156. Dear AngelaPea and Umatji...

... Will you please leave me your email address in a comment so I can contact you about the meme? When I tried to reply to your comments, they weren't linked to your personal email addresses. I have visited both of your blogs, and can't find your email addresses there or on your blogger profiles. Thanks! :)

I've been offline most of the week with the workshop and then I just felt kind of brain-fried yesterday. (BTW, did any of you see The Fashion Show? If so, did you vote for a collection? Guess next week's is the last episode of the season. And soon our beloved Project Runway will be back! Just a month away now!) Getting back in the swing of things today and I look forward to catching up with everyone's blogs! Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

153. More giveaway news, the Pollyanna Dress, etc.

There are so many short items to cover that I will number them:

1. What fun responses to the honesty meme from my last post! Keep 'em coming. If you're getting a kick out of it, too, please consider yourself tagged and let's read your honest truth. :)

2. Columbia Lily Designs is hosting a giveaway, too! Found out about it after my last post, but do visit her blog for giveaway info.

3. I still have one dress from my Las Vegas trip last month that I didn't blog about. I'd wanted to use the immaculately-fit bodice from New Look 6723/ Sid & Nancy dress and add a short circle skirt at the natural waist. I wore this to my niece's graduation, and apparently it was a good choice for visibility from the graduation floor (my niece said that as she searched the audience for us, her nearby friend said, "Your parents are near the lady in the yellow dress.").

The bodice is self-lined and I have finally settled into a preferred method for hemming circle skirts: Serge the bottom edge in a thread color close to the fabric, press a hem the width of the serging (in my case, 1/4"), and sew this very narrow hem. So easy. Yes, it requires a serger, and yes, it's worth it.

Clementine clearly ate too many Cheetos when I was in Vegas. There was a little struggle to get the back zipper zipped up. OK, just kidding. She can't eat; she's a dress form. The dress is actually comfy for me to wear -- it's got just enough ease -- and at times like this I'm reminded of what that one inch difference between our busts can really mean for fit.

And Carmen... she always has to do the rabbit ears when there's a shot she's not in. Such a camera hog. Photobomber.

4. I've been struggling a little with how to respond to comments on my blog. I've in the past only responded via email to those who leave their email addresses, or I've responded with my own comment if someone has asked a question but didn't leave their email address. Without an email address, at times I would seek out the commenter's blog and leave a message there but it felt awkward to answer a question they asked on my blog in the comments of their blog!

I'll respond with my own comment from now on -- just FYI in case you would like to start checking the box in the comment form saying you want to get follow-up comments emailed to you. I've been doing this on Facebook and it works aaaaaaalright.

5. I've been a sewing and patternmaking maniac. I haven't posted several of the most intensive projects because they are leading up to debuting that new independent clothing label I mentioned a few months back. I think I'll be ready to "open shop" in the next couple of weeks so I can reveal a few projects I've been working on and what I've been learning along the way.

6. Our Favorite Swedish Sewist (tm), Johanna Lu, just published a very considered (and because I totally agree with her, a very accurate) review of The Fashion Show. Coincidentally, about a week ago, I sounded off about it again via email to Kyle, who suggested another blog post about it. Rather than hijack Johanna Lu's comments, I figured I'd jot down a couple other thoughts about Our Favorite Substitute for Project Runway (tm):

• TFS needs to find its voice, which is ironically the same advice they have given to their contestants. They kind of rush through the show, like a few designers rush through making their garments, and by the end of the hour I'm trying to find the "point of view" of the show just as the judges are struggling to see their designers' points of view.
• There is very little focus on the creative process, which I'd like to see more of.
• TFS gives their contestants equal screen time, but democratic coverage simply isn't as interesting as getting to know a few of their folks better.
• They've moved away from showing judges' comments during the runway shows and saving them for the judging, which I prefer.
• When choosing to eliminate a designer who is not impressive nearly every week vs. a designer who's pretty strong but had a very bad week, they eliminate the weaker (overall) designer. This is much more crowd-pleasing but also much more predictable.

And again, having said all of that... I keep watching. :)

143. The Fashion Show Reviewed

Maybe review is an overstatement. People who love to sew and make clothes will watch this show no matter what. After seeing two episodes, I would say the show (1) has a very business bent, which is fine for me, (2) encourages the designers to work together more, which is probably more like real life, and (3) I like a lot of what the designers make.

My primary critique is that it seems to lack any recognizable depth or other relatable human element. Isaac Mizrahi made the "genius fashion designer" more accessible as the subject of the 90's documentary Unzipped, was incredibly sweet and likable with his own talk show a few years back (was that on the Style channel or E!?), and showed the everyday woman how strong his connection was to her with his made-for-Target line of women's clothing. I don't understand why so little of that charm and magic makes it to The Fashion Show as a whole.

It should be said that I will keep watching anyway. :)

So, back to the magic of Isaac -- I stumbled across this video of Isaac creating a couture dress out of USA Today newspapers and want to share in case you haven't seen it:

130. The Fashion Show vs. Project Runway?

Hadn't heard of The Fashion Show till yesterday -- I'm late to the game again.  Bravo is launching its own fashion design reality show with Isaac Mizrahi co-hosting on May 7, a month before Season Six of Project Runway starts at Lifetime, with not just $100,000 in prize money, but $125,000!

image from Bravotv.com

Have you seen a preview?  Does it look as irresistible as Project Runway?  Will you give it a look-see?