Oscar Night 2010: Costume Countdown

One week from today, my family will get together for a Sunday dinner. It will be just like any family get-together--except the Oscars will probably be on, and we'll all watch the show while we eat . . . in our costumes. Yeah, that's right--it's almost time for the Annual Palmer Oscar Night. Has your mother ever dressed up as the Queen of England? Has your little brother ever shown up for dinner as Ignacio from Nacho Libre? Has your husband ever borrowed an old military jacket and hat, put on an eye patch, and walked into a room as Tom Cruise from Valkyrie? Well, mine have. And you might think that's weird, but when it comes to Oscar night at my parents' house, it's pretty fun. And even though the show itself is always boring and drawn out and pompous, it's fun to watch for two reasons: the dresses worn on the red carpet and the Best Costume category.

Last year, my favorite dress was worn by the French actress Marion Cotillard. It was royal blue and black and sparkly. I loved it.


And Best Costume was won by Micheal O'Connor for The Duchess-- which wasn't the best movie, but it had dozens of gorgeous Georgian costumes (one of my favorite time periods in women's fashions.) This outfit was my favorite:

But the real excitement of Oscar Night is dressing up. Anything goes, as long as it's movie-ish. Two years ago I made a green satin thirties-style dress in honor of the green dress worn by Keira Knightley in Atonement. Last year I dressed up as Angelina Jolie's character from The Changeling. I didn't see either of those movies, but it didn't matter, because they made great costumes. This year, I'm dressing up as Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes. I wish I could recreate her magenta bustle dress, but I will have to settle for another scene in which she wears breeches--or knickers, whatever you want to call them.

So stay tuned--I will update you on my costume and let you know what I think about the Best Costume category this year--because although I didn't see Nine (yuckers), I did see Bright Star and Coco Before Chanel. And The Young Victoria? I think that will be the winner--who can compete with a queen's wardrobe or Rupert Friend . . . in breeches?

Miss Blossom Wears Pink and Dreams of Baking Cupcakes

This is the perfect apron for baking cupcakes. It's a birthday present for my dear friend Heather. I picked the color pink because I think it suits her so well--she is both sweet and pretty, and what is sweeter and prettier than pink? I love the color pink. It makes me happy. It reminds me of lipgloss, cupcakes, and frosting. When the fairies Flora and Merryweather in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, duel over whether Princess Aurora's dress should be pink or blue, I always root for Flora. And when I am picking out which color I should choose for something, I can always hear Flora's voice in my head yell "Pink!"

Pink also reminds me of Abby. The other day when I told her that I was going to make her a skirt out of the leftover fabric from my navy blue dress, she said, "Not a blue one, but a pink one please." I should have known.

What color makes you happy?

Miss Blossom Wears a Navy Blue Dress

I finished my new dress, and I have to say that I like it a lot! I especially love the sleeves. It was pretty easy to sew too. Even though I don't have a serger (yet), I love sewing knit fabric because I don't have to take extra time to finish the seams. And another great thing about knit dresses is that I don't have to iron them.

I tweaked the pattern just a little. I extended the hemline, raised the neck opening, and cut the skirt a little fuller around the hips (because I am a little fuller around the hips!) But this is why sewing is so awesome--I end up with a dress that fits me perfectly. Oh, and the fabric was free (pawned off by my mom), the thread only $2.00, and the pattern $1.99. Pretty sweet.

Graciella Plays With Pattern Paper

Though she be in the farthest corner of the house (and no doubt by a heating vent), Graciella can always hear the tantalizing rustle of tissue pattern paper being cut.

As you can see, playing with pattern paper is one of those things only a cat can truly appreciate.

Happy Valentine's Day!

May your Valentine's Day be full of love and kisses (and not poison or daggers.)

Cherry Pop Refashion Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cherry Pop Refashion Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Just For Fun

I stumbled upon http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/ a month or so ago. This seamstress makes the neatest dresses and then gives them away, just for fun. She has made some really pretty stuff, but what I really like about her giveaways is that a lot of the dresses are remade from ugly old things she finds at the Salvation Army. To enter one of her giveaways, you have to leave a comment or create a link on your blog (or both). Unfortunately for me, most of the dresses are too small, but I'm going to enter whenever a dress comes up that I like. Because I really want to get one in my hands and turn it over and scrutinize it to see how she does it! If I ever win--and I will because I'm lucky--I'll give the dress to anyone who wants it.

So why am I so lucky? Well, I've won my share of drawings and contests. I wish I could share some tips on how to win stuff, but really I inherited this particular trait from my dad, who wins things too. I once won $500.00 worth of Marie Osmond dolls by entering a doll contest, but that is a story for another time . . .

The reason I bring this up is that maybe my sister Kim shares the same trait. When she went to her Mardi Gras party, she won Best Costume and a $75.00 gift certificate to a local restaurant in Logan. I'm not surprised. I mean, of course she had the best costume :) And now she and her roomates will get to enjoy a steak dinner instead of a bowl of cereal one of these nights.

And just for fun, here are some pictures that Kim said I could share:

This is Kim ready to go wearing some serious make-up.

Uh-oh. Somebody's roomate is not so modest . . .

Only in college . . .

And it looks like dancing and studying can really take a toll on a college girl . . .

Yikes.

A Big Step Forward

As I'm making my navy knit dress, I am of course dreaming about the next dress I want to make. (I think half the fun in sewing is dreaming about the next project . . .)

I bought this pattern the other day for two reasons:

The jacket . . . and the ribbons on the jacket. Oh, and I liked the dress too--even though it calls for an invisible side zipper (scary). The jacket looks a little intricate and maybe a bit difficult, but I'm up for a challenge.

But what is really challenging for me is to visualize the dress and jacket in different colors. I always get stuck on whatever colors are illustrated on a pattern's cover. You'd think that for a slightly creative person, I'd be able to overcome this, but when it comes to thinking up color combinations, I'm a bit timid.

However, since I'm already making a navy blue knit dress and since I don't entirely love the color peach, I was pondering colors for the past few days when it came to me: coral for the jacket and brown for the dress. Because I love coral--it would be perfect for spring and summer.

But then I remembered that I buy fabric at JoAnn's. And I have never seen anything resembling the color coral there. And they probably don't have brown knit either. So what did I do?

I ordered fabric online! En garde JoAnn's! And the fabric was so affordable, I didn't even need that annoying 40% off coupon. I ordered dark brown jersey knit and coral pink pique from http://www.denverfabrics.com/ and it will be here in just a few days.

And even if it is tricky to find just the right shade of ribbon to match, I feel liberated.

Miss Blossom Would Samba If She Could

Watch out Donny Osmond, here comes Miss Blossom wearing my sister's Mardi Gras costume! As you can see, it's very blue and very shiny.

Here's a tip: never give away an old dance costume. This lovely costume used to be a jumpsuit. That's right. The blue fabric on the bottom used to be M.C. Hammer pants. (Fortunately no one in my family had to suffer the embarrassment of actually wearing this sparkly blue jumpsuit. It belonged to one of my sisters who quit taking lessons from the dance studio that actually thought this costume was okay, and so she never ended up wearing it. My mom paid for it though, I'm sure. Speaking of wearing really awful dance costumes, no one can trump my having to wear a NUDE COLORED UNITARD ONSTAGE when I was in high school. And if dancing in one wasn't bad enough, I had to wear it for the curtain call too. It did a lot for my frail sixteen-year-old insecurities. But enough about me . . . )

So we cut up the pants, added some silver and purple accents, trimmed a lot off the bottom because my sister is a shortie, and added a feather boa to the butt. Only a few people can really get away with wearing a feather boa on their butt. We also added sleeves and beads and feathers because it's modest Mardi Gras, which is an oxymoron in most parts, but not in Utah :) My mom also had fun rounding up and making some accessories:

My sister is going to be the best dressed girl at the party--all because she has a sister and mom who are slightly nuts and bored with winter. We just hope she isn't the only person this dressed up at the party. Oh well! That's her problem.

So have fun sis! The next costume opportunity will of course be my wackadoo family's Oscar Party Night. I'm thinking of something along these lines:

Just kidding.

Mormon Girl Goes to Mardi Gras

For a winter diversion, my mom and I threw together a costume for my little sister. She's attending a Mardi Gras party at Utah State and when she asked for help with a costume, she said, "Think Mormon girl goes to Mardi Gras." Which means: modest Mardi Gras costume please.

So none of this:

Or this:

This won't work either, even though she did want something feathery:

This is definitely modest:

The problem with making a quick costume for my little sister, is that there is nothing quick about it. She is like the princess and the pea--everything has to be just right. But what's really weird and/or sad, is that my mom will drop everything to help her youngest daughter and I will drop everything to make a costume.

So in a day or two, I will post our lovely creation. And while it's nothing like a true Samba dress, it was once a dance costume. And as for modesty? Well, the poor dear will have to wear sleeves just like every other Mormon girl going to Mardi Gras these days should.