Later That Same Day...

...the Yellow Skirt found herself in the midst of a revolution.  And she was quite thrilled about it, really.

~ whistling whist she worked ~

For this very eve was a gathering of the Sewing Rebellion, held at the newest rebel's home this month.

All Pao had to do was add an under layer to her ensemble and she was ready to venture forth into that cold, cold world.

same as it ever was...with added pink T & tights + switch to golden boots

It was here, Pao made a sweet nothing/ little something to companion the Skirt on her travels to other lands.

It's a bracelet!

And the YTS was officially initiated into the club of renegade seamsters:

Plain as Day

still to be continued...

The State of Project Minima: Year 3, 2nd Qtr.

Time flies.  And so do I, in circles, orbiting around my Mom's downward spiral, now in hospice.  sigh.

painting by Irene Ferguson

Everything is okay, as well as can be, all things considered.  yeah.  

I've been sewing this quarter anyway, although not picture-taking.  yet.  

And I've just heard I'm next in line for the Traveling Yellow Skirt!  

How cool is that?!  

Just what the doctor ordered to get me out of the blues 

and into sunshine yellow blogospheric fashion is serious sistah blissness.   

Can I get it together to do stats...?  I don't have anything posted that I made this quarter so it's not so easy to do...hmmm.   

Ed. note:  I've just posted all the items made in Fall Quarter on the Clothes for Fall page.

From the Treasure Trove

I've been assembly bits and bobs together to make some jewelry lately.

painting by George Gower

Oh, and I received a Sunshine Award from the loverly Vivienne of Thrifted Shift: 

Thank you.  While I will always appreciate a bit of sunshine sent my way, I really do loath all the Q&A that tag along with those awards...so I shall make up my own rules and repeal that aspect.

I'm going to award some sunshine pick-me-ups to a couple of bloggers who could use it right now.  Vix of Vintage Vixen who has a bit of pnemonia and Lakota of Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping who is nursing a cold.  Enjoy your Sunshine Award and do with it what you will!

Now back to my treasure trove...after the break

Meet Up with Frau Fiber

Made possible by an art exhibition entitled Opening the Black Box: The Charge is Torture.   A call was put out by Frau Fiber (the founder of the original Sewing Rebellion) for local stitchers to join the Chicago Chapter of the Sewing Rebellion in a stitch-in at the Sullivan Galleries.   The task was an interactive one: to work on a prison bed-size quilt within the exhibition space, as a way to commemorate the cases of torture by the Chicago police.

As the host of the monthly gathering of the Sewing Rebellion in Chicago, it was my great pleasure to finally meet Frau Fiber (now living in L.A.) in person for the first time.  

Frau and I happy to see each other at the gallery!

See pic of the opening and quilt after the break...

Kimono with Loafers (and Sox)!

Yeahhhh...I'm too crazy cool for school.  I'm too nerdy quirk for work.  I'm too overblown for home.  But I'm outta sight for here, right!

made-from-scratch kimono top & skirt, upcyled loafers & old sox 

I know, too much of a build up, right?  But wait til you see the shoes after the break...

Wearing It Out...

or In, as the case may be.  I'm speaking of the previously noted Downhome Funky Dress.  See?!

Shot live in the bed-sitting room, looking out into the museum/archives

I'm sporting that dress and that necklace along with an old stretch lace store-bought top and old cowboy boot clogs.  Click on the bold words to check out what the items look like up close and personal!

And without further ado, I'm linking up with Patti and all the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style,  the Pleated Poppy,  Recycled Fashion Finds and Refashion Co-op.

My Downhome Funky Dress

Yep. That's what I have to call it, the poor old homely thing.  This is one of those pieces I kept working on and saying it was a flop, stopping, and then giving it another go, ad nauseum.  Well, the other day I went at it and didn't stop until I declared it was finished and boy was it funky.

artwork by Elisabeth Lecourt

So funky in fact, that I decided it needed a downhome funky homemade necklace to go with it.  And so there's that too.  I made it out of a bunch 'o junk that I painted with nail polish to boot!

The dress started out as a plain store-bought linen shift with short sleeves.   I added some length by taking the hem down and sewing crocheted lace to the bottom.  I ended up removing the sleeves after trying a bunch of different stuff to keep them.  And I added some floral print linen from my fabric stash as side inserts so it would fit me.  Check out the Clothes for Fall if you want to see it.

Tangerine with a Spot of Leopard

Finished a pair of re-modeled capris just in time for my birthday brunch.  Yesterday my true love and I walked to the nearby m. henrietta's for a scrumptious brunch in Chicago's record-setting 100+ degree weather.

~painting by Zurab Martiashvili~

I thought I was very cool in my outfit, but actually withered completely by the time we walked home again in all that heat.  It took just hours in our single room air conditioning to recover.

Later that night was the Sewing Rebellion

Recovering Soles

Buddha's Footprints, Amaravati, India.

Now I'm really getting into the nitty gritty.  Stuff you really don't want to pay attention to...but, sometimes you just can't put it off any more.  You know what I mean - everyone gets down to it sooner or later -  really yucky insoles.

Blame it on Spring, Spring cleaning and getting to the back of the closet.  That's what happen with me and all those shoes being unearthed.  I started re-looking at them, repairing some, refashioning others.  But the insoles...unspeakable.

Well, I decided to take care of business.  I kept thinking what could I do about it without spending any money since my shopping ban was

Major ReCon

Artwork by Steven Tabbutt.

At long last, my dress rehab has made it through.  yea!!  and I love it's new look.  Another one of my old mini shifts with matching boxers from days gone by, but this time I went with some major re-construction.  Influenced by my Japanese sewing books, I took bits and pieces from one of the styles - dress Y of the Stylish Dress Book - which you probably wouldn't recognize after all my alterations & additions.

A Vested Interest

painting by Clare Grill.

Okay, the reversible vest is done!  At least one of them is...2 more to go...at some point...some time.

But this is now and I've plenty of pix.

A feat of engineering for me in figuring out reversibility with pockets, mitering bias tape, and getting the ole' loop turner happening - but it's all good.  Especially now that it's done.

Tools of the Trade

painting by Kelly Reemtsen.

As I was saying previously regarding those vests I've been working on...that tube turner.  (ha) I bought one the next day, a Dritz Loop Turner and spent hours trying to make it work.  Even looked at a video, no such luck.  Why in the world people say it's such a breeze I have no idea.  Was mine broken or what!?!  Took it back and found a brilliant tutorial on turning a tube with a bobby pin (yes, really).  The hardest part was

Take an Ordinary Coat...

Takashi Kawada, designer

...and do something with it.  I removed all the buttons that made my old camel coat double-breasted and changed it into a single row of buttons by replacing them (both in terms of style and location).  I actually chose plainer buttons that were the color of the coat, but I used a pinkish-coral color thread to sew them on and changed the direction of stitches from x's to +'s, if you get my drift.

A Sewing Rebellion Production

painting by Mary Jane Ansell.

Here's a little ditty I worked on at the launch of the Chicago Chapter of the Sewing Rebellion.  Actually I'm thrilled about it.  Not the camisole so much, but getting the Sewing Rebellion going.  And it was fun too!  I'll stop at that because I could go on & on.  Check out the SR site if you're interested,