Lingonberries

Today I went to IKEA with the intent to buy a new clothes rack. The room I live in is old enough to predate closets being standard, and the majority of my clothes are better pff hanging. Since my current rack  was very cheap, isn't really able to hold the weight of my (sometimes heavily beaded) stuff.  I figured Monday pretty close to opening would be a safe time to go, and it wasn't until I was up the escalators and deep into the side-table area that I remembered that it's summer and school is out.  Apparently Smaland had met capacity limits because there were toddlers  leaving slime trails everywhere. 

At some point I assisted a lady who asked me to  help pick out fabric for some bags she was making to give her friends around thanksgiving (??), and saw an entire family of four wandering around drinking Slurpees. I don't even know where there is a 7-11 in the area.

actual file footage of me

 I ended up not getting the clothes rack, but did get 27 dollars worth of other things I don't need, but thought that -in the grip of ikea-based insanity- I could use. I came home and proceeded multitask at building my new LINDSTJÖRG slidy desk organizer and watch the latest episode of Hannibal in between episodes of House of Cards, only to realize I didn't really have anywhere to put it. Five hours of reorganizing the room and throwing away my hoard of empty shoeboxes later, my room looks exactly the same but now there's a slidy desk organizer in the mix.

I've been feeling pretty shitty the past few weeks, with a great cocktail of no sleep due to high night heat, loudly meditating neighbors, assorted anxiety issues and topped off with a near brush with possible death/kidnapping/general discomfort.  I had to leave work due to extreme cramps and wound up laying on a bus bench,  waiting for a bus on a barren stretch of Columbia Blvd looking like a sweaty version of a Law and Order victim.  Worst of all, I had to leave my coffee (that I had bought right before starting my shift that ended up lasting 18 minutes, only had like three sips of and dutifully intended to carry home) at the stop when the bus finally came like 20 minutes later. Five bucks down the drain, plus since there was no trash can, I just left it on the bench for the crows,  passive-aggressively littering. First world problems at their finest.

Anyway, when I was organizing my shit today, I found several of the notebooks from 2005-7 that I used glue pictures of clothes I'd cut out of magazines into. Good to know that I've essentially been blowing my time on Pinterest since five years before Pinterest even existed.  While I see how a lot of peope may feel that websites/apps like Pinterest are a huge waste of time that you could be doing something else, at the same time it is no different that the hours I spent cutting stuff out of magazines. I find that it's my main source of inspiration these days, both aesthetically and interest-wise. Yeah, sure I've pinned literally thousands of patterns for clothes I'm never going to make and probably close to the same amount of hairstyles or outfits I'm never going to wear, but it's reaffirming to see that other people have the same likes, specifically when you're interests are not common in the area that you're in. Often I feel very uninspired in my daily life from things around me, and it's interesting but completely not surprising  to see that I was having the same feelings ten years ago cutting out clothes I'd never seen in Eureka in a million years.  I am nothing if but consistent.

it's done, thank god it's done

B6582

I have many quibbles about the finished project,  as well as a number of things that should be mentioned before anything else, so let's start with those, in convenient bullet form:

• I haven't ironed it since I wore it for four hours on Saturday
• Since I am malleable and my dress form is hard plastic, I had to dial it all the way down to the smallest size to be able to fit the dress on it, since it's very fitted. Because of that, it doesn't look it's best on this too small dress form. 
• rolled hems on sheer fabric can go plumb straight  to hell.  I really hate how the hem bubbled due to my shotty hem job, but other than that I feel like everything else worked out well.

 Butterick 6582

Pattern Description:
Semi-fitted dress, mid-calf has gathered shoulders and back zipper. A: attached bow. A,B: straight, back vent. C: flared, belt. Purchased petticoat and belt-kit. 

I did view C.
 
Pattern Sizing: 18-22

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Mostly. It would need a petticoat to flare the skirt out a bit more, and I neglected to make a self belt.

Were the instructions easy to follow? yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
It was relatively simple, and would have gone together fairly quickly if I hadn't spaced the construction out over a month or so.

Fabric Used: a forest green sheer silk georgette I got on a very good sale from Mood online and a poly crepe-back satin from Fabric Depot. I had originally bought the georgette, intending for the whole dress to be made from it, but when it arrived, it was too sheer. I decided to just use it as a skirt overlay, and went looking for something more solid for the "base" of the dress. Apparently this forest/emerald green color isn't very popular. I was weary about ordering online and not being able to get a true color match, and locally, I had a very hard time finding anything. Joanns was completely useless (as usual), and I wound up at Fabric Depot stressing over their small selection of apparel fabrics, especially special occasion appropriate. The only thing in the color I needed was this poly crepe-back satin, which I actually turned inside out. I felt the "front" side (the shiny side) was tacky, but the inside, which is matte, was much better. There was literally an eighth more of the amount I needed left on the bolt. I certainly lucked out!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I made a double layer skirt. I cut two of each of the skirt pieces, one of the satin and one of the georgette. I also added bias tape to the inside waist to stabilize it a bit more.  The top part of the bodice could be more fitted. I cut the bodice patterns on a 20 at the top (neckline, straps, ect) and a 22 at the areas closer to the waist. I could have probably gone with an 18 instead, but was worried it might be too constricting.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Maybe. If I were to need another dress for this type of occasion, I'd rather have a different one from the one I already have.

 

 Bonus points if you can spot the peanut butter stain. 

Here you can see the "correct" side of the fabric, on the inside. 

Remember the accessories drama? How I found the perfect earrings/brooch set, only to be outbid by like 25 cents in the last ten seconds of the auction? And then I couldn't find another anywhere at all and finally like a week before the wedding found one on ebay that was okay, but not exactly what I wanted?

Well. I ended up placing a bid on it since I was starting to get nervous about finding anything at all. Then, about four hours before the auction was set to end, I found THIS:

ARTICULATED TIGER SHOULDER BROOCH.

HOW

WHY

THANK YOU 1980S.

Number one, I had no idea that "should brooch" was even a thing, but I guess it was, and I am in the process of bringing it back.

His eyes match the dress color perfectly. It was meant to be. Plus it was only $12, and it was "buy it now",  so no one was going to outbid me this time. I bought it, figuring that I was going to lose the demi-parure anyway. 

Weellll....

 Turns out I was the only one to bid on it, and therefore I won that too. Okay. It was also only $12, so it was fine. I wound up wearing the earrings and the tiger (who was named Archibald at the ceremony), along with a hat I haven't gotten a good picture of. 

Remember the other drama, the shoe drama? Well, when I couldn't find the plain low-to-mid heel nude shoe I wanted, I said what the hell and got the opposite of that.

(x)

I've wanted to try BAIT footwear for a long time, but they're quite expensive. I was running out of time, so I was willing to spend a little more money, and was looking at literally every shoe website I could find. Modcloth sells BAIT shoes, but didn't have any in stock that I wanted, so I looked over at their website and found these in their sale section. They're called the Noel, which makes me think of Noel Fielding and his gold boots and I was like these are them right here. Done. They happened to have 10s still, so I blindly ordered them hoping they'd be wide enough. Turns out they are! They rub a bit at the toes, but nothing to bad. I wore them to the wedding out of the box, so I think they'd break in a bit with more wear.

 Finally, here's a picture taken after the ceremony as we were leaving in the elevator alcove, which was the only source of natural light hahaha. I'd been at the church for 8 hours at this point (I helped set up and it was hot as hell in that church. Ironically, I suppose), so I'm a little bedraggled.  In this photo, it looks almost like the hem was intended to be a bubble hem, so let's go with that.   This is the most accurate coloring in all the photos in this post!

BONUS ANIMAL FRIENDS LOUNGING WHILE I TOOK PHOTOS

Do the Beatles BUG YOU?

QUICK UPDATE:

Well, it's D-Day minus 1 for the wedding I've made that damn dress for, and it is done. I got everything I needed (sort of) accessory-wise, and overall the dress came out alright. I'm very happy with the bodice (minus the peanut butter stain), but the skirt is eh. The outer layer is sheer georgette, which I had to do a rolled hem on, and I've only done rolled hems on more substantial fabrics before so it came out really bubbly. Of course I just found a tutorial that would have helped a whole hell of a lot like three minutes ago, but I don't think the woobliness of the skirt is going to be that noticeable. I had made a cummerbund thing to cover the peanut butter stain, which looked great on my dressform, but once I tried it on (and sewed like 900 hooks and eyes on it) it did nothing for me figure-wise.  I still like the idea of it, but I don't have the time or material to remake it. Oh well. It wouldn't truly be something of mine if there wasn't random food stains on it anyway. 

Both jewelry pieces I ordered came the same day and I'm having a hard time choosing which to use?!?!?!!  

I don't have pictures yet, but am hoping to get some when I'm wearing it. 


Lately, I've been keeping an eye out for old teen magazines online and in stores, and last week I stumbled upon a stack circa 1964-5 in an antique store . You know I love old ads and old teenager-geared media, so I scooped up the whole lot.  One turned out to just be a general media/tabloidy magazine aimed towards adults, but it was really great too (featuring both a "who the hell are these Beatles my damn kid keeps talking about" article and a vaguely worded birth control ad).

I tried to take some photos outside, but the cat kept sitting on the magazines, so I had to move inside, hence the background change and dimmer, slightly blurrier photos. Meerg.

In Magazine, with the tagline "For the girl of today, for the woman of tomorrow", is one I've never heard of. It's a pretty typical Seventeen-esque fashion/lifestyle magazine, and I'm assuming by the appearance of the Chiquita banana sticker story, bolstered by the banana lobby.

 TeenSet, which was published in-house at  Capitol Records featured artists on said label, and since it was 1965, centered heavily on the Beatles (and their forthcoming second movie, Help!)

But also, these nerds got a inside cover ad

Plus this Beatle fan mag, which was both terrible and incredible! 

"Hobbies: Girls", ok George. 

To be fair, had I been alive at the time and a teenager, I would have done this, so.

 This was the one on the bottom of the stack that wasn't for kids. It is, however, full of "feminine daintiness" ads and an article about why the Bob Barkers chose not to have kids.

And this ad.

Band of Brothers/band of brothers

First things first:

Two of my favorite shows have been recently led to the gallows, and I can only sum up my feelings via the disapprovingly sad face of Lt Carwood Lipton

x

x

He's not angry, just disappointed

That out of the way, here's a bulleted list of things that have happened recently:

• very very close to finishing my wedding guest dress, with only one hem to go. I tried to knock it out yesterday but it was being a real pain in the ass (thanks sheer fabric, go to hell, bye) so I stepped away before something went very wrong.
• I've been scooping up some excellent ebay finds lately. I was on a month long search for a brooch/earring set to wear to the wedding, and finally found one for a reasonable price. 
• however, immediately after I bid on it, I found something better that wasn't what I was looking for at all. I bought that, figuring that I'd be outbid on the set anyway.
• turns out no one else bid on the set, so now I own both???
• oops
• I found a pair of brand new Minnetonka moccasins at goodwill for $5!?!?!?! 
• I came across another 'make young people feel terrible about themselves' book to add to my collection- What's Your PQ (Personality Quotient)? by Maureen Daly. I need to figure out what the actual genre is called, as it is both awful and great.
• I also checked out a copy of Harper Lee's new book from work, which I'm very excited about. 
• I shame-ordered a couple penny priced Beach Boys biographies off amazon because I am slowly spiraling into obsession with their endless trainwreck-y drama. It's like the best of the Tyga scandal, all of Liz Taylor's marriages and everything Keith Richards did from 1964-1987 all wrapped into one. Plus, clearly pre-LSD Brian Wilson and me are the same person when it comes to food:

literally me at all times

I'm hoping by next week to have some pictures of the damn dress to post. I would normally take progress photos, but haven't bothered to do so this time around.

For That Golden Moment...

Lana Lobell catalog, 1962

 when I get off my ass and actually finish something.

I am so close to finishing the dress for an upcoming wedding (or as I like to call it, Holiday Staff Party Replacement Event), it's stupid. The last things I have to do are adjust the bodice and hem two layers, something I'm not looking forward to. Also, I may have gotten a sizable stain directly on the front of the bodice (sidenote- don't eat peanut butter ice cream on top of your ironing board, spill on it, but not realize until after you've already ironed over it.), but I think I've figured out a way to fix it. 

Lana Lobell catalog, 1962

via DearGolden

 

 

via stutterinmama

I had a lot of ideas for accessorizing this dress, but so far none of them have materialized. Everything I've had my eye on has been stolen away from me via eBay, or just plain not existed in any faction whatsoever.  I really was looking for a earring/brooch set, with big tacky green rhinestones, and NEARLY got my hands on four different ones, only to have them snagged out of my hands at the last minute (outbid in the last 4 SECONDS at one point by 50 cents! GODDAMNAAARGH)

via limitlessjewels

via alluwantisheretoday

Shoes have been a trial on their own. Seriously, I went to 9 brick and mortar stores, plus Zappos, plus Modcloth, PLUS Amazon trying to find nude or beige shoes that don't look like either orthopedics or stripper/business casual, and apparently those don't exist. 

via nocarnations

via montailleur

via jlvintage

There were a lot on Modcloth that I liked, but nearly all were out of my price range, size range, or weren't the color I wanted.

(x)

 I had finally settled on this pair, only to read the reviews and find out they were actually pink... argh! I wasn't totally sold on them (I get the 60s influence, but they're a little too juvenile), but I'm running out of time.  Why!?!  Having a budget and questionably wide feet is a huge pain in the ass.  Anyway, I found a pair that are not at all what I was looking for, but I got to the point where I was getting disillusioned with the whole process and just ordered a wacky pair I liked happened to be on sale and in my size. What the hell, right? I'm waiting for them to arrive, and desperately hoping they are wide enough, since they were on sale, and I'm sure not returnable.

Barbeque Accessories-Free Father's Day: A Gift Guide

Father's Day is this Sunday (I realized, like a day ago), and so every commercial website has been offering a gift guide to help out with buying your dad something he really doesn't want. I was casually scrolling through Amazon's offerings, and honestly there was nothing I could even remotely think about buying for my dad. Coming from a line of weirdos, and having a reputation of terrible gift-giving to uphold (I once gave an industrial sized vat of ketchup as a gift), power tools, jogging vests and FitBits certainly are not going to cut it.  I mean, this was legitimately on the list:

no one truly rides for free

So, here's a father's day gift guide if you, like me, were begat by hill people who have more than one Lawrence Welk themed tin tray (that I have bought him).

via BigBangBooks

Midcentury educational texts on a variety of useless subjects, like Rock Collecting, television repair or raising badgers always rank high.

via ToysNWhatnot

 I was looking on Ebay for the actual Major Matt Mason  dolls action figures, only to find out they are worth a metric s-ton, so here's a novelization instead.

via Speedstarerik

Hell, even the box on this thing looks great. 

via SoftMachines

Don't have six grand to drop on a real Minimoog? These German pillows are second best! 

via mtva2184

Smokey Bear + milk glass mug = ultimate fire prevention

via VeeJaysVintage

It's a tray, it's from the 70s, it's advertising a broadcast station in a place I've never been to- the dream.

Even this goat knows you should see this movie, and he's a goat.

If you're not into Father's Day, celebrate Brian Wilson's birthday (the 20th) this weekend and see Love & Mercy if it's in your town. DO IT. IT IS SO GOOD. Anyone who knows me knows I don't see movies in the theater, but this one is so worth the assholes who brought their small child and let him dump his drink all over.  It's release happened to coincide with me starting to really get back into this band about six months ago, it was KISMET.

typical nonsense

I was intending to write a post between yesterday and today, but wound up falling asleep early and waking up feeling terrible. So, instead, I pop in briefly to leave you a photo of Stuart Sutcliffe rocking the midriff top/leather pants look.  I'm hoping to update soon this week.