Is this one:

It's from fabric I bought very recently from FashionFabricsClub, and it's the same pattern (Vogue 9670) as Tuesday's dress. (I wore yet ANOTHER version yesterday, but I didn't have time to post about it!)

I didn't do anything fancy with this neck facing except cut it with the stripes running the other way; it's so lightweight that I didn't want to fuss with it. Not that you can really see it in this picture:

And the back, which I'm afraid doesn't match from the bodice to the skirt AT ALL, whoops:

The stripes on the front matched more-or-less accidentally, but then I didn't have enough fabric to recut the back skirt to make them match on the back. Next time I'll know how to do it, it's simultaneously easier (to get the fabric cut right) and trickier (to get the pleats to match right) than I thought. It was complicated by the fact that I've adjusted this pattern to be about an inch bigger all around at the waist, which means I always have to re-jigger the pleats, anyway.

The zipper is a bit nicer on this version:

I hadn't sewn up the hem yet when I took these photos so you can see it in the pictures — it's gray bias tape and hem tape.

My only uncertainty about this dress is just HOW much it's going to wrinkle today. It is pretty lightweight shirting cotton, after all … but it's also really nice and cool and feels great!

Is this one:

It's from fabric I bought in China, and it's the same pattern (Vogue 9670) as this dress.

Here's the neck facing, which is a bright pink that matches the pink in the flowers:

And the back:

I actually had fun matching the print here, on the center front and back seams. It wasn't as nit.jpgcky or as tedious as I imagined it would be, maybe because the repeat of the pattern is a manageable size.

What I didn't do very well was the zipper:

The hem is done with pale blue bias tape but the sleeves are done with a pale aqua bias tape. Because I had some left over, and because it looked cool. (You can see that in the top photo.)

This is a really comfortable dress — so comfortable, in fact, that I've made it four times now. I'm wearing the next two over the next few days, and I'll post pictures of them tomorrow and Thursday!

First item of business: Lisa at the Vintage Fashion Library is a donation/sale event: Now through April 19th, you get 15% off your purchase price with keyword PINK, and 10% of your purchase price will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.

(I really want this pattern at the VFL but it's not my size. Anyone got one in a 36/38? I don't have time to grade stuff right now …)

Check out these super-cute uniform dresses! (Thanks, Jesse, for the link.) I haven't clicked through to the source page because I'm sure they are depressingly expensive. If I'm wrong feel free to let me know.

Just an update: did you know that the Vintage Pattern Wiki is one of the top sites on Wikia, in # of articles? (We're the top site if measured in pure stylishness.) Let's get cranking and knock those World of Warcraft guilds back on their heels!

Hana tells me there's a Duro-like tunic dress pattern available as a free download on the Burda site … it looks pretty cute!

That's all for this random Friday; check in next week for slightly more ordered posts.

WANTED: for racketeering, aggravated assault, shoplifting, and littering (gum):

FEMALE, blond, 5'3", approximately fifteen years old. Last seen in gray long-sleeved dress with black handbag.

FEMALE, brunette, 5'4", approximately fourteen years old. Last seen in maroon and pink short-sleeved dress. No bag.

SUSPECTS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

Suspects are wanted for questioning in connection with a robbery and assault in Weinberg's Drug Store on Tuesday, April 14. Taken were multiple lipsticks and powder compacts, several hairbands, and an unknown quantity of chewing gum. Suspects tripped the store proprietor when he gave chase and doused him with a combination of flour and orange soda. Suspects may have one or more unknown accomplices, given the amount of gum missing.

$5 Reward for information leading to the arrest and grounding of suspects.

(Thanks to Janet at Lanetz Living for the image!)

Okay, no one is excited about Tax Day, but here's a fantastic dress, made entirely of tax forms, to distract you:

(thanks to Kariann, Renee, and Lisa for the link!)

Also: the winner of the pockets haiku contest is …

Pocket—something there?
Feel doe-soft ears and paw pads;
Kitten stowaway!

The winner is Shay, of Little Gray Bungalow! Congratulations! (Kittens? Always win.) Shay, email me for your copy of Singer Perfect Plus and the coupon for $10 off your order at MOMSPatterns (thanks to Jen).

(Photo by lovedaylemon, used by permission)

Gail at the V&A emailed me to say that the museum is organi[s|z]ing a new exhibition on wedding fashion for 2011, and they need some help in creating a very large database of wedding fashions. They're looking for photographs of clothes worn for weddings from all cultures between 1840 and the present (and by "weddings," they include civil partnerships, yay).

You can upload up to three photographs from any wedding and the V&A would like the emphasis to be on the fashion (although they already have some lovely pictures of flowers and cakes).

Their only stipulation is that the couple should be named and the date of the wedding should be included. There are also some optional fields, such as location, religion of ceremony, and dressmaker/designer. The V&A would love to see some handmade dresses added!

I think this is a fantastic project (and I hope to be able to upload some photos myself)! Check it out here!

Lisa (at Miss Helene's) sent me the link to this little number:

I kinda love it. Doesn't it feel weirdly postmodern, though? I mean, imagine it a foot shorter, made up in black nylon taffeta, by a designer whose name ends with a vowel, and worn with a rat's-nest hairstyle, ripped tights, and platform witch boots. See what I mean?

(And yes, I realize that it's terrible that she has those two pockets on the side where she's MISSING an ARM. So inconvenient!)

I really wish I had been in the editorial meeting when this was brought up for approval. I mean, DUH. Martha Stewart + Crafts + Reference? Complete and total no-brainer. I bet the editor just said "Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts" and everyone else said "Yup," and moved on to the next title on the agenda.

It doesn't disappoint (okay, it doesn't disappoint ME). (I loves me an A-Z format.) The projects are everything you'd expect from our friend Martha, and more … incredibly cute pom-pom baby chicks, scrolled-paper hearts, rubber-stamped rain hats … if it can be painted, cut, folded, beaded, silkscreened, marbleized, stamped, glittered, punched, or glued, Martha will tell you how to do it. With impeccably-styled full-color photographs, of course.

If you are a known crafter (and not a vocal Martha-hater — I know they exist, but I don't get it, the woman is like a superhero—or at the very least, Lex Luthor, and I've kind of always had a soft spot for Lex Luthor) and do not receive this book from a loved one at the next major holiday, you may need to consider whether or not anybody loves you. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is.

Let's get one thing straight (especially if you are related to me): There is no chance that I am going to make anything in Alicia Paulson's new book, Stitched in Time, anytime soon.

(Okay, *maybe* the Baby Clothes Quilt. I do still have a bunch of baby clothes around here …)

But that's only because I'm WAY overscheduled right now. If I could sit down every Sunday from now until Christmas with a pot of tea, an old movie on the television, and this book, I would work my way through it beginning to end. There are SO MANY adorable projects … and, as the saying goes, so little time. Not to mention the fact that my niece is still too young for that cute little doll on the cover …

However, even if you don't have time to make even the smallest potholder, you might still want to pick up this book just for the gorgeous photographs and Alicia's lovely voice on the page. (And if you're not already reading her blog, well, why aren't you?)

Because we can all hope that SOMEDAY, you're going to have a rainy Sunday with nothing to do, and you are going to want this book and a box full of fabric scraps and a little girl to make a doll for. You ARE. That's just how the world works. It's always better to be prepared!

The Civilized Shopper's Guide to Edinburgh and Glasgow is an adorable little book that is fueling my never-all-that-dormant desire to pay a visit to Scotland. (2009 *is* being promoted as "Homecoming Scotland", although I'm not sure if there's a statute of limitations as to how long ago, exactly, your ancestors can have left Scotland before they say "Eh? Never heard of you" when you show up again. I'm thinking two-hundred-some years is pushing it.)

Anyway, if you are lucky enough to be getting to Edinburgh (or Glasgow) this year, or both, I'd really recommend this little book. Unlike a lot of shopping guidebooks I've seen, this one really concentrates on unique shops, and shops all across the consumer spectrum: there's the obvious wool and whiskey and so on, but also chocolates, bagpipery supplies, and vintage clothing. The book includes so many luscious full-color photographs that I want to go to Scotland now just for the light in the pictures!