Poodle Skirt!

Here's a really-truly poodle skirt, the iconic fashion item of the 1950s.  I did some repair work on it for the Basya Berkman Etsy shop.

It's a traditional felt circle skirt with appliquéd poodle.  Super simple construction - a big circle of felt plus waistband and side zipper - no hem needed since the felt doesn't ravel a bit.  No wonder they were such a popular style!  The thread attaching the waistband was wearing out, so my job was to restitch that and now it's ready to rock'n'roll again.

Overhaul

This weekend, my sewing time was devoted to starting to sort and unearth things in the super, over-the-top, clutter in my sewing room.  

For a long time, I've been looking for a replacement for the little plastic drawers that are home to notions, tools, floss, and embellishments.  They are so full that, as you can see, they are no longer functional at all.  I scored this lovely little drawer unit at an estate sale.

(Of course, part of the reason those drawers are so full is that I keep picking up odds and ends and extra needles and snaps and a really cool old wooden darning egg, etc., etc., etc., at those great estate sales.....)

The Race to the Top

Last night, my refrigerator quilt post overtook the beaded wedding dress in number of visitors.  It now sits in the place of honor to your right as one of the top six most popular posts on my blog.

I'm really enjoying watching the statistics of page views and readership.  I'm closing in on 7000 views since my blog was born, not a huge number in the world of the internet, but it sounds really big to me.  And the count of countries represented is currently a whopping 51.  That's the stat that makes me the happiest!  I feel like I'm sitting here watching the planet shrink.

And now, I'll go back to work, so I can have more wonderful things to post about.  Today I'm working on a batch of vintage clothing repairs, and a customer just delivered a wonderful early 1800s era quilt for repair work.  I will have much to say about that one.

Canadian Couture

Here's a skirt I've repaired for Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions.  My friend Julia, who researches the clothing she sells there, told me to check out the interesting story behind this piece.  

1900 crazy quilt

I've been readying a crazy quilt top for hanging, and thought I'd share some photos with you.  Like the six-pointed star quilt and the hippie crazy quilt, this is a wonderful collection of fabrics of its era, a good reference collection of colors and print styles.  

Grecian Square

A friend of mine wrote and asked me why the Grecian Square blocks in the "red, white, and symbolic" quilt I recently wrote about have that name.  What is Grecian about them?

Deer Creek Fen quilt at home

My zoologist friend visited me in June and picked up the landscape quilt I made for her.  It is a portrait of the fen where she does her fieldwork.

The quilt is now happily hanging in its new home.  My friend just sent photos, and here they are.  I am so happy to see it in situ.  The colors really work well with the rest of the room, I think.  And my friend can work at her desk and dream about being out in the kayak - gliding through the grasses and visiting the bog buckmoths, the turtles, frogs, and dragonflies, all the while watched over by the deer and hawk.  Yea!!

The complete story of this quilt's creation starts here with her photos and fabric selection and creating the landscape, and continues with creating the animals, more detailing and adding the borders are here and here, and finally, photos of the completed quilt.  I'm really grateful to my friend for the inspiration to create such a detailed and exciting quilt.