Handmade Weirdness

 

Folks, I don't mean to alarm you. But I have a serious case of the blahs. The weather is warm and lovely at last, and yet I chose to wear sensible trousers. And a cardigan that I hate. It's a full-blown case of the Mondays, people. An official funk!

I had a whole other blog post planned for today...a cheerful, sweet story about cinnamon rolls. But, I tell you, I just couldn't do it. I looked at that post and thought, blech...I'm not feeling the sugar today. But I wanted to post SOMETHING! I went in search of another topic, something that felt right, something that would fit my mood. I remembered way back to one of my first blog posts, where I showed everything I had ever made all stacked up on my dresser. I promised in that post that I would follow up with photos of what those things look like when worn and realized that I had never done so. But surely, I thought, there must be nice photos of me wearing these clothes! I went in search only to realize that photos exist, but boy are they weird. And so, I present to you some highlights.

A red summer dress that I wore on our honeymoon. Heather Ross, author of Weekend Sewing, gave me the pattern for this dress, and I whipped it up (literally) in a weekend, smocking the bodice with elasticky thread and keeping the hem long. As you can see, it is particularly suited to playing Jenga with the staff at the hotel bar in St. Lucia. (Isn't this what all newlyweds do?) I think this summer I'll take up the hem to just above the knee. Ah, I do love how empowering sewing can be...performing tasks like altering a hemline makes me feel like a wardrobe magician.

Here I am wearing my gray hand-knit sweater to the birthday karaoke party of Miss Seventy Jane. Some people, such as everyone around me in this photo, may feel that a proper outfit for a Saturday night karaoke birthday party would be, I don't know, a party dress. But not me! Saturday night parties are when I break out the pure alpaca handknits and flared jeans.

And here is one of my favorite summer dresses, worn last spring at my bridal shower. And yes, we had a rainbow pinata at my bridal shower. (I really do love my girlfriends.) This dress is made from a sheet I got at a thrift store. I ain't too proud. When I first made the dress, it fit about as well as a toga. I snipped up the length of the back and took it in a few inches. Tied with a wide belt, it's girly, tropical, fitted and nearly fancy.

And finally, my favorite knitted blue sweater--Ingenue from Custom Knits. I happened to be wearing this sweater on a day when Iggy Pop came by our office and did an impromptu book signing. Here we are, staring into each other's eyes. And boy, does he have piercing blue eyes! He asked me out, but I said no...it was all very awkward, of course. Oh, but I'm sure he'll survive.

I promise that someday I will show you actually nice photos of me wearing these clothes that I've so lovingly made by hand. But for now, I hope you enjoy these snapshots taken from random moments in my actual real life.

Ah...I feel a little less blah already.