"Interesting Outfit You Have On There"

... said a man as I walked into the elevator. 

~ uhuh ~

I laughed and turned around.

~ kinda like so ~

~ but my initial response was this...~

~ yeah bay-bee, and I have super powers too! ~

I wish.  Meanwhile, this is my second make of the Thai Coat by the Sewing Workshop Collection patterns. It is out of print, but is still available through ebay, etsy, etc.  I made it with an unusual double-sided stretch denim fabric - as you can see.

~ back scrap patch ~

It's very quick to make, especially if you don't follow all the directions.  Primarily, it's all folded over hems with mitered edges.  I did not use either of the double neck facings.  They seemed completely unnecessary and just otherwise followed the instructions for a kimono-like collar folding into the front lapels.  I also cut the front right and left panels as two separate pieces with a 4" seam up the back collar area, rather than cut it as one huge front panel with no back collar seam.  A huge unnecessary waste of fabric, in my opinion, for no aesthetic or design favor.  Eliminated the gigantic sleeve facing which was difficult to maneuver and again unnecessary.  Just turned over twice and hemmed sleeves.  Cut overall length at smallest size which was plenty long enough on my 5'5" frame.  Made it one size smaller than I would usually overall.  But the armholes for the sleeves were very low.  I raised them up by 2 inches and if made again would raise them again by 2".   They are still quite huge and I don't have skinny arms, that's for sure.

It flows beautifully as you walk and would look great in any number of fabrics from heavy to light.  As long as they are delicious on both sides.

~ dress print on your left side, coat print on the right ~

I'm wearing it with a double-sided fused knit I made awhile ago, also from a Sewing Workshop Collection pattern that I massively reinvented, the Bristol Dress.

~ grainy photoshopped look ~

~ and au natural ~

Check out those sox.  I couldn't believe I matched up everywhere!   The sox were leggings long ago and cut off as they became too small.  Then I sewed up the toes to make over-the-knee sox worn with garters.  voila.

~ and the ebay Vivienne, Trippens ~

I finally got some Cherry Red Doc Martens shoe polish and took care of these babies, the Docs, some boots, and wowser.

Trippen on over to Patti & the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style even while she's celebrating in NYC.  Then Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like and Cherie's Shoe and Tell when they all go live.  See you there!

Arrest Me Red Moto Jacket

~ with my granny dress ~

I'm in my True Love's studio in front of his many works in progress.  A fabulous backdrop for my RED faux moto jacket, wouldn't you say?    The jacket is made from Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8795 with a few modifications.   I just added zippered pockets and lengthened it by several inches.

 

~ and now I'm swinging it ~

in the school playground a few doors down from my house.  You know, where I was standing at the Girl's Entrance the other day...

~ looking good unzipped too ~

They have that weird-o shredded tire rubber ground covering so no kid gets hurt.  

And you bounce when you walk across it, like doink-a-doink-a-doink, yeah.

~ while the ole Docs always look groovy ~

Off to Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style, then Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like and Cherie's Shoe and Tell when they go live.   Hope to see you there!

Fearless Farking Fashion, hmmm.

~ Chicago Girl is Here to Save the Day ~

Yeah.  From Farkless Fashion.

~ Chicago Girl after A Good Day's Work ~

of Fearlessly Farking Fashion From Her to Eternity and Back, with never-ending bravissima beamed directly and otherwise from Miz Baggs and/or Melanie among others who have not been named.  Like Shelley of Forest City Fashionista and her list of the Great 8.

~ You know who you are ~

But hey, there's way more than 8 Great Ones, right?    Do show and tell!  Patti's Not Dead Yet Style is a very good place to do it.  That's just where I started.  And who knows the places you'll go...

~ like leaving the geese behind ~

~ they only cross the road in single file ~

And you cannot interrupt them.

~ when I followed behind, they got all discombobulated ~

~ so yeah, that's the Chicago Skyline in the mist ~

It's about a 15 minute drive from here or so.  I'm at Montrose Harbor now which is a straight shot East of school, about 5 minutes.

~ and this is Lake Michigan and my newly made coat  ~

from DKNY Vogue 1074 .  It took a long time for me to construct.   You can read about it in excruciating detail on my Sewing Daily page if you want.   I do like the fabrics used and how it turned out.

~ hi ~

Chicago has open lakefront all along the city which is really wonderful.  Some areas are like this, others have harbors with sailboats, beaches and parks.

~ no swimming.  no kidding. ~

~ Hey, who's that bird on the Nature Trail? ~

Find out more details...

Liking Some Baggy Pants, Are Ye?

Har, har, har.  Then see 'em here.

~ That be them, alrighty ~

~ and that be me standing at the Girls Entrance ~

just down the street from my house going in the other direction.  And this is a public school.  Hopefully they don't use the entrances as designated anymore.   But it is where we vote, conveniently.

~ Notice the silk dupioni? ~

Let me tell you the pants story.  First off, you'll never believe the pattern I used.  Sandra Betzina Vogue 1355!  Hardy har har.  I wanted real harem pants.  So using her pattern, I cut a larger size, especially since I was using the silk and she called for a stretch fabric.  I basically shortened and lengthened them.  huh? you say.  Well, I kept the crotch where it was, but raised the waistline to 19" tall and by the same token, shorten the leg length to 18".  I adjusted it using the shorten/lengthen line on the pattern.  That way I got the nice dropped crotch that I wanted and the drapey-ness, but still had the narrow ankle.  woo-hoo.

~ le detail ~

I had just a yard or less left of the antique gold dupioni, so I thought I'd make a crop top and then see what I could do about it after the fact.  This is one of those items where you just fold the fabric in half lengthwise and then again widthwise and cut a tunic out of it.  I sewed it up and left the hem edges raw.  The sleeve edges were the selvedges.  Added seam binding with raw edges for the neckline.  I had 4 rectangular scraps left and added them on the center front and back of the crop top.  Voila.

Oh, and the necklace is made from scrap strips of striped color jersey, then tied in big knots.

~ avec crochet beading ~

The top underneath is one I've refashioned several times over, but I thought it worked just fine with the silk 'pants suit.'

~ and ebay Trippens ~

Without further adieu, I'm sailing on over to Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style.  Then Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like and Cherie's Shoe and Tell when they go live.  Hope to see you there.

A Very Blush, Raw, Plain, Silk Dress

And I've got the pix to prove it.

 

.

~ ta-dah! ~

I'm standing under the branches of a huge pine tree in the church yard down the street from my house.   Yes, another church, another block away. 

~ with a newly painted really red door ~

It's very old fashioned looking, with its white picket fence, wishing well and fellowship hall.

~ but do let me tell you what I'm wearing ~

I made a dress out of silk dupioni.  I really like the stuff.  It reminds me of linen in that you can wash and dry it and it gets softer and frays so beautifully.  I even left the raveling as it was for the hem of the dress.   I like the wrinkles and the texture and the weight of it.  I was able to get several (I mean several) different colorways at a really good price and I can't wait to sew them all up.

I started out using Tina Givens Mila Dress pattern, making modifications.  No ruffles, no patches, lengthened skirt, removed dip from waistline and raised it to empire, pleated instead of gathered the skirt, no buttons and loops except for the very top one, and no binding/gathering for sleeve hems.



Here's some close-ups of the details:

~ bodice hand-stitched closed with little x's and +'s ~

And I used the silk threads from the fabric to sew them.  The raw bodice edge is zigzag stitched by machine over the pleated skirt section.


Sorry the color isn't accurate on these close-ups and this one is even blurry.  Those photographers, you can't tell them anything...shhhh. 

~ that's how much it frayed naturally from washing and drying ~

You can't really see it here, but I did a machine zigzag around the perimeter to keep it from raveling any further.   Then, using the silk thread from the fabric, I made a stitch and knotted it every few inches to make a sort of scallop along the hem to keep the fringe in check.

~ and finally, the ebay shoes from awhile back ~

Oh, oh.  I have an extra credit photo for those that asked...