I had two of MY favorite songs come up on my playlist this morning while I was out walking. They've been in my playlist for a long time, but apparently it never cycled around to them. I put them on repeat. :) Every time I hear them, I love them a little more.
Raise my hands, paint my spirit gold....
)
And this one--as many times I have heard it, I guess I've never watched the video before. It's pretty cool. And now that they have found each other, I hope he buys that poor girl a shirt and some food! That would be the gentlemanly thing to do, anyway. I think I need to perfect my Molotov cocktail skills, you never know when that will come in handy.
)
It was good to get out and walk, even though it is FREEZING. It is Pi(e) week at work--yes, a whole week, since the whole month is 3/14. I am skipping the pie today, my jogging pants gave me the side-eye when I put them on yesterday.
Speaking of yesterday, when I left work it was 82 degrees. So lovely. 2 hours later it was 52, windy, and sleeting. March has been very leonine this year! With all the gusting wind, it reminded me of the 1767 Robert Sayer print for March--definitely appropriate!
As I sit here typing this, Roar just came on again. Is his playlist only 4 songs long or something??
Speaking of yesterday again, I posted a silly photo that had to do with Tom Hiddleston and ovaries. As one does. I was very happy when one of my favorite grad student compatriots posted a response, basically stating that as she mentioned last semester, removal of ovaries results in a higher cancer rate. :) Ah, grad students, we're always the life of the party. That was the best class I have ever had, either undergrad or grad, and she is one of my favorite people. On our last day, in response to a query about her project, her response went something like, "The last 4 months have been nothing but sodomy! I don't want to see sodomy again for a VERY LONG TIME!"
Today seems to be one of my rambling days, I apologize...but speaking to her put me in mind of our professor for that class. Every class has "one of those" students. The one who may as well just permanently insert their foot into their mouth. Ours happened to be loud, and none of us were quite sure how he got that far in the program. Well, one class the topic turned to the feminist view of history, Fox-Genovese, Ulrich, etc. Mr. Dude opened his mouth and out came this zinger, in a condescending voice, "So, I am guessing that you are a feminist?" Without missing a beat, our dear professor answered: "Well, if you mean, do I subscribe to that quaint notion that women are fully capable and functioning human beings, then yes, I am absolutely a feminist." I miss that class.
I have to tell you, this photo of Benedict Cumberbatch leaves me torn. On the one hand, I want to cry out, "Stop Ben! Your beautiful lungs!" On the other hand...he does it so...RIGHT. Okay...keep doing it, just don't inhale, a'right? XOXOXO
The whole point of me getting on here was not to ramble, but to post instructions for the apron for the WWI nurse uniform. I decided actually patterning the apron was unnecessary (I'll still post the pattern for the blouse and skirt, though). These instructions are clearly for someone with at least a little experience, I am leaving out a lot of the obvious basics. For the apron you are going to just cut 4 pieces. The first one is the easiest, the skirt of the apron. Take your fabric (I highly recommend cotton or linen, it will drape better than some poly abomination) and wrap it around yourself. You will want to cut a rectangle that goes from your waist to your ankles (as you will fold up the bottom twice, to mid-to-lower calf), and that overlaps your derrière. You are going to of course hem the edges, and you'll gather the sides a bit, so you'll want to overlap enough so that once the gathering and hemming is done, there is a gap in the back. Look at the nurse in the background:
Like the show, I've also chosen to go with a button waistband instead of a tie. I will go back to the World War I museum this spring and look at the backs of the uniforms there and see what the standard is--if it's tie, I'll just change the waistband. Right now, button seemed more efficient: it uses less fabric, it would stay together better than a tie, and it wouldn't catch on things like a bow or long ties could.
So then, for the waistband, cut a strip about 5 inches wide (that will give you a decent seam allowance on top and bottom for hemming), and long enough to go around your waist, and overlap to button. Remember, you will fold it in 2 on each end as well, so be sure to factor that in.
The pocket: basically, draw this on fabric, give it a seam allowance, and cut it out (the other seam is under her arm):
Okay, the top part. This is going to be harder to explain, so bear with me. Again, I found it quicker to just mark and pin, rather than pattern, but that might just be me. I took a rectangle of fabric that was wider than my shoulders, and folded it in half so that the front went down to where the waistband will sit, and the back dangled just a bit further (as that will be the straps, which will need to be folder over twice to support the buttons). BE SURE TO CUT THE FRONT WIDER THAN YOUR FRONT! You will be gathering this a bit at the bottom (so yes, make it a straight line from shoulder to waist), so if you cut it too narrow, it will look and fit odd. I took my folded fabric and held it up against myself in front of a mirror and marked the outer part at the shoulder, the inner part at the neck/shoulder, and where I wanted it to sit at upper chest (where it is over her collar). I discovered that my shoulders are perfectly symmetrical! Hooray for small victories! Especially since I am fairly certain my right boob is a little smaller than my left boob. Not really noticeable now, but if I ever did a Matthew McConaughey, I fear it might be. Pass me that pie!
DON'T CUT YET. First, be sure to leave a seam allowance!! Don't cut right where you marked!! I actually didn't even leave enough of a seam allowance, so my fingers are The Claw this morning from working with very teeny seams and stitches. Before you cut, unfold the fabric and take the shoulder markings all the way back to the bottom of the fabric, to make the straps. So basically the front and straps, once cut, will be like a giant Red Lobster bib. K?
You can probably figure out the rest, but just in case: Fold the skirt up twice, till it falls about mid-dish calf. It will not be the same length as the skirt, it will be shorter. If you look at images of Sybil, you can see the wide folds I am talking about. Hem the sides of the skirt. Hem the waistband. Hem the sides of the bib/straps (you may need to make slits along the curved top of the bib to hem it).
Oh good, now we've gone to Pitbull/Kesha, so I guess it is not just Katy's music day.
Attach the pocket to the skirt first. Just fold under the seam allowance (again, you may need to slit it around the curves), and stitch it on at the right upper thigh level. You want this to be handy for access, so wherever it fits best for your hand.
Now you're going to attach the skirt to the waistband. Across the middle front, don't gather it. Let that be flat. Do your gathering on the sides. No insane sharp pleating, just some nice gathers. The same on top. Don't gather the bib in the middle, just some nice loose gathers under and to the outside of the...well...the area under the tatas.
The only thing left is buttons. You'll want two smaller buttons at the top and bottom of the back waistband, and one at the end of each strap. Try to get someone to help you place the buttonholes for the straps, it is much easier that way.
My instructions are long and wordy, but if you're focused (ie, not gazing at photos of Ben and Tom), and if you're using a machine, this shouldn't take more than a few hours.
Oh my word, my fingers hurt.
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