WOO-WEE

Saturday night, and I'm getting things *done*. I've had nights out a couple weeks in a row, so tonight I felt like crossing some stuff off my list - not least, the serious backlog of laundry. But I've also cleaned house and balanced my checkbook (though taxes still aren't done just yet ...), so doing pretty well.

Probably the biggest *feeling* accomplishment might actually seem the smallest from outside. I have this magnificent vintage dress from the UK - it's WWII era, made by the factories started in that period. The silhouette is New Look (though my own dress isn't pleated, nor quite so snazz), the fabric is this gorgeous "silk" (I'm fairly sure it's a very early synthetic silk substitute) moire', it's the most wonderful magenta, and I nearly died when I found it on eBay last year. My plan at the time was to go as a noir era femme fatale, and I ended up doing it up fairly well.

Oh, but this dress.

Being at least sixty years old, it can be admitted, some hands have had at this piece in the intervening generations. The original shoulder pads are intact, but perhaps not worth having been salvaged. There are some interesting repairs, and the buttons - wonderful, lovely buttons, for those who understand that a good button can actually be a pretty amazing finish for a garment - were wandering around badly.

So tonight, I realized a longstanding to-do/dream. I reinforced the placket behind the buttons with the lining acetate from an old pair of pants saved only for exactly such cannibalization missions, so these gorgeous buttons would have something to hold on to (and so the moire' wouldn't have to bear the weight, or be damaged and pulled any further). I removed the shoulder pads. I re-tacked the wonderful pointed cuffs on the short sleeves, which had been REALLY poorly sewn in place (and unevenly) at some point in the past. I did a little finishing ironing - and, in fact, even ironed two blouses and a skirt, too (and ironing is fairly rare for me; so ...).

Between this and having already completed two loads of laundry, the housecleaning, and enjoying some fantastic tabouli, hummus, and pita, I'm sitting rather pretty tonight. I don't feel too guilty about not having done taxes, but do hope I will sit down with that tomorrow for a bit.

Oh, and the filing. The year's worth of filing. Geesh.

But what a nice Saturday night, actually.


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Tomorrow's (totally non-)sewing project: hemming a dress which is totally *meh* at lower-calf length, to make it a total stunner at knee length instead.

By "hemming" read: stitch-witching. It's a super stretchy knit, and I am just not that good, actually. But I'm a dab hand at stitch-witch, actually, and I find no shame in using it. For synthetics, it is actually better than basting.