I missed it last week, so glad to see these photos. Kenley and Rami certainly got the Miss Piggy style best. Michael's was too much for a human and not as much fun as the other 2. The rest were an abomination, except for Mondo and Anthony. How could they decide who was going home among Mila, Austin, April and Gordana. All were so not Ms. Piggy!

That grey dress is so subtly wonderful, I'd like to try to copy it. I'd wear it as often as I could. Wish I knew the exact fabric from which it was made.
I, as well, don't appreciate the inappropriate comment on Ms. Jolie. Not on this blog, please.

Thank you for repeating this episode, now I know what Jerell's dress looks like, a monkey's maternity dress! And Mila's...snore.
I think Kenley's dress was adorable. But out of all of them, I think the best should be those gowns that a woman could actually sit down in the audience and enjoy the opera! Come on, would you enjoy sitting down in Mondo's or Kenley's? That should always be a consideration when designing for a night at the opera. Or do some of these people forgo the actual performance and stay out in the lounge to be admired? Never having been a gala attendee, I wouldn't know!

I love this buttonhole! I have 1930's coat pattern that has this buttonhole between the collar and coat front. It looks lovely and I put a statement button there. I needed to cover some very large snaps with lining fabric to put between the buttons to prevent gaping. Worked like a charm. And covering large snaps was kind fun too.

Wow! Who'd have thought so many would take this so personally? I wear the colors that look best on me, which don't happen to include tangerine, but I do love the color. I hope I can find some prints that include it as a small accent along with colors that flatter my skin tone.
Calm down everyone, Pantone does not dictate to us what colors we can wear. Only the slaves to fashion. And tangerine will look great on the bathroom wall, or somewhere.

A few of these coat patterns have already made it to the "ugliest pattern" lists. But I love the Marfy patterns. I have a gorgeous Marfy coat pattern I bought a few years ago, self-belted with a full bias skirt, to make in plaid. I've been intimidated to begin, because I have to make up all the instructions.
I made a 1930's coat in luminous lavender wool for this winter. It's got antique buttons from my mom's collection. Nice and warm for Northern CA.

This is a really great tutorial! I use organza, too, for lots of projects, most recently to interface a collar on an almost sheer blouse. I especially appreciate the photos in this article. As a visual learner, these helped me really see and internalize the instructions. Thanks so much.

Having graduated from fashion school in pattern making and clothing construction, and then worked for various designers in costume as well as fashion, I feel that anyone who really wants to be a designer, who is able to work well with her or his team, should at least be familiar with the fundamentals of clothing construction. Then you won't waste a lot of the pattern maker's and stitchers' time arguing about what is and is not possible! In theater and fashion, time is a huge issue!

I'm looking forward to having time to go through my stash and cutting SEVERELY! I have a great place locally to donate. But first, I want to throw a fabric swap party, so my sewing friends can choose what they want before I donate.

I made New Look 6873 (above) in lightweight medium gray pinwale stretch corduroy and they are fabulous! I have been longing for wider legs and waists back at the waist. I love low-slung skinny jeans, too, but it's just time for something different.

That was very well presented. I learned something, despite years of sewing experience. Thanks to Judith for another inspiring presentation.

I think Anya really has vision and taste. She will probably do well at fashion week, but I wonder who will sew her line? If she has to do it herself (is that the rule?), then she's in big trouble. I think Burt should have stayed. He might have surprised us all. Poor Kim, she just melted down and couldn't pull herself together. She had all her models wearing her own hairstyle and it looked SO BAD! Josh will hopefully grow up and be less full of himself, if he doesn't try to emulate Michael Kors! I like Viktor the best. He's my choice to win it.

I'm not sure I could part with my shelf-full of Threads Magazines! But I might be able to do so if I only had that DVD! I would love to win it!

This was the first time I fell asleep during PR! I agree it was time for Olivier to go home. Victor is racking up the wins. Anya was in the bottom 3!! I agree, the tunics looked messy and how do you mess up an unfitted tunic for a flat chested man!!!!!

So, Anya is a plant, or something? A shill? A cheater? And I didn't think her jumpsuit was top 3 material at all.
I would have put Anthony's and Bert's in the top 3, although I thought Bert's needed a little jacket for day.

Very, very unique and creative. You'll love wearing that!

I'm always glad to see another pattern designer launched! I wish I could see larger versions of the 2 new patterns. They look like they'll be perfect for my beginning sewing classes.

the birdseed dress...most definitely.

I wish I'd been reminded of the pick stitching around the edges before I donated my red wool coat because I couldn't get the edges flat enough! That would have been the solution. I must have had a senior moment when I forgot I could do that!

I, too, have learned the serger lesson the hard way. But one of my worse mistakes was cutting a piece of beautiful 1-way stretch silk jersey in a pattern that called for 2-way stretch. The pattern was all ruched up one side, so it never fit comfortably, pulled to one side at the neck and armhole and looked so awful that I cut it apart and pieced it back together, patching and leaving raw edges. It looks ok, but I'll pay close attention to the fabric requirements from now on!

I'm not to sure that PR's target viewer includes any of us who comment here! They seem to be more interested in targeting the kind of viewer who also watches "Jerseylicious" or "Bridezillas"...shows that show people at their worst.
I have loved PR despite it's drama, because I know how hard these contestants work. I don't always agree with the selection of the winner and don't appreciate the increase in snarkiness from Michael Kors and Nina Garcia and even from Heidi Klum. I thought at least she would be above that. Oh well, I'll watch every episode...

SO GLAD to see so many others with so many UFO's! I have piles of them. Sometimes I get started on re-purposing something and need to buy something to finish it. So there it sits until I remember to pick up that little item. And forget about it for YEARS! I recently started to go through this and have to say, I'm almost as bad as the person with the plaid skirt started in 1959! Maybe that skirt fabric should be made into a throw pillow!

That was a beautiful success! I love "upcycling" thrift store treasures. I teach this kind of re-purposing in a very fun class and will surely recommend this link to my class this weekend.
I'm kind of sorry for the young gal who was so defensive about her uneven stitches that don't show on the outside of her garment. It's so satisfying to put something on and see the inside, as you do so, looking as lovely as the outside. But we don't all have the same aesthetic when it comes to finishing. Just have to accept that fact.

I can't wait, that is, for both shows' inspiration and just plain enjoyment.

Guys, you have to click on the little box in the lower right corner of the video to get "full screen." Then press your ESC button to return.

Windows, light, lots of wall and floor space. Music and talk radio. When I spend a lot of time alone sewing, I need to hear live conversation!

Beautiful, and so clear. I love having this link to share with my beginning and intermediate sewing students. Thanks.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it seems to be endless winter. Still too cold to think of summer clothes. I'm making jeans with male pattern boldness, and straggling along on some summer tops, but can't get motivated when I'm still wearing socks and sweaters!

Great idea! Just the ticket and I'll look for the right stuff at my local lumber yard today!

This suit is perfect for someone tall and thin, with a very flat tummy! How lucky to find it second hand. It's always a lucky opportunity to appreciate the workmanship that goes into a special garment like this.

What a question! So hard to decide! I love to sew with linen and silk noil(spelling?). I love wool coating and flannel. I like the way these fabrics respond to the steam iron, like sculpting with fabric. My only hesitance would be my worries about how animals are treated in the production of wool and silk.

I've bought fabric from Marcy Tilton because she has the best quality and taste. I just found some black stretch denim with 3% lycra at Fabrics.com, suggested to me by a member of the jeans-making group on "male pattern boldness." A fun blog!

I don't see how this can work unless only a tiny bit needs to be added. I always need to increase the length in a FBA. And without a dart, how can you avoid the front flaring out below the bust point? Is that what closing the bottom is actually doing, creating an invisible vertical dart?
In knit patterns that include different fronts for 4 cup sizes, I've seen the fronts lengthened and a "bulge" in the side seam that is eased into the back. Pretty easy in stretchy knits.

I, too, love wool and love to work with it. My only hope is that the sheep are treated humanely. I worry about that. Anyone?

I learned draping from a master draper, Sr. Lopez, at College of Alameda in California in the early 1990's. It was one of the best creative experiences I have ever had. Now I can look at almost any garment and figure out how to make it, just by draping muslin on my dress form! It is like sculpting in fabric and so meditative. When I'm finished with the muslin, I just true it up and use if for a pattern. What joy!

Sorry that posted 3 times! My computer seems to be possessed.

I watched a program last night showing what women movie stars have worn on the "red carpet" almost since the beginning of the Oscars. During the '70's was the only time women wore pants.

I watched a program last night showing what women movie stars have worn on the "red carpet" almost since the beginning of the Oscars. During the '70's was the only time women wore pants.

I watched a program last night showing what women movie stars have worn on the "red carpet" almost since the beginning of the Oscars. During the '70's was the only time women wore pants.

Lovely idea to use the organza for the facing and the interfacing. I love the method for finishing the unattached edges first and teach it in my beginning sewing classes.

I admire the creativity of this project, but I too am really disappointed in her choice for New York. It is a State, not a city that she is supposedly trying to represent. I grew up in Syracuse and traveled throughout the state. If she'd seen the mountains, lakes and forests of upstate New York, maybe she'd have had a better inspiration for her garment than garbage. Yuck!

I can't even adequately express how great it is to have "A, B, C, D" cup size patterns! Now I can just cut my size and not have to make those complicated alterations! Yippee!!!!!!

Wish I had a photo of my tiny ivory handled drafting tool that I use as a point to hold difficult fabrics while sewing them on the machine. It's too cute.

Sweet detail. Do you cut the lining on the bias as well?

So many tips....which one is my fave?
When top-stitching corners without thread ends to get you going after turning each one; keep a double threaded needle handy and run it through the corner before you get there. When you've turned the corner you can grab the threads and make sure your machine doesn't bog down on those first few stitches. Learned this from an Honduran professional seamstress who could make a welt pocket practically blindfolded!

FABULOUS IDEA for my recycling/upcycling class! You always come up with the best techniques...just when I need them.

I love to use these magazines in my recycling/upcycling sewing class.

I have a gorgeous piece of blanket-thick Italian wool that I plan to make a throw blanket for my nephew and his family to use in their tv room. This finish will be perfect for the edges. I really didn't want to use cheap-o blanket binding!
Thanks for the idea.

I like to hear live human conversation while I'm home alone sewing. So I always listen to NPR, although sometimes I'm in the mood for Mozart, if it's a difficult project!

I, too, was disappointed that Mondo didn't win. I thought his were the most exciting designs, and that's what a fashion SHOW is all about.
Gretchen's fabrics and styles for her blouses, skirts and dresses were very pretty, although her color choices were so limited. But those short shorts were awful, they remind me of old fashioned men's swimwear! Only children under 12 could wear shorts that short in public! What is she thinking? Would she wear shorts like that?...she designs what she wants to wear, according to her statement. Couldn't imagine her daring to put those on, unless they're her underpants...sexy!

I've had a duct tape dress form for 3 years and it's the best thing I ever did for fitting my self. I recommend it to anyone who has fitting issues especially with a full bust and small back.

I sew because I love clothes that fit and because it is my form of meditation.

I met Fred at a party. A friend told me, "You have to meet this woman!" Fred and I went into the ladies room and forgot to come out for over an hour, we talked and talked. She introduced me to PACC and I took her "Fitting the Bust" class, which gave me great information to use in my own fitting and to pass on in my own sewing classes. Luckily we lived in the same community and saw each other frequently at sewing related functions. I will miss Fred so much.

I'm about to be a grandma for the first time and I would love to win the book!

Good lesson for sewing a dart, as far as it went. I'd have liked to have seen the instructor using a pressing ham to finish the dart. And the pinning was done with the fold to the left on a few of the examples, while the sewing was done with the fold to the right. This can be confusing for beginners. I would also not teach beginners to lift the presser foot with the needle up when grabbing the thread end to use as a guide. I want to use this link to enhance my beginning sewing classes, but I don't want to have my students re-do the darts in class.

FA..BU...LOUS!!!! All hail to Kenneth King! I can't WAIT to try this!

RubyInGA, once you've tried a serger to finish seams, you'll never be happy until you own one! Cuts your seam finishing time in half, at least. Try them out and get the best one you can afford!

Now that I've read a few comments, I realize lots of other sewists are in the same boat I am with their sergers!
(I also realize why we call ourselves sewists rather that sewers! ugh!)

I've had a serger since 1989 at least! I have only used it for finishing seams (SO thankfully!) and for rolled hems. I teach sewing to beginners and try to introduce them to seam finishes on the serger as well as the "old fashioned" seam finishing methods. I would LOVE to know how to use my serger for some fun options. Hope I WIN!

My New Year's sewing resolution will be to finish all the projects I have cut out over the last year! They are all neatly packaged in zip-lock bags with thread and pattern pieces cut out and altered! Now if I can just get motivated to sew for myself!
I'd love to win this book too. I have recently gotten interested in Origami and other paper crafts. Ribbon craft would be a great way to make embellishments for clothing.
Good luck to me!

I'm MOST thankful for my old Bernina sewing machine. I used to be wardrobe supervisor for a local ballet company and when I left this job my boss gave me this old machine because she was replacing all the machines. I took it to get it cleaned and tuned up. My mechanic said "What were you sewing with this?" It was full of mud! It's been serving me well for 12 years and still going strong. Happy Thanksgiving.

to "nancy in maryland". Why not try leaving out the buttonholes and using snaps? Sew the buttons on the outside and forget the torture of trying to sew buttonholes in this difficult fabric. Good luck!