203. Austin Museum of Art Fashion Show

Or, How Lucky I Am.

I know, every day, how lucky I am.  Not everyone gets to do something they love for a living and do stuff they love for fun.  I know that.

These are two dresses I made for a fashion show this past Sunday, one from two pairs of men's black denim jeans, and one from two pairs of men's khaki pants:

runway photos courtesy of Sterling Images

202. In Mociun (knockoff #2) to Seattle

Or, my amazing and super-cool summer trip to Seattle, during which I wore my Mociun knockoff #2.  Why 2?  Read on to find out!

187. Celebrate The Boy

Well, well, well. I am really expanding my horizons this month! If this encompassed all the sewing blogs out there to some degree (knowing there's overlap and bits of this and bits of that)...

... then my little blog started out in the Fashion/ Apparel, included Refashion in 2008, and then touched on some DIY in 2009. Why not round out the picture by dipping my toe into crafting?

Dana over at MADE was one of the cool bloggers I hung out with at Wardrobe Refashion two years ago, and she is, without a doubt, a blogging phenomenon! Dana is a great designer and photographer and has provided inspiration for countless creative folks around the world. She had this great idea to host a month of making things for boys, who we all know kind of get shortchanged when it comes to sewing, as compared to girls. And she invited me along for the ride. My project and tutorial are going live February 27, so I shall keep you posted.

As much as it feels like my participation in Celebrate the Boy is a craft thing, it seems that Celebrate the Boy will feature projects that fall all over that chart above. Meaning some DIY, some craft, some refashion, and some apparel -- like Dana's first post of the month! These envelope neck tees with contrast ribbing and serging are to die for! Go check them out, and I hope to see you following along this month!

176. Pay-It-Forward: Steph from Tragically Ordinary (Refashion 32: Lined Newsboy Cap & Scarf from Men's Sport Coat and Dress Shirt)

Back in July, I joined a pay-it-forward meme, and committed to handcrafting gifts for 5 people. I recently finished this hat and scarf set for Steph from Tragically Ordinary and popped it in the mail to her. She sent me a note yesterday that she received it, so now I will blog about it:

Steph deemed herself a hat girl in a previous post, and she is in love with fall. I do refashions, so after many other ideas came and went, this hat and matching scarf from repurposed fabrics was a good blend of what she likes and what I like.

The hat is a newsboy cap from that same Japanese hat book I used to make various hats for Louis this summer, made from the sleeves of a men's sport coat. In Kyle's birthday box of goodies she included a ReadyMade magazine with instructions for a dyed plaid scarf from men's shirts by Martha McQuade of Uniform Natural, so I used a men's shirt to make a scarf and lined the hat with the same fabric.

From a construction standpoint, I'd run out of the heavyweight craft interfacing I used on the summer hats. I went back to the same store I'd gotten it from, and bought their heaviest interfacing... but it was not the same! I double-interfaced the hat brim and it was still pretty floppy. I didn't interface the hat body at all but think maybe I should have -- when I wore it, the structure of the hat got lost a little and it kind of looked like a beret:

And, surprisingly, this is the smallest hat size and it's a good 2 inches too big around the crown. Do Japanese women have big heads? I'm totally kidding! Just wondering why the pattern is drafted so darn big?

I'm so glad I signed up for this pay-it-forward thingy with my 5. It has been a really neat experience to dig around like a detective, reading through blog archives to get a sense as to who someone is. And then to create based on what I found. Now onto the other four recipients!

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

169. Summer Lovin' / Had Me a Blast

Ahh, what a summer. School started today so officially summer break is over for us, but summer lingers on. I can't wait for fall weather to arrive. In Israel, it doesn't look unbearably hot, as Selvi, winner of my first ever blog giveaway, models the Grainger top she won:

May I say, how exotic to send a package to Israel! I felt so official filling out my customs form!

And what a cute model. Thank you for sending the photo, Selvi.

This has been a summer of lovin' all over my little nook in Blogland. I won a giveaway I really, really, REALLY wanted to win -- for the Domino book over at Lisa's SHELTER Home. I still have almost every issue of Domino and secretly hope that, when the economy recovers, Domino will be resurrected:

CarrieGirl had a photo of the sweetest terrarium, and I couldn't help but ask where the little mushrooms in it came from. We proceeded to engage in a not-so-secret trade agreement: her three extra, unused mushrooms for a clear plastic irregular french curve #17 ruler. I think you'll agree it was a smart move on my part. Now I need to visit that garden shop when the temps dip below 90 and I can browse for my terrarium plants without sweating:

Poplin, nee Geek Sewing, sent me some presser feet to use from a Janome she no longer owns, that happen to fit my Kenmore (apparently mine was made by Janome). She included a couple of cute vintage patterns and fabric swatches from her recent projects. Since we have never met in person and live quite far from each other, this was such a neat way to experience the garments she makes since I will not soon have the benefit of seeing them in person:

Wendy from W. 38th posted a giveaway on her blog to the first respondents for various groupings of patterns. I was keen on the panties, sundress, and romper patterns, and Wendy was kind enough to think of my Chanel undertaking by including the extra pattern for the collarless jacket:

But wait! There's more! Kyle let me know a few weeks back that she was de-stashing patterns and fabric, and sent me an inventory of items to choose from. (!!!) It was like a sewist's dream come true: patterns, articles she'd saved for me, back issues of ReadyMade magazine, and some knits I might not have bought for myself:

She not only decorated the mailing box with Texas- themed stickers, but she also included a handwritten note and a handmade card:

And the inside of the card:

Wendy's and Kyle's packages came Saturday (two days ago). Today, another package arrived, this time a birthday package from Christy at Columbia Lily! Say what? Yes indeed, another package. Christy said she'd received some garment-related sewing items and wanted to send them to me, but what a trickster -- she included a Columbia Lily original Mini Pouch and some vintage buttons!

And don't forget that I won Keiko Lynn's Modcloth gift certificate giveaway just a month ago. (BTW I still haven't used it because their inventory turns over so quickly! If you see something there you can't live without, buy it now cause it may not be there tomorrow!) I'm not sure what I did right in the universe for all this goodness to come my way this summer, but I sure appreciate everyone's generosity.

It's been a while since I mentioned the Pay It Forward meme. Just a quick re-cap: I am making items to give to 5 people. I've finished two of them so far but will not blog any of them until I know the recipient is in possession of said item. I believe the first three will be done and shipped next week. It has been a lot of fun and a creative stretch working on these items. I started out digging through each of my 5's blog archives for clues, ideas, etc. Each of my professional and personal projects gets its own bulletin board -- they all hang on the wall in my sewing room -- and there is now a Pay it Forward bulletin board with all my notes, like a dossier on each blogger with notes and ideas. I sent some of them emails asking various questions to narrow down my options. It was very important to me to inject some of my ideas and influences, and I've enjoyed the process of marrying each of my 5's aesthetics and preferences with my own. I really hope they like what I make!

I'm not ignoring the question I raised in my last post, about dressing one's age. I have enjoyed reading each comment and challenging myself to see things differently. Truthfully though, it seems many of us share the same basic philosophy about dressing our age, whatever age that may be. I started a follow-up post to that last night and will publish it late this week. For the next few days things heat up for my day job, so... catch ya later, cool cats. xo