Posted on sew_hip


So, my first project after being "back" and working in my new "sewing room" (which is really just a corner of my bedroom now that my sewing room has become a nursery - see last entry) is to make a car seat cover for Nico's nanny Julia's son, Adrian. (Julia appears in a previous post where I made her a maternity skirt. After she had her son and I got mine, we decided that she could take care of them both during the day until she goes back to work.)

Here they are checking out the mobile above her bed:



She takes them out walking and needed something to protect them from the sun. I already had one for Nico so I just copied mine so I can't take any credit for the design. Julia is very well-traveled and loves ethnic art and stuff so I decided to use some of my fancy Balinese fabric for Adrian's cover.

I thought it turned out great and she gets compliments on it all the time. So, instead of seeing this:



you will now see this:



(Okay, I admit, that was a gratuitous use of a Nico picture since I made this cover for Adrian, not Nico. But I think he's kinda cute.)

There have been many changes around here lately. For starters, as much as I loved my sewing room, I gave in up in exchange for a darling nursery for our baby son Nico who arrived April 9.

Here are a few "before" and "after" shots of the room. It sure was a lot of fun decorating. I downsized my sewing room and moved it upstairs to our bedroom which was a good sized room to begin with but I lost a permanent table (still haven't found a solution for this yet) and I'm in the process of getting rid of a LOT of fabric (on ebay if anyone's interested. I am going to be posting some trims and a bunch of vintage patterns there soon too. But I'm starting with the big stuff since space is what I need most right now.)

First up, the "cozy corner". Sofa got a slipcover and I got to hang some of the art pieces I've been collecting all these years. Most of these frames are thrifted and I've been collecting. I painted them all the same color for continuity and I only had to have a couple mattes made. All in all, I love it. I had a friend who is a professional seamstress make the sofa slipcover because 1. I just didn't have time, and 2. It was just too big a job for me and she does this all the time, just whipped it out. The fabric was from IKEA and I think it came out great. So far, it's held up to the cats much better than what's underneath. She even put a zipper under the seats so I can pull out the sofabed without having to remove the whole cover. She's awesome. Thanks Carrie Bishop!!!!


BEFORE:



and AFTER:




Here's the room with ALL my stuff out because my friend and I were working on a project:



And after, a mural my best friend helped me put up. These vinyl wall decals are awesome and easy to hang - I got this one from etsy.com:



And AFTER AFTER, peeking in the room from the doorway. I also painted that dresser and the jackalope is a decal (also from etsy.com):



Here is the other direction, facing out of the room, BEFORE:



And AFTER (two angles of this, the door and the closet/window/corner):





I was very proud to have very little newly purchased items in the room, most is vintage or reused. The crib was purchased used and the rest of the furniture is vintage. I am using vintage picnic baskets right now for toys and stuffed animals. I have a basket full of books behind the chair in the corner. It is not overly "theme-y" but I like that - I am not a "bed in a bag" type. I am pretty sure most of you who read crafting blogs are the same way so you get it.

Oh, and last but not least, the room's owner, my son, Nicholas (Nico) Merritt Hardy (kickin' it in his rocking chair):

Posted in sew_hip.

So, the total of 4 readers of my livejournal probably already know that we are expecting (adopting) a baby boy in April of 2011. While I would love for this to be a post about how awesome his little nursery is coming along, that's not happening yet. So, I'm really trying not to buy or make too much stuff yet because it all has to go in what is currently my sewing room (yes, that's going away, but it's only getting moved... I'll still have a place to sew, it just won't be as grand!)

Despite that, I can't say no to free things we're going to need either. My neighbor gave me some baby clothes that she'd been given because she's having a baby boy approximately one month before me. She got so many, she gave me the extra. I went through them and found a lot of them to be just typical - baseball, football themes, firetruck themes, etc. Common and boring. This was what I was dreading a little when I learned it was going to be a boy. Girl clothing is just so much more fun... and easy.

But I'm starting to find creative ways to get excited about dressing my little man. A couple of the onesies in the bag were just plain or had something ugly on the front so I just got out my trusty "Steam a Seam" and made a couple of appliques from my favorite Alexander Henry tattoo print fabric and I already can't wait to see him in these. This took about 5 minutes. If I spent a little more time, I could probably make something SUPER cute. I am awaiting further inspiration though.



And speaking of the nice neighbor, Julia, who gave me all the clothes, she came over and we were talking about her lack of anything to wear on a trip she's taking to Guatemala to retrieve her dog (it's a long story) and I said, "let's make you a skirt!" So, she picked out a fabric and we made her a simple knit dirndl style skirt. It took maybe an hour or so but it came out cute.

The top layer has a print that is sheer in parts so we lined it with some light skinned flesh colored knit fabric (since she's as pasty white as me) and she loved it. The best part is, since it's just a simple elastic waistband casing, when she's no longer pregnant, we can tighten that up and just re-do the hem and she can still wear it.

The one thing to remember if making a skirt for a pregnant woman is to make sure you pin the hem with HER IN IT!!! And, if it's a skirt like this one, chances are she'll want to wear it with a maternity shirt that nips it in under the belly - otherwise, she'll just look huge. So, have her put it on with something like that because it will affect the length of the hem. This is actually pretty important to do if you have a protruding derriere as well...

It takes two people to do but you just need to measure where you want it to end. The front is the best place to do this. You can loosely pin it to that length so she can see how it looks. Then measure with a long ruler the length from the floor. If it's 13.5", then pin at 13.5" from the floor all the way around, with her standing straight and not looking down. Those pins are your FOLD line not your cut line, remember. Then she can take it off and you can fold, cut, pin, sew! The front of the skirt should be longer than the back because it has to accommodate her belly. But it will look even at the hem and she'll be cute and comfortable.

4D because I already posted a picture of it on the dress form, which is sort of the 3D version. The fourth dimension? Drunk dancing! Okay, I wasn't drunk, but I had some champagne and was with really good friends who all take their holiday party dancing seriously. So, this is all just to explain why, in none of these pictures am I standing still except one. And, judging by my friend Kym's long-to-short dress alterration, I can tell this was taken late in the evening (explaining my disheveled hair and rosy, sweaty-dance-face complexion.)

(Editor's note: even when I'm wearing something I think looks "Vavoom", I always feel like a frump in pictures with Kym. I mean, look at her legs!!! Note to self - don't stand next to Kym in pictures... and try to wear shorter skirts now and again. Oh, and also get a picture at the START of the night, not the end.)


(Note - I wore vintage Christian Dior hose with little dots on them. Just a little too cold for bare legs - even Kym started out in a long dress.)


The dress and the lace held up amazingly well to the two parties we attended that night. I was pretty nervous someone would catch a piece of jewelry on it or something but I only had to do a teeny bit of repair to the hem after the fact.

The only thing that I changed ultimately was the way the edge of lace at the bodice stood up and was meant to remain that way. Well, it didn't. Partly I think because I was wearing a sweater over it at the first party and partly because it was too ambitious to think it would stay up all night with just a little starch. I though about backing it with some organza to stabilize it but I decided in the end to just tuck it in and tack it down and so the next time I wear it, it will just have a straight top bodice edge.

Otherwise, I was REALLY glad I added the boning and stabilized the bodice with woven fusible interfacing. You can use non-woven, I suppose. I just like the way woven feels. And if you ever make (and then wear) something like this, don't wear any bracelets or long necklaces and probably not a watch either. Even a clasp on a bracelet could have caught easily on this - considering all the ridiculous dance moves I was busting out - and that would have saddened me.

Some more "action shots".








And my handsome date (and beautiful Kym):

Finally getting around to posting my holiday sewing. This year, unfortunately, it was a very slim year for sewing and I really got almost no sewing done for gifts. This bummed me out a bit - I had some great ideas that never got executed on.

So, enough complaining, I DID manage to make one gift - well two, actually. My darling 5-year-old nieces got a toy kitchen from Santa this year and so I made them aprons.

For the pocket in front, I sewed a seam down the middle, then down the middle of one side, then down the middle of that. So there ended up being a large pocket, one half that size, then two half again. That way, they can put things like spoons and (as you can see, a whisk I gave one of them) they will stay upright in the pocket.



Michael helped with the decorative lettering. He found the fonts online and did all the cutting out, etc. He took his time, even cut out the little stars on the letters too. I love my wannabe crafty husband.


And here are my adorable models. they really loved their aprons. The D-rings ended up being a bit loose so I would just advise making these tie in the back at the neck in the future, vs. trying to be fancy with the D-ring.

This year's holiday party dress is pretty much my favorite so far. Seen here on my dress form, which really doesn't do it justice because, and I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging here, but it really does look better on me than the form (rare). Partly, the form doesn't have my same skin color so you don't see the lace against skin at the top border which is pretty. Also, it fits me like a glove and it looks a really wrinkly on the form.

Also, in this pic, it doesn't look like the lace at the top is even, but it is. I will starch it before I wear it though, to make sure it stays nice and stiff, though.



All in all, I'm very pleased and looking forward to busting this out next Friday for Michael's company party and my boot camp party.

For those who like details...

PATTERN:

I used this pattern a couple of times (most recently, this simple dress for my sis-in-law's wedding). Based on a 1950s summer top pattern and a skirt pattern I drafted myself. The only thing I changed was to add a tier to the skirt, which was easy.



FABRIC:

The lace is a vintage silk remnant I bought in an antique store in NYC a couple of years ago. I probably paid about $20 for it which was a lot for me considering I couldn't imagine what I'd ever do with it. It was just TOO AMAZING to not buy though. It was nearly in perfect shape. I had to do a little restoration on the edge in a couple places but overall, a stunning piece. I had about 2 yards total. I managed to make this with about 6" left over. If I were a size bigger, it wouldn't have worked.



The base is a neutral silk taffeta which matches my (pasty) skin tone. I was inspired by the lace covered dresses from the 50s - where it almost looks like she's wearing nothing underneath the lace. Is there an actual name for this style? I think I remember Marilyn wore one like this once, but I can't find a pic of it. And Dior did a nice one recently and that yellow Alexander McQueen dress that Drew Barrymore wore to some event, recently - A-MA-ZING!!!

Lining is turquoise blue silk. I love the color combo with the beige/black. I used a turquoise invisible zipper so just the pull tab hints at the color underneath. I plan to wear my turquoise blue nail polish with it to pick up this detail.



I added a waist stay in a pretty tan/blue striped silk ribbon.



CONSTRUCTION:

I did not want the lace to have to get cut more than once per tier since I was relying on the border at the top and on the bottom of the tiers and I didn't want a seam on the sides. So, I sewed the back of the base to the front first, then laid the lace over that and pinned it in place. Then, I sewed the darts, catching the lace in that. After that, I unpicked the side seams on the top skirt tier and the bodice and pulled the excess lace through that and resewed it. VOILA! It worked. It got a little tricky on the bodice since I had to sew the side bust dart first. But it gave me the result I wanted. No seams on the lace except for the back. And at the top, I just basted it down.





For the slit, I left a little extra lace and then just made a fancy little kick pleat with the excess. If you want more detail on how I did that, you'll need to ask. It gets a little complicated to explain but it was actually quite easy.



I interfaced the bodice with fusible woven interfacing (this is my favorite kind of interfacing), cutting out the dart spaces on the interfacing it would not have extra bulk there. I also added boning on both sides of the bodice since I made an earlier version without boning where I spent a lot of the night pulling it up so my boobs wouldn't fall out. One trick with boning I learned... when you cut it, cut the end of the plastic stabilizer a little bit rounded so the sharp corners don't wear down your fabric or, worse, stab you in the side.


DETAILS:

I made a belt out of some double sided velvet. I wasn't sure if I was going to have a bow with the ends hanging down so I went with double sided in case the other side showed. So, I ended up buying more than I needed which wouldn't matter so much if it weren't $7.50 a yard! I decided that the dress was "VAVOOM" enough that I should sweeten it a bit with a bow at the waist. But not so sweet. I thought this simple bow belt did the trick.

I loosely basted the belt on to keep it perfectly in place from the center front to the back zipper. From center back around the other side it is just loose, since I need to be able to still get in it. It closes with two hidden snaps.



I am super excited and can't wait to wear this. I just have to stay far away from anyone with a lot of dangly jewelry or sequins.

There will be pictures of the final outfit on me, for certain, and I'll be sure to post them to prove that it actually looks better when you have some curves for this kind of dress.

It's been a million years since I posted. I have made a bunch of stuff that I should document but I recently was cyber-stalked by a potential client who found this blog and read through a bunch of entries which was a bit freaky. It made me really look at how totally dorky I am. However, aforementioned client is actually very cool (I have to write that because I know he'll read this eventually. Ha ha.)

Today my muses were Isabella and Adriana. Don't those sound like muse names? Well, it was time for Bella to make her Halloween costume since it's fast approaching and it's basically my high holy day. Right now, I can't tell you what this year's costume will be but I have a good ideal. I will be out of town for it and I've been really busy these days so it won't be as fabulous as last year's but it will still be fun.

Bella wanted to be a Greek goddess this year but then later decided she liked a Norse goddess better which is more fitting because this child has the MOST AMAZING GOLDEN HAIR you have ever seen. Seriously, it's thick and shiny and shimmery. So jealous.

Bella brought me a picture of a goddess dress a few weeks ago and I just happened to have some vintage gold fabric just laying around (like you do) and some white gauze-y rayon I was never going to use. So, she just bought some trim with her own money (her dad took her to the fabric store, how cute is that?) and we were good to go.

I now have to have a proud moment. I have taught Bella to sew since she was 7. She is now 10. And aside from some cutting and pinning, I did nothing else on this dress. It was all Bella. She designed it and sewed it herself. The whole thing was sewn by Bella. She used the seam ripper A LOT. But it was worth it. It came out fantastic.

Adriana is Bella's friend who was just hanging out with us but she got inspired and started making a Girl Scout's sash for her doll which I helped her with. It was just fun hanging out with them in my sewing room, giving them guidance but mainly letting them figure it out for themselves (and I had a crapload of stuff I had to iron which I put a dent in.) I can't wait to teach my own kids to sew.

Okay, picture time....

Me and my muses in the sewing room:


Beautiful Bella:


Ladies gettin' crafty:


Can you believe I just had this awesome vintage glitter gold knit? Well, duh, of course.


Look at her go. I was so proud. I barely helped her on the machine and she just nailed it.

I just found out that my friend Misha, whom I've only just come to know recently, is crafty!  It's like a secret society... "Are you crafty?"  "Yes, you too?"  "Yes!  Yay!"   I spied a pretty little embroidery in a ring on her facebook profile picture so I had to ask her about it and this is how I learned!  She just invited me to her "Craft and Bitch" next week and, while I still have no idea what it entails, I'm super excited about it.

I remembered I had still not posted pics from my second Craft-a-Palooza and thought I should get that done since I'm currently inspired by Misha's upcoming event.

I think I had this party in February because I went out and got all sorts of doilies and candy hearts to make home-made valentines.  A few ladies wanted to make these awesome t-shirt/jeans skirts that my friend Laura had made. 

Not everyone is super crafty but I invited those who had expressed a crafty interest to me at some point.  I told everyone, just bring something you want to work on.  My friend Benta (who is an awesome designer by the way) came and helped her friend assemble the wedding invitations she had designed for her.  My cousin Nellie came again and worked on the laundry undie bag she started last time she was here.  Rosana came later so no cooking from her this time but she did make a hilarious Valentine's day card for her friend (picture below explains it.)  Sarah made a skirt and Kym just came and worked on the upcoming bootcamp schedule.  Hey, we can't all be crafty.  The point was just to be hanging out together but getting something done too so we didn't feel so guilty about the time we spent.  (Okay, maybe I'm projecting and I'm the only one who has a hard time not multi-tasking.)

Elaine models her skirt which is made of old jeans and several t-shirts.  Most of us do a lot of sporty events and they always give you t'shirts.  Only recently have they started giving out "technical" shirts.  By that I mean shirts in a wicking material that you'd actually wear to work out in.  Until then, it was just big, boxy, unflattering-on-everyone cotton t-shirts.  But the pictures on them can be cute and fun to look at, just not across your chest. And, they did have a memory attached to them too. So, this was a cool idea.



Kym and Elaine model Elaine's new skirt.  Kym's skirt was made by Laura originally.  The pattern idea came from a book Laura has of t-shirt deconstruction.  You can probably figure it out by looking at it but if anyone wants the name of the book, let me know and I'll ask her for it.  You can also make it without the jeans, just as a simple skirt with elastic waist, which was what Sarah made though we didn't get a shot of it.  How super cute are these two?



Benta and and her friend Susan work on the wedding invitations and drink champagne at the table.  I should have gotten a shot of the awesome invitations.  I think this was just a "save the date" but the theme was a peacock and they're just so pretty.   I did mention Benta's awesomeness, did I not?




Cute shot of my cousin Nellie from my iPhone.  I don't know what happened to the original - I was playing with the filters from an app I downloaded.  I kinda like this one even though I know she'll hate it because she looks so red.  This is the More Lomo app for the iPhone, fyi.  



And I think this is my favorite shot of the day... Rosana's Valentine for her friend.  I mean, Rosana's already super koo koo and that's why I love her.  I can only imagine how crazy is this friend of hers in Houston that she made this for:

Made from lace, googly eyes, feathers, glitter, chocolate lips, and, because her friend loves herbal refreshments, Rosana made her a fake "joint" out of some tissue paper and cat nip!!!!!   We were laughing so hard every time we looked at it.  I was worried about her driving home with it.  What if she got pulled over and had to explain that!!!   "I swear, officer, it's just cat nip.  It's a fake joint.  Don't you get it?  It's funny! I was at a craft party, I swear."  Yeah, no.  I mean, in Oakland they'd probably let you go except the fact that it's glued to a crazy, googly-eyed, feather-eyebrowed glitter face might raise an eyebrow or two.   I still laugh when I look at this.

Okay, kinda rambling but at least I finally got the update in here about our second Craft-a-palooza.  I plan to have more, but I am now just really looking forward to Misha's party.  

Posted on sew_hip

Now before you jump to any conclusions that these here leather faux-snakeskin pants were mine originally, let me just set the record straight.  I bought these as the Salvation Army last Saturday with the idea they would be fun to cut up and make little purses out of.  They are very high quailty leather, the snakeskin part is a print, but the leather itself is very soft and supple and in fantastic condition.  They were $16 but my local Salv-o does everything 50% off on Fri/Sat so I got them for $8.  They're a size 10 so they've got a lot to work with.



Last night, I made this little clutch...



I actually got the snaps in the correct location this time.  I used a scrap from my stash for the lining.  I just love the little birdie.



And I added a pocket to this one.  

I just love that my sister is teaching my niece the importance of thank you notes. Nothing makes me less interested in giving a future gift to someone than lack of acknowledgment.

Posted on Wardrobe Refasion

So, I was doing a little closet clean out and found these jeans that are just, well, NOT me. I don't know why I bought them in the first place. I really love fanciful embroidery. I love peacocks. I'm basically a hippie at heart but I refuse to dress like one. So, I have not been able to part with them for some reason.



Today, I decided that if I had to part with them, I'd make something out of them. Now, I have a whole clear plastic bin labeled "Deconstruction: Future Masterpieces" full of great pieces just waiting for inspiration to hit so the fact that these jeans made it to the cutting table before going in the box is really quite remarkable.

I decided to make a little purse from a simple pattern I found here. 





I used one of the souvenir scarves I've been collecting (because I thought I'd make a quilt out of them one day, yeah right) as the lining.

It's a tad sloppy but it kinda goes with the whole "distressed jeans" look.   I'm going to see a friend play guitar in her band tonight and I think I'll take it and see if anyone comments on it.  If so, maybe I'll make some more and take them to the store near my house that sells only re-purposed and recycled goods.   I think I even have my slogan...

We finally made it up to Sebastapol to give my niece Lilly the dollhouse I'd made for her.  She'd already seen it so it wasn't a surprise but she was thrilled with it nonetheless.  

I gave it to her and she said, "but I don't have anything to put in it" at which point I busted out with two bags of furniture that we opened one piece at a time and she was just delighted.  She said many times, "you have given me so much, thank you."  My heart was just melting.  It was fun.



Once all the furniture was unwrapped, she started arranging and didn't stop once the whole time we were there (about an hour after that).  I would call it a success.  







Oh, and I also gave her that hat.  I found it in a thrift store and it was too small for me or I would have never parted with it.  She said it looked like a turnip.  Okay, a turnip fedora.

There are more pictures behind the link below of her playing with it and of some of the interior arrangements she made (which I wouldn't have thought of and that's the reason why it's so awesome now that it is her dollhouse.)  I couldn't select just one picture so I put them behind the cut.  

( HERE ARE MORE PICS... )

I'm about to go up to my hometown for a charity basketball tournament that my good friend Sarah's sister is holding. For some reason, this has inspired in me some nostalgia. I graduated high school in 1986 so I think I hit the perfect storm, era-wise, with regard to my teenage style.

For one thing, I liked to be the iconoclast so I leaned toward doing whatever everyone else "wasn't" doing. Not hard in a small town since most people there weren't very creative. They were still really focusing on feathering their hair just right while I was chopping one side of it off and frizzing out the other, a la Cyndi Lauper.  

Also, I loved to sew, and loved to thrift shop. Both were partly out of necessity as my family did not have a lot of money to spend on clothes and my parents didn't let me have a job during the school year because when I did, my grades went down. So, I had to get creative. And I did.

Here are Sarah and I showing off our jean refashions that we would go over to her Nana's house to work on.  I had a machine but everything's more fun with a friend, right?   Sarah did the whole "multiple Swatch watch" thing better than anyone. I wore that pork-pie hat every day for a year.




And in other retro jean embellishment news...

Recently, I went to an '80s birthday dance party and I was able to wear another pair of jeans that used to belong to my brother but then fell apart so much that I got to get my hands on them and "embellish".  I found them when I was cleaning out my dad's house last year.  So, I could get in the jeans I wore in high school, yes, but I actually had to take out the darts in the waist I had added when I was, oh, 18.  So, I guess I should just be happy with the first part of that sentence, right?  OMG, and they were soooo tapered at the feet, I could barely get mine in.  Tapered and high-waisted.  Mmmmm flattering.

Here I am with my other best childhood friend Stacey (we've been best friends since we were 10) dressed up in my high school jeans, getting ready at the hotel to go and to party like it's 1986.  Every other thing I'm wearing except the tie, suspenders and jacket were already in my wardrobe.  I know, scary.


Yes, that is a lace garter with a flask in it that Stacey is wearing on her thigh.  She opted for the '80s Hair Band Groupie look.  I made her the guitar pick necklace and GnR t-shirt.  Found the logo online and printed it on iron-on printer paper and ironed it on to a thrifted tee.  No one could tell it wasn't real. Score.

Stay tuned for some scanned shots of my early designs and creations...  It's "Retro Week". It will be scary.

Well, as it turns out, apparently, in Texas, people wear white to weddings that aren't theirs.  And no one cares. 

There was NOT A CHANCE of upstaging this bride as she was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL bride I have ever seen at THE MOST BEAUTIFUL wedding ever.  What made her, and the wedding so fantastic, was the lack of "overdoing it".  There were no wedding favors on the tables, no doves released, no elaborate toasts or cheezy traditions (other than the New Orlean's tradition of the Second Line" which was really quite fantastic, Google it if you have never seen it.)  There weren't even any bridesmaids and the bride and groom walked each other down the aisle.  I wish more weddings were like this - the wedding industry tries to make us think that you have to go into debt to fund your wedding and you don't.  You just need to be as beautiful as Kris (okay, we all can't do that) but basically, just think about what really matters.  Love.

Still, I made this dress instead (basically using my birthday dress muslin and leaving off the sarong skirt).  See what I mean?  No upstaging this bride here, she was positively radiant.



It survived almost the whole wedding - until I had to get in the bouncy house with my nieces and tear the slit out a little in the back.  And I wasn't even drinking champagne.  I'm just a 5-year-old at heart.

And even though I didn't make her dress, it was store bought, I did help her find it... I just have to post a couple more pics of her dress since she was just so fantastic in it (and with her handsome groom).

Posted on sew_hip.

I got my frock done in time, yay, and wore it to the SF MoMA's 75th Birthday Party. 

Here it is:



It came out a *leetle* bit shorter than I'd like.  But, nitpicking aside, I am really happy with it.  Oh, and yes, for the extra observant, that is a band-aid on my left shin.  It was a sparkly silver band-aid at least.   For the huge cut on my finger I gave myself 1/2 hour before leaving the house, I opted for a more neutral shade.  Oh well, no one ever accused me of being "too glamorous".  ;-)

Here is the back.

  

And I FINALLY got a picture of my little "Holiday Party Jacket" which I made to wear with my holiday party dress.  I probably should have worn something warmer - the problem with getting dressed at home (in Oakland) and going to out to San Francisco is that, even though we're next door neighbors, something happens when you cross the bridge - it feels like 20 degrees colder over there.  This is a large part of the reason why we moved from there to here.  Because we missed "summer".  Anyway, the coat may not have been the best choice - I'm not sure the cut was right for the dress underneath either.  Oh well, I was glad to get to wear it again.  I just love the color of that velvet!

My "fancy nancy" frock is almost done and the zipper came out okay!

One trick - I lined the cut out piece up with the pattern and manipulated it until they were the same size - you know how bias likes to stretch - then I used Scotch Tape to hold the seam line  in place BEFORE I stay-stitched it.  I put the tape about 1/2" from the edge. Because I figured I would stay stitch it in place stretched out if I didn't.  It worked great  I would recommend that.  Then, I just took the tape off to sew the pieces together.  I wouldn't say it's perfect, but that trick helped A LOT.

Here it is - still not finished, but doing what I call "marinating" which I ALWAYS do (and everyone should) with anything cut on the bias - I let it hang on the dress form overnight before I straighten the hem.  Because look at how long it is in the front!  Sometimes, just the mere weight of the thread will pull the sides down.  It's hard to guess - you just need to let it hang and be patient.






I am patting myself on the back for the pattern matching I did on this print.  I love the way it came out - it wasn't easy with such a small dress and such a large-scale print.  Luckily I had a few yards of this stuff.  At first I didn't bother with matching the pattern on the straps because I was so sick of working on it last night.  But my husband (and most reliable critic) got nitpicky and said it should be white in front to match the white bodice area.  He was right - it looks way better and more polished that way.

I hemmed it this morning but I"ll wait to get an action shot before I post any more.. Now just hand sewing in the lining and pressing and voila!  Party Dress!!!

Thanks for all the advice, folks.  The boning was easy.  I just applied it to the seam allowances on the sides and it was easy/peasy.  What was I worried about?

Posted on sew_hip

Okay, so I have a friend that I refer to as "fancy" even though she's totally down to earth in some ways, she also loves "fancy" things, ESPECIALLY fancy dress up parties.  Fancy Nancy has invited me to a party at the SF Museum of Modern Art for their 75th anniversary on Friday night.  And this should be fancy.

So, of course, she invites me on Monday and I decided to make a dress on Tuesday.  Keep in mind, I have a job.  Granted, I work from home, but, still, I have to work.  Sometimes I really question my decision-making skills.  ;-P

So, I'm using the bodice from the dress I designed for my birthday lu'au and making the skirt "flowy", adapting a 70s bias cut skirt pattern for that.  Then I want to do something "fancy" with straps.  But that's going to depend on how much time I have left before Friday.

Here is my birthday dress:



Just a straight up bodice with a back zipper. 

And here is what my sewing room looked Tuesday night.  I'd made a muslin - hard to see on the dress form, but the red draping tape is where I'm trying to flesh out an idea for asymmetrical straps to make it more interesting.



But look at that fabric!!!  White silk charmeuse with a large-scale grey coral pattern on it.  What am I thinking???  Well, if it turns out, technically - and you all know how technical silk charmeuse can be - it will be stunning. 

I can't eat anything between now and then because anything I eat will show through where my belly is already pooching out (because, and I know this is TMI, I am totally PMS bloated).  Bias cut silk is so unforgiving.   So why is it so yummy?

My two biggest fears are the invisible zipper on the seam - is it going to pooch out?  I think I"m going to do it down the back?  Am I crazy?  And I really think I need to add boning.  I am an A cup and my birthday dress could have been a little stiffer even though I underlined it and used a fusible woven interfacing on the ENTIRE bodice.  It wasn't too bad, but I did find myself adjusting it to keep it smooth and "up". And I've never added boning before so I don't know what I'm doing.  This is why I think I need to put the zipper down the back - because I need the boning n the sides.  Anyone done simple boning in a dress before have any advice?

Okay, everything is currently cut out and pinned, the room is a disaster, and I have one more day to finish.  Then, because it's a bias cut dress, I'll need to leave it hanging on the dress form for a day before I can hem it - so that means I'm hemming it Friday after work, before the party. 

I know it's been awhile but I'm back on a roll. 

Here's my 42nd birthday dress. 



I had a party at a really great tiki bar in Oakland called "The Kona Club".  On the right is my darling friend Kym who is in the picture because I also made her pareo as a thank you for agreeing to wear a coconut bra to my party. Granted, it's just a long rectangle with two ties at the ends but I made it (and my dress) a day before the party so I was pretty amazed I found time to do both. Oh, and  I made another pareo for my friend Rosana (pictured below). 

About MY dress: 

I just had to make a dress from this fabric because it has 'ukuleles on it!!!  And since I've been wanting one, and I got one for my birthday, it was too perfect.  It had to be done. My only regret is not getting a picture in the dress with my new 'uke.

Here's a close up of the fabric (with crazy Rosana who went all out and wore the coconut bra without anything under it!)  I made sure to get one of the 'ukulele's right in the front center.:



You can see that the sarong part of the skirt is lined in red lining fabric.  I had to go buy that, darn.  I like to try and use what I have but I had every color of lining BUT red.   Oh well.  

The bodice I modified quite a bit but I started with this:


But then I lowered the neckline about 3/4" .  I did not use boning but I have plans to use this pattern again and I will.  I did interface the whole bodice with a fusible woven medium weight interfacing which held it up pretty well though.  I also underlined it instead of lining it which I have to say is pretty much what I'm going to do any time I'm in a hurry.  You only need to do all the darts once, and, since I always serge my seams even if they're hidden in lining, it saves me from doing that twice too.  And it gives the fabric a stiffness that, in this case, it needs.

I used a basic pencil skirt pattern to start but then had to add a bit of hip room to it since I've gained about 5 or 6 lbs lately.  Then I added a sort of sarong skirt which I just draped and drafted myself.  It's my first time doing that and I think it came out great!!  

I'm super duper excited about using this same bodice for a new dress that needs to get done by next week for Michael's sister's wedding.  It's going to have a more flowing skirt and I'm going to do something special with shoulder straps.  I can hardly wait to get started!

A rainy Sunday was the perfect excuse to finish up Lilly's dollhouse.  After my disappointment recently at having her discover it before it was completed, I really thought about what I wanted it to be and I decided to stop working on it, other than to just finish.  I needed to add the shingles to the front and put on the front door and touch up some paint and now it's all done.

Here it is:

The front (and the front door can open because it has a little hinge on it.)





And inside...



I just freakin' love dioramas so before packing this all up to give to her, I had to set up what I'd made/bought for it and I'm going to leave it to her to finish furnishing it or, whatever she wants to do, it is hers now.



So, for the bedroom, I made a bed which has a mattress, even, and two pillow and a bedspread.  I was going to make sheets and pillowcases but I'm going to leave that for her mom (my sister) who also sews.  And yes, that's a candlestick with a nyquil lid on it for a lamp.




The bathroom is the most finished because it has a set of vintage ceramic fixtures, sink, bathtub and toilet.  I made a mirror to go over the sink and the ebay seller I bought them from sent those two little "perfume bottles" on the (makeshift) table in the back.  I made a bath rug from an old towel in my rags bin and the little picture frame is from an antique shop in Austin.



Living room - I found the red chair in a thrift store as well as the trophy and the flower pot (I made the plant with some fake foliage and glue).  I found the sewing machine on ebay - just love it!  



And lastly, the kitchen.  It doesn't really have anything "kitchen-y" - everything is totally makeshift now - which leaves it to Lilly and Vanessa to furnish it eventually.  On the table though, are some teeny ceramic cups, saucers and a teapot which I also found in antique shop in Austin.  They are really so teeny I can't stand to part with them, but I must.  The champagne  & olive oil bottle are way out of scale for this kitchen but who really cares?

And I made a set of "bowls" with champagne lids.


Okay, so now on to stuff for ME.  It's been a while since I've made myself something and I have my sister-in-law's wedding coming up so what a perfect excuse to make something special.  

Thanks, for all your advice and listening to me rant on my last post.  It really did help me sort out my thoughts about the whole thing.

I get inspired all the time by all the wonderful people in my life for whom I love to make things.   My 3 new soon-to-be nieces are no exception.  I am just in LUV with all of them and they all loved their purses.  So, here they are modeling them for you.


Pretty Isabelle with her tattoo purse:






And Amelia, with her classic "I'm gonna hypnotize you with my amazing eyes" picture face. 




Eloise (who is hard to photograph because she does not stand still for long), Amelia, and Isabel.  (Eloise is still working out how to wear her bag yet):

 

Amelia even wore her bag in her "Attack on Uncle Mike" game that was pretty much the favorite game out of the majority of the sisters the whole time.  Love her expression - the twins were a serious wrestling tag team to be reckoned with:





And just in case you think Eloise (in the background) was done torturing him, you'd be wrong... She was planning another attack. 

I can't wait to see them again and make them more goodies.  They're wonderful muses.


UPDATE: 

The girls take their purses to school...  Don't ask me why Eloise is wearing gold bracelts, green rain boots and a supergirl dress to school... she has her own sense of style and there's just no questioning that.

I made my new nieces' bags last night and they just need a pressin' and a wrappin'.   My sister-in-law said they'd probably all like the shoulder satchel vs. the backback so that's what they're all getting.  She said the twins, "LOVE purses."

If you ask me, nieces are the best.  And I'm a rockin' auntie.  Just call me Auntie Mame.  Okay, here they are in all their cute glory. 

For Eloise:



Note the magnetic snap on the flap.  I also used one on the outer pocket.  Eloise is 4, gotta keep things simple.

On the inside, I used a sort of "oilcloth-like" fabric.  Not as stiff as oilcloth, but with some of the, oh shall we say, 4-year-old-proof properties.  It's a little less absorbent and it's also brown - the color of dirt - already. My sister in law said the twins are forever putting stuff in their purses like muddy rocks, dirty coins, and empty juice boxes.  Also, the inside linking has a clear plastic pocket with two compartments, one has a velcro flap and the other is just behind it so this is where they can put especially slimy or dirty treasures.




And here is Amelia's - basically the same, with a different main fabric:



For Isabell, who is older (9 or 10), I used that great Alexander Henry tattoo fabric.  Sis-in-law saw it before I started and said it was perfect for her.



I used a leather swatch that I had to make the pocket on the inside and the flap.  This was from a collection of leather samples for upholstery that I probably picked up at a thrift store or yard sale years ago since I have no recollection of where  I got it.  But it's good to have small bits of leather around the sewing room for this and that.  This is suede and super soft.  I made sure the pocket was big enough to put an iPhone in it (since I have no idea what phone she has but I wanted to make sure it would fit.  On the opposite side, I made a "card" sized pocket out of the lining fabric for ID, library card, bus pass, whatever 9 year olds carry around these days.  (I have no clue.)  Anyway, I think she'll like the leopard leather, if only for how soft it is to touch.

For a real job, I build websites for people.  I'm finding more and more want the ability to control their own content without having to pay me once the site is built and I don't blame them.  Frankly, I'd rather be working on a new project than updating someone's site content.  Wordpress seems to be the blogging software of choice these days because it allows users control in a fairly user-friendly way without being too expensive.  At least this is what I garner from the flurry of requests I've had recently to build sites with Wordpress.  

This is just a long way of getting around to saying that I was able to import my entire LJ into Wordpress last night and without paying for any upgrades (which  I will eventually), was able to get a decent looking blog.  Now I'm thinking, "hm... should I move this over to WordPress so I get more familiar with it?" or do I leave it on LJ?  The LJ option means being part of the communities and that's actually the cool part about LJ.  I'm leaning toward staying with LJ for this blog and using this Wordpress blog as just something I try things out on before doing them on clients' sites. 

Part of why I'm posting this, though, is to see if, on Wordpress, if I try to import this LJ again, it will just import the new post or all posts? If it does just import the new ones, I can keep two blogs current.  If I got any comments on the Wordpress blog though, they don't end up on the LJ version and that would be too inconsistent for my taste.  

Sorry for the techy post, but I'm curious if any of my cherished followers have any thoughts on this?  Would any of you still follow my blog if it were on Wordpress?  I use Google Reader and have a "crafting" category where I follow blogs I like as well as a couple of LJ communities. Do any of you do this or do you mostly just follow people through LJ?

Thanks for any and all responses.  I promise some crafty goodness soon.  I'm making some little backpacks for my 3 new nieces-to-be whom I'll me meeting next week in Austin and I found the C-U-T-E-S-T new Michael Miller fabric to make them from.  Will post pics as soon as they're ready.

But check out the fabric:

I'm really narrowing in on the finish here.  Front porch got painted this evening and got a roof and some railings...

(Apologies for going back to iPhone for my photography.)




What's left?  Decorative ceiling doohickeys, roof shingles, some kind of baseboard treatment, paint touch-up. Right now, it's really so cute I can't stand it.  And I can't believe I built this whole thing myself!!!

So, that's in on major construction of house stuff.  I'll still try and make some furniture but I want to give it to her with the bare minimum furnishings so she can get creative and add things herself.  I love to see what 6-year-old minds come up with. And it will also give me free reign to make and buy her new things as they come up and give them to her when I see her.

One thing I wanted to do was tie it in to our home, where she's been several times.  So, I did buy a few things.  As mentioned, the bathrrom fixtures which have not arrived yet.  But also, an acoustic guitar (I play and when she stayed with us this summer, she really liked when I'd play in the room next to hers as she fell asleep). 

I also bought a sewing machine and table.   Lilly really wants me to teach her to sew after she learned that I taught Bella.  Which is funny, because her mom sews and of course, can teach her as well.  But, you know, aunties are way more fun than moms, right???  The sewing machine came today while my awesome cousin Nellie was here.  I showed it to her and she said, "let's put it in the house RIGHT NOW."  I love my Nellie.  She gets me.

So, here is CCL with her new machine and table, making some curtains, perhaps, for her new crib.  Try and tell me I shouldn't have bought this.  Seriously. Try.  Even if you're married to me, you really can't tell me I shouldn't have bought this.  It's just unreal.   With shipping, $12.95.  Worth it.



One thing I've noticed about doll house furniture you can find online or at yard sales and stuff is it generally falls into two categories - one is good quality but old-fashioned.  I think some people who build doll houses really like to go for authenticity.  In other words, if it's a Victorian house (like this one is), it will have things like an icebox or a meat grinder and a really old fashioned telephone - these are things a child won't even recognize.  I can see the point of this for historical sake, but this particular dollhouse is for a kid.   And people still live in Victorian houses and they have refrigerators now.

The other category is more modern furnishings that a 6 year old would recognize, but it's all planet-destroying plastic (think Disney, Barbie, etc). I really don't want to be responsible for more plastic crap being put in this world.  I find it shocking how much of it people buy their kids.  Landfill much?  The worst part, these plastic pieces aren't even fun.  The fridge door doesn't open because, God forbid, your 4-year old will shove it up his nose.  So, it's just a shape of a fridge and the kid's supposed to get excited by that?  No wonder they demand new plastics thing all the time.  They're boring!!  It's all so safe and utterly without charm.   Okay, end rant.

Of course I love it when I find something that falls in between these two categories - the little red chair I think does.  It's a brand called Melissa and David which I've seen a lot of in toy stores when I'm buying gifts for kids.  They make a lot of wooden puzzles which I think are pretty cool.  I didn't know they made dollhouse furniture too.  I wish I would have found a modern sewing machine but with the detail of this old timey one but when it comes down to it, I'll take the better quality piece over the molded plastic piece any day.  I know my sister feels the same way at the very least. 

Basically, dollhouses are like little dioramas aren't they?  I prefer saying I am building a "diorama of a house" to a "doll house", simply because I just never was a doll person and my 6 year old niece Lilly doesn't seem to be either.  Still, to make things simple, I'm making Lilly a doll house for her 6th birthday which is coming up soon.  

So, I've made a good bit of progress and taken some pictures with a real camera this time. 

Here is the inside (and you can get a little sneak preview of the outside in the mirror) - part of the roof is still missing and I think I'll do some baseboards to hide the ugly transitions between wall and floor.  I need to add the front roof, shingles, front porch, etc.  Still a lot but I think we're in the home stretch here now.



Here is a closeup of a scene of domestic life with Crazy Cat Lady and a few of her cats, Dick the Albino Bowler, and two naked babies.  They're hoping some more furniture (and stairs) will show up soon.



Dick's bowling trophy and a red chair adorn the living room along with a red chair and vintage dollhouse rug I found in a thrift store (I know, can you just die at how cute??)  I think the rug needs to be in the bedroom, the colors are perfect, but it's a little too big with the stairs there.  What to do??




Pink bathroom.  I bought some bathroom furniture on eBay, I just couldn't resist.  So, picture a tub, sink and toilet in here and try not to die of cuteness overload.



The front of the house - all the trim is on, the windows, the shutters, but the door still needs a little sanding down to fit, and some hinges.



I got kinda creative and noticed that the punched out remnants from the ceiling trim (not installed yet), looked a little like a spade, or, if chiseled out a bit and sanded, could be a heart shape.  So I chiseled out 22 hearts and added them to the shutters and made it possible to add yet another color to this already kooky palette.  But I just love its "gingerbread house" look.




And have you ever seen a cuter bicycle?  This one might be hard to part with so we'll see if it makes it into the final gift I give Lilly or if I have to keep this for a future diorama.

Thanks for all the great ideas you guys, I'm definitely going to put some of those to use since I've already bought a few things and I said I wasn't going to do much of that.  But, if I'm out and I see a yard sale with 1:12 furniture for cheap, you better believe I'll snatch it up.  I just have to have some control since work is a little slow these days. 

WARNING (and disclaimer): Very long post brought on by insomnia due to a nearly incapacitating episode of hives that makes me dread laying down in bed for the inevitable scratch-fest to follow.  I've got issues.

So... I've made a departure recently from sewing and have started an ambitious project of building a dollhouse for my niece Lillith who is turning 6 shortly.

I decided I wanted to make a dollhouse before I had even found one. But then I saw this at the white elephant sale and I knew I had to make it for her.  I did, however, call my sister first for approval.  I figured she had to look at it all the time too so she had a right to veto the whole thing.  Thankfully, my sister is a whole lot of awesome and was totally into it.



Of course, until I opened the box, I was thinking, hey, this is going to be pretty easy - like "get it done in one day easy".   But there's a whole lot more to do than I thought there would be. I opened the box and said, "Oh crap."



Wow, they really want you do to a lot of work here.  So, I started with shellac.  And let me tell you, you want some crazy-ass vivid weird dreams?  Just shellac something indoors for a spell.  Wooo, lost some brain cells doing this.  Thankfully, I'm doing this all for someone related to me so it's like she's at least keeping the gene pool going.



Confession: I realize in some ways I'm living out my own childhood fantasy of a *real* dollhouse and that it's going to be difficult to give this away when it's finished.  When I was little, I made a dollhouse out of cardboard boxes and I decorated it with random household objects.  I would hand sew up little pillows and make furniture out of plastic cups and food boxes covered in rags, etc., etc.   I didn't actually even have any dolls unless you consider beany-baby sized stuffed animals as dolls - but that wasn't an issue because I cared little about playing "house" and only about playing architect/interior designer.

I guess I should be grateful that my parents' lack of ability to afford a fancy store-bought dollhouse forced me to exercise my creative muscle.  Still, should someone have given me a dollhouse the likes of which I am making now, I would have died and went to little girl heaven.  This is where I'm torn.  I want this to be a great dollhouse but I also want to encourage Lillith to be creative and make up furniture and things from what she can find. Because there are zillions of amazing little miniature things on ebay I'd love to get my hands on and put in this house.  Especially the bathroom fixtures - little toilets and pedestal sinks and clawfoot bathtubs, ah!!!  LOVE EM!  MUST.... RESIST....

Okay, back to reality Teresa.  I don't want to be crazy dollhouse lady (I'm already Crazy Cat Lady) so I think I'll compromise and make a few pieces of furniture so it's not an empty house and possibly I'll just buy a few items that would be hard to make but which would be so cool to have, like a toilet.  I would love to hear any ideas you guys have about what things could be made with household objects.  Like thimbles (I have a million) becoming a set of drinking glasses.  Largish buttons can be plates/serving trays.  Thread spools can be repurposed into side tables and stools.  Maybe even a fancy tea cup for a bath tub??   I know I'm posting this on my LJ and probably only 3 people read it.  But you're the best, most creative 3 people so I need your help. 

Lillith knows I'm making her a dollhouse (I couldn't hold it in last time I saw her but all she saw was the box.)  I don't think she really is imagining it yet.  I asked her what color she wanted for the outside and she picked this really vivid magenta.  What-ever, child!  I found something close, and I'm just going with it.  It's *almost* purple.  My favorite colors are the ones that you can't name in one word so this one fits that bill.



I bought some of those little paint pots you can get at Ace Hardware.  They cover 4' x 4' space for $3.99.  Perfect.  I'm using white and buttercream as accents.  I know the buttercream with the magenta-ish is utterly garish as all get out but I don't want to make a dollhouse that's overly "tasteful".  I want one that stimulates her creativity.  It's not about what I like (I keep telling myself).  And since the style is Victorian - and we all know they made some bold house paint color choices - I'm thinking it's right on the mark.  I might even do some fancy stenciling or something on the shutters - yeah, watch out!

A few years ago, my aunt gave me a fat quarter of this fantastic wood plank fabric. She said I could use it on my first quilt. She and my cousins are amazing quilters and I know they'd just jump for joy if I started making quilts too.  I decided to use it for flooring instead and OMG, is it awesome!!!  I think she'll forgive me the misuse.  I'll use this in the bedroom and living room and then find something else for the bathroom.  I will probably shellac over the wood plank fabric to make it more durable and to give it a "polished hardwood floor" look.  Shellac.

I'm using that in the living room, then using vintage (1964) gold/white contact paper (that I found inside a mid-century dresser I bought) in the kitchen and then another two adorable teeny-tiny prints I've been hoarding for a while for wallpaper in the bedroom and bathroom.  It's awesome to finally have the perfect use for a fabric in my stash I loved but would never have made into a garment. If I quilted, it would be different.

I decided to *paper* the walls so I could use this miniature toile fabric because what else would I ever do with it??  And do I just have to say "little girl feeding baby chickens while a cat crosses a little bridge" for you to realize how cute that one on the left (bedroom) is?? 


For the kitchen flooring, I used some cotton which sort of looks like tiles with a dark grout (if you squint).  I had some more vibrant options but they were all just "too much" when you consider everything else that is going on here.  I do have a modicum of restraint, you know.  I love how much it looks like tile and it's just men's shirting.



So, I'm still in the early stages of prep.  This dollhouse comes with all the wood, plastic for the windows, and instructions but you have to separate, shellac, sand, and paint all the millions of tiny wood trim pieces and stuff.  And wallpaper and flooring.  Then put it all together with hot glue or whatever. 

Amazingly, what I thought would have tried my patience has actually been quite enjoyable to work on and relaxing at the same time.  I'm in no hurry because her birthday's not until April and I also know that, if it's not done, it's no big deal.  It's not like a 6 year old spends a lot of time looking at the calendar. And my husband is the greatest in the world in that he doesn't mind a mess on the kitchen table if it's a creative endeavor.  I just have to be careful that I don't get too into it and scare him that I'm going to become one of those *doll people* on which I often pontificate to him.

In closing on this introduction to my grand project, I will say that this company's dollhouses (Greenleaf) have good instructions and it appears their support defies expectation.  I bought a used kit from the 80s but it had all its parts.  You can buy them new at their website as well and they have a blog, a user forum, etc. http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/  Apparently, they now have lasers to cut the pieces so they're probably way easier to make now.  If I ever have a girl, I will definitely make another one of these for her (so I could play with it, confession)!  I would probably choose the Rosedale.  It's got the right balance of not-overly-complex but it also has a 3rd floor attic you can make into another room.  I also liked the Jefferson but it has too many windows on the sides which makes it hard to find wall space to hang art or put furniture.  The Rosedale has more solid walls on the side.  Anyway, that's just my two cents.  I'm sure it will be a very long time before I make another one of these. And maybe, by that time, they'll be so technologically advanced, the houses will come with little robots that put it together for you while you sit back and boss it around.

Posted on sew_hip

I just love sailing ships as a motif.  I planned on making a wrap skirt in this pillow ticking (yes, pillow ticking, I love it, what can I say?) as part of my WoMan with a Plan project this year.  This is intended as just something cute to wear to the grocery store or around town doing errands in the summer, nothing fancy.  But it was too plain on its own so I decided to bust out my stenciling gear again and fancify this thing just a wee bit.



I used the common "freezer paper" technique (tutorial is here on my journal) and found this image of a ship on istockphoto.com.  I blew it up in photoshop and reduced some of the detail so there were fewer lines (my husband corrected me when I called them "ropes") showing.  That kind of detail is too hard for stenciling.  I should know, after the chandelier project, I learned to keep these simple if you don't want tendinitis.


I decided to do the lines in stitches and I used two top threads at once to make it thicker.  I think it came out ok.   I used a seam ripper to pull the black threads through to the back at the ends of each line so I could tie them together with the bobbin thread to prevent it from unraveling at the ends since it wouldn't have looked right to use a back stitch and even then it still might unravel.   It was a little more time consuming, but worth i. I was saddened that the hemline had to run right over the hull, though.  I guess I can always take it out and do an invisible stitch behind that part, but, again, just for knocking around.

I also used a gold topstitch (again with two top threads).  I didn't have two of the exact shades of gold but I like the way it turned out.  It looks very "rope-like".  (Or "line-like" if you're OCD.)   And I used a vintage, tarnished brass sailor button at the waist.  I did the waistband on the bias as well as added some bias trim to the side of the front flap just to add some visual interest and to attempt to make it look more professional. 



I bought this pattern (McCalls 6928) new in 1994 and I guess I've grown since then because the pockets ended up a little farther back on my hips than I like.  I was hesitating on whether to add pockets which might just add to the girth of this thing but I decided to just go for it.  It's still not quite right - too tight and I'm not too thrilled with how little is covered in the front.  I think I may open up the back seam and add a piece, maybe in a bias chevron pattern so that it looks really intentional.  Also, I have a wrap skirt that I bought in Taiwan which has a little flap of fabric on the inside with a buttonhole and a button on the inside of the top wrapping skirt.  They attach to keep the bottom flap from ever coming too far open.  If adding fabric to the back doesn't help, I'll try that too.  If it looks good, I'll post an update.





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And, on another note... I'm going to start ebaying some of my treasures soon.  I'm starting with this amazing Vintage Dior pattern from the 50s.  Uncut and with the original label.  Very rare.  It's going on ebay tomorrow (Tuesday,t he 16th).  Here's the link:  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200440044373  a portion of the sales price will go to Partners in Health for Haiti earthquake victims.

Posted on sew_hip

A vintage find from Ebay: 



Turned into a fun going-out top. I actually made this yesterday afternoon and wore it last night to a Neil Diamond tribute band show, called Super Diamond.  If you ever want to see a really fun show, go see it. They rocked the house.

Made from emerald green silk dupoini.  I loved it and felt great in it.  I did see two other women wearing one-shoulder tops though and that made me a little sad because I always want to be the iconoclast in the crowd.



Lessons learned: it can be VERY tricky to sew an invisible zipper on a side seam of a bias cut top, skirt, dress.  It pooches out if you don't get it just right.  You can't tell in this picture but it pooched out a little on one side.  Not a problem if I had a colostomy bag there but I don't and it still looks like I did.  Okay, I'm exaggerating, it's not that bad, but not perfect either.  

Also, even though when I measure, I'm a 31 & 1/2" to 32" bust size (depending on the time of the month), I always have to resize the bust... unless.... it's a size 30".  I know most women were 30" chest when they were 9.  It's sad, but it's what I've got.  So I look for dresses now with tiny bust sizes and just add some to the butt if necesary.  And for tops, 30" is almost always a good fit on the first try.

And the final piece from my Wins and Fails and Lessons Learned series is probably my favorite:

It's a two piece number using this pattern's top (minus the straps) and some generic skirt pattern that's not worth posting a picture of:



I made it up in a really nice wool plaid.  It's a little quirky - since it's wool and it's strapless.  I like that about it.

The lining is kinda sticking out in this picture but it doesn't do that when it's worn.

It's two pieces and they can be worn separately.  The top looks great with jeans. 



I should have used an invisible zipper but I thought there was no way I'd match the plaids this well if I tried it.  But I think I'll just try it next time.  I'm no stranger to the seam ripper.  




And this one actually has made it into a couple of pictures, believe it or not.  Neither one is particularly good but I'll post them anyway so you can see how it fits.  The skirt is a bit snug and a bit too long.  I did a slit in the back at first but I could not figure out how to do a slit on a lined skirt.  If anyone knows of a good way to do this, please let me know.  I line just about everything and I love a pencil skirt, especially if you can actually walk in it.

Going out (with requisite bad iphone lighting):


And it can also be dressed down for daytime.  I went to a meeting in this then met a friend for his birthday lunch.  He made me stand in front of his motorcycle because my boots and bag matched it.  But you can see how, with a sweater, it can look quite modest.


Lessons learned: bias cut side zippers are tricky.  Need to figure that out.  But definitely give it a try on plaids, you can always try again if it fails.

Alright, that's it for me for a while.  I think I've caught up.  Now to take a trip to the Goodwill and lighten my load...

Final score on the green one shoulder top: WIN

Final score on two piece plaid strapless ensemble: WIN


I just added up all my wins and fails and I had 10 of each!!!  Crazy. I guess I just need one more win to push it over to the good side so I'll be putting that up soon, hopefully.

I SOOOOOOOOOO sooooo SOOOOOO ssssoooo wanted this to work out.  I just love this coat, love, love, love.  If anyone ever sees this pattern anywhere else, PLEASE let me know so I can buy it again.

You see, I made the mistake of doing too many alterations on the pattern itsself and didn't make a copy so the original pattern is so destroyed, I wouldn't even know where to begin to try and start over or to copy it at this point. 



I originally wanted to make this from the peacock blue cotton velvet I made my holiday party jacket from but at least I knew to make a muslin first.  So I made one with this black cotton courderoy that I thought, maybe, just maybe, might work so I treated it like a first draft and finished it.  
Pardon the picture which looks like the cat slept on it.  She probably did.  I just fell out of love with this coat because it's not quite right.  It's not terrible but I wanted to look exactly like the drawing on the pattern envelope.  I wanted it to be flattering and flawless.





I also wanted pockets which was a bad idea.  I put them too low and they don't help the shape issues this thing is having.  And doing that rounded belt thing where the button goes, that was hard and I gave up and made it straight.




The lining is cute but just cheap lining material I got at Joanns when they were moving their store so it was inexpensive.  Sad to have wasted this on a coat that I wear begrudgingly when I just need something black and not too heavy (this is currently the only thing I have that falls into that category).  

Lessons learned:  dont' make any alterations, esp. on a vintage pattern, that you can't make with just pins.  If you have to cut or use tape, make a copy first.  Sometimes, pockets just don't work.  Put them where they belong, though, if you do have to have them, not so low you can barely reach them and they make your hips look bigger.

Final score on 1958 empire jacket: EPIC FAIL, it didn't work out and I ruined the pattern in the process.

From the pages of BWOF, I bring you... the worlds nicest, most un-flattering pair of linen trousers.

I say nicest because I really did a good job on these but they really look horrible on me. I'm short, and I have a big backside. Do you think baggy white pleated trousers would look good on me? That's right. They don't. I wanted them to but I knew the whole time they wouldn't.



I don't remember which issue and pattern number this was but I gotta say it. It needs to be said. As much as I want to really love the $80/year magazine Burda World of Fashion, having to trace and add seam allowances, finding typos in the instructions, having pretty everything be HUGE despite my following the pattern sizes for my body measurements, all of these things make it not worth it. I just don't think I'm going to renew. Having to do all that work, using nice fabric and still I had to take 3 more inches out of the waist (?!), the Burda love is on the rocks. Burda doesn't send me flowers, anymore. (Sorry, I just saw a Neil Diamond tribute band last night.)

The real sad part is when I put these pants on, they feel heavenly because I lined them in silk. I'm going to see if I can't pull out the lining and make a pair of pj pants out of that silk to salvage it. It just feels dreamy on my skin.



Speaking of PJs, I made myself a Robot Man nightie to match my Robot Men.

I used Mcalls 5248:



And the rest of my Robot Man flannel.  I gotta say, this type of top is just about the least flattering on a small-chested woman who is not wearing a bra.  I even took some of the extra fabric out to do a sort of SBA on it and it gives me the most horrible looking chest.   Additionally, it's supposed to be cut on the bias so that it has some stretch but this Robot Man fabric is too thick and stiff so it's not very comfortable. 




Lessons learned: don't trust pattterns with your nice fabric.  I broke my own rule and did not make a muslin on either of these and they were both bad fits. Also, don't wear pleated pants if you have a butt like mine and short little legs.  And if you're making a bias cut nightie, don't use thick fabric that doesn't fall easily or you'll get claustrophobic in it and be sad you wasted your cute fabric on it.

Final score on linen/silk BWOF pants: EPIC FAIL

Final score on Robot Man nightie: FAIL, sigh