totchipanda

GM was still feeling "woozie" from his fall, so game is on hold again while we figure out scheduling.

It's been a little chilly, post-storm, to require some form of protective equipment like coats and mitts and hats, but OH it's been sunny. So sunny. And the sun is WARM. I love these early days of spring. The crows returned last week (they are migratory up here), alas so did the gulls, and I've been hearing chickadees every morning bc the sun is now above the horizon and they are happy about it too! Plus, I learned that blue jays can make a sound other than shrieking. Ahhhhhh :D

I was making buttonholes on my dress by hand, with the lone spool of buttonhole thread I have in a colour other than white. But Guido decided the dress was the perfect place to have a Very Serious Bath, followed by a Very Serious Nap, to the point that he didn't even wake up when we had ice cream! I got several rows knitted on my sweater instead. Yesterday I finished up the buttonholes, finally, so today I will attach buttons. Then it's just attach the collar I made for the shirtwaist, figure out that hem problem and tack down the sleeve facing.

And then it's petticoat time! I think I will actually cut down a skirt I made in the summer. I'd been thinking about it already, so it's gonna happen. And then ofc I will make MORE petticoats, bc who doesn't need at least three?

This project has got me thinking about personal style again. bygone_wardrobes posted a 'teens dress she made on instagram and it is just so stinking cute. I was reading one of the drafting manuals about proportions which helped clarify that I like the proportions of this era. I like the layers that go into it. I wondered if I could make something suitable for daily wear that wouldn't be out of place in a modern office.

I've been wearing high-waisted jeans to work this week, and remembered a line from an ep of Queer Eye about how most people who come out later in life tend to dress the way they had when they wished they could come out. This was said to a man in his late 30s or 40s who was dressing in board shorts and t-shirts. And this is REALLY timely for me bc 90s fashion is back in style again, and that's when I first started exploring my sense of self, but I'm also trying to avoid it bc its such a young look! I don't want to look or feel like I'm trying to recapture my youth.

That tied into with wondering about a new-old look. How can I simulate a corset for daily wear that's comfortable? How do I deal with the undergarments? I was reading about Our Girl History's union suit, which I could probably recreate as I have a rather obscene amount of cotton jersey... in kelly green, but it would work. I could even build it to work with a modern bra, as I have been wearing lightly padded wireless bras for months now.

BUT ALSO, from seeing a couple other non-binary or trans folx on ig post about their masculine-flavoured projects of late, I love it! What if I didn't tend towards feminine garments and made masculine ones instead? I could still do historical silhouettes, like early-century pants, that would pass for modern. I did find one set of dressmaking manuals that included a section on men's garments, including their own version of a union suit. I may need to experiment with this.