Now for the Good Stuff!!

So Tim had some great quips. My favorites were, 1) " Wear your clothes with confidence, if you look in the mirror and think you look like an ass then you probably do! " 2) " Jewel tones work for everyone; pastels wash you out and neons make skin tone look terrible. " 3) " If your comfortable looks like you just got out of bed, then stay in bed!! " Tim was so very genuine and hilarious. He totally dished about Project Runway saying that last season Heidi and him were HORRIFIED that Mondo didn't win. But Micheal Kors said he was tired of edgy designers winning and Gretchen was more mainstream. Nina Garcia was agreeing with Heidi and Tim until Micheal told Nina that Mondo NEVER took her advice and Gretchen always did. That's how Gretchen won. Also, Tim will be on daytime TV starting in January with a yet to be filmed show on ABC. He's also publishing a book in January called ' The Fashion Bible ' about the history and evolution of garments plus how to wear them well. I enjoyed listening to Tim Gunn so much that when they asked if anyone in the audience had any questions I immediately raised my hand and was selected ( !! ). I want to sew a casual long skirt that isn't quite floor length but I have real doubts about what length would look good. According to Tim any skirt that is not to the top of the knee or the bottom of the knee is extremely unflattering because it truncates the leg. I kinda agree but, does that mean all capris are equally unattractive... I didn't get to say all that but, I would have loved to have talked fashion with Tim Gunn all day, any day, every day. He seemed like a truly fun person.

SSSHHHHHH....

So I just want to sneak in that I purchased my first EVER brand new machine ( look, it even came in a box! ). Up to this point in my 35 years+ of sewing I have regularly inherited my mothers' old machines when she purchased brand new machines every ten years or so. And the last time I took in one of her old machines to have the busted gears replaced the service guy talked me into purchasing a "new" used machine for almost the same cost of replacing the gears. I really loved that machine except the stitch length control was not very responsive. So I was on my way to buy a Janome that I liked, except it was a 3/4 size machine instead of a full size machine. I decided to stop into Moores on Marguerite Parkway and there I met Dixon who had all the answers to all my inquiries. Moores does not carry Janome because they're not very impressed with the brand. Dixon showed me a consumer report that listed a Brother machine as highly rated as some extremely more expensive machines. After letting me sew on lots of different width fabrics and showing me all the gizmos I knew I wanted ( like a certain buttonhole feature, and blind hem, etc.), and telling me the machine was marked down from $599 to $399 I decided to buy it. I think I'm happy except I haven't even had time to open the box yet and my checking account now has exactly $63.09. And the machine says Project Runway- I'll HAVE to find some stickers to cover that up because it makes it seem so silly... The ssshhhhh comes in because I haven't told my hubby. With paying taxes this week, bills, college tuitions, car insurance, car registration, etc., etc. it seems a little selfish to blow my cash on a machine when I already have one. I justify it because when ( not IF ) my current machine gives up, I won't stress and make a hasty decision. I got a good value and an excellent warranty. Hopefully many years of happy sewing await me.

And the Oscar goes to...

This week I was lucky enough to go to the 19th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising ( FIDM ). FIDM is located at 9th and Grand in LA just a few tempting blocks from the fabric district :) But I was here to see costumes from many Oscar nominated movies including True Grit, The Kings Speech, Wall Street; Money Never Sleeps, Inception, The Kids are All Right, and lots of not nominated movies that had much more interesting costumes:)

In all there were 19 movies represented with just a few costumes from each. The exhibit was well laid out and I was enjoying taking photos until I saw the sign ' No Photos'. After that I had to be sneaky and the guard started dogging me! He also told me I couldn't have my bottle of water.

If you have the opportunity to go to this exhibit I highly recommend it. It continues April 30th, the hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10am until 4pm, and it's FREE!!

Furtive Photos

The costumes with the giant girl hovering over them are from Alice in Wonderland, which I can't believe I haven't seen yet! I'm certain there were amazing costumes in this fantasy but, the ones displayed were just good.

The costumes from Burlesque were actually quite creative with lots of clever details like the outline of gloved hands on a booty and contrasting knee-high fishnets over fishnet stockings. Between Cher and Christina Aguilera, something tells me the costumes were probably the best thing about the movie and I'll probably never watch it.

The exhibit was an entirely enjoyable experience to see close-up the workmanship in all the costumes. My favorite designer, Sandy Powell, had costumes from three different movies displayed with my favorite being The Tempest. I never even saw the film advertised but, what Ms. Powell did with zippers on the costumes was fantastic! I'm going to see the movie just to see all the costumes.

Overall I was a little disappointed because so many of the costumes were period costumes based in reality. I think designers make the biggest impact with fantasy costumes because money is no limit, just their imaginations.

And now for the Important Stuff

While viewing the costumes I realised there was a $5 coupon in the program for the FIDM Scholarship store ( on the corner of 9th & Grand ). After perusing the Museum gift shop, which was wonderful with great original jewelry, I convinced my friend to go quickly to the Scholarship store before lunch. As I have posted previously the fabric at the Scholarship store is $1 a yard but, you never know what you'll find. This time there was lots of upholstery fabric and spanex fabric, neither of which interested me. I rummaged around determined not to leave empty-handed and found some wild zebra print fabric. Imagine my surprise at the cash register when I said I probably couldn't use my $5 coupon since my purchase was only a couple bucks. They said sure you could and gave me my fabric for free!! I love that Scholarship store. One last thing- I finally found a good place to eat. It's called Bottega Louisa and it's at 7th and Grand. It's very noisy but, with lots of different dining options and prices. You can grab something at one of the many food stations or be seated with waiters. The prices are moderate to expensive but, it sure beats the heck out of the filthy fast food joints around the fabric district!!

Must Love Fabrics

I confess M&L Fabrics doesn't stand for Must Love Fabrics, but you really must love fabrics to visit this super size store of every kind of fabric. I hadn't been to M&L Fabrics for about 5 years and now I'm thinking why have I driven all the way to LA and pass by M&L? If I had stopped at M&L I probably would have forgotten why I was going to LA because seriously this store has a HUGE selection of all kinds of fabrics and trims and ribbons from moderate to great prices.

Back in the day all the ladies that cut the fabric were from Romania or somewhere and wore handkerchiefs on their heads and spoke very little English but, that's all changed. I only saw one handkerchief woman this trip.

However I digress...M&L Fabrics doesn't have a website so I can't post a link but it's located at Knott Ave. and Ball Rd. and the address is 3430 W. Ball Rd., Anaheim 92804 phone 714 995-3178

Gingham Goldmine!!

As if M&L Fabrics being the size of a supermarket wasn't great enough, there are unbelievable stacks of flat-fold fabric for unending rows (ok it just seemed unending, there were 11 rows)...and wait for it- $1.98 a yard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And as I was pawing through these rows of glorious fabric and forgetting why I was there I found my pot of gold-GINGHAM!

Don't ask me why gingham so ignites my creativity but just the sight of it starts me imagining gingham pockets and hems and buttons and collars and aprons and lions and bears, oh my!

When my daughters were little they wore ALOT of gingham :)