Reposted from EW.

Bettie Page, the 1950s pinup credited with helping to spark the next decade’s sexual revolution, died in Los Angeles yesterday from pneumonia. She was 85. In honor of the passing of this treasure from a bygone era, an excerpt from EW critic Owen Gleiberman’s review of the 2006 biopic, The Notorious Bettie Page:

“It has often been said that Bettie Page, the legendary ’50s pinup with the pert features framed by those famously severe black bangs, was the rare American sex goddess who was equally at home projecting the image of a good girl or a bad girl. Frolicking, naked, in the ocean foam, her leg extended with playful pleasure, she was all dazzle and sunshine: the girl next door who said yes yes yes. In her scandalous underground bondage photos, where she posed as a dominatrix with a whip held high, or as a masochist with a ball in her mouth, she vamped like a pussycat from hell, her eyes narrowing with mean delight — or widening in mock terror. Yet the mysterious alchemy of Bettie Page isn’t just that she could turn on a dime from light to dark, saint to sinner, virgin to vixen. It’s that she was somehow able to project both qualities at once. In the bondage photos, so shocking for their time, her warm, spirited, peekaboo vibrance doesn’t disappear; it’s there just beneath the surface aggression of her poses. As for her all-American cheesecake shots, they have a quality of delirious, laughing abandon, as though she were winking at the she-devil inside. What Bettie Page conjured — always — was the promise of pleasure without limits. She was a one-woman orgy in centerfold form.”

Good night, Bettie. Although it’s a cliche, there really is no truer summation than to say, they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

More Bettie Page:
Movie review: The Notorious Bettie Page
Book review: The Real Bettie Page: The Truth About the Queen of the Pinups
Bettie Page weighs in on Notorious biopic

Read original article and comments to it here

Arrived yesterday. Not sure what I’m going to do with it but it’s a great colour and really supersoft. Kitty coats? A Michelin man suit for me to protect against the cold?  A range of quilted bags?  Still undecided at this point.  I will have to mull it over and keep looking at it some more.  Of course that tends to happen and then I run out of time to make anything.

Other fabric arrived yesterday.  Had to pay customs handling charges for it and wait an additional three days for delivery which made me a bit less enthusiastic about it, but the fabric is great.  I got 8 yds of fabric from fabric.com which btw has a 30% sale on now on fabrics that they only have 20yds or less of, so a great time to pick up a bargain.  Just remember the costs if you are ordering from outside the US.

I spent some frustrating hours last night working on a new purse.  The frustrating part was caused by the fact that it’s tiny and very fiddly and if I charged by the hour the purse would be unaffordable.  After breakfast I’m going up to finish it off but I’m already hating it and I have two more of the little buggers to do today.

At least I stopped to watch Come Dine With Me, Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Cookalong (with Gok Wan pashing on with Gordy) and the IT Crowd.  Quality stuff.

I am really drawn to this fabric and have had it on a watch list for a couple of weeks.

to buy or not to buy and if so, what to make of it

To buy or not to buy, that is the question. The thing is I am kind of in fabric lust over it, but I cannot think what to do with it apart from touch it and drool over it once I have it. And after rearranging all the blooming furniture yesterday I discovered even more fabric that I had stashed away so really I don’t really need any more… but I have nothing like this little baby. I will have to give it more thought but I just like it so much that I feel that I must have it.

Ok I am waaaay too excited about this but look what I made today.

Ok, so I know that no one will probably EVER want to buy them but I really had a lot of fun designing them hehe.

I came home today and felt inspired to create something, so I decided to try out the shoe design option on Zazzle.  I think I’ve made 5-6 pairs tonight but they have to go through an approval process and this is the first one I made and it just got approved!  Yay!

I feel the need to make more shoes, but it is a little time consuming and I haven’t eaten yet and I need to watch True Blood in about twenty minutes, and as I’m typing this I’m thinking that actually if I could have a superpower I think right now I would like Hiro’s so I could stop time and get a whole lot of work done lol  That’s one handy power he has there.

Now, apart from these Keds shoes on Zazzle, I also came across a pattern for making these slippers the other day

So I can feel like Betty Grable

I really want to make these NOW.  The ones in the photo don’t have any soles so I think if I was making them I would be adding some rubber soles, preferably non-slip.  (note to self:  track down supplier of non-slip rubber soles)  I really think my mum would love these, she loves the 40s and she has some peep-toe shoes, so I think maybe if I can find the sole suppliers, then I might make her a pair for christmas.  Of course she never wears flat anything but maybe she’ll love them and make an exception.

Now back to the shoe designing…

I like books. A Lot.  I also like craft books.  A Lot.

So I’ve been looking at what’s coming out in the next few months in case there is anything that looks interesting and that I might want to buy.

First up, one to avoid surely.  How interesting that you can make handbags out of fat-quarter quilting fabric – not.  Honestly think about it, do you really want to make a bag that looks like a portable quilt?  I think not.  I haven’t browsed through this book yet as it’s not released until 25th November, but from what I can see, it looks like some pretty standard stuff – the only difference being you can use quilting scraps to make your “stylish” bags.

My advice is don’t bother.  Buy yourself a half or one yard/metre of nice fabric and do it properly.

Now this one does look a little more interesting, but of course that could be deceiving since I haven’t seen the contents yet and I won’t until after 9th December.  It is written by Brigett Artise who is a fashion designer, and a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, so I’m going to assume she knows what she’s talking about for now.  You can also check out her website here

Ok, one more and then I need to get busy on some Christmas projects.

This is a nice book, especially if you are interested in Japan and sewing! Any time I’ve made a kimono I haven’t used a pattern since they are basically a series of squareish shapes sewn together. However, if you are interested in achieving a more authentic look, then maybe this book is for you. Check out ebay also for sales of vintage kimono fabric, you can pick up some real bargains and some really beautiful silk.

Don’t forget to check out the lists of recommended craft and sewing books by clicking on the Buy Stuff tab at the top of the site.

PS  happy birthday to my nephew who is 12 today