After Marilyn, a UFO

So, you think you know what a UFO is?  What's that you say? It's an "Unidentified Flying Object"?

*BUZZ!!!!*  Nope.  Sorry.  You are incorrect.

In the world of this seamstress a UFO is an UnFinished Outfit.  That's what I have for you today.  Though I suppose a single shirt doesn't technically count as an outfit.  Meh.  Whatever.  Point is, I finished something that had been sitting untouched for many months.

I started it before I got the task of Marilyn, but had to hang it aside once I got charged to make the wedding dress.  So yeah, it definitely was a good number of months before I got my hands on it again. 

While I was making Marilyn I would look over every once in a while and see this guy, but I felt guilty because I could never really focus.  It had been sitting for months without a collar and buttons.  How hard is it to add buttons and a collar?  Very hard when you aren't sure that you cut the collar right.

When I started this blouse I didn't know that I would eventually start this blog so I didn't take pictures of the early process.  I couldn't figure if I wanted white, clear, or pink buttons.  Obviously the best choice was white.  The fabric is just a soft cotton woven that I got from downtown for something like $5.  I totally need to go back and feed my fabric addiction.  No, I don't. Yes, I do. No, I don't. Yes, we do.  Yes, we do.  Yes, We do.

YES, WE DO.

This pattern came from McCalls #6035.  However, I had to do some heavy manipulating of the pattern to make it to my liking.  I wanted it to be longer and a little more loose around the high hips so I wouldn't feel constricted.  I fell in love with the idea of the mandarin collar, but I wasn't sure it would fit once I cut it.  I like the collar ok.  I think I would like this style better with a different pattern.

I do believe sometimes if you are stuck on a problem, put it aside and work on something else.  our brains are amazing things that work out all sorts of situations in our subconscience.  Sometimes is does take a few months for solutions to incubate on the back burner of our minds, at least that's the truth for me. 

If you are ever stuck on a problem give your brain a rest.  You might be right on top of the solution, but can't see it cause your face is so close.  Sometimes you just need to step back, step away, and look at something else.  Often times when you go back with fresh eyes you'll see the solution immediately, et voila, your problem is quickly, if not, easily solved.

And when you are done, then you can thank the heavenly beings for poking your brain and injecting that wonderful solution while you weren't looking.

Surrogate Mother

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks as I've been finishing up all of the last minute things that come when a wedding is around the corner.  Things like getting nice and toasty with wine at a bachelorette party.  Getting so toasty that I was apparently really enjoying cutting out paper penises with a pair of tiny cuticle scissors for a game. (What is the plural for penis anyway?  Penuses? Penii?)  I was so toasty that I put on my baby sister's straw fedora-thing hat and started singing to myself... Baby sister recorded these performances!!! No, you will NOT get to see any of the incriminating evidence! (Unless, of course, I get a copy.  Then maybe.)

This past weekend we had the Jack'n'Jill bridal shower.  I'm pretty sure I was the only one who danced the entire time.  I had two beers, glass of white wine, Muscato, and some champagne.  ("CHAMPAGNE!") But I'm not writing this to confess my drunkenness to you.

I came here to talk about how I felt upon finishing Marilyn.  On Tuesday, May 14th, I felt like this:

*Kermit Flail* Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

I had completed every stitch.  Or so I thought.

When I was taking her to be delivered I remembered that I forgot to put the hooks on for the bustle.  My mother sacrificed a bra so I could get some white hooks.  Without my Ma (Pronounced, MAH! not Maw) I would have made a grave error in the finishing of this dress using silver hooks instead of white.  Ma saved me and a double bustle ended up happening on the skirt.

I also decided to go ahead and glue the swarovski crystals on. I'm glad I made that decision:

See swarovski. Pretty bling.

So, anyway,  I was sitting alone in my old bedroom.  It was the room that my sister, the bride, moved into when I got hitched.  I sat at the end of my sister's old bed working on the final stitches, snipping off loose threads.  I dunno... I just... Out of nowhere I started to feel this strange sort of melancholy.

I've dealt with clinical depression, but this, this was a really unfamiliar emotion.  Which is why I suspect I got a taste of what a surrogate mother may feel in that last hour of labor when they are giving birth to someone else's child. I knew from the start she was never going to be mine and I was totally ok with that - I have my own wedding dress, thankyouverymuch.  It was the impending loss, I think, but a good loss.

I worked closely with the bride creating the concept for the dress.  I felt elation when she tried on the third style mock-up for the first time and it was right. I'm sure it was same kind of happy feeling women who are trying to conceive feel when the pregnancy test turns up positive.  I felt the fear of losing the dress in those early stages when I had to perform that emergency surgery when I burned her (see: http://themagicgarment.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-do-rocky-and-goddess-kali-have-in.html ). So yeah, like pregnant women who feel a bond with their babies, I did feel a certain kind of attachment to this gown.

I've had attachments to clothes before, but this was special.  Maybe because it was the first (and for the record: ONLY) wedding dress I've made.  Maybe it was because it was for my sister and I needed it to be perfect.

Whatever the case, I was having a bittersweet moment in that bedroom.  She came in and we did the final dress fitting.  (Side note: How do you forget to put the veil on with the dress?  I dunno, but we did. HAH!)

When the final crystal was glued on she was swaddled in a garment bag, whisked away from my arms, and disappeared from my sight.  Yeah, I was definitely having a surrogate mother moment.

However, that was forgotten for a little while as I raided my mother's fridge for bridal party leftovers.  I ended up bringing home a big tray of white rice, smoked chicken, a tray of lasagna, black beans, cheese, chips, and about two dozen sodas.  Ah, Food, The Great Pacifier.

When I got home last night the finality of the loss didn't hit until I walked into the sewing room to put something away.

The purple dress form was bare.

The excited buzz that hung around Marilyn was gone.

The room was quiet.

At that moment waves and waves of emotion hit me.  There was the hint of sadness.  But above all there was abundant joy because I am confident the bride will look lovely on her wedding day.  My work there is complete.  I am content.  I will post complete pictures of Marilyn and the bride once I get pictures when they return from the wedding and honeymoon.

"What now?" you ask.

Now, I prepare myself for all the future projects.  My sewing and art room at wide open for whatever I want.  Corsets, corsets, more corsets, painting, a super sekret spechul project, more corsets, more canvas paintings, a dress for me, and maybe something for someone else.  I said MAYBE something for someone else.  I'll get a glass of muscato and think about it.

Right now,  I think I want to be selfish and make something for me...