Manic Pop

One more like I promised.... Can you guess which one is the impostor?!  The one in the middle!  So the story goes is that I have these sheer tunic tops from Brooklyn Industries that I love. I love them so much that every time we would get one in the store, my coworkers knew I was going to buy one. (I have a few other sheer tunic tops from them!) Wandering around in the fabric store about a month or so ago, I found this floral sheer print fabric and knew it would be perfect for another tunic top. It was only $6 a yard, so I figured I would try sewing with sheer fabric. If only I had a pattern! I looked around on Burda for something that could be a tunic top approximation and even in the store for a pattern from another brand but.... no dice. It seemed like there was a general lack of tunic tops as a whole everywhere I looked.  So, as always, I got to work making my own sewing pattern.  I paid VERY close attention to detail on this one as ...

And now, time for a new dress! This one is Burda's Princess Dress - #124B . I actually didn't make any changes to the pattern and cut the smallest size. I had this floral quilting fabric hanging around and wanted to use it up! The green is leftover yardage from the Tanith Arrow Dress . This dress whipped up pretty quickly! And I did a super-successful invisible zip. I typically don't use them because the fabric store I go to rarely sells them. If they do, I don't know where the hell they are!  Lately, I have been doing a lot of riding around on my bike, due to working for a very bike-friendly company. I'm still adjusting to riding a bit (I still feel a little like my whole body is vibrating after I stop if I ride for a consistent length of time) but I have been occasionally riding part of the way to work, 6 out of 12 miles roundtrip. I may never ride 12 miles roundtrip each day, but that's not the point for me. I also needed everyone t...

It's been a while since I've done a music post - mostly because I rarely find things I absolutely love anymore. Recently I came across a band called The Resonars - though it seems I'm a little late in finding them (how about 7 years too late?) Either way, their music is fantastic. I'm a huge fan of finding music that sounds like it's from another era, and the Resonars sound like they could fit right amongst classics like The Byrds or The Kinks. This song is absolutely killer: That Resonars song actually sort of reminds me of this older song.... which is written by a former member of The Cowsills. More Resonars: This one actually reminds me of the bittersweet end of a relationship, something I wasn't prepared for. Another retro/psych-ish song I've been obsessed with - this band is really blowing up: And an older find, but still a great representation of newer psych stuff: I'll be back with a new dress soon from a Burda pattern, but ...

Today's blog post is in collaboration with the lovely Tanith of Tanith Rowan Designs !  Tanith has been doing a great series on hats through the decades and picked me to be her 60s girl! Make sure to check out all of her posts!  I was so excited when Tanith asked me to be a collaborator for this series - based in Australia, she makes some really beautiful vintage-inspired hats! Via our original correspondence some time in February, we talked about my love for bright, out-there colors as well as how I was getting into the whole arrow-motif thing. She was able to put a fun arrow on this hat! She kept the hat a surprise so when I opened the box I only knew she was sending a helmet-style hat, which I love.    For my contribution to this collaboration, we decided I should make a garment to match with it. I've been wanting an arrow dress for some time, and this is what I came up with!   Quick Photoshop of my sketch ...

This post is in collaboration with NYC-based artist and friend of mine, Jane Chu! Jane and I worked at the same store long ago and I have always been a fan of her artwork. I'm so excited to have her collaborate with me on the blog! Artwork by Jane Chu This is a dress I finished earlier last month around the 19th but haven't gotten around to posting it. My life has been changing a bit, but all very positive changes getting me going in the directions I have been wanting to go!  This dress was based as exactly as I could to the pattern that perhaps once came with the 1969 Simplicity sewing book. Mine didn't come with any patterns, but it does have a nice diagram of the patterns. I was most of the way through making it when I realized though that if you have a cuff on your sleeve you need an extra opening piece - like a placket or a binding. Duh. I took the easy way out and created a binding from two 1 1/4" strips of fabric.    Cuff binding o...

I've personally halted a bit on the production of the PDF pattern. This is not something I wanted to have happen, but I have to be honest with myself in the fact that I am not stellar at digital design (although not awful). And come on! You knew I was an analog girl along, didn't you? So let's revisit the Petra Dress -   I've actually worn this dress a bunch of times. I've been layering it with these fantastic fleece lined tights from Brooklyn Industries (looks like they are no longer on the website) as well as a long sleeve underneath, cardigan over it.  On the sample here, I had to cut the center front panel off-grain since I miscalculated my yardage when I bought it. Technically, this dress takes about 3 yards to layout correctly in the navy blue, not accounting for the contrasts. I also made the pockets deeper on my PDF pattern since these are smaller than they should be.  Onto the PDF pattern:  I'm stalling on it because I think ...

Finished something new!  I'm so over this crazy winter that's been going on here in Chicago, so I needed to make something bright or myself.  This skirt was based on a photo I saw somewhere on the internet (that for some reason I can no longer find) but the original version was super-plain, dark purple and black/grey herringbone. Of course, I put my own crazy bright color spin on it. I pulled in the bottom hem an inch on each seam (a total of 4 inches) for a slight bit more of a pencil look, but on me I think the skirt can be pulled in just a teeny bit more. I also made my own covered buttons using the yellow overhang material. I'm really not sure how I feel about the back. I think in the next version of it, it might be a good idea to NOT have the overhang in the back. You might be able to see that it's a completely separate piece though I did tack it down where the buttons are as well as on the corners of the back piece.   I had to have this hou...