Monday, July 8, 2013

Stenciled canvas vest and remade men's shirt combo

This post is about two garments.  I'm combining them because I wear them together and think they both look better as an outfit.  This makes for a long post which I promised not to do when I started this.  Hmm.. I'll have to work on that.  I'll talk about the shirt first.

I still have a bad crush on thrift store men's shirts.  Just when I say I'm never going to work with another one I get the urge.  

They are made so well that they are a hairball to take apart!  So, I've been thinking of ways that don't entail ripping out seams.  This shirt doesn't fall into that category because I made it before I swore off that method.  It was made with a traditional shirt that had a front placket typical of many men's shirts.  I didn't want that look so instead of cutting off the whole placket I cut into it in parts to create little patches in several spots.  Then I overstitched with perle cotton.  I added old buttons that were from my grandmother...she collected buttons.  More on that family saga in another post.

I sliced one layer of the collar off to create a raw edge, love those guys.  I then cut the hem so that it is shorter in the front and back, longer on the sides.  I added a wonderful subtle striped linen for a flounce in the front and a beautiful lightweight linen from a thrift find in the back.  I cut off the cuffs and hemmed the sleeves.  The collar has a bit of the stripped linen applied to tie it together.

Then I stenciled it with The Crafter's Workshop Brocade pattern.  I used Jacquard fabric paints blending a metallic grey with white to make it more subtle.  It's a fun look although a bit flouncy for me, hence the pairing with the more bold vest with black stripes.

OK, the vest.  I seem to have the fabric painting bug and can't shake it.  Never mind, it's fun and I'm branching out.  Here I used a lightweight canvas, sort of duck or really heavy muslin from Beverly's.  I masked it off with painter's tape and spray painted it with Liquitex Professional Spray Paint.  I love this stuff.  It has a bit of a hard hand but in this particular application it's fine.  Then I spray painted the same stencil with red.

I've been wanting to try Katherine Tilton's idea of making a vest out of Marcy Tilton's jacket pattern V8430, leaving off the sleeves.  She had a terrific article in the August/September 2009 issue of Threads Magazine about making vests with exposed seams.  

I added some top stitching to the exposed seams and a few pieces of striped fabric.  Then smacked a couple of pockets on...gotta have pockets.  Oh and in the end I splattered it with watery white fabric paint to make the whole thing feel like it comes together.  Don't ask me why I think it works but I do.

I LOVE the process of not planning a garment, just winging it and see what happens.  It's such a contrast to the pattern-following thing.  I love them both really.  As you'll see in my next post where I made a Lynn Mizono shirt...by the book!





                     You can see that I'm not too neat with the spray paint.  I like it that way.





Oh, and after I got the shirt done I found a stain on it!  Hate when that happens and it's a               chance you take with thrift store finds, they seem to show up even after washing.  So, I did an Alabama Chanin thing that you can see just a bit on the left sleeve above.