Sharon Sews

Trends from the 1980s have been showing up on the runways recently, which means this is the perfect time for me to stitch up some of the 1980s era Vogue designer patterns in my collection! Like this oversized pullover top designed by Claude Montana. In the late 90s, during one of our moves, I gave my best friend two large totes filled with many of my Vogue designer patterns, including many that are now highly sought after from Issey Miyake and Claude Monanta. At the time I didn't see myself ever sewing them. Of course now I regret that as they are quite expensive when they can be found on Ebay or Etsy, sigh. Fortunately she loaned this one to me before we moved so I could sew myself one for our Texas summers! She's still searching through her vast pattern collection to find another Vogue Montana pattern I'd now like to sew. The top I'm wearing in this blog post is from Vogue 1566, a Vogue Individualist design that was released in 1985. The Instagram hasht

It's my summer for sundresses and the new Oia Dress by Itch to Stitch doesn't disappoint! If you're looking for a comfortable, trendy, slightly more advanced sewing project, this dress is for you. I was one of the pattern testers for this dress design and am happy I volunteered to do so, even though this dress was more time consuming that what I've been sewing lately. While I was testing the pattern, I kept telling myself "this pattern is drafted so beautifully!"  I had no problems with anything not matching as it should, which made it a joy to sew. The instructions were thorough covering every detail of the dress construction. One tip I have for you when you sew this dress is to be sure to carefully mark every single dot and notch. Before I go into any more details, the Oia Dress is on sale for one week after the release date! (It was released on Aug. 13, 2019) It is a PDF pattern, and I think most of you know I lean towards printed patterns, but I ha

I do believe we are starting to adjust to this Texas heat! The other night, about 8 pm, we were exiting the grocery story and my husband exclaimed "Oh, it's cooling off!"  Um, it was still 95 degrees F outside. It might be hot and sticky but what better weather for a sundress! When these photos were taken we were under a heat advisory, ranging from 105 to 110 degrees F.  Pretty much unheard of in Minnesota. However, I doubt east Texas has ever had to deal with minus 40 degrees F below zero during the winter months! Let's talk about this lovely dress! I feel really good in this dress. The fit is great, and I love the colors in the fabric. I do wish I could wear cute sandals with small heels, but I'm still numb on my left side and balance is a bit of an issue. My nuerosurgeon tells me it could be up to a year before the numbness goes away. The pattern is Butterick 6674 , a fairly new release. The sundress has a scoop neckline, princess seams (with separat