And the giveaway winner is ...

I so loved reading your comments for the giveaway -- the gamut of your ideas on the Rooibos, your love for the men/boys in your life for the Negroni and the books that inspire you.

So with a little time with a random number generator...

• The Rooibos goes to Claudia
• The Negroni to A Sewn Wardrobe
• And the 1948 sewing book to Annasoc. Ms. Anna -- Email me with your address! ustreetmove @ gmail . com.

Congrats to the winners!

Thanks to L'Atelier for pointing out Hetterson's new line. Handmade to order, quality materials, quality work.

I'm a goner for this dress:




I think when I envisioned the UP dress as my Go-To Dress, my judgment was off (of course this is obvious in hindsight). While I feel I've enough distance to fix its remaining issues, and I hope it become a dress I can use, I think this amazing piece from Hetterson is much closer to what makes a Go-To Dress for me.

The denim with the tan buttons makes a tailored dress casual, with retro elements for contemporary coolness. Love it, love it.

The Abundance of Le Stash

Wow! Thanks for your incredible comments on my giveaway post. You can still enter through Sunday, March 27.

This is just a quick post to share a few collages I whipped up when I was feeling low about the combination of time and effort that went into making a (as-of-now) meh dress. It was interesting to read your comments—what bores and challenges you, what excites and energizes you.

Some were excited by the challenge of a difficult project, others needed the salve of something quick and fun, and still others utterly bored by making those boring-but-useful items in our wardrobes. I tend to fall in this last camp, being so obsessed with making things I'll actually wear regularly. So to get me out of my project burnout I've been thinking about all the things I could make without looking beyond my stash.

Instead of forcing myself to only sew wardrobe workhorses, I can visually see the things that I could sew depending on my needs: Something useful, something quick, something pretty, something challenging. And guess what? I've got lots of options.

These collages are merely representations and I threw a few shoes/accessories in there since I have to think before I buy, under my Fashion on the Ration challenge.

The Basics: Boring but Useful

Imagine all the outfits I could create using these basics, paired with colorful cardigans and accessories.

Gray dress: Uniform Project, completed, need re-working

Black cigarette pants: Self-drafted pattern, from plus-sized thrifted pants, completed, will post soon!

Black and cream top short sleeve or sleeveless: 1950s pattern, scoop neck, using two plus-sized thrifted tops

Beige full skirt: Late 1960s wrap skirt pattern, using thrifted fabric

Gray t-shirt: Built By Wendy Homestretch pattern, fabric in stash

Reversible circle skirt: Likely using this BurdaStyle tutorial, with fabric in my stash that's reversible—black and white polka dot on one side, plaid on the other

Straight coat with hood and toggles: Built by Wendy Coats & Jackets pattern, using brown thrifted tweed and lined with plaid in my stash

Holler! Did someone say color??

Would I be ready for summer or what? Color and print and legs, baby.

Sewaholic Pendrell blouse: Black floral fabric in stash

Colette Crepe dress: Yellow floral fabric gifted to me, from the Philippines (may not work, but it may!)

Colette Rooibos dress: Periwinkle fabric in stash (but I've got lots of ideas from folks entering the giveaway)

Strappy dresses (2): Self-drafted pattern—denim fabric in stash; refashion old maroon floral dress made for me on the Chinese/Myanmar border

Polka dot chiffon tank: New Look pattern, leftover blouse cut from the Tarra cardigan

Blue floral halter dress: 1960s pattern, using thrifted crepe skirt

Black and red knit dress with full skirt: Adapting Built By Wendy Homestretch pattern, fabric in stash

Red sailor shorts: BurdaStyle Ruby pattern, thrifted red twill

Purple slim pants: Self-drafted pattern, thrifted purple corduroy

Striped knit dress: Built by Wendy Homestretch pattern, fabric in stash

Colorful knit tops: Fuschia, navy and red knits in my stash, using Sewaholic Pendrell or Built By Wendy Homestretch patterns

I'm posting this more as a public testament, since there's so many times I say, If only I had this pattern or this fabric ...

What about you? Could you make things you want out of things you already own?

Welcome to Spring: A Giveaway for You, Your Man and Your Library!

Hello folks, welcome to Spring!

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with my work and bummed about the semi-success of my Uniform Project LGD. Just drained overall. But then I left for a a conference and returned feeling recharged, a bit like Spring itself: the promise of warmth and growth and longer days.

Let's turn over a new leaf and think about all the possibilities on the horizon. I'm personally going to start putting my sewing energy into the things that excite me the most and going to work on streamlining the things that hinder it. And I'd like to offer you three possibilities in this Awesome Fabulous Spring Giveaway!

I'd like to spread the spring-love far and wide, so I will ship worldwide and entries will close at the end of Sunday, March 27 PST. I'll use a random number generator and it'll be in the mail to you before April :)

Here's what to do:
1. Pick the item you'd like to receive
2. In the comments, answer the accompanying question
3. Include your email address so I can contact you about your fabulous prize

And here are the three items.

1. For You: Colette Patterns Rooibos Dress


What says warm weather better than a short dress that shows off your clavicle and bare arms? And it has all the stylish retro flair of the tres popular Colette Patterns: tiny collar, distinctive pockets and piping.

This is by far by favorite Colette Pattern and I think one of its most under-appreciated patterns. I love all their patterns, but this one strikes me as closer to the 1960s and 1970s with the shorter length and a touch of youthfulness. The wonderful thing is it has so much range, it can go from classic colors of navy and white like this:


To this stunning, colorful number like this from Veronica Darling:

(She made it out of a tablecloth!)

So I couldn't be completely selfless in this venture. I'm going to whip this bad boy up and want to pick your collective brain.

Question: What colors/fabrics would you use to make this pattern you?

Seeking inspiration? Check out Colette's great Flickr pool.


2. Let's Hear it For the Boy

Another winner from Colette Patterns, the brand new Negroni.


As an admittedly selfish sewer who has a copy of this pattern and has not touched it in months (sorry, darling!) it's worth giving a little bit of our sewing- and blogging-energy to the men in our lives. The boy takes photos, listens to me chatter on about fitting problems over dinner, and has patiently waited as I make a "quick run to the fabric store."


Question: Tell us something special/unique about the man in your life you'd like to make this for.

I'd like to answer, too, because he deserves it. The man I'm going to make this for (eventually, I promise!) is my 10-year partner, son of an incredible seamstress of a woman. Through his example, I've learned the importance of elegance and fit in dressing, and patience and kindness in everything else. He's a voracious reader and loves taco trucks.

3. For the Bibliophiles

Practical Home Needlecraft in Pictures, 1948, London

I know this may not be as titillating as the two beautiful patterns above, but if you're a book collector, this is a gem. This was published while the clothing ration was still in effect in England.

And a peek inside:
Question: What sewing-related book do you find yourself returning to again and again and why?

Happy Sewing!

Inspiration: Jackets

Many of you know I love love love all the Built by Wendy books, mostly because they're so design-based, allowing you to consider endless possibility of variation on basic patterns. I received Built by Wendy Dresses on the eve of Winter, and now, Built by Wendy Coats & Jackets, on the verge of Spring. Since my sewing seems to follow the needs of the season, I'm not sure how much I'll dip into this book immediately, but I wanted to share this book that I've been obsessively reading.

Like her other books, this comes with three basic patterns: Fitted jacket at the waist, basic jacket at the hip, and a straight coat to the knee. These three patterns are used in 23 variations total.

Here's a version of the fitted jacket:
What I love is the additional options for fabric and notions:
It's these sort of options that get my mind going. For example, I've been eying a colleague's jacket that I find really classy and I bet I could recreate it with navy blue ultrasuede and a black and white herringbone collar.

Another fitted jacket variation:
Classy, reminds me of a Stewart & Brown coat I just saw on eCouterre.

And another:
Sigh. I've been wanting a blue coat.

Here's a variation on the basic jacket:

And one on the the straight coat:

All this jacket dreaming has got me thinking about this brown vintage fabric I've had in my stash and haven't known what to do with:

Now armed with a basic pattern, I'm thinking: A basic jacket with a hood lined with this flannel, big patch pockets, and closed with toggles. Oh, my classic collegiate leanings come forth. Could be great for spring!

You know, I've never been a jacket person. Cardigans have always served this function for me, as they're stretchy and portable. But I love how a coat during the colder months can really give me a tailored look no matter what I'm wearing beneath, and so my mind is veering toward jackets during the warmer months. The opening to the book really resonated with me:

Some people say the most important building blocks of a woman's wardrobe are a little black dress and a great white shirt. While I certainly couldn't live without either of those, I think the real key to always looking stylish is the right mix of great coats and jackets. After all, unless it's the hottest part of summer, you usually need something to cover you up, and you only look as good as your outermost layer. There's arguably no other garment in which function and fashion play such equally crucial roles.

What do you think? Is our outermost layer the key to pulling a look together? Are you a jacket person? What jackets do you find most useful?

How Do You Blog?

Perhaps the more precise question is, how do you read and comment on blogs?

When I first discovered the blogging community about a year ago, I was utterly enamored with all the incredible blogs out there. And my sewing binge of last year, which really helped me go from beginner to advanced beginner, coincided with a part-time work schedule. There were no pains to sit at the computer or sewing machine for hours on end.

But now I manage two websites (among other things) and the last thing I want to do when I get home is to spend hours on my computer. I recently bought a Nook Color e-reader (envy 'cause my cousin had one, monkey see, monkey do) and I love curling up on the couch and reading the news, your blogs and surfing the web for whatever random obsession I've got at the moment. It's one of the great pleasures of my days.

Here's the problemo: It's very difficult for me to comment unless I'm on my computer with a real keyboard. I read several blogs each day on my e-reader (or sneaking in a few at work), saying I'll return to them on the weekend when I fire up the home computer and log a whole bunch o' comments, but the reality is that doesn't always happen.

So perhaps you can advise me. What do you do? Do you always read/comment from a computer? Your phone? An e-reader? Do you use an RSS reader to track all of your blogs, and if so which one? Google Reader has worked fine for my computer blog reading, but now I'm looking for alternatives. Is there one, for example, where I can comment in the RSS reader itself? Or does good ol' bookmarking work for you?

Anyway, I'd love your thoughts and thanks!

Your seemingly absent reader,
Ali