Teach Your Mother to Sew Day!

Friends, do you have parents?  If so, have you ever thought about passing along some useful skills to them that will contribute to their independence and keep them out of your hair?

Sewing and Eating

Readers, do you eat to sew or sew to eat?  I'm definitely in the former camp, mainly because the latter makes no sense whatsoever, unless you're being held captive in a sweatshop or something.  Let's change the subject.

50's Glam Alert -- The Opera Coat

Friends, I hope you agree that the zenith of 50's glam fashion was the opera coat.  Alternatively known as the swing coat, this is a long, voluminous, tent-like garment you see all the time in 50's fashion magazines, 50's movies, and 50's sewing patterns.  It lived well into the 1960's, but like so many glamorous styles of the mid-century, it died in the era of mini skirts and jeans.

Feeling cranky (he he)...

Friends, first a rant:  If there's anything I can't stand it's poor communication from online sellers, which I've experienced twice in the last week.  First there was the Etsy seller who sent me the wrong housecoat pattern, then told me she'd send the right one out the Monday before last.  When it hadn't arrived by Friday, I reached out to her and she said:  

The Maternity Scoop-Front Skirt -- Strange but true!

Readers, I'm undecided. Is the maternity scoop-front skirt a bizarre garment or merely an unusual one?  I think it's fair to say that this style is gone, kaput, finis. Blame it on stretch fabrics, more casual fashion, or simply a dislike of drafts, the scoop-front skirt has gone the way of the dodo bird, rubber girdles, and high button shoes.

5 Mantras for the Vintage Sewing Machine Addict

Readers, today's post is as much for me as it is for you.

In fact, I wasn't intending to blog this weekend at all, but I just got back from the Chelsea flea market, where I stumbled across this lovely Pfaff 60 straight stitch sewing machine, in a table, for just -- gulp --$20.

SMOCK it to me!

Speechless, right?

Readers, the maternity smock is finished and yes, I do have clothes on underneath it.   Quick: separated at birth?

MPB Shocker: Bizarre Maternity Smock - Baby Doll Pajama Link Revealed!

Friends, I won't lie: I take a sort of perverse pride in knowing that, whatever may be happening on those other sewing blogs (Pretty spring dresses!  Knit jersey wrap tops!), here at MPB we're up to something different.  Very different.

The Agony of Getting Started

Wasn't it Lao Tse who said "a journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step" or something like that?  Now you know I'm more likely to quote Lana Turner than Lao Tse, but this statement resonates with me today.

I'm having a hard time getting started on my maternity project and poor Cathy, meanwhile, is blowing up like a pan of Jiffy Pop.

The Maternity Mix-Up

Readers, it's maternity week here at MPB and it may be maternity month.  For we've suffered a bit of a set-back -- nothing serious, mind you, only one of the Etsy sellers whose maternity pattern I purchased sent me the wrong item. 

Sewing Machines and Truth in Advertising

Readers, as I get older, I notice that fewer things get under my (increasingly less elastic) skin.  I don't know if it's a function of age or just having less energy, but it's certainly not because there are fewer things to get upset about.  In fact, I'd say there are more!

Jeans: The Dramatic Conclusion

Readers, the jeans are done and I have pants without holes at the knees.  Jeans are work but these came together without too much drama.

I recognize that men's jeans are much easier to make than women's since (most) men aren't curvy.  I am grateful for being, essentially, a rectangle.

Jeans Update!

Good news, readers!  My denim jeans are underway and so far, so good.  There's not much to see at this point, but one never tires of looking at topstitching -- or is it showing it that one never tires of?

Jeans, Jeans, Roses are Red....

Readers, the first time I sewed myself jeans, I was over-the-moon excited.  Can you see the look of pride on my face?  (This was early September, 2009, and I had only been sewing for a few months).  I wore those pants to death.

Makeup, Maternity, Girdles and MORE!

Friends, we're busy, busy, busy here at MPB Industries!

First, I was delighted -- and moved, really -- by your enthusiasm about Cathy's grossesse.  We're in a quandary, however, about maternity patterns.  Do we go with the Lucy look (up top and immediately below), or more of a Jackie pregnancy?  So many choices -- I want to make them all!