Mod Faces Top, Haircut, and More Orange.

I just realized I hadn't really talked about my Mod Faces top I made riiiiiight before my exhibition!

I whipped this baby up in about 3 hours, pattern and everything! It was a really simple pattern to make: just a princess line with added flare at the bottom from waistline to hem. You get a semi-peplum-ish effect, but not as drastic.

This fabric is a vintage one-way stretch knit that I found on Etsy. I waited 3 weeks to buy this fabric! Why, I don't know but I couldn't stop thinking about it. The seller confessed that she had a hard time parting with it since she loved it so much!

The inside was finished off with my serger, in a matching color for once!

You also may have noticed that I got a new hair cut! After almost a year (yikes, I know!) of not getting even a trim, I finally got it cleaned up to what I wanted since last year. The talented Nikki over at Kelly Cardenas Salon in Wicker Park did it for me today - she's fantastic!

Back view. I was really fighting with my camera to focus correctly today for some reason, sorry!

My haircut is a version of this Vidal Sassoon cut from the 1960s.

Super awesome!

Bonus photo:

I also waited about 6-8 months on buying this retro piece of artwork. It was hanging in a sort of sketchy used furniture/appliances place in my neighborhood. I kept telling myself "Oh, you don't need that thing. You have plenty of your own art!"

I went back a few weeks ago and it was still there. I guess I really did need it. Who else was going to give this crazy thing a home?!

It's funny how nearly everything I have right now is orange, yellow, brown but that's my "thing" at the moment. Most artists go through "things" like that, I suppose I'm no exception.

Orange has much symbolism, actually. According to Color-wheel-pro.com, it's a color associated with "joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation." Right when I started seeing Max, I had a dream that I was wearing all orange. I was coming out of a creatively stagnant period of time in my life, right before I got super-serious about Manic Pop in Spring of 2012 so orange is quite fitting. It's an exciting color and the site also says that "Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity." Hmm. Just the boost I needed at exactly the right time!

Who would have thought?

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