Happy Wednesday! Here’s a fun little fashion game to get you through Wednesday morning!

Anyone looking forward to Labor Day weekend plans? I’m heading up to my husband’s parents’ lake house in South Dakota. Unfortunately, the weather is supposed to be 60s and 70s and windy/rainy, so we’re going to pack a lot of board games to keep ourselves entertained. It will be so nice to relax and enjoy family time!

What are you doing over Labor Day weekend? Have a safe and happy holiday!

We’ve had a great response to our “Fit: The Classics” column in 2010, where we’ve been highlighting our favorite fit articles from Sew News’ 30-year history. Despite the fact that we’ve (thankfully!) moved on from enormous shoulder pads and other questionable trends from decades past, practical, straightforward fitting advice never goes out of style.

Since we couldn’t stop after sharing just six favorite fit articles from the past, we’re offering a special online-only bonus of 10 more great fit articles that you can download and print for free! Need help fitting a strapless or corset style bodice? Check out “Add Support with Boning”. Do you have questions on how to make a too-small jacket fit perfectly? Download “To the Rescue” for two simple and clever solutions, and don’t miss the eight other excellent articles with tons more great advice.

Speaking of fit, what are some of the fitting challenges or questions you’d like us to address in 2011? Post comments below!

Check out this slide show and let us know what you think about the ’50s-inspired fashion!

I love the skirt length—classic and stylish.

The tortoise glasses with the silk lace are a little… different. But I like the earrings. It says “Price Upon Request.” I’m guessing that means they’re a pretty penny!

What trends have you seen lately that you love? What trends do you think need to go?

I recently traveled to HOT-lanta, GA, to attend the annual American Sewing Guild Conference. It’s always so inspiring to meet fellow ASG members, watch the great fashion shows and attend classes from great teachers.

Do ants have some kind of significance in Atlanta? Do people mistake it for ANTlanta? Here is the view at baggage claim:

I arrived on a hot, gloomy day. Here’s the view from my hotel room:

Due to the rain, I was a bit delayed. So I missed most of day one. But I was ready to go on day two! After walking through the vendor area (and buying a ton of great fabrics of course), lunch was served in the grand ballroom. While we finished eating, Ann Marie Soto, the editor of Notions, hosted a fashion show to display the winning garments from the ASG Creativity Contest winners. Here they are:

There are much better photos on the ASG Web site, so be sure to visit there and check them out!

I spent the rest of day two in and out of classes, learning some great tips and tricks that I’ll share with you in upcoming issues of Sew News and Creative Machine Embroidery.

One great class was called “the Little Black Dress,” taught by Susan Khalje. Here are her students hard at work:

Pam Damour also taught an interesting class about metal embossing (you’ll learn more about it in the pages of Sew News!).

After two full days of nonstop shopping, classes and fashion shows, I was pooped! And I’m looking forward to next year’s conference in Los Angeles.

Check out this truly inspirational sewing story. Rather than get discouraged when she got laid off last year, Marisa Lynch did what so many of us do in trying times: She turned to her sewing machine! Marisa challenged herself to make one new dress each day for a year, on a budget of just $1/day! What a great project: creative, eco-conscious and super budget-friendly! Take a look at Marisa’s awesome thrift store makeovers on her blog: New Dress A Day and read her story on Yahoo! Green today.

photo courtesy of Marisa Lynch

The Sewing Idol contest is going strong! We’ve received more than 50 amazingly heartwarming essays and over 56,000 votes! There’s only one month left to vote or nominate a sewing buddy, so read the entries, choose your favorite, and then round up your family and friends to get voting! To really get some momentum going, share your favorite entry on your Facebook or Twitter page. I’ve been having so much fun reading the essays and comments, and I’ll admit that I’ve even gotten a little misty-eyed here and there! It’s so inspiring to learn about the impact these Sewing Idols have made in their families and communities. Here are some of my favorite comments about our nominees so far:

About nominee Angie Grantman:

• “…I am the mother of a special needs child…When my daughter fractured her spine and had to wear a brace, Angie modified tons of tank tops so that we could tube feed her without having to take off the brace every time. Now she has more modesty as we can tube her without even having to lift her tank top up. Angie has made many other personalized gifts for my daughter over the years, and we adore each one!”

About nominee Ashley Hackshaw (blog: lilblueboo.blogspot.com):

• “…I came across her blog a few months ago and am HOOKED! She has an amazing talent and knack for sewing and creating. Most people like herself aren’t willing to share their ideas and methods – but Ashley has them there ready to share with all of us so we can learn and create too. She is a sewing inspiration!!”

About nominee Dottie LeSane:

• “Dottie is a wonderful person and mentor. I have MS and severe vision problems…Knowing this, Dottie said she could and would teach me (to sew), and has for a couple of years. Her patience is legendary, and sense of humor, warm and earthy… She is always there for support, words of caution, and a wealth of knowledge on how to fix a mistake. She is an exceptional teacher, I have had others…that just gave up, but never Miss Dottie.”

About nominee Judy Breedlove:

• “…My sister mentioned to Judy that my grandson needed some warm clothing and the next thing I knew a package arrived with the cutest warm outfits for him. She had sewn some clothing for my children when they were little…and still had some fabric that matched what she had made them. She’s a wonderful woman who is always there to help.”

About nominee Teresa Johnson:

• “Teresa has not only been help but inspiration to many. She never has an unkind thing to say and encourages everyone to do their best. Whether she gave advice, sent a link to a tutorial or just had a kind word for a new sewer, she has done it with humility and love.”

About nominee Jacki Bock:

• “I am voting for Jacki, because she gives of her time (sewing) for others unselfishly, which carries over in her job as a nurse at our local hospital and with her family. I can’t believe how she gets all of her sewing projects completed but she does! She is a very silent hard worker, never looking for praise.”

About nominee Linda Durbin:

• “Linda is an amazing seamtress, teacher and friend to all. She is an inspiration to all in the creative world.”

Read dozens more heartfelt essays and comments here and don’t forget to vote!

I’m back in the office after attending the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) SuperShow in Rosemont, IL. I was stationed at the National Sewing Council booth and had a great time making projects all weekend!

Remember my T-shirt makeovers post? Well, I created 100 kits to teach people how to bind a T-shirt with bias fabric strips and make a cute little cardigan. They LOVED it! I was down to 38 kits after day 1. Needless to say, it was exhausting. But I met a lot of great people who had either never used a sewing machine (oh the horror), or hadn’t gotten their machine out of the closet in over 20 years.

Here are a couple of scrapbookers sewing their T-shirts. They said they were beginners…but they finished their shirts in record time! What a riot these gals were. Good times were had by all.

It was such a rewarding experience to show people just how simple sewing can be…with the right tools, a little guidance and a new machine to top it all off.

Sewing trim

Hard at work!

These ladies were pros!

Sew News Associate Publisher, Wendy Thompson, even gave it a go!

Pinning trim to shirt

Wendy sewing (& making friends)

We held four drawings each day for new Janome and Brother machines and the crowds flocked to the booth to enter. One woman cried–and I mean “ugly cried”–when she won. It was fabulous! Another winner was a 17 year-old student. She was so excited! Maybe we’ll see her on Project Runway in a few years.

A great perk of work travel is getting to see people I only see on the road. Here’s a photo of Shannon Dennis (frequent Sew News and Creative Machine Embroidery contributor) and I.

Shannon made Anna Maria Horner’s Socialite Dress to wear on day 1. How cute is she? She also brought her baby boy Liam (4 months old). He is such a happy baby and definitely helped attract people to our booth.

Liam with Mom

I couldn’t resist some baby time.

Liam with Ellen

Here’s Shannon teaching one of our youngest participants. The kids really flocked to her station. Must have been the cute bib necklace project she was teaching.

Here’s our friend Joi Mahon teaching her bubble skirt project.

And people enjoying the potholder project:

The National Sewing council also held a competition called Fashion Fever. Eight designers from all over the country met on Friday morning, were given $100 to purchase fabric at Vogue fabrics, and had 12 hours to make an outfit suitable for the red carpet at the Grammy awards. In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing photos of the designers from beginning to end. Don’t miss it!

Cheryl Jukich from Fine Lines fabric designed the show banners. Super Cute!

If you attended the CHA Super Show, please comment below and let me know about your experience! And if you didn’t attend but would like to comment, please do that too.

More later!

Ellen

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at the calendar yesterday and saw August 1 staring back at me! In June, I made a list of Christmas gifts and projects I want to make this year—and of course I set aside the list thinking, “Oh, I have plenty of time.” But the time is flying by!

Pretty soon, some of us will be storing our shorts and sandals and getting our closets ready with light jackets and long-sleeve shirts. I have to admit, fall is one of my favorite seasons (winter is a close second). I’m a cold-weather girl, so I always look forward to crisp, cool air, cozy blankets, changing leaves and comforting dinners, like pot roast or macaroni and cheese!

I want to make plenty of cozy Christmas gifts for my friends this year. On my list: blankets, pillows, quilts, scarves and hats. Maybe even the Cozy Slippers in the Aug/Sept issue of Sew News. Beth made these from a recycled wool sweater. How adorable are they?! 

One of our readers even suggested making these slippers using old fleece coats. What a great idea! I might add some puff paint dots to the slipper bottoms to give them a little grip on hard surfaces. Do you have any fun ideas on how to personalize these fabulous slippers?

While I’m on the subject of holidays, I should probably get to ordering holiday fabric so I can get started on my projects. Check out these adorable holiday fabrics from fabric.com. Sometimes just looking at fabric can inspire project ideas.

These would make the cutest home-dec projects!

OK, now that I’ve looked through fabric options and told you about my goals, I’m motivated to get started. I hope I motivated you, too.

Sometimes it’s difficult to begin your holiday gift sewing when you have a bunch of other UFOs lying around. But that’s what makes sewers like us so amazing; we love to keep busy—even if that means we have a bunch of half-finished projects on the back burner. (We’ll finish them eventually!)

What are you planning on making for the holidays?

Our sister publication, Paper Crafts, has a fantastically inspirational blog called Moxie Fab World hosted by creative editor Cath Edvalson, that highlights all of the latest and greatest trends in paper crafting. I love finding new ideas in art, fashion and beyond, so I’m honored and excited to play trend-spotter today and be featured today in “Editor’s Choice” on Moxie Fab, showcasing a motif I’ve noticed quite a bit in fabric, home decor and more:  Honeybees!

Here’s a peek at one of the “bee-lightful” items I’ve seen lately. Go to the post to see 9 other inspirational picks, and be sure to leave a comment sharing your thoughts!

French Country Pillow from SimplyFrenchMarket on Etsy:

I think that all of us creative types–no matter whether we work with fabric, paper, yarn or paint–share the need for inspiration, so it’s wonderful to have such a fun resource just a click away! Thanks again to Moxie Fab World for inviting me to play along!

Whether or not you’re a semi-obsessed fan (like me!) of AMC’s  ‘6os-era drama Mad Men, the show has definitely started influencing the fashion world with its glamorous period costumes. Last night was the premiere of Season 4, so my friend Katie and I hosted a little viewing party. Season 4 takes place in 1964, just as full skirts were leaving the scene and sleek mod silhouettes were becoming chic. While I loved catching up on everything that’s been going on with the Mad Men characters, my favorite part was actually seeing what they’re sporting from one scene to the next.

Here are some fashion highlights from the show (click on the images to see full-size photos), all of which are making me want to spend the day scouring eBay for authentic 1960s sewing patterns. (If you’re a fellow fan of retro styles, don’t miss “Vintage Pattern Pointers in the Aug/Sept ‘10 Sew News.)

One of the most interesting garments was this strapless evening gown worn by a new character, Bethany Van Nuys. All morning, I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s ombre-dyed or has black furry fringe along the neckline. Let me know what you think!

Photo: Courtesy of AMC

In this scene, Betty Draper wears a chic light-blue silk noil suit. I love the monochromatic look created by the matching chiffon blouse. So Jackie O!

Photo: Courtesy of AMC

I also love the menswear featured on Mad Men, especially the classic three-piece suit worn by Roger Sterling (right).

Photo: Courtesy of AMC

Finally, I adore this floral cocktail dress, worn by ultimate fashionista character Joan in a Season 4 promotional photo. I’d love to make something like this in time for the fast-approaching holiday season. This Anne Klein pattern from Vogue (1192) might make a good facsimile.

Photo: Courtesy of AMC

I can’t wait for more Mad Men and 1960s style. It’s always so much fun watching the costumes evolve along with the characters. What’s your favorite show or movie for finding sewing inspiration?