Readers, A disconsolate letter poured into the Getting Things Sewn headquarters this morning addressed to our advice columnist, Miss GTS. It read, Dear Miss GTS, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should be excited to be in the Ready to Wear Fast year-long sewing challenge, but I’m depressed, and it’s only Day 4! […]
Starting the New Year with a Calendar to Inspire
Readers, This New Year’s Day morning, like millions of other people, I hung a new calendar. This one is so special I just had to tell you about it. This wonderful calendar is the joint effort of my sisters Cynthia and Donna. Donna is the owner of the Etsy store Timmees, and Cynthia is the […]
Do You Know About the Ready to Wear Fast?
Readers, I was taking a brief break from Thanksgiving Day cooking when I saw an invitation in my e-mail. Sarah Gunn of the phenomenally successful sewing blog Goodbye Valentino was inviting her readers to join her in a year-long “ready to wear fast” starting January 1. The more I read about this challenge, the more […]
Valancing Act
Readers, What did it take to go from this: To this: To this? Got a minute? I’ll tell you. I’m a fabric person, so I wasn’t thrilled to conclude that the best window treatment for our kitchen was a blind. Not floor-length draperies (obviously), or little cafe curtains, which would leave too much hard, dark, […]
Figuring Out My Figure Type
Readers, I’ll cut to the chase: I have an “X” figure type with sloping shoulders. The suspense is over. Let the fitting begin! To update: My longtime reader(s) will remember that one of the first topics I tackled in this blog, in 2013, was identifying my figure type, which I wrote about here and here. […]
Cooking Up My Style Recipe
Readers, Have you ever tried to define your fashion personality and wardrobe style in just a handful of words? Me neither. At least not till a couple of afternoons ago, when I undertook what I’ve found so far to be the single most important–and head-scratching–exercise in image consultant Imogen Lamport’s 7 Steps to Style program. […]
What Instructions Will Never Tell You
Readers, I don’t think it’s emphasized nearly enough how much this thing we call “sewing” is a process of formulating questions, cracking puzzles, experimenting, course-correcting, and adjusting expectations. From idea to finished product can be a pretty circuitous route, and I am still surprised how many decisions are required along the way. Take the shower […]