Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

A dear friend has spent the past year working in Liberia. Liberia has no real mail delivery; everything must arrive by private carrier. She had an emergency need for novelty keychains (no, really) so I went to one of DC's souvenir stores and DHLed her the keychains. I told her that rather than reimburse me for the shipping, she should use the money to buy me some fabrics. She has had wonderful clothes made in Africa and loves shopping for fabric for them. She came back with an amazing haul for me! I love bright colors, as you know, and they are to be found in abundance in the markets of Liberia. The prints are also a lot of fun; large scale with nature motifs such as fish and flowers. The fabric on the right of this bunch is unusual in its geometric design. It would make great curtains if I ever sewed such a thing. Apparently, these packaged coordinates are quite popular, and are used to make tiered styles. I love lime green and my mom loves purple, so I think I will fi...

This is the last ever dropped shoulder garment I will ever ever ever make. They are just 'not me'. Several years ago I had my Personal Style Solutions done up by Kerryn at Kerryn's Fabric World and when it came to Sleeve Styles for me, a dropped shoulder seam was listed as being 'great'. Well, great no longer for me. And by eliminating this style from my wardrobe really narrows down my choices (as raglan, saddle, cap and open shoulders have already been ditched). From now on I am only going to stick with either sleeveless or set in sleeves. A classic sleeve style appears to be 'more me'. I love the look of a classic sleeve and now hate the dropped shoulder stuff. Pity it took making up my two latest tops to come to this conclusion. First off was Burda 7521. I should have been forewarned when only one other person on PatternReview has tried this pattern, and she made 6 alterations to her top!!! Now, was that a red flag waving or what??? Not to worry, a loos...

My first ever sew-along. Wow!!! Just how excited can one person really get over a pair of maIe boxer shorts I don’t know. But excited I am... From the start I really wanted to work on this little project at the same rate as everyone else. But life had a different road for me to take...the road of work, family and other pleasures. So this means that I am running a few days late on Day 1 of the sew-along. Not to worry, it’s not as if these boxer’s are for me!!! So, from... Pattern is Kwik Sew 1672 . Several reviews already on PatternReview that tick this pattern as being a good one. And the fabric is a black and tan geometric patterned cotton. A more 'male' looking fabric that I had in my stash. Originally I had picked it up to use as a lining for a jacket. And the finished boxer's... These boxer's are for my son, who had a few 'requirements' that needed to be considered. First off was that they had to be longer than RTW boxer's. Son is 196cm tall, which co...

I mentioned in my animal print dress post that rather than line the dress I opted for a slip. The only problem was, I didn't have a slip. I have a knit half slip I made last summer that I wear all the time. I technically have a full slip. I bought it in a secondhand store 20 years ago. I don't know if slip technology has changed since then (other than the advent of Spanx; I only go there when absolutely necessary), but the slip is kind of problematical in that it has no shape. So all the extra fabric around the waist bunches up under whatever I'm wearing (I have one or two sacks, but 99% of my looks have a defined waist) defeating the smooth-line purpose of the slip. Plus, it is a sweaty nylon and a weird length. It has lace on the bottom but with the lace it's too long, but turning up the lace makes it so short it barely covers the booty when belted. The point being, I needed a slip, and preferably two: one in batiste to wear under knit dresses in summer, and...

I have been looking forward to making Butterick 5672 for a while--and if you want to make it it's on sale for $2.99 through 10/9/11 as Butterick's pattern of the week (very fortuitous). Here is the much anticipated animal print dress, of the nice rayon knit I just got from Fabric Mart for $5/yd. The fabric sewed up very nicely--actually, I've sewn up all 3 pieces of it already. It is beefy and does not seem to stretch or grow, which is amazing for a rayon. I am resigned to the possibility that it will pill fairly quickly. The pattern is well designed and includes the thoughtful and unusual touch of a separate pattern for a full lining (well, a separate front pattern; the back is the same). You are meant to use the lining to finish the neckline and armscyes. However, I skipped the lining for this iteration. I just wear it with a slip. Instead, I finished the neckline with picot elastic. I loved this look for my Burda 12-2010-105 biking top and have been looking ...