Boston Area PR Gathering

Pattern Review is holding a gathering at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA, on Saturday March 13.  Lowell was a center of textile production in the nineteenth century, employing thousands of workers, primarily women.  In addition to collections about mill life, machinery, and early fabric production, the museum has textiles and clothing displays.  And - bonus - an apron exhibit! 

I believe we are meeting in Lowell around 11am, having lunch, and will spend the afternoon at the museum.  Let me know if you plan to attend too!

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I saw "An Education" this weekend; the movie was quite good, but the costumes were amazing!

Loved Olivia Williams' prim style!

Rosamund Pike's accessories were especially envy-inducing:

Has anyone else seen this movie and had an overwhelming desire to race home and sew a wiggle dress?

Vogue 1170: Rachel Comey blouse

This is the blouse in Vogue 1170 by new Vogue pattern contributor Rachel Comey.

I wasn't really aware of Rachel Comey until I saw her apartment featured in Domino (RIP) a few years ago.  Rachel Comey began at Theory, and has been designing since the early 2000's.  I am especially enamored with her Spring 2008 RTW collection - grown-up, intelligent warm-weather duds (or maybe I just love the chunky glasses). 

I made the blouse in an oyster-colored crepe-backed satin from fabrics.com.  It was very soft, but did not slip at all and was easy to work with, to my surprise.  It was one of my $1.95/yard fabric purchases.  I love how a sewer can have a designer blouse for under $10!  

This pattern has the features of a Vogue designer pattern, and I learned new skills in making it. 

The inside is completely finished with French seams.  I've never done French seams before - they look amazing, and are so easy!  However, this obviously made for a lengthier construction because the seams are sewn twice.  (And while overall easy, it is a bit of work to do French seams on a curve [here, on the back yoke].)

The blouse is secured with a back placket, which is another first for me.  Plackets have intimidated me.  Now I feel that I can attempt a button-up shirt.  I used oyster-shell buttons, which match the fabric almost exactly.

The sleeve knots and keyhole opening are finished by trimming the seam allowance and double-folding the fabric to hem the edges, which took quite some time. 

The knot was fun to do!  I'd recommend tying it from the inside out so that the seams are on the inside, and the pretty part of the knot is on the outside.  I had to play around with the knot before I got it to look the way I wanted it to. 

The negative of this pattern: it is described as a "very-loose fitting top", and it is truly that.  I made this in a size 12, my usual size.  I know this is the right size for the top because it fits accurately in the bust.  But as you can see, the back is incredibly blousy.  On the hanger, the shirt is very boxy; there is no definition at the waist.  However, I was given fair warning on the pattern envelope and pic. 

I wore this to work, so please excuse the extreme back wrinkles. 

I thought it added a lot to my standard-issue Ann Taylor triacetate suit.

I don't know if I will make this again.  I think it would look amazing in an emerald green or peacock blue tafetta, or even in a casual cotton for summer wear.  But I just don't know if I need two of these.  It does have a lot going on - the large knot, the arm ties, the blousiness.  Still, it's a fun pattern overall that I'd recommend... at least once.  I would love to see your version of this!

Great sewing detail on Kate Spade's shirtdress

At first I thought this was just a pretty shirt dress:

Kate Spade Amelia Island Cassie Shirtdress, $355

Easily replicated with Butterick 5315:

But check out the bottom detail:

This definitely takes the dress from Old Navy to Kate Spade price tag territory.  They're bias cut strips of fabric, but how are they hemmed?  How are they sewn on?  I can't spot topstitching.  And how are edges where the "x's" meet finished so perfectly?

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What do you think of the magenta tights?  I totally love the look, but perhaps it's too much, too girly, for office work wear?  Unfortunately, I feel that wearing such a shocking color in a very untraditional way is not apropo for a corporate environment.  Sigh.

Finished: Vogue 1067 DKNY suit

This weekend I finished the DKNY suit jacket after weeks of work. 

And I must be honest (sigh): I just don't love it!  My main problem with the jacket is that the pattern does not seem to allow for "turn of the cloth" and the seams are very visbile on the collar and facing. This may be because, per the pattern instructions, the edges are supposed to be raw and have a fringe trim.  Also, the thickness of the boucle adds bulk, despite that I trimmed the seam allowances. I dunno, I think it looks homemade. 

This stinks because I so adore the fabric.  It's a wool boucle from Paron's in the Garment District that I purchased over the summer (3 yards at $14/yard).  I just love the flecks of primary colors: red, yellow, green, light blue, black.  It's such a distinct material.

I spent a lot of time making this: making sure that the princess-seamed lining eased in without wrinkles, covering the jumbo metals snaps with fabric, hand-stitching the pockets and sleeves. But I question whether I will end up wearing this much because of its "loving hands at home" feel.  I fear that I'm not at the point where I should be making jackets. I made one earlier in the fall, and I liked it, but I didn't end up wearing it. I feel so much better about the dresses I've made.

The one good thing about this project is the skirt, which I am obsessed with!

 I couldn't wait to wear it to work today!

The pattern is McCall's 3830, which Amber recently raved about.  I agree - it's a great pattern.  This is the view that hits right above the knee.

I ripped out the side seams a few times before I got a perfect fit: I had cut a size 12, but graded out to about a 14 at the hips, and tapered the skirt in 2 inches (an inch on each side). The wool seemed to stretch a bit today, so I may take it in, and perhaps taper it more, before I wear it next. The pattern itself is super easy, especially if you follow the instructions and don't line it (though I did).

I'm trying to look on the bright side here: I got experience making a jacket, including constructing a collar with a stand (shockingly easy!).

And I do rather like it styled casually!  Here with 7 for all Mankind Ginger high-waist jeans, a yellow knit shirt I from a store in Rome (a random foreign purchase, I know, but when do you see yellow shirts here?!) and Nine West flats.

  So all I wasted was a bit of money, and some time.  No big deal.

"But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for
that is the stuff life is made of." - Benjamin Franklin

Oh, shut up Ben.

Boston Store Review: Windsor Button

On Saturday the Husband and I took a trip to Boston on the pretense of my wanting to visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History, with a "quick stop" at Windsor Button in Chinatown.  He asked if I wanted to visit "that fabric store nearby" (WinMil) as well.  I'm a lucky girl! 

(Well, I later learned that my husband wasn't being completely altruistic - he believes that if he enables my fabric purchases, I won't be able to give him crap for his expending significant sums on golf every summer weekend.  I really don't care that he does, but he is insuring himself.  If you can't tell, he's an attorney, too.)

I wanted to stop at Windsor to find covered snaps for my DKNY jacket, which the store ultimately didn't have.  I did find plain jumbo metal snaps, however, which JoAnn's does not seem to stock.  (And I found a solution for them.)

I was expecting a huge notions emporium, and was slightly disappointed.  The right-hand side of the store is mostly craft items and yarn, and JoAnn's notions section is just as big.

However, as the name would suggest, Windsor does have an extreme selection of buttons.  Half of the store's left wall is covered top to bottom with buttons.  The prices were okay: about $1.49 - $2.49 for most one inch buttons; smaller were less, larger buttons were more.  The service was great: the young clerk was more than willing to pull down as many bins as I wanted to see, and was helpful with suggesting other options. In addition to the snaps, I ultimately chose coconut shell buttons for an upcoming project, and picked up decorative bamboo rings.

If you are looking for a completely random belt buckle or obscure snap, it might not be at Windsor Button, but you will be able to find any button you could wish for there.  And if you live/work downtown, it'd be easier to get notions here than driving to a big-box JoAnn's in the 'burbs.


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Every time I visit, I can't get over the fabulousness of WinMil Fabrics.  It doesn't rival the size of Mood or even Paron's in NYC, but what the store lacks in selection it makes up for in price and quality. 

The winter woolens are all marked down to $6.98 a yard.  There were some nice pieces, though not a whole lot left.

In preparation for spring/summer, there was a rack of Nantucket-appropriate cottons for $4.98 - $5.98 a yard.  I picked up an oversized plaid for a sundress. 

WinMil has a small, but enticing, selection of silks and satins.  I was thisclose to purchasing an uh-mazing floral watercolor 100% silk.  I mean, this fabric was gorgeous.  Even Husband exclaimed a "Wow".  For *9.99* a yard.  But it was even less than 45", and I had to buy 3 yards of it, as WinMil has a policy of not leaving less than 2 yards on a bolt (the store's one negative). 

I wanted this fabric so badly, but I really need to start saying no.  It's not as much a matter of cost... budget is of course a factor, but in the past I would have sprung for a $29.99 Banana Repbulic dress.  Instead, time is the issue:  I have a bin of fabric (not including the winter box upstairs) and a list of at least 20 projects.  Of course, this was an ultra-special fabric.... but I just didn't need it.  Aren't you proud of my restraint? 

Lying in bed last night, still thinking of the fabric, I realized that it would have made a perfect dress for my little cousin's North Carolina wedding in June.  Ugh.