2.28.2012

wildcat


mee. yow.

so i may have spent a good chunk of this past weekend watching cleopatra on netflix instant. which is basically like spending four hours of your life being seduced by elizabeth taylor. not a bad way to spend a sunday, i'd say. her eyes are largely responsible for the seducing in that film. okay, well her eyes are, like, 5% responsible and the rest goes to her cleavage - which is outstanding! i mean, all perviness aside, her cleavage deserves a mention... as does the costuming which did such a fabulous job enhancing her... assets.

so minus the cleavage, my look today was somewhat influenced by liz taylor circa cleopatra. i may have achieved more of a mrs. robinson look, but oh well... must be something in the air...



you probably wouldn't believe it from looking at it, but this little box dress took me the better part of two weeks to make. two weeks?!? good god, sallie, what did you do? weave the damn fabric?! no. no i did not. in fact if you think you saw this fabric before on this blog - you did. this is the same rayon challis i used to line my red jacket. i liked it so much i bought extra yardage to make a dress. actually, now might be a good time to tell you that this print is not actually leopard print (gasp!! the lies!!) according to the roll at the fabric store, its jaguar print... duh.


okay, so why did it take me so long to sew three seams and stick some sleeves on 'em? because this was the result of my first experimentation in drafting a pattern based off of my sloper (which is still a work in progress, but more on that later). really, it was the sleeves that was the major hold up. my first draft revealed some unforeseen problems with the armholes of my bodice. the second go around had too much sleeve cap ease. i'd like to say that i was just having a case of the goldilocks and that the third try was just right, but thats not the case. i went from too much ease, to too little ease, to a forward thrusting sleeve, to a tight bicep, to not enough cap height... i am so sick of sleeves!

the version that finally made it onto this dress is still far from perfect. the armholes are a bit tight and, though you can't see it in the pictures, the sleeves swing forward a bit and there is an annoying little "puff" right at the shoulder line. between the sleeves and the fact that the muslin for this dress was so very very unflattering (think amish) its amazing this dress even got made! but i had a hunch that the busyness of the jaguar print and the drapey quality of the rayon challis would cure most evils. and lo and behold - it did!

pattern drafting = fail!

fabric choice = win!


here i am with my trusty steed. believe it or not, but this little dress passed the biking test. meaning i can physically bike in this dress. whether or not it passed the public decency test is another story...

i had a lot of fun with the camera today. we've been getting these crazy fogs that roll in around 4pm that are so thick and heavy and give such an ominous feeling to the place. i tried playing around with my depth of focus and settings, trying to capture that. mostly i just ended up with some blurry pictures, but hey, i'll take what i can get!


i was particularly fond of this picture. it looks like a still from some b horror film! something bad is definitely about to happen! what do you think? abducted by aliens? i seem kind of okay with that...

well, friends, this was my last and final hurrah for winter-ish sewing. from here on out i will have my nose to the grindstone with one thing in mind: spring!

xx

26 comments:

  1. It's so darling! And I adore it styled with the socks and shoes. Fabulous! Um...Can I just say, I completely understand your plight with the sleeve. Oh my gosh! KILL ME! Over my Christmas break I made like 10 muslins (maybe more, I blacked out after 10) of the same silly shirtdress and all were complete fails. COMPLETE. I couldn't move my arm around comfortably. Whoever said fitting pants were hard has never had sleeve and armscye problems. Gah! I wish you the best of luck with the sleeve draft and perfect fit. I'm sure it will come. In fact, I'm just positive it will. You're so clever. And stylish!
    xoxo, Sunni

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sunni! I sure hope so - I'm actually working on a less fitted armhole/sleeve right now and things have been going a bit smoother - but lord! I don't even want to look at the pile of wadded up muslin at the end of my sewing table... all sad sad sad sleeves!

      Delete
  2. I love it! Plus the b-movie shot is very 60s cool.

    Sleeves were my nemesis for a loooong time, so I made a lot of things with puff sleeves that now I can't stand to look at a puff sleeve. The Fashion Incubator has an interesting article on sleeves and ease which has really got me thinking about sleeve shaping and I'm practicing with an ease-less sleeve - oh heavens! But maybe something you'd be into since you're getting into pattern making :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Caitlin! I felt very 60's :) Not sure about cool - but definitely 60's!! Ha!

      There have been a number of times when I've just thought "dammit! I puff sleeve wouldn't look THAT bad..." but I think I've got this annoying tenacious habit with things like this where I just won't let it go! I've totally read that article on the Fashion Incubator... don't even get me started!!! Haha! That was part of the problem - I'm not convinced I can make an ease-less sleeve! I think it can work with looser styles, but with a higher/tighter armhole I just can't figure out how it could possibly work...

      Delete
  3. I love this. Rrrow. Just a good thing to throw on and I like the smokey eye, too. I'm with you on sleeves. I drafted several for a coat a couple of years ago and it drove me mad. Now I have patternmaking book for basic bodices and sleeves (sloper-y) that has a very interesting sleeve draft that is different from other sleeve drafts I have seen. I'm going to try it, because I know it's not just the ease but the relationship between the shape of the armhole to the shape of the sleeve cap. I love burda patterns, but all their sleeves have that annoying little puff because the caps are so high. When the arm is down, it looks good but just try to move. We'll get there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Always a work in progress! Yes - I've noticed the same weirdness with Burda patterns. This sleeve is sort of doing the same thing. Arm hanging straight - it looks fine, but as soon as it moves theres this little bit of bunching. Annoying! I know its a cap height issue but anytime I tried to reduce the cap height I lost all mobility! Grr!
      I'm interested in your different sleeve pattern - the shape relationship is definitely the key... Just need to figure out how to get there....

      Delete
  4. Hawt. Like, totally. But on a more serious note - you pull this fabric off in the main delightfully. I can't help but note the change in people who don this print - feline indeed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Poppykettle!! Its almost embarrassing how fun and easy it was to push the feline/60's thing - cat eyes were a must! Although it was so damp and humid out when I took these pictures that when I got home I noticed that my eye makeup had slid halfway down my face!! Haha!! The best laid plans...

      Delete
  5. Ooh I love it! Meeyow indeed madam. Love the styling you've brought to the outfit too. In that last pic I can imagine Michael Myers just popping out from behind a shrub... eek!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! Yes - many of my pictures had kind of an eerie quality to them - this one was the most "enigmatic" in some others I looked down right alarmed! Not sure what was going on with my face today, but oh well!

      Delete
  6. Loves the print and also the sheer socks + sandal combo. I'm so jealous of your climate - I'm month 4 into Canadian winter and MY FEET JUST WANT TO BE FREE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! My sister and I used to always push the seasons growing up in the Northeast! Its amazing we never got frostbite from wearing sandals when it was practically snowing! But at some point you just have to say "enough!" to winter! Hang in there!

      Delete
    2. Btw I thought of this clip right away when I saw your blog post title: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj1DZKOeZhI

      Delete
  7. I can't believe y'all already have green going on over there! The grass is growing here (as in, I actually need to mow my lawn lolwut), but it's that weird yellow-brown color that looks so sad. I miss green. Your green is so lovely!

    Also, I would like to thank you for yet another inspiring post. I have something insane like 5 1/2 yards of this super drapey leopard print fabric and no idea what to do with it. 5 1/2 yards feels like it should be all sucked up into one dress, but can you imagine a dress that takes 5 1/2 yards of fabric being made out of leopard print? Talk about overkill! So maybe some little shift dresses are in the cards. Several shift dresses - after all, 5 1/2 yards. Eep.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah.. nothing really dies here - its so strange! We don't really get "cold" just the sort of misty grey days that are not really cold, not really warm - just damp and... weird! Haha! You'll get green though soon - the South is the best like that!

      I sort of thought that a simple shift dress was the answer for my leftover leopard (jaguar) print - any detailing would just get lost so why not just go with it! Plus the dress is stupidly comfy (despite the armholes) and doesn't make me look like a slob! 5 1/2 yards though... I don't know! Thats a lot of shift dresses! Haha! I have some extra yardage too - maybe we should figure out all the little things you can do with drapey cat prints!

      Delete
  8. Love! You look amazing in this!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my gah, I love Elizabeth Taylor! A Place in the Sun, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Giant? She was a FOX! And you ain't kiddin'-- woman had cleavage that just wouldn't quit!

    Love this on you! It looks gorgeous! Sleeves can be such dirty b*tches-- good on you for sticking with it until you found something that works!

    Let's not talk about the bicycle public decency code... I shudder thinking about my SoCal college girl past and the miniskirt/bicycle combo that was basically an everyday occurrence... I can only apologize to the universe in general for my harlotry!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is one of my favs!! Elizabeth Taylor spends half her time in that film in the sexiest slip ever!

      I should probably care more that I've been flashing my goods around town on my bike - I figure the pissed off expression on my face makes up for it. Maybe people think I'm a call girl that just had her car stolen...?

      Delete
  10. Yummy dress Dahling! Have you tried it with the red jacket??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its kind of heating up down here... long sleeves AND a wool jacket might make me pass out!! Plus, if the insides of my jacket flash it might confuse people about where my body actually ends... Like an amoeba...

      Delete
  11. Seldom has feline looked so fah-bulous! And way to pull off the socks and dress shoes... I SO want to do that, but haven't mustered up the courage. Perhaps I need a feline inspired dress. You rock and or roll. xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, duh, jaguar. Of course. I love this boxy shape on you! And the print makes it incredibly hot. I have a terrible time with fitting sleeves. I've tried some broad back alterations thinking that was where my problem was, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with sleeve cap shape. I've yet to figure it out.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great dress! Perfect for the lovely weather too.

    Sleeves are one of those things that can be just so annoying. Patterns never seem to get them right and they always take so much fiddling.

    I love the fogs, so pretty, don't love the folks driving like lunatics in it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the dress! And my mind is exactly where yours is - SPRING!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Liz Taylor love! I can't get enough of her, and this post is making me want a weekend butt-numb-athon of her sultriness. Those cats are sneaky... is it wrong to call them all leopard print? I do.

    You look totally hot, and the last photo is a kinda Cindy Sherman-esque :)

    ReplyDelete