OMG, Ponies!!!

Hi Everyone!

Another finished project to share today!
 

This one is great, because it was almost a total failure, then it became something better than the original plan!
 

This project involved Frankenstein-ing a couple of shirts together to make one really awesome shirt ...WITH PONIES ON IT!

Did I mention there were ponies?

And glitter? And tiny blue rhinestones? And NO pink??

Yeah.  

Found this shirt in the Girls dept. at Old Navy. I bought the biggest size (XL) but it was still too small.

I tried cutting it up to re-work the fit...still, nothing wearable.  

Defeated, I put the shirt away in hopes of figuring something out, one day.

Months went by...

Then, I was doing some spring cleaning and found a basic men's size M tee in my stash that happened to be the same shade of blue as the pony print! A vibrant violet blue!

So, I turned the mens Medium tee into a Women's 8 Size Size 10 peasant top! 
Here's a lil' sketch of what I did:

 

Red line indicates the changes:  Crew neck was cut out and changed to "peasant" style with adjustable ribbon drawstring.  Side seams were added to reduce the waist and add curves in the right places.

 After that, I simply cut out the pony print, and machine appliqued the image on top of the shirt, using a 2 rows of straight stitches, 1/8" apart, approx. 3/8" away from the raw edge.
The finished product looks like THIS:

En Voila!  After the scoop neck & keyhole are cut, all edges are finished with a zig-zag.  Keyhole edge is turned back approx. 1/4" then sewn with a straight stitch about 1/4" from the folded edge.  Next, neckline is turned back approx 5/8" and sewn with a straight stitch about 1/2" from the folded edge.  This forms the channel for the drawstring, which is threaded through and ties at the CF keyhole.  Approx. 4" total was removed at the waist area through the side seams to give a bust-waist-hip ratio instead of one big tube shape.

And THEN...I gave the shirt to my "baby" sister, Mary...she loves ponies too...tee-hee!
As you can see, it fits her great, and she is very happy:

Another project....DONE!!!!

I will do another post on converting Man-Tees into Girl-Tees in the near future :)



-Kathleen, In Oakland



 

Finished! Emma's Bonnet

Hi Everyone,

Here's another little project I finished recently.  It's a dog bonnet for my friend's beautiful adopted puppy, Emma.

Ain't she adorable, y'all?? 

Meet Emma!

This bonnet was based off of Honey's old calico one.

A little technical sketch and measurements of Honey's original bonnet.

Pattern drafted of the brim, body, and crown based on Honey's bonnet measurements.

The pieces, all cut out in black & white polka dot cotton.  I cut an extra piece of the crown in plain black cotton, which will be the lining.  The brim is "Cut 2"  in self fabric and "clean finished" along the front and side edges.

The bonnet coming together:  The body is bound in black  bias tape at the edges of the ear holes.  The brim is gathered and about to be attached to the body.  The body is gathered into the crown, and will be sewn after the brim.

Brim is stitched to the body to the wrong side with grosgrain ribbon folded in half and layered on top.

Outside View #1:  The brim and ribbon trim is pressed to the outside and topstitched in place.  The body of the bonnet has been gathered and sandwiched in between the crown self and lining before sewing.

Outside View #2:  Grosgrain ribbon has been applied as binding to the bottom edge of the bonnet.

Inside View:  As you can see, this construction method "clean finishes" the inside of the bonnet with no raw edges.  Built tough.  Built to last.....That's how I roll!

Close up of the bonnet's brim detail.  (Sorry for the weird lighting...it  was a beautifully bright day!)  I created matching grosgrain bows that will sit on top of each ear.  Hella Cute!!!

And here's another view of the bonnet flat, with matching grosgrain ribbon ties tacked at the sides of the bottom edge.  The narrow plaid ribbon is tacked at the front and back sides, and sits under Emma's ears to hold the bonnet in place.

Finished!  A front view

....And a side view

Stay still, Emma!!!  The bonnet fits a little big all over, but she's gonna grow into it!

Emma and her lovely bonnet were going to make their debut at this year's Pirate Faire in Vallejo, until we found out that dogs were not allowed this year.
To bad, really...
Emma's a wiggle-worm of a puppy, but she's quite the well-behaved lady...except when she's trying to drink your beer...watch out!  She's a big fan!

I'm a Miller Lite gal myself....but to each her own!

-Kathleen, In Oakland

Finished! Another "Commuter" Rosette

Hey Y'all! 


Sorry AGAIN for the lack of posts.....I'm workin' hard for the money over here, and there hasn't been a lot of time to blah-blah-blah about the fun projects lately....but they are a-happening, bit by bit!

Anyhoo, here's a lil' something I finished this week while commuting to work.  I take TONS of public transportation every day, and always have sewing projects with me to pass the time efficiently/keep hope alive. 
Mostly, I make rosettes.  Lots of them...like this one here, which is a full cardigan knitted ruffle recycled from a old sweater...I LOVE the sparkly Lurex thread...It's so 80's!!  

The silver leaves are sold by-the-yard at Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabrics in Bizzerkley.  
They come in silver and a pretty, natural green ultrasuede.  I love having them on hand for stuff like this.  

The underside of the rosette is neatly finished with  an antiqued copper barette.  
I must say, these metal clips are wonderful, and can be easily worn in the hair, on a hat, or in the lapel of a jacket. 


More pretty things to come!!


-Kathleen, In Oakland

I Wear Many Hats: The Dog Bonnet, a Tribute.

Hey Y’all,

Clothing can be so sentimental. 
Sometimes, it's the most tangible thing you can have to connect with someone that is gone. 
You can see them wearing it, touch the fabric that they once wore, note the creases and wear marks their body made in the garment.  It can be very moving to re-visit.

I wanted to share something I made a long time ago that is very special to me.  

Cotton Calico Bonnet, trimmed in goldenrod yellow grosgrain ribbon.

FRONT VIEW: Modeled by the Medium-sized Doggie dress form at work.

SIDE VIEW:  Earholes have self binding, bottom edge is bound in grosgrain ribbon. 
All hand-finished with tiny pick stitches.

BACK VIEW:  Bonnet is gathered and clean finished into a half-moon yoke.



EAR HOLE DETAIL: 3/8" satin rainbow ribbon was fitted under the ear to hold the brim in place. 
Ruffle brim has folded edge, and is clean finished to the main body with grosgrain ribbon, all hand-finished.




INSIDE VIEW:  All clean-finished inside for Doggie-proof durability!



This fully-functional cotton bonnet was specially created for Honey, our beautiful family dog who changed our lives forever.  Honey was a Yellow Lab/Chow mix, a stray, found abandoned in the little gulf town of Rockport, Texas in 1997.  Thanks to some very well organized small-town vets, we were able to research who she was and her past history.  Honey was originally named Sandy.  Her previous owners even had her fixed, but left her behind in the back yard when the moved away.

And there she was, months later, sitting at a gas station, ready to follow me home.  I called her “Honey” the moment I saw her, and the name stuck ever since.

She was like all Texas ladies I know, TOUGH and BEAUTIFUL.  Honey survived months of abandonment on the Gulf Coast, with the biggest & largest tick infestation I’ve ever seen, AND THEN went through a heartworm treatment! She was already 4 years old when she came into our lives, and lived over 16 years until we had to make the painful decision to put her down.    

Honey was gentle giant, a mother-dog who never fussed about anything….even little children riding on her back was just another day of fun for her, lol.  And boy, did she loved to dress up!  We adorned her in pink baby T’s, tiaras, bunny ears, cat ears (too funny) ….she was just a perfect joy to play with.    PERFECT.

I designed & made this little bonnet to fit her head, and Honey wore it every Halloween when she greeted the Trick ‘or Treaters at the front door with my Mom.  Our little Texas pioneer!

It will always be one of my favorite projects, and proudest accomplishments.

And here's Honey in her younger years....Ain't she lovely?!

-Kathleen, In Oakland

My New Frontier: A1960’s cocktail dress: Part Two- Sewing a Wearable Muslin

Hi Everyone! 

Long overdue, its time for PART 2 of my 1960's cocktail dress pattern project!
Part 1 was posted almost a month ago. 

In an effort to use my valuable sewing time to its fullest, I created something called a  “wearable muslin”.   



The 1st cut of my size 10 pattern, graded up from an circa 1960 "size 14", wiich is a modern-day 4-6

 I do this as often as possible when developing or testing a pattern that is fairly simple (for me) and hard to mess up. 

Why did I do this instead of just the plain ol’ muslin mock-up fit process? 

For this dress, I feel confident it can be sewn it up as a real, wearable garment the first time around.  It may not fit 100% perfect, but it will still be adorable and very pretty. 

Keep in mind, if this was a corset project, or a weird bodice pattern I’m Frankenstien-ing, then HELL YES, there will be a plain muslin fitting!!  …. maybe 2 or 3 before the good stuff is cut! 

While creating this wearable muslin, I utilized my time to experiment with different things.  In this case, I made up the dress in funky stripe cotton, with a bias-cut silk waistband and my own construction/finishing techniques. 

Gutsy?!  Maybe. 

Fabric purchased on clearance (1/2 price!) at Stone Mountian & Daugher Fabrics, in Berkeley, CA

OK, here’s what I did:

The bodice is a single layer of the striped cotton, but I omitted the facings for the neck & armhole area included in the original pattern.  Instead, I used single fold bias facing to finish the inside of these areas, and finished by hand:

The zipper was hand-basted to the inside of the side seam, and stitched into the garment by hand.  Don’t be intimidated by this, folks!  In fact, hand-sewing a zipper does not take long at all!  Plus, if you don’t have a lot of experience sewing a zipper in by machine, this can be WAY less frustrating, less damaging to the fabric, and looks like a million bucks every time… even if you are not a super-star hand sewer!

For the waistband, I kind of walked away from the original design/construction. 

The original pattern was just for a single layer waistband of fashion fabric only (front and back with side seams), without any finishing/lining/interlining inside.  Weird?  I thought so too.

To mix things up a little, I created new, revised waistband patterns with center front and center back seams.  Here’s how I did it:

REVISED WB PATTERNS: I cut the bias pieces out of  a scrap of black dupioni (fashion fabric) and the straight-grain pieces out of black cotton (flatlining). 

*Backing or flatlining the bias silk pieces with cotton cut on the straight grain will add stability and strength.

ORIGINAL WB PATTERNS: I cut Waistband pieces as per the original pattern, on the fold, out of black cotton.   These pieces became a lining, which I added in order to “clean finish” the inside. 

I also flatlined the skirt part of the dress with black cotton for added body, and to minimize any VPL in the future ;)

Now the dress is ready to try on and have a fitting!

A little wrinkled: All the seams are sewn up except the shoulders and hem. 

Stay tuned for Part Three:  “Analyzing the fit” where I will be looking at the (almost) finished garment with a critical eye, checking overall balance, dart placement, and making notes of any other little fit tweaks that need to be made.

-Kathleen, In Oakland

My New Frontier: A 1960’s cocktail dress: Part One - Introduction & Sizing Up the Pattern

Hi Everyone!

Our adventures in pattern drafting continue with our much loved circa 1960 cocktail dress, Spadea’s # N-1077, otherwise known as Philip’s stunning creation, Black Beauty!

Spadea is a long-gone, mid-20^th century pattern company, and their history can be found here.

Philip has already made up this dress as is, in its original size, out of a sumptuous black satin. Then, he proceeded to bedeck, bedazzle, and encrust his creation in iridescent black glass beads.


As you can see, it is a wonderful example of finery and sophistication.   Who wouldn’t be inspired by this amazing work of art?!

Bottom Line:  I want one.  But I want a West-Coast version, made in a cool yet bold Hawiian Barkcloth, with no drape, and embellished with black palette spangles on the solid black background:

I have *just enough* Hawiian Barkcloth fabric to create this dress with no drape...
but how cute will it be?!?!?!

Our Spadea pattern is a vintage size 14, which is a modern day 6, which I am not.

In order to make this style fit, I will have to increase (grade up) the original pattern from a size 6 to a size 8 size 10. 

What is my end goal?? To have a fabulous, flattering real vintage dress pattern that fits me.  This Spadea style is perfect to start with because it is:

1.) Simple – Just a bodice, waistband, skirt, and optional front drape!  The facings at the neck/armhole area can be easily replaced with bias tape to finish the inside, which I plan to do.

2.) Flattering –Bateau neckline, hourglass shape, what’s not to LOVE?

3.) Easy to sew - with areas of opportunity to tweak , simplify or improve the construction quality and finishing.

4.) Versatile –Looks great in anything from Satin to Cotton to Lame’!  Can be made with or without the drape in front for a sleeker, or less formal look.  In fact, without the drape, this is a simple, sweet little boat-neck wiggle dress….wooork!

Well, here I go again….a whole weekend of nothing but tracing & re-tracing patterns, and the results are worth every moment!

The entire original pattern consists of  9 pieces: Front/Back Bodice, Waistband. Skirt, facings, and the front drape.  ***I will be showing the front bodice only as an example of the tracing/sizing up process.  Note: The Front Drape piece will not be included in this 1^st dress, but will be explored/sewn at a later date, in a different fabric.

First, I trace all the original tissue pieces, marking all punch holes and perforations.  This 1^st tracing is now my master copy, and it will remain unchanged, as an exact copy of the real vintage pattern.
 


 

Original tissue pattern from 1960



1st Tracing:  Exact copy of the original (Sorry, the photo is light, but you get the idea :)

I create a 2^nd tracing from the first, and I make adjustments to the body width and length by slashing & inserting strips of paper.  I have calculated how much I needed to add to the original pattern to make it fit me.  In order to increase black Beauty up to a size 10, I had to add 3 ½” total to the original pattern width, and 1” to the total length.

2nd tracing: slashed and spread to evenly increase length & width.

Here's a lil' breakdown of what I did:

WIDTH: Since the patterns for the Bodice, Waistband, and skirt are placed on the fold and represent one quarter of the body, I divided my total width measurements by 4, then applied that number to each piece.

In other words, 3 ½” divided by 4 is 7/8”, so I added 7/8” to the width of each piece.

LENGTH: I evenly divided the 1” length needed between the bodice and skirt. 

So, ½” was added to the bodice length, and ½” to skirt length.

The best way increase the overall size of a pattern, is to add throughout the body, instead of just adding to the side seams and bottom edge.

I’ve created these quick ‘n dirty images of the bodice and skirt to clearly show what I did, and what you should NOT do: 

Once all the pieces are increased in size, I clean up the overall shape, double check & triple-check notch placement, making sure everything matches and lines up for good sewing.

Now all the pieces are ready to be cut in fabric!

3rd tracing: All cleaned up in a size 10 and ready to use!

Stay tuned for Part Two:  “Sewing a Wearable Muslin” where the dress will come to life in all its size 10 glory!

-Kathleen, In Oakland

Hand In Glove: Pattern Preservation and Re-use

Hello Readers!

As some of you may know, Philip and I are on a coast-to-coast adventure to appreciate and re-create gorgeous beautiful things from the past.
 
(And be sassy biz-natches the whole way!)

We have always shared a burning desire for custom-made gloves, ever since we saw Barbra slip them over her extra-long manicured nails in "Hello, Dolly".

Babs had gloves made with extra-long fingers to accommodate her beautiful hands in historical films like Hello, Dolly!, Funny Girl, and our personal favorite: On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Glove patterns are pretty damn near impossible to find, but we got lucky when Philip found this little gem from 1940's wartime:



This old pattern journeyed from New York to California!

 I started the painstaking process of tracing and interpreting the tiny, fragile pieces.

Falling Apart:  Brittle directions page and glove pattern pieces for fingers and thumbs.

Close-up of the revision date in these hand-illustrated instructions.

Last revised: June 30, 1943!! 

My #1 goal throughout this process:  Preservation.  Do not cause any more damage to the pattern, instructions, or envelope.    Open and unfold all  paper as little as possible.    Minimize the folding/refolding and prolonged exposure to light or moisture.  

Don't forget to copy the front and back of the envelope!

When working with old patterns, often the instruction page(s) are in far-worse shape than the actual pieces. 

This is because pattern pieces are usually put away right after the fabric is cut, but the direction pages are often left out, and heavily handled throughout the entire sewing process.  

So, the first thing to do is copy the directions as quickly and carefully as possible.   As soon as you're done, fold the original back up and put away ASAP.

Sadly, the paper that these directions were printed on is so dry that it wanted to crumble and tear at the slightest touch! 
I opened the directions ONE TIME ONLY, and carefully copied all sides on the xerox machine to 11x17" paper.  

Before pulling out the pattern pieces, be sure to give those directions (the copy, of course) a good read-through.  Take note of any special markings or symbols.  Get to know the pieces through the pattern layout and instructions. 
I traced all pieces as they were, marking all punch holes and symbols: 

Patterns from this era were not printed on.  Labeling on pattern pieces was performed with a series of punch holes in different shapes and sizes. All the little circles, triangles, and squares represent grainlines, cut lines, slash marks, and pintucks, so it's very important to have those instructions as a key understanding all markings!

Some of the teenie-tiny pieces for the fingers were falling apart, so I had to machine copy, then re-draw.  (no pressure, RIGHT?!)

Once I double-check, then triple-check that all info has been properly captured,  I immediately put alllll the pieces back in the envelope. 

Now the old pattern can officially go back in its cool, dry, dark storage space :) 

This first tracing, as seen in images above, is the true original pattern.  I will keep it unchanged so I never have to pull out the old fragile pieces again.

Then, I trace a 2nd copy from the 1st unchanged tracing.

On this 2nd copy, I clean up the overall shape and "translate" the old pieces by changing the punch holes to clear printed labeling of the grainlines, seam allowance, details, and piece name.

This is where the pattern goes from copy to customize, and our own design adjustments are made!
Philip and I want to create a glove pattern with adjustable finger lengths.  So, I added a slash line through the fingertips of all pieces where length can be lengthend or shortene.  (BLUE LINE) 

Close-Up of revised pattern for the glove body.

Big Improvement:  All pieces for the finger insets and thumb, with grainlines, slash-marks, piece name, and seam allowance clearly labled. 
*All these pieces are so small they fit onto an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper.

 This fresh, new pattern, along with copies of the original instructions and envelope, are neatly packed in a clear plastic sleeve, and shipped post-haste back to Brooklyn for Philip to test out:

Philip will begin mocking up our new pattern, testing the fit and construction, and make notes of any changes or progress.

*VERY IMPORTANT:  In case of an emergency, I photo-copied our "New" pattern to keep record of changes, or go back to if needed.  When changing a pattern, it is very important to keep a "paper trail" of the progress, should you ever have to go back and start over.
Always plan for the "what if's"....

 Yay! 

 And here's another pic of Babs and her gorgeous nails....just for fun:

um.....WOOOOOOORK!!!

-Kathleen, In Oakland