more old school: dominoes

Our oldest son was in the Domino Club this year. I didn't even know schools had domino clubs these days. Actually, I don't really know if they had them when I was in school way back when (7 year-old: "You probably dressed like Mary and Laura Ingalls when you were in school, right mom?"). Clubs in general weren't really on my radar. I went to class, played a few sports, and spent what afternoons were left as an assistant to the assistant of a local construction company. Then I did my homework and went to bed. Exciting, true, but nothing compared with building up and knocking down a room full of small rectangles.

Last month the Domino Club spent an entire saturday setting up 12,100 dominoes, and at 8pm all comers were invited to watch them go down.

While dominoes do not require a high level of cardiovascular exertion, they do involve dexterity, stooping, and actual communication -- a monumental leap beyond video games and texting. And for that alone I would be a solid fan.

But when you add the hush of a room as one person's finger starts everything in motion, it's hard not to think of dominoes as a metaphor for my life. Maybe all of those seemingly mundane tasks I sludge through all day, especially the ones that tend to be undone within ten minutes, have some magic lurking within them. Maybe an afternoon vacuuming and doing dishes would feel saturated with excitement and satisfaction if someone showed up to videotape (and cheer and pat me on the back) as the kids rushed in and undid it all.

Maybe I just need to imagine my own portable crowd of avid fans, watching as I build it up and let it fall. Maybe I just need to join them in a little cheer for myself now and then.

embroidered dilemma

I spotted this tablecloth at the Goodwill Bargain Barn and immediately snatched it up. A friend of mine had recently put together a charming pinafore for her daughter out of an old embroidered table runner, and I had just been wishing I could find something suitable for a similar project. The Bargain Barn, though it contains amazing treasures, rarely delivers specific items that you are in search of. So I counted myself doubly lucky to have found an embroidered linen at all, let alone one that was so unique. I've never seen anything like it before. Never a fan of embroidery, perhaps my less than enthusiastic feelings toward this enduring art stemmed from the overabundance of floral themes. This pastoral scene in oranges and greens was a welcome anomaly.

Now here's the dilemma: after washing the tablecloth I suddenly wasn't so sure I wanted to cut it up and transform it into some item of clothing for the girls. When would I ever find such a tablecloth again? But can you imagine a little dress or pinafore made out of it? Now you see my dilemma.

Which fate would you choose for such a find?

visual obsessions: roadtripping and windows

We've been on the road this weekend. Colorado, Wyoming, Utah -- unbelievable landscape all the way. Having spent a lot of time on the road over the years, most of it with enough little people in tow that stopping to take photographs is not much of an option, I've taken a lot of in-motion pictures. Gazillions, to be precise. If a great scene presents itself during a potty break, fantastic, but for the main part my shots have been through the window at high speed. Over the years, these drive-by (camera)shootings have become an art form unto themselves.

So to my visual obsession with Shadows, we can officially add Roadtripping Window Shots.

wednesday's ode

To beautiful surroundings.

around the house: frames

When we got married, Bryan and I were both wading through the morass of our bachelor degrees and jobless (maybe not the way people dream of starting, but ahhh those early days were lovely). The week after the wedding we started a new semester and went looking for work. Bryan soon found a posting for a woodworker at a gallery framemaking shop and, anxious for any job that would keep him out of a chair, he immediately took in a resume. The owner of the company was impressed by his artistic bent and sent him to the finishing department instead. Thus began eight years of clay on his clothes and gold leaf in his hair and umber in every crease of his hands.

And thus began fifteen years (and counting) of beautiful frames on our walls.

He has made frames that now hang in celebrity's homes and The National Gallery of Art and the residence of every family member whose name we ever drew for Christmas. He has framed clocks and Jacques-Louis David sketches and five year-old masterpieces. After a brief framing hiatus (it was all we could do to eat dinner during graduate school), Bryan has now commandeered the garage and Bryan Smith Frames is born. The project is in its infancy, but he will be posting photos of frames he is creating, as well as information for anyone interested in a frame of their own.

I know I am slightly biased, but he is amazing, this man of mine.

wednesday's ode

To beautiful surroundings.

classy shirt dress aka karate dress (a tutorial)

These are hands down my new favorite dresses to make. You start with an unwanted dress shirt and turn it into something gorgeous. Here's a tutorial that will take you from this:

To this:

I started off with an XL short sleeved collared shirt. Any men's shirt with a collar will do. Larger sizes will give you more fabric to work with.

Using a seam ripper, carefully remove the front pocket(s). The fabric will self heal - any tiny holes from the stitching will disappear with a washing or two.

Try the shirt on your daughter and determine how much you'll need to take up the shoulders in order for the second button opening to not be too low. For my 4 1/2-year-old I took up the top 1 1/2" of the front and back shoulder, or 3" total. Also, place a pin on the shirt to mark the bottom of your daughter's knee, then add 2" for a hem.

To create the pattern, I tried a dress on her and pinned in the sides so it was slightly roomy in the chest and had a very gradual flare. The pattern should be as if you were making a sleeveless dress. You could also create a paper pattern based on a dress that seems the right fit.

Lay out the men's shirt with the shoulder seam slightly forward (as it would be if it were being worn). Place your pattern on top so that it is exactly centered over the buttons and is lower than the shoulder seams the amount that you will take up the shoulders (1 1/2" for my project).

Cut through both layers of the shirt adding an extra 5/8" to the pattern for seam allowance and length for the hem. Leave the shoulder seam and collar untouched. Remove the pattern and fold the shirt exactly in half along the buttons. Make sure the shoulder seams are even - you may want to pin them together to make sure they stay that way. Cut through both layers on the other half of the shirt using the side you already cut as a pattern. This will ensure symmetry.

Remove the sleeves from the remainder of the shirt. Lay them under the shirt so that they appear like this, making sure the shoulders of the shirt and sleeve are even. Using chalk or a fabric marker, trace along the line of the armhole and then parallel to the top of the sleeve. Then cut out the sleeve adding a 5/8" seam allowance to the armhole but not to the bottom of the sleeve. Use this sleeve as a pattern to cut out the other sleeve. If you are using a long-sleeved shirt, the process is the same, you'll just have to hem the bottom of the sleeve yourself.

Pin the sleeves to armhole of the dress, wrong sides together. Sew the sleeves to the dress and press seam. Next, pin the bottom of the sleeve and side seam, making sure to carefully match the stitch lines and armhole seams and pinning in place, again with wrong sides together. Stitch together.

Next, take up the shoulders. I did this by making what looks like the underside of a box pleat. The pleat measured 1 1/2" across, so including the underside, I took up 3". Sew a button, centered horizontally and vertically, on the box pleat. Make sure that in doing so you catch both sides of the underside of the pleat.

Measure from the button, around the sleeve, and to inside of the sleeve seam, pulling so that it slightly scrunches the sleeve. Then add 1/2". My measurement was 6". Cut two strips this length from the shirt's button placket. (I'll take finished seams whenever I can get them!) Make a buttonhole on one end that will fit the buttons used on the shoulder.

Pin these to the inside of the shoulder seam. Stitch in the ditch of the shoulder seam. Button the strips to the buttons on the shoulder seams.

Cut five pieces of fabric that are 1 1/4" x 2 1/4". These will be the belt loops. Iron each in half, then fold in the raw edges. Stitch to secure. Next, turn under the ends of the belt loop and iron. Have your daughter try the dress on and place pins just above her waistline at the locations where you will attach the belt loops (2 in front, two on the side seams, and one in the center back). Sew the belt loops onto the dress using a buttonhole stitch along both ends.

 

Make the waist tie by cutting a strip of material 3 1/2" x 40". I didn't have one continuous strip that was 40", so I sewed two pieces together to create enough length. Fold the strip in half, lengthwise. Sew the long edge together to create a tube. Turn the tube right side out. Tuck in the ends and press. Stitch along one of the long sides of the tie and along each short end.

Iron the bottom of the dress up 1/2", then another 1 1/2". Make sure that the two sides are exactly even when the dress is buttoned. Stitch.

And there you have it! A gorgeous dress, perfect for summertime. Now if I can just figure out some way to convince my husband to relinquish some of the bolder-colored dress shirts in his closet. I have my eye on a bright green one...