I forgot to mention that I have a project in the latest issue of Sew It All … it's a no-pattern project to make skirts out of old t-shirts. 

Yep, that's the skirt I made there on the right. It really is simple to do, and all the materials together cost me less than $20 (for the skirt elastic, plus some tees from the local Goodwill). 

Here's a peek at the how-to page:

My only regret is that I couldn't actually show how to put pockets in — I had this great idea for using the the neckband of the shirt as the top of a patch pocket, but it just made the whole thing too complicated for what was supposed to be an easy project. Oh well, maybe next time … you can almost visualize it from the instructions here:

For those of you in the US, I think this is still available wherever sewing magazines are sold … not sure what the situation is overseas. 

Man, did I have a GREAT time in Australia. Melbourne was gorgeous (and not just because it's coming on summer there) and delicious and everyone was so nice! Totally worth the marathon flight to get there, and I am definitely going back as soon as I can … 

Posts are coming this week about the fabric I bought in Tokyo (Tokyo is on the way to Australia. If you are me and my preferred frequent-flier airline), a report from the book event in Melbourne, and a couple more Vogue 8728s that I managed to squeeze in before leaving this hemisphere.

I know some folks have asked to see me in a 8728, so here's a nice picture from the lovely Vireya (she's the tall and elegant person in this picture): 

The sweater is a couple of years old now, from J. Crew … the watch is this one, and the glasses are new and pink (from Zoff in Japan!) and don't really go, but they were new and I had to wear them. (You know how it is.)

It's nice to be back!

I bet you thought I forgot all about Simplicity 1577, didn't you? I did not, see below:

This is done in really heavy black and gray seersucker. I can't describe it well, so here, see another picture: 

And one more: 

This dress is extremely comfortable to wear, and even though it's seersucker, preferred fabric of summer, I've been wearing it all November-style with a long-sleeved black tee and black knee socks (and Justin roper boots) which is a little goth Dickensian orphan, but in a good way. 

Because the fabric is so heavy I lined the pockets in lightweight black cotton, and did the undercollar in the same material:  

I really like this heavy version of this dress, so I bought some black cotton faille and am going to make it again. I also have a black and beige faille, and a heavy houndstooth in brown and black … and some maroon stripey wool, and a truly maddening unmatchable plaid, all of which might be good candidates for this pattern. But don't worry — I also made two more Liberty Vogue 8728s. You'll see them soon!

So a couple of weeks ago I was at the Carmel Authors Festival. It was really lovely — I had a marvelous time and met some really cool folks. 

And I re-met Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who I had met in a scholarship program back in high school (SPOILER: I did not become a public-policy wonk of any flavor, despite what this picture seems to indicate): 

Unfortunately, I couldn't do a Ze Frank "Young Me Now Me" style picture, because I couldn't find a replacement for the platter-collar blouse (because Tweeds — "The Anthropologie of the 1980s" —  went out of business ages ago), but Justice O'Connor was nice enough to take another picture with me: 

Many thanks to Justice O'Connor, who was kind enough to let me re-live my youth.

(Yes, the dress I'm wearing is Vogue 8728 in an alphabet print. Expect more details shortly. Sorry for the drastic hair differences from the vintage-dress-photo to this one; haircut occured after Carmel trip. I'm totally messing with the timestream!)