Inspiration for Fall

Armani has a pre-fall collection up. Here are some inspiration pieces to get the creative juices following:

Armani Tapestry Jacket & Tank Dress - Isn't this is lovely outfit? The Tapestry Jacket is v-necked, button front, long-sleeves, and made from polyester. Price tag: $1,095.00. The Tank Dress is sleeveless, a bateau neckline, seam detailing, a pencil skirt, and is rayon/nylon/elastic. Price tag: $1,075.00.




Armani Jacket, Tank, and Pants - This is a navy bi-color boucle jacket with a jewel neckline, button front, long sleeves, and it is cotton/wool/alpaca. Price tag: $1,655.00. The gathered tank is sleeveless, gathered v neck, and is rayon. Price tag: $465.00. The Cady pant has a banded waist, inverted pleat detail, slit pockets, wide legs, and is an acetate/silk blend. Price tag: $$92.00. The Harlequin Sash belt is made from polyester. Price tag: $245.00.

Armani Dotted Tweed Jacket & Skirt - The Dotted Tweed Jacket has a drawstring detail at the funnel neckline, a hidden button front, three-quarter sleeves with cinched cuffs, slit pockets, cinched hem, and made from wool. Price tag: $1095.00. The tweed skirt is straight and made from wool. Price tag: $435.00. The flower pin is made from a matching wool to the jacket and skirt. Price tag: $195.00.


Hope you enjoy the inspiration pieces that I chose. I think that the accessories would be very easy to duplicate. Don't forget to zoom in and check out the details.

Happy Sewing!

Casual Inspiration

This 3 piece casual outfit is by Joan Vass.

The knit top is cotton with ¾ length sleeves and a caftan neckline. Price Tag: $135.00

The skirt is cotton with ruched detailing (I would call this gathering as I do not see an applied gathering or pleated trim) and an embroidered hem. This is dry-clean only. Price Tag: $160.00

The scarf has embroidering detailing and is made from a cotton/linen blend. Price Tag: $118.00

Oh, what a great inspiration set and I think that it would be very easy to make a similar look. Not sure about an exact duplicate on the top but you could try either The Perfect Tee pattern by Loes Hinse Design or The Perfect T-Shirt pattern by Pamela’s Patterns in a white cotton knit. The skirt could easily be duplicated using Skirt Trio pattern by Loes Hinse Design View A and gathering instead of pleating and some embroidery or lace. As for the scarf, you decide! Make it the length and width that you want and add the lace. Even adding the cost of the patterns in, you should be able to make the complete outfit for less than $100.00 or $150.00.

Happy Sewing!

Grommets and Shop Talk

I'm seeing grommets as details on garments this season. Here's a couple of examples:

Grommet Dress by Vera Wang. A simple little summer dress. Details: Square neckline and straps have grommets applied. Center front is pleated horizontally. The skirt is pleated at the sides with additional grommets partially around the lower portion of the skirt. It's made from an olive cotton and dry-clean only. Price tag: $385.00.

This dress is a simple v-neck but look at how the grommets are used. Sorry, I can't locate this example so that you can see it up close. Hope it inspires you!







Can you duplicate this at home? Sure. Get some grommets (I do carry these in the store) and apply. You could most likely easily add this detail to a RTW dress or make your own and apply the details that you like.

Now, for some additional shop talk. I just added many new patterns to the eBay store and a couple of new tools. There is also a lot of items restocked. Use the link on the right and go check out all the new items. There is more coming. I have several buttons that need to be added. Hopefully, over the next week I will be able to add to eBay and Etsy.

Happy Sewing!

Vacation is Over!

The vacation is officially over. We got home at 2am Saturday morning. I started working on the orders Saturday afternoon and I happy to say that all orders have been packaged and will be mailed tomorrow.

Happy Sewing!

It's vacation time!

The stores are on vacation for the next week. All orders that are paid for by April 3rd at 9 am will be mailed before I leave. All orders made and paid for from 9am April 3rd to April 12th will be mailed between April 13th and April 14th.

Happy Sewing!