Gretchen Hirsch is back on Craftsy!

Gretchen of Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing has a new Craftsy course! It is called Sew Retro: The Starlet Suit Jacket. Of course, it’s on sale for 50% off.  So, of course, I bought one.  I already bought her Bombshell Dress class and though I have yet to make my dress, I did watch the class all the way through.  I’m quite impressed by Gretchen’s teaching style.  She is very likeable and has a contagious enthusiasm about sewing clothes and vintage garments. She also makes advanced techniques like boning seem incredibly easy and, dare I say it, fun.

Yes, obviously I’m justifying yet another Craftsy sewing class purchase. At this point, I think I’ve purchased the equivalent of an entire college semester’s worth of sewing classes! I shall be well versed in couture construction techniques by the time I’ve done them all.  And I’ll be oh, so stylishly attired too in my custom-fitting pants, dresses, and suit. What a lovely thought!

Sometimes You Need Pants Too

Alright, bear with me as I share yet another Craftsy bargain.  I swear I don’t get any money from them! In fact, they keep luring my money away from me with these awesome classes…

So today, the discount is for another couture-level class(!). This one is Jean-ius: Reverse Engineer Your Favorite Fit. The class is 50% off, making it quite irresistible to my bargain-loving soul. The course covers how to draft a pattern from a pair of pants which already fit well. You don’t have to deconstruct the garment to create your pattern (shoo!).

I’ll be interested to try this one out.  I tend to wear dresses and skirts a lot, but that’s partly because finding pants that fit is quite a challenge.  I’m sure no one else can relate to that. 😉  So the idea of making my own pants to fit these long legs is appealing.  I’m curious to learn his techniques for a good fit — commercial patterns for pants have generally intimidated me because I know there’s a lot of room for error on those.  So using a pair that fits from the get go seems much more logical to me.

I’m also intrigued to learn how one can draft a pattern to duplicate an existing garment.  Imagine the possibilities! I could repro any of my favorite garments. That has always been a fantasy of mine. No more dilemmas about how much to wear a certain item in case it wears out.

And thus my Make It List grows longer…

Another Craftsy.com Bargain!

Well, it never rains, but it pours. Which is always lovely when it comes to sales and discounts as far as I’m concerned. 🙂

A few days ago, I purchased a Craftsy.com class since it was on sale. Well today, Craftsy emailed me with an alert that now their couture dressmaking class, The Couture Dress, is on sale. Normally, the class is $80, but it’s 50% off today.  The price includes a Vogue pattern (V8648) which apparently is a pricey pattern. So it seems like quite a bargain. I certainly fell for it! I’m excited to learn couture sewing techniques and a video class seems a good way to do it (allowing me to watch, rewind, watch again). I’m also curious to see if the techniques are too fidgety for my patience. Dare I confess, I tend to dislike hand sewing…

So the sewing projects are quickly accumulating!  A few days ago, I was trying to enroll in a fashion design class, but it turned out that the class size had already been exceeded, leaving no room for lil’ me. I was bummed at the time, but now I’m seeing it as fortuitous. I’ll be spending plenty of time on this blog, my Craftsy classes, the 1912 Titanic Sewing Project, and whatever other sewing adventures I stumble across in the future.

Until next time!

50% Discount on Sew Retro class

A lovely little bargain landed in my inbox today! McCall’s Pattern Company is offering a discount on an  online  sewing class. Titled Sew Retro: Perfect Bombshell Dress, the Craftsy.com class is taught by Gretchen Hirsch of Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing. For about $25, you can go through video tutorials to learn how to create  a 50’s style dress with a structured bodice (boning, padding, bra cups) and sarong skirt.

The project looks awesome and as I mentioned earlier this month, I’ve been wanting to make a ’50s dress. I’ve never done a structured bodice before so this project should have a nice level of challenge. I hope it is a great learning experience ‘cuz I’m signing up! BTW, read Gertie’s blog — it’s great!