In this podcast, I answer questions from Terri and Julie G. and then I share with you why I’ve decided to retire the Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet podcast.

Subscription feed for other players: . . . → Read More: Podcast: Care and Feeding of Your Garment]]>

In this podcast, I we continue our lessons from the Singer Sewing Book, published in 1949.  Today’s topic is the third lesson in making sure you are using the right fabric for your project.

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Dear Friends,

I know I’m a bit late for the next pattern drafting tutorial.  The hold up has been the start of a new college semester.  The software I am . . . → Read More: Stay Tuned for the Next Step for the Skirt Pattern Drafting Tutorial]]>

This is NOT a photo of me. I know that I need to turn the computer on in order to get it to work....

Dear Friends,

I know I’m a bit late for the next pattern drafting tutorial.  The hold up has been the start of a new college semester.  The software I am using to make the handout is on the computer that The Mister has been needing to use to get his teaching stuff organized and ready.  I’m about halfway through the step-by-step illustrations–My goal is to make them really  basic and intuitive so that at a glance you can see what I’m talking about.

Sooooo…it looks like our August so-along will spill over into September. :/

Happy in-the-meantime-sewing!

Dr. Julie-Ann

Today, I am especially giving thanks for Baby Alice who chose my baby sister and her husband to be her parents (and for her birth parents who listened to Alice when she told them that she was conceived for Jill and Drew).

Baby Alice and Me, Thanksgiving, . . . → Read More: Giving Thanks]]>

(Cross posted with Modern Retro Woman Blog)

Today, I am especially giving thanks for Baby Alice who chose my baby sister and her husband to be her parents (and for her birth parents who listened to Alice when she told them that she was conceived for Jill and Drew).

Baby Alice and Me, Thanksgiving, 2010

Unfortunately, they didn’t give me a lot of lead time to prepare and make samples so I’m going bonkers between school and . . . → Read More: Challenge for Today]]>

Have you heard?  My local JoAnn Fabrics has remodeled and turned one of their storage spaces into a classroom.  What that means for me is that I am now one of their teachers!

Unfortunately, they didn’t give me a lot of lead time to prepare and make samples so I’m going bonkers between school and teaching at the graduate school and writing and…to prep and make the samples.  I taught my first class Monday night–Sewing 101–and we had a blast (well, at least I did and it seems like everyone else did, too, because they’ve signed up for future classes with me).

Tomorrow will be the first of a two-part class on how to make Simplicity 4032 (View A) out of fleece. Each class session is only two hours long but the jacket only has six pattern pieces and the most difficult parts are inserting the sleeves and making two buttonholes.

My challenge for myself is for me to try to make the sample in less than an hour.  I’m shooting for thirty minutes, including the cutting.  I know that my beginning sewing students will take a lot longer than me to sew it up.  I’m nervous about the four hour time frame–since I have to teach them how to read the pattern, prep the pattern, cut it out, and then sew–so if I can finish it in 30 minutes, then I know we’ll get close to the four hour completion goal.

Wish me luck!

PS: When the store puts the class schedule online, I’ll post it so that So. Cal. readers can join a class (or tell someone about it).

We don’t watch television as a general rule but the other night I caught the tail-end of the famous “puffy shirt” Seinfeld episode at my in-laws’ house.  Most assuredly, that puffy shirt was just awful which is why it was such a funny episode destined for “instant classic” . . . → Read More: Fashion Dictionary: Bishop Sleeves]]>

Jerry Seinfeld models The Puffy Shirt

We don’t watch television as a general rule but the other night I caught the tail-end of the famous “puffy shirt” Seinfeld episode at my in-laws’ house.  Most assuredly, that puffy shirt was just awful which is why it was such a funny episode destined for “instant classic” status.

Not to get technical, or anything but I would actually classify his shirt as a “bishop shirt.”  But that, of course, wouldn’t produce the same sort of snickers and laughs.

A bishop sleeve is a long sleeve that is wider at the bottom than at the top and gathered into a cuff.  While the top of the sleeve is usually akin to a set-in sleeve, it can also be gathered or slightly puffed.  The primary difference between a puff sleeve gathered into a cuff and a bishop sleeve gathered at the armhole is that a puff sleeve is short and the bishop is long.

Bishop Sleeve Illustration Courtesy of CatsMeowCollectables on eBay

An easy way to think about the construction of a bishop sleeve is to imagine a sleeve in the shape of a bell.  But I imagine that homemakers quickly discovered that the bell-shaped sleeve got caught in everything so they started putting them into cuffs to retain the general shape but to provide greater control.

Past Pattern #212

Being away from home, I don’t have access to my usual resources but my impression is that this type of sleeve first became popular in the mid-19th century and reached its fullness apogee (isn’t that a great word?) at the end of that century.  It became popular again during the mid-20th century.  In old movies, you can see the starlets wearing garments featuring this sleeve made from gauzy-like fabrics.

Do you have any patterns/garments that you would classify as having bishop sleeves?  Have I left out any important information?