A little behind: 1 dress (Simplicity 2497) and 2 fabrics

I bought this pattern in the fall, thinking I wouldn't have the chance to make and wear it.


After I saw AllisonC's green silk dress, I knew I had to find an occasion for it... and it just so happened that Lee decided to get tickets to go to a New Year's party in DC, so I needed(!) a dress. I sewed this up just in time to leave on December 30th, and haven't had a chance to take photos until now. (It turns out that all those wonky photos meant my camera was dying, and I didn't have a chance to replace it this week.) As always, photos from that night are too facedrunkbooky to post.

The dress came together very quickly, made of gold silk shantung that I bought years and years ago. No major alterations other than shortening it. I wore it with the black tights you see here and a pair of black kitten heels. The party turned out to be a bust, but I got lots of compliments on my dress!

And I decided to keep the muslin, which I made out of multicolored seersucker from the stash. I have a feeling that this dress won't stand up to much washing because the seersucker turned out to be threadbare in some spots, but I guess that's what I can expect from $2/yard fabric from Joann Fabrics. I intended to bring this with me when visiting friends in Puerto Rico, but didn't have time to hem it until after my trip.


Nevertheless, I love how the stripes turned out in the collar and am glad that I cut the front as two pieces on the bias to make chevron stripes in the front. Here is a photo of me, seated, that shows the stripes in the ruffle collar, bodice and skirt.

Vogue, you shouldn't have. But I'm glad you did.

A year or so ago, I swore off envelope patterns. I figured I could get whatever I wanted from my Burda description or my existing stash. But I don't think I can resist these...

This one, Anna Sui's V1153, looks so fun and breezy. I have the perfect gauze in my stash for it.


I love this blouse, Rachel Comey V1170. I love shirts with twist and knot details, and this is no exception.


This one, Guy Laroche V1155, is for the lifestyle I don't have. One day, I'll have a grown up job and will get to wear this. I think it'll be great in this crisp linen that's floundering in my stash...

Haiti and my 2010 resolutions

I haven't sewn anything since last month (I made a dress for NYE that I haven't had a chance to photograph yet) and one of my 2010 resolutions is not to buy any fabric if I haven't been sewing. My other 2010 resolutions include sewing a work appropriate wardrobe because I aspire to have a grown-up job by the end of the year, and training for my third marathon. My goal in this marathon is to finish without crying like a little girl and (hopefully) qualify for the Boston marathon. Between traveling every week and marathon training there's been no time for sewing.

That doesn't mean that I don't want to buy fabric! Buying fabric is my favorite consolation for not having time to sew. Fantasizing about the things I could sew is almost as good as actually sewing them. Or not, because my self consolation adds up to a formidable stash that I've had to move over state lines. After you move 6 boxes (each large enough to fit a cocker spaniel... or two) of unsewn fabric, you realize how silly it is to indulge your hording tendencies.

So in the perfect trifecta of giving and guilt learned from Catholic schooling (I shouldn't spend money on something I don't need whereas someone else could do with that money), 2010 resolution (no fabric if I'm not sewing), I decided to donate what I would have spent on fabric to the Haitian relief effort. If you are like minded I urge you to donate some money to Partners in Health's Stand with Haiti Campaign. Partners in Health is a Boston-based charity that has done a lot of work with Haiti for 25 years.

From the Partners in Health website:

Partners In Health staff in Boston and Haiti are working to collect as much information as possible about the conditions on the ground, the relief efforts taking shape, and all relevant logistics issues in order to respond efficiently and effectively to the most urgent needs in the field. At the moment, PIH’s Chief Medical Officer is on her way to Haiti, where she will meet with Zanmi Lasante leadership and head physicians, who are already working to ensure PIH’s coordinated relief efforts leveraging the skills of more than 120 doctors and nearly 500 nurses and nursing assistants who work at Zanmi Lasante’s sites.

If you click on the Stand With Haiti banner below, you will be connected to the campaign's donation page.

Sweaters for everyone!

The final gifts (yes, plural) I made were cowlneck sweaters for me and my sister. The fabric, which unfortunately with my lack of photography skill, comes across as flat in these photos. It is not! It's a delicious, textured, shimmery Japanese silk novelty knit from Gorgeous Fabrics that when I saw it knew it had to become this sweater. I've been wanting to make this design up since I saw the pattern in the October 2005 issue of Burda. One for me, and one sized up for my sister. It's lightweight and oh so snuggly warm.

You can play around with the neck.




This is also the first time that I've sewn with a twin needle. There's a dearth of good advice on the internet regarding how to sew with a twin needle. That said, this tutorial demystified the intimidating twin needle. Maybe that's why there isn't much more written about twin needles...

A rainhat for my mommy

Last week was a rush of finishing gifts, and trying to wrap up some work projects before the end of the year. I was successful at the gift finishing... the work projects, not so much. At least I'll have something to do in January when I go back!

Have you ever bought an album for one song? Well, I bought this book for one hat, and it turns out the pattern wasn't in the book!

That said, it's a fun book even if some of the hat instructions are, "buy a hat, put a ribbon on it like this."

The last time I was home, my mother who is of a certain age pulled out a little rain bonnet to cover her hair in the rain. I understand wanting to look a little older than you are (people always think I'm at least 5 years younger than I really am) but this is too much! A cute rainhat was in order.

I had some rainwear microfiber left over from an attempt at making a raincoat (funny I didn't have that on my list of no-sew, because I have no plans to ever sew any rubberized fabric after this! The hat went together very quickly. I used a microtex needle and lined it with a lightweight stretch cotton from my stash. There was a slight smell of burnt rubber when I was done -- all finished in less than 2 hours!






For the record, I have a small head, as does my mom.

Burda 10/2005 #133: What to wear to get thrown out of a Cavs game

Last year, Lee and his roommate went to Cleveland during the playoffs to watch the Celtics-Cavaliers game. Now, Lee has a special sense of style and is one of those people who can pull off almost anything. Crazy plaid mohair suit? Yes. Giant rabbit fur hat with earflaps? Yes. Sharkskin silk suit? Yes.

So, naturally, the thing he wanted for the game was a kelly green suit.

I'm not about to try out whatever suit making mojo I might imagine to have, so this is what he got for Christmas... a Celtics shirt! Kelly green with bright orange buttons. The fabric looks like nasty quilting cotton, but surprisingly it's a stretch poly/cotton blend.


The collar stand has an interesting pointy detail.


I drafted the sleeve vent bands by enlarging a pattern piece from a Vogue shirt pattern in my stash.


The shirt is a little on the large side. I didn't have any of Lee's shirts at hand, and was going from his telling me that he'd just bought a size 40 jacket. It's so much easier to sew a men's shirt than a women's shirt... there's so much more space to make a flat felled seam in the sleeve! Lee is happy with his shirt and I might make more in less obnoxious fabric and smaller size.

Leopard robe

You know how they say that you should consider the cost-per-wear of a pair of shoes, jeans, coat, etc. when you're buying it? Because, like, if it's pennies per wear then it's totally worth it? I'm really optimizing my cost-per-sew with this pattern. I've now made 5 robes and 1 pair of boxer shorts with it. I have 2 of those robes, my ex has 1 robe and the boxer shorts, my dad is about to get a robe for Christmas, and now I've made a robe for Lee.

He's been talking about this robe ever since he went to a meeting in DC last year where they put him up in a fancy hotel where he had his choice of leopard print or zebra print bath robes. And now he has one of his own! The fleece is from FFC, and I was afraid it wasn't going to arrive on time. We won't be spending the holidays together, so when the fabric arrived last Wednesday I was under the gun to complete it in time for our visit this weekend... at this point, it takes me only 6 hours from the time I lay out the fabric to the time I have a robe... so this pattern is a total win for me!

I didn't skimp on the fabric because if my dad is shorter than the Butterick Man, Lee is probably taller... otherwise, there are no changes this time around.

Now, on to the pictures... When I asked Lee if I could take photos, he was like, "what for? your blog? I don't want anyone to see me!" So you get to see that the robe fits well, but only I get to see his handsome face. I hope you can settle for that! ;p