burdastyle marie skirt
The Burdastyle Marie skirt is a really cute bubble-type skirt that's pretty easy and quick to put together (front and back are exactly the same). I did it in a gray cotton brocade I've had stashed for a while. I used leftover fabric from my chipao to add a lining. This added some time, but in all, it only took me Saturday, Sunday, and maybe 2 evenings, even with me redoing the 2 side seams.
It's pretty cute and bubbly and makes your butt look funny. I like.
Sewing / next time notes for those attempting it:
- Don't forget to staystitch the waistband pieces before you put things together
- I'd make the waist band 1-2 inches thicker for a real high-waisted look
- The skirt was at least 1.5 inches too large at the waist on my first go-around, I ended adding an extra 3/8" on the side seam allowances, and it still sits at my belly button vs. higher.
- Both things I've made from Burdastyle so far have been 1-2 sizes too big when I've put them together, and tissue-fitting doesn't expose the issues. Muslins might be a good idea, but I'm lazy. Pattern, or just me?
silhouettes
Playing with what silhouettes look best on me.
I read about it in Threads magazine at the bookstore a while ago. You take a front-facing picture of yourself in your undies, then trace your body and key features, like the bust point. Then you can draw clothes on it. Fun, right?
I did not have any pictures of me in my undies, and I didn't really want one to exist, so I composited it together from a few different photos.
- top left = skirt volume (poufing at the hips works, never knew)
- bottom left = waist location (best at belly button)
- top right = sleeve/shirt volumes (I should stop wearing those empire-waisted flowy things I guess)
- bottom right = random, plus a skirt I am almost done with making
So I was thinking ... wouldn't it be cool to print out a poster-sized grid of bodies to draw clothes onto? And wouldn't it be even cooler if I programmed something that would take basic input on waist/bust/hip/height and it would output your own poster for you to print? For extra fanciness, you could pick hairstyles and colors and things like that. It would be for both boys and girls. Would you want something like that?
stupid form design
Here's another dumb airline web design for laughs, this time from the Eva Air online mileage club membership form. (The image on the left was originally 2500 pixels high).
The "ID number" is not marked as required, but the form keeps throwing it as an error if you don't fill it out. Garbage doesn't work either. I finally figured out that it's the - get this - Taiwan National ID number, and it needs to have the right gender and checksum digits in the right spot. OK. First, it's not marked as required, and second, durr.. I picked USA as my nationality.
Also note the two lovely long lists of form entry syntax rules pushing the fields below the fold. Excellent way to keep people from earning mileage points and keep down those costs.
Get your fake Taiwan ID today! (via)
bzz bee
I felt like drawing. The peach trees here have been flowering for a few weeks already.
project updates
Still here! And sniffly.
Sewing-wise
I'm taking the moulage class right now, it's lots of fun, and everyone in it is really nice. Evidently, I'm an "H" shape and have very slanted shoulders. I guess I kind of always knew that. There's nothing quite like being in a roomful of very differently-shaped women each wearing their own moulage. Here's a bad photo of it on my dressform (ignore the extra waistlines and the wonky bust point). You will never actually see me wearing it. Once we make slopers from it, I think my first project will be a basic shirtdress.
On the burdastyle submission front, I decided to just send it in without copyright in the spirit of sharing and remixing especially since they're doing such an awesome thing with their free patterns. I also cut out the pattern for the Marie skirt since it looked quick and easy. Not sure about whether the bubbly abdomen will be flattering though.
Food-wise
I made pot roast for ~18 people for S's birthday. I now know that doubling a braising recipe = more than double the time. Oi. It was the Cook's Illustrated recipe from 2002 (you'll need a subscription). Very tasty.
S tried, then I tried the no-knead bread that was all over the food blogs and New York Times a while back. Both times it was gummy, tasted terrible, and went into the trash. Looked beautiful though.
See?