love.

I thought it would never happen, but I have fallen completely.

We've only been together 18 hours, but I just know it's the real thing this time.

Of course I had to make introductions, because I want to share my newfound happiness with all my friends... Meet my new roommate, the 13" Macbook Pro.

We are most definitely MFEO.
(made for each other)

He's so sleek and smoooth. Quite unlike my normal infatuations. Case in point:


and


Speaking of which, I had quite a nice time with the girlfriends yesterday afternoon ogling this


in this

Dirty, bad and wrong. But funny.

Then we went to Sally's and bought slutty nail polish. Good times.

anthropologie knockoff: a skirt story

I have two favorite snoop shopping stops on the web...anthroplogie and myshape.com. Both are favorites because I can mix and match pieces & accessories, and several things are suggested for different pieces. (Or at least that USED to be the case at anthro...their new site is much less user friendly and blah.)

I put together little collages of items and save them for sewing inspiration. Here's one I've been meaning to knock off since spring:


I love the whole outfit! The kimono overblouse, the turquoise gathered neckline tee, the chunky amethyst necklace... And the little skirt which is so simple but has some pretty touches. The anthropologie skirt is silk with a simple elastic waist, two layers. The underlayer is longer and has several rows of gold "handpicked" hem. Here's the anthropologie skirt hem:


To start, I had a piece of reddish pink lightweight chambray in stash (going on 7 years now), that was just enough to knock off this skirt! The color was hard to photograph today with the dodgy clouds, but here's the finished skirt:


Just 4 simple rectangles, the top layer shorter than the bottom. I basted them together at the top edge and made a casing through both layers to insert my 1/2" elastic. (If I'm going to wear an elastic waist, I'd much rather wear a narrow one!)


I used a poly embroidery thread in gold to do my topstitching on the bottom layer of the hem. There are 7 rows total:


Here's a shaded picture on me, this is a pretty accurate reflection of the color. I really like the skirt with my turquoise tee. I chose gold "gladiator" type sandals instead of brown slides though.


Ta da! A (formerly $90) skirt, for...about an hour and a half. Since I had all supplies on hand, and used stash fabric, it's basically a freebie.

In case you're wondering, I'm still not doing my hair:

Viva la Summer!!

BWOF 6-08-107

I've been working on this for three days! And not because it was hard, I just kept running into those annoying little obstacles that prevent you from finishing. This top is from Burda World of Fashion 6/08 #107 in white dotted swiss:


I had to size up to a 44, then do an FBA. This one is pretty small through the chest, I would guess a B cup fit, not the usual BWOF C cup. Just be aware you probably want to muslin it even after you do an FBA. I ended up still needing just a smidge of room across the chest, so I folded the plackets about 1/4" narrower than the pattern called for. Luckily I was able to ease this extra neckline into the collar and stand.

Speaking of which...pretty pointed collar:



What really drew me to the pattern was the side casings with elastic inserts. I don't like to tuck in, but its hard to find woven shirts that look nice untucked. The pattern also has pleats in front & back, in addition to the gathered casing, but I left the pleats off. I had used them on the muslin and really didn't think they added enough to the top to keep them.


The sleeves also are a nice touch. They're sort of a cross between raglan and set in sleeves, which makes them very easy to insert. But instead of a plain jane gathering at the cuff, you have these great pleats with binding. I think these little extra details set BWOF apart.


I started out with these beautiful vintage pressed glass buttons in a pure white. And then I broke one! So I ended up using these pearly white shank buttons instead.


I promise I'll wear the top in a picture soon! I'm working on a skirt that will be perfect with it. I might even do my hair.

Burda Plus#402

I have crappy pictures to share! Yay!

These are the plain front trousers from Burda Plus issue E952 (Spring 07, I think), pattern #402. Just a note about this great pattern. It's in the "Plus" issue, but for those of you unfamiliar with these special issues of Burda Fashion magazines, the sizing begins at 44 for most patterns (just like in the BWOF plus section), which is also on the higher end of regular sizes. That opens up these patterns to many more sewists! Here's the line drawing:

I didn't have quite enough of this tobacco twill to make full length pants, so I shortened the pattern to capri's. I had been crawling around the floor looking for something before taking these pictures, so excuse the messy, wrinkly appearance. Fit from the front is pretty perfect:


And the dreaded back view. ;) This one's not so bad though. Other than my high right hip (which I typically ignore since I can't see it), which has a few wrinkles pointing to it. Look in particular at my waistband, which is pulled over 1/4-1/2" to the right. I never realized my pants did that.


This pattern fits marvelously, almost right out of the magazine. I did a muslin using old quilting cotton I wasn't going to use, and tweaked the pattern with the following changes: added a bit at my front hip edge (always have to adjust for that no longer flat stomach. Damn thirties anyway); Minott method for full inner thighs (using Debbie's fabulous tutorial); extended the front crotch 1/2" (the front crotch on this pattern is really short).

After I made the second muslin (in this tobacco twill) I went back and lowered the crotch seam about 3/8" to fix a bit of pulling there. Here's a diagram of my changes. I know it looks like I changed alot, but really these are very minor changes for a pants pattern!!
I used a cute orange floral cotton for the waistband facing (rather than bulky twill):


And I used the same cute print as my fly shield:


I'm pretty excited to give these a try in a trouser weight fabric too! Since this pattern is so "plain" it will be a nice pattern to use as a base for other styles (change the leg cut, add pockets, etc.)

Next up is this top from 6/08 BWOF, in white dotted swiss:

My muslin (which I used a fabric I totally love on, and am a little bitter about now) wasn't much of a success. I wouldn't term it a complete wadder, but I'll probably never wear it so I didn't do any finishing details. I found the chest/bust area to be really snug. Definitely a smaller fit than the last top I made in this size (I would classify this one as a definite B cup pattern.)

I also think the pleats plus gathered side casing is repetitive and not really all that noticable in the finished product, so I'll just be doing the casing. The casing itself is positioned too high for my waist, so I'll be lowering that. I've had it cut out for 2 days, but things are just slow around here this week. Hopefully I'll finish it today!

moon-y.

Today is the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing...

Very. Cool.

The song (of course): Fly Me to the Moon
link via youtube.