Sew What?! St. Paddy's Day Special: My Pretty Irish Girl

June Haver wishes you Good Luck!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!  Mr. Tiny is currently laid up, so no Irish escapades on the docket for today.  The little sis, on the other hand, was invited to a very special wedding shower for our friend Dollie DeVille.  Since the shower was booked for March 17, Mary needed a frock suitable for both a daytime shower and St. Patrick's Day.

My obsession with classic films once again came to the rescue when I pulled from the fabric stash a fabric envelope full of curtain panels.  

The Von Trapp children in their curtain clothing

The Scarletts in their finest drapery duds.

Inspiration via The Sound of Music, Gone With the Wind, and even The Carol Burnett Show coupled with a single, discounted, curtain panel from Anthropologie gave me enough of a head start to create a new dress for Mary.

Mary has it styled as a late 40's-early 50's day dress with
matching basket purse!

As with all of my best-laid plans, the idea to take some nice photos of the dress in a more verdant atmosphere was foiled by the rain we're experiencing today.  So all we got were a couple of snapshots in the kitchen!

A close-up view of the green, rose print

Beyond the color of the print, I felt like I was a bit of a "greeny" after making this dress and purse.  Firstly, I recycled; the dress is made out of just one reused curtain panel.  Secondly, I used every part of the animal - you know, like the Indians.  The curtain had an attached valance piece with pom-pom trim that I used for the purse.  As I mentioned, the curtain panel came in a fabric sleeve/envelope with buttons which I used to make rosettes with button centers to further adorn the basket purse.  

Mary was not taking her modeling job very seriously.
I think she was upset when I told her that there was no
way she was going to get pinched with that much green!

We are not Irish, but there was no telling that to my Swiss & Yugoslavian grandparents.  They gave all of their children good, strong, Irish names like Jeffrey Logan and Patrick Joseph.  They also raised us on films like The Quiet Man and Darby O'Gill and the Little People.  Therefore, no St. Patrick's Day is complete without hearing Sean Connery sing to Janet Munro.

"My Pretty Irish Girl" - Darby O'Gill and the Little People

The prettiest Irish girl that ever was or ever will be is Maureen O'Hara.  For me, she tops the list of the most gorgeous and fiercely feminine women to have ever walked the planet.  After working together on the movie, Dance Girl, Dance, Lucille Ball was quoted as saying that she thought O'Hara was the most beautiful woman in the world.  I like her because she is beautiful, yes, but also because she is strong and full of character.

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“Being an Irishwoman means many things to me. An Irishwoman is strong and feisty. She has guts and stands up for what she believes in. She believes she is the best at whatever she does and proceeds through life with that knowledge. She can face any hazard that life throws her way and stay with it until she wins. She is loyal to her kinsmen and accepting of others. She's not above a sock in the jaw if you have it coming.”
― Maureen O'Hara, Tis Herself

The feisty, Irish temper could be the most attractive piece of the puzzle!
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Cheers & Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Mr. Tiny