I got my skirt fabric yesterday. Here is a crappy image from the Thai Silks site:

I’ll take a better one soon; my digital camera is being flaky lately and doesn’t like me.

It’s a spring green silk organza (it’s not that far from the color of my beetle, actually) with a largish embroidered pattern of vines and roses. The embroidery colors are varigated greens and pinks. I”m plannng to do some beading, following the vines with bugle beads and putting some swarovski crystals around.

I love this fabric; I saw it a few weeks ago and took some time to think about it, and when I went back yesterday, I didn’t see the roll of it at first. I had to dig for it, panicking slightly the whole time. I finally found it, and was walking around with it looking for a coordinating fabric for the top, and one of the salespeople stopped and asked if I’d just found that. I said yes and she was surprised because someone had been in the previous day and wanted to buy all of it that they had but must not have seen that roll.

My original thought was to make the top out of one of the greens, but now I’m actually thinking of picking up one of the pinks. I know, pink and green sounds really barfy, but I think it Just Might Work in real life. Whatever I decide on for the top, I’ll bind the edge of the sheer overskirt with the same fabric. Thai Silks had a pink that Just Might Work, but I’m going to visit Stonemountain and Daughter and Poppy Fabrics today to see what they have.

I’ve settled on this for the top pattern (view C), except I’m going to cut the sleeves off at the elbow, and maybe use the sleeve cuffs on that very first pattern I posted, out of the sheer fabric. And I don’t know what I’m going to do about the buttons on the back. I’ve seen so many bad executions of back buttons, I get nervous about them. Must consult my couture books on this one. I will, of course, be throwing the pattern instructions away anyway, since I want it to be underlined and boned.

Now I just have to set up my sewing area in the new place.

I have, God help me, just purchased four yards of a wonderful deep rose doupioni at Poppy Fabrics for the bodice. I am wearing pink and green. Together! For the first time since the 80s.

I also got some cotton twill for the underlining, but like anyone cares about THAT.

[digression]

I was part of St. Ned’s delegation to our diocesan convention last weekend. This wasn’t my first convention, so I knew the first rule of convention, which is: bring handwork. Or you will be sorry because you’ll only be able to doodle on your little Embassy Suites notepad while the people in the know knit or draw or, in my case, embroider. My only mistake was not bringing enough work; I only had two dishtowels with me and I finished the final design just as the budget debate was getting into full swing. And by ‘full swing’ I mean nit-picking tedium. Overall, though, it was a nice, civilized convention and some good work got done, so I’m glad I went.

Outcome of Convention 2004: deranged fruit towels [designs by sublime stitching]

I’m moving this weekend. You might think that this means that all of my stuff is packed up in boxes and neatly labeled. You would be wrong. Clearly, it is not going to be that kind of move.

Hey, you know what I totally forgot? I hate sewing big gianormous dresses. There’s a point at which you always realize that the fabric has won, that there is more of it than there is of you.

Also, I have a tragically short waist and fitting the bodice always turns ugly. So, I’m avoiding all this and doing separates.

My first thought was the skirt pattern I’ve already made twice, Vogue 7177. Great, except it’s discontinued. Monster Patterns doesn’t have it. Ebay doesn’t have it. Crap.

I went to Fabric Hell tonight, though, and on a lark I thought, well, what if I just look in the 7020-7249 drawer. Wait, the numbers on the drawers have nothing to do with the patterns inside. I’m at Fabric Hell. Duh. Well, anyway, I found the correct drawer, and wonder of wonders, they never purged the pattern when it was pulled from the book. I got a copy, in my size. Yay!

Now I need to come up with a top.

I’m starting a froofy new dress for an event coming up in May. I’m still dithering on the pattern a bit, but right now I’m leaning toward McCall’s 3869.

I’m looking at the silk dupioni on fabric.com. I like the celedon color, and also one they have called celedon gold. I ordered the swatch card, and I’ve been staring at it all day. I’m glad I ordered the swatches since the colors look nothing like what I see on my monitor. I still have to visit the Thai Silks store (which I would have done today except it was one disaster after another and I didn’t feel like I could leave the office) to really consider all their colors. They’re just not really strong in the greens, though, and I think I want a green tone because, um, I just really like green a lot, ok?

I’m not sure what I’ll do with the embellished bits, which are shown here with hyper-embroidery. There are also some rather unfortunate beaded trims that will not be emulated. Still, I like the idea of a small pattern piece that can be embellished…and then attempted again when it all goes Horribly Wrong, all before the bodice is even assembled. Hey, maybe I can just have it attach with velcro so that I can make one with my superhero logo and one with my secret identity and…bad idea.

Anyway, I have muslin. We’ll see how this thing goes.