White Picket Fences

Yes, yes.... I know. I haven't finished sewing my quick-and colorful-maxi skirt yet. These things take time. And pattern making in between days I'm at work.

FILLER POST!

Not an original of mine, this dress was found for about $6 at the same super-secret location in Wicker Park. The shape on me is fantastic - giving me the appearance of a super-tiny waist. It's also my favorite fabric, polyester! This photo feels oddly late-90s for some reason - like I should be listening to Stereolab, or Super Furry Animals, or something. (I still listen to those bands.)

Maybe you can see in this photo a little, but it sort of makes this upside-down v-shape under the bust. There must be a name for it, but I don't know what it's called. The seaming is the same on this dress from last year, oddly enough found at the same shop!

I'm not sad, it's the sunlight!

I've also had this purse since high school (at least 2003). It's from one of those department stores like Younkers or Sears and I remember a WHOLE TABLE full of them marked down to $9.99. I thought, "How come such a cool bag is so marked down?" People stop me and ask me about it now - if only they knew then!

Actually am not a fan of these shoes with this dress, but we were out walking around in the neighborhood and I wanted to be able to walk far. Unfortunately we didn't because it's now a little too hot at 83 degrees in Chicago. I'm a much cooler weather person, liking 50-70 degrees so it was too much for me to handle right away. Bah!

And Percy! God only knows why I had sunglasses on inside today. Whatevs.

Hopefully the next post will be my maxi skirt, but no promises!

Comments

Latch Hook Rug Update

A little under a month ago I received all of my supplies to take on one of the biggest long-term projects I have ever taken on - a self-designed latch hook rug. I don't know why, but I am clearly nuts. So beginning today I am posting photos each month, (preferably on the 1st of each month) progress of this gigantic shag rug. See how I started it here (scroll down past posting of my $10 dress). This is a photo of it today: Yes, I used the candelabra for scale. Haha. This rug is really soft and is fun to run your fingers through. It doesn't look like much was accomplished, but though the number of packages we have gone through of pre-cut latch hook rug yarn already I have calculated that we've used over 2500 strands for this ie.) 8 packages. I also just ordered 10 more packages of lime green since that's what I ran out of first and 6 more packages of straw yellow. There is still quite a bit to go, but you see the blue row squares? Each of th

DIY Trapeze Dress

I'm a pretty big fan of tent dresses (or trapeze dresses - call it what you want). They're simple, easy-to-make and you can have many variations of them. These are a fun style to wear for spring and summer! See this DIY from a Good Housekeeping Crafts book from 1971 - photos at the end of my own trapeze top from a while ago! (Bear with me on the photos here - this book is quite cumbersome and hard to scan.) Applique patterns, in case you wanted the dress to look EXACTLY like the photo. (But why?) How to cut the fabric efficiently. (This is actually pretty important cost-wise for you - especially with something this big.) Using pattern instructions from my patternmaking book from college, I created this swingy trapeze top a bit ago. I used sweater fabric from a thrift store find for the collar of this top. I also opened up the back on the pattern to have a diamond shape. It can easily be belted like in this photo fo

Shingo Sato and the Art of Transformational Reconstruction

So I got really excited on my break at work today when I got an email from Burda about a webinar they're doing on a pattern technique called "Transformational Reconstruction" developed by Japanese designer Shingo Sato. I hadn't even heard of Shingo Sato until today let alone his design technique but oddly, it's sort of the path I'm going down with my designs anyway as seen with the Sunrise Panel dress as well as the Petra Dress and the pattern making involved in those designs. What I did there is perhaps a "light" version of Sato's where the darts and shaping are hidden in the seam lines. If you've been reading this blog long enough, you know that my design aesthetic focuses largely on color blocking, unusual seam lines, and a love of anything psychedelic. Note: All photos stolen from the internet. Sorry! I'm super-excited. Let me know if it's yours and I'll take it down. Shingo Sato teaching. More designs using

Manic Pop