WIP: Over Easy Dress

Here's what's shakin' on the Cynthia Rowley dress:

• Sunday night I pretreated the fabric. It's a super soft linen from JoAnn's that looked destined to shrink. I try to avoid pretreating as much as possible because of impatience, first and foremost. And when it comes to cutting, the fabric never lays as smoothly as it did straight off the bolt. At least not for me, even after ironing.
  
• Monday I cut stuff up. Because I had to match the pattern print, this took a decent chunk of time. Oh, and it involved a dumpster dive. More on that later.
  
• Tuesday I started assembly. Roughly 3.5 hours later I had a dress! All that's left to do is the handstitching on the hem and tacking down some facings. Have a look-see at the progress:

We're having some of Matt's work chums (no one uses the word "chums" anymore so I thought I'd throw it out there) over for dinner tonight or tomorrow. Thus, I'll probably finish the dress this weekend and will provide a full review Monday. And you'll see why I've dubbed this one the "Over Easy" dress.

To finish things off today, J sent over some pics of the kiddie clothes for your viewing pleasure!

The Gentleman's Bathroom is on the docket for Friday. Get your fishing gear ready.

WIP Wednesday: Skinny Jeans Need A Top

For whatever reason, praise for these jeans was going around the interwebs last week. To date I've been terrified and even mildly repulsed by skinny jeans. I've got a long torso and short legs by normal proportional standards so I thought they would equal disaster on me. Nevertheless, I marched off to Gap on the same day I clocked 6 miles running because, hell, if that's not going to make you feel good in jeans not much else will.

Well, I liked 'em. Color me shocked.

So then I got to thinking and a tunic top seemed to be in order. Since I promised Matt I would pick him up at the airport late Sunday night I needed something to help me stay awake. Enter McCall 5556, stage right, straight from the Out Of Print door.

After a few hours of work, I'm embarrassed to say that I've got little to show. It took me 30 minutes to figure out how to turn one strap inside out using this poorly illustrated technique in the instructions. Pathetic!

But I emerged victorious, I cut the two long strings down to size to make the button loops, and I called it a night.

Mom's in town for a conference and she's spending the weekend with us. Hooray for a visit from Mom and her wallpapering skills! The basement bathroom is about to be finished, once and for all.

* Scroll up and over to vote on a dress!*

WIP Wednesday: Extreme Home Makeover

Minimal pictures today, y'all. That's because this is a work-in-progress posting as opposed to a "Yo Mom, check this out!" kind of deal.

I mentioned earlier that aside from Matt's workroom, other areas of the house were experiencing a revitalization, of sorts. It all started Friday afternoon when I went to put some clothes away and practically tripped on our bedroom rug. Out with it! One thing lead to another and suddenly drapes, rugs, artwork, and furniture were on the move.

Hudgins HATES moving-related activities. Despises. Freaks out at the sight of shifting stuff. There is actual trembling involved with lots of cramming his butt into whatever corner is closest. And those are probably fair emotions since we've dragged him to 8 different homes in his 7 years. To keep him and Lil Monster occupied while I sent dust flying, we swapped out the glass insert of our storm door with the screen. Miraculous! The hounds were entertained by our passing neighbors for the rest of the evening.

This scene is the standard arrangement: Charlotte at the front door keeping watch, Hudgins on the front hall landing, ready to bark at a moment's notice. He undoubtedly feels like the king up there. Matt and I suspect the real reason he stays up a few steps is because he's willing to have Charlotte take the fall for him should an evil intruder actually cross the threshold. Such a knight in black fur, he is.

Anyway, back to the extreme home makeover that was going on behind this scene. I'm prepping the guest room for our April visitors (yippee!) so as soon as the final pieces have been put back in place I'll share the pictures. Until then, the list of moves:

Rugs:
master bedroom --> living room
living room --> dining room
guest bedroom --> storage

Artwork:
living room --> stairway
guest bedroom -->master bedroom
master bedroom --> living room

Furniture:
guest bedroom --> basement
table in storage --> dining room
dining room --> guest room
basement --> guest room

Mirrors and lighting:
front hall --> guest room
guest room --> master bedroom
front hall --> dining room
dining room --> basement

Drapes:
guest room --> living room
old dining room --> master bedroom

If you followed all of that, you probably detected that the guest room was practically stripped bare. New drapes, recovering the thrift-store chair originally in the basement, and a twist on an upholstered headboard are all in the works. I took the plunge and got an entry-level serger a few weeks back and let me just say it has been a star player in this makeover! To those shopping around, I'm quite pleased with this little baby by Janome.

Anyone else doing some spring cleaning/home sprucing with their sewing machines?

WIP Wednesday: Spring Cleaning

It's 70* here today. Praise ye, weather gods.

With the weather turning so went my attention from clothes back to house. I have an unhealthy need to keep switching things up in the city cottage and this tends to drive Matt nuts. For the safety of our marriage I've learned to rotate things around the house rather than go out and buy new each time the change itch strikes. Last night the master bedroom was my lucky subject.

To help you get your bearings, here's a handy dandy floor plan. We swapped rooms and are using the former "master" as our guest room. You'll see that we're not working with tons of space (thus the city cottage classification) and yet we've found it to be spacious enough.

Have a look at some before pictures that we snapped the day we closed on the house. See if you can guess who used to live in the room we now use as the master bedroom. Three clues:

Pretty pretty princess pink walls

Itty bitty shelves in the closet

Bubblegum ball fringe on the window treatments.

Let's forget the guessing game, as there's only one clear answer. This room once belonged to a cute little 2 year old munchkin who obviously loved all things pink (or her mother did, anyhow).

As charming as it might have been, we couldn't handle the pink after about a month or so. Super White (my favorite BM white) to the rescue! Here we are, in the dead of January:

A rundown of the changes: floors stained darker, walls and trim all painted white, window blinds replaced, window drapes installed on new curtain rod, and a TV mounted and hooked up, but nicely hidden from view when standing in the hallway. The other side of the room has a dresser and some artwork but still needs a dash of aesthetic love.

But back to the spring cleaning.

The muted colors in our room are nice for evoking that winter white feeling but I'm now looking for a little more vibrancy. Much like my tendency to pick a paint color only to then repaint a few days later, I found some print drapes for the dining room months ago, thought I loved them, but then swapped 'em out for classic white. Last night the print option experienced a revival. Our MB curtains only need to be 82" so there was some hemming involved. Thanks to years of watching my mom do the same thing, I've learned this tool is your best friend for getting even hems:

Now I'm trying to come up with something fun for the bedding and I'm considering some new duvet options made from sheets. Our weekend will be packed with home improvement as Matt and I work on finishing up the utility room in the basement and I pull the bedroom into the spring and summer seasons. If there's time, those dead plants on the little balcony, a gracious housewarming gift from the previous owners, will finally get kicked to the curb. Stay tuned for more after shots.

WIP Wednesday: Jacket!

First, if you are able, please view a few seconds of this clip:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/19681/saturday-night-live-suze-orman

Did you hear the part about the "jaaaaaaacketttss!"? Yeah, this is what runs through my head any time I think of starting a jacket! project. Ms. Orman might be giving swell money advice but other decisions appear to be more questionable. Surely that clip helps validate my hesitation, no?

So anyway I'm fighting desperately to get back any shred of sewing talent I had in the garment department. The pattern du jour (literally, I seem to start - and throw away - one almost every day) is Simplicity 2728. Despite the aforementioned jacket! worries this item won out because fit problems in jackets! can usually be remidied without throwing a fit, if you will.

Survey says....undecided. Construction has been easy. Material presses really well, despite the evident wrinkles that suggest otherwise. I'm using a linen chambray from Hancock in a versatile neutral. And, um, that's all I've got to share so far. Unintentionally this week's design theme appears to be "bows." If next week's theme shows up as "scrunchies" I forgive you for discontinuing your subscription.

Ooooh! Before I go, how's this for follow through?

Matt saw me assembling my lunch the other day and asked if I was making a grown-up Lunchables. Charming grade school association yes, but these Lunchables don't have mystery meat as a star player (no offense, my friends at Kraft).