Sencha and Self-Stitched September Days 14, 15, 16, and 17

Whew, half way through Self-Stitched September! It hasn't necessarily been hard, it just forces me to really think about my wardrobe.  I'm trying to really use all of the garments that I've made.  I'm going to hit some repeats, but I have made enough that I shouldn't have to do too many of them.  It also helps that I'm still making garments during this process.  So here's my newest one, and day 14!

Day 14:

What I wore:
I made a new Sencha blouse! I'm really on a Colette kick right now, and remaking a lot of the patterns that I've already done.  It makes for the ability to really 'whip up' new items, and is such a satisfying feeling.

Fabric: Leftover orange blend from my off the shoulder dress from August
Pattern: Colette's Sencha blouse
Notions: Button, button, who's got the button? (Sorry, was finishing off the last season of Buffy while I was making this one)


Day 15:

What I wore:
My green Ceylon dress.  Love it - so cute and it fits great.  I don't know why I haven't made another one yet, but maybe that'll be part of my Winter collection.


Day 16:

What I wore:
My Colette Sorbetto top with some jeans and a cardigan.  Went out to the movies with friends.  We saw the movie, Jig, which FINALLY came to the Bay Area.  It follows the journey of several young Irish dancers as they participate in the World Irish Dance Championships.  It was pretty inspiring though I don't even dance in the same plane as those dancers.  A fun movie, and I highly recommend it.  It comes out on DVD in the US in just a couple of weeks, and I believe it's already out in the UK.


Day 17:

What I wore:
I finally had a Highland dance competition that required my full kilt outfit.  This was the 'grand unveiling' of my Highland jacket.  This puppy was a lot of work.  It didn't take long to assemble the base - I just had to make sure that I had the right fit with my muslin.  Once that was done, I put together the main base with my mom's assistance on the boning and front zipper.  I wanted to make sure that it couldn't be seen when the jacket was closed, so she gave me some tips and showed me how to insert it with a bit of an overlap.

The most time consuming part of this jacket was the trim.  I had to hand baste it into place, as there are a lot of curves and points in the edge of the jacket.  The buttons were also a bit of a challenge, as I had to be precise in their location and the fabric was pretty thick to cut through.  Normally you thread a ribbon through all of the buttons along one edge, but the new buttons that I had came with a smaller hole that really only allowed for thread to go through. It was easier this way as I don't have to worry about the buttons turning while I dance (a problem I had with my vest), though it was time consuming sewing in all of the buttons.

I'm really happy with the jacket and did a decent job at the competition.  I had fun dancing with the other ladies in my group and enjoyed a cool day (for Fresno).  Wearing a full velvet jacket might have been a completely different experience if the weather had been a few degrees hotter.

Holiday Events

Hello readers! Did you have any exciting plans over the weekend?  US readers... I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July holiday.

I spent the 4th dancing and BBQing. Two things I love.  I've danced with my Highland school in this annual parade three times now and it's one of my favorite activities to participate in.

Dancing in front of the judges stand

Now, getting caught up on True Blood and getting back into the craft room!

What's been keeping me busy?

I mentioned previously that on my birthday weekend and ramping up to it I was swamped with activities.  I have some pictures to share from my Scottish Highland dancing schools' annual 'Extravaganza' which help explain.

Our school decided to do a theme for the first time... which ended up requiring a lot of extra work.  We did 'Extravaganza in Wonderland,' where Alice falls into Wonderland that is being ruled by an Irish queen who only wants all things Irish.  However the people of Wonderland love Scottish music and dance and are fighting for the right to do it.  We have a few dancers at our school who do Irish and Scottish dancing (like myself) so we thought this storyline would be a fun way to incorporate both types of dance.

Of course, I shouldn't pick sides, but a majority of the dancing I did for the show was Irish as I played the character of the Irish queen.  As my Irish dancer classmates hadn't participated in a show like this before, I had to help put together a few costumes.  In preparation for the show, I made:

Jig dress with the new orange jackets. Circle skirts and their sashes.

2 green circle skirts (for our Irish/Scottish jig battle dance off)
Assisted in orange sashes to coordinate with the skirts
Made a vest for my husband, also an Irish dancer
Made an orange jacket to wear with my jig dress as my 'queenly' type costume
Helped put together the 'trees' used as the backdrop for Wonderland

The back of my husbands' vest

This was all pretty time consuming but looking back, it was all worth it.  I loved the way my jacket came out, and I'm happy that I was finally able to make a vest for my husband.  He's been competing in Irish for a while and has always had to don the black pants, black button-up shirt combo.  The vest I made him is black in front but with a nice green satin back.  I can't wait for him to wear it at a competition.

And now, some pictures from the show:

The Irish dancers in their solo dresses

The beginning of the show. Outside of Wonderland.

Alice is about to enter Wonderland

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum. A sailor's hornpipe choreography

The flowers dancing a Flora

Dancers in their Aboyne costumes

Mad Hatter's tea party/cake walk

Final character dance