So cute..... and yet such a race to the bottom!

So it’s not like I have tons o’ time to shop…. I definitely do more sewing but I occasionally get gift cards and I currently have one for Anthropologie, so naturally I get the catalogue.  Beautifully photographed, perfectly styled and designed in the way that makes you want it all.  I think that it is fucked up that items in this catalogue A) do not have fiber content-you have to go to the web for that where there is a convenient Buy Now Button (even there it’s hard to find), and B) either says imported (mostly used), made in the USA, or made in COUNTRY X if it is an ethically acceptable country to have clothing manufactured in.  Does this really fool people????  What the hell does imported mean to Anthropologie ??  I think it is a disgusting way to have cheap manufacturing in countries that have known human right abuses and quality issues in their manufacturing.  They are disguising practices that do not measure up to the American public demand for some ethics in Globalization.  Since Anthropologie dose not want to use terms like Made in China (which I bet is the truth for 85% of the “imported” things in their catalogue) they mask this in the term imported.  Fucking Redonkulous!!

WOW…. can’t believe it has been over a month since posting…. I guess I have been busy.  Saturday we won a couple of prizes for our creativity.  Here is how we spent Halloween 2009:

I build the tweedle bodies out of foam and hula hoops.  The shirt is just a Kwik Sew 2272, a shirt pattern  that is out of print I use all the time for Dave, my husband (and a really good sport).  I just expanded from the under arm to fit the 90″ circumference of the hula hoop.  I bought sheets at the thrift store for the shirts cause it was going to take six yards and I also bought shoes from the thrift store to paint because it was the cheapest way to go on both accounts.  Foam is expensive so luckily I found a piece in the closest at our office that Dave said I could use ( I still had to buy 1 yard).    The hats I blocked buckram for and built the propeller out of hat wire.  Then I just kept on decorating until we had to put them on for Halloween.  My friend Hannah made her Alice costume under my supervision and she was super excited and impressed with herself when she was done.  We had a tea party  in the afternoon (I could not resist showing up at my favorite tea spot The Tea Cup in costume, and then went out and ate dinner and entered some  Halloween contests that night.  We won two different gift certificats that basically pay for the costumes.  It was awesome!!

The night before I went out and saw some of my costumes in action at a Kiss Tribute concert.  They to were AWESOME!!

Me and my husband just coambed over pretty much every post on this site.  I cannot BELIEVE that people really are selling this stuff!!  Here are some of our favs:

The WHOLE dead thing section (especially the last couple).

Kernel of truth

Lip service

Cut the cord

Words cannot describe…. you just have to see it to believe it!!

Proceed with caution.

Here are some stills of the Flight Attendant costume I recently made and posted about here.  It is for a web commercial for Expedia… I don’t know much more about it except that I had a lot of fun doing it and would love more work like this    I guess if this goes over well they will use this character for more of an ad campaign.

Last Thursday night I had the pleasure of modeling an AWESOME outfit in the Art Institute of Seattle “Cool vs. Cruel” annual fashion show.  The idea is to not use any animal based products of textiles and to be inspired by some current and cruel looks on the 2009 runways.  The show is sponsored by the Humane Society… hmm… or it is to promote the Humane Society.  It is a regional competition for all of the Art Institutes and then there is a National Competition in New York.  I was a little surprised at how small the show was.  My designer, Cindy, won the competition here!!!!  Her outfit will be shipped to NYC for the big show there.   Not only that…. she totally slipped me a Nordstrom Gift Card in all the craziness that I forgot about and surprisingly opened the next day.  Totally unnecessary… but WOOT WOOT!

This post is inspired by some new (old) sewing things that we got in at the store.   OMG-  I f**king love haberdashery… especially if it is beautiful!  I don’t even wind thread and I want one of each.

Sajou- A nineteenth century French company that was recently resurrected.  I cannot really find pictures of some of the most awesome old graphics they use on their thread winders- twenties hats and such but here is the story of Sajou I found over at Silver Needle:

 From 1830 to 1880, Jacques-Simon devoted his time and inventiveness to fancy needlework, starting la Maison Sajou in 1830. His goal: to sell supplies for all types of the Needlearts. With the creation of his pattern albums, he reached intense fame in France and all of Europe… his original albums are very valuable and intensely sought-after collectibles today!

The trade name ‘Sajou’ fell into oblivion some years later, presumably after Jacques passed. It had not been used since 1954, and therefore, under French law, became available in 2004 for a new owner!

Frederique Crestin-Billet is the new owner of Sajou, and promises to present the vintage designs and articles as they were — without edits. Relying on the excellent name of Sajou, she is producing product using modern production methods, while maintaining a world that reminds us of the haberdasheries of yesteryear.

Another one of my french favorites is Lesage (here is an article about lesage) which does not have a web page.   They don’t need one!  They are the beading and embellishing house for all of Paris’ Haute Couture.  The Sewing Divas are on my blogroll and I found this great video on their site.  Only the second half is Lesage but the whole video is yummy.

In a week from today the 31st ANNIVERSARY SALE starts at my day job (Nancy’s Sewing Basket).  It starts at 25 % off all fabrics and works its way up to 31% off on the last day- Sept. 20th.  Yes we do take mail orders.  This is a frenzy- and regulars usually come in in advance to make a game plan as to what they are going to buy.  I have my eye on a creamy silk knit, a silk and cotton broadcloth with a brown circular design, and a super soft plaid shirting from Italy.

I am frantically trying to finish a garment before the sale starts- and (of course) I decide to use leather which is something that requires more patients and less frantic-ness then I seem to have at the moment so I am taking a break to vent about it.   My boss had this lovely idea back in April or May that we could all use the same pattern and interpret it any way that we wanted.  We landed on Vogue 1036, a jacket,  not because we all loved it but because it was generic enough that we had a lot of room to interpret.  The pattern was (for me) large through the shoulders and tight through the elbow.

Nancy’s gave us $75.00 dollars worth of fabric- which I promptly spent and more- leather. . . Sheesh!  Our customers will then have the opportunity to see if they can pair the right jacket with the right employee.  Sound fun and exciting right?   Now we are a week away from the sale and we are (and have been) all up to our eyeballs in all sorts of things (moving, wedding dresses, traveling, costumes, family) none of which have been the JACKETS.  As you can deduct- we are all frantically trying to finish our jackets.  

Speaking of finish- I have finished the flight attendant costume and it was pretty rad if I don’t say so myself.  I am not posting pictures because I will post the video from Expedia when it goes up.  I don’t even think they start filming until mid-September.

Hint! Hint!

Wow, it has really been a while since my last post (sorry Mom).  I have been really busy with OPP (other people’s projects).  Usually I don’t post this stuff because, well, because it is their stuff, they payed for it, I just figure it is not mine to post.  Most of the time it is to boring to care…. Alterations AAAaaagggg!  

Today I am breaking all the rules.  Mainly because I am working on some really fun stuff.   This is the “Catch Me If You Can” Pan Am 1964 Flight Attendant costume I am building for a commercial.  It is fitting that the Musical opened closed here in Seattle at the Fifth Avenue Theater and is heading to New York .

Perfect, Prim, and properly at your service... until Title VIII.

Complete with pill box hat!

I am also building parts of a whole KISS look a like band.  Here is Paul Stanley’s 1975 feather choker:

Pictured in F.

Rock Me All Night Long!

 SO as you can see it is raining costumes for me and I can only expect more as we move in to Costume Monsoon Season… so stay tuned.

Seems like when it rains… it pours free patterns:

-Nancy’s Sewing Basket (safe haven/ evil addiction employer) also put out a simple apron pattern they call the Manhattan Apron.  Here are PDF one  and PDF two.

-While I was surfing I found that Selvedge Magazine put out a cute little free PDF called Tie Your Own Apron Strings to promote the book Learn to Sew by Alison Reid

-Cool blogger Still Dottie  has a free how to for a Smock Apron with awesome graphic for pattern.

Ice Tea Anyone?

Materials:

½ —–yard of a base fabric (I used an Indian cotton voile).

¾  —–yard of a coordinating fabric (I used a Jay McCarroll printed cotton).

2 ¼ —–yards of ribbon (I used two grosgrain ribbons layered and stitch with a machine   embroidery stitch).

-Wash all fabric to clean and shrink.  All seams are ½”

-Cut from coordinating print:

1 Pocket- pattern PDF

1 Waistband- 6”x 22”

1 Bottom Band- 6”x 45”

2 Ties- 31” x 2 ½”

-Finish sides (selvedges) of base fabric and stitch two rows of basting (long machine stitches) at 3/8” and ½” from top.

-Stitch right side of bottom band to wrong side of base fabric (If using a directional print-it should be sew here upside-down). Press seam toward bottom band.  Fold bottom in half, right sides together, fold seam allowance back towards wrong side and stitch sides of bottom band.  Flip right sides out, press and top stitch long seam catching all raw edges in bottom band “sandwich”.  Center ribbon on bottom band and stitch both edges.  

-Stitch darts in pocket and press.  Finish top edge.  Fold top of pocket at notch with right sides together. Stitch sides. Flip flap (he-he) right sides out.  Sew basting stitches centered at 1 ½” and gather pocket to 6 ½”.  Pin ribbon into place over gathers and stitch both edges.  Press raw edges of pocket to wrong side ½”.

- Position outside pocket corner 4” down from the top and six inches from the side of base (On the right side of the base if you are right handed and left side if you are left handed).  Pin and edge stitch pocket on to base.

big enough for several wood spoons- the cadillac of pockets!

-Fold ties in half right sides together and stitch down long raw edge and one short end.  Use a chop stick to push the right side out.  Make sure corners are carefully picked out.  Press flat.

-Gather top of base to 21”

-Sew right side of waistband to wrong side of the top of the base adjusting gathers evenly to fit within the seam allowance of the waistband.

-Baste ties to right side of waistband 2” up from the base with raw edges of ties lined up with raw side edges of waistband.  Fold waistband in half right sides together, fold seam allowance to wrong side and stitch the side catching the ties.  Flip right sides out, press seam allowance towards the waistband.  Top stitch long seam catching all raw edges in the “sandwich” of the waistband. 

-You are now ready to cook!!

AND… this is just the beginning- you could add pockets, change pockets (there are a bazillion pocket shapes if you google images of vintage aprons), quilt the bands, use ribbon for the ties, add lace to the bottom, attach glitter and Christmas bells, add piping to the waistband and pocket, cross-stitch or embroidery, give it a theme for a friend, use ric- rac, appliqué fruits on there, you could bedazzle the crap out of it if you want.