sarong undone

A few months ago i was obsessed with finding a sarong dress.

I mostly had my eyes on the ones at vivenofholloway but could not find a single option in my size, plus i had a hard time spending almost $200 for a dress before shipping and having no idea if it would fit or not. So i set out to make my own- first stop was etsy alchamey where for $20 i had a pattern custom made for me by purple seed which came in muslin pattern pieces. At this time i had only been sewing for a month or two, it would be my first dress all on my own and silly me- the first time i would line something. F-me. I was using stashed lopard print sateen with a red sateen lining that i got from Fabric.com for around $1 a yard so i had TONS of it.

Weeks later i finally get the shell and lining together but completely forgot to add in silly things like straps and side ties.



above the ties are pinned on trying to find the right length to wear them at since it affects the bust dramticaly as you can see- sorry to say i have never gotten around finishing this dress but i hope with the posting of it here, it will some how inspire me to get back into it and fix the damn thing.

first dress

This was my very first vintage pattern, I had gotten off of a member of Thefedoralounge.comand while it was still a few sizes too small my grandmother had the idea of using a photo copy machine (i had access to one at my old job) to grade it up 25% and too our surprise it worked out very well. My grandmother helped me out a lot on this dress, mostly with stay stitching because at the time, straight lines where still an issue for me.




Since making this dress i no longer fit into it, mostly in the shoulder and bust area- its too big and hangs very akwardly, since the collar was such a pain in the ass to put in, im not looking forward having to remove it and refit it later. But its such a waste to have it just sit in my closet doing nothing. choices choices.

about me

i kind of feel the need to post some facts about myself that i might not otherwise go over later but would relate to later topics.

I worked in civil service for over 7 years as a temp
I went to beauty school but can't stand salon life nor style my own hair
I live with my grandparents at the age of 25 because i lost my job of 7 years
i have a lot of debt and no money to pay it back (got denied for unemployment)
I *think* i got hired as a photographer at Sears but pays min wage and i still have no hours
I used to have an eating disorder that acts up every now and then which screws with my head
I am crazy and not in the fun loving way but the i tried to kill myself a few months ago kinda way
I have lupus with organ involvement and bad arthritis in my hands, elbows and hip

chances are ill never go into deeper detail about any of it, so no worries

Hello

I have a deep love for fashion from 1940 to early 1960's. WIth the creation of the show Mad men- it only got worse and worse and i spent years setting out trying to build a personal style based off elements from this time. With the popularity of rockabilly these past few years and the explosion websites like pinupgirlclothing.com some might find it easy except i hardly fit into sites like these clothing.

I have a 5 foot 5 inches, 209-220lb fat girl and completely okay with it... or getting there. So with the help of my grandmother i set out to learn to sew my own clothes that at the very least could fit me- and i do say i do have the dream of making clothes for others like me- but that is all going to come in time i hope.

So this blog for the most part is going to focus on building my own personal style either through shopping or sewing.