Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

I actually really like these top 5 posts (started by Gillian at Crafting a rainbow )that have been popping up lately, its a nice way to reassess what we sew and actually wear. So the Top 5; 1. Vogue 8774: Jeans I wear these so much! 2. StyleArc: Palazzo pants I've actually made 2 more pairs of these in a black ponte (unblogged about) and they are my go-to work pants, comfy and smart and so easy to wash and wear! 3. Colette 1020: The seaside dress I wore this as my Christmas dress to both my Dad's and the in-laws. 4. Cake 0144: Tiramisu Dress The fabric has worn/pilled/stretched out a  bit now but its still such a comfortable dress, I really have to remake it once I find the right fabric! 5. The copycat dress: Newlook 6048 vs Cake 0169 I love this dress, it just all came together perfectly.  I've sewn less this year, but made more wearable garments (still had a few wadders or garments that I just don't wear though, but I think we all get that even when you buy all your c

... I've joined a GYM !  Without turning this into a lifestyle post, basically when I was younger I could eat whatever I wanted and my weight stayed in the healthy range. Fast forward to now, after having 2 kids and being right at the end of my 49 years I have some extra kilos (or fluff) hanging onto my bones ... literally! Why can't extreme all night sewing, hardcore blogging or marathon knitting be enough for me to stay in reasonable shape? So I have realised that this wiggly weight isn't going to disappear without a little bit of help. After seeing a few pictures on my blog last year I realised that all those wiggly bits can actually be seen ... by all! It was like WOW ~ is that my stomach or the fabric doing that (and I can't always blame the pattern?!?) In 2014 I turn 50 ~ and time is going by way too fast. So I pulled on my Big Girl Panties, and walked out of my comfort zone. That's where the gym comes in ... I. Joined. Up.  What a learning curve! Did you kn

... to wear tomorrow for Christmas Day! All this little dress needed was hemming ~ ho, hum, I kept putting it off for a few days for some reason. Anyway, nothing like the thought of sewing on Christmas Eve to get the mojo in full gear. So here is the unveiling of Vogue 8766 ...  This is the front, simple, but well fitting. It is the sleeveless version ~ yes, it is the middle of summer here and sleeves just are not going to be an accessory at this time of year. What a great dress to sew. It was fairly straight forward from the start, simple lines, a few darts and voila! A new dress emerged.  I love the spottiness of this fabric, it is a Japanese cotton that has just the most gorgeous cool feel to it ~ but I did interline each piece as the white was a bit see-through for my liking.  And because of the interlining, I deleted all the neck and armhole facings and just used plain white bias binding to finish the edges ~ sooooo easy!  Just look at that invisible zipper ~ I am proud of it. Dow

I had a brief trip to New York for work November 14-15 and managed to sneak in a little bit of fabric shopping.  My poor shelves! I found P&S Fabrics  in Chinatown through a random Yelp search a few weeks before my trip and became obsessed with going there.  My train arrived at 4:45 and P&S is open until 7 and I thought I could just squeak in a visit.  There was so much traffic the cab took forever to get to my hotel (I had a suitcase and didn't feel like hauling it up and down the subway stairs).  But I thought I could still do it. I took the subway to Canal St.  I found where the address should be.  But it wasn't there.  The street number was skipped.  After *much* puzzlement I realized I was on W Broadway rather than Broadway.  I figured if I walked long enough I would finish with the west part and get to the regular part, as that is how normal streets work.  I walked over a mile and I was still on W Broadway and showed no signs of getting to regular Broadway and at

... LOL!!! Says it all ... J

BCBG Max Azria Pre-Fall 2013 Clio  pinned the Max Azria on the left sometime last year and I immediately loved it.  She has shown  her awesome raglan tee  so I figured I should get around to showing mine (which I made several months ago--hence the three different sets of photos!). Michael Kors, $1695 I dig the bare front cutout in the Max Azria, but for my real life sheer sleeves like the Michael Kors on the right are more doable.  I would not wear this dress to work, but it is the perfect LBD for winter parties. The body fabric is a heavy poly/lycra knit I got on eBay several years ago from a seller that has, unfortunately, stopped selling (Uptown Fabrics High End Fabrics ).  I bought it for yoga pants, and it is a really nice heavy weight for skimming over lumps and bumps.  I made a pair of yoga pants and a pair of hiking capris with it, and with mixed emotions used up the last of it for this dress.  I got the sleeve fabric, a rayon burnout in a sort of zebra print, at a DC area meet