Everything I Like Causes Cancer

Lookit! I made a dress! And I did it all by myself using only my pea-sized brain!

Making this slightly-lopsided and way-to-big-at-the-waist dress, a.k.a. a palette for embellishments, was no small feat and took me two days to complete. The first one I cut was way too small. I was able to get it on but had about 23,000 pins sticking into my sides. I had to take the pins out to get it off. Thankfully I had anticipated this sort of set-back and saved a big piece of the sheet.

I used the first draft to sketch the second, adding 2.5 inches to the sides for good measure, and everything was sailing along, easy peasy. I had everything sewn except one side. Then the machine broke. Within the first five stitches the whole thing locked up with a "clunk!" and I couldn't get the needle to move. I ended up using tin snips to break the needle in order to unbind everything. I put everything back to rights, according to the book, and within the next five stitches the same thing happened. I ended up bending every machine needle I had in my kit before I gave up.

According to the repair shop it was risky to sew material with a frayed edge (like a sheet) without trimming or finishing it first. It seems so obvious now. I ended up using seam tape to finish the dress because my machine may not be fixed by Saturday morning. Remind me to wear something under it in case that seam gives.

All in all, it was quite the learning experience. There's one daunting task left before I get to hot-glue the embellishments (the FUN! part) and I still haven't figured it out but I'm sure I can. I mean, c'mon! I've gotten pretty far with only these notes, jotted on the sheet before I started cutting:

My friends and I do this thing we call Curtain Skirt Club.  We get together several times at least once a year for brunch or happy hour and each meeting has a theme and a charity.  The only rules are that your outfit has to be made from a curtain (or similar materials) and you need to bring items for the charity chosen for the event.

This coming Saturday, the 17th, is our next meeting and, in honor of the swearing-in of the 44th president of the United States of America, the theme is "The Audacity of an ObamaNation starring the lovely Miss Joan Crawford."  We are gathering canned goods for Wesley House Association, the community center where H and delivered hot meals to house-bound elderly on Christmas Day.

Not knowing much more about Joan than she wasn't fond of wire hangers, and refusing to be obvious with my costume creation, I did some research.  I found that she was an amazingly resilient and driven woman, born dirt poor she got her start in entertainment as a dancer in Chicago clubs in the 20's and from there refused to go unnoticed. This clip, Part 1 of several, details her early life and career, the era on which I am basing my costume.


Because I already have a white straw hat and red Mary-Jane shoes very similar to the ones shown below, I am going to try to make, from a white twin sheet, a Gatsby Girl dress that I will embellish and accessorize with red and blue and a suffragette-esque Obama button:

It's a simple shift and should be relatively easy to make but keep in mind I don't know how to sew and don't have a pattern.  I found a similarly-shaped dress in my closet and am using it as a guide.  This is a challenge but Joan wouldn't give up so neither will I.  I'll keep you posted regarding my progress.