Hello friends!
S and I had such a wonderful trip to Belgium last week! It’s so much more fun to travel when you can spend time with friends, and we really loved catching up with Giulia (who used to work with us in New York) and her husband and three sons. They live in an incredibly charming old home near the center of Brussels, and we were able to take day trips to Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp during our stay. S loved Bruges, especially, and wants to live there. I wouldn’t mind it, myself!
Pinterest Picks
I like this idea for our new Gelato pattern. And check out this fantastic fabric, which would be adorable for it.
I love this color for our Gallery Tunic. Wouldn’t it be pretty in linen? Also, you could make these cropped trousers (some people call them culottes, but to me culottes are fuller and more skirt-like) with our Hollywood Trousers pattern.
In the fun/inspirational category, I love this adorable bunny cosmetic case! And also this cool tote bag, which has a nice literary/typographic bent to it and might be fun to try making.
You could make similar dresses to these using our Oliver + S Library Dress pattern. And add a ruffle to our Field Trip Raglan for a similar look to this darling nautical outfit.
What a great idea to use a floral fabric for the collar and a solid linen for the body of a little girl’s dress! You could make both of these dresses using our Building Block Dress book, of course.
Weekend Reading
- This made me laugh: Taylor Swift’s clothing and the redactions in the Mueller report.
- Have you wondered about the sustainability of leather vs. vegan leather? I certainly have.
- A friend recently asked me to make her wedding dress. I’m debating whether I have time, but when I think about the details I get worried that I don’t! Have you sewn a wedding dress? And if so, how much time would you estimate that it took you?
- I really enjoy the writing of New York Times fashion journalist Vanessa Friedman, and this piece on fibers that attract microbes is no exception.
- Speaking of sustainability, is fashion becoming (or will it become) more earth friendly soon?
- In my own little microcosm of the green world, I’m scheming my balcony gardens. Definitely planting basil with the oregano this year.
OK, gotta run! We’re doing testing on a new, soon-to-be-announced initiative, and I still have to start developing patterns for next fall in the middle of everything. Definitely a sewing weekend. But stay tuned because we have lots of great blog posts planned for next week! So much to show you. Have a great weekend!
I made my first wedding dress when I was a seventeen year old bride (in 1957). It was lace over taffeta with a v-neck and three quarter length sleeve, embroidered with pearls and took me about five months (I was still in high school). Then I helped make my sister’s wedding suit in 1963. Fast forward a few years and my son’s fiance didn’t want to wear her sister’s dress so I agreed to make one for her, heavy satin with a fifteen inch gathered flounce. I was working full time and it took me about 2 months but except for that dratted flounce the pattern was relatively simple. My daughter came next. She chose a heavy moire fabric and I designed and made a dress suited to her body type. I hand sewed string pearls (faux) along each seam and we purchased a bodice overlay for the upper bodice. Fast forward a few years and a failed marriage and I made my daughter another dress for her next wedding. It was two piece, a textured satiny material and I used my embroidery machine for the neckline and hems. None of these dresses were strapless, thank goodness, and we didn’t use uber-expensive fabrics. I’d hesitate to make some of the strapless, revealing, dresses girls are wearing now because they seem to be extra labor intensive.
Hi Liesl! I sewed my daughter’s wedding dress last Spring and it took about 70 hours. Great work on your new patterns! 🙂
My mom and I made my au-pair’s wedding dress years ago. I hand beaded the lace between patients (I’m a pediatrician) and at swim meets.
When it came time to hem it, my mom and I split the volume in half and both started hand sewing the hem. It was beautiful. Probably took over 200 hours, the majority being done by my mom who was a very accomplished seamstress.
I think it depends a lot on the pattern, the finishing details, etc.
I’m not a fan of fake leather. I did get to recently see some mycelium leather, it was interesting, an un-dyed brownish hat.
I buy leather shoes, gloves, belts and handbags. And no, I don’t feel guilty. I ate the cow, I wear the leather. No fake bag has ever lasted. What‘s really cool, I have only 3 hand bags. When I wear them out, I give them to my son who recycles them into smaller bags and accessories. My husband uses small flip notebooks in the field. The cardboard covers don’t hold up. As a team, we designed a used leather and scrap linen cover for his flip book. The leather was from an old handbag, and the linen from a leftover scrap from an apron. It works great. I bought a fake leather purse once. It cracked and was useless in less than six months. My bags have to last 3 years. I’m currently using some leather scraps as holders on the opposite ends from the zipper pull on some Dopp kits.
I love the bunny Dopp kit, I gotta make a kitty now. My son and I have been making mini organizers for our travel bags. Now if only I could come up with a use for those formal gowns still hanging in the closet….
Can’t wait to try my new pattern, breezy.
I made my wedding dress in 1977, full skirt with deep ruffles, long full sleeves with big cuffs and many buttons. The pointed bodice had chunky lace over the satin and laced up with blue ribbon. Laura Ashley pattern I think. Made my husband’s shirt with full sleeves and a huge collar from the same fabric. Outdoors, hippy, you get it… it took several months of sewing during my last semester of college. The real sentimental story: a few years ago my daughter (too tall for the dress which had survived many years in her dress up trunk) took a seam ripper and removed one of those deep lace covered buttoned cuffs and had a florist design her wedding bouquet in it!