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Does anyone else have the opening music to Gertie's Sew Retro class stuck in their head? So snazzy! Wouldn't it be fun to make your own mini movie version in different dresses dancing around in place like that? Or hailing a cab in NYC? Amazing. Have you signed up for this class? I can't wait to make it, although I also have no idea where I'll wear it! Kind of a revealing neckline on me, but we shall see... And, hey, if you're joining Peter for MPB Day in NYC perhaps I'll see you there! At this point, I'm planning on being there as I have family and friends to visit as well. On a side note, I've been told the comments section on tis blog hasn't been working. I think someone mentioned on the Sew Weekly Sewing Circle forum that Blogger has been having a problem of late with this. Hopefully, it's been fixed, I'm not sure what else it could be?? Over and out, folks!

Last weekend I visited a friend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Little towns and villages popped up around the countryside, and every once in awhile we'd pass an abandoned century-old building that'd make me wonder just how long it had been sitting there vacant. We checked out a couple of main streets with brick buildings no more than a story or two high, a definite sleepy Southern town vibe to it. ...Thrifty Finds... Ever since I started sewing I've loved visiting sewing-related stores when I travel. There was one antiques store we wandered into that had a bunch of different stalls. At the back of the store I spotted it -- a basket of sewing patterns! Jackpot, I thought to myself. I came away with two patterns, a knit wrap dress from 1972 (McCalls 3080) and a skirt from 1982 (Simplicity 5454). Unfortunately, the wrap dress is a few sizes too big for me, but I couldn't pass it up for $1. I also grabbed a bag filled with bias tape, piping, lace, etc. 1972 Wrap Dress (the...

This is just a quick post to say there will be a completed Beignet Skirt blog post by Sunday...or else! It was going to be a skirt for Easter, but Easter came and went. My sewing time has been minimal of late because we've been lucky to have lots of family visitors these past few weeks, but now I need to get back in the game. So I'm writing this post in an attempt to peer pressure myself (me pressure myself???) into finishing this skirt by this weekend. I bought this really beautiful cotton blend tweed on my last trip to New York, oooo Garment District goodness :) I guess I should consider myself lucky that I learned to sew after leaving NYC; where would I have fit all that fabric and sewing equipment in my tiny room? Methinks my roommate would've been none too pleased about everything spread out in the living room -- unless I made her a coat or two -- she has about 30, no joke! On a side note, I happened to see last week that I was averaging 2.3 posts per week and couldn...

It was such a beautiful day out today, really more of a summer's day warmth-wise, so I took the opportunity to take a few photos of my newly completed Oolong dress from Colette Patterns. The day was also quite windy, which you can see in some of these photos (cue big hair!). I bought this pattern last year, but only got around to it when I included it as one of my pieces for the CP Spring Palette challenge! An Oolong in Dandelion Fields? I used this coral-colored cotton lawn from Sew L.A. Fabric along with a local purchase of Bemberg rayon for the lining. I've dubbed this my "strawberry fields" dress both in reference to my favorite band and one of my favorite places in New York's Central Park. Before my trip to NYC a couple weeks ago I had this idea I'd take photos of me in this dress in Strawberry Fields, but I know this time of year all too well in the northeast and decided against it. This is not built for snow and frigidness!  Anyway, back to the dress. I...

I just signed up for the Me Made March '11 challenge on Zoe's blog  and am excited!  The idea is to wear at least 1 handmade garment a day for the entire month.  I say I'm excited, although I have to be honest...the idea of taking photos of myself for a month is a little terrifying!  That's partly why I'm doing the challenge, it's nice to step outside the box every now and then.  In my mind I just tell myself it's a great excuse to play dress up for a month :)  There is a chance I'll be away for a week in March for work so that could mess things up, but I will find a way to make it work! Now if I can just get my sew-along trousers finished I will be feeling pretty pleased with myself.  Oh, and the muslin for Casey's sew-along.  Wait, did I just sign up for a month-long challenge and I'm still working on trousers and haven't made a muslin yet for the swing dress?  Oh boy.

So busy with work and other things this past week I haven't really been able to work on anything sewing related.  Very sad times indeed!  I was hoping to cut out my fashion fabric (a sand wool crepe, feels so nice) for The Cupcake Goddess' Trouser Sew-Along, but I'm only just making corrections to my 2nd muslin.  At least those aren't too complex and I hope to be cutting out my fashion fabric by this weekend.  I saw this movie, Easy Virtue , a couple months ago and Jessica Biel's trousers have been good inspiration as I work on mine!  Sunni put this up on her blog as inspiration too.  Mine are from the '40s, but hey, a wide leg's a wide leg! Jessica Biel in '20s wide-leg trousers in the movie, Easy Virtue (2008) I'm also shortening the bodice on my 1940s Swing Dress as part of Casey's Sew-Along. Knowing how busy work and life was going to be over the next however many months I planned these sew-alongs to go with my color palette for the CP spring...

Sarai at Colette Patterns is hosting a Spring Palette Challenge where you sew a mini wardrobe with specific colors in mind.  It's a 10-week challenge and the first step is to create an inspiration board, which was a lot of fun!  I chose to go with fabrics already in my stash -- hey, that just means more room for future fabric purchases! My "Playground of the Pacific" Spring Palette (dress patterns at lower center courtesy Wade Laboissonniere, Blueprints of Fashion: Home Sewing Patterns of the 1940s) The palette I chose -- gold, blues, reds, and what I'm calling "sand" -- are vibrant colors (well, except for sand, but I like having a neutral in there to balance the others) that contrast my current dreary winter surroundings.  Virginia has beautiful colors for most of the year, but in the winter everything seems so dull and grey, and not exactly inspiring.  I need a punch of color, or 2 or 3 or 4!  Really, just throw 'em all at me, I can take it. I had ...