Tasty sewing tidbits

I know I don’t usually post big lists of links on my blog, but there have been a lot of nifty sewing-related things popping up lately that I thought might interest you. Because, you know, I assume if it’s interesting to me, it must be interesting to everybody. Or at least it should be.

First up:

Nancy found the Burda archives!  Not the paltry ones on the German site that don’t go back nearly far enough or link to enough images, but the ones from the English language site dating back to 2006. I know lots of Burda fans (me included) were disappointed with all the great stuff about the magazine that disappeared along with the English language site when they redirected it to BurdaStyle (also a great site, but not the same content!), and in particular the super valuable archives. Great sleuthing, Nancy! To be honest, I think these will get blown away eventually once they’re done transitioning everything and we’ll lose access to them, but hooray for now!

Inkstain, Denise, and CarmencitaB (thanks, guys!) pointed out that my original dress pattern, the Coffee Date Dress (shown above are two versions I made for my friends Lindsey and Teresa in exchange for their modeling services) was mentioned in the Guardian’s online article “How to Make the Perfect Dress.” How flattering- you know how your Selfish Seamstress adores a good ego-boosting shout-out and a little international press. I actually love the Guardian’s DIY article series and even once managed to snag a free copy of an Alice Temperley pattern from them. (I haven’t made it yet- the pattern is kind of… inscrutable.)

Photo by Andrea Mohin/NY Times

As a huge fan of the New York City Ballet and its legendary costume designer, the late Barbara Karinska (I immediately recognized that tutu as her design for Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15, that’s how much I adore her costumes), I found this New York Times article about refurbishing the company’s ballet costumes to be both fascinating and sad. As hobby sewers, the NYC Garment District is practically an infinite buffet of goodies for our sewing addictions, but sources and resources are disappearing irretrievably for the costumers, which means they’re losing their ability to reconstruct the costumes exactly as the original designers intended.

I know that everyone and their mom has been blogging about Jessie Steele aprons since they were featured in the new Sex and the City movie (no, I haven’t seen it, and no, I don’t plan to.) But they’re so delightful and dainty and whimsical I just had to show them to you in case you missed them. I’ve never owned an apron, and haven’t made one since the age of 6 (Would you believe I made it as a present for my sister? My Selfish skills were so poorly developed back then!) because there are always so many other real clothes that I want to sew more. But don’t they just make you want one? If you like that polka dot one, you’re in luck because Butterick 4945 includes a variation that’s almost identical.

And finally…

Yay! Arielle is back to blogging! She’s lived through a nightmare but now she’s received all of your generous sewing goodies, thanks to the wonderful Cidell and her beloved Nigel. Now it’s time to help Arielle get her sewing mojo back- pop on over to Fashion Maté and welcome her back with a hug!