Sunday, July 10, 2011

McCalls M6331 Redux

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If this bodice looks familiar, it's because it's the same one as my McCalls romper.  It was so easy to put together, I wanted to make it in dress form. I wasn't a fan of the pieced, scalloped skirt, so I ditched it altogether and just drafted my own.

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I used my 3 yards of vintage seersucker from eBay, and it turned out to be just the perfect amount.  I didn't self-line the bodice per the instructions, instead I used soft cotton broadcloth from Joann's, leftover from a previous project.  I only used the fashion fabric for the folded bust detail.

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Unfortunately, I noticed Sharpie scribbles all over the fabric as I was doing the back darts. Of COURSE this was not listed in the auction details so I did not know about it and therefore did not cut around it  I am having really bad luck lately with things arriving stained/in worse condition than described.  I didn't have enough fabric left to cut another piece, so I had to use it.  It's on the bodice back along the zipper and hopefully not noticeable.

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It took about three hours to complete.  It was a really quick sew!  I immediately took it out on the town to Summerfest.

Enjoying my two favorite things in life, ice cream and beer.

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At Michelle Branch.

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Sorriest metalhead ever. Ha. I told you I couldn't pull off "rock". I like listening to it, but definitely not dressing like it.

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The best part was, as I was waiting for Mike to take the picture, a guy yelled "My wife loves your dress!" It's always feels good to get compliments from strangers on things I made.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

More from Colorado

I hope you don't mind if I take a break from sewing and share some photos from my trip to Colorado!  It was so beautiful there.  I feel like it would be hard to get anything done if I lived there because I'd always want to be outside or hiking or sightseeing.

We had some time to kill the morning before the wedding, so we went to the Air Force Academy.  It was right across the freeway from our hotel.  They have a guided tour, but we decided to skip it and just wander around on our own.  The main attraction is a church and I was kind of skeptical, like how cool can a church really be?  But it was gorgeous!

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Check out the inside. What looks like solar panels from the outside are actually hundreds of colored glass blocks.

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We talked to a girl at the gift shop who said that she got to have her wedding there because her husband was a student. Can you imagine? It would make for the prettiest wedding pictures ever.

There were lots of bronze renderings of planes and pilots, and an actual plane, which gave us the opportunity to act like dorks.  Do I make a good pilot?

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Lots of running around with our arms out pretending to be an airplane ensued.

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The wedding reception was on a cattle ranch, and I think it was the prettiest setting for a reception ever.  Dinner was served in a log cabin with a fireplace, and it had big wooden doors that opened so that you were basically outside.  The rest of the ranch was decked out with wood burning fireplaces, huge swings, a little river, and sleepy cattle. 

Sleepy steers!

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This picture reminds me of a Disaronno ad, but it shows how rustic and pretty the ranch was.

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Saturday we stayed in Colorado Springs during the day and went to Garden of the Gods. It's a red rock formation/hiking trail/mountain climbing attraction. I sort of assumed we would just be walking around on a paved path, so I wore a dress. We ended up doing some actual climbing on rocks and walking through dirt paths, so I looked a little silly.

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My appropriately-dressed friends got to have all the fun.

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Sunday we were in Denver, and we spent the morning walking around downtown and at the Molly Brown Museum. We had to take the obligatory "one mile above sea level" picture at the Capitol.

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Then we walked to this Coliseum-type place that I have no idea what it was used for, but was super cool.  There was a stage and seating all around.  We went up on the stage and I'm pretty sure the "wings" are just a big public urinal.  It smelled so bad.  So we got out of there and went to the Molly Brown Museum.

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If you don't know who Molly Brown was, she was a woman who fought for equality and actually ran for Senate three times before women could even vote.  She also founded Denver's humane society.  Most people would probably be more familiar with Kathy Bates' portrayal of her in Titanic.  I'm sort of Titanic-obsessed, so it was cool to see her house and touch her things.  Our tour guide said she initially refused to get on a life boat, opting to help others instead.  She said "I fight for equality on land, so I will practice equality at sea".  She eventually got on a lifeboat and shared her clothing with women who were cold, and told stories to keep their spirits up.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so we just snapped a couple of the house.

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I'll wrap it up with one last picture.  Denver really knew how to take it up a notch for Independence Day.
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I started a sewing project last night that I hope to finish tonight!  I'll have an update soon.  Until then, happy sewing!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Happy 4th!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July!

I spent this past weekend in Colorado for my friend Sara's wedding.  She moved to Colorado Springs about 5 years ago, and this is the second time I've been out to visit.  It's so beautiful there.  There is nothing quite like opening the blinds on your hotel room and seeing snow-capped mountain peaks.  And pink roads!  The gravel and concrete everywhere had a terra cotta hue thanks to the abundance of red rock.

I didn't end up wearing the dress I made for the wedding, to the wedding.  I heard that it was on a cattle ranch, so I was like "Oh perfect, I'll make a blue eyelet dress".  After talking to the bride and groom, I realized it was a little more formal than I was expecting. I packed it anyway, but after seeing my friends' dresses, I ended up wearing a mint green silk dress I had previously bought and worn to a wedding a few years ago.

Other than that, I packed all my homemade favorites!  This dress actually got worn twice (carry-on luggage is oppressively small), once to the Air Force Academy for a few hours, and then again to walk around downtown Denver and go to the Molly Brown Museum.  I added the snakeskin belt to make it feel less beachy and a little more "city".

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Speaking of packing poorly, this is what I wore the day we went hiking.  It was incredibly hot that day, so I was comfortable but definitely looked a little bizarre compared to everyone else in shorts and hiking boots. 

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I even climbed in it!

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My McCalls romper got plenty of play, too.  I didn't think to bring a swimsuit, because mostly hotel pools are small and indoors and full of kids.  Not the Denver Sheraton!  It was a huge pool on the roof with a bar and cabanas.  I didn't want to miss out on the pool fun, so I donned my romper and waded.

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My husband told me to romp around and since I'm terrible at posing, that means more jumping photos.

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Lastly, I wore my eyelet dress intended for the wedding out to dinner our last night.  I was having one of those nights where I felt blah and uncute and like something was missing from my outfit, but it must've just been a fit of self-consciousness because I think it looked adorable in pictures.  I'm never going to be able to pull off sassy or urban like my friends do.  I like girly poufy dresses and I think they work for me, so I might as well embrace it.

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My 10K is on Sunday, so I am going to be pretty busy this week with training and all that fun stuff.  So there probably won't be any sewing updates unless I get a burst of inspiration tomorrow.  I did get a beautiful piece of fabric in the mail from eBay today that's dying to be made into a sundress!

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