About this week's dress......

My new Etsy listing for this week was my draped tulle gown with rosettes.  Very often when I'm creating a new gown, my concept changes from idea to idea.  I find that if this occurs, I need to let the design "speak" to me so that I know what it should become.  Now I know this sounds a bit odd but I feel that every successful design I've had comes from someplace in my heart, very often I need to set a design aside for some time so that I can return to it fresh.

I began with a simple sweetheart bodice torso and draped the tulle evenly down the length of it.  (I loved draping in design school.  In fact every class I took in fashion school felt like a new piece of some cosmic puzzle I was meant to know. )  I wanted this draping to be subtle and soft yet compliment the figure. My original plan was for a dramatic mermaid gown but I chose a trumpet semi circular skirt in the end.  The layers of tulle on the skirt float as the wearer moves and twirl away from the body when dancing.

My favorite part of this design, as with most of my work, was in creating the rosettes and beading the gown. I took discarded scraps of tulle, chiffon, and organza and singes the edges of the "petals".  Each rose was hand rolled and gathered up into individual floral puffs.  Some remained unadorned but I added a variety of crystals and beads to the other centers.  I LOVE the crystals because they were salvaged from an old necklace found at a garage sale. They are so lovely and bright, I also sprinkled them intermittently over the gown's skirt.

Ruby Corset

I made this corset a few months back using a favorite technique of mine - hand stamping velvet.  I created a custom stamp for the center "medallion" and embellished the piece with glass beads and swarovski crystals.  The velvet came from a skirt that was in one of my design school collections. The lining was from a dress that I was creating several muslins for.  I love deconstructing pieces and finding new ways to use the great fabric, no matter how small the scraps may be.

A hat story

A few years ago I was given a large box of old hats. These were very cool and spanned through the 40's, 50's, and 60's.   Some were in good condition, others needed a little love, and what intrigued me the most was that many were in various stages of completion.

Whoever owned these hats previously not only loved to collect them but enjoyed making them as well.  I felt quite sentimental going through it all, noticing where pins were still left in and fabric was draped, waiting to be finished at a later time and never was.  This is the kind of thing that really pulls on my heart strings. 



unfinished hats

 I've enjoyed having the opportunity to examine these hats, but felt that they would be better served if they were shared with others.  So, given the opportunity to have some fun with my millinery skills, I've been fixing them up, refinishing, and making them available to purchase through my Etsy store. 

I will continue to post pictures as more hats are finished.

Sewing tutorial 2

To continue last months sewing tutorial, we will pick up with the cutting of the sweat shirt. 

 Position the old shirt on the new one to be cut and be sure to leave room for seam allowance.  1/2 inch is usually good but do what works for you, just remember to add it to every edge to be sewn.  If you are adding length or width to the original make sure to do the same for each piece of the pattern.  The front and back of the sweatshirt can be folded in half and cut on the fold as well.

When cutting out the sleeves, position the new sleeve pieces both right sides together and cut both sleeves at the same time.  Again, don't forget your seam allowances and any adjustments you might wish to make.  Here I have left ample cuff length. 

Now we are ready to start sewing!  This method for upcycling clothing is not just for childrens wear.  It is an option for anyone who finds an article of clothing with enough space to cut a new garment out of. 

Unintentional blog break

My apologies for a week or so off.  I had some emergency sewing to do for an event that my family was to attend and my daughter and I needed formal dresses.  So, I dove into my stash and cozied up to my sewing machine for a while.

Here are the results...


This is myself and my cutie daughter, Lily, in our new gowns. 

Lily's dress was made out of royal purple satin.  It had a criss cross back and a circular skirt with black crinoline underskirt.

My gown was done in purple tissue taffeta.  It has a sweetheart neckline and was embellished with vintage black chantilly lace. 
I am most proud of the fact that I did not purchase anything to make these dresses except for 1 zipper.  All the other materials I had left over from previous projects.  Yay for upcycling!

My First Sewing Tutorial

With the school year in full swing, it is quite obvious that it seems you can never have enough clothes for your child.   They rip them, stain them, color on them.  I've sent my young one to school in brand new pants only to have them stained the very same day.  With money being tight for everyone these days, I decided to put my sewing skills to work and see what I had in our home to create some economical, and very cute, wardrobe options. 

I started with a sweatshirt project.  It is turning quite chilly here is northern IL and she was down to only one that was in reasonably good condition.  I turned to my own closet and realized I had a few sweatshirts that were plain, almost never worn, and in awesome condition.  These would be just the thing to repurpose.

Over the next few days I will recount my process of transforming an adult sweatshirt into a childs size.  Here's what you will need:

* an adult sweatshirt in good shape and preferably without any large ornamentations that will not translate well into a smaller size

* a childs sweatshirt that you don't mind cutting up to use as a pattern

* a sewing machine, hand sewing won't work very well here, with the appropriate stretch needle for your machine

* a serger, this is optional if you don't mind using other seam finishes on the inside of the garment but it will make the process much faster and your life much easier

* matching thread

Start with the preparations.  Here are some tips -

*Make use of everything you have at hand so you need as little as possible at the fabric store



It's a great idea to reuse the ribbing on the original sweatshirt.  With a seam ripper or small scissors, carefully pick out the original stitching and remove the ribbing from the desired locations; neck, sleeves, or bottom of sweater

* Next lay out the shirt to be cut as a pattern and label the front and back of the sleeve before cutting

* Now, carefully cut the shirt apart working as closely as you can to the original seam. Don't try to pick all these seams apart.  They are serged to begin with and will take a very long time to remove.

* Press all the pieces, and as you do so, check for warping in the pieces.  Knit clothing is very easily stretched and you wouldn't want this translated into the new garment.  To check for warping, fold the front and the back in half and press them, matching their shaping on the edge of the garment.  If you were making these pieces into a paper pattern, you would be trueing up lines at this point.

* Prepare the adult size in the same way and don't forget to save anthing that may be used later on or in a different project.

You are now prepped and ready for the next step.  Tomorrow - cutting the new sweatshirt!


Working from Stash

The term "stash" in the knitting world refers to the yarn and fiber you have stored up to use for future projects, or maybe just for the beauty of having it. I have adopted this term for my sewing purposes as well. Not just fabric, but notions, beads, trims, muslin and pattern paper. I was quite a poor college student,as most of us are, and I hated to throw away good pieces of pattern paper - it could always be used for a collar, or pocket, or something... I envisioned every lovely piece of fabric as a trim, or being fashioned into a flower notion, at the very least it could be worked into a quilt. When cutting out a project, I saved all the pieces, and threw away only the most tiny of scraps. Now, I should mention that I have no tolerance for clutter, I am not a knick knack person, and I don't like to store things that will not be used. So, I decided some time ago to bring all the little plans I had for these items to life - or they will be disposed of. In my etsy shop I have designed veils and accessories from just such scraps. And, I have plenty of ideas to go. I will try to avoid the fabric store (and yarn store too) and use up all that I have.

Creative recycling

I've been having fun recycling scraps from the sewing room. As I altered a gown last week, I needed to shorten the crinoline and I loved the even quality of the long scraps of net left over. So I started to play with the shape as is, no trimming or cutting. The result was a large and bunchy cabbage rose with a serged edge. I alternated with flat and gathered areas which gave the rose a less uniform and more realistic look. Best of all, there was no waste!