When Inspiriation Comes to the Artist

I think every artist can describe the feeling of new-found inspiration. Most of the time, it happens for me when I'm trying to fall asleep at night. After subscribing to countless magazines and searching through each one, tearing out the pictures I like and putting them in a design ideas folder, I think back on the day and what I did, what I could do better, and what I'll be working on tomorrow.

With the horror of pumpkin dress still fresh in my mind, I wanted to come back with a bang. I wanted a success story. Honestly, out of all the things I've made in the two years I've been sewing, there are only a handful of items I actually wear-- and I'm sick of that. I'm sick of the "learning process" where all I get out of my experiments are the ideas I'll try the next time, and the techniques I need to get down before my next project. I wanted something tangible to wear an show off for you and the rest of the world to see. I wanted something to really be proud of; basically, I wanted the perfect dress. And it had to be PERFECT. 

My top dresses that I wear all the time are my blue wool one that came out of a Vogue pattern and my leopard print knit dress that is a go-to outfit for Saturday errands. I love my wool dress because of the cut of the skirt-- perfect amount of volume while still being extremely slimming over my ba-donk-a-donk. After pumpkin skirt, I know now that no cut looks better on me than a slim skirt (yes, Anna, I hear ya).  

Slim skirt with some pleats in the front, NOT IN THE BACK. After my "kate dress" (which I totally hate now), with three giant pleats going over my butt, slim in the back is also best for me (and most women I assume). Check. 

This was a checklist that I started as I lay in bed not able to fall asleep. My mind runs like this at least once a night, tossing and turning and not dozing off until about 4 am, leading to a wake up time of about 11:30. Great. 

I tried to fall asleep, but I couldn't. The perfect dress was deep inside of my mind, and I had to get to it in some way. I deserve at least that-- the realization of my own imaginings and the benefit of a successful creation. I crave that. 

The top was next. I love the tops I made yesterday with their deep-enough necklines that minimize my ample chest and elbow-length sleeves. I have a waist in these tops, and I don't want to hide my best features by doing something balloon-y.

That's when it came to me. The knit top and the wool skirt came together in my mind and gave birth to a mustard yellow ponte knit dress with the same style as the skirt and knit top I had made before. That was it. And it was perfect. Not only that, but it could be accessorized and blinged-out in a billion different ways. And I could make it out of both knits and wovens. Peeerrffect. 

Cutting out. I did make the pattern for the skirt even though it was inspired by the Vogue pattern. I totally claim this skirt as my own, sorry.

These a-hah moments are fleeting the next day once I spend a gigantic amount of time making the pattern, cutting out, sewing together, trying it on and being horribly disappointed in the outcome. This happens at least every-other project for me (again, more frustration). But this afternoon that didn't happen. I put the dress on, and this happened:

 A total success!!! I couldn't believe it. I did have to take in the waist quite a bit from the pattern I made (about 4 inches total), but other than that, I love it! I can't believe how simple it is-- perfection can be simple! The low neck is perfect for my chest, the waist is great (I'll probably lower it a couple of inches for my next one), and the skirt is flattering. Why did I not think of this before?? WHY did it take forever to push away all the complicated stuff and just stick to the basics? This dress isn't even done yet. I have to make something for the neckline..but I'm not showing till Monday what I'm cookin up. But I promise it'll be great. 

I can't wait to make this out of a woven to see what it is like. That will have to wait, though. I'm dropping of my little baby to be serviced. 

I'll be sewing with knits till it comes back.

AND on that note...

To feel better about myself and my designing abilities today, I decided to take it easy and make two knit shirts. Easy because I've made it before and I know my pattern is perfect for me, so no alterations or changes needed. 

The first shirt I made is out of a knit jersey I bought at Joanne's. I love the print on it. It reminds me of Oscar de la Renta. I added the lace detail on the neck, because, well I'm a sucker for lace. My body looks much better today than it did yesterday.... the power of good design.

The next one I made is out of a black ponte knit I bought online. I bought about ten yards of this stuff (had a coupon) and this is the first time I used it.. but not the last! I LOOVEE ponte knits. The best, most flattering material I've ever worked with to date. 

I added my fabric flowers on the neckline because I can't live without embellishments. It's a crime against femininity. 

My camera sucks. And all the junk that looks like fuzz isn't. It's junk on my mirrior. loovely. 

Which shirt is your favorite?

Would you like to buy one of my shirts? I can make it for you for $50 a piece! Email me if you are interested (address on sidebar). 

It's all about the details.

Post Edit: I hate this dress. I'm actually embarrassed that it is on my blog. Please don't judge me by the design. I can hear Michael Khors disappointing voice ringing in my ears. I promise to come back from the planet I was on and actually produce something worth looking at!!


I finished my Turkey Day dress, and I really like it. I decided last night as I was falling asleep that I needed a detail around the neck, so I chose to do so epaulets with chrome buttons. They definitely complete the dress. I will admit that the beige does look a little funny on my pinker complexion, but what am I supposed to do about that?! The only time I ever went to a fake-n-bake was in middle school with my sister, and I ended up with a 2nd degree burn on my butt and boobs. Never again. Never again, I tell you. Pink complexion stays. So does the dress. 

I fixed the Skirt. Steve hates the dress.

I've been working on my orange dress non stop for the past week, fixing the skirt pattern, cutting out everything again for the skirt, doing all the fancy seam finishes, and I finally get this:

I have to say, I really really like this dress. I'm calling it my "Turkey Day" dress because I plan to wear it when I eat myself full of turkey in four weeks. Luckily it's a stretch cotton. I know the orange is really bright, but I still like it. So sue me. 

Steve hates this dress. I still need to put the sleeves on, but he thinks that the beige color is too close to my skin tone, making me look like a "sumo wrestler" (his words). I don't think this is a comment on my physique in any way. He is imagining the sumo wrestling costumes made of beige material that look weird on a Caucasian person's body. Either way, it made me frown. Boys don't understand style. At least heterosexual civil engineers don't.

All the fancy seam finishes have really paid off looks wise. This dress to date is the most professional looking I've made. Sleeves to come tomorrow and a proper photo shoot. 

Happy now, Liver? My little sister calls me to remind me to blog. It is getting annoying.... 

Frustrated. Frustrated.

I started my next dress yesterday, I wanted to make the pattern myself, and I was very happy about my ambitious attitude that day. I haven't made a pattern for a few weeks now, so I was ready to dive back in. I have this great orange and beige stretch material that has a great nubby texture to it. I was thinking of a color blocked a-line dress with orange inserts on the sides of the dress, with the beige in the center. I wanted some gathering on the skirt, but not a ton. Not so hard, right?.... right? 

I made the pattern without a hitch. I made the orange inserts as exaggerated as possible for the skirt because the last time I tried it, the circles were barely noticeable. The shape of the inserts came out pretty well. 

Since the fabric I'm using is so stretchy, I didn't want to line it with something that wasn't so stretchy (stretch lining is hard to come by). I also didn't want to serge the material because it is so thick that serging wouldn't really work. So I tried something else to finish the edges-- and I know there is an official name for it, but I couldn't remember.

I turned the seam allowances under, toward the seam, on the wrong side of the garment, and then top-stitched it from the right side. I thought it looked super professional from the inside. I love it when clothes look just as good inside as outside. This seam allowance finish works really well for thicker fabrics. Very clean.

Then the rain came.

I did all that work on the seam allowances for every seam. Sewing all the beige first, then the orange, so I wouldn't be switching back and forth. Then I had the entire thing put together, and the fit SUCKS. MAJORLY. I really think my slopers need some work. Everything I make doesn't fit right. The waist on the slopers has to be to big, and the bodice is also too long in the front. I hate the a-line skirt. 

Some times I wonder why I even try. WHY? 

It is a shame, because I love the whole idea of this dress. But I refuse to give up right now. I'm going to re-make the skirt to be more full to match what I had in my head. This better work. 

And my magnetic pin cushion fell to its death. 

Anna's Coat Saga

Last Friday, Anna came over again for a fitting. I was trying to get as much done during Anna's fall break from school, which is why she came over every day, and why we went out to lunch every day :).

The coat is lookin really good, as you can see. 

I still needed to do more work on Anna's handicapped shoulders. I needed to shorten the shoulder width and take the sleeve cap up about 1" so that the cap rested where it needs to be to look good. 

Once I fixed the shoulders, I went on to the roll line of the collar. In my tailoring class at BYU, we did a fully tailored coat that was crazy intense-- the coat was so tailored that I thought the coat was too stiff. Tailoring is done to create permanent shape in a wool garment with techniques using linen tailor's tape and extensive hair canvas interfacing.  For Anna's coat I don't want it as stiff and bulky as my jacket from tailoring, but I'm still using some of the techniques. The roll line on a collar needs to look super good because that is where everyone looks first. So I marked a roll line on Anna's muslin mock-up as she wore it, transferred it to the pattern, and then to the wool, as seen below.

Then I cut out hair canvas interfacing for the stand in the collar. I want this to be somewhat stiff, so I didn't use regular fusible interfacing. I then steamed the collar in the shape it is supposed to be using a pillow. 

Anna is coming over again tonight to see if the shoulders are a good fit. I sewed the collar the the jacket and I love how it works!!! 

Today, I also started on my next dress. Here is a sneak peak: yellow stripes!!

Completely unrealted, but important nonetheless.

I have received many questions about my footwear the past few posts. I'd like to clear it all up and give the people what they want. I take my shoes very seriously, as most women should. Shoes complete a look and really define personal style. But you know all this. 

The shoes I wore with my snake dress are from DSW. The shoes aren't selling online anymore, but I have still seen them in two DSW stores that I've been to since I bought them. I actually have them in two colors: gray and black. They are that great. Extremely comfortable, not too high but high enough in the heel. And neither pair cost more than $50. Brand: Anne Klein.Who doesn't love bows??

The next pair I wore with my polka dot dress. They are red patent leather mary janes with a wedge heel. I love these shoes. I bought them my senior year of high school four years ago. There is no love truer. Unfortunately, this exact pair are obviously no longer sold. I bought them at Macy's on sale for about $50. I did find this designer pair at DSW, but super expensive. I found this other comparable pair, but since I only have tried my shoes, I can't really give a comment on quality, comfort, etc. 

Moral of the story: I'm not buying anymore shoes until next summer.

A Chirstmas Goose!

I am making my older sister, Anna, a coat for Christmas this year. I usually buy her jewelry or headbands, but this time I thought I'd step it up and go all out with her own coat. She was very excited. 

Yesterday we headed to Joanne's to pick up fabric and a pattern. We settled on McCall's 5525 primarily for the collar, but I am changing the entire silhouette to be a straight Audrey Hepburn (Anna's idol) styled coat. The pattern was basically a trench or pea coat, so we had to alter it up a bit to get this: 

 

I promise it will look ten times better with the fabric we picked out. Muslin doesn't do much. We hope to outcome is something like this:

Audrey in "charade". Anna's coat won't be orange.

The fabric is a polyester-wool blend hounds-tooth with black, navy, and brown colors. The lining is going to be purple!!!

Anna with her selected fabrics. The total came out to $55 for everything. Quite the steal.

 Alterations are made and problems are corrected with Muslin mock-ups. The great thing about coats is that there is usually little alterations to do because it isn't as close fitting to the body. Little alterations = happy Ellen. Anna really only needed her left sleeve raised a bit on the shoulder. Anna is also a freak of nature when it comes to her body. She is missing an entire muscle in her shoulder. Where did it go, you ask? Anna was born this way, the poor dear. She willingly takes all donations to supplement her handicapped life, and will tell anyone who stands next to her about her ailment as a woman with a missing shoulder. 

I'm kidding, about most of that. And her shoulder really is missing a muscle.  

We love Bridgette.

  

After out initial muslin fitting today, Anna and I went to lunch at pei-wei. Then on to DSW where we bought the exact same shoes in different colors, then to Nordstrom where we perused the accessories department for about 2 hours trying on every single headband we could find and clutch in our shopaholic grasps of passion. We were in Nordstrom for 2 hours.  

Love/Like

Here is the finished polka-dot dress. I sorta like it; I don't love it as much as snake. Snake is hard to beat. And the pics aren't as good cuz Steve was at work and Bridgette doesn't have opposable thumbs.

Love: the length. this hemline hits my legs in the right bow-chicka-wow-wow kind of way. 

Love: the cut. it is pretty flattering. 

I actually love: the polka-dots. In some way, they are very holiday season. 

not so love: the material. 100% polyester. 'nuff said.

Love

I'm finally showing you the "snake" dress, without the snake. What is this, a mean joke? No, I just could not figure out for the life of me where on this dress to put a snake. I am thinking I'll get a snake pin for it. The snake dress will have to wait to live another day. 

Meanwhile, I love this dress. I love it so much. Almost as much as bridgette. And the pattern number is Vogue 8413.

I got many compliments at church from old ladies on my tights yesterday. It made me laugh on the inside. 

Fall Weather Contd.

Fall weather makes me exceedingly happy and inspired. It must be my devout interest in Victorian Thrillers and deep brooding romantic characters like Heathcliffe that make me so giddy on rainy days.I watched Wuthering Heights and North and South on Netflix. It felt wonderful!!

 I continued to work on my polka dot dress today, hoping to finish. I made the sleeves, put the elastic in the waist, and put one sleeve in.

Elastic going into the waist seam. I created a casing of the seam allowances and slid the elastic through with a safety pin at one end.

 While working away on putting the first sleeve in, I needed to finish the seams on the sleeve opening, and went to my trusty serger for that. I wasn't paying close enough attention as I was serging, and I cut a giant hole in my sleeve....%#$@%!!!! I hate making mistakes like this; mistakes that are so stupid and ridiculous that all I can think is a slurry of cuss words in my head (I must protect Bridgette's innocence). Only solution: cut out a new sleeve and do it again. Ugh. Let the brooding begin.

The hole.

It's not that noticeable, right? .....right? @#$$#^!!!

Fall weather

Working today, worked all day yesterday, on Poor Man's Wife orders. 

I did help my cousin sew her Halloween costume last night....and I forgot to take photos. Shame.

Knots and Braids

For work today, I braided the bias strips needed for the braid detail on my polka-dot dress. I thought how the vogue pattern guide sheet had me do it was rather odd, and I thought it could have been a lot easier. The directions had me cut out a bias square of the fabric, sew up two of the sides of the square together, and then cut out one long strip from the "tube" created. It was weird. I suppose it did save some fabric in the end, but making this braid took a lot more work and time than I had anticapted. about 4 hours worth. The strips ended up being about 10 feet long, and braiding them together was a constant challenge as last night's project runway played in the background. 

The braid finally came together, and then I cut that into three separate pieces to braid together once again. The guide sheet didn't mention braiding the braids together again at all; so I was supposed to have a ten foot braid to put around the much smaller neck line? Answer me that, Vogue.

 The finished product. I do like the raveling edges of the braid against the silky texture of the charmeuse. It adds a certain "punch", as Nina Garcia loves to say.

I LoVeD Mondo's pants.