Another Cosmopolitan Dress!

As I posted yesterday, I needed a dress to wear to a banquet I am attending with my boyfriend tomorrow night. I absolutely fell in love with this polyester/spandex knit print over at Gorgeous Fabrics and thought it would be perfect for yet another rendition of my favorite dress. All I have left to do is the hem which I will get to later tonight or tomorrow afternoon. With my blindstitch machine it will take me longer to pin the hem than it will to sew it!

I changed the pattern’s scarf sleeve around a bit, which you can see here at the Sewing Divas. This is a super-easy sleeve to draft and is different yet simple.

I’m undecided about which bag to carry: the celery/beige Goldenbleu Emerson crinkled patent clutch or the black python clutch. BTW, the black python was the first expensive bag I bought with my own money right after I graduated high school. In the 28 years since it’s seen a lot of action!

Shoes were easy! I chose these black patent platformw from ABS:

Déjà vu all over again

As many of you know, in addition to being a fabriholic, patternaholic and shoeaholic I am also a purseaholic! What can I say? I am just a little bit compulsive! As I was reading one of my favorite purse blogs this morning, I came across this:

It’s a lovely bag from Moe Bags. Look familiar? Let me refresh your memory:
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1940s Vogue Pattern

Sewing Workshop Obi Bag Pattern

I had originally thought to make this bag in velvet but I think the leather is fabulous and better suited for an everyday bag.

I love my UPS man!

Well, the Delman wedges arrived today along with two beautiful knits that I ordered from Lucy’s Fabrics last week. I was going to make a top out of the gold/raisin/rose rayon/lycra but I may make a dress instead using the metallic gold area at the bust and hemline. I’ll have to drape it on my dressform and see… The asian floral is going to be a quick summer dress, something I can toss on with some cute sandals and look pretty and be cool and comfortable. If I have a coordinating solid for the bands and ties I may make the new HP wrap dress out of this.

The shoes are amazing! I probably could have gone 1/2 size smaller but I’ll be putting one of those little pads under the ball of my foot anyway and I need to punch an additional hole in the ankle strap as it’s too loose there. I’ll have to try them out on a rug later and decide then. I’m a pretty solid 9.5 sometimes even needing a 10 or 10.5 depending on the brand so I hesitate to try a 9. I guess I could order the 9 and then send one back. Can you believe I ordered these on Saturday and they were delivered today? Zappos.com’s service is really awesome!

Stay tuned…my fabrics from Ann over at Gorgeous Fabrics will be arriving in a day or two. I’m very excited to see them in person and will post photos then. I have a pattern selected for the dress but can’t decide on a shirt/blouse/top pattern.

Happy Valentine’s Day to me!

I have been so stressed lately that I decided to pamper myself with these beautiful wedges from Delman. The minute I saw them on Zappos.com I knew I had to have them! Aren’t they adorable? I can just imagine myself wearing them out on a date. Yes, you read that right. Pretty soon I will be single for the first time in 24 years! And what does a single girl need more than cute date dresses and shoes??? Besides, I have all of that extra room in my closet now.

Some of you may remember that months ago I posted about closing my embroidery business. I’ve done that but still been terribly busy running our restaurant. If any of you have ever been in the restaurant business you know that a light week is 80 hours long! Well, I am selling and hopefully the new owners will be taking over on March 1st. You know what that means: I will be working *normal* hours like a *normal* person and will finally be able to have some time for my beloved sewing! Patterns are all lined up, ready to be altered - I even bought some beautiful German cottons from my good friend Ann at Gorgeous Fabrics last week for a summer dress and blouse as well as some pretty rayon lycras for the new wrap dress from Hot Patterns. As you can imagine, I hardly have any fabric so I had to stock up again. Seriously, there’s nothing like a new piece of fabric to get you excited, is there?

Have you missed me? Trust me when I tell you that I have missed you, my dear readers, and my sewing immensely. I can’t wait to get back to it!

PS: Here’s a link to the shoes if you love them as much as I do: Delman Lane. They are even on sale!

Horror of horrors

I want to know what in the heck is going on over at Louis Vuitton. Honestly, I have no words to describe this bag. It’s just so…..hideous. It is the antithesis of all that is elegant. I like each of the elements - the monogram canvas, the metallic snake and the leopard - by themselves. Putting them all together in one bag is just plain nauseating and I wish it would stop assaulting me every time I open a fashion magazine. I am terrified of setting foot into the LV boutique lest I come face to face with this beast.

9/6/06: This monstrosity will set you back a cool $7,250 - yes, in American dollars.

Back to Basics

I’ve had the blahs lately. You know, sort of like a bad hair day all over, every day. My favorite garments just aren’t exciting to me anymore. You’ve had it too, haven’t you? Last night, with both of our husbands working, my best friend and I decided to go to one of our favorite little Italian places for dinner. I was in a red shoe mood so I decided that plain black pants and a black top would be easy. I put on simple silver hoop earrings and grabbed my favorite red bag. When I gave myself a final mirror check I realized that I looked more chic than I had in many months. While none of the individual pieces were spectacular, together they were perfect. I’ve been concentrating so much on making stand-out pieces that I have neglected the bones of my wardrobe, those go-to pieces that are always right. It’s time to get back to basics and fill in the blanks.

Will the real Bobby Breslau please stand up?

Thanks to Pamela, whose comments prompted me to search through my Halston books hoping to find a picture of one of Bobby Breslau’s purses. Pamela said…

“I bought the Bobby Breslau Vogue pattern in the 70s when it came out. Vogue had 2 Breslau patterns. Bobby Breslau made handbags for Halston. These were the original bags shown on the runway with Halston fashions. I’m sure I can find a picture or two of the bags in my Halston books. Breslau did the handbags, Elsa Peretti did the jewelry for Halston. To continue Kathleen’s point, this bag was not an original design when Michael Kors made it in 2002. I have not yet made the bag I did just buy some gorgeous red mock croc in leather from an ebay seller, for which I have high hopes. I will be watching your progress!”

I was unable to find any photos of the bags as I quickly thumbed through Halston by Steven Bluttal. As I was nearing the beginning (I tend to thumb through books back to front - weird, I know) of Halston: An American Original by Gross and Rottman, I was feeling a bit discouraged because I couldn’t find any bags or even references to Bobby Breslau. Then, I was rewarded with this great photo on the contents page (maybe I should start looking at books front to back for a change):

While I am a great fan of Halston (who truly was an American original!) I somehow did not remember the bags. Perhaps it is because Bobby Breslau did not become as big a Star as Elsa Peretti - a shame, really. I must say I’m a bit disappointed in Michael Kors, though. How can he sit there and criticize Project Runway contestants for allowing themselves to be inspired by other designers when he has blatantly copied them himself? Look at this photo of Michael Kors’ bag from Handbags: The Power of the Purse by Anna Johnson. Even the photo styling is reminiscent of Halston! Tsk, tsk.

Bobby Breslau Purses

Some of you may recall that I have been working on making a copy of this bag (be sure to hit the back button to come back here). I fell madly in love with it after Kathleen wrote about it on Fashion Incubator. Kathleen was generous enough to actually loan me the bag and allow me to take it apart. I started work on my version but haven’t had the time to finish it because I’ve been so busy with other things. So far I have constructed the main pieces but still need to construct the lining before joining the sections. I know I took photos but darned if I can find them right now.

This is the front pocket with a red Ultrasuede lining. The original bag was completely unlined and I wanted to improve upon this.

I intend to finish the raw edges of the leather with a product called Edge Kote.

Well, recently, while trolling Ebay for vintage patterns (I have way too much time to do that while my embroidery machines are running, sigh) I came across this pattern:

While I was unable to see the line drawings or the shapes of the pattern pieces, it looked suspiciously like the DE bag I borrowed from Kathleen. Being overly curious, I bought the pattern and was thrilled when it arrived yesterday. Interestingly, both the pattern pieces and the processes for these two bags are nearly identical right down to the inside pocket into which it is nearly impossible to put one’s hand (and I have small hands!). The only difference there is that the pattern’s pocket is free-hanging while the DE pocket was topstitched into place.

Based on the price, I’m guessing the pattern dates from the late 1970s. It was designed by Bobby Breslau who, according to Vogue, “designs the softest leather in the world. His BigPouch and family of Little Pouches sensualized the bag world, becoming classics in their own time!” So, which came first - Bobby Breslau or Beth Mitchell?

I’m so glad I sew!

I seem to say that at least once a day - don’t you? How cute is this little evening bag? It’s like an adorable little wrist corsage that can also hold your lipstick and keys. Best of all, hands-free! If you have a wad of cash you are itching to get rid of, you can buy this little Bea Valdez creation for a mere $2200 at Barneys. But, I know you won’t. Instead, you’ll gather up about $25 worth of supplies (or finally use up some of those scraps you’ve been saving) and make your own. Then you’ll spend the $2175 you saved on fabric and patterns. Smart girl!