On a Lark » Maine

Woes in the world of sewing

Emily — Wed, 05 May 2010 02:11:51 +0000

Soooo….remember the graduation dress I worked on this spring? Well it came out great! It had been hanging up for the last few weeks waiting for graduation. But what did I wear on Saturday? A blue and white sundress that I bought last summer. Why? Because when I put on my graduation dress about 30 minutes before I was set to march, the zipper on my dress failed. At first I thought I maybe made the dress too tight, but it wasn’t even that. Somewhere along the line, the zipper was damaged and no matter what I do it comes off track. Has anyone had this problem with invisible zippers?

Anyhow, I’m not heartbroken about it. I really enjoyed the process of making it, and my graduation day was still full of sunshine, friends, family, and happiness. But now I’m faced with a new challenge. Do I fix the dress or not? I would definitely wear it again, but without a specific event in mind, I’m not sure I can handle the frustration and time involved in taking out the zipper and putting in a new one. I guess we’ll see how it goes : )

So a few lessons were learned in all other:
1. Really test out any garment made for a special day. Notable, pull on the zipper
2. Always keep a back up at hand.
3. Make sure you have enough time to change into your backup dress after you realize that your first dress isn’t working and still get coffee. A good cup of coffee on the porch can cure a lot of things.

LL Bean does the Hamptons?

Emily — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:05:31 +0000

Like any good Maine girl, LL Bean is a staple part of my wardrobe. Especially some excellent finds from the factory store, like my red slip on canvas shoes and my navy chamois shirt that’s approaching some sort of light blue/gray after several summers cooking on schooners. But LLBean’s never been exactly high fashion. I like to think of it as lumberjack chic. It sometimes tries to be fashionable (Freeport Studio anyone?) and it looks like they’re trying again.

LL Bean Signature has a distinctly “I summer in Kennebunkport” look to it, but in a good way.

I like it. Nice work, Beans. What do you think?

In the mean time, graduation is right around the corner, I’m seeing a weekend full of friends, family, puppies, and lobster in my future. No complaints here.

Sunshine comes to Maine

Emily — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:47:54 +0000

Remember this post? I had great plans for the pieces of canvas that I painted on… and then I promptly misplaced them. Turns out they were buried in my basket of fabric. That basket seems like a vortex for all things losable. But it’s not fair to blame a basket.

So I made myself a little zippered bag. Seems about the right size for an overnight toiletry bag.

This project was also a great excuse to use the amazing gift I got over the weekend. I never knew how much I needed one of those clear measuring quilt things until my aunt sent one home with my Mom for me. It is THE BEST.

When I wasn’t sewing, we were all enjoying the lovely weekend here in Maine. And no one enjoyed the weekend more than a certain yellow and black lab. While everyone “did homework” on the lawn, the puppies ran and rolled and chased the cat until the sun went down.

Here they are trying to convince kitty to come play.

And moments before…

What did you do this weekend?

Spring time and dresses

Emily — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:12:33 +0000

Do you know that feeling that you get when you step inside after standing by a bonfire as the sun goes down? And your nose and ears are cold but the rest of you still has the lingering warmth of the fire? And the house smells like fire and spring time? That is the best. It looks like it might finally be spring time in Maine. The flowers are sprouting. The driveway is muddy.

Besides enjoying the spring weather, I got my bridesmaid’s dress for my brother’s wedding. His fiance (who is probably the most organized and sane bride-to-be that I know) told us all to find a black cocktail dress for the occasion. No seafoam green tulle will be rotting in my closet! So here’s what I picked (from J. Crew):
I love it so much that I want it in other colors. I wonder if I could make my own. Has anyone sewn with silk tricotine? It seems like a relatively easy pattern, but I’m pretty new to working with slippery materials that might not respond well to my furious seam ripping.

I also picked new fabric for my graduation dress! I’m starting to get a little panicked that it won’t be ready in time, because I only have about 6 weeks! And as it turns out, they still expect me to do homework until I actually graduate. Crazy. Anyhow, I went with a little bit more informal fabric, and I’m excited. I picked blue light weight chambray for the top and the deep red swiss dot that I showed in a previous post for the bottom:

It’s going to be great. What are you doing to celebrate spring time?

Stuff I like (and you might like too!)- The Winter Olympics

Emily — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:27:15 +0000

Even though the Vancouver Olympics chose these creepsters as their mascots, I am VERY excited for the winter olympics. I was hoping we’d have enough snow to set up a course in our yard, but apparently it’s backwards week so it’s spring in Maine and Snowmaggedon in the South. Anyhow, it’s probably for the best that I’m not testing out my skeleton, snowboard cross, and biathalon skills over half an hour from a hospital.
Since I’m a loyal Mainer, you should all check out this article to see a full list of Olympians with Maine ties. We couldn’t just list the Mainers, because it wouldn’t have filled up a whole article. Maine takes what it can get. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, here’s my abridged list of who you should watch out for:

1. SETH WESCOTT A true Mainer and the first ever winner of the snowboard cross gold medal.

2. Haley Johnson, Lanny Barnes, and Laura Spector- Ok, they aren’t from here, but they did train here, and more importantly, they are LADY BIATHLETES! If the capitals make it seem like I’m shouting, it’s because I am.

3. Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke, and Jeremy Teela- MAN BIATHLETES! Or is it manletes?

So I hope you’re all going to watch it. At the very least, the opening ceremonies are a great time to ridicule each country’s outfits. They really never are good, but I keep thinking “maybe this year.” Let me just throw a plug out there for curling. It’s more entertaining than you’d think and it’s usually on in the early morning when your other options are shows about four year olds in beauty pageants. So what are you going to watch this Olympics?