Ghost Town, USA.

You guys. I've been totally MIA. I flat out MISSED the deadline for the Made Men Challenge. (Still working on the dress, though!)

Fine, let's talk about the dress. These pictures are horrible, they really are. I'm SO CLOSE to being done. So Close. I can literally taste it. (No, I cannot.)


The inspiration dress is, of course, Betty's fabulous party dress in Season 2.

Photos from the fabulous Tom + Lorenzo blog

We can discuss the fact that I failed to read the directions, so the straps are being added as an "after thought" which involves a lot of hand sewing, which I do not find relaxing at all.

We can discuss the fact that I'm worried I bit a look easter-egg ish?

And can we talk about the back? Something went wrong. I know that it doesn't look like it, but trust me. The color blocks match up, which is great! But, the top doesn't. which is bad. This isn't an everyday garment and therefore should probably have had a little more attention paid it. the problem for me, is that I honestly don't know how to fix it without tearing the entire thing apart.

Frustrated!!!

Just now I tried the dress on to sew on the last strap, and I can't seem to get the zipper up. I'm setting this aside before I break the zipper and have to start all over again.

New Marking Tools!

I'm so excited about the mail delivery today, friends!

Back in the beginning of February, Did You Make That featured a chalk set she had purchased, on this post. I've been thinking about marking and tracing tools for some time now, and realized that my marking tools were really lacking.

I have the traditional chalk tool ensconced in plastic.

I have a "chalk" fabric marking pencil. This doesn't work, and every time I have to use it, I lose faith in ever having a proper mark to be found.

source

I also have a fabric "marker", but that doesn't seem to work very well for me either.

So I ordered the Signet Color set from hoechstmaß. Made in Germany, and sold via sewdirect.com.
It's an identical set to one manufactured by Dritz, but I was never able to find the Dritz version in any of the sewing stores here in Seattle. I've heard rumors I should have checked the quilting section!

I also use tailor's tacks, but they're time consuming and thread tracing doesn't make sense most of the time. (I hate hand sewing, and recently learned my machine can stitch buttons on for me! More on that ultimate bit of laziness later!)

The German version came in a fancy plastic case to keep everything together. Compare the Dritz with the one I received:

While They both offer the same product, I feel like the hoechstmaß offered a better presentation, and I love that I can keep my entire set together and protected from breakage.

Do any of you have favorite marking tools?

I just finished up the Sailor Outfit, and once I get a chance to take some decent photos, I'll be writing a post about it! I can't wait to use this marking set for my Mad Men Dress Challenge (as hosted by Juliabobbin!) If you're not on board, you totally should be!

Mad Men Challenge

Julia over at Julia Bobbin is hosting a Mad Men Dress Challenge!

And I'm just crazy enough to throw my name in the hat!

I am obsessed with the 50's and 60's silhouette.

Poetry night at my house. Dress from H&M, several years ago.

Christmas Buche de Noel

You can sort of see the trend, here. I'm curvy enough that this silhouette works for my body type.

So, let's see my inspiration list, right?

Considering this Joanie Dress. I love the neck detail. It reminds me of the free Burda Coffee Date Dress from The Selfish Seamstress.

A plane-jane Peggy dress. It looks to be half button with a peter-pan collar, bow and a belt.

I also really LOVE Trudy's party dress from Season 2. The combination of velvet and giant scale plaid, LOVE.

Click for larger detail!

The front sash/tie detail is great. The neck line is great. I'll have to search through my patterns to see if I've got something that follows the basic lines.

And then there is this one. I love the lines. I love the color. But it looks technical in a way that quite frankly scares me.


I'm also having a hard time finding a collection of photos from the show, so I have started watching old episodes. I know, the things I do for the craft!

What dress did you select? Are you modifying a pattern or drafting your own?