silk

02 Dec The Holiday Tunic

From the moment I resumed sewing garments in 2011, I was obsessed with learning to sew the cute $$$ RTW tops I could never justify buying for myself. My second blog post was about recreating Milly peasant tops, and thus began my journey leading to The Tunic Bible. My first top, a silk peasant top looked quite homemade, but I was blinded by enthusiasm and after my investment of time and effort, I wore it with great pride. My mother bought the silk in Asia and I wanted to please her as much as myself. Six years later I see the progress I've made...

Read More

26 Apr Carolina Herrera Stretch Silk

I scored big time finding this beautiful Carolina Herrera Leopard Printed Stretch Silk Twill  from Mood Fabrics.  I ordered the fabric with a wrap dress in mind, but after the fabric arrived I came across a photograph of the Carolina Herrera original and decided to follow the style of the designer with a close fitting dress. I reached for a favorite pattern I have made twice before - Vogue 9047. (Version one is here and version two is here.) The pattern is now out of print but still available on the website, Etsy and other online sources.While the 'original' dress is a sheath with...

Read More

01 Mar New Look 6910

It’s the time…. of the season…. when love runs high…… That means all things wedding around here. With two twenty-something daughters, the fun never stops as someone is always getting engaged or married. Three years ago the wedding season caught me off guard and I spent a fortune outfitting everyone for wedding related occasions. Now, I’m always in the Mood for a wedding. Sewing has given me access to the world’s greatest designers in an entirely new dimension, especially when sewing with fabric from Mood! I’m wearing Carolina Herrera to the next wedding :) (check out Mood’s Carolina Herrera fabrics here) I love Carolina Herrera so...

Read More

06 Feb Marfy + Mood = Love

Have you made your Marfy yet? Thanks to Leisa Stanton of A Challenging Sew, I had no more excuses to avoid the chic Italian patterns without instructions. Not only are three free patterns available for downloads on the Marfy website, but Leisa is providing sew-a-longs for the patterns on her blog and just completed the top sew-a-long. How do you like it?  The pattern is Marfy 1913, and after two muslins I was ready to cut my Thakoon silk crepe de chine from Mood Fabrics. When the silk arrived in July, I was tempted to make my 5th sleeveless ruffled top. “No! No! No!” exclaimed the...

Read More

24 Aug Serendipitous Silk & More

 My dear friend Libby teaches abroad every summer - this year she taught in Bangkok. On an outing to the National Museum, the lost driver dropped Libby and her class off at the wrong location. They found themselves at the Jim Thompson House & Museum instead. Jim Thompson, an American architect who was stationed in Thailand during World War II, created an international business exporting Thai silk. While wandering through a local market in Bangkok, Jim Thompson spotted Thai silk. Captivated by its beauty he traced its origin to a Muslim community where the weavers were making silk by hand. His discovery not...

Read More