So what did I do this weekend, besides improve my Lindy, expand my Charleston, and learn a new dance form?

Friday night, I went to a costume swing dance at the GA Tech ballroom, sporting a hastily-thrown-together pirate costume as something I could safely and--more or less--comfortably dance in. I used a recommended trick of putting masking tape on the bottoms of my boots so they'd slide on the dance floor. Unfortunately, masking tape doesn't adhere well to rubber boot soles. But scotch tape does! And masking tape adheres to scotch tape! Here's to creativity! (It worked pretty well, except when I tried to practice on carpeting. Luckily I'd brought extra tape.)

And Saturday night, I reprised the appearance of the 1950s dress, with new accessories, at another dance at Emory. skellington took one look at the glasses and said, "I'm not dancing with you if you wear those." He did, though. :) I'm not sure about the pillbox hat--while it's definitely more dance-friendly than the cartwheel hat I originally wore, it still looks a bit big. I bought buckram and millinery wire recently, to try to make a smaller one. (Tinker, tinker, tinker...) And speaking of big, I think I want to add another tier of tulle to the top and bottom of the crinoline--it's not quite the right shape.

Unfortunately, what with a nap (necessary after a full day of workshops!), dinner, and changing, I didn't actually make it to the dance until after 10. Since the Jack-and-Jill contest was at 10:45, this didn't give me much time for open dancing--I got one or two in, and then sat down to watch the competition.

A Jack-and-Jill is a contest where leads and follows are paired up randomly. This was some top-notch dancing. Now, you'd think it doesn't get much better than the best dancers paired up with more of the best dancers, but you'd be wrong. Because after the J&J, there was some more open dancing (one of which was too fast for me, and two of which were too slow! I missed the blues/jazz workshop), and then there was the jam circle to end all jam circles. There was Lindy, there was Balboa, there was stuff I couldn't even begin to name. There were solo and tandem Charleston combinations, there were drops and spins and leaps and arials, oh my. Just when you thought, no, no, nothing could top that, nothing could possibly be more amazing than that...someone topped it.

And there I stood, on the edge of the magic, with my eyes glowing, clapping and cheering and stomping my feet...and a guy came up to me and shouted, "Hey, come on, you want to go in with me?"

"Oh, no, I'm not nearly that good!"

"It's not about good, it's about feeling it! Come on!"

"Well...Promise you won't throw anything too complicated at me?"

I almost let this guy talk me into the magic circle, but at just that moment--to both my relief and chagrin--the music ended.

Thanks to kitanzi, I finished hemming the 1950s dress today--all 25+ feet of hem. Dear god, it was the hem that ate Manhattan. The hem that wouldn't die. The hem to end all hems...Well, it was worth it, bc tonight I got to put it into action at the GA Tech ballroom. It was a wonderful night full of dance glow, and I got lots of compliments on the outfit. And now, finally, there are pictures!

I have two dresses that are almost done, but need hemming.

One is the 1950s swing dress, which I'd like to wear this weekend to the dance at the GA Tech ballroom. Now that the belt and crinoline are done, I can see how it will hang--and it's not pretty. It not only needs hemming, but levelling--somehow the front and back are longer than the sides. Bah.

The other is...ok, I admit it, I've made another costume. I was toying with the idea of Jessica Rabbit...and I found purple opera length gloves on eBay...and well, there was this lovely red crepe jersey at Hancock's...no, it is not an addiction. I can stop any time I want. Any time, really.

But before I stop, I have to hem both of these dresses. Anyone free Friday evening or Saturday afternoon? It should take less than an hour all together, and involves sitting on the floor and sticking pins in me while I turn slowly around on the coffee table. No costuming experience required. I'll feed you, even. Any takers?

Aaron's parents are visiting this week, so we thought we'd take them to the Asian festival at the Botannical Gardens. Unfortunately, Aaron forgot he had to have the cars tested for emissions before his next birthday, which is, coincidentally, tomorrow. So he dropped us off at home to variously sew, nap, and read, while he took care of the cars, and we'll try the festival again tomorrow.

I finished the crinoline today! Yay! The dress is done, too, but desparately needs to be marked for hemming, as the skirt is woefully crooked, despite my slavish following of the pattern directions. I may rope Bonnie into helping me with that this week...then I need to finish putting the belt together (need to look into a rhinestone belt buckle), and find myself a cute little hat, and I'll have my 50s ensemble ready to take dancing!

Did I say making a crinoline is easy?

Ok, it's easy in that the basic process is straigtforward: make an A-line skirt, mark lines for layers of tulle, gather metric boatloads of tulle, and sew them to the skirt at the lines. Not a problem.

However. Do you have any idea how long it takes to cut, gather, and pin over 150 feet of tulle? Extrapolating from recent experience, I estimate I will have a finished crinoline sometime next January.

I've been socializing so much lately, I decided I needed some cave time to myself to recharge the social spoons.

I had found some good pattern reviews for Butterick B4513, so I decided to try it out. Hancock's, usually not the best for selection, did carry both Butterick vintage patterns, so I ended up buying both, figuring I could make the other one up later if this one worked out.

The pattern sizing was a bit weird: since my recent weight loss, I'm generally a size 12, sometimes still a 14, depending on the clothes. According to the Butterick measurements chart on the pattern envelope, I'm a 16! Bloody tiny vintage patterns, grumble, grumble.

So, trusting to my 31" waist measurement, I made up the pattern (in black poly shantung with white trim, for those interested in such things) in size 16. Nope, I was right, too big. Turns out I'm a 14 after all--despite the size 14 measurements being several inches shorter in all dimensions. WTF??

So I cut it down and re-cut the bodice, and still had to adjust the fit across the top, and sneak an extra dart in under each arm. Good thing I always buy a little extra fabric.

That took me most of the day, so I'll be saving the crinoline for another day. The pattern doesn't include one, but it's a full 360 degree circle skirt, and that's just pointless without some kind of floofy underpinning, so a crinoline I must have. Luckily they're easy to make.

I've already got little white kid gloves...looking into making or trimming a wide-brimmed hat, maybe even w/ a little net veil (Hancock's actually carries hat netting). Not that I'd dance in a hat and gloves, but I love the little details that make an outfit really fit its period.

Vogue V2902 looks like it might be a good one, and possibly V2903. Also Butterick B4790 and B4513.

I've also been directed to Folkwear 256 and 239. I love that latter, but where does the bra go?? 241 is also a possibility, but fitted sleeves are not my forté.

More swing dancing last night. Thinking about looking for some 1940s era patterns--it would be fun to have the appropriate costumes.

I'm seriously considering signing up for some lessons--I've been an intermediate dancer for waaaay too long, and I'm going to need some personal attention before I can improve. Of course, but that would mean readjusting my work schedule--too many things start at 7:30 or 8. Frankly, I'd been considering that for a while anyway--I'm kind of getting tired of not interfacing w/ the rest of my friends.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about abruptly becoming a morning person or anything! :) Just a one-hour earlier change. It would effect our carpooling arrangements, though, bc while it's fine for Aaron to leave downtown Atlanta at 7:30 to pick me up at 8, leaving at 6:30 to pick me up at 7 runs him into the end of rush hour--which is ugly in this city. So we might only be able to carpool on days he can work from home. But it would be nice to be temporally closer to the rest of my time zone.