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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Saturday Morning Diary Bits...

...or a little bit of this and a little bit of that!

First, there were two questions in the last two weeks of postings:

Amber asked,
"Did you underline your liberty sheath dress or just line it?"

I just lined it.  I wanted it light and airy with a little movement.  I don't think underlining in either cotton batiste or silk organza would have given the dress the lightness I was looking for.  And after wearing it for 10+ hours at work, there were a few wrinkles but nothing really major.  It was just a great dress...so thanks for all of the wonderful compliments on it.  It elicited quite a few from work too!

BTW, the other big compliment getter at work was the Vogue tie dress.  I was a little surprised because I've worn a version of the dress before, but I guess a good basic black-type dress is more appealing to that crowd.  Anyway, Kathryn, I'm sure I will be making another version of it because it is a pleasure to wear this dress.

Lori asked,
"Are you counting the days until your sewcation?"

No...not yet!  I do know it's three weeks away which seems shorter than saying 21 days! *LOL*  I still have a lot of August to live yet before I start dreaming about a week off from work!

So even though most of the Fall fashion magazines are starting to show up on the newsstands (but not in my mailbox yet!) I'm still thinking summer.  It's still so darn hot and summer-like that the thought of wools and heavier garments just make me even hotter!  *LOL*  So there will be a few more summer garments coming out of the sewing machine before I begin to even think about pre-fall garments.  I think I will need a few crisp mornings before I catch fall fever.

I just realized that between July 1st and last weekend that I've made 11 garments ~ 7 dresses, 3 skirts and a pair of pants.  No wonder I feel no pressing need to sew this weekend!  However, I probably will make my version of the B5147 dress since the suggested complete by date was yesterday and I had planned to make it this weekend.  Just need to figure out which border print to use for it.

True Confession Time ~ 
I bought fabric from the Fabric Mart sale...three times!  Yeah, I know.  The first box contained pieces that I was dreaming about for quite some time...and the second box had another colorway of a piece that I bought for myself but this piece is for my youngest daughter ~ who never asks me to sew for her!  So I bought it and will be making her a maxidress.  The box also contained a great Prada floral silk charmeuse.  Then the third box happened because Fabric Mart upped the ante.  If you buy $35 worth of fabric, everything is 25% off instead of 20% off - this sale lasts until Monday, August 16th btw!

Oh and the serger hasn't arrived yet.  I'm getting it in September.  I just can't wait though!  Once the new serger comes the sewing machine overhaul will be complete.  I will have a new to me, Janome 6600, the Brother back up sewing machine and the new serger.  This should last me for the next 10 years...til right around retirement time!

Next...I'm obsessed...with this dress:


Brenda (Kyra Sedgwick) wore it on last week's episode of The Closer.  I want a wardrobe of them in all different colors!  And of course, it's something I can make using my TNT dress pattern and the jacket from B5147.  I took quite a few shots of it (watched the episode on my computer to get them all). I caught all of the topstitching details, as well as, the bound buttonholes on the jacket for use in my version.  If I make the jacket the right length, I think I can also make a pair of pants and a skirt to go with the dress and jacket to get a little work wardrobe going. 

Well that's it for this morning...I'm off to pick out fabric for the Butterick dress. 

...as always, more later!

12 comments:

  1. I loved Brenda's outfit too! I'm planning how to reproduce it!

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  2. You are th smartest sewer and planner of wardrobe building! Wow! I can't believe you made all those garments in a month. Thank you for the pleasure of reading your blog, I so enjoy it! ~Valerie

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  3. How did I miss that dress? I watched 3 episodes of The Closer last week - of course I was taken with the grey sheath with the red cardi belted over it! I so aspire to dress like her. Maybe the Threads Fitting DVDs JB just bought me will get me out of my nothing but skirts rut. g

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  4. Please share more pictures of that dress. It appears to have a white yoke. Please confirm - ha ha

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  5. I noticed Brenda's dress right away. It has a bit of 1960's flair which I love. The two-toned color palette is beautiful. Actually, I really like Brenda's wardrobe and always check out what she is wearing.

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  6. I'm so happy that other people pay attention to what Brenda wears. I loved that outfit too, and already have the patterns pulled out to use. I also love her pink trench she wears. I'll be making that here pretty soon as well. :D Happy sewing!

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  7. That would make a great outfit. I need to watch more tv...lol I am actually hammering out my B5147 and hope to have it finished this weekend.

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  8. That's so funny, because I'm obsessed with a similar dress from Stella McCarntey's fall collection. It looks to me like chiffon for the top yoke and a bottom band and...I don't know wool crepe or rayon crepe for the body of the dress.

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  9. Love your taste. Since I live in another city, I think I could get away with copying your creations and no one would know! I am not surprised you got a lot of compliments on the Libert lawn dress.

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  10. I am a big fan of the show - The Closer and especially the clothes Brenda wears on the show. Last year in my search to find pictures of a fantastic dress she wore on one episode, I discovered that the costume designer for the show, Greg LaVoi, has his own blog. Fashion File with Greg LaVoi He writes posts for each show describing the characters' clothes in detail, why he chose them, where he finds them. It is a must read for me. There are often pictures of Brenda's outfit. The posts lag about a week behind each show. To find Greg's blog look under the Blog header on the shows web site.

    http://www.tnt.tv/series/closer/

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  11. 11 garments since July 1, wow!!! That is a lot of sewing! And I love that dress from the closer, I can even see you in that color!

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  12. Thanks for answering my question - really appreciate it. :) Helps to give me a bit more focus when moving forward with how to use my own bit of Liberty cotton.

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