Summer is almost here and I've been so busy sewing things for other people that I put myself on hold again this year. I went to the mall yesterday to get inspired and see what they are using for day wear. It seams to me that T-shirts are it. They are all over the place and I might add, not very many colors. They have the graphic tees which are OK if that is your style, but I like feminine tops with some interesting details. I didn't see anything that I liked! And the quality is so poor. If you wash them once, they usually shrink and become out of shape. Instead of "wash and wear", it's more like "wear once and throw out"! As you can tell, I was disappointed in what I saw. Every store had the same things, boring and ordinary.
So, I ended up at Joanne's fabrics, which is the only fabric store in the entire Northeast Florida region, and bought some pretty linens to make myself some tops. I figured that there was enough knits around, so I would like to make something else. That is the great thing about sewing. I will keep you posted as to my progress.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
4/21/10
I'm going to dedicate this blog to my Mother, who would have turned 89 today.
She loved clothes and shopping and took pride in being different then everyone else. When I was very young, I remember she used to sew too. But, she loved to use this one pattern of a cut away tent dress and would make it in many different fabrics. She didn't have the best of skills, but this pattern was only 3 pieces, so she really couldn't mess it up. Besides, my Grandparents were professionals and could fix anything. Anyway, Mom would sew it up and then embellish it with pearls or beads around the neck band. Actually, she could have made a burlap sack look good. She just knew how to wear clothes. One time she made this dress in a white 4ply silk crepe and decided it had to be a little more dressy, so she took a quarter and outlined it all over the dress in pencil leaving about 2" between each circle. Then she gave it to my Grandmother to sew gold bugle beads around each circle covering the pencil marks. It was gorgeous! This is the garment that opened up my eyes to a whole new world. It is amazing how your life can change on a dime, well in this case it was a quarter.
There are two other stories that come to mind that make me smile. The first was on my Brother's wedding day. Mom's dress was a pink silk crepe with beading along 12" of the hem and about 6" at the end of each bell sleeve, that she bought at an expensive boutique. It was so hot on the day of his August wedding, that she actually cut off the long sleeves that had all the beading, and hemmed them into short sleeves that morning. Can you imagine that! Who does that!
For my Niece's wedding, she wanted to wear this beautiful aqua brocade dress with a matching jacket that I made for another function because it was her favorite piece. When she took it out of the dry cleaning bag, there were all these yellowish spots here and there. She was so upset because the wedding was only a week away. Nothing like waiting for the last minute! Anyway, I sewed clear iridescent sequins on top of each and every spot and it camouflaged it so beautifully that no one knew that they were put there for a reason. Friends and relatives still comment how beautiful that outfit was, when in fact, I think it was my Mom that made the outfit so memorable.
She loved clothes and shopping and took pride in being different then everyone else. When I was very young, I remember she used to sew too. But, she loved to use this one pattern of a cut away tent dress and would make it in many different fabrics. She didn't have the best of skills, but this pattern was only 3 pieces, so she really couldn't mess it up. Besides, my Grandparents were professionals and could fix anything. Anyway, Mom would sew it up and then embellish it with pearls or beads around the neck band. Actually, she could have made a burlap sack look good. She just knew how to wear clothes. One time she made this dress in a white 4ply silk crepe and decided it had to be a little more dressy, so she took a quarter and outlined it all over the dress in pencil leaving about 2" between each circle. Then she gave it to my Grandmother to sew gold bugle beads around each circle covering the pencil marks. It was gorgeous! This is the garment that opened up my eyes to a whole new world. It is amazing how your life can change on a dime, well in this case it was a quarter.
There are two other stories that come to mind that make me smile. The first was on my Brother's wedding day. Mom's dress was a pink silk crepe with beading along 12" of the hem and about 6" at the end of each bell sleeve, that she bought at an expensive boutique. It was so hot on the day of his August wedding, that she actually cut off the long sleeves that had all the beading, and hemmed them into short sleeves that morning. Can you imagine that! Who does that!
For my Niece's wedding, she wanted to wear this beautiful aqua brocade dress with a matching jacket that I made for another function because it was her favorite piece. When she took it out of the dry cleaning bag, there were all these yellowish spots here and there. She was so upset because the wedding was only a week away. Nothing like waiting for the last minute! Anyway, I sewed clear iridescent sequins on top of each and every spot and it camouflaged it so beautifully that no one knew that they were put there for a reason. Friends and relatives still comment how beautiful that outfit was, when in fact, I think it was my Mom that made the outfit so memorable.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
4/20/10
I have to tell you about the funniest sewing experience of my entire life so far. If you haven't already, please read my other blog of today on "sewing solutions".
I made my own body double dress form and the concept was wonderful. However, the only friend I had at the time that I could torture with wrapping my body in duct tape, was my daughter who was only about 8 or 9 at the time. Being the sweet wonderful person that she is, she tried to follow my instructions to the best of her ability. But the roll of tape was very difficult for her little hands to pull and wrap all around my body over and over again. She seemed to be doing a great job, but it was taking a lot longer than I expected. Here it was probably the hottest day in August and I'm standing still wrapped in duct tape while my daughter is making sure that she covers every inch of my torso. The sweat was dripping down my face and trickling down my back as her attention span was dwindling. She was pulling and pulling the tape to get it off the roll while actually using such great force that I kept losing my balance. When she was finally done, I pleaded with her to get me out of this thing that was so incredibly hot! She cut me out of it and it actually didn't look so bad, that was until I put it on the form. I stuffed the cavities with fiberfill, and then to my horror I had one boob by my chest and the other closer to my waist. I had bumps where I never imagined there could have been one. Apparently when she was pulling and pulling, she was re-distributing all the fat I had into different places. Still I figured that I had to go through with this since my daughter put so much effort into helping me. How could I not finish this project?
I placed the form in the middle of my sewing room for everyone to see. Little did I know that my daughter thought I was actually crazy for doing it in the first place. We laughed and laughed at this horrific sight. But the best reaction was when my Husband came home, took one look at it and said, "What the hell is that!" I proudly said,"that's me!", and he said ,"If that was really you, we wouldn't be having this conversation".
So, if you are going to attempt this project, you must get someone strong enough to wrap the tape evenly so it's not distorted, and by all means, get enough tape! This is not a project that you want to run out of tape. And finally, make sure it is done in the winter months.
I made my own body double dress form and the concept was wonderful. However, the only friend I had at the time that I could torture with wrapping my body in duct tape, was my daughter who was only about 8 or 9 at the time. Being the sweet wonderful person that she is, she tried to follow my instructions to the best of her ability. But the roll of tape was very difficult for her little hands to pull and wrap all around my body over and over again. She seemed to be doing a great job, but it was taking a lot longer than I expected. Here it was probably the hottest day in August and I'm standing still wrapped in duct tape while my daughter is making sure that she covers every inch of my torso. The sweat was dripping down my face and trickling down my back as her attention span was dwindling. She was pulling and pulling the tape to get it off the roll while actually using such great force that I kept losing my balance. When she was finally done, I pleaded with her to get me out of this thing that was so incredibly hot! She cut me out of it and it actually didn't look so bad, that was until I put it on the form. I stuffed the cavities with fiberfill, and then to my horror I had one boob by my chest and the other closer to my waist. I had bumps where I never imagined there could have been one. Apparently when she was pulling and pulling, she was re-distributing all the fat I had into different places. Still I figured that I had to go through with this since my daughter put so much effort into helping me. How could I not finish this project?
I placed the form in the middle of my sewing room for everyone to see. Little did I know that my daughter thought I was actually crazy for doing it in the first place. We laughed and laughed at this horrific sight. But the best reaction was when my Husband came home, took one look at it and said, "What the hell is that!" I proudly said,"that's me!", and he said ,"If that was really you, we wouldn't be having this conversation".
So, if you are going to attempt this project, you must get someone strong enough to wrap the tape evenly so it's not distorted, and by all means, get enough tape! This is not a project that you want to run out of tape. And finally, make sure it is done in the winter months.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Welcome! 4/19/10
Let's talk about fashion, sewing, fabrics and new products. Sewing is the constant in my life, a big part of who I am today. I'm going to share with you the current projects that I'm working on as well as past projects and funny stories. Hopefully, this will inspire you to share your thoughts and pictures, while we discuss fabrics and trims. Who knows where this will lead and the possibilities are endless. I hope you share with me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
