Giveaway Winner, Coming to NYC, and Patterns are the Window to the Soul

The random drawing winner of the sundress patterns is Mary is Sew Fast! Very exciting, and I am hoping that Spring will get here soon. It was beautiful at the beginning of last week but now we're raining raining and the Potomac has overflowed its banks. I suppose rain is part of Spring, so maybe it is Spring? I will mail your patterns on Wednesday.

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Thank you so much for all of the amazing compliments on my 40s Faux Shirtdress! Wow. I knew I liked the dress but I didn't realize it was that flattering. Thank you for making me feel pretty.

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I am heading to NYC! I plan to arrive sometime on Friday, March 26. I'll be free that afternoon and Saturday morning, March 27. I will definitely be spending some time in the garment district!!!! Let me know if you want to meet up!

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It was Fashion Sewing Club at G Street's Falls Church location on Saturday, so of course I had to do a little fabric shopping. I was uncertain about the gold sweater knit (it's gold in color and has some metallic threads running through it), but I thought about it all during the meeting and finally decided I dug it. I have two wraparound sweaters that I bought from H&M many years ago and I LOVE them. I will copy them in the gold sweater knit. I was also thinking of maybe just a simple t-shirt and/or a shrug for dressy clothes. I have a silver shrug (RTW), but not a gold one.

I intended the cotton print to be a blouse, but then I paired it up with the orange tie silk I got from FFC and I am so in love with how they look together. So now it needs to be a dress that can be worn with a belt, maybe some kind of shirtdress arrangement. My candidates right now are Simplicity 2694 (the view with sleeves minus the gun flaps, although I've been wanting to make the view with gunflaps forever), Butterick 5315 (probably with a narrowed skirt as I have only two yards), Simplicity 2579 (although the whole reason I like the pattern is that shaped midriff, which might be too obscured by a belt), Burda 05-2009-122 (although I don't think the fabric has enough drape), and maybe Burda 01-2008-121. The Butterick is my top choice at the moment, but the reviews on PatternReview have not been favorable. It sounds like it has the tight/restrictive armhole issue I've run into before, so I'd have to deal with that.

In a recent post, TE said she had gone to G Street Fabrics' Centerville location and been disappointed and asked whether she should try another location. I have never been to the Centerville store, only the Falls Church store and a half dozen times to the Rockville store. So I can't say if it has less selection there. As you know, I mostly shop at the $2.97/yd table but the thing is that the merchandise is constantly changing. There may be nothing interesting, or there may be only one interesting piece. It's rare that I find more than one thing that I like on it. The regular stock at the Falls Church location is good, but very expensive (polyester knits for $19.99/yd) so I don't buy much at full price. I think Rockville's regular stock is slightly not as good as Falls Church (though I haven't been to the new location). So G Street isn't necessarily a great destination from out of town for a bargain shopper because you have to visit many times over months (and, ahem, years) to accumulate a stash of fabrics you like.

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My mom went through her sewing supplies and got rid of a bunch of patterns (it must be something in the air). She asked if I wanted them, I said sure. The box was huge! I thought it would just be a few little patterns.

I have to say, I felt a little weird going through her patterns, like I was prying into her fantasy life. My mom stayed home with us when I was a kid, and had her first job when I was in junior high as an occasional substitute teacher. Starting when my younger sibs were in high school she worked various jobs at the mall, an animal vaccine manufacturing plant, and in lost luggage for an airline. Although she encouraged me and my sister to pursue our professional dreams, she did not want to work outside the home and did so only out of financial necessity (although I suppose financial necessity is the reason most of us go to work, regardless of how much we like the job!).

So it was surprising to me to pull out pattern after pattern for 80s Power Suits from the box. She didn't need them as a teacher, nor for any job she worked subsequently. It was so curious to see them and imagine her imagining herself in them, an important person in the corporate world. It was a facet of her I'd never seen before and it seemed like these daydreams were private ones I shouldn't know about.



There is also a plethora of 80s tie front and romantic-style blouses. That See & Sew 3403 is totally current.




I am digging the dress in Simplicity 5835. It's another thing that I think is totally current (with the waist raised a couple of inches). I like the exaggerated cut-on sleeve and the little neck frill.

I wonder what sort of aspirational life my pattern stash reveals, beyond the apparent aspiration to own every pattern that is put into print. I have lots and LOTS of dress patterns, both knit and woven, so I think that reflects my taste. I have more purse patterns than I've ever made purses to justify, but they are a blip compared to the size of the rest of the collection. I do have quite a few suit patterns, but that technically fits into my lifestyle (technically), although I never sew any.

What secrets does your pattern collection reveal about you?