Thursday, December 6, 2012

It's Hip to Be a Square


Does anyone remember seeing this music video on Sesame Street? For some reason, this one song has stuck with me through a couple of intervening decades. My sister and I used to whisper it to each other all the time and say it was a secret (not so secret anymore!)...we were odd children. Anyway, when I finished this dress, there was really only one obvious choice for a name, and it doesn't hurt that it's a song with a good message too!


I actually originally picked up this knit fabric thinking that it would make a really cozy bed sheet. I know, what was I thinking? Well, that was three years ago and now I know better than to turn fabrics into sheets; instead, I take sheets and use them for fabric! With three yards of such a large-scale print, I knew it could only be a maxi dress. And while it's certainly not a normal maxi dress print, it's my favorite color combination and gosh darn it, if I want to wear squares all over me, I'm going to just do it. I love the way this dress flows and it makes me feel a million miles tall. And my husband loves it, so that's always a plus.


This dress was inspired by Andrea of Four Square Walls' black raspberry chocolate chip dress, which was based on a Renfrew bodice and unapologetically simple and practical, but oh-so-lovely at the same time. Well, I've got enough summery maxi dresses, but I wanted one that was slightly more suitable for winter, and with the longer sleeves and plenty of space under the skirt for boots, this fits the bill. At least for SoCal winters. It's my usual not-a-Renfrew top with some-fraction-of-a-circle skirt, and even though it's so simple in cut, the length and pattern make it frosting-y enough to please me. It's just what I needed to distract me from my less-than-stellar return to zippered dresses.



Even though I like the idea of making complex dresses with interesting pleats and tucks and lines, sometimes I need to step back and remember Occam's Razor -- if simple will do, there's no need to turn everything into a production. I think that's a good thing to remember as December really gets going and the holidays approach. I don't need to make Christmas decorations (or even party preparations!) into a big ordeal; let's keep things simple and focus on the important bottom line, like family and friends and the reason for all this celebration. I don't need to make things complicated just so I can compare with other people. If somebody else wants to make yards and yards of homemade bunting, good for them! I don't have to. I can be a square, someone else can be a triangle, and I'll still play with them and celebrate who they are. As I start my last year of being in my twenties, I'm continuing to learn to be confident in my own square-ness, and even if this dress doesn't look like the trendy numbers out there, it's still hip enough for me.



Summary:
Fabric: Over three yards of 60" wide knit fabric, mystery content, but fairly high in lycra since this is remarkably stretchy. I've already had to trim the bottom twice and it still keeps stretching out!
Notions: Elastic to stabilize the waist
Hours: Less than two. Sometimes I think I should just make knit dresses for the rest of my life, they're so addictively easy.
Will you make it again? Considering how many of this basic type I've made so far, I think it's safe to say that there are many, many more iterations in my future.
Total cost: I got this fabric so long ago, it feels free. But to be honest, it was probably less than $8.
Final thoughts: I don't know why I love maxi dresses so much...I think it's my love of feeling swishing around my ankles. They make me feel all dramatic as I walk around, sort of like when you wear a cape. Gee, I guess it's that simple -- maxi dresses are the closest I can get to playing dress-up while not actually wearing a costume.




When I was in high school, I truly and seriously thought that being almost thirty was the end of the world. Even now, when I talk to my students in AP Psych about aging, they all talk about how they think life only goes downhill after 25. And while it's not even like I have that much perspective, I think it's safe to say that getting older means getting more beautiful. I don't mean that in a gosh-I-look-awesome way, but in a I'm-understanding-and-embracing-myself-more-and-giving-myself-permission-to-like-what-I-like way.

Quote by Simon Pegg, image from here.

I wish I had understood this more when I was a teenager wasting time angsting about whether boys liked me, or if my clothes were cool, or how awful my skin was, or if I was taking as many AP classes as everyone else. But hey, I'll take the realization now and just do my best to communicate it to my students, and live like I believe it to the best of my ability. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.



Many thanks to all of you who took the time to wish me a happy birthday! I am so grateful to all of you who continue encouraging me on my journey of self-discovery through sewing, and for all the wisdom you ladies share in your comments and in your own blogs. So many of you inspire me through the way you embrace yourselves and your lives.

37 comments:

  1. I am a sucker for this type of prints and I think you look like a princess in a story set in a contemporary parallel universe. I am planning to take a plunge with a longer length of skirt in the future and hope I can look half as good as this!

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  2. WOW, is this ever CUTE!!! Since I've met you in person, I can say that this makes you look much taller! I think you are determined to make me feel older, Cation! Because, *I* remember Huey Lewis's song, "It's Hip to Be Square", which was a Huey Lewis and the News hit in the late 80s, when I was ALMOST 30!!! LOL. I do think you need to make this a few more times!!

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    1. Haha! I was a bit confused about how Huey got on Sesame Street as well! But, I do love this dress and your ability to make whatever it is you want without a store bought pattern.

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  3. Beautiful dress! That's a great Simon Pegg quote too :)

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  4. It't true: "It's Hip to Be a Square". I love print, and dress is cute.

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  5. everything you said is so true. it's good to have perspective and realize we're all a little nutty--even the people we thought were "cool"/"normal." beautiful dress! i've thought of doing a winter maxi and love how yours came out!

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  6. You do look a million miles tall! Love this dress, and the mod fabric it's made from. And I missed your birthday, so I just want to say now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! And I'll take quirky over normal any day of the week!

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  7. I love this dress. I want it. I hate winter right now. (The windchill is -25C no way I'm stepping out of the house in a skirt.) love it.

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  8. This dress is great! Perhaps my favorite part is that I really expected it to be a knee-length dress...what a pleasant surprise scrolling down! Even looking at photos straight on it's a neat twist.

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  9. Great dress! I've never thought about making a winter-ish maxi dress, but that's a good idea! I've always been scared to make a maxi dress because I figured it would make me look shorter than I already am (I'm 5'3" or thereabouts).

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  10. stunning, stunning, stunning.

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  11. I literally said "WAY TO BE CINDY! WAY TO BE" while fist pumping in the air. This dress is MAGICAL. The silhouette is 100% perfection, and I think the print totally works since you see so much of it in an uninterrupted fashion (does that make sense?) It seriously looks divine on you with your itty bitty waist. I've already started thinking about whether I have anything that could work in a similar fashion....

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  12. aggggh, i missed your actual birthday?! happy birthday, you tall drink of wonderfully made water! your squares are scrumptious, and your geekiness is an inspiration (i especially like that you worried that others were taking more AP classes than you).

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  13. I love this dress! The silhouette is amazing and the squares are fun and interesting.

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  14. It does make you look tall! Love the print and you are slowly making me a fan of maxi dresses! Mod geometric prints are always some of my favorites.

    Can't say that the Sesame Street video stuck with me like it did with you and your sister, but it is vaguely familiar. I guess I was lucky I was so logical as a teenager because I learned pretty fast not to care what all my classmates thought (it helped that I had a couple really great friends to commiserate with me though). I was the kid who wore a Star Trek communicator pin one day and a Rebel Alliance pin the next (my biology teacher loved it and would always talk to me about the most recent Trek episode). That's a great geek quote - I agree that "being a geek is extremely liberating." =)

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  15. Stunning dress. I love this fabric in a maxi dress. Beautiful!

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  16. Beautiful dress!! It looks great on you.

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  17. I love this dress! It is stunning. Aren't you blessed to be able to wear a large, fantastic print? Yes, age brings perspective. You realize you can be who you are, everyone else is who they are and isn't it refreshing? There is so much more appreciation for individuality. How wise you are to be able to see this now. Belated happy birthday and many, many more. Regena in TN.

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  18. What a fantastic dress, and I love the fabric! I agree that a maxi dress definately makes me feel taller too - what is that about?! :)

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  19. You look fantastic wearing that dress! The silhouette reminds me of early 1930's evening gowns. Very elegant.

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  20. Hi Mr. Ho!
    Seriously though, I love the print. Best be careful that no IKEA designers try to hunt you down to make a sofa out of your dress :p

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  21. Your dress is awesome! It looks so god on you and the print and colour combos are super nice. I love me some red and black too (I'm Hispanic... perhaps I like it because of the stereotype?) but sadly maxi dresses make me look even shorter than I am. I'm living my maxi dress love vicariously through you.

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  22. wow! the print of this dress is so dramatic! A far cry from the zebra/animal printed dress you made

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  23. I love this fabric, and the dress looks amazing. You look gorgeous in it! I generally can't wear maxi dresses because they mostly just emphasize how short I am, but I adore looking at them on people (like you) who can actually wear them. :)

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  24. Oh this dress is absolutely gorgeous. And you rock it. If I saw someone in the street looking line this I'd stop to admire them! And I love the philosophy you've espoused here as well.

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  25. Love the maxi long sleeve! And LOVE the Simon Pegg quote!

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  26. Really, really lovely. I'm a big fan of how maxi dresses feel too but I'm too short to look good in them so I'm very envious!

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  27. Wow! Stunning dress, simple yet stylish. Totally fulfills the Coco Channel mantra 'less is more'. You look fabulous in it, and are clearly enjoying swishing around the long skirt!!!

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  28. Ahh! This looks amazing! You look supermodel tall and completely dramatic and stunning! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

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  29. LOVE THIS!! Love the print, love the style. You look amazing! Hope you had a great birthday!
    The Simon Pegg quote is great too!

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  30. I love this! I'm a big fan of abstract prints that aren't floral, which seem to be hard to come by. This dress is a fantastic canvas for that print, and looks really wearable - which is hard to do with a print that big! Simplicity was definitely the way to go, here.

    I'm very much with you on the bit about clothes that make you feel like you're playing dress up even when you're not. More of life should be like this! You may inspire me to make/wear more long skirts...or bustled victorian jackets for daily wear. That's practical, right? Maybe if I added pockets.

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  31. When this first popped up in my blog reader, I thought it was a knee length dress ... which looked pretty cool. Then I realized it was full length and it was even better! Nicely done. If it wasn't a tad cooler up here in NorCal, I'd make an attempt at stealing this one out of your wardrobe. But I'll just admire it here on your blog.

    I totally, totally agree with you about the beauty of getting older. I have a couple friends who are beyond the 30 landmark, and that's the single thing they've all said about passing 30 - that they're glad to leave behind the angst and uncertainty of their 20s and to settle into their own skin. I've decided we're all cooler people if we let ourselves be who we naturally are, instead of trying to fit into certain societally-prescribed boxes. That quote says it all!

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  32. Ack, I love this print! It's not at all "square"... except, of course, for all the squares... Anyway, it's awesome and makes a beautiful dress. And I totally agree about figuring yourself out as you get older - I wouldn't have guessed it as a teenager, but it took me until I was in my late 20s to really start feeling comfortable with who I am (and I'm still figuring at 31!). It is nice, for sure!

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  33. Im a reader, not much of a commenter...until this. This is absolutely over- the - top gorgeous. You look like a model. Everything just comes together with precision - your figure, the print, the pattern, the fabric. Bravo, bravo, bravo.

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  34. This is such a glorious dress. The print coupled with the simplicity of the style really makes for a magnificent piece, perfect for chillier weather!

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  35. Very nice. It suits you. You wear the dress, it doesn't wear you.
    Oh. You are a good seamstress, as well.

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