'll stop now and let you all rest your poor eyes. ;-)

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~