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First World Problems

26 Apr


You may remember that when I went to China last year, I had two custom quipao made. I love, love, love these dresses. So, I naturally jumped at the chance when a travelling acquaintance offered to have another made for me while they were in their native China. I gave her my red and black one and asked for the exact same thing, just with a different color inset. Seriously. That’s what I asked for. Not because I have such specific taste or am hard to please, but clothing and design is a personal choice and I know what I like. Plus, if I have something specific in mind it’s because I like it and I may as well have another one. Plus, as I noted in my original post about these dresses, it doesn’t  take much to take these elegant dresses from classy to restaurant wait staff.  I even wrote in my e-mail, ‘Black satin like this. But, just a different, coordinating fabric. Like a blue, or yellow or possibly purple.”

This is what I got back. She thought it was ‘boring’ to have the same dress so she ‘designed’ this for me.  I realize that some people may like it and this is a matter of taste. It’s just not my style and I hate it for *me*. See? First World Problem. Someone offers to travel to another country, have something made for me, thinks so much of me that she designs something for me and I complain. Yep. I’m a terrible person.

But, my loss is your gain. Again,  realize this may work for other people. But, it just doesn’t  for me. If you’re interested in the dress and will cover postage, I will happily send it to you. Please email me at missceliespants@gmail.com . It’s sized for me at a 36 bust 26 waist and 38+ hips. It’s bigger on the bottom on me than it should be because I was worried about it being too tight and figured I could take it in myself at home if I needed to. of course, I haven’t gotten around it :) I’ll do a drawing Saturday for the winner. If you’d like to increase your odds, re-tweet or mention this post on your blog (leave a link back to it here or email them to me).

I have to warn you. It’s really shiny / sparkly. The flowers are embroidered on and all those circles are sequins. The braid / trim is shiny silver and the fabric is a acetate like polyester. Just fair warning. A guy in my office asked me why is had ‘mirrors’ on it.  There were a few women at work interested, but I thought I’d offer it here first.

On a more positive note, I scored a very loud but awesome vintage dress over the weekend.

Last year I prematurely stated I was over the maxi dress (and twist tops). Maybe I’m just over making maxi dresses because I can’t wait to wear this one! The seams are unfinished so I sat down to serge them before a good washing. And, (drumroll please) I serged a hole in the side. *DOH*. Luckily, the print is so busy that no one but me will know. Any guesses on the era? I’m assuming the 70s.

When My Hobbies Collide

6 Aug

I obessess over sewing and am an avid collector of nail polish. Recently, a Limited Edition line from drugstore brand Milani came out called ‘Haute Couture’. Normally, I would’t pay too much attention, but there were a couple of colors that were sewing related in name.

The mint green polish with shimmer is called Dress Maker. It’s an exact copy of Chanel’s Jade — which now sells on eBay for over $100 a bottle. I actually bought a bottle of Jade when it came out. And couldn’t resist the lure of capitalism and sold it when I saw how high they were going for on ebay (IRL they match).

What’s this got to do with you? Well, I took the only two bottles at my store and would like to give one away here with a bottle of  ‘Tailor Made’. Just because I like the sewing themed names.

If you’re interested in this giveaway, just leave a comment here. I’ll draw next week.

In other bits of news, I took my Jalie Multi Sport Skirt out for a test ride on Wednesday. One of my tasks at work is running a fellowship program. We had a transportation planner come out and give us a bicycle tour of the city. Skirt worked perfectly! It was super humid and the wickaway fabric kept me totally cool. Oh, that’s the first German language church in the state behind me. They still do German language services every Sunday.

Anna Maria Horner Winner!

24 Apr

Is Belinda, who said,

‘To me a purse is what a woman holds her money in, you carry your purse in your handbag and carry a bag to hold your shopping, books, luggage and other larger items. Although sometimes a ‘bag’ can be short for handbag. A man keeps his money in a wallet and carries a bag.”

Loved all the commentary. My mom even called to tell me what she called a purse growing up in Grenada and what she called it when she moved it NYC. And, it if wasn’t 6:00 in the morning, I might actually remember right now.

It’s fitting a pattern is going to Australia because I FINALLY got the last two seasons of the original Kath and Kim. Either I don’t get Sundance anymore or they didn’t pick up the last couple of seasons. Bummer. Last Friday at happy hour, I met an Australian woman who worked at the Police Department. She’s got every season on DVD and I have a new best friend. Now, if Project Runway Australia would come back, all my Aussie dreams would come true!

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Loads o Blue and a Pattern Giveaway

19 Apr

Hello kids! Thank you kindly for the birthday wishes! I’m happy to report that last night I had a celebratory glass of champagne (or six) for each of you. Today, we have three things to cover in this post. A pattern review, a nail polish swatch and a cool pattern giveaway from my blog sponsor, Fabricworm.com. But first, the dress:

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You’ve seen her before! It’s the #120 sun dress from the July 2007 BWOF. I first made it last February and I’m in the middle of a second edition now. The fabric is from fabricworm.com and is actually for the owner, Cynthia. While I haven’t finished my version, she wanted one to wear to the International Quilt Market in May.

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Both prints are Anna Maria Horner. The top print is Cathedral Dusk and the skirt print is Small Gathering Sea. This dress is so adorable! I gotta get back to mine soon. So, how do you sew for someone long distance that you’ve never met? Really good measurements. Cynthia told me everything from the distance between her waist and hips to the length of her legs! I also sewed with a one inch seam allowance to allow for adjustments.

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There’s even an extra 1/2 inch under the bust just in case she needs the room. And, I didn’t stitch down the straps so she could tack them at the best length for her. My fingers are crossed!

Giveaway

So, that is a natural segway to the giveaway! I blogged last month that Anna Maria Horner is now designing patterns. I think this is so cool! Cynthia does too, so she’s offered to give away one of Anna Marie Horner’s new patterns! You can check them out  here. If you want to enter, tell us what you call a purse  (i.e. handbag, purse, pocket book, etc) in any language. Why? Because a lot of people in Baltimore say ‘pockeybook’ and ‘kindygarten’. Drives me bananas.  Just leave the comment and say which pattern you’re interested in. We’ll do  drawing on Friday! That should be the day Cynthia gets her dress in the mail. And, I’m happy to mail internationally so come one come all.

Polish

Now, nail polish. This is from Misa called ‘A Sin Worth Committing’.

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I read the nail polish blogs for color ideas. But, will ocassionaly post them here because I think it’s tough to know what colors are going to look like on brown skin. And, I can only really wear these fun ones on the weekend! It’s a pretty, inky, sparkly (not glittery) blue. This is two coats, top coat and three hours of weeding, raking and mowing the lawn. Nary a chip. I’m starting to think China Glaze is a little chip prone. I plan on wearing this again come Fourth of July.

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I like to do drawrings….

19 Jan

Using the Random number Generator (and Trena as a witness):

List Randomizer

There were 19 items in your list. Here they are in random order, Reethi wins the pattern drawing!

  1. Reethi
  2. Sue
  3. Birgitte
  4. Claire
  5. Marie-Christine
  6. Heather
  7. Beth
  8. Paulette
  9. Angela
  10. Rachel
  11. Summerset
  12. Knitters
  13. Deborah
  14. Evie
  15. Kbenco
  16. Brooke
  17. MelissaB
  18. sara
  19. Gwen,

Timestamp: 2009-01-19 16:56:08 UTC

So, in deciding to make the 9-2007 BWOF pants, I decided I should make a jacket too. I realize I’ve been avoiding jackets the last 1.5 years because I want to incorporate more tailoring elements and am honestly just kind of  overwhelmed by the entire process.  So, I went and chose something I’ve made before:

BWOF Seersucker Jacket, May 2007

I popped this jacket on to check fit yesterday and found like 20 missing business cards from Egypt. I have searched HIGH and low for those cards. Why can’t my missing black knit fabric be in the pocket too??  At anyrate, I like this jacket. But, it’s unlined and has never had enough structure for me. This time I made a broad back adjustment (although in retrospect, I think I wanted to make a rounded back adjustment).

I’ve also drafted a pattern for a back stay and have cut out  a fusible weft to stabilize the front and shoulder area. I’ve cut them big lest they shrink on me during the fusing.

I’m at Trena’s now in DC although I’m not staying for the Innaguration on the Mall. She’s working on a coat and I’m tracing out Amy Butler bag patterns.  Tomorrow, I’m going to sew and watch the festivities on the telly.

Well, well

15 Jan

Hey Kids,

It would appear that you really like Knip Mode’s design for the April 2008 skirt. I have to give all the praise to the designers at Knip Mode. I couldn’t have made this up if I tried. What I really like is that I haven’t seen anything like it anywhere.

Many of you have asked how to get a hold of this edition of Knip Mode. I got it through the lovely and generous-of-her-time Sigrid. The only resources I know of are ebay (check ebay.nl too). You can also try emailing Knip Mode for a back issue. Outside of the Netherlands can email serviceteam@sanoma-uitgevers.nl I understand that they will respond in English.

I’m also willing to give away my tracing of the pattern. It’s a 38 with a two size upgrade in the lower thigh (not hip). I’m normally a BWOF 38 in the waist and this was a little big.

If you would like to be entered, please leave a comment below. There is a caveat: you must have commented on the blog more than once in the past year and swear you’ll make it. No pattern hoarding please :) I’ll do the random drawing on Monday. If you’re wondering if I’m allowed to give it away, I’m not really sure. ETA: Diva Els emailed me privately with a translation. I’ve shot off an email to Knip Mode and will keep you posted. I checked the copyright:
Copyright

Knip Mode behoudt het recht -tenzij anders overeengekomen met de auteur- ingezonden materiaal in te korten en aan te passen. Dit geldt zowel voor tekst- als muziek- en beeldmateriaal.

Een bezoeker/ster van Knip Mode mag geen auteursrechtelijke beschermde werken of andere in Knip Mode opgeslagen informatie openbaar maken of verveelvoudigen zonder toestemming van Sanoma-Uitgevers BV (ook niet via een eigen netwerk).

And I don’t read Dutch. But, I’m not trying to make money from it and if it gets the word of Knip Mode out, I’m all about it. If you tell me that this says ‘Don’t do it’, I’ll void the drawing.

Caveat #2: I am slow as all heck when it comes to mailing. I go to the PO once a month and it may take me several weeks to mail to you. Those last two Patrones giveaways are still waiting and Arielle waited several months before I got to the post office.

On the cutting table: I’ve got a pair of pants cut out. But, we all know that lined pants take me at least three weeks to work out. I’ll try and show a little more about them over the weekend. We’ve got a long weekend coming up for MLK and I’m taking off Tuesday. So, maybe we can make three weeks become four days :) .