Ain't that the truth....

... check out the caption on the mag cover.....

I stalked...STALKED! my local magazine shop waiting for this mag to come out all month.... only to miss one day... ONE DAY.. and be told he only got one bundle in, the.day.i.missed. and he sold out the same day...

Well thank goodness for the hot chick over at BatchPlease! I was visiting her site yesterday and saw this....'Gone, but maybe not too late...'

Please believe I went to a bigger mag shop on 23rd and Broadway, 1st thing this am, and low and behold, I came home with these....

(( ...please hear John Witherspoon of 'Boomerang', the 'Friday...' movies and 'The Boondocks' when I say..)) Yyeeaaahhhh Boy!!

Holla!

little bit of this... a little bit of that...

So, I did one of my usual weekly walk-bys on Fulton Fabrics last Thursday and ended up finding a few bargain buys...

I found this really pretty grass-y green rayon fabric with a nice black floral border print (3$/y).


At first glance I thought I could use it as a wearable muslin to make M5687. But, the more I looked at it, I decided it might be the perfect fab to make my 1st Inspiration Game Piece using M5556.

I plan on using the main part of the fabric to make the top itself. Then use the printed border for the shirt, arm cuff and neck pieces.
I don’t really have a pattern for the skirt part of the dress. But it really looks as if it is only maybe 1/3 again the circumference of the bodice hem (it looks very slightly gathered at the seam)... anyway, I bought extra fabric so I can experiment.

I also picked up this bold graphic print rayon with my abso-favorite colors, black and fuchsia(also 3$/Y).
I thought the scale of the print would lend itself well to V1046 version A.

Today I finally finished this African print shirt I made with V8495.
I made it two weeks ago, but then fell out of love. After playing around with it for a while I adjusted the shoulder width to about half the original length.
I think it made it a bit more modern looking.

I also used some of this stable double knit jersey I picked up a few weeks ago at the Parons East closing sale to make another 'Old Faithful'
I retraced the pattern, cut and sewed the garment all in a few hours (really good timing for me!)

I decide to use 2" self-bias tape to finish the hem, arm holes and neck.

The neck band stands up a bit and looks..... uuummm.... a little EXTRA. I don't dislike it. But it is a 'look'... Luckily, I can turn the band inside and wear it like this as well.

I think it came out pretty cute for a rainy afternoon's work.

I forgot to take pics of the inside, but I finished both side and shoulder seams with French seams. It is quickly becoming my finishing method of choice. Yeah, you're basically doing double work. But the end results are soo much better than anything else I can come up with (besides bias binding) since I don’t have an overlock or serger machine.

Holla!

Not so patiently waiting...

... for my back ordered patterns... so things have been a little quite on the Brooklyn front. I did snag some new fabs at Fulton Fabrics the other day (pics on those tomorrow.)



But I HAD to post pictures of the newest member of my 'lectronics family (...my computer being the Big Daddy, and my sewing machine being the Lil' Momma...) I humbly introduce you to my bright, shinny new BBBBAABBBYYYYY!!!!Sing it with me ya'll... "Isn't she lllooovvveeelllyyy.... Isn't she woonnddeerrrffuulll...."
... In case you haven't noticed, bright shiny things TOTALLY do it for me!

And of course, I had to go with the white one... You have to buck the system SOMEWHERE.... ... she even has a hot pink body case... WORK!
...alright. I'm done...

Holla!

Things to come...

Found some great stuff in the August issues of both 'InStyle' and 'Lucky' yesterday....

I love skirts and dresses... all year round. Even though I will always love a straight form-fitting skirt that accentuates the curves, these full flow-y skirts are fantastic. I already have several in the closet for spring/summer wear. Looks like I might need to invest in some weightier fabrics to incorporate the look into my fall look.



IMO, most perfect item of clothing is The Dress... whether you just wanting to look extra pretty on day....or.... You neglected to pick an outfit the night before, and... lets just say..... woke up 1/2 an hour late..... ahem.... a good dress is always the answer...



I really like the infusion of color with those abstract prints... and looky looky...... is that an exposed metal zipper I see? Uummm hhmmmmmmm!

Just this past Friday I was on the hunt for some summer/dress weight denim... But dark denim was everywhere... I even saw this exact same striated stretch denim at P&S Fabrics in Chinatown... My first thought was that it looked kind of dated, but this is a whole new take on it... looks like I just added an extra after work errand next week.

Even though we're half way thru with summer at this point, we here in NYC have a least 2 more months of pretty warm weather ahead of us...

I really like these frilly camisole tops. Working at a lingerie company, I have a closet full of them, so I never really thought of making my own. These added flounce details might just turn that tide...

Now, who hasn't seen this top?!?!

I've avoided it like the plague, because plunging V's don't really work on me... but these strategically placed rosettes could very well solve that 'exposure' issue for me... and make it nice for work.

Taking a little break from fashion, I am ALL OVER this gold polish from Channel... They have a lot of nerve with those prices...don't they realize that's, like, 1/2 a tank of gas?!?..... But I'm sure my friend, and yours, O.P.I. will have something more budget friendly in stores by the time this hits mass market!

And it's nice to see some other trends that caught my eye during spring and summer will still be around this fall... Still loving the color block thing.... maybe Cross Colors had a deeper effect on me in the 80's than I thought... this dress is great and I'm digging the waist tie detail. And, that knit T-shirt with the charmeuse sleeves is right up my alley!

Lastly, here are two great examples details that I keep seeing all over the place...

This DKNY vest is a prime example of the piping detail I keep seeing on everything. From vests to jackets to skirts, I think it can take a very basic garment and pump it up a few notches.

That YSL bag is calling me (... much like the sound of the can opener draws my dog, Love...) I'm loving the drawn in detail on the super basic, glorified canvas market shopper, bag. Can you say stencil and canvas paint pens... I CAN!

I'm feeling considerably better today, but I still sound like I'm talking inside a plastic barrel, at 10,000 feet it would seem, because my ears keep popping....ssiigghh.

Holla!

Sniff...Sniff... Cough...

I've been sick since last Sunday. And, apparently, S.W.M. (Sewing While Medicated) is NOT the business.

I think I made, not one, but TWO bad pattern/fabric choice decisions today. Both shall ever be blamed on, the aforementioned, S.W.M.

So, I'm going to re-up on my meds, grab my book and get back in bed... which is where I should have stayed this morning... apparently.

I did finally get to peruse this month's Lucky and InStyle mags. I got some great inspiration for stuff to do for end of summer and into fall... I'll try to get it together enough to post on that tomorrow.

Holla.... but keep your distance, I think I'm still contagious.

Don't ever say I didn't tell you...

... SewingPatterns.com Is.the.best!


They're having a sale today....

So...

This...

(if you remember this post, you'll know why I am soo hyped about this shirt)

plus this...

(again, remember this?)

plus this...

.... equals 17.62$ !!

((.... plus, I got a 'free' year of issues for Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Entertainment Weekly and Kiplinger's Personal Finance for filling out the survey afterwords.))

Say it with me now... HOLLA!

My latest obsession...

... Soooo, this D&G dress was supposed to be the next dress I was going to make in our sewing circle at work...

... well, as any of you in sewing circles know, everybody doesn’t work at the same pace. And, I'm tired of waiting.

This dress was something like 1300$ at Saks 5th Ave earlier this spring… but this pattern from McCalls (M5701) would only cost me about 11$ - with shipping!

Even cheaper would be this dress from Simplicity (6643) currently on sale for 4.99...

The thing I love most about this dress is the back… ...How.Fly.Is.That?... And I could kick myself, when I was at Paron's over the weekend they had these very zippers just begging to be bought for like .25c or something… DagNabIt!

Anyway, there are a few differences from the D&G dress and the McCall's pattern… Chief among them is the back!

But... (now, this is the figment of my imagination that thinks she's a master tailor talking here…) I think I could cut the two back pieces in half (since there is no CB seam showing, I'm assuming they're cut on the fold) and add a CB zipper. I would have to cut the bottom piece regardless, to get the design detail of the D&G dress....((ahem))
Also, the pocket placement is placed more to the front, plus the hip and hem circumference would have to be tweaked to get the more tapered look of the RTW version, but the neck and shoulder lines are spot on!

Now, this Simplicity version already has the CB seam.

But, it doesn't have pockets, but those can be added...

Another concern is the dart placements. With a really graphic fabric, I think the print would look too patchy in front.

Yeah.... the more I think about it, the McCall's version is looking like a real winner here…

Holla!

Butterick on Parade....

Sunshine on a cloudy day...

... I had all these grand plans about all the errands I was going to run today... rrrright.

When I finally got out of bed... around 11... and after I spent a few hours web-surfing... I decided I should finish at least one of the projects that have been languishing on the cutting table for a few weeks...

Built By Wendy/Simplicity 3835... Come on dddoowwwnnnnn!!

I was actually surprised at how simple and easy this shirt is. If you've read any of my previous post, you might remember that this is the blouse I did my first FBA on... bleehck!...

But, dealing with the extra fabric on the side was a cinch. I didn't want to do a dart, so I just eased/gathered the extra fab at the bust ... I took me twice as long to finished this top that it probably should have. Because after seeing the great work Toy did with her bias tape maker over at Trinilove and seeing Antoinette finish an entire dress with french seams over at Cleavergirl, I was inspired to take a little extra time on this one.
I really loved the sleeve detail on this pattern too... it has these really cute self-ties at the cuff...

Although I LOVED this color, finding thread to match proved impossible. So, I also had my first encounter with invisible thread...

I wont say it's my favorite thing to use, but its certainly good in a pinch.

The overall fit could do with a lot of tweaking, which I will do before I cut any quality fabric to make this again. But, make it again, I will!

Holla!

The Fat Lady has sung...

... So Parons East has closed its doors... but not before they coughed up the fabric that they owed me!! Shoot!

Here is the 100% wool jersey I got to coordinate with the stretch poly-cotton black and tan leaf print fabric... The picture doesn’t really do the subtle colors justice, so you'll have to trust me when I say the match is on point.

Aaannndddd, since I'd come all that way and all, I gave the place a quick run thru to see if there was anything else I wanted.

Apparently there was...

I dug in the proverbial crates and found the very last of this super stretchy/super soft broadcloth (top fabric). This is probably one of my most favorite fabs ever (I bought several tops from Old Navy last fall in this self-same quality!) Alas, it was only two yards. But, PLEASE believe me when I say I plan on using every scrap.

I also decided to pick up the black Italian linen (bottom fabric) that I put back yesterday in favor of the pique. It’s really high quality and was, apparently, very expensive. Even at 75% off, it was almost 1/3 of what I spent yesterday on 8 different fabrics combined!

At the last minute, I decided to throw in a soft and drapey muted cheetah print fabric in faded grey and tan (middle fabric)... I hemmed and hawed over it yesterday. But since it was getting thrown in gratis, I thought why not.

Since it WAS free, I decided to use it to play with the neck line of old faithful...
It came out pretty okay, I guess...
But, I think I need still need to do some adjustments to the waist as it's pretty much looking like a giant pillow case with neck and arm holes cut into it... but the fab is super soft and drapey and it feels great on... so it’s a high quality pillow case at least...lol.


Holla!