Shirt dress by Burda

I'm hugely amiss in keeping up.  BUT - there's still a lot of catching up to do since I abandoned the homeship for dustier-hotter-stinkier pastures a year ago.  My partners in life - once known as Big Guy and Baby Boy, henceforth to be The Dashing Dudes Duo - keep taking precedence over my other main squeezes, the Ancient Dependable Kenmore and Frisky Husky Sergy.  Do I feel guilty?  Nah! Life with my two Great Gorgeous Guys is ever so much more fun than any self-imposed sweatshop situation.  But never fear, I'm in the throes of a new dress, and, though progress is measured in stitches per day, totally lovin' it.

The idea:  a trench-dress.  I'm a great fan of the shirt-dress - throw it on, wrap a grand scarf around the neck, toss on a pair of matching earrings, and I'm oh-so-ready to power meet The General. Or two.  Or a dozen. Watch me. Yessir!!!

The pattern, above,  Burda 7827.  Raglan sleeves, right breast yoke, waist and shoulder tabs, left breast pocket, welt waist pockets.  I had already blended this pattern from breast level down with the Chado Ralph Rucci overshirt, to create one of my favourite workwear garments, a shirt-dress made out of an amazing dark grey silk-wool blend with stunning jacquard self-pattern, that looks like a million bucks and keeps me amazingly warm.

The fabric for the current iteration is another exquisite silk-wool blend from Michael's, this one in a dark navy-grey blend. It has a subtle pattern, a self-stripe, with a little braid detail within the stripe on the front face that only a microscope... well, almost.... can distinguish from the wrong side.

The pic above shows the true colour - a steely blue, the colour being the result of two distinct thread colours - dark navy weft, pale grey warp.  The earrings are self-made:  I acquired the little lapis lazuli hearts at the Kandahar AFB bazaar, and added the hooks.  They don't look as garish in nature as under the flash.

The alterations:  almost none.  I shortened the centre back to compensate for my absurdly straight stature,   lengthened the sleeves to full length, and added standard cuffs. Other than that, at this point at least, no changes.  It's going to be, as far as I'll be able to manage, a straight (long sleeved) version A. With eighteen -count'em! EIGHTEEN!!!! buttons and buttonholes.  God help me: patience is not my strong suit.

The benefit:  once this baby is finished, I'm So Totally Instantly moving on to a spring trench coat.  Yep. I've the fabric, the lining, the patterns, and have been meaning to get one done for a couple of years, but always getting checked by something else.  This time, this is IT!  No matter that I may be a little early in the season....  when spring arrives I'll have it timed perfectly, won't I?!

PS:  the trench dress is finished, but Mother Nature decided to gift us with a blizzard, so the reveal will have to wait. This has been the longest-never-ending-story-garment I've ever tackled, and for no good reason except perhaps too many dark evenings and mornings, but now it's DONE:  I'm so happy to be movin' on!

Civilization HO!

I'm  baaaack!  Here are some last-minute parting shots of my wild-wild-east, Central-Asian, rocket-attack-ducking adventure: 

Civvies wear cadpat too!!! (but no guns....)

...at (rocket-attack-siren) times, with helmets!!!

A very fond goodbye to my dear friends (with guns)...

...each week's growing crowds of running mates...

...and sleep-deprived coffee buddies (nb, made-by-me running top)!

...and Hello, sewing machine!

Well.  That was then... and this is - three months later - now. My sewing machine's on the table, with the chosen fabric - a gorgeous navy wool-silk blend - and the pattern, a classic shirt dress - nearby, all awaiting my attention.  But - ever since I got back, family life's been interfering with my selfish sewing plans.  I've been focusing on, ahem, intellectual matters - meh! big time unproductive!  So, this week, let's see if I can get my scissors & needle in gear!

Maid in the Shade :)

43 degrees tall!

In this environment, I typically prefer dressing in jacket over sleeveless shell  - the combination gives good coverage against the fierce sun and dust, and, since the jacket is invariably unbuttoned, excellent ventilation.  But I have only so many jackets here, so I like to vary the look every few days.  Since the look of the day (always Groundhog Day, remember!) is long slacks and sleeves, my range of variations is limited.  I posted the above shirt  when it was just sewn, and here it's as part of an ensemble.  The slacks are the Jalie jeans pattern, and I like them enormously. Not so much for the fit any more, they're very loose nowadays - but the fabric, some sort of nylon-dominated, maybe with cotton, technical stuff that doesn't stick and wears extremely well. Thank you, Fabric Mart!

Much cooler than two weeks ago!

So, I made three of these McCall's 6035 shirts, and I wear them with great pleasure.  Below I'm wearing another. Its cotton is coarser than the other two's, but that only makes it even more breathable, ergo perfect for this place. 

All clear - all clear - all clear!

 Why the strange pose and mis-matched headgear?  Well, periodically we have little episodes of excitement, called rocket attacks, and plopping down on the ground when the siren goes off (think London Blitz, I kid you not) is the standard way to minimize risk to one's stylish attire.  So there you go.  The grey slacks are another version of the Jalie jeans, in stretch cotton that I like but would love if they were a tad lighter weight.   The camera jitter is due to..... use your imagination!

Civvies get medals too!

I feel honoured to have received it from our Commander himself. 

This is actually a sewing-related post!  For the ceremony I picked my "almost-camo" outfit, which consists of wide leg trousers and matching bias-cut tank top (seen peeking out from beneath the jacket) in a very soft, loose weave linen (Fabricland), and the Vogue 1036 Today's Fit Betzina jacket in a cross-weave tan-peach linen (Gorgeous Fabrics).  You already saw the jacket on a coat hanger here.  Colour-wise, this is the closest I have to our Canadian combat fatigues, and it generally blends in beautifully with the local colour scheme, not to mention the locals:

Blending into the local scenery

On an average day (which is every day - think Groundhog Day - each day is just like the one before)  I can be exuberantly colourful:

The Last BBQ at TFK HQ

Again, wide leg trousers and a tank top covered by a lightweight, unlined jacket, all in linen. 

Our combat mission is now over, and I too shall be coming home. Soon.  Hello, my beautiful green Ottawa!!!

Guess Who Came To Dinner?

The big flag at the main entrance to Canada 9 is not usual - so that means the guest must've been someone special, right?

 Indeed, 'twas so:  we were honoured by our PM, Stephen Harper (speaking above), who arrived in the company of the two big guns of defence (Minister of Defence and Chief of Defence Staff, also above).

 Better yet (for some), they brought with them two young ladies from the national women's hockey team (they won gold in the Vancouver winter Olympics, thus the medals), and Jarome Iginla from the men's Olympic gold-winning hockey team (teal shirt, and he modestly left his medal at home) .

And the band played on.... a wonderful, international ISAF folk band, made up (left to right) of a Brit, Canadian, and two Americans.  They were all good, with great voices, and the Canadian fiddler  superb - I wondered if he was of Nova Scotia's musical heritage.

What am I wearing?  My blue zebra linen suit (I joke I'm the decoy - it's very non-camo!) over a printed silk crepe sleeveless top with a pleated neckline. Linen from Fabricland, silk from Fabric by the Yard, pattern, well, I'll have to look it up.  All comfortably loose and cheerful.  I get a surprising number of compliments on this blue zebra look, and frequently get asked for photos. People here are starved for a little normalcy - living in a world of camouflage, even international varieties of it, does get monotonous.  Me, I'm sooo looking forward to a dress!!!!