Monday Morning Inspiration

It's not Monday morning any where in the world, but rather than miss the day all together, I thought I would go ahead and do the post. I had planned to get up a little extra early and do the post before I left this morning, but the bed was too warm and too comfortable, so the post lost out and the bed won!

What a glorious day I've had. I was able to hear thirty young people sing or play their hearts out in order to try and win a scholarship from the American Opera Society of Chicago. It was a little like American Idol except everyone was a classical musician. I think that there's a little too much "mother" in me because I wanted to give everyone a scholarship. But sadly, there are only six scholarships to give.

A friend of mine gave me this beautiful book called "Cubism and Fashion." It's a book that I love keeping next to my bed and thumbing through just before I drift off to sleep. 

 The book shows the connection of art to fashion from 1908 through the 1920's. 

 On one page the book shows a piece of art like the painting above by Marcel Duchamp,

 and on the following page is the fashion. This dress and coat ensemble is by Nemser, c. 1926.

 The dress without the coat,

 and an up close detail of the pleats.

 Fernand Leger,

 and this wonderful piece by Paul Poiret. Take a close look at the above outfit, it's just rectangles.

 Pablo Picasso,

and an American dress that is thought to be a copy of an original by Leneif, an important house in Paris during the 1920's.

 Robert Delaunay's "The Eiffel Tower,"

 and this wonderful suit by Jean Paquin.

 Georges Braque's "The Musicians,"

 and Chanel's lovely little flapper dress.

Not all of the garments are paired with paintings. The embroidery on this dress is so lovely. It's by Callot Soeurs c. 1925.

 This dress by Jean Patou is not a print, but entirely beaded.

Jacques Doucet. This piece is called a late day ensemble. I'm wearing a late day ensemble and it looks nothing like this!! Mine is more like a pair of leggings and a sweat shirt!

Lovely bead work on the the bodice of the dress with a close up below.

This is a book that I highly recommend especially if you love vintage fashion. There was only one review on Amazon, but it was glowing, "I was pleasantly surprised to pick up this book and be greeted with such clear, detailed, and beautiful photographs. The combination of clothing and art is carefully chosen and illustrates the written points perfectly. I show this book to everyone who comes over, and it has yet to be looked at for less than 30 minutes at a time!"
If you are interested in the book, here's a link to the Amazon page, http://www.amazon.com/Cubism-Fashion-Richard-Martin/dp/0870998889/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330992581&sr=1-1.
Hope the start of your week has been a great one!

Sleeves On Saturday

Oh my, do I owe everyone an apology. I came home yesterday afternoon with every intention of posting the first of our new series. "Just a short nap," is what I told myself. Well, the short nap lasted quite a bit longer. Thankfully I awoke in the nick of time to go and pick my husband up from the airport last night. Please forgive me. Evidently I really needed the rest.
So we begin with what I hope will be a fun and enlightening series. I've always felt that an interesting sleeve can make what would otherwise be a plain garment, really pop. If you come across a sleeve that you would like for me to explore, send me a picture and I'll be happy to see what I can do.

 Our first sleeve looks a bit complicated, but it is really quite easy to do. It looks fantastic on a jacket.

 As you can see, there is a seam in the center of sleeve at the wrist and there is the piece that folds over and forms a "V."

To begin, you will need a normal sleeve pattern. Make sure it is not a fitted sleeve as you want there to be some fullness in the sleeve.

 Draw a horizontal line at the bicep area. From this line, turn the sleeve into a straight sleeve by squaring a line down to the wrist line. This line is shown in red in the picture below.

Now the fun begins. Find the mid point on the side seams of the sleeve. From this point, draw a line down to the wrist that is 1" out on either side of the wrist line. This is shown in red in the picture below.

Find the mid point of the wrist line. Measure up 2". This will be the top of your curved line as shown above. To determine the opening of your sleeve, measure around your fist and add a little ease to this measurement. This will allow for your hand to easily go through the wrist opening of your sleeve. If your measurement is 10", you will divide that measurement in half, which will be 5" and you will measure in 5" on either side of you sleeve at the wrist. To compensate for the 2" that will be cut out of your sleeve, will will need to add that back. The extended line that you see in the picture above at the wrist is 2" below the wrist line. Draw in your curved line and connect the extended wrist line to the side seams.  

Your final pattern will look like the above picture. Be sure to add seam allowance to your new line. A 1/4" seam will be sufficient.

To sew the wrist seam, fold the curved line in half and stitch. 

Once sewn and turned, your seam at the wrist line will look like this. Now if you have a fabric with some drape, you can play around with the point.

My fabric is a very structured woven, so I tacked the point down and added a button.
Enjoy!
This is the first of our year long series, so there will be 52 sleeves in all. I'll be back next Saturday as long as I don't pull another Rip Van Winkle!
Hope you're having a lovely weekend.
Rhonda

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

Rather than post a new pattern today, I decided to brag on all of you who have taken a chance and have given one of my ideas a try. Don't worry, I'm not skipping this week all together, I will post this week's pattern on Tuesday of next week. I promise.
The first three ladies all gave the All Points Skirt a try.
The first up is The Material Lady. What a lovely skirt. I really love the fabric that she chose for her skirt. Click on the above link and you can read her post.  

The drape is beautiful!

The second is Ruthie. I posted her pictures when she was chosen for The Wednesday Showcase, but her skirt is lovely, so it is worth a second look.

Look at the lovely wardrobe she has created. What a wonderful mix of outfits she will be able to create from just six pieces. You can check out her blog post here.

Bev also gave the skirt a try. She had a few issues with the skirt, but I applaud her for giving it a try and for making it work for her. Way to go Bev! You can read her post here.

The Obi Belt was given a try by Jilly. Her belt was also seen when she was chosen for The Wednesday Showcase some time ago. You can read her post here. Jilly used ties to create a wonderful vest. You can see that post here.

I am extremely fortunate to have friends who support me. My lovely friend Brenda made the super easy rectangle skirt. I was so surprised when she walked into last year's Haute Couture fashion show wearing her skirt. Sadly, she doesn't have a blog so I can't direct you to it, but I can at least show you a picture of her in the skirt. 

She also made the very first pattern in the Fabulous Free Pattern Series, The Rectangle/Triangle Top. No picture of her in the top, but trust me, it looked wonderful on her.

This week I had lunch with another wonderful friend who made the Ballerina Top. I didn't bring my camera with me that day and silly me, I forgot that I could take a picture with my phone, so sadly, no picture. It really did look fabulous on her. She made it out of a purple and black stripe knit. I'm going to see her tomorrow so maybe I can get a picture of her yet!
Now if any of you have given a pattern a try, I would love to see your creation. Email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com and attach a picture.
A great big THANK YOU to The Material Lady, Ruthie, Bev, Jilly, Brenda and Nancy for following along and as I said before, giving the patterns a try. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! 
I bet most of you have forgotten, but tomorrow will be our first installation of S.O.S., aka, Sleeves On Saturdays. See you then!
Rhonda

Finally Finished

The first time I showed you this sweater, 

 it looked like this.

 Then I finally finished the body. I was so happy when I got to this point.

 One sleeve was finished and the other was well on its way. I felt even happier!!

And now today!!!!!!!!!!

 She's all finished. I'm so very happy!!!

 A view of the back.

The sweater that is pictured in the Vogue Knitting magazine is wonderful, but when I finished it, I felt that it needed something to finish off the hem,

 so I knitted the cable that you see in the above photo and attached it. I like it a lot better.

 The cuffs are so lovely. I love how the cables continue into the cuffs.

The body of the sweater has actually been finished for quite a while, but I just wasn't sure how I wanted to do the closure. A trip to Soutache produced the buttons. They're sticks....really....sticks! I could have made them myself, but then I would have had to sit and sand and varnish them. It was so much easier to buy them. I really like the rustic feel.

 All I ended up doing was a small I-cord that I sewed on and twisted to mimic the cables.

Now she's all ready to wear! I think I'll let her make her maiden appearance tomorrow.
When I started the sweater, I shared that I had always felt that once I made this sweater that I would have reached the pinnacle of knitting. Once I started, it just wasn't as difficult as I had thought, but then again, that's how it usually is with anything we think is going to be monumental. All I had to do was get started.

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!