Monday, March 26, 2012

Return of Mad Men ...and Goals!

The past few days I've been thinking a bit about the goals I mentioned when I first started this little blog. I've done fine when it comes to some of the things I'd wanted to aim for, like trying new techniques and working from my fabric stash rather than impulsively buying new fabric all the time ($5 boxes from yard sales don't count!), but I wasn't making much progress in other areas, such as MENDING. Yeah, who wants to mend when they can start new projects!

I decided to focus my efforts a bit and last night, with the two-hour season premier and long awaited return of Mad Men on the tv, (can we talk about Megan's eye-makeup and Joan's shocking, hot pink dress?!!) I grabbed my pile of to-mend pieces and camped out on the couch.  I was able to complete four items at my slow, meandering pace, (amidst much oohing and aahing over the tv show) and was rather pleased with myself.  I hand-stitched my little heart out.

Megan
Ahh! That pink!
I replaced all of the buttons (some were missing and the rest didn't match) on my boyfriend's cardigan with some vintage buttons from my stash that were a perfect match, did a very amateur darning job on a hole in one of his shirts, and re-stitched the blind hem on a Banana Republic (typical, BR!) skirt that came undone at the hem about a week after I'd bought it...2 years ago.

The last piece I mended was a 1960s plaid sheath I've had for a year-ish? It is a little snug in the shoulders, which causes me to bust the seams on the armholes every other time I wear it (and had been waiting to be mended for a looong time). 
'60s summer sheath and jacket
It's a lightweight linen-like fabric, great for spring, but not the most festive, springy color scheme? I do love a plaid, though, and am definitely glad I snatched this baby up at an antique mall. The tag just says Lord & Taylor and there is a little matching jacket, which is cute in theory, but makes me look like a boxy cube-person whenever I attempt to pull off the look.
plaid!
bias bound neckline
jacket insides with little Lord&Taylor tag
cute lace trim on every raw edge
I decided, in honor of the return of Mad Men, to break out this little, freshly mended, '60s office-appropriate dress and paired it with a cardigan to wear to work today. Of course, at the end of the day when I was getting out of the car and straining to reach my 56 lb. purse, I busted the shoulder seams. Back to the mending pile! Sigh.
'60s sheath with cardigan
I'm really going to try to keep up with my mending. It's so easy and even relaxing to work on it while watching tv in the evening, so I'm going to try to make that part of my routine. As for my de-stashing goal, past projects have used stash fabric, including my Joan dress for the Mad Men dress challenge (minus the lining), so that's good. I'll plan to keep up the good work as I get crackin' on my spring/summer wardrobe sewing.

Speaking of my Joan dress...it's done! Here's a look. I'll have to get better pictures (like better lighting and me actually wearing the dress) and put together a post so I can share all the details. But for now...
Joan dress

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like its been a very productive way to watch mad men! Am loving your Joan dress, its fab!

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  2. Your dress is lovely! Can't wait to see it on you! That's the "foot chopped off with a lawnmower" dress isn't it?

    I agree, a little hand-sewing in front of a great TV show is really relaxing. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I have a stack of fabric flowers to make so that'll be my task.

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  3. I envy your mending time! Every time I try to do that I end up frustrated cause my fiancé likes to watch tv in total darkness! Can't wait to see you in the Joan dress. It looks great!

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  4. Love the L&T dress with the blue cardigan -- very cute. Can't wait to see you modeling The Joan! Congrats on getting so much accomplished. Haven't had a chance to watch the new Mad Men yet, so looking forward to that.

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  5. Love the green dress, the fabric is pretty cool too. That jacket has an interesting circular facing..

    http://theperfectnose.wordpress.com

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