African Prints

Sailor Venus was in Togo and brought back this shirt. It's not flattering or stylish, but she loves the bold colors and fun print. I have on in blue/green. I look like . . . . I'll show you if you see me but it's not flattering.

She asked me what I could to make it less of potato sack on her body. At first I was going to add some darts or maybe pleating to make it flattering on her body. But the more I played with the shirt, the more I realized that a few darts would not really make a difference. I spent random moments just staring at this shirt trying to find its true potential. And in a fit of inspiration I decided to hack it up to make a cute top.




Can you puzzle the pieces of this shirt back to it's original form?

Qi Pao II

Here are the pictures of the qi pao I made for Sailor Venus. Her mom said that it was a nice dress but the colors are too dark. Her mom's right, I have no idea why Sailor Venus didn't want a gaudy and loud dress that would over power the brides wedding gown.

Summer Dress Alterations

I've been randomly doing alterations for Sailor Venus. She doesn't really like me to reference her as such but as a good friend I feel that it is my place to go against her wishes.

This knit dress was one of such alterations. What she liked about the dress was the floral embroidery at the chest and the decorative knit hem.

You can't tell because my dressfrom is skinny, so most everything looks good on her. But in reality this dress is shapeless and baggy. It's unflattering and ill-fitting on Sailor Venus, to the point of ugly. But she had gotten this dress for free, don't ask, and I for one hate to waste.





I raised the neckline and changed it to a halter top. I also raised the waistline to an empire waist so that it wouldn't look so baggy. I also shortened the hem, since Sailor Venus looks better in knee length dresses as opposed to ankle length.

I'm not sure if it's readily apparent how much better it looks, since the pictures are yet again on my dressfrom, but on Sailor Venus it's no longer a relic of unflattering bagginess. Now it's cute and sweet summer dress.

Qi Pao

I just finished a project this week for Sailor Venus. She needed a Chinese qi pao for a wedding. It wasn't a Chinese wedding, in fact it was completely opposite. The wedding was culturally diverse and the bride asked guests to come dressed in the clothing of their culture.

I don't have pictures because we were in a rush, but I'll give you some fun tidbits.

Here is the fabric I choose. The right side and it's reverse is equally beautiful. I had a hard time choosing, but I finally decided on the gray side with black flowers. Since she was going to a wedding I didn't want her to go in black. I also really liked the design since it isn't overtly Asian even if the design is a qi pao. Nor was the fabric shimmery and glittery which was one of Sailor Venus' requirements. I guess she didn't want to be the gaudy Asian with a fully sequin dress. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to be gaudy, I guess there's no accounting for taste.



Sailor Venus didn't have time to do a fitting so I only had one chance to get this dress right. It's my first time taking measurements of a person and taking it to a pattern. For class, we usually fit a dressfrom and whoever fit the dress would model it. But then how did I fit Grip N Flip in her dresses you ask. She is dressfrom size so I don't have to do major measurements or alternations to fit her in any of my patterns.

It was exciting and scary to do it this way. Of course I can always take things or let things out. But she was flying out right away and I wouldn't have much time. It would be easier if I was able to fit her perfectly the first time.

It was a slow and tedious process, since I don't have very much experience. But the good news is that it fit her EXACTLY. It was very flattering and extremely tight. She said that it's corset like. But who needs to breathe when you look beautiful. And if you know me, you'll know how ironic that phrase is coming from me.

I also got to try my hand at Chinese Frog Buttons again. I don't know if they're considered Frog Buttons, feel free to correct me. I had a better idea of what I needed to do this time around. It also helped that I wasn't using a limpy wimpy fabric like silk. If you don't know what I'm taking about please refer to Chinese Empire Gown.

Parts of the button design are taken from several other buttons that I admire and other parts of it were free handed, letting the button tell me where it wanted to go. I'm thinking of making some themed buttons, for example clouds, butterflies, flowers, or even animals. I'll have to see where the wind of inspiration takes before I say anything else.

I have a lot of fabric left over. I bought extra just in case, but I have more than I anticipated. I bought 3 yards but I only used 1 1/2 yards. I guess it also helps that the fabric is 60" wide, More bang for my buck. I'm thinking of making a boustie with the left overs using both sides of the fabric. But yet again I better let the wind of inspiration take me there before I make any plans.

Gypsy Pants

In Morocco, I saw a pair of pants that were fun and comfortable. They were worn by European vagabonds, their style of dress was reminiscent of gypsies, hence the name gypsy pants (picture Aladdin's pants from Disney). I was too lazy to haggle with the Moroccan merchants and decided that I would just sew the pants when I got home. . . . .. how hard can they be . . . . . .?

I decided that I would sew these pants for L****** C***'s (aka Cheeky Monkey, Sailor Venus, Moco) Birthday, since she also fell in love with these pants in Morocco.

I bought a nice stretchy red knit fabric with a hint of glitter for $1/yard. I wasn't sure if the glitter would make the pants a bit tacky. But then I realized monkeys LOVE red and shinny things, or at least Cheeky Monkey does.

I wasn't sure where to start and ended up making a pattern out of cotton pajamas. I altered the pattern, thinking I needed them smaller. I went to sew the inseam and side seams, but somehow the pants turned out all wrong.


As you can see, it's not baggy and somehow the crotch area is EXTRA wide. I was disappointed and frustrated. Thankfully, I bought 2 yards of fabric. I went to redraw the pattern and did NOT alter it. I started to sew my second pair and realized the mistake I made with the first pair. I had reversed the leg seams with the crotch seams!!! Feeling silly, I finished up the seams on the second pair and went to fix the first pair. Upon sewing the first pair I realized that it would have been too small for Cheeky Monkey. I finished up the first pair and started the waistband on the second. For some reason I couldn't get the waistband to stretch. After several tries I realized I wasn't stretching/pulling the fabric while sewing. After realizing this the waistband came out better on the second pair. I'm pretty happy with the results.

First Pair

I ended up giving this pair to my other friend, Buns!! (aka Sailor Mercury, Bunny, Ostri) She's tiny, unfortunately, she said it was a bit tight. It only needs to be adjusted at the waistband. I'm glad they fit somebody!! I have no idea why I thought this would have EVER fit Cheeky Monkey.

Second Pair

Cheeky Monkey wearing her pair of gypsy pants. They're too cold to wear right now, however they're perfect for summertime. She would also like a longer pair . . . . . ungrateful little monkey!!