Oh dear

I have almost nothing to say about this. Unfortunately, it speaks for itself (in demented-baby babble).

Just imagine the wedgie.

Intrigue

This is probably the most artistic pattern envelope I've seen. Usually there isn't any background, much less an implied story.

I see one of two things going on here: One, they are all spies in Paris. The man in the green ascot is passing the secret information that will save the Free World on to the girl in yellow, while the woman in the striped coat (who is obviously a Russian spy because she is blonde) is eavesdropping to steal it.

Number two, and more sordidly, the man is whispering endearments to his young girlfriend as she is about to leave for a trip, while his other girlfriend waits impatiently for her rival to leave, and smiles smugly behind the brochure she's using to hide her face so as not to be recognized. She's just got a suitcase as a cover story for being there.

Buttons!

My husband's grandmother, who is really awesome, gave me a bunch of her fabric scraps and rick rack and trim and buttons. I still left her with some buttons, and I took a jar full. I already had some buttons of my own, accumulated over the years (I've always had a fascination with them). My mother has a button box, plus a bunch of buttons inherited from her mother and grandmother. My husband even had a couple of tiny jars of buttons his mom had given him for repairing his shirts.

Which makes me think: Do companies even need to manufacture buttons? I think there are enough buttons already in existence to take us well into the next century, at least. Since less people seem to sew than in years past, the existing button stockpile, plus those that we can take off of discarded clothing, should do it for us. Of course, then the matter becomes finding the exact perfect shade of buttons, which is harder to do when you can't run down to the store and pick one out. :)

Maybe we should start an international panel to investigate the stockpiling of buttons.

Added Bonus - Original Artwork

This pattern came to me with the added bonus of original artwork. Someone (my husband says probably a small boy someone) has embellished the ladies with beards and chest hair. Charming, no? It looks like a pretty dress, but unfortunately, it is a pattern missing major pieces (all of the bodice).

Free Vogue Pattern

Just an FYI for anyone who sews: Vogue is giving away free sewing patterns (you have to pay the shipping, $3 for one). You don't have to buy one to get one free. If you go to www.voguepatterns.com there's a box with a ribbon on it that you can click on that explains the offer.This is a good opportunity to try Vogue out, since their patterns are usually so expensive. The offer does exclude all designer patterns, though.

I ordered this one, because I've been needing a good basic shirt pattern.

Inspiring

I love this dress. The long version, with the fish tail skirt. I would keep it, except it isn't my size, or even within an inch of it. And honestly, there aren't many occasions (make that, NO occasions) in my life that would call for such a dress. Goat herders don't get invited to that many fancy soirées.

I can't say I think the sash would hang as beautifully as it does in this illustration. Sometimes pattern illustrations are a lot more fantasy than reality. Of course, on the back, it says the sash is boned. So maybe that partially explains it. If I were making it, I'd make the long version, but without the sash.

Pattern is dated 1960.

What the ?

This is one of the pattern envelopes from the stash I bought last week. I don't have much to say about the pattern itself (oh, which it turns out, is missing except for the instructions and one piece), although that plaid pants/vest combo is a doozy. What actually concerns me isn't the dopey, far out look on the face of the blonde model in the upper right hand corner. She's in high school or junior high (this is a teen pattern), and she's probably in love with the quarterback or something.

What gets me about this pattern is the girl with the black hair, who seems to be comforting her fallen hair extensions. Either that or she's just taken a scalp.

The Ugly (you knew it was coming)

Seriously, I think this is one of the ugliest things I've seen. What makes it worse, of course, is that it's unisex. And that they envisioned it in plaid.


I can't imagine any self-respecting man wearing that thing, unless he needed to work on his truck. The blue version does sort of look like your average coverall. The sad fact is, though, this garment isn't meant to be worn as a coverall. And I really can't imagine anyone would think that having an outfit that exactly matched their girlfriend's would be cool. The male model's only in it for the money, that's for sure. His smile drips fake. As for women wearing it, even on the lovely thin model in the photo, this is not a good look.

The Bad * Warning: Not responsible for retinal damage*

When bad things happen to good (or at least not THAT bad) patterns...

This pattern isn't that bad. It's a very simple peasant blouse. How it would look depends entirely on the fabric choice. Unfortunately, in this case. These girls aren't wearing clothes, they're wearing costumes. And it hurts my eyes.

In case you were wondering, the back of the pattern envelope has a copyright dated 1969.

On a completely different note, yesterday I decided I had been doing too much crafting for Etsy and not enough for myself. So I got around to a project I've been meaning to do for awhile: I ripped the ugly gold braid off some yellow thrift store napkins I bought, and embroidered little bluebirds on them. They turned out really cute, and are so much more my style than the gold braid was. These napkins are part of an effort I'm making right now to reduce household waste. I had been composting paper napkins, but this way I don't use new ones at all.

Now I need to make time for the kitchen curtains I bought material for when Brandon and I were visiting friends in Durango. It has chickens. I'm kind of obsessed by birds right now, it seems.

The Good (from the vintage pattern stash I recently bought)

This dress I really like. And it's in my size. So I'm keeping it. I am going to make this dress. Someday, eventually, when I don't have another dress already sitting in my sewing room cut out and waiting to be sewn. But I can visualize it, view 2 (the girl in green) in a black or navy blue print with cherries (that I saw last week at The Sewing Basket) with the little bow across the front in either red or black (or navy, if the print background is navy). The only thing about it is that there are about a dozen buttonholes, and that's a lot. I have an irrational fear of buttonholes. I don't know why, they're not hard. My machine has a four step buttonhole function, and I've got it memorized. The first few buttonholes I did, though, I had to keep the manual beside me the whole time.

Doesn't that lady in blue look like she's bent on world domination? The one where she's twisting her scarf in her hands, I imagine she's thinking about how she will crush her enemies beneath her heels...and have them tortured, flaming slivers under their fingernails, the whole bit.

Sew What! Skirts #1

It's a beautiful day out, cool and sunny but not hot yet. About time, if you ask me. I like summer, butI like fall better, and it has been very hot lately.

I bought a book called Sew What! Skirts by Fracesca Denhartog and Carole Ann Camp last week at the Sewing Basket in Clovis. I had looked at it online but couldn't find a site that let me look at photos of the projects inside, which are what I was interested in. This book teaches some really basic pattern drafting. I have a more advanced pattern drafting book, but it's so intimidating I haven't done much with it. Sew What! Skirts is aimed at the beginner, so it isn't intimidating at all.

I've already made one skirt out of the book, the "Short and Sassy" skirt. It looked really cute in the book, with an uneven hem, and was incredibly easy. This skirt is basically a square with a hole cut in it for the waist. When it was done, it looked good, but was really too short and sassy for my taste, so I unpicked the waistband I'd made and layered another, slightly smaller square of fabric over it (at a 90 degree angle to the original) making my skirt essentially two of theirs, and I liked it a lot better. The layered look and uneven hem make it look like what I think of as a "fairy skirt". It would look awesome with the under layer of a sheer or semi-sheer fabric, in the same shade as the top layer, maybe in green. Does that make sense?

Anyway, here's a pic.
I make a lot of skirts, for someone who doesn't wear them very often. Of course, I've never made jeans, and I practically live in them. I guess I have less inhibitions about spending $40 for a pair of jeans I'll wear hundreds of times than spending the same $40 for a skirt I'll wear many less times. I can't remember ever wearing out a skirt. I can make a skirt a lot cheaper than I can buy one. If you don't count the cost of the book, this skirt cost me maybe $1.50 to make (I bought the fabric on clearance for 50 cents a yard). Not that economics is my main reason for sewing. If I didn't enjoy the process and the creativity I wouldn't do it.

So this is it...

My brand shiny new blogger account blog. I like this a lot better than Myspace. I guess I'll say a few words about what this is about.

What I'm planning on putting in this space is posts about the things I make (thus the name), which includes a lot of sewn crafts and clothing. I've got a shop on Etsy if you want to check it out. Also, I just came across a huge batch of vintage patterns, and I'll be posting some of them, as well. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It'll be fun, so stop back by. There are a lot I won't be saying anything about on my blog, but will be listing for sale in my Etsy shop over the next couple of weeks. If you're interested in vintage patterns, check it out here.