Polka Dot Blog Crush: My Secret Sewing Doubles (and Yours)

What could be better than a magic wire dress form that exactly duplicates your shape?

How about some fabulous and prolific sewing bloggers solving your fitting challenges for you?

I follow a ridiculous number of sewing blogs, and I learn so much from fabulous sewists of all shapes and sizes... Still, I will admit to get especially excited by alterations-related posts by fellow sewing bloggers who are also struggling to fit:

• large busts with narrow frames (30F and 32G girls, raise your hands--and be careful your RTW shirt buttons don't pop off in the process!)
• bonus points for super narrow shoulders
• extra super duper bonus points for extreme nursing-related cup-size fluctuations

Which brings me to this week's...

Polka Dot Blog Crushes: My Secret Sewing Doubles

In no particular order:

• Lladybird. This badass seamstress is all over sewing (and knitting, and embroidering) fitted, girly, fabulous vintage-inspired hourglass awesome of all kinds, with an awesome pottymouthed, nose-ringed flair. AND she wears the same bra size as me (32DD/E), so I was SO excited to see her recent rundown of Bombshell muslin alterations:
  

  Source: lladybird.wordpress.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

• Kadiddlehopper. Katie is both a pediatrician and a doctor of fabulous large-busted sewing (a title which I have just made up). She makes an out-of-control number of perfectly-fitted tops and jackets and dresses, and I'm currently using her full-bust-adjustment (FBA) tips for my Jalie scarf top. From what I can gather, we wear approximately the same standard pattern sizes (12 up top, 14 below) AND she's also a nursing mama. Score!
• E Made This. Elizabeth and I were pregnant around the same time in 2010*, and I just adore following all her lovely sewing adventures -- everything she makes is stylish, beautifully made and well-fitted, and she even knows how to make perfect jeans! She is all over FBAs and narrow shoulder adjustments, too.
• K-Line. Kristin's sewing obsessions, experiments and ruminations are a delight to follow, and she is currently busting her butt to perfectly fit Gertie's Starlet Suit Jacket. She is also a purveyor of manifestos on bust size and bra fitting, which I whole-heartedly endorse. (I'm not sure of the origin of her blog title--Kristin, can you fill me in?)

*Back when I was pregnant, I used to similarly obsess over bloggers tackling maternity alterations. None of those bloggers are currently pregnant, but Megan Nielsen's DIY maternity blog is a great resource, Inder-ific is sewing for her bump and even Peter has been getting in on the preggo sewing action.

By the way, I hope you all know that women with cup size of C or more should usually choose patterns by HIGH bust measurement, not full bust, in order to properly fit the upper chest and shoulders? That is why, even when I had a 42" bust at my most pregnant, I got the best bodice fit in patterns with a bust size of 34 (with huge full bust adjustments and pregnant tummy adjustments required) -- and would have been lost in ill-fitting misery had I chosen a size 22 pattern instead of the size 14.

So, readers, I ask:

• What's your main fitting issue, and who are YOUR secret sewing doubles? (For example: Cidell of Miss Celie's Pants mentioned recently that she has the exact same lower shape as Trena of the Slapdash Sewist).
• Are there any other prolific narrow-framed FBA-ers out there I should be tracking? (Full disclosure--I have a high bust of 33-34", and a full bust of 38," wear a 30F or 32E bra... and current measurements are 38", 28", 38".)

UPDATED TO ADD: According to this fascinating article from the the Guardian UK:"Why are British Women's Breasts Getting Bigger? "in recent years the average bra size has expanded from 34B to 36D"--and there are more and more women with narrow band and large cup sizes. Theories as to why range from hormones in the environment to better nutrition. Another interesting quote:

"There's been a huge growth in the small back, larger cup lady, particularly among young girls," says Julia Mercer, head of fit and technology at M&S's underwear department. "The younger girls just seem to have bigger breasts now."

Which means I probably have more doubles than I even realized!

Blog Awards: Like Zombie Bites, But Sweeter (Infographic)

A few weeks ago, I began to notice signs of an outbreak in the sewing blogosphere. One after another, my favorite blogs were being taken over by blog award memes of mysterious origin, and answering questions about their favorite colors, numbers--and even, oddly, days of the week.

And I noticed something even odder about the rules for these awards--which required they be passed on to not one, not two, but as many as 5, 7, or even 15 other bloggers.

Please indulge me in a little amateur epidemiology here, as I say: gals (and guys), that math just DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. So I pulled out my handy calculator (er, spreadsheet), confirmed my suspicions and put together a little infographic to illustrate it.

Diary of a Sewing Blog Outbreak

It reminded me of nothing so much as a zombie outbreak. Your average slow zombie can maybe infect five bloggers, but one of those fancy fast ones could probably take down at least 15, especially in the early stages of decomposition.

I'm fairly certain there aren't actually 38.4 billion sewing blogs out there, but we haven't been quite this overrun because many sewing bloggers (like me, er, sorry!) take a bit of time to acknowledge these awards, or don't pass them on. It's basically a digital chain letter.

Now before you accuse me of being a cranky killjoy (you might have a point, it's been a rough week!), I have actually really enjoyed reading everyone's awards posts, because they've led me to a lot of awesome new-to-me sewing blogs to add to my overloaded Google Reader. And silly as some of the questions and rules for these things are, they are a nice way of spreading the sewing blog love and learning random facts about my favorite bloggers beyond their taste in sewing patterns and fabric.

And I really did feel super-special and happy to recently receive a number of sweet awards from some of my favorite bloggers recently, so I WILL play along and answer some of the accompanying questions. Just for fun!

The Versatile Blogger Award:

Elizabeth (from E Made This), Laura Mae (from Lilacs & Lace) and Tina from Down the Retro Rabbit Holeeach sent me a Versatile Blogger Award.

First, big hugs to the awesome Elizabeth, whose been a (digital) friend of mine for two years, since we both were pregnant with our youngest (or in my case, only) little ones. This woman can sew beautifully fitted clothes like nobody's business--coats, pants, jeans, blouses, you name it, mostly while the little ones are napping. She's currently soliciting participants in a really cool sewalong called "The T-Shirt Project", making knit tops with awesome details (like PEPLUMS)--I am too limited in my sewing time to join but YOU all should!

And wow, if you have even the slightest interest in vintage sewing, I really hope you are reading Lilacs & Lace. Laura Mae is a fellow polka-dot and peplum devotee, and she makes the most amazing and inspiring beautifully fitted vintage-inspired garments, documented in lovely photoshoots. And she wears awesome shoes. Seriously, check out the back detail on this suit dress.

I didn't even know about Tina's blog before, but I'm so excited to become a regular reader and follow her fabulous vintage sewing adventures. I completely agree with her assessment that "if we knew each other in real life, we'd be friends. The sipping tea (or maybe martinis) whilst sewing kinda of friends." Tina reads a ridiculous amount of books, and maybe at an even slightly faster pace than me (I sure as heck didn't read the first three Game of Thrones books in two days, though it was close).

And as per the rules of this meme, here are seven non-sewing facts you probably don't know about me:

1. My first job in high school was working for minimum wage as an ice cream waitress. (Note: I am lactose intolerant, so this was torture.)
2. When I was 17, I tattooed myself with a (sewing) needle and ink. I had this really complex artistic concept in mind involving spirals and circles, but I got indecisive halfway through and stopped, so I have just have this weird squiggle thing on my ankle.
3. My first job out of college was designing financial information graphics for The Wall Street Journal.
4. My fondest childhood ambition was to be a science fiction writer.
5. My favorite music in high school was punk rock--and still is, because I can't be bothered to pay attention to new bands. The bands most often in rotation on my iTouch or Pandora are: Billy Bragg, the Buzzcocks, Le Tigre, Bikini Kill, The Dead Kennedys, Johnny Cash, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith.
6. I am really passionate about LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights--especially transgender rights. For nine years I drew angry political cartoons for Bay Windows, Boston's LGBT newspaper (old cartooning blog here, old gallery here, even older gallery here).
7. I work in marketing for Doctors Without Borders/Médècins Sans Frontières USA. Every day I feel grateful for the amazing opportunity I have to raise money to help save the lives of people trapped in crises where few other organizations will go. Recently when I interviewed a midwife who had just come back from Chad, she told me some stories of women and babies she had cared for who would otherwise have died--for the lack of really basic medicines that cost like, 75 cents per new mother--and I cried. Trust me, you would have too. (By the way, my husband is riding for Doctors Without Borders in the 5 Boro Bike Tour, and even a small donation can make a huge impact).

I'm not going to bite 15 other bloggers though--it would just be too hard to choose my favorites like that. Instead I plan to more regularly feature my favorite blog crushes by category.

The Sunshine Award

The Sunshine Award gets the award for most inane questions. BUT it brings me lots of sunshine and happiness because it comes from the fabulous Liza Jane of liza jane sews, who should get the award for best awards acceptance post for her lovely photos of a day in her life as an elementary school art teacher.

My parents are both (retired) public school teachers, and I pretty much spent all the time I possibly could in art class, so to me Liza Jane is a rock star. Everything she sews is artistically-designed, bright, fun and inspiring like this dress influenced by her students' artwork. I also love her experiments in drafting and in sewing for kids.

Oh, and those inane questions. Rather than answer them myself, I'll tell you how my 21-month-old daughter would answer them:

• Favorite Colour: Green. In fact, EVERYTHING is green according to her.
• Favorite Animal: Cats. With sheep a close second. (The apple doesn't fall far, etc.)
• Favorite Number: 1 (or "uno!" as she prefers it).
• Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink: Breastmilk.
• Facebook or Twitter: Google Plus. Seriously, she hijacked my mom's iPad and was posting all over the place before my mom realized.
• Her Passion: Music and dancing.
• Getting or Giving Presents: Getting.
• Favorite Pattern: The Ottobre Pupu Overalls I just made for her.
• Favorite Day of the Week: Saturday and Sunday, because Mommy's home all day.
• Favorite Flower: All flowers are equally exciting to her. "Flower!"
• Favorite celebrity role model: Elmo. Or possibly Béyonce. She loves them both.

The Liebster Blog Award

And finally, big thanks to the awesome Neeno from Sew Me Love for passing on the Liebster Love. This awesome seamstress is PROLIFIC and makes the most adorable dresses in eye-blinding vivid colors--my kind of girl! Again, I'm new to her blog but already obsessed.

Phew! I'm all awarded out. If anyone else has bitten me with given me an award I somehow missed, I apologize!

P.S. In case you were wondering my opinion on zombie-related media:

• Books: Love love love adoringly love Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Really enjoyed Colson Whitehead's Zone One. The Zombie Survival Guide is OK. I read all the Walking Dead comics and wish I hadn't, because they gave me nightmares, the outlook in them is too bleak, and I don't like the way most of the women characters are portrayed.
• Films and TV: Love Shaun of the Dead, Fido (really odd film set in a retro 50s-esque suburbia where zombies are ill-treated servants), both 28 XXX Later movies. Was able to watch most Romero movies once but couldn't do so again, and certainly can't watch their remakes again (too scary/upsetting). As for the Walking Dead: NO. I can NOT watch that terrifying thing.

P.P.S. Oh, and about that photo at the way tippy-top of this post--that's me and my friend Mary (the fastest woman in Brooklyn in the recent NYC Marathon, go Mary!) dressed as zombies for a Zombie Purim party some years back. You can't tell in the photo, but I'm wearing a gorgeous vintage black cutout velvet dress with a bow and a PEPLUM. More on that dress soon as I'm trying to add straps to it...

Polka Dot Crush: New Vintage Lady!

The New Vintage Lady shows off her handmade gardenias, Billie-Holiday-style

Reverse-inspired by the Selfish Seamstress and her sinister parade of nemeses, I thought I'd write an occasional sappy mash note to my favorite stitchy bloggers. First up: New Vintage Lady (aka Shelley J.)

I first e-encountered New Vintage Lady a few weeks ago via Sew Retro, but I had an instant blog crush, with a bit of jealousy mixed in. Firstly, in my biased cartoonist-girl book:

The Lady can DRAW! Which makes sense, since she's an animator by trade. (And as someone whose drawings don't move, animators totally make me green.)

You might have noticed that most vintage pattern envelope illustrations--even for plus-size or maternity patterns--have one thing in common: skinny, wasp-waisted white ladies. Not so New Vintage Lady's line of plus-sized reproduction patterns, which she recently began illustrating with gorgeous variations on her cartoon self-portrait (click any of these to enlarge):

And here's a peek at her drawing development process--unlike my digitally addicted cartoonist self, she uses actual pencils and paper:

The Lady can grade. When she had trouble finding plus-size patterns from her favorite style eras (the 1920s-1940s), she just taught herself to size them up. (Considering how many bust size 32 patterns I continue to cling to, I had better get on that.) I can't tell from her blog what size this fabulous Hollywood 1486 dress was originally--but I'll just guess that she graded it and she can correct me if I'm wrong.

Don't you just love the cut, fabric and asymmetrical button front styling? (It should probably be noted that like many vintage lovers, Ms. NVL has a serious button problem passion).

The Lady can accessorize. And I don't just mean buying vintage accessories, though she does that too-I'm talking some major home millinery. (I don't even know how to wear hats properly, never mind construct and design them.) Check out her depression picnic cloche:

The Lady can repo. When she became obsessed with vintage sewing--and disappointed in the lack of patterns in her size--she didn't just grade them for herself. When Ms. NVL obtains particularly fabulous plus-size vintage patterns from the 10s, 20s, 30s and earlier 40s (i.e. the ones generally safe from copyright protection), she reproduces them, as in the examples above. Here's a 1920s "dustbowl" dress:

The Lady can teach. Who doesn't love a tutorial? (I swear I'll have some up here SOMEDAY!). Check out The Lady's (beautifully illustrated) Style Tips on:

• The right vintage fit for plus-size sewers...
• Plus-size-vintage-pattern-selection dos and don'ts
• How to (properly) put on stockings

The latter could have saved me some grief over the years, as I am pretty much guaranteed to get major runs in any and all stockings either while putting them on or in the first 10 minutes of wear. (Although I'm so pregnant right now that filing my toenails to ensure a snag-free stocking application will have to wait until I can actually see/reach said toes!)

And it's not a tutorial, but she also did a two-part "Black Hair" series on her blog with her thoughts on the pressure for black women to straighten their hair, her disappointment with the Chris Rock documentary Good Hair, and examples (with photos) of how she does a natural vintage hair style.

So there you have it, my first official Polka Dot Blog Crush! Be sure to visit Shelley's New Vintage Lady site, blog and etsy shop for a whole lot more vintage fabulousness. (And just to be clear, I'm not in any way sponsored by her or getting any kickbacks!)