Are You Ready Boots?

Start walking! Er, sewing.Shirley posted this, which includes a not-so-subtle nudge for me to follow suit. She's calling it Project Runway Bham. Which is a pretty accurate representation, except that we pulled off our version with half the time, no budget and no dapper gentlemen offering advice or calling, "Make it work!"

As both of us have aquired sexy new boots in the last few months, and as sexy boots are not the most practical of motherly footwear, we decided that our boots needed a night out as badly as we did. Thus was born the idea behind Boots Night Out. As I mentioned, last week was Shirley's Spring Break which provided the opportunity for us to finally have this night out.

Perfect right? Wrong. Very wrong when said new boots are red, not the easiest color to pair with existing wardrobe pieces. Very very wrong when the wearer of said new boots has lost 35 lbs in the last year and therefore has a pretty scrawny (and mostly toddler friendly) wardrobe to work from.

So, with equal parts goading and encouragement from my friend (who showed up in a lovely feminine skirt of her own making) I got to strut, I mean strut, into our swanky destination in this bird dress.First off let me say I'm no seamstress. I'm a sloppy sewing mess who has never successfully worked from a pattern. Hell, I've never successfully read a pattern. But I love fabrics, I love surface design and I get a BIG kick out of creating patterns. The fabric I used is a curtain from Urban Outfitters, 100% cotton and a little sheer with a reproduction French 1930s bird print. I've had it for years. It's my favorite, the darling of the fabric collection. Seriously, how cute is this?
The whole thing took me less than 6 hours, and feels like a pretty great success. It's as simple as a dress can be. Cookie cutter front and back, two little tucks by the armpits, a ruffled bottom and a tie at the back. It made me happy, and more importantly, it made my boots happy.

PS Shirley didn't wear her new boots. Poor boots.

PPS Putting the dress on the mannequin solved all the awkwardness of trying to photograph myself, but I learned 2 important lessons. 1, the mannequin's shoulders are wider than mine, and 2, clothes can make a familiar mannequin absolutely terrifying to a 2 year old.