Opening Night Dress '13: Let the beading begin!

It has begun. Which means I'll be watching a lot of TV and movies for awhile. I watched the last Batman  yesterday (which scared me this summer when I thought of my friends moving to NYC, but now I don't mind...I could hack it) and season one of The Muppet Show with my mom last night (my copy). In all I worked for about 4.5 hours? I should keep track so y'all know how much time dress making really takes so when you ask me for quotes you don't pass out.

piece is basted onto my mom's quilt frame.
The thread tracing pulled when stretched so I clipped it in places.
In future I'd leave more ease. 

pulled tight to simulate how it will be when worn

I'm a little worried about it being see through...
beading may distract, but am considering lining the back
and facing the front. 

This was at about 3.5 hours in. 

About a quarter done?...a scant quarter...let's just say it's a quarter

I'm dying over how beautiful this is going to be

Other notes:
-I'm tying a knot after every 15 beads or so, in case something happens I won't have to redo much,.
-I'm worried about the resiliency of the fabric...meaning I think it's being stretched too much and won't bounce back to its original dimensions. I compare it with the pattern piece and sometimes it looks like I can get it back to where it needs to be, and other times not. Having it strung up isn't the best way to tell, so we'll see when it comes off the frame. Cross that bridge when we get to it.
-I'm feeling good about the amount of beads I have *knock on wood*. I think since I'm using so many different types I'll be ok...I might run out of the pink, but those are from in town. I'm feeling good about my NYC pearls and sequins. *knockonwoodknockonwoodknockonwood/

Call the Midwife

I watched this whole series for you yesterday!

Call the Midwife is a BBC drama that premiered in 2012 and was overshadowed by Downton. I've known about it for as long as it's been out, but was one that was focused on Downton. Now I've got some time off of Downton, with some hard feelings, so I've given Call the Midwife a go.

Tellyspotting article here. 

It's about nuns delivering babies in London's East End in the late 1950s. I can see how it might not attract as many viewers as Downton as I feel it's a show women would like more. I'd be interested to know of any men's opinions on it versus Downton. There are many many many birth scenes that while not full on, can get pretty graphic. As would be expected many possible pregnancy complications are tackled and either overcome....or not. I cried every episode. It's a beautiful show with likable characters, touching plots and high production value.

Venessa Redgrave does the voice over for the main character Jenny, as she looks back on her life. Her commentary provides the insight and "moral" of each episode. The season starts with her saying that all babies are born out of love or lust and that she was to learn of the passions and loves that brings life into the world. The rest of the season follows this theme as different kinds of love are examined. It's a great study on love (which of course has been popping up in my life so much recently...)

Series 1 is on Netflix, six episodes of 52 minutes. I think it's also available on PBS's website. Series 2 premieres on PBS this Sunday. It's not a Masterpiece series oddly enough...It's on after Doc Martin but before Masterpiece.

Mr. Selfridge is premiering on Masterpiece this week too...and I'm not so keen on watching it. I'm not sure why, but we'll see. I never got into Upstairs Downstairs either...things I'm sure I'll amend someday like I have with Call the Midwife.

Also, the actress that plays Nurse Jenny Lee looks like my beautiful friend Elizabeth, especially with her hair short now. 

Sexy Sunday: Vintage

It was a vintage day. 1960s to be precise, but a more accurate year I cannot say. The dress is early 60's, the coat is later, if I had to guess. I took my orange winter coat to the dry cleaners but then it got all wintery again...luckily I had ANOTHER orange coat. Aren't I a lucky girl?

From my friend Erin.
Thank you thank you!

Dress: gift from costume friends
Pin: Welsh dragon
Plaid tights
Nine West shoes (current favorites)

Things about me men should find attractive:

I am conscientiously not a hoarder.
I bake to show love.
I like to iron shirts.
I have soft elbows.
I'm really good at remembering birthdays.
I kill my own spiders.
I have a 34" inseam.
My hair's pretty fancy sometimes. 

Opening Night Dress '13: I just want to bead it already!

I had my mom fit me in the mock up a couple of nights ago and I trued up the patterns today. I thread traced the pieces that will be beaded and will bead them before I cut them out. I obviously won't bead into the seam allowance, nor close to it. I'm planning on leaving 1/4"-3/8" clear of the seam so I can keep the foot away from the beads and have room to take it in if I need to. I'm going to set it up on my mom's quilt frame bc the beads won't work with a hoop. 

I just want to bead it! SO excited (for now...)
Since I'm not sure if I'll have enough beads I'll do the back and shoulder pieces first and shorten the sleeves if I need to. I'm not 100% sold on the sleeve length as it is, so this'll give me more time to think/might force me into shortening them.

Silk gazar

Jackjack worked with silk gazar this fall in NYC and I finally got to see it at Mood. This stuff is incredible. If you can imagine a quadruple weight organza then you're getting close.

Wikipedia says:

Gazar (also gazaar) is a silk or wool plain weave fabric made with high-twist double yarns woven as one. Gazar has a crisp hand and a smooth texture.

Gazar was developed by the Swiss textile firm Alexander in collaboration with Basque couturier Cristobal Balenciaga, who featured silk gazar in his collections of 1960-68. Balenciaga's mastery of this gleaming, lightweight fabric with its "claylike" ability to hold its shape was exemplified by the trapezoid wedding gowns in his collections of 1967 and 1968.

Dior Couture Spring 2013

Balenciaga 1967

Oscar de la Renta Resort 2011

Jason Wu...I just want to have this. 

Watch looks 28 and 44 move from the Dior Couture show.
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2013CTR-CDIOR

More about love...

You know how Marie Curie comes up in your English assignment in 5th grade and all of a sudden she's everywhere that week? That night's episode of The Simpsons, the next Friday's episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, various and sundry other sources.

Whelp, since my Valentine's Day entry love talk has been everywhere, esp in relation to relationships. I've had more than three conversations in the past two weeks with disparate (nonMormon) friends about relationships and marriage, Sunday School was about how to have a good marriage and how to treat your spouse, and my friend posted an Ensign article on Facebook that I think is so on point about everything I've been trying to communicate.

One of the amazing things about LDS doctrine is that it's very simple and logical. Spiritual and moral reasons aside, not drinking, doing drugs, sleeping around, staying out of debt and having a 72 hour kit makes sense. So what do we say on marriages and love? (taken from Agency and Love in Marriage by Elder Lynn G. Robbins)

"There are no perfect marriages in the world because there are no perfect people. But our doctrine teaches us how to nurture our marriages toward perfection and how to keep the romance in them along the way. No one need ever “fall out of love.” Falling out of love is a cunning myth which causes many broken hearts and homes."

"Too many believe that love is a condition, a feeling that involves 100 percent of the heart, something that happens to you. They disassociate love from the mind and, therefore, from agency. In commanding us to love, the Lord refers to something much deeper than romance—a love that is the most profound form of loyalty. He is teaching us that love is something more than feelings of the heart; it is also a covenant we keep with soul and mind."

"Because love is as much a verb as it is a noun, the phrase “I love you” is much more a promise of behavior and commitment than it is an expression of feeling. “I love you” is a phrase we should be using in our homes much more than we do. "

"Scripturally, the Lord is very clear with us on this doctrine—you can’t “fall out of love,” because love is something you decide. Agency plays a fundamental role in our relationships with one another. This being true, we must make the conscious decision that we will love our spouse and family with all our heart, soul, and mind; that we will build, not “fall into,” strong, loving marriages and families. “Don’t just pray to marry the one you love. Instead, pray to love the one you marry.”"

"It is only by our constant, committed effort that we will make the love we share with our spouse a constant for eternity."

Putting it out there: I have very little romantic relationship experience (although I love my friends dearly), but I 100% believe that love takes work and that the constant and daily effort to make your partner happy is how to have a successful relationship. I've seen it work and know it's true.