The Patternreview Invasion Aftermath*

Wow. Yowza. Oh my. It's so hard to believe that so many of you shop at Vogue Fabrics yet I've never bumped into you. Not once, not even to fight over a precious bit of remnant. Yet I think it's so cool that some of you (Applepiemom) come as far as Genoa, Ill. (near DeKalb) to visit Vogue. But once you've been here, we all can fervently agree this is truly Worth the Trip, in every way. So I completely understand those who come as far away as Iowa to buy fabric.

As someone who makes fabrics and notions shopping at Vogue a twice-a-week treat, I wasn't sure I should go to the special group tour. I mean, sometimes I feel like I can give the tour. Really. Bathroom? Right here near the bridal fabrics. Notions? Next to the Silk Room. Home decor textiles? Um, next to the sewing machine department.

Yet I learned so much about Vogue that I didn't know before. I don't need to see every corner to appreciate this place (yes, I'll take a pass on the basement which was flooded recently). Who knew that you could become participate in the associates of Vogue Fabrics program, which essentially means the store can link up to your blog? I can benefit (so can you once I get more details from store manager Charlotte), and so does Vogue. Or that the store employees will gladly put out the royal welcome mat for any group visit, even one with as few as 10 people? And the goody bags! I recognized virtually all of the stuff (polyester ribbons, a little stuffed dog, scalloped lace embellishments, a button birthday card, and much more). I especially liked the 10 percent discount on just about anything in the store (save naturally the sewing machines and other hardware). I applied my savings to a plush pink piece of stretch lace from the remnant department - those fabrics never go on sale.

First, a little bit backtracking. I knew folks were meeting up in the notions department. I looked for a line by the Burda World of Fashion magazine rack. Nothing there, apparently you all must have that issue or scoured it and took a pass. I peered further back to see a whole group of women (no men, darn it!) sitting at the pattern table, they were so quiet I didn't know what to think. Were these ladies really studying the McCalls, Vogue, Burda, New Look and Kwik Sew patterns? Then I recognized Deepika and I knew I was in the right place. Phew! Deepika is much prettier than her Patternreview profile photo, and much shyer in person than online! She showed us her gorgeous lace for a skirt (see above).
Deepika and I were both blown away (not physically, just metaphorically) by this student's dress. (I'm sorry I forgot her name already) We made her model it. Yes, we forced her to go into the Silk Room bathroom and change into her work of art. Aren't you glad we did?

The back is just as cool as the front. I love the lacing; one day I will attempt this.

After we got the "tour," we all scattered to the five winds to buy, buy and Buy! Deepika purchased fabric to line her skirt. My Chicago neighbor, Terry, just about cleaned out the $1.29 a yard table with her assorted finds. She also managed to find a remnant of the famous Paisley Panel jersey made into clothes by Cidell, Gigi, and others. (Terry's fabric is in a blue colorway, not the green/pink one plastered all over the Internet right now). Josephine, I forgot what she bought, but it was nice to meet someone who actually knows where the Portage Park Theater (current site of the Silent Film Festival) is.

Of course, no group fabric-buying is complete without eating out afterwards. We went to the Lucky Platter where at least a half-a-dozen of us got a homemade Cream Soda (just writing about makes me want another one now).
* I'm wearing my second version of the Sandra Betzina Vogue 2977 top in a gorgeous gold knit (it's not as heavy as it looks) in the top photo. I'll write up more about it in the future....

Vogue Fabrics Here We Come: The Patternreview Invasion

I feel like a little kid who knows she's going to the Museum of Science & Industry tomorrow on a field trip. I can hardly sleep. In my mind I'm already on the bus, up the stairs, inside the museum, aching to see all my favorite exhibits yet again, especially the mammoth train set with a miniature Chicago. That's precisely how I feel about visiting Vogue tomorrow. I go to this store at least twice a week, Monday nights for the free sewing demo and some other random day to pick up notions and/or fabric. But tomorrow night is different, way different. Deepika, founder of Patternreview, will be there. Other sewers who I only know from their thumbnail-sized photos will be there. Usually we just comment on each other projects online: "Nice job. Where did you get that fabric???" and "Wow. That looks like something you could buy in a store." or "I hate this pattern. I'm tossing it out NOW." For the first time, I will be able to put a face with a name (or handle) on Patternreview. I'd like to think we won't have any of that "first date" awkwardness: "Uh, what do you do?" or "Why do you sew?" or "Did you make that?" I imagine we will just chatter away like we known each all our Internet lives, or at least as long as we've been on Patternreview (three or so years for me....). I look forward to seeing what you've sewed, what you plan to sew. It kind tickles my funny bone (which is located right by my navel) that I will be part of the group tour that gets a private tour of Vogue Fabrics when I know the store layout better than my own storage unit. I'm actually quite curious about where the store employees will take us. I'm guessing we're not going upstairs to the break room, which I went for the first time in my short life last year after I got stung by a wasp in the store's classroom. I am certain we'll get to see the main room where there are all sorts of fabulous deals on knits and cottons, like what you see above. That lovely lusciously soft and drapy pink print is $1.99 a yard. It's on the Spring Knits table (or it was on Saturday, they tend to move around fabrics a lot in this store) right across from the cutting table if you need some guidance. I've been waiting long enough to buy this, but I keep putting it off. I see it as a wrap dress or as Valerie's top. You, however, could benefit from my buyer's reluctance and snap it all up.

Next up: the Silk Room, so named for all those fabrics there created by silkworms. Now there's other stuff besides the silks, like the Soft Touch Jersey (above), which as you can see by the neon orange sign is on sale. The assymetrical skirts I've made came from this fabric. The selection's a bit picked over now, so all the incredibly vibrant hues are gone, but there's still plenty of other likeable stuff. I've thought about picking up a yard or so for a beige full-length slip trimmed with matching stretch lace. Let me know if you need help finding these jerseys, I'm not above clambering on bolts of fabric like a scene out of a Jackie Chan action movie. Wait! I could pretend that these are logs in a water, and spin them as I walk across them, and do my best not to fall to the ground (although I much rather fall into the water, but this isn't physically possible inside Vogue.)

Also in the Silk Room are these big bold OFK (One oF Kind) jersey knits, priced at $8.99 a yard. I especially like this one with its grand geo print and incredible color combo: Orange! White! Beige! This is a very "Look at Me Now!" print that I could see as a totally tubular, ankle-grazing summer dress much like the one Adriana made. This is across from a cutting table toward the back of the room, right by the exit (not that's where you want to go, I'm just telling you). Again, I will happily show you the way, even help you bring the bolt over to the cash register. I will try my best not to hit you in the head or in the rump with it. I must say I'm a bumbling shopper, given to tripping on my own hem, and hitting myself in the noggin with fabric. You see why Vogue Fabrics likes me so much? By the time I actually get about credit card out, my head is spinning and I can't remember what I've gotten, so I actually end up getting more. Now you know why closet is bulging with fabrics, most of it from Vogue.

Back to the tour. Beyond the Silk Room is the Notions Room, where we're all meeting. If you need a copy of Burda, maybe there'll be a copy of one there. There wasn't on Saturday. But as we all know in the wonderful world of sewing, tomorrow is another day with all sorts of surprises (mostly good!) including overnight deliveries of great sewing magazines such as Burda World of Fashion.

If you're sew inclined, there's the Home Decorating Fabrics section just beyond the Notions Room. I almost never go there, in fact the employees in that part tell me, "Aren't you in the wrong part of the store?" I mean why sew clothes for unappreciative pieces of furniture when you could make dresses, skirts and tops for humans who will most certainly appreciate what you do! Take that unappreciative window!

That's all for now, folks. See you tomorrow. Me? I plan to wear another version of Vogue 2977, stitched up in a golden Liz Claiborne knit bought you-know-where.

Playing Footsie *

I haven't really been inclined to knit socks. Why do it when so many look so functional, and er, like something Rosie the Riveter might have worn to work? I'm all about nice-looking and feminine, and socks for the most part just don't seem to go with skirts and dresses! I mean do you see the models in Vogue wearing socks or even celebrities at the various movie premieres? No, socks are just too practical to be pretty. They're just something to wear to bed or when it's so cold you might freeze some digits down there.

But I've been rethinking my position, only because my fingers are so bored on the bus and the train these days. There's only so much you can read or text to Twitter. So I want to knit something that's easy on the debit card and lightweight to carry. But I want a challenge. I'm thinking I might enjoy making these Pom Pom Peds (or these footlets)...so similar to the dozens and dozens of cotton Liz Claiborne ones I've bought at Marshalls over the past years. I'd imagine the ones I'd make would be so soft and comfy that I would never ever buy any more anklet socks. I'd love 'em so much that I would be inspired to make them for my mother, sisters, friends and bloggers I've befriended over the years. I could even see myself buying those antique darning eggs you often see at the antique shop. (I swear the Antique and Resale Shoppe has a few in a 1940s-era sewing basket I can picture now). Then I would lovingly repair all my homemade socks. (I should tell you I already stitch up any holey socks on my Viking Husqvarna. I just push the heavy knit and 'faux' serger buttons, and stitch away with made-for-knits needle on my machine. Done in 30 seconds.)

So I could see myself phasing out the machinemade in China or Viet Nam sockies in favor of the knitted-at-home ones that can be worn with flip-flops, slippers or my Natural Sport slip-on sneakers (so wonderful for dancing!). But I will never ever wear Crocs (I'm a member of I Don't Care How Comfortable Crocs Are, You Look Like A Dumbass club on Facebook). I might, just might make lacy socks but none of those multi-colored ones that look something the Seven Dwarves might wear to cut down wood in the forest.

Will it be cheaper to make my own? Probably not. But it will keep me entertained on the bus, which I think is almost more important. I'll become one of those knitters who memorize their patterns and can crank out these things like somebody's business with impromptu variations. Wanna a leaf at the ankle? Done. Your initials on the bottom? Consider your John Hancock duly noted. So stripes or even an argyle pattern? A little trickier, but give me a couple of weeks and your feet will be decorated by you know who. And we're not talking about tattoos, a whole other topic.

I figure one of the patterns above will be easy enough to learn. If not, I can pester my mom who has aced the sock-making process to the point she's got a few pairs saved up for Christmas. I won't have to go to the local sock-making store or even yelp for help at the local SnB. I can go to mom's (and raid the refrigerator in the process). And the cost of the yarn - even a nice 100 percent merino wool variety - won't bust the checkbook. I can master those wobbly double-pointed needles. (I had trouble trying to make a pair of fingerless gloves with those things and I ripped up the project without guilt and made a sweater instead.) I can stash, needles, yarn and my ego all in my to-go bag.

Now I must check on all those clean cotton anklet socks drying on a rack in my living room. They feel a little stiff, but wait til I get little socks - handwashed probably - on the same rack. Any of you who come over for dinner on wash day Wednesday (which is really any day I have a $1.25 in quarters and enough detergent) are in for a Show N' Tell. See pretty socks! Touch the little pom-pom I made. Isn't that sooo cute? Bop me on the head if you get such a lame presentation, but don't do it before you eat, ok? If you do, you might not get dinner or even an appetizer. My pride might be sorely wounded if you act disinterested or even laugh at my sockies. You know Chris Evert would love to have a pair of these? She'd probably would have really appreciated two or four back in the day when she wore the machine-made ones on the tennis courts. Now of course that she's married to Greg Norman, she doesn't care a whit about foot comfort on the court except when she's padding around the house late at night nibbling or watching "Dancing With the Stars" (I don't know if she really does this; I'm just imagining.)

Do you think if I made a pair for Rachel Ray, she'd wear them on her show? Seriously. (For those of you who don't like this woman, skip this part.) I thought about sewing her a surplice-wrap top (think the popular Kwik Sew pattern), but I don't know her measurements. I might have to do a FBA (I don't need to do one myself - I'm in the small-bust club). She looks a little short-waisted too. Would her public relations staff give me her measurements if I asked or would they just consider me a wacko? Or could I just get away with asking for her foot size without people thinking I have a foot fetish? But would she show her new socks with gusto pre-cooking on her show? I can't see that. But a top! That would hog the show big time, especially is she spilled some pesto sauce on it at some point. Then it would end up as a clip on the People Magazine funny moments on TV site. But it would be a complete disaster if my handiwork didn't fit right or looked mousy. What's the point of making something that just gets tossed in the Salvation Army donation pile? Pointless, I say.

Really. I'm better off making anklet socks for friends and family who I can actually give to in person. Watch their eyes light up in delight (I hope) and appreciation (they better, or take my knitted loveliness back faster than Batman can fly to the moon.) Now would I make socks for a man. Maybe. But not my brothers - not one of the seven. They wouldn't even put them on unless they were chained to a hospital bed. Then they might. So I'm not even going to go to the Socks for Men department right now. It might be a long while if I ever do. Let's just master the gusset first, ok? I'm going to go order my yarn for Knitpicks. Impatiently wait for my order to arrive in the slow-cooker mail, then go eat at the family household, and then bother the matriarch. I can't knit on an empty stomach or I might go poke someone's brown eye out with a double-pointed needle. Gosh, writing about food made me hungry. Oddly enough, it didn't exacerbate my desire to knit.
* The bag you see above? I crocheted that on a silk shantung lining from Tilli Tomas, which I can't find online anymore. Next time, I'd use more yarn and crochet a little looser, so the bag wouldn't look so pointy...

My Silent Scream....

Yesterday was the absolute last day I could do something with my about-to-expire American Airlines miles. Since I only had about 7,000 or so miles, the company offered me a bunch of complimentary magazine subscriptions. "There's absolutely no cost!" the flyer reads. While I love reading magazines (other peoples' particularly), I don't like having them all over my apartment. If they're on the floor, I end up slipping on them. They're like paper bananas, I'm telling you! Otherwise, they sit in a stack where they grow upwards, almost as fast as a 5-year-old boy going on six (that would be one of my nephews, although I forget which one right now). However, I can't stand to pass up a good deal. This feels like one, although I can tell you right now my daily trip to the mailbox downstairs is going to look like one Buster Keaton silent film with me opening the tiny, slender little box, and magazines spilling out onto the floor. I'll pick 'em up, simultaneously flip through them, drop a few, pick them up AGAIN, drop them still another time. Slip on a page or two on the way upstairs. Balance a couple of magazines on one arm while I unlock my apartment door whereupon I dump everything on the entryway rug. Watch Hamlet cock one ear, and settle back to sleep.

Honestly, all I really wanted was Lucky Magazine (pegged as 'Ultimate Shopping Guide'). That's it. I don't care as much for Elegant Bride (no imminent wedding plans); W (that tall magazine won't fit into my mailbox although I do like reading it) Travel + Leisure (also too big - where are the slim little periodicals when you need them?). Since the pickings weren't slim, besides Lucky, I chose Condé Nast Portfolio, Condé Nast Traveler, the aforementioned Travel + Leisure and some other business pubs. I wish I could send a few subscriptions to family members for Christmas or a birthday. However, American Airlines didn't offer that option. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised given it's battling high gas prices, cutting staff and adding fees.

I'll probably end up cancelling the subscriptions on all but a few. I am really looking foward to getting Lucky, probably my favorite source of fashion inspiration if the all the tearsheets piled on my daybed are any indication! But I also like getting ideas from (don't laugh!) Victoria's Secret, Anthropologie, Free People and Nordstrom's catalogues, which also sneak into my mailbox sometimes. What magazines inspire you to sew or knit?

Model Moments At A Knitting or Fabric Store Near You*

This post got me thinking (generally hard to do in the a.m., but it is doable). If you read the article, you'll see that customers are encouraged to try on clothes and pose in front of an in-store camera. They leave and later receive a print of their modeling sessions, which are also automatically uploaded online, a natural boon for bloggers worldwide, of course. A new link for their readers! Now the shop mentioned in this Springwise story fervently hopes that the customers like the outfit they're wearing in the pictures so much that they buy it or their friends snap it up after admiring it on the Internet.

I'm just wondering how all this could be applied to the netherworlds of knitting and sewing. Both fabric and yarn stores are known for hanging handmade garments on the walls or dressing up mannequins. Now what if they encouraged shoppers to try on these same clothes and had a camera set up nearby so they could see how they look? I'll bet my well-worn U.S. dollar that these same folks are more likely to buy the pattern, and the fabric too. Knit Daily has regular folks trying on the actual sweaters, dresses, skirts, etc. modeled in the latest issue of Knitscene. Some of what I thought was ho-hum in the magazine actually looked spectacular on different shapes and figures. It was eye-opening in a way that sometimes my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee isn't.

I know there's a risk in letting people slip on one-of-a-kind garments. They can get ripped, stained or worst yet (but perhaps the ultimate compliment) stolen. But if you can deal with these kind of risks, the rewards can be great. For example, did you know that Vogue Patterns Magazine has an alliance with the Vogue Fabrics? Yes, some of the same fabric you can find in the store is used for the actual garments in the magazine! But the store doesn't promote this very well. There are some links online, but that's about it. Imagine if an in-store model wore the Vogue 1020 dress with the fabric featured on the pattern, perhaps while balancing a bolt of the fabric in one arm, with the pattern in her other hand? Not terribly graceful, but what a statement! If she did that a couple of times, the fabric would disappear in nanoseconds along with all pattern copies even though they're never on sale at Vogue. If customers could test out the dress (perhaps in a temporary exchange with their driver's licenses), I'd bet more even more sales could be rung up at the cash register.

While ready-to-wear shoppers have the advantage of actually testing out clothes they like in the store, sewers and knitters don't have that opportunity, making sales a little more difficult, especially for dress fabrics (in fabric shops) and yarns (knitting stores). Dress fabrics, even nice ones, are at least available in different price points; that's not the case in the stand-alone yarn shops. Nearly every skein (all of it generally great, I might add, which is not the case for the department-store variety).

Whatever yarn store owners can do to close the gap for knitters would be very helpful, especially when it comes to pricey, pricey fiber. These days it's a little difficult to buy $60 worth of Noro for a pretty (but untested) knitted skirt, especially when that same amount of money can buy a tank of gas. However, I'd might actually make the leap of faith (with my wallet) if I got to twirl around in the actual skirt I'm dying to make in front of a mirror and a camera. The camera set-up wouldn't be expensive either - just as an inexpensive tripod and digital camera in front of a blank wall works wonders. Upload the images to the store's blog later that day or week when time permits. Print up the picture for the store's mailers or postcards. Let people use 'em as Christmas cards, birthday cards, you-name-it cards!

Anyhow, I'm ready to get off my Cascade Soup box. Weigh in (or out) if you're so inclined.
* I have Vogue 1020, maybe I'll whip it up in time for the PatternReview invasion on Monday night.

This N' That Sunday

Nobody sent me these links, I just like 'em anyhow. I've been thinking about hats a lot, especially since I returned the Romantic Hand-Knits books without even copying the hat patterns in it. But I wanted to return the book on time so I wouldn't get fined (extending the due date wasn't an option because someone else had already reserved the book.) Here are go some hat-related URLs I like. Some of you may know,Manny's Millinery has gone kaput after a quarter-century of serving hat-lovers. Consequently, Judith M Millinery is trying to pick up the slack. (By the way, Hat Magazine has finally arrived in the U.S.! Read about it here.) Since I'm not making any hats, somehow dishcloth-inspired cocktail hats are locked into my brain. I like a bunch of patterns on Ravelry, unfortunately, I bookmarked one as a "favorite, " but there's no place for non-members to see this cutie. Sorry. However, you could always pick up a vintage variety at an antique store, stitch it to pre-made hat form, line it, and embellish with a lots of Russian veiling. Instant conversation piece!

I'm also constantly adding new blogs to my Google Reader. Recent additions include: Ann Marie Horner (gorgeous fabrics caught my eye!) and Casey's Musings got me hooked onto Liebemarlene Vintage (I'm a sucker for 1930s dresses).

Of those already on list: White Lies Designs has a post on vintage-inspired beading on those old 1950s sweaters and how to recreate that look on new projects. (For what's it's worth, I have a few old patterns that show you how to embellish ready-to-sweaters. I should dig 'em out sometime and show y'all.) Purl Bee talks about using those distinctive Japanese prints fabrics for purses and skirts, the Princess Seam has an impressive pair of self-drafted sailor pants and I'm loving this California old-button store at Craft Magazine's blog. Here's another Craftie link about kimono tops for babies and kiddies. I won't try that until I do something already about knitting pants for my latest nephew who no doubt be ready for kindergarten by the time I'm finished. If you're not into tomato pin-cushions, this whale-inspired one might rock your boat.

On the local front (as opposed to the national back), those of you in Chicago who sew might be interested in the get-together at Vogue Fabrics on Monday, July 28 that threatens to explode the Evanston store's walls. I'm thinking about being there wearing something new (as opposed to something old, which would be okay, but as said before I like a challenge, especially one that's posted to the Internet). Hold your breath (but not too long, you might pass out)....I'm pondering sewing up a top (not the spinning variety, the kind you wear). That's a cop-out (as opposed to a cop-in) when I really could be stitching up a dress, but I'm newly afraid of zippers (don't ask me why). If you can't make it to Vogue Fabrics but you like to like to knit in the Windy City, save the date for this event at Loopy Yarns.

Before, I go here are the latest poll results. It appears that most of you are currently knitting nothing, which is exactly what I'm doing. Great grey cells think alike! Don't you love knitting nothing? No gauge problems, mistakes, splitty yarn to deal. Best of all, it's free. Now I'm going back to reading the blogs on my Reader, namely Peacock Chic's Montreal adventures.

It's Too Hot for Modeling, Hamlet Says

Hot Hamlet, and we're not talking about a hot ham sandwich, which wouldn't appeal to me at all on this overly humid day. Anyhow, here's the groomed doggie reluctantly modeling. I'm wearing this dress. I'm about to call it quits, get some ice cream and head on over to this Evanston event with my dancing shoes.