Where to Draw the Line

SewStylish is having a Spring Sewing Contest, and GertieT emailed me to let me know that her adorable dress has made the finals (it's there up above). Go check out the other two dresses, too, and vote! Voting closes TONIGHT (the 16th) at midnight.

She also wanted to let me know that several of the less-courteous commenters had said things like "Your tattoos are disqusting [sic]......I wouldn't vote for your dress even if I liked it...." and "too bad!!! [about the tattoos] coz the dress is lovely!!!"

C'mon, people. This is how it goes. You can certainly refuse to vote for a dress if you don't like GertieT's tattoos -- it's your right to cast a vote based on any criteria you like. However (just so you know) you pretty much make yourself look like a blithering idiot by commenting to that effect. What will those comments accomplish? GertieT getting hers lasered off? (No.) Will they prevent some other person from getting a tattoo? (Unlikely.) All they do is make you look like narrow-minded ignoramuses.

Now, if this had been an actual moral issue -- say, one of the contestants had been convicted of assault, or was an avowed racist, or something like that -- I think you would be within your rights to announce WHY you weren't voting for a particular candidate. But because you don't like tattoos? Sheesh.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of tattoos. What does this mean? It means *I* don't have one. I've never found any image that I liked enough to want to make a permanent part of my skin. But that doesn't matter -- what other people do with their skin is no concern of mine. And it's certainly not pertinent to the questions at hand, which is: "What's the nicest dress?"

The contest wasn't SewStylish's Spring Beauty Contest -- it was a sewing contest! It takes a lot of gumption to pose for a contest picture, and if there are going to be these sorts of ad hominem comments, I bet there will be fewer contestants next round. What if next time one of the contestants is "overweight" (whatever that means) or is "too goth" (as if there was any such thing) or has an unusual hairstyle (whatever that is) or, heaven forbid, has something pierced other than her ears?

I don't want to be all "Oh noes! People are mean on the Internets!" but really, sewing people, I expect better from YOU. So if you're ever tempted to make this kind of comment, safe and protected behind your keyboard, think about how you would feel if a bunch of bozos decided to leave similar comments about you.

It's the Golden Rule, peoples. It's not difficult. Or if the "unto" in the Golden Rule trips you up, you can ask yourself two simple questions: "Is it truthful? Is it kind?"

Happy Tax Day!

Okay, no one is excited about Tax Day, but here's a fantastic dress, made entirely of tax forms, to distract you:




(thanks to Kariann, Renee, and Lisa for the link!)

Also: the winner of the pockets haiku contest is ...

Pocket—something there?
Feel doe-soft ears and paw pads;
Kitten stowaway!

The winner is Shay, of Little Gray Bungalow! Congratulations! (Kittens? Always win.) Shay, email me for your copy of Singer Perfect Plus and the coupon for $10 off your order at MOMSPatterns (thanks to Jen).

Vintage Sewing Contest! (Not An April Fool's Joke)

Michelle from Patterns from the Past reminded me that Pattern Review's Vintage Sewing Contest is starting up again!

First prize is a $100 gift certificate to Patterns from the Past; 2nd prize is a $50 gift certificate. If you were planning to work on a vintage sewing project between between April 1 - 31, you should consider entering it in the contest! (You must use a vintage sewing pattern printed between 1920 - 1976, not one of the new reproduction patterns. Here are the full rules.)

Michelle is also offering a 15% discount at Patterns from the Past during the contest. The discount coupon code is contest.

Good luck and happy sewing!

Oh, and a couple of not-a-joke sales, too:

Sandra at Sandritocat is running an April-Fool's-only sale -- 25% off today only -- and you can combine with her offer of free shipping with the purchase of three patterns.

Marge, at Born Too Late Vintage Patterns, is running a $5 sale! All patterns at her store are $5 (or less if marked less already). All you need to do is haggle the price to $5 and I'll accept it. She's running this sale from Friday April 3 to Friday April 10th.

Thank you!

Remember the 2008 charity drive? Doesn't it seem a million years ago? It ended January 6, and according to the widget, we raised $1250 for Books Through Bars! Which is fantastic, given how completely horrible the economic news has been ...

And I did promise that I would name a character in my forthcoming novel, The Secret Lives of Dresses (due out from Grand Central AND Hodder in 2010! And in Dutch and German sometime after that!) after one of the generous donors, and ... the winner is ... Maureen Boyle!

This character, as far as I know now, sports a Bettie Page haircut, fixes motorcycles, knits, and is studying HVAC. (All this is subject to change before publication.)

If you'd like to know my randomizing methodology, it's this -- I dumped all the email addresses into an Excel file, assigned them all random numbers using Excel's RAND function, and then sorted on that number. Maureen came out on top!

I want to thank all of you who contributed to this year's fundraiser ... the money we raised will go towards books for women prisoners in particular.

If you want to be more involved with books for prisoners, Books Through Bars has set up this cool interactive map of programs in the US!

And the winners are ...

So, it's taken me FOREVER to decide just whose present was the WORST (or best, although "OMG, WTF, what the hell were they thinking" outweighed "OMG! You didn't!" by about 493 to 1).

A lot of the presents were what I call "bowling ball presents" -- stuff people get you because they want it for themselves (qv: pepperdove getting a VCR ... at age 15 ... when there was only one TV in the house ... after the family VCR broke. Elizabeth getting an air conditioner -- then being told they couldn't afford to install it!). And then some were "I love you, you're perfect, now change" presents. (qv: Riva getting offered laser hair removal! Mickey being given a can of Slim-Fast!)

Then there were a lot of "I don't know what the word "present" means, so I'm going to give you this random item" (like Ann's boyfriend giving her a RED LACE TEDDY FROM A PREVIOUS GIRLFRIEND -- seriously, wtf? -- and Colleen getting a PLASTIC TRAVEL URINAL, Beth B getting PAPERCLIPS, Denise getting USED MAKEUP).

Some presents seem to have been thinly-veiled assassination attempts: MsManners got two bottles of Fen-Phen (from an ex, natch) and Angel getting a basket of hair clips and dollar-store scented soap from her sister-in-law when she A) had no hair after undergoing chemo and B) was highly allergic to everything, which the chemo exacerbated. (I would have pressed charges on that one!)

"I think you must have meant this for someone else" seems to have been another theme -- Neighbourhood.Gal got (at age 11) a Teddy Ruxpin (remember those?) and a remote controlled monster truck and a skateboard (and she lived on a street with no sidewalks). Cookie got what sounded like the Worst Coat in the History of Coats: "VIOLENTLY acid-washed denim, knee-length, lumberjack style jacket with BRIGHT white, puffy fleece lining." Mere got a BOX of DICKIES. In 1987.

I was heartened by all the folks who got ironing boards, dress forms, sewing machines, and sergers ... except for poor RavenzTarot, whose daughter got a new sewing machine (after trashing RavenzTarot's old machine). That machine REALLY should have been Ravenz!

Is it any wonder it was hard to decide? I chose two bads and a good. The good-present-winner is anthrokeight, whose parents had her kindergarten art project of an angel professionally framed ... (altogether now: AWWWWW). The bad-present winners are La BellaDonna, who got a necklace and earrings SUPPOSEDLY from her husband, but since he conveniently didn't have any cash on him when it was time to pay for them, ended up being bought on her own dime ... ... and Sewducky ... well, I can't give you details of what Sewducky got that was so awful, but let's just say this: If you are going to give someone WWII memorabilia as a Christmas present, you might want to pick some FROM THE WINNING SIDE. Just a tip, there. [So, guys, email me your mailing addresses and I'll forward them to Rita so she can send you a copy of that pattern!]

It was SO hard to decide, though, that I am going to give out more prizes. If you left a comment about a bad (or good!) present, email me and I'll send you a free Dress A Day measuring tape! (Let me know what comment was yours, and don't forget to include your mailing address!)

Here's what they look like, iffen you don't remember:

Happy New Year!

You're All Winners

Can I just say, first of all, that you all are completely, flabbergastingly, heart-warmingly WONDERFUL? There are now more than FOUR THOUSAND patterns on the sewing-patterns wiki. Four THOUSAND. Back in early December we'd only hoped for THREE thousand! And there's more being uploaded every day!

And, thanks to generosity of some wonderful online pattern sellers, we have PRIZES!

Using the "random page" feature (so convenient) to pick 'em, our winners are:

The $100 gift certificate to Lanetz Living goes to wiki contributor Tarna, who uploaded the dress above (and many, many more). Isn't it gorgeous? I especially like the writing on the envelope.

The $50 gift certificate from Cemetarian goes to Neefer (who uploaded this gem, Simplicity 1046).

The $50 gift certificate from Patterns from the Past goes to Susanfrom, who uploaded this spiffy Jackie-O style dress and jacket, Butterick 9970.

The $25 gift certificate from What-I-Found! Sewing Patterns goes to Klynn, whose contributions included this breathtaking Vogue evening gown, Vogue 927.

Jen at MOMsPatterns donated TWO $25 gift certificates, of which the first will go to Ruvimbo (check out Butterick 9200, which Ruvimbo uploaded -- so adorable)! The second one, I have decided, is going to Petite Main, who has done an enormous amount of categorizing & tidying work, which makes the wiki even more usable!

If you're a winner, please email me so that I can put you in touch with the pattern sellers ... and please, readers, go check out those pattern sites to help support their generosity, both for the prizes and for allowing their pictures & scans to be uploaded to the wiki!

One more thing: the Vintage Sewing Patterns Wiki would never have gotten off the ground without the help of Wikia staffer sannse, who answered all my dumb questions and worked very hard to help make using the wiki easier. Thanks also go to Jimbo, who helped get the project fast-tracked for full Wikia-hood, and also to JSharp, who has just coded a magnificent new feature for us ... if you go to any pattern page in the wiki, check up at the top, right by the page title: there's now a link that will take you to the next pattern, in alphabetical order!

So, what should our next target be? 7K by April Fool's Day? ...

Wiki Contest Followup

A couple-three things:

As per Tracy's suggestion, there's a permanent link to the wiki contest and how-to in the right hand side now, underneath the ads. Click there whenever you need reassurance.

Also, in addition to the $100 gift certificate from Janet at Lanetz Living, Rita at Chez Cemetarian has offered a $50 gift certificate for 2nd place! Thanks! UPDATE! Michelle from Patterns from the Past *and* Tina at What-I-Found *and* Jen at MOMSPatterns have all offered additional prizes! There will be much to be won, oh, yes!

Several people have emailed me asking for tips on photographing patterns rather than scanning them ... anyone got any? Please leave them in the comments ...

One more thing: lots of people on Flickr have posted pictures of their vintage patterns under a CC (Creative Commons) license ... as long as you give attribution (a link back to the Flickr page) it should be kosher to add these pattern images to the wiki! Try this search to see what you find ... or you may want to leave comments on people's Flickr images encouraging them to contribute to the wiki!

Happy wiki-ing!

Wiki How-To and Contest!

So, while I wasn't really paying attention, you all have added nearly SEVEN HUNDRED patterns to the Vintage Sewing Patterns Wiki! That is, frankly, awesome.

Even more awesome is that Janet at Lanetz Living has offered a $100 gift certificate for a wiki contest! (UPDATE: Rita at Cemetarian has offered a $50 gift certificate for 2nd place!)

So here's how the wiki contest is going to work -- I'd love to get EVEN MORE PATTERNS into the wiki, because the bigger it is, the more useful it will be. So let's aim for 3000 patterns by midnight, Central Time, Jan 1, 2008. If we hit that goal, I'll select ONE pattern page randomly from all those created and reward the creator with that spiffy Lanetz Living gift certificate!

Obviously, the more patterns you upload, the greater your chances of winning ...

Quite a few people have emailed me, saying that they have a lot of patterns they'd like to add to the wiki, but they don't know how and they're worried about messing things up. To which I say: it's a wiki! Don't worry too much about messing things up. Wikis are both fluid and resilient; anything you "break" can be fixed in a matter of moments. But if you're still worried (or if you're not a "let's go in and mess around and see what happens" kind of person), here's a little quick how-to on adding pages and patterns to the wiki.

The first thing you should do, if at all possible, is log in. (It's okay to edit anonymously, but for practical reasons, I can't award the prize to Anonymous. You're in it for purely altruistic reasons if you edit anonymously.)

After you login in, create a page! A page starts with a pattern, and a pattern starts with a number. To start a new page for a new pattern, use this box:



This is the box on the Home page, on the lower left. If you use this box, then the page headers/dividers (Links to reviews/blog posts, Sources/Vendors, Gallery, and Wishlist) will show up on the page automatically.

Type your pattern name and number (e.g., Vogue 5380) into the box. That will start a new page called "Vogue 5380". If there is ANOTHER pattern already entered that has the same manufacturer and number, and yours is different, call it "Vogue 5380 A" (B, C, etc.).

Don't put extra information into the page name, like a date or a description. Just the pattern maker and number. Some early patterns didn't list makers, so you can just use a number (or call them Newspaper Pattern).

Now your new page should open! Then you can add an image. Look for the link that says "Insert Image". If you don't see the link, you're probably not logged in. Only logged-in users can upload an image. On my page it looks like this:



Clicking this will give you a "Browse" box -- find the pattern image on your computer and click on it. Then upload it.

You will then get an option box to choose whether to upload a thumbnail (small) image, or a full-size. Unless your image is HUGE, off the screen huge, please upload the full-size. Caption it with the pattern name and number:




Your page should reload and you'll see these tags inserted on the page for the pattern image:

[[Image:Vogue5380.jpg|Vogue 5380]]

If you are linking to a page on your blog or your site, you can paste that link in under the "= Links to reviews/blog posts =" or "= Sources/Vendors =" lines. (If you are so inclined, you can link to any page where I've written about a pattern -- to find it, Google ["Pattern Number" site:dressaday.com], which should turn up any pages on my site where that pattern is referenced.)

Now you're nearly done! All that's left is to add any notes or categories. If you feel like typing in the notes from the pattern ("Simplicity Pattern 1732 ... This includes; 3 variations of this smart slim skirt. View 1 has high rise, shaped waistline and suspenders. View 2 boasts top-stitching and tab detailed pleat at left front. View 3 features a back kick pleat and tab trim at hipline.") go ahead!

You can also add categories: Some good ones for any pattern include the pattern manufacturer (Vogue), the year or decade if known (1950s, 1954), what kind of garment it is (dresses, jackets), any design features (pockets, collars), etc. Remember that the point of categories is to make "buckets" to sort patterns with. So if you'd like to be able to see a list of all patterns in the wiki that have french cuffs, you have to TAG all the patterns in the wiki that have french cuffs! [Not all categories are worthwhile: some bad categories would be "date of upload" (because it's in the history of the page), your name (ditto), "I like this" (not a useful category for OTHER people), etc.]

Then just hit SAVE and you're done! You made a pattern page! Right now uploading a new pattern takes me about three minutes. Depending on your internet connection, size of your pattern image files, and how many other people are uploading, you might take a teeny bit longer.

You might be asking "I'd love to help, but I don't really have a lot of pattern images ... what can I do?" Lots! You can add categories, you can 'tidy' pages that don't have the right headers, and you can visit the list of sellers on the home page and upload their images! (If you do that, download the images to your hard drive first -- otherwise you can't find them when you Browse -- and be sure to link the seller's page to the wiki page.)

Go upload patterns, have fun, and figure out how you're going to spend that $100 at Lanetz Living. I'm not eligible to win, of course, but if I were, I'd probably start with this one (the one on the left)!

Good Intentions

I *absolutely* meant to post about the Etsy/Instructables contest, but the last few weeks have been pretty hectic, what the conferencing and the travel and the husband-gone-fishing-in-Canada-ness of it all. But right now I am looking at a week with very few conference calls in it, and only three or four deliverables, so isn't it good that they extended the deadline to July 16! That's a week from now, plenty of time for you all to enter and win a NEW SEWING MACHINE!

I also meant to post about the BurdaStyle contest ... they extended their deadline, too, to July 15. That's plenty of time to design, sew, and mail, right? Right?

I think there's some other stuff I was going to post about, as well. Maybe I will catch up this week, stranger things have happened.

Oh, and someone in the comments a few days back asked for another fabric week, and well, seller atticcon has listed a ton of vintage fabric, including the blue silk up above. Blue-gray *textured* silk. Mmmmmm. Perhaps my good "I'm not buying any fabric until I go to Japan" intention is going to take a workout this week.

Anything else I've forgotten? Leave a comment or email me ...