Throwback Thursday

Here I am with my grandfather in 1959 (I think). Nowadays no one smokes around babies, but back then it was the Wild West. We took baby aspirin! We had sips of our parents' cocktails! It's amazing that we survived.
I love the shoes and the bonnet and the whole outfit, really. Baby clothes of the fifties! Black and white pictures! I love them all

Old Photographs

Scanning in these old photographs for J, we found this one of us both on the steps of Sproul Hall. How many thousands of parents had how many thousands of students stand just there and have their pictures taken?
I remember being very hungry - can we finish up? But J's mom insisting that we get pictures of all the famous spots all over campus, and me wearing the highest of heels (I'm not as tall as I look, here.)
I'm glad we have them, now.

Thirteen Ways

I wrote a true story called Thirteen Ways of Looking at Bad News, published today on the-toast.net

Read it here.

Preferences

Butterick 5988

Because I sew, when I look at clothes I mentally correct the sewing and fitting "errors":. For example: the top above.
If I had sewn this I would not have sewn the darts in the lace and then lined the top. It isn't as pretty that way. I would have underlined the lace and sewn the dart then, so the lace dart doesn't show as seen above.
I feel the same way about this dress.
 

I would have underlined this so the facings don't show. Or made the facings in a neutral color, or lined the top because they are visually distracting. Of course that's why we sew, so we can make things to our own preferences.

I'm not overly modest, but this neckline is too low for me. Looking at the line drawing,

I see that it would be an easy alteration to raise it by just changing the depth of the opening. I'd sew a quick sample bodice and facing, mark my changes and test it out in another muslin of just the front to see how much I needed to change.
In my case I have a set of standard changes that I always make that are just my personal preferences: raising necklines, shortening sleeves,  and adding pockets if there are none.
Do you have a set of standard changes?  (Is it only me, or is everything too low cut?)

Downton Abbey Therapy Dolls

Butterick 6034 Downton Abbey Dolls

On the To-Do list: Make these dolls to take with me to the therapist to help me deal with the last Downton Abbey episode. This episode should come with big RED TRIGGER WARNINGS.

Coronation Gown

Butterick 6022 - perfect for your Coronation

The only new pattern I liked was this one, because you just don't see that many Coronation-worthy gowns.

I'd do the collar/capelet in ermine for that. Heavy silk of course. Needs a bit of work in the embellishment department, but my loyal subjects would take care of that. My other quibble is that the train needs to be longer. (Westminster has a very long aisle), but that is easily adjusted.

Misandrist Obituaries

Oh, hey, I wrote a little something to go with this picture.
Read my Misandrist Obituaries here.