A Busy Schedule

Cleaning out your closet is like taking a weight off your shoulders you didn’t know was there. If you haven’t done it before, or at least not in a long time, it’ll take hours. It’s a great way to remember good times, first dates, vacations, or any other kind of memory you could have associated with clothes. For me, it was a little bit of happiness.

I didn’t get rid of many articles of clothing after spending all last year trying to improve my wardrobe. There were a few shirts that were too big, and a pair of pants that had too much wear in them to last more than a few more months, but other than that my closet stayed the same. It really made me appreciate the work I put in all last year building a custom wardrobe. I wear a lot of knit and a lot of custom fitted wovens most frequently because that’s what fits the best.

The one thing I had a very hard time cleaning out was my shoe collection… I don’t have that many pairs of shoes compared to most girls, and compared to female stereotypes. Yes, most of them are heels. Yes a few pairs I still haven’t worn more than once, but how often do you find an appropriate situation to wear gold platform strappy sandals? Only in Vegas, or somewhere equally as anti-chic (in the best way). I couldn’t bear to part with more than two pairs of shoes. I only recently started wearing flats and made the mistake of buy two pairs that don’t fit my feet properly. I have wide feet, and wearing shoes that are flat on the ground only makes it worse (thus so many heels) and after trying to wear each pair a few times outside of the store, I threw them to the back of my closet to be forgotten in the hopes that one day my feet will shrink. (btw, if you've got size 9 or 8 1/2 feet and would like to talk about taking over some shoes from me, hit me up. specially those gold heels described. they're Michael Kors and run kinda small)

All in all, I am definitely better for going through everything again. It was very easy for me because my boyfriend has gotten me in the habit of getting rid of things I don’t wear often enough, every time I bring home new clothing. Now I can again say with great confidence that my wardrobe is impeccable (to my tastes, of course).

For my many classes I have been doing a LOT of work. Lots of drawing, sewing, drafting, driving, and writing. For my bustier class I drafted a regular base for the bustier, got it fitted, sewed up a new one, got that even better fitted.



I got really lucky because I brought the second one in on a day where I have a class with a man named Grant. He makes tutus and bustiers for a living. He oversaw me getting help with mine from a different classmate and decided to make my day by offering some advice of his own. Of course, I will do everything he said and it will be so much better for it! He shortened the back at the top and bottom, (notice that weird curve on top? I didn't realize it was there at all.) and helped keep it sexy without being pornographic in front. I am that much more excited to make this! I went to Thai Silks to pick up my lining and exterior fabric. I cannot get anything prettier.

You can see it's pretty sheer, but it'll be over a couple layers of white, so its not like you'll actually be able to see anything underneath it. The outside pattern WILL be that heart bustier if I can get it to lay right. I don't think it'll be that big of a problem.

In advanced illustration we've been doing a lot of practicing to make sure everyone is ready to really delve into the new stuff. We've been drawing things from pictures up on the overhead and it's been a lot of fun! I'm fairly confident in my drawing skills, stylized as they may be, and this is just making me egotistical. Not really, but it does make me feel good. Next week we'll finally be doing some newer and more advanced techniques.

The last one is my favorite.

In my construction class we've been doing really simple things like french seams and overcast stitching, and in my historical costume pattern design class we've been doing a lot of review on historical fashion so that we can have discussions and get ideas about designs intelligently and actually know what we're talking about. If you had asked me two weeks ago what a farthingale was I would have made a stupid face and said "uhidunno.."

My intro to the Fashion Industry is so amazing. it's a lot of work, and a lot of fast paced information coming at you but otherwise It's great! The class has a really weird schedule, but I've gotten to see some business during the work day and see the true side of the underbelly of fashion.

Basically my life is amazing right now! I'm making a dress for a friend and school is great! not too much homework, not too much free time. I'll keep you guys updated as more happens!

Finals and Weddings

I never got to post the pictures of my final dress for flat pattern, but that's because I never finished it! On my last day of working on it(and of class), the serger at school wasn't working and my invisible zipper broke in my last fitting. Super fun was strutting around in it with hooks and eyes every 2.5 inches instead of the intended zipper. It was a design I posted on here back in november (shorter version of it at least). You can see here and here

Me with ugly mid-speach face but
Bonus hilarity of Sister's Face!

that the design is asymmetrical. I had a lot of fun designing it, but sewing it all up was a whole other matter. I wanted obvious gathers around the waist, but made the mistake of placing it on the bias which if you work with wovens you know means it just smoothed right on out. There was so much fabric being redirected over my waist from the bust that I had to convert it to a dart instead of just gathers, but even doing that left so much extra fabric underneath. I should have done some more contouring, but it was silk dupioni that I couldn't afford to replace.
Actually on that note the whole THING should have been made of silk but I just didn't the funds. All the under layers of black were random pieces of fabric i had in my stash, and the organza should have been silk organza but is polyester.

I wore it to my cousin's wedding on the 7th, and it was a truly beautiful affair! I was feeling very snooty because i made sure to dress appropriately for the formal event, and there were many women dressed in bright red mini dresses. Also Susan and I were getting endless compliments on our dresses! I had recently taken in her dress after learning so much from my techniques of fit class and boy did it pay off! She looked impeccable! I think it was a great way to start of the new year!

And it is a new year! This is the first year that I have actually held up and fulfilled my resolution and i am so proud! I cannot wait to see what 2012 provides! While this year my resolution isn't to make a dress every month, I have decided I need to sew something every 2 weeks! this should be very easy while I'm in school, but in the summer and fall I'll be significantly more pressed to sew things!

I plan on finishing up all but one of the classes I need for my certificate this semester, so I'll have no excuse to not make dresses and or skirts for sale! I already have my etsy store set up, now it's just to fill it with products! Unfortunately for me that'll have to wait until I'm quite a few weeks into school already since my sewing machine has taken a turn for the worst! I disengaged the machine to wind the bobbin, and then all of a sudden it wouldn't reengage! oh woe is me, I nearly cried. Once school starts I'll have money so I can take it to a repair shop, but until then... Time to really get acquainted with my serger!! I start school on the 18th so expect another update sometime after then! GOODBYE FOREVER

BurdaStyle

I was lucky enough to attend the BurdaStyle Book Launch Party in San Francisco with Nicole tonight, and It was GREAT! I had so much fun! We decided that since it was a sewing community event, that we should wear dresses we made ourselves, and boy was I glad we did! We looked great in our dresses and they got us noticed! We met a lot of great people in the sewing community, and the industrial side of the fashion/sewing world!

Nicole was amazing as always and even gave me an early christmas present! She bought me a copy of the Sewing Handbook we were there to party about, and even got it signed by one of the authors! I know, she is way too good to me. We got to meet some reps from mod cloth! and see a beautiful dress they were giving away.

We picked up lots of swag including buttons, stickers, business cards, lego earrings (you read right! curtsy of Instructables!), a really well illustrated measurement chart, and a little quick made satchel! They had some food and wine (good wine too, it was yummy) and my some food I mean it rocked my little foodie world! They had The Créme Brúlée Cart (nutella and strawberry creme brûlée!? amazing!), gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches a la Here, some delicious vegetables and hummus, and a nice variety of cupcakes (not sure who by though, shame). They even had a photo area!

We. Are. HILARIOUS

This was the first real fashion event I had ever been to, and it was so much fun! I looked good, I networked successfully, and ate some DELICIOUS food. I am excited to open up this new door in my fashion life.

BTW, You can bet I totally plugged Cañada College. That school has taught me more about sewing, philosophy, body awareness, society, and myself than I could ever have imagined. Those students and teachers (and assistants!) have helped me feel confidant about my skills as a pattern designer, seamstress, and about my body. They don't make fun of me, and they offer only realistic, good-natured constructive criticism. When I was a bit younger my happy place was a hillside way up where no one would come disturb me and my thoughts, and now it's that classroom. I cannot thank anyone enough for letting me experience the greatness that they provide.

Fitting and Repurposing

So I never actually took any pictures of the celery dress that I made for my sister, and I only finally have because I've done some adjusting to the dress to make it fit her so much better! My techniques of fit class is invaluable. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at ready to wear the same again. And normally you want to leave about 2 inches of ease in the skirt around the hips, but Katy and I both prefer more closely fitted clothing. So after adjustments I present to you, The Celery Dress!



Ya! very stylish, we worked together to design the dress so it's a collaborative project if anything, but I have no problem sharing credit. Katy has excellent taste in clothing, and frequently we both have a desire for something that will be in style in a year or two.

The other day, one of my classmates came in the room in an adorable skirt! long, loose but still fitted to her, and looked so comfortable! After speaking with her, the teacher heard us talking about it and told us to ask her how she made it, "You'll never guess" She said. Turns out it was an old sweater of her husbands, and all she did was cut off the sleeves, collar, and take it in on the sides a couple inches! she added some fabric where the sleeve holes and necklines were because they created an odd looking hemline, and it's so adorable! I asked if I could post about her, and she said yes! I think this is just a great idea for re-purposing something that you would otherwise be getting rid of. There are so many ways to recycle old clothing or fabric, and while I'm not a fan of those no waste patterns (too many different grain variations in the garment for me. it'd hang so strangely.), I really do love taking old clothing items and redoing them for myself. You guys may remember about five months ago when I showed you the emerald green shirt I made for myself. What a great use of a T shirt that Tony wanted to get rid of! I even have a few more I cannot wait to get at once I have more time!

I'm working right now on more things for my techniques of fit class. We're trying to create a perfectly fitting bodice and skirt pattern for ourselves, and I've got the skirt down! Right now I'm working on the bodice (the hardest of the two) and I cannot tell you how many times I've had to do a "Full Bust Adjustment". Lemme just say, all patterns, no matter what size they are, are designed to accommodate only a B cup. I am so, so far away from a B cup. My teacher even joked yesterday "Is there a bust dart that fits you?" because we just keep trying and adjusting, and trying and adjusting.

Once I get the bodice pattern to fit me (it's got to be before this time next week :\ ) I'll be drafting my lab garment and my final garment for Advanced Flat Pattern! I showed you the design for the final garment last post, and I've recently decided to make my lab garment a slightly altered version of my Peplum dress! It was so successful and flattering that I could not limit it to one dress! So I've got this beautiful double layer fabric that is the perfect chocolate brown with intermittent orange flowers. They're kind of a warm sunset orange. Not too bright. the top layer is attached to the brown under layer creating a quilted look, but instead of just lines of quilting, it's actually hearts! it's so cute, I cannot wait to show it! The plan is to have the lab garment finished in time to wear it to thanksgiving actually.. It'd be perfect! Katy wearing her Celery Dress, me wearing my Autumn Peplum dress! Such a well dressed family. ahahaha.

That heart bustier for draping class came along quite perfectly! it was awesome! Since I've made an official pattern for it, once I get my personal fit sloper worked out I can working out the pieces in my size, and then next semester when I'm in the Bustier Class, I'll be making this for myself! I'm thinking a deep red for the heart, and probably either a black, brown, or ivory color for the rest of it. not sure. Oh well! Either way it's going to look amazing, and I'll have made it myself.. there is going to be so much boning in that thing... But Believe me, once it's all finished and sewn up, you WILL see me in it! I plan on wearing that thing out!

Alright well I've got to get started on all that pattern work so I bid you Adieu!



also please forgive me if the HTML coding gets annoying this blog is basically a live broadcast of me learning HTML. yay for Internets!

Been a while!

I have been SO BUSY with school. I've been doing a lot of fun stuff though and definitely a lot of sewing! I made myself a cute sundress for next summer, but I didn't get a good picture of it yet (too cold to wear it!). I took advantage of the pattern work I did on that summer dress though and made myself a wool winter dress! it's a simple strapless bodice top and flared skirt but there was barely any fabric so I had to make the bodice in pieces instead of one whole front bodice, whole back bodice, and whole skirt front. You can tell in the picture the skirt front is two pieces. It was a good move for conserving fabric and most of the time in person no one seemed to notice it until we were talking about it. That made me pretty happy. :) You'll notice i'm wearing a long sleeve shirt underneath! I haven't lined the dress yet because I haven't got enough lining material to do the dress, my jacket for my Tailoring class, and also it's been damn cold! Since it was cold and I wore the dress to a hockey game I also wore tights (and a nice red coat, not shown).


heeeeeey it's my halloween costume! I was a My Little Pony, but I didn't want to sew the "cutie mark" onto my dress so that I could maybe wear it some other time where a lot of cleavage is ok ahaha. I curled my wig, a LONG arduous process, and made my horn! I bought some "pluffy" molding clay from Michaels, baked it for too long, and then painted it white. It was a little tricky attaching the horn to the wig, but after about 45 minutes of fidgeting i got it to attach and stand upright!

It was a pretty successful costume. One kid didn't even recognize me as a unicorn! ahahahahaha. Made me laugh. We only got three trick or treaters though and it was sad.

I am definitely having fun in my draping class! Its been really easy but also very interesting as it's opened up my creativity for pattern making and design! we had to do a princess seam bodice and this is what I did. very simple, but since everyone else did the traditional middle of the shoulder seam to middle of the waist, I feel pretty good about it.




I'm also doing this! yes that IS a heart bustier, and yes I think it's adorable. I'm gonna sew it up as an outside layer of muslin for class, and then next semester I'm taking an actual class on how to make a Bustier, os since I get that one made, I'm going to ACTUALLY make myself a legit heart bustier!







I've also been working on some illustrations for ideas for more dresses to make! I knew I needed to do something awesome for my lab and my final project for my advanced flat pattern class, so I've been trying really hard to come up with something that I liked, and that would also hopefully be good enough for a wedding I get to attend in january!

I toyed around with the idea of some tea or knee length dresses


But then I decided on something floor length when the invitations came and said Formal!

forgive the melty face illustration, i'm not very good at faces still. i'm imagining it in a jewel tone or a subtle shimmery gold.



I've still got a lot of work ahead of me on the dress, Katy's dress, my tailoring jacket, my tailoring skirt, and my bodice and skirt for techniques of fit.again, I'm feeling pretty dang good, but I know there's still al lot of work ahead of me. Wish me luck!

What I've been working on

So i started school!

I've made a wrap dress, but only partially. I need to finish all the edges, fix the bust darts and then finish attaching the outer wrap layer. Once it's done, i'll post a picture of it. it's great!It's in teal knit and it's a little cleavagey but the hemline is below the knees.

I've still made zero progress with Susan's dress.. :(




I'm working at making a jacket for my tailoring class! I'm making C. One of the many amazing assistants did this jacket for her tailoring class many years ago and was very excited that I decided to go do the same thing (it's the perfect Chanel jacket, hello!). I made a copy of the pattern pieces and did a tissue fitting today in class! It was pretty cool, Kathleen was rushed but it turns out I had pretty few changes to make! I (like always) need to take in the seams where my pecs would be (LOL muscles) let out the side seams over the hips a weeeee bit. like 1/4 of an inch. and I need to make a 1/2 inch Full Bust Adjustment. Story of my life AHYAKNOWWHATIMEAN?? ahahaha my boobs are too big and causes my hemline to go up in front. That should be easy, then I have to make it up in muslin! yay!




For my Advanced Flat Pattern class I had to do a Presentation board for a sample line of clothing, including at least one outfit illustration as a plan to be made for my final garment! I'm pretty confident about my illustration skills and I think it turned out ok! I based it on Mad Men (I know, I'm so creative) because I saw the Mad Men collection for Banana Republic. The mens collection was nice! classy clothing with sleek lines, simplicity, and style. I love 50s style. The women's collection on the other hand... pitiful! it's all a-line super mini skirts, the sad same silhouette shift dress, a lacy tank, and too much leopard print. it made me pretty angry.. SO I drew up some dresses and a nice pair of pants! it's only five outfits so it's four dresses (one you will recognize, ahahaha) but I had fun! it's a terrible picture but i'll get a better one when I show it in class next week!


Here you can see my loverly cat Elvis helping me. he's so helpful.


I've already got some big plans for halloween! I'm making costumes for me, Susan, and another friend! We're going to be twisted disney princesses! Susan will be Ariel, Other Friend will be Alice, and I will be Jessie! (I know she's no princess, but she's redheaded)



I stopped by Joanns today and picked up some beauuuutiful remnants today! I don't know what to with the fabric yet though! Tony wants me to make a pencil skirt, but I think it'll make a much better top. if I could I'd say i'd even prefer to make a bustier out of it (it'd be so sexy! and shiny!) but i don't really want to buy a pattern and add ANOTHER item to make on my already pretty long list. helps?

BTW the one on the right is actually double sided that's why you can see both sides!

The last Month or So

I may not have been posting on here, but for once that doesn't mean I wasn't sewing! I have been taking advantage of fabric sources that I already had at my disposal, like my boyfriend's old shirts, and old bed sheets, and have been having a good time with it!


The Boyfriend shirt I did in early June. I cut off the sleeves (which I now use for headbands/bandanas in my hair) and then cut out the plain shape I wanted the shirt to achieve. Again I had some poop luck in the neckline area, and it was HUGE. it was enormous over my collarbones. I had to take it in if I didn't want it falling right off. So i did an inverted V released darts combo. I think it looks awesome. It's a little... oddly placed since I have really large breasts, but it makes it fit well and added some chic style that I didn't think of before, and really love now. I posted it onto Fashism.com and there was a general consensus that it was too tight around the chest and the darts looked funny, but I for once don't care what they said! I think it is amazing and so much fun. it really takes such a casual fabric and clothing article and makes it just that little bit more dressed up.



I then was lucky enough to find about 5 yards of a bright yellow mid-weight synthetic crinkled fabric that I fell in LOVE with. I originally wanted to make a plain, tiered skirt maxi, but I quickly realized it was the wrong fabric for that. I instead folded the yardage in half, gathered it a LOT at the half line (aka the shoulders), and then gathered it EVEN MORE in the shoulders (two different layers of elastic thread and gathering). I sliced into the shoulder to create a V-neck, and did two rows of elastic thread smocking around my waist line. From there I just cut it at the bottom and wore It out! it may be a bit heavier style fabric than typical for this style dress, but I totally love it!! It's perfect for the hot weather that has finally landed in California. I loved this dress so much I've decided to go another direction for my wedding dress (which is still far in the future but it's nice to look)! This is my Official June Dress.



And finally, and most recently I made a dress from Bedsheets! they weren't fancy sheets, just plain 200 thread count oens from Target. You know the ones, marketed at kids going away to college. Well mine were teal and my boyfriend demanded an upgrade to a less girly color and higher thread count. So instead of throwing them away I insisted we keep them so I can do something fun with them. I attacked the fitted sheet first by completely removing like elastics (which became the perfect play things for my cat, Elvis. like teal snakes, he goes insane!!) and then cut out the pattern pieces for the top. This was my first dress with a crossfront like this and I think it went really well! I was really proud because this was my first real attempt to line the top and I did it pretty successfully. You can see some puckering and pull lines, but that's because I did separate lining and not underlining. If I had done underlining I think it would been smoother. I also think I may have been better off waiting to see where the cross pieces crossed before tacking it up in the middle of the bust, but hey At least now I know. I then measured out two large pieces for the skirt and used more elastic thread to do gathering on a panel for the back. I made two huge mistakes here, though. I made the top skirt piece WAY too long, and not wide enough (originally I was going to make this a floor length skirt and realized quickly the teal was a bit too bright to do a full dress of it), and I made the back panel way too wide. I couldn't find my seam ripper, so I literally just cut straight through the middle skirt panel and brought the cut edge up the waist line (about five inches removed). But the back panel fit the skirt width properly, so when I took in the panel I had to creatively minimize the fabric in the skirt.I decided to go with a box pleat in the center back, and it turned out pretty well! it didn't get too bulky above my butt, and gave it better width around my hips. It was surprisingly easy despite all the working and reworking I had to do on the dress. To add some pizazz I sewed on some matching teal ribbon that I had lying around. Yay Official July Dress, not at the very last minute!

Now I plan on moving on to the Rayon wrap dress I want to make myself. I have insisted to my sister that I must do my own knit wrap dress before I even touch her fabric because my fabric is 8 dollars a yard rayon from Joann's, and hers is beautiful japanese print silk knit from Britex for $150 a yard. There's no way I'm not making a trial run for this. I would KILL MYSELF, before she could even kill me for wasting fabric by messing up. After doingthe cross front for the teal dress I feel pretty good about doing it in knit. It'll be so much easier since it's knit, and will barely even need any darting at the waist! I'm pretty excited now for it.

I almost forgot! Before I even get to that I have to work with my group in my Fashion Entrepreneurship class! We're writing up a business plan for a store, ours is a Vintage Reproduction Bridal Boutique, and for part of the business plan we have to create a sample, in our case a dress! I've got to work with my group mates to demolish a Jessica McClintock dress and some yards of lace into a vintage dress! It'll be fun, I'll probably post a picture of the finished dress on here.