A Little Black Dress in theory and a cat story

The theory - the plan - has changed since last time, thanks to the finished apron-dress's inconsistencies and my sister's input. To begin with, no wrapping: too much hussle for too little effect.

No square neckline; instead, I get this deep scoop that is teetering on the edge of what I find comfortable. My sister insisted, saying black would not look good on me too close to my face; she said it did not look good on me and did not look properly 50s until it reached this point. I guess she was right, it feels very properly Little Black Dress-y now; I only need to learn how to live with it.


The sleeves on these photos are not the final ones. I lost count of which sleeves are which; I only know which pattern is the correct one, because I folded away the previous ones. (It is possible, though, that I used the front from the pattern above on the final sleeve; the back is definitely different.) Also, the real dress will have shaped hems on the sleeves. I'd describe the shape, only I don't know how. So just wait and see, hopefully...

Deeper V in the back; many thanks to my sister for drawing it on the first muslin on me.

It's a pretty tight fit, although still with a bit of ease. The fabric I intend to use has elastan in it.

Things I'm learning:
a) Custom fit rules. I feel fabulous, and this is only a muslin made of an old torn duvet cover. Is it bad to feel fabulous in something I'm making myself? I hope not.
b) Sleeve cap ease is bogus. Pain to make, pain to make fit properly with a smooth design like this, and completely unnecessary. Last point proven, at the least, if you're working with a).


It will have a full, pleated skirt like my Dana skirt. The Dana skirt is still my favourite, worn almost all the time around the house, and still fun to do housechores in. Hopefully, the LBD I plan will combine this fun, comfortable aspect with the feeling of fabulousness I get from the bodice muslin.

I still cannot decide whether I want it to go with a sash or not.

The cat story:

Sunday afternoon, the atmosphere in our house became rather tense. That sort of thing happens. I did what I do in such situations when I'm wise in such situations (which does not always happen) and went for a walk. Or, rather, intended to go for a walk. I packed my camera and my mobile phone into my new camera bag (Christmas gift from my father, more on that sort of thing later) and left the house in the direction of the park and the cemetery, one of my favourite outings when I need to clear my head.

Only, I did not arrive there. I met a cat.

Meet Cat.

Cat seemed a bit hostile at first, but turned out to be very friendly. And Cuddly; she felt like a relative of our Kaksi The Jostling One, only she was bigger.

Besides, Cat had idiosyncracies of her own. She climbed down the vines and settled on my shoulder. Well, settled... that's saying too much. She did not settle. She kept changing her position (just like our Kaksi does) and poking her head into my hands so I could not help but to caress her (sort of like our Kaksi does) and went from one shoulder to another and back again, and completely refused to consider the fact I was a total stranger.

And she climbed on my head. (Good thing it was raining a bit and I had my hood on!)




I don't have a photo of Cat on my head. It is a difficult thing to take a photo of.

People kept going round me on their Sunday walks, and I stood there with a hood and a Cat on my head, laughing, because it was such a surreal and funny situation.

In the end, I succeeded in replacing Cat from my head on that columny thing next to the fence. Then I noticed the holes in the fence were very narrow and the vines thin, so that Cat might not be able to get back to her garden. So I heaved her up to the fence. She meowed her thanks (at least I think it's what her meow meant) and I went back home, feeling blessed.

Advent

I "made" a candle - remnants of wax, the tin and wick holder from an old burnt-out candle, wick made of cotton scrap. Quite effective.

The Baltics 2011: Tallinn, part 3 - Along the city walls

Back to Tallinn! It's been too long.

One last parting look at the hospitable courtyard from the last post...



... and on we go.



Another of the museums I did not have time for - the City Museum.





The street seemed a bit too turist-y, so I went to the other side of the old city walls, through a gate between the church and the red brick house.







Yes, much better already.





Saku (pronounced Sakku) is apparently a small town near Tallinn. And a beer brand, which father later pronounced good.



The sign on this house says "Riigi muinsuskaitseamet". From what I can gather online with my limited knowledge of Estonian, it's some institution of Ministry of Culture, or some such. ("Riigi" makes it sound like something to do with Riga, but it's in fact the genitive form of "riik", which means "state.")



"Bread - restaurant and garden". Would you name your restaurant "Bread"? Apparently, in Estonia you can.





This tower is called Paks Margareta - "Thick/Fat Margareth".



Next to it is a memorial to the ship Estonia, which sank in 1994.



The Estonian Centre for Children's Books.





This was the only photo I could get of this beautiful beautiful door...













This is (as seen below) a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church. Situated in the most bizarre little house I've ever seen. The street was narrow and I could not get a shot of the whole thing, but I think this suffices to give you an idea.





Next: a flower festival!

Sneak peek 2

So... This is a post to join Debi's Sew Grateful Challenge. It does not feature a finished item, only a nearly finished item. But it does not seem to matter.

I finally got back to the project from this post. I thought I'd finish it this weekend; I still haven't managed, because I took long naps both yesterday and today afternoon... But it's close now.

The gingham-ish print I got from my friend's mother (the same I got the pale green 1970 dress, and several other things and fabrics I haven't written about yet from). The bias binding is the infamous Very Pink Poplin of Doom, also a gift. I think it spices up the blue and white fabric nicely. Or maybe it makes it unbearably saccharine; that's up for debate, but I, as the perpetrator of that combination, prefer the first option. :-)


So, what is this? It is, as I suggested in the first Sneak peek post, a rip off of Colette Patterns - namely their Crepe dress, using this free pattern by Lekala (and modifying it quite heavily). But it's meant to be an apron. Apron dress. Dress apron.
So I made it a higher neckline, for better coverage (that was my intent in making an apron dress in the first place - higher coverage). There was not nearly enough of the fabric for a fuller skirt, too. So it's not very close to Crepe after all, but I like it like this, with the higher neckline. (The sleeves are nowhere near perfect, but seeing as it is only an apron, I won't bother.) The waist ties will also be made of the Very Pink Poplin.

I have the idea of using this pattern (modified yet again) to make a Little Black Dress (or perhaps a bigger black dress?), inspired by the McCall's pattern featured in the Grace Kelly book (which, as you may recall, I won in a giveaway). Square neckline in the front, but wrap in the back like this one, short sleeves, full skirt and waist ties. For a January event, where I might and might not go, to go with another hat that Lisa sent me in addition to the Madeline hat (because that event is about the only occasion I can come up with for using that hat, but the hat would be fabulous for that occasion).
The problem is, I don't have suitable fabric for it, and it would eat up quite a lot of fabric... and seeing how long it took me to get this far with this project...
But, seriously, if I'm ever going to sew a LBD, this is the perfect one. So I think I'm going to try, to see if I can. Because if I manage, it would also be my Historical Costume Inspiration Festival entry.

Regency shoes by American Duchess

American Duchess did it again: this time, you can pre-order these Regency-style shoes, called Pemberley.
She also noted on her blog that she made sure these would fit with Regency-inspired 1950s-1960s styles. I think they do. I think they'd look lovely with my pale green 1970 dress, even though it's not Regency inspired. And just like before, I don't have the money to order them now.

They also fit with my blog design... I changed it around a bit. I was getting tired of the way my header background did not fit into the frame (in spite of it being exactly the size Blogger told me to use.) Also, I think it's easier to navigate now that the posts are less narrow. Hopefully.

On my mind: Thanks, still

I think from now on, I'll try to make blog posts on Fridays, posts to go both with Rhonda Jean's On My Mind photo feature and Kellie's Give Thanks Blog Party. I probably won't manage every time, but it's a good way to keep in touch with two online communities I like being part of, at least a bit of a a part of.

And it's good to remind myself to be grateful, right?

1. List three (little) things you wouldn't want to live withoutPaper. Paper is a wonderful medium, and few things surpass the lovely smell of new books, or the lovely smell of old books. Few things smell lovely both new and old.
My good old suede shoes. Well, four years old now; I hope they’ll last for many more. They’re the best walking shoes I’ve ever had, I think. They’re made of leather suede, so they’re soft and breathe. They’re just the right shape for my feet – my feet are narrow, but quite high in the arch, so many shoes don’t quite suit them, but these do. And after four years of walking in them, they’re practically the exact shape of my feet, so...
Milk. I love milk, and dairy products. Give me yoghurt or cheese anytime. Cream. Sour cream. Quark. Kárums! Blueberry milkshake!

2. Name something you had to do without recentlyThe light bulb at the toilet when at school. The filament broke; and it’s too high for me to change myself. (Even with a ladder. I might be able to reach up there, but I’m afraid that I’d fall, so I stopped trying.)

3. What are you most thankful for that you consider a luxury?Probably also my computer. Although I keep forgetting to be thankful for it.

4. Name an item you use the most throughout your dayProbably my hands (not just thumb). I do almost everything with my hands, after all.

5. What would life be like without the item listed in #4?Very difficult.

6. Name something that you use in the kitchen that you are thankful forThe kettle. Everything would take SO much longer without it.

7. What is (one of ) the best earthly gift(s) you ever received?If my Bible counts as an earthly gift, then definitely my Bible. It was a gift from my congregation at the occasion of my baptism; and it’s one of the few earthly possessions of mine that I really, really would not want to live without. Even though I often use it much less than I wish I would.

8. Name a completely random thing you are thankful forDouble windows. There are trams under my windows when at school, you know. And they’re useful in winter, too.

9. How often do you think about the item listed in #8?Not every day. But quite often; especially when at a time one window was broken and I could hear the trams much more than I wanted to at nights.

10. Name something you recently acquired, that you have wanted for a long timeThe Madeline hat. Well, not that one hat in particular; but I’ve wanted a felt hat, a hat I could wear in winter, for some time now, and this one's so perfect.

11. Would you rather have #4, or #7?Wow, that’s tough! Probably my Bible; because my life without hands would be made easier with my Bible (or what it stands for), but my life without Bible would not be helped much by having both my hands. (OK, I know this is easier said than done. But I believe it to be so all the same.)

12. Name one of your favourite thingsBlueberry.
(You said one. :-)

13. Look around the room you are in, and name three things you enjoy in itThe blue mug I drink milk and cocoa and milk-coffee from.
My aqua stockings (hehe).
My old teddy, made by my aunt.

And some more, because three is not enough:
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis.
Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz
My calendars by the Lithuanian artist Egle Lipeikaite.
My two photos by the Finnish photographer Anssi Mellblom (and the memory of the wonderful couple of people who gave them to me)
Reproduction of Claude Monet’s Cliffs at Belle-Ille
The heater. You have to enjoy the heater.

14. List three tools you use in your daily work that you are thankful forPencil.
My camera, which doubles as a flash disc.
Online wordbooks.

15. Name something that you sometimes wish you didn't have in your life, but that you would miss dreadfully if it were taken awayKaksi the Cat’s tendency to extract her claws when she cuddles with us.

16. Post a picture (or ten) of something you are thankful for!

Family. As complicated as things sometimes get, I'd never want a different one.
That's a clay relief I made back when I attended art courses in my hometown. It's based off a picture of various kinds of owls in a children's encyclopedia; there were five of them, and when I was a child, I always thought it was my own family of five. So this family of various owls still symbolises my family to me.

My country.

My wonderful, beautiful, severe, gentle and completely unique Bisha. She's gone now; has been for quite some time already. She just disappeared, and did not appear again. I did not want to write about it, because I still had that little hope that she would reappear, and because I did not know what to write. But she's gone now, and I'm very grateful for the chance of having her in my life.
She was my little personal fuzzy ball of Holy Spirit. I'm quoting Erazim Kohák here; it's probably very symbolic and probably very literal and I don't really know. I just know she was a blessing to me.

There's much more; but I think I'll leave that for other posts.

THANKS

I think we Czechs need to celebrate Thanksgiving. I don't mean the turkey part; we can come up with excuses to stuff ourselves easily and besides, I'm not particularly fond of turkey. I mean the thanksgiving part. We could do with a holiday that makes us think of all our reasons for gratitude, because we tend to overlook them, even though we have many. But then, that might be a universal human problem.

Right now, it's thank you, Lisa, for sending me your Madeline hat. Thank you, because you did not have to send it overseas, and thank you, because it's so perfect. It's not just a schoolgirl hat - though I did wear it to school today - it's a bit of 70s (and you did tell me I look good in 70s things) and a bit of mid-19th century (so it could go with my 1848 outfit, one day), and it's a mix of what the men in Leone's films are wearing and the hat Jill is wearing (well... sort of), and perhaps it would fit into other eras as well, and all in all it's very much ME.

Only I have trouble photographing myself in it.

As I said, I wore it to school today. So it sat on the desk next to me on the lesson of Polish literature, and as we listened to two Kochanowski/Gomolka Psalms, and I got a very Advent-like feeling (Advent will be here soon, after all), I thought it was a very fitting first outing for a gift from a part-Polish lady.