Motion Picture Costume Exhibit at FIDM

Today the ASG Los Angeles Teen group and I went to check out the Motion Picture Costume Exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM).  You cannot take photos otherwise I would have more pictures to show you.  This year's exhibit seemed a bit short on motion picture costumes. However, there was 1 dress that caught my eye! This dress is from the movie W.E. directed and produced by Madonna and an acadmy nominee for best costume

this was made in blue and white stripped cotton.  look at the seams, they were all matched perfectly.  I was mesmerized by the way the stripes went and how well they matched and how there were so many seams in the front and back just showing off the stripes and the design and details of the dress.  I found these pictures online.

I want to copy this dress;  make it about knee length for summer!   The sleeve was lined in organza to give it the poof and there was no hem stitching.  I suspect the entire dress was underline in organza. 
The exhibit also featured wedding and formal wear from the British monarchy.  There were some beautiful early 20th century dresses.  The Exhibit runs through April 28th and is free.  If you are in the Los Angeles area, go check it out!

Organ Pizza

While in Arizona, we went to Organ Stop Pizza.... yea, I know it doesn't sound appealing... but it really is not pizza topped with organs, it's a huge pizza parlor with the worlds largest organ.  Organ Stop Pizza  The pizza is not bad, (the ice cream is really good), -- the organist was wonderful.  It was a lot of fun.  If you are ever in Mesa, Arizona, it is a must! 

This weekend, I plan on sewing and hope to have some projects posted early next week.   First on my  list is the Jalie Scarf top in approximately 5  to10 different sizes.  We have a workshop coming up in April (I like to be organized ahead of time) and we want to have the various sizes available for the attendees to try on so they can trace their correct size.  The scarf top is really easy, so I should be able to sew one up in less than an hour. I'm also having a garage sale on saturday.  Getting rid of some fabrics and some of other items that I discovered while cleaning closets.

I leave you with a video of the Organ Stop Pizza organist. (I hope it's not too shaky)

Arizona - and no sewing

This past weekend I flew with my sister and her two kids to Arizona to visit my parents. It was the kids first airplane ride.  We got to Arizona at 11AM saturday morning and went to Goldfield  Ghost Town at the  base of the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction.

The Superstitions are full of legends, most notably the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine.  This is a view of the Superstitions from the Goldfield Ghost Town.  We started the our visit with a train ride around the perimeter of the ghost town.

After the train ride we walked around....  Goldfield has the usual old cars, gun fight, bordello, church, jail, saloon, and mine tour.  It was a beautiful day and great to be outside. 

My dad enjoys the old cars and you can see him here, checking them out.  He brought the dog... my dad and the dog...  they are rarely apart. 

We enjoyed our visit.  I make a point to visit my parents at least once a month.

One Down, Four to Go

The closet in my guest room is done.  I really like the work that The Container Store did and I think I'm going to like the product.  The shelves seem really sturdy.  I have 4 spare sewing machines on the shelves, and one of them is a Pfaff 130 which weighs a ton.  The installers assured me that the shelves can handle the weight.  Everything is off the floors!  I can see everything and there is nothing piled behind something else.  Those are all my jackets and sweaters.  I love to make jackets... ah I wish I knew someone my size I could share my jackets with....  they seem so lonely

This is a photo of the closet area before, after install, and done.  I just need to get closet doors... but it's so much more organized!

I left work early yesterday to meet the installers and was home when it was still light out!  About 4PM the crows started gathering... you can hear them calling and I watched them gather in a local sycamore tree.  Crows live a long time and mate for life.  But they are nest raiders... so not sure how I feel about them.

Then just before dark, the hummingbirds started filling up on the nectar I leave out for them in my 8 feeders.  Hummingbirds hibernate at night, so they need to get their fill before they sleep for the night to stay warm.  I got some good photos of the birds last night.  The guy in the lower right was staring right at me.

I have four more closets to do, but probably won't do them for a while.  Four closets, yep, that's it... I have no closet space in my house, so it's about time I get them organized and maximize their potential! 

Glendale Quilt Show Teen Sewing Camp March 18th

Look... I'm listed as a teacher for the upcoming Glendale Quilt Show.

The GQG Show is, I believe, one of the largest all volunteer quilt shows.  Glendale Quilt Guild has about 300 members and each member does an enormous amount of work every year to put on this Show.  The classes have first rate teachers and classes, beautiful quilts on display, and lots of vendors.  If you are in the area, you should go!  There are several  vendors selling fabrics, notions, patterns, jewelry, sewing machines, etc.  Glendale Quilt Guild Website

Me along with 2 other ladies (Susan and Darcy) are volunteering our time to teach this class.  We have prepared 5 different kits for the teens to sew.  The teens get to choose the kit(s) based on their skill level and interests.  We did this class last year through the Santa Clarita Parks and Recreation and it was a big hit.  It is so rewarding seeing these kids create!  So, if you have a teen (ages 10-17) who wants to learn to sew, knows how to sew, or you want them to learn to sew... send them our way... We would love to share our love of sewing with them!!

Sewing!

Simplicity 2054 might just be my new favorite knit dress.  Cynthia Rowley Dress Pattern .
 It goes together quick, the slit in the sleeve is unique and I love the circle scarf idea!   

I'm wearing it today with printed tights, boots,and a long chain necklace.  I didn't wear the scarf today.  I made it from a heavy poly knit.  It's probably a ponte; it's a bit more stretchy than a double knit, and a smidge thinner. The scarf I made with some rayon knit because it's much lighter weight. 


I also have the silk chiffon I dyed last week and not quite sure what to make, so I made up this top using some ombre silk chiffon I recently purchased from Fabric Mart.  I hate sewing chiffon because it wiggles and ripples.  I wanted something with as few seams as possible. (sorry, but I don't recall the pattern; I'll find it and post later)  You can see that my neckline still has waves.  Not sure how to prevent that?  I used my serger to do a rolled hem on the edge and that worked out nicely. 

I'm not sure I will wear this style, so I'm going to keep looking for another pattern to use with my dyed chiffon.

I made up another slip using some poly charmeuse my friend Kathi gave me.  I used an old Stretch and Sew pattern for this and it's so easy.  You really don't even need a pattern if you wanted to make a slip.  You just need about 3" of ease and the length is whatever fits your dress(es)

And finally, my guest room closet is cleaned out and ready for some new shelves, bins, and garment poles.  I went to The Container Store last week (they are having their 30% off sale) with the closet measurements and they created a plan.  I liked their plan, and they are coming on thursday to install.   Here's the closet area before I cleaned it out

you can see it's an odd shape.  and doesn't have a wall on the right side and the ceiling slopes.  I took the doors off several years ago, but now wish I didn't.  So after the new shelves and poles are added, I'm going to buy some new doors.  Here's a photo of the space cleaned out.

This is wear I keep my jackets.. all crammed in there on that 1 pole; and bins of fabric and junk to the right.
Can wait for the new set up which will include 2 poles so my jackets can breathe... or I can make more and not cram them in there and maybe actually see what I have!

Randomness

Still haven't sewn anything... BUT I did cut a couple of things out.  I'm hoping that this weekend becomes a sewing weekend and I will have some finished garments to post.  In the meantime, I'm still sorting and cleaning, and stumbled upon some photos.
This is me and my bffs (at the time) celebrating our 16th birthdays. (that's my youngest sister, Cheryl, peaking out between me (center) and my friend Kim].

and below is one of me and my brothers and sisters, probably when I was about 11 or 12 (second from left) in our front/side yard. Yes, there were 6 of us... my mom had 6 kids in 8 years! Crazy!