Back to the Flannel

~ ahaha ~

If you've been around Project Minima long enough, you've seen this before.  My rehabilitation of fav flannel shirts.

This one comes complete with a black suede buckled bow taken off my old sandals.  Nice.  And that silk brocade was given to me by a friend.  It's from curtains, I believe.

~ look at that, it's so warm out I don't need a coat! ~

I added cuffs from a tablecloth scrap leftover from that series of  French house dresses I made out of old tablecloths.  The pockets were short sleeves from a dress made along while ago.  And the pocket, collar and button placket were covered with stretch mesh leftover from my handmade tights.

~ hey! This is my house ~

A friend gave me the ombre, pleated, dotted fabric.  All I had to do was run a drawstring through the top and a skirt was born.  Tights, now stockings, were from a swaporama held by Style Agent 99 way back when.  I remember I swapped a gauze peasant blouse for 'em.

~ shoe shot ~

Shoes, as ever, from ebay.  Xoxo is the brand. 

~ the jewels ~

Those golden scarabs are dollar store plastic glow-in-the-dark bugs painted gold by moi.  Retro-fitted with gold-colored jump rings through their creepy crawly parts.  Red silk cord is threaded through and voila.  One bug is on a cord as necklace, the other is on a pin as broach  - to be arranged at will.


And now it's time to join the crowd of Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style before it's too late!!!  Also tune in for Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like party and Cherie's Shoe and Tell.  There's fun for all.

Bad Photos, Good Painting, Nice Enuff Dress

~ brown embellished corduroy dress with chiffon trim ~

I'm standing in front of one of my interior paintings from grad school, Bedroom Suite #2.  I had done a series of life-size oils of my apartment surroundings back then. 

~ here, the photo was so bad, I paintified it in photoshop ~

~ and with my Egyptian reversible coat ~

Here's what I'm wearing, Ladies:

• $ store reading glasses
• handmade necklace of ribbon, burnished/ hammered copper, and abalone shell
• corduroy dress handmade from Tina Givens Clara Kaftan pattern, modified
• reversible coat handmade from Koos van den Akker Vogue 2709 oop pattern, modified
• shoes/ boots from ebay

Linking up with 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 there!

My My My Myiake

I made it!  The Issey Miyake coat designed for Vogue patterns (1476) some 20 years ago.

~ Some things just get better with age, yeah? ~

I was so intimidated to even try it.  Plus it takes 5 yards of wide fabric.  And there's only 2 pattern pieces that don't resemble anything wearable.  

~ it looks exactly like the pattern picture ~

While it turned out to be a quick sew, it was quite the elaborate cut out.  I had to move out the chairs and table from the sewing room so I could work on the floor for this one.  I mean the one pattern piece was ginourmous - like 60" by a zillion I think.  And there was no way I could work that on my 3 x 5 foot table (I tried).

Gadding about on hands and knees from one end of the wooden floor to the other...now that was a whole 'nother adventure that I don't care to encounter again.

~ gadding about in style ~

The fabric I used was a dark gray double-sided fleece I bought at Fabricmart.com.  But it acted more like faux fur in it's shedding capacity while cutting it out.  shoo-wee.   It was extraordinarily soft and lightweight.  One side has longer napped fleece than the other, but both sides show in the design of the coat.

The big pockets are amazing.  I did raise them about 2 inches according to other people's reviews on the Pattern Review site.

~ dramatic bat back view ~

I also added wide elastic to the sleeve hem to bring it in a bit and not have it so accessible to the cold wind.  They're not tight on the wrist at all.  I didn't use the sleeve facings then.  I also didn't miter, top stitch, or hem anything because it was, after all, fleece and therefore, unnecessary.  That's why it was such a quick & easy sew.

~ whoa, the big reveal ~

Ladies, I'm also wearing:

• hat handmade by Viv X
• embellished fingerless gloves handmade by Elaine 
• embossed suede with satin trimmed vest handmade by moi
• chiffon print dress handmade from Tina Givens Adelle pattern
• herring bone sox from Sox Dreams
• golden Fluevogs from ebay

Seems this coats turns out to be one size fits all, more or less.  Just check out the pix after the break!

Cow Girls Line Up

~ wearing faux fur couture made by moi! ~

Yes, a good time was had by all at our annual holiday hand-made/second-hand gift exchange.  Including eating, drinking and being merry along with cats next to a real burning wood fireplace.  This is Chicago after all and it has been ccccoooolllldaah.

(This is also the cover of our upcoming album CD although we don't play any instruments.  Maybe it'll be all voice-related...oh, phew, I'm not in the picture.)

In case you can't tell, or just have to have more info, (from left to right) Elaine is modeling the cow cowl with elaborate frog closure and lined with deep purple satin.  Same stuff as the original cow coat, by the way.  In the middle, Sara is showcasing the cow spats or legwarmers that are adjustable by elastic loops and 1 1/4" purple buttons (5 on each spat).  They are lined with b&w zebra print flannel.  Last and certainly not least, Viv X is shouldering a cow purse lined in purple satin with a heavy duty reversible snap closing that is white on one side and black on the other.

While we're at it, Viv X is also wearing velvet pants she designed.   Made from a velvet painting she discovered at a thrift store.  Cool huh?


Well look at that.

~ 3 bag ladies ~

with accoutrements.

Let's pause here and reflect upon what we've seen...   ...   ...

Okay, I have to tell you we were all shocked to find all these pressies from Sara:  the starry cowls, the individualized ponchos and the gorgeously unique tote bags.  Sara doesn't sew.  And she did!!!  We were proud to line up and wear them all at once.  Here's to you SewSister!

And that's not all.  There were Sara made jewelry creations and other surprises for each of us.  Mine was the best of course.  A huge package of antique big ole buttons!!!



Well, we got so caught up in the actual event that our documentation fell to the wayside.  I'll catch you up with stills of the items next time.  Apologies Elaine, everyone.  I did read Sewing Machine Secrets from cover to cover the next day.

Oh, wait.   I do have one blurry photo of me wearing Viv X's hand-made bag...

~ oh yeah ~

and with this I'm eligible to join the Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style and even Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like party.  No shoe and tell link up for me this time...

Top 10 Titles for this Post

#10.  Trending for 2016:  Flannel Flocking For the Masses
#  9.  Celebs Signature Flannels on Parade
#  8.  Flannel Favs & Style Tips for 40+ers
#  7.  7 Ways to Flaunt Your Flannel Finesse
#  6.  Flannel for Every Shape & Size - Including Yours!
#  5.  The Secret Life of Flannel
#  4.  Flannel Goes Beyond the Bedroom and Out of the Woods
#  3.  Cover Me With Flannel, Baby
#  2.  Flannel is So Non-Genderized
The #1. Title for this Post is ..................................

 FLANNEL FROCKS, man.

Well, that just about wiped me out.  I might have to do a part two for the actual post...I guess you already have an idea of what it's about.

Okay, here's a pix to tide you over.  

~ Me and My Cat Rockin' ~

Okay, I'm back.  It's a new day.  Let's do this thing.

~ Flannel button-down dress made from ancient Butterick pattern 4629 ~

~ 14 lovely yellow wooden buttons were used in the creation of this dress ~

My New Viking Sewing Machine is most excellent at making buttonholes automatically and can even sew on the buttons!  la-de-dah.

~ socks from Sox Dreams, shoes refashioned by moi, originally from ebay ~

Now I'm ready to join Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style!  Cherie at Shoe and Tell.  And Catherine at I'll Wear What I Like.  yeah.