Samples for the Low-Sew Boutique book

The box on my front step had this return address...


... and contained the six samples I had submitted to Krause Publications for the gallery section of Cheryl's soon to be released book Low-Sew Boutique (which I've written about previously), as well as this handwritten note letting me know that I'll be able to see my creations in print - soon.

My samples included three purses, and a summer ensemble consisting of a top, a skirt, and a belt. All six were created from something you'd find in your kitchen. I'll post photos and tell you how I made them - soon. Pin It

Retrorama - the fashion show pics

Grab a martini and take a seat while I respond to a few comments before we get to the fashion show.

Ariane asked who hosted Retrorama. I guess I forgot to mention that part! It was hosted by the Minnesota History Center. They already have another planned for November so I guess it was a success.

Carolyn was wondering how we (all us creative sewing souls) could incorporate some of the details into today's garments. I think that is partially what the designers were trying to do, but each designed and showed one garment only. However, after seeing the details on the vintage garments up close I have so many ideas running in my head that I don't know where to start!

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Retrorama was to see the "'50s-inspired fashion by local designers." Five local designers were given access to the History Center's vintage apparel collection and each made one garment that used some element of the '50s.

My friend and I made our way to the third level 15 minutes before the show was scheduled to begin, but most of the seats were already taken. Meaning, we could see the show just fine but taking photos was a bit of a challenge.

The show began with a short film clip of local women in the 50s commenting on the current state of fashion. From the perspective of today, we all chuckled when one women on the film stated that the most flattering skirt length for all women was mid-calf. Another women on the film lamented the growing popularity of the "shorter skirts". That clip segued into a narration of fashion and life in the '50s complete with film clips of the era.

The first inspired gown was a day dress with a skirt made from men's ties. The men's ties represented the working uniform of the man of the house while the dress (complete with hot pink petticoat) represented the stay at home mother. This was my favorite.

That was followed by a skin-tight green satin cocktail dress accessorized with red shoes, gloves, purse and an incredible hat. The commentary talked about how the hats were a statement by themselves. And let me tell you, this model knew how to work it!

With a clip of Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the background the lingerie was modeled.

And of course the men were not forgotten. My photo does do justice to this outfit. The model is wearing a cobalt blue shirt with a brightly patterned tie and the back of the jacket has an applique design on it. And did you notice James Dean on the big screen in the background?

The last designer outfit was evening wear. This designer choose to use the silhouette of a '50s evening gown but used gorgeous silks and other luxurious fabrics to create a patchwork fabric. The back of the gown closed with a gold ribbon laced like a corset.

After the designer's garments were modeled anyone that was attending wearing vintage attire was invited on stage to model.

Oh how I wish I would have had time to complete my '50s dress! My one chance to be a model and I couldn't do it because I was attired in contemporary clothing (sob!)

There were many, many more people modeling their vintage clothing but it was too difficult for me to get photographs. I did manage to get a great photo after the show of the tie dress with the model and the designer.

I hope you enjoye the show as much as we did!

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Retrorama was a blast!

Retrorama was advertised as "A Celebration of 50's Style"; a chance to indulge in a night of music, martinis and '50s-inspired fashion by local designers. And it did not disappoint.

My girlfriend and I arrived at the event just a few minutes before it was scheduled to begin. We noticed a few 50s cars in the parking lot, but mostly we observed all the wonderful vintage clothing being worn by the people arriving for the event.

As we made our way to the check in table we came across this display case with a few vintage hats, shoes and a wonderful old mink coat. It never even occurred to me that I could wear one of my vintage minks! Ah well, next time.

We registered and picked up a souvenir set of matches - oh so fifties. When we opened the matchbook we found, not matches, but a tiny notepad. What a cute idea - fifties with a modern day twist.
There were so many people and so much going on that it was hard to decide where to begin. On the main level a bartender was demonstrating classic cocktails from the 1950s. We weren't able to actually get close enough to see the demonstration, but we did pick up the handouts that listed not only the ingredients but a history of the drink.

I've never been much of a drinker so many of the drinks I had never even heard of let alone tasted: Moscow Mule, Dry Gin Martini, Sidecar, Mai Tai, and Tom Collins. The '50s hors deurs including cocktail weenies and devilled eggs.

We made our way to the second level where we viewed more clothing displays. Dresses, suits, lingerie, hats, shoes and gloves. I especially like the suit in the lower left corner of this photo. The ribbon is woven through bound buttonholes - gorgeous!

On that same level we wandered into an area where vintage clothing and accessories were being sold. We were given a little black gift bag that held a piece of black taffy and Slo poke candy, as well as a cloth tape measure with a "Vintage Clothing Sizing Card" designed to tuck into your wallet so you know what size you need when you're shopping for vintage clothing. I don't know about you, but I do typically carry a tape measure in my purse. I've used to measure pieces of furniture, window coverings, a remnant of fabric or trim and of course clothing in thrift stores.

We browsed for awhile and reminisced about items we remembered our mothers and grandmothers wearing. We were amazed at how popular this section was...and not just browsers! Seeing the prices of the vintage apparel reminded me, once again, how thankful I am that I know how to sew.

The second level also had a craft area where you could make a '50s tie or clutch...using duct tape, colored round office supply labels, and sheets of faux craft leather.

We opted to make a clutch. Red of course since we were both wearing black.

The third level was where the fashion show was held. I'll post the few photos I managed to take of the fashion show tomorrow. Pin It

Flashback Friday

In honor of prom season I present to you the prom dress of 1975.

A beautiful halter gown made from a 70s silky floral polyester fabric with an attached coordinating sheer cape trimmed in lace. A large floppy lilac colored straw hat is worn to complete the soft romantic look so popular in the mid 70s.

Of course I made it! Didn't everyone sew their own prom dress in the 70s?

Check out the platforms on my date (and that great big bow tie!)

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Vogue 2401 progress or Why I don't sew under pressure

When you were a child, did your mother feed you words of wisdom? You know, "a penny saved is a penny earned", "don't cross your eyes or they'll stay that way", or my favorite "I can tell you're lying because its written on your forehead"!

My mother did. She was filled with wise sayings. Some she heard from my grandparents and others she made up. At least I'm pretty sure she made them up because no one else seems to have ever heard of them (like the lie written on your forehead saying).

One of her favorites was "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get". I heard that one often as I was always in a hurry. In a hurry to go somewhere, in a hurry to start a new project, in a hurry to finish a project, etc. When she would see me struggling to complete a task in a hurry and watch me become frustrated when things didn't go smoothly invariably I would hear "tsk, tsk, the hurrier I go, the behinder I get." And then she would help me out .

I sure could use her help with sewing Vogue 2401 (the 50's style dress). Oh wait, she doesn't know how to sew. Shoot, I'm on my own. And I'll tell you, this is a classic case of "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get."

I knew going into the project that my sewing time was extremely limited and the deadline short, but I forged ahead anyway. Big mistake.

The beginning seemed promising. I managed to trace the pattern and cut and sew a muslin of the bodice. From the muslin I made my corrections to the pattern, found fabric in the stash that would work and proceeded to begin.

First of all, according to the pattern envelope, I was short almost a yard of fabric. I didn't have time, or money, to purchase a new piece of fabric, so I had to (altogether now Project Runway fans) "make it work".

Fortunately, the layout given was a single layer layout. I laid the fabric out on the floor and began placing pattern pieces on it to see how short I would be. But, every piece fit!

I was so excited I began cutting before realizing that I forgot something. Look closely at the photo and see if you can figure it out. Yep, I forgot to press the fabric that has been folded in my stash for a few years. At least I had only cut two pieces before I noticed the wrinkles.

The fabric is a cotton blend, a red with a black thread woven through it, and a hint of lycra. Not what the pattern calls for, but suitable for the look. After cutting out and holding the skirt pieces in place, I knew that the skirt wouldn't have enough body for the design and needed an underlining. Think, think, think....what could I use? Aha, a piece of leftover drapery sheer that is the right color, weight and yardage. Not as elegant as silk organza, but good enough for my purposes.

I remembered reading a wonderful underling and seam finish tip on PatternReview and planned to do that. But, I was in a hurry and forgot to cut the underlining with larger seam allowances that was needed to use this finish. Okay, fine, it's not the end of the world. The inside just won't look as pretty as I was envisioning.

Next I began working on the bodice. Here's where I came across another error that was caused by my being in a hurry. The dart is a very short dart and I needed to increase the fullness for my bust. I meant to split the fullness into two darts, but I forgot when I was cutting out the pattern pieces.

I cut the bodice out, sewed the short, deep dart and ended up with a nice pointy bubble at the tip of the dart. Aaaagh! Can you feel my pain here? To make matters worse, I'm struggling with getting a nice smooth seam at the underarm point (top arrow).

I'm calling it quits. Not on the dress, but on trying to complete it my tomorrow evening. Its not worth the aggravation. I want to enjoy wearing this dress and if I struggle to create it, I know won't enjoy wearing it. I'm taking the pressure off myself and will wear a nice little black dress I found earlier this year at Nordstrom's Rack.

On a much happier note. Today is our ninth wedding anniversary. He had to work tonight so I haven't seen him since early this morning (wah!) but I had a beautiful bouquet of roses waiting for me when I woke up this morning.

And I still have our anniversary dinner to look forward to.
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The face of a clown

I'm a bit concerned that I may not be able to find time to sew the 50's dress to wear to the RetroRama party. I did manage to get the bodice pattern altered, a bodice muslin sewn, and the dress pieces cut out. However, I have not had any time for actual sewing yesterday or today as I had events scheduled both days.

Yesterday was work but today was fun. I, along with five other clowns, volunteered at a dance for special needs adults. A few skits, a few balloon animals, a magic trick or two, but mainly smiling, talking, and dancing with the guests.

As I put my face on this morning, I took a few photos to document the process. Its not difficult, just a bit time consuming. I use Ben Nye clown makeup and apply with sponges, finger tips and brushes. My character is an Auguste clown so I use a light pink Auguste paint in addition to white, red, and black.

I begin with a clean face, no makeup, no moisturizer, pull my hair off of my face and remove my contacts. White is applied on the areas of my face that are white. I then set the white makeup by applying powder, dusting off the excess powder, spritzing water all over my face, and lightly sponging any powder that may remain.

Next I apply the pink Auguste and red paint and set it in the same way I set the white makeup.

The black is painted on with a small brush outlining and defining the cheeks, eyes, and mouth. I don't use fake eyelashes so I also use the black to paint eyelashes on the corners of my eyes. After the black is applied I set it with powder and water.

Many clowns only powder once, after they've applied all of their makeup, but when I've tried to do that I've smeared my face. So I take the extra time to set it after each color. The amazing thing is that if the clown makeup is set properly, you can march in a 90 degree F parade or get caught in a rainstorm and the make up will not smear or run.

The final step is to glue on my nose, put on my pink hair, add my crooked crown and Princess D. Clown is ready to spread joy and laughter.

This was the first time I had volunteered at an event for special needs adults. I typically work with children, but my dad has clowned for this group before and he said it will be one of the best timesI ever have as a clown. We even had a Joey with us today! (A Joey is a new clown.) My sister, a bit reluctantly, joined in the fun for the first time, and, well, she's now hooked. What can I say? It runs in the family.

Some people wonder why I bother to clown. After all, it takes an hour to put on my face, time to drive to an event and there's no monetary compensation.

I'll tell you why. Look at the smile on this guys face.

That is why I volunteer as a clown. Pin It

Gorgeous vintage 50's era cocktail dress

My co-worker overheard me talking about RetroRama and the need - well, maybe need is a bit too strong, so want - of a 50's style dress to wear to this event.

So the next day look what turns up in my work space! This gorgeous vintage 50's dress that belonged to her mother. She lovely lovingly recalled seeing her mother wearing the dress and said her mother was an absolute knock out. But how could you not be wearing this gown?!?

She offered to let me borrow it to wear to RetroRama - and wasn't that sweet of her? I'm ten years beyond being able to wear anything this size and, as you can see, even GiGi can not get the back zipped up completely.

Because I'm so fascinated with fashion and textiles I couldn't wait to peek inside the dress to see what the label was and how it was constructed. Alas, the label was cut out but I did see the construction, although I don't have photos of that today.

My co-worker let me take it home so I could study it! Seriously, how awesome was that? I did notice that the metal zipper has become unattached on the skirt, so I'll hand sew that back in place for her before returning the gown. Its the least I can do for the pleasure of being allowed to drool over this dress.

I love the work on the bodice. I will display my ignorance for all to witness as I ask the question - what is that detail work called? It looks like little tubes of fabric that were hand sewn onto the bodice. And sprinkled in between are tiny little rhinestones. I want to replicate this on something - I just don't know what it will be yet.

The lower portion of the bodice is curved which is not too evident from the photograph of the front view. The tulle over skirt is attached to the bodice about hip length and then gently curves upwards to the waistline at the back of the dress. The taffeta underskirt is tacked to the seams only inside the bodice at the waistline.

The back is finished with more of the tubing tied into a tiny bow. Such a sweet little detail.

I must admit, for one small moment, I allowed myself to dream that I might be able to wear this dress to the event.

However, I am back to my original thought of sewing a dress. I stopped by the fabric store to pick up both Vogue 2960, which Shannon mentioned she was partial to, and Butterick 4919, which both Stacy and x.Helen.x thought was a winner. I planned to look them over to see which I would be able to complete the quickest. (By the way, thank you for your comments and thoughts on which one to make. I appreciate it!)

Unfortunately, many of the Vintage Vogue patterns, including Vogue 2960 were out of stock, so I choose Vogue 2401 as an alternate.



I showed both dress patterns to my husband and he immediately choose Vogue 2401, saying that the other dress was "too sexy and you're not wearing that if I can't go with you!" (Little does he know that reviews on Patternreview have mentioned that Vogue 2401 really shows off a curvy figure!)

Stay tuned as I dig through my stash in the hopes of finding fabric suitable for the dress. Pin It

RetroRama - a celebration of '50s style

"Indulge in a night of music, martinis and '50s-inspired fashion by local designers. Enjoy music by The New Standards, vintage apparel on display and classic cocktails and appetizers. Shop for retro treasures. Celebrate an era when glamour and elegance were part of an evening out."

My husband already had other plans the evening of this event so cross your fingers that my girlfriend will be able to go with me! If she says yes, then I hope to find enough time in my busy calendar to whip up a '50s dress to wear. When else would I have a chance to dress '50s and fit right in?

But which one to sew? There are so many wonderful vintage and retro patterns to choose from. It will have to be a Butterick or Vogue as I will have to pick it up at a local fabric store...no time to wait for an order. Hmmm....maybe Vogue 2960 or Butterick 4792. The event is only a few weeks away and it will still be cold, so perhaps Butterick 4919 with a wrap from Butterick 4927.

Oh it would be so much fun! They had me at "'50s-inspired fashion by local designers." Pin It

Back to sewing after a busy Easter weekend

I hope you all had a blessed Easter. I love Easter and the joyous message of hope that the resurrection gives to us. Our weekend was a bit hectic as we busily prepared for Easter dinner. We hosted dinner this year with 16 guests - my side of the family and friends from church. We enjoyed dinner, visiting and the all important board games! It was fun, but exhausting.

Even Sophia, the spoiled Maltese, was too tired to do anything but sleep after all of our guests left.
Because I had taken Good Friday off from work I managed to squeeze in a teeny tiny bit of sewing time.

The cotton gingham dress with the pleated waistline treatment, Vogue 8353, is making progress. So far the most time consuming part was marking and hand basting the pleats. The dress is still in three pieces (two fronts and a back) and is pinned onto the dress form.

I put the dress aside to work on a top for my daughter. It is New Look 6678 and I'm sewing the view shown in pink on the envelope front. The fabric is a light blue cotton pique (with white daisies printed on it) from Hancock Fabrics. So easy to sew on. I was sure this would be done in just a few hours but after I sewed on the neckline banding, I decided she had better try it on before I went any further. The neckline band is quite narrow and on the dress form it appeared to sit nearly off of the shoulder. Sure enough, she tried it on Sunday and I'll need to remove the neck banding and cut a wider one before completing this spring top.

I still had time left for sewing, so I pulled out Simplicity 4412 (now OOP) and began work on a pink jacket for spring. I wish I hadn't waited so long to sew a jacket from this pattern as it is coming together nicely (and quickly). I just need to sew the sleeves in, hem the sleeves and jacket bottom, cover 1" buttons and add snaps.

Looking forward to this week's schedule it doesn't appear that there will be much time for sewing but I'm hopeful I can finish at least one of these projects by next weekend. Pin It

Embarrassing moments in sewing

This morning, as I was preparing for work, I took a few minutes to read from one of my favorite books - Rise and Shine: A Devotional by Liz Curtis Higgs.

In the story I read today, Liz (I feel like I know her so I'll call her Liz) shared a story of what could have been an incredibly embarrassing moment. She was at an airport looking for a place to sit while she waited for her flight to be called. She spotted two seats joined together on a t-shaped base and one was available. She sat down and the other women happened to stand up around the same time and Liz flipped the seat over and landed face down on the ground! (If you're not familiar with Liz Curtis Higgs, she's a big woman [her words] and one of the funniest speakers I've ever had the pleasure to listen to.) I probably would have been mortified but she wrote about how hard she laughed at herself when she thought of what she must have looked like.

As she wrote "...remember the wise words of Ethel Barrymore: "You grow up the day you have your first real laugh...at yourself."

I guess I grew up a while ago because I have had the opportunity to laugh at myself many times.

Her story got me to thinking about all of the embarrassing moments in my life. Which was the most embarrassing? And how would I choose? There's so many of them!

I think I'll share my favorite embarrassing moment another day. For today I'll stick to embarrassing sewing moments - or more accurately embarrassing sewing projects.

For this one you need to travel back with me to the 70s when I was in junior high school. I'd been blissfully sewing for a few years and, as a self-taught sewer, was completely oblivious to the "proper" way of doing things.

One of my many sewing projects was this awesome knee-length cape, complete with hood, sewn from this incredible denim that had photographs of stop signs printed (in blue) all over it.

As I was wearing my trendy new cape one of our neighbors asked if I had made it. I proudly answered yes! To which she laughed and laughed and laughed and told me that I had done it wrong.

Turns out there's this sewing layout called "with nap" and "one-way" fabrics that I didn't know about. So when I made my cape the stop signs printed on my denim fabric were right side up on the one side of my cape and upside down on the other side.

In response to her laughter, I held my head high, squared my shoulders, looked her straight in the eye, and informed her that it was a design element and I had intended to sew it that way. Then I turned around, walked slowly into my house, took the cape off and never wore it again. You see, I was embarrassed by my lack of sewing knowledge and was afraid of being laughed at again if I wore it.

If she didn't like that cape I wonder why she didn't comment on the "gorgeous" poncho I sewed in 7th grade Home Ec class - out of a gold and red floral cotton fabric complete with red ball trim!
So....what's YOUR embarrassing sewing moment? Pin It

Have you heard the one about the Sandra Betzina pattern recall?

Nope, its not a joke. I only "heard" about it because I was surfing through the boards on Patternreview and saw one entitled "Sandra Betzina "Today's Fit" Pattern Recall
Vogue 2913 and 2948".

Since I typically purchase most Vogue pattern that Sandra Betzina releases, I was pretty sure that I had these two in my stash. Sure enough, here they are.


I had traced the pieces for pattern 2913 soon after the pattern was released intending to make a muslin, tweak the fit, and then sew some winter wool pants. However, some reviews on Patternreview and sewing blogs were not favorable for this particular pattern so I put it aside.

Curious as to why the patterns were being recalled, I followed the link provided to Sandra Betzina's website, where she posted an explanation. Apparently the patterns printed and released by Vogue patterns did not match the one that Sandra Betzina had sent to the company. The difference was in the crotch curve. Vogue patterns admitted that the error was on their end and recalled the two patterns.

The patterns were to be corrected, reprinted, and re-released on April 1, 2007.

If you purchased either of these patterns before that date you can send them to Vogue patterns, attn: Consumer Services, and let them know if you want a McCall's Stitch n Save or a Butterick See & Sew. You will receive the replacement patterns for the Sandra Betzina patterns plus a coupon for a free pattern (Mcalls Sew n Sew or Butterick S&S) as reimbursement of your postage.

My patterns are ready to mail back in tomorrow's mail. I'm glad to know that Vogue was willing to take responsibility and replace the patterns, however, I wonder if I would have even found out about the recalled patterns if I hadn't been browsing the boards at Patternreview? Perhaps Vogue is planning a larger recall notice after they reprinted the correct pattern.

That's why I posted this here, just in case any of you have either of these patterns in your stash and missed the topic being discussed on the sewing boards.
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HotPatterns Butterfly Top Pattern Review

The other day I picked up one of the new HotPatterns that is now being carried in Hancock Fabric stores. The styles are very trendy and the patterns are being marketed as "No Sweat Sew Easy" patterns.

My goal was to test one of these patterns to see whether or not I would recommend them to a brand new sewer.

The instruction sheet does not provide a lot of detail but there is a large illustration of each garment that is to be sewn.

For someone who is not very experienced or only familiar with terminology from the Big 4 pattern companies, the instructions could be a bit confusing at first, but by following along as written the top will turn out as designed.

The one part that could be confusing for a beginner is the written instructions for sewing on the back facing piece and finishing the neck edge. The back facing is sewn to the back, turned, edgestitched and then placed over the shoulder seam encasing the shoulder seam and finishing the neck edge. If you've sewn a neck edge like this in the past you'll understand what to do.

Seam allowances are all 5/8".

The instructions also includes sections such as a skills list, how to use this pattern, and why you should make a muslin.

This particular pattern is described as "designed to have a slim but not-too-tight fit. Both tops have a deep hip-band and full sleeves."

As I noted the other day, there are only four pattern pieces for this knit top. The sewing of this top was as quick as I anticipated it would be - just over an hour.

However, there are adjustments that will need to be made on future tops, so I am calling this version a wearable muslin.

Keep in mind as I tell you about my experience, that I did not do any measurements to the pattern before cutting it out and sewing it up and there are no finished size measurements included on the pattern pieces. In retrospect, that step would have helped me choose a better size to use.

First of all, I was not familiar with sizing on this brand or how much ease was built into the design. Should I cut smaller and do an FBA or just begin with the larger size? I choose to begin with a size 12 and adjust from there. I based that decision on the description provided that said the styles were designed to have a slim but not-too-tight fit.

There is a lot of ease in this top. When I tried it on it did not have a "slim but not-too-tight fit". It looked sloppy. While the neckline has a wonderful full drape it was really deep. Beginning with a smaller size would have given me a better fit in the shoulder area and decreased the deepness of the v-neck. The top was quite loose in the body and the wonderful flutter sleeves were too long on me.

Based on the pattern illustration and the description of a "deep hip-band" I expected the top to end up right around my hip. In reality, it fell to the top of my upper thigh and looked more like a tunic.

I also expected the lower band to pull in fullness from the top creating a slight blouson effect but the lower band was almost equal in size to the lower edge of the top.

If you look at the line drawing on the back of the pattern envelope it gives a more accurate idea of what the bottom of the shirt looks like. As you can see in the line drawing the bottom of the top is not gathered, even slightly, into the hip-band.

After the initial try-on, I removed the hip band, took the entire side seam in by 1" and made the hip-band smaller.

The photo below shows the smaller version which still appears too large. The front of the top was longer in the front than the back by about an inch.

At this point I pulled out the pattern pieces and began measuring and comparing. As you can see, the center front is indeed longer than the center back.

Now I would have thought that my bust and the top's blouson effect would have taken care of the longer center front, but that wasn't the case. Perhaps by making the hip-band tighter and shortening the top so that it rides at my hip, rather than below it, the longer in front will not be noticeable.

I ended up removing the hip-band, cutting off the excess length and sewing the hip-band back on to that the bottom of the top was even all around.

The top was still too large and rather than continue to try and remove the excess fabric from the shirt, I asked my daughter to try it and see what she thought. She loved it and it looked great on her. She has a broader back and shoulders than I do so I know that I need to begin with a smaller size next time.

Here is the finished wearable muslin that has found a home in my daughter's spring wardrobe. She really liked the drapey cowl neckline on the top and she was planning on wearing it as a tunic instead of bloused as shown on the pattern cover.

She especially liked the flutter sleeves.

I'm not sure that I'll recommend this pattern line to the new sewer right now. I'm going to wait until she has a some experience under her belt. If she likes this line I'll help her with the instructions and the fit so she can use the pattern she chooses multiple times.

My final opinion on the Butterfly top? Its a keeper! In fact, I have another one on the cutting table for my daughter. She liked this one so much she requested on in black.

Its quick to sew, very stylish and only takes two yards of fabric - so splurge on a fantastic piece of knit for a top that'll turn heads. Pin It