I know this pattern is waiting for me at home; I think it came in the mail just as I was leaving (from eBay seller Simmons Books). It's oddly perfect; it has all of my fetishistic desires in a pattern: square neckline, short kimono sleeves, midriff band, full skirt — it's so perfect I'm nearly afraid to make it, as what if all those things together somehow cancel each other out? Like the time I made tea (I was about ten, I think) thinking "I like tea with milk, and I like tea with lemon, tea with lemon and milk must be GREAT!" (It wasn't.)
Luckily this little break has not been me (as usual) trying to do all the things I like, all at the same time. I just chose ONE thing I really like (watching my son have fun) and did that. So what if it involved amusement parks (or as they're called here in Florida, "attractions")? And accompanying him on rides that made me deliberately unfocus my eyes, the better not to sag against the WHOLLY INADEQUATE "safety" restraints in gibbering terror? And eating only things that had been fried (twice-fried, if possible)? Despite the grease, and the terror, and the finding out after three hours in the sun that the SPF 40 I'd been slathering on everyone within arm's reach had expired in 2005, this little trip turned out to be surprisingly fun. So what if I ended up spending the whole (interminable) three circuits of the Ferris wheel staring fixedly at the floor of the gondola and imploring a wriggling seven-year-old to keep his little butt ON the seat? It makes a good story, right? (I didn't used to be afraid of heights, and I'm still not, at least not for me. I don't care if *I* die from an overenthusiastic application of the law of gravity. Everyone's gotta go somehow, right? But I really, really, really don't want to watch someone else go that way. Especially not anyone I spent a lot of time and effort PERSONALLY MAKING in my WOMB.)
So despite having really enjoyed myself here doing just one thing at a time, I'm ready to go home, resume my usual semicompetent multitasking, and see if this overdetermined pattern is as good as it looks. If not, I'll go find a pattern that has just ONE of my top-five fave details and concentrate on making that one the best I can.
A Dress A Day 
It’s as good as it looks. It will be wonderful! What kind of fabric are you going to use?
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Oh, I think after you enjoy a vacation like that, no mere pattern could possibly do you in. Dare to try perfection :-).
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Erin, sew this dress IMMEDIATELY. Don’t even unpack your suitcases. I think you may have actually achieved dress nirvana.Also, the pattern ladies actually look happy on this one. I would be too if I had those shoes.
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I did the same milk & lemon in tea thing at about that age.I thought of you last week when I saw the movie “Music and Lyrics.” In one scene, Drew Barrymore wears a Durostyle dress. I can’t find a clear image of it online.
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Well unpack your suit case if the fabric for that pattern is in there. It will turn out grea. And, someone suggested to me that I use tracing paper to trace my favorite patterns, therefore no matter what, I have the original. I bought an antigue National Rotary Sewign Machine this weekend. The kind in the cabintet, that swings down in side. I thinks the machine is cast iron and it’s model R40. Does anyone know anythign about them. Oh, it and it works great. I have a whole box of additonal presser feet and the original manual.
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Do you ever frame your pattern envelopes or otherwise display them in your sewing room? Just wondering b/c I have a dresser full of them in the basement that I hate to throw out but I don’t know what to do with them! (People clean out their attics, and anything sewing related, they give to me…you should see my rickrack assortment!)dawn
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*has also done the lemon and milk thing* (But in my case it was an attempt at a cold cure – “so if hot lemon-water with honey is good for you, and hot milk with honey too, the combination of both must be terrific!” It wasn’t. I took a big mouthful before I realised.)Our then nine-year-old discovered that she was afraid of heights on the Ferris wheel. She nagged us the whole fair vsit to go, and up we went in the end, and she promptly positioned herself on the floor and shouted at her big sister to stop turning the gondola. 😛
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I can’t wait to see the dress you make using this pattern. Will you use stiff fabric, or wear crinolines? What fun!I saw you mentioned (and quoted) in “The Word” column in yesterday’s Boston Globe. Congratulations.
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Joni makes good points about the dress nirvana and the t-strap shoes (which I didn’t notice until I read her post!)!
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Looks great! Are you going to make the hat, as well? :->
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This is so perfect on you – hell, if you don’t like it, I’ll be happy to take it…no, seriously, it would look great on you!
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Especially not anyone I spent a lot of time and effort PERSONALLY MAKING in my WOMB.Ha,ha,ha,ha! Perfect!
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Oh, I did the tea with milk and lemon thing, too. Only, I was maybe 17 or 18!Also, thank you for the best quote on pregnancy ever!
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When I was a kid, the Ferris Wheel was practically the only ride that DIDN’T^ scare me . Sometime in my 20s I realized how terrifying it really was.
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I hate ferris wheels – I can ride a roller coaster no problem, but the ferris wheel is pure height – can’t handle it. My husband won’t ride anything that is serviced/operated by someone making minimum wage.LOL at the womb commment.
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My daughter, also 7, always asks me what I’m afraid of. The stock answer now is nothing, except something happening to her. Funny, how having one of the little monsters changes EVERYTHING! sometimes even what you sew. Yes, I’m in the midst of making her cool clothes to go to Miami!
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oh my, I have missed you, Erin! I almost did the milk and lemon thing on a breakfast date and my date made a casual comment about what would happen, with a kind chuckle, never forgot it.I live in Santa Cruz, home of THE BIG DIPPER, one of, if not the oldest wooden roller coasters in the country. When I was about 7 and a real timid thing, I went to the Boardwalk (the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk) w/ my cool young aunt and uncle because my parents didn’t like going there. My aunt was pregnant and didn’t go on any rides, but Uncle Bob took my older brother and me on everything, then finally we approached the Big Dipper. Everyone looked at me: Do you want to go? I was asked, with the assumption the answer would be NO! I surprized everyone by saying yes! Uncle Bob, my brother and I squeezed into one car while my aunt waited. She was sure I would be terrified and hysterical, but I came out of the car absolutely thrilled and wanted to go again. It’s become a family legend because it’s the only time I was ever brave as a child. Adult experiences in my 30s have less a rosy glow to them and more a bony rattle. I didn’t even like the teacups, and that used to be my favorite!That minimum wage comment makes too much sense to me, but I think they pay more than that here in Santa Cruz, (we’re so progressive, you know) especially the guy who personally walks every inch of the Dipper every day.The dress is dreamy: just go for it! and I love the short jacket, too.I am so envious of anyone who has lots of rick rack: I love the stuff. I am saving my old, old, torn pattern envelopes and pattern pieces to do collage/assemblage someday. Also other old sewing things too old to use.
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Oh, my! It took me a minute, but I just realized that this is essentially the same dress I’d worn in my senior portraits during high school! Just picture a sashy thing instead of the midriff band, and the whole shebang made in a bright blue cotton print with huge white hibiscus flowers (Hey, it was the 80s). It was a GREAT dress. You will LOVE this dress. Just don’t make it out of a huge hibiscus print, in case you were tempted. 🙂
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