Readers, a confession: on occasion I like to dress up and take funny pictures of myself. Can you accept that about me? I hope so. (These indoor shots are self-pics, btw. Just my camera, my tripod, and me. No involvement from that cooking guy.)
Today, let's take a break from All-Sew-Along, All-the-Time, shall we? First though, let me say how delighted I am that so many of you have embedded my little Sew-Along button on your blogs. You are all going to be amply rewarded -- if not in this life, then the next. Or the one after that.
Seriously, I'm not used to seeing my mug in so many places and I could grow to like it. We must do a pants-sew-along next.
What fun I had at the Chelsea flea market yesterday! For less than $10 I got all these fun men's accessories:
And here's what they inspired.
Have I gone too far with the Pattern Boldness thing? What do you think? And a little vintage beefcake...
And look at this:
I don't know how many vintage buttons are in this jar but I'd settle with a lot. They're unused and I just love 'em. Now who wants to help me sort them? I won't have to buy shirt buttons for years!
And speaking of shirts, today we have a GIVEAWAY!
Is there someone out there who is on the fence about the Men's Shirt Sew-Along or simply refuses to buy a pattern? Well you're in luck!
I found this vintage Nineties Quik Sew shirt pattern, 2160, in my stash, sealed and like-new, and honestly I don't think I'll ever get to it with the number of shirt patterns I already own. What's great about it is that it is S-M-L-XL, which means you can make it to fit any size. Except XXXL of course!
This GIVEAWAY CONTEST is open to all MPB Followers and all you have to do is leave a comment below. Oh, and one more thing -- the comment must rhyme. Nothing fancy -- an "I'm making a shirt / For my Great Uncle Kurt" will do. Those who are up to sonnet form are welcome to indulge their whim. NOTE: The winner will be chosen at random, not based on poetic skill!
This contest is open till Monday, midnight (EST), which gives people plenty of time, and everyone across the planet is eligible. I will mail the pattern to the winner early next week.
And in Sew-Along news....
I know many of you are shopping for shirt fabric and I've been asked to recommend a few NYC stores with good selections.
On the high end, there's Beckenstein's Men's Fabric Czar at 257 W 39th St. This place is legendary and you'll find the best of the best (and pay for it). More affordable and right next door is A K Fabrics Inc. I got my plaid cotton flannel there for $7/yd. Beautiful things and some lovely flannel. Cheaper still (and a bit chaotic) with a lot of shirting for $3/yd. is H&M Fabric at 257 West 39th St. Kashi at Metro Textiles, 265 West 37th, Suite 908, also sells quality shirting at excellent prices.
There are many others, of course, and if you've had a positive experience somewhere you'd like to recommend, please do so below.
Many of these stores are open Sunday too (though not Metro).
Friends, I hope you're enjoying your weekend and visualizing beautifully-crafted men's shirts. I know I am! In the meantime, I may just bundle up and return to the flea market in search of more vintage goodies, decluttering be damned.
OK, poets -- Ready, Set, Go-ets!
If you're a little more north in the New England area, we've got Lorraine Fabrics in Pawtucket, RI which gets leftover bolts from designers. I bought my fabric there yesterday and saw several lining fabrics with the Liz Claiborne logo on them! The whole second floor is all 1.99/yd and I took full advantage of it!
ReplyDeleteNow Peter: playing dress-up is FUN!
ReplyDeleteI knew I wasn't the only one.
;)
I am planning a wool shirt
ReplyDeletecould there be nice fabric cheap as dirt?
Thanks, Lisette! Very clever, DFR2010 and Lisa!
ReplyDeleteI'm just dying over the "i like seeing my mug all over the place!!" And you want to do a pants sew-along too.........to see you ass all over the place?!?! hahahaha. I literally am on the floor laughing my ass off! I am soooooo putting your linky up! Yay- husband will finally get a something sewn by me! LOVE YOU!
ReplyDeleteThe first pic reminds me of Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, even more so if you had on a fishing hat with lures hanging off it. And the others … well, it looks like Michael didn't get a turn with the leopard pants after all. But they're all hilarious. You're very photogenic, which I'm guessing you already know.
ReplyDeleteI already have that pattern in my collection. I picked it up cheap somewhere too. Maybe I'll look at the placket instructions for it and compare.
Ok i'll bite
ReplyDeleteBut i won't make it too tight
boring is white
will this help me find the light
yea F for effort but still sounds fun
I have a plan,
ReplyDeleteit's a shirt for my man.
To make a start,
I have to be smart.
As quick as a flash,
I'll go through my stash.
Trace, cut, sew,
and what do you know...
It's a shirt for my man,
my man, my Stan xxxx
(ok so his name is Ali but that just didn't work lol)
p.s. i'm o/s so not in for the giveaway just having fun while i sit here getting my baby to sleep. ;-)
You said it must rhyme?
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm just in thyme,
as if I needed another pattern!
I have more than enough --
finding space will be tough --
as I'm just another pattern slattern!
(don't ask me how that cooking word got in there)
The first one resembles the retired Pharmacist in the small town near where I grew up. It was sort of believable til you paired the outfit with the leopard pants. Wonder whose track and field medal you now have. Don't you wonder about the history of these things?
ReplyDeleteTerry
I have never sewn for my man
ReplyDeleteThis time I will do if I can!
With the help of a pattern from Kwick
I'll be certainly quick!
Sorry Peter... this is what a foreign can do with the English Language! :)
Peter, Peter, boldness breeder,
ReplyDeleteHow do your patterns grow?
With Etsy finds plus flea market minds,
And loyal readers all in a row.
:)
I just want to rhyme since it's fun,
ReplyDeleteI purchased Negroni that's done,
As I wait for the mail
I'll find fabric on sale
Once I'm certain that it is "the one".
You have the same charm when you mug as Fred Astaire..it's very winning. Now I want to find vintage awards and badges to wear as accessories.
I put your sew-a-long on my blog
ReplyDeleteLest you thing you're an attention hog...
Oh,me too! Me Too !
ReplyDeleteheart,
elise
Elise, that's not quite a poem, but I'll accept it regardless. Please try harder next time. ;)
ReplyDeleteIs it wrong
ReplyDeleteTo play along
To enter a give-away
But not the sew-along?
Well, all I can say
Is, "I want to play."
Maybe I'll sew that shirt
But not for Uncle Kurt;
I hope he's not hurt.
There was a young fellow named Peter,
ReplyDeleteWhose sewing responded to meter.
He sews for himself, his cousin, an elf!
But this shirt should not be such a feat-r.
Men's sewing patterns here are quite few,
ReplyDeleteAnd I need to return sewing magazines when they are due,
But if I had my own pattern I wouldn't have magazines to renew,
And sewing a shirt for my son might come true!
Haiku anyone? or something strange like it....
ReplyDeleteI follow MPB,
I use PMB.
My dogs are PBGV
and I am green with envy. :)
I wish I can rhyme,
ReplyDeleteOnly this one time,
To win this shirt pattern,
Is what now really matters.
Hey, English is far faar from my 1st language, have mercy on me:)
Rhyming is a pain,
ReplyDeleteBut just the same,
I'm making a shirt,
That monetarily won't hurt.
And while I really don't need another pattern,
Anymore than I need to go to Saturn,
I find it never hurts,
To have more patterns for shirts!
Seriously, though. I figured out costs for this. :) And well, my shirt, pattern and everything, will cost me $11.95. There's something to be said for shopping on sales and just using what you already have. I actually realized that the pattern I wanted to use is in my pattern stash--I made a vest from it for Christmas for a different brother a couple years ago. I'm leaving that dollar in, though. :) I might not find it. I have to go look for it. And Simplicity patterns are $1 each starting on January 15. My cotton/poly fabric, with a 40% coupon, is only $1.79/yard at Hobby Lobby. :) And I bought a ten yard bolt of interfacing for $1.99 at an after Thanksgiving sale at Joanns. The buttons I'll pick up on my next trip there, as I'm fairly sure I don't have ten shirt buttons that match. But those, I always buy the economy models at $0.90 for five, so it's be another $1.80.
Laura (Who, considering that a decent quality men's big and tall shirt costs $80, is feeling very thrifty.)
As I sit here in Dallas, watching the snow,
ReplyDeleteI dream of the shirt that I soon will sew.
I'll work with shirting of pretty nice ilk,
it's cotton, from Italy, but I wish it were silk.
Much love,
Jacki
Simply trying to sew,
ReplyDeleteFrom a man to a man
I thought you should know
This pattern would lend me a hand
Wow, what a tie! I thought at first it had bee hives on it, but zooming in it is apparent they are ships.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase 'vintage nineties' makes me twitch. Surely it wasn't all that long ago?
ReplyDeleteLOL! Love the dress-up pictures. That first one puts me in mind of clem kadiddlehopper a little.
ReplyDeleteTo match Pete's sartorial delights,
ReplyDeleteI'm sewing some days and most nights.
In sleep, I'll be dreaming
Of craftily seaming
Towards fashion's quite loftiest heights.
I think I shall make a shirt
ReplyDeleteFor my little First Communion squirt
For my Grandson Jake
He'll love any shirt I make.......
And the dish ran away with the spoon?
Mermie
I just happened to notice that two of the stores you listed seem to have the same address. 257 W 39th is the address you gave for both Beckenstein's and H&M.
ReplyDeleteIs this a mistake?
Or did you just flake?
:)
Oddly enough they have the exact same address -- they're all next to each other.
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures, Bertie doing Vaudeville. :D
ReplyDeleteA male pattern sew along? WhAt Boldness. I'm IN!
ReplyDeleteMy husband got a new job,
ReplyDeletebut he looks like a slob,
so I'll sew him a new shirt or two.
I'd like him top notch,
so I've picked out a swatch
of some dandy new fabric in blue.
(also, we were just talking and I cam up with this one on accident: put a pin in leather, it's there forever)
I'll make the shirt for my honey - I'll pick a fabric that's bright and sunny! On second thought, perhaps a stripe? I think that might be more his type. :)
ReplyDeletePeter's pattern stash is fantastic,
ReplyDeleteHis blog stylish- but never bombastic,
A shirt for my man?
I'm your number one fan!
Don't blush or I'll say I'm sarcastic.
Never sewn a shirt before
ReplyDeleteBut, I hope after this one I'll want to make more!
Love. This. Blog.
:)
I need to learn to make a shirt!!!!
ReplyDeleteI need to learn to make a man's shirt so that,
ReplyDeletewhen I make a woman's shirt,
my brain will not hurt!! :):)
My hubby loves the stuff I sew;
ReplyDeletebut how to make a shirt for him I do not know!
Once I know how, I'll make him shirts a-hundred
or else he'll be shirtless wearing pants of leopard!
(that sounded more rhyme-y in my head...leopard is a weird word)
Peter Peter Pattern tweeter
ReplyDeletehad a pattern and couldn't keep 'er
So he put 'er in the mail
and there I kept her very well.
Enjoyed your sunday a lot Peter! There are lots & lots of rhymes as the reply on this post. Good to see and thanks for informing about the contest. Surely it was the good one. Thanks for the tips and definitely look forward to sew some good patterns very soon Peter.
ReplyDelete