Dress For Summer

I'm getting ready for DOL Ashland.  It starts with a road trip from my Central Coast of California home.  I pick up Lisa here in Santa Cruz,  head up Highway 101 to pick up Helen in Ukiah, over the mountains onto Highway 5 to pick up Annie and then on to Ashland.

The excitement starts building about a week before.  Deciding what to bring, what not to bring I should say.  Every retreat I vow to bring less.  And I'm getting better each time.  This time, with four of us in the car I'll have to tow the line.  Confession, I bought a roof rack for the car!  Just in case!

One of the fun preparations for these clothing design retreats is deciding what to wear.  It's fun to dress for women you know will appreciate it.

I've had time to do a bit of sewing these last two weeks.  Here's Marcy Tilton's new dress pattern I tried in a trio of knits I bought from her at another retreat.  These trios are such a great idea.  I just pick up the package from my stash and it's ready to go.

Sorry, these pics aren't better, I think I need to finally bite the bullet and actually get a camera instead of using my IPhone.

This is made from a white and brown stripped knit in front, one of the trio from Marcy.   The pockets are a burnout knit I got from a sewing pal and the sleeves are a sheer patterned knit that was in the trio.

I made a pair of leggings out of the sheer sleeve fabric and wore them with it.  I'm just not feelin' that great about totally bare legs these days, u-hum, if you know what I mean.  Leggings feel like a security blanket!

The back is from the last of the trio of knits.  It's a puckered lightweight knit, not the easiest fabric to work on.  I did a fairly good job of matching the stripes on the horizontal but the angular strips really suck.  But, hey, that's ok, they're in the back and I can't see them!  You can see a bit of the burnout used on the diagonal bottom piece.

I know I say this frequently but I'm really not a good technical sewist.  I'm not fishing for compliments here, I know my limits.  I'm getting better, slowly.  Stripes are something I haven't tackled a lot.  My strong point in sewing is diving into projects with abandon and not worrying about the perfection, just having fun.  And that's big, I think.  It's really why I sew; to be creative and have fun!

I do love this pattern.  It's like a puzzle but so easy to figure out.  It all went together well.  The final step is bringing the pocket bottoms and hem together to form the draping you see in the first photo.  I like it but you can leave it out.

I will be making this dress again, soon!  Very wearable and flattering.  I finished it last Sunday afternoon, wore it to a party where I got lots of compliments.


Here's my new pincushion that I am mad about.  My friend Suzanne made it for me after I coveted the one she made for herself.  What a sweetheart, eh?  I can't tell you how much I love this.  There's something about the colors and texture that brings joy to my heart every time I lay my eyes on it.  It's filled with crushed walnut shells that make for a very good feel when you push a pin into it.

It's going to Ashland!

That's all for now, I'll report on DOL upon my return.

ps, the epic fail is on it's way.  It's just more fun to show stuff I like!

Summer Sewing

I'm back in the sewing room after a few weeks of meandering through life's little diversions.  It feels good to make some useful garments and use pieces in my stash.

This first piece is made from one of Marcy Tilton's trios I picked up at a DOL retreat.  I love the way she puts three color coordinated knits together and makes it so easy.  I've used them in tunics and dresses with great success.

This trio is in one of my favorite colors...green!  Acid green to be specific.  A very fun tunic from a great designer, Katherine Tilton.  She's now designing for Butterick.  I've made this three times and wear them constantly.

This time I didn't sew a hem, just left the bottom raw.  Even the double thickness pocket is raw which gave it a great detail, showing both fabrics at the bottom.

I find that the neckband is the trickiest part of knit tops.  Every knit is so different.  The trick is to play with it and don't be too impatient.  I sometimes audition 4 or 5 ways to apply the neckband.  There are so many methods.  Maybe I'll do a blog tutorial on the different ones someday...when I get it together!

This neckband was applied after one shoulder seam was sewn but before the second shoulder seam was sewn.  Sometimes this looks good and other times that seam just bothers me.  In this stripe knit it was somewhat concealed so I went with it.

Here's another tunic from a Marcy fabric that I picked up while visiting her shop (open to the public by appointment.   Keep in mind it is not easy to get there but worth it!).  It's a hanky weight jersey sewn in a self drafted pattern from a friend's RTW garment.

This is the second one I've made.  The first one was so successful I plan to make many.

That's all for now.  But I have two other blogs coming up.  One on an epic fail and one on Marcy's new dress pattern that I love, love, love!

Soon!

Fun New Vest (yes, another vest)

Sorry it's been so long, sometimes getting into the sewing studio is just not in the cards.  Seems I've been doing some sewing lately but it's mostly hats for sale and working on future patterns.

One exciting thing I'm working on is a long range project.  I've decided to do a French jacket after the designer who's name shall not be spoken.  I was drawn into the idea by Patty Van Dorin in her Rambling Rose blog entitled French Punk.  She made the cutest patchwork French jacket that hooked me in one second.  You should follow her blog, it's terrific!

Making these jackets is a commitment because you have to fit the pattern, make a muslin, fit the muslin then make the jacket.  They say it's about 70+ hours.  Fine with me.  I'll just do it over several months.  I"m not really interested in doing a jacket like the originals, very formal and not suited to me or my lifestyle.  I am, however, very excited about building fabric from treasured scraps.  I've done the tissue fitting and will cut the muslin today.  I'll keep you posted.

I've also made a couple simple tunics from my existing pattern stock.  I'll take photos today and show you soon.  

Here you see a vest, like so many others, the pattern for which I got from a DOL sister.  It's a self drafted pattern so I'm sorry, it's not available, she isn't a pattern designer, per se.  This is my first attempt at the pattern.  Next time I'll make it a bit longer and give it more shaping at the waist.  I'll also work on matching the exposed seams at the side seams.  Love the exposed seams, I'd like to find some acid washed sweatshirt fabric to use next time.  Anyone have a source for that?

This version is made from a Marcy Tilton double sided heavy French terry, sort of a sweatshirt knit.  It's soft, very comfy and I wear it a lot over tunics.

Sleeveless Tunic

Thanks to two sisters, Mary and Patty, some of my best sewing pals, I got a pattern for this sleeveless tunic.

I've been wondering what to call it, a vest or a sleeveless tunic.  Still wondering.

But here it is.  I decided to use scraps on the first one to try out the pattern.  The original tunic was bought by Patty and drafted by Mary.  She sent me a copy, an impeccable copy, and I got right to it.  I did a tissue fit and it needed a few tweaks.

Jenny, my friend and sewing mentor, helped me make some minor adjustments to the pattern.  I'm full busted and if I don't take out some fullness under the bust area it creates a shelf that makes me look huge.

She took a couple of tucks under the bust, sort of darts, and we just taped them down.  It worked well, as usual.  I always have to make that adjustment.  Sometimes it's more than can be eased into the garment so darts are needed but I prefer not to have them, if possible.

Black, grey and white always work in my wardrobe and those colors make up the bulk of my stash so I had lots to choose from.

So why not use a different fabric on each pattern piece?

Now that I have the pattern fitting well I'll make this again.

Thanks to Patty, Mary and Jenny!

One Day Wonder

Some times you just gotta sew something you know will work and have something to show at the end of the day.

I had just that kind of day last Sunday.  The weekend had been a total bust, sewing-wise...in fact, the last two weeks have been just that.  Starting projects that can't be finished for one reason or another.  Either it was my skill level, the pattern or just plain had no desire to work on the project.

So, on Sunday I decided to finally try M6607.   Margy from A Fool For Fabric gives it the TNT status and I saw her whip one out in about an hour a month ago.  This sleeveless tunic always looks so good on her I wanted to see if I could wear it, too.

I made it from a fabric that a friend gave me, thanks Sarah!  It's a black and reddish brown burnout, very drapy and I had lots of it...nothing to lose.

It worked!  This is such an easy pattern; fun to make and instant gratification.  It was so fast that I had more time so I pulled out a sheer stretch jacquard in a smaller black and brown print and made Christine Jonson's leggings to go underneath.  I can see why Margy loves this so much.  

I pulled the outfit together with a sheer stretch netting tunic I made a year ago.   I'll need to wear a black camy under that.  Cant wait to wear this new outfit!

DOL Santa Barbara and neck bling

I just returned from Montecito where Diane Ericson and Kay Khan held forth on their latest textile ideas.

It was a great group of women.  Sixteen of us worked our way through ideas we brought and new ideas that Diane and Kay introduced.

This is going to be a long post so hang on!

Here's Diane Ericson demonstrating one of her techniques.  She's wearing her latest remade men's shirt creation.  Each one is more inspiring than the last.  She's a genius mix of left and right brain, engineer and artist.

We met Kay Khan, a Santa Fe fiber artist.  Her work is incredible.  Mostly constructed vessels and wall hangings but she also makes jewelry.  She brought several pieces to sell that were swooped up quickly.

Her work takes time...and lots of thread!  Very intricate pieced textiles with lots of wording.

She worked on a men's jacket while at the retreat.  Cutting it, sewing into it, really inspiring.

The holes she cuts in her pieces got a lot of us thinking!

A finished hole...or not.  She keeps working into her pieces so you never know if it's really finished.

These are two pieces she made out of sweatshirt hoodies.  Stand alone helmets that were so powerful both thematically and in their construction.

An example of her jewelry.

And then there's Helen Papke.  A long time DOL attendee.  Here she's working on a piece of her own boro.  Her inspiration...a shop in Venice California selling pieces of clothing made with the Japanese textiles.

Not yet finished piece she sewed to a men's shirt.

And then I got going on a piece inspired by Kay.  She was very kind to help me construct a collar/necklace from a 12X15" piece I made.  Here's the start.

And here's the finished piece.  It's big, it's kinda cartoon-y but I like it for my first attempt.

View of the side/back

View of the other side/back

And then here's the piece I bought from Kay.  So fun and wearable.

We ate one night at Los Agaves in Santa Barbara.  It's my new favorite Mexican restaurant hands down.  Great service, gorgeous presentation and terrific food.  Here is my Green Pozole, delish.

Now I'm done with the DOL recap.  Here's a few shots of other stuff I've been working on.

 I took a class in October from Sandy Ericson of The Center For Pattern Design on making paper beads that are folded, Swedish style, into little origami type beads.  I sort of stink at it...still...but love the process.  

I started the necklace with the beads in a single layer but realized it needed some depth.

So I restrung it.  I don't love the old covered wire I used, need to find another something to hang them on. 

Don't look to closely.  Sandy, if you are seeing this I'm sorry, they are NOTHING like yours.  I still have a long way to go in making them tight little square bundles.

Then I worked on a copy of a necklace my friend got overseas.  It's a mix of covered plastic curtain rings, painted wooden beads made of dowels and painted plastic rings.  I covered the rings with ribbon, vintage kimono cloth and yarn.

It was like reinventing the wheel but I love the outcome and I wear it a lot.

It gets crazier and crazier.  This is a scarf I knit from strips of vintage scarves.  I have hundreds that I've collected and want to use them.  It became a collar of sorts.  Doesn't look that good as a scarf but wound around my neck it's pretty interesting.

And warm!

Field Trip!

A few sewing pals met up last month to hit the San Jose area for a few sewing/design highlights.

First, we visited Fabrics R Us.  It's a whacky, stuffed to the rafters store with everything from Ice Capades costume fabric to cowboy flannels.  Needles to say, we found stuff we couldn't live without.

Here's a trunkload, just a few.

Here's a mermaid piece that Lisa found she couldn't live without.

And then, we all found this cool "Vegan Leather"...yeah, that's the new name for pleather!  Cut out, black, yep!  And on the way to the checkout we found this black garter strip.  I've decided I'm coming back as a dominatrix.  We'll see what everyone does with this stuff.

Then we ate, gotta eat!  Landed at a wonderful downtown Vietnamese restaurant named Vung Tau.  I highly recommend it.

After that we visited the San Jose Textile Museum for it's new show on the history of Wearable Art.  It's worth seeing.  Here are a few photos from the show.

Mandala-like sculptures by Isaac Amala and Liz Simpson made out of ties.

Here's Lisa enjoying a huge tent made of ties by the same artists.  Just amazing.

Another wall sculpture.

Copper wire knit into long garment sculptures by Laura Raboff.  The lighting created the most magical shadows that reminded me of the Ruth Asawa corridor at the deYoung Museum in San Francisco.

THEN, we just hadn't had enough so we went up to Mountain View to FabMo for a one day sale of 100+ bolts of designer fabrics.  We had to wait in line for about an hour.  We waited behind this cool gal.

She and her friend were dressed in their own creations that were mesmerizing.  We all had a blast.  Found lots of fabric at $1-3 a yard!  Even though we entered the warehouse about two hours after the sale opened we still found some great stuff.

I bought 5 yards of a green wool to make a Chanel-style altered jacket.  Will try to figure out how to make it look French while still looking edgy.

It was the best day.  Hanging out with my sewing design pals eating-looking-buying.  Doesn't get any better than that!

More posts to come soon.  I just returned from DOL Santa Barabara with Diane Ericson and Kay Khan.  Inspiring and productive, as always.  So that will be one post.  Another will be on some necklaces I've been making lately.  Talk to you soon!