Getting creative with what I have…

I returned to campus this week with full classrooms, no social distancing, masks recommended, no vaccine requirements (hey, I’m in Florida). It is exhilarating (my goodness I missed being in a classroom), exhausting, and anxiety-inducing (oh, the anxiety dreams…). Most of the students have been complying with the CDC recommendations, though a few have not. […]

Burda Topper

In my last post, I indicated I was going to start back with a Claire Schaeffer Custom Couture jacket in linen. Well, silly me left the pattern on the cutting table, unweighted, with my door open, while we ran off to the beach for the day. The A/C must have blown the pieces to the […]

It’s been a while, for me

I haven’t posted for a while! We went on an extensive road trip to see some of the USA. It was strange getting out after all this time at home, but nice. We were very cautious the entire trip, and stuck to outdoor activities away from others. Since I’ve gotten back, I’ve been struggling to […]

Style Arc Lauren Boyfriend Shirt

Several years ago I bought a turquoise linen tunic/popover shirt from Lily Pulitzer. Earlier this spring, I bought an oversized white linen shirt from Tommy Bahama. I love both, but the Lily shirt is completely worn out. So I searched around in patterns and found the Lauren Boyfriend Shirt from Style Arc: The shirt is […]

Details: Rebecca Vallance Lace Dress (Vogue 1588)

So in the end, I wore this lace dress, even though it was my least favorite. My brother (niece’s dad) and nephew (her brother) stopped by our room to chat and saw the dresses hanging and they immediately went for the lace. The bride wanted fancy. The location was beautiful, and it was wonderful to […]

Dress 4 is Lace (Rebecca Vallance, V 1588)

I’ll blog the details of this dress early next week (and I have lots of details). This is the dress that I intended for the wedding – choosing the pattern and lace shortly after my niece announced her engagement. A couple of photos for now: My husband took the photos. I said could you take […]

Dress #3 is not to be…(DKNY Vogue 1160)

I learned yesterday that I will need two dresses for my niece’s wedding, as there are events on two late afternoon/early evenings. I am glad the first two I made worked out so well! Why continue? The challenge, of course. This dress and the next are challenging for me as I take on more difficult […]

Party Dress with Pockets (V 9252)

I finished dress option number two for my niece’s late afternoon outdoor wedding. My 10 yo son says I should choose this dress because it has pockets and pockets are useful. He also likes the color and thinks it’s a pretty dress. He took all the pictures… and like a fashion photographer, he took about […]

Dressing Up with Nicola Finetti (V 1626)

My niece, the little flower girl from my wedding, is all grown up and getting married. It’s an intimate outdoor late afternoon wedding at the end of May. Of course, I am going to make something. In fact, I plan to make four dresses and decide which one to wear (and make the matching face […]

Summer Vibes: Style Arc Monty

While the trousers in this post were intentional, as a follow up to the polka dot shirt, the top was a whim. When purchasing the white stretch cotton twill from Gorgeous Fabrics, I spotted this cotton lawn with a mid-century print. Ann recommended the the Monty Top from Style Arc, so that’s what I did. […]