A Word on Fashion June 7, 2012

I love fashion. Not in that totally-obsessed-Oh my God, I’m gonna die because I can’t name drop that I’m wearing the latest designer duds-or, Look at me! I’m so snobby-bougie-stuck-up & I should be the centre of attention with my sheer fabulousness! – kinda way.

No. I love when things resonate in such a profound way that my heart skips a beat, everything starts to go in slow motion and my every waking thought for the next few days is how in the world can I recreate that. Gosh, just how DID they make that???!!!!! This, I think, makes me totally random in my appreciation of designers. I don’t really care what they’ve done whenever. I just go with what I like. Maybe that’s a tad irreverent!

So, I was casually scrolling through the US Magazine website and looking at what the stars wore to the Cannes Film Festival 2012 when I saw Cheryl Cole in Stéphane Rolland. Now this French designer never really popped up in my radar, but I was arrested enough by the dress to go check out the designer’s website.

And. OH MY GOODNESS! It was TOTAL Spring/Summer 2012 Haute Couture LOVE!!!!!!! Here are a few of my favorites from the look book.

And, to add icing on the cake, it seems that I’ve already, unwittingly, been appreciating his work.

Rihanna in a 2009 design when she attended the Glamour Magazine Women of the Year Awards.

Cheryl Cole singing with Will-I-Am on her show Cheryl Cole’s Night In back in 2010.

Beyonce at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

All I have to say is that I can see myself creating an inspired-by outfit by sometime soon. This was just what the doctor ordered. I was feeling so blue about being under the weather for the last week  or more, I just couldn’t get a move on with my first wardrobe remake creations. But now, I’m off with renewed inspiration and maybe you should go check out a hot designer today, too!

And We’re Off May 21, 2012

Going through my pattern stash to decide on what I should include in my new wardrobe is stirring up so much excitement, and its also taking me way back to the things I’ve wanted over the years, but for whatever reason never got around to.
What I really want it to be is a reflection of the girl I used to be, the girl I wish I was in a perfect world, and the woman I am now. And, I want to be able to reinvent myself any time depending on what my moods – which, I assure you, change frequently – are.
So to my choices thus far:

The Burda Style Tunic Dress Redux
This is attempt no. 2 at this dress. This time around I’m using a fun navy print with clouds and a tropical seaside border. My plan is to use version D of this dress, but with only one front pocket and a more functional side inset pocket, and no neck trim.

Another Burda Style Tunic Dress

Actually, I’ll be lengthening Blouse No 115 in the May 2009 Burda Style Magazine into a dress.

I had planned to wear this fun, flowery print to last year’s Christmas family lunch, but everyone ended up doing their own thing and I spent a quiet day at home.

I want Scolloped Shorts just like the ones in my old Lucky Magazines. I’m using the Burda Style Easy Summer Special shorts in a light, beige linen lined with cotton.

I want to let out my inner gypsy with a Swingy Versatile Skirt that can go with anything from a little camisole to a nice cotton blouse and a light jacket. So this one from журнал МОД 522 ( I know, the magazine pic is fugly!) will be transformed into cool, modern grey stretch jersey.

My 5^th choice is a nod to my mother. I remember her wearing these simple boatneck dresses twenty-something years ago when I was growing up. So when I recently saw Dr. Helen Magnus rock an updated version in the Sanctuary Season 4 finale, I knew I had to have one. Mine will be self drafted and made up in cool stripes. So this is my inspiration.

Now that’s enough sewing to keep me busy for a while.

NB: My thanks to the Curious Kiwi for her helpful tutorial on using Photoshop and Gimp to visualize the pattern in the fabric. Now let’s just hope my projects come out the way I envision.

At Last! More Manequim Free Patterns! September 22, 2011

I LOVE Manequim magazine. It’s in Portuguese, which I don’t speak. but that doesn’t matter to me. I go just to look at the patterns, get a sneak peek at the new magazine issue and sometimes follow a link or two. If something looks interesting then I use Google Translate.

And then, of course, I keep hoping they’ll do another free pattern

Well, they have not 1,but 4, new free patterns.See here.

To me, the Vestido sem manga (below) is the Perfect Christmas LBD! I think this will have to be fit in with the Palette Challenge items.

BTW, if you’re like me and you swear that before the year is done you WILL do that subscription to the magazine, then you should go visit Melissa Fehr’s site where she shares how she did it. Here. Along, with her truly impressive sewing skills.

I’ve been a big fan of her work (and a frequent lurker on her site!) even long before she was kind enough to email me some patterns last year!

The Burda Tunic Dress September 14, 2011

Over the last weekend, we had a small brush with Tropical Storm Maria. It was very anticlimactic because the way things were looking on the weather reports, it was supposed to be a significant blow.

I woke up on Saturday morning to angry dark clouds, lashing rain, crashing waves and thunder & lightning. A perfect day to fiddle with sewing stuff because there was nothing else to do.

By the afternoon, however, the rain had stopped and although it was still overcast out, the skies weren’t that heavy black color anymore.

My plan was to finally start on the tunic pattern I had downloaded from Burdastyle back when it was a free pattern.  It was in the back of my mind to do this as a cute little casual dress for quite a long time…..item B on the tech drawing, but with 1 pocket like on D.

 

Last month I finally came across some fabric in my stash that fit the bill. Don’t ask me what kind of fabric it is, because I’m not sure at all!

I actually printed the pattern about a year ago, but never got around to assembling. Is it weird that I like putting together those print-at-home sheets?  Its like puzzles for grown-ups. And, if you like sewing, you don’t have to go out to the store to buy those crepe sheets that dissolve in sweaty hands.

Anyhow, I got my pattern glued….I don’t like the taping thing….and I cut it out. Then I had to figure out what size I wanted. I’m busty so my top half is one size while my bottom is another.

I haven’t actually cut any fabric yet because I want to use grey piping on the yoke piece, pocket, and maybe the sleeves, but none of my local sewing suppliers had the color I want.

So imagine my delight to find on this piping tutorial on colettepatterns.com.

I should be able to find just the right shade of grey fabric I need in my stash, and I’ll get the added benefit of having a piping in something more interesting than ordinary cotton.