Shimmer and Laces

There has been wild stitchery occurring here. Maxine has been put to use, and I am nearly finished with what will be my 3rd and most versatile medieval dress. (Well, 4th, if you count the skirt/dress combo, and 5th if you count the blue & gold re-make...so yeah. 5th. Yikes, I need to branch out a bit...)

Anyway...

I don't really take pictures of the process, since I get in the zone, and if I stop it will never get finished (I'm sanguine - I get discouraged/bored easily *shrug*)  so no step-by-steps for you.  Sorry. (not)

But, I will show you how it turned out! And tell you a little bit about how this project came about, etc.

In the beginning, there was a Wal Mart. Seemed like a pretty normal Wal Mart, but you shouldn't judge by appearances. Meandering down the aisles was a young girl, about 16 or 17 years old (yes, this story began over a year ago, if I remember correctly), not really looking for anything in particular, when all of a sudden she spied the fabric section!!! It's practically illegal to walk by the fabric section without at least looking, so, being a law-abiding citizen, she promptly looked at the fabric, heading straight for the bin marked "SALE" - because you never know what you will find for only a few dollars.

What lurked there on this interesting day, you may ask? Well, wonder no longer my friend, for I am here to tell you that a fine specimen, 6 yards of a shimmery, silvery purple knit-like fabric were just aching for someone to take it home and appreciate it's shimmeriness. (of course that's a word...maybe...)

So take it home the girl did, and it was locked up in the fabric collection closet, waiting for the perfect project that would use it's shimmeriness to the best advantage. The girl, who isn't the most decisive person on the planet, just couldn't think what to make out of it, until one day, a few months ago, she was drawing some medieval dress designs in her sketchbook, and fell in love with one in particular and though "There. That dress should be made out of that fabric."

But the girl was very busy, and the fabric kept waiting in the closet, feeling forgotten and forlorn.

Then, in a moment of inspiration, the girl (I hope you've picked up on the fact that 'the girl' is me by now...) spread the fabric across the floor with a pattern and sliced it up with a scissors. Yay!

Then the pieces were folded up and put away for another month or so.

Monday, June 18th, 2012 dawned with a feeling of promise in the air. Sure, it was cloudy, somewhat stormy, and everyone had a headache, but hey. This girl had a project in mind, and when she does decide a thing, she likes to stick to it. So, the shimmery pieces were taken out, unfolded, and the stitching process began with vim and determination. There were plenty of roadblocks and fallen trees, but in the end, perseverance won out (that and the shunning of family members who simply wanted to be helpful...I have to work on the social aspect of sewing projects) and the project of the shimmery purple dress was nearly done.

Thursday, June 21st, 2012, dawned with birds singing, a light breeze floating through the window, and a bright sunshine peeking over the horizon. The girl stretched, sat up, and thought "I'm going to finish that shimmery dress today", which didn't take much. It was almost done. (Okay, I still haven't hemmed it, or finished of the seams, but who's to know? Trifles!)

Now for pictures! I had a lot of fun trying it on - I've never used this pattern before, and it was my first time making a dress that had a lace-up back - I need help getting it on, but it is really comfortable and my mom doesn't mind being my lady-in-waiting.  ;)

Here's how the front looks - the lighting is really bad, so you can't really see how it shimmers. Sad for you.

The back - I sort of designed the sleeves by combining a couple of patterns and altering them to be that way.

Close-up of the lacing. Isn't it fun?!?!

Then I had to add the pirate coat and feathery hat, just cuz I'm me :)

So now you see what I've been doing this week, in between play practices for "Twelfth Night", in which I have been honored with the part of 'Viola', which I am VERY EXCITED about!!!

Of course, I'm not quite done with the dress, but I'm not too worried about that - I'm close enough that I'm certain that I will indeed complete it soon. :)

Meanwhile, it rests on Maxine, looking shimmery with it's laces, until I can return to it and finish it up with finesse.

101 good thoughts...more or less.

So, I realized after my last post that I had just posted my 100th post without taking any notice of it whatsoever, and I like to acknowledge milestones, so here. Were are celebrating my blog, post number 101. *Cheers*

Moving on...

GUESS WHAT I GOT!!!

Okay, you never will, so I'll just tell you.

Oh, and sorry for yelling. I'm excited, that's all :)

Meet Maxine :)

Yup. I finally got a dress form!!! *happy dance*

And I named it Maxine. Mad Maxine, if you will. (Yes, I named her after a character from a Jenny B. Jones novel. Be delighted.)

And look at the color!!! I think that might be why it was on sale, since all the advertisements and even the box said that it would be a dark blue, but when I opened the box I saw my FAVORITE COLOR leaping out to me!!! And yes, my family can vouch for the fact that I totally hugged Maxine when I got her :) :) :)

So, now the hope, plan, and or concept is that now I will be able to design, contemplate, and construct new, fabulous dresses and other garments all on my lonesome and have them fit perfectly when finished. Tada!

Yeah, that's not likely, but hey! There's no excuse for failure now other than sheer laziness.

So let's not be lazy. There is fabric in that cupboard with my name on it and I am so going to cut it up and put stitches in it!!!

You've been warned.

"Blessed be his name, who hath appointed the quiet night to follow the busy day, and the calm sleep to refresh the wearied and to compose the troubled spirit." ~Walter Scott, The Talisman

Why So Long Silent

Hello! I've been gone a while, I know - but I have good reasons! At least, I think they're good reasons...

First, as you know, I had been preparing like crazy for my graduation party, which took place on Saturday, June 2nd. I know, I know, that's a really long time from now already.

How did that happen!??!!

Yikes. It's been...crazy. :)

On May 31st and June 1st, I had my first two dance recital performances. This was the town where I had only 5 dances, so it wasn't my big 'solo' recital, but it was really fun and I love those dances and the girls I danced with dearly!

Then there was the party. I was blessed with the most beautiful day I could have imagined for my party, and lots of people came, and everything was a huge success! It was a wonderful day. :)

Now I need to write thank-you notes...

We relaxed on the 3rd, somewhat.

Monday, the 4th, we were up very early and I had rehearsals all day long to practice the 9 dances I was in for my senior dance recital. I had performances Monday and Tuesday night, and I'm not sure how my legs didn't fall off, they were so tired! But everything went really well, and I'm going to miss all of my dance teachers, fellow students, and my dance studio a LOT next year.

On Wednesday, the 5th, my mom and I drove the 6 hours to my chosen college, stayed the night in a dorm, and on Thursday I had my Orientation! (I call it disorientation...) It was actually a really fun day -  I met lots of people, signed up for some very exciting classes (such as Script Analysis, Theater Crafts, Ballet, Math... just to mention a few), and, even though I had my doubts, became somewhat 'oriented'. :) I also found out that, since I'll be in the choir, I get to move on to campus a couple of days early because the choir is going to perform the first day of school. Whoohoo!!!

On Friday, the 8th, I went to the annual barn dance that some friends of ours host - I got all into it this year and wore a paper-ish cowgirl hat that I had found on sale in Target one day - it was bright blue, purple, and white, and yeah. Kinda weird. But it was really fun!

Then on Saturday (yes, you are getting like...a week and a half's play-by-play. Get over it.) I played piano for another wedding - this one was a lot more fun, not going to lie - there weren't any stressful solos other than the psalm.

Then I woke up on Sunday with a feeling of immense FREEDOM!!! I have no more really scary obligations for the rest of the summer that are going to completely terrify and stress me out! I'm done! And I'm loving it!!! The only things I have to worry about a bit is that I still play organ sometimes for Mass. Otherwise, I'm ready to embrace Summer and have FUN!

The fun has already begun - we had our first rehearsal of 'Twelfth Night' on Tuesday!!! It was just a read-thru, but I am SO EXCITED!!! You'll be hearing about it lots more in the days of summer to come, I'm sure.


"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. " ~William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night


"If music be the food of love, play on!" ~William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night