The Wednesday Showcase

It's a gray, gray day here in Chicago, the kind of day that makes me want to curl up somewhere with a good book and drink tea. But sadly, there's no time for curling up today :( There are days when I look at my dogs, all curled up, enjoying a snooze and I think, I would like to be you for just one day....just one day!!! At least I'll be able to enjoy a few cups of tea!!! There's always a silver lining :)

So, it's Wednesday and as always, I have 2 very talented and lovely ladies to introduce to you.
First up is Ann of http://www.sewbabynews.blogspot.com/ She loves experimenting with new fabrics and patterns and her blog is a record of those experiments. She says that she hopes to share some of her knowledge, tricks of the trade, flops as well as successes. You'll see, she has a lot of successes!!!
As I scrolled through her blog, I came across this great top. What a success! I especially liked how she manipulated the stripes. The sleeves are cut on the bias, the body on the straight of grain and the tab is on the crosswise grain.

 She made a slew of Tilton Tops.

 This was my favorite. I absolutely love the fabric.

Ann made up this great pair of culottes. Now most of us don't enjoy showing our backside in a photograph, but these fit so well and look so very nice.

 She used this pattern from Hot Patterns. Great waistline and I really like the easy fit.

Many of you may know Ann from Pattern Review. She won the Mini Wardrobe contest. But if you don't know Ann, be sure to check out her blog, I think you'll enjoy getting to know her.

Now we are going to skip across the pond to London and meet Ooobop of http://ooobop.com/ She's a very busy lady with 3 children and a full time job as a graphic designer, but she does manage to turn out some exceptional garments. She began sewing as a small child, making pocket linings to earn a little cash. Her mother made her clothes until one day she requested a few too many design changes and her mother handed over the job to her. Late in her teens, she gave up, as so many do because patterns just don't fit, but as she says, a gazillion years later she's back and doing her best to create the wardrobe she has always dreamed of. And she's doing a beautiful job at it!!
She did a post on doing a test run on the Sophia dress from By Hand London. I've seen the pattern in the past, but now that I've seen Ooobop's version, I'm thinking, hmmm, I like that...a lot!    

Here's a line drawing and HERE'S a link to the pattern. Just in case you're interested :) BHL is having a 30% off sale at the moment, so it might be a good time to shop!

She wears vintage oh so well and is quite lovely in this bombshell swimsuit from Closet Case Files. I've made the suit and it's a great pattern in case you're thinking about a new suit for summer. 

Check out this beautiful Dr, Shivago inspired faux fur hat. Well, thanks to Ooobop, you can have one too as she has a free pattern available on her blog. You can find the pattern HERE. I have not tried the pattern, but I will soon, so look for it on an upcoming Thrifty Thursday post.  

As this Wednesday showcase post comes to an end, I would like to wish you a day full of silver linings :)
Have a wonderful day!
Rhonda