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Enchanted By Sewing The Podcast

Showing posts with label fairy tale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fairy tale. Show all posts

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Cinderella's Blue Sky Sewing

If I were Cinderella....
I'd be sewing this
I'm still spending  my allotted sewing time on my French Pattern Drafting Class tasks, but I got a little distracted going to see the new Disney Cinderella (twice now, and I'm tempted to go again soon).
This Luggage Tag prints up great
on postcard stock
I'll use it for my next
dress pattern tracing

Of course my favorite scene is the one when Ella sits down to stitch, converting her mother's old dress into her own ball gown. It inspired me to do a little blue sky sewing/virtual stitch up of my own, creating my own vision of Ella and her dress. I'm sharing the results here. You can print the luggage tag version (it works great on postcard stock) to use for your own labeling purposes. I'm planning to use it to tag the next dress pattern I trace. 

Blue Sky day dream sewing is pretty satisfying. Don't you wonder if I'll ever actually make a dress along these lines? 

Oh yes, in addition to the sewing scene, I love the Cinderella music (which comes mostly during the credits). Lily James sings the classic, "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes..." with very resonating soprano sound. She has a gorgeous lyrical voice. And, Helena Bonham Careter is a scream in "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo". Oh look, we can buy the Cinderella: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack !

  Not only did I love the costumes, the great British actors, and the highly fairy-taleish scene in this movie, I also thought the theme was fantastic - "Be kind and have courage". Doesn't that just say it all?

Good job to the Disney story tellers on reworking the Charles Perrault fairytale for this generation. Have you read his book The Glass Slipper? I bet your pubic library has it. Mine does. I always liked the way the animated movie focused on having faith and believing in your dreams - that Cinderella was very much of her times, a late 1950's girl. She believed in her fate coming along, sweeping her up, and carrying her along to a better life. Today's Cinders is more in charge of her own future- a good modern redo. She choses to stay in the house and deal with her stinky mother-in-law. And she's realistic about her other career options in her fairy tale world - non existent! Both ladies mirror fantasy romance novel heroines from the two different eras nicely. 

I can imagine people looking back on both young women in a distant future. I wonder how Ella will be reinvented then. Don't you?


Monday, December 8, 2014

Spinning Straw Into Gold - My Rumpelstiltskin Cowl Neck Knit Top (McCalls 6078)


My  Rumpelstiltskin Straw-Into-Gold Top looks best tucked in!

Oh I love wearing this straw-into-gold wool jersey top! Yes, you're right. The longer hem that worked for my polka dot cowl, is too long for this fluid wool jersey. I may hem it shorter, but I've ended up tucking it in most of the time anyway. What a difference the hand of a fabric makes, eh?

Do you recall a few weeks back, when I finished my reworked Retro Polka Dot cowl-neck knit top? I'm just starting to buildup my pattern wardrobe of tried-and-true patterns, and I love having a pattern I can turn to late one night, and finish off before breakfast.

I pulled out my version of M6078 (the version I traced, altered and know fits me) and a light weight, gauzy , golden wool jersey knit from my fabric inventory one night last week, and the next day I had a great new top to wear. I didn't stay up late making it either:-)

I can spin straw into gold.  I know just how that German gal  in the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale felt. You remember her? She was the one-time commoner who found a husband by practicing her domestic skills with her spindle and a hunk of straw.*   

This is already proving to be a great top for our not too cold, California cool season. It's good under a long sleeved top, or on it's own. I can wear it with jeans, a denim skirt or my brown stretch-velvet jeans. And yes, I'm tucking it in :-)

I'm so ready to make more. Sewing tried-and-true is the kind of thing that keeps me . . . 

Enchanted by Sewing!


* Honey, I highly recommend a degree in Computer Science as a better option.

Web Resources
My Retro Polka Dot Knit Top  (also blogged about as "Why I don't love Lucy") http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/11/terminado-retro-polka-cowl-neck-knit.html
Who's Rumpelstiltskin? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin