Sewingplums

Whee – hee

Last weekend someone took the 450,000th view of my posts.

Thank you for your interest.

In celebration, here’s a new idea – combining small groups of posts that go well together, and putting them in e-book form so they’re easy to access.

Here’s the first, on Wardrobe Planning.

e-book on wardrobe planning.pdf

A pdf in US letter size, which prints okay on A4 too.
Formatted for reading in print.
Of course the links only work when you read it on-line, but they do work from Adobe Reader.

It includes the posts on :
Your personal wardrobe plan.
Building a wardrobe in small groups.
The power of the boring.

Thanks to you for your interest.

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WordPress keeps quite detailed stats, so I know a lot about your favourite content here during the last year. (No, they don’t keep a note of who visits what !)

People do tend to explore when they get here. Most days the number of ‘visits’ is more than twice the number of ‘visitors’.

WordPress themselves, in their annual report to me, said: “About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 200,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 4 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!”

Hey Thank You

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Favourite posts over the year

The various posts listing North American independent pattern designers, including
North American independent pattern designers update
together got over 40 visits a day.

Taken together, the two basic posts on pattern making
Pattern making – the formal route
Pattern making – easier fitting shell
come next. Over 35 visits a day to one or other of them.

Next top post was the one on
Choosing and changing necklines.
Over 20 visits to that every day.

And the post on the
Cheongsam dress
got over 15 visits a day.

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Most visits in first week of posting

Building a wardrobe in small groups

The weekend this was posted, my blog got more than 1000 visits on both Saturday and Sunday for the first time.
And more than 5000 visits over the week.

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The posts you made most comments on

Many useful comments on
Nine Body Shapes.
People suggested other body shape schemes which work better for them.

I particularly enjoyed the comments on
Style interest from accessories rather than clothes.
I think it’s very helpful to hear people describe their own wardrobe choices.

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Links you followed

Some of the links in
Choosing and changing necklines.
Sadly the links I gave nearly 3 years ago are very out of date. Do a general search for ‘neckline’ to get some good possibilities.

The Vivienne Files

Nancy Nix-Rice wardrobe advice
The list of links to her newsletters is no longer on her site, so it’s worth signing up to receive them.

The top blogs you went on to were :
Stitches and Seams (Debbie Cook)
Ruthie Sews

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Patterns you wanted to know more about

Happily the BMV sites have reverted to their previous url style, so my old links are working again.

Most of the pattern links in my posts are just followed up when the post is new, but there’s a few that several people look at each week throughout the year.

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Not surprising, the McCall’s 2718 fitting shell with 5 cup sizes was popular.

Many people with more than B cup size find it best to buy this pattern by chest (upper bust) size, so the pattern fits your frame.
BMV chest size table here.

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Many wardrobe patterns were popular, particularly a couple of soft styled ones which are now out of print.

Butterick 5472 cascade jacket wardrobe has been one of your top patterns ever since I first mentioned it.

Another was Butterick 5045, now also oop (includes a soft vest).

These wardrobes were only slightly less popular :

Butterick 5760 is a useful group of basic classics.

I used an intermediate style wardrobe, McCall’s 6519, as an example when talking about co-ordinates.

For lovers of vintage there’s Simplicity 2154, a Jackie O style wardrobe.

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Peplums got a lot of attention. The most popular pattern was for a coat : McCall’s 6442.

These were only a little less popular :

A basic top, Vogue 8815 was also one of the most reviewed patterns at Pattern Review in 2012.

And a stunning jacket from Chado Ralph Rucci, Vogue 1269 (with dress).

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The most popular pattern of the year was a cheongsam dress, now discontinued – New Look 6812.
New Look 6203 is similar, now only a download pattern.

And a simple shift dress, Butterick 5211.

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None of my favourite ‘layering tops’ was a much visited pattern – ah well

For a basic casual dartless top, the Burda Style self-drafted block got most attention.

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How about making a whole wardrobe from these patterns
They cover everything from business through casual to dressy, classic to soft or flamboyant, with fitting help along the way.

Anything here that you missed and would be interested to look at ?

Prefer to look at more trendy styles ? YouLookFab reviews her fashion best and worst of 2012.

Two key quotes from her :
“• Most Important Part of a Style Journey: To have fun along the way. 
• Best Thing About Our Bodies: They are never wrong. Clothes can be wrong, but our bodies are always right.” 

Say the same about your style

Happy New Year

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Patterns and links available January 2013

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Over 160 posts – whew, I’ve been doing this for 3-1/2 years !

And the total number of visits to this blog passed 375,000 on December 26 – another lovely gift of appreciation
(It looks as if rather a lot of people happily spent the day blog following )

Sometimes I think I’m running out of things I want to comment on, then I rough out 3 posts on one day, or one piece spreads into 4. . . Blogs tend to have a natural life span. I sometimes notice myself in danger of repetition, but this blog isn’t obviously soon to end !

There’s so many posts now, it does need a guide to put some structure on it all.
Considering that I just write what comes to mind without any master plan, it’s interesting that most of the posts are on a few topics.
So I’m working on a more helpful index, which is at the top of the right hand menu.
It’s a surprising amount of (not very interesting !) work so it’s progressing slowly and not complete yet. I plan to add more over the next few weeks.

Hope that makes it easier to find things.

All this wordiness and analysis is definitely a ‘niche’, not for everyone. So I’m delighted you show so much interest.

Best Wishes for the coming year.

Enjoy

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December 2012

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Wow, Sew Fashionably Modest has nominated me for a blog award.
I’ve never has a blogging award before, and I’m delighted.
What a lovely seasonal gift !

This award doesn’t come with a black-tie dinner and a trophy. It comes with some attractive icons, links to a large circle of lovely sewing people, and a few responsibilities.

Here are the rules :

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1. Thank the person who nominated you.
Yes, indeed.

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2. Add the award icon to your post

Here are the choices. I choose the inspiring one (early 20c is a favourite period for style), and have added it to my right hand menu.

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3. Share 7 things about yourself

I live in a tiny house bursting with books, sewing machines, musical instruments, in a garden where I’ve planted many trees (including a Victoria plum ).

I have learned to play piano, oboe, viola (none of them well, but I loved it – a true amateur).

I have absolutely no talent for team or ball sports, but I did represent my university at sailing.

I spent the summer of 1960 teaching sailing at a summer camp in Maine, then travelling across to California by Greyhound bus ! (though I’m definitely European)

I used to be an academic, and love doing research.

I have many more books on pattern making and wardrobe styling than on modern sewing technique. Though I collect 19c and early 20c sewing books, so altogether I have got rather a lot of technique books

I was so young when I learned to sew and knit that I can’t remember it. In the days before television, my mother and I sat by the fire hand sewing in the evenings.

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4. Pass the award on to 10 bloggers who inspire you

There’s many useful links in my right hand menu, but here are a few special ones. (Click on the red header if the links aren’t showing.)

Communing with fabric – by Shams.
Details about process, and interesting re-design ideas.

Diary of a sewing fanatic – by Carolyn.
Carolyn is a particular hero – I aspire to do what she does, working from her basic blocks to make her own patterns. Though I wouldn’t do it with dresses !

(And look at the Mood Sewing Network – what commitment !)

Did you make that – an entertaining blogger from London.

I’m honoured to be in the ‘Wardrobe Inspiration’ section of Robin’s A little sewing.
Many visitors come here from there
I’d nominate her, but Robin has already received this award.

Follow the recommendations from other nominees for good reading. There are so many inspiring blogs by such interesting and so different people – read them all and there’d be no time for anything else ! (How about the blog list at The Elegant Bohemian for a lazy holiday spent wandering among style blogs rather than sewing blogs )

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5. Include the rules – if you’ve read this far, you know them !

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6. Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs – yes done that with pleasure.

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Best Wishes and Seasons Greetings to you.
I hope you have lots of lovely gifts too.

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Links available December 2012

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Sorry about the lapse in posting, but completely unexpectedly I went into hospital at the beginning of July.

Early in my stay there was a group of young doctors all dressed in ‘Vivienne Files’ style. And very smart and professional they looked too. (Obviously a small part of my fashion brain was still working, even if most of the rest of me wasn’t !)

It took about 6 weeks to get me sorted out and send me home, and I still have very little spare energy. I’m not expecting to go back to posting weekly – priorities have changed. I think I was getting a bit repetitive, and it’s amazing how much energy all those links and images take ! But I have a few finished but unpublished posts still in store, and no doubt will feel strongly about topics in future. . .

For example – I thought a jumper dress looked much more professional than a sheath dress on most body types. Well, a sheath dress that is anything but just right does not look professional at all ! It could be fun to look out modern jumper dress patterns. If you adapt another pattern, remember you need at least 1-2 inches/ 2.5-5 cm extra ease to layer over a top. And the armhole needs to be big enough not to crush the sleeve underneath. A close fitting sleeve looks slim, but a shirt sleeve is also current. In fact there’s a new Fashion Star shirt dress pattern, McCall’s 6600, if you want to look efficient and professional without a close fit.

And there are all the other new BMV patterns to comment on. . .

I’m delighted to see that the number of visitors to my blog hasn’t dropped dramatically despite the lack of new posts, so it looks as if you find the material helpful for reference. Which I’m very pleased about. Will have to get round to devising a better index. . .
Best Wishes and thanks to you all for your interest.

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