Manic Pop

Thought I would throw in my fabric repeat designs this week. These are ones I was playing with in the late months of 2016. Lately, I have been doing other fashion-related things instead of actively sewing, but I am sure I will get back to sewing. Here is the 2nd iteration of a repeat I liked that I made. The wavy part was hand-drawn with Prismacolor markers and then imported to Photoshop where I created the repeat. The 1st round of this print went something like this though, which I decided was way too "all over the place".   Another entirely different one I was playing with was this one, although I still may have to play with color choices on it.  I don't know which one I actually like better now that I look at it. I think I like the colorway of the mustard/red/blue one the most, but the red should be in a different spot. I could see myself eventually making these available via Spoonflower some...

I know I normally post fashion design but.... I like to think of this blog as a good example of random creative things I've done/played with. That being said, I just finished another apartment layout via 3D Roomstyler! Clearly, this program is somewhat of an addiction for me, but I really don't have a problem with that. Since the last one I did was New York, I definitely needed one to be right here in my own city. I chose the Mica Building mostly because, I didn't know how I felt about these gigantic buildings suddenly popping up off the California blue line stop. I pass these buildings every day on my way to and from work and I couldn't fathom living in either of them. If you ask any long-time Chicagoan about the crazy housing boom that's going on in Logan Square, we all don't know how we feel about it. So I wondered.... could someone fall in love with a building just doing a 3D Roomstyler layout on them? Again, I am not a professional by any means, ...

Alright, so many of you may know that I have been LOVING playing with a free program online called 3D Roomstyler. In it, you can design your own rooms, add whatever kind of furniture, fixtures, and anything else you cam think of to "design" a home, a room, an exterior. Well, I finally made one based off of a real apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC! What I did was find floorplans and from there, I drew the walls in 3D Roomstyler the best I could. It's really surreal to see an actual place that exists and you walking around in it in 3D Roomstyler! Here is my own render of the living room. Now keep in mind, I took a lot of creative liberties; I also don't know much about home design, so I am just a random person playing around in a program. This is the layout that I went by, found online here: http://www.nyhabitat.com/new-york-apartment/furnished/14585#photos And here is a screenshot of my layout below. My rendering (above) o...

It's been a while, I know. If any of you have seen me on Instagram, I have been playing around, making this capelet for MONTHS. (It doesn't take that long at all to make, I just took super-long pauses.)  My reasoning for not making as many things as I was before is because I'm working on a myriad of other creative things in general (involved 3D Roomstyles, fashion sketching, and putting together a mini fashion collection on Photoshop, hand-drawing and designing my own prints), plus I have finally graduated to a store manager position! Yay! After nearly a decade of ASM, I finally have "my own" store.  Anyway, this one is McCalls M7291!   I accidentally made almost exactly what was on the pattern packet. Online, the fabric was a little more ". mustard-y yellow but to me, the fabric color reads more "tan-brown". This pattern is actually a "Learn to Sew" pattern (haha, I have been making my own sewing patterns for ove...

I'm back with a new dress!  Like I said, I have been super lazy and using commercial patterns for about a year now. This one is a shirtdress by Simplicity -- pattern number 8014. I did a mix of multiple views to create my perfect shirtdress. I technically cut a View C but used the collar in View A and D. I think I made my cuffed sleeve and sleeve tabs differently than the pattern asked me to do, but I do what I want. Haha.  Best of all, this dress already had a pocket bag pattern! Many times, I will create my own if there is enough room in the skirt portion. I also had to change the grainline of the yoke on my pattern (ie. cut it the opposite direction). Normally, you would cut your back yoke on a shirt or shirtdress on a crosswise grain because it prevents stretching out and gives your garment more stiffness/structure.  Well, that simply wasn't going to work with a one-way print! I would never hear the end of how I "cut it wrong" by anyone wh...

Hey everyone! Just a reminder to stop by the other blog I contribute to -- a West Michigan-based blog called The Art Shake. This month, I show you my process and testing tips/tricks to sewing a knit garment entirely without a serger! Don't miss it!

New week new dress? That's kinda what's been happening lately! I've just been having fun cutting out sewing patterns and making them up. I mean, why not?! The latest dress I finished was Burda's Fitted Sheath Dress #121 from June 2015. I have (no joke) had this dress design printed up and posted on my bulletin board for almost a year now and I finally made it!  I've been working far more with stretch knits lately and this was a perfect pattern to keep up on my skills with. It was simple, easy, and super-quick to sew up! What I love about this dress is that the fabric I chose was a horizontal print and with the way the pattern bends in shape to accommodate the rouching, the print essentially becomes vertical up at the bodice portion. So cool! The fabric is an ITY stretch knit from fabric.com . It was very easy to cut and work with! I will definitely look out for more ITY stretches in the future. I have a little over a yard of this left and I definitely...