Unicorn Alterations

I was truly hoping for more options in the unicorn print, but I suppose I ended up with more than enough since I found a couple of pretty dupes.  In particular I found this sugarfrill dupe and for less than $30 I felt confident to make just a few changes so I could get the dress I had in mind.

This is the original dress, which is actually very pretty, but I felt overwhelmed by the lace and frills when I tried it on and wanted something a little more simple.  Just for reference, here's how it looked during the YouTube Tryon---->

It's ok.  I don't hate it and I've definitely seen it look great on a few other people, so I'm not writing off the style entirely, I just felt like it wasn't quite right for me.

After examining the seams on the shoulder ruffles, I found that they were separate pieces just sewn on top of the shoulders.  It was a quick and easy task to take a seam ripper and separate them from the shoulders with no other work necessary.  

Ditto for the lace around the neck, but the lace at the sleeve cuffs was not so easy.  For that I had to cut the lace off and then roll the raw edge under twice and them hem it by hand.  The whole alteration process took about 1.5-2 hours and some of that time was spent just examining the dress to make sure I didn't get in over my head and trash it.

So, here is the finished result.  It is now a unique dress that I love even more and because it only cost about $27, I felt confident that even if I did mess it up, I could afford to replace it and try again.

I added a red petticoat and a red headband with green flats for a Christmas-y season outfit.  I love this print!  Wear any little red accessory and the reds really standout.  I know it's too late for Christmas outfits now, but I'll get some wear out of it through the rest of winter and I'll definitely wear it again next year.

So far 2023's sewing projects are going really well.  I haven't really been planning anything as far as sewing goes, just sort of tackling things as they turn up, but this has really inspired me to get going with some more projects.

Shopping Info:  Princess Green Flower Organza Dress-$27, Margot 2.0 Flats-$79 from VIVAIA, Headband from SHEIN

Curiosity Cabinet Under Construction

Aside from cleaning the carpets and painting the walls, I didn't do any decorating when we moved into our current house.  The reason is that we weren't going to live here for long, so I didn't see much point in putting in the effort on a temporary situation.  But, as so often is the case, our temporary situation has stretched on long enough that it's starting to feel permanent.  Frustrated, I went to Mr. Bleu and asked for a timeline.  "If we're going to live here forever, I'm ok with that, just let me do some remodeling and decorating.  If not, please tell me when we'll be out of here."  Personally, I'd like for us to be out of this house in a year, tops.  If that doesn't happen, I'm going to bite the bullet and start gutting this house.  Either way, I'm ready to start living in a house that reflects my tastes instead of just being a place to sleep and store my stuff.  I want a home that is deliberately decorated, interesting and inviting, which is why I've been casually searching for pieces to furnish my someday home.  Rugs, chairs, couches, and yes, this curiosity cabinet.

If you, like most of my own family, are not familiar with the term, Curiosity cabinets first emerged in the 16th century.  At that time they were exclusive to the wealthiest class and were entire rooms rather than the single pieces of furniture that we think of today, devoted to housing and displaying an aristocrat's collections of art, relics, natural history, taxidermized animals, etc.  These curiosity cabinets or "wonder rooms" were a place for visitors to explore and served as the precursors to our modern day museums. 

If you read further and decide you'd like to create your own curiosity cabinet, the best place to begin is with the most interesting things you own.  Display them first and proudly and then build your collection around them.  I've seen cabinets filled with single item collections like porcelain dolls, but the most interesting cabinets by far are the ones with an eclectic sampling of items, which is why I'm working to combine botanical prints with porcelain and I'd like to add a few more oddities as well, but it's still growing.

Curiosity cabinets have always fascinated me and even from my childhood years.  My maternal grandmother, being a woman of comparative means in this poor area, had a curiosity cabinet filled with corals, carved ivory, figurines, and all manner of exotic things from her years traveling abroad.   I spent hours looking at it, never allowed to touch, of course, and I knew that I would one day curate my own little wonder-hutch filled with oddities and ephemera.  A couple of months ago, I had some dress-savings set aside, when I spied this cute little cabinet at a yard sale.  As much as I'd like to say it was a steal, I am fairly certain that even with today's inflation rates, I overpaid.  But, I knew it was the perfect piece to begin my own curiosity cabinet for my someday-house.

The cabinet itself is flimsy, thin wood, but antique never the less and likely handmade.  It has three sections on top and two on the bottom and even though the shelves are bowed, they seem capable of holding all my heavy dishes.  What drew me to this piece were the fruit shaped handles and large ornate fruit top piece, which I will have to show you another time as it is currently not attached since it nearly touches the ceiling when it is.  After installing it in the house, I spent a week looking at it and debating what sorts of things I would like to fill it.

In its current state, it is not nearly as interesting as I'd like it to be, this is either because I don't really have that many odd things, or more likely because all my odd things have been scattered around in storage during so many years of moving houses.  A few vintage porcelain ladies, and dogs.  Some books, some Blythes, some buttons.  And a meager hodge-podge of antique Fire King Jadeite pieces.  That's pretty much it at the moment, although I would like to note that the lady featured directly above is an interesting piece.  She used to be a lamp topper and the shade was her dress.  I might return her to that purpose one day when I have a house built and decorated properly.

So many years of moving every 6 months to 3 years usually meant that anything prized, like all my Fire King dishes, have been packed away for a decade or more to keep them safe.  Now it is all about remembering what they are and where they are.  I feel certain that this collection will continue to grow as I sort through boxes both here in my shed, in closets and under beds and at my parents' house in the same places.  I at least have a few sea shells and other bibs and bobs to add.  Plus an extensive collection of vintage costume jewelry which deserves to be displayed.  

While my family was anything but happy to see another piece of furniture squeezing in to our already cramped little cabin, I'm very pleased with what I have begun even though at the moment it's not a very "curious" collection.  For now it's rather like a mildly unusual china cabinet, but I'll keep working on it until it is a curiosity cabinet worthy of the name. 

Alas, interesting collections take time to curate, so I will keep my eyes peeled for curiosities to add to my cabinet now that I see what I'm working with.  Hopefully in a few months or years, I'll post the progress of my little curiosity cabinet and it will be much more curious.

Porcelain Garden Party

I hope your holidays were lovely and I want to take a moment to wish you much joy and many good things in this new year.  In my rush to do an outfit post about this lovely dress, I didn't really do much of a dress review.  Let this post stand as a remedy to that neglect.

Watching the live stream of the fall release, I was taking screen shots and making notes about the prints I loved and wanted to watch and save for.  This Porcelain print was second on my list after the Unicorn Defends print.  When it released I was thrilled to see it in the Garden Party dress style because off all Selkie's silhouette, that is one the most flattering to my shape and also one of my favorites. 

It appeared in Selkie's first drop on the same day that IvorySheep had it as a pre-order.  I chose to order from IvorySheep and if you've ever shopped with them, you'll know why without me saying so, but for those of you who've not yet tried them, you should know that IvorySheep goes above and beyond.  They do thorough quality control, have excellent customer service, and their packaging and presentation make every purchase feel like Christmas morning.

I did notice that the Ivory Sheep version had antique lace around the hem which was not shown in Selkie's.  When the pre-orders were ready to ship I received a message from IvorySheep alerting me that Selkie had made a last minute decision to ditch the lace and asked me if I minded at all and wanted to cancel my order.  Having seen the dress both ways, I liked them both equally and didn't mind the change but did appreciate the heads up.  The dress shipped and I received it in just a few days.

The unboxing was a treat, of course, and the try-on was perfection.  With this new size chart, Selkie really seems to have got the sizing right.  Everything is impeccable now and I can order my size with confidence.  The fabric on this dress is typical of a Day dress, light-weight and airy, and the print is stunning.

Just so we won't be too repetitive, I decided to mix things up from my last post featuring this dress, so today I'm wearing my porcelain doll ring and carrying a vintage pearl beaded clutch that has been in my possession since my junior prom in the 1990s.  

Add the garden party style to the top of my list because it really has all the style elements that I love!  I hope to see many more prints in this style because it is both comfortable and flattering, in other words, it's everything I want my dresses to be.

Shopping Info:  Porcelain Garden Party Dress-$310 from Selkiecollection.com and from IvorySheep

Selkie's Valentine's Drop

Selkie's Valentine's Drop is here!  Hurry!  Use any of these codes to save 10%  (these are affiliate codes and none of them are mine)

NATALDEE

Julia

Trisha

Sam

Emilee

VYVY 

FYI: this is the one that stole my heart and emptied my bank account. No regrets!

 

Regain the Moment

It has been so long that I can't even remember the last time it happened, but there I was, at a party and someone said the smallest thing and suddenly the party was gone.  I was lost in the memory of a traumatic event and starting to panic.  I'm not sure how long I was in that place, it felt like several minutes, but was probably only a few seconds, then I said four words to myself, the same four words I always say when I begin guided imagery.  Those words draw me into a space, a moment in time that I have created to be safe and calming.  Like a pinch in a dream, it startled me just enough that the traumatic memory lost its hold for just a moment so that I could find a way out.  I said the next four words as I mentally entered the safe space I've created through guided imagery.  The trauma was fading, so I continued on and stayed in that space in that moment until I felt calm and could return to the present.

It is an expected part of coping with trauma that you will be fine one moment and spiraling down a flashback the  next.  Triggers for flashbacks can occur at any time and often from unexpected things like a smell, a phrase or a sound.  The goal of course, is to heal from trauma, to move beyond it so that it no longer dominates any of your time, but the process can be lengthy and while it is ongoing, there are a number of techniques that have been tested and proven helpful in dealing with flashbacks, but in this post I want to discuss one in particular that I have found helpful, Guided Imagery/Safe Space.  If you had told me about this technique 20 years ago, I would have rolled my eyes and audibly scoffed.  But, in the middle of my grief when I was desperate for any relief from the hellish trauma that I was constantly reliving, this actually helped.

The human mind relies on fantasy and imagination to help us cope on a daily basis with the stressful world around us.  Since mind and body are so closely linked, if you were to imagine yourself in dangerous situation your body would respond with elevated breathing and heartrate but unless real danger were present, for most people all they need to do is stop imagining in order to stop the physiological response.  Trauma is different because it is or at one time was based in reality and so the brain becomes stuck in that moment as though it were happening again.  Working through the trauma is the long game, but getting through that moment is the short game here.  By that same measure, if you imagine yourself in a peaceful meadow on a beautiful day, the body and mind immediately slow breathing and heartrate and being to relax.  Guided Imagery simply employs the imagination to create a place of retreat when traumatic memories are threatening to overwhelm you.

Personally, I began to use this technique when I was calm and already felt safe.  Waiting until you're in the middle of a flashback is unwise.  I decided in advance what my safe space would be and then I began with a phrase, for example: I am walking in a meadow.  Then I would picture the meadow, noticing the sky and the feeling of the sunshine, details like the way the wind bends down the waist high grasses.  Then I would continue: it's a beautiful day.  Now perhaps bending down to pick a flower and closely admire the petals or the smell.   This might be enough to bring me out of the painful memories and back to the present, but if it's not then I continue with another sentence or two and more attention to details.  In this moment, I am not watching myself, it happens in first person perspective as a real memory would.

Because this moment was planned in a time of calm and then practiced over and over, it has become easier to find my way back even if it's been a while since I've needed it.  I won't say that the moment passed unnoticed, since the person standing next to me evidentially noticed something and asked if I was ok, but I was able to lift my head up, say yes, and at least give the appearance of listening to them talk even though I was mentally taking another minute or two to focus.  I eventually was able to get through it and enjoy the rest of the party thanks to guided imagery.  Is it a perfect solution?  No, I don't think such a thing exists.  Is it very helpful when there is no other help?  You bet.   No one wants to stay trapped in the trauma of their past, so although some methods may seem silly, it's worth it to at least try different avenues to healing in the hopes that some will be effective and help us to finally leave the pain behind and move into the life we want for ourselves. 

For more reading on the psychological and physiological effects and treatments for trauma, I recommend The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

Selkie Alterations: Unicorn Defends Romantic Dress

As much as I love this print and style, as much as I love Selkie, not all the styles are right for me.  There are certain shapes that look best in the puff sleeves, the puffier the better, in fact, and the oodles of ruffles only enhance their figures.  Sadly, I am not such a person and have not such a shape.  When it comes to the ruffle puffs, a little goes a long way.  At a certain point, I just feel like I'm lost in a ruffled organza sea, drowning in puffs.  That is one of the reasons Selkie's cotton styles have become my go-to and I own very little organza.  Cotton tends to lay flatter and because it's heavier, designers have to go easy on the ruffles.  Enter  The Unicorn Defends Romantic Dress.

When it comes to this print, I actually prefer the way the organza looks over the cotton version, but sadly none of the organza styles would looked nice on me, so I opted for this lovely romantic style which has a nice waist, long skirt and long sleeves.  Much like the puff sleeves on organza dresses, I love these sleeves on other people, but they're just not right for me.  Since this dress is made of cotton and since I have also made my own puff dresses from cotton several times, I decided to attempt to alter the sleeves to something a little less overwhelming.  

I recently purchased a Regency dress pattern, McCall's 8132 and decided to use this pattern to guide me instead of free-handing this little project so that I get the best and most symmetrical results.  I unfolded the labyrinthine pages and located the piece I needed only to find that it was much, much shorter than I wanted the sleeves to be.  So, I wadded it back up, shoved it into the package and went for plan B, which was just finding a dress with a sleeve length I liked, measuring, and then using that length to help me create the new sleeves.  The dress I used was my Love Letters Beach Day dress and the sleeves measured 14"/35.5cm.  I measured down 14"/35.5cm plus an extra inch/2.5cm for a seam allowance and then cut off the excess sleeves.

First I hemmed up the new sleeve, then I measured out a casing and elastic.  I tacked in the casing by hand then stitched it in with the machine.  After that I put in the elastic and stitched it closed.  Easy-peasy.  It took about an hour and a half to complete this task, mainly because I did a lot of measuring to make sure I was getting the right length and that both sleeves were even.

I left the long ruffle at the bottom like the long sleeves had because I like that detail.  And, although I do wish that I had made the sleeves a little longer, overall I am much happier with them being shorter, off my wrists and out of my way.

While I was making alterations, I did end up trimming off much of the drawstrings.  I'm never selling this dress and I just don't need that much string dragging the ground, so I tied knots in each string and then snipped them off about a centimeter below the knots.  They're still functional and no more dragging.

I know that many people cringe when they see/hear me talking about making such alterations to a dress and it always garners at least one dislike when I post alteration videos on YouTube, but I'm not exactly sure why.  Perhaps there are dress purists in the world who cannot stand to see the completed work altered in any way.  

While I too used to dislike the idea of buying a piece of clothing only to have to invest more time and energy working on it myself, I've come to see the value in having clothes that are uniquely tailored to my shape and my tastes.  Dress makers aren't mind readers, sometimes we have to make a few tweaks to get exactly what we're dreaming of.

And so, with just an hour and a half of investing my time and sewing skills, I now have a unique dress that I adore and am sure to wear much more often because of it.  I encourage you too that if you'd like to see a change, why not try it or find a professional who will.  It might not work out, but it might be everything you've wanted and more.

Shopping Info:  The Unicorn Defends Romantics Dress from Selkie and Ivory Sheep.

Patchouli Princess

Well, hello, Late 1970s, Holly Hobby, and the Back-to-the-Land Hippy movement!  The Patchouli Patchwork print tips its cap to them all and I love every blessed square on it.  There are prints I love but just can't afford unless they find their way to the dupe rack and fortunately this Patchouli Patchwork print eventually did.  I debated it so many times but could just never bring myself to plunk down the cash for the original style but at a tenth of the price, I could totally afford this dress and I'm glad it's now mine because I really do adore the print even if it is somewhat eccentric.

Babydoll puff dresses are not the most flattering style on me.  They're so short I feel almost indecent, and so puffy I feel like I'm drowning in organza, and yet I love the prints so I brave the puffs, even if they're not quite my size and scandalously short.  There's always a work-around if you want something bad enough, so after much thought, I have found a way to comfortably wear this dress.

This particular puff I had to take in a couple of inches at the bust and waist to get a better fit and because it is so short, I thought my rust corduroy shorts with fleece lined tights and thigh high boots would be the perfect accessories for maximum coverage.

This is my first time trying these fleece-lined tights and Wow!  Why hasn't someone invented these sooner?!  They're fantastic!  They look like sheer hosiery on bare skin, but they're actually a sheer finish on top of a layer of fleece so your legs look bare and stay warm.  I love them, and because I'm not showing any actual skin, not only do I stay warmer, but I feel more confident because I know I'm covered.

Now that I have finally discovered the way to wear these sheer organza mini-dresses and stay warm through layering, fleece tights, and high boots, I think I'll wear them on every date night all winter long!  

I know I have tons of dresses and people, on Youtube in particular, like to ask what I do with them all.  The answer is I wear them, sell them, or donate them, but mostly, I wear them.  I wear the cotton dresses to work.  I wear the organza and lace dresses to every holiday, special event, and party.  And I don't care how others are dressed.  I wear what makes me happy and I wear it all the time.  

Even on days when I don't particularly feel like dressing up, I usually convince myself by saying that life is short and I enjoy it so much more when I wear something lovely.  If that fails to motivate me, I follow it with the simple mantra:  Dress like you'll be a ghost in these clothes.   That's usually the ticket.

Although, to add to that, I recently read a quote from the late great Vivienne Westwood, "You have a more interesting life if you wear impressive clothes."   And I have found it to be true.  When I dress up, I meet more people, act more confidently, and generally just enjoy life more than if I were dressed down.  It may all be psychological, but it works, so why not.

Shopping info:  Patchwork Dress-$24, shorts and boots from Forever 21, Fleece tights-$13 from Walmart