Tales for a Torrid Tuesday

Readers, it's hot in New York this week.  Very, very hot.  Here's what's going on:

I'm happy to report that my mother's hip surgery was successful and she's up and about once more.  She can walk (slowly) pain-free after only six weeks --a big improvement.

I picked up some snazzy vintage fabric at the flea market on Saturday -- three yards of this groovy cotton print that's going to become a shirt for Michael.  Sort of a tiger skin palette and slightly psychedelic.







I'm happy to be featured in this summer's American Sewing Guild magazine, Notions, in an article about sewing blogs entitled "The New Sewing Enablers."



The title was a bit of a shock as I don't consider myself an enabler, more of a pusher, but whatever.  It's always a thrill to see one's name in print and who cares if a few of the details are wrong.





My favorite is the sentence that reads "The bloggers are young...."  I suppose they're taking a statistical average.

Inspired by the many book recommendations I get from readers and my relative lack of shelf space, I've started putting more books on reserve at the library.  Usually after spending three weeks with a book, no matter how beautiful, I'm done with it.

Here are a few new arrivals:



I'm guessing that most of you are familiar with couturier Madeleine Vionnet, famous for her bias cut gowns.  This oversized book by author Betty Kirke is a stunning tribute to Vionnet's achievements.  Kirke befriended Vionnet toward the end of the designer's life, and was able to pick her brain about her life, her inspiration, and her techniques.  The book is lavishly illustrated and includes diagrams of the actual patterns used to make many of the designs.









Fans of Twenties and Thirties gowns will love it.





You know I enjoy vintage advertising, so 50s Fashion: Vintage Fashion and Beauty Ads, part of Taschen's Icons pocket-sized book series, is right up my alley.



While I prefer to see the ads in the original magazines, it's still fun to see these all together -- the emphasis here is men's and women's sportswear, underwear, and accessories.  What's not to like?











Good news for Cathy!  She tied for second place in the Pattern Review Vintage Pattern 2011 contest. Of course, competitive gal that she is, her first reaction was to berate me, but I think she'll come around and appreciate her achievement.  If you're one of the other 41 people who voted for her, we thank you. 



Meanwhile, on the film front, I've always been a big Alice Faye fan, and was thrilled to find Alice's 1943 hit Hello, Frisco, Hello at the library yesterday.  A lavish technicolor confection set at the turn of the 20th Century in San Francisco -- and weren't they all? -- this is fun, if not top-notch, entertainment.  I prefer Alice in her more casual Thirties black and white musicals, but she's always good company and is one of my favorite popular singers from this period.



Friends, that's it for today!  I hope to get some sewing done -- stranger things have happened, so who knows?

Any Alice Faye fans out there?

Have a great day, everybody!