thank you for the pretty things, M5801

I'm listening to the happy funny sounds of Elie and Eva in the kitchen making some sort of crumble. They're saving the cherries from rotting in the fridge. Eva wants to know, actually, why the cherries are so much bigger than our wild plums. Something about "cultivated varieties". I'm trolling through the blogs because sometimes after a bit of a Monday all I can think is, "Good God, show me something pretty!" Thank you for that.

And maybe this is something pretty back. I started this dress back in June, and I was bound and determined to finish it up this weekend. It's been sitting in a pile in the dining/sewing room mocking me. If I didn't finish it soon, I would be sad. There comes a time in the summer season when unfinished projects serve as a reminder of all the things you thought you'd get done this summer but just didn't quite get to. Ha! I have turned it to a victory. But oh, it was a struggle. The top was sized wrong for me, and I had to re-sew the side seam a few times, and there was hand sewing, and I always dawdle on arm hole facings. In the end though, I love it and it fits. It's McCalls (McCalls? Who sews McCalls?) M5801. I possibly even made it in the same fabric (linen: black weft tan warp) as the envelope—weird. The sash isn't in the photo, but I made that too. I may have bought the pattern in part because I liked the funny little smirk the model has. I wish I had thought to smirk like this in the photo.

The headband is from the Anthropologie sale room in Shrewsbury, NJ. I like it, even though I don't think I can wear it to work. It's a bit distracting.