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

As an single professional woman in my mid(ish)-30s, I am contractually obligated to love Tina Fey and 30 Rock.  I dutifully fulfill these obligations.  But truly, 30 Rock is an awesome show.  Last week's episode--available for free on Hulu as of this writing--was about Leap Day and it was hilarious.  I highly recommend a view. In Liz Lemon's world, Leap Day is a big national holiday with a parade in every town, an old man who emerges from the sea every four years to throw candy in exchange for children's tears, and--of course--particular colors that everyone wears that day with St. Patrick's Day pinching type consequences for those who fail to do so.  I had to get in on the action, if only to pretend that I am friends with Liz Lemon. Leap Day's colors are yellow and blue.  I don't have anything that combines those two colors but given how many clothes I have, ahem, there is enough yellow and blue in the wardrobe to last me a lifetime of Leap Days (though i...

While I have not been loving Burda lately, there is generally at least one piece I like in each magazine. Burda 11-2011-120 immediately caught my eye in the magazine.  That ruffle down the front is a great tummy disguiser *and* bust builder--two for the price of one!  I sewed it in some red double knit I bought in NYC in November 2010 for $2/yd--a huge bargain as the fabric is quite nice.  This dress comes in sizes 38-46, meaning I had to grade down 2 sizes to a 34 at the shoulders and bust.  Grading two sizes on the (not so) new roadmap pattern sheets makes me want to claw my eyes out.  While I have kept up my Burda subscription, I sew way more from old issues than current ones, so the new pattern sheets are always an ugly surprise when I pull out a newer issue.  I think that is part of the reason they have gone to 80% sack dresses--they're the only thing that isn't horrible to trace. This pattern only works for fabrics with no discernible wrong side....

Since biking became so much easier with the introduction of Capital Bikeshare (one way trips! no locking up!) my clothing needs have changed rather drastically. Where I had been adopting a pencil skirt silhouette and have long eschewed the A line skirt as unflattering to my pear shape, I am now having to make the switch to skirts with volume so I can safely put my foot down for balance while stopped at red lights (one can manage getting onto a bike in a fitted skirt, it's the stopping without falling over that's impossible). I had seen Burda 11-2009-120 a couple times--both Amanda and Elizabeth have made it--and I thought it might be a good biking skirt. The fabric is from The Carol Collection .  I cut into it for the under-collar and facing of my Vogue 8307 Armani-style coat .  The pockets are lined and then topstitched onto the skirt, leaving the upper edge loose to create the belt loop.  Luckily, the forest green color of the Vera Wang silk/rayon satin Fabric.com ...

Miguelina Marina (once sold on Gilt, can't find a better reference) Source: gilt.com via Trena on Pinterest The pannier style is a little weird and fashiony, but for some reason I love it (last seen in my Drape Drape dress of a couple years ago).  Counterintuitively, I find it flattering on a pear shape with large hips and thighs--those curves are meant to be part of the silhouette. I love that Joann now has occasional sales on Burda envelope patterns and at the last one I picked up Burda 7442 , which also comes with a jumpsuit in the envelope.  I don't think I'm going there but it's an option.  Size 34-42 The bodice is meant to be fully lined, but that seemed unnecessary, so I cut it single layer.  As usual for a wrap style, I shortened the front crossover for an SBA, though I needed to shorten it even more.  As an ad hoc additional SBA, I overlapped the bodice sections about an inch more than they were drafted for--the notches in the photo mark centers fr...

One of the things I looked forward to over the holidays (in addition to seeing family, of course) was going back to Golden D'Or in Dallas, where I had scored so handily last year . I have not been crazy about Burda lately (so much with the shapeless!), but I was definitely interested in the Burda 11-2011-114 drapey faux-wrap top. I didn't have anything in stash really suitable for it, and when I found the drapey pink sweaterish knit at Golden D'Or it seemed perfect. I have already sewn up the copper sweaterknit.  My dear friend and neighbor (we bought condos next door to one another) loooooves copper, and I immediately thought of her when I saw the fabric.  Metallic copper sweaterknit for clothes is a little whackadoodle, even for me, but it is great trim for accessories.  I made her a fleece hat with sweaterknit brim and a fleece-lined scarf.  I bought a pair of gloves and hand-stitched a copper cuff to the inside lining, for a full set.  My photo is terrible...

I've been wanting to make Vogue 7693 for a while.  So long, in fact, that the pattern has gone out of print.  Which is to your benefit, because I'm going to tell you up front that I do not recommend this pattern.  It is poorly drafted, the directions are bizarre, there is no way to complete the project without a lot of hand sewing (I don't even mind hand-sewing, but this is just because it was drafted without a way to finish it by machine, not for a high-end couture look), and the end result--while nice--is not special enough to warrant all this woe. This is one of the fabrics I bought from the Grand Bazaar in Turkey in 2010 .  Crazily enough, the Selfish Seamstress ended up getting the same fabric (with the same line about it being cotton) on her visit last year .   When I proudly told the boyfriend I had sewn up one of the fabrics I bought on our trip to Turkey, he was like, "What?  You're only now getting to it?"  Oh dear, you have *no* idea....