Month: December 2012

End of Year Sales

Erin3 Comments

Back before I did much sewing, I used to really enjoy the post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s end-of-year sales. I would take myself and my Christmas present money to the mall, hoping against hope that there would be something that I actually liked that I could spend said money upon (remember, this was before I did much sewing, when I was at the mercy of Belk’s and 5-7-9 — does 5-7-9 still exist? Oh I guess they do).

Now that I sew more and shop less (at least, I shop less for clothes that are already made …) I look more for end-of-year sales from pattern sellers and vintage sellers. 🙂 Here’s a list of all the sales I know about, feel free to add more in the comments!

Trésor De Vintage is offering a 10% rebate, through January 11th. (I have my eye on this ur-1970s gold-tone chain.)

Penny at Antique Dollhouse of Patterns is offering a 30% discount from December 31 through January 4. You might like this colorblock 1960s dress in a forgiving half-size.

Lisa at Your Pattern Shop is offering 20% off with the coupon code NEWYEAR2013, starting December 30 and ending January 5th. If you’re a smaller size and want a simple (yet gorgeous) pattern, check this one out:

Butterick 6578

(Ignore the belligerent woman in the center. She doesn’t fight fair.)

Holly at Past Perfect Vintage is offering sale prices across the site … check out this Vera Maxwell dress, yum!

The Vintage Fashion Library is having a 25% off sale until January 2 — use coupon code “blizzard.” (Lisa was promised one by untrustworthy weathermen and was quite disappointed to get just a run-of-the-mill snowstorm, instead.) And check out this Women’s Day pattern — quite unsuitable for any kind of snow, but with a really unusual front closure!

Sheila at Out of the Ashes is offering 15% off, through January 1, using the coupon code CHRISTMAS. Might be a good time to pick up this favorite …

Tina at What-I-Found is offering 25% (excluding shipping) through January 15th … use coupon code “FirstSale!” because it’s Tina’s first sale. 🙂 (Maybe your New Year’s resolution is to sew more slinky Sixties wear? If so, try this one.)

Janet at Lanetz Living is offering 30% off purchases of $15 or more. Ends January 2. Don’t let this one get away …

Marian at Vintage Vanities is offering free priority shipping for US orders over $30 … I wish these shoes were my size.

Kathleen at Little Hunting Creek is offering 20% off all patterns starting now, plus get free shipping if you buy three or more. Use code NEWYEAR. (They will remove the shipping charges manually.) Maybe you’ve been looking at the Colette Macaron dress? I know I have …

Sydney’s Vintage Clothing is having a sale through January 31 — 35% off any order of $40 or more (excluding shipping). If you’re in a place that still has plenty of winter left you might want to check out her selection of vintage coats. (Vintage coats are almost always good bang for the buck. Which is probably why I have a closetful.)

Michelle at Patterns from the Past is offering 15% off orders over $20, with the code “newyear” —  valid until February 1, one per customer. (I love this Sixties midriff jumper …)

And if your resolution is to get better at sewing, Deepika at Pattern Review is running a big year end sale. All online classes are $27 ($29.99 for Free members) and all the big 4 patterns (Burda, Vogue, McCalls , Butterick , Simplicity, New Look ) are 35% off (25% for free members) until December 31st.

The Blue Gardenia is having a sale, too!

Today's Pattern Story

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McCalls 4112

Hortense: See that one there? In the blue tie? Ten bucks says I can get him to propose before lunchtime.

Hermione: Darling, why do you waste your time in this undignified scrambling? Proposals are worthless, if you don’t want a husband. You have to give back the ring and everything. At least you can enjoy flowers and candy. Aren’t these lovely?

Hannah: Guys! Guys! How come I always have to be lookout?

[Pattern today from What-I-Found Vintage Patterns.]

Today's Pattern Story and Sale

Erin10 Comments

Advance 2754

Callista: This year, Marjorie, is going to see the fulfillment of all of our plans! We’re going to land the Thompson account! Captain Montrose will propose! And little Timmy — darling little Timmy — will finally learn to spell “accommodate”!

Marjorie: If you say so, C. Is there any cake left?

I don’t know about you, but I always start to get that new-year itch the day after Christmas. I don’t want to wait until January 1 to start thinking about next year … which is annoying to everyone else who is still picking through the Christmas cookies.

[This pattern is on sale right now at MOMSPatterns — 25% off until midnight CST  on the 27th with code “Crimbo” (Jen married a Brit).]

Do you have resolutions, sewing or otherwise, for 2013? I’m working on a post about mine right now. Also, what do you want me to post more of in 2013 (other than just posting more)?

Yesterday's Dress

Erin12 Comments

New claret-colored 1577

I got all excited about fall and made a new Simplicity 1577. I really like this dress for fall/winter because I like wearing them with long-sleeved tees underneath and I think the shape/length goes well with my favorite roper-style boots. (I just found a pair in olive green & I can’t wait for them to arrive …) The skirt length plus the boots has this kind of Edwardian schoolgirl feel that makes you want to go off and have adventures, all E. Nesbit-style.

This fabric makes me very happy. It’s a midweight denim in that nice claret color — not really maroon, more of a deep red — and it hangs well without being heavy and doesn’t wrinkle. I had a very long day yesterday (longer than usual) that included carrying my bike up four flights of stairs (in addition to the usual flights at BART stops and whatnot) and it pulled through like a champ.

Every time I make one of these I wonder why I don’t just wear this dress all the time. It’s wonderfully comfortable, has huge pockets, and fits exactly. And it’s easy to make. (For this one, because of the weight of the fabric, I faced the collar and pockets with scraps leftover from the brown dress in this post — it has a claret-colored stripe that matches perfect, which pleases me even though no one else will ever see it …

Shirtdresses. Again. What Is It With Shirtdresses?

Erin17 Comments

I’m besotted with shirtdresses again. I bet you could go back through the archives of this blog and chart the periodicity of my shirtdress obsession; it probably peaks in Nov/Dec and March/April, then trails off in the summer, when it’s too hot for buttonholes.

I have a semi-complete shirtdress on the dress form that is taunting me; I’ve put the skirt on and taken it back off again three times, and none of those times did it look even remotely like the front of the pattern envelope. I’m letting that truculent skirt think about its mistakes and then maybe this weekend I will say “Fine. If you don’t want to be pleated, I *will* gather you …” and we’ll see what happens from there. It’s my second try at a shirtdress in this same fabric, and I Will. Not. Stop. until I have the perfect version of it. (Expect a long post to this effect, later.)

I found this shirtdress on Etsy that is either perfect or perfectly frumpy. You can never tell with newspaper patterns, in my experience:

newspaper1373

I really like that triangular yoke in the back. It’s crying out for piping, isn’t it? Just a little, and then a little along the top of the pockets. The collar is slightly 1970s, but that might turn out to be a good thing. It’s hard to tell. I will definitely shorten the sleeves; I like my sleeves to just hit the top of the biceps, because if I start competitive bodybuilding I don’t want to have to alter all my dresses. (I plan ahead. I also once had a Latin teacher who lifted a lot — I mean, A LOT — of weights, in-between his stints bartending and teaching us the Aeneid, and his biceps were so huge his sleeves had to be slit at the underarm seam to accommodate them. Which evidently made more of an impression on me than our friend Virgil, although I suppose now I am in effect “singing of arms and the man.”)

I almost didn’t buy this because the illustrated fabric pattern here is a dead ringer for some wallpaper my parents once had. (The dots were brown and blue on a beige background. I disliked it quite a bit.) But I will make this dress in something spare, perhaps  a nice crisp gray shirting cotton. Or maybe checks!

And … sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted regularly. Lots of work — the thingy at the bottom of my blog entries here, that shows related posts? That was released in beta today. Also, I got hit by a car while riding my bike. (I’m fine, but I totally feel like a Real San Francisco Bike Commuter now.) And there was that turkey-enabled holiday, for those of us here in the States. I’ve got more excuses if you need ’em …