In the midst of posting sewing vacay makes, I thought I should share a few other things.
Pattern Giveaways ~
The first thing is the makes from the pattern giveaways. I'm horrible at going to the post office so it's amazing that I sent both of these patterns out in a timely fashion. *LOL*
The first pattern winner was Graca, who blogs at Sew Essentially Sew.
I think she made this up as soon as it arrived and I love her fabric choice. You can read all about her top in this blog post. Cool right?! It's making me think I should revisit this pattern myself!
The second pattern winner was Brenna who won not only the Cashmerette Appleton dress pattern but the fabric that accompanied the kit. After only one email prodding, I got the pattern and fabric mailed to her.
Not two weeks later she sent me pics of the completed dress! I think the amazing thing is that Brenna is not plus sized and the dress looks awesome on her...which speaks to the wonderful size range of Jenny's patterns.
And as a small plug for Jenny, she recently released the Washington Dress. There are kits as well as the printed pattern available here on her site. BTW, my pattern just arrived in the mail and I think I've thought up a way to use it for my new lifestyle...so it will probably show up here in the beginning of the new year. Gotta use that Christmas vacay wisely!
Comments in Posts ~
I want to thank everyone who leaves a comment on a post! I so appreciate it especially since blog commenting seems to be down on ALL blogs. I'm trying to be better at replying to questions and just saying something because YOU did take the time to write. So check back if you asked a question, I've probably answered it in the blog post...and I promise to get better at answering/replying!
BurdaStyle Best of Blogging List ~
Last but not least I found out that I made the 2015 Best of Blogging List on BurdaStyle. What?! I checked that list a couple of times to make sure that they really meant me! hahahahahaha! But every time I went back my name was still there so I guess I really should give that Oscar speech I've been practicing like forevah!
I'm gonna be honest ~ these acknowledgements always make me a little nervous. While I'm absolutely over the moon thrilled that so many sewists thought enough of my work to not only nominate me but then vote for me ~ its mind blowing! However, I always think of the sewists who weren't nominated who also do amazing work and never seem to be mentioned in these lists. So I want to share this with all sewists working in their sewing rooms/areas, working out their creative dreams or just learning how to sew and falling in love with and becoming obsessed with this craft we all love!
This is totally said tongue in check - Wait! What the music is swelling? Okay so I want to thank my grandmother, who taught me to sew! My mother who gave me my first sewing machine and encouraged this obsession! My sewing pals in NYC - the ones who called to make sure I was okay after the emergency and who are always there for me - you know who you are! My bestest sewing friend EVAH who flew from another coast to share my birthday with me...and of course I can't forget my Janome Memory Craft 8900 QCP sewing machine, my Babylock Imagine serger without you I couldn't create and finally a shout-out to my fabric collection! Without you there would be nothing to sew...(that last part said in a rushed, excited, louder than usual voice - cause I gotta talk over that swelling music!)
Seriously folks - THANK YOU!
...and as always more later!
The "Tribute" theme for August has come to a close on the Sewcialists blog. If you've visited many blogs lately, there has been a mention of the Tribute series. For July it was to make a garment inspired by my good friend, Oonaballoona and there were some amazing garments made and prizes awarded.
For August the theme was for sewists to make a garment like someone who inspires you. To my great surprise and even greater honor, two bloggers chose my TNT dresses as their inspiration...
First Marrie from Purls and Pleats...
Okay if this doesn't look like one of my dresses, I don't know what does. She even wore it with a cardigan! Marrie, I love this and hope that you get a lot of wear out of it. Also, that McCalls pattern you're using is very versatile and I'm sure will make you so many more wonderful dresses in the future.
And then Cari from Cari Homemaker...
Cari made a dress using Vogue 8972 and a ponte fabric. Cari hit two recent trends, black 'n white and lace. Isn't her version fantastic! And the shoes, people, the shoes are to die for! What a wonderful outfit!
Stop the presses ~
I've just been notified in the comments that there is another tribute. This one from Blue Sunday!
What's so awesome about this tribute is that Nisha is admiring my love of fabric In particular, she used a piece based upon my adoration of border prints. Didn't Nisha do a great job of using the border print in an inventive way? To be honest, I've never read Nisha's blog, but I'm rectifying that now by adding her to my blogroll & bloglovin'.
As the saying goes, "Imitation is the Greatest Form of Flattery", and you ladies have more than flattered me. You've honored me that you want to emulate my style aesthetic and my love of fabric! Thanks so much all of your garments are absolutely awesome!!!
...as always more later!
I spend a lot of time commuting back and forth to work especially during this time of the year when it seems there is so much more traffic. I spend a lot of that time surfing the web on my iPad and dreaming of sewing projects.
Although lately I've noticed that even though some of the garments inspire me, I'm much more interested in figuring out the garment's construction versus actually sewing it up. So as I was perusing Erdem's Pre-Fall 2014 line, I happened upon this dress...
I like this dress. I really do. It's the combo of printed top, solid bottom and turtleneck that caught my eye. But I have a really long list of garments I want to sew this winter and I know that only a half to 2/3rds of them will actually make it from idea to my closet. So what to do about all of those other things that inspire...
Sewing daydreams...where I take a few minutes/hours/days to work the construction out in my mind. For the dress above, I realized that I could use my TNT pattern as the basis. I've already used the crossover v-neck top, a band and a skirt bottom on two summer dresses I made back in 2007 ~ here and here (the post accompanying the dress' photo is actually quite funny). BTW, I wore both of these dresses last summer, though I've made some alterations to them to fit a little better.
That part of the dress would be covered. It was how do I make the turtleneck work and it hit me - dickey sewn into the dress. I could take an old cotton turtleneck or buy one and cut it up to add it to the neckline. The thing is that I would want the dress lined so I would have to work out how to add a lining, but it could be done.
The only thing I don't like is that there is no back shot of the dress. Since these collections are just being shown and not shipped to the stores yet, I really have no idea of how the designer made the back. Me, though, I would use an invisible zipper in the turtleneck and dress back. Why? It would just make the dress easier to get into. And why a back zipper versus a side zipper in the underarm? I don't like side zippers but it's definitely an option.
Do you see now how I can while away hours sitting in bumper to bumper traffic happily immersed in sewing daydreams? And it's not only the construction but what fabrics would you choose to make this up in ~ that can suck up hours of time, too.
Now I'm sure you're wondering, why go through these exercises if I'm not going to actually make the dress. Sometimes it's just because. Sometimes it's because it gives me clues/answers to future garments or things that are languishing on my must sew list...and sometimes after going through the construction sequence, I get inspired and the dress makes it onto my must sew list.
So while I may not be physically sewing...I am always sewing in my daydreams. How about you? Do you have sewing daydreams? Do you think about how garments are constructed and work out construction sequences? Just wondering if I'm daydreaming alone! *LOL*
...as always more later!
I was thrilled when I opened my mailbox last night and discovered this...
Front view
Rear view
Yes, that's Denise aka "Andsewitgoes" modeling her Carolyn Inspired Top. I think Denise explains it best...
I swooooned over your Erdem Inspired Dress post. So much so that I am sending you my 'Carolyn Inspired Top'.
A couple of notes about the top. There were many firsts for me:
- I mixed a woven with a knit.
- The front being the woven and the sleeves and back from the black knit. I was worried that the knit would stretch so I used strips of interfacing to stabilize the side seams. Another first for me.
- I also used the interfacing to stabilize the shoulders (This was a tip I learned from you!)
- Another first was mixing two patterns. Most of it is my TNT top: Buttterick B4290 but I wanted a modern take on it so I used the back pattern piece to elongate and curve the back hem...
I love mixing patterns and got the confidence from reading all your wonderful posts. Thanks for all the inspiration!
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Denise you are so welcome! And the top is gorgeous! The offer is open to everyone who reads my blog. If you are inspired to sew something by a garment I've made, please feel free to leave a link in the comments or forward it to me. I will gladly feature you here and/or link back to your own blog!
I love when we as a sewing community inspire each other to achieve greater sewing feats and to improve our craft!
The pants post will be up next...
...as always more later
