A Few Fashion Show Pics

I'm so excited!!! We're supposed to have our first truly warm day here in Chicago, 77 degrees. Rain is in the forecast...again :/ Oh well, the blooming trees, tulips, and daffodils have all been spectacular.

I met a friend for lunch yesterday. She took a few pictures of some of my pieces that I had in the annual Haute Couture Club of Chicago fashion show. Our professional pictures have not yet come back, so until then, I thought I would share my friend's pictures just to give you an idea of the day. More will come :)

This is the Style Arc Grace Trans-Seasonal Jacket that I shared with you HERE. I wore the jacket with my Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans. The bag is my Poppins Bag. I also made a coordinating umbrella. 

I made an umbrella last year, and loved how it turned out. You can see that post HERE. Now that I have a new bag, I thought a matching umbrella would be nice too. 

I lined the umbrella with a remnant that picked up all the colors in the bag.

I made this jacket some time ago. It is the Sewaholic Robson Coat. The coat was made for the Sews News sew along. You can see all of those posts HERE. I had not finished putting in the buttonholes, and the jacket had languished in the closet for all this time. So, I decided to get it out, finish it, and put it in the show. I have since worn it 3 times!!!  

This dress was made last December. It's the Pattern Union Sumekko Dress. I blogged about it HERE. Absolutely love this pattern. It only has 1 seam!!! The pattern comes with 3 different stencils that you can then use to paint on your fabric. I have that on my list for this summer.

Once the professional pictures have been made available, I'll share my complete collection of garments that I had in the show. If by chance you would like to attend the show, it's always the 1st Sunday of  May, so mark your calendars for next year!

Having a closet of wonderful me made outfits is just the best! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Rhonda

April Showers Bring Umbrellas!!!

An umbrella is something most of us don't think about...UNTIL WE NEED ONE!!! There have been so many times that I have not looked at the weather before leaving home, only to be caught in the rain, then running into a drugstore just to purchase a crummy umbrella. And then there are the times that I have an umbrella, but it has been left in the car. 

The Haute Couture Club of Chicago will be doing an umbrella workshop after our April meeting, so I needed to get mine together in order to conduct the workshop. What a fun projectthis turned out to be!

I chose this sweet bird print for the outside of my umbrella.

But as usual, I couldn't leave well enough alone, and decided to line my umbrella. There are no instructions for lining the umbrella, but it isn't difficult to do.

Not only is it my favorite color, I love how the fabric gives the feeling of clouds.

I did do the strap so that my umbrella will close completely, but I just love how it looks when the folds are hanging out. Too pretty to just leave in the closet :)

The pattern is from My Little World and you can find the pattern as well as the umbrella frame HERE.

All the notions you will need.

 This is the kit I used for the umbrella frame.

To line the umbrella, rather than serge my seams as the pattern instructs, I pressed my seams open.

I laid the top and lining fabrics together and sewed all around the bottom. Once stitched, I clipped the seam allowance, and then opened one of the seams and turned the fabrics to the right side.   

I have not sprayed the surface of my umbrella to make it waterproof, but I will before using it.

The fabric came from the sweet little shop I have told you about, The Fabric Nook in Granby, Colorado. If by chance you like what I bought, give Tina a call. The bird fabric is from Hoffman Fabrics, New Leaf Stitches. The blue/green fabric is from Moda Fabrics, made in Japan, pattern #30150. If you do order the fabric from Tina, just tell her that it was the fabric that Rhonda purchased, she'll know what you are talking about :)

It was such a fun project, and I can't wait to use my new umbrella. who would have thought I would actually want it to rain?!!!

Here's to April showers :)
Rhonda