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…

Totally Random Stuff That’s On My Mind Today!

Tiger Beat! Don’t ask me what made this pop into my brain today but it did. Ah, the fond memories of a crisp new Tiger Beat (even more exciting than the new issue of Threads or Burda WOF)! Shiny posters with words of love from Donnie Osmond or David Cassidy! The Monkees! Leif Garrett! Hip huggers (wait, I’m wearing those as we speak…), macrame belts, body suits (the first time around!)! Gawd, I feel old…

Scarves! I used to wear scarves all the time. On my head: a la Grace Kelly and, later, Rhoda. Small scarves tied on my wrist - tricky to do yourself. Around my neck. Through my belt loops. I’m still tying them onto my purses! Last night I dreamt I was on a ferry with my grandmother and was carefully putting a scarf over my hair. After I got off the ferry I was having lunch at Countess Luann de Lesseps’ home. I sure hope the scarf was from Hermès because, believe it or not, I don’t dine with royalty every day.

Apparently, I am spending way too much time daydreaming….and watching The Real Housewives of NYC on my TiVo…

Banded Surplice Neckline Tutorial

The banded surplice neckline tutorial for the HP Cosmopolitan Dress is up at The Sewing Divas! Here’s the LINK.

HP Cosmopolitan Dress with scarf sleeves

The first piece of my professional wardrobe is finally finished! I am just not back up to speed yet but I should be cranking things out at top speed pretty soon.

I plan on wearing the dress with these comfortable, conservative Via Spiga pumps. Luckily, I already have four pair of conservative pumps that are office-appropriate (brown, black, burgundy and hot pink). They are always good to have around in the event that I am called for jury duty or must attend a funeral or other somber event - or go job hunting! As much as I love shoe shopping I’m glad I can concentrate on the clothes for now.

Of course, I had to rock it out just a little bit with a mabe pearl pendant on a leather choker!

This weekend I will be posting a quick tutorial at The Sewing Divas blog on how to finish the neckline with bands. It’s so easy and a nice way to use a contrasting fabric. You can also see how I’ve finished the scarf sleeve hems with a quick and easy mitering method!

Speaking of fabric, both fabrics used here are from Gorgeous Fabrics! The main fabric is Modern Dots Knit and the contrast is Dainty Dots Jersey. I’ll tell you, living here in the steamy tropics I resisted polyester fabrics for many years but these are so wonderful that I have been reformed! Plus, Ann’s collection of fabulous knit prints is truly TDF and the prices are easy on the wallet.

Utility Apparel for the DIY Woman!

My friend Mary Beth sent me this link A to Z Building News about DiTi utility aprons for women! The first thing I thought of was how great that tool-belt would be for sewing. Imagine being able to easily find your seam gauge, thread snips, point turner, etc! When I was in the embroidery business, I wore a Home Depot apron to keep my scissors and tweezers handy - this is even better.

Order your apron and accessories directly from DiTi.

Threads - to subscribe or not to subscribe?

I have been a Threads subscriber since Day One. Admittedly, those first few issues did little to excite me - too many fiber arts, not enough sewing - so I tossed them out. Then, of course, I had to spend quite a lot of time hunting down those issues to fill out The Collection! I treasure each and every issue and refer to them often.

So, now my subscription has expired and I’m on the fence about whether to renew or not. Don’t get me wrong, even with all of the changes, I still love Threads and would not want to miss a single issue! But, since Taunton Press did away with the wrapper, nearly every issue I’ve received in the past year has been damaged. I will not add a damaged issue to The Collection, period. Yes, I know I can get a replacement copy but it is often so long before the current issue is added to that section of the website that I forget about it and end up having to repurchasing it because I’ve missed the window of opportunity for getting a replacement (my high school English teacher would have a field day with that sentence!). So now I’m thinking it might be less trouble to just pick up a copy at JoAnn’s, where I can be assured of a pristine copy every time… On the other hand, I rarely go into JoAnn’s which means I’ll have to mark my calendar as a reminder. Bah!

My thoughts exactly!

In addition to shoe shopping, I’ve been doing a lot of bag shopping lately. Oh boy, have I learned to check a bag’s dimensions when shopping online! When did handbags become the size of overnighters? Recently, I ordered the most stunning bag from Nordstrom’s and was shocked when it arrived. It was over 18″ wide and, although gorgeous, looked completely ridiculous on me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a larger bag. This is Florida, it rains a lot and I like to keep an umbrella in my bag. A compact umbrella, not a golf umbrella.

I think a good rule of thumb is to carry a bag not much wider than your hips. For instance, my front hip measurement is 14″ so bags that are about that size offer the best proportion for me, especially since I am only 5′3″ tall. I bought the new In Style a couple of days ago and laughed out loud when I saw this:

Good. It’s not just me.