recycled tee booty shorts and more pocket details

I spent several days while out of town trying to use up some of my stash of cute t-shirts, making cute little boy-shorts in various sizes.

I also further pillaged the pants/purse that brought you the Day Six entry for these pendants:

day... something...

OK, I admit it.  This challenge is, well, a bit challenging.  At this point I am so far behind on posting that I've lost track of which projects belong to which days, so I'm thinking perhaps it's time to abandon the "day #" filing system, and just mass post everything I've got documented so far.

Next in line: Thanksgiving weekend! Pasties! And a turkey dinner!

Not really sure why, exactly, but I decided that I (and every girl) should have at least one set of pasties.  After the Thanksgiving weekend, I have - not one, not two - but three pairs. 



The red glitter dots were my first try (and an attempt to use up some of the leftover scraps from my costuming efforts), and I'll be honest: they're a bit clumsy.  The seams and glue are really obvious up close, and they just lack a certain polish.  Maybe they need some tassels to spice them up.



Next I busted out my stash of sequins and the trusty hot glue gun, and created these babies:

The black and gold combo makes me think of Cleopatra.

After that I got really ambitious and decided to try making star-shaped pasties.  A friend of mine once posted some great photos of herself modeling black stars (like these), and I have coveted them ever since.  I had leftover silver fabric on hand, and voilà:

I'm pretty pleased with the way these turned out (I plan on posting a step-by-step tutorial later), but I haven't tried them on yet and I'm not sure if the points will dig into my skin.


It was a very crafty holiday weekend.  Much of this was accomplished between stuffing a 15lb. free range bird, making from-scratch cheese sauce for the broccoli, and baking countless loaves of bread.  Can I count the dinner as a project, too?

day seven: navy sweater dress

I love draping for garment design; the method, much more than flat pattern-making, allows the fabric to dictate the direction of the design, because you immediately see how the material falls on the form, where it wants to contour, what shape it will or won't take. This is particularly useful for me, as my starting point is usually recycled clothing, each piece with a unique stretch factor, shape and yardage, weight, and existing design details to take advantage of.



My day seven project was an interesting challenge when it came to to the design details - specifically how best to place them without sacrificing economy of fabric-usage. When making dresses from sweaters in the past, I've usually used the body of the sweater for the skirt, keeping the existing hem finish at the bottom, and making a bodice or bust from the sleeves. However, the sweater I started with here had a front body-only pattern that I thought would look strange if isolated below the waist. I moved the individual pieces around until I came up with an orientation I liked (hem ribbing over the bust like a tube dress) and then lengthened the skirt using pieces from the sleeves. The original strapless design looked a bit flimsy to me, so I pleated the original sleeve caps and draped them into a square front neckline, with a V-neck back. The final design has a nice retro feel to it. It looks somewhat sack-like on the hanger (or, more accurately, on the floor), but hangs nicely on the body and looks really sexy with a wide belt.

day six: pocket detail necklace

My day six project got a bit confounded, sadly: first, by my failure to find appropriate hardware despite running to three different stores across town; and second, by my subsequent departure for an ongoing adventure in small-town dog-sitting (which prevented further hardware-sourcing excursions). However, here's where it stands:


This was the detail from the pocket opening of a pair of pants which I upcycled into a purse. The hardware and embellishments were too interesting not to save when the body of the bag wore out. I liked the asymmetry of this piece and thought it would work well as a necklace or collar.

I cleaned up the back, and I'll be adding a D-ring to each end to attach a chain or cord... as soon as I can get to the store.


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So... you may have noticed a couple of things. Like, there's no post for day five. And, um, today is not quite the day after day six. I spent most of day five on the phone and didn't complete a project. Oops. And, as mentioned above, I've been out of town looking after my family's dogs and house, and this has unexpectedly limited my blog-ability. I have been crafting, but it may take a few more days to catch up with the documentation.

days three and four: costume round-up

I've fallen somewhat behind on my posting, what with the last-minute pre-show madness, and then the post-show decompression period. The following performance stills (credit: J. Lunn) are not the most detailed shots of my costumes imaginable, but they do make a change from photos of garments laid out on my hardwood floor.

Day Three:
red/black glitter dot spangle top and booty shorts for my "pyro-clowning" act. The spangle knit was a real pain in the ass to work with because all the cut edges rolled and it was almost impossible to get an accurate seam allowance. I did alright with the shorts, but I quickly gave up on trying to make a top from scratch, and ended up draping (and pinning, and eventually stitching) over an existing bra top.


Day four:
zebra-stripe tailcoat for my Ringmaster character. I altered an existing coat - cut out most of the front, slit up the back, and rounded the tails; stitched the raw edges under for a clean edge; nipped in the waist.

As a day four bonus, I also finished up the final details on my knockoff of Monique's Urban Behavior mini-vest, which had been in progress for several days. (No good stage pics of that one yet, but I'll nab one if it comes up.) At the risk of sounding immodest... I copied it so well that Monique didn't realize I hadn't just gone out and bought the same style until I pointed it out. Go me.

day two: 2-for-1

Technically, today is day three; but I'm writing about day two, and will probably continue to have a one-day time delay throughout the rest of the challenge. Taking photos of my completed project, uploading them from the camera, editing them, uploading them to the blogosphere, and penning a lucid account of the experience is really too much for me before bed. Morning is tea-and-internet time, so that is when you'll hear from me. Probably.

Without further ado, then: day two! It's a twofer! (Aside: blogger's dictionary has no issue with the word "twofer". But apparently does with "blogger's".") That's right, two, TWO!, projects for the low, low price of... ahem. As I mentioned yesterday, the Cabaret Carnivale show is coming up this weekend, so it's all about costumes and props for me right now. Both of today's pieces are for the candle dance I'm performing with Monique and Elinor. To enhance the effect of the candle flames, the idea is to be as shiny and mirror-like as possible; hence:

Silver bra! Elinor has a seriously wicked-cool metal bra with stainless-steel cups. I am not as awesome as she is, so mine is pleated foil lamé attached (vive le hot glue gun!) to a bargain-bin bra. I toyed with the idea of doing a silver-leaf effect with aluminum foil, but feared it wouldn't hold up to the sort of torment I put my costumes through, and I had leftover fabric hanging around that matches the silver panel skirt I'll be wearing with this costume, anyway. I put the bra on the judy and draped over it, gluing as I went, to ensure that I got the right contours over the cups and enough stretch through the back strap. This was a totally no-sew endeavour, which might mean that it won't be terribly durable, but it just needs to get me through the night.

My second project was a pair of flared jazz pants inspired by Monique's black glitter dot Melos, which I have coveted all summer long. Not a lot to say about these, except that they're fantastic and sparkly and fit even better than I'd hoped (especially considering the amount of eyeball guesstimation I did while cutting, and that my "pattern" was another pair of pants I'd made). In order to get the most out of my fabric, I had to make the back leg in two pieces, with a horizontal seam across the knee; with a different fabric, I might have been able to flip the legs in opposite directions to get a good layout, but with this I had both the nap of the velvet and the shine of the glitter dots to contend with. This way, though, I ended up with very little wasted material.

And now it's time to run to the fabric store! Back with more adventures tomorrow!

day one: fingerless leather gloves

Well, it's been a full day, and I nearly missed getting my first post up - how embarrassing would that be? Not for lack of productivity, mind; I'm busily preparing my costumes for the upcoming Cabaret Carnivale show (this weekend! belly dance! fire! can-can! burlesque!).

Today's piece is part of my can-can outfit, a pair of black fingerless leather gloves.





Pattern pieces:


One down:


The finished product: