sloppy josephine T in action and flea market finds

continuing what seems to be a developing obsession with knits, may i present the sloppy josephine T from papercut patterns?

i loved this pattern.  it went together in less than an hour.  and who doesn’t love a super-cute t-shirt that brings jeans to a whole new level of comfortable chic?

unfortunately, most of my wardrobe planning went out the window when i stepped outside to go to the flea market.  BRRRR.  i quickly ran back inside, chastened by the frigid breeze.

LLADYBIRD, nettie of sown brooklyn, and peter of MPB, ready for an excursion…

but as my neighbor (not katie h, who was too busy with the kid to notice or care that i was freezing my rear off) reminded me, “IT’S MARCH.” i could tell that she was trying to be polite but that really she thought i was something of an idiot for even pretending it was warm enough to go sans-coat. i pleaded with her: “but it was so warm out yesterday!” and she was all, with implacable logic, “not at 9:30 in the morning.” so i grabbed the coat and then went back out to meet everyone at the chelsea garage flea market.

kenneth, sporting a coat made for his latest, unreleased craftsy class. yes, it is as eye-blinding and awesome in person.

we indulged in a looong coffee hour while we waited, fingers crossed, as lauren navigated the subway to meet us. friends, this girl is a born new yorker: she made it from queens to chelsea, alone, and it was only her second time on the train. then, scarcely had we set foot in the garage when peter spotted kenneth king, killing time and indulging in one of his favorite flea market searches for vintage silverware that he can purloin for his sewing tool kit. kenneth, ever chatty, had us all laughing while peter watched indulgently, like a patient uncle waiting for the kids to settle down. (if you haven’t had the experience of chattering with kenneth, may i direct you to Daughter Fish’s podcast? you’re welcome.)

as you can see, i did not heed kenneth’s advice to abjure from photographs too early in the morning. “wait for the puffiness to recede, that is what i always do!” true story.

we proceeded with our lap of the market, lauren and nettie just taking it all in while peter did some shopping for his ever-fickle, and fashionable, cousin cathy. i tried this one on for size, but alas, lack the glamour of the original inspiration. and cathy is more of an early-forties gal, anyway, making this New Look-style cocktail specimen not quite right for her.

i made a fairly thrilling score of my own, just moments after explaining to peter that my usual prowl at the market is for old cameras – still working and not too expensive.  i practically jumped for joy when when i spotted this number, still in its original box, the inside of the camera looking almost brand new and still having its original strap and flash.  for those of you who do not know, the original (70s-era) diana camera is pretty much the holy grail of plastic lens photography.  it’s dreamier than its contemporaries and even my usual go-to, the holga.  if you’ve seen the contemporary version stocked conspicuously in your local urban outfitters (for $100!!  WTF??), allow me to assure you that it has not a patch on the original.  and if you ever play with instagram, know that most of the filters are, in fact, inspired by the way that a diana captures images.  my current diana is getting a little long in the tooth, and i was thrilled to find a new one.

version #2, also made by me, in a slinky/sheer knit from mood fabrics. i love the vintage feel of the motif with the modern aesthetic of the garment.

Pattern Description:
Like the name implies, a sloppy fit t-shirt but with a fitted raglan sleeve with wide cuff. The perfect tee for slouching around in, or for tucking in to your high waisted jeans or skirts for a feminine look.

Pattern Sizing:
XXS-L. i cut an XXS and tapered to a XS-S at the hips – there is a lot of ease in this baby and YMMV.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
yes, definitely.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
i didn’t touch them, but i can say they are printed beautifully and seem easy to follow.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
i admit, i think i could have drafted a go-to raglan T or even adapted something i already own, but i wanted to support the pattern because i think its aesthetic is dreamy. i loved the oversize fit and the wide neckline and i knew i would want to make it over and over again.

Fabric Used:
sheer and burnout jersey knit from mood fabrics.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
i did taper in the side seam near my tummy because i wanted a slimmer fit. i kept the length, which is perfect, and i love the sleeve length.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
i will sew it again, it is almost an instant TNT and a great way to play with knits. it sews up really quickly and easily without too much fuss. the only note i would mention is that for some reason, my neckband did not really fit the neckline. i am not sure if this was due to stretching, or carelessness on my part, or even me not paying enough attention when selecting the neckband size. i ended up dealing with the issue by making a little bit of gathering at the CF of the neckline for, honestly, a look i think i like even more than the original.

Conclusion:
it’s a pricey pattern BUT a gorgeous basic, so definitely something that i was happy to support even for the $$$. keep an eye out for free shipping sales…but i’ve heard that you can also use, for example, the built by wendy raglan T block from her book for a similar result. for me this pattern was definitely about checking out a new company and seeing how i liked it almost as much as getting a great T.

weekend sewing studio: in which no actual sewing happened, but an FO debuted

i’ve been having a serious handsewing phase lately, which is shocking. usually handsewing = area 51 in my house. but something about the weather and the easy laziness of watching project runway and crime show reruns (there’s a mix for you) + handsewing (productivity!) kept me going through a really tough week.

so here is my first official finished garment from my dyed fabric i created over the summer.

and, since oona has been nagging me lately to let the details of my work show – woman, there is a reason i like high-contrast images that obscure me and my punim – let’s try this one on for size:

don’t let that cheerful persona fool you. oona is one bossy lady.
BUT.  considering that she didn’t laugh at my RENT poster this weekend – especially since i probably know the libretto almost as well as she does, without the excuse of having, you know, been in it, i think she’s also pretty awesome.

photograph from male pattern boldness

i am pretty sure this is the first weekend since my mom got sick in 2009 that i not only had plans, but had a chance to have friends over.

we had the added pleasure of lauren t from LLADYBIRD gracing us with her presence. i can honestly say i cannot wait to have her back in town again.

photograph from male pattern boldness

in fact, the only proper response was a celebration.

photograph from male pattern boldness

and a swap. that is me and nettie hoarding all of the good bits before we went to join the massive meetup of amazing people at mood.  i can’t list everyone, because i didn’t even get to talk to everyone, but ladies, you were awesome.

NO.  you totally were.

i was not the only excited one.

i am pretty sure that it was one of the best days of my cat’s life.  there was fabric to fight with, bags to explore, and many people who obviously came solely for the purpose of finding out how nice it is to rub his tummy.

i am shamelessly stealing the photographs that peter took. i am hoping he will forgive me – because after all, i did feed him. except then on sunday he helped me fix one of my featherweights. it was like, dr. sewing machine, right there. we had to diagnose this:

and decide what i needed. hmm. so i might still be in peter’s debt even before i stole his photographs. but i didn’t take any – for a photographer, i am certainly awkward about asking other people to pose – except for this one of the cat (in a mood bag, as one does) and of willy (proof that i have been to the peter lappin sewing machine museum).

hey, meg@mood….if you ever need a replacement mascot, look no farther than indiana jones.

pattern details:

fitted top from alabama studio sewing + design, cropped and finished as a babydoll top.  all of the seams were machine-stitched and then hand-finished with a parallel whipstitch. the binding is plain black knit and finished with a catchstitch.

wonky log cabin “roses”: fashion fabric WIP, or destined for the scrap bag?

i’ve been hugely intoxicated by the brilliant colors and deceptively simple shapes of the prabal gurung for target collection. this piece in particular struck out to me – for its ease of wearing, and for how easy it would be to reinterpret.

immediately i saw a version in yellow, a color that i love, that i have trouble wearing, and that is definitely missing from my SWAP color palette. i’m really trying not to buy too much stuff this year, and i realized that i had a bag full of different yellow silk scraps and remnants from other projects. what would happen, i wondered, if i quilted them together?

i knew i wanted a “modern” block, but also one that was simple, doesn’t involve a lot of cutting or shaping. i was drawn to the log cabin block (traditional if ever there was one!) because i knew i could just cut snips of fabric on the grain and then tear them, giving me lots of blocks to play with to form my “log cabin.”

of course, i went wonky. i used my craftsy 2012 block of the month video for a basic rundown on “wonky” log cabin blocks, and some googling informed me that these can sometimes be called “roses.”

sold! so what do you think?

also, in my moment of stupidity for the week, i sliced in to my finger with a pair of ginghers while i was trying to swatch some liberty of london.

oops.

weekend workshop: a crash course in stenciling fabric

my arsenal

garden season is fast approaching, my friends, even here in Zone 5.  add that and my susan khalje camp chanel at the end of the month, and time is slipping by fast.  to mitigate these #firstworldsewingproblems, i dove head-first into a weekend of fabric stenciling to get some fabric ready for construction later this month (and this season) as i get pulled in all kinds of other directions.

to recap:  as part of my SWAP for this year, i’ve found myself completely drawn to knits.  but i can’t have it that easy – the colors and inspirations i am working from demand more!  so i grabbed my trusty alabama chanin books, as well as ms. chanin’s new crafsty class, and decided to go all-in on knits assembled and embellished by hand.  i’m working from a few basic patterns – mostly the AS+D basic T, the “sloppy josephine” from papercut patterns, the copellia from papercut patterns, and a few drape drape knits – and then incoporating ideas and techniques.  it’s definitely been a spaghetti approach so far, and i’m just waiting to see what sticks to the wall (and makes sense) after all of the experimenting.

an example of a wet-painted stencil.

i took a spaghetti approach to my supply shopping as well, buying a lot of different kinds of fabric paint.  natalie chanin uses an airbrush, and after a few experiments, i can see how the predictability and ease of an airbursh would appeal.  for myself, i used mostly two major techniques:  fabric spray paint, both in a plain spray bottle and in a compressor bottle; and a foam stencil brush.

my sample library after an afternoon of stenciling.

i did decide, after a lot of deliberation, to pony up and buy three of the alabama chanin stencils from their supply website.  i had intended to make the stencils by hand and save the money, but then took one look at this (in its 20×30 glory):

envisioned the hours of cutting with an x-acto knife, and decided that those hours were worth the cost of the stencil – as well as the neatness of a laser-cut mylar piece over a hand-cut piece of craft felt.  i also went in for the “all-over bloomers” motif, which is a gorgeous leaf pattern (a one-off of this comes with the alabama stitch book, which made it a great vessel for testing paints and for bastic motifs) and a gorgeous rose.

i totally have major plans for this.

after a quick infatuation with “wet-paint stenciling”, i realized that my compressor bottle of black spray paint was gorgeous but much too thick and heavy for what i was working on.

and settled in to daubing the paint – the bottle kind and/or the spray bottle kind – over the stencil using my foam stencil brushes.

and then, because i am me, and i cannot help myself, i did an extra layer of stenciling with a little bit of metallic paint in it, because if there is no sparkle there is no point.

my first victim awaits…

 

 

 

alabama chanin style: test-driving a work-in-progress for casual friday

ok, first things first: i think i am now a complete knit convert. i started out, as i think a lot of newbie sewers do, a little afraid of them and all of their stretchiness and the idea of a serger or a zigzag or heavens forfend, a double-needle.

BUT.  how do you resist the allure of a project that can be creative and fulfilling…and finished in an hour?

HOW WILL I EVER GO BACK TO WOVENS?!

this, i do not know.
but that is not what i’m here to discuss today.  because really what i am doing, as this first flush of excitement fades, is making the knits even harder to complete.  what i’ve decided to do in my knit work on my “collection” using alabama chanin techniques.  for me, that means finishing most of the major seams by machine (instead of by hand) but then embellishing them using the hand-techniques so beloved by natalie chanin and her elves.

on this top, that meant finishing the neck binding with what alabama chanin calls a “rosebud stitch.”

and then i opened up the side seams and finished them with a long, lazy catch stitch.  i’m loving the look so far.

so why is this a WIP and not a FO?  because of what i have planned for the back.  i hope to get back to all y’all on that shortly – i’m planning a massive experiment in stenciling and fabric dyeing this weekend at my upstate studio, assuming i can find enough clear plastic table cloths to cover the house!  on this top, for example, i plan to use some of the stencils i splurged on (again, from alabama chanin, but i hope to share some more thoughts on stenciling soon!) in addition to some embroidery patterns and create a design that will riff on a few awesome graphic elements that repeat themselves in my house.  this includes my peter max heart and flowers:

and this great hummingbird motif in my entrance hallway.

and here’s my major splurge stencil from alabama chanin.

it is available for free download on their website, in case you want to give it a try.

more to come as more progress gets made…it will be a long and fun weekend (i hope!)  what should i marathon on my studio tv?  decisions, decisions!

drape drape 1 #9

i’ve completed my second drape drape garment!

turns out that drape drape is almost as confusing in english as it is in japanese.    believe it or not, i found this garment to be slightly trickier than my first one, because it was not immediately clear to me how the sleeves were meant to form.

fortunately, a little manipulation on the dress form set that score fairly quickly, and i was soon looking at a pretty awesome, simple little garment.  i did make a few errors, though.  although i could have sworn the pattern includes seam allowance, i was no longer quite so sure once i tried on the finished garment.  i think it was a wee bit snugger than originally anticipated.  this is also because, as you can see below, they used much wider lace than i did and got a correspondingly wider back area:

but i love my crochet trim!  and fortunately, it still fits, and i like the snugness of the waistline.  so nyah.

inspiration image for “lost drape blouse”

finishing the sleeves almost banished this beauty to area 51.  the instructions (such as they are) are especially weak on how the sleeve is intended to be finished, so i had to sort of go my own way.  i almost left them in all of their batwing-ed glory, but ultimately decided i wanted a finished sleeve with a lace trim cuff.  i think the book wanted me to use elastic to help gather everything, but that seemed like a waist, so i just made 3 rows of gathering stitches about an inch up from the sleeve hem, and attached my crochet lace below that for a clean fit.

this is the third in my series of pieces that may eventually form my “collection.”  i love this piece and its “inclusion” in my “collection” will depend on how i ultimately decide to pair it (or not) with other pieces in the planning stages.  i am thinking some rite of spring shorts in a cute brown denim, what do you think?

image from papercut patterns

or, how could i introduce this top to some cute gray bottoms?  what is a good, intermediate-weight fabric that could be a great transitional piece?  i am thinking three-season wear on this one, and i love the idea of a good, versatile pair of shorts or culottes.

some thoughts on the projects in my head

so, i’ve been thinking – which obviously worries me right off the bat. since finishing and wearing my first official SWAP garment, the entire idea of my “collection” has sort of taken shape and evolved, almost without me even having to think about it.

which is, you know, awesome, because again, thinking = scary.

Source: absolutelymadness.net via Sarah on Pinterest

 

and, even more awesome, it feels like the appropriate direction for my ideas to take. it feels right, it combines a lot of things i have been wanting to try with a color palette i am thrilled about and some garments that i think are cohesive as a collection AND WEARABLE.

and yet, i pause. i worry. and i also sort of feel awesome, because it turns out my brilliant idea to instill my collection with a little hand-made derring-do is TOTALLY TRENDY.

Source: vogue.com.au via Devra on Pinterest

 

that’s right…it’s patchwork. and quilting. and screenprinting, and fabric dyeing. AND EVEN ALEXANDER MACQUEEN DID IT.

not to mention…did you see what chanel sent down the runway for s/s2013?

Source: coolspotters.com via Devra on Pinterest

denim.

Source: google.fr via Devra on Pinterest

 

seriously. i don’t know whether to be in awe at its awesomeness or terrified.

Source: nymag.com via Devra on Pinterest

 

i should mention that my real source of inspiration on this is going to be more jay mccarroll than karl lagerfeld. i was re-watching his first runway show a few weeks ago and the genius of his infusion of color and traditional patchwork (and other handmade, crafty techniques) into his fashion just bowled me over. so i went straight back to my alabama chanin books and tie-dyed fabric and started mixing them with my new collection of knits.

like, what about a jacket in a gorgeous deep purple with a flower motif peeking through in red?

Source: google.com via Devra on Pinterest

 

or a clean white t-shirt (or a tie-dyed one!) done alabama corset-style?

Source: alabamachanin.com via Devra on Pinterest

 

or a PATCHWORK SKIRT?!?!?!

Source: vanessajackman.blogspot.com via Devra on Pinterest

 

….what do you think?
crafty, or crazy?