Kaoru Marie

I've been wanting to share these pajama shorts all summer long because I'm such a huge fan of them. My house (condo, technically) stays really warm, like it's hardly ever below 75 degrees unless it's the dead of winter. The inside temp probably never got below 80 degrees this summer and it's probably been hovering around 85 the past month! Ugh, this summer will never end! I only have one photo to share because I've basically been living in these shorts all summer long (and no, you don't want to see a photo of me wearing pajama shorts). I made a full pajama set (long sleeves, long pants) when I tested the Closet Case Files Carolyn Pajamas Pattern earlier this year. Unfortunately I haven't worn them much because as soon as I finished them the weather got warm, which is why I made the shorts. I got this awesome tencel fabric from the FIDM Scholarship Store for $2/yard. I love it when I find great fabric there! While I like the colors, blue and red, th

Happy Monday! Or rather, ' Ugh, Monday!' . Yeah, that's more like it. I meant to post this on Friday, and then Saturday, and then Sunday.....but I had better things to do, like finally watch Season 2 of The Great British Sewing Bee! I didn't even realize there was a Season THREE until I was looking for videos online of S2 and saw I was so far behind in this show that a whole additional season was also online. Unfortunately I couldn't find episodes 5, 7, or 8 (THE FINALE!) of Season 2, but I did watch episode 9, which was a reunion/flashback episode so at least I saw highlights of the final challenges and who won. I gotta say, I really liked a lot of the contestants on S2. So many of them were really, really likable. And who isn't totally inspired by Chinello's way of dressmaking? I want to learn how to sew that way! Quite fascinating indeed. Then I got started on Season 3 and I wasn't really feeling it a couple episodes in. No offense to the cont

Ahhhhh, this workweek was even worse than last week. I pretty much reached my breaking point Thursday evening, but I shook it off and had a good time at happy hour yesterday. Getting drinks with former coworkers to bitch about work and catch up on life is always a good stress reliever. The no-good, very bad, horrible project is still alive, but will hopefully end this week. It better. I also can't believe we're in the home stretch of July. When did that happen?? Craziness! I have another happy hour scheduled for this week, a mid-week all-gals one, which should be fun. Happy hours....the best way to make it through the work week. Our new kitty is doing better. Her eyes have stopped watering, we're heading to the vet as soon as I publish this post, and she is a major cuddler! Nothing beats waking up to a tiny kitten snuggling next to you. I haven't done any sewing in awhile, but hopefully I'll sneak some in this weekend. I bought a large spool of thread for $1 in

Every month I tell myself to stop buying fabric until I make several garments with the fabric in my stash. Unfortunately, most of what I currently have in my stash is for making dress/button-up shirts, which I still need to work out some fitting issues. I've gotten a lot better about not buying new patterns by the five-fold from Jo-Ann Fabrics during the Big 4 sales, although I have bought a couple new patterns from Sewaholic and Thread Theory. But fabric shopping....oooooh, I just can't help myself sometimes! I'll have an idea in my head and then I HAVE TO GET THE FABRIC NOW! I got into one of those fits last Friday. I blame Marrie and her amazing stretch cotton sateen dress . That dress is so cool and exactly the style and colors (black and white!) I would love to use as the backbone for my work wardrobe builder. After thinking about stretch cotton all morning, I sped-walked over to Michael Levine during my lunch break hoping to find some fabric to make a dress.

Gaaaah, I'm so glad this week is over! It started with a meeting with a client that absolutely did not go well and I've been busting my arse trying to finish a lot of work in a short time frame. I really only have myself to blame, so lesson learned. Hopefully this time next week this particular project will be over and I can move on from it. Instead of beating myself up over this project, whenever I start to sense that I'm getting frustrated and overwhelmed I focus on how I will feel once it is over. I will feel so relieved. and happy. as if a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. That feeling is driving me to finish this project and it's keeping me surprisingly sane and in good spirits. So let's move on to what I've discovered the past two weeks. Hope you enjoy some of these links. Did you catch Norma's tip for working with lingerie elastic? Steam It! This was the first time I've read about this and now I can't wait to try it on my nex

I meant to post this on Sunday, but somehow life got in the way. By the way, how was your weekend? (I feel like talking about mine so I'm going to pose a rhetorical question first.) I felt so off all last week as I kept getting the days mixed up and my husband was out of town for half of the week and normally I'm all like " SEWING ALL NIGHT! Woooo!! ", but I just wasn't feeling it. Instead I was mopey and sad that he was gone and my cat ignored me most of the nights (is that not the saddest thing you've read all day??) This is how I felt all last week.......mehhhhhhhh...... But the weekend made up for it. We celebrated our SIXTH (!!) wedding anniversary at Animal , which we first went to three or four years ago, I think for another anniversary dinner. Then two nights later, on Monday, we went out for sushi at Sugarfish , which in my opinion is the best value for the quality you get. And now it's already Wednesday evening! Where did the week go?