Let me share a piece of hard-earned wisdom with you: never, ever hem a dress while wearing leggings. Yes, you are keeping your apartment at a cool 19 degrees and are rarely ever not wearing a dozen layers, and maybe are feeling particularly lazy on that particular day about taking the 30 seconds to remove said leggings (which may have also involved removing heavy wool socks, leg warmers and moccassins) but just do it.

Because otherwise you may fail to realize just how damn short your beloved new Coco is. The Coco you had in mind back in the summer when you bought two yards of pricey but delicious high quality ponte at Mood. The ponte you eye-banged every time you opened your stash closet. The black and white striped, heavy but drapey ponte you really should have splurged and bought more of. Observe the evidence:

She's laughing but really she's thinking, "I'm maybe a little too old to pull off skirts quite this short, and I will have to bring a towel to sit on every time I take the metro wearing this, because otherwise my bum will be touching the sweaty seat excretions of thousands of Montrealers".

She's thinking, "This is really going to have to be an opaque tights dress only, or perhaps a tunic to be worn with leggings, because mercy me, this is not a bike-riding dress, a metro-sitting dress, or a bending over dress. This is an upskirt dress".

Perhaps I'm over-reacting. It really is the comfiest, coziest Coco ever and I've certainly had dresses this short in the past. But my original Coco was at least 2 inches longer, so when tunic & leggings season is over I may just hack this one into a breton top. And remind myself to never, ever hem while wearing leggings again.

Hello friends. I've been trying to settle back into civilian life after an incredible weekend in New York where I spent just as much time wandering the city alone as I did in big groups of ladies gabbing non-stop about sewing. I hit that point in a vacation where you stop thinking about what everything costs and just mindlessly hand over your Visa about 20 times a day. If you don't hear from me in the next few weeks it's probably because I had a heart attack after looking at my bank balance.

To say I hit the fabric district would be akin to saying that Godzilla tiptoed across Tokyo. I think I dislocated a shoulder carrying all my spoils around town; I know relatively speaking Montreal has pretty good fabric shopping but the sheer quantity and quality of what's available does force you into this half-mad state where you're just fondling and buying without end. I just kept whispering "Business expense business expense business expense". I got lots of supplies for my next few patterns, but I was determined to find good basics for my much needed home office wardrobe.

My old handmade work wardrobe of sheath dresses and pretty blouses isn't really appropriate for waking up and walking to the computer. And wearing ratty pajamas isn't really the best recipe for "LET'S BE PRODUCTIVE!" It's more, let's work for a few hours and take a catnap. So I scored a bunch of great ponte, organic jersey and wool knits for comfy but cute stuff I can throw on in the morning.

My biggest priority was making Tilly's Coco. I've had the pattern for a few months but as you may know, it is REALLY hard to find perfect Breton stripes, and I had a "Heather Lou in the Riviera" vision in my head I wasn't going to compromise. This white and black ponte from Mood fit the bill. It has a touch more poly than I would have liked, but the weight was good and it had the perfect stripe ratio happening.

I went for a classic boat neck dress with 3/4 sleeves, and I'm pretty sure I'll make a lot more. It's a "make in the morning, photograph in the afternoon" sort of garment; super comfortable and a great blank canvas for accessorizing. In my "money means nothing" fugue state I picked up a great straw fedora and shades in the East Village, and *may* have actually bought a watch on Canal street. All the New Yorkers laughed at me when I admitted it, but at the time I was happy to dole out $40 to watch the hilarious transaction go down. I think they learned how to get away with selling knockoffs by watching The Wire; it involves a relay of about 4 people. I kept expecting to see a tiny hand pass them the goods through an opening in the sewers. My other two fake gold men's watches have bit the bullet, so feeling like i was in the middle of a high stakes drug deal was an added bonus to acquiring a new one.

Not much to say about the construction. I serged all my seams and zigzagged my hems because I've been having issues with my double needle stitching unraveling. I've accepted that it may be time to buy a coverstitch machine, and I am hoping some of you will chime in with suggestions!