Sunday, June 30, 2013

Google Who?


Google Reader....I just want you to know that I am NOT happy.  Why are you going away?  I just need to adopt a cat-like nonplussed attitude.  Google who? I'm sorry, did you disturb my nap??

As you all know, Google Reader will no longer be in existence as of tomorrow.  You can follow my blog with Bloglovin or Facebook instead.

Oh, and I claim this blog in the name of anti-Google Reader cat gangs everywhere.
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Inserting Lapped Zippers


Seems like I'm always running a bit behind...I know Sunni has posted about her amazing FREE online class on zipper techniques but I've just gotten around to checking it out!  And man, what an amazing resource!  First, if you don't know Sunni from A Fashionable Stitch...you must go check out her blog and don't even get me started on her awesome online sewing shop...(she's just started stocking Lucite belt buckles...swoon...)

Well, Sunni has partnered up with the amazing folks at Craftsy to make an online course all about zipper insertion techniques and it's fantastic.


I usually insert all my zippers by hand (using Tasia's hand-picked zipper tutorial) but I've been wanting to master the lapped zipper for some time now.  Sunni walks through all the steps with close-up shots along the way:


  The Craftsy online course format is really neat:


You can skip through sections, or pause the video (which I have done quite a bit--running between the computer and the sewing machine...lol...)  The course includes everything you could ever need to know about zippers and covers all the different types of insertion methods (lapped, invisible, etc.)

And can I say how fun it is to hear other bloggers' voices?  I feel like I've known Sunni through her blog but we've never met in real-life and it was so much fun to hear her voice and see her sewing!!  Though I admit that I was totally distracted by her amazing me-made wardrobe :-)  Definitely check out the free course and hopefully Craftsy will offer more resources like this!
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Monday, June 24, 2013

Shop my Vintage Pattern Stash!

One of the things I noticed when moving--was how many patterns I have!  I've decided to sell a few of my treasured patterns to get them out into the sewing world and also to add to my sewing room makeover piggy bank :-)

I'm offering all my readers a 10% discount on these patterns in my Etsy shop.  Just use code 'SEWINGHAPPY' at check-out!

Here's a few of the patterns I've just listed (you may recognise some of these!):

McCall 3193, gown pattern from 1939:

McCall 8501, cape pattern from 1935:

McCall 4051, dress pattern from 1941:

Economy Design E98 and E84, two pinafore patterns from the 1950s:

McCall 9759, sundress, blouse and scarf pattern from 1938:

Vogue 6625, 1960s mod dress pattern:

McCall 7143, 1960s sheath dress with neat panels:

McCall 9156, dress and jacket pattern from 1937:

Man, I LOVE vintage patterns!  Aren't they great?
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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Scotland Sundays: The Willow Tearoom

I have a very special Scotland Sunday this week!  It's the first feature outside Edinburgh and also represents a celebratory event--David and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary!!  Seeing as tea has played such a notable role in our relationship (our first conversations were over a cuppa tea), we decided to go to one of the famous Willow Tearooms in Glasgow.  


If you have ever visited Glasgow, you will know the name of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a Scottish designer and artist in the Arts and Crafts movement and also influential in the Art Nouveau movement.  Glasgow has several of his masterpiece buildings (one of which, the Glasgow School of Art, is just down the street from a fabulous fabric store--Mandors!!)

Mackintosh had complete control over every aspect of the design in the Willow tearoom.  The tearoom opened for business in 1903 with a special 'Room de Luxe' with high-backed silver chairs and leaded designed glass with the trademark Mackintosh rose design.  The tearoom gets it's name from Sauchiehall, the street on which it stands.  Sauchiehall means 'alley of the willows' and willows feature throughout the design.  You can still come and enjoy a wonderful cup of tea in the willow tearoom.  We always request a spot in the 'Room de Luxe' and on the day we went, we were the only people there!  So we got it all to ourselves!!

It felt fitting to wear my 1933 Butterick 'Katherine Hepburn' dress and jacket since Mackintosh's designs went onto influence Art Deco in Scotland.


There is also a beautiful mural by Margaret MacDonald, Mackintosh's wife, in the tearoom:


They met at the Glasgow School of Art and I just love her designs.  Here's a bbc piece on Margaret that explores her life and work.

I think it's fantastic that we can still enjoy a cup of tea in the original tearoom!  There's still so many Mackintosh buildings we want to see in Glasgow (for example, we haven't yet been to the House of the Art Lover)!  What a wonderful anniversary!!
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Monday, June 17, 2013

Frock to the Future


My 1940 McCall Project was featured yesterday in the Sunday Mail (Scotland's best selling newspaper) with the best captions ever.  How fun is that?  It came completely as a surprise when they contacted me and I had so much fun talking to them about the project :-)
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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day


Happy Father's Day to the most amazing Dad in the whole world!!! 

Isn't my Dad's Air Force photo the best? I just love it!!
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Saturday, June 15, 2013

My New Sewing Room and Fabulous Blogger Meet-Up


Wow!  Moving is such an ordeal.... I had grand plans for how much I would get accomplished in the lead-up to and after our move. HA!  Never underestimate a) how long it actually takes to pack all of your worldly possessions into boxes, b) how tiring it is to pack up, clean and unpack, and 3) how chaotic it all is--any inkling of a normal life flies out the window for weeks on end.  Well, I am happy to report that we made it to the other side and we LOVE our new place.  The photo above is of my new sewing room.  I love, love, love it!  It gets so much light--look at that beautiful large window!!  What you can't see in the picture is that the rest of the room (except for my sewing machine area) is still covered in boxes.

Boxes of patterns (oh, how distracted I got packing all of these up....yeah, that took much longer than it should have...hahahha):

And of course, boxes...of FABRIC!  My goodness.  My little fabric stash is not so little anymore!  But I'm so happy to finally be settled and to start decorating my sewing room and getting/building/repurposing furniture to fit the new space which resembles an attic in that it has sloped and low ceilings.

I'm still catching up on a few things from May--one super exciting event happened right before we moved.  I got the chance to meet Tasha from By Gum, By Golly!  I was super excited as I absolutely love Tasha's blog and following her adventures in vintage sewing and decorating.


She was in Edinburgh for a very short time and I was luckily able to meet up with her!  We visited my favourite vintage store (W. Armstrong & Sons), k1 Yarns Knitting Boutique and of course, Edinburgh Fabrics!  We sneaked into this fabulous space (which is the University of Edinburgh Law School--just down the street from Edinburgh Fabrics) to snap some photos!  What a fabulous time.  Tasha is as lovely and amazing in real life as she is on her blog and I look forward to hopefully visiting her in Chicago at some point in the future!!














Hopefully normal blogging can resume now that we are starting to settle into the new space.  I will definitely share posts documenting the transformation of the new sewing space over this summer...I have lots of fun decorating plans!!
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