Day 25 MMM'19: Let's Clash Again...

Like We Did Last Summer

~ no sitting around being a wall flower ~

Yeah, Get up, Stand up, Stand up for your Rights!

~ are you with me on this? ~

~ Now let's make it happen, people! ~

And speaking of clothes (or letting clothes speak for you), the dress is ancient history, remade a decade or so ago to retro-fit with the addition of hot pink paisley.

The necklace is made from fabric scraps (from that batik elephant dress) with a close-up here.

~ Neon rainbow fishnets from Sock Dreams and Mary Jane Docs from ebay ~ 

What a nice day out, a Bob Marley kind of day...

I do believe I'm full of flowers so I simply must dash on over to Spy Girl's Flowers for May link-up.  Do come and see us all.

Day 23 MMM'19: And Now for Something...

...Completely Weird 

~ Am I right? ~

~ No matter what the pose... ~

 It still reads weird.

~ yep ~

This was something I whipped up today to wear with something else.  And, of course, it didn't work out.  But it also didn't work by itself.  So rather than waste all that effort, I thought why not go over-the-top, whack-a-doodle weird. 

~ So here I am ~

If you want the info, I used some stretch mesh I had in stash and New Look pattern 6533.  It didn't look like this on the model - lower waist and not nearly so loose and wide.

I traced off the helmet hat I bought from Secret Lentil to make my own raw canvas one.  Haven't decided on a dye job yet.

Pants I've had forever.  They were called crochet beach cover up pants, I believe.

Oh, the stockings are the cutest things.  They're little lace footies with long elastic straps that you wrap around and around your legs and tie.  Perfect for see through pants, I might add.

~ paired with Jeffrey Campell silver flatforms from ebay ~

I'll be linking up with Judith's Hat Attack! for this one.  Come on by, won't you?

Until later,

Do I Look Like I'm...

on MeMadeMay'18, Day 22

a) goth?

b) in a nunnery?

c) dressed for Halloween?

d)  in my jammies?

e)  just odd?

f)  all of the above?

g) or???

~ I'll turn around while you decide ~

~ okay, no peeking ~

And I'll tell you about what I'm wearing.  The over dress is made in gauze and is from Katherine Tilton's Vogue 8834 top pattern.  What interested me was how it opens on a diagonal, so when I elongated it into a dress, it was extreme.  I also used snap tape rather than zillions of buttons and button holes.  The underdress I showed a few posts ago.  It's a linen tablecloth that I self-drafted.  I'm still trying to find something to wear with it.  I think this works the best so far, but it is rather dramatic.

~ the snaps! ~

Yeah, I'm not just showing off my shoes here.  And they're not even the same one's I wore  yesterday.  They're more of a Mary Jane type, but I'm wearing weird wrap-around-and-tie socks that make them look otherwise.

~nice Trippen Happy Blank shoes from ebay ~

And now it's your turn to participate.  I can't wait to hear what you have to say.  eek!

Me Made May'18, Day #1

~ head to toe in silver gray ~

I made both these items earlier in the year, but never got them photo-ed.  So now is the time.  gah.  Imagine me taking pix and blogging every day this month!  Let's not mention that I only posted once in April.  

Well, the dress was a quick make from New Look 6525.  I made it twice, the other view is here.  This one is an even softer, thinner knit than the other.

~ my bug hat ~

I used McCall's 7519 hat pattern view C to get it going, modifying as I went.  The fabric is fleece, so very easy to sew.  And I just so happened to have a smidgen of silver netting for the veil.  Poifect, if I do say so myself.

~ creation ~

An apropos pin from a zillion years ago...

Last but not least, my Cylon sox, and Jeffrey Cambell silver oxfords (which I'm sure they wear together).

~ el ebay shoes ~

With that I'm finally getting my act together to join Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style, Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like, Cherie's Shoe & Tell, Spy Girl's Polka Dots (do you think this can squeeze by?) and of course, MeMadeMay'18 (or my MeMadeMay page on the blog).  phew.  Oh, oh, and Judith's Hat Attack!

From Flop to Frippery

By way of a Tina Givens Meri dress pattern, no doubt.  You'll never know the places you'll go when diving into one of these adventures.

~ But I never thought I'd end up here! ~

Oh my.  You wouldn't either if you checked out the pattern picture.  But then again, if you've worked with these patterns, you probably know modifications, alterations and (for me) way out remedies are the name of the game.  Which is kind of why I like them.

~ I'm feel so liberated now ~

I started out with the least favorite fabric I had on hand in case it turns out to be a dud.  This is a double border ITY knit, of all things.   I try to figure out what size to use, but sometimes its rather difficult to do based on the pattern pieces when they're not consistent.  This dress used one piece from center front to center back.  In other words, there's no side seams.

~ just hanging out here ~

Shoulder seams didn't line up, the usual stuff.  I took up the shoulder seams 4 inches on each side because both the underarms and the neckline were soooo low.   The pattern photograph shows a high neckline.  So much for that.

~ another ready for take-off picture ~

It was supposed to be sleeveless, but since the armholes were wonky, I decided to use the leftover angled pieces as sleeves.  They were already perfectly cut for kimono sleeves.  So voila, on they went.  That was a surprise.  Now I had a tribal kaftan, kimono-esque dress.

I'm starting to like this thing.  It just needs something for that weird neckline, plus I don't like the way the center front flares out with excess fabric.  hmmm.

~ cruising ~

After a couple false starts on necklines, I found two long narrow triangular scraps of the fabric that fit together perfectly to form a neckline with ties.  I attached it like you would a bias binding and then finagled a way to sew the tie ends inside out, yada, yada, yada.  So there we are.

This thing is so much fun to wear, especially on a breezy day.  It's like instant drama.

And wouldn't ya know it.  I had the perfect shoes to wear with it.

~ screaming orange and magenta XOXO shoes from ebay ~

I'll be joining Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style (finally), Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like and Cherie's Shoe and Tell when they all go live.  Hope to see you there.

Rusty Maroon, I presume

~ the color of my latest version of the Serena dress ~

The same as the Tina Givens Serena pattern that I modified in navy jersey and linen seen in my last post.

~ scarlet-fied by hitting one of those alteration buttons in photoshop ~

~ but this is more true to color ~

What a difference a change of fabrics makes in a dress.  Even though it's the same type of fabric with the same modifications to the pattern - whoa, this baby had different needs.

Again using only what I had on hand, the jersey was a lighter weight, heathered, brick red/black jersey with lycra and the linen was a heavier-weight, rough marsala linen with horizontal dark script in French.  I put them together based on color, but it was the difference in weight that made for some interesting construction dynamics.

~ see the horizontal heathered lines combined with the horizontal script ~

And the uni-suspender.  That heavy-weight linen pulled that light-weight stretchy jersey way, way down south.  I found that floral bit from a kimono tie I had previously sewn up, added button holes and used it to hold up the skirt portion.  I even found two perfect buttons in my stash.   The bit of horizontal stitching you see to left is some boro-esque play on the center back flap I was experimenting with...

~ ready for take off ~

I also had to raise the waistline under the arm area and raise the shoulder area to accommodate for all the downward stretching.  So there's little tucks and folds and boro here and there.



But how about those socks?

~ and good ole Trippens from ebay ~

And now it's time to celebrate with Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style, Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like, and Cheri's Shoe and Tell.  Hope to see you there!

Watching The Total Eclipse Dress

~ Oh yeah ~

I made the dress 'special for some moon event and finished it just in time.  Of course I couldn't really watch it with my sunglasses on.  So this is just a reenactment.

~ yep, I had to look away ~

But let me tell you about this dress.  What a process.  I had made the pattern before - Marcy Tilton, V8876 and really liked how it turned out.  You can see that make here.  So when I got the phases of the moon fabric, I thought no problemo.

~ it's still got the bones ~

But this fabric behaved so differently than the other.  And for some reason it ended up really large, even though I made it the same size!  I had also carefully finished all the umpteen zillion seams, along with putting in a jumbo two-way zipper down the center front.

I tried putting in the lightest weight tissue linen for sleeves and the bottom border, but that didn't seem to help much.

So I carefully ripped out untold teeny stitches to remove that honking zipper.

~ groovy leather belt-let ~

In the end, I decided to wrap the dress over by 4 inches or so and added a leather buckle strap from a gone-to-toast pair of sandals.  I found some moon-sized buttons in my stash and the rest, as they say, is history.



I made the organza pants in the beginning days of Project Minima.  They continued off of yoga shorts.


And I made the Japanese tabi socks from a pattern, more or less, by Folkwear.
I used stretch mesh fabric for the sock with non-slip gripper fabric for soles and snap tape as the fasteners.

~ geta shoes from ebay ~

And now I'm rushing on over to Patti and the Visibles of Not Dead Yet Style fame.  Then Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like, and Cheri's Shoe and Tell.  Come on by.

Bug Fest Dress

And July's the season for it.

~ I made the stockings too! ~

~ they're still digging up the street for the gas leak ~

~ yeah ~

Meanwhile, the dress is from Tina Givens Lainey pattern which comes with pantaloons that I made but didn't end up wearing today.

~ bloomers ~

~ pleats ~

~ pocket ~

I did make a few modifications to the dress:  I use my own sleeve pattern for any set-in sleeves on TG makes; made two pockets rather than one; remade the pocket flap to follow the arc of the dress seam; and enlarged the neckline opening.

~ tie key-hole back ~

~ buttoned pocket flat ~

And saving the best for last...my mesh net stockings using McCalls costume pattern 7397

~ front view ~

~ and back ~

They were very easy to make.  Instructions are clear.  After I cut out the pattern, I pinned them up and tried them on inside out, fitting them tighter as needed.   Carefully slid them off and sewed them up.  Trimmed the seams.  I didn't put elastic at the top, but used garters instead.  I think it would be fun to make funky ankle socks too.

The sandals are ancient from T.J. Max, I believe.  Perfect for showing off one's sox.

If I'm not too late I'll be joining up with the usual suspects:  Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style, Catherine at I Will Wear What I Like and Cherie's Shoe and Tell.   Hope to see you all there!

It's About Time

... I came From Out of the Blue

~ it was a cold and dreary day ~

~ but I stood out up to it ~

~ in all Blue, Bay-bee ~

Yeah, well here's some more.

~ now in Black and Blue for a cold, whilst sunny, day ~

~ to do some stealth book borrowing ~

~ I say, isn't that the Tardis? ~

~ unwrapped for brunch ~

~ showing Black and Blue shoes and sox ~

And then some:

~ on yet another day, inside ~

~ with more blue and black shoes and sox ~

 Oh, oh, but look what just came in the mail...

~ Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, Doc Marten Boots from ebay!! ~

oh. my.

The details:  

• The blue monstrosity is made from a Vogue Issey Miyake pattern 2128 that I enlarged way too much.  Plus it's made out of double knit, which is what it suggested, but no.  yuck.  
• The  BBD (big black dress) is from a free pattern off the internet which also recommended a knit.  I had some black from a mystery bundle and used it.  I added the blue parts (scraps from the Miyake) and also made it a few inches longer. 
• In the first ensemble I'm wearing my fingerless gloves made a la Alabama Chanin.
• All boots/ shoes are from ebay.
• All sox are from sockdreams.

More to come another day.  I've been sewing up a storm, I tell you.