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EOM Gnaoua MFes: BWOF 05-2008-121

SHE SAID, " I haven't been this excited since Gucci became a public traded company!"

-Elle, Legally Blonde 2

So how was your weekend?

I still have no progress on sewing my collection, that is why I am glad I have a few things that I haven't shown you guys as yet so my blog won't be at a complete stand still.

First a little refresher.

This dress is so comfortable. I decided to make mines shorter because I hardly wear long dresses. I omitted the wrap feature as tany did. I made the tie-band shorter, so they don't wrap around the back, just come towards the front.

When I looked at the waistband pattern of the dress, i couldn't figure out where to eliminate the extra width. So I just used my own measurements, matched the upper bodice to the waistband and adjusted it so it can fit.

I used Sigrid's technique for the neckband and sleeve bands and here is the result

and another one

and one more

Here is to starting off the week right... more later

What I love now Part 4: New knits and Harper's Bazaar Rules of the season

So... I got my August issue of HB today,, lots to comment on, but my bathroom needs some special attention, so no long post today,, however, I wanted to touch on a few things of interest

They have an article in the back,,, 179 to be exact called "The Rules of the season, the hottest trends and how to make them work for you"..... really?

1. Look for lace and texture- Yawn! Isn't fall about sewing with more textured fabric.. moving on
2. Pick up Prints, artistic swirls and colorful floral and flourishes- I am always on a print kick,,, next.
3. Paint it Bold, a boost of cherry red or another vivid hue will enliven you look- Hmm,, well I did notice that a few of the designers did add a summer color in the mist of all the dark colors for fall into winter.
4. Add Elegant Extrassuch a bowed Clutch- How original? How do I get this job, someone is getting paid for enlightening us with these unbelievable ideas, lol.
5. Bag a big Bag- You mean to say, you have to tell us we need a big bag,, how long as the big bag trend been going on?
6. Pile on Extras- No.... you mean layering,,, jewelry,, STOP, this is to much for my brain to take in at once.
7. Reach new Heights- Honey,, there is a difference between heels and stilts, and I don't want to become crippled because of Fashion
8. Go for Playful Topper- Apparently they are urging us to go with a likely color, like, I don't know, Fuchsia, yellow,, keep it short, playful design,, something like that.
9. Go Bright for the night- No more LBD people,,, the little black dress is sooooo retro!
10. Get back to basics- You can't wear a black dress BUT there is still hope! You can wear a black or white suit,, GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT HB!
11. Say it with Silk- say what with silk? Not everyone lives the glamorous life, some of us is fine with wool blends in the fall thank you very much.

Before I go,, I got my order from Fabric mart this afternoon

This one is has a crepe texture and it will be used for B5206

and this one,, which feels even more creamier is for V8489

this is my favorite of the two because the white is a winter white, not a summer white, with the black and red for fall, is right up my alley

more later

What I love now Part 3: Batiks and Oscar de la Renta's approach

Today was "the audit"....

I cruised into work, looking very preppy.....I wore my bwof dress, a strand of pearls and matching bracelet, plain black stilettos and 40 mins of well constructed makeup, I think my liquid eyeliner was the best I've seen in months, lol.

When I walked into the office, "T" had on a navy blue version of this jacket in a tropical wool, with a pencil skirt, cream tie front jersey top inside, and her shoes were round front navy blue and cream big polka dots heels........I had to quickly compliment her,,, had to do something with my mouth seeing that my jaw was dropped,, awestruck by how perfectly those cream dots matched with her blouse. 

"B" my other coworker, had on a navy blue shirt dress with godets and muted gold heels, the color of the shoes looked like a taupe that had ultra fine dust in it, like something you imagine, but never really think you'll ever fine it.... and that was the tip of the iceberg.

Driving home, I thought about every compliment I paid and received today, and I wondered again to myself,, when did my office become such the hub for fashion?

Have I been so caught up in a blogland bubble that I haven't notice fashions under my own nose?

it still is amazing to me.... I may have to start taking notes, lol.

moving on,,,thanks for commenting yesterday, I feel like it came of as a rant but its not, I'm like an anthropologist in my head, so you may see sporadic post like these.

Another piece of Fabric to share

this one came as no surprise, its like a celebration of color and seeing that "the designers" did tie dyes and batik looks on the run way, I knew Mom would have had to get in on that action. This is another piece that I want to frame, the dye job on the chiffon is so beautiful, so incredibly fascinating.... I will never sew this up, I can't bear to ruin it, lol.

Hmmm... lets talk Oscar shall we.

What is my allure to the Oscar de la Renta fall offering?

The Palette

there you go,,, again, the absense of a true navy,, but strong signs for grey and green.

I am so infatuated with this collection and not in an I love the clothing for my own closet kind of way but in a, if i can get a whole of them to inspect the insides and make notes,,, that would be so great,,, one.

Where to begin.....His coats, Putting the color aside, I find myself drawn to this neckline,, a double concept, two necklines, so you get to wear a round neck but you get the framing from the outer collar, Genius. Pure Genius

and look at this one, a mandarin engulfed by a standing collar, even the details on the coat makes it look like two jackets in one. This is the type of things that make me daydream. I wonder if this look will ever make it to a pattern company or are they in heavy production trying to get one out there as I type these words. I wonder if this is only something done by the masters or can it be distributed for mass onsumption, I would love to get instructions for this jacket, just to have it.

To begin, the use of this summery yellow in a fall palette totally shocked me. Apart from that I notice the gathered back detail. Back details such as buttons, exposed zippers, draping etc is becoming more prominent, leading me to think...

is the back becoming the new point of interest like the sleeve did from last year into this one?

The next feature of de la Renta's collection and Micheal Kors is the fabric belt with big square buckle. This is definitely a trend.

I've never made a fabric belt before and I don't know how but I feel like the tailored simplicity of a few fall dresses may require that I learn. I think this look is so neat,, so chic especially if done correctly.

The shirred border skirt...

BWOF did a trench coat this year that showcased this look,,, and as always, they stay on top of the trends, I think a skirt will be very flattering in the design,,, note to self, lol.

The lines of this dress reminds me of this one and as I said before, I was on the fence with getting it, but I know see that this dress is a must for fall

I was thinking, this is such an Audrey Hepburn LBD look, with little bow and all.

On the topic of LBD....

gosh, the fabric on this thing is divine.. simply speaking. Textures has always been huge for fall but the right type of fabric to get this look can cost a grip. I think this is a dream dress there is no words for it.

Glammed up Cardigans and Tuxedo shirts

I think this tuxedo shirt need a standing ovation, what a great concept, it looks like basket weaving or something close. This is something I would think BWOF would do, gosh,, if they could, that would be sweet. I am a basic cardigan girl, black,,, black,, black, totally boring, I think I have an argyle one in celery green, I was feeling frisky the day I got it, lol. I am captivated by this and will be looking out for something similar once the looks start to trickle down to the regular affordable stores.

and last but not least,, these two jackets.

this is why I say, I wish I can get a hold of this collection to go over every detail, this suit, is phenomenal, its the details I am in love with. The stripe band with fringing is so on point,,,how it goes up the neckline, the hidden closures which seems,, very appropriate for this style, how do they come up with these things. The first one has buttons and the fringing is emphasizing and defining the shape which I talked about before,, love,,, love this.

gosh, more later....

EOM Jetset: Jalie 2806

I guess I brought it upon myself......

I don't think I dress a certain way for work, I just put on clothes, look in the mirror and if it looks good, its a go and if it look like its lacking something, I tweak it.. you know?

But apparently I do,, because when I got to work this morning, one of my coworkers asked me if I was feeling okay,,,, I was like,, "yea" and she was like, you haven't been looking like yourself lately,,,, well, I guess I've been really tired lately but nothing much to talk about,,, she looked at me incredulously,, up and down,,, and said,, "okay then"...

When it happened the second time, I was kind of intrigued

I don't think this looked that bad?

I mean, they did say casual for the day before the audit, I mean, this is casual,,,, IMO.

The third person, commented on my shoes, we talked about shoes for a while,, as in, what will be hot for fall from what I saw in the magazines, then the question came up again... "are you okay, you look kinda pale?".... "it may be the black" I said,,, "no,, its something though",,, did she mean pale, or plain,,, hmm,,

I did notice that "the office" as turned into a scene from the Devil wears Prada, when I first started there, everyone wore jeans and tees or a shirt and now its like,,,, "is this new?", every few days".

I find this interesting, peer pressure maybe?

I can say, that compared to most, I was severely underdressed, Oh well, take it or leave it, lol

oh,, and about the top, well, its easy, I added a little more ease to the arms and hip because the measurements didn't match up with mines on the flat pattern. The fabric I used is way to light, so the top doesn't have enough body, so I may just where this a couple times more and way it home after that. I was supposed to make the tulip sleeves but changed my mind when after a first attempt the sleeve flounced out like an umbrella, I guess this pattern is not suitable for light weight 4 way stretch jersey.

I need to get back in the game, need to do some work on my collection,, positive affirmations!!!

more tomorrow

What I love now Part 2: Fabrics from Home and Micheal Kors details

so what do we have now....

well, I got some fabrics from Trinidad, my mom brought up like 5 pieces for me. I think the story went something like, whenever someone asked what I wanted she would say, all I want these days is Fabric,,, done!

First up... some crepe chiffon

with specific directions to be worn with some seriously bold turquoise jewelry. This is not the kind of fabric I will seek out, but when I tell you, that blue just draws you in, you won't believe me unless you see it in person. It has a designer edge about it, like vogue magazine, out of this world, fashion fabric. I want a simple long dress, I just have to find a pattern.

Next one... Black embroidery linen

She said, this reminds me of you..... hmm,,, is it total gemini bipolar-ness, serious but whimsical or seriously elegant and sweet (fingers crossed)? lol

This will make a great black dress... Yes I concur!

I really don't mind my mom acting as personal fabric shopper because she has a good eye for quality, to bad she refuse to sew anymore.

I will post a few more as the week goes by.

Other things on my mind

I'm still not on the Fall campaign as yet, I'm seeing a lot of things but no plans are concrete, just lurking, admiring, etc

Last week I was checking out Micheal Kors for Fall and these are some things I took mental notes of.

1. A fall palette without Navy but heavy on on the greys and greens.

2. Shape defining dresses with seam lines for more emphasis

interesting....

3. Incase Tie bands

BWOF started doing this in their May and June issues,,,, interesting!

4. Raglan Capped Sleeves and Big Glass Buttons

Simplicity did a few raglan short sleeve tops and dress for summer, here it is going into fall and remember this, note to self, seek out glass buttons for jacket at MJ Trimming next month. And for the record, if I wear to make that dress, I would try to get the belt more centered between the buttons because that just doesn't look right to me.

5. Silk chiffon that looks like textured fabric, ie tweed.

okay,,, Maybe California in the Fall, chiffon,, in Philly, in the fall,,, I really can't see how, but I guess under a wool jacket it will work,, then again, I take that back, I have seen some really crazy things here. Love it

6. Taking the twist to another level

I will have to live on lettuce and water for 2 months to get those collar bones, who in the world can pull off this dress... well except miss perfect here, lol.... I love it, gosh I love that dress. We have seen so many new ways to add a twist or gathering to the neckline this summer and I guess its about to get even more interesting.

7.Gathers Galore

and this is where I have to say,, this is why I have to love american designers, because I can wear this, this is perfectly wearable and I can make it too which is even better.

So.................that back view, that zipper, what is going on there,,, hmm.

more to love coming soon

 

What I love now Part 1: Fabric Love and Emilio Pucci

I'm enjoying all the fabulous post about the new patterns from the big 4. That is my type of blog reading, I love to read everyone's take on the patterns because we all have different taste and perspective (the eye), in which you see things I would never see and bring my attention to it.

I could read 10 points of view from 10 different blogs and enjoy all of them, it never get stale, boring or drawn out.

I wanted to share my thoughts on what I love now, as I'm not sewing this week but I have a few things on my mind that I don't want to add to my EOM post.

Ombre prints

I got this piece from Joann's Fabrics but it was after I did my plan. I still have no idea what I want to make, a skirt, a dress,, it will come to me. Its the type of fabric that just ends up being in your stash because you can't bear to make the WRONG thing with it...... then the right pattern comes along. It may just stay in the stash so I can look at it, or made into a tunic style dress to wear to the beach when I go to Trinidad next year.

 Knits on Sale

A few online fabric stores like Fabric.com, Fabricmart and Fashion Fabric Club are having sales on Knits or offering knits at a pretty good price. Of course I picked up a piece here and there to add to the stash, no sense worrying about sewing them up, I don't think they will go out of style.

I absolutely love this print. It reminds me of a MOD/Retro style print. The colors are so great for  summer into fall transition, the chocolate brown, burgundy and winter white and the DOTs,, oh I love those dots.

I don't know what I'm going to do with it either, but it will come to me.

I got a few piece, I'm not going to show all of them, but this one, I want to show because when I got it, I DIDN'T LIKE it.... at all. The print is fabulous and this is why I ordered it online, but when I got it,,,,, Glitter,,, everywhere, on the whole thing. I don't like Glitter on Fabric, stones/gems on the neckline of a garment,,, okay,, glitter.. NOPE. Now this is a personal preference of mine because I like it on other people I just don't like the dust to get on my skin.

so,,,, I am going to make one of those jalie tops for my mom with it, because she loves this type of stuff, problem solved, so I love it, but for her, not me.

Emilio Pucci Fall Prints and Dresses

Because I love prints, the artistic part as well as wearing and sewing with printed fabric, I was so visually satisfied with Pucci's fall offering. I wish,, wish I can get a hold of some of this fabric, lol.

Placed Border Dress

Great Colors, the Palette is great for a wardrobe plan for fall

cappachino, harvest yellow, light grey, deep navy blue, greyish brown and white.

 

The bateau neckline (or boat neck) is one that closely follows the collarbone. It is a good choice for women who have well proportioned necks and heads, but who wish to present a more conservative appearance.

This print is Insane, I love how it is made to give the illusion of sewn borders.

Monterosa Printed Dress

I am going to make one of these tunics for fall, I promise you that,well it maybe not be in such a fabulous print but the style is on my agenda.

First the Palette,, gosh, someone through me in Pucci's Mill and close the door!!!!

not a color scheme for every one but beautiful all the same, blush, light pink, white, celery, navy and magenta.

I love the cowl neck and the fact that the print is working hard here, the design lines are simple, in a line drawing you may not even give it a second look but the print is TDF.

The Shift

Looking closer to the neckline, you can see the details, little pleats that is true to the neckline trend right now,,, once again, the colors.

celery, tan, white, brown and black

I'm I the only person seeing how fabulous these palettes are?

once again, the trend towards shape defining in shape dresses, I think someone finally thought about the women who rather NOT wear a shapeless garment but would like to try a shift dress,, eh hem,, moi!

Not really my favorite thing but I can see it in another print,, the main print looks kind of camo for me and that is a little much!

and last but not least, the Cosmo Print Shirtdress, which has a true Winter Palette

black, grey, white, carnation and violet

another style feature I have to steal, I love how they did the black and print combo on this dress and the button,, TDF,, love it, love it

so,, I'm not sewing but its all in my mind,, all in mind, taking lots of mental notes,,,, its going to be like this all week, more later.

EOM: Port Essaouira Phase 3 Intro

She said "make the outfit a bit shorter, no one's going to notice"

-Supermodel Jean Shrimpton, the world did take notice and the mini skirt was born.

Famous last words.

When I first started to read about wardrobe planning on the sewing message boards I realized the hardest part of the planning was just picking the color scheme and getting everything to blend with each other. I know that can be very stressful, so I decided from the begining that I didn't want to do that.

Yes,  I would use a color scheme, but no, I will no chain myself to the point of everything having to match.

Other idea that I read was to go into your closet and figure out what color you didn't have but loved and make that be your base color. This I took to heart and one color that was lacking in my closet that I love is Navy Blue.

I love Blue, did I say that before?

But you won't believe I only have one navy blue Cardigan from Jcrew which I just got,, like a couple of weeks ago.

Navy Blue is my inspiration for Phase 3 and just like my other sets I connected Navy Blue with the sea as in a Nautical/Marine Life way and seeing that Essaouira is a seaside town, it all came into sync for my fantasy sewing.

Did you notice the dominance of blue in my collection, Phase 1 now Phase 3.

I figure, use colors you know you will love and will wear, then add a couple of complementing colors to liven up your spirit and break up the monotony of planned sewing, its worked out great so far.

So what's in store.

Phase 3 has 4 garments and you know why,, because there will be muslins involved.

Bad photo, The fabric is actually a tan and navy, silk cotton, fabulous on the skin, the plain navy is a silk shuntaug also silky to the touch, this will be an unlined dress.

I actually got a grey and navy wool for this skirt, another muslin project, I will make the navy now and the grey one in the fall for winter. I love the back of view C, so I think that is the one I will go with.

I wanted to make this top the moment I got the BWOF June 2007 but I never got around to finding the right fabric until I saw this piece at Metro tex. I am contemplating doing a solid for the ties, though,, I think that may look really good.

and true to all wardrobe planning, SWAP or otherwise. If something works,, do it again, and again,, and again. I can't tell you how many compliments I got on this dress its like a mistery to me, how something so simple, like 2 hours to sew, is one of my most complimented pieces is my whole closet, amazing.

so, I am still in the muslin stage right now, but I will show another piece from Phase 2 before I show you something from Phase 3,,,, I already feel so close to the finish line!!!!!

 

 

 

EOM Gnaoua MFes: M5661 & S4236

He said, "an individual can improve her style, but it is better to be born with it"

Karl Lagerfeld

hmmm, maybe so, maybe not....

Are you ready?

Fastforward to Phase 2, as I talked about previously, GMfes is all about going out on the town, a step up above jeans and tees.

I had to include looks for "later events" but my lifestyle right now doesn't require anything too formal, so my dilemma in finding something that can be dressed up and dressed down had to be solved.

I figure I can wear the skirt with a white shirt to work, or the top with some tan pants or whatever.. so many possibilities, don't even get me started.

S4236

Revisited, this time I added a yoke which I self drafted, once you have sewn a few skirts, a yoke is ridiculously easy to make with your waist measurements and totally winging it, trust me.

The piping was a first time for me and I did it with a regular zipper foot, surprisingly easy. Remember my inspiration for this skirt?

I stopped in Ann taylor to check it out, looked simple enough so I knew what I had to do to get the look.

To mimic the topstitching I used a twin needle, the seams are in between the twin needle stitching, looks pretty cool and it was super quick without using an edge stitching foot.

The invisible zipper is on the side.

M5661

Previous photos here

Well, I knew this was going to be a special project when the fabric came.

I got it from Waechter's Silk Shop,,, such good quality and great presentation.

After the Muslin was made I had to add the FBA (1/2 inch) and shorten the blouse.

Now this is where I must say.. clearly I don't make a muslin for everything but I had an instinct about this blouse and thank goodness I did, because I would have never known I had to "shorten" it, I have never shorten any of my patterns and as Belinda pointed out, I should be because I have a short torso,,,,, okay,,, I have a short torso?

So,, you mean to tell me all this time I never realized I have a short torso area,, sheesh, oh well, what is done is done, moving forward i will take this into consideration.

This pattern was very helpful, once I figured out what was wrong I could look at the pattern and know exactly where to add (FBA and hip) and where to take away (sway back and length). The instructions are awesome for construction and it was very easy to adjust for the zipper (fold in the placket and add seam allowance for the zipper.

Oh the sleeves, can't forget this.

You know I always talk about adjusting my sleeves, these fit just right, which leads me to believe that it may be bigger on a person that use there sleeves straight out of the pattern,, hint, hint.

and let me tell you,, if you ever want to work on your patience skills,, wash silk cotton,,,, then iron it, this piece has much more silk than cotton in it and boy..... did it wrinkle something fierce.

If you don't say a bad word or two, you are NOT normal, lol

I know the back photo doesn't really show the fit of the blouse because its tucked in, but it fit well, I will post a better photo of just the blouse in the back later.

Hey Tany,, guess what I got?

My dh must have picked it up because it was on my ironing board when I got home this afternoon..... this is going to join me on the couch in a few, How fabulous are you?

Very

and I have to hook you up girl,,, soon!

Enough,, is enough

you know there is always more.

EOM Gnaoua MFes: M5661

Its been a uber productive weekend. I finished my Phase 2 and now I can relax and take another couch vacation for a couple of days.

No sneak peeks this time, this post is fully loaded.

review will follow with photos of me wearing it.

If I sew this week, I will be tackling the muslins for Phase 3. It has 4 garments, but 2 needs to be fitted correctly and I need to do a run through with another one to make sure I know how to sew it before I mess up the fabric.

you know how it goes.....more later.

Breaking up the Monotony....

of sewing my M5661

 

everyone!

Look what I got

I picked up some red cotton/spandex with matching buttons for the Encore presentation of my BFJ.

I think I want to use the triangle buttonholes for it this time. This will be my vacation project. My mom is coming next week Friday from Trinidad for a month. She will be in NY most of the time, but I'm going down on the first week of August to do some final merchandise shopping with her, a little sightseeing and of course, Fabric shopping.

On the subject of Fabric shopping,

You won't believe I haven't thought about what I will sew during the fall to winter season. I was looking at some of the collections on style.com, but the only thing that spoke to me what the colors. So, hopefully, went we hit the streets of NYC I will get inspired by something.

As for now, at Joann's Mccall/vogue sale yesterday I picked up 2 jacket patterns from their Latest Line.

M5715 should not come as a surprise to you,, for me. It looks like the fall version of B5223 just with a 3/4 sleeves and more back details like the yoke and pleats. As of right now, I am leaning towards A and thinking of doing the skirt too.

M5711... OMG, I froze, eyes locked to the screen when I saw this jacket,,, Goodness help me, I have to have one, and I promise you if I don't make it, I will find one that looks just like it for Fall.... Oh, I need this in my life,,, I mean closet, lol.

Other considerations in M5701 because even though it is a sack, the lines of View A is giving the illusion of shaping and I love the back detail and I'm liking that a lot.

M5718, Gosh, I will love to see sewn up but it's not for me, because, it will give me a turtle effect,, no neck, my round face just sitting on top of that collar and the way all the fabric sets on the shoulders,, that bulk will not do at all.. woo hoo, not going there.

Okay enough of that

Progress report....

As I said, I am working on my M5661 right now, adjustments has been made, and once it is done, I will try to get some photos of me in it, hopefully by next weekend. I had a lot of bias binding work for the inner seams, I made them myself, 

finally broke down and got a 1/2 inch bias binder maker to experiment with.

I can't say I am loving the process, its kind of tedious.... honestly and hopefully I will get into it as my skill improves.

I plan to have it done my tomorrow for the latest and go straight into my BWOF 05-2008-121. I know once my mom gets here, the sewing will come to a crashing halt so I am planning ahead of the game. Plus once this is done, I can go ahead and post Phase 3..... And the photos will just flow as I wear the clothes.

Oh,, always more ladies, always more.