Once upon a time...a Dress.

This is currently consuming my time so it will therefore become blogging fodder.  A dress made it's appearance on stage in 2007 along with my children it was their first Thin Ice production, Oliver.  We had found in our collection an antique item, late 1800's, that fit our Mrs Sowerberry.  It was a black silk and really lovely but we discovered as rehearsals progressed that it was a bit fragile, required daily repair, and there were some sort of mites living in it, as our young actress daily came away with new bites after wearing the dress.  Yes, we made her wear it, yes we cleaned it, yes it continued to be a problem.  Needless to say it has not made another appearance on stage, but ended up sealed in a bag hoping to suffocate any other critters or eggs that might still reside in it's folds.

Just recently we moved the costume collection and unearthed the dress from it's bag, and whatever died left the dress musty and moldy.  I said I would take it home to launder it.  I started with a cold water vinegar bath, just soaking, hoping that would kill off the mold before I washed it.  Well lo and  behold the water turned jet black instantly and rinsing didn't help it continued to turn even plain water black.  The fabric was actually disintegrating.  I removed as much water as I could, as gently as I could and hung the dress, or what remained of it to dry in the sun.

With no hope of ever using the item again as a costume and because it was a beautiful dress I decided to deconstruct the thing and make a pattern from the pieces.  The bodice was fully lined and the lining fabric was a cotton that proved a little sturdier that the silk dress fabric.  So between outer and inner pieces I hope to come up with something that will make constructing a like item in the future possible.

Deconstruction has proved interesting and it appears that our dress had a history before it made it to the big time.  I have also learned a little about the historical dress construction and need to study up a bit to find out about materials.  But it has also explained how Polly, in The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew, could actually save and reuse thread.  I began using only the "Good" thread years ago but now know it is a poor substitute for thread used 100 years ago.  The cotton stuff used in this dress was made to last, they also use a cording to make mini piping that was a cotton twist heavier than button and carpet thread but not as heavy as a string.  Of all materials that were used in this dress the thread was what was in the best shape.

I found the bodice had been interfaced, only around the neck, not the back where I would expect reinforcement of the placket for the hook and eye closure.  There also appeared to be a correct way to sew on hook and eyes, all were identically stitched in place.  The sewing in this garment was amazing hand work so fine and uniform on a couple of seams I thought I was looking at machine stitching. That interfacing though, I believe was a light cotton batting, seemed to be a perfect location for critters to hang out unnoticed.  It was powdery in spots and I had to scrape parts of it off the dress lining.  So I will only imagine what interfacing pieces should look like for my future pattern.  I did take photos.  Will post later.

So if you aren't bored to tears at this point I will continue to write about the dress, join me if you wish, or go away, your choice.

Appalled

I either have to do something with this or take it down.  For the time I am going to try writing again, for my own benefit, so I may even remove my filters.  Beware.

I know each generation bemoans the behavior of it's offspring but after attending a party recently I found myself saying "What is the world coming to?"

Common courtesy and respect for others and property appears to have disappeared.  The party I attended or assisted with was for a 13 yo and was attended by 14 or so other junior high types, and equal mix of boys and girls so no gender bias here.  The party began in the basement with music and some games, adults making appearances, we did not know at the time that total supervision was required.  When the crew moved to the back yard and I hit the basement to remove food trays, I found food thrown everywhere, stepped on, mashed into plates, reminded me of the area surrounding a one year old's high chair.  This was somebody else's house, what was behavior like at home?  I did mention to the host that the basement had seen better days, and I believe he did speak, gently to the guests.

More food, dinner type in the back yard, and when we went to clean up there was more of the same, plates thrown, food squished and mashed into plates, bottles and cans tossed about, at least it was outside.  Is this normal junior high behavior?  What do lunch rooms look like at school, are social niceties a thing of the past?  Finally it was time for cake, thank heavens there were only cupcakes, but the crew managed to smear chocolate frosting all over each others faces, backs, stomachs, arms and legs.  We didn't even break out the ice cream.  I did monitor the bathroom as some clean up ensued, to avoid another disaster area.

The herd decide they wanted to walk to a local park, or so they said.  Off they went, to another house where they threw coke cans and trashed another indoor space.  Is this even close to normal?

I am a bit removed from the mainstream in my social network, homeschooling does that, but I was truly appalled.  These kids were more than old enough to know better, one kid actually left the party, and I am holding out on hope that he realized he couldn't stay, nor could he stand up to the crowd so he quietly removed himself.  'Tis a glimmer, so I don't have to give up on a generation.