Piecemakers

On a beautiful sunny October afternoon I found myself in the vicinity of the amazing, well stocked and controversial store Piecemakers.

The emporium is located at 1720 Adams Ave in Costa Mesa, CA and I have visited dozens of times over the past 20 years.

The controversy is the frequent run-ins with government officials and inspectors over candy displays, events without permits, tree swings and more.

Who are these hoodlums?

Middle age ladies that live communally and answer to God, not anyone else.

So visiting the store is a real pleasure because there are not employees, just really nice ladies who really care and are completely into what they do.

And they do ALOT!

Half a dozen classrooms and everywhere you look there are zillions of supplies, displays and ideas for a huge array of handcrafts.

My only disappointment is they discontinued millinery supplies about 10 years ago :(

But the ribbons, trims and buttons almost make up for it.

 It is difficult to fully describe the variety and sheer volume of the inventory.

And since there is a small restaurant inside there are always delicious smells of fresh baked goodies and homemade soups. On the afternoon I stopped by a man was singing and playing his accordion in the dining area.

Piecemakers is such a feel good place that fires up your imagination and can feed your body and soul.

It is just an uplifting experience.

And obviously I am not alone in this sentiment since Piecemakers total operations ( other sources of income in addition to the store ) are about $3 million a year.

That 's a whole lot of happiness!

Here's how I contributed to Piecemakers profits; vintage buttons, velvets, ribbons, trim and the perfect turning 50 card for a friend.

The ladies say God tells them what to do and I for one am glad they listen.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert AND the Costume

I had the very good fortune this week to see the musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

The entire play is a costume spectacular with over 500 costumes, 150 pairs of shoes, 200 hats and 60 wigs!

The main three characters are always in drag and one was so convincing I actually thought it was a woman playing a man playing a drag queen ( if that makes sense ).

The lobby of Segerstrom Center for the Arts was full of fun show facts, props and merchandise.

But make no mistake,

this show was 100% about the costumes,

Gillian Austin, the wardrobe mistress for the show.

the music;

 and both were completely over the top!!

That's me in the green glasses :)

 So if Priscilla Queen of the Desert comes to your town I strongly suggest you hop on that party bus and go have a very good time.

I Made it My Way

This extremely green peplum top was irresistible on the sale rack at Anthropologie. 

I loved the fit, the lace, the silhouette...everything but the overwhelming green.

BEFORE

Thought about tea dying to soften the green but, was afraid it may just turn an even more jarring muddy color. Finally decided to change out the sleeves ( my newest obsession ).

AFTER

After placing a safety pin where the sleeve cap lined up with the shoulder seam I then carefully removed the sleeves and I had the perfect pattern for new black sleeves. 

( In Los Angeles I had found a wonderful polished cotton/linen (?) that really looks like leather )

Sleeve caps are asymmetrical so I folded the fabric on the lengthwise grain ( the stability of the lengthwise grain will also help prevent sagging elbows ) and traced the shape of the front sleeve cap and then traced the back sleeve cap on other side of the side of the fold adding seam allowance.

After unfolding the fabric I double checked the measurement and marked where the sleeve cap lined up with the shoulder seam. It is usually about 1" towards the front from the middle of the sleeve cap.

Cut the sleeves out so there was a left sleeve and a right sleeve, sewed the sleeve seam and then basted the correct sleeve into the correct armhole. Tried on the top to be certain sleeve cap was not tilted too far forward or back and then used a permanent stitch to secure each sleeve...

and the top was just not pleasing.

Somehow I needed to bring the black INTO the green.

So I decided to outline a few of the lace flowers with a machine sewn black satin stitch because I am not good at hand embroidery.

Selected the flowers and then pinned and hand basted the lace to the lining fabric. But, the machine foot  massively interfered with seeing the flower outline so I had the great idea of tracing the flower with a black fabric marker. 

Problem solved :)

I am very happy with the final result of my never-ending quest to change the appearance of my irresistible sale item.

And if you're wondering what happened to the lovely green lace sleeves well...

I told you changing sleeves on my clothing is becoming an obsession!!  

LifeTime Leather

I have a confession: 

My wardrobe borders on excessive. 

The only new acquisitions I am interested in must be either unique, practical, funky or one-of-a-kind treasures.

etsy.com/shop/LifetimeLeather

When I stumbled upon master leather smith Kye Rorie IV on the streets of San Francisco his gorgeous hand tooled leather goods fit all my criteria. 

Plus I adore old hippies. 

They just make my heart sing.

 Mr. Rorie has been working with leather for decades. His tools, know-how and love of his craft were inspiring. It was a real pleasure to make his acquaintance.

The beautiful one-of-a-kind leather belt I selected from the large inventory was custom fit to my size.

And a phenomenal deal at $35 !

I'm lovin' my new belt because it is a hand-made piece of Americana.

And it's beautiful.

Costumer's Guild West

As a new official member of the Costumer's Guild West I was able to attend the annual meeting/fashion show on October 8, 2013.

I really miss costumes, the theater and interesting people.

Darth Vaders mother

The fashion show was a delightful mix of historically correct garments and fantasy costumes.

Civil War era

Life size American doll

Mardi Gras costume

Sack back gown

Edwardian era ( ? )

In addition to the meeting and the fashion show members brought in some historical and fanciful reticules.

Ostrich egg reticule made by an CGW member

Two unique reticules from the 1930s

Another interesting antique reticule

This was a display of a recreated military uniform. Although the materials were new the methods used to recreate the uniform were original. I think it is a Russian uniform but, I misplaced my notes on all the interesting costumes at this annual meeting/fashion show :(

The gold braid on the jacket and the feather plume of the helmet were most impressive.

The meeting and the members of Costumer's Guild West were very interesting.

I am looking forward to many more memorable events...

and maybe even wearing a costume!

Free Idea

Free People is one of my favorite brands because of its' boho, hand crafted, casual look. 

Unfortunately the prices are not casual...

this sweatshirt with trims was $88.

So I purchased a $15.60 light weight sweatshirt from Forever 21...

and my next trip to the fabric district in LA I selected a bunch of trims.

( I took the sweatshirt with me to be certain that trims looked good and it took about 35 minutes to select all the different trims that still worked together ).

Approximately $22 in trims.

Laid out the trims and then began the nightly ritual of hand sewing on some trims while watching Hulu on my computer.

Had to edit my trims when I realized the trims would go past my elbow. 

Unfortunately I neglected to try on the Free People sweatshirt so I don't know how high the trims went up the sleeve.

I really am lovin' my finished trimmed sweatshirt. 

Thanks Free People for the free idea!