pattern junkie

Web Junkie: April 25, 2011

Some fun web diversions for the weekend:

• Kathleen of Grosgrain is hosting a Free Pattern Month starting Monday!  Stop by daily to check out offerings from some fabulous blogs, including Big Dill, Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing, Colette Patterns and Elegant Musings!
• McCall's just released some new summer patterns.  I looked them over and...yawn. 
• Looking for solace after inserting a sleeve backwards or sewing the wrong pattern pieces together?  Check out CraftFail, the misery loves company blog devoted to craft projects gone oh-so-wrong.  My fave?  "Yarn Barf Slippers."
• I'm dangerously in love with a new site called Heartsy that's basically Groupon for handcrafted and vintage goods.  Sign up through this link and get $5 off your first purchase.  
• Speaking of Heartsy, through it I discovered a wonderful etsy shop, Jenna's Red Rhino.  I purchased a waist cincher to use as a wide, corseted belt and fell in love with it!  The workmanship is just gorgeous (and I'm very picky when it comes to handsewn items.)  I highly recommend the shop!

• Finally, don't forget about my fabric giveaway!  Enter by Wednesday to bring some 80s glory to your home.

Web Junkie August 8, 2010

Happy Sunday to all!  Here are some links for your reading and sewing pleasure:

• Download a free couture-inspired 1950s day dress pattern from the Victoria & Albert Museum!  (See photo above for the gorgeousness...)
• At So Zo: make your own panties out of a T-shirt and foldover elastic!
• At Burdastyle: Enter to win a La Petite Embroidery Starter Kit from Sublime Stitching
• At Colette Patterns: Ten Ways to Ruin Your Sewing.  I'm guilty of many, but mainly the first: "Stupid self-imposed deadlines."  They get me every time!
•  New pattern giveaways this week!  Check out the 60s patterns offered up at A Sewing Odyssey (ends August 11); the assorted pattern giveaway at Rhinestones and Telephones (drawing September 12).
• Chickpea Sewing Studio has a great idea for sewsters like me, who can't seem to get to the sewing room enough: the Sew 12 program!  Pledge to sew for one hour for 12 days each month for 12 months.  I'm in!  It's a reasonable goal, which is something I can't seem to set for myself.
• Also at Rhinestones and Telephones: The Hepburn/Hepburn Project.  Join in if you want to sew in the spirit of Kate and Audrey!

Web Junkie July 31, 2010

Wecome to Saturday!  Here are some links for your browsing pleasure:

• The next "Frock by Friday" begins at Grosgrain on Monday.  Participants will be making the Anda dress from Burdastyle, pictured above.  (The idea is that you start on Monday and finish by that Friday.)  I'm going to participate -- I'm hoping that it will help me learn to sew more efficiently -- but I'm already complicating the project in my head.  How about layered chiffon?  A different neckline?  Godets?  A belt instead of elastic?  Maybe I should throw in the towel now and call if "Frock by February."
• Badges?!  We don't need no stinking badges!  Except when they're from the Vintage Sewing Wiki!  Pick yours up here.
• Sewing With Trudy has a handy, super-easy skirt tutorial.  Love the fabric she used!
• New Vintage Lady has a fantastic and very interesting article on vintage pattern pricing.  
• Trying to date some vintage fabric?  Mena at The Sew Weekly has a handy tip up her sleeve here.
• I'm guilty of The Seven Deadly Sins of Sewing.  Are you?
• Laura at Sew Chic has an article on finding old sewing and dressmaking books on the Internet Archive.  I'm cursing her already for pulling me into another web-based black hole!
• Carisa at Vintage Red has a few things to say about Vogue's new fall patterns!

Web Junkie July 12, 2010

First, a little Monday morning eye candy, courtesy McCall's 3696:

The dress is gorgeous, but the hat?  The hat kills me!  And the gloves and purse?!  Amazing.

Lots of fun stuff around the web lately, and I meant to get it up this weekend.  Instead, here are some clicky-clicks for your Monday:

• It's bad enough that all of you super-prolific sewing bloggers turn out gorgeous piece after gorgeous piece with such regularity (how do you have such great time management skills?  you don't actually work or cook dinner or do anything else productive, do you?), now I find the blog New Dress a Day.  The goal?  To refashion 365 dresses in a year for $365: 365 dresses, 365 days, 365 dollars.  With 140 days to go, she's made impressive progress -- I'm envious!  (Plus she's based here in L.A., so she must be scouring the legendary Jet Rag dollar sale!)
• Sewaholic has a handy tutorial on how to match prints along seams -- a good thing to know, since mismatched stripes can only lead to trouble!
•  It's not sewing-related per se, but Jessica at Chronically Vintage is having a fantastic giveaway for a $75 gift certificate for vintage eyewear at etsy shop Collectible Spectacle.  More swooning!  Hurry, the entry cut-off is midnight EST tonight!
• One of my fave new vintage blogs is The Freelancer's Fashionblog, which I initially found when looking for vintage hair tutorials.  Vintage fashion, fun musings and great photos...not to mention a Finnish perspective.  Check it out!
• I keep forgetting to link to this hilarious post at CoudreMODE, Edie Scissorhands.  Just click it.  Trust me on this one. 

Web Junkie July 4, 2010

Butterick 3306

Happy Fourth of July!  In between eating ice cream and enjoying fireworks (in your stars and stripes apron, of course) here are some fun links for the week:

• Vote on the new logo for the sewing pattern wiki!  And did you know that the wiki is now home to over 30,000 vintage sewing patterns?  Beware its addictive powers!
• It's been a great few weeks for tutorials: first, there's one at Tilly and the Buttons for a quick and easy bow belt.
• Speaking of bows, the Selfish Seamstress has instructions for pants with a bow.  While you're at her site, be sure to check out her post on next month's Burda and clown love.  That's all I'm saying.
•  Last but not least, Gertie has a fantastic tute on using horsehair braid. 

Now go make something go boom!

Web Junkie June 13, 2010

• Carmencita is hosting a pattern giveaway for the above pattern over at her delightful blog, and I'm honored to be co-judging the entries!  Head on over to her blog and come up with a caption for the above white teeth/bronzed skin and forced smile horror; we'll be picking a winner soon.  I've been meaning to do a post on these McCall's mid-70s scary women for a while, but I have to say I can't look at them for very long.  They give me the heeby jeebies in the exact same way those "air dancers" outside of car dealerships do.  Carmencita says they don't have them in France (I think the French WOULD react in horror), so here's a clip for our international friends.  Imagine driving down the street and being assaulted by THIS:

Sorry, seven seconds in and I have to pause it.  They freak me out THAT much!

• Over at Male Pattern Boldness, Cathy models The Ugliest Pattern Ever.  It's great!  But why oh why didn't I submit my western bodysuit pattern to the competition?!
• Need a little direction for your summer sewing?  Join the "Summer Essentials" sew along organized by Ali of the wardrobe, reimagined.  The idea?  Pick your 5 summer essentials and join in the fun.  I think mine come down to dress, dress, dress, dress and dress.  How about you?

Happy Sunday to all!

Web Junkie May 15, 2010

• Whoa!  Did you know that Flickr has a group devoted to trading vintage patterns?!  It looks like it's been pretty inactive for a while, but I say it's high time for us obsessives to get things going.  I've uploaded some patterns to trade (including the one above, Simplicity 9868) -- let's get the party started!  (I'm "GremlyGirl" over in Flickrland.)  There's also a fabric swapping group over there.  I'd been toying with plans to set up a stash trading blog, but it looks like this may eliminate the need!
• Over at Colette Patterns, Sarai asks about your clothing pet peeves.
  
• New patterns coming soon!  Grosgrain is planning on opening an etsy shop!
• Somehow I didn't know that Sandra Betzina had a website, Power Sewing.  Considering how much I love her books Power Sewing and Fabric Savvy -- not to mention that I've been considering writing a post called "I Love You, Sandra Betzina" just because of her awesome knit top pattern, Vogue 2980 -- I think I'll be spending some time there.

Happy weekend to you all...and happy birthday to my brother!  Little bro, I tried to find a Fonz-inspired pattern for you and couldn't -- so this is for you.  (You know what I'm referring to!)

Web Junkie: May 8, 2010

I've been snowed under with work this week, so my web offerings are a little sparse.  I found them all pretty darn interesting, though, and hope you will, too.  Have a gander while I go back to my job with a shovel, will ya?

• Artist Greg Lauren (nephew of Ralph) has a show in Los Angeles featuring men's clothing he made from paper (see images above.)  The work looks incredible, and I'll definitely be checking it out.  Here's the L.A. Times article on the show: Lauren has thought-provoking comments on men's fashion and self-presentation.
• New blog alert!  Nancy has issued herself a challenge to sew herself a vintage wardrobe from vintage patterns.  The catch?  Each piece must cost less than $25 -- that's for fabric, the pattern, notions, everything.  Follow her progress at 25 Dollar Vintage.
•  How did I not know that there was a ZipZapKap blog?!  Check out the fabulous post for true pattern geeks, Dating Mail Order Patterns.  I'm so excited about it I feel like it's Christmas, though the aforementioned work is keeping me from diving into it until later.  Speaking of diving in...I feel it is only fair to warn you that ZipZapKap's etsy shop is a black hole of patterny goodness.  You will be lucky to escape with your pocketbook intact!
• Mother's Day sales!  Gorgeous Fabrics is having 20% everything except muslin, swatches and gift certificates until May 9th; FabricMart Fabrics is also having a 20% off sale.  I'm sure there are lots more -- those are just two that have popped into my inbox.

A Sewing Machine Is A Girl's Best Friend

Or so says the narrator in this British newreel from 1955.  Be sure to listen all the way to the end -- one of his last comments will make you want to slap him silly!

(Clicking the picture will take you to the clip -- unfortunately I couldn't find a way to embed the video  Be forewarned -- the site, British Pathé, an archive of over 3500 newsreels -- is addictively fun and capable of sucking up many hours!)

SEWING MACHINE

"Skill had played little part in the operation?!"  We're talking matching stripes on diagonal seams!  You try it yourself before declaring it so easy, buster!

Milestones in Junkiedom

Wow!  Somehow in my despair over my ruined dress, I didn't realize that my last post was a bit of a milestone -- yep, post 100!  Thanks, dear readers, for joining me in this journey into pattern madness.  I'm going to attach pom pom trim to my socks and go do some interpretive dance in celebration!

 

(Click on the photo to be taken to the listing over at Ruby Lane for this astounding bit of grooviness.)

Or perhaps I'll just whip up some spats for my go-go boots courtesy Simplicity 9553?

Sadly, groovy 60s dance won't be on my agenda this week -- I'm facing 3 big work deadlines and my posting here will probably range from spotty to nil.  While I put my vintage pattern obsession on hold, here are the links I'll be doing my best to avoid -- if you've got some time to kill, have fun with them!

• Steph at 3 Hours Past the Edge of the World has started a series on how to tackle a big sewing project.  The first article, on conceptualizing and sourcing, is very helpful -- I'm looking forward to what else she has to say!  
• There's a Vintage Pattern Contest going on at Pattern Review.  Get those sewing machines revving -- it ends April 30th!
• Want encouragement or simply company when you wear the lovely garments you've made?  Join Me-Made May at So Zo.
• Free pattern download: the eight-gore Bossa Nova skirt from Hot Patterns at Fabric.com.
• Uh oh...serious time suck alert!  Clothes on Film is, well, a website devoted to discussing clothes on film.  Today's front page features, among other things, an article about a Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A, an interview with the costume designer for THE HANGOVER, and a discussion of Gordon Gekko's two iconic shirts from WALL STREET.  Digging just a little deeper I found articles on individual pieces of clothing from MAD MEN and Mia Farrow's gorgeous red lounging pajamas from ROSEMARY'S BABY (one of my favorite films).  I die.  GLEE fans, I didn't see an in-depth analysis of Emma Pillsbury, but I'm sure it can't be far off!