The Linen Hawthorn

Hi there.

I made this one around the end of September, early October. I know it seems strange to for someone living in the Northern Hemisphere to make a linen dress in the fall but its really not. For instance, it was high in the 30's (F) last week, and its high in the 70's this week. And stupid humid.

Construction on this was pretty easy. This was my second Hawthorn, the first was a shirt, as yet unblogged. I added pockets but they are a little too low. I moved them up for my Red October one. I also used larger than called for buttons because this is such a large scale print. Its lovely though, very much lives up to the description of 'watercolor print'. I also did a blind hem, which I got my MIL to help with. I stood on her coffee table so she could pin while my husband, roommate, brother-in-law and uncle helped rearrange her new furniture (which is why the table was in the kitchen).  When they were done, I of course had an audience of snarky commentary. But they all thought the dress was pretty and I had an accurately pinned hem, so.. bonus?

Check out the sexy collar.

 The other thing I love about this fabric is how little it wrinkles for a linen, and even when it does it just kind of adds to the charm. I mean, come on. LINEN! This stuff is a dream to work with, it presses and shapes well, it behaves under the knife and needle, its breathable and I can wash it myself, though I only partially dry it and then iron while still moist. I got it from Fabric Mart on sale, of course.

OK, I know you are gonna ask about the shoes. I found them on Amazon a while back and bought them, gently used I later found, because they were similar to Jeffrey Campbell boots that sold out on ModCloth. But they were this hideous gray color and I hated them every time I put them on. So I had a brilliant idea, LEATHER DYE!  Made do and mend, right? I've worn them to work twice with this dress and both times people exclaimed about the shoes. Which is awesome but WHAT ABOUT THIS AWESOME DRESS I MADE YO!?

Pattern: Colette Hawthorn
Fabric: 2.5 yards of linen at $10yrd (half price)
Notions: 14 buttons x .75 each
Time Actively making it: 5 hours
Total Cost: 35.50

Happy Lady K

That's all folks! Have you made anything super awesome lately? Tell me about it.

All The Frills

For Christmas my Mom (whom I talk about a lot here) made my daughter what she calls a "can-can". Which is to say its a full underskirt of peach colored batiste and lots and lots of tulle! Felicity made me promise to make her something to go with it. I don't make promises to the kids often because I firmly believe one should never set expectations for young children and then not carry through on them (which is why we are getting a couple small furry rodent like things in the future... Felicity pulled out her 'little girl Jedi mind trick' on my husband. *SIGHS*).

I decided to dig through my stash. It has honestly gotten too big at this point and I am very steadfastly trying to USE UP and MAKE things from my stash for the next three or four months. I had (have) about five yards of this red linen blend and a little over a yard of a red/white striped seersucker. Woven, not dyed. I'm pretty sure the seersucker I stole from my Mother's stash some time ago.

I've already cut out the circle skirt out of red linen. My math was a little off and so its not quite long enough to cover the petticoat, but I think that's OK. I went digging through my stash for some lace and other trim that would go with it, but I really couldn't find anything. So I headed down to Gail K's and found the perfect red heart lace! I also picked up some red cotton bias tape for binding the blouse armholes and some horse-hair braid for a circle skirt (and petticoat) I want to make for myself. And given the color scheme I think this might make a perfect Valentines Dress for Felicity.