The Wednesday Showcase

Yesterday evening, a friend came to spend the night since she was flying out of Chicago this morning. She told me that she really enjoys The Wednesday Showcase. I enjoy your reactions when you find out that you are the one being featured. What fun! A few weeks ago I featured Marie-Noelle from www.lamachinacoudre.blogspot.com, and I posted this picture below.

Sharon from www.petiteandsewing.blogspot.com wrote in that she just couldn't believe her eyes when she saw her very good friend pictured with Marie-Noelle. It is truly a small world and I think we make it just that much smaller and just that much more wonderful when we have the opportunity to get to know each other.
So who will be our two lovely bloggers today? The first is Irene of www.studioirene.blogspot.com. She says,

"I've been sewing for the better part of my life. Mostly I sew my clothes. I also sew things for the house. I prefer not to sew for other people, but sometimes that just happens."

If you are new to Irene's blog, you are going to love it.

She posted this wonderful raincoat. 

 Look at the wonderful job she did on her covered snaps.

 You must check out her post on the building of this jacket. You can find it here.

 The bias binding on this jacket is so beautiful,

 and the drape of her pants, wow!

 I included the picture of this skirt because I thought it was such a pretty skirt.

She did a wonderful tutorial on how she did this button and loop clousure. You can find it here.
What I always find interesting is how many of us say that we prefer to not do a lot of sewing for others and yet our blogs are full of so many projects that we have done for others. Irene is no exception. She is a very gifted seamstress and a very generous one as well. I think you will enjoy getting to know her.
Our second lovely blogger today comes from Northern Ireland. If you have not had the opportunity of discovering her blog, just wait, you are going to be amazed. Here is her description,

"I am a full time teacher, married with one teenage son. I started sewing seriously a few years back and have learned so much from other sewing enthusiasts' blogs that I felt I had to give something back. So this is a record of "things I've made" and as a big thank you to all you inspirational women." She left out that she does rock climbing. Take a look at ther profile picture and you will see her hanging on the side of a mountain. Incredible. To find her blog go to www.sewruth.blogspot.com.  

I think that by now most of us are fans of Paco Peralta. Ruth looks wonderful in her version of his jacket.

 The red silk lining is such an unexpected touch. Beautiful.

I am in love with this suit. I believe it's a vintage Vogue pattern. It looks so wonderful on Ruth and there's a reason why.....

 look at her pad stitching. Her hard work really paid off as the suit is flawless.

 Ruth also has a lovely sense of humor. She calls her dressform Doris and says that they are sharing a girly moment here. Too cute!

But I can't help but love a woman who posts pictures of her shoes!!!!!!!!!!!

 Now this is a wonderful suit. I highly recommend reading her post. You can find it here. This picture really doesn't do the suit justice. You will see in her post the beautiful quilting, the welt pockets, the chain detail, the finished seams.....lovely, lovely lovely.

So there you have it, two lovely ladies doing incredible works of art.
Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone! I'm off to enjoy the company of a sewing friend!

Monday Morning Inspiration

By now, the entire world knows that "The Artist" won Best Motion Picture at the Academy Awards last night. I saw the movie on Saturday, and I must say that I absolutely loved it, but then again, I adore silent movies. In August, The Silent Film Society of Chicago hosts a festival of an entire month of silent movies. They even bring in an organist to play along with the movie just as it was originally done.

So, this morning to celebrate the win, I found some wonderful dresses that have almost stepped out of the past, but are straight from the current edition of Vogue.        

Alberta Ferretti's flapper inspired confection. Check out the long beaded earrings the model on the left is wearing. Wow!

Gucci's flapper dress. What fun it would be to twirl around on the dance floor is this little dress!

A nod to the 20's from Alexander McQueen.

A lovely little day dress from Carolina herrera.

Pictured above, a beaded flapper bag from Nine West.

From the Ralph Lauren collection, a dream of a dress.

A beaded silk-tulle dress from Alberta Ferretti.

Beaded silk top and fringed skirt from Etro.

Embroidered chiffon dress from Bottega Veneta.

A spectacular embroidered coat and dress from Carolina Herrera.
Have a wonderful week!

Sunday Night Reflections

The Artist's Way
Week 7
I realized this week that the journey through the Artist's Way will finish just as Easter approaches. Rather fitting I think.
This week was about recovering a sense of connection, reconnecting with our dreams, desires, wishes. What is it that we truly want?
My husband, and I, have been dealing with some skin cancer issues for a while, but two years ago it became a much more serious situation. Last December he had a very large place cut off of his head. Now, only two months later three more places were found. It breaks my heart. I hate to see him going through this, and I hate the thought of what will eventually be. I have had three people in my life who have loved and adored me, a great-grandmother, a grandmother, and my husband. What's interesting to me is that none of the three are blood family. My great-grandmother adopted my paternal grandmother, and my grandmother was my mother's aunt by marriage. Both women were precious, kind, loving, and giving. If I were to describe my husband, I would use the very same words to describe him. I'm very fortunate.
An exchange student called this week. He was one of the more difficult students we hosted, but he is the one who loves and respects me the most. He called to check on my husband and to tell me that he will be coming this summer. Wonderful.
Lent began this week. As I sat in church on Ash Wednesday and thought of how I could make my Lenten experience richer, I decided that a small fast (only one meal per day) is what I would like to do. It is proving to be very powerful, I give up a small thing and I'm rewarded with something so much greater.
Through my morning pages I was able to remember and make a connection that has eluded me for a very long time. I will admit that it was not a pleasant experience, memories can be that way. But it has prompted me to do something that I have thought about for quite some time. I am finally in a place where I can put fear aside and look truth in the face.
This week will be our eighth week. The chapter is all about recovering a sense of strength. We will see that in order to move through loss, we must first acknowledge it and then share it. For many of us, our losses are kept tucked away in a place where we think they are protected. But hidden away, they continue to poison us, convincing us to settle for far less than we deserve.
Wherever this week takes you, I wish you a week of grace, beauty and a determination to really live each day.

Sunday Brunch

What is it about Sunday that makes us want to slow down and enjoy taking time for a lovely breakfast? I don't know, but making a lovely breakfast on Sunday morning is something I always look forward to.
I recently found the recipe for the quinoa cakes that are pictured above on Pinterest. Wow, did it look good to me, so I repinned it. Well, they are every bit as good as they look. It is a new favorite recipe.

Here's the plate that I presented to my husband this morning. He was in heaven! I don't eat meat so my plate was without the bacon.
If you would like to give this a try, you can find the recipe here. We like spicy food, so the only change I would make to the recipe would be to add some red pepper flakes to the quinoa mix.
Happy Sunday!

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

It's that time of the week once more! But before we get started, I need to announce the winner of last week's Bandanna Skirt..........
The winner is Erin!!!!!!!!!!!

So Erin, send me an email at sewbussted@yahoo.com and I'll get the skirt out to you.
The Kimono Bag

 Today's pattern is another super simple piece to make. It's just a rectangle.

I'm calling it the Kimono Bag, because to me anyway, it looks like a kimono when it is upside down!
I used a piece of vintage Obi fabric for my bag. You can use any sturdy fabric. 

I cut my fabric 14" x 28". This allowed for 1/2" seams. Fold the fabric in half and sew the side seams. Press your seams open.

I lined the bag. Cut your lining 2" shorter than your fabric. This will give you a nice facing as you see in the above picture. I used 28" for the length, so cut the lining 26" long by the same width as your bag fabric which was 14". Sew the side seams of the lining, leaving an opening on one side so that you can sew the lining to the bag and then turn it. Press the side seams of the lining open. Stitch the lining to the bag, turn and press the top of your bag. 

With the bag lying flat, find the middle and mark it with pins on both sides of the bag. 

Bring the side seams to the center. This will form a pleat. 

You can see it a little better in this picture. Pin the pleats in place.

The bottom of the bag will flare out. Press the top pleat in place. This will help to hold the pleat in place.

You will need a package of large eyelets.

Mine are 7/16".  

You will need to attach an eyelet to all 4 sides of the pleat.

To make the cording, you will need twice the amount of cording that is needed for the straps. My finished straps are 34" long, but you need to factor in the amount needed for the knots, so all in all, 3 yards was used for the straps, but as I said, in order to make the cording, you will need twice that amount, so plan on 6 yards of cording. When you go to buy the cording, make sure that 2 cords will slip through the eyelets easily. If it seems to be a tight fit, use a cording that is one size smaller.  

To make the cording, cut bias strips of your fabric. Sew them together until they are as long as you need for your straps. Once the strips are sewn together, wrap the fabric around your cording with the wrong side facing out. Trim the seam allowance as you see in the picture below and sew across the end as you see in the picture above. The end that you sew across is the end where the length of uncovered cording is.  

 You will now turn the fabric as you see in the picture below.

Once you have turned the fabric over the cording and the right side is facing out, thread the cording through the eyelets.

To make the knots, Begin with a simple knot,

and then put the end of the cord through once more as you see below.

Pull the knot tight.

It should look like the picture below once it has been pulled tight.

 Leave about 1 1/2" of cord next to your knot and cut the rest off.

 Push back the fabric exposing the cord,

 and cut off the cord as you see below.

Fold back the end,

 and wrap it around the knot.

 Sew the end in place. Do this for all 4 knots.

 Your bag is finished!

 I'm really happy with how it turned out and I will have the perfect outfit to pair it with.

Good luck if you decide to give it a try and by all means, if you have any questions, please shoot me an email and I will do my best to help.

 Have a wonderful weekend!