Category: Inspiration

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Inspiration

Bravo, UK Vogue!

I don’t read many mass market magazines, but when I feel the itch for something glossy, I nearly always reach for Vogue. Sure, I can’t afford to buy anything in it, but I never fail to take inspiration from the designs, and the articles are generally of a higher intelligence level than “eww doesn’t celeb X look fat??” you find in most fashion mags.

So I was utterly, utterly thrilled to discover that the November 09 issue of UK Vogue is almost entirely about DIY fashion, sewing, and customising. Quite literally, Make Do and Mend, though Vogue for some reason insist on using their awful “More Dash Than Cash” tagline (ick). In any case, this is seriously the best issue of Vogue that I’ve ever seen, and is a must buy for anyone with even a passing interest in sewing or DIY fashion.

Inspiration, Magazine

Patrones 282

This issue of Patrones appeared in my postbox completely by surprise, as apparently my future-mother-in-law has been persuading all her holidaying friends to buy them for me while they’re in Spain! How lovely!

I didn’t bother to scan any images from the “Nuevo Hippy” feature, because, as it turns out, Nuevo Hippy is exactly like Viejo Hippy – fugly tiered dresses and kaftans we’ve seen a thousand times before. Gross. If there’s one style I hate, hate, hate above all others, it’s hippy.

Thank god, then, for the bikini feature, which is at least something different for pattern magazines!! There’s about ten styles in all, some with structured bra cups, others with soft, and about four different bottom shapes and styles that you could easily mix and match according to what you prefer.

Inspiration, Magazine

Summer KnipMode roundup

It’s about that time again, so here’s my highlights of the June, July and August issues of my favourite Dutch sewing pattern magazine, KnipMode!

June 2009

KnipMode turns 40 this year, and to celebrate, June’s issue is a special “40 years, 40 dresses” issue! Now, that doesn’t actually mean there’s 40 dress patterns, since some of the dresses are restyles or variations on the same pattern elsewhere in the magazine, but there are still a TON of dresses here, and only a very few garments.

My personal favourites of this issue are the Bottega Veneta & Martin Grant runway homages. Ooh, that BV wide neckline and the pockets(!), and the MG gathering is just spectacular, especially in the tartan that really emphasizes it!

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim magazine

If you were building your dream pattern magazine, what would be in it? Maybe some swoon-worthy evening gowns? Designer fashion homages? Patterns from exotic locations? An upmarket twist on casual fabric? Or maybe just some really sharp Fall/Winter fashions?

Well, someone clearly saw my wishlist, because all of this is in the April 2009 issue of the Brazilian pattern magazine Manequim!

The first feature in the magazine is Oscar fashion! I don’t know how they did such a short turnaround, but they took six designer dresses that big celebrities wore to the 2009 Oscars in late March, and made patterns to replicate them! Included are the dresses that Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Natalie Portman, Jessica Biel, and Meryl Streep wore (I wasn’t as keen on Ms Hathaway and Biel’s dresses)!

Inspiration

That was fast!

I’ll make this short because I really try to keep non-sewing posts to a minimum, but… I’m home! It was really short notice – I thought it’d more more like Friday but on Monday the doctor said “get ready to go tomorrow” so I frantically pulled down all my decorations and packed up my stuff, only to have it all eclipsed by the two ENORMOUS bags of medicines I have to take now (good thing they lay it all out in a nice grid or I’d be totally lost!). The only problem is, since James & mom were counting on 4-6 weeks to get everything done, and I came home in exactly 3 weeks, hardly anything was ready for me! So there’s some intense boat disinfecting going on today, and tomorrow the old (and frankly, disgusting) saloon carpet is being ripped out and new stuff installed, so I’m confined to my bedroom with the air purifier on high for a few days.

Inspiration

Boredom busters!

I’ve been keeping myself busy within my four walls, and a lot of this is down to you all who sent me boredom busting parcels and activities to open up each day! So I thought I’d share some of the seewing and crafty ones so you can see what I’ve been up to (though there’s way more yet to open!).

First up is from Rachel, who sent me two “retro” issues of BWOF from her stash, 07/2000 & 12/2002, with a note challgenging me to find some hidden gems and just giggle at the rest. I’m up for a challegne!

(sorry for the iPhone photos – it’s the best I can do since I’m away from the scanner and the DSLR)

In the 2000 issue I absolutely fell in love with this skirt:

Inspiration

Embroidery and bunting

I seem to be pretty lucky so far to have escaped the constant chemo nausea I was told to expect. I’m on two different chemo drugs now until Sunday when I switch to a third on its own, and so far one of them has had zero affect on the way I feel, and the other seems to be giving me wildly different comedy afflictions each day (first fever & headache, then the next day a weird bumpy rash like mosquito bites all over my body plus breathing problems, then tonight it just seems to be a 2 hour long sneezing fest. weird.). In any case, it’s so far much easier than I was expecting (knock on wood), so it’s given me some time to do some crafting in amoungst my tv and film watching.

Yesterday (Day -7) (in bone marrow transplant land, the day you get your stem cells is Day Zero, so right now I’m counting down to that, 8 July. After I receive them, I’ll go into the positive numbers!)

Yesterday I did a bit of ham-fisted embroidery, finishing up a bit for a baby present, which I’ll reveal when it’s totally finished, as well as finally finishing that Sublime Stitching apron kit I’ve been working on here and there over the last few months (remember this from the al fresco sewing day?).

Inspiration

Sewing room update

You last saw my sewing room right after we moved in, in April 2007, but I’ve accumulated far […]

Inspiration

Brighton fabric shops

On Saturday we took a “cheer me up” trip down to Brighhton, with the dual purpose of taking me back to my student days (I studied at Sussex for a year in 99/00) and buying some more fabric in some new uncharted ground! I did a bit of research first and found there were a few fabric shops clustered around the North Laines and again on Western Road, so we made our attack plan based on these…

New Fabric Fair
51 Gardner Street, BN1 1UN, 01273 605512

A small shop stocked to the rafters with bolts everywhere, including leather offcuts outside. A huge variety of braided trims, dress polys, stretch lace, and zippers for a pound each. Some great linens, wool suitings, and soft brushed cottons here and the husband & wife team were very attentive, though bring cash as they don’t do cards or cheques!

I bought this super soft brushed cotton (and a matching peach zipper) with this BWOF dress in mind…

Inspiration

Patterns from a suitcase

My mom arrived on Friday morning, bearing a ridiculous amount of American cookies, candies, chocolates, cakes, and kitty treats, but also a few patterns that were on my wish list!

Vogue 1109 is a Sandra Betzina pattern for a knit top/tunic with really interesting seam lines. It kinda feels expected for all sewers to love SB without question, but to be honest, I don’t find her “all that” and this is the first pattern of hers I’ve even remotely liked (though not in either of those fabric choices, ugh) so I wanted to give it a try.

Simplicity 2647 is a knit dress with varying lengths and bodice treatments, but I really liked the short version with the wrapped side even though it’s quite similar to a Vogue pattern I already have.