Cool Micro-Macrame Kits!!!

I was over at Ben Franklin's Arts & Crafts Store in Redmond at lunchtime and found these coooool Micro-macrame kits! Wow! I'm thrilled that the Beadery is now putting out micro-macrame projects - even though these look like they'd be difficult for beginners. The word is spreading...

More Tiny Togs

I was busy over last weekend working on this top for Rosie. It is McCalls 5135


I like how the bottom portion is basically a square with a round hole in the middle. The fabric I used is a pink tie dye satin with sparkles glued on the front surface. I was worried that the sparkles would be too scratchy on the portions where the fabric is folded to the inside (arm and neck openings) so I sewed ribbon to the insides of those areas so Rosie wouldn't get all scratched up.

I've also been working on an overalls dress for Rosie, with some yo-yo embellishments on the pockets. The idea for the ruched pockets I got from a woman's jacket in a recent Ottobre women's patterns magazine. The pattern for the overalls dress is an OOP Simplicity pattern - I don't have it in front of me now so I don't know the number - as if that might matter!

Take Me to the Cashbar

A couple of years ago I was fooling around with my digital camera and decided to try on some of my costumes to see what they really looked like:


It was then that I realized gold was definitely not my color unless I wanted to look like I had a size 60 chest...

Cozy Rosie

Tonight I made a pair of tie-dyed pink leggings for Rosie from Ottobre January 2007's Capri Leggings pattern (#17 in the magazine). They're not exactly capri since they look full length to me...but that was the name of the pattern.

Rosie Clothes

I've been busy sewing clothes for the 6 year old daughter of my best friend's niece, and here are some of the results:
A "Dutch-style Pinafore Dress" from Ottobre magazine(May 2006); a long sleeved t-shirt from Ottobre's Creative Workshop 301 set of patterns; a pair of capris made with some nifty Paris-printed stretch poplin, Simplicity 5655 (Sadly,OOP. I have another 4 or 5 pieces in the works - when I'm finished they'll be shipped off to Rosie who lives in Portland. I hope she likes what I've made for her...

Daylight Savings Time

Here's a sign of our times found yesterday at the Goodwill - a stylish clock put out by the pharmaceutical conglomeration responsible for Levitra. It must have been tossed out by a doctor's office. Perhaps it clashed with the Cialis calendar or the Viagra teddy bear in the reception area. My question is - shouldn't it be a 36 hour clock? Isn't that stuff supposed to keep a man capable for a day and a half should his intentions be postponed by unwitting in-laws or neighbors keeping him apart from connubial bliss? At first I was attracted by the unique style of the clock, then it hit me that it was a marketing ploy for an Erectile Dysfunction drug. I am undecided whether I should pop it open and replace the clock face, or just leave it the way it is and celebrate the wonders of better living through chemistry...

Margaret Layton's Jacket

Well, I have been the world's laziest bum recently, letting project after project pile up. Here is the inspiration for my Jacobean Jacket, which I have cut out and finished the edges of, but haven't sewn together.

Margaret Layton's jacket is in the V&A in London and I had the good fortune to see it not once but twice last year on my two visits to the UK. I had little interest in the Jacobean era before, but was totally mesmerized by the floral embroidery...instant conversion!

Here are a few pieces of my jacket - as you can see it has princess seams which are not in any way period, but since Margaret Layton was about a size 4 or 6 and I am a size 22, it works out good for me! Additionally, I haven't the patience to embroidery much of anything these days, but I found a piece of Jacobean-esque tapestry material at the Goodwill recently and yelled "Dibs!" on the spot.

He Who Must Not be Named

Close friends know I'm a devoted bumpersticker cognoscente - I even wrote a compelling paper for my Museum Studies certificate explaining why bumperstickers should be considered collectible items of Americana. Well anyhoo, I spotted the most perfect bumpersticker this morning on the way into Redmond.

On a different note, I was rummaging around at Value Village the other day and came away with 3 Issey Miyake patterns for a mere 69 cents a piece! O marvelous day! Two of them I'll probably put up on eBay but the last one, now OOP is the same one I lost a bid on a few weeks ago:

God, I love that coat! I also love this beautiful black cherry colored silk taffeta I've been eyeing from Silk Baron:
slobber slobber drool.
I had a few problems finding just the right lining for the Issey Miyake Futon coat I've been slogging over for the past few weeks and finally decided to order some habotai silk and silk paints from Dharma Trading so I could get exactly the colors I wanted and do a little salt technique on it...should be working on that this weekend. The biggest bugaboo is fabricating a silk steamer so I can set the silk paints into the silk, but there's good directions for a down and dirty silk steamer on Dharma Trading's website.