Moving On Up

Hi!

You can find me at my new site: Seam Clothing

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm a Star!

Don't you have a moment you wish could last forever? This is mine. I'm singing and dancing, I'm with friends, I have backup dancers and I'm wearing my favorite dress.

New Year's Dress for the New Year

Rosh Hashanah is a good time for this picture of my New Year's Eve dress a few years ago. The fabric looks very shiny in the photo.

Christmas in September

This year I'm going to be prepared for holiday parties! Last year, I bought a piece of fabric at Britex for my office holiday party dress. I flew home and started sewing at noon, barely finishing the hem in time for the event at the Prado! Just in time to take a cute pic with my buddy & deskmate Jeff, too!

Fall Cleaning - Bah!

See this dress? I have to pack it away. Boo! My summer wardrobe of goofy bright dresses makes me happier than pants that gauge my fitness level and sweaters that drown me! Who needs a change of season anyway?

TV Fashion, Part 3

Hal always looks nice! I like his purple here.

End of an Era

I promise. No more 60's dresses.

Sock it to Me!

This dress is so Laugh-In. I might've well as had brunch with Arte Johnson. I'm going to exercise restraint in my crazy prints this fall.

Girlfriends

Where would you be without your buddies? Design work is bringing me closer to my supercool girlfriends under the universal need to have something cute to wear.

Off to see the Wizard

Wiz keeps us all in chocolate at work. I like this chocolate brown tropical print on the dress. I bought it at Alen's Fabrics in LA, one of the few garment district stores which is run more like a retail shop than a wholesaler. The owners are really friendly and they do business online, too. http://www.alensfabricinc.com/

Muumuu for the hot mama!

This fabric came from the store near Lestat's! It's really crazy, myopia-inducing stuff. But it looks pretty on Erin!

Breathing Room

One of the biggest problems for any sewist is finding cutting space. I have a great table that's not so great when it comes to single fold or bias cuts. Paul let me use his workshop for cutting fabric amidst the heavy machinery. It's in the back of the Guild restaurant (you can see the white strip of lights). And make sure you check out the food sometime! Thanks Paul!

Odissi Dancer

Here's the background:

The Odissi dance is an attempt to attain a higher level of realization also called as Moksha. In Moksha the dancer tries to merge with the divine force in a state of total ecstasy. The dance brings the dancer closer to God and provides the ultimate bliss.

I don't know about bliss but she definitely made some ultimate achievements with eyeliner.
The dancers' costumes were gorgeous.

Two lips for tulips

I will give big kisses to the person who can find this combination of pink and orange for my redecorating plans!

A little something on the side

I'll be making and selling Halloween costumes this year! Any requests?

Office Space

Michael's desk used to be messy like this but totally unloved. I redecorated for him with some baseball fabric (he's a Cubs fan), a new plant (he named it Tangie) and a name sign from the fair.

Happy!

Birds of a Feather

Need to stick together unless they want to get their butts kicked while wearing costumes like these.

Ehweh Buuh!

The central library has a really strange exhibit of the Burr-Hamilton duel right now. (The duel, which of course you know, happened in 1804 between Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and Vice President Aaron Burr. Hamilton died from the gunshot wound.) The statues are about 5'6". I'm not sure if the men were that size but this reminds me that people used to be much smaller. And last year, I was also much smaller. So I either have to sew or jog if I want to have something to wear once it cools off!

TV Fashion, Part 2

Here's what everyone is wearing today!

Shiny suit, shiny personality! I love this shade of pink on Lee Ann.
It always surprises people who come to visit the station when they see the reporters wearing suits and almost everyone else in jeans and shorts (like Matt in Post)!

More pink on Elsa! She has the best shirts.

Amy wouldn't let me photograph her outfit but she loves her shoes!

Fulvio Fashionista

Who's this pretty girl? This is a bridal gift!


I also broke the 'no hat' rule and made a matching hat from the gift bows.

Long time, no sew

It's been a while since I've seen some of you. You can blame the new sewing machine! I just bought it and it cost more than my first car. I love the sewing machine but I wouldn't mind another go behind the wheel of the Pimpmobile, a 1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88. It was the longest car I've ever seen and it was a two-door. But loaded! Cassette player, sunroof, very powerful engine, burgundy paint with a red plush interior. Easily seated 7. You pulled the rear license plate forward to access the gas tank. It was already a bit battered and bruised, all the better for nicking a few mailboxes driving down A1A on the island.

The new machine sews like buttah! It has bells and whistles I don't even know about. It's not the Cadillac of machines but it's definitely one of the mid-range Beemers.

Reminder: My birthday is coming up!

Can't you see Liz Taylor wearing this necklace? It might be hers. She was one of the people who loaned her collection to a Cartier/Lalique exhibit of Art Nouveau jewelry at the Legion of Honor in June. It was really beautiful!

Halloween, Pt. 1

The new costume patterns are already being released. I like this creepy monkey but you'd have to buy your baby a little drum.

TV Fashion, Part 1

No helmet hair for this reporter! I really like her necklace and jacket.

Ooh.

This looks cool. Here's the description:
German artist Felix Schramm creates the illusion of architecture gone awry. Made from drywall, paint, steel frames, and wood, his site-specific installations resemble the aftermath of disaster inside the gallery, where the delineations between the work and the institution's architecture are difficult to discern. His twisted, splintered fragments of structural forms — walls, ceilings, floors — burst from the building's framework at dramatic angles, producing large-scale works that seem at once threatening and fragile. For his installment in SFMOMA's ongoing New Work series, Schramm presents a new piece that continues his pursuit of achieving balance between chaos and order, the particular and the universal, and offers visitors an experience of physical tension in the gallery.

When in Tiki, does as the Tikians do

This photo is from Forbidden Island, the most spectacular tiki bar in the world! The visit to Alameda called for a special occasion dress. This one was made from a Vogue pattern. Thanks to Darrell & Ravena for driving me back over the bridge after a couple of Mai Tais!

What's your name, who's your daddy?

We were wandering around Park West after breakfast one morning when we spotted this building. San Diego architecture has a very 60's feel to it.

Where the Turf meets the hats

Opening Day at Del Mar is Wednesday! I made these hats. I learned a lesson: don't make hats. Ever. But go to the track, for sure. Bet on the ponies.

All the President's Dresses

I love DVD commentaries and this is one of the coolest I've heard in a long time. Robert Redford talks about how he became part of the movie. Apparently he was on a train in Florida, and heard some politicians mention how big the Watergate break-in was going to become. He contacted Woodward & Bernstein before Nixon was out of office. It's easy to misplace movies in history. It's also easy to misplace your decades and sew a dress that's more 1965 than 1974. (The shoes would be adorable in any era.)

Carpe Summer

I have too many pastels in my stash and summer is winding down! If you have a birthday coming up, beware. Your gift may be pink.

Knock on Melamine

Isn't my sewing table cool? (And messy?) For months, I cut on my carpet until one day I buckled. Clearance patio tables, the kind with the slats, were piled near the as-is section at IKEA so I bought one. The decision has probably saved me a fortune in chiropractor fees. The melamine sheet covering the tabletop was about $10 at Home Depot. Sewing table, $50! Of course, it's as big as my apartment.

Cleaning house

This pattern was released for about a month before it was sent to Vogue's out-of-print graveyard. Was this some Project Runway challenge that someone thought would make it to the proms of America?

This dog looks humiliated!

This is sewing for evil and not for good!

Interior Decorating

I'd love to have this inside my apartment! Maybe not full-size. Just part of it that I could use as a headboard or a room divider. The bright colors are awesome. MoMA won't let me borrow it, though.

Summer Coats

San Diego is the desert - hot all day and freezing at night! I like these girly coats and I'm looking for patterns to duplicate them. The one on the bottom is Trina Turk. I saw it at Nordstrom and it's just as bright on the rack.

For Seamstars...

Welcome to my new blog! It's designed to show what I've been sewing and my inspiration for new projects. I welcome your comments and photos.