Sewing Sunday

I was supposed to go on a group ride this morning, a group of lady roadies all similarly interested in doing a century later this summer or early fall – but I slept through my alarms….

So instead I’m turning my energy into sewing projects! I am still working on this complicated dress pattern; I need to go back and fix some problem spots before moving on.

But… because I do not have a one-track mind, I’ve been haunting the sewing websites for ideas for my next project. I realized that the blue bubbles fabric I initially bought for this dress perfectly matches some of the reflective grosgrain I bought in New York, so I want to find a great pattern for them.

There are several Vogue dress patterns that I like, and I think could work for this fabric, but I’m not sure about the trim.

Vogue 8807 dress and sash

Vogue dress 8810

Vogue wrap dress 8784

As you can see, they are all fairly similar.

I was cruising the Wall Street Journal this morning and found this great article about style in the New York Public Library, which I love for many reasons: It’s fashion (duh), it’s stylish librarians (I worked in a library when I was in high school but decided it was too quiet for my future career), and it’s the NY Public Library (where I spent many hours while writing my Master’s thesis). But… check out the photo of Jessica Pigza, Assistant Curator, Rare Books. She made her dress, which she is wearing as a jumper (too cute, totally love). I hadn’t heard of the Lisette patterns before, so naturally I had to look them up!

I feel sure that I’ve missed out on Lisette while others have embraced the fun fabric and cute styles, but studying the website shows that I’m at least somewhat familiar with it. The patterns are Simplicity, and the fabric is available at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  But everything seems fresher and younger than either of those. I love these dresses too!

Lisette Simplicity 1878

Lisette Simplicity Traveler Dress 2246

Lisette Simplicity Itinerary Dress 2060

Maybe I just like them because of the names – “Traveler” and “Itinerary” speak to my perpetual wanderlust. And I’m kind of in love with the Itinerary dress, and the contrasting yoke and obi sash. It’s not what I’m looking for right now, but I’m definitely going to keep this in mind for later. With the right fabric, it would be cute in the summer, or in the fall or spring with fun tights.  I could always add the reflective piping to the yoke and sash, and if they get covered up by a blazer in the fall, that would be okay too.  Hm…

While I ponder future sewing projects, I will work on my current one today, all while watching the Tour de France for inspiration for my century. If these guys can do that, I can do a mere 100 miles. After all, this CNN article says the success is all in your mind. And right now, I see myself in a series of cute bicycle dresses!