Copycats

I can't wait to take pictures of a project that was finally finished today after languishing in my UFO pile for over a year. It involves shirring, if you can believe it. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to take pictures and post it up.

But this post is about fashion's knack for reinventing itself. How history is bound to repeat itself. How there's nothing new under the sun.

And let me say, that is not always a bad thing. I got the latest Talbot's catalog in the mail today, and for the first time in a long time I actually sat and paged through it. I am really drawn to the colors they are using in this season's line and although I don't buy clothes from them, I always like to look at pretty things for inspiration.

One of the dresses that I adore is this cross-front number in a pretty, summery cotton print. Sorry, the Talbot's site won't let me copy their pics. I knew I'd seen something like this in my vintage patterns, so I ran downstairs and look! I borrowed the picture from Wikia, but I have this pattern in my size:

Vintage McCall's 8297 from 1966. The shape of the skirt isn't exactly the same. The pattern's skirt is a slight a-line, and the Talbot's dress is more of a straight skirt or even pencil cut.

I have a feeling this vintage pattern has just made her way to the top of my future project pile, which makes me think of something I've been meaning to write about for a while ~ fabric sourcing. In my opinion, the worst part about sewing is finding the right fabric at a price that doesn't make it cost-prohibitive. Especially if you live in an area where there aren't a lot of great choices in apparel fabrics. Online shopping can be tricky. Like Fashion Fabrics Club, where the prices are great and the pictures look ok, but in real life their fabrics can be really bad sometimes. Really good other times, but the really bad ones stick in my mind. Luckily their warehouse is here in Saint Louis, so I don't pay for shipping and I go pick up my packages in person. You'd be stunned if you knew what that operation really looks like. Yuck. I'll have to take pictures next time I go. Their returns pile is enormous.

I've been doing really well with my goal of finishing a lot of the UFOs that have been sitting around here and it'll be nice to get to some new projects. I finally broke down and ordered four Jalie patterns for the first time from Pattern Review. I can't wait for my fabric de-stash yard sale, my workspace is going to seem empty!