Wine/ Burgundy Transformation

painting by Salvadore Dali

Found a boring old linen-esque, wine-colored jacket with a matching long skirt in my closet the other day and thought, what's to lose?  Well...it didn't fit anyway.

So first I worked with the skirt. It had a waistband, a zipper in the back and a kick slit on one side.  hmm.  I seam-ripped both side seams thinking I'd add inserts.  Found some fabric scrap that was similar in texture but a little silkier to the touch and a shade off from wine, maybe burgundy?  The piece already had really nice frayed edges so I decided to use them, I mean, why not?  It was a bit wider than I was planning on, but wotheheck.

An Accidental Turtle Neck

photo by Cubist Literature

Actually plenty of them and just in time for winter in Chicago.

Previously, I had cut many of my old tights into stockings (hence all the garter belts) since they no longer fit.  And I saved all the top portions (because that's what I do).

Then one cold day, I suddenly realized they

Black Holes

artwork by Anselm Kiefer

Long underwear time.  But the sheer black silk kind.  And mine had a few teeny, tiny holes in the top.  So I cut out some small rosettes from a scrap of black lace I had on hand, and fabric glued them in place.

Note to self:  next time hand sew them on since the glue makes it a little stiff on such fine fabric.

But it still worked as the largest florette was only the size of a nickel...

The Golden Section

Indian Miniature, Muhammad Afzal artist,
Freer & Sackler Galleries

And now...the golden ruffled tunic re-fit.  Had to cut off the long sleeves to use the fabric for side inserts and bottom ruffle extension.  I was originally going to just use another fabric, but nothing seemed to click with it.  Turned out one of the sleeves had a water stain and I had to work around that too.  As it was, I had barely enough to make do, using seam binding for a hem and also to attach the ruffle to the tunic.

I just love those buttons.  They're really substantial, so I added more interfacing under the facing and resewed the buttons on with anchor buttons behind them.  I'm still not sure about the short sleeves though...maybe I'll do something else with it down the line.  Meanwhile I have worn it layered over a black silk long underware top and paired with those gaucho pants I re-modeled recently...

State of Project Minima II

artwork by Louise Tidd

6-month status report on Project Minima:    Approximately 65 pieces completed.  Joined Refashion Coop, contributing twice a month since October.  Starting Sewing Rebellion Chicago Chapter in January, to meet monthly.  Re-organized work space.  Received 2 sewing/ design books:  I Am Cute Dresses by Sato Watanabe and Design-It-Yourself Clothes by Cal Patch, pouring over them constantly.