Fabric report

So many of you have been asking about the comfort of the wonderful poly/lycra jerseys from Gorgeous Fabrics that I’ve been sewing up lately. I am here to report that they are quite comfortable, even here in the sticky South! Last week I wore one of my new dresses to a banquet and had to walk quite a ways in the heat to the affair and I was fine. Last night I wore another dress to an early dinner. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time it was still Hot as Hades at 7 p.m., I had forgotten to put on my anti-perspirant (ew!) and still I was comfortable. I already have a few more of these great prints waiting to become dresses and tops and have added some lovelies to my wish list. If you are unsure, at least try a short length for a top. Not that I’m enabling you or anything…

Summer is breathing down my neck…

As much as I love cold weather, winter in Florida is heavenly. The sun is shining and the air is balmy so we are able to enjoy dining al fresco or strolling Las Olas Blvd. without requiring yet another shower. Then it happens: you leave your house at 6 a.m. and it is already 82F degrees out. By 10 a.m. it is in the 90s. The only thing making it bearable is the fact that the humidity is very low right now because we haven’t had rain in months. If it ever starts raining again you can add 99% humidity to your day. Ick.

Yes, we are feeling the daily changes so we’ve been trying to take advantage of the last few days of pleasant weather. Sunday before last, boyfriend and I went to the zoo and last Sunday we enjoyed cocktails at the marina. Soon, the weather will be too unbearable for me to enjoy sitting/being outside so I will be enjoying my nice, air conditioned sewing room instead!

On deck: Butterick 5206

I am loving this new Butterick pattern! At first glance it looks very similar to my beloved Hot Patterns Cosmopolitan Dress (that I never get tired of wearing and making!) but it’s a little different. You see, there is no inset at the waist, just a normal waistline seam. The obi-style belt is attached at the top front only. The only bad thing is that I won’t be able to use my coverstitch for all of the binding as the wrong side won’t be as pretty if it shows on the belt.

Now I’m just trying to narrow down the fabric choices…

Kooba!

Geez. Bluefly just received a shipment of Kooba bags. What could be better than that? They are 40% off! Sadly, I must resist no matter how much I want the Harper bag in eggplant, sniff. Well, I shouldn’t be sniffling too much as the reason I have to just say no is because I bought both a Kooba shoulder bag and a Mulberry satchel last week. And both my boyfriend and my son bought me fabulous bags for Mother’s Day. Yes, I am a spoiled brat and I love it!

So, get thee over to the Bluefly Kooba Sale and buy something in my honor!

UPDATE 05/21/08: Since you asked….here is the bag my son gave me for Mother’s Day. I don’t buy much Coach but I sure am a sucker for anything with a vintage ’70s feel to it so this is perfect! I love it so much I may get it in navy as well. Since Nancy asked, I thought I would mention that this is a new bag, not vintage. It is one of the Legacy bags which are the only ones I am liking right now. I love the hand-burnished leather and chunky brass hardware!

Since my son had to work on Mother’s Day my boyfriend made me a wonderful dinner, pretty much waited on me hand and foot and surprised me with this gorgeous Michael Kors hobo. Outside pockets are de rigeur for me because I hate having to open my bag to get my phone. I absolutely love this delicious shade of yellow!

Here is the Kooba shoulder bag I bought for myself. I really lucked into a great sale - I had wanted this bag last year but held off. I needed a light-colored bag for summer and I just can’t be trusted with white. You can tell I am a little obsessed with retro style bags right now. Yes, that is Winnie The Cat in the background!

So, do you Louis?

I read Bag Snob on a daily basis not just to see what’s going on in the world of handbags but also to drool over the Bag Snobs’ collections!

Bag Snob Tina wrote an interesting post today: To Louis or not to Louis? Now, I do still love the classic LV bags and would kill for a vintage train case (never mind what I’d do for a matched set of vintage luggage) but I am not taking Louis out as often as I used to. I am GREEN with envy that Phyllis’ mother has a vintage train case which will likely end up in Phyllis’ closet at some point! Otherwise, the brand is just seeming too mass-produced to me these days and has lost so much of it’s cachet.

Will I still buy? Occasionally. But, these days I’d rather spend my hard-earned money on gorgeous bags that I won’t see on the arms of every preteen.

Another Cosmopolitan Dress!

As I posted yesterday, I needed a dress to wear to a banquet I am attending with my boyfriend tomorrow night. I absolutely fell in love with this polyester/spandex knit print over at Gorgeous Fabrics and thought it would be perfect for yet another rendition of my favorite dress. All I have left to do is the hem which I will get to later tonight or tomorrow afternoon. With my blindstitch machine it will take me longer to pin the hem than it will to sew it!

I changed the pattern’s scarf sleeve around a bit, which you can see here at the Sewing Divas. This is a super-easy sleeve to draft and is different yet simple.

I’m undecided about which bag to carry: the celery/beige Goldenbleu Emerson crinkled patent clutch or the black python clutch. BTW, the black python was the first expensive bag I bought with my own money right after I graduated high school. In the 28 years since it’s seen a lot of action!

Shoes were easy! I chose these black patent platformw from ABS:

Mother’s Day Week is over - back to sewing!

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day yesterday (actually, I think I celebrated it all of last week!) and collapsed into bed last night too full to move from the delicious Cuban lunch (with Mojitos!) that I had with my sister-in-law and her family and the mouth-watering filet mignon with grilled asparagus (with Margaritas!) that my boyfriend cooked last night. I’m sure I felt a little more junk in my trunk when I went for my morning run today.

Now it’s back to my Hot Patterns Cosmopolitan Dress in this beautiful Flashback Floral Knit from Gorgeous Fabrics.

I’ve been working on this here and there for an entire week and must get it done now as my boyfriend and I have a banquet to attend on Wednesday night. This only leaves me with a few hours today and tomorrow - usually a piece of cake but I still don’t quite have my Sewing Mojo back…

Don’t forget Mom!

I am so lucky to have the most wonderful mother-in-law on the planet! Although I let her know how much she means to me on a daily basis, I try to really go all-out mushy on Mother’s Day. Card that brings on the waterworks? Check! Thoughtful - yet practical - present? That’s where I got stuck…

My mother-in-law is kind of hard to buy for. She has more jewelry than she can possibly wear and I just bought her gift certificates to her favorite restaurant and her favorite nursery for her birthday in January - so impersonal, I know, but useful! So, I’ve been a little stressed out for the past couple of weeks because I was at such a loss for a Mother’s Day gift. Then, my boyfriend (I feel a little giggly just typing that) suggested a purse - what a great idea! Since she likes Coach, I took myself to the Coach store yesterday morning and found the perfect bag and matching wallet. Hopefully, she will like it!

If you haven’t yet shopped for Mom, today would be a good day to do that - you know how crowded the stores will be tomorrow!

Eco-friendly Bags

…or, what am I missing?

Reading about recycled leather handbags this week over at Cheap Jap got me thinking. Yeah, there I go again! What in the world is so eco-friendly about a bag made of man-made materials?

True, no animals are harmed but I doubt that wearing a plastic purse is going to save many cows, pigs and lambs since leather is a by-product of the meat industry. I don’t think the world is going to give up meat anytime soon so I consider it more socially responsible to use as much of the animal as possible. I know this probably sounds odd coming from an animal-crazy former vegetarian but this is simply my way of thinking. Also, leather lasts longer and, being a natural product, is biodegradeable. Man-made leathers wear out more quickly and do not degrade (don’t even get me started on how cheap they look). Besides, just as Cheap Jap says, if you think I’m paying $995 for a nylon purse, you are all kinds of crazy.

Recycling? Now, that is a trend that I like. I often save old bags for the leather or the hardware if it is still in good shape and I made a bag a couple of years ago from leather recycled from my bar stool cushions - it had that aged ’70s look that I am so fond of. But, I laugh when this is called a “trend” since we sewers (and quilters) have been doing it since the beginning of time!

My idea of an eco-friendly bag? Those canvas things you bring to the grocery store.

I’ve been tagged!

Lindsay T has tagged me! What’s on my nightstand?

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown: because I’m a naughty Catholic girl who can’t quit reading bad stuff about The Church! The nuns were right about me, apparently.

Since Dan Brown was on top, here’s an excerpt from page 123: Conclaves created an intense, politically charged atmosphere, and over the centuries they had turned deadly; poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls. Ancient history, Mortati thought. Tonight’s conclave will be unified, blissful and above all…brief. Or at least that had been his speculation.

The Beautiful Fall by Alicia Drake: I started reading this two summers ago when my perfect life was suddenly changed forever (at least I now have hopes that it will be for the better!). I haven’t been able to pick it up again until now. Still, sometimes I just have to put it down…

Front Row by Jerry Oppenheimer: I’ve already finished this trashy read about Anna Wintour and am ready to pass it along to a fellow fashionista!

Naturally, I also have the April and May 2008 issues of Burda World of Fashion and the October 2007 issue of Patrones (thanks, Krystin!) for a quickie thumb-through on late nights!

That was easy! Coming up with five people who have not already been tagged? That’s a little harder but stayed tuned…