i made another scarf for my dear friend, tessa. however this one was made with a woven fabric instead of a knit jersey so i made a few changes re: the sizing and construction...
the tube is still the same size - 22" x 60" *** please remember to sew the long side first!*** :) (i didn't!)
the size of the strips are as follows:
3 strips - 2" wide x 30" long
3 strips - 4" wide x 40" long
3 strips - 6" wide x 60" long
re: construction - because the strips didn't roll up i folded them right sides together and sewed... turned them inside out.... and then braided... they still braided to about the same width as the jersey braids... :)
i have to make two more braided knit scarves... i will post pics of them as soon as possible. thanks for stopping by and reading! hope you're having a productive monday! :)
next up in a long line of refashions.... :) i have two dkny rib knit tees... they were samples i had made overseas when i used to work on the dkny account at a multinational t-shirt maker....
i love the fabric, but the cut of the tees was always too boxy for me... enter my favorite tee... one that i thrifted. it's from arden b (i know, i'm NOT their target demographic) & it's a size L (of course). it's a flattering fit on me and i will cry and cry and cry the day it sprouts a hole that can neither be mended or hidden.... and then i will make a pattern from it... >:)
ennyhoo... i started with the grey one.... i turned it inside out & traced the shape of the arden b tee (sideseams & neckline) onto the grey tee (adding a 1/2" seam allowance). pictured below is the blk tee which isn't as big as the grey tee...
then i cut and resewed the sideseams... and staystitched the neckline....
i made some bias tape out of this checkered yellow remnant i had... this is exactly why i shop the remnant bin at joanns - even little bits of a complicated or simple print can boost something plain... and i chose the yellow because really, what is the opposite of grey? :)
the length of the tee was also an issue for me... i like tees slightly longer than most - almost to my hip...
and then, i made the applique balloons... i have no idea why... they just seemed so cheerful at the time... :) the embroidery is by my machine... although i may consider doing it over by hand in the future... the thread doesn't seem "heavy" enough to me... :) i'll be playing around with the black tee sometime soon, will post updates re: that one as well... :)
the final product:
it just occurred to me that i was listening to some coldplay when i was sewing... it's more than likely, i was under the influence of this song:
thanks for stopping by & reading! hope you are carpe-ing this diem!!! :)
a few months ago, a friend of a friend (this is chicago, mind you...) was giving away all these home dec fabric remnants (and i mean remnants, random shaped pieces really) that she was given by an interior designer friend who was retiring.... i scored pretty hard.... bags and bags of fabric & trim - of course, i had no idea what i'd do with this stuff... (i ended up making my spring coat with some of the pieces...)
ennyhoo... the other day, i was sitting on my very plain couch:
and it occurred to me that it was, in fact, a very plain couch.... and it was clearly causing a disturbance in my creative force... so i made pillows... welll, pillow shams really... lotsa pillow shams... :)
it turned out that some of the random pieces were large enough for sham fronts or that they were graphic enough that i could piece a front/back together w/o it looking too odd/off... and i'd picked enough neutral colors that they actually worked together despite being very different stylewise... :)
ergo.... my creative force is satisfied... for now... :) i have a whole pile of remnants awaiting me! i sincerely hope you're having a lovely lovely friday!
on that note, i dunno why (maybe because they just had their baby) but this song has been stuck in my head:
a few months ago, a dear friend of mine asked me to knock off a skirt she purchased in paris. from her description of it, it sounded like a new species of animal from the amazon... i was really curious, so i agreed...
here she is dancing (beautifully) in it at the 5:12 mark:
so it's a gored skirt, made of a stretch denim, but it has this flouncy hem:
she wasn't sure if the length of the skirt was flattering or not... personally, i loooove the movement of the skirt, but i think it should be shorter. so, my job was to knock off a shorter version of the skirt to see if she would prefer one or the other and if she did like it, she may make more...
so, i know there are other and probably more accurate ways of knocking off garments, but here's mine:
* first off, you need muslin and a tailor's wax (i lost mine, so i used a crayon aka poor mans tailoring wax. lol!) pin the muslin over the piece of the garment that you want to copy. with a little pressure, swipe the wax over the seam so that you see it transferred onto the muslin. click on pic to enlarge:
* after you transfer the piece, you can fold the garment up and put it away... place a piece of pattern paper (i use packing paper. you can use newspaper, butcher paper, etc...) on top of a self healing cutting mat & place the muslin on top of the pattern paper. using a pattern wheel (i have a blunt one, but it would be best to use a professional one, trace the seam transferred marks you made with the tailor's wax.
* after tracing with a pattern wheel, you can put the muslin and the cutting mat away. you will need a french curve and a see thru ruler at this point. pencil in the marks the pattern wheel made and add your desired seam allowance. i used a 1/2".
* right about here, i took a step back and geeked out.... and did a patternmaker dance. and yes, it is in fact imperative and for your good health that you dance at this point. i'll wait.... :)
* when i was done dancing, i cut out eight gores from some cotton/poly shirting i had. and sewed them up. i also drafted a facing for the inside top part of the skirt and bias tape strips for the hem. however, you could finish both top and bottom with (store bought or handmade) bias tape strips. i put in on gladys just to see... i was so curious...
* i also installed a 7" invisible zipper on the left side. here's the finished *test* skirt. i'm very happy with it. i hope she likes it...
as you can see, the skirt fits me too!!! double bonus points!!!! i'm totally making me some skirtage... stripes & border fabrics here i come!!! :)
more pics at david homes photography... here and here.
Update 5/7: Lindyfest finally posted a video of the instructor jam! Steven & Virginie dance at the 6:02 mark:
if you have any questions about this knock off, please let me know via comments or email.... :) hope you had a productive wednesday! thanks for coming by & reading! :)
sometimes, i'm very conflicted about patches... i mean really, the reason why you have to patch something in the first place is because it's usually something so well loved that you wear it too much... and in a sense, that's something i don't mind showing off... with pride. :)
however, as a mom, i wonder what other moms must think of my children running & screaming willy nilly on the playground with their wonderfully scabby knees poking out of their well loved & holey jeans... (click on pics to enlarge)
most times, i err on the safe side (& maybe to ensure a playdate invite) and make patches... so i thought i'd share my method... just in case you want to try it out....
it's near valentines day so, i made a heart patch for paloma's pants. and for the porkchop... what else? a train. :)
first off, i don't throw old jeans away for this very purpose... the thin man has offered up many of his *holey* (a hole the size of a pencil eraser) jeans to the fabric stash... which i am eternally grateful... personally, i don't mind when the blues don't match... well, it IS a patch, so it's not going to be invisible... :)
i start by cutting out the shape of the patches... i used a plastic lid to cut out the circle for porkchop's train... and ye olde "fold, eyeball & cut" for the heart shape:
for paloma's patch, i decided i'd embellish it with a small daisy chain machine embroidery... you'll see the pic later...
for the porkchop's train patch, i googled & printed out a silhouette of a train... you may or may not have to size it up or down... using a lightbox or just taping it to the window, trace/transfer the image onto a contrasting fabric using a water soluble marking pen... (as a side note, the *proper* way to do this would also require you to add some interfacing to the back of your contrast fabric BEFORE you trace/cut... i was too lazy to do so... :) but it does help with any future fraying...)
after you trace the image, cut it out...
at this point, i started to embellish the patches. i machine embroidered the daisy chain around the heart. and i zigzagged the train image to the patch and also added a stitch that looked like a monorail track around the outside.
to attach the patch to the pant, you will need to use a seam ripper and rip out the OUTSIDE seam & merrowing/overlock stitch of the legs... only about 3" from the midpoint of each hole. this should give you enough room to maneuver around...
i pin the patch on top of the hole and attach it with a zig zag stitch all around the outside of the shape... when the patches are in place, resew the outside seam and re-overlock/merrow it if you have a machine - you can also just zig zag over it too... and before you know it, you're done! :)
when the kids get home, i'll make sure to update this post with a pic of them wearing their patch improved jeans! :)
i'm slightly buried (again) in (self inflicted) works in progress... one of them is this spring coat i just made from some beautiful home dec fabric i had in my stash... the blue print is from ralph lauren and the cream colored woven lining micmics tree branches in winter... i used vintage simplicity pattern 7936. i've worn it out a few times without the hood and LOVE it! i worried about the sizing but it fits perfectly and i can even wear a sweater underneath on cooler days...
i'm trying to finish up the detached hood:
i've been hearing & reading that auditions for the new season of ABDC have started... very exciting news... in the meantime, i'm trolling youtube looking up a lot of crews who are auditioning and what's going on elsewhere in the hip hop dance world... like this amazeballs crew from japan:
