Sew What?! A Gratuitous Outfit Post

I'm afraid that there is an epidemic of deafness in our neighborhood and it's ALL OUR FAULT!  Day after day, we stumble out the front door deafening our neighbors with the loudness of whatever crazy get-up we happen to be wearing.  Either that, or they think we're totally insane...

I really don't think of our clothes as "costumes," but I'm almost positive that we have sent at least one neighbor running to the calendar to see if they have missed Halloween.  I'll admit, sometimes it can get a bit theatrical.  After all, who wears western wear on a regular basis?  Who isn't a farmer or a five-year-old child, yet insists on wearing bib overalls?  Who goes on a weekend getaway and takes square dance appropriate garb should the occasion arise?  Who can leave the house in the morning in a 30's-style frock, come home, and after a flurry of teasing combs and a heavy cloud of hairspray, can dash back out the door in a 60's minidress?  (not all of these apply exclusively to Mr. Tiny...hahahaha)

(Photo by P. Oeser III)

Oh yeah, and then there's this...

But this actually WAS Halloween!

Last weekend our friends held their awesome, annual "It's Roughly The 4th of July" barbecue.  It is a huge gathering of folks for some old-fashioned, eating, dancing, and merry making; I thought it would be a good idea for Mary to debut the new, neighbor-confusing, ensemble that I made for her - a 3-piece playsuit.

My newest mania is to purge myself of all the extraneous stuff that I have amassed over the years.
This includes the ungodly fabric pile that, like a creature from a 50's science fiction movie,
continues to grow no matter what I do.  Oh, I'm not supposed to be feeding it more fabric?  Huh.

The blue floral, of indeterminate vintage, was used to make the shorts and the blouse;
 it was something I picked up very inexpensively at a thrift store.  The white overskirt was
 made of fabric that I had to go out and purchase...so much for stash busting! 

In my first attempt at applique (beyond ric rac, trims, etc.), I took portions
 of the fabric used for the shorts and top and "traced" them with a machine,
embroidery stitch onto the oversized pockets of the skirt and then trimmed away
the excess fabric...or something.
Sometimes I just jump into this stuff without any kind of instruction
 or appropriate terminology; I just cross my fingers and hope it all works out.

Side Note: Don't sew with your fingers crossed unless you want them to stay that way.

I kind of used the same technique to make the patches that I added
to the straps of her top.  I had recently seen a similar treatment on a
vintage dress and wanted to give it a go.

I've heard from several people that wearing vintage/vintage inspired clothing results in unwanted attention or worse, derision.  Oddly enough, whenever we go anywhere, I would say that 99.736% of the response we receive from people (friends, neighbors, strangers), as it relates to our clothing, is extremely positive.  As a matter of fact, our style choices often result in compliments, nostalgic remembrances, freebies/discounts, invitations, etc.  Furthermore, while they might still be under the impression that we are insane, most of those neighbors that I'm so worried about believe that we are on one never-ending circuit of dances, photo shoots, elegant soirees, and fancy dress balls.  Since it's a myth the absolute truth, I'll just let them go on believing.


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny