Velvety Blouse

Hi everyone!
I had such an exhausting week and weekend. Let me tell you, mini wars are hard on the soul. As you probably know, a cease fire was announced a few days ago, I still don't know what I think about the whole situation, it's confusing as I'm extremely happy it's quiet again and that all my soldier friends weren't sent into the Gaza Strip, but it feels like we didn't accomplish anything. Though I'm sure we accomplished much more than I know when it comes to a military point of view (quite a few Hamas activists were killed) it feels like in six months we'll be showered with rockets again. The only thing I can say confidently is that I'm so glad I don't have to lead a country! So many difficult decisions to make and people that rely on you. I much prefer sewing, mind you.

Speaking of which, since this is sewing blog, I'll proceed to the subject which I'm really supposed to talk about, which is not Israeli politics.
This is another installment of my Fall Look Book. In all honesty this is one of my favorite blouses I've EVER made. I've never seen anything like it (people don't wear much velvet in general, do they?) and I just love the cut out detail and the color and everything about it!

  I used a stretchy hunter green velvet (or maybe it was velveteen? whats the difference anyway?) I got for like 4$ a yard. I was kind of afraid at first of sewing velvet (and at this point was kind of angry with myself for being stingy and not buying Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide - I've heard it's worth it weight in gold!) so I did some research, and all I could find was scary warning about ironing velvet the wrong way and not top stitching velvet and so on. In the end I decide to do a few test runs on fabric scraps and see how it goes.
I checked if I could:
1) iron the fabric with and without steam (check!)
2) top stitch without it looking ugly (semi- check, I decided that it was ok but better if I can avoid it)
3) be serged. (also semi check, I had to play around A LOT with the stitch width and length before finding the best outcome. (small stitch length and small stitch width + keeping the fabric very tout))

sorry for everything being lopsided!

This brings me to the next hurtle in this project - the cut out. I was set on having a heart cut out in this shirt, I loved the way it turned out for me last time I made a heart cut out and I thought that this dainty detail would clash nicely with the green velvet. Since I didn't much like the look of the top stitching (though it wasn't terrible - I did opt for machine hemming the sleeves and hem) before, I decided that topstitching around the heart isn't a great idea. I thought of hand sewing the facing but immediately decided that there must be a better idea to do this (I HATE HAND SEWING). After doing some reaserch on the internet I found this product: Warm Company Steam-A-Seam . This is basically a fusible strip that you can use for hems or any kind of fabric fold that you seek to attach seamlessly (huh! pun!). I decided to try this on my heart cut out. Before I explain the whole process let me give you a spoiler - it worked beautifully!

I cut out the heart from the bodice and used the same heart pattern to cut out a matching facing. I then sewed the facing to the bodice right sides together along the edge of the heart and pushed the facing inside the heart shaped hole. Next I gave the heart a little press and then inserted the Steam A Seam strip between the bodice (wrong side) and the facing (wrong side) little by little (as the strips don't curve) I permanently bonded the facing to the bodice. It was that easy! I love this thing! I can't wait to try and use it on lace and other light fabric because it promises to disappear - we'll see about that! Have you ever used Steam A Seam?

I wore this shirt to work a few weeks ago and I still can't decide if this was a good idea. Why, you ask? well it's kind of.... gapey. (evidence in the photo above, so much boob and armpit showing from very little movement) Also, the heart tends to ride down a little and my bra peeks out occasionally. Now, I know you're probably freaking out about this (as I'm sure you have very strong feelings about what I wear to work) but I have a very low key, casual and um.. revealing work environment. A lot of the people working at the company are my age and some wear tank tops to work and even shorts, so it's not like everyone was staring at me! Anyway, it still made me slightly uncomfortable so I may have to restrict this shirt to going out only.

Finally let's finish with the hem. I have come to the conclusion that this is my favorite style hem, it just gives my butt such a butt lift I'm surprised it's mine when I look in the mirror. Something about the way it hugs it in a curve does wonders! What do you think? Am I imagining the improvement in my rear area?

I wore this shirt to a dinner out with friends and a friend liked it so much I made her a dress (it was basically the same, only longer) with this cranberry velvet. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! I know I was talking earlier about how I like that the cutout clashed with the green but this silhouette was made to be sewed in cranberry!
Has this ever happened to you? Visioning a project in one color and then realizing that it would have looked perfect with a different fabric? Do tell!

That is it my friends!  Have a great rest of the week!

Chain Collar Blouse + Miniscule Tutorial

Hey everyone!
Forgive my radio silence! I just started a new day job and have yet to figure out how to organize my life, I hope to get it on track soon! In the mean time, I'll make it up to you with a few cool projects that I'm excited to show you!

This is another one of my Fall Looks that I am quite proud of and sad that I didn't make a version for myself! The pictures don't do this shirt justice (or to me really) as it was getting quite late when we took these and we were kind of in a rush. I edited them as much as possible (and when I say edited I mean changed the lighting and so on) but I still feel that they aren't as vibrant and heart warming as my pictures usually are (if I do say so myself).

I always put a lot of effort into taking project photos, I actually put on makeup and brush my hair. I've seen a lot of discussions about pictures vs reality when showing your projects off in your blog in blogosphere (catapulted by Anna), and thought I'd address the issue as well (while showing you terrible photos to unprove my point).  I LOVE taking the effort to take pretty pictures of my sewing projects, I sometimes take pictures of the projects in bulk (because I do wear heavier makeup while taking pictures than in real life) and I do time it to the right time of day and so on. I feel that if I put so much effort into making a garment, I should make the effort to showcase it beautifully just the same!
The reason I wear more makeup at photo-shoots (ha! photo-shoots.) is because it is a well known fact that make up doesn't show up in pictures, so you have to exaggerate all the elements of you make up to make them noticeable. I know of a lot of people that wear fake eyelashes to take photos because mascara doesn't show up very well in photos, I don't go that far as I don't like to have glue around my eyes. (and when I say a lot of people, I mean one, and it's a blogger I don't even remember the name of who wrote this a few years ago. 
About the outfits - Anna mentioned she doesn't wear heels in day to day life, eve though she does wear them in while taking photos. I have to admit a don't either. BUT I do wear heels quite often when I go out, so I do wear some of my garments that way. Also, I kind of think the point of having a blog is showing yourself in a certain way (in my case a makeup wearing heel strutting sewer) and to show the garments you made in the best way you can.
Anyway, my point is that even though I do alter my photos a bit (and again, it's usualy lighting and coloring) I do feel that I show my true self through these photos! even if they're not my everyday life, it's still me!

That being said, let's move on to the blouse!

 The lighting was so terrible I thought that if I gave it a vintage tint it will help matters! This reminds me of a picture I saw of a girl holding a garment and saying "maybe if I dye it black no one will be able to see all my mistakes". Well that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm one step above dying the picture black.

I made this blouse using this really soft and thick quilting cotton. It's SO nice to wear.
I opted for the same silhouette as all my other blouses, I can sew this pattern with my eyes close, I tell ya. I sewed so much trying to meet up this deadline that I probably did. Ha! that would be funny - SLEEP SEWING. What an efficient illness! I could make muslins, baste, do all my hand sewing and all the stuff I hate doing and not even remember it!

Ok, I'm so ashamed of my pictures I'll just post a close up of the collar and call it a day.

What do you guys think? I love this chain idea, I think it's such an elegant embellishment! It was pretty easy to do:
1) before sewing the collar to the shirt I made two vertical buttonholes (that match up with my buttons), I wanted them to end up exactly at the point of the collar so that the chain will really hang and be noticeable.
2) I cut two pieces of chain, one much larger than the other.
3) I chose two corresponding buttons (I opted for gold buttons so that it'll look like one piece). Note that your buttons must have a shank otherwise you can't connect the chains to them.
4) I then connected the two chains with a ring (one of those jewelery making rings) and connected that same ring to the the shank (do this for both sides)
5) sew the whole shirt together, and finish it with inserting the buttons to the buttons holes!
you're done!

Was that easy to understand? I didn't think to take pictures while I made it, which was silly of me, I know, but if I ever do this again (is it just me or is it incredibly difficult to buy chain? just basic not cheap looking chain. One of my friends suggested I buy a cheap necklace at forever 21 or some other store and just use that chain. interesting.) I'll post pictures.
are any of you going to attempt this?? have you ever tried to embellish a garment with chains? (we all know I have)

See y'all soon!

Peackock Embellished Blouse

On to the next look of my Fall Look Book!

This is one of my favorite blouses! I made it out of this drapey flowy fabric that was a dream to sew with and I love the way it flows and drapes on by body.

 I loved this fabric so much I went back and bought another shade of purple of it!

Anyway, I don't know if you can tell but this is the same silhouette as the Cat Blouse, I actually love that the fabric is so different from the cat cotton that the silhouette looks quite different!

While thinking of what to make for the store I thought of what elements I could incorporate into my clothing that aren't usually incorporating into RTW clothing. One of them was this peacock feather I found at a craft store. I assume the reason feathers aren't usual used in RTW clothing is because they're not easily laundered - but I think this has a certain hand made (notice I didn't say homemade) appeal to it and attention to detail that just can't exist in mass made items.

This is the point where I come clean and say this is the version of this blouse that I made for myself and not for the store. The store version does not have fabric covered buttons in the back but a zipper. This is another one of those ways where I changed the design a bit to make it simpler and quicker. I know this is a bigger change than the back placket I was talking about in the Cat Blouse but making buttons and fabric covered buttons would have added another hour to the blouse, which is something you have to think about when selling on consignment as you can't charge as much as you would if you were selling independently. (And as well all know, time=$$)

Onto the feather! I had quite a think trying to figure out how to connect in tot the shirt. In retrospect, maybe incorporating it into a pleat might a been a good idea but I didn't want to have to do too much drafting. I decided to create a little triangle, which in my opinion gives it a kind of tribal arrow look that I like.
It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I cut a triangle out the fabric, and starched the HECK out of it.( I really think that starch is a sewer's best friend, especially for sewing difficult slippery fabrics.) I then pressed all the raw edges in, creating a smaller triangle and glued the feather to the triangle with fabric glue,  I let it dry and sewed it to the shirt slowly with very a very small stitch length.
What do you guys think?

A little but about my shoes - the friend who I have been selflessly sewing for (re - Cinderella Dress) bought me this pair of shoes as I have been eying leopard loafers for quite some time (when I say eying I mean emailing her weekly pictures of these leopard babies) as a reward for my friendly sewing she bought me these shoes, I proceeded immediately change out of a pair of black flats (black? who wears black?) I was wearing and shuffled up to the kitchen (the shoes were still tied to each other with string elastic) to pour us some celebration wine. Anyway, if you crave these as well, she got them at Target for 14.99$! I just had to spread the word to my modest following - because to who else will I share my shoe secrets?

Have you ever sewed with feathers or any other unique embellishments? What do you think of using them in your sewing? What do you think of the fall looks so far?
Have you ever used starch while sewing?

Cat Blouse

The first look! and more importantly - the look that started it all...

The Cat Blouse!

 Yes! it's made out of quilting fabric with little cats! I admit the pattern isn't very ooh-la-la but I thought I should keep it simple because the fabric is SO CUTE!

I used my bodice to create this pattern, I was inspired by the Colette Sencha Blouse and Gertie's (or Vogue's) Bow Tie Blouse and created a vintage silhouette (which admittedly you can't see in this picture, I basically look like a balloon. I blame it on the Doctor Peppers I've been drinking non stop for two months).

It might be more obvious in this one:

 You can see the definition of the waist better in this picture. (Though sadly I'm wearing a deer-in-the-headlights look. I still can't decide if I like this picture much). I made it a little longer than the blouses I mentioned above and seemed to have over compensated out of pure hysteria because the last few blouses I've made have come out quite short.

Yesterday, I talked about how I had to put a lot of thought into the making of these blouses. When making clothing with the intention of selling them, you really have to think about how long each process will take you, otherwise you will have to charge a FORTUNE for the garment you're making. The issue with this is thinking about time and also thinking about the finishing of the garment at the same time. You don't want to send out a garment that looks like a piece of crap or damages the integrity of the original design because you're trying to save time.

The focal point of this blouse is the buttons in the back. now I know you can't really see them well and I blame that on the busy print, but I assure you they're quite prominent in real life!

One of the examples for thinking about the way I do things is the back button placket, let's take a closer look:

In the original blouse I had an actual separate placket for the buttons that I cut on the bias. I decided to shorten my sewing time by elongating the back pieces to overlap and creating a facing to make the button strip sturdier. In retrospect, I can't really decide which design I like better. This definitely saved me at least half an hour of construction (it might seem silly but these things add up!) but maybe the placket made the button more noticeable? Anyway I felt that this gave the blouse a cleaner finish and made it simpler to construct. What do you guys think? would it have been better to leave a separate placket?

I'd love to hear your thoughts! I love this shirt, I love the fabric, I really think that you can't find this kind of shirt at a store - at least not out of cotton! It's definitely work appropriate and is quite easy to accessories because it has such a simple cut!

What do you think about my hat? A friend made it for me (YES it's the same friend I made a Cinderella Dress for and have mentioned too many times) It turned out a tiny bit small but I have the option of stretching it a bit because it's felted. Thoughts? should I leave it like this?

I'll share more simplifying techniques I used as we go along. What do you guys think of the basic idea? do you think of the easiest way of doing things when you sew or would you rather spend more time on a garment and use a more complicated technique?

Tell me!

Fall Look Book

Hey guys!
I had SUCH a busy summer! I did so much sewing, seriously I was like a one man sweat shop! It all started with my friend wearing a Circle Shirt to work (this is the same friend I made the Cinderella Dress for. I'm not as nice as you think though, she bought me two Collete Patterns in return - more on that later!) One of my friend's cow - workers liked the shirt that I made and offered to buy one from me! How exciting is that? I've never gotten money for something I've made!
It kind of made me realize how much I improved my sewing skills in the last year. I know that non sewers don't really notice the stuff we do, like seam finishing and so on but I felt comfortable making something for someone else and I couldn't say that about myself a year. like I said in the cinderella dress post I think one of the big changes were in making that dress. I usually don't pay much attention to detail, I'm far from a perfectionist, but when I sew for other people I really do feel that I have to make the extra effort for everything to look nice on the inside! (I'm not saying that my garments look like I put them through a shredder it's just not perfect).

Anyway, the next awesome thing that happened was that I wore one of the shirts I made for myself (and have yet to post about it)  to the Princeton Jazz Feast and wandered into a boutique. One thing led to another and the boutique owner asked me where I got my shirt (isn't that the most perfect compliment??) I told her (after doing a little dance) that I made it. She then offered that I make a few shirts and sell them on consigment in her shop.

Holy Sh@#$t!

Can you believe it? I'm like a celebrity!
To be honest, it's not the best deal in the world money wise but who cares?? 

I decided not to think about what people will think, and if they buy it and if the shop owner will
like it and just have fun with it! I came up with a few looks for fall (this was after a lot of thought  and consideration. I had to think of the hours it'll take to make each garment as well) that represent my style. I thought of it as kind of a Project Runway Challenge and tried to have fun with it (it was most stressful at times. believe that) .
This is what I came up with:

What do you guys think? Can you guess which one is the Shirt that started everything??

I'll write separate posts for each shirt and explain more about each one.

what do you think?? huh? huh? huh?
I'm really excited about the looks!