Mad Men Whiskey Glasses

Fiance absolutely adores the Mad Men glasses, so he's getting a set for his birthday*, hopefully. I say hopefully because nobody makes them anymore, at least not that I can find. So I'm going to have to attempt to make them. I'm starting with the Dexter glasses (I think) from Crate & Barrel. Then off to Michael's to see if they have a good non-toxic glass paint. Their website lists a number of non-toxic paints that become permanent (and dishwasher safe!) if you just bake them in the oven. Maybe I'll have to get a few spare glasses to play with and test the different paints. I feel an arts & crafts day coming on:)

* Luckily, he doesn't know I have this blog so he shouldn't figure out what he's getting!

Alice in Wonderland

Since I already have a poufy light blue tea-length dress (well, it will be poufy soon), I figured just make an apron/pinafore to complete the look, and then I get a new apron out of the deal. I'm starting with Simplicity 3752, and making a combination of views A and B out of some white cotton-ey stuff I bought a while ago. I'm making to bodice from A, because it's relatively simple and comes closer to the pinafore look with a simple waistband. Then I'm using the skirt from A, but only the center section. I figure I just leave the seam allowance open (who cares about raw edges for Halloween?), and then add the sides later. It may end up a little hackey, but I'm willing to sacrifice quality on a Halloween costume and simple apron. With the way I cook, it'll shortly be so covered in food stains that it really doesn't matter.

Pitcher's Duel

So very excited for Lincecum - Halladay tonight. I scheduled my experiments just so I could be home in time to watch. I just hope Lincecum's blister doesn't affect him.

Of course, it's one of those matchups that can never live up to the hype. Witness Pedro-Roger in the ALCS where Roger left in the third. Not that I mindthe Rocket getting lit up against the Sox. So I guess if it's not meant to be a pitcher's duel tonight, I'll just root for Halladay to be the one getting lit up.

It's hard rooting for the Giants in the postseason. I mean, it's easy, of the teams left, I want them to win, but it feels so weird for the team I'm pulling for to not be the Sox. And I don't really know the Giants players all that well, so I'm constantly asking "who's that guy?" The whole not wearing names on the jersey is all well and good for those who know the players, but not so much for me. Sigh.

At any rate, get out there Timmy and earn yourself a nice post-game smoke. You're back in Cali now, all you can get is a ticket.

Corset Dilemmata*

I tried on the corset muslin for the wedding dress for the first time in months, after I lost about 10 lbs. Now it's a wee bit too big, and I'm not quire sure what to do. When it's tied to the appropriate tightness, the V in the back is totally gone. What I want is something more like the green lines, to mirror the V in the front and just in general go with the whole geometric whatnot.

So do I redo the corset pattern yet again? That sounds like a giant pain, and then what happens if I gain the weight back? Or I can always just tie it looser, which would be good for the breathing and all. The front at the cleavage is a bit too loose then though - maybe I can add an elastic bra-strap type thing?

I am thinking of having the corset and the ombre overlay not actually tie together. This way, I can make the corset, make sure it fits, tie it as tightly as needed, and not pull at the silk overlay. I'm not sure if I'll use the metal grommets or fabric loops on the silk. If I do use grommets, it's probably better to not have the grommets all on top of each other, just for bulk. So maybe I keep the fit as is.

The other question is what fabric to use. For a shaping corset, you want a nice stiff fabric, so it shapes you. Now, I'm pretty happy with my shape, and prefer to be able to breathe over being shaped. I bought some silk taffeta remnants from Thai Silks that I was planning to use, but now I'm thinking those might not be so breathable.** So maybe I just use some Habotai silk? It will definitely breathe, and feel really nice on the skin. Maybe a couple layers for strength? Then I can also encase the bones fully. I just need to remember to starch the silk for body while I'm working with it, and probably pre-wash so it can get the starch rinsed out after. Can I wash it with the bones in? Will spiral steel boning rust or something?


* I do love a word with a fun plural.

** Both in terms of air getting through the fabric and in terms of me being able to breathe.

Herve Leroux/Leger

Normally, the clothes on American's Next Top Model are fun but so very unwearable. The Herve Leroux* dresses from the runway challenge from last week were an exception. Not all were quite wearable for someone without a model's body, but they were all gorgeous, and I think I can take inspiration from them.

I read up a little on him while I was investigating why he changed his name. Apparently, his dresses are all very body shaping - think really pretty spanx. So I don't think that's part of what I'll be emulating. Still, the way he uses color is very like what I'm doing for the wedding dress**, so obviously I love it.

One lesson I have learned though - if I make a dress based on the one pictured here, I will not do it in gray, unless I get some better dyes. Dying shades of gray and having them all keep the same hue is incredibly difficult. I used RIT dye, because it's easy to go buy at Joann, and I mixed up a pretty good silver/gray color. But, when I make it more concentrated, it's too red, and at weaker concentrations, too blue and even too yellow when it's really light. Much easier to stick with a single color like blue. Blue is also more forgiving because different hues of blue look decent together.

More Herve whoever pictures on my tumblr, gardenoffenway.tumblr.com. This is the first time in a while I've been so inspired by so many things from the same designer:)


* Formerly Herve Leger, but he apparently sold off the rights to his own name. Oops.

** Apparently that effect is called "ombre." Now I can be all sophisticated when I describe the design of the wedding dress!