Plaid Cape

I found this plaid fabric, with some digging, for $2/yard. I thought it would make a cute cape for Grip N Flip. So I tried to employ the techniques I learned from my Jacket to this cape. I don't know if it made a difference but it was fun nonetheless.

I ended up with some curling at the bottom since the fabric stretched a little. I trimmed it the best I could, but I guess it wasn't good enough. It doesn't bother me too much since this was for fun and a good learning experience. It also helps that this was one of the projects I started in the new year with the resurgence of my sewing mojo. I somehow lost my sewing mojo in the Autumn of last year and was afraid it wouldn't return. But all is well, it's come back with a vengeance.




Here's a closer look at the closure. I really like how the asymmetrical closure turned out. You can also catch a glimpse of the lining fabric. The lining has the cutest animal motif. I love the bunnies, ducks, dogs, cats, and chickens speckled throughout. I thought it would give the cape a more whimsical vibe. I know that no one would actually see it, but that's part of the fun. Having something only the wearer can appreciate is well worth it.


I found 3 of these buttons in my garage and decided they had to go on my cape. I haven't placed them yet. I wanted to see how the cape falls on Grip N Flip and place my buttons accordingly.

And now for the fun surprises. Inner pockets!!! I was able to sew a welt pocket for the inner breast pocket. It didn't turn out perfectly but I was going on gut and memory. I couldn't find my tailoring book for the instructions, I think I need to work a little harder on cleaning the garage.


There's MORE!! I also have a secret side pocket that isn't evident at a glimpse. This is what makes the cape special to me. I love adding secret pockets.


I really like how this cape turned out, I hope Grip N Flip likes it too!!!

Knock Off T-shirts

I was cleaning out the garage and found some of my old school projects. I think this is from 2007 but I'm not too sure. I thought it would be fun to post to see my progress since then. This was done for my intermediate sewing class. We had to knock off a t-shirt and then alter the pattern. I really hated this project and didn't really see the point but I had no say in the matter.

Here is the first shirt.


Here is the second shirt. I lengthened the sleeves and torso, then added a hood and front pocket.



Comparing these shirts to my current projects, I can really see my sewing progression. I'm not sure what to do with them now. Maybe I should stash them in the garage again to find in another few years to reminisce like this again.

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?

Soft Tailored Jacket

For my Advanced Sewing class we had to sew a soft tailored women's jacket. Soft tailoring is using interfacing and steaming to shape the jacket as opposed to using stitches to shape a suit/jacket. That's a super abridged explanation.

Here's the finished project.





The jacket is made out of wool. I lined it with a blue bemberg rayon. I wish this jacket pattern had inner pockets. I really love secret pockets.


My first time doing welt pockets. It was a pain but I'm hoping with practice I'll get it down.


I was so frustrated with this bound button hole. I did three samples and they all turned out beautifully. But the one I put on the jacket was a disaster. It started to unravel and come apart.


I'm pretty satisfied on how my first jacket turned out. I'm hoping to get to men's wear in the not so distant future.

Spirograph Belt

A few months ago I had found a belt in the trash. Of course I took it home. I tried several different looks but this the one I finally settled on.


I'm really happy with the outcome.

LEO Time, Again

It's that time of year again for the LEO gift exchanges.

Just pillows, a blanket, and a scarf.





Nothing exciting or new but always fun to do.

Happy New Year

Happy New Years!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year! I for one had all these wonderful plans to post past projects and update on my current ones. But as the wonderful Murphy never fails to bless me with his love even for this new year. I have currently no connection to the internet. The modem has blown up. If any of you really know me you shouldn't be surprised by this at all. But all my wonderful posting plans have been put to a halt. I only get internet now by mooching off a friend. But the good news is that without the thrall of the internet I have a new focus on sewing. So I'm churning a lot more projects out. Hopefully I get some internet back before the new semester and I'll be able to post something before I'm lost to school work for another half year.

Late Night Infomercials

Recently during late night infomercials I've been catching this one product called the Yudu. It's a do-it-yourself-at-home screen printing machine. It has everything. I mean everything. The machine does everything you would ever need for a simple screen printing job. It reminds me of a PCS (printer/copier/scanner). I can see its appeal. Who hasn't wanted to screen print a few shirts? Heck, I've wanted to screen print for as long as I've been crafty and I've recently taken a screen printing class just to squelch the obsession. And it looks simple and easy to use. But I'm not sure I'm ready to fork over $300 just yet. I think I'm going to stick to my ghetto ways for a little longer. But I have to say those infomercials are good. I've come close to falling for their siren's call.

Wired Frog Buttons, First Attempts

I found pictures of my first attempts at the wired frog buttons. I don't make them this way anymore, but it's fun to look back.

I made a photocopy of actual wired frog buttons and used them as a template. I placed pins in the areas where I wanted to bend or shape.


Now instead of a template I just free form them with my hands and some pliers. Ah the joys of trail and error. I'm pretty sure I'll figure out a better faster method next time.

Screen Printing 101

One of my projects from my summer screen printing class.

My projects were simplistic but I was aiming for understanding rather than trying to print my own art work like the other students. It also helps that I don't have my own artwork and have no drawing talent, which I need to work on. I only say that it helped, because some students got so caught up in their art they didn't have time to finish their projects. So their art became a hindrance.

I've only taken pictures of one project so far. I'll have to dig out the other ones.

This is one of my later projects. Art was done by a friend who requested this shirt.


Shirt: Koalas are 8's because they're telepathic and can control the weather

What's the meaning behind the shirt. I don't have first hand knowledge, but it's supposedly based off of a movie called The Nines with Ryan Reynolds, who my friend is a huge fan of, hence why this shirt was made. If you want to know about the meaning click on the link, I don't know if I can properly explain it since I've never seen the movie.

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.

Wired Frog Buttons

A more in depth discussion on wired frog buttons. For a while now I've been trying to make my own version of these buttons. I've actually tried my hand several times at it, if you all remember Grip N Flip's Winter Formal Dress last year. I mean other than self torture why not buy the button. Well other than my masochistic tendencies, I do have legitimate reasons for trying to make my own.

Reasons for Making Wired Frog Buttons:

1. Color - No explanation needed.
   
2. Material - When I do find one in a matching color the cheap polyester just doesn't match the nice silk I bought.
3. Design - I would like to have the button match my fabric motif.
   
4. Originality - I know that no one in the world will have the same buttons as the dresses I produce. I can't make two buttons the same anyways, my skill level is still lacking.

I think this time I produced a much better button. There are still a few kinks I need to work out. But overall I'm satisfied with it's outcome. Here is a better picture of the button on the dress.


Through all that trail and error, meticulous prototyping, and the agony of failures, I proudly presented this button to my father. And his response was, "why didn't you buy a book?" And he claims to have seen one before. In a 30 second conversation with my father, he has the ability to make me want to gouge my eyes out in frustration. I might be a bit crazy, but if there was a book out there that would have taught me how to make these buttons I would have bought it, I don't enjoy torturing myself. But the twist is that after some thought he finishes with, "oh maybe you couldn't find these books because I think I saw them in Chinese." My father is an emotional roller coaster. If anyone out there wants to develop the urge gouge their eyes out in frustration, I will gladly send my father over for a visit.

Thailand T-shirts and Screen Printing

Last year in May I traveled to Thailand for a friend's wedding. One of the souvenirs I brought home were t-shirts made by local artists at Chatuchak Market Bangkok (aka Weekend Market). It was stuffy and a bit claustrophobic but really fun.


I was drawn to the artwork. I love the whimsical and off beat nature of the pieces that have a dash of steam punk surrealism mixed in. And I'm all for supporting local artist.








If you all haven't noticed I've been interested in screen printing for a while now. If the Tako Shirt and all those links at the side didn't give you that indication.

So after all these ghetto screen printing trails and tribulations, I decided to take a Textile Screen Printing Class over the summer. It was a short intense 4 week class, but I had a lot of fun. I'll have to pull them out of the garage and take pictures of them.

MY FINGER!!

Two weeks ago I was at a baby shower chatting with some friends. It turned to Project Runway, and one of them asked if I've ever sewed my finger, like some of the contestants have on the show. I thought about it and answered, "no matter how much pressure I'm under or if I'm in a rush I've never ever sewn my finger." And then I think I go on about how that would never EVER happen to me. So if any of you know me well enough, you can guess what happens to me a 1 week after this conversation.


That's right I sewed my finger on my sewing machine for the first time in my life.

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.

Nerdy Art

I'm a pack rat. I have a hard time throwing things away. I always see potential in an object, I just need the proper time, motivation, or inspiration to follow through. I'm pretty sure all pack rats say that same line. But it also falls under waste. I don't want to feel like I'm wasting or creating excess trash for a landfill. So that is the excuse I have for rescuing this out of the rubbish bin at work last week.

It's a little roughed up in the center. Looks like something decorative used to be attached. I thought it would be fun to do something decorative to distract from the slight blemish. I wanted try string art in the center. It's simple and full of math type fun. I saw some fun and intricate patterns, but I thought I should keep it simple on my first attempt.

It's a rough draft of what I'm planning. I might take it all out and change the string color. I was thinking of adding black to the mix. I haven't really decided what I like best.

By the way, I apologize for the bad fuzzy pictures. I took it on my camera phone.

Hemming Jeans

This may sound strange but I don't like to do any projects for myself. I've been told that I'm quite odd and peculiar. I'm sure there are people out there like me, but all the people I know, who do sew, like to make clothes for themselves or at least they don't disdain it like I do. I have no desire whatsoever to EVER sew for myself. If I had to sew clothes for myself I might never have the desire to actually sew. There are several legitimate reasons for this.

Reasons:

1. I can be anal retentive about my sewing. I cringe when I look at old projects. When someone is wearing one of my projects I sit there and try to fix the mistakes in my mind or I sit there hating it the whole time for the mistakes that only I can see. Can you imagine what I would be like wearing my own projects. I'd be miserable and self-conscious the whole day.
2. Fitting yourself is a pain in the behind. It can be one of the most frustrating and discouraging aspects of sewing for yourself. It's so much easier to see the mistakes when you don't have to wear the garment. And most people don't have a bevy of competent sewers at their disposal. Fortunately I do. Unfortunately, most of them aren't on call because when the whim strikes me, it needs to be done immediately before it flits away.
3. It's really hard to be so intimate with your own body measurements. Do I even have to explain this to anyone?

So imagine my surprise when I actually wanted to hem my own jeans tonight, and that I actually completed the task. This pair jeans I've owned for a little under a year now. It's beyond long for me. I've hemmed many a pair of pants for other people and never had the desire the fix mine, even though they're so ripped at the hem it looks like a small animal attacked it. In addition to hemming my jeans I also patched two other pants that had holes in places that aren't proper for the polite company. Just because they had holes didn't stop me from wearing them and I don't know any polite company anyways. So maybe this is a move in a the right direction. First my own alternations, next I might want to sew something for myself.

Multiplying Penguins

I just realized that they've multiplied. For those of you who've never noticed, my side bar has penguins you can play with. I started out with two: Bucket and Pail. But I just noticed that there are FIVE of them in there. FIVE!!!!!! What happened?!?!? Do they multiply? I thought they were both boys!! Where did these other penguins come from? Do I even want to know?

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.

Promised Pictures You Ask

So a while ago I promised to post pictures of my projects. Well my computer blew up. Not literally but it wouldn't turn on. I think the motherboard is fried. And for some reason this past year I stopped being super paranoid about my computer and data lose, hence I didn't back up any of my data. I used to back up my data monthly of not weekly (and at my most paranoid everyday).

So it's been down for a few months and I had to purchase a laptop. I'm not sure if I can still recover any for my files from the old hard drive. I'm still sort of in denial, I want to pretend that it's possible to recover everything, but I'm too scared to find out the truth. More or less I'm in a state of limbo on this matter.

Luckily some of my projects involve Grip N Flip, so she has pictures at least. But as for everything else, I have my fingers crossed and awaiting my heart and mind to be ready for the worst case scenario.