Glee Premiere Party

This has to be one of my favorite times of year. Not because of the change of the seasons, cause let's be serious, we don't get much change here in Miami, but because of the start of the television season. I love my TV and love to see all the cool new shows and my faves come back with new episodes. One of my absolute favorites right now is Glee. So, along with my friend and fellow "gleek", Elke, we decided to have a Glee premiere party. So here's the scoop on our little handmade Gleek-fest.

Elke and I had been planning this since gleeking-out while watching the season finale together in June, so we had been brewing up ideas since then.

First and foremost were the snacks. We decided on Puck's "special" cupcakes (without the "special" part) and slushies. So we made yellow cupcakes and since we couldn't find red frosting in the store, we doctored up some white frosting with food coloring. They ended up kinda pink, but they worked and they tasted good. Which, in reality, is all that really mattered.

If you've seen Glee you know they are always getting hit in the face with "slushies," the Glee version of slurpees. So I searched the internet looking for slurpee recipes and found one. It was so easy, and they really tasted like slurpees. We made grape, of course, since that is Rachel Berry's favorite flavor. Now of course, we couldn't have our slushies in any old cup. The gleeks on the show always have them in "big quench" cups, so I had to make some for us. Just a little photoshopping and my regular red cups became big quench cups.

Mom also brought some potato skins, so we wouldn't overload on sugar.

Now we couldn't just leave everything looking normal around the house, so we decked it out in McKinley High red and white. We hung streamers and even through in some gold stars, Rachel Berry's trademark.

And to top it all off Elke and I dressed as our favorite gleeks. I gave my best Emma Pillsbury impression with my cardigan and brooch. And Elke did a great Rachel Berry with a sweater knee socks and little skirt. Too bad it wasn't colder, so one of us could have done the Sue Sylvester, but it was a bit to hot to wear a track suit.

Lady Grey Sew-along: The Supplies

Look what came in the mail last week! My Lady Grey Coat pattern. Man I had been lusting over the Colette Patterns for a while now. I'm so glad Gertie had a discount code for us sew-along-ers. It was a it pricey, but man was it worth it. The pattern is so well made. No crazy fold out instructions or messy envelope. The pattern is in a little portfolio. The instructions printed out booklet style and the pattern was tucked into a pocket neatly in the back. I can't wait to start cutting out the pattern and actually getting started on my coat.

I figured I should get to the fabric shopping, since mid-September is almost upon us. So I got over to my local JoAnn's to see if they had anything worthwhile. First, I looked at the cotton twill. I read on the blog that something like that would be better for the hotter climates, but I just didn't like them. They were hard and a bit stiff. I wanted something with a little more drape. So I headed over to the suiting fabrics, turned out that they had a pretty good selection. There were all different kinds, even some wool gabardines which we beautiful (though kinda pricey for me). I finally settled on a "spring suiting" wool/poly blend. I picked a darkish tan. I really like the shade of it. Then it was onto the lining fabric.

The regular lining fabrics they had were boring. But then I started browsing through the "simply silky prints." They had some great patterns, and I definitely wanted something fun for the inside of the coat. I loved the idea of polka dots, like in the pics on the Colette site. So I got this great cream with brown polka dots. It's poly, but I figure the silky texture will make a good coat lining, since it'll be easy to slip on and off. Plus I love it, and isn't that all that really matters anyways?

I also bought some muslin and the interfacing. This will be my first time making a muslin, so we'll see how it goes. The only things I'm missing are the buttons. I couldn't find any buttons that I liked, but I figured I can just get some from grandma. I'm sure she'll have some that will work. So I'm ready to go. There's no turning back now! (or I'll end up with a whole lotta suiting fabric in my stash)

Sew-along: Lady Grey Coat

So I've been really on a great crafty kick lately due in part to Handmade Miami and all the craft blogs I read. One of my favorites is Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing. Gertie is awesome. She has a vintage/retro style (which is totally up my alley) and she's a great seamstress. The blog began as her quest to make all the items in Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing. But, she doesn't just concentrate on that. She makes awesome clothes and takes her readers along for the ride, guiding us through the whole process. Demystifying the making of clothes, if you will.

I've been so inspired seeing all of her work and such cute clothes, that I've been itching to make myself something. But I'm always a little hesitant about making clothes for myself. But, Gertie has made it so easy by starting a sew-along on her blog. So, I've decided to join Gertie's Sew-Along for the Lady Grey Coat from Collette Patterns. I've been eyeballing those adorable Collette Patterns for a while now and have been itching to buy one. So I just purchased my Lady Grey pattern and am hoping I can keep up.

And yes, some of you may be saying: what are you gonna do with a coat in Miami? I was thinking about that, but I figure it will work in a lighter weight fabric. Plus, I'm really hoping for at least a few cold-ish days this winter, and if there aren't any I'll wear it anyways!

So keep checking back on the blog to see the whole process of my crazy-ness in making this coat!