Sew What?! A Birthday Barn Dance Dress

Tiny & Mary
(not necessarily in that order)

Mary recently celebrated her birthday and to mark the occasion, I gave her the last thing in the world that she could possibly need - another Mr. Tiny original.  Always hankering to create something new and because our latest musical endeavor, Tiny & Mary, has a decidedly western/cowboy bent, I thought I'd make something thematically appropriate.  Too lazy to perform any actual research, I found emotional design inspiration in Town Hall Party (filmed in that well-known, country music capitol of the world, Compton, CA). 

"Loved and Lost Again" - Patsy Cline on Town Hall Party

I LOVE western wear but it doesn't always have to be all welted smiley pockets, rhinestones, and fringe, right?!  Sometimes (maybe most of the time) I just love those kooky, folky, farm-girl dresses that many of the women wore on Town Hall Party.

On the set of Town Hall Party (1955)
I think Mary could sneak right into this photo totally undetected.
(Source)

I try to convince myself that someday I would like to learn proper sewing technique, but who am I kidding?  You probably could teach this old dog new tricks but it would take a veritable mountain of food rewards to get me to roll over.  Nevertheless, I should mention that the strapless, fully-lined, bodice is boned using the unproven, Mr. Tiny method (read: complete disregard for any and all of the package's instructions).  Combined, the prairie-style skirt has about sixteen yards of length; I thought that cleverly reversing the direction of the stripe in the second tier was an inspiration but if I had it to do over again (and an unlimited amount of material), I would probably make the entire dress one-directional.

Jacquard? Brocade?  I am not a textile expert but I am coming to terms

with my predilection for yellow.  Lucky enough to live near many discount
 fabric outlets, I found something for my usual spending cap of $2 per yard
 that was reminiscent of that flocked, damask wallpaper (oh, shoot maybe
 it's damask?) used on saloon walls.  It is probably rude to post the cost of
 the material where Mary can see it, but she knows I am frugal...plus she
 got a new dress!  Gee whiz, Mary, quit complaining!!!

Mary hasn't quite cottoned on to the idea, but how awesome is it for her to
know that in the event of a downed airplane, a Titanic-style disaster, or a trip
 to the kiddy pool, she has her own flotation devices attached to her arms?

Seriously, let's address the giant water wings in the room.  How do we feel about the detached, puff sleeves?  I tried to convince Mary that sleeves like this are a real thing but every internet search returned photos of questionable, Halloween costumes in various themes.  In my mind, the reference point is that episode of I Love Lucy when Ricky and Lucy are handcuffed together; Ricky is appearing as a guest star on a television show and Lucy has to act as one of his hands until the handcuffs are removed.  It seems to me that the program's Mistress of Ceremonies had a dress with similar sleeves.

Okay, so I just found this.
I can neither confirm nor deny that her sleeves are
indeed independent articles of clothing, but this is
exactly the dress about which I was thinking.
(Source)  

Mary decided to inaugurate the dress by wearing it to a show that we played last week in San Diego.  Honored to be opening for Canada's finest, Petunia & The Vipers, we were given the opportunity to enact a little bit of my Town Hall Party fantasy.

Dig that fancy marquee!
See how casually, but with such clear intention, she covers my name...mm hmm...

"Cricket Song" - Petunia & The Vipers

These guys are awesome!  If they ever play in your neck of the woods, the word is "GO!"

My real heart's desire is to fulfill the notion of creating the most-perfect, old-timey barn dance that ever was or ever will be.  BR5-49 came pretty close with a short scene in their video for "Cherokee Boogie."

"Cherokee Boogie" - BR5-49

See 1:11-1:31

And if Town Hall Party was a stylistic nail, then Big Sandy hit it right on top of it's little, square head with "My Sinful Days are Over" - but I wasn't invited to that party.

"My Sinful Days are Over" - Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys

I guess I'll just be building my mid-century, western-themed utopia one dress at a time.  If and when that happens, "Y'all come!"

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

p.s. (it's becoming a habit) If you're so inclined, please feel free to visit our Tiny & Mary Facebook page and "LIKE" us.  Thanks!!!