A Timely Editorial

 Image: Zorger.com

This morning's Wall Street Journal has an Op Ed piece entitled "Is Internet Civility an Oxymoron?". My apologies in advance - the website requires you have an account to read the entire piece. But it's worth picking up a copy or reading it at the library. There is something going on recently on the internet, wherein people's veneer of civility seems to be wearing away faster than the cheap plating on a plastic charm bracelet. And the anonymity of the internet seems to exacerbate it. I've noted some sewing sites have become downright hostile in parts. Adding to the problem is the fact that anyone who tries to point out bad behavior is immediately and loudly shouted down. It's kind of a pig pile mentality that has been brewing for a while, but seems to have broken out into the open like an ugly boil. I don't know whether it's an extension of the whole "us vs them" mentality that has been rampant in politics lately, or if it's broader and more nefarious than that.

Mind you. I'm not saying I'm perfect. Not by a long shot. I've made my own share of stupid, snarky (some might say mean-spirited) remarks in the past, but lately the mob mentality seems to be taking over, and it's really disheartening. It's caused me to re-evaluate my opinions of some sites. Not just sewing - if you ever want to see toxic comments, go to Boston.com. Even some of my favorite fashion sites have had bombs lobbed in their comment sections. Yikes!

There's a saying (attributed here in Boston to the Irish Mafia) that goes, "Never write when you can speak. Never speak when you can nod. Never nod when you can wink." It's not a bad approach to commenting on the internet. The first sentence is salient to my point. Think about if you would actually say the words you're typing if you were face to face with that person. The screen and keyboard act as a barrier, behind which it's really easy to sling unpleasant remarks with little fear of retribution. Moderation does some good, but not always. In fact, I witnessed a shocking situation recently where a provocative comment on a message board generated even more provocative responses from moderators, supposedly the people who are charged with keeping the board civil. It was truly ugly.

So how to combat this problem? Well, there's always the Golden Rule. Do unto others on the internet as you would have them do to you. There's also the "just ignore and step back" approach. That's my favorite these days. I just would rather not engage in snarky sarcasm or mean debating. Hell, I just finished chemo. I got way more important things to worry about! Like what I'm going to make to go with my Madras Patchwork Skirt. I'm thinking a rayon jersey top from this Extra Wide Rayon Jersey in Coral. I just wish the weather would warm up just a wee bit!

Happy sewing!

PS - for those who knew her, Shannon Gifford, a lovely lady and a shining light in the sewing community, passed away last night after a long battle with cancer. Please keep her family in your thoughts.

I love Saturday Mornings

Saturday mornings are my time. I usually wake up around 6 or 6:30. DH and the boys like to sleep in, so I come downstairs, make a pot of coffee, feed the dog (or this week, dogs - we're babysitting our friends' rottweilers, Tessie and Lexie). This is my time to catch up on reading blogs and facebook with no interruptions.

How about you? What's your favorite time?

Happy sewing!

Don't Ask; Don't Tell

I don't usually comment on emails that come to me, but this one hit a nerve. Here I've excerpted verbatim the first three sentences:

HI Ann, I have been a steady buyer of your fabrics and love all about your site. Due to the situation our country is in, I am taking the position of not buying from non-Republican voters because I am not supporting the gov't take over of our country. Please email me back and let me know your position.

Wow.

Last time I checked, voting by ordinary citizens in this country was done by secret ballot. Secret. And you know what? It's done that way so no citizen can be intimidated into voting against their wishes or views. I vote in every election, including my local town elections. I encourage everyone, including the writer of this email to vote. But I never ask anyone how they vote in an election, and I would never presume to even vaguely threaten them for their political views. That's simply un-American.

So don't ask. I won't tell.
But do vote, whatever way you want. I will support to the death your right to do so, even if I don't agree with you.

On another note, I think I'll go with the Tracy Reese. I'll try to do a muslin this weekend, but I just got recruited to sing at Holy Week next week, so who knows how much time I'll have.

Happy sewing!

Big 4 Patterns - Are They Really That Bad?

In the comments section of my last post, GwenSews wrote,

"I'm glad to hear a good review of one of the Big 4 patterns, since they get a lot of bad press."

Which got me thinking - are patterns from the Big 4 (Butterick, McCalls, Simplicity, Vogue) that much worse than those from independent pattern companies? What is it about the Big 4 that seems to incite such scorn in the sewing community?

It's by no means universal. For every bad review, there usually is a good one. I'll use myself as a case in point. I really like my McCalls blouse. I'm happily wearing it right now. I think it fits well and is flattering on me. But a quick search on PatternReview shows two reviews. One rates this pattern as "Great Wardrobe Builder". The other rates it "Would Not Recommend". Same pattern, opposing views. I guess I'm the tiebreaker.

I've had lots of experiences where friends and fellow sewing enthusiasts have had great results with certain patterns, but mine have been less than satisfying. I've even scratched my head at some patterns that have been labeled "best of" because they were not best for me.

I've had bad experiences with patterns from independent pattern companies, as well. Independents are by no means immune to problematic patterns. I think part of the reason the Big 4 gets slammed is simply a numbers game. The Big 4 pattern companies put out hundreds of patterns every year. Many more than all the independents combined. So they present a bigger target. Ultimately, the fact is that not every pattern will work for every body, whether it comes from The Behemoth Pattern Company or from Bettylou's Originals (those are hypothetical pattern companies, not real ones).

So what do you think, my Gorgeous Readers? Do you think the Big 4 are worse than others? Or is it just that they present more opportunities for dissatisfaction (and conversely, satisfaction)? Feel free to opine, I just ask that you keep it civil.

A Customer Can Really Make Your Day

It's a maxim in business that the customers you remember are the ones who make your life miserable. But you know what? I remember at least as well the ones who really make my day. Yesterday was a case in point. I was out of the office, but working on my computer (kid's appointment) when my phone rang. On the other end was a gentleman from Great Britain. He had found Gorgeous Fabrics while looking for a fabric to make a duvet and pillow shams. Unfortunately, I only had 3 yards of the fabric he wanted. So I said I would call the vendor who had sold it to me, and I asked him until what time I could call him back. I placed the call to my vendor and sure enough, they had 15 yards of the fabric. Eureka! I called back at the rather late hour of 10PM in England and told him that I would have the fabric early next week and I'd ship it to him on Tuesday. He was so grateful, and so happy that I was able to help him, and we had a lovely chat. I'll tell you, if (no, when) I get to England I'm going to make my way to East Yorkshire and lift a pint with him.

That's one of the wonderful things about my job. Of course I get the odd customer who just wants to call up and rip me a new one for some reason, but more often than not, my interactions are with wonderful people who share a passion for creating wonderful things. And it's people like that who really make my day.

Happy sewing!

Cottons, Classes, Cameras and a Crisis of Faith

It's been a busy week, and I haven't had much time to post. But just to bring you up to speed, here's a rundown on what's been happening.

First up, cottons, linens and shirtings are on sale at Gorgeous Fabrics! We have some great fabrics on sale for 15% off, just in time for warm weather. And I've been adding some spectacular silks to the mix too. Check it out and have a ball. The sale lasts through Sunday.

Tomorrow's Saturday Seminar is all about designer seam finishes. We have a great crew taking classes, and it has helped reboot my sewing mojo. Now if only I had more time this week.

Cool Toy! Thank you to LindsayT for introducing me to the Eye-Fi Wireless memory card. It plugs into the camera and once it is set up, badabing! It automatically uploads pictures from your camera to your computer. I asked for it for Mother's Day, and it arrived just in time. Alas, my camera takes a ScanDisk memory card, so we had to get an adapter. But last night DH got it all working. No more dealing with cables. Hooray! Here's a picture of Hoover taken with it.

According to DH, you don't have to be in close proximity of the computer to download. You can be one or two rooms over, or upstairs. Kewl!

Now for the not-so-fun part. Last June, the priest at my church, Father Lenny, left to become pastor of a church near Harvard University. We were without a permanent pastor for 6 months. I referred to us as The Island of Misfit Toys. We had a temp guy, Father John. He seemed nice and funny, and ultimately, he became the pastor.

Well, be careful what you wish for. Not to put too fine a point on it, the guy has turned out to be a psycho. He's dismantling everything that Lenny put in place over his 14 years at the church, and he's driving away many of the parishoners. Our choir director is leaving in June and he has told the parish council that we're not going to replace him. And this guy is an angry, angry man. I could tell all sorts of tales about his atrocious behavior towards people who don't "yes" him all the time. And he keeps telling people that he can't wait to get rid of the people who come from other towns and just make this a "Burlington parish". Alas, it is his type of priest that prompted me to give up Catholicism for 17 years. I'm not a holy-holy type of person, but I had found a home and community in this place, and now he's destroying that for the entire parish. It's sad and I'm really pretty upset about it. I'm going to start shopping for a new church this weekend. My DS the Eldest is going to be a confirmation candidate starting next year, and I don't want him confirmed under the tutelage of this guy. It's frickin' depressing. Maybe I'll go back to singing with the Anglicans.

Anyway, that's what's been keeping me occupied. I hope you all are having a good week. Oh! And my Marfys finally arrived. Yay!!! So I'm tracing off the muslin for the jacket and I'll start on it this weekend.

Happy sewing!

Life's a B*tch

And so am I. No, seriously. I realized today that I've let too much get to me, and it spilled out and I took it out on someone who had nothing to do with anything. I've apologized to her, and I hope she forgives me, but if not I'll understand why.

And on top of that, I was talking with a customer today who has been having problems. I got frustrated and snapped at her. She then said, "Why did you hurt my feelings?" It turns out she has a terminal illness, which I didn't know, and she has to go into assisted living. I just started to cry. We ended up talking for about an hour. And honestly, I think talking to her was the best thing that happened to me in about the last month. She helped me realize that I've been not enjoying myself. Except for Easter, I have not sung at all since Christmas. Even sewing has been distinctly un-joyous. My family is great, but I feel like I spend all my waking hours away from them at the computer.

So that's it. I don't make new years resolutions, but I am resolved to do more things that I love, and when the end of the business day hits, finis. I'm done. Nothing is so important that it should take precedence over my family, my health and my sanity.

Now I'm off to work on "Summertime" and enjoy listening to my friend Richard sing "I Got Plenty of Nothin'"


So please forgive me. And Vicki? Thanks

A Fascinating Article

Today's Wall Street Journal has an excellent article on Increased Scrutiny of Bloggers' Product Reviews. You may need to subscribe to the site to read the whole article, but if you can get hold of a copy, I highly recommend it. I find it interesting because, obviously, I'm a blogger who reviews products, and because I'm a merchant who sells fabrics. I have no compunction at all about shilling for Gorgeous Fabrics. It's my site, it's a passion, and it is how I make my living and put food in my kids' mouths. I also have no problem reviewing products that I have purchased for my own use, like books, interfacing, notions, patterns etc. I am also happy to shamelessly plug my favorite products and some friends. You can usually find those under Shameless Plugs.

I get a little more chary about it when I have been given products as gifts. I haven't reviewed too many of these, and I have been very careful to disclose the situations where I have. I've never been paid to review a product, and I don't know if I would. If a company is giving me money or even free product, it's hard to give a completely objective opinion. In the WSJ article, one prominent blogger who accepts payment for reviews "said she never writes anything negative about products she is asked to review because, 'I choose not to be critical.'"

And that is hard - what if someone presents me with a product as a gift and I hate it? That's tough to put in a review. And I would imagine its worse if one is actually compensated for reviewing a product. I've also been asked by bloggers to compensate them for mentioning my fabrics in their reviews. I've taken a pass so far, and it has resulted in fewer mentions of Gorgeous Fabrics on some sites. Recently I received an email from another online fabric vendor offering me a percentage of their sales if I sent people over to their site. Clearly it was a mass email, and clearly they had not bothered to check to see that they were sending said email to a competitor.

Situations like that are beginning to draw the scrutiny of the FTC. It will be interesting to see what happens and what rules are put forth over the coming months. Maybe I'm just being obtuse, but for now, I prefer to keep my Bestest Friends and my reviews on the up and up. I may change my mind. Heck, I put Gorgeous Fabrics on Facebook, which I never would have thought of a year ago. But if I decide to review products that have been presented to me as gifts or for which I am receiving some sort of remuneration, I do promise that you will know it up front.

Happy sewing and blogging!

Weekend Recap and an Expo Lament

I hope you all had a great weekend! I didn't get any sewing done, because I spent Saturday working as an Ambassador at the Sewing and Craft Expo in Worcester, MA. Then Sunday we decided to take the kids to Newport RI and spend the day.

I have to tell you, I was really saddened by the state of the Sewing and Craft Expo. Considering that sewing seems to be undergoing a resurgence, it was so disappointing to see what is going on at the Expo. Mind you, I only had a day there, so perhaps there were things that I missed, but I don't think so. There were far fewer vendors there this year than in years past. And there was a lot of non-sewing stuff (massagers, basement finishing). On the plus side, I did get to meet Jennifer Stern of J. Stern Designs. She is delightful, and she gave me a gift of her latest patterns. I'll be reviewing them (with all appropriate disclaimers) soon, I hope.

I was the ambassador, which translates roughly into "ticket taker and classroom assistant" for three classes. One class was taught by Peggy Sagers. I love Peggy. She's no-nonsense, opinionated and outspoken. Hmmmm - who does she remind me of? Her class was about debunking common sewing myths. While I didn't agree with everything she said, I certainly agreed with most of it.

The other two classes were more craft oriented. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to cast a gimlet eye at "craft" and many of the purveyors thereof. So it was an interesting lesson in self-restraint to sit through these classes. One was about machine embroidery. I know many of you love it, but I find machine embroidery to be a complete waste of thread. Sorry. That's how I feel. The other class was about easy embellishment techniques. Okay - "easy" and "embellishment techniques" do not belong in the same sentence in my universe. If you are going to embellish something, it should be spectacular. Needle felting, fabric paints and cutesy appliqué? Sorry, not my bag. Don't get offended. I'm just saying it isn't for me. I feel the same way about free jazz, NASCAR and body piercings. I'd never tell someone else not to partake, but I school my facial expressions to keep them very bland, and make my grocery list in my head the entire time.

What I did enjoy about these classes was the unbridled enthusiasm of both the instructors. They brought the same sense of joy to their seminars that I try to bring to my garment sewing classes. And that's what you're paying for, right? The expertise and enthusiasm of the teacher. That was what kept me from running screaming from the room when they pulled out the refashioned, embroidered sweatshirts. Those have no place in ANY universe. Ever.

Sunday was fun. We packed the kids up early and headed to Newport, RI to spend the day. If you haven't been to Newport and get the chance, I really recommend it. At the turn of the last century, it was the summer playground for the robber barons and New York society. My sons had never been there. We wanted to go to see the Doris Duke exhibit, Shop Like an Heiress at Rough Point, her Newport estate. Unfortunately, the estate was closed for a private event, so we went to Rosecliff instead. Rosecliff is most famous for being used as a setting for the 1974 Robert Redford film, "The Great Gatsby". It was simply stunning. I had been there as a kid, but not in recent years. We picked a lovely day to visit. After taking the tour of the mansion, we went walking along the Cliff Walk, then headed into town for lunch and puttering about. Newport is built on a beautiful sheltered harbor, and the weather was warm enough that we didn't need our jackets. On the way home, we stopped for dinner at Phyllis' house. Most excellent salmon, Phyllis!

All in all, it was a lovely weekend. I'm waiting for my Marfys, so I am going to start working on the new Jalie Faux Wrap Top. It's all cut out. I'll review it once I have it finished.

Parting Shot: The boys and me at Rosecliff. I think it's time to change my hair color. Stay tuned for that one...

Oh and see the handbag? It's an Emmett McCarthy.

Happy sewing!

Pattern Instructions - Love 'Em or Hate 'Em?

Good morning kittens!

Yep, I'm caffeinatin' and ruminatin', so bear with me. I also heard tell that it annoys the hell out of one person when I use the word "kittens" so here it is. Kittens kittens kittens! Oh, I am so evil. Bad Ann. But I'm in a mischievous mood today, and really, there is no harm in an affectionate moniker for readers, and it is affectionate. So there you go.

On to the matter at hand. I've been having a lively and fun email discussion with some sewing friends about pattern instructions. We've all been frustrated recently by instructions that have left something to be desired. So I got thinking; why is it so hard to write good pattern instructions? It's not any one company, either. It seems to be an area of pain for everyone, large or small. I recently made a dress from a Big Four pattern company whose instructions were so frustrating that, after finishing the dress, I tore them to shreds and stuffed them into the trash. On a public forum, one pattern company took such a thorough drubbing about their instructions that the whole thread had to be shut down. In another garment I made recently, I took one look at the instructions, started to go slightly cross eyed, then tossed them aside and made it my own way.

Anyone who has experience as a technical writer will tell you that writing instructions is not easy, and it takes a completely different skill set to write instructions than it does to design and create a pattern. I used to work for a company called Information Mapping that sold a whole lot of consulting and books on how to document things and write instructions. They made a lot of money teaching engineers how to document their work and transfer their knowledge.

Part, but not all, of the problem is that some of the pattern companies act more like printing companies. I once asked the head of development for a very large pattern company why their patterns didn't have more tips for users in them. I was comparing their patterns which had "tips for sewing success" to another pattern line, which I consider the gold standard for in-depth instructions. The answer was, "Our pattern instruction sheets are 4 pages. Period. They will never be more than that." The gold standard had something like 12 pages of instructions.

Another problem is that sewing is very visual. Traditional patterns have line drawings which are helpful to an extent, but in some cases are useless or even unintentionally misleading. Certain things that require three dimensional construction and visualization can't be drawn clearly in two dimensions.

One proposed solution in my email group was for pattern companies to just eliminate instructions altogether. Of course, the problem with that is two-fold: first, it would discourage many beginning sewists. Second, instructions are an integral selling point to patterns. I know of one company that doesn't print any instructions, and they are a niche player because of it. Their patterns are among the highest fashion and best drafted out there. But the lack of instructions is an immediate turn-off to some sewists.

So what's the solution? It could be any number of things. I think pattern manufacturing needs to evolve from prior-century printed material to a multi-media approach. YouTube, blogs and the internet have been a boon that sewing companies can exploit. Color photography of individual steps is very helpful and an improvement over line drawings. And you can put color photos on the web at minimal cost compared with printing. Online video is another great tool. There are lots of great videos out there that show how-tos. And the beauty of videos is that they demonstrate the process, not just individual images of individual steps. Can pattern companies do this for every pattern? Probably not immediately, but eventually perhaps.

Before I close out, I just want to make one point (and please don't think I'm scolding - I'm not). Notice that I haven't used any names. Please don't use this post as a place to air dissatisfaction with any particular companies. I won't publish comments that do.

So how do you think pattern companies could improve their instructions?

Happy sewing!

Okay, I'll name one name. The gold standard to me is Claire Shaeffer's patterns for Vogue patterns. I may not always go for her styles, but her instructions are absolutely the best out there, and I buy all her patterns just so I can study them. They are a class in an envelope.

And That, My Dears, is How It's Done

Photo: Robyn Beck

Many of my blogging friends have written or will write posts about the fashions our new First Lady wore yesterday. I won't bother to add my opinion, beyond saying she looked fabulous. However, being the opinionated (ahem) lady that I am, I will give you my view on another great element of yesterday's inaugural - the music.

I was toasty warm in my office, watching the CNN streaming video. It looked c-c-cold in D.C., and I felt bad for the crowds. But I immediately perked up when The Ultimate Diva, The Queen of Soul, Aretha billowed up to the podium like a galleon under full sail to sing "My Country Tis of Thee". Vocally, it wasn't her best performance. At first I thought she might be under the weather. But as she sang, it seemed more like she wasn't suffering from a cold, but rather that she (and her pipes) had gotten cold. The opening of the song was raspy, but as she continued singing, her voice settled in more and more.

But regardless of the quality of sound she produced, that woman owned that song. From the moment she opened her mouth to the last note, she brought it, with all the confidence and gravitas that only a true Diva can bring. It's an attitude thing. Even when she's not on top form, Aretha puts it all out there and pours her heart into every word, every note and every nuance. Beyonce is a pretty girl with a pretty voice, but at this point, she is just a pretender to the throne. And the Queen is not going to abdicate that throne any time soon.

Oh, and I LOVED the hat.

Happy singing!

Stupid Pattern Conventions

I'm in project hold right now. My Jalie's have shipped, but they take time to get here through customs. So to while away the time, I decided to make a denim skirt. It's time to start up on the transition wardrobe. This one looks very cute. It's McCalls 5590, a pegged, somewhat high waisted skirt.
I'm making View A, the short one, from stretch denim. I was cutting the pattern today and I noticed something that always bothers me. You know the dots that mark the darts? They are never in the logical places, have you noticed that? Okay, they are in one logical place: the endpoint of the dart. But other than that, they seem to be randomly distributed. Here's an example. I placed the pattern piece on my cutting mat. The dart is one inch wide at the waist, and three inches down, it starts a straight line taper to the point. But where are the marking dots? Not at the beginning of the taper. They are about 3/4 of an inch down.
Okay, I know - you're supposed to mark the entire dart, either thread traced or with chalk. I do that with couture garments, but the placement of those dots still bothers me. It's just not logical, Mister Spock. Especially with darts whose legs are straight lines, doesn't it make more sense to have them at the points where the angle of the lines changes? Or maybe that's just the math major in me. Here's the curved dart on the back of the skirt:
Again, the dot placement doesn't make sense. There are dots at the seamline. Okay, I get that, though I don't usually use them. I make snips at the edge of the seam allowance and go from there. But this dart curves out, and there are no dots at the fullest part of the curve. I find that very annoying. It seems to be a Big 4 "thing', but maybe other pattern companies do it. Me? I say to heck with the pattern's markings and put my tailor tacks where they make the most sense for my purposes. It's a minor nit, perhaps, but it's another one of those annoyances that might make life for a beginner harder, and it's something that is so easy to remedy.

Anyway, back to it tomorrow. Happy sewing!

This Really P*sses Me Off

I'm working on Tatiana's Latin dress. I mentioned earlier that I was looking forward to the challenge, and I am actually enjoying it. The exhibition is Friday night, and I wanted to have the base leotard done so I could check the fit last night. Once the fit is determined, I can build the dress pretty easily. Last week I took a (very) full set of measurements for Tatiana and started working on the design. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I went to the store and picked out a McCalls dance dress pattern to copy the leotard. I cut the size based on her measurements. Then I basted it together and put it on Shelly, my dress form that is pretty close to Tatiana in size. I noticed right then that the leotard was HUGE! I mean, saggy, hangy - not something I would describe as closely fitted. So I took it in by 1 1/2 inches on the seams and finished the legs so Tatiana could try it on. Once she did the leotard was still too loose. It needs to come in at least 3/4 of an inch on either side.

Now, shame on me I suppose for not doing flat pattern measurements. But in my defense, I have never made a leotard before, and I assumed that leotards would be built with negative ease. Here's the first line of the pattern description from McCalls' website:

Flared, fitted dresses have dropped waistline, attached bodysuit with or without snap crotch closing

Hear that? "Fitted". Fitted does NOT mean 3 inches of ease in a frickin' leotard, people! It's not just this pattern. I have noticed a trend in the Big 4 pattern companies in the last few years. Call it Vanity Sizing for lack of a better term. The pattern envelopes indicate a size for a given set of measurements, but the patterns themselves run really large. Case in point - me. By my measurements, I fall firmly into a Big Four size 14. But the last half dozen patterns that I have made in a size 14 are way too big. Even a size 12 is pushing the size. And much as I like to think that I'm svelte, there just ain't no way I'm a 26 inch waist any more. I'm talking about all types of patterns - dresses, pants, skirts. And what's more annoying is that the measurements printed on some of the pattern pieces are wrong, too. It's not just the McCall companies. Simplicity is just as bad. Maybe I'm obtuse, but I would think that these companies would actually adhere to their slopers, or change the measurements for their size charts. And if it frustrates me, it's got to be ten times worse for someone who is just getting started with sewing.

Alright, enough of my rant. I'm going upstairs to cut a new leotard. Thank heavens I always buy at least double the amount of fabric I need when I'm making a completely new type of garment.

Hmmmm... I wonder if I should enter this dress in the Pattern Review New Techniques contest?

Happy sewing!

Fashion Don'ts at the Dance Comp

Miss me? This weekend is the annual Yankee Classic ballroom dance competition. I have to confess, when I used to teach swing and ballroom, we (the teachers) used to make fun of the competitive dancers, mostly because of the strictly proscribed step sequences they had to use and how unimaginative said steps were. Now? I'm the mother of a competitive ballroom dancer. Irony rules.

Anyway, one thing that has been a constant in dance competitions is the, um, interesting costumes you see out there. If you ever watch "Dancing with the Stars", you get a taste of it. It seems the Latin dances are the best for finding the ballroom equivalents of Glamour Fashion Don'ts. So sit back and prepare for some snark. If you don't like snark, go read something else.

First off, this being a dance competition, it's loaded with Lycra, sparkles, spangles, and shimmer. Competitive dance dresses start around $2000. And that $2000 can buy you some serious fug. You see a lot of fringe:

Now, that's not too bad. Fringe is great for spinning and shimmying. And I actually kinda like this outfit. Plus, these two were awesome dancers.

Man Cleavage:
Sorry, to me, this just looks ridiculous. This guy actually had contour tanning to emphasize his pecs. Check out this one:
Yeah, right.

Ponytails:
Ponytails belong on one's head, not one's butt. I don't care how good a dancer you are (and she was good), if all the audience can look at is the purple organza on your a**, you need a different costume.







Sequins:

Sequins have their place, but not this place. And what is with the Watteau train of cascading sequinned strips on her backside? It didn't even look good dancing.

Muffin Top:
Unless you're Edyta Sliwinska, this is a big don't. I don't even remember how this gal's dancing was, because all any of us at the table could talk about was how she was hanging over the edges of her costume. There's a reason God created illusion netting.

Double Sided Tape Deserves Hazard Pay
This gal looked like she was going to pop out several times during her dances. By the end of the jive, her double-stick tape rolled over and begged for mercy.

No Shirt, No Service:
Wearing a suit with no shirt isn't a good idea. I would hate to sweat that much into my jacket, wouldn't you?

And that was only the morning. I didn't stay around for the whole day. We had to have DS there at 6:30 AM for his dances, which started at 7:25. By the time he finished at 3, I was ready to pass out from exhaustion. But he did great. He danced 16 dances and took 14 first places and 2 second places. Here are a couple of shots of him with Tatiana. Needless to say, they both looked great!

Dancing the Samba:

And the Foxtrot:


The Cosmo Dress should be done tomorrow, and I'm behind on reviewing my New Look top, but I will. Meanwhile,

Happy dancing!

Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should

Earlier this year, I was asked by a pattern company if I would be interested in designing a line of patterns for them. Almost before they finished asking the question, I said, 'No.' Now, my darling Emmett took me to task for this. His reasoning was that I have a good sense of style, I understand construction, and I teach, so I can cover the technical aspects. He also reasoned that I should assess it as a styling job as much as a design job. That's an interesting take, but I'm sticking to my guns on this.

Here's my reason. I'm an oustanding sewist. I'm an excellent teacher. I know color theory and I understand design lines and proportion. I'm the second most stylin' woman I know (Wouldn't you all like to know who's first? Keep guessing; I'm not saying. I will tell you it's not some Hollywood type; it's someone on the right). However, I don't have design chops. And if I'm going to put my name on something, it's got to be really outstanding. I would not want to disappoint anyone, least of all myself. And given the zeitgeist on the internet lately, I wouldn't want to be the target of people saying about my designs, "What on God's Green Earth was she thinking?" It happens, and I don't like to see it happen to good people.

So, for the time being at least, nope. Not doing it. I reserve the right to change my mind. If I come up with some spectacular design? Sure, I may take that pattern company up on the offer. But for now, I'll stick to what I do best.

Happy sewing!

Wednesday Miscellaney

It's been a very hectic week around here. There are a ton of new fabrics up over at Gorgeous Fabrics and I have a ton more to put up. On top of that, I'm readying a recital for December 3, followed by concerts on the 8th and the 16th to keep me musically occupied for a while. The recital will be fun, if I memorize everything in time. We just added two songs by Puccini last week, and two Mozart songs today. The program will include Puccini and Mozart arias, along with songs by Brahms and Hoiby. I feel like that old FedEx commercial "How am I gonna do that?" It's easy. I won't sleep.

DS the Younger's competition went very well this past weekend. He danced in 10 dances, took 1st place in eight of them and 2nd place in two. He's made the discovery that the girls are all angling to get him as their partner. As Sewing Diva Phyllis said to me, there's always lots of opportunity for a boy in ballroom dance. Something tells me his teen years are going to be interesting.

I made curtains for a post for BeSewStylish.com that will go up tomorrow. After that, I need to make some gifts for my niece. It's never ending, you know?

I read an interesting post on a website I like yesterday. The website owner was feeling that she (maybe it's they) was being treated badly by 'mean girls' on a forum. It showed up the day after Miss Conduct (the politesse guru in the Boston Globe) wrote a column about how to handle snarky anonymous comments on one's blog, when you know who the anonymous poster was. There was also a recent article in the Wall Street Journal about how global companies are having to be on the lookout for sarcasm and snark in internal communications, mostly electronic. There must be something in the ether. I've noticed this happens on a cyclical basis.

My observation on forums is that someone offers an opinion about something, and that opinion usually is rather bland and harmless. Then other people add their opinions, often also harmless. Occasionally you'll get the odd flamer, but not always. But what happens after a while is that it starts to feel like a pig pile, regardless of how inoffensive each individual poster believes they are being. And pig piles are never pleasant, especially if you're the pile-ee. Feelings tend to get hurt, and bad karma ensues.

The reasons for this are myriad. First and foremost, when reading a post on a board, blog, or even when reading an email, we can't hear the inflection and tone that the writer is using. I had a personal experience recently where someone asked me a question. The wording was ambiguous enough that I couldn't tell if the person was chiding me or simply being direct. My first reaction was to feel put out. After considering my options for response, I put my position in as bland a way as possible, asked DH to proof it for OQ (Offensiveness Quotient), and when it passed his scrutiny, I sent the response off. I spoke with her recently, and she is a lovely lady, and she meant no offense by it. Written communication with strangers can be fraught with misinterpretation, you know?

And even when I think I am being cute or funny, it can be interpreted exactly the opposite. I took to moderating comments on my blog after one episode where I thought I came across like Jon Stewart, but several readers thought I was being mean. And their comments weren't witty; they were just nasty. We all know it's a rough world out there. I don't have any solutions to offer up, I just know how I'll handle it when it happens to me. And I'll keep on keeping on. It's what I do.

Happy sewing!

Dear God in Heaven, No.

I like Martha Stewart. I liked her when it was fashionable to do so, and I liked her even more when she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar and had to go to jail. I even kind of liked the poncho she wore when she got out.

I was just on her site, SewingIdeas.com, and I checked out the video in the right column, the one with Arnold Scaasi. Now, not only do I like Martha, I have a very soft spot in my heart for Scaasi. In the 80s, I owned a bright red Silk Duchesse Scaasi gown (bought, not made) with his famous crumb-catcher bodice. I wore it as a recital gown, and I looked hot in it! Very 80s and back then I had the big, platinum blonde hair to go with it, if you can imagine.

Anyway, as I was saying, I watched that video, and it was about embroidering using a Husqvarna machine. They embroidered a tee shirt with Scaasi's logo. Then, and here's where the title comes in, Scaasi pronounced, "Everyone should embroider tee shirts." Oh no, Arnold. Everyone should most definitely not embroider tee shirts! See, to me, embroidery isn't sewing, it's embellishment. It has its place, but in the wrong hands, it can take a garment from good to Becky Home Ecky. Some people do beautiful embroidery, but a world full of embroidered tees is not one I want to live in.

Sorry Martha, Arnold, love you both (though what is up with Scaasi's hair, anyway?) but I aint buyin' it! On Monday, the guest on Martha's show is Tim Gunn whom I love despite his show. And the show is all about sewing. Oh, and check it out! My darling Emmett provided wardrobe! I'll have to Tivo that one.

Happy sewing!

Gawd, I love/hate this game!

My super-triple-secret project is done, for now. The Pats are playing Indy in a gut-wrenching game, and I'm taking a break from screaming at the TV. It's bad for the pipes, don't you know.

So on to musings about things that have gone on in my little world this week.
There's been a thread on PatternReview about stars. Here's the back story. There's a popularity contest over there that lets folks rate reviews and reviewers, and the ratings garner stars for the reviewer. Let me be up front. I have 4 stars. I got them when it was easier to get them. It's like stock options if you are a single digit employee. You get rich faster. As the site has grown, it's gotten harder to earn the stars, just thanks to the math. I've advocated, and some might say agitated, for a departure from this star system. But they remain. Fine, I can live with that.

But there are those who are, shall we say, obsessed with these stars.

We interrupt this program to say, Woo Hoo!!!!!! Go Pats! OMG, I'm not able to eat. If only the playoffs lasted all year. I'd be a size 4.

Anyway, I was saying. There are those who are, shall we say, obsessed with these stars. Why? Does it make you Queen For A Day? Or King For A Day? No. Does it improve your skills? No. Now, many of these folks- lots of them, deserve stars. Heck, I'd dole out stars for just showing up. But for many, it's a popularity contest. I don't like popularity contests. They propagate high school behaviors that I didn't like then. And I was the yearbook photographer in high school for a reason, folks.

The thing that is bothering me is that no one is allowed to say that they don't like the star system. Those of us who offer this opinion get shouted down, loudly. "You don't really know me if you think I'm taking this "star" thing so seriously," says one (very) frequent poster on this thread. Sure. Another says "Off with their heads." Okay! Now, this thread was 16 pages long when I last looked. 16 pages! The shouters are all claiming that it's tongue in cheek, but it sure didn't sound that way for the first 14. Actually, it sounded like a pea-hen party, and that's something that drives me crazy and propagates other stereotypes.

But let me interrupt this broadcast to say, Hey Peyton, where's the end zone? Jiminy Christmas! I like the Colts. Not as much as the Pats of course, but let's start playing football in the second half, can we?

BTW, Pats, for god's sake, keep playing the way you are playing!!!

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. My pulse is back down to only very high from outrageous. But please, someone smack Deion Sanders for me, would you?

I asked for a better second half, right? Well, be careful what you ask for!

Oh, Kee-rist, my stomach is in knots!!!

Congratulations to the Colts! The bad news? The obvious. My boys lost. But what a freaking game!!!! Good on Indy, and good luck in the Super Bowl. Speaking of the Super Bowl, and thank you to "Scrubs" for this bit of inspiration, what has two thumbs and doesn't give a damn?



Happy football!

Basta!

That's not some foreign swear, it's Italian for "enough".

What is with people these days? The internet is just plain nutty, and I don't mean cashews and pecans. Sewing sites are getting particularly weird. I subscribe to two that have threads in which members are discussing the pros and cons of a certain pattern company. Several are given to long diatribes ranting on about the folks who test these patterns, and the fact that they are under moral obligation to divulge their status as a tester for these patterns. And that if they don't, they are going to suffer from boils, frogs, blood, locusts, darkness and general bad karma. The tone of many of these posts is hysterical - they justhavetotellthesepeopleontheseboardswhotheyarebecause-wewanttoknowandifnotwe'regoingtoscreamaboutitontheinternet-
becausewecan!!!!

Puh-leeze. Get a grip people.

For one thing, it's sewing folks. It's not sending someone to Mars. It's not brain surgery. As I said on one site, I haven't seen any pattern company that has had to submit a M&M (that's Morbidity and Mortality, aka the "Does it kill you?") report to the Federal Pattern Administration. Lighten up!

For another thing, I have contracted with testers for various companies I have been in or owned. Every last one of them was required to sign an agreement that they would NOT divulge their identities as a beta tester. It's in the contract. I could sue them if they blabbed.

And talk about dissuading folks from posting reviews. If I post a review on some public site, am I going to be accused of being a shill for the pattern company? When I post on an independent site that hosts pattern reviews, not only do I share the rights to my work with the site owner, but now I also have to endure the slings and arrows from folks who think that I may be somehow affiliated with the company? Thanks, I'll keep my pattern reviewing to my own sites (here and The Sewing Divas) from now on. Geez, what a bunch of grumpy gusses are out there on the internet these days!

BTW, I'm not talking about paid reviews. Those are different (see Sewing Payola?). I'm talking about folks who submit reviews to sites for no monetary gain.

Okay, basta. I'm going back to my sewing room where I am working on a totally fabulous outfit for my next singing gig!