Next Project: DIY Cloche

This has been in the back of my brain for a while, because I'm madly in love with cloches but I don't see a lot of them that are really getting the right shape as DIY.  So, my next challenge: figuring out a formula for flat patterning a really good cloche shape, that won't require more than intermediate math and sewing skills.  Of course, the real challenge in this will be remembering to take pictures of the process so I can post a tutorial!

This right here, this is the best shape:

But of course, this is in wool felt, and fabric just won't do exactly this.

This is a decent fabric version:

Except, yanno, with proper finishing.  

Wish me luck!

Things I'm Loving Today

Unfussy lace.  Cozy sweaters.  Vintage pins.

It's 40 degrees out, I'm seeking comfort wherever I can find it.  I hope you're finding you comfy zone too.

My Latest Project

Another thing I've been wanting to do-- show some of my own work.  And today, in the spirit of weekend projects, I'd like to share the last thing I finished.

The fabric was so totally inspiring.  I found it as a very rough scarf on my last thrift store outing.  It was a large enough piece that I know I could make some sort of garment out of it.  It's a Tanzanian cotton, but the motif reminded me so much of traditional Japanese fabrics that I decided this would be my first pass for the season at a kimono style garment.

Now: kimonos need a lot of yardage, and I really didn't have it in this piece.  So I went way, way, way back in the history of clothing and decided to do a very primitive T shaped jacket.  To accomplish this, I folded my fabric in half the long way, and then cut a slit up the fold that ran half the length of the fabric, creating a front opening.  After this, I cut away the corners of fabric to create the T shape.

The corners were then pieced together to form a kimono style collar, which I interfaced to encourage it to lay crisply.  The stitching of the body of the jacket was remarkably simple.  If you do this yourself, you will have to make sure to clip your corners where the body turns to move into the sleeve.  The sleeve will never lay right without this.  I attached my lining through the hem first.  This picture will help you understand why, I think.

I was lucky enough to spend about a year training under a tailor, and I just love the way tailored hems look.  With this garment, hemming first was the easy method to accomplish what I wanted, and it provided the most efficient and durable construction.  I was able to machine stitch all of the finishing on this.

The next step was to baste the center fronts and neckline together with the wrong sides facing each other.  I applied the collar to the inside of the garment first, and the pinned the front side of the collar in face and stitched in the ditch to finish it off.  I also ended up doing a topstitch around the collar, because even with the interfacing, it was not behaving as I wanted.  The cotton was a looser weave and had a mind of its own.  I'm a firm believer in beating such fabrics into submission by whatever means necessary.  Back on track though-- after that, it was a simple matter of pinning up the sleeve hems and topstitching them, with the lining set back a bit from the cotton.  If I were to do this project again, I would probably break down and handstitch the sleeve hems.  The machine stitching gave the hems just a titch more body than I really wanted.

Next time I will try to be patient enough to take pictures of my process!  I do plan to do a few more T shaped garments, and hope to post a tutorial about how to cut one in the next couple months.

Feature: Green Line by K

This is something I've been wanting to do since I started the blog, and today is the first time I shall finally do it!  I'm very excited to share with you a clothing designer who uses natural, sustainable, organic fibers to make ecofriendly yoga and modern bohemian fashion for women.  Kathryn was kind enough to share some of her thoughts on design and hand made with me, but I'll start this off by letting one of her favorite pieces do the talking.

The ultra feminine backless linen dress.

Gorgeous, isn't it?  Kathryn began her career with an apprenticeship to an Italian tailor at sixteen years of age.  Her first love was design, which she was later able to study.  Kathryn describes her style as having a "very clean line and feminine drape".

Kathryn at work.

Kathryn begins her work with a "feeling for a garment or collection".  From this comes the sketches, which her assistant may help with, and then she begins the hunt for swatches and fabric.  She creates her patterns through draping or flat patterning techniques, depending on the complexity of the garment, and then goes on to the cutting, sewing, and fitting.

The gorgeous drape of the wrap maxi dress.

I asked Kathryn why handmade was important to her.  This was her response.  "Handmade products are important to me on many different levels.  Handmade means love and thought.  Handmade means a job for someone.  Handmade means unique and original.  Handmade, to me, means an expression of my art."  To me, this is a perfect way to describe the special value of handmade objects.

Yoga wrap pants in organic cotton.

A final word from Kathryn: "The most important thing I'd like to convey is that I am passionate about making environmentally responsible decisions, and about making socially conscious decisions.  I am partnered with my local Habitat for Humanity Chapter and give back through the sale of my Participate Eco Tees.  I source from local distributors whose business practices I admire.  I hope to be able to make a difference in this great, big world of ours.  Even if it's only a small one.  Every little bit adds up."

If you want to find Kathryn and Green Line by K to learn more about her work, here is a list of places to find her online.
www.custommade.com/by/greenlinebyk 
www.greenlinebyk.55g.stanfordrow.com 
www.zibbet.com/GreenLinebyK
www.etsy.com/shop/GreenLinebyK 
Also, Facebook--  www.facebook.com/GreenLinebyK
And Twitter-- twitter.com/grenlinbyk

Hump Day Eye Candy

This Wednesday, I offer you a handful of reasons to try shopping Zibbet.

Weekend Project: DIY Braided Belt

Check out this fabulously simple project from Delia Creates.

I'm in love with these, and I've been meaning to make one for myself for weeks now.  I wish this weekend would be the weekend it happens, but I have a terrible feeling I won't be able to squeeze out even the half hour I'd need.  I love that these would have a little stretch to them, so they'd give and move with you much better than a leather belt.

I would suggest a couple of small changes though.  First, when you are preparing your knit strips, I would attach them to the D rings before starting to braid.  You'll get a smoother attachment that way, without such a thick lump.  Then you can just park the D rings with fabric attached under your weighted object and braid away.  The second thing I would adjust would be to add a small piece of the same fabric to finish the end, by just wrapping it around the stitched bits where the braiding is all secured.  It'll make a more professional finish, I think.

Can't wait to try this out for myself!  Wish me luck that I can get to it this weekend.

H&M Discount Code

This weekend H&M is offering a discount code for 25% off any one item on the website.  While I love to drool over some of their higher end pieces, even with a nice discount those things are out of my range as far as budget goes.  H&M, of course, excels at offering affordable though.  Here are a few of my picks for how I might choose to put that discount to work.

Cause let's face it, this is cute.  And no way I'm gonna be making something like it for myself.

Now these I could make, but it would cost more than these pants at their regular price.  I've been lusting over faux leather stretch pants for the fall, but the fabric for them is $17/yard.  Ouch.

Knee high boots.  Oh yes, pretty please.  These are probably the thing that has the best chance of winning my affections for using that discount code.  After all, I'm no shoe maker, and I hate to admit it, but I have no tall boots in my closet currently.  I just don't really care for how H&M shoes feel on my feet.  My feet are old and cantankerous, and a lot of the H&M shoes-- most of them-- are made for young feet that just want to look good no matter what.

Another item I've been lusting over, since spring actually:  a great, floppy hat.  I keep toying with the idea of crocheting something, but it just wouldn't be quite right.  I really think it needs to be wool felt.  This, however, I could probably do up on my own.  I can get a capeline here on Etsy for a grand total (with shipping) of $16, after which it's just a matter of doing some shaping, trimming, and popping in a hat band.  Without a hat block, the shaping might be a bit difficult, but not impossible.  The biggest reason I'm tempted by this hat is that I just don't really like trying to do wool millinery.  I really, really want a floppy felt hat though.

Another winner for a floppy hat.  Love the shaping and trim on this one, with just the slightest hint of fedora going on.  If it wasn't available in black only, I probably would have squealed and ordered it without looking any further.  Pretty sure the hat I'm dreaming of is charcoal or a nice, rich brown.

By the way, that discount code is 0747, usable at checkout.  Now go shopping!

Lust: Kelly Purses

I can't help myself, I have been lusting after these for most of a year now.  I love the ladylike, vintage style of them.  They have personality, and stand out from the crowd of modern purses in the best possible way.  Better yet, they are eminently professional in appearance.  It's a rare fashion item that does vintage and personality and professional all at the same time.  One day I'll stumble on one of these in a thrift store and it will be mine, all mine!  Until then, I'll just have to consider them purse porn.

Fashion Week Faves Part One

I love fashion week with a special devotion reserved for things that are a guilty pleasure.  I love the creativity.  I love the hype.  I even love the excess, but very, very guiltily.  I love the detail and clean construction.  I love watching what's happening with trends as they translate back and forth from street to runway to street.

Of course, I'll never own any of the things you see on the runway.  I don't have that kind of money, and if I did, I don't think I could bring myself to spend that way on clothing.  What I can do is get ideas though, and look for ways to have things inspired by the runway for myself.  With that in mind, here's my round up of favorites from New York fashion week.

I won't argue that most of this outfit from Theysken's Theory is a big yawn, but I'm digging the jacket.  It would be such an easy upcycle too!  All you need to do is find a men's suit coat that hangs over your acromion process about 2 inches.  (The acromion process is a fitting point on the shoulder-- a knobbly bone.  It lands right where a traditionally fitted armscye is supposed to fit.)  Bust out the sleeves, give it a nice finish by trimming away any awkward bulk and turning the lining and wool in to be whipped together.  This would work best with a jacket from the 80's or later.  Earlier vintage will be too substantially built up with padding to provide these kind of lines.

There's a whole combination of things to love here.  The wide sleeve on the coat, the brocade fabrics, the drop waist dress...  It's all designed for a girl thinner than me, of course, so if I did a version of this I'd have to make some significant changes to make it flattering.  I'm definitely inspired by the fabric choices in this ensem from Libertine, though.

This is one of the better looks I've seen from The Row for this collection.  I actually love their stuff as far as it goes, but to my mind, they're more about wardrobe essentials than about statement pieces.  The generally conservative take on fashion from these ladies means a lot of their runway looks are only so so to me, but their pieces mixed with other designers can really wow.  This blouse could definitely be a thrift store upcycle from three old pieces.  Not feeling the exaggerated cloche though.  It's a bit too far to the pith helmet place.

I have usually found Oscar de la Renta to be a bit too stiff and middle aged for my tastes, but this dress is doing a lot to change my mind.  Holy embroidery, Batman!  And what a fantastic color!  I'm not sure if it's just that I'm getting older and catching up to Oscar's demographic, or if this dress is really a winner for people with a younger sensibility, but I'm seriously in love here.  I'll never have the patience to do this much embroidery on my own, but I'll definitely be looking for embroidered yardage at the thrift store now.  The lines of this dress are so simple and basic that they almost don't matter-- it's all about the fabric and embroidery.  With enough fabric, you could base a top, skirt, jacket, or dress on this sort of look.

Great, flattering shape with some nice nods to vintage style in this dress from Cynthia Rowley.  You're not likely to be able to do exactly this as an upcycle, but you could borrow trimming ideas from it.  It wouldn't be a terribly difficult dress to just build, either.

Last tidbit for today, if you're only going to view all of one collection from NYFW, I highly recommend Naeem Khan.  You can see it here.  This collection is utterly feminine, with a mix of classic cuts and bohemian lines that all serve to showcase some truly divine ethnic inspired fabrics and embroidery.  

More to come on another day, but I'd love to hear what everyone else is loving from fashion week!

Hump Day Eye Candy

More hump day eye candy for you all to help you through the mid week blahs.  Today I'm featuring upcycled fashion.

From Pondhopper.

From smArtville.

  

From FoxnLily.

From Deconstructika.