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.
So many of you have asked about the organza-edged elastic that I felt the need to talk about it some more! Here is a close-up photo of it used as a sleeve finish on another garment. I believe I bought this particular one at MJ Trims in NYC a couple of years ago but I’m not 100% positive. It’s a very pretty and super-simple way to finish a neckline. Just serge it on, turn in and topstitch.
I did a quick search on Ebay for “organza elastic” and came up with quite a few auctions for it: Ebay auctions so it’s readily available. You might also do a search for “ruffled elastic”.
One sure-fire way to make me squeal with delight is to take me to a store full of designer-worthy handbag hardware! Diva Phyllis, Diva Ann and I scoured the bins at Pacific Trimmings at 218 West 38th Street in Manhattan, not once but two days in a row! I LOVE their inventory and the owners and staff are nothing short of delightful! They also carry Riri zippers and will shorten or otherwise modify zippers while you wait. Phyllis had a separating zipper modified to a closed-bottom for a handbag.
Honestly, I thought I’d faint at the site of these gorgeous push locks - they are as nice as any you’d find on a pricey Marc Jacobs bag. If you go to NYC, this place is a must-see. Allow yourself plenty of time to browse. Their telephone number is (212) 279-9310.
The little silver rings in plastic bags are screw in grommets - they are a nice size for both handbags and garments.
Aren’t these the prettiest strap connectors and clips? You won’t find anything like this at the chain stores!
I also found this really interesting ruched organza insert. I’d like to try to use it around the neckline of a knit top.
I didn’t really feel like sewing when I returned home yesterday afternoon. But, I did want to do something sewing-related so I made permanent patterns of a couple of my newer favorites. I have all of the usual pattern making tools: bunny punch, notcher, tracing wheel and screw punch. But, after struggling once again to cut out heavy poster board (I know, I’ve finally decided to break down and buy a large roll of oak tag) with my Fiskars I decided it was time for some serious shears.
So, I headed off to the store this afternoon to treat myself to a pair of shears for pattern making only. When I told my friend Greg (of Azar’s Sewing Center in Davie, Florida) what I wanted them for, he recommended the knife edge Mundial 12NPKE. I thought a 12″ shear would be a bit much for me to handle but they are very comfortable and cut the heavy paper easily. No more raggedy edges!
UPDATE 10/24/06: Kelly asked about other patternmaking tools - I apologize, I just assume everyone knows what I’m talking about. Guess I know what that makes me. 
I will allow expert patternmaker Kathleen Fasanella to fill you in! Kathleen discusses the basic patternmaking tools here, in her post entitled Tools and Supplies. She left out my favorite thing, the bunny punch (my nickname is Bunny) but discusses it in another post entitled - what else? - Bunny Punch. Here you can also see the hooks that are used to hang the patterns and keep all the pieces of each style together.
When I visited Simplicity last year, I noticed that all of their paper sample patterns were hung on hooks so their use isn’t limited to oak tag patterns. I must mention that Simplicity’s NYC staff not only gave our group a fascinating tour but were incredibly gracious as well. If I lived in New York, I’d beg them for a job! For decades I disliked Simplicity patterns but they have made such wonderful changes to their product line in recent years that they have become one of my favorites.
My friend Greg gave me this really strong ceramic magnet to use as a seam guide when he was out of the regular magnetic seam guides. Apparently, he removes them from broken industrial motors. When I wasn’t using it as a seam guide, I had pushed it off to the side of the machine bed and discovered an even better use for it: to hold my thread snips! Now, when I sew really fast my snips won’t go flying onto the floor. I already added one to my serger and hope to eventually have one on all of my industrials. It goes without saying that a magnet should never be used on a computerized machine, but you already knew that.
Naturally, I am running way behind schedule on my husband’s birthday shirts. Something came up yesterday and I was away all day. By the time I came home at 9:30 last night I was ready for nothing more than a small snack and bed. I know better than to start cutting when I’m tired. That meant that I had work to catch up on today so I wasn’t able to start cutting until tonight. I only cut out the cream silk. Because I volunteered to help out at the restaurant on Friday, I only have tomorrow to sew and I must do it quickly and in between my other work! At this point, I’ll be happy to have one shirt to give him on his special day. I wish I were more like Carolyn and could crank out beautiful things under pressure! And, yes, if you are wondering, that is soil separator cloth that I used to trace my pattern. Every time I use this pattern I am reminded how much I hate soil separator cloth. I can’t stand the way it feels and I can’t read the notes I’ve written on the pattern. I really should retrace it onto something else.
Happily, I found some really pretty mother-of-pearl buttons for the cream silk in my button stash. I always try to use mother-of-pearl buttons on my husband’s shirts. They seem to be more and more difficult to find and my stash is dwindling. I looked through my entire button stash and couldn’t find anything to go with the raisin-colored rayon, never mind anything in mother-of-pearl. I think I have a pretty good button stash but I could be wrong. Maybe I should stop buying fabric and vintage patterns and concentrate on buttons for awhile.
I guess that means settling for some ordinary plastic button from JoAnn’s. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find something in wood. Better yet, maybe I’ll cut the wood buttons off of that orange Tommy Bahama shirt of my husband’s that I hate so much. Button shopping will have to wait until the weekend. I really don’t want to waste an hour going to Fabric Hell. You know how it is - I’d have to sit and look through the pattern books and just generally look around to confirm that they have the same old stinky fabric they always do. My mother always said I was a dawdler and she was right (about that anyway).
I had the house to myself today so I was finally able to finish up this dress! First, here is a close-up of the button and loop detail I added at the center front. The buttons are vintage mother-of-pearl. I think they are going to want to face whichever direction suits them so I’ll just have to deal with that. I originally wanted to use covered buttons (covered in the main fabric) but I couldn’t find any small enough.
I decided to extend the front band around to the back on this version since I was using contrasting fabrics. I think it was worth the extra effort.
As you can see, I decided to use the main fabric for the hem band and use more uncorded piping to accent the seam. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I didn’t need that horizontal cut at the hemline. I’m short enough as it is. 
Here’s a closeup of the bodice. I’m a little annoyed with myself. I ended up having to let out the bodice 3/8″ for extra length over the bust (different fabric, different fit) and didn’t think about the fact that I’d need to add an extra button and loop. By the time I noticed my mistake it would have required many hours of reverse sewing to correct so I decided to leave it as it is. Hopefully, no one will notice.
