Dead Dress

Out with the old. In with the WOO!

2010-12-23T22:25:00.005-05:00

Slowly but surely things are falling into place. After taking a regrettably very long hiatus, I have returned to sewing with a new studio space, more fabric options(as pictured on the right :D I'm getting giddy just looking at all those pretty colors) and even more ideas. I have two projects already underway and they are progressing better than I could have imagined. I have also "officially" added 2 of my own original handbag patterns to my design arsenal and I look forward to creating new peices with them. I hope to post pictures of the finnished products soon ;)

All in all, I feel newly inspired and I finally feel as though I have the tools as well as the space to create and work efficiently. I've also taken the time to redo my -entire- blog page! I'm so pleased with the new layout! As with most things, I had always planned to redo it but with my camera malfunctioning and my time severely pressed I hadn't had the opportunity until recently but boy am I glad I finally got around to it. Thank goodness for the holidays. I get so much done around this time of year :)

Update on the Unfinnished

2010-09-18T18:36:00.011-04:00

So, I just wanted to take the time to post some photos of the bags I'm working on. None of them are finnished, but some are closer than others.

I know this tote doesn't look like much, but it's easily one of my favourite projects at the moment. So far, I've only sewn the shell which is made out of a beautiful navy ginham fabric, accented with camel coloured vinyl strips and tan thread. It reminds me of summer by the beach! It's big and roomy on the inside and just looks so crisp and clean. I plan on linning it with something decadent, but understated with two big pockets for proper storage. I also intend on adding some silver feet, silver handles and maybe some seashells I picked up from my trip to Virginia. So cute!

I love the graphic pattern on this bag. It used to be an old skirt my mom bought me in high school. It was two sizes too big and extremely unflattering. At one point, the front was decorated with silver and white sequins! Ugh....just too much. I cut it up and removed the offending sequins and I absolutely love the bags I was able to make out of it. This one is my fave so far. I also had an old bedskirt that was this great, grassy green colour that looks stunning with the black and white. Can't wait to finnish this one :)

I've got two more bags plus the yellow satchel I'm working on as well, but the other two aren't photographing nicely, so I guess I'll save those two for a future post....hopefully by then they'll be finnished lol. I've also decided to refashion an old men's shirt into a tank top for myself. I've been searching for a white tank with a little feminine touch forever...I don't know, maybe I'm just being too picky. Either way, I think it would be a great opportunity to do something a little different so I'm looking forward to posting about that.

Otherwise, nothing new to report. And so, I forge onwards....

Much Ado About Nothin'

2010-08-22T12:28:00.010-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that I must not be privy to some secret every other hobbyist knows. After starting a new job and working close to full time for a solid month, almost every project I had been working on so diligently before has been put on hold. Not only that, but my budget has shrunk and I still haven't been able to pick up some supplies I need in order to finish a few of my bags.

Now, with school starting next week, a close friend of mine pointed out that I'm extremely behind in my preparation for graduate school next year :(

*sigh* Why do I feel like there's something other hobbyists aren't telling me? What do I need to do to make this work? I know I'm not the only person who feels like there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I'd like. I definitely need to figure out how to manage my time better, because as of next Tuesday, I will have very little free time left (what a sad thought).

But, in spite of my inability to finish anything, I have been getting loads of ideas for new projects. Just the other day I was walking around JCPenney and came across this handbag (I believe by Nine West):
And what's so special about this bag? Well, it's yellow! This past May I went to a fabric outlet store that primarily dealt with upholstery and interior fabrics and bought a pound of remnants for just $3.00. Among the pile of treasures, was this electric yellow embroidered maser piece:

I had cut out a simple pattern from some left over muslin and then pleated it across the top to add some shape and interest. I really loved this color, but I couldn't decide what to use as trim. I didn't want to use black because I feel like that look is a little out-dated and over done. The beige vinyl I have was too muted and white looked a little too stark against the saturated yellow. What I love about the Nine West bag, was the fact it was trimmed in a dark, chocolatey brown and it inspired me to find something similar for my own bag.

After rummaging around the huge box of old purses my mother pulled out of our attic, I was able to salvage the leather from a beautiful burgundy colored clutch my mom bought from Spiegel for $25.00 back in the early 1970s. Unfortunately, my camera couldn't do the color combo justice. I really like how unique the two colors are together. It's an interesting combination to say the least, but I haven't made up my mind whether or not I want to use it yet. I need to compare a few other colors I have in mind to see which ones jump out at me the most.

Can't wait to finish up that satchel. It's definitely one of my favourite projects so far.

Those Who Sew Tend to Love Retro

2010-07-14T20:55:00.009-04:00

Can I just say that I absolutely love vintage underwear? I came across a blog this evening which posted a link to Beyonce's latest video, "Why Don't You Love Me?"(which was the only thing I found interesting about said blog...hence no link.). Now, I'm -not- a huge fan of her music, sorry to say, but since she left Destiny's Child Beyonce has consistently delivered when it comes to killer style. She (or her stylist...let's face it, most people can't be trusted to dress themselves nowadays. I mean, just look at Lady Gaga ;D) has great taste. I loved almost every outfit in this video. I was especially smitten with the...romper? teddy? Ok, so I'm not sure exactly what one would refer to it as, but OMG!! I want one.

I think once I'm finnished with a few more handbags I'm going to try to make a few undergarments, starting with B's black and floral....bodysuit. :)

I'm also really digging this merrywidow. A few days ago, I youtubed a video about vintage women's underwear and this scene was tucked away in the sidebar. It's from an Italian (I think it's Italian...) film and the star is incredibly beautiful with a wardrobe to die for.

I LOVE the garters attached to the skirt and I think the sheer midsection looks so sexy and feminine. I'd love to own something like this to wear under my spring and fall dresses. Something to help give shape to the garment but is itself beautiful and elegant *heart*

I adore Amanda Righetti and I was so excited when I found this pic of her in a pair of high waisted panties (probably a cincher) and a balconette bra...a classic retro silhouette. I also love the lace cover up they put on her. SOO pretty!

In my search for more vintage underwear, I came across the website, Pixxi.com. They are a genuine vintage dealer and they are based in the UK. ALL, and let me stress this, ALL of their peices are gorgeous. These items are just a few of those I'd love to own :D

"Lady Marlene Vintage

Basque" or torsolette

<-------

"Liberty Vintage Girdle"

Tea-Rose ------>

I'm hoping that sometime this winter I can scrounge up enough time to teach myself how to sew bras and panties. In the meantime, I plan on just waiting for JoAnn Fabrics or Hobby Lobby to put their patterns on sale so I can at least have some sort of jumping off point.

Once again...I have a million ideas and very little patience to turn them into a reality, lol.

Will be posting pics of the new handbags soon! Hopefully by this weekend ;P

Finally! I Finnished Something.

2010-07-09T23:44:00.015-04:00

So, after and exhausting 4 weeks, I was finally able to finnish the handbag I was making for Stephen's lovely mother. Looking back it seems like an outragous amount of time to spend on one small, simple, project but I realize now that I really had no idea what I was doing from the get-go. This was my second stab at trying to sew a handbag, and this time I decided to start from scratch...completely! I drafted my own pattern based on a few bags I had lying around which worked out well to start, but I had to constantly make adjustments when it came to the leather handle and the strap holders. I also added a separate drop down opening to attact the zipper to, which wasn't part of the original design and that took some time to figure out. All in all though, I'm satisfied with the finnished product and I know Mrs. Marra was happy when I finally showed it to her this evening :D

The center panel was from a jersey knit dress I bought in the plus size section of a thrift store for a dollar. I -loved- the print and even after using some of the fabric for other projects (including this one) I still have almost a yard left over.

I used the remants of a sturdy, silky black fabric that I bought back in high school (almost 6 years ago!! I can't believe it - time really does fly.) which, at that time, I had used to make a shirt. The pocket was lined with an old dinner placemat my mother was trying to throw out and the zipper was rescued from an 80's nightmare...I mean "dress" my sister used to wear.

I bought the silver purse handles for $1.99 at JoAnne Fabrics and after rummaging for almost an hour through the clearance section, I found the black vinyl that I used for the bottom, the handles and the trim. ($4.50 for 1/2 a yard even on sale! Yikes!)

After discovering Hobby Lobby in Kent, I

found the gorgeous black fabric that I used for the side panels at a discounted price. I know the texture of the black fabric doesn't show up too well in the photos but it looks almost like it's delicately woven into tiny rows. I felt that just using a plain black twill type fabric really didn't do much to make the jersey flower design pop so I was so happy to find something that not only set off the flat design, but also made the bag look a little more elegant. I used an ungodly amount of interfacing for the sides, the lining and the bottom...at some point I feel like I should invest in some kind of cardboard or plastic to cut to size for some added strength instead doubling and sometimes tripling up on interfacing.

All in all, I'm really happy with the finnished product. I've got just the right amount of wind beneath my wings to set me off in search of new ideas and projects. I'm in the process of drafting two new patterns for a couple of handbags based off of one's I've seen (and liked but could in no way ever afford, ha). I'll be posting more pictures soon. Now it's back to work.

Pointless post...no pictures yet

2010-06-29T14:29:00.002-04:00

This morning I was greeted by an oversized envelope in the mail. I knew right away it was my brand-spankin' new invisible zipper foot and I couldn't have been more excited. Unfortunately I wasn't able to put it to work today as I had to take a break from the bulk of my projects to help my mom with some of her own sewing ideas. Alas...my dresses will have to be put on the back burner yet again.

I'm happy to say that I've made a fair amount of progress on a few projects. Yesterday I was able to finnish off a pattern for a medium sized tote for Stephen's mom. All I have to do now is scrounge up some black leather for the handles, put the lining in, sew on the zipper and voila. I've also found the perfect fabric to line a pair of black and white handbags I made a few months ago out of an old skirt. The fabric was originally a bed skirt. It's sturdy and the most beautiful grassy golden color I've seen. My main goal at this point is to figure out what's up with my camera. New batteries didn't exactly fix it, so I'm almost completely at a loss. Electronics are not my cup of tea, but I will persevere!

I honestly can't believe it's tuesday...I feel like it's a thursday.

First Post Playing Catch-up!

2010-06-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

I have so many projects going on right now I can hardly keep them all straight, but don't be fooled - this is kind of an everyday thing for me :)

Let me start by saying that I have hoards of boxes just spilling over with old clothes, bolts of fabric, old tablecloths and bed linens that, for some unknown reason, I just can't get rid of. I have yet to figure out if it's because I inherited my mother's borderline obscene sentimental nature, or if I just hate the idea of being that wasteful. As a college student and, regrettably, a seemingly perpetual part time employee, I can no longer justify spending even a quarter of my paycheck on new clothes. Especially when I come home and see how much fabric I have at my disposal, how many buttons, appliques and patches I have stored away or the giant sewing machine sitting in the basement. It just doesn't make sense. Not to mention, buying clothes has always been a nightmare for me. I figured it was time I started saving money and tried something different.

So yea, I guess that's basically what I'm about at the moment...saving money and trying something different, lol.

I'm so excited to start this blog. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while now, but I've never been very good at keeping up with these kinds of things so I kept putting it off. I guess I've just finally arrived at a point where I feel like I have the energy to make it work.

As soon as I can get new batteries for my camera, I'll start posting pics of what I'm currently working on. I"ve got a lot of ideas for future garments as well so hopefully those will start to worm their way out of my head and into my work area. I ordered an invisible zipper foot for my machine just this morning (can you believe -no one- locally sells zipper foots??? I must have called 15 places before I gave up and just ordered one over the Internet from some company I've never heard of. Yeesh...) so as soon as that comes I'll have two summer dresses to show off.

Can't wait!