Hello friends!
I’m scrambling to finish up a few important bits of work before S and I fly to Belgium for her spring break next week. We’re on our way to visit Giulia and her family. (Remember Giulia? She has three boys now and recently moved to Brussels after Eritrea and a few years in India.) I plan to take S to Antwerp and probably Ghent (and maybe Bruges if it’s not too touristy). But stay tuned because next week while I’m gone we’ll be previewing all our new spring patterns, so be sure to visit every day to see them. I’m really excited to finally share them! Here are a couple teaser images to pique your interest.
Pinterest Picks
Isn’t this thumb hole great? (We have a tutorial for another version here, by the way.) Also, the sleeve in this photo reminds me of our Afternoon Tea Blouse, for which the sew-along will continue (and finish) next week.
I keep meaning to try this beautiful finishing detail the next time I sew a t-shirt. Also, isn’t this mending great? It reminds me of kintsugi, but a textile form.
The stripes on this sundress are gorgeous, aren’t they? I wonder if you could do something similar with our Lisette for Butterick B6661 sundress. And speaking of stripes, the vertical/horizontal combination on this shirt are so striking. You could easily do this with our Classic Shirt, or the All Day Shirt for men.
I can’t wait until the weather warms up a little! It feels like Christmas again when I unpack my seasonal clothes, and I can get out my Classic Shirt dress. If you want to try it, follow my tutorial for turning the shirt pattern into a dress. And if you want it to look slouchy like the yellow one below, sew it two sizes larger than you usually wear and belt it.
Spring often signals summer haircuts, too! I’ve been growing out my hair recently, but these images popped up on Pinterest the other day and I love them. They reminded me of when I was in high school and got my hair cut in a similar cut. My boyfriend at the time was so horrified he broke up with me because he thought I was too punk! Ah, young love. Tell me your best haircut story, will you?
Weekend Reading
- I just loved how this young woman took some of her father’s custom suits to be retailored to fit herself after he died. I wonder why they didn’t show full-length views.
- What would Carrie Bradshaw wear today? This is loads of fun.
- So cool! A mother-daughter flight team!
- Simone de Beauvoir on her wardrobe in 1960. I felt like an anthropologist reading this.
- My personal style is so excited about so many of these fall/winter 2019/2020 trends! Maybe I’ll talk about them in a separate post soon.
- Speaking of fall/winter, the Celine collection is really stunning. Right up my alley, at least.
- Have you seen the Make T Something series? These videos are addictive and just the right amount of silly.
- This. Is. Amazing. Especially the versatility. Do you agree?
- I might be a little bit oji and a little bit French Toast. You?
- So pretty!
OK, see you next week with all our big spring pattern reveal excitement. I can hardly wait!
I’ve got a haircut horror story for you: I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, with long, mid blonde hair. My much older cousin was the hairdresser. I pointed to one of the many photographs that were around the top of the salon walls…. It was a picture of Farrah Fawcett in all her flicked, long hair glory
My cousin set about snipping and combing, and snipping some more. I was getting more and more unsure about what he was doing but was too nervous to ask any questions. Eventually, he was done, and stood back with a flourish of his comb….
He had perfectly recreated the hairstyle of the photo NEXT to Farrah.
And that picture was one of the chubby kid with the bowl haircut from Eight is Enough.
I cried. He felt terrible.
I have no recollection of how the situation was resolved.
Later, I had the Annie Lennox / Grace Jones style flat top, an asymmetrical Bob, various eighties perms, all sorts of colours. All the things you could do with a family of hairdresser’s so long as you learned how to ask more precisely for what you want!
But now? I’ve had a practical ponytail for more than twenty years. How dull. 🙂
Good story, but now we want photos! xoxo
That Japanese style article… “As long as you’re neat and tidy and polite, there’s nothing wrong with being a little boyish.” Argh!! Enough to make a person go full punk.
Ha ha, I didn’t even notice that!
My husband’s oldest brother came home with a David Cassidy shag in the 70s. The middle brother liked it and wanted a similar cut. What’s it called, he asked. A crew cut, said older brother. I will let you imagine the fallout when middle brother came home like a shorn sheep!
Oh, if only Hermes would turn their silk twill scraps into bias tape for home sewers instead of adhesive tape for paper!
When I was in 8th grade, I decided I wanted my ponytail to have a perfectly straight line. I don’t know how or why, I just did. So I started snipping away in the mirror. I was so proud and showed my mom what I’d managed….then she turned me around to see how badly I’d mangled the back. Off to the hairdresser…and a pixie cut. I was pretty devastated. I’ve worn my hair long and plain for most of the past 30 years after, with a couple of forays into shorter hair when it’s seemed easier. I discovered that for my lifestyle, shorter hair is actually higher maintenance than my cut-it-twice-a-year long style.
That bra is interesting…though there is a great sports/nursing bra on the market, there should always be room for more. And the adjustable velcro bit might be really nice for long haul flights where you’d like some relief from a standard bra.
My mom was a hairdresser growing up so I ended up being the guinea pig for whenever she went to a class or convention and had to bring a live model to practice new cuts on. Needless to say, I sported some mighty mature 40s layered mom do’s in elementary school. Hated it. It kinda burned me from all sorts of frilliness from then on. Much to her dismay. Today, though, I go for easy, though I am trying to grow it out with this pregnancy. It’s tough, though. I haven’t had hair longer than my ears in almost 10 years.
My first year of college, my BF and I had mid back long hair, and she decided she wanted a haircut. We went to a famous salon, she had waited weeks for this appointment. I went for moral support. When we walked in she chickened out. The famous stylist (the Oribe of the day), took one look at me and said, “You need Bangs!” I came out looking very much like the above model. I loved it. My boyfriend called it the short and bitchy look and promptly broke up with me.
The following week school started. It was very frigid and I was wearing a navy pea coat. Remember them? I was standing at a board, looking for my name and classes. A fellow tapped me on the back, and said, “Hey, Bob”. When I turned around, he was mortified.
Last short hair cut I ever got. Yup, 30 years with a pony tail, or bun.