The Crab Dress Goes On Holiday

Yes, the Crab Dress went on vacation! The Crab Dress and I took a cruise, along with my mother. Here is a shot of our ship from St. Thomas, a gorgeous island that I would love to visit again:
We also visited Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, in a nine day trip. It was lovely, and best of all, I got to wear the silk dress I made for the Heart Ball (but didn't wear) that I posted about here. The dress was complete, however, for the cruise and I wore it for one of our formal nights.

I put the zipper in by hand; it was the first one I have ever done by hand and I don't know if I did it right, but here it is:
Here it is from inside the bodice:
And here is the back while I have it on:
I used bias hem tape a la Summerset and put in a machine hem since the circle skirt went forever and I was in a hurry. Worked like a charm:

I made a sash for the dress, and used my new serger (well, new to me). I was impressed at how fast and easy it was to make by sergering alone. I used a few hand stitches to close up the 4 inches or so I left open to turn it inside out: Here is a not so great photo of the dress with the crinoline:

But Mother liked it better without the crinoline, plus, I didn't want to pack the crinoline for the cruise, so I wore it without it:I love this dress, the way it feels, the way it moves, and even the smell of the silk. The photos, in my opinion, don't do it justice, and it has nothing to do with any skill I may or may not have - the fabric does all the work for me!

The cruise was special in many respects but especially for this: at least three of the evenings Mother and I each wore dresses that I had made to dinner. Did I get photos of all of these? Nooooo, of course not. But we did get photos of some which I will show in the next couple of weeks.

Parting Shot: In the end, it is probably good that I didn't wear the silk dress to the Heart Ball and wore the predictable little black dress. Because this is what my date wore!

A Good Day

I realize I haven't posted in a month, and I have no excuse except that Life just got in the way. When we last left off, I was sewing madly for a black tie ball WHICH I got finished except for handsewing the lining down in the bodice. I ended up not stressing about it, and wearing the usual little black dress instead. To compensate, I bought outrageously expensive shoes instead, so I was completely dressed for the ball.

Photos of the silk dress will follow soon. I am waiting for my mother to arrive for a visit and she will be able to take some proper photos of me in the dress (I think it fits beautifully), with and without the crinoline.

Today, however, was my birthday, and thus, the Crab Dress made its first appearance of the year! I love this shirtdress; I made it from a vintage pattern from the 1950's - I'll have to look up the pattern number. I've made three versions, but this is my favorite, because what is not to love about blue crabs? The photo above was taken in a used bookstore I visited in Carytown today. I had never been in it before and found several used quilting books. It was fun browsing through it all; plus, the shop has a resident cat! I didn't catch his name, but I'll try to get properly introduced next time.

And here is the dress in a second hand vintage dress shop called Bygones in Carytown as well. The women who worked in the shop wanted to know if the dress was vintage. I could have stayed there all day because not only do they have vintage clothing, but they sell vintage patterns. I resisted, though because I have so many vintage patterns I haven't even touched yet.

Here is the pattern:

And here is a close up of the blue crabs:

Here are the books I got at the bookstore. The Big Book of Quilting was $ 9.50 and the book on bindings was $ 6.50:

And what would a special day be without flowers from my friend Eileen?

VickiW was very generous. She gave me this darling pin cushion, which I shamelessly asked for:

AND she made me these wonderful potholders. (I shamelessly asked for these as well.) She surprised me by making them in the same fabrics I am using to make a quilt for my bed. So my potholders will match my quilt. I told Vicki that they were too nice to use, but she reminded me that they wouldn't be used much, given the amount of cooking I actually do. She is right and I love them:

Her birthday postcard arrived right on time, and it apparently represents her sewing room floor!

My friend Tony sent me one of my favorite cards because it had this magnificent cat on it:

And my friend Joe sent me a card, with this brochure from a quilting exhibit he saw at a museum in Nebraska. I have never heard of Grace Synder, but I want to learn more about her:

A wonderful day, all the way around. I appreciate everyone's phone calls and well wishes. I can't believe I am this old. My parents can't believe they have a child this old. I always tell my mother that grey hair doesn't mean you are old - unless it is on your kids!

Parting Shot: Still to come. I promise we will return to our regularly scheduled sewing programming soon.