The skulls aren't on fire, but it sure is hot

Where does the time go?  Not so much to sewing, of late!   I do have a finished dress to show you from a few weeks ago, though:

Since this is the fourth dress I've made from the Serendipity Studios Claire Cami pattern, I won't say too much about it.  I lowered the waist a tiny bit more on this one, which is a bit more comfortable for me, since it hits under, rather than on, my ribcage.   My brain wasn't in the right gear while I was sewing this, and I made like half a dozen mistakes or almost-mistakes, but it came out okay nonetheless.  I forgot that this pattern uses a 1/2 inch seam allowance at first, so the straps came out narrower than the previous versions, but no big deal.   I showed a closeup of the fabric in a previous post, but since that was a million years ago, here it is again.  I used a bit of a third fabric, with a gray pattern on black for the self-made bias tape hem and belt.  None of the fabrics used were purchased specifically for this project, but think they play well together!

I know for many in the northern hemisphere, it's time think about sewing for Fall.  But here the temperatures have been 100 degrees F pretty much every day since May, so I think I have forgotten what Fall feels like.   The picture on the right was taken in my car last Saturday, in a freshly paved parking lot with no shade.  It truly is the hottest, driest summer on record for Houston.   Anyhow, I am thinking about sewing cases for my new cameras, and skirts for schmeebot and myself.

Finally, Krafty Kat chose me as a recipient of the Liebster Blog award!

This award is for "those who have less than 300 Google followers but deserves a lot more recognition and following than what they currently get. They are the unsung heroes of the blogsphere, plugging away in their little corner, churning out fantastic work and we need to do something to help them get some publicity."  I'm not sure my blog deserves so much publicity, given how little updating I've done of late, but I appreciate the award nevertheless.  I also like that it has a German name!   I'd like to pass the award along, as well.  I know some people love this kind of thing, and others rank blog awards somewhere alongside chain letters and spammy emails from Nigeria, so don't feel you need to do anything with the award, unless you want to!


Rebecca, of Ugly Cute Designs.   Rebecca's gone back to school for fashion design, and I find her window into this world fascinating.   (And also, it confirms that I would not survive fashion design school.)


Little Black Car, fellow Houstonian and lover of vintage patterns.   I love her taste in patterns, and penchant for quirky contrasting facings!


... and finally,


Bea, of Butterflies and Hurricanes, who also has incredible vintage style -- I love her shirtwaist dresses, especially.  She started selling custom vintage-inspired clothing this year, so you should check out the site for her business too.