Oprah is Very Fondof DOTWU

Last night I started watching Oprah's special featuring Jane Fonda and her adopted daughter Mary. A few minutes into the special, Oprah and Mary bonded over "Days of the Week Underwear" (DOTWU).

Reminded me of a drawing I did for the Utne Reader:

Which eventually became a rubber stamp.

Picture Show sells all kinds of cool rubber stamps on ETSY. Check it out here.

Green with Debbie

I was cleaning out my computer's trash can when I noticed a GI-normous file. It was a PDF of Debbie Reynolds Auction Catalog, pages and pages of costumes she had collected and was now selling. At first I noticed the details and graphic patterns.

And stripes. Too bad this movie was in black and white. 

There were paintings and posters. Awww. Agnes! Samantha! Derwood!!!!

And equipment. Literally, a green light!

I started to notice more and more green.

The Kathy Selden dress sold for $18,000.

Julie Andrews “Maria” turquoise and green dress from Sound of Music
Pre-sale estimate: $6,000-$8,000
Price realised: $55,350

Wonder how this cool graphic jacket compares to the new OZ movie that just came out? Here's how it did at Auction: Emerald-green felt “Ozmite” jacket designed by Adrian from The Wizard of Oz. Pre-sale estimate: $8,000-$12,000 Price realised: $27,675 Wow.

Love how green looks with brown.

There were many shades of grey-een.

Barbra Streisand wore this in Fanny Brice.

Debbie also owned the white getup Audrey Hepburn wore in My Fair Lady. It fetched over 4 million dollars. And the famous ivory pleated “Subway” dress Marilyn Monroe wore in The Seven Year Itch? Pre-sale estimate: $1 million - $2 million Price realised: $5,658,000

Here I am with Debbie a few years ago. Wonder if she will remember me in her will? Or maybe THAT GIRL in the bottom of the photo will? 

I found the auction results here.

You can read the catalog here. 

PS I'm not responsible for the spelling of "realised". Wiki is.

Gap Dress Re-vamp

Got a great deal on a dress at the GAP.

I'm not a strapless kind of girl. Maybe I could just wear a shirt under it like January Jones.

MMMM...what could I do?

 

I opted for the skirt. Adding straps to make a jumper was problematic.

Here's how. Cut off the top edge to an even width.

 The waist band needs to fit to your body. 

 Rip out former dart lines, and pin in place.

Sew darts above the pockets, and on each side of the zipper.

 Time to try it on and see if it fits.

It was a little tight, so I ripped out 2 darts in the front.

I had marked the previous seam with tape (more accurate than pins, which fall out).

 I hand sewed the dart and tried it on again. Bingo!

Time to sew the dart and rip out the hand sewing.

 Tack the lining and the waist together.

Time for a break.

 Fold top edge under (width of one of the squares) and iron. 

Fold raw edge under 1/4 inch. Zig zag for a clean finish (do it now, not later like I did).

 Place on ironing board. Pull up lining as flat as you can get it. 

Cut lining flush with top of folded waistband.

Tuck lining up under folded waistband and pin in place.

I decided to secure the folded edge with a zigzag, so I had the unpin, sew zig zag and re-pin.

Add a few tucks to the lining so it will lie flat. No need to sew fancy darts. It won't show.

Hand sew using a hem stitch to secure lining.  

I didn't want any machine stitches to show on the front.

Since the zipper was too long, I folded it over and hand sewed it down.

 Voila! New high waisted skirt!

Let's Party Like It's 1785

It was a very pink year. Not the pink you think of, but a salmon-y pink. Pantone had a dirty salmon in its color preditions for 2010, but nothing bright like this.

I saw it in fabrics and in fashion, old and new.

In meat and in messages.

Near the King's palace.

In "just the right size" presents.

Or on just the label.

Fresh tulips from mom.

Even the compost pile can be pretty.