Okinawa-rama

I'm almost done! I think I'm gonna make it. Only problem is the dress is see-through and I don't have adequate coverage. Let's see...if I don't dance, and the tablecloth covers me...

Tomorrow will have to search for a slip. Then I need to sew hooks into my obi and Kayako san needs to tie it.

Will it all come together?

It's 3pm. There's no way I'm making it grocery shopping today. Maybe tomorrow during lunch? Or Wednesday before book club?

I'm getting tired. I'm working on the bottom, tan layer of the dress. Sewed bias tape/ribbon along hem. Stitching all over the place. Some of ribbon not actually attached to fabric. Hopefully lighting is very low at the ball.

Sewed up one side of the skirt. Much more time consuming than I'd anticipated as material is sheer so you can see the raggedy insides of the seam. Needed to fold it over and hide edges to make it pretty.

Ready to start next side. I hope it's easier.

Then the elastic on top and the second later. Grrr....

I hope I can do it! And that it's wearable! Okay. Back to work. Might be time for the wine soon...

Overview: Joe and Kelly have been invited to the Marine Corps Ball, a formal event rich in tradition and ceremony held on bases around the world to celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday. Living in Japan, where women are half the size of Kelly, Kelly did her shopping via the internet and ordered two gowns (to be safe) online... So she thought. When the gowns did not arrive, Kelly checked the status of her order only to discover; an order had never been placed. Oops. This was on Thursday, six days before the ball. What was to be done?

The event: Marine Corps Birthday Ball
The challenge: Make a formal gown to be worn at the ball
The date: Tuesday November 21 (tomorrow)
Participants: Kelly and Kayako-san (obi tying master)

Materials to be used: Black antique obi (apparently once part of funeral dress), silver obi cord, lengths of sheer black and tan fabric. Assorted sewing notions.


Process:

Kelly will cut material and sew it to make skirt portion of dress. At 10 am on morning of ball tomorrow, Kayako-san will wrap obi around Kelly's boobs. (Obi will cover top of "skirt", which is hiked up to the chest, creating and empire waist dress effect.) Kelly, Kayako-san or one of Kelly's colleagues, will sew hooks in appropriate locations leaving a length of obi free and dangling. Using vast obi-tying knowledge, Kayako-san will tie free end of obi in bow, hopefully not reprimanding Kelly for unconventional use of funeral attire. Kelly will don dress along with sexy black pumps and cute silver handbag and be ready for the ball!

Obstacles:

Time-It is now 10:45 am. I have a Japanese class tonight and must buy groceries for Thanksgiving party of 15. Also clean house. Prepare menu. Tomorrow I work from 10am to 5:00pm. Must finish book club book for Wednesday too.

Sewing ability-The only clothes I've sewn before were a pair of pajama pants from a pattern. (Fell apart after 2 washes.) And dress 8 years ago which took about 3 weeks.

But in my favor:

Pressure - I have a date with Kayako-san tomorrow. I can't disappoint her.
Liquid Encouragement - A full pot of fresh Fairwinds coffee. A backup 2/3 bottle of red wine if that fails.
Optimism - I did sew some pillow covers that have lasted a full 8 months!
Curiosity - Can I do it? Will it look good?


Here we go...

It's a beautiful day and I'm sitting inside enjoying it. We do have the windows open, so I'm getting some interaction with the outside world. Right now I hear the perky voice of a Japanese woman over a loadspeaker. Probably a politician. While campaigning, Japanese politicians and their supporters take to the streets in little vans with big speakers, driving their message home (if you will) to whomever is within earshot. It's quite annoying, but I imagine it would be even more so if I understood what the heck they were saying. There is one method of campaigning over here that I quite enjoy though. It's when the candidate and their supporters stand at busy intersections bowing to everyone who passes by. Usually they wear identical windbreakers(yellow seems a popular color)and stand in evenly spaced intervals down the side of the road. Whenever a car approaches there is a flurry of smiling, waving and bowing. I love driving up to them 'cause I'm like, wow, they're so happy to see me! And then I find myself waving and bowing right back at them. Often the people wear white gloves, which lends a certain panache to the waving. I've gotten to the point where if I come upon a group not wearing the gloves, I grow suspicious. In fact, I don't think I would support a non-glove wearing candidate, if I were Japanese that is.

I'm gonna go. Must stop Joe from watching the whole season of "Lost" without me.