Housedresses Are Us

~ Tablecloth Dress #3 ~

 This one took forevah.  Truly.  

with 2 donated tablecloths and 1 stash bit of fabric

 There are thousands (and I mean that literally) of appliques covering holes and staining on these beauties.

sorry for the blurrrrr, not so good at back shots...

And yes that is a donkey on my back.

and that's not all...

State of Project Minima: End of Year Three

~ painting by Gritty Jane  ~

Yes, end of May 2014 was the last quarter of the 3rd year for Project Minima.   My, my, etc.  So let's see what's been going on, shall we?

During this past Spring Quarter (March through May) I did a major reworking of my studio space, discovered the Chicago Sewcialists and met up with them at the Textile Discount Outlet, made 4 dresses, 2 pair of stockings/ tights, 1 slip and a raincoat.  Okay then, not bad, not bad at all.  You can see 'em on my Clothes for Spring page (or go to the posts during that time period).

Oh, I also bought shoes on e-bay, as well as some patterns and occasionally some cloth.

What seems the biggest adventure at this moment is my tablecloth house dresses.  I've made two during this quarter from donated pieces and just love them.  More are on their way...

Another House Dress, Shoes and a Rain Coat!

Wait a minute...

Ready?

Set...

Go!

I'd say it's a Polish house dress, with that bold red and white design.  This one is made from 2 old tablecloths, plus a bit of old handmade kitchen curtain for the pocket facing when I ran out of the former.

Biiiggg pockets wide open

See that checked pattern inside the pocket?  That's the bit of curtain fabric.

and shut closed

Enough playing with my clothes.  Here's a peek of the back view.

I can do it.

This tablecloth dress had major refinements going on.  I had to piece it like crazy since I only had 2 to work with and there were plenty of stains and tiny holes too.  Instead of embroidering and/or mending, I did applique by cutting out the flower elements from the bits of scraps and machine zigzagging them on the offending areas.  Sometimes the dress is more appliqued than not!  I have pictures of just the dress and close ups of the appliques on my Clothes for Spring page.


Oh, oh, let's not forget the latest ebay shoes...

by Antelope, never heard of them before

 cool in a weird way, huh?

And now here's that rain coat I made last month and never got around to photographing.

A French House Dress You Say?

"Mais oui, bien sûr."

 an impressionist painting...?

Made from old linen tablecloths given to me by a friend.  This dress has three of them.  The pink top with border is one, the front floral panel is another, and the skirt portion with flowers and aqua border is the third.  And a very simply pattern to sew from Marcy Tilton.

Check out those biiiigggg pockets!

Can't you just see me going to Market to pick up a baguette, les fleurs, a cafe s'il vous plait, etc.?

c'est fini

I liked this so much (to make and to wear), 

I'm going to make another straight away.  

The tablecloths were well loved.  Many had tiny holes and spots.   I had to use nearly the whole cloth for the dress (no selectively placing pattern pieces).  So I mended or embroidered the areas that needed attention.

Sometimes overtly...

and sometimes more covertly.

Want to see more close-ups of the dress itself or the pattern it came from, go my Clothes for Spring page.

Meanwhile, I'll be with the Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style.  And Mis Papelicios' Share-in-Style: Pink and Bella's Secondhand First Share and Jane of Flight-Platform Living's Shiny T Tuesday.  You really must check out all the fabo parties.

Knocked Out by a Spring Cold

~ painting by Natsuo Ikegami ~

Two weeks and counting.  I surrendered during the first week.  No sewing!  Or reading... Mostly sleeping interrupted by deep coughing and nose blowing.  Not much eating either.  I must admit it's getting better, getting so much better after the second week (can't get much worse).  Still intermittent deep coughing, but I'm free to move about the cabin now and do a spot of sewing between mandatory naps.  yea! 

I made a raincoat B.C. (before cold) but haven't taken any pictures yet.  And I think I still want to fool around with the pockets a bit more...

And I've just finished my French house dress A.C. (after cold) made from old tablecloths someone gave me.  I just love it.  No pictures of that yet either.   I can only do so much on my reserve packs of energy.

I'll do that soon, promise.