Manic Pop

It's weird to do blog posts with mostly phone photos at this point, but this is how I documented my most recent collaboration with SPRADA. I made the finale look for her show with a show that runs every year called Lipstick and Lyrics.  And here she is...! And here we both are! (Sorry dudes, had to use flash.) This isn't to say that getting to this point was easy, however. I basically made this dress twice due to the type of fabric I was using; a super-stretchy, super-silky 4-way stretch knit. And while I have worked with stretch knit prior and know the basic tips and tricks with them, I would almost say this was my biggest challenge yet.  Thankfully, I learned quite a few things (as I always do!) Let's talk about behind the design a little! First, me and Spencer met up to look at old looks we collaborated on when we did our webseries together in 2011 where I was the wardrobe designer.    More looks from 2011. Our inspir...

Recently, I went on a tech-sketch binge. Believe it or not, this is my favorite part of the process in fashion design; it's where ideas come to life, colors, patterns, textures look more like real-life, and when you move forward with an idea or not. Yes, it's nice to have a finished garment from your mind right in front of you, but I love front and back technical sketches so much. All done in Illustrator and Photoshop by me. All are fictional garments except for one... see if you can spot which one!

It's about time I posted something that I designed myself! I made this skirt 9 weeks ago (so January 5th or so) but am only now getting a chance to post it. Behold, the Sport Skirt! (I don't know why that name popped into my head whenever I thought about it, it just did.) Now, if this skirt and the colors look familiar, that's because it is! Way back in 2012, I made a dress that I called the Mix n Match Dress and the skirt looked exactly like the Sport Skirt. See below: I also had leftover ponte knit fabric from my Kwik Sew dress from mid-to-late last year and wanted to get more into stretch knit pattern making (see below). So, those two together..... TA DA!  I did have to adapt my old pattern to a stretch knit pattern. I actually didn't even use my old pattern but adapted my blocks to a stretch knit pencil skirt shape and used my old pocket pieces as a reference for how I would make the pockets.  As with most stretch knits,...

Hey everyone! I haven't posted in a long time, and that's because I've been extremely creatively busy! Holiday was hectic at my store (but still tons of fun since it's a store rooted firmly in arts and crafts) and directly after that finished up, I had an order for a custom color knit turban hat, like the one I made last year! Knit turban hat made last year in 2015. I have started writing monthly on a blog based out of West Michigan called The Art Shake . In March, I have a post lined up about my construction method for this type of turban hat as well as a suggestion about how to go about knitting the hat itself. Should be fun! For now, you can go ahead and read my first post on the Art Shake all about how to start to delve into the world of fashion design/creation . I post the 3rd Tuesday of every month and will be talking about fashion design techniques, principles, sewing, sketching, or even some fun fashion-related resources. It's pretty awesome and...

And here I bring you a fun little blog post I worked on for a few days... a late 1960s color palette story! You can thank Timehop for making me remember that a book I have on my shelf has a really cool page of color suggestions in the 1960s for dress design. The book is "The Co-Ed Sewing Book" by Marian Ross which was apparently published in 1968. (See below image.) It's taken a bit of a beating, and upon further inspection, it appears that my mom may have stolen it from a library when she was a kid (haha). There is evidence that there was a library log card envelope on the back page. So, thank you mom for stealing this book all those years ago so it can reside in my collection! If you haven't had the chance to run into this book yourself, it is chock-full with beginner sewing information: from the absolute basics, like choosing colors for you and making fashion work for you, to measurements, talking about thread basics, cutting procedures, as well as seam ...

This post is going to be really straight forward, but I am finally getting around to making myself some much-needed tops! This pattern was SO easy to put together it was almost insulting. Haha. You only need to cut 2 pattern pieces (front and back). I also measured and cut my own neckline bias binding because I didn't have twill tape on hand and I wanted the neckline to match. Needless to say, I cut and sewed this pattern up in about an hour -- no joke! I took lots of breaks/lazing around in between making it so I didn't make it straight through, but it was no more than an hour and a half of sewing and that's including installing a back zipper. I'm always at odd with myself when I make things: Should I make something that actually challenges my vast knowledge of sewing and design skills or should I make things that I will actually wear even though they're super easy? Super-easy and wearable won this time.  Zipper open, obviously. I could have v...