It's a Wrap Boot No Polo Widow...huh?

for MeMadeMay'18, Day 26

 

~ yep, that's what my new footwear is called ~

~ See, heehee? ~

I've been on the lookout for them for awhile but no such luck until now.  On ebay, of course.  They are so silly, people luv 'em or hate 'em, as they say.  Toms is the brand and they are no longer made.  They originally came in black, white, gray, red, green, navy and whatever color this is.  I'm calling it rust.

~ Strike a pose, poster edition ~

They "go" perfectly with my Tina Givens Maria Skirt and Top pattern where I actually used some Tina Givens cotton fabric for the top.  The skirt is cotton plaid.   It doesn't look anything like the pattern picture and I didn't make many alterations at all.  But I still like it, although it was a surprise.

~ and another shoe close-up ~

As you might be able to see, the foot part is canvas with a rubber sole and a bit of a lift with maybe a 1/2" incline for the heel.  The rest is all ACE bandage that you wrap and wrap and wrap until you secure the end with the very large swatch of (about 3" square) sewn-in velcro.  So versatile.   You can wrap high, or low, or even with leg showing between wraps.  eeee, the thrill of it all.

p.s.  I have no idea where the no polo widow part of the name comes from...

Another Accidental Outfit!

for MeMadeMay'18, Day 20

~ whoa, I'm all striped up ~

First, I had this skirt under a dress with the vest on top.  And then a light bulb went on.  Hey, that would probably look much better if you just lost the dress.  So I did.  However, I did replace it with a top that happened to be striped too.  Well, then I had to go with striped sox.  Another accidental ensemble came out.

(The camera flash was accidentally on for this pix.)

~ excuse the washed out face, et. al. ~

Again, I've never worn these things together before.  Even though they're made out of the same material!  What is my problem?  Am I blind?  That's what MMM does for me.  I get out of my routine of wearing the same things in the same ways.  

So the skirt is from a Marcy Tilton Vogue 8637 pattern.  The vest is from McCall's 7416 made rather large.  It's so oddly shaped, I really like it.  I believe I changed up the back a bit, but I can't really remember any more.

~ Dream Happy Boots from Trippen via ebay ~

And that's really their name.

And they are.

It's about that time to link up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style when she goes live later today.  I'll also be joining Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like and Cherie's Shoe & Tell when they come on.  Hope to see you there.

Kimono Me Now (with Oxfords)

MeMadeMay'18, Day #17

~ in poster version ~

Reached back in the vault for this one.  Made along while ago and revamped as I grew and it didn't.  The top went from wrap around to meeting in the center.  Still groovy though.

~ and in real life ~

The fabric is a crinkle cotton, lightweight, soft and comfy.

~ my goodness those shoes look like Mack trucks! ~

Must've been the angle...

 

They are not from ebay.  I don't remember where they came from, but they are old.  I know they were wrecked-up suede and I painted them with acrylic paints.  I had some lavender grosgrain ribbon that I used for the laces.  They are comfortable, but beginning to show they're age.  Do you think it's time they were retired?

My June Getup

~ yep, I'm wearing all Tina Givens garb, with all my modifications ~

I'm so glad MeMadeMay'17 is over, I might just post only once this month!

~ TG Maria pattern top and skirt ~

~ this looks nothing like the image on the pattern, but I still like it ~

~ and my ebay sandals ~

Before I trot off to Patti's Not Dead Yet Style, Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like, and Cherie's Shoe and Tell when they go live...


I do want to mention what I learned from participating in the MMM project:

• I wore stuff I had made and had never worn before.  It seems I was able to find other pieces that went well with them.

• Wearing a different pair of shoes each day made me realize how often I chose the same few pair over and over.  Having to pair up other shoes with an outfit really seemed to to be a game changer.

• Not wearing the same things with the same things was also interesting.  I never realized before how often I do that.  So I tried not to this month.  It's so automatic.

• I realized how much I really do luv layering.  When all I wore was a dress, it felt very plain and boring.  Even when it was a great dress, shoes and sox.

• I've been inspired to sew in the holes of my wardrobe - make more slips, bloomers, underdresses, overdresses, sheer layers, stockings, sox, crop tops and things that go with stuff I've already made.

Thanks Zo, for making it happen Year 8.

Deep Velvet & The 3 Tops

First Showing:

~ me freezing ~

Yeah, it's a sunny day and 6 below zero again.   So we'll be quick.

I made this deep blue velvet kimono (they call it that on the pattern, Shelley) Simplicity 4134 and self-drafted the skirt a couple months ago. 

~ SEE? ~

And I can't find anything to wear with it!  This is my third attempt at making a shirt/ top/ blouse for it.

~ Okay, that's it, I'm going inside ~

But wait, let me show you each and every one of the 3 Tops I labored over.

Not A Knit Lover...

in the wearing or the sewing of 'em.   And yet, last post I've got on a double fused knit dress and this week...

~ a nice relaxing op art knit skirt ~

It's the outrageous prints that get me.  Okay, but this one wasn't my fault at all.  It was part of a mystery fabric bundle sent to me for free.

~ using Butterick 6219 skirt pattern ~

Made a little too big, but, I didn't know about knits - how they can be made smaller than wovens.  But hey, it's still works.

~ nice boots, huh ~

worn with my velvet and linen trimmed crop top from Tina Givens Frankie pattern along with a dotted swiss cotton blouse from Simplicity 3786.

~ Harley Davidson Moto Boots from ebay ~

worn with lace-capped crew sox.  mmmm, delicious.

And now is the time for all good women to come to the Visibles party with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style!  To I Will Wear What I Like at Catherine's and Shoe and Tell at Cherie's when they go live.  See you all there.

Back to the Flannel

~ ahaha ~

If you've been around Project Minima long enough, you've seen this before.  My rehabilitation of fav flannel shirts.

This one comes complete with a black suede buckled bow taken off my old sandals.  Nice.  And that silk brocade was given to me by a friend.  It's from curtains, I believe.

~ look at that, it's so warm out I don't need a coat! ~

I added cuffs from a tablecloth scrap leftover from that series of  French house dresses I made out of old tablecloths.  The pockets were short sleeves from a dress made along while ago.  And the pocket, collar and button placket were covered with stretch mesh leftover from my handmade tights.

~ hey! This is my house ~

A friend gave me the ombre, pleated, dotted fabric.  All I had to do was run a drawstring through the top and a skirt was born.  Tights, now stockings, were from a swaporama held by Style Agent 99 way back when.  I remember I swapped a gauze peasant blouse for 'em.

~ shoe shot ~

Shoes, as ever, from ebay.  Xoxo is the brand. 

~ the jewels ~

Those golden scarabs are dollar store plastic glow-in-the-dark bugs painted gold by moi.  Retro-fitted with gold-colored jump rings through their creepy crawly parts.  Red silk cord is threaded through and voila.  One bug is on a cord as necklace, the other is on a pin as broach  - to be arranged at will.


And now it's time to join the crowd of Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style before it's too late!!!  Also tune in for Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like party and Cherie's Shoe and Tell.  There's fun for all.

Me and My Cow Coat

~ mmmm ~

We got a thing going on.

After much hemming and hawing (now there's a turn of phrase), I eventually settled down with a simple, straight forward coat pattern for my faux fur.   McCall's 7257, view D.  Although I did make it bigger.  Who wants a skinny cow coat?!   I used some scrap zebra flannel for the pockets (hehe).  And made a removable collar/ scarf per Rhonda's suggestions here.  So cute.

~ ooo, ooo, and the lining... ~

is deep purple satin!  For some reason the color is not coming through in these shots.  Must be that mustard wall.  And what is that thing revealed underneath?  Well, I'll just tell you right now.

~ it's a flannel shirt, mmmm  ~

I just love flannel shirts.  Made from another Tina Givens pattern called Archie.  I played around with configuring the collar so it looks really cool instead of dorky.  But you can't really tell here.  so...

~ Trippen Dream Boots, the Happy Collection via ebay ~

The skirt is from a Katherine Tilton pattern, made a long while ago, Vogue 8837.

And that, my friends, are two out of three of my latest sewing adventures with the new Viking in town.  With many more in the wings (I imagine).

I'm even early for Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style (yay).  Hope to see you gorgeous gals there.  And almost late for Catherine's I will wear what I like faux fur party.  Simply must get these Trippens to Cherie's Shoe and Tell too.

p.s.  faux fur and lining is from Fabric Mart.  Although they are out of those fabrics now, they are my favorite online source for great prices, fast service, and interesting fabrics.    

Vogue Fabrics is where my Viking Sewing Machine came from and the black knit with silver slivers fabric for my skirt.  They have a lousy website, but the store is close by (too close by) and they are unique and friendly.

p.p.s.  thanks to Sara for her photo-ing, great as ever.
 

Flannel Shirts: Better Than Ever

~ song by leGoodLum ~

I'm on a new kick.  From recycled tablecloth dresses to rehabbed flannel shirts.  This is my second one.  The first one hasn't been photo'd yet.  I love flannel shirts, always have, but the problem is they just aren't very cool to wear anymore, now are they?  Well, wait until you see my new Flannelstein top!

a yellow plaid flannel shirt I had

with a silk brocade curtain given to me by a friend

 a leather bow with buckle from old sandals

scraps from my op-art stockings for collar, pocket flaps & center closure

It took a week to figure it out & put together.  Things you can't see very well in my blurry pix are the skirt pockets that came from the sleeves of another dress I made and the ruffled cuffs.  They were the border trim from an African print tablecloth-turned-dress.  You can see all the details clearly and up close on my Clothes for Fall page.

I'm wearing the Flannelstein top with an ombre gray to black dotted skirt (fabric given to me by a friend), gray & black houndstooth tights (given new in a swap), and my black leather/gray suede XOXO boot/shoes from e-bay.

Oh, here's some shoe shots...

looking down

looking askance

and sideways.

With that I'm ready to join the Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style and Shelia's Shoe Shine.  Then, tomorrow I'll be at Rhonda's Me Made Monday and Sacramento's Share-in-Style: Shoes.  Hope to see you all there!

Renewed and Reconsidered

~ Mother Self-Portrait, Otto, prismacolor pencil on board, 1977 ~

Something's happening here with these tablecloth dresses.  I tried to stop making them after finishing the 6th one.  (You haven't seen the last two yet).  And I found it rather difficult.  In fact, it seemed like I was a bit despondent, or bereft.   I mean it's pretty weird that I made 6 in a row of the same pattern to begin with -  I've never made more than 2 of any one thing that I recall.  I tried looking through books, patterns, online sources, but couldn't get motivated toward anything else.  I was in a pickle or more like a jar full of pickles.

Here's what I think is going on.  My reaction to stopping was a bit overblown for the reality of the situation.  Therefore it was probably symbolic.  What were tablecloth dresses symbolic of?  I'll give you one guess.  My mother.  Yep, they reminded me of home, the 50's when I was born, and Mom used to wear them when I was young (house dresses that is), while the table wore the cloths.

Mom wearing house dress and that's me!

Sh*t, I even used to wear them during the feminist movement in art school.  Back when there were no women artists in any History of Art books and all the art instructors were men.  I wore my Mom's old pink bakery uniforms as painting smocks in my art classes.  

me as grad student in my studio with portrait paintings

I even painted myself wearing 'em

or hanging there as a still life. 

I did figurative narratives which were personal.  Remember the Personal is Political?  Pink was my favorite color and I had lots of pink house dresses to wear. 

mixed media on board of me as an asst. cook at summer art camp

Maybe that's why I felt so comfortable wearing my current tablecloth dresses, like comfort food, you know?  Plus you can be so creative within confined limitations.  Figuring what goes together, where to place the pattern, etc.  


Anyway, here's what I've been doing since I've made myself stop and reconsider what I'm doing and why.  As Jean of Dross into Gold talks about in her latest post, A Meditation, being more mindful of it all in the moment.

Some are still in process, some are complete.  See them after the break...

The Yellow Skirt Waves Bye-Bye

While on the last day, the lady bids adieu to her spirited companion - the Yellow Skirt - with a spot of hot chai amongst friends.

Cheers!

Ahh, and here they are now.

The motley crew

Some extra tidbits to notice besides her tie-dyed rainbow t-shirt with added sequins and refashioned teal suede with satin lapel jacket, are the lady's shoes and jewelry.

Elfin boots from e-bay

and necklace made from old earrings

Snow not only arrived for the first time this season, but continued to accumulate as the ladies made their departure from the cafe.   Thus, making the perfect photo op on the final day of Pao's yellow skirtness.

Flashing the Yellow Skirt on a snowy street corner

And finally, we find the lady at her doorstep, looking for keys...

Dear Reader, do you see Vix's sign?!!

Ah well, now we see Pao sitting on the porch.  Perhaps she's waiting for the door to open?

~ this too will pass ~

I'm sure it will all work out fine.

I'm going to be joining the Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style.
So come on over!

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