It is said the two best days in the life of a boat owner are the day you buy the boat and the day you sell the boat. I'd like to extend the joke to writing a book...
Are you still there? I hope so because I have a fabulous giveaway to announce - Susan Khalje is generously donating her newly released French Jacket Video class to one lucky winner! It's true! Susan brings her lifetime of experience in to this video course, offering advice that you cannot get anywhere else. Included in the package are: A Custom Jacket Pattern Designed by Susan Khalje Sent Directly to Your Doorstep Instant Access to Full Length Step-by-Step Instructions High Definition Streaming Video on Multiple Platforms and Devices Instructions are provided for a patterned and a solid jacket in two different courses providing thorough and careful instruction to learn at your own...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! You survived another year, and I made a new dress to celebrate! One of the things I look for when shopping online are fabrics that will work well together, and I had no doubts about these off-white and navy Celtic inspired stretch cotton poplins. from Mood Fabrics. Cotton poplin with the addition of spandex is a dream come true for casual Summer sewing! Crisp, lightweight and minimal wrinkling - what more can I want? Using my own pattern I sewed the bodice with the navy background poplin saving the reverse fabric for the collar, placket and lower band. I generally make lower bands similar...
Do you know that the one color you should never wear for a job interview is...
Maybe you read Pamela Druckerman's New York Times Op Ed on Sunday. It's a synopsis of the commencement speech she gave to students graduating from the Paris College of Art, an American art and design school in France. By the time I reached the end of the column I felt it was written just for sewists and sewing bloggers - especially the paragraph that states it's ok to be obsessive. Druckerman quotes comedian Louis C.K. who says "Anything you do should be better than anything you did before." That statement might have been a joke, but ...
If asked, I would name this fabric jazz. It's spontaneous but unified, improvisational yet clearly designed. I see a colorful keyboard. But there is a problem. Can this free spirited cotton voile be transformed into a singular sensation? Will its unique voice be heard once it's cut and sewn? Tell me, dear Readers...
How's this for a One Yard Wonder? It's true - I made this dress with one yard of Mood Fabric's Watercolor Clouds Digitally Printed Stretch Neoprene. There's more where this came from too. Check it out here. I want the one with the lips if some cool blogger like Oonaballoona or Sallieoh doesn't beat me to it ;) Seriously, this is the best knit fabric ever...
Had I planned to be gone for over two weeks I would have announced a short leave of absence. I've been sewing like crazy on non-blog related projects, one of which involved sewing red cheerleading skirts for grown men participating in a Cancer Association fundraiser - thankfully it was a great success ;) I'm happy to be back and am in the midst of some stash busting. This project, inspired by the hundreds of shapeless tops I see online and in the stores was an immediate gratification project, and one I hope to fine tune next time around. The pattern Vogue 8950 was completed...
Greetings from the nation’s number one wedding destination spot, Charleston, SC! Hubs and I are in the Old Village of Mt. Pleasant, just across the bridge from Charleston. We’re staying in an inn above one of our favorite restaurants and attending a wedding in a historic home on the Ashley River. So is there anything better to wear while strolling amidst the gentle breezes and tree-lined streets of this charming city than a white cotton voile tunic? The tunic was a work in progress beginning with my own pattern and this delightful polka dot cotton voile from Mood Fabrics. After cutting the bodice I...
What a difference a top makes! Some people are born to sew couture. It relaxes them they say...