Tennis Anyone?

Oh guys, I never want to ever, ever, EVER, deal with another trial. Three days of 10 hour works days is enough to kill anyone, and we are lucky I survived. I missed you all so much. Seriously, there were times when I thought that I wasn't going to make it, but I am happy to report that, aside from an annoying stuffy nose, and a bruised ego (more on that later) I am back and only have three papercuts to show for it, which is actually pretty impressive. Onto clothing!

Headband, Skirt, Blouse, and earrings- Made by Me!

Brooch- Gift from my parents from Ellis Island

Bracelet- World market

Shoes- Myfavoriteshoestore.com

Bag- thrifted

Initially this little ensemble was "inspired" (there is a really long story about how this fabric was never intended to end up as these garments and half way through each I was like, Oh I know! I'll re-design the pattern! But I'd be here for days telling you about it...) by late 30's/early 40's nautical wear, but half way through I realized it actually looked more like those golf or tennis outfits of the late teens/early 20's. I am not sad about this. Infact I am more glad about this, than anything. On their own each of the items are great pieces, and very 1940's, but together, well, I feel like I should be at the country club sipping a lemonade with a dash of someone's secret stash of gin, discussing with my lady friends the merits of roughed knees. Which would pretty much be awesome. I was a tad worried that I would look kinda weird being so matchy-matchy, but when trying it on, Chelsea came into my room and declared that I looked like I belonged playing tennis in the 20's. Which pretty much sealed the deal for me.

This bag and I are going to be inseparable this summer.

I used my new old faithful again for both the skirt and blouse. I actually used this blouse as the bodice for this dress (I've got another set of this pattern coming as soon as I muster up the energy to fix the sleeve issue, and then it will be put away for a while), and I really love it. Well I love the final outcome. I like the pattern too, but for some reason I've run into quite a few fit issues with it. I have to use one size for the sleeves and another for the actual bodice, and this causes some issues, which are actually fairly easy to fix, but annoying nonetheless. On this version I skipped out on the pleats at the waist mostly because it looked funny with the stripes, but also because I wanted to be able to use the top as a tunic-y top on it's own. For some reason though, I decided this meant I needed to add a zipper to the side seam. Why I did this, I will never know because the blouse slips over my head quite easily. This is why 3am sewing binges are a bad idea children. You do some really dumb stuff. However, the crowning glory of this blouse is the sailor collar, WHICH I DRAFTED ALL BY MY BIG GIRL SELF!!!!! I'm a bit obscenely proud of that bit. Is it even? Not in the least, but I made a sailor collar, and I do not care. I did however learn the valueble lesson called "If you have no idea what you are doing consult the wise internet BEFORE you attach everything together and wonder why you have a raw edge showing in your neckline." Bias tape is a life saver.

As for the skirt, I am less happy with it than I'd like. I realized after the fact that there was a much simpler, neater way to do the button placket that I'm actually pretty sure I initially intended to do, but somewhere along the way, forgot. Who knows. So as a result the button placket is a bit messy, and, um, someone apparently forgot to measure out the button spacing or something like that. But these things are all clouded by the fact that I finally made foray into adding pockets to my skirts. Sure, so this first one if somewhere around my knee, but it's a mighty beautiful pocket, so I'm kind of okay with all the other things. Plus I did a hand stitched hem, and basically that makes this the best skirt I've ever made sorta-kinda.

To top it all off I made a headband out of scraps. I plan on making 500 more of these headbands, because it is amazing. Anyone interested in a tutorial? (It's not terribly different from this tutorial, but there are a few changes) I love how it adds to the deco feel. All in all, I love this. It will be marvelous for summer, and it's just too much fun to wear! Plus when I finally run away to the sea and live in a lighthouse, I totally have the outfit.

Blinded by the White-ness of my skin.