The Blue Gardenia
That Touch of Fashion: A lace top to spur howls at midnight August 1, 2010 12:30 2 Comments
Who can forget the sexy lace pant suit thatBut. Down to brass needles. Absolutely.
This enticing set can be yours. It can. First, get Simplicity 3703, circa 1950s. (Mad Men alert! It's that day, after all, and this pattern is very cuspy; it'd look right at home in the '60s. Absolutely.) Get it at The Blue Gardenia, of course. But you knew we'd have it. Didn't you? Thought so. Use View 2, but trim the bottom of the blouse straight across. Forget the point. Save that style for later. It's casual. It's cute. But it's for a barbecue, not an after-hour seduction. (Yup. This is a multipurpose pattern. Make it once. Make it twice. Make it once again.)
And might I suggest Gorgeous Fabrics rayon Chantilly Lace for the top? Luscious. Line it in nude georgette for modesty. Or just wear a black camisole underneath. Your choice. Either way, the wolves will be sniffing around your door.
Learning to sew: In which more than my skirt goes mad! July 19, 2010 09:05 1 Comment
Saturday, I went over to Marticia's for a sewing festival. You recall, dear readers — I know you do, because how could you possibly forget one small step along my sewing journey —that I was quite intimidated by my fraying selvage. So. I bagged up my fabric and my pattern, and I drove over to Marti's so she could show me how to fix it.
Marticia lost patience with me, because I was taking pictures rather than pulling the thread to get the fabric on grain. Well, duh. I'm a blogger. I have to take pictures. I have to, beloved readers, for you. So that you can view my progress. So that you can be with me as I take baby steps along this path. I'm so unselfish. Really.
Now. Because you read the headline or title or whatever it is we call the words that go across the blog story to draw you, dear readers, in, you are probably wondering why something — namely, me — was driven mad by this skirt. Well. Here ya go. The reason: The fabric stretch did not go horizontally around my hips. No. It went lengthwise. I do not need a lengthwise stretch. I don't. I don't. I need it around my butt. Otherwise, how will the fabric puff out into an unflattering ball in my buns area? Obviously, I needed a new fabric. Absolutely. I did not want to waste the Lycra in my yummilicious linen-cotton blend.
So. Marticia to the rescue. Again. She put on her cape. She put on her boots. And she went to her fabric stash. And . . . and . . . drumroll, please . . . she worked her superpower magic and pulled out a piece of jade wool blend. Which just happened to be the right size for my skirt. Yippee skippee. So. It is now cut out. I have only to pull out the tracing paper and the tracing wheel and mark, mark, mark the many darts. Then I'll be ready to sew my Mad Men pencil skirt. I will. Double cartwheels to celebrate. Please.