This Time Last

This time last year, at Thanksgiving, I premiered favorite sewn piece. It was a two piece knit, pant and top. The pant was a trimmed down version of Vogue 8499 by Marcy Tilton. Great pant with princess seams and deep front pockets. The shirt was a Vogue Basic 8536, slim fitted pullover. I used a Sophia double knit. I made a few others in the course of my experimentation. The Sophia double knit is the best fabric choice so far.

Now I am looking back at how it worked for me in my wardrobe, what can be improved and how did it wear. Of the three pieces, Black, Cocoa Brown and Olive, the Black is the favorite. I veered away from the Sophia double knit for the Olive and the tell is in the wear.

The two piece is the foundation for scarves, vests and jackets. My daughter calls it my improved sweat suit. It has that type of comfort of wear and ease of care.

This year, rayon blend Ponte knits are everywhere. Ponte is a good workhorse of knit. With the rayon blend there is not that cheerleader uniform kind of shine. It is heavier, and I need be really careful of the pant style. Only a slim fit pant for this one. I made that mistake already. I will be re-cutting those pants this weekend. A few pieces will make the foundation of the winter vacation

wardrobe.  

Scratching…Teesha Moore

I’m starting a new journal soon. My present journal has managed to last the year. I wanted to look into some new styles and product to use in a journal. It is a combination of daily notes, quotes, ideas, mind farts and photographs. A lot of information in one fat book. CSI would have a ball with it in my demise.

This morning I chose to peruse Teesha Moore’s blog. I had not looked at in a while. Her journals have been a source of admiration for some time. They are not exactly my style but worth admiration for the use of color and materials. Teesha has a series of videos that were big news to me! I had a wonderful time going through them with a pre-dawn cup of coffee.

The video series goes through the creation of a 16 page journal. It starts with the 22 x 30 sheet of Fabriano watercolor paper, folding, tearing and creating the signatures. The series ends with a fabulous collage  journal in the Teesha Moore style.

As a result of this enabling experience, I’m off to find a few new products for my new journal. Journal Salon is tomorrow. Always a joy.

November, This Week

First of a new month, November. The past month was a blur of cold and flu, travel and happiness.

I am so glad the month started off with my trip to New York to see Karolyn and a premature celebration of my birthday. After that trip it was down hill in a blur. There was a record set for days of rain in October. That did not help me personally. Additionally on one of those rainy days, Stella was hit by a bus in the parking lot at work. Finally, she is off to repair next week. The blessing of the situation is I was not hurt and the perpetrator is paying the repair. Now, it is a new month.

The November Table is heavy. I only accomplished a pair of khaki pants for work and a Ponte knit two piece in an entire month. I managed to buy fabric but not sew a lot. The stash building has commenced. I think I will need that second set of shelves in the cedar closet. I thought it would never come to this, but it has. You just have to buy dressmaking fabric when you see it. It is not always readily available.

I am off to a good start with the November Table. $3.99 Vogue pattern sales and a lot of cutting done the first week. I even have a holiday for Veteran’s Day, next week. Thanksgiving is the latter part of the month. Feeling good and all in all a bright start for the month of November.

Touch

For my birthday, I got an IPod Touch. I rather like it. Years ago, the day I saw coverflow, I have had it in the back of my mind. The whole idea of graphic movement just appealed to me. I am not a MAC person. I can’t afford it but I love that coverflow thing. The Touch has many of the apps that make the IPod phone so popular. The variety of apps is astounding. One of my favorite is tyle.com. I see why people love them. I have a personal problem with ATT service and the cost of data, therefore I do not own a Ipohone. The Touch will work from available WiFi.

My new joy of the Touch is Genius Lists. It makes play lists from songs in your iTunes library that are supposed to go great together.  You can create a play list simply by choosing the song you are listening to. I may have some obscure music that is not in the ITunes database.  According to the experts…”Genius learns your preferences and how you relate songs by following your listening patterns. It then uses those patterns along with other track information such as artist, genre, etc., to create its play list” . The songs in your ITunes library should be appropriately tagged.  The more you use iTunes, the more accurately Genius should can anticipate your preferences. Pretty amazing.  Also sometimes not in the database of ITunes are the cover art for some of my music. Most art has managed to show up.

Cover flow, touch screen and music. Not such a bad combination.

Holiday Wishes, OPI Nails

Beauty First had a buy two OPI nail polish, get a top coat free promo. I love OPI and I love a free top coat. The new holiday nail colors are out. Had to try a few.    The display was very much run through, but I picked up Shim-mery Chic – a bronze with red flakes or glitter. Really hard to capture the color in a photograph. It is not like anything I have. It wears very very well. I wore it for a few days without a top coat and no chips. I also picked up a second color, Glove You So Much. It is a maroon red shimmery shade. I want to pick up a few more of the glittery polishes.  They are unique for my inventory.  Set for the holiday season. Scrangie has a complete inventory of all of the colors. Must say, it is a go to resource for nail polish information, and I do like nail polish.

No American Sewing

This weekend I had planned to travel to Kansas City to the American Sewing and Quilting Expo.  It is a nice road trip my cousin and I took last year. He headed on to his alumni festivities at University of Kansas while I trolled the convention in Kansas City. After experiencing the cold and the flu in the past 10 days, I thought a road trip would not be a good idea this weekend. There has still been some excitement in the face of disappointment.

I missed the opportunity to shop Vogue Fabrics at the Expo. Never the less, I got my fabric shop in on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous for the first time this week. I got some woolens on sale for basic pants, a suit and a novelty piece for a vest. With coupons in hand I was happy with the results. That made up for the trip to KC.

While out, I lucked upon a Silhouette Pattern event at Hancock’s. Sewing with a Plan(SWAP) was the theme of the event. The representative of Silhouette presented patterns made from in stock Hancock fabric with the goal of interchangeability to build a wardrobe.  Sorry to say, I was not impressed. Silhouette has some good basic patterns in their line up. The presentation using in stock Hancock fabric did not make for a fashionable show. The representative often referred to their construction techniques as better than the big 3 because of the use of factory techniques. I was not impressed.

Silhouette addresses the need of varied cup sizes in their patterns. The big 3 are almost always based on a B cup. Most of American is not a B cup. I am fortunate that one of the adjustments I do not have to make is for cup size when cutting a pattern. I don’t have to make the dreaded FBA every time I cut a pattern. I have other issues. It made for a nice couple of hours in an afternoon, but I don’t think I will become a fan of Silhouette patterns.

The Little Black Dress

I always love a new book. “The Little Black Dress… How to make the perfect one for You” by Simon Henry, is a  guide to dressmaking fit for the novice to more seasoned sewist. This small book takes you through the history of the LBD, basic beginning sewing skills and the drafting of your own personal pattern.

The approach is simple and not off putting. It will as a matter of fact lull you into confidence. The instructional photographs are excellent. I love the the finishing techniques are not your sew simple cheap finishes, but more couture like. LBD teaches very good habits to the beginner. Whether you are making a dress or other garment, the techniques are very valuable. 

There are a lot of make it yourself pattern books new to the shelves now. Most of them are not very stylish. This book is an exception. I highly recommend it.

Sewing Mood

Quote from Claire Kennedy … “Think of sewing as empowering in that you are now free of others making decisions for you.  Sometimes, you can use some of their expertise at first, but after you have developed your own style, you can do what you want and still remain “in style” but with your own style. “

So wonderfully true and well put. This is a major reason I sew. I can see and feel my own style. Fit in middle age is another driving factor, not to mention quality. I feel best in my own creations at this point. I love knit two piece outfits, vests, and loose linen pants. Having gone back to sewing a little over a year ago, I have spent the time getting back in the swing of sewing skills and filling in my wardrobe. I am fast getting to the point where the motivation is to make it because I like it. Another sewing blogger I frequent and admire says she went back to sewing 5 years ago. I can do that. I am certain that 5 years from now, my creations will be as stunning as her work. Every garment this year has been a learning experience.

On a my first trip to the garment district in NY, I made a pilgrimage to Mood Fabrics. After all of the episodes of Project Runway, I had to see Mood. I had been told that it was not the place for a bargain in the garment district. Mood is the place to find anything you can imagine and something 2Die4! I did in deed. I could easily have been overwhelmed, but I chose to get what stopped me in the aisle. It is fall, so why not a wonderful woolen.

This is a truly novel woolen. I have been thinking about a pattern or design since the fabric was cut on the table. Something simple. Something stunning, that each time I wear it I will think, “It came from Mood”. I even got a canvas tote bag from Mood. How great is that?!?

ABC

 

When I first started to read shelter magazines in the 70’s, the ever present reference for goods was ABC Carpet and Home  in New York. I always dreamed about it. What ever the trend, they had the absolute best of it. Not always the traditional but often the one of a kind. I saw a few pictures of ABC Carpet and Home over the years, but not enough to give you a full fledged view. When I went to NYC recently, it was on my “to see” list.

I was advised by the very handsome gentleman at the door not to take pictures. Had I started taking pictures I never would have stopped. Every inch on every floor was something to catch your eye. Details, upon details. Color, texture. You name it. As a souvenir I bought a mercury ornament. Happy it made it home in one piece. 

A Way to Think

“Dressing is a way of life. It brings you joy. It can give you freedom and liberation, help you to find yourself and to move without restraint. Isn’t elegance forgetting what one is wearing?”
— Yves Saint Laurent