Simple Modern Sewing

~ yep ~

Just made a linen wrap-around dress from Simple Modern Sewing, a Japanese sewing pattern book.

fluttering a bit...and then

Enlarged it tenfold - if you know anything about those teeny-tiny Japanese size patterns - raised the waistline to empire style, elongated the sleeves and made the hemline irregular.  The linen is wonderful in color, weight, drape, everything.

full dervish action shot.   whee!

Whoa, that was fun!

Besides my pink underslip and save-the-environment anklets, let me show you my dusty lavender shoes from you know where.  I just luv 'em.

ta-dah!

The color is a little off here, let's try another shot...

yeah, that's better

Nice, huh.  Well, wait 'til you see what's next...

Snow Suit and The Man

Started 9pm Saturday and hasn't stopped yet.  Snow.  And a Winter's Tale.

Snow Suit on the Porch

Snow Suit Descended a Staircase

Snow Suit in the Hood

Keep on going and you can see The Man...

Fashion and Cleaning: Work Out

Must break my cleaning schedule to visit with Patti and the Visibles.  You know that can't be missed, right?

 

~ wearing another of my December beauties ~

Attention! Dork!

This pattern is called Adele by Tina Givens and I am looking pretty dorky here.  But I do think my refurbished 1950s bow-tie on a bolero (she means bolo) looks cool.  And my Alice in Wonderland knee socks.  ooo and my dark red Trippens for $50 bucks on ebay.

Well I gotta get back to cleaning now...

It was sure nice seeing you all again!

You can hang around if you want and visit my Clothes for Winter page (which I finally updated) to see this dress and the velvet one up close and in detail.

I'm really making progress on my sewing studio massive mission impossible.  I did have to destroy a couple other rooms in the process, but I'll get to them some time...in the future.  I mean, I can't delay sewing forever already.

This just in:  Rhonda announced Me Made Mondays are back!  Hope on over and see what the sew sisters are up to.

And this too:  It's Sheila's Shoe Shine and I'm there.  Join us.

She Wore Blue Flannel

~ I am telling you... ~

all I need is a date for the Prom and I'm ready to go.  And maybe a wrist corsage.  Wanna see my dress?  Of course you do, right?  yeah.

ta-dah

The latest in flannel shirt re-creations:  just add tulle and old drapery scraps and some other stuff.

just can't keep still

Wearing pantaloons I made that you haven't seen yet, boots from you know where, and a necklace made from fabric and old jewelry bits.

a dramatic side slit

Wherein you can see the loverly drapery ruffle, the pantaloons pleats and my stone-colored lace-up boots.  woo-hoo.

attempt at back shot

Lettuce not forget the obligatory boot shot:

ok then.

This was so much fun to make.  You can see the blue flannel dress up close and in detail on my Clothes from Fall page if you want.  I've got two more that are waiting in the wings for their photos and a third in process.  Rolling, rolling, rolling...on over to Sheila's Shoe Shine.  Let's go!  And I'm ready to go for Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style.  See you there.
 

Flannel Shirts: Better Than Ever

~ song by leGoodLum ~

I'm on a new kick.  From recycled tablecloth dresses to rehabbed flannel shirts.  This is my second one.  The first one hasn't been photo'd yet.  I love flannel shirts, always have, but the problem is they just aren't very cool to wear anymore, now are they?  Well, wait until you see my new Flannelstein top!

a yellow plaid flannel shirt I had

with a silk brocade curtain given to me by a friend

 a leather bow with buckle from old sandals

scraps from my op-art stockings for collar, pocket flaps & center closure

It took a week to figure it out & put together.  Things you can't see very well in my blurry pix are the skirt pockets that came from the sleeves of another dress I made and the ruffled cuffs.  They were the border trim from an African print tablecloth-turned-dress.  You can see all the details clearly and up close on my Clothes for Fall page.

I'm wearing the Flannelstein top with an ombre gray to black dotted skirt (fabric given to me by a friend), gray & black houndstooth tights (given new in a swap), and my black leather/gray suede XOXO boot/shoes from e-bay.

Oh, here's some shoe shots...

looking down

looking askance

and sideways.

With that I'm ready to join the Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style and Shelia's Shoe Shine.  Then, tomorrow I'll be at Rhonda's Me Made Monday and Sacramento's Share-in-Style: Shoes.  Hope to see you all there!

I've Got a Beautiful Red Dress

And you'd look really good standing beside it.   Yeah, I love that song by Laurie Anderson.  Actually,  I love all her work and see her whenever she's in Chicago.  Speaking of being in Chicago, I saw the premiere of the Advanced Style movie on Friday with my girlfriends.  So fabulous.  But this isn't supposed to be about that, it's about the new red dress I made.

~ sewn from slinky, sheer, mesh knit ~

It was the devil incarnate, I tell ya.  The pattern I used was relatively simple, the fabric, however, was decidedly not.  Every inch was roundly cursed, repeatedly.  and then some.  Just sayin'.

more of my signature blurry pix

It was like sewing on semi-liquified jello.  Anyway, the back hem has elastic and the front has folds and tucks.  There are no shoulder seams, just 2 seams down the center front and back.  The fabric just pours down and over you like a liquid jello too.  2 holes are cut in the middle of the fabric for the sleeves to attach to.

nice drape job, huh?

I made a separate cowl because the one attached to the dress was just too skimpy and couldn't hold its own to all the hem action.  I think the beefier one works better...

here you can see how sheer it is

Which reminds me, I made a slip to wear with it  You can see it, and the pattern for the dress on my Clothes for Fall page.  I'm also going to slip on over to Rhonda's Me Made Monday while I'm at it.  Come on and check out what the sewistas have going on.  Oooo and Sheila's Shoe Shine, if I'm not to late...

David Bowie: Fashion Icon

~ You Know Who ~

~ Where? ~

~ Here!! ~

Yep, the only stop in the U.S. is in my backyard, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.  It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood too.

But the process was not unlike the airport.  Dated and timed tickets had to be purchased in advanced.  And must be picked up 1 hour prior to the time stamped.  You were not allowed to enter earlier, nor later, than your scheduled time.  When we arrived as instructed, there was no line anywhere and not too much of a crowd inside either.

I wore the accompanying headphones for the first time ever at a museum.  (I hate being told what to see).  But in this case I knew they'd just be piping in Bowie tunes, so yeah, let's do it.  Well...it didn't take long for me to "whisper" over the headphones to my true love that I was just not interested.  It was obvious he wasn't either.  We wandered around the perimeter of each darkened room, hearing blurps of Bowie tunes abruptly start and then fade off.  Then there were the usual curatorial pronouncements summarizing arbitrary concepts/phases/milestones of the artist's career in mile high typeset on each wall of each room.  These I always ignore.  (I don't like being told what/ how to think either).  yuck.

Seeing his costumes was sorta cool.  But without Bowie's moves and voguing, they really lose their glamor and look rather sad or silly.   They had his house keys there, I think that's what they were.  woo-hoo.  4 paintings of his, that was cool, but ony 4.  And a little book under Plexiglas that was opened to a page with his measurements written down for tailoring.  26 1/2 inch waist, oh my!

Perhaps the best part of the exhibition was at the end when you were emptied out into a big room which held the majority of his outfits and was surrounded on 3 walls, floor to ceiling, with speakers behind screens playing segments of him on stage.  It was like big you tube videos all playing at once, fading in and out, in the dark.   And one, no two, benches to sit on.  We stayed there until it repeated and made our way out.  To the cafe, of course.

If you've made it this far, do go on to see my Bowie ensemble in which I garnered 3 distinct compliments from people at the MCA.

Alienwear Makes Vogoff September Issue!

This just in!!!

Mz. Bagg, editor of VOGOFF, included my Retro Alienwear Look in this September issue of the infamous zine.

Read it, See it, Right NOW!

I'll wait.

Go on.

Be sure to check out the links to all the contributors' sites too.  Delicious stuff you know.  Take your time with that.  Dole it out for yourself as needed.  You don't want to...how do you say...O.D.?

With that message, and the zine out, I'd like to show you a few solo shots of my retro alienwear, if I may.

(after the break)

Yes, Yes, It's Another Tablecloth Dress

Oh dear, oh dear, I'm so behind in picture-taking.  And I found these pix already downloaded and edited, but not yet posted!  How did that happen?

Now posting tout de suite!

1

2

3!

How could I resist?  A gray and white with pink and red print trio of tablecloths.  I mean, we've got stripey things, checkerboards, flowers and big abstract shapes with flourishes going on here.

 

See what I mean? 

To see more, keep on going...

New Blue

Introducing the latest tablecloth dress (of my own invention)!

It's very symmetrical.

Yes, yes it is. 

But check out the graphics.  How could I do anything but?  It's a very sturdy linen with 2 shades of blue going at full strength.   With a number of holes too.  But, hey, no problemo.  Appliques to the rescue.

a blurry back view in a different colorway

For a surprise view, keep going...

I'm Not In Order Here...

showing my vintage white linen tablecloth dress,

with the split bell sleeves and scallop hem.

but does anybody really care?  If I jump out of line, that is, and post out of order.  No, I didn't think so.

le side view

This was a very large tablecloth given to me by my friend V, who once started, can't stop with the tc donations.  Fine with me, yessireee. 

front view showing inlay

This is the first tablecloth dress I've made that deviated from my series of using Marcy Tilton's French housedress pattern (1-6, with #6 not posted yet).  Being a very large cloth with this beautiful scroll inlay pattern in the center and scallop edging all around, I wanted to use it all.  So I made an ankle length, very simple a-line shift with bust darts and a scoop neckline.  It took several auditions of different styles before I got to these sleeves.  I'm still not totally sure about them, but that's what stayed.

nice and drapey

I added side seam pockets out of thinner white cotton and used 1/4 inch white seam binding (both from my stash) for the neckline.  The filmiest bit of I-don't-know-what ribbon/ gauze that's not quite white was used for ties on the sleeve openings.  That's about it.  I do like the way the scroll inlay goes down the sides and across on both the front and back.  You can see it better on my Clothes for Summer page along with more details.

and don't forget les shoes!

a look down at my blue sandals from ebay

+ close up side view - they zip up the back!

Now, to catch up with all the Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style.  Can't wait.  Come on over!  Oh, and Sheila's Shoe Shine too!  Hey, I'm dressed just right for Sacramento's Share-in-Style: White so let's join the party!  Check it out: all women wearing all white.  woo-hoo!