Liberty Shirt with Pulled Collar

One of my local sewing pals, Sara, saw this collar on a RTW boutique tunic. She reverse engineered this interesting treatment and shared it with me.

It's a straight collar, with no stand. There is a long bias tie, sewn at the CF of both fronts, and exiting through buttonholes at CB. You can pull the tie and knot it at the back. When you pull it, the fronts of the collar turn inward.

I decided to use the Liberty top as a vehicle for the collar.

I wasn't sure how this would look on me, as I don't have a particularly long swan-like neck, so I decided to use this cotton shirting from FabricMart, as a test fabric. I think it looks ok on me, though it would be even better on a long necked woman with short hair, I think. I may make it again, but I'd use a linen fabric or something more edgy.

Closeup of dyed buttons, next to an undyed button.

I have a lot of these mother of pearl buttons in my button box, as they were very cheap at Fabrix. Long ago, maybe two years ago, I threw a bunch of these buttons in a cup of red dye. (Dylon, I think. Or maybe liquid Rit.) I left the cup on my counter for weeks, hoping the buttons would turn red. They did not turn red. They turned pink. I don't sew with much pink fabric, but the shade was perfect for this shirting.

Before I took most of the hangar shots, I pinned an original, undyed, mother of pearl button near the shaded buttons so you can see the subtle shading of the dyed buttons.

Closeup of tie in the back collar.

Closeup of collar.

Hangar shot

One of Our Own Goes Corporate

Do you know Robin, of a little sewing, and also an active poster on Stitcher's Guild? I really like Robin and have followed her for a long time. When I took that fabric road trip a year ago last April with Peggy, we visited A Fabric Place (aka Michael's) in Baltimore. I knew that Robin worked nearby, so I arranged that we meet for lunch and a subsequent run to the renowned fabric store. I later blogged about it.

Well, Robin has been sitting on some exciting news which she has finally announced. Someone at Vogue Pattern Magazine was following her blog, and offered her a job as an editor!! You can read about it on her blog, which is going on hiatus for the time being.

She started her new position today, and is now living in a cozy little New York apartment. I am just busting with pride. One of our own (and by that, I mean a hobby blogger) has infiltrated the corporate sewing world in the very best way. I can now say I know an editor at Vogue Pattern magazine. Did I mention that I'm Busting.With.Pride???

You go, girl! I can't wait to see what you will be up to and to see your smiling mug peeking out from the pages of Vogue Pattern mag! I will miss your blog, but I'm sure we'll be hearing from you!

Jean Paul Gaultier and Margy

Stunning, no? Never have I seen anyone receive so many unsolicited compliments from complete strangers. It was fun to move in that "sphere of elegance"!

Some months ago, my blogger friend, Margy, asked if I knew of anyone who could help her with a pants draft. (That link takes you to her discussion of the subject.) She realized that she was having consistent problems with the fit of the backs of her pants (which she didn't realize until she started photographing herself from behind).

"Yes!", said I.

I knew that Lynda Maynard, who is located in the Bay Area and well known as a fit expert, could help. I gave her Lynda's email address (which can be obtained from Kenneth King's website) and they made plans for Margy to come to the bay area so they could meet. Even better, they decided that Lynda would draft the pant, giving Margy some time to play!

We crammed a lot into our limited time. I was pretty exhausted by the end of it.

Along with Jillian, we saw the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the De Young Museum. Loved it!

I loved this suit at the beginning of the exhibit. In front, a rather conventional linen suit. In back, it's painted with a nude male form. The derriere is covered with an actual pair of denim cutoffs, sewn into the side seams. Fun!

Another piece I loved. From the front, a beautiful French-inspired striped top.

From behind, you can see that the stripes are strips of black and white fabrics...

and are released at the waist...

and fall to the floor in a ribbon-like train. Love!

It is a fabulous exhibit and I will definitely be seeing it again before it leaves for Europe in August. You can see a few more of my photos on Imgur, read Jilly Be's great blog post on the exhibit, and see Margy's photo album of the exhibit.

We separated as we meandered through the exhibit, in the way that one does when absorbed by whatever tickles her fancy. When I exited, Margy and Jilly Be were waiting at one of the benches. We sat and chatted for a bit, when, surprise of surprises, who should approach us but two of my favorite sewists, Ann Smith and Barbara V! (Ann's link takes you to her blog post on our meeting and Barbara's link, who is blogless, takes you to her reviews on Pattern Review.

I had met Ann in the last year, but have wanted to meet Barbara for ages, so it was a delightful surprise to see them both! Barbara is wearing the new Marcy Tilton dress, which she hasn't reviewed yet, but it was adorable on her.

Taken just before Barbara and Ann walked by!

More Trippen Goodness

We ate


We drank

We shopped for fabric at Stone Mountain & Daughter. At the cutting table, we were approached by Suzan (the "& Daughter" part of the business) who asked if she could take a picture of us for her Facebook page. She said she loved the fabrics we selected and how "elegant we looked." I was not elegant, but was basking in the sphere of elegance. ;)

Best of all, at the end of the visit, Margy had a perfectly fitting pants muslin!

with Lynda Maynard

You can read more about Margy's visit on her blog.

Margy's visit made me acutely aware of how lucky I am. I am grateful to have such a wonderful community, my local sewing community (you know who you are!), as well as the extended sewing community I enjoy through the internet. I am lucky to have such wonderful resources, including great fabric stores and also great places to snoop shop. I am also lucky that San Francisco is a destination for so many sewing buds that I am able to meet when they are in town.

Margy's visit also made me aware of a wardrobe hole. I need more clothes for this sort of occasion - when I need to up the ante in the "casually elegant" department.

I have two garments I need to blog, but have just been too busy. Stay tuned!