Book Review: Life in the Little Black Dress, by Christine Jonson

I've done a short review of The Little Black Dress on Pattern Review and I thought I'd add some more personal stuff here.

I worked as a little sales girl in Christine's Retail Store in Royal Oak, MI starting in 1995. The story about "Button Decisions" in the book brought back memories from that time. Christine would have Susan cut out the collection, and then it would be sent to the sew-ers (I wasn't allowed to sew way back then!). One woman would do the serging and we (me and or Susan or Christine) would have to press up hems and press/shrink the fabric and then one or more sew-ers would finish the hems and topstitching. After everything was finished and pressed and hung on hangers Christine would pull out the buttons. It was a big production and everything had to have the perfect buttons. I think many of Christine's customers enjoyed the attention to the buttons as much as the fit of the garments.

I also remember the joy Christine takes in choosing beautiful fabrics, that much hasn't changed!

Much of what I do in sewing is from watching and listening to Christine, I think I learned to really sew from her Patterns. I love the easy way her patterns go together and especially the fit of the armholes. I often find myself adjusting other patterns to make them easier or more friendly, eliminating facings, pins, serging darts,etc.

The article "Clip Those Threads" actually gave me a chuckle, it is one of my bad habits to leave some threads hanging, it is actually the thing that I get the most comments about! I do try to be neat, but I chronically leave the threads at the start of hem seams. I think I do end up getting them, unless I'm on a tight deadline and working really fast. People do end up not complaining after a while, so either I get better or they give up!

I also love Christine's take on "The Little Black Dress" and how it relates to sewing "...it signifies all the good things about clothes. If you have the perfect little black dress in your closet, life is good. It is something you can depend on. You can be in your comfort zone the second you slip that dress on. It's a state of mind."

All and all I really enjoyed the book, if you are looking for some fun informative reading about sewing I highly recommend it!

Do I really need to have a plan?

Occasionally I am finished with all my contract sewing work and I still feel like sewing. But, I don't feel like being creative. So... Do I have to have a plan?

I was feeling rather uninspired and didn't want to make any plans, so I looked at my pile of jeans and just started to play with it a little. Nothing I haven't done before, just strips.



I love the way they look when they are finished, I did 3 separate pieces, from 5 pair of jeans.



Now when I'm ready to make something I'll have the hard work done and I can just work on the style of the finished product. These are smaller pieces, so I'm thinking some more totes/handbags for etsy....

Book Review: Julie Parker's "All About...."

I discovered these books quite a few years ago at a Sewing Expo. They are a wonderful resource for those of us who are fabric challenged, buy from clearance racks or thrift unlabeled textiles. There is no substitute for actually feeling a fabric in your hands!

There are three Volumes in the Fabric Reference Series by Julie Parker:

All About Silk

All About Cotton

All About Wool

The best part by far is the swatch of fabrics included. Each description is accompanied by the corresponding fabric. A nice sized 2 1/2 X 4 inches. I find no substitute for seeing and feeling each fabric to compare what I have and help to accurately indentify each piece.

A sample of an entry goes something like this:
-Name of the fabric (My sample page is Flannel)
-Description of fabric
-Swatch on page
-Explaination of how "brushed cotton" is created
-Short "how to use"
-Description of several other similar related fabrics
Example:A page on Flannel includes a short description of Canton flannel, diaper flannel, flannelette, and outing flannel
-Sewing rating
-Suggested fit
-Suggested styles
-What to expect
-Cost per yard
-Wearability
-Suggested care
-Where to find
-Box with additional info
Example:This page on flannel has info on Flame retardant finishes

I am only fortunate enough to own the first two in the series All about Silk and All about Cotton. I will pick up the third someday, and I am looking forward to seeing all the fabrics and reading the pages to build my knowledge of fabrics and textiles.

The books can also be found on ebay under the publishers I.D. Rain City Publishing.

Christine's Fishin' Hat

Christine asked for a hat like the one I have been wearing, mine is pretty goofy, but I'm getting known for them soooo...

The hat is made from a Kwik Sew pattern #2236 view B. And almost one old pair of blue jeans. I had to be creative to get the brim pieces out of the jeans, all but one of the hat panels was on the straight of grain. I didn't use a whole pair of jeans, but I used all I had left of this pair.



I made mine about 10 years ago when I knew much less about sewing than I know now and there were things I didn't really like about it, so I fixed it for Christine's.

The pattern asks you to sew all the pieces together and then finish with seam binding. Here is a pic of my old hat:


I've never liked this, so this time I left a part of the panel open on the inside to turn everything thru:


My new hat inside looks like this:


I'm very pleased with the result.

Finished side view:


Finished front view:


The hat is cute, unfortunately I can't sell this particular style hat because it is made from a copyrighted pattern. I do think that the top of the hat is a little poofy, so if I did make a pattern of my own I would fix that. I think the hardest part will be to get the brim with the correct curve. I'll have to go to the mall and look at some hats see if I can't figure it all out and draft one myself!

Vintage Windbreaker Repair

Outside Repair
Originally uploaded by Diane Slade Inc

I have this beautiful vintage windbreaker up on etsy.

When I was getting the measurements, I discovered that the side seam stitching was unraveling.

The jacket was sewn with a serger and chain stitch, if the chain stitch gets dinked at all the whole thing comes out. I don't know what caused the problem, but I went all the way down the side twice to fix the problem. And just because I'm not sure what caused the problem initially, I did the other side for safe keeping.



My thread *is* orange, but doesn't match the jacket. The repair is neat though and doesn't show on the outside.

Busy-Busy

Things have been pretty busy around here. I made 19 more garments for Christine on top of my regular stuff and I'm working hard to straighten things up. I'm going to have to write more about Christine's patterns, she is doing some really great stuff and I really learned a lot.

I'm in the process of moving my workspace from the basement to the upstairs. This is an undertaking because the upstairs has been used as storage space. I'm very suprised at how much I've collected over the years. I'm definately a pack rat.

I've been working hard at purging things, but I've still got to sort thru a bunch of sewing supplies. I'm trying to convince myself to sell some of these wonderful things in my ecrater store and on etsy. I do have to, though, there is just too much right now for me to use in the near future.

I have also cleared out a bunch of clothing that I was saving for reconstruction or refashioning. That was hard but necessary to move the workspace, I can get more later when I'm ready. I have saved all the jeans though! I have enough to keep me busy for quite a while.

I'm looking forward to having the workspace upstairs, I've been in the basement for 10 years and I'm tired of it. It is nice and cool in the summer, but I'm ready to make that sacrafice (besides there is air conditioning!) in order to have sunshine in my life!

Invisible Zippers in Sew News Magazine

Thank You Rosebud!
Originally uploaded by Diane Slade Inc

I've talked several times about my great class at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan last year. I haven't been able to give specific details about the things I have learned because obviously I didn't invent the techniques myself.

This most recent Sew News Magazine, March 2008, features Rosebud and a detailed How-To of Islander Sewing Systems Invisible Zipper Insertion on page 17. She goes thru Hand control, Preparation and Insertion, all the way to adding a Facing or a Lining.

Its a great way to get an introduction to the technique without spending the big bucks for the Easy Zippers! DVD by Janet Pray and Rosebud, though I think I should splurge. I learned 3 zippers techniques in my class, invisible, lapped and a standard, but I know that there are a few more in the DVD I could use some tips on!

The last Threads Magazine, January 2008, also featured Rosebud on pg. 65. They did the Lapped Zipper in Threads. Its another great presentation worth a look and learn.