Down the Retro Rabbit Hole

Pattern Pyramid Giveaway Winner!

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~~Using the magical powers of Random.org, the winner is.... (drumroll please)~~

~~KAT!~~

~~Kat, you didn't leave me an email so if you could please leave your email in the comments (I'll delete it when I've contacted you), I'll gladly get in touch.~~

ETA: Kat, I wanted over a week for you to contact me. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how one looks at it, I had to redraw. The winner, via Random.org, is.... (drumroll please)...

HOUSE OF PINHEIRO!

Please check your email for a message. I need your mailing deets!

The Jacket: In Memorium

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com Friends, it is Fall here in Philly. I desperately love Fall--the colors, the crisp air, Halloween, apple cider! Fall clothing has always been my favorite--the tall boots, the scarves, sweaters, fingerless mittens/gauntlets... and jackets. Oh God how I love the fall jacket!

I wanted to sew a jacket but am really hesitant to do so. But not for the reasons you'd think. You see... I'm moving to Florida--Miami to be exact--at the end of November. Research shows me that Miami in the fall is roughly in the 80s and winters are in the 70s.

That's pretty hot, friends.

Further discussion with my sister who lives in North Carolina, confirms that anyone south of Pennsylvania rarely wears jackets as she pretty much told me, "Um... yeah. When I get cold, I put on a long sleeve shirt and a sweater and usually end up taking the sweater off."

I'm trying to fathom a world in which I cannot sport sporty fall jackets, boots, and scarves.

Friends... these are the jackets I hereby mourn. (FWIW--these are all patterns I currently have at my disposal).

Simplicity 2508

I really liked the mid-thigh version of this with collar B and three button sleeves (top left image). It seemed very girly and 1960s Audrey Hepburn. I imagined making it in a creamy white (I so love "winter" whites) or maybe a Fall appropriate color like burnt orange or a brown plaid.

McCalls 5525

I really liked version B of this one. This is also one that say's Audrey Hepburn to me and I freely acknowledge that this is a slightly girlier version the Simplicity pattern. If I made this one, I'd probably make it a girly color. I hesitate to say pink because I'm not *really* a pink kind of girl. Maybe a soft dove-gray with dark pink accents? The longer version appeals to me as a trench coat as well...

Folkwear 133: Belgian Military Chef's Jacket

I'm on the fence about this jacket. It's an interesting shape, especially that little "tail" in the back. Shape wise, however, it reads a little 1980s to me.

These next two are from Burdastyle and are basically the same shape and style: Military. I really love the military look. I wold make these in either a smokey, chocolate-y gray or a drab olive. These two are both all about the sleeves and buttons.

BurdaStyle--Hikaru

BurdaStyle--Military Jacket

And finally, a few winter coats. I love a swingy, elegant winter jacket. I suspect they are a thing of my past. You have no idea how much this makes me sad and how deeply I mourn the loss of the winter jacket.

Burdastyle--Talea

BurdaStyle--Boatneck Coat

BurdaStyle--Fitted Coat with Belt

I really like the little details--the shoulders on the first, the neck on the second, and the sleeves on the third--on these patterns. They make something mundane a bit more extraordinary. Some of these details are similar to the ones in Grethchen Hirsch of Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing has a new coat pattern for Butterick:

I'm not super in love with Gerti's pattern but my sister is. She lives in Central NY. She may be getting a coat for Christmas next year.

I'm at a loss, frankly, what to sew for Miami. Suggestions are welcome. And also... anyone sewing a jacket? Want to share your tips, tricks, and general experience?

Shabby Apple Giveaway: A Dress a Month FOR A YEAR??!!

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com A little short on time to sew? Want to supplement some of your own gorgeous self-made items with a few classy and vintage-y pieces? How about winning a dress a month from Shabby Apple? With gorgeous offerings like these, I've gladly signed up!

Decadence (via Shabby Apple)

Estate (via Shabby Apple)

One for My Baby (via Shabby Apple

Anamalia (via Shabby Apple)

After Class (via Shabby Apple)

Bampton (via Shabby Apple)

Oh Hi! Welcome Back... Won't You Take Part in a Pattern Pyramid Giveaway?

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com So basically what it boils down to, friends, is that I'm a bad blogger who lets life get in the way. Between the Impending Move of Doom and an unexpected expected two week Hiatus from Life due to the birth of my niece Alanah Claire (ohmygodthecuteness!), I've failed.

And did I mention that my sewing machine's timing is off? (But being the savvy girl about the webnets that I am, I think I can fix that).

But I'm back! With a giveaway.

Did you guys hear about Did You Make That's brilliant idea for a pattern pyramid giveaway? If not, here's the lowdown direct--aka The Rules--direct from her blog.

THE RULES

Anyone, anywhere can enter the giveaway by posting a comment below by midnight GMT Thursday, October 18th. BUT you must have an active blog. (Reasons to become obvious.)
I will randomly select one winner.
I will post a selection patterns and/or Burda magazines to the winner, along with a generous number of hand woven labels to be sewn into anything made from one of these patterns.
The winner will pick one pattern to keep for themselves, then host their own giveaway. They will randomly select a winner, post the remaining patterns to that Person C. Person C will pick a pattern for themselves, host their own giveaway and post the remaining patterns to the winner, Person D. Person D will…

There you have it. If you win, Karen asks the following:

If you’re a winner, I would love it if you could make a small contribution to The Brooke. This is a charity close to the heart of Catherine, who so generously provided these patterns.

This is the pattern I chose. I'm moving to Miami, FL in two months (yikes!) where it's 86 on any given day recently and yet I chose a jacket. I really love the double rows of buttons and am desperately hoping that 70 feels cold some day:

And these are the ones up for grabs. I like the blouse all the way to the right--and almost kept it as I could totally imagine it done up in a gauzy, summery fabric with maybe a bit of lovely embroidery around the edges.

So here's what you do: leave a comment below. PLEASE... include an email by which I may contact you if you win. I'll keep this contest open for the next two weeks (that's November 18th). I'll announce the winner.

I hope that my absence hasn't chased you away, dear reader friends. Please stay tuned, I promise I've got stuff in the works!

Where Abouts

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Hello friends,

Things are hectic over here. We've started to get seriously about moving to Miami. I think we finally found a realtor we can work with and are getting quotes form moving companies. Next step: packing all of our stuff into boxes. *Sigh* We have far too many books.

I have two movies I would like to review in the near future: Total Recall and The Artist. Keep your eyes open for the reviews!

I've been writing like a madwoman in an attempt to get a short story completed and edited for an anthology submission. Cross your fingers for me it gets accepted!

I've also decided to take on my first commissioned sewing client. I'd really like to build a part-time business in commission sewing (as part of the larger pipe dream of some day owning my own sewing store/studio) so cross your fingers for me on this one too!

My machine recently decided to... not cooperate. For more info about that and to see what I'm working on these final days of summer, go check out my blog post on Cation Designs!

Market Research

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com Good day friends!

Recently a friend and former sorority sister contacted me and asked if I did commission-based sewing. The simple answer is "No" but only because I've never had the opportunity to do so. Sure, I've sewn a few items for my pregnant sister (who found the clothing options available to pregnant women to be either too expensive or too meh). But I've never sewn for others for money.

And I'm considering--very carefully--starting to do so.

This is a scary prospect. On the one hand, it would be AMAZING to earn some extra (heck, any) cash doing something I really love. On the other, I'm not certain I feel qualified to produce garments for people other than myself or immediate family. I have faith in my skills, but am worried that the little (and I mean tiny--you know, like that one tiny spot on a seam where the line of stitches isn't *quite* straight) quirks of a home sewn garment that I can force myself to let go of may result in a pissed-off customer and a bridge burned.

In the end, what I told this friend was I would do some research. She sent me a picture of the dress she likes--it's a one-sleeved dress that appears to be made out of some kind of jersey knit fabric. We discussed how she'd like the dress to fit (less "blousey" and more like a sheath dress). I ended up having to run (to pick up my poor, poor Tai Tai who went in for a routine dental and ended up requiring a five-tooth extraction--which is not unusual for a cat of his breed and age) but told her that as I'm not comfortable drafting patterns yet (I've only done it a handful of times for myself), I'd see if I could dig up some possible patterns that we could work with.

Here's what I'm thinking: IF I'm able to find a pattern that I'm comfortable working with and she likes, I may move forward with this endeavor. I think I'd ask her to buy the pattern and fabric, but would provide links to both, and have her ship it to me (she lives across the country). The part I'm not totally certain about, is what to charge for the labor. I'm inclined to charge her an hourly rate plus whatever it causes me to ship the finished product to her. That being said, I haven't really said yes to this project either, as it is incredibly daunting.

So here's my question: have any of you ever sewn on commission? If so, how do you figure your final price? Do you do a per hour price or something different? Any good links to discussions of this topic? If you were in my position, friends, what would you do?

Sewing With Cats Blog Award!

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Cindy over at Cation Designs came up with, and nominated me for the Sewing With Cats Blog Award. Cindy is "adorkable"... no, BEYOND adorkable as she's also geektastic. Seriously, go check out her Star Wars dress, awesome Star Wars and LOTR snowflakes, and her Superman dress. Her love of all things geek make her a goddess in my book! AND HER CAT'S. OMGHERCATS! Walnut is a big ball for furry fur that I just want to snuggle into little bits.

But on to the award...

When did you acquire your helpful feline assistant? Was he/she immediately helpful, or did it take awhile? What is the average amount of time elapsed between when you start a project and when something gets helped with?
Lets see.... I've had Tai Tai for about ~~eight~~ holy bejesus 10 years (!) now and Pretty Kitty for... five? Six? Maybe seven? Sadly, neither one of them takes any great interest in "helping" with sewing. They're more of the "sleeping or lurking in the eaves/under a piece of furniture variety of cat. Though Tai has taken to getting up in Mr. Retro's lap and slinking his way across the desk to my table (his desk is directly across from my sewing table) to check out the up-and-down motion of the sewing needle. It freaks Mr. Retro out something FIERCE.

This is where and how one finds the cats most of the day most days.

Believe it or not, the cat PUTS himself under the blankets!
He's ridiculously snuggly and oh so ridiculous!

This picture doesn't do her much justice--she's a very beautiful cat! But oh-so-fat! We've taken to calling her "Mama Cats" after the Mamas and the Papas singer, Mama Cass--which is NOT an insult as I kinda love The Mamas and the Papas (their most famous song is "California Dramin'.")

What is your helpful feline assistant's favorite/weirdest thing to assist with?

Both my cats love--and I mean LOVE--fresh laundry. I swear they can smell it the minute it exits the dryer, which is on the first floor of our apartment complex. Our apartment is on the third floor. Frequently Tai will meet me at the door, yowling in his rusty Siamese voice about the clean laundry and, the minute I dump it on the bed, dives into and under the pile. He grouses quite loudly when I extract him--he actually GROWLS at me! Pretty meanwhile, likes to sleep on top of freshly laundered fabrics if I neglect to put them immediately away. And, as she is a shedder SUPREME (seriously, I vacuum up a litter of kittens EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.), this usually requires another laundering post sleep.

This is kinda a dark and terribly taken picture but, well, you get the picture!

How do you decline said assistance without losing your arm?

Tai is a big lovebug lush who, if he does insist on helping, is easily scooped up and deposited elsewhere. He's all meow and no scratch really. Pretty, she's scared of rapid movements so it' usually just takes a wild flapping of the hands to get her to remove her corpulent body elsewhere.

Yes, she is THAT fat. No, I do not over feed her. My darling mother--whom I love more than the stars and the sun--however, did over feed her the year that I was abroad. She's on a diet. However, Pretty spends most of her days hiding under the bed or in the eaves of our apartment so... yeah. This cat, despite her considerable girth, can jump from the ground UP AND OVER a queen-sized mattress turned on its side WITHOUT TOUCHING THE MATTRESS when so compelled (which is to say when she's sacred out of her wits). She can also jump from the beams across the ceiling in my mother's house to the floor and scamper off if so compelled (again, if scared out of her wits). She's kinda like a sumo wrestler--big and bulky but very athletic!

But seriously! Look at that face!

What's the worst thing your helpful feline assistant has managed to botch up? I'm imagining shredded chiffon, snagged silks, etc.

Hmmm.... well, cat hair is impossible to get out of wool and torn patterns (on a rare occasion) are a real pain in the butt.

Tai loves the sun...

...but not Mr. Retro's guitar playing or singing!

Are you ever afraid to post too many pictures of your helpful feline assistant on your blog, for fear of being labeled a crazy cat lady?

Two cats does not a crazy cat lady make! Let the picture posting commence!

This is a TERRIBLE picture of Tai and I being goofy. Okay... I'M being goofy and the cat's being freaked out!

Baby Girl--she's so pretty!

This is a HORRIBLE picture of Tai (his blue eyes often go all red-eye even without the flash) but needed to be included! We call this his "safety box"--it just hangs out by the table. He frequently goes and sits in it and sometimes digs at the corners.

Everyone loves the sun around here...

Being goofy and kittenish! It took her a solid year, year and a half before she had the confidence and guts to come out of hiding and just hang out.

Okay... apparently I lied. Tai likes to help me tape patterns together... clearly he holds them down while I tape!

Cat's in the box! Imagine that...

Hello warm thing!

We call this the "Bubby Bed"... every single night, the cat MUST have MY pillows--not the boy's pillows--laid out just like this so he can sleep. On top of my head, nonetheless. If the pillows aren't laid out for him, he paws at my head until I make it so.