Lace

"Out of the way! We are in the throes of an exceptional emergency! This is no occassion for sport- there is lace at stake!" Ms. Pole

Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford

As My Mind Travels to Exotic Greece...

Image

The Hubs and I have bounced around the idea of a Grecian vacation for a long time. It's not happening this year, but I'm always grabbing bits of info from the travel channel, or Rick Steves, or my aimless walks around the internet.

On New Years, my family watched My Life in Ruins starring Nia Vardalos and Richard Dreyfuss. Have you seen this movie? It is funny and entertaining. The scenery is breathtaking.

I'm a couple of seasons behind, but this movie really inspired me to look at Grecian design. First off: Vardalos wears a stunning blue dress in the movie:

I wish I had a full length picture of the dress. The color is so vibrant. On closer inspection the sleeves seem a bit odd to me. She wears plenty of beautifully draped dresses throughout the film...I'll have to watch it again to pick out my favorites.

Some other beautifully draped designs:

(via afashionablelife.wordpress.com)

(from Etsy seller flowersun)

This dress above is my favorite. It looks carefree and comfortable, but it also ups the style quotient for an everyday knit dress.

(from Etsy seller MotherMidnight)

So anyway, I'm in Greece this morning. Mentally, at least.

Moving

All of my sewing is stashed away into 4 large totes, 2 long under-the-bed style totes, 5 medium packing boxes, and my new notions box (thanks to my sis for that awesome Christmas present).

Packing this stuff gets tedious, and I'm constantly on nerve thinking of two impartial movers sloughing my stuff haphazardly into the back of their truck. But really, I can't write FRAGILE on all of my boxes, can I?

image: mycottagedownunder.blogspot.com

My serger and vintage Singer machines both have their own cases, and I feel pretty confident they'll arrive in working pieces. I have a White machine out on loan to my sister; it will come back in one piece, too.

I fear my case-less Brother won't be so lucky.

So I packed 6 yards of fleece around it before lovingly tucking it into it's already-padded box. This may actually be the best use I've ever found for any fleece.

image: artfire.com

On a side note, I'm enjoying some herbal coffee today. I said adieu to caffeine about a year ago, and decaf coffees leave me feeling apathetic to their genre at large. Usually I sip herbal tea. While picking up my boxes of Tazo at the store yesterday, I saw this chicory/almond faux coffee concoction. I think it's delish. Teechino, where have you been all my life?!

image: arizona-coffee.com - originally a Maxwell House ad

Nancy Drew, or Fashion for the Bungalow

My daughter and I made our way through a 'gently used' bookstore last night. We found several first edition Nancy Drew books (Trixie Belden, too... but her style was not so developed). I had fun sharing my memories of Nancy, Bess, George and Ned. My daughter looked through the books with curious interest, holding each as though it were a foreign object from some long-forgotten past. Those moments make me smile.

Now, I'm only 29, so the first editions predated me. I still remember checking them out from the library. Those older stories gave me my first glimpse into the past. I learned fancy words for friends, cars and homes. I also saw how Carolyn Keene (the real person, not the pen name used during my day by several authors) described Nancy's smart outfits. That girl was always put together.

I've collected some of Ms. Drew's best vintage looks. Here, now, for your enjoyment and my daughter's awe:

Pretty blouse with bow tie and matching skirt. Set waves with side part. Perfect for solving crime.

Bess gets my vote for best dressed on the dock. That green frock and matching hat take the cake! All three ladies look so composed, so overdressed by today's standards. Note the bobbed hair; those forward thinking gals.

This is perfect to go riding in that awesome car daddy gave her. Cloche, scarf, riding gloves. Nance knew her way around the accessory counter.

Matching dress, belt and purse. I know the matchy-matchy look is dated now, but sometimes I think it still packs a punch.

Finally: Vogue Patterns!

I have checked the Vogue website a couple times a day for the last week...waiting for Spring to pop up. I admit even to checking it from my iPhone (and that takes considerable patience for the site to load). They've finally arrived!

1233 is everyone's favorite, I think. Those details are beautiful.

1220 looks comfy. Like a modern take on the housedress. Bows around my waist are bulky sometimes; maybe I'd make the sash longer to tie and hang from the back.

8718 should be a good wardrobe builder. The jacket sleeve detail is a little eighties, but I don't mind it.

8714 is a Very Easy Very Vogue pattern. I think it is simply beautiful.

8708 - I think I mentioned before most days I sport a pair of jeans and a button down shirt. I love camp shirts.

8712 is a Marcy Tilton design. I think these look like the step up from cozy sweatpants. Last year I made one of her jackets, and I'm hooked. While her lines seem... bizarre... at times, the lines are flattering and they disguise imperfections.

8719 would be fun made up in linen. My husband wouldn't go for it, but seersucker would be cool, too.

Now, if only Hancock would get some of these in before their $3.99 MLK, Jr. sale is over. Wouldn't I be tickled pink?!

McCall's & Simplicity Spring 2011 Patterns

Call it the January Blahs, but I am ready for some Spring. Naturally, I squealed with delight to find McCall's Spring patterns uploaded on their site this morning. Then I found Simplicity's, too.

Here's the stuff I really like:

M6284

I love the bolero look of this shirt. The lines seem timeless. The pattern looks fast and easy (a compliment in this scenario).

M6292

I like the lines of this jacket. I'll pick it up at the next Hancock .99 sale, and maybe whip it up for the 12-for-12 challenge.

I'm on the fence about this Cynthia Rowley dress. I like the jacket, anyway.

I don't anticipate needing a formal anytime soon, but this Jessica McClintock pattern is great. It would be fun just to play with the bodice pieces, anyway.

Under the right conditions, I would consider paying full price for this pattern. Nice clean pockets, trendy ruffle collar, shorter length. Everything a girl could want.

Hooray for travel appropriate sportswear. These pieces could handle planes, trains or automobiles, emerging unscathed. I want to make the pants set.

Now hear me out a minute. These bed jackets are styled horribly. Rainbow cheetah? But this year my house will be 91 years old. And it can get a little chilly when the sun disappears. I like the one up top there. About half as long. Without gratuitous peace signs.

So there you have it. Now we wait (im)patiently for Vogue and Butterick. Vogue, really. They're my favorites. What shall we do to pass the time? Go fabric shopping, of course...

J'adore

Foliage Finder Jacket from anthropologie.com

BurdaStyle Jacket Contenders

I continue to peruse jacket patterns for the 2011 12-for-12 challenge. Tonight I wandered aimlessly around Burda's site and these are a few contenders:

This is the Esther cardigan created by user Merita. About a billion people have made this comfy looking cardi, but this one is my favorite. I think it would be great this spring made from jersey.

Naomi is a kimono-type jacket. And it is **free** which never hurts. On a side note: what is up with those turquoise tights? Just sayin'.

This jacket is Stella. For some reason, I just feel like it should be mine.

Vivien Leigh

My sisters and I, as small children, possessed some inexplicable fascination with all things Gone With the Wind. By 7, I could probably quote the movie in its entirety. I'm not joking.

I've watched her screen tests, how they made those gorgeous costumes...the works. She's the reason I rented A Streetcar Named Desire in high school. Last week, I stuck That Hamilton Woman in my Netflix queue. Only because of Vivien Leigh (well, I also read that Winston Churchill held a screening of it for Roosevelt at the onset of WWII). So in my book, few actresses are more beautiful or talented than Vivien Leigh. Which is why I choose her for my first style study.

She could've made a paper sack look effortless and beautiful. Standing next to then husband Laurence Olivier completed any look.

I don't always understand the severe part in her hair. This two-toned foamy dress is magnificent, though. I love the sash.

She could pull of a smart hat and suit:

Wide-legged pants:

Summer halter dresses:

Um, holiday wear?

And that messy bed-head, I haven't eaten since this blasted war broke out, great balls of fire look:

That last distinction goes to her alone. No one else could pull of that bit of fluff that was Scarlet, also providing her character complexity and growth.

Bring It

What is it with women and our propensity to bite off more than we can chew? Bizarre fact: every woman I know does this, and every woman I know miraculously completes each task in the eleventh hour. She emerges from the cloud of stress-induced fog with squared shoulders. Then, when praised for her efforts, she just shrugs it off: "oh, it was nothing" or "I was just glad I could help." Secretly, she's had 3 meltdowns during her morning showers, and her husband can recite every concern that's popped up along the way.

I am in the middle of such a time. Ok, I haven't broken down in the shower or anything, but my list of commitments is looking like my children's letter to Santa: it is long and tediously detailed. My family will move in three weeks' time. Snippets of bubble wrap, cellophane, packing paper and tape are flying around the place.

This isn't a bitter rant. I'm not upset about any of the "busy" events taking place in my life, in fact I'm thankful for them. Let's call it preserving my humor, shall we? I think if I can just see the list in black and white, the extra oomph will be there to finish the job(s).

What must happen:

• I educate my two children, and tomorrow morning is back to school. This one is a fun bullet point because I kinda get a kick out of cracking open my planner and starting each day with a fresh, organized set of lessons. I sort of missed this structure during Christmas break. Plus, we're opening a few new textbooks this semester. Ooooh, can't you just smell the crisp, new pages? I wish I could bottle that kind of excitement.
• Packing. Every evening more stuff is going to be packed tightly into boxes. It's shocking how many boxes we have labeled "books". I knew we were bookworms. I did. I'm just not sure we've left many at our favorite booksellers' for the rest of you. Once amassed into a box, they're amazingly heavy.
• Editing. My hubs, an attorney with a penchant for history, is finishing work on a book. While he's beating the publisher's deadline by 6 months, he's a week behind his self-induced deadline. Did I hear you ask who is proof-reading his scintillating read? Of course I am; happy to!
• Buying stain and polyurethane for hardwood floors. We have stripped the floors in the house we're moving to. Next weekend, we sand, stain & seal (which reminds me, for no related reason whatsoever, of Stevie Wonder's song: Sign, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours).
  
• I've got to get my hair cut. That seems superficial, but we can only put it off so long. Why can't I wake up every morning with this type of graceful ease and beauty about me?

Other stuff that should happen:

• I have jacket #1 of the 2011 challenge cut out. It's cold out; I'd like to wear more jackets. So I think I can justify taking a couple of nights once the kiddos are snug in their beds and crank this out. Otherwise, I've got to pack it. And who knows when I'll find it again.
• Have you ever heard of Postcrossing? This awesome site connects you to the world via postcards. I keep up with my account, one for each of the kids, and one for my 91 year old grandmother (it was a birthday present for her - she loves getting mail). Hubs is on his own here. I need to write about 15 postcards this week, and send them on their way.
• I have got to work out. If I learned one thing this weekend while stripping floors, its that my arse needs to get in gear.
• Every year I compile a dvd of family photos set to music. Usually about 45 minutes in length, it contains hundreds of snapshots. I wrap them up for Christmas gifts to my mom and sisters. It's January, and I'm still not finished. Judge me if you must.

And wouldn't it be nice if:

• I had more time to blog?
• The book ideas running through my head magically made it into a Word doc?
• Mascara didn't rub off under my eyes half way through the day?
• The family cookbook my cousins and I are compiling were off my plate? Must organize recipes into sections and email it on. I must. Maybe.
• Our passports were being used?

I know your list is longer than mine. These are the highlights, people. What Herculean tasks are you working on? Do you finish them all on time? Share. Don't despair.