The Singing Costumer

For this cute blouse, I used Simplicity 8523. Only alteration I made was to add fish-eye darts to pull in the waistline. So much more flattering and added some curves to my not-so hourglass shape.  It made me look stumpy made as instructed.  Not a good look at all. So if you are short like me and not-so thin, that's what I would suggest. I like the gathers on the sleeves, but if I made another, I might reduce the volume so it's not so puffy. Other then adding the darts, I made it exactly as directed, and it wasn't difficult. I recommend this pattern. It's loose enough to slip over the head, but curvy enough to be flattering. This sweet kitty chiffon is from the Gertie line from Joann. Gertie is a sewing and fashion blogger with a fun, retro style I enjoy. You can find her blog at https://blog.bygertie.com/ This fabric is from several years ago, so sadly it is no longer available. But aren't these little cats just the cutest? This skirt is made...

This is the smaller Heidi Foldover Wristlet from Swoon Patterns. It is available at https://swoonpatterns.com/shop/heidi-foldover/ Two sizes, the Wristlet and the larger Clutch bag, are available in the same free pattern. Which is a fantastic deal, in my opinion. I have loved the TV show Supernatural for many years now. This fabric came up in my Facebook feed and I could not resist it. It features candy conversation hearts, with many famous quotes from the show. My personal favorite is “My 'people' skills are 'rusty' ”. Misha Collins, the actor who plays Castial, is so talented. Anyway, back to the sewing. This time, I had plenty of vinyl to do the accent piece on the bottom as the pattern shows. A large remnant from Joann's Fabrics worked nicely. It was a good thing I had lots to work with, as it would turn out. I had to cut and sew one side twice because I forgot to put my walking foot on the machine. Rookie mistake. The stitches tu...

Hello, my name is Sarah, and I have an addiction to buying random things at thrift stores. (“Hello, Sarah”) I have at least 5 items in my thrift store “cut up and repurpose” pile and I just bought a dress for $2 the other day for a new summer purse. Whoops. This purse began life as a beautiful gray 100% wool dress about 8 sizes too big for me. And no, I’m not exaggerating. But I couldn't leave so much nice fabric for such a good price. Usually, I don't favor gray, but this fabric called to me and told me that it wanted to be a purse. And who am I to deny?  :-) The pattern is McCalls 6977, view A. It came together well with no problems that I recall. The bow on the front took quite a lot of the fabric, more than I expected. But with some clever placing of the pattern pieces, I made it all fit. All the layers of wool and interfacing in the bow is so heavy however, that the purse is very front-heavy and it likes to flop forward. But that's a minor issue. ...

Picture, if you will, this scene; It is October 2014. A young woman has just started a new job. She has learned that she can wear a costume to work on Halloween. Naturally, she must take advantage of this, and so she starts to think of ideas.  This dusty purple fabric for the skirt was my inspiration for Briar Rose.I don't remember where I got it, nor do I know the fiber content. It's a thicker material, plain woven, but it has some polyester in it, because it kinda melts under a hot iron. I simply made a few little pleats on the front, back, and sides to fit to the waistband. The blouse was a white button-up I bought at a thrift store that I didn't wear anymore. I took off the collar and dyed the shirt gray, then reattached the collar. The sleeves were already that elbow length, full gathered shape.  I draped the corset top on my mannequin. The fashion layer is wool blend I bought at either Joann Fabrics or Hancock Fabrics. The lining is a quilting ...