How to make an apron

I've always scoffed at apron patterns thinking they were the easiest thing to make. However if you want to get fancy it helps to have one of these around.

This is the kind of apron you wearonce while making cookies with the kids and somehow they are going to remember "moms apron" for the rest of their lives. Even if you put it away and never wear it again. It's a statement peice for sure.

I really like view A as an Alice in Wonderland costume. ooooohhh that's an awesome idea. I may end up keeping it if no one snatches it up!!

Vintage Patterns ROCK!

New for the shop are these wonderful Vintage 1970's sewing patterns. How cute is that little top/pants combination? I really love the clean lines and timeless design of these two. So much fromthe 70's was over-the-top but I love how you cold put these in a cool modern print and have it be in style. Or at least in "retro"style.

All I can say is.. I'm excited!

I just got back from a wonderful sale at the giant-monster-mega-fabric store. Sad but true I have to shop the Monster Joannes from time to time. I got 3.00 a yard stretch lace for my zipperless dress. More knit for cute tops. Some felt for diaper bags. ( I have an enormous undertaking coming up..) and what else... YES! I got one of the turn-y thingies for turning long this tubes (bag handles for me) wax-free tracing paper, PINK headed pins and so so much more.

Labor Pains

I spent an entire week preparing for a photo shoot up in Columbus. With the goal of making one item a day for five or six days I started the week ambitious. I got my mothers purse finished (mothers day of course) and started on the modeling stuff.
Begin the week by sewing a purse... one day off to create something nice for mom.
Day One: 70's boxers
Day Two: Admire the boxers and waste time... cut out a dress
Day Three: Waste more time and fart around sew the dress from day before at midnight.
Day Four: Realize you wasted too much time and waste some more time on facebook. It's actually the fifth day of sewing projects so get really busy and make a shirt. Go home and make another one in record time. Yay! Two projects in one day.
Sunday: Wake up way too late but made it out to Columbus anyway. THEN my adorable model "K" decided she had no interest in modeling that day! It's Ok I haven't seen her in a long time so we visited for a while and I went back to my moms house to rest. My second model "B" didn't wake up till 1:00 so I had a bit of a panic the next day. I got a new dress cut out though. She arrived late in the afternoon and we had a fabolous photo shoot in my moms back yard.

WTF is that?

I'd like to talk for a sec about raw edges. I seem to remember them being not a good thing. Finished seams = Good, Raw Edges = Bad, right? Not only do they look unkempt but they unravel till you have no article of clothing whatsoever. Remember the song. "if you want to destroy my sweater/ Pull this thread while I walk away/ Watch it unravel.. I'll soon be naked/ Lying on the floor I've come undone" ?
I've seen some beautiful dresses lately (on etsy and other sites for handmade clothes) they are artistic and flattering yet when I click to see the larger view I see row after row of raw edges and seams where the thread is clearly coming loose. This bugs me. I understand for a wedding dress you aren't going to wear again. To have it fragile and perfect like a butterfly that will live for a few hours and fade away. But raw and unfinished seams on a party dress or an office shirt seems wastful to me. Especially if it's costing $135.00!!!

My goal for the month is to create useful clothes out of sheets. I made a pair of boxers yesterday out of a white sheet. The pattern was from the 70's so they are 100% recycled :0 ) love it! Todays project is a grey jersey dress from a stretch cotton sheet. The cotton is thinner than I thought and very challenging to work with. (maybe that's why Im onlinje instead of at work.. lol)

Project.... model for myself?

Since the day I decided making my own pants would be cheaper than buying them and ran out for "red tag" Joannes cheap-o fabric (six whole dollars worth!) I've wished I had a smaller frame to model my clothes. I swear, the things I could make for myself... I'd be one of the "recessionista's" (awful word tho) But seriously. I feel that my weight has impaired my art in a big way (haha)





I guess I just don't feel motivated to sew for myself the same I don't feel motivated to BUY clothes for myself. It's always "ten pounds from now" .. or recently "25 pounds from now"

SO I joined Weight Watchers last week!!!! I hope to meet more seamstresses who are doing the same thing. How great would it be to have friends who sew who are also on a weight loss journey? I'll be trying to post more of MY OWN clothing made for my body and hopefully in smaller and smaller sizes!!

A new enterprise

Does Britney Spears think she's Madonna? .. no point in saying that except I just watched the first few seconds of the video for Circus. She's got the Madge moves down!

I recently had a photo session for my new Vintage shop PinUpWife on etsy.com (as yet to open due to massive computer virus.) Trouble, trouble. B-man (my two year old) decided to pick up a scorching curling iron before the session even started so I was distracted, thinking about my baby and his boo-boo so in addition to being a bad photographer I was also a bad stylist and a BAD director. My model is very photogenic so I hope she lets me try again soon!

"Baby when I met you there was peace unknown.. I set out to get you with a fine tooth comb.." Look up Islands in The Stream' by Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton.. classic