My design wall.

Do you have a particular spot in your sewing space for inspiration? Before I made my design wall, that space was my computer, but like I don't already spend enough time online.
Using a bulletin board that I covered in fabric and painted, I strung some ribbon and used some mini clothes pins to line up and display my fabric stash catalog.

The stash catalog was a freebie I got to download long ago from Quilting Arts. Here's the link to the free pdf download for these cute little cards.

Where do you get your design inspiration from? Do you have a fabric story board? What is your sewing room like? Soon I'll be posting pictures of my own space but first I have to clean up the various piles of sewing detritus all over the place.

Wherein I am generally miserable.

Last night I was so proud of myself. I had just put the finishing touches on Mike's shirt. All I needed was to buy some buttons and make button-holes. I even started plotting how to embroider his initials on the cuff. Then he tried it on and said bashfully to me, "Sweetheart, I hate to be an ass because you worked so hard and this shirt is great, but I think the sleeve is backwards."

Burda 7767

Well, it was all I could do not to burst into tears. My perfect top stitching! My hand stitched vent placket! My lovely bias taped seams! Most of this must be undone or thrown away altogether. I'm thanking and cursing my lucky stars that I always order a 1/2 yard extra of my fabric in case I make just such a mistake but this is the first time I've ever had to use it! I was tempted to throw it away and be done with the ridiculous baggage, but here I am, blogging about how I'm going to make the sleeve properly this time.I'm going to have to cut and sew a completely new sleeve, placket and cuff. Blast!
Here are a few tips I have gleamed from this nasty experience:

1. The second that you cut out the sleeves, use chalk to mark right/ left sleeve, which side the vent placket will be sewn, any button holes and pleats of course, and if your fabric has no wrong side, designate one. (Tip courtesy of Mom, who once made the same mistake.)

2. Take a good look at a shirt already made. Note how the sleeve is shaped, where seams rest, placket placement etc and compare it to your pattern. I drew myself a diagram for future reference.

3. Have a nice bottle of wine ready to go to calm yourself but don't drink too much of it or you'll just end up jacking up the project in some way I haven't thought of yet.
Cheers.

I was bad... I bought fabric.

Today I went to a thrift shop and stumbled on a great stash of recently donated fabric. Bad Anna. I think someone was cleaning out their stash, or liquidating the estate of an older relative because these were pieces I would never have gotten rid of willingly. Of course I payed more for it here in Norway than I ever would have in the U.S. because the Norwegian-run Fretex (a.k.a. Red Cross) is corrupt and overpriced.
But never mind that, lookit what I got!

What am I going to do with over 4 1/2 yards of vintage rayon jersey?

What can't I do with 4 1/2 yards of rayon jersey!

Wherein I make a hat.

I made this little pillbox hat shortly before leaving for vacation and had no time for posting.

I used the following video tutorial sponsored by the lovely folks at Threadbanger. If you have a bit of felt or thick cotton flannel laying about and want a fun, charming 1 hour project, this is for you!

Wherin I am in mourning for my job.

I'm back from my honeymoon! I know, 4 and a half years after the wedding but better late than never! And boy did we save up for this one. We took an 11 night cruise in the Mediterranean and hit Genoa, Barcelona, Casablanca, Tenerife, Funchal and Malaga followed by 3 days in Rome eating like royalty.
Here's a picture of my rocking Muslim chic at a Mosque in Casablanca.

And I returned home to find that the wonderful coffee shop where I work, my home away from home, my good friend, had closed it's doors for good. So there's bit's of excitement over our adventure tempered with being in mourning for my job. But the cast is off my arm, it works relatively well despite being a bit weak, and I now have both time and the ability to sew again between bouts of job hunting. Oh, how I hate job hunting, I can't even express it, the constant sting of being ignored, or rejected, it's like dating only without the fun parts.

THis will be short...

This will be short because I'm packing. That's a lie. This will be short because I'm supposed to be packing but instead I'm blogging. And eating short bread... and riffling through another box newly arrived from fabric.com.
What can I say, I'm easily distracted.
This is really easy and a great idea for those of us with a green streak. Oh, and can I just say, Martha Stewart has people whose job it is just to think up creative stuff. Where can I get that job?

Introducing PhoebeDelia's Mercantile

I am lucky to say that my mother and I have a great relationship. She raised me in a world quite different from most. I grew up in an antique shop. As a baby I slept in beautiful antique, lacy baby gowns, laying in a lovely antique bassinet in my mother's shop. Customers were often surprised to see me stir, thinking I was a doll.

As I grew, most days were spent playing with scraps of lace or curled up with a book in a nest of satin quilts underneath a lovely antique table while my mother worked. Weekends were exciting expeditions to thrift shops, estate sales, auctions and the like, in search of treasure. My sister and I could spot a valuable antique from a mile away, and there were finders fees to be had. It was, and still is, my favorite game, hunting treasure.

Sewing was a big part of this. My barbies were the best dressed you ever saw, sporting real silk lined mink coats fashioned by my mother with scraps. Many of my clothes were hand sewn (though I never appreciated the work, or the originality of my wardrobe until years later when I tried to sew my first dress and thought, How the hell did my mother manage this?)
 My tastes always leaned towards the vintage dresses I had played dress-up in (who else had slightly tattered 1950's prom dresses, a real fur coat, and rhinestone covered everything in their dress-up box?)

I'm the little one in the massive hat.

Naturally, my antiqued, gilded, dusty and bejeweled upbringing has everything to do with my passions today. I wear vintage, I sew vintage, I hunt vintage, I blog and breathe vintage.
So it's only natural that my mother and I should still be in business together today. I'm web savvy and she has the know-all from 30 years of running an antique business. My sister and I both helped her start on eBay when it started up, and now Mom has two shops online, one on Etsy.com specializing in vintage sewing, clothing, jewelry, and accessories overseen by me and one on Rubylane.com focusing on rare antiques.
She is my first sponsor for the blog (I'm over-payed in vintage couture, who could complain?) and I asked her to share a bit about herself. The story is great, and goes to show that following one's passions can lead to a life well lived, and on the glittering, lacy terms one chooses.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my mother: