Ruffles

18 Mar Birdie and Me

Posted at 09:38h in Ruffles, Simplicity Patterns, skirt pattern, Uncategorized by goodbyevalentino 56 Comments

Greetings from the desert! A beautiful baby and gorgeous warm weather greeted us upon our arrival to Scottsdale. Can life get better than this? I've been asked countless times if I plan to sew for Birdie (now 6 months). The answer is YES, but I have decided not to smock again. It's been a long time since I've attempted to sew baby clothes, and while times have changed, baby patterns have not! After a 25 year break, I was led back to The Children's Corner patterns and discovered many of the cute patterns I sewed for Katie and Mimi are now online waiting to be...

05 Mar 3 Dresses 3 Fits 3 Looks

Posted at 10:18h in Ruffles, Sewing Books, Sewing Dresses, sewing patterns, The Tunic Bible, Tunics, Uncategorized by goodbyevalentino 47 Comments

Maybe you go through color phases like I do. I don't know where they come. Two years ago I was all about orange but lately I've been partial to blue and green. Recently, the delightful fabric designer Jennifer Paganelli sent Julie and me selections from her Hotel Frederiksted collection. We each made a tunic for one of our book signings at Quiltcon in Savannah last week. The fabrics are quilting cotton which isn't always recognized as garment friendly, but one can have fun with the great prints found in quilting cotton, and create cute casual garments! Here's mine. I decided to make a...

29 Jan African Waxed Cotton Challenge

Posted at 12:28h in McCall's Sewing Pattern, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, Ruffles, Uncategorized by goodbyevalentino 62 Comments

What's better than a little black dress?...

17 Jan McCall’s 4710 Silk Skirt and a Ruffle Neckline Top

Posted at 07:32h in Mood Fabrics, Ruffles, Sewing Skirts, The Tunic Bible, Uncategorized by goodbyevalentino 54 Comments

We've just returned from Miami and while there we anticipated limitless photo possibilities for my latest make, but the stars didn't align for us...

11 Jul Sara Campbell dress – one ruffle too many

Posted at 08:07h in Refashioning Clothes, Ruffles by goodbyevalentino 85 Comments

"Why don't you wear something you made?" Was Hub's comment a compliment or criticism? "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" "It's just so drab." "We're going to a funeral visitation...

06 May The 30 Day Dress

Posted at 21:44h in Ruffles, Sewing Dresses, Susan Khalje Sewing Class by goodbyevalentino 141 Comments

……… also known as the Baltimore dress is completed. I had the pleasure of taking it apart again only to discover the opportunities for alterations were limited…… but maybe my 30 day investment needed little else than minor adjustments. After separating the skirt from the bodice and removing the top ruffle, I removed all of the gathering threads and started over. Most of the gathers in the skirt were replaced with darts giving me a smoother fit around the waist. I cut 14 inches of width off of the ruffle but sadly realized my new vision for the dress looked disproportionate. The decrease...

07 Aug Happiness is …….

Posted at 09:22h in Butterick Patterns, Ruffles, sewing blogs, sewing clothes, Sewing Tops by goodbyevalentino 0 Comments

I don’t know what makes me the happiest right now…… … the top I made, the pants I bought, or being back at Edisto Beach where I can eat fresh shrimp, silver queen corn and home-grown tomatoes until my heart’s content. Greetings from George and Pink, a hot spot on the campaign trail for South Carolina politicians, and the finest produce market on the planet in my humble opinion. I was once hesitant about shopping at the dirt floor market amongst the chickens and goats that roam the property, but once I quit worrying about getting my clothes dirty, the quality of our...

01 Aug Gettin’ My Preppy On

Posted at 09:28h in Butterick Patterns, Mood Fabrics, Ruffles, sewing blogs, sewing clothes, Uncategorized by goodbyevalentino 0 Comments

Madras, anyone? Finding this multicolored cotton patchwork on the Mood Fabrics website was almost as refreshing as a dip in the pool! I looked forward to putting a feminine twist on this classic preppy fabric and paired it with Butterick’s dress pattern 5917. Perhaps I’m a child at heart loving those madras children’s clothes filled with ruffles, but I thought this pattern had just the right feminine touch without the fussiness for the busy fabric. Actually, I’ve seen lots of RTW seersucker dresses sewn in this style. Since there was only one review on the Pattern Review website I wasn’t sure what to expect,...

09 May Simplicity 2497

Posted at 10:00h in clothing designers, Ruffles, Sewing Tops, silk, Simplicity Patterns, Uncategorized by goodbyevalentino 0 Comments

While sewing my casual knits the ruffles were calling my name, and I answered. The craving to sew ruffles was stronger than any craving I've ever had for chocolate, but I tried to be practical and made an all-purpose white shirt. Of course it's all-purpose! Mood Fabric's Ivory Solid Goes with Everything Silk really does go with everything in my closet! It's perfect with my re-fashioned floral pants...

17 Oct Vogue 8833

Posted at 19:25h in Ruffles, sewing blogs, Sewing Tops, Uncategorized, Vogue Sewing Patterns by goodbyevalentino 67 Comments

Here is my new top. If I was on Project Runway, Tim Gunn would walk into the workroom and tell me I needed to live up to my potential. Michael Kors would call me a One-Trick-Pony, and Heidi Klum would exclaim that I look like I’m going to a baseball game before saying Auf Wiedersehen with a kiss on the cheek. Does this mean I do not like the top? Not at all! I like it, but I’m starting to repeat myself and it’s time to regroup. ______________ Two weeks ago I went to Waechter’s Silk Shop in Asheville, NC with a friend who decided to start sewing for...