Handmade garments are revered for their artisanal craftsmanship, intricacy, and devotion of time. While I’ve always admired the work of embroiderers and weavers, I never thought of myself as someone who could accomplish the same level of quality as these masters. However, that didn’t stop me from trying ! In one of the monthly newsletter e-mails from Folkwear Patterns, I noticed an advertisement for an online embroidery class featuring their 142 Old Mexico Dress.
142 Old Mexico Dress / Folkwear Patterns
That blue cotton dress with its bright pops of colorful embroidery had me salivating ! But I know my limits and decided not to let my spirited ambition take hold of my sewing caprices. Instead, I settled for the shorter blouse length, which was equally as beguiling.
Sarah Pedlow of ThreadWritten presented a detailed Zoom class filled with the history of Mexican embroidery and a guide to stitching the charming floral and foliage patterns. I found her calm nature relaxing and came away feeling confident that I could stitch like a seasoned professional. Although it took me almost a year to finish the project, I was proud of my feat.
The front and back of the yoke piece before being attached to the bodice
And here is the finished garment…
Opie can never be without the spotlight
There was a little bit of puckering (especially on the back because it was my “practice” side), which can be chalked up to inexperience.
Wearing this blouse has been as delightful as was the stitching itself. In fact, I enjoyed the “slow sew” embroidery process so much that I signed up for another Folkwear/ThreadWritten collaboration: Ukrainian embroidery featuring the 116 Shirts of Russia & Ukraine pattern. Now that will be fun !
I love pearls the way a bear loves honey. They’re classic, a Southern staple, and compliment almost any outfit. When I came across a particular swatch of stretch poplin shirting, replete with strings of pearls across a pale sky blue background, I knew I had to have some.
My intention with the pearl poplin was to finish my long-awaited “perfect” blouse from the fit and sew virtual class I took in September 2021 with Katrina Walker.
Unfinished projects irk me. Unfortunately, they happen all too often in my life. When I first began working on the “perfect” blouse in 2021, I had cut the pattern pieces out of inky black silk charmeuse. A lack of proper starching resulted in distorted facing pieces and collar points that had already been sewn and clipped before a detrimental flaw was noticed. The mistake was devastating and I relegated the project to File 13. Although my momentum was abated, I reasoned that a sturdier, easier-to-sew fabric (like poplin) would provide a confidence boost, just in case I one day decide to try my hand at a charmeuse blouse again.
My pattern pieces were already altered from when I took the class in 2021, which made for an expedited experience.
And after a relatively quick sew, my blouse was completed with pleasing results.
Fisheye darts at the front and back made for elegant shaping along the midsection…
…and ¾ sleeves added sophisticated flair.
With most store bought shirts, one of my biggest complaints is the pooling of fabric at the small of my back. Applying a swayback and full bottom adjustment on the paper pattern piece gave me a smooth backside. Hooray !
If there was one thing I would change, it would be to double up the pearl buttons down the front since I feel at times that my top button is an inch too low.
Thanks to the lessons of Katrina Walker and a forgiving fabric, I now have the confidence to sew fitted blouses with numerous darts. And the best part is… my pearls match ─ perfectly.
Love potions and promises of love. A snookered bumpkin, a wealthy proprietress, and… a bottle of Bordeaux ? Rife with hijinks and hilarity, it’s hard not to love Donizetti’s bubbly comedy. As a part of the Met’s “Summer Encores” series, the biggest draw to this past performance of L’Elisir d’Amore was its stellar cast. And therefore, the decision to make the long trip to a distant theater to see Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani perform was an easy one.
Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera
Did I mention that L’Elisir was funny ? So hilarious was Matthew Polenzani’s “drunk” scene that I was half bent out of my seat, cackling with laughter. The sweat that poured from Nemorino’s brow as he danced around the town square with his magic “elixir of love” was enough to fill a bucket ! Surreptitiously, Matthew Polenzani dropped to the floor in an act of pleading desperation while furtively taking the moment to wipe his perspiring hands (and nearly his drenched head !) on the stationary skirt of Anna Netrebko’s lingering Adina ─ a clever improvisation. Too bad the snooty people in the theater could not see the comedy of the ruse… they barely chuckled ! Stiff crowd, but nothing could spoil my amusement.
Anna Netrebko as Adina and Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera
I should say that amid all the chicanery and cavorting, the opera ended in the manner in which all comedies must wrap: with a wedding and a happy outcome ! No one ever weeps by the end of a Donizetti bel canto romp.
Anna Netrebko as Adina, Mariusz Kwiecien as Belcore, and Ambrogio Maestri as Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera
Adina, the opera’s heroine, is a wealthy landowner in the Basque region of France. In Bartlett Sher’s entertaining (and characteristically quirky) production, her attire consists of a peasant blouse, underbust corset, skirt, crop jacket with tails, and occasional top hat.
Mariusz Kwiecien as Belcore and Anna Netrebko as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera
While the underbust corset and top hat were out of the question with such short notice, I felt I could pull together a knock-off look with garments I already had in my closets… and so I did ! The coral crinkle skirt has been in my mother’s closet for ages… who would have thought that it would be perfectly suitable for Adina ? And although my brown shawl can’t claim to be a crop jacket with tails, it certainly added to the coordinating color scheme of the model outfit worn in the opera.
But the real story belongs to the sashed blouse…
In 2004, my mother and I were bridesmaids in my aunt’s Colorado wedding where we wore matching peach satin skirts and ivory blouses with pearl buttons. Even as the years have passed, the two identical blouses have remained burrowed deep in our closets. Unsurprisingly, my original child’s blouse no longer fits… that is, unless I wanted to dress like Britney Spears from her “…Baby One More Time” music video.
Britney Spears in her “…Baby One More Time” music video
Maybe some other time…
For now, my mother’s blouse fits me fine and recalls to mind memories of my aunt’s autumn wedding day in Steamboat Springs. Here’s what the blouse looked like when paired with the peach skirt:
Look, 303 ! Doesn’t this bring back memories ?
A bridesmaid’s blouse worn as a costume to the opera ? That almost sounds like a crafty trick from L’Elisir d’Amore !
Toi, Toi, Toi,
Mary Martha
Cast and Credits:
L’Elisir d’Amore ─ Gaetano Donizetti (1832) Live in HD air date: October 13, 2012 (Encore seen: June 29, 2016)
Cast: Adina ─ Anna Netrebko Nemorino ─ Matthew Polenzani Belcore ─ Mariusz Kwiecien Dulcamara ─ Ambrogio Maestri
Credits: Conductor ─ Maurizio Benini Production ─ Bartlett Sher Set Designer ─ Michael Yeargan Costume Designer ─ Catherine Zuber Lighting Designer ─ Jennifer Tipton Live in HD Director ─ Gary Halvorson Host ─ Deborah Voigt
Costume Closet Couture 