First FO of 2013. It even has two sleeves.

Okay, that title makes no sense if you didn’t see my last post, but that’s okay.

I finished my faux/mock wrap McCall’s 5974, “The perfect knit dress”, the other night, following a fun cut and paste with Stitch Witchery after hacking up one sleeve during cutting. It actually came out well, but I’ll probably have to hand wash it forever. I chose view D, but ended up not involving the ties once I realized it wasn’t a true wrap. Plus I needed the extra fabric for sleeve repair. I fashioned a little belt out of the tie fabric, and quite love it.

It really is a perfect knit dress. I literally wore it ALL weekend, from Friday work to my boyfriend’s gig Friday night. Gave it a break Saturday afternoon, but back on it went for a Saturday night gig, where it passed the dancing test. Sunday was lovely and mild, so I put it back on for a photo shoot, followed by an amazing sunny joyride with my sweetie.

It is a great, well-written pattern, almost too detailed for a knit garment. The fitting suggestions for every stage are almost overwhelming. I kept it ultra simple and just stuck with the pattern as originally given. Other than scrapping the ties, I think the only alteration I made to the construction was to gather the top of the skirt, rather than pleat. This fabric is really flimsy, plus I still never got the pleating thing down. I REALLY can’t figure it out in most patterns, and being mostly self-taught I’m not sure when I’ll learn properly. I also ended up making it a bit shorter than the pattern called for, sacrificing a bit of length during the hemming process, again due to the flimsiness of the fabric. I like rockin’ the legs though, so short is fine, and tights help a bit with the cold.

Here’s the sunny outcome. One of the only ways I can survive winter is by accessorizing the heck out of everything. My hat collection is STILL growing. I love this new one. It feels kind of Courreges (I just learned about this designer, and am totally Cuckoo Courreges over the look!). I also had almost forgotten about my huge red mohair-ish scarf, and love it with the new dress. The boots are just about my favorite thing to wear this year, although they’re absurdly high and pointy. I was sinking into the ground during the shoot! They’re Dereon, which is Beyonce’s shoe brand. I had no idea she made shoes when I ordered them on eBay, but I actually have another pair of her shoes now. They’re all sassy.

My honey wanted me to be all rock n roll and pose with the guitar. It does make a nice composition. Plus it held me up in those boots!

A little sans guitar shot…

And sans hat, being girly and twirly…

Just being silly in the sunshine

And I adore this scarf

Wanted to show off my neatto necklace from my Urf Sista, aka my sis-in-law Cynthia. Isn’t she great? (By the way, I call my boyfriend’s family my in-laws because even if he never marries me, they already have. They’re so sweet.)

Close up of new hat, awesome necklace by my sis-in-law, with funny fuzzy scarf. Burts Bees Lip Shimmer in Merlot

Speaking of in-laws, here’s my very energetic and effervescent dance partner and mother-in-law Margaret on Saturday night. She’s something.

Take care and hope your 2013 is going great!!! There’s SO much to talk about and so much to document and so VERY much to start and finish, and I hope to cover it all soon.

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