It's 3 o'clock in the morning...

Friends, once again I must apologize for my pre-dawn stream of consciousness.  Don't ask me why I am awake at this ungodly hour, but I have learned that if I am, it's better to just get out of bed and start my day than to toss and turn in the darkness, thoughts of my next blog post filling my head.  I have Freddy here curled up on the sofa next to me, so off we go....

I am still waiting for my Liberty Art fabric to arrive.  That's the pattern above and I'm trying to recall how large those "lozenges" are.  Somewhere online I'd found an image of the fabric with one of those little rulers at the bottom showing the scale of the design, but I haven't been able to relocate it.  I am hoping the image above represents say, five inches of the pattern and not a yard, otherwise that Burda dress is going to be rather hard on the eyes.

I did receive a very special package in the mail yesterday, however:







I am so excited about this men's tailoring book by Roberto Cabrera and I know it's going to help tremendously with my suit project.  You do remember it, don't you?  While I got distracted there for a while, please don't think I have forgotten my much-heralded-and-as-quickly-sidelined suit project.  In fact, I am thinking of announcing an official MPB September Suit-a-thon just to raise awareness.  (Won't you help create a suit today....Please?)  What do you think?  

And while we're on the subject of you...

I've noticed that when I post a blog entry, the very first readers tend to be the editors, the ones who'll alert me to the difference between bespeckled and bespectacled or discrete and discreet, usually early enough for me to avoid large-scale public embarrassment.

After the editors, come the continuity experts.  Their job is essentially to comb for any inconsistencies.  Is there a beginning, middle, and an end?  Does what I'm saying make any sense at all?  Will anybody get my jokes? 

Next come the critics.  They read my entry and focus on the content: Am I alienating the Aussies?  Have I been mean to anyone who doesn't deserve it?  Can you see the outline of anything you shouldn't in my latest pants project photos?  Their comments usually arrive via personal email.

Finally, we have the sewing police.  They're the ones who remind me -- publicly and occasionally in caps -- that a Forties dress should not have serged seam allowances -- on the outside -- and that no self-respecting tailor would baste with anything but dental floss.  They have so much knowledge to share and, if we're able to swallow our pride a bit, they can educate us all.

Friends, it takes a team to keep me at my absolute best, day after day. I couldn't do it without you.  To think that Emily Dickinson had only one editor...or was that Janice Dickinson?

Oh, yes, then there's the fans...

They're the ones who stick by me through thick and thin, the vast majority so bleary-eyed and over-caffeinated they don't even notice whether there's a lack of basic subject/verb agreement. They're here primarily to see pretty pictures of cute dogs, Cathy in my latest creation, and me in silly get-ups.   They're the ones who make it all worthwhile!

And speaking of fans...

I forgot to mention that on Monday I had the the good fortune to spend a few hours with Mainely Dad and his posse right here in NYC.   You'll recall that Mainely Dad -- let's call him Duane shall we?-- is the gentleman who sewed himself the amazing Japanese pattern book toggle coat and turned me on to "The Bishop Method of Clothing Construction."  He, his partner Brian, and his two endlessly patient adult children were in town on Monday and we all met up for coffee and a little fabric shopping -- what else?



I won't lie: I think Duane et al. were secretly hoping to meet Cathy, and I could sense a bit of disappointment when they realized it would just be plain old me, fresh from the City pool and still smelling of chlorine.



Duane needed to buy buttons and lining material for his next project, a men's topper-style coat.  If there's one thing I love to shop for, it's lining material, and we visited some of my favorite fabric stores, including Truemark on Seventh Ave. and 25th St., and H&M on 35th St., where Duane found something to his liking among the six hundred possibilities available.

If you want to find out which fabric he chose -- please, not the heavy poly satin, Duane! -- you'll probably have to visit his blog, which I link to again in hopes of a formal invitation to his weekend house in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and which he really needs to update someday soon (the blog, not the house).

Dear readers, I'm afraid the caffeine is starting to wear off.   I think it's time to either go back to bed or refill my moka espresso pot.  Editors, Continuity Experts, Critics and Sewing Police, it's in your hands now.

Fans, should you ever visit me in New York, please let's shop for something other than three yards of nylon acetate.  How about some stretch lace?

Have a great day, everybody!