203. Austin Museum of Art Fashion Show

Or, How Lucky I Am.

I know, every day, how lucky I am.  Not everyone gets to do something they love for a living and do stuff they love for fun.  I know that.

These are two dresses I made for a fashion show this past Sunday, one from two pairs of men's black denim jeans, and one from two pairs of men's khaki pants:

runway photos courtesy of Sterling Images

179. Refashion 33: Denim Coat/Dress from Men's Jeans

Well howdy, strangers!

I've been working, travelling, and expanding my household by adding a 19-year-old niece (what a long story!). The sewing has come in fits and spurts. I got the idea for a coat/ dress after watching Signe Chanel this summer. Each Chanel seamstress enters the atelier in the morning, leaves her jacket in her locker, and puts on a simple white work coat. Like a lab coat, in a way. The idea of putting on a coat to signal that it's time to get to work has a lot of appeal, so I decided to sketch out a couple of "lab coats". This is the first of two in my head and on paper.

I started collecting black denim this summer, knowing that white simply wouldn't work for me. I started the pattern on October 8. I remember because Louis had a playground accident that morning, and I had to stop working on the pattern to pick him up from school and take him to the emergency room. He got all stitched up and back on his feet quickly, but everything on my cutting table stayed where it was for a full week! The next time I got back to the pattern, I had a couple of days to finish pattern work and cut out and assemble the main pieces: jacket front and back, front and back yokes, front zipper.

It hung on Clementine for about 3 weeks until I could work on it again. In one short session I draped the collar and sewed it on, and in a subsequent session I finished the insides (yoke facings) and cut the sleeves from the bottom legs of another pair of jeans and attached them. Today I washed it and put on the 1/4" brass studs. I wanted to only put them on one side of the collar, my 6-year-old said I should do it on both sides, and I intended to... until my fingertips protested after I finished the left side. So asymmetrical it is!

Although I always envisioned it with sleeves, it looked much more like what I had in mind without the sleeves! My niece convinced me to try the sleeves so I did, and after trying it on with sleeves I really kind of hated it. Not so much for what it was, but for how far it seemed from what I had in mind. Now that I've washed it, taken photos, and see those photos, I am good with it! This is the second piece of Vocabulary's imaginary fall collection, with the studded capelet being the first.

The collar was everything! The entire concept came to life because of my idea for the collar. After I attached the collar, I tried the coat (sans sleeves) on and my husband said, "I really don't care for it." I asked what he didn't like, and he was unable to articulate anything specific. At which point I went totally "Project Runway contestant" on him and declared, "Well, I like it and will wear it to your office Christmas party next month." Unlike PR contestants, I spun around and walked out of the room.

He followed me in there a few minutes later, possibly thinking he'd hurt my feelings, though still unable to tell me just what didn't work for him. I remained neither angry nor offended. It was just clear to me that he didn't get it. His tastes run pretty traditional/ conservative. With 3 years of garment sewing and 2 years of pattern play under my belt, my ability to create is catching up with my ability to imagine. And I find it hard to compromise now.

So I may look like a total weirdo to the average citizen when I wear this, but I will walk tall and feel proud of it. For the record, I probably won't wear it to my husband's office Christmas party, not because I'm ashamed of it -- but because no one wears black denim to a dressy party. :)

168. Refashion 29: Coco Top from Men's Dress Shirt and "Dressing Your Age"

Before I forget: PR last night was fun to watch in a large group! I highly recommend trying this if you haven't done it before!

It always starts out with an idea. In this case, after a couple weeks of Chanel immersion, I got an idea to make a birthday top for myself, refashioned from a men's dress shirt, of course. I have wanted to get more comfortable with asymmetry since the start of the year, so this was a great opportunity to work on something simple and to play a little.

From Chanel: Black & white palette; "epaulets".

From me: Pintucks; asymmetry, buttoned openings at the shoulder to get in and out.

From my mistakes: Asymmetrical pintucks (below) didn't drape well so I made them symmetrical (as in photos above)... better but far from perfect; as a result neckline is a little poochy; cut the armholes way too low, so little cap sleeves were not an option; changed my mind about how I would use the shirt placket so there are no pintucks on the back; just an inverted pleat (sorry, no pics).

I have to admit that, after weeks of torturous pattern refining and production sewing, this was quite a bit of fun, even though it didn't turn out like I thought it would at all!

There have been a lot of thick topics floating around in my head...

• A question about retro styles and gender inequality
• A rebuttal and bigger inquiry into ethical fashion, and,
• With my birthday yesterday, endless internal musing on the topic of "dressing your age".

I am really curious to know what you think about "dressing your age". This is subjective and personal, but please do share what's on your mind. For me, this has a lot to do with grace. When I turned 30, I got rid of those ridiculous miniskirts and chunky platform shoes in my closet. I mostly don't wear sweats ever, have banished most capri pants and hoodies for good, and assess, each year as my birthday approaches, if I feel like I'm "dressing my age".

What does "dressing your age" mean to you?

157. Sustainable: My Buy New (Clothing) Manifesto

My lucky streak is still going: I recently won a giveaway on Keiko Lynn's blog -- an $80 gift certificate to ModCloth.com! Out of some 433-ish entrants! What are the odds? (I ask that rhetorically, but if you love to figure out that sort of thing and want to tell me, that's awesome!)

When I found out I won the gift certificate (thanks ModCloth and Keiko Lynn!!!), I went straight to the site to browse around. They have so much to choose from, and most of it is more than reasonably priced. Since I've been sewing and refashioning so much, I haven't shopped all that much for new clothes in the last year. Plus, I'm picky and can have impossibly high and obnoxious standards when I buy. To guide my shopping trip through Modcloth, I recalled a set of shopping rules that guide me and continue to morph (BTW my #1 priority when buying new is that the garment is sutainable both construction-wise and style-wise -- I want to wear it in 5 or 10 years):

1. I'll only buy a garment I would not happily sew myself, preferably quickly.

ModCloth has a ton of cute shirts, any of which I could make for myself from a men's shirt and a couple hours' work. But I'm not tackling a swimsuit. At least not this summer. And this one is just adorable:

Beach Blanket Bingo Retro Suit

I've shared my lack of luck/ experience with sewing pants. Haven't tried shorts but I anticipate similar challenges. Here are a pair of shorts I'd have loved to have worn every single day this summer:

Puddle Jumping Shorts

2. I'll only buy a garment if the fabric is so unique I would have to scour the globe for it, and even then I might not find it.

Border prints and anything with a robot printed on it would fall in this category. I love whimsical, colorful bird print fabric but there isn't nearly enough to choose from in a fabric store, online or IRL.

Red, White, and Bloom Dress

Intaglio Dress

3. I'll be OK buying a garment if copying it would bring me no joy or wouldn't teach me something I want to learn.

Rows of painstaking pintucks? Gorgeous embroidery? Someone else do it. I'm taking a nap. A corollary of this is I can justify buying clothes in fabrics I am not comfortable sewing yet. In the past this applied to knits; currently it applies to slippery and delicate fabrics, like silk georgette.

Burano Blouse

4. I'll consider buying a garment if its style is unexpected for me but so What I Need Right Now.

Despite liking clean lines and structured shapes, I don't need military. I've worn military-style clothes in the past and they're a bit sharp. But with Michael Jackson's recent passing I'm a little more inclined to see the band leader crossover potential and go for something like this:

Battalion Jacket in black

5. I will buy it if it fits perfectly and looks perfect as is. Why mess with perfection?

Here we hit that tricky conundrum we face when clothes shopping online: It might look like perfection, but how will it fit? I'm betting on this one. I'll let you know how it turns out:

Rev-olution Jacket

142. Sustainable: UFO turned Sid & Nancy Dress

I just finished a new dress last week and it has already got a 2+ year history!

In October 2007, I tried the infamous Butterick 4790 "Walk Away Dress" pattern, the reissue of the 1952 classic.  Cute, 3 pattern pieces, no interfacing or zippers or buttonholes.   Looked at the pattern envelope, picked a size 10 based on my body measurements, and away I went.  Imagine my surprise when I tried it on and it fit all wrong!  I had no clue where to start fitting it (though even the most experienced sewists have been puzzled, too, if you've read any of the B4790 reviews on PR), so I tossed it on the floor in the UFO pile.  On and off for a couple of years.

I saw the overskirt part of the dress in a UFO bag a few weeks back.  Feeling guilty, I picked it out and threw it on Clementine to see what I could do.  Considered some very interesting options and ultimately decided that, since the skirt fit right below my bust without any further alteration (yes, that much bigger than my waist) I would use it as the skirt of a new empire waist dress, using a modified top from New Look 6723, which I had sewed last year and gotten to fit like a dream after many pattern alterations. 

Somehow -- fate? -- I happened upon a small stack of remnants of the almost-Walk Away in my scrap drawers the day after I pulled the skirt from the UFO bag.  It was enough to cut the "self" layer of the dress top, but not enough for the bodice lining.  So I grabbed some plain black cotton batiste from the stash and cut the bodice lining.

Finally it is done.

I like that it can be belted/ sashed to look like the waist is empire or natural.  The dress looks "Audrey Hepburn" on Clementine but I feel non-Audrey when I wear it.  I want to add some edge, like crazy gladiator stilettos or an Outsapop zipper belt.  Must be that recent reminiscing with a high school friend about that crazy boy in high school who gifted me an audio cassette of "Never Mind the Bollocks Here Come the Sex Pistols."  I was too scared by the boy to hang out much, but the music made an impression.

(BTW, I see that clicking on the pics doesn't enlarge them -- you can always go to my Flickr photostream for bigger versions.)

How classic and ubiquitous this dress is, though, in the end, and right in time for summer.  Cindy just posted photos of great-looking summer dresses, one of which is a shorter version of this here Sid & Nancy dress.  And Burdastyle just posted a tutorial on sewing your own circle skirt with an interesting d-ring closure.  Happy Summer Sewing to you!

141. Stop

I can't remember if I've mentioned here that I'm the yearbook editor for Louis' elem. school.  Well, this is the last full week before the book goes to print, so I've spent all week tracking down the 27 or so faculty, staff members, and kids who missed photo day and photo make-up day last fall.  I've dragged around this yard of blue cotton broadcloth and a roll of masking tape all week, to set up impromptu backdrops in sunny hallways around the school.  And I photographed the morning safety patrol crew, as above, and a few of us will spend the entire morning photographing today's track & field day, which is a huge, school-wide event.

There are a host of other teeny, tiny details, too, like making sure pages are numbered and a there's a 0.25" border around the artwork on each page, etc.  And bigger details like rounding up the last few pages that volunteers are putting together.

Don't get me wrong -- this yearbook has been a waaaay fun volunteer project and it's been a blast working with some very cool parents.  But I've got a fun new dress to show you that I finally finished Wednesday, and no time to pick accessories and take pics for you, so it waits until the yearbook is done.  Thanks for helping me stay connected through your blog posts and emails this week!  Miss you and see you again soon!  :)

P.S.  During weeks like these, I also turn to my three fave teen bloggers for quick inspiration:

• Sea of Shoes
• Childhood Flames
• Style Rookie

133. The Pants Sew-Along lives on

The March 2009 Pants Sew-Along is still moving along.  It has been a while since I've given a formal update not in the sidebar, so here goes.  Of the 6 who sewed along, two have crossed the finish line!  Congratulations!  

First up was Mary Nanna, who actually finished her pants on time, meaning by March 31.  She speaks pant fluently, like a second language.  I had a college professor who believed in language immersion, and I would focus on Mary Nanna's pants posts like I focused in this college Spanish class: intently absorbing every tiny bit I could.  What lessons to learn!  She picked a great-looking pattern, by no means uncomplicated, and she made a series of impressive modifications (13 total, if I recall) to create a smashing pair of trousers!  Love those side vents!  Ooh and ahh here over the almighty pants of Mary Nanna's, if you haven't yet.

My college Spanish professor, Prof. Arturo Flores.  Funny man, good teacher.  

Photo from TCU Daily Skiff.

Next to finish was Johanna Lu, who moved her household during sew-along month and drafted some complicated pants patterns from scratch on the way.  At one point in the process, she posted photos of her patterns that were so meticulous and beautiful I wanted to tape her pattern pieces together and wear them.  It was easy to see how she got so much inspiration from her original inspiration photo.  Imagine my surprise the other night, going through my old Anthropologie tear sheets, when I saw this photo of a green shirt I love from a few seasons ago -- but look at the pants!  I never noticed the pants till now.  The photo below is not of her inspiration pants, but I guess Anthro loves button front pants and is on the hunt for them every season:

I did see these pants below in one of the recent Anthro catalogs, and felt vaguely inspired.  Made me think of the Palmer Pletsch pants book I have and their recommended paper bag waist method of fitting pants, and since these Anthro pants in fact have a paper bag waist, maybe I should use a pants pattern to make these pants?  Then I would focus on picking a pattern with good crotch curve/ depth, easy hip fit, and drape to the waist?:

Another view, with model wearing them:

Also liking these high-waist shorts from Anthro... a nice way to take short-shorts with you in your mid-30's:

Always so much green!  For good measure, this green Anthro dress:

And a clip from Lucky.  I know I can make this dress in my sleep:

What's inspiring you this spring?

100. The 100th Post

Wasn't it obvious from the post title starting out "100." that this is the 100th post? So much for my new year's intention to "dial down the dork". Sometimes you just gotta accept who you are.

So, Happy New Year!  Thanks for the love with your comments on my 2008 year-end post.  Ditto, babes.  :)  I'm ready for 2009 -- are you?  I'm much more of a New Year gal than a Christmas gal. There's this nice feeling of renewal, of starting fresh, of having one more chance to officially reinvent some small part of yourself. Here are a few New Year Intentions as related to sewing/ blogging:

1. Master the pant.
I'm not alone in this one, right, Becky? I intended to master the pant in the last half of 2008 but didn't get to it. I'm sick of wearing ill-fitting pants and it will be a huge relief to have a pant sloper that gives consistently good results. The BBW pants pattern (Simplicity 3850) might be a good place to start, but if you have another suggestion, I'm all ears.

2. Sew a travel work wardrobe.
Two years back I invested in a few stylish separates from Anthropologie specifically for work travel. They cost a pretty penny but they fit well, looked great, and were versatile. I've now worn them quite a bit and am ready for something new! I also have just one go-to suit in a truly anti-wrinkle but very soft fabric, from White House, Black Market. The jacket is a little on the big side and is short-sleeved, and the pants look, truly, a hot mess. And this is my go-to suit! So I'm thinking about sewing a pants suit, a la YSL's Le Smoking, 

maybe a vest and/ or skirt, a few blouses, and a dressy coat. Do you know of a machine-wash, anti-wrinkle fabric I can purchase online (swatches first, preferably) that doesn't smell like a petroleum byproduct? Do tell.

3. Add a once-weekly photoblog post.
I've seen this on other blogs as "Wordless Wednesday", and SouleMama spends a month each year blogging one photo daily, with no/ very few words. Me being wordy and all, it will do me some good to zip my lips (or ban my hands) from time to time and work on my visual communication. It makes sense to focus on things related to sewing, style, fibers, textiles, etc. but I can't make any promises. :)

4. Learn to be a better photographer and model.
I'll probably take a photography class or two, and I've already staked out some real-life Modeling Role Models whose blogs I'm reading and learning from. 

1. I'm forever blowing bubbles, 2. bobbing for apples, 3. dirty laundy, 4. rainy day

I sense that wearing makeup (I don't wear any at all in real life) would enhance the photos in a very practical way, so I'm paying fierce attention to how these ladies are dressing their faces for the best shot. I also see what a big difference staging can make, so this year I'll work on picking better situations for lighting, backdrops, etc.

5. Think sustainable.
Sustainable is all about refashioning. Gotta do more. End of story.

Hope you had fun ringing in the New Year.  Now let's get down to business!  xo

International Wear a Dress Week: Day 4

Today I settled for a purchased dress.  There's a bunch of laundry to be done and I wasn't into it.  So this black dress was clean and it was getting hot again today, so I wore it.  I bought it a few years back from a teeny-bopper store (not F21, but I'm thinking Delias?) and I really love it.  It's made of a super-lightweight black cotton voile, fits so well, is incredibly comfortable, and has all these cute embellishments like lace and stuff that I can't be bothered with in my real sewing life.  In fact, Dana, this is the dress that I had in mind to copy when I tackled the Nurse Ratched Shirtdress last month!  You asked for a photo, so here it is!  :)

Going through this every day -- selecting a dress, setting up the photo shoot, uploading the photo, blogging it -- gives me a whole new appreciation for those Wardrobe Remixers.  It takes a lot of time, energy, forethought...  Not to mention the risk in showing the world your personal style statement, and opening a forum for positive and negative comments, or (eek!) no comments at all.  Brave they are.

International Wear a Dress Week: Day 3

Here is my Day 3 dress -- that LBD shift I sewed up early in the summer.  I have worn it a lot this summer as a sleeveless dress and it's comfy.  But even at this side angle the waistline area seems to imply "maternity".  BTW -- NO.  I altered the pattern so that the gathering above the bust is pleated instead, and planned to sew it again in green cotton, but never got around to it.  Now I think I might redraft that side seam to nip in at the waist, with maybe some a-line action going on at the hip.  Are you picking up what I'm putting down?

On another note, this little ol' blog has received some visitors from around the globe, and it's great to see what they are up to.  I mentioned in a previous post the beautiful sewn and knit garments at Des Aiguilles Et Du Fil in France.  And last night, Lopi from Fashion Architect in Greece stopped by to share her love of all shoes Chie Mihara.  She's posted about some recent likes that I share, such as the color mustard for fall and shirtdresses.

As for today's dress photo shoot... It was cloudy this morning so I set up the camera early, like yesterday.  I usually take a test shot, while making some goofy face or gesture, before taking "real" shots.  During my test shot this morning the sun happened to peek through.  Then I took about 5 or 6 more shots where the lighting was perfect.  But in the end, this very first shot really felt like me and, fundamentally, my attitude about life.  Have a great day!

International Wear a Dress Week: Day 2

We just didn't have our act together to take a picture of yesterday's dress.  Knowing that this may happen again tonight, I braved the self-timer on the camera after I dropped Louis off at school this morning and took a few shots to post in the Flickr pool for International Wear a Dress Week.  The shot of me looking reasonably content in the Trifle Ruffle Denim Dress (left) shows no detail or color contrast so I had to edit another shot with better lighting but a very stressed look on my face (below).

I will have to come up with a better plan tomorrow.  What?  I don't know.  Maybe I will wait until later in the day to take the photo, or maybe I will wrangle up a friend to take it for me.  With daylight savings, the sun rises so late in the day and it's usually cloudy in the morning anyway.  And did I mention it was 64 degrees when I woke up and is supposed to top out at 83 degrees today?  Despite all signs to the contrary, Austin may get a fall season this year after all.  Yay!

For shame!

Well, not so much shame as disbelief:  Has it been a whole week since I've posted? And about a week since I've sewn??? I haven't been here recently enough to see that Blogger/ Google has changed the dashboard we see when we log on to post! That's too long.

I realized tonight that all has not been lost: Even though I haven't been sewing much I have definitely been (inadvertently) planning out my next moves. I plan to finish 4 more shirt refashions before the end of the month. The first two will be similar to each other and the final two will be made from the same pattern, with one a tunic version and the other a dress. At least, this is the plan.

My friend Stephanie grabbed a few neglected shirts from her husband's closet this week for me and it finally got my creative juices flowing again! I wanted to post some cool pics from Wardrobe Remix over at Flickr, but apparently the four favorites I wanted to share don't want to be shared. So I'm moving onto Plan C for my post...

Do you remember my beloved Chie Mihara woven leather shoes?

I blogged about their comfort and perfection for my "day job" as a corporate trainer here. I actually believe that they are perfectio

n, period. I have loved shoes in the past, but these are my true love, from a very pure and unconditional place. (I would LOL here, but I'm almost completely sincere! Not much irony!)

Well, I saw today that Urban Outfitters is carrying a knock-off of these perfect shoes at a much lower price point and a much higher heel. I really don't know if I will ever in my life wear a 4" heel, but I might be curious enough to wander down to my local UO to try them on...

Daytime Corsets in InStyle

Did this catch anyone else's eye?:

This was on page 60 of the July 2008 issue, and having made a corset a couple months back, I appreciated seeing professional stylists' take on how to incorporate such a piece into a daily (daytime) wardrobe. Yay for corsets!

Wardrobe Remix

1. Wardrobe Remix: July 13, 2008, 2. Tokyobanhbao, 3. summer dress, 4. Nostalgic boom with a modern twist

I stumbled across this Flickr group a few weeks ago and am completely, utterly addicted. I enjoy Hel-Looks and The Sartorialist to see what people on the street (all around the world) are wearing, but generally they are edited to varying degrees by what the photographer wants to shoot. If the photographer doesn't think someone's clothes are worth photographing, I'll never see them. Or if people who wear great clothes aren't on the same street at the same time as Scott Schuman or the Hel-Looks crew, there's no chance I'll see their cool duds on these sites.

With Wardrobe Remix, anyone who wants to share what they are wearing photographs themselves within the pool's guidelines and uploads it. So far I have yet to see a single snarky or inappropriate comment, and nearly every photograph has a lesson in color, fit, proportion, accessorizing, etc. I've gotten lots of inspiration from some of these brave folk who put themselves out there for the world to see. To date, there are nearly 58,000 photos in the pool! A few of my faves above.