Happy Post-Christmas, y'all! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is recovering nicely. Santa was super good to me this year (thanks, hubs!) and I got a ton of fun gifties. My favorite present was the insulated Starbucks cup that, as I was unwrapping it, I was told was a freebee from the work lounge. Um...thanks? My man is so silly, y'all don't even know.
Speaking of prezies, I used one of 'em to film this wee gem that my entire neighborhood (and now all of the internet) was at privilege to witness...
I can only imagine what my poor neighbors think of the Hot Mess Express that lives next door to them.
So if you've been following me here and here, first off all, bless your heart and secondly, thank you for suffering along with me as I figure out this thing I call The Eyeball Dress. After creating my last Ikea fabric dress with the giant cat motif, I decided that big bold prints are my new favorite thing. You can see another Ikea print dress here and here. When I stumbled upon this Ikea print on ebay, I scooped up all the yardage that was available. Unfortunately, there were only 3 yards...which normally is plenty for a dress in this style. However, because of the placement of the eyes on the fabric, it made for some tricky pattern cutting.
So I had to do some thinking. Which really isn't my jam so I posed the question to y'all: what to do about that bodice. Initially I created the top right but the fact that the eyes didn't match up just about drove me bananaz. So I toyed with the idea of a solid bodice which got the most positive feedback from y'all. However, I've been power watching Schitt's Creek lately and if it's one thing I've learned, it's to let your crazily-dressed-freak-flag-fly...
This scene is reenacted multiple times a day at my house. My poor hubs. If only this were his reaction:
He's too brutally honest to ever fib about how I look. I've learned it's best not to ask.
Every since I scored this fabric, I knew I wanted it to be all eyes, all the way. I mean, otherwise, it's just a crazy skirt with a top stitched to it. So even though it took some unfun pattern play, I opted to do the eyes right down the middle which then continued on down to the skirt. But if I'm being totes honest, I mostly put the eyes on top so I could say stupid stuff like, "Hey, buddy! My eyes are up here! No, wait...that's not entirely true." I know, I missed my calling as a stand up comedian. I get told that ALL.THE.TIME. (well, this one time. But I think the person was drunk.)
On Christmas eve, I was just about done with this thing when my dear ole faithful sewing machine decided to flake out. I'm all NOW IS NOT THE TIME! I was determined to finish the thing...so determined that we braved The Twilight Zone, aka Walmart on Christmas eve...
I returned home with just a few minor bruises and scratches and a brand new Janome sewing machine. Just in time to finish this bad boy.
By the way, the ENTIRE time I've worked on this dress, I've had that Twilight Zone eyeball on my mind.
Of course it is super windy outside, which explains the peepshow I gave all y'all and my 'hood. I was going for something a wee more graceful, like this.
