What the Art Teacher Wore #42

Full of Hot Air Monday: Because my first graders are learning all about hot air balloons, I decided to dedicate some of my wardrobe to this theme. I was thrilled when I found these hot air balloon tights on etsy...and even happier when I discovered they were made in Nashville! top: anthro, gift from a friend; skirt: vintage, picked up in an antique shop in Germany; tights: Carousel Ink; boots: vintage, thrifted

 Greetings from Slacker-land. Apart from the loooong hike hubs and I took today (eight miles! total keister-kicker!), this week has found me doin' a whole lotta nuthin. Which I blame entirely on a book I've had my nose stuck in. Because we don't know each other that well, I'm embarrassed to tell you what I've been reading (I swear it's not 50 Shades!). What I will tell you is that I'm not allowing myself to read the next book until I complete some unfinished DIY bidness. But enough about that.

Have you met Jim Flora? I've loved his cartoon-y kitsch style of paintings, drawings and prints for some time and I thought I'd share them with you this week. I love how his work is so energized that is seems to wiggle around the canvas. I hope you enjoy seeing his work as much as I do.

The artist and a self-portrait. James "Jim" Flora is an American artist born in 1914. He's best known for the album covers he created for RCA Victor and Columbia records during the height of awesome design: the 1940's and 50's. What I find more interesting is his personal work that often had some biazzro overtones.

Florals and Balloons Tuesday: When I'm attempting to mix and match patterns, as I tried to here in the above ensemble, I hold garment after garment side by side until a sudden "ooohh, that works" happens. Later, I often think, "what in the world was I thinking?!" but today, I think I'm okay. dress and belt: sale, Anthro; sweater: Ann Taylor, thrifted; fishnets and tights: Target; boots: Frye

Mambo for Cats, 1955 I mean really. How great is this? I love the Picasso-style face one the middle cat as well as the mustaches. You can listen to this album here if you are interested. And you should be because it's fantastic. Apparently, Flora was a huge lover of music, calling it his muse, and I think this album cover shows that love.

The Panic is On, 1954 I noticed that in many of Mr. Flora's work, he'll either use a solid white or black background. No interference from the background for his imagery in the foreground. Simply awesome.

Dirty Looks Wednesday: So I'm at the bookstore buying that paperback I haven't been able to put down, when I turn around to see an older gentleman nudging his wife and pointing at me. She looks at me and makes this flinch-y face at my outfit, particularly my blue-fishnet-over-green-tights legs. By the time she finally looks up at my face, I made sure to give her the biggest I-just-caught-you-staring-at-me smile I could muster. Despite my annoyance. I mean, it's one thing to not like what someone is wearing, but do you really have to be rude about it? Me thinks not. still on our hot air balloon kick top: Anthro; tights and skirt: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

I can't seem to find the title of this work, but it looks very similar to one titled The Big Bank Robbery. You know my love for It's A Small World artist Mary Blair. This work reminds me of a wonky Small World. Both artists worked during the same era but it's apparent that Mr. Flora had a different wacky flair.

Manahattan. Not only did Mr. Flora design album covers, he's also the author/illustrator of 17 children's books. I'm dying to get my mitts on them. While he worked on books and album covers, he also worked on his personal art which is often described as playful, erotic and macabre. And subtle. Apparently during one of his last exhibits, his body of work had a nautical theme. Inside the tiny boat images where naughty little scenes that could only be made out by magnifying glass.

Pencil Perfect Thursday: My goal for Thursday was to have completed my DIY Hot Air Balloon dress...but that book! I couldn't stop reading! So, it still hangs in my sewing room, mocking me. So I went all pencil-y instead. sweater: Urban Outfitters, on sale now!; skirt: DIY by me here; shoes: another DIY, look here; pencil hairclip: yeah, that's by me too. As if you couldn't tell.

Would you just look at that tiny wood cut?! Amazing. I spent last weekend at an art teacher conference where we carved into linoleum blocks. And I thought mine was at least kinda sorta detailed. Mr. Flora put mine to shame. I'll share my block and what I did with it in an upcoming post.

This print reminds me of another of my favorite artists, Thomas Hart Benton. I love the crooked street lamp.

Tiger Run Friday: It was our school's third annual Tiger Run! I think I ended up going a good four miles around the track with the kids. It was the perfect day for it. tie-dyed shirt: tie-dyed in art class, DIY'ed at home with ribbons and scissors; skirt and black top: Target; tiger tights and tiger ears: amazon; shoes: Earth Shoes

Connecticut Shore, 1954. Jim Flora lived a long life that ended in 1998. His artwork seems so familiar to me mostly because of how many other artists have since been strongly influenced by his style. His style is so popular that when googling around, I found that you can even purchase Jim Flora wallpaper. Pure awesomeness.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

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DIY: El Dia de los Muertos

So I went and did it. I went El Dia de los Muertos-loco. Like, muy loco, ya'll. And I blame it entirely on the sleeves of this dress. 

Actually, now that I think about it, this dress (and it's sleeves) is all the fault of my husband. And his wincing-face when he saw me don my Horror Flick dress again before we ventured out into another night of haunted houses. 

"What?" says I. 

"Um, maybe you should make another Halloween dress. You know, so you don't have to wear that one all the time."

"It's not all the time, it's just when we go to haunted houses." 

{side note, in October, at Casa de Cassie, that is all the time.}

"Okay." 

Ugh. I hate that "okay." It's like the "okay" of doom. In hubs-speak, it translates to "okay, if you wanna be wrong, that's fine with me, Wrongie-Pants."

And I just can't be a Wrongie-Pants. I don't even like pants. 

And that's how I found myself in my sewing room working on not one but two Halloween dresses: One To-Be-Announced and this one, El Dia de los Muertos. 

I had picked up this skull fabric a couple of autumns ago. And I remember it like it was yesterday because the fabric cutting lady and I had an odd exchange. I'm feelin' very dialog-y in this post, so I'll give it to you like this:

Fabric-Cuttin' Lady: How many yards?

Me: I dunno. Um, how about one. No, make that two. Oh, let's just say one and a half.

FCL: Well, what are you making? 

Me: Oh, I don't know. I just like the fabric. One and a half sounds good.

And this is where the FCL went all soothsayer on me. She slowly brought her eyes up from the fabric, pointed her scissors right at me and said:

Buying things without a purpose is how hoarding begins. 

{shivers}

Needless to say, I took my yard and a half and got outta there quick. I didn't have the courage to tell the soothsayin' FCL that she was about 10 years too late to be warning me about hoarding. I'm just a couple boxes shy of my own episode. 

And I don't believe in those anti-hoarder people anyway. I mean, it worked out perfectly that I had this fabric on hand. And that extra half a yard made it so I could add sleeves to this dress pattern (which I have sewn half a dozen sleeveless dresses from) for the very first time.

Ah yes. Sleeves. 

Which, after the less-than-pleasant experience of putting those bad boys in, I have decided is my new substitute for a bad word. As in:

Oh, that FCL, she is so full of sleeves!

or

I don't give a sleeve if you are tired of seeing me in this dress!

or maybe

Oh, sleeve. I've got one sleeve in this dress, does it really need two sleeves? This is bullsleeve!

So, that last bit, the one about getting just the one sleeve in? Yeah, I totally stopped working on the dress after the fun-ness of that first sleeve install. So I did what I do best: found something else to do. Like make this banner with my fabric scraps. I hung it in the kitchen on my Tennessee-themed chalk board. And that smart-alecky skull ain't lyin.

Wanna make your own Halloween banner? Sewing it is super easy. I cut out a billion triangles, tucked the ends of them into some quilt binding tape (not really tape, just a small folded strip of fabric, check your craft store) and used a zigzag stitch. I thought the turquoise was a little boring after the fact. So, in the photo above, you can see I've got a paint brush and what looks like an empty lid. There's actually a teensy bit of bleach in there.

I painted cobwebs and skulls onto the turquoise with the bleach. I'm sure a bleach pen would have worked just as well, but this is what I had on hand. If you do this, I recommend practicing on some scrap fabric first. The bleached lines tend to bleed so paint with a thin, delicate line.

After making the banner, I ventured back into my sewing room. Noticed I had cut the fabric of the other sleeve so that the skulls were going the wrong way. And, using my new naughty word substitute, I was all like "Aw, sleeve, are you kidding me?!" At which point I decided to go look at pretty pictures on pinterest.

And that's where I saw El Dia de los Muertos planters! The above are my creation but you can click here to see the original. Sadly, the link from pinterest to the actual site appears to be broken. I'd love to give credit where it is do but I cannot. If someone happens to know the site, would you mind sharing it in the comments? Gracias!

Now I love to paint planters. You can see my floral planter DIY here. I learned a lot from painting those, most importantly, after watching hubs break one of my painted terra cotta pots, buy the plastic planters. They're cheapo and hubs-breakin-proof. 

I took mine outside and spray painted them a satin white. Once dry, I penciled in circles for the eyes with either a daisy or a heart for the iris. Upside-down heart for the nose and ovals for teeth. So easy. If you are not comfortable painting tiny details, block in the large areas with paint and use sharpies for the little stuff. I gave these a coat of clear varnish to protect them from the elements when I was finished.

How do I love this dress pattern? Let me count the ways: Empire Strikes Back Dress, the Elvis Presley Poodle Dress, the I-See-London-I-See-France Dress, the Horror Flick Dress and now this little number. Oh! And one TBA. Wow. Think it might be time to move on...?

After all that avoidance-crafting was done, the only thing left was that sleeve. What a piece of sleeve it was. But I did it. I showed that little sleeve who was boss. Or, should I say, El Jefe.

That's right El Jefe of all things El Dia de los Muertos. At least in the this Casa.

Adios!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #38

Tie Dye Tuesday: Yeah, I skipped Monday this week. Oops, my bad. This week marks the third year we dyed in the art room. T-shirts, that is. Our school colors our yellow and blue so I figured if I got dye on my clothing, it'd blend in nicely. sweater: vintage, thrifted; skirt: Anthro, coupla seasons ago; fishnets, tights, blue top: Target: boots: old favorite, be prepared to see them a lot, Seychelles

 Whut up, ya'll? I am currently trying to wrap my mind around the fact that in a mere 5 work days,  my fall break begins! And I'm pretty stoked. We're heading on another Halloween adventure which means I'll get plenty more wear out of my Horror Flick Dress. I just hope the other two Halloweenie/Fall-Themed dresses I'm working on also get finished in time. I've been spending entirely too much time online reading about Henri Toulouse Lautrec and all of his buddies at the Moulin Rouge. Which would explain why I'm sharing more of his paintings this week. I am currently in love with his paintings of Carmen Gaudin. I have a feeling you'll love them as well.

So apparently our friend Toulouse-Lautrec had a thing for red heads. Not only did he create many posters, prints and paintings of the famous red headed Moulin Rouge dancer Jane Avril, but he also painted artist Suzanne Valadon and laundress/prostitute Carmen Gaudin. That's her in the painting above.

Masterpiece Wednesday: On this day one of my third grader girls told me I looked like a masterpiece. How sweet! This was quickly followed up by one of the boys looking me up and down and asking, "Wait, what's a masterpiece again?" When informed it was a really good work of art, he continued to look at me with an "Oh...huh. Hmmm." dress: vintage, thrifted; sweater: thrifted; belt: Anthro, you must check out their mad belt sale going on now; tights: dunno, Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin Red-Haired Woman The Toilette, 1889 The story goes that Toulouse-Lautrec spotted Carmen coming out of a Montmartre restaurant and was immediately struck by her red locks and her hardened been-around-the-block-a-few-times air.

Chilly Fall Temps Thursday: I missed a couple of days of school recently. When I walked out of my room to greet one of my classes, the kids cheered and said, "Where were you?!" Before I could respond, one student said "I bet you were gone getting all of those tattoos on your legs." Yeah, no. sweater: vintage, thrifted; scarf: Amsterdam; skirt: Marshall's for $3!; tattoo tights: I forget; shoes: John Fluevog, my fave shoe designer

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin After having met Carmen, Lautrec wrote to his mother that he was "painting a woman whose hair is absolute gold." I'm guessing he left out the part about her being a prostitute. Lautrec's family were aristocrats and Carmen was definitely not.

More Details Thursday: Since I skipped Monday, I thought I'd share another photo of Thursday's outfit. blouse: Anthro, gift from a friend

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin At Montrouge. 1886-87. I had a copy of this painting on a postcard hanging in my painting studio when I was in college. I love her body language, the pursed red lips and those red bangs that are always in her face. I've always wondered what was on the receiving end of that hard stare.

Rainy Day Friday: The spooky storm started early in the morning and continued on through the day. It made it so hard to get out of bed. But, I'll do just about anything for you, Friday. dress and sweater: vintage, thrifted, DIY applique here; fishnets and tights: Target; Hunter boots: ebay; belt: made by me

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin as The Laundress. 1889 I can't seem to find much more about Carmen online. Despite this, I feel like these paintings by Lautrec tell us so much about her.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin Red-Headed Woman in a White Blouse in the Artist's Studio From this painting alone, I think you can tell she was probably guarded and cautious. I'm sure her experience with men lead her to be that way. Look at those hands. You can imagine their roughness from her work as a laundress. There is nothing dainty or traditionally ladylike about her. Yet she has a kind of unique natural beauty. The kind a guy with a penchant for red heads, like Toulouse-Lautrec, would appreciate.

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DIY: The Zipper Blowout

"Vintage 911, please state your emergency." ..."Well, aside from the fact that my hair is beginning to get so long that it's resembling Cousin It (sorry, still stuck in that Horror Flick Phase), I believe I just blew out my zipper! Please send help (and hair clippers) right away!"

Have you ever found yourself in a dress (and guys, if you have, you are welcome here) that was a little, um, snuggish? And when in said dress, did you ever take a deep breath and hear that horrific pop! of a button or nightmarish rrriiiip! of a seam? This has happened to me in too-tight, no-room-for-stretch, Spanx-ain't-gonna-save-you-now vintage more times that I'd like to admit. I feel like The Hulk bustin' loose of my garb but without those fab pectoral muscles and that delightfully green skin.

This beauty was found at the thrift store. Half off. I know, right! So that totally justifies the old lady I pushed out of the way and the toddler I booty bumped, right?

Ah. Look at this dress, would you? I mean, it's just divine. The Thrift Store Gods were good to me on this day. However, the Waist Line Demons were not. Their temptation of Jeni's Goat Cheese and Berry Ice Cream has been too great for this weak mortal. And, thus, The Zipper Blowout.

To be fair to my ice-cream-lovin'-waistline, the zipper did look like this when I purchased the dress. I think. Regardless, it had to come out. As heavenly as this dress is, a Holy, ahem, a Whole-y zipper just won't do.

Now putting in zippers used to be my least favorite thing, right after squeezing into Spanx and busting out of vintage, but I've since found a way to do it that's relatively pain-free. So I thought I'd share it with you. The thrifted vintage dress is handmade and a wee bit of a mess so I thought I'd demo with my Horror Flick Dress. 

Step 1: Set your sewing machine to a baste stitch. That means you are going to have very long, temporary stitches. Baste stitch the fabric together 5/8" away from the seam from the top of there the zipper will be placed to the bottom. Iron seam open like shown above.

 Step #2: Once you have ironed the seam open, lay your zipper on the open seam.

Step #3: For my dress, I tucked the top of the zipper in between the fabric to hide it and make it so the zipper reached the top of the dress.

Step #4: Align the zipper on the open seam.

Step #5: And tape it down on open seam with Scotch tape.

Step #6: With tape still on the dress, turn the dress right side out. Change your sewing foot to a zipper foot (not sure which is the zipper foot? Read that neglected manual. I promise your machine came with a zipper foot. It should be shaped like the letter "I".) Change your setting from a basting stitch to a sewing stitch (which means your stitches will be shorter and more permanent). Sew 1/4" away from the basting seam.

Step #7: Don't forget to sew across the bottom of the zipper with a teeny tiny little stitch as seen on the left. Turn the garment inside out. Start the fun process of picking off the tape.

Step #8: Turn garment right side out. Using a seam ripper carefully remove basting stitches. Once complete, you have installed your zipper! I'd give you a high five, but I don't want you smacking the life outta your fancy ipad. Goodness knows my uber chic Compaq can't handle it.

And there you have it. Fixing a Zipper Blowout. Piece of cake. Which I won't be having anytime soon in this teeny (can't breathe!) tiny (I think I'm gonna pass out!) dress (you call this a dress?! I call this a Medieval Gut-Squeezing Torture Device!).

Vintage 911 Update: Thank you so much with your help on my last Vintage 911. I asked for suggestions on removing the stain from my dress and I got so much great advice (none of which I've taken but that's besides the point). Jenny of The Southern Institute and Casey over at Casey's Elegant Musings both suggested Oxiclean. I also had advice on trying Windex, Dreft and Flortex Carpet Cleaner. And, if all else fails, fellow art teacher Phyl suggested applique. A girl after my own heart.

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DIY: The Horror Flick Dress

My cardboard suitcase is packed and I'm ready: Horrifying Haunts, here we come.

Ah, Labor Day weekend. A time for cookouts, catching up with friends and, of course, sewing a Horror Flick Dress. Oh, you didn't know that was on the agenda? Well, you best get crackin, friend.

I know what you are thinking: Dude (feel free to call me Cassie), it's September! Halloween isn't for weeks!

Or maybe your thought is: Wow! That dude (seriously? It's Cassie) has cured her infamous Pro-Cass-tination problem. 

Or perhaps, in all of your ADHD-ness, you are comtemplating: Another dress? From the same pattern as the Empire Strikes Back, Presley Poodle and the I-See-London-I-See-France frocks? Huh. So versatile (hey, is that sarcasm?). I think I need more chocolate. My feet itch. Is the cat reading my mind right now? Duuude! (I give up).

As soon as I saw this Horror Flick fabric by Robert Kaufman, I knew I had to have some. I shared some extra yardage with Jen over at Peachy Tuesday. I cannot wait to see what awesome hair accessories she busts out with this fabric. I snagged my yardage from Lady Buttons Fabric.

 Okay, so lemme explain. I'm actually not way ahead of schedule because here, at Creepy Casa de Cassie, Halloween begins very early (in less than 10 days!) and continues for every weekend until the end of October. I confessed in this post that hubs and I love going to haunted events. You know, the kind where you pay money for someone in their zombie-finest to chase you with a chainsaw. After seeing this fabric, I knew I had a make a dress for the occasion.

 Our addiction to these haunted events started at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights (I dare you to say "Candyman" three times and click on the link). I remember walking up to the first haunted house behind a group of girls. Whatever they saw at the entrance of the house scared them so much, they shrieked and took off running. This left hubs and I staring into the eyes of an actress dressed as a psych patient complete with bloody gown, crazy grimace and one big butcher knife. After escaping that house with sweaty palms, nervous knees and laughter, we were hooked.

It's very fitting that Universal Studios would host such a spook-tacular event as it's kind of like the Godfather of Horror. Founded by Carl Laemmle in 1912, the studio is the oldest in the U.S. In the 1930's Carl's son, Laemmle, Jr., began producing a series of monster movies, nicknamed Universal Monsters. Those movies can be found in the posters above...and in the fabric of my dress.

If you find yourself at Universal Studios in Orlando, please make sure you see the Universal Studios Horror Make-Up Show. It gives a great history on the horror movies of Universal all while being super silly. Not gonna be in Orlando anytime soon? Check out this bootleg.

When I wear this to the haunted houses, it will not be in these shoes. I'll be pairing this dress with my less-than-glamorous-but-oh-so-comfy Chacos. Perfect for running from chain-saw-wielding-homocidal-maniacs.

Not that I'll be doing any running. Oh no. This year, I'm gonna put on my best Morticia Addams face and be brave. Look those monsters right in the eye and not even blink, take my hands off my hips or have a hair out of place. My evil eye will have them running from me.

Dude, seriously?! If I could perfect that glare, I'd never have a single ounce of backtalk in my class room. The only thing more frightening than that stare is that drive-in movie screen sized fivehead, er, forehead.

Oh who am I kidding. My evil eye will quickly fade and become a Big Fat Baby Cry. Like every year. It's the only time the monsters break character and give me a "Duuude! Relax! Can someone please come get this crazy?!"

 Thanks for dropping by. I'll keep you posted on the haunted events the dress and I visit. Enjoy your Labor Day, dudes!

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