 Click! Yesterday at Lord & Taylor I found the perfect belt. This is actually a stretch belt, which I really like because I like a wider belt with dresses and I’m very shortwaisted. Stretch belts are really comfortable because they don’t dig into my ribs. Love the hardware, the macrame look and the color is perfect. Would you believe this is from Betsey Johnson? No? Here’s the proof!  Click!  Click! New England is sweating away in the heatwave and this dress is kind of timely. One thing I remember from childhood are seasonal fabrics that have virtually disappeared from summer, old favorites such as madras, seersucker and dotted swiss come to mind. Gigi made a wonderful top from dotted Swiss and Ann rocked a skirt out of madras. When was the last time you saw a man in a seersucker summer suit? For me it was the 80’s I think. Modern knits are amazing, but they are ubiquitous year round and sometimes I really want to wear a summer fabric that’s not linen, so when I was at Jo-Ann’s a few weeks ago the store actually had several bolts of very nice seersucker and I could not resist! Buuny did a cool version of 6116 that lowers the temperature just by looking at it, and I wanted a similar breezy shirtwaist to wear to Orlando next week. I found this great pair of retro Chie Mihara shoes to coordinate with an Alfani bag I’ve had for a few years so this homage to summers past is complete. Do you like the muslin strip that mocks up a belt? I do need to find one and I think a woven jute or woven metallic leather would look great. The buttons are Dritz, also from Jo-Ann’s and the piping and ribbon trim breaks up the green. I love this color, its kind of that Jadeite green so popular in the 1930’s.  Click! This is a Palmer Pletsch pattern, and as Gigi noted the drafting is much better than a run-of-the-mill Big 4. The pattern tissue has a complete set of full bust adjustment lines and very detailed instructions for FBA changes. I’d say that if you’re ready to tackle an FBA just picked up this PP pattern and the whole process will be completely de-mystified.  "Moonlight Clowns" Believe it or not, I have been sewing, but nothing has been in the “interesting to blog about” category. Made a few pairs of HP Marrakesh pants to wear around the house and also made up Vogue 8936 but my serger won’t do a coverhem so that project is on hiatus until I get it up to New Hampshire to be serviced. In the meantime, Bunny has inspired me to make up McCall’s 6116 shirtdress in seersucker to wear in Florida next week for ADA. American Dance Awards Nationals is kind of like a big convention; between the dancers, parents and teachers it’s about 3,500 people. ADA happens at big resorts; this year it’s at the Caribe Royale in Orlando. The people watching is pretty good and I need to takes notes for a dance competition version of fashion tribes. People come from all over the US and Canada; this year I want to look more polished. Not businesslike, but definitely not flip flop casual. Of course the indoor temps will be air-conditioned Arctic and outside it will be in the 90’s and meltingly humid. And then there is all the dance stuff we need to schlep…
 "Positive Affirmations" ies allowed), wigs, hairpins, hairnets (to wear under wigs and for making a ballet bun) dance tights and dance shoes. Plus a couple leotards for the dance classes they take when they’re not competing. Add to this is regular clothes, bathing suits and evening clothes/shoes for two awards banquets. We’re lucky this year in that they need only their tap shoes and ballet slippers. Oh – and only their costumes, dance shoes and accessories can go into our three carry-on bags because we can’t risk lost baggage…ALL of our regular clothes need to go into our checked bags, and of course the airlines now charge checked bag fees. There are also weight limits; ballet slippers weigh nothing, but tap shoes are heavy – that’s 4 lbs right there for two pairs of tap shoes. So my challenge will be to look good for 8 days with as few of my own clothes and shoes as possible. Stay tuned!  Simplcity Patterns Magazine 1972  Click! I have to give credit to Pattern Junkie (my current must-read daily blog!) for this tip; she found a vintage pattern that had a note on the tissue. Basically, when cutting a pattern piece that lays out on a fold, leave a margin on the fold line for easier pinning.  Click!  Click! This is Abby’s (the purple paisley version belong to her sister Emma.) They just got back from and end of school year pool party and the wraps worked out well. This is a silk from Gorgeous Fabrics. As a skirt is also looks nice tied to the side.
I still really like it. This has been in my stash for maybe 10 years. Back in the 90’s I would have made it from slinky, fortunately today’s knits have the same great drape without slinky’s weight and tendency to “grow”. About the only negative to this style is that it uses 4 yards(!) of 60 inch of fabric if you can believe it. I also may have some adjusting to do, I have a feeling I could have gone with even a 10 size-wise since its Vogue and their slopers are huge.. That’s the beauty of a muslin. Off to look for fabric on-line….
This is the first Butterick pattern I’ve done in years, which is strange because when I was young Butterick was my favorite Big 4 line; they had really great fashion forward looks. If you don’t believe me just go onto any vintage pattern site and look at 60’s and 70’s Buttericks. But these days that line is just meh, so I was very surprised to find this beach wrap. Both DD’s need a pool wrap for Florida while we’re at Nationals; they are both too shy to walk through the lobby in just their swimsuits. 4526 also comes with two swimsuit patterns, the one piece is nice however the two piece looks like a sport s bra and Spanx. This pattern could not be simpler. I think it took me longer to set up my serger and practice a 2 thread rolled hem then to actually make it:
The fabric is a polyester chiffon from Jo-Ann’s and the edging is woolly nylon. This makes up so fast you can coordinate with all of your bathing suits! I also think this style in light terry cloth would make a great spa wrap, just square off the tie ends and replace them with overlapped velcro. It can also be worn as a skirt. This pattern has a 2005 copyright and I haven’t seen anything like this on any other Big 4 site so if you like it grab it before they take it out of production.
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