Ms. Cleaver Chronicles

Those who know me in person know that ever since we moved into the new house, I have been making fun of our dishwasher, the Potscrubber 700 because:

1. It’s name is the Potscrubber 700
2. It has never remotely worked well

While it didn’t work, we didn’t plan to replace it anytime soon because we had been washing dishes by hand before, so why change now?

On Saturday evening, I baked a citrus pond cake in preparation for the next day’s Easter dinner. Shortly after I pulled my cake out of the oven, John started boiling water for some pasta and a popping sound later – nothing on our (electric) stove would turn on.

We checked the plug.

We checked the breakers.

We looked at the manual the previous owners had left us.

But alas, the 25-30 year old stove decided it was done.

Our Easter dinner plans shifted location and Monday night we went out stove shopping. And since we were in for an oven we figured we might as well look at dishwashers too.

A good deal later, we ended up with a new stove and dishwasher annnnndd a new sump pump – since that broke Monday too.

It’s been an expensive week.

The number one question I was asked about this Lent challenge was whether I was wearing a different skirt or dress every day – to which I answered a resounding “no”!

I have a lot of skirts and dresses, but not 46!! I’ll even admit to wearing the same outfit more than once, but the official breakdown of skirted items worn (a total of 19)  is as follows:

Skirts (11)

Me-Made (7):

Store-Bought(4):

Obviously, when it came to skirts, I wore my store-bought skirts more than me-made ones, which I figure was due to two reasons:

1. They’re generally more casual
2. they’re more neutral.

So the lesson here is to make more casual/neutral skirts, or get used to fancy pattern mixing. And hey!! My next sewing project is a grey twill skirt – sounds casual/neutral to me!

Dresses (8)

Me-Made (5):

Vintage(2):

Store Bought(1):

I have a handful of other items, but they’re more definitely summer-wear.

The other thing about the specific outfits was that my level of comfort with an outfit was inversely proportional to the amount out compliments I got on it. That is: the less sure I was about an outfit, the more likely it was that everyone else would.

Best compliment I got: (on Day 36) ‘It’s like Ugly Betty, but not ugly!”

The hardest part of the challenge: Staying warm in the cold Maine spring (and my subsequent annoyance with tights) and figuring out to what to wear on the weekends.

What Your Clothes Say About You

This Lent challenge also been an interesting experiment in how other people “read” my dress.

For example, on Flickr, I’ve been asked to include some of the above photos in groups like “Offbeat Modest Dress” and “Way Too Pretty To Wear Pants.” The latter whose group goals include the following:

“ I would really love it if some of the women who post their pictures to the group would consider undertaking a pledge to stop wearing pants (that’s ‘trousers’ for anyone in the UK…) for a month, or a year – or ideally forever . That way, the group can help to promote feminine beauty by setting inspirational examples.” (The group of course was founded by a man).

This doesn’t count the numerous”favorites” from Flickr “creepers” who favorites are filled with pictures of women in tights, or turtleneck sweaters, or some other clothing-based fetish. All of which were quickly blocked.

Carrying It On

All in all, I call this Lenten challenge a success. Some mornings I would have rather not done it, but I’m glad that I did and had a lot fun looking at my wardrobe in a different way and trying new combos with my existing piece.

While I did wear pants to work yesterday, it felt kinda weird and I was less excited about it as an outfit, so super-cold or wet days aside, I think I’ll be wearing a lot more skirted items day to day.

Now the next challenge is to come up with the next challenge!! (Suggestions, as always, are welcome!!)

Happy Easter!!

I know that technically I don’t have to wear a skirt today, but it’s Easter and I finished it last night, so I figured I would wear my sparkly new Beignet skirt.

It took me about a month from muslin to finished project, but I think the time was well worth it.

The shell fabric is a lovely blue twill from my stash and the lining is a super soft polka dotted poly-charmeuse from JoAnn’s. The lining fabric was a bit of pain to work with (it frayed terribly until I finished the seams), but it feels fantastic.

The buttons are pale blue slimlines. I considered doing a more contrasting button, but decided I wanted this skirt to be a versatile as possible, so I kept it tone-on-tone.

The sewing was not difficult, although attaching the curved parts of the lining to the facing can be fussy. The reason it took me  so long was purely due to the large number of seams -meaning a large number of seams to finish.

That said, if I came across a good fabric, I’d make it again and I think this iteration will get lots of wear especially since the twill can be dressier (like today) or more casual.

Top: Ann Taylor Loft – from Material Objects (consignment)

Coral Necklace: American Girl Co. (to go with my Felicity doll, when I was ten or so)

Skirt: Beignet, made by me

Shoes: Bass Outlet

Chocolate Bunny: from Mom

Jelly Beans: on loan from Mr. Cleaver

In the next few days, I’ll do a post-Lent round-up/wrap up. Hope you’ve enjoyed this challenge as much as I have!

PS – Don’t forget  today is the last day to get $1.00 off the Domenic Pattern in my Ravelry shop!

I was once told that wearing this scarf made me look like a Girl Scout. So for today’s outfit, I figured in for a dime, in for a dollar and paired it with a brown skirt and some knee highs.

Scarf: Vintage Vera, purchased at Ferdinand

Cardigan: Old Navy

Flower Pin: Made by Me

Skirt: Ann Taylor Loft

Socks: Made by Me

Shoes: Bass Outlet

I don’t have any experience with the Girl Scouts myself, but I was a Boy Scout sister for many many years (My father and brother and two cousins are all Eagle Scouts and my father and uncle both served as Scoutmasters).

As such I am displaying the Boy Scout salute in these photos. Maybe they’re the same, I don’t know.

And since I brought up Scouting, I have to admit that I’m very torn about the BSA and whether I’d let my imaginary future children join.

Scouting is such a huge part of my family and I think it teaches fantastic life skills, but I have a huge problem with the BSA’s discriminatory membership policies regarding gender, sexual orientation, and religious affiliation (or lack thereof). My hope is that by the time I have children old enough for scouting, it may no longer be an issue. (It should be noted that the Girl Scouts of America does not mirror the BSA’s policies, nor does the non-gendered Canadian Scouts).

Politics aside, this is my last weekday of Lent (Day 44) and I’m thinking come Monday, wearing pants in going to feel kinda weird! (Though I won’t miss the tights)

The pollen levels in town today are 10 on a scale from 0-12, so I am unfortunately a booger factory today

Despite my seasonal sniffles, I popped on a cheery summer dress, made seasonal with a wool cardigan and boots.

Cardigan: Forecast, made by me.

Dress: 4th of July Dress, made by me

Belt: Off a shirt I got at Sears. No longer have the shirt.

Wool Tights: WarmLegWear.com

Boots: Naturalizers

It was terribly dark and stormy this morning complete with  Thunder! Lightning! and Hail!!

So the only place well-lit enough to take my outfits photos was the kitchen – speaking of which, I don’t know if I’ve shown pics of the kitchen yet – if not here’s my kitchen!! Or at least a corner of it.

Though I find the colors a bit dated, I can’t complain about the serious amount of storage and counter space in this kitchen.

How much storage?

The cabinet over my left shoulder is my baking cabinet (baking power, sprinkles, vanilla, boxed mixes, etc.); the one behind my head holds wine, liquor, and cereal (strange combo I know); and the cabinet over my right shoulder is dedicated solely to tea, hot cocoa, and coffee filters.

Yes, I have enough cabinet space to have a dedicated tea cabinet. Which is pretty darn awesome (especially since we’ve expanded our loose leaf collection since Dobra Tea opened).

No wonder I’m sitting pretty.

Top: Banana Republic Outlet

Wool circle skirt: made by me

Tights: Target

Shoes: Bass Outlet

Tea Towel (on cabinet door) : made by me

I kinda fell off the blog-posting wagon there for the past week.

Its been super busy at work, and when I’ve been at home, I’ve just wanted to do a whole lot of not much. And I haven’t been taking many outfit photos, because I’ve been wearing a lot of repeats.

Here’s the only two I’ve taken recently:

Day 36:
Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Button up: Banana Republic Outfit

Skirt: New York & Co.

Tights: Target

Shoes: Clarks Outlet

Day 41:

Cardigan: L.L. Bean

Skirt: New York & Co.

Boots: Naturalizers

How many seam finishes can you find?

The one thing I have been doing is working on my Beignet skirt.

I don’t think I’ll be relinquishing my title of “slowest seamstress ever” anytime soon, but I think the skirt is coming together very well. I’m basically down to hem, buttonholes, buttons, and belt loops. The goal is to have it done for Easter (remember when I thought I’d get two projects done during Lent - ha!!!)

As promised, my new bicycle!!

I’m very excited about this. I’ve wanted a bike for a couple year now, but there was no place in our tiny apartment to store one. Well now that I have a garage, all I needed to do was find the right bike. Thanks to a helpful volunteer at the Great Maine Bike Swap, I ended up with this vintage beauty.

I don’t know the specific model, but it’s a Sears 3-Speed, probably from the 1960s. I’m thinking it definitely needs a basket, and a name. I’ll take any naming suggestions in the comments.

It’s been raining a lot the past few days, so I haven’t had much of a chance to ride yet (I also need to buy a helmet), but I can’t wait. My goal is to be able to ride to work by this summer (it’s about 8 miles).

As for Lent, today’s (day 34) outfit is brought to you by the color yellow:

Cotton Cardigan: Old Navy (old)

Dress: Vintage, from Clothes Optional in Chicago, IL

Bottle Cap Barrett: purchased in Old Town Eureka, CA

Shoes: Clarks Outlet

Off we go!!

This weekend was the first true spring weekend we’ve had so far. It was beautiful and sunny and everyone in our neighborhood was out working in their yards. Mr. Cleaver and I were no exception (we don’t want our new neighbors thinking we’re slackers!). Of course I’m sure the neighbors though I was cutting quite the ZsaZsa Gabor in Green Acres figure, sweeping and raking in a skirt and boots.

My favorite was meeting the little girl across the street, who greeted me with: “Hi! We don’t have to wear coats!”

In addition to yard care, I got in some sewing on my Beignet Skirt (shell is finished) and went to the Great Maine Bike Swap and picked up a vintage Sears 3-speed, which I’ll share some photos of later this week  – it’s very me.

In the evenings, Mr. Cleaver and I have been re-watching Season 3 of Mad Men, which inspired today’s outfit a bit. I love all the scarves the women wear and while I have a decently-sized scarf collection, it makes me want more!

Scarf: Mervyn’s (back when it existed)

Long-sleeved tee: gift, from Kohl’s I think

Brocade Pencil Skirt: Burdastyle Alexis, made by me.

Shoes: Bass Outlet

I’m a month in – I feel like that snuck up on me somehow. Today is the first day when I felt “hey – there isn’t much of this thing left.” And while I won’t miss taking photos of myself (almost) everyday, I will miss the project and the response I’ve gotten to it at work and in the wardrobe remix community on Flickr.

As I indicated yesterday, until it gets a little bit warmer, I’m pretty much in repeat mode, so today’s outfit is pretty close to day 2 - with a few swaps – mainly in accessories, but it gives me the chance to pull out a few favorites.

Tee: Gap Outlet

Scarf: Don’t remember

Poodle Pin: Was my great-grandmothers

Skirt: Wallpaper Skirt #2, made by me

Striped Tights: Delia*s

Shoes: Bass Outlet