Menstruation has been a taboo subject in various times and places.  In the US in the 1950's, you might buy your menstrual pads from a pharmacist, in hushed tones, and bring them home in discreet bags.  You might call your period "a visit from Aunt Flo".  Thankfully, in 21st Century America, it's not as taboo of a subject... nowadays, they advertise pads on television.  But despite the fact that people talk about it, sometimes they still talk nonsense.

The life cycle of a porcelain doll looks like this: a little girl wants one, because porcelain dolls seem more special than regular dolls, with their ravishing clothes and their hair dressed in banana curls.  Maybe she read about a little girl having a porcelain doll in A Little Princess.  Finally her mom buys one, admonishing her to keep it in the box because it's breakable.  So the doll sits in the box, looking pretty, or is mounted on a dollstand on a high shelf, until the little girl is a big girl, too big for dolls.  Even if the girl keeps one doll for sentiment, it won't be the porcelain doll, because she never played with that one, anyway.  The porcelain doll is given to a charity shop, and there finds her many sisters, each on her own dollstand or in her own box, perfectly coiffed and un-played-with. 

The selvedge of fabric is the edge which is finished during the weaving.  Here's a diagram of a basic weaving: the black threads, which run up and down in the loom, are the warp threads.  The red thread, running back and forth, over and under the black threads, is the weft thread or woof thread. 

If you've ever tried your hand at weaving, then you know that if you pull the weft threads too tight, that makes the warp threads clench in the center, and your weaving turns out more like an hour glass than a rectangular strip!  This is how I remember the names for the threads... the up and down threads are the warp because they're the ones that'll get warped if you weave too tight.  The weft threads are the ones you weave through the others, so they get woven, or get weft. 

Now, since the weft thread turns and retraces its steps at the end of every row, that creates a clean-finished edge called a selvedge, which is a contraction of "self edge".  The selvedge is tidy and strong.  It's also useful! 

An A-line skirt--even a delightful, swishy one--is really just a vertical seam or two, zipper, waistband, and hem.  Rather than show every step in detail, I will focus today on two interesting aspects of this project: drafting a skirt pocket for a pattern that doesn't have pockets; and doing the waistband with a Hong Kong finish.  A few other details of interest will be briefly touched, but not lingered, on. 

I use two fabrics in this project: a khaki-colored polyester gabardine and a lightweight polyester lining with a red, sort-of Japanese print. 

The pattern calls for only two panels (front and back), with a side closure.  I choose to add a Center Back seam because I prefer back zippers to side ones, and I want to put pockets in the sides. 

Like most frugal people, my family was green before it was cool.  Every Christmas, we re-used wrapping paper from previous Christmases (no ripping or tearing allowed!) or used the colorful Sunday comics from the newspaper.  This year, as everyone seems to be ordering from Amazon, I see lots of the Amazon gift bags under the tree, which are some sort of outerwear-type chemical fabric covered with sparkly polyester organza.  Naturally, I'm saving them for next year, too! 

A seamstress friend from my Steampunk days referred this bride to me back in November 2017, when she found her own plate too full.  G. came with dress pattern, her chosen fabric, and even a muslin made up by my friend.  I finished the dress for her by the new year, but am only posting now, after the wedding! 

The pattern is McCall's 9133, and it's view A that she wanted.  She chose electric blue satin for the dress, and white lace for the overdress with sleeves.  In particular, because she's a practical woman, she requested that the two layers be made entirely separate, so she could shorten the blue dress later and wear it to other events.  For notions, I bought a blue invisible zipper, white loops & buttons, and horsehair brain for the hem.