Archive | July, 2008

Episode 5: The Same Room Podcast

30 Jul


Here’s a recent (like made in the last two mornings before work) sewing project. I was asked to show some of my clothes in an internationally themed fashion show this weekend that I’m helping with through work. I said sure. Then, I was asked to make a couple more things. I went looking for the EASIEST pattern I could find and decided on this 8-2002-113 from BWOF with some wax print fabric from last summer’s trip to Ghana.** I was very clear that I’m not a designer and that these are made from patterns.

BWOF 8-2002-113

It’s so adorable on that the girl modeling it this weekend bought it from me. She’s getting it tonight so I thought I would snap a quick pic. I have to tell you I didn’t charge enough (I was surprised she asked) and now I kind of want to keep it for myself. Oh well!


I’ll try and post more about it after the weekend. But, it’s generally an a- line, off-shoulder dress with a wide obi-style belt to nip in the waist and elastic at the top to create the ruffle look. Oh, and it has POCKETS!

She’s wearing a Vintage Vogue blouse and I’m wearing is 9-2003-104 BWOF that I made last year

Here’s Trena and I at our ‘Embassy Party’ last night (refer to podcast below). Said party served no alcohol and more importantly, had no food. They talked about the imported marble from Italy and China and all I wanted was a handful of nuts. I drove 1.5 hours in DC traffic and braved protesters and Secret Service and they can’t even give me a carrot? You cannot do that to be after work. I mean 7 to 9! Doesn’t that automatically mean you have to feed people something? I owe Trena another Embassy Party.

But, I am wearing my plaid glasses from Zennioptical.com. I’m obsessed people. $16 for Burberry-like plaid prescription glasses! I’ve decided I can have as many glasses as I like at this price. Trena says I don’t buy jewelry so these can be my accessories!

Trena and I were together over the weekend and taped a new podcast. Without new BWOFs to guide us, we just decided to free associate, because that’s how we roll.
Listen on Podbean, where you can also ‘add’ to iTunes along the right.

Wanting the unattainable (and the ‘spensive)

28 Jul
I am finally the proud owner of a ‘real’ kitchen knife. Sadly, as much as I cook, I tend to work with the $30 variety and pitch it when it’s beyond use. I’ve noticed that all my friends who complain about the condition of my knives and tell me I need new ones got their Wusthofs and Henckles from their wedding registry. Just an observation….
At any rate, this weekend I sat through a friend’s stepson’s Cutco spiel and bought a kitchen knife based on the product reviews and personal use (yeah, people sold them to my parents when I was a kid). Wait, am I old enough to buy stuff that my friend’s children like my parents did when I was younger? Oy. Here’s to a lifetime of Joe Corli pizza, magazine subscriptions, wrapping paper and boxes of Florida oranges.

I’ve decided to rename the ‘Essentials’ set (not to be confused with the Homemaker, Kitchenette or Studio set) the Potentially Real Cook Starter set.
More importantly, I’ve become obsessed with Cutco’s discontinued sewing / dressmaking shears.


Last year they had a sewing and embroidery set. Now, I don’t know how much the original sold for. But, the discontinued model sold on eBay it went for over $300.

Yet, I see that Cutco Australia has it. For $247 US for the two. Or $96 USD for the sewing scissors (have I screamed ‘darn the eternally weakening dollar’ this week?). It’s insanity for me to want these. But, look at the pretty blue handle! And the adorable block it comes in!

Further research tells me that Cutco also made bent handled shears! They were $59 retail, but sold for over $100 on eBay late last year.

Yes, I know there are Kais and Ginghers easily available to me. And, I have perfectly good scissors and am not REALLY going to track these down. But, I sure do like the exotic and unattainable.

La Mia Boutique: Agosto 2008

27 Jul

My friend Sheryl is back from a trip to Italy and scored me a copy of the August La Mia Boutique. This is a pattern magazine from Italy similar to BWOF. Except in these, I’m practically plus size :)

There are a couple of really cute looks in this edition.

Love this dress. There is neat ruching / elastic in the straps


Basic tee with cap sleeves

A nifty sweatshirt dress / tunic which would be awesome for fall in a sweater knit.


A neat asymetric sweatshirt


Fun trench style jacket. Love the Public Enemy patch. Bring the noise…


Tunic with buttons. Love it.


And a skirt that I love, but could never get away with wearing


Also, Trena *did* come this weekend. She sewed up a maxi dress, we recorded a new podcast and I traced and cut out a dress pattern. This was about midnight. She really wasn’t trying to have her photo taken.

And Friday night the cop and his sister had a joint party. I took my friend below as my date and wore my maxi knit dress, Simplicity 3503. I swear this dress can go anywhere!

Red Clover, Red Clover

24 Jul

I had no intention of blogging tonight and realize I’ve been neglectful of the blog. But, I’ve been very busy at work (I worked a lovely 10 hours this weekend and had that insane bike ride below) and will continue to be until next weekend. Which translates into: no sewing. But, as I laid down in bed to watch tonight’s Project Runway, Baltimore got hit with a torrential downpour and my DirectTV satellite signal went out. Curses.

Note the sheer joy on my face of the 6:00 a.m. bike ride before work for work on Friday. 10 miles. I thought my legs were going to fall off.

But, I’ve received two lovely things in the mail this past week that I wanted to share. Dearest Carolyn sent me a copy of the July 2008 Italian Vogue — the one that uses only models of African descent for their spreads. While it’s going for $40 and other craziness on eBay, she gave me her only copy because I was a slow poke and didn’t respond to her first email saying she was going to go buy hers and asking if I needed one. By the time she checked on me the second time (I love this woman), there was a 30 person waitlist for it at my bookseller. And the magazine is lovely, but best, best, best of all is the Vogue Italia came with a copy of this:

It has a short spread of all the runway shows for Fall 2008.

For me, this is fabulous because I’m designer challenged. I don’t know DVF from DG.

There is so much inspiration in these pages that I’m buzzing to get back to my machine. This also came with a note from Carolyn to not even think of ways to pay her back. Oh, did I mention that she’s awesome?

Second… Houston, we have red Clover products. If you remember, I posted several months ago about my desire for the red Clover products. Turns out they are only available in Japan. Well, I asked a local associate originally from Japan and she had her niece pick them up and mail them to me.

metric tape measure, seam ripper, eyelet hole thingy, buttonhole chisel, tracing wheel

Whee!! They are so pretty! You know me folks, form over function. And, Yaeko refused to take payment for them. People are awesome.

Finally, Burdastyle has reworked the Allison swimsuit pattern and added the missing markings on the pattern. I didn’t see new directions when I went to look, but this is a nice improvement.

Trena’s also talking about popping in this weekend for a quick visit, so mayhap I’ll get a little sewing in. Tuesday she’s my date to the the Chinese Embassy’s new facility in DC and we have to go together looking all cute :-) .

And now, I’m going to watch Project Runway Australia on YouTube. Thanks for the heads up Belinda! I loooove that they drop the F-bomb and don’t get bleeped.

Star Spangled Muslin

16 Jul

First, I want to say thank you to BurdaStyle for taking a moment to comment on my post earlier about the issues I saw with the pattern. They said,

Hey,

We at BurdaStyle are happy to see that you are trying our bathing suit pattern. I see that you had some comments on it.

Most of our patterns are designed in New York and produced in Germany, where they undergo several quality controls before being posted. The same goes for the instructions.

The smaller and simpler patterns are currently produced in New York. We are working on a better quality assurance system for those and hope to have it in place soon.

We are happy about all feedback and will integrate it in our revision.
Thanks so much and let us know how it came it after all!

Best
Benedikta

Now, my thoughts on the muslin. I know it’s hard to tell with my body etched out, but I’ll try to paint you a visual picture. For the inset, just gather it super narrow. The first time I did it, the bust practically spread to my shoulders. There are no notches here or on the bodice to indicate where to place or how much to gather (even though the directions say there are).

Second, I need a sew-in bra with generous support to wear this style. I was thinking I could wear a regular sew in bra that I’ve used for other projects, but it wasn’t working. I need more lift. And I need to increase the height of the bodice and the height/width of the inset (or alternatively add an inch or the bodice length). I think that will make some sort of FBA. I cut out the little strap mid bust because there wasn’t enough fabric in the insert to make it look cute. Instead, the girls just looked droopy.

I also need a tad more length in the bottom of the swim legs. And I was right, the back strap should be cut on the fold.

And, the suit will ride without elastic along the legs. They aren’t quite boy cut.

I was also right about the crotch piece, cut on the fold. If you look closely at my crotch (but not too close please, lol) you can see the crotch piece. That seems odd to me. But, then again, it’s not that big a deal.

Overall, it’s a cute pattern. I’m not going to make up a real version this summer because of the sew in bra needs. I have several other patterns I could try out. So, if you’re less busty or have the bra on hand, I say go for it! But, muslin it and baste in the inset so you can get it where you need it.

Something For the Foodies

14 Jul

My favorite thing to make at home is pizza, usually grilled. Yesterday I made margherita pizza in the oven and earlier in the week I made a spring vegetable risotto.


Both use herbs (mint, parsley and basil) that I grow in my garden. Ok. When I say garden, I mean the front corner of my yard along the sidewalk. It gets the most sun! There, I also have thyme, sage, Greek oregano, rosemary, two kinds of mint (mama likes her mojitos) and dill.

If you like pizza and wine, the June 30 Wine Spectator is a fun read. It covers the origin of and different kinds of pizza. Plus, it matches up some nice bottles.

Patrones: Chloe Skirt, Issue 245

13 Jul

So, I kind of hate the hand sewing. I’m lucky I wasn’t born at a time when my value as a potential wife was based on things like crewel and embroidery. Because it would be the equivalent of being picked last for the kickball team.

During West Coat PR weekend I took a hand sewing class from Susan Khalje (who apparently live 20 mins from me) with the prodding of Marji. That’s me kind of cheating by looking over Markie’s shoulder during the class trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I’m *really* glad I took the course. I have more respect for the hand sewing. But, I am still no good at it and still don’t like it.

This Patrones skirt was an exercise in hand sewing. It took me four different sit downs before I got it all done. I used a silk twill for this skirt which Cindy was kind enough to pick up this Banana Republic print from Metro Textiles after I *had* to have it when she posted it on her blog. But, it’s thin and not quite beefy enough for this skirt. So, I underlined it in cotton batiste. I finished it off with an all around, catch stitched hem.

I damaged a really lovely project by using some cheap a$$ interfacing. It bubbled up on the waistband.
The skirt is far more modest than the editorial has you think. There will be no OBGYN exam as I walk down the street.
I omitted the ties and used three buttons to close the waist band. I did make a swayback adjustment and am quite happy with how the back fits. I did nothing to adjust the length either.

Overall I’m pleased with the skirt. But, it won’t work on your body if you are larger in the hips. The pockets and gathers definitely add width. I also need to add a flat button to the inside waistband to keep the waistband even (I see it creeping up).

I’m so glad I have something to wear wear to work tomorrow. I’ve been recycling the same seven looks since May! But, I’m wearing different shoes. These make me feel like my toes are on fire.

Patrones #245, model #25, January 2006

Episode 4: The underwhelmed podcast

10 Jul

Edited to add: Go to the link below, scroll down to the right and hit ‘subscribe with iTunes’. That’ll keep you updated and let you download to your audio player through your computer :)

Trena and I tried to make up for lost time with a new podcast recording (yes, we are still nameless). In this episode we discuss recent projects and the June and July 2008 BWOF.

On a positive note, I’m 75 percent done with the handsewing on my Patrones Chloe skirt! I’m sure I’ll get it done over the weekend!

Cake Recipie

7 Jul
This is my total amount of counter space. I have a small kitchen.

Sorry if you had problems with the link I posted for the Cook’s Strawberry Cream Cake. The article is informative, then generally if you look down the side it links you to the recipie. I’m not going to repost it here since I’m not sure what the copyright issues are. But, someone else has already written it up here.

Cake before getting prettied up. It’s still lopsided here.

I don’t have a springform pan, so I just used two 8 inch pans. You could also use 9 inch pans I’m sure. To get the same amount in each, I measure batter out cup by cup or weigh them on the kitchen scale. I also used vodka instead of kirsch for the strawberry puree.

The only other tip I have for you is to run your a/c. I didn’t during the whipped cream cheese phase and it fell apart (think cornmeal looking). So, I had to crank on the air and run out to the grocery store and start over again.

Dinner Party and Easy Gifts

6 Jul

Thank you for the comments on my new dress! I am flattered beyond belief! It was a huge hit at the party and my mom has already called to place an order, lol.

First, I want to show you a quick and easy gift. When I first met the cop, he asked me to make him ‘pocket squares‘. Turns out these are just handkerchiefs. He wears a suit everyday and prefers the cotton pocket squares as they are less froufrou. They are obscenely overpriced, especially if you go designer like Burberry.

For silk, I’ve made them about 17 or 18 inches. Cotton I like them smaller as they can be a tad bulkier. This one measures 13 inches. Now that I’m actually paying some attention to men’s clothes, I have to recommend this blog, A Suitable Wardrobe.

Pocket squares provide a nice punch of color and are a great way to use up 1/8 to 1/4 yard of fabric. I did ask him to put on a shirt and tie for this photoshoot and he pointed out it was 90 degrees and the jacket is wool. Soooo, we’re just going to have to go with a hanger shot.


For these, I just stitch 1/8 inch around the perimeter. I then use that as a guide to turn and press the edges and sew it up on the machine. A handrolled hem is super elegant and pretty. But, I don’t handsew for anyone.

Gigi mentioned that she could see herself hosting a dinner party in Friday’s maxi dress. Which is just what I did last night. When the cop came by he made a comment about it being groundhog’s day.


I have to recommend a wok for your grill. I have one from Weber that fits perfectly in the kettle of my charcoal grill. I’ve seen them at Crate and Barrel. But, if you have a CB outlet nearby, go there. Mine was $24 vs $44.

We did Thai noodles with beef and spinach. It’s a lot of individual ingredients, but takes about 10 minutes to cook. I don’t have central air, so I’m all about keeping the heat outside in the summer.

A one dish meal. And it’s healthy too. Hardly any oil and five cups of spinach to boot.

A content guest

For dessert I made a strawberry cream cake from Cooks Illustrated. Which is also what I ate for breakfast. And likely it will also be a part of lunch.


And now I’m off to work on my UFO Patrones skirts.

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