Sorta 40's

I was invaded by meal moths. The damn things got in the appartment and ate my pancake mix, flax seed and walnuts that I know of, and who knows what all besides. It isn't a catastrophe, just an annoyance, all it means is that I threw away half of my dry goods and put the rest in the freezer to kill anything moving. But I have been eating a number of un-picturesque foods lately in an effort to use up whatever may be attractive to bugs before starting over. A handful of olives, pickles and some salami is a light and tasty dinner for summer, but there isn't much to say about it.

My general mood of using stuff up has extended to my fabric stash. Here is the dress I mentioned a while back. The pattern is from the seventies, but somehow it turned out looking more 1940's. The fabric is some holiday stuff from IKEA which I got 2 christmasses ago. It looks nice and summery, it's all cotton and I wanted a shirt dress. But it didn't turn out quite the way I intended- the sleeves are too poofy at the top, and the material is a bit stiffer than I realized. Also, I am woefully short-legged, so unless I wear it with heels, I look a tad stumpy in it. But! it used up most of the material, I had enough left over to whip up a halter style top for shlepping around the house in hot weather, and I did not make a practice garment first! The last part is key.

When I'm using a pattern that I have never tried before, I usually make up a practice version in waste fabric first. Most of the time I get great results this way, the only problem is that sometimes I get bored and never make up the final garment. It seems to me that a more fearless approach to sewing is in order, if I am ever to get through even a portion of my accumulated materials. Which is why I am really quite happy with this dress: overall I had rather do something imperfectly than do nothing, perfectly.

And here is my strange little cucumber-thing. This fruit is about 1 inch long. They taste a bit lemony, and have a slightly pulpy middle.