Design Challenge

Way back in July or so I was asked to participate in a Design Competition being held during the Education of the Textile Arts in California (ETAC) being sponsored by Peggy Sagers of Silhouettes Patterns. I agreed knowing I had plenty of time and went to work on the story board for my designs. Here is the scenario for this competition:

You are attending a high school reunion a little over three months from now. You are flying on a commercial airline to the reunion and only one carry-on bag allowed so all outfits must fit into the one carry-on bag. You will need three outfits and no one outfit can be repeated. These are the three events that you are going to attend.
First day - Friday night get-together/mixer.
Second day afternoon - “Memory Lane” photo shoot
(must dress in the clothing style of the year you graduated.)
Second evening - Big Outdoor Dance/Dinner

Rules I had to incorporate:
1. One item you make from the fabrics must be visibly worn at all three events.
2. One item must be reversible.
3. Some of all the fabrics must be used.
4. An additional $25 can be spent and will be reimbursed for anything purchased such as additional buttons, fabrics, etc.
5. All outfits must fit into the carry-on bag.
6. Patterns are free and unlimited from any one of the sponsors and ordered through the designer.
Those patterns ordered must be used in the challenge. No other patterns may be used.
7. No additional fabric from personal stash allowed. Any notions may be used from your personal stash. Only an additional $25 can be spent on anything you need. (see #4)

The patterns must be selected from either  LJ Designs - Lyla Messinger,  Barb's Originals, Barb Callahan, or Silhouette Patterns, Peggy Sagers. Working within this limited pattern selection was a minor challenge. I think I did pretty well picking out patterns that fit the scenerio and my body shape. I've never had much luck with Peggy's patterns, but most of my selections came from her pattern line. I picked two patterns from Lyla and none from Barb's patterns. I suppose I could have selected a purse pattern, but none of them appealed to me.

The fabric that was sent were some pretty horrible stuff. The first fabrics sent included a cotton/lycra border print, a white cotton pique, a dark orange stretch lace, and a black knit with a silver snake skin print. Later I was sent a blue/gray polyester gaberdine fabric and I had my choice of color of silk dupioni. I chose a dark red for my silk.

Oh, and did I mention? The ETAC Conference is this coming weekend. Instead of working on my garments for this event, I made a costume. Either I'm crazy, or else I LIKE working under pressure, probably a bit of both. Anyway you look at it, I'm a BIG procrastinator.

So far I've got the tank top, one skirt, the dress, and a vest cut out. Tonight and tomorrow I plan to get all these pieces sewn and the muslin for the jacket sew up and alterations done. I also need to finish the muslin for the second skirt. I'm really hoping that it won't need any alterations. Stay tuned as I'll be posting my progress every night on my blog. I really need all the encouragement and prayers I can get.

What's Up Next?

The Ninja Girl is done. I really enjoyed spending quality time with my Niece. I didn't enjoy sewing the costume. Stacy is my twin sister's daughter and is now living with her mom a few miles away. When she was 5 years old, they moved 500 miles away to Tucson, AZ. Luckily it's close enough that we got to visit a few times a year. I love having her back. So now you know why I worked on this costume when I have a very large deadline pressing down on me. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm going to share all about my next project and the deadline with you in the next post. Stay tuned!

The costume is meant to be a character named Akali from the video game, League of Legends. I've never heard of it, but she's a video game geek and plays it all the time. She attended Comic-Con in New York this weekend and said that over 200 people asked her if they could take her picture including a local paper and the company that produces the video game.

To make this costume, I was forced to called upon my pattern making skills. I used a Kwik Sew Tank suit and a leggings pattern. I also used Silhouettes Yoga skirt pattern to complete the look. Stacey made the patterns for the armor and I made them up using Peltex between to layers of polyester gaberdine. I used some gold gimp trim and gold thread satin stitched around many of the items. To make the belt for her very curvy figure, I draped muslin around her, pinned it to fit her contours and then drew the belt on. I'm so glad I did this because it fits her so nicely and lays against her body perfectly. I probably have 40-50 hours into this thing, which includes making patterns and muslins of the suit, the stockings and the gloves.

To make the face mask, I traced her face and created a pattern. I'm very impressed on how this part of the costume came out since I had no idea what I was doing. For the forehead piece, she drew on her face and then pressed paper onto her forehead to create a pattern. She bought hair extensions and fake bangs to add to the look, including anime large-eye green contact lenses. My sister made her weapons. They were tricky because she had to be able to get on an airplane with them. I've got to remember to say NO next time I'm asked to do anything with a deadline.

ASG Sew-In

Instead of starting my BIG PROJECT on Saturday, I attended the ASG-LA Sew-In. In a I-Don't-Know-What-I-Was-Thinking moment, I volunteered to teach the beginner's class. While I expected three students, only one came.

It wasn't a total waste of time because I got a chance to make this cool tote bag from sueded pleather. I love the trim, which was from a small scrap of fabric that has a striped print. I'm not sure you would have been able to see the pocket without the trim. This tote pattern is what I start all my beginning students with. It gives them many different techniques to begin with and they usually have a completed item to take home with them.

Now to get started on my project, which will include six different garments to be completed by Friday. Yikes!

Nearly A Ninja

My niece Stacey and I spent the entire afternoon and evening working on her costume. I cut out my pattern and got the suit to a place where she can try it on while she worked on the armor pieces. In the photos, the suit is mostly done with the straps just basted on. The elastic needs to be stitched down on the underarm band and there isn't any elastic around the legs yet. Also, only one stocking has elastic around the top, and it hasn't been topstitched down yet.

I'm going to have to adjust the shoulder straps, but for the most part, I'm pretty happy with it. We both wish the side opening was larger, just a bit more side breast showing and lower too. After all, the character is supposed to be much more scantily clad. It was hard to see just how large to cut away to get a good sized hole. The mock-up fabric I used was a poly/lycra and this one is a nylon lycra, which has less stretch. 

I think I really like how modest it's turning out to be. We need to cover some shoes and get the skirt made. I also have to make some type of long glove without fingers. That'll be my job this weekend. I'm going to San Diego in the morning, so I might get some work done tomorrow night. I'm really hoping I don't get much sub work this week so I can stay at home and sew.

I'm still pondering how to put the trim on. We bought some stretch metallic gold fabric today, and I may just add strips of that on top of the folded down elastic. I'll baste some on first to see how I like it and if it will stretch enough for her to put the costume on.

She leaves on Thursday for New York. I hope she has a great time at Comicon. I also hope she never asks for me to sew for her again. It's too nerve wracking sewing for others, especially under such a tight schedule. I don't know how you ladies who sew for a living do it.

Making Progress Slowly

Today my niece let me know that her plane leaves for New York on October 13 so I don't have much time to get this project finished. My goal is to have it completed by Friday so I can move on to other things I need to be working on.

So far I've completed the changes I needed to make to the pattern. I made up a muslin of a KS tank swimsuit and while she was wearing it, I marked where I needed to put seams. Just when I was wondering how to make the square neckline on the suit, someone on patternreview.com asked the very same question. The answer was to put in seams. I'd get started on the suit if I had some 1/4" knit elastic.

I did a sample stitchout of a knit with elastic sewn around a square cut-out to see if I could avoid the seams, but I got rounded corners instead of a square. When I tried to miter the corners by sewing the corners of the elastic, I wasn't happy with the results. I'm so glad I did the sample, it really helped me plan out my pattern. I want a rounded edge where I left a notch in the pattern but I put seams where I absolutely wanted the suit to be squared off. I sure hope I can figure out where to put the elastic when I sew it together.

These are the fabrics we picked out when we went to Michael Levine's in downtown LA a week ago. They match better than they look in the photo. The fabric on the right is a swimsuit nylon lycra and the one on the left is a ponte de roma, not the nice double knit but the kind cheerleader outfits and tablecloths are made from. That one will be used for the armor. I think I'll sandwich it around a layer of peltex to give it the stiffness it needs and then use the fold-over elastic around the edges to hide the peltex. The gold gimp trim will work on the armor and I'll probably just hand sew it to the suit once she has it on. I like the idea of making a belt attached with hooks. Thanks to Caroline and Trina for those good ideas. 

I've decided to use Silhouette's Yoga Skirt to make the skirt. I don't have many patterns in her little size and I think this one will work out perfectly. She wanted it to be twirly and this one is much more a-line than the back of the pattern shows. I'll just cut a shape out of the side of each pattern piece so that it only hangs in the center front and center back. I hope we bought enough of the gimp to go around the edges of the skirt and the armor. 

I will be using the fold-over elastic to go around the thigh high sock to keep it up and around the fingerless gloves and the face mask. Does anyone have any ideas how to make the face mask part? I'm open to all ideas at this point. I may just trace the shadow of her face in profile and create a pattern from that with a seam down the center. I'm hoping this goes together very quickly. I hate sewing for others and I'm not enjoying this very much. However, I can't wait to see how cute she'll be in this costume. I know it'll look fantastic on her.

Good Thing I Love Her

My niece has asked me to sew a costume for her to wear at Comicon being held in New York next month. Yes, in a couple of weeks. I'm also in the middle of sewing for a design competition for Peggy Sager's ETAC event next month. I don't have time to make this costume. However, I love her so I said yes.

I'm starting out with a pattern from the Kwik Sew Bathing Suit Master Book and traced the leg portion of a Kwik Sew leggings pattern and added a toe. I sewed it up in a knit to test the fit, so now I have to alter the swimsuit pattern to have the straps and then make a skirt and belt. She has a cute young body so yes, it will be cut that close to her breast. Oh, to be in my 20's again.

I'm not sure why I always put myself under such time restraints. But then again, I always do my best work under pressure.

Does anyone know of a gold trim I could use on the suit and skirt that would stretch with the nylon lycra I'm making them out of? We bought gold braid and that will be good on the armor since we're using a ponte roma poly fabric stiffened with peltec. The gold braid won't stretch, however. I'm sort of stuck on how to handle that part of this costume. Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.

Blog Facelift

Since it's been forever since I last blogged regularly, I decided to give my blog a new look. It took me hours to get something that I wasn't embarrassed about, but I'm still not liking it. I wish I wasn't such a computer dummy so that I could figure things out. You'd think that my computer programmer husband would help me with projects like this. No. However, in his defense when my hard drive decided to stop booting up a couple of weeks ago, he did buy me a new one and figured out a way to transfer all my files from the old one onto my new one. I'm still having to load lots of programs and plug-ins, but that I can do. Anyway, I think there is way too much of that bright green in my blog, but haven't figured out a way to change it since it's part of the template and isn't allowing me the option of a different color in some areas. I'll figure it out, just not tonight.

As far as my plans to sew all summer so I'd have a great new wardrobe when school started, well I really didn't sew much at all. I spent such a fun summer doing some traveling to close by destinations like Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and Santa Barbara. I also got together a lot with my other teacher friends. We went to museums, shopping, and even to a concerts at the beach. But what I did most of all was go out to eat. Which led to weight gain. Which led to needing new clothes, which led to me finding lots of thrift stores that sells practically brand new plus sized clothes.

A few weeks ago I went shopping at JoAnn's and found some fabric that I loved. Now you know that doesn't happen very often and I had a few dollars in my wallet so I bought them. One of them was this sort of crepe/silky fabric with a very interesting border print. I loved the colors and the challenge to use the border in an interesting way.

This is what I came up with. The pattern is Burda 7807 which I've had stashed for quite awhile. Mine is going to be sleeveless and collarless. I don't mind that it doesn't have sleeves since I think a green crocheted shrug that I already own will look great with the dress. I'm dragging my feet getting this one finished because I can't decide if I want to fully line it or just the yoke, like the pattern tells you to. Also, the fabric I cut for the facing shrank horribly even before I got a chance to sew it onto the neckline. Thank goodness that didn't happen after the facing was attached. Anyway, this dress is on my short list of things to get done.

 I'm also making some muslins out of a few of Peggy Sager's patterns. This top is made from stretch lace and it's my version of Silhouettes #615--Cathy's Blouse. I'm really happy with the fit right out of the envelope. I didn't make any changes at all and I don't think I will on the final version either. This one is definitely wearable, just not with leggings and turquoise sandals.

One more thing, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who comes here to read my blog. So many of you have let me know that you missed my blog while I was off doing other stuff.  Sewing friends are the very best there is. Oh, and if you missed it, be sure to check out the previous post, it's the tutorial for my floral appliqued top that I promised my readers way back in March. Enjoy and don't forget to leave me a comment. I love to read each and every one.

EDITED: Thank you to those who left me comments on my blog's new look. I really listened and did some research. After working for hours I've finally found a look that is reminiscent of the old look, easy to read, and has an up-to-date modern vibe. What do you think?

Can someone can tell me how to add my Google Reader list on here as the BLOGS I FOLLOW gadget?

T-Shirt Floral Appliqué Tutorial

Nothing like having my blog mentioned on Patternreview.com to light a fire under me to get back to blogging. If you remember, sometime last March I made a t-shirt and decorated it with flowers like you see in RTW all the time for a BIG price tag. I decided to do this myself and then promised I'd do a tutorial. Drum Roll Please. . . . . . . . . . . .

Floral Appliqué Tutorial

Leaves

Using knit fabric that is either matching or contrasting to your t-shirt, cut long narrow leaf shapes by folding fabric in half and cut a long strip wider in the middle and tapered to a pointed end. It can be a straight strip since it will be shaped later.


With matching thread and a long stitch length, sew a single row down the center of each unfolded leaf shape. Gather the stitching loosely to make the leaves. Pull the threads to the back and tie off securely.

Round Flower

Cut two different size circles and stack them. Next, sew a straight stitch in a circle inside the smaller circle of fabric. It doesn't have to be perfect.


Gather these threads so that a small bubble is formed in the center of the flower. Pull the threads to the back and tie securely.

Petal Flower

For the shaped petal flower, fold the fabric in half and then in half again the other direction. Cut a modified teardrop shape so that when the fabric is opened, it will have a four petal shape. Make two of these--they don't have to be exactly alike.



Stack these shapes, rotating one so that the petals are off-set. Then fold the flower stack in fourths again and sew a few stitches across the bottom point. The threads can be tied or backstitched.


Once the flower is opened back up again, a jewel can be sewn into the center.

Arranging

Arrange the flowers and leaves in a pleasing manner on your top and sew them down to the t-shirt neckline by hand.