Chaos… the only thing I have to offer you.
I know you were expecting a post about the Country Living Fair… and I am excited to show you what I got— it outweighs me!
But my brain is particularly bad right now… the firehose of mental chatter and ideas-I-must-begin-immediately is VERY LOUD and thus I am VERY BUSY; making a mess of things I will OBVIOUSLY never finish, but must start anyway.
SLEEVES!
MORE SLEEVES!!!
Longer.
LONGER.
The current trend for SLEEVES OF RIDICULOUSNESS fills me with JOY… but also disappointment because NO ONE IS MAKING THEM RIDICULOUS ENOUGH.
Why must I do everything myself?
THIS SHIRT IS GOING TO BE AMAZING!
Abandon it!
NEW PLAN! Buy two of THIS SHIRT… cut the sleeves off one, and SEW THEM TO THE OTHER!
AHHHMAAAAZZZINGGG!!
NEXT.
Botanical, dahling!
ORANGE BLOSSOMS!
Go to the fabric district.
WHY ARE THERE NO BOTANICAL PRINTS THAT LIVE IN MY HEAD?????
I guess I’ll have to paint my own.
Start now!
But first!
Make earrings OUT OF FRINGE.
Ugh!
STOP fueling the hamster-wheel-of-pandemonium.
BE SENSIBLE!
Get ORGANIZED.
Divide the towering pile of paper overflowing on the desk into three… throw the bottom third directly into the recycling! Don’t look at it… everything has resolved itself and those people hate you!
Time management!
High five!
Vacuum the house so that the couple coming to meet Mr. Bart and Little Mouse are not disgusted with the slovenly hovel they live in and take them only to rescue them from this pit of filth.
Figure out how the Victorians did not die of heatstroke.
(I google this every year, and continually fail to gain any kind of understanding.)
I have been reading Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper’s Bazar, 1867-1898 and the combination of the elaborate layers, and the fact that it has been 95-degrees-of-hades here for the last three days makes me SO CONFUSED how these people did not simply SWEAT TO DEATH.
I don’t care how heavy your drapes, or how shady your porches; can you imagine being a Victorian woman in July? With some combination of petticoats, bloomers, corsets, chemises, hoop skirts, bustles… UNDER the actual gowns, with some kind of shawl, gloves, hat?!?
Were these people totally insane?
BOWS!
It should go without saying that NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE WHAT I SHOULD BE DOING… and that if I simply focused on what NEEDS TO BE DONE, I would not cringe at the thought of checking email.
But these things are not merely ideas… the conviction that comes along with the idea, cannot. be. overstated.
Don’t forget to check Craigslist.
$20! Go buy this!
Why did I buy this?
We are already the house of nine-million chairs.
I LOVE the wood, but the shape of it is not really ME… I cannot explain why.
Sell it!
Research the etymology of the word grimalkin: an archaic term for an elderly female cat!
Make an obi.
WITH RUFFLES!
(Obviously.)
Appliqué!
A 40’s style turban!
WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT I AM EMBROIDERING!
Make roses from ombre ribbon!
ALL THE ROSES!
THE ENTIRE GARDEN.
Go. Now. Faster. More.
AN OBI MADE FROM RIBBON ROSES WITH TRAILING GREENERY.
Ok, that is a legitimately amazing idea.
Also make a matching turban!
Macramé!
Retro!
Vintage!
APRONS!!!
Lord, I am tired… but I still need to make pants.
The End.
ps- sometimes you people say things like– POST MORE OFTEN! I thought you’d like to know exactly what you were asking for.
Jeanne
June 14, 2017 @ 3:01 pm
I have bipolar disorder, the big kind, and just came from writing on a thread on a bipolar forum for seniors (yes, that too) in which we discuss in detail our meds and their awful side effects. Try to imagine the difference. This is so great. We bipolars can’t get in the condition you’re in when we’re medicated, the meds tamp it down. If we did it would just keep spinning and rising until it wasn’t fun at all. So I just enjoy your normal craziness very much. Do keep having all the creative fun you can and inspiring the rest of us.
mossum
June 14, 2017 @ 4:15 pm
Mania can be fun! 😝
Kathy
June 14, 2017 @ 4:16 pm
Love every post! More please. We can take it.
kmkat
June 14, 2017 @ 4:32 pm
Besides the Proper Victorian Lady in her many petticoats and layers, pity the poor maid/serving wench/laundress/etc who was actually WORKING in that heat. Of course, she wasn’t wearing multiple layers…
Marianne in Mo.
June 14, 2017 @ 5:20 pm
You left me breathless! I’m lucky to get beds made and dishes in the dishwasher! My problem is retirement – too much time on my hands, so I say I’ll do it later. But later never comes because I spend ridiculous amounts of time on the internet, seeing what OTHERS are doing! I’m so happy to see someone younger than me who sews! And you should design fabric – there is Spoonflower for that.
Marianne in Mo.
June 14, 2017 @ 5:30 pm
P.S.
It’s flaming hot here too! Don’t know how I survived my childhood without AC. We did used to put our sheets in the freezer for a bit before going to bed! And then in the middle of the night too.
Kathy N
June 14, 2017 @ 6:16 pm
Victorian clothing had more purpose than modern clothing. The layer closest to the skin was cotton and was there to wick away the moisture from the skin. It was also what was washed as opposed to the outermost layer which was spot cleaned. The hoops bell out the skirts and petticoats so there is very little hugging your legs and lets the air flow around you. I’ve done Civil War reenacting for about 10 years wearing all those layers in 100-degree heat and have been fairly comfortable. It’s sitting in the sun and doing modern things wearing all that that will get to you.
The norms of 1860’s society would not let you leave the house if you were not properly dressed. Hats and gloves were a must. Hats could have a veil that acts as a sun blocking agent (think of mourning hats). Your everyday hat would have had a sheer veil in white or off white that you would pull back when you didn’t require it. Gloves were worn to help with not transferring perspiration should you touch someone while you were out. You would not have shaken hands with a male you weren’t introduced to.. Also, you would have been wearing a day dress, walking dress or visiting dress if you went out.
Plus your house would have been built to help with the heating and cooling depending on the season. Another thing is that you would not have been doing modern things in that time frame. You would have been doing the societal norms of that time. The lady of the house would not have been cooking dinner. You would have a staff for that. She would not have been cleaning the house or doing laundry. She may have organized when all these things happen and supervised but the staff would do the actual labor.
I could go on and on but the times were very different 130+ years ago than now for what women could and couldn’t do, wear, say, etc.
Dana
June 14, 2017 @ 6:35 pm
I was JUST thinking yesterday that I was wishing you’d post something soon- you crack.me.up. and I needed a laugh! Also: I saw a HUGE old bed on Craigslist the other day and thought of you.
Rebecca Grace
June 14, 2017 @ 7:08 pm
Yes, you need MORE wine and LESS caffeine. All of those projects sound fabulous, but you would need to start hiring employees in order to accomplish all of them. I feel your pain; I just had to make a list of my sewing projects in order of priority, and with GOALS, of all things. Deadlines are such a killjoy for the creative spirit, but I keep starting new projects even though it has been a REALLY LONG TIME since I have finished anything…
Emily
June 14, 2017 @ 8:46 pm
I love, love, love you.
E. Pounds
June 14, 2017 @ 9:09 pm
It’s like you’re stuck in my Jackson Pollock brain & our stream of consciousness has just discovered one another & decided to craft together…oh dread! 🙂
Shirley
June 14, 2017 @ 9:34 pm
Will there be a kitchen update in the future? It must look fabulous by now!?!
Jayne
June 14, 2017 @ 9:34 pm
You can never have too many chairs.
Val LaBore
June 14, 2017 @ 10:44 pm
Being a historical costumer myself, I make and wear all this stuff. The layers insulated your body from the heat, and the natural fabrics didn’t retain body heat like modern polyesters do, so it breathed. They weren’t much hotter than you would be in your shorts and t-shirt. And they moved slower.
But much of our modern costumes unfortuantely are not natural fabric (although we do try) so somedays we do suffer. Especially if you have to wear a synthetic wig
Michele
June 15, 2017 @ 12:24 am
Eh hem… first, bow ties? Nope.. second? Breathe… deep.
Now for the victorians- they wore rubber pads to keep sweat from soaking into their clothes and rings that held a cotton bslll soaked w perfume to wave in front of them to hide the smell and when it was hot? They had the “vapors” and couldn’t possibly get dressed or get out of bed… they ran arose be in underwear.
As to knowing what happens if you post more often? ADD. I have it too. And don’t make flowers- ewwhh. Buy fresh, crunch the bases and put in mix of 1/2 glycerine & 1/2 water. Last months, if not years, looking fresh.
Finally I’m curious about the sleeves. Post pics soon:))
Zefi Famelis
June 15, 2017 @ 5:21 am
ROLFLOL. I want to know how you got into my head! LOL
JoyinAlabama
June 15, 2017 @ 7:36 am
Please SHOW us the things! All the things! I’m not on IG so I need you to post PHOTOS! More PHOTOS!
I love your blog! Your style is not my style but I wish your style WAS my style! I love it!!
Have fun!
Patty
June 15, 2017 @ 11:26 am
http://historicalsewing.com/victorian-clothing-heat-of-summer
I was curious, too. 🙂
Amber S.
June 15, 2017 @ 5:03 pm
I love this stream of conciousness post!!! Also, I truly hope you bought that Forever 21 shirt, because that truly is fabulous! Those pom poms!!!
Amber S.
June 15, 2017 @ 5:05 pm
Oh, one more thing – the victorian question. I know they wore ALOT of linen in the summer, like everything was made of that almost transparant tissue paper thin linen, so that helped. Also, remember those transoms above the doors in each room of Victorian houses? I saw on a home show on tv where they said those acted like air conditioning, allowing air to flow through the house and keep it cooler. AND, it wasn’t as hot back then (thank you global warming). But still, I totally would’ve been one of those women needing smelling salts and to be put to bed all the time because corsets and heat, no thank you.
Joan
June 15, 2017 @ 7:03 pm
Can’t decide if throwing away the bottom 1/3 of the paper pile is genius or horrifying. I think I’m leaning towards genius.