Pan Am costume: there's still time before Halloween!

I'd love to be a Pan Am gal for Halloween, but I'm not too sure I'd want to go the "sexy stewardess" route. Nope, as the mood board below indicates, I'm thinking more along the lines of "Christina Ricci jet-setting vintage bombshell" as seen on ABC's Pan Am.

Just like there was a vintage explosion on the Halloween following the debut of AMC's Mad Men, we're sure to see plenty of flight attendants this Halloween.

My sewing machine is still in storage because we're still on the ranch, but it's not too late for you to wear a Pan Am costume on my behalf! I've done some of the work for you, choosing easy-to-find patterns with pencil skirts and jackets (so you don't have to buy two separate patterns).

1. Simplicity 2154 - Obviously this "Simplicity Retro" pattern is from the right era, but the fit of the jacket is slightly off for the stewardess costume. It's not as tailored, and is looser around the hips. But made from the right fabric, it's sure to look authentic to the era.
2. Butterick 5147 - Has a pencil skirt and a fitted jacket, with the correct length of sleeves. But the collar is all wrong.
3. Butterick 3037 - Has the four buttons, just like the show, a close fit, and the perfect collar. The skirt and sleeves are too long, but that could easily be fixed. This is probably the pattern I would choose.
4. Royal Blue Suiting - $5.75/yd from Fashion Fabrics Club.
5. Pan Am Bag - These are all over the Internet thanks to the show, this one is $89 from Brookstone.

Don't forget the white gloves, retro-fab shoes, and pill box hat! Here's Threadbanger's tut on "How to Make a Pill Box Hat":


Have you made a Pan Am Halloween Costume? I'd love to see pictures and hear what pattern you used (if you used one).

Pattern Haul: Butterick on sale for 99 cents!

Butterick patterns were on sale for just 99 cents at Jo-Ann last week! They were limit 10, but the hubs and the LO were with me, so I only walked away with four...

These four:
Butterick 5564

Butterick 5454

Butterick 5451

AND! The controversial Butterick 4790

If you're not familiar, B4790 is one of Butterick's "Retro" patterns; a remake of a vintage one. But most reviews of this pattern you'll find on the Interwebs complain that the update is not true to the 1950's silhouette; it's looser and baggier. But I love the dress and at just .99, I thought I'd give the pattern a shot anyway.

Did I make good choices? Kinda overdid it on the wrap dresses, didn't I? And I kind of regret not buying B5674. And Butterick's 5731, just to have, maybe to alter into a non-wedding dress. Darnit! More regret even as I'm typing this.

Have you tried any of these, and if so, do you have any tips for me? I'd appreciate it!

Oh yeah, and stay tuned for the dresses I actually make out of these.

How to display a beer coaster collection?

My sister Ariel is a big traveler and loves collecting beer coasters (like the ones pictured above from BuenaHelena) from places she visits.

Some time ago, we'd discussed her preserving them in resin so she'd have them forever. We brainstormed what she could use as a mold, and figured she'd need something to keep the ink from bleeding and suspending into the medium. That was a while ago.

Now, she has multiple shapes in her collection (making the mold situation more tricky) and has figured she really doesn't need THAT many coasters, if any at all. So she mentioned making a coffee table top. Good idea (I had similar plans for a vintage postcard collection), but, I had some other ones for her, all keeping with the resined-theme:

• If she ever buys her own place, she can make them into a counter top for a breakfast bar.


• If the resin wasn't too heavy, she could frame it and just turn it into wall art. The frame and resin would keep it from looking too frat house. This was her favorite idea.

I also Googled the topic and found this, which starts of good and ends on a facetious note. Still had some good ideas, though, including using them as postcards and luggage tags.

BuenaHelena, the blog the above picture is from, turned them into Christmas ornaments.

Do you have any ideas for an old beer coaster collection? If you've randomly stumbled upon this post, give us your ideas no matter how old this post is.