The Archives
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09.21.08Sewing Heritage: Stitching Old GloryWe all know (or should, at least) the story of the Betsy Ross Flag, none of us know the story of these ladies and how they came to be sewing American flags at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1909. This photo was taken while the U.S. was still engaged in military action in the Philippines (an extension of the Spanish-American War, although it officially ended in 1902). The Yard was winding down from a huge surge in manufacturing employment due to goods needed by the military, with women engaged in the production of garments and textiles, including the sewing of ...
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09.19.08A Little Late to the Whole Apron ThingBut I guess better late than never. Did y'all know aprons are now cool? And have been for quite some time now? I should have known. I mean, I read both Amy Karol's blog and CraftSanity, both of whom often write about their love of aprons and seem pretty darn cool. So I shoulda known... Anyway, I discovered "the whole apron thing" last week when I realized that I'd managed to get half of our dinner all over myself while I was cooking (Josh usually cooks dinner, but since I have a bit more time on my hands these days, ...
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09.16.08Wear a Dress Week & Another Amy Butler Lotus DressI certainly love the Amy Butler Lotus dress. So much, in fact, that I'd planned on wearing this version in celebration of International Wear a Dress Day/Week. Except, when I got dressed this morning, I decided that I really wanted needed to wear these shoes. Which don't really go with my pink dress. At all. If I didn't happen to have a meeting today and therefore be required to present an illusion of professionalism, I would have just worn the aqua shoes and pink dress and said "to hell with it." So, I pulled out my black stretch twill version (and I've got ...
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08.17.08Pillow FightNot really. But, we were hiding from the miserable heat this weekend (real heat, it was 100+ this weekend) in our air conditioned house and were very very bored. Josh hasn't sewn a whole lot in quite awhile, because he's been preoccupied with printing on fabric, wood and anything else that will hold still (so far, the dog's managed to avoid any customization). Since we've been sitting around watching the Olympics as well as season 5 of The Wire on DVD, we noticed that our couch isn't exactly that cushioned. Nor does it look that cool and/or interesting. In fact, it ...
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08.15.08Oh so pretty…It's settled. One of us is going to have to learn Japanese. Because all of the goodies that we keep finding at Kinokuniya are getting a bit out of control. This time, and innocent trip to Uwajimaya has resulted in quite the find -- The Pretty Bag Collection. I have such a weakness for bag-making, as you've probably noticed (it's funny, too, because I have only been making bags for a year or so). And this book has some really awesome projects. It's, like many of the Japanese sewing books, brokenn down into thematic sections, this time by fabric type: Silk ...
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08.05.08Breakthrough!Not only do we have a functional computer again (Public Service Announcement: don't fill your Mac hard drive beyond 70% capacity; just ask Josh & I what happens), but I also managed to let go of some slightly obnoxious perfectionist tendencies I have with regard to sewing. Yep, on my latest project, I had a significant bobbin malfunction (it happens to the best of us, right?) and had some bobbin stitches---yes, the stitches no one really sees---go wonky. And I took a deep breath, fixed what I could, and moved on with life. And, you know what? It looked just find. Kind of ...
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07.08.08Feelin’ StitchyIn my last post, I mentioned that I'm planning on making another Burda shirt for Josh---this time with a bit of monkey embroidery... I usually farm out my embroidery needs to my mom, who's amazing, but since this is a shirt for Josh, I'm thinking that I should do it myself. To give myself a bit of practice (Mom taught me, but she's kind of, er, fanatical about stitch evenness and embroidery perfection, so I've never embraced the craft with a lot of zeal as a result), I'm doing some embroidery on an Amy Butler Lotus Dress (this is my ...
recent posts
- Sewing Heritage: More Stitching Up Old Glory
- Train-Inspired Screen Print
- Sewing Heritage: Stitching Old Glory
- A Little Late to the Whole Apron Thing
- Wear a Dress Week & Another Amy Butler Lotus Dress
- Run With It
- Sewing Heritage: Women, Sewing & the WPA
