Feb 23, 2016

New Patterns, New Projects + Post-Picasa Possibilties, Please!



Great news, readers: my overalls are finished, photographed, and ready for their big reveal tomorrow.  I'm so excited!  (That's me in my Burda overcoat up top, trying to stay warm between shots.)

In other news, I have some new projects in the pipeline.  I was exploring on eBay the other day when I happened upon a cheap "Buy It Now" vintage pattern lot of mainly boys and teens stuff that included one desirable adult pattern.  Can you spot it below?  I emailed the seller about the size, and she confirmed it was a Small (the single pattern pic below is just a shot I found on Pinterest).  Can't wait to receive it!





Meanwhile, today I received a new (to me) tailoring book I ordered recently: the Roberto Cabrera classic, Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Womens Wear.  My tailoring professor at FIT recommends it, and it arrived just in time for some new women's projects I'll be taking on. Are you familiar with it?











I also have a new women's pattern in my life: McCall's 4214.  I'll be using it to make my dear friend, lovely actress Leah Curney, a raglan-sleeved overcoat next month.  Longtime readers may remember Leah as the model for the sundress I made as part of a BurdaStyle sew-along I led five years ago. 





Leah and I went fabric shopping last weekend and we found the perfect fabric, a beautiful dusty rose nylon taffeta.  Haven't chosen the lining yet.



In other news, if you blog with Blogger, it's likely that over the years you've used Picasa to host your blog photos.  It turns out that come next month, Google, which now owns Picasa, will no longer be supporting it.  Google Photos, the replacement, is much less user-friendly from what I can tell.  The good news is that it sounds like Google will continue to support embedded Picasa links, meaning that the thousands of photos I've posted here over a six-year period will still be visible.  I'm still not sure about embedded slideshows and their respective captions (all those Cathy photoshoots, merciful heavens!).  If anybody can recommend an easy-to-use alternative photo hosting site, please let me know.  All of this is a reminder that the Internet is ever-changing; nothing is forever.

Finally, the MPB Day Winter Frolic on Saturday, March 5 is filling up fast.  A few of you have asked whether there will be a lunchtime pattern swap.  I say, let's do it!  The best patterns to bring are the ones you'll never use: it's amazing how one person's trash can be another person's treasure.  Alas, some patterns turn out to be everyone's trash and I donate those sorry rejects to the thrift store; nothing gets thrown away.

If you plan to attend and haven't RSVP'd yet, please do so.  The Winter Frolic is a rain/sleet/snow-or-shine event, btw.

And that's it. 

Have a great day everybody!

14 comments:

  1. Bought my bus ticket! I'll be there for the Winter Frolic, but Lily must play the clarinet that day. She is "so bummed". That jacket pattern, look B, looks like the macho army jacket in every World War II movie. Which look are you planning to make?

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  2. I've used flickr for years, and I believe that there are ways of automating a transfer from picasa to flickr. As for linked images, other blog platforms like wordpress allow plugins that update permalink across a site. I'm not sure if it can be done with blogger, but it's worth looking into. Google does seem to like discontinuing products, so it wouldn't be unwise to save your photographs elsewhere.

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  3. Sorry I can’t help with a photo hosting site. Like Erzulimojo, I'm partial to the "B" jacket. Because last summer you didn’t receive my RSVP to MPB Day, here’s my notice that I’m planning to attend the MPB Day Winter Frolic. Can't wait! See you then!

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  4. I have that wonderful book. The photos are dated but the information is excellent. Thank you for telling us about the changes going on with Picasa. I will be reading the comments to this post with great interest.

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  5. Awaiting the Eisenhower jacket, in a nice olive drab itchy wool.

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  6. That book, from the snippet you show, looks so well written and understandable

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  7. I've been using Google photos for a while, and the Blogger installation works seamlessly. Basically, when I want to insert a photo, the "From Picasa Web Albums" tab just goes to Google Photos instead.

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  8. I really like the overcoat on you and can't wait for the reveal on the overalls! Thanks so much for the update on Google photos… I hadn't heard anything about it!

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  9. I love that jacket pattern! The styles are so wearable today, especially the "Ike" button up one. I'm hoping that will be the one you choose. I just don't understand why the big gun pattern companies aren't making timeless styles like that today. Aren't more men sewing today?

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  10. I think I need to get this book. It looks easy to read/understand. Thanks for highlighting it.

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  11. I finally scored a VERY worn copy of the men's Cabrera book. The complaints about the new men's edition imply the new photos are hard to read. Is this to crank up the prices on the originals?

    So, Mister, how are the construction photos in the women's edition? Anybody have the new Cabrera?
    Love the rose taffeta! My son now wants jacket version A: we already have the olive drab itchy wool B.

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  12. I like the longer grey jacket/coat. A hobo jacket is what I call it.

    https://www.google.ca/search?q=kapital+hobo+jacket&biw=954&bih=509&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj54vLNjpbLAhUEzWMKHfynAZoQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=56dnKDKGZerW4M%3A

    Recommendations for a new decent sewing machine for an absolute beginner?

    Cheers,
    Jake

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  13. Mother and I are excited to frolic-along next Saturday, and we will purge the pattern stashes this weekend. See you soon!

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  14. Love, love the newsboy cap!!! One of my all-time fave looks.

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