I really loved the opening show and I hope that the rest of the season is as good. And it was great to see that poor sewing skills will not be acceptable. I just can't understand how designers end up not knowing their craft well enough to know how to sew. She couldn't handle a needle!

I just replaced my second B & D iron in 15 years.(Pro Glide series) Before that it was Rowentas. I figure that if I could get 7.5 years from a 39.99 iron (which works out to about 6$s a year), and will still keep working after those dear beloved cats keep throwing it to the floor, I couldn't ask for more. The Rowenta was no where near a cat, I paid 80$ and it worked for 2.5 years! Go figure. Several days ago, I purchased 2 irons just like the photo, cheap B&D's from China, the cat knocked it to the floor day I purchased it, and it leaks. Well, that will be my dry iron. The other I will hide until I need it, and will consider branding the first cat who goes near it!

I wish I could say I have ONE book that inspires me, but it really depends on what mood I am in when I am looking for inspiration. I have back issues of magazines when I need a quick inspiration pick me up. But my favorite books include Colette Wolf's Manipulating Fabric or any one of Claire Schaeffer's books that require lingering over with coffee or chocolate AND pastry.

Me too! I subscribed so I don't miss an issue. BTW, I can't wait for the Feb/Mar issue to arrive in my mailbox!

This is the most beautiful wedding garment I have seen to date! Congratulations of a job well done.

I have had DressShop nearly seven years and My Pattern Designer for 3. I liked DS because I could design my own style variations with it. The fit was better than RTW, but too "unfitted" for me. I'm no runway model, but shorter, rounder women should not wear unfitted anything! When MPD came out, I jumped on that wagon (partly because the developers had worked with DS). What a pleasant surprise! Great fit and stylish designs I could play with till I was blue. There are drawbacks to everything, and here it is with MPD: YOU have to work with computers, paper, glue and scotch tape, and take good measurements. That said, both of these programs contain standard RTW sizing that you can modify to fit you where you need to be tweaked; patterns need to be taped together and take up as much room as store bought patterns when full sized, and there are instructions for putting garments together in the program, but you still have to know how to sew garments. But what a way to practice!