Anchors Aweigh! No, it's not "away" and no, I didn't have to look *that* up, either.

I can take absolutely anything and make it nautical. Sailor collars and stripes all around! Nautical jackets! Nautical rompers! Nautical toaster ovens! Nautical push brooms! Hmm... maybe not everything...
I've been lucky these past few years, as sailor-inspired fashions have been popular. I can almost always count on my sailor collars and such to find a happy and obliging audience. Now, this hasn't always been the case. A few years back it was nearly impossible to find anything with big bold stripes on it. Why, I had to shop for my Prisoner-inspired wardrobe very very carefully, indeed! I am thankful for the uptick in rockabilly-resort-whatever style that has brought my love of all things sailor to the mainstream.
But... what is it about nautical style that I love so much? I ... really don't know. I think it's timeless and fun and flirty and Spring-time fresh and clean. Plus, I love the sea, the coast, beaches, and standing on cliff-tops pretending to be the captain of a jaunty frigate. Or something of the sort, anyway.
Anyway, yo ho yo ho, hoist the mains'l and etc etc.

I didn't just have to look up how to spell "mains'l" by the way. That probably says something ...

and I've owned this hat for something like fifteen years.

:P

One of Those Projects

Summer in the City shrug
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design

Sometimes there is just no winning with a project. Sigh...
Some time in the past year I sketched out this design for a shrug, made in natural speckled grey linen with off-white silk organza overlays. I couldn't find the linen that I wanted for a while, but eventually it turned up in my favorite local fabric store and that's when the real fun started.
Originally I had planned to gather the sleeves in to the binding at the cuff in the regular way. But after I was already halfway there I realized that gathering it would make it completely impossible to iron the pleated overlays when it was washed, or after taking it out of storage. I really don't like to send designs out in to the world that are not going to last or that can't be cared for. So then I had to rethink and re-engineer the whole silly thing.
Eventually I thought of the idea I used here, which is to gather the cuffs in to shape with a series of loops and buttons that could be released and rebuttoned as required.
With the thinking out of the way the construction then entered in to a series of small but nearly fatal catastrophes. After two weeks or so I am happy to announce that it is finally done... and that I never want to see it again in my life, thankyouverymuch.

Oh My God, Guys

"Coat of Arms" shrug in black wool
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design

So. It's been a while...
Okay okay okay.
So first I went on vacation, right? And while I was gone I fell and sprained my hand so bad that I had to go in for x-rays TWICE over the course of a month. So, I had to take down all my custom stuff and spend quite a few weeks sitting in front of the TV with a look of vexed frustration and boredom on my face.
THEN, when my wrist was starting to feel good enough to sew again I left town again for three weeks, to stay with my Dad after he had surgery. I was stymied in my attempts to get some holiday sewing done while I was there (sewing machine on the fritz) so the first thing I did when I got home was make something insane like five or six stuffed rabbits for the babies in the family this year (DUDES, for serious, enough with the babies already).
And, now I can finally sew for the shop again! Yaaaay! This is a little project, for sure, but I am super excited to have accomplished something. It's up in the shop already because I couldn't wait another day! It rained today but I managed to get some (maybe not amazing, but photography is not my forte) photos this afternoon.
I'm opening back up for custom orders, too, so feel free to send me convos and emails again.

Seamstress for the Band

There is a bit of a ballerina in my soul, so I totally fell in love with these shoes as soon as I saw them on Pinterest:

The problem? They are $450! For ballet flats! Dudes! I am a connoisseur of stupidly expensive shoes, and even I think that is just plain ridiculous. There are a lot of knock-offs right now. I guess they are trendy:

but the black ones are always out of stock (or STILL too freakin' expensive) or don't come in my size, anyway. There are some that are cheaper! And some that I can get in my size... but they are SUPER UGLY. This, my friends, is what we used to call (back in my day, sonny) OOGLAY.

So I threw my hands up in disgust and just went out and bought a yard of elastic and some cheap flats at Ross. A couple of days worth of gluing and clamping and here they are. I think they came out pretty cute!
Check it out:

Tools of the Trade

Here are some of the more unexpected tools of my trade. Sewing takes more than needles and thread! Can you guess what they are all for?

-Bolt cutters: for cutting the spiral steel boning that goes in corsets and the like.
-Pliers: for pulling needles through heavyweight fabric and manipulating jewelry findings
-Toothbrush: I have a few. One for detail cleaning, one for brushing chalk (marking) powder out of fabric, and another one that I am not sure what I do with it, either (it's just in there!)
-Chopstick: for turning points (in collars, pockets, etc) and creating holes for lacing grommets (bra tops, corsets, etc)
-Awl: for poking things (especially grommet holes, in preparation for the chopstick)
-Surgical hemostats: probably the most useful tool in the house. I use it for everything from turning points to threading sewing machine needles to fishing lost doilies out of the bathroom sink drain.
-Emery board: you'd be amazed how often things need to be filed down. Buttons, beads, baubles, my fingernails when they get torn up during sewing...
-Bamboo skewer: for poking, probing, adjusting, gluing, and general mayhem

Now back to ignoring my sewing machine...

So, a new item for the shop every two to three months, huh? Way to go, me!
Siiiiigh...
In May I was hip-deep in custom orders and at the start of June I went back to the theater for the Summer. I had no idea what that would entail, and in the end it took me WAY longer than I had hoped to get this newest dress project done. But tell you something you *don't* know, am I right?
The best laid plans and all of that razzmatazz.
Anyhoo. So, here we go, a new thing! Woo!
This dress was made using a style similar to the combinations/romper that I recently made (if you can call two months ago "recent") but with a tea-length A-line skirt. The top features a little pink cameo brooch that I bought probably close to a year ago and the dress is made from the same lace as the "Charlize" bloomers. I liked the combo of taupe lace and pink so much that I dredged it back up again to kill off this last remnant piece that I had in my stash.
Anyway, it's all very Spring-appropriate even though it took me well in to the Summer to get it done.
I'm just glad I have something done!

Polyvore and Pinterest Will Ruin Me Yet

Oh my god, guys. Polyvore has come in to my life. I SO did not need another way to waste time on the internet. As if my Pinterest addiction wasn't bad enough! ARGH! I predict I will stop sleeping entirely and just spend all of my time drinking tea and huddling in front of the computer in the dark. Eyes bloodshot, hair limp, bony fingers clutching at my mouse...

Source: ariel-m-l-wood.polyvore.com via Ariel on Pinterest