My Heart’s in NYC this weekend

But my bod’s here.

I will get some sewing in though!!

Best wishes for a great weekend to all my PR buddies as they shop till they drop and have fun this weekend at the PR Weekend in NYC!!

Current Obsession: Fashion Star!

 

Has anyone else been watching Fashion Star? Last night was the finale (SPOILER ALERT) and the wonderfully talented, but incredibly weepy Kara Larriks won. Yay!

I really liked her distinctive designs, which really spoke to her personality.  She tried to incorporate some androgyny in almost all of her clothing in an understated, elegant and refined way.  I found a lot of the other contestants were either one-trick ponies or were very of the moment designers.

In case you didn’t see it, the contestants were mentored by Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie and John Varvatos, then ‘judged’ by a buyer from Saks, H&M & Macy’s.  Each week held a challenge (not a silly one like project runway) and then the buyers bid on the clothing.  Winning designs were offered for sale at each realtor the day of airing.

Three designs were chosen by McCalls – I hope they offer more of the designs as well!  The dress above (alternate view below) was one of the first garments designed by Kara.

Here’s an interview with Kara explaining her influences:

http://player.hulu.com/embed/myspace_player_v002.swf?pid=60045447&embed=true&videoID=108584250

DIY e-reader Case

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Here’s a quick project I made for a Mother’s day gift. Using the measurements of my Kobo reader, I drafted a quick case.   The reader is held in place with elastic and it closes with an elastic loop. Total sewing time was about 1 hour. It’s a great project to use up remnants!

• I started by using the measurements of the case and adding about 1/8″ plus a 1/4″ seam allowance. Call this measurement A I also added a small spine down the centre, a hair wider than the thickness of the reader.  I wanted the case to be slim and light when done
• Cut a rectangle that’s the size of  Ax2 plus the spine.  Cut two of these rectangles.
• For the inside pocket, cut a pocket 1/2 of A and fold in half so the fold is the top of the pocket.
• Cut a ‘spine’ out of twill tape the height of the case
• Out of elastic (I had some nice fold over elastic to match, but any elastic will do) cut 4 2″ segments for the corners
• Cut a piece of elastic the height of the case plus 2″ for the closure
• Cut some interfacing the exact size of your reader cover.  I used some thin, stiff plastic for the front and timtex for the back.  You want a protective front.

Construction:

• baste pocket in place on inside section of case cover. Baste elastic ‘corners’ in place.  Check fit with your reader to make sure it’s going to be held securely.
• Baste top and bottom of twill tape in place, covering inside ends of elastic & inside edge of pocket.  The other ends of the elastic will be sewn into the cover.  Baste elastic loop in place on back of the right cover (facing you when case is open)
• pin inside of case to outside, wrong sides together.  Check the elastic loop is in the right place and looks nice.
• Sew case together – leave top of case over the LEFT side open.  Turn right side out and press.
• Slide your interfacing in the opening and push it all the way over to the right.  It should be a tight fit.  Check to make sure your reader is held in place snugly & the elastic loop is in the right place before your next step!
• Straighten up your twill tape (the ‘spine) and edgestich to enclose the interfacing on the right side.
• Slide the interfacing on the left side, and edgstitch along the other side to hold left side in place.  The twill will make a ‘spine’ separating the two sides.   Close the top opening invisibly with handstiching.

Jalie Jean Details

I finally dumped the pics in my camera today and came up with a few detail shots of the red Jalie jeans – such lovely details! The rivets are from Fabricland and are super easy to put in. Too bad I didn’t know the trick of topstitching with a double threaded needle for this pair – Oh well, I have a white pair planned in my head for summer…

Tummy Tuck Jeans Techniques

As promised, here are my notes from the Tummy Tuck jeans technique.  See my post earlier here about Kathy Ruddy to get all of her contact information if you’d like to order her technique kits – which are available in a range of formats.

Basically the tummy tuck jean technique was copied from Not your Daughter’s jeans.  I’ve never tried on a pair – they finally started making them in tall lengths this season & they’re available at Long Tall Sally for a whopping $175.00 per pair.

The description of the jeans says:  Created for real women with real curves NYDJ are renowned for their great fit
•The family run business sports a range of tummy tuck jeans that flatter and lift allowing you to wear 1 size smaller
•Classic 5 pocket straight leg jean with banded waist, belt loops and a unique criss-cross panel that flattens your tummy, lifts your rear and makes you look and feel a size smaller

And I just noticed thier tall jeans are a 35″ inseam.  In the land of tall jeans, a 35″ inseam is for petites!!  Many jeans now run to a 38″ or even 39″ inseam!

Anyway the tummy tuck part is simple.  I’ve borrowed the pic from Bunny La Sewista’s blog which has a helpful article on this technique.  Imagine this in denim, with the satin replace by a firm, non stretch woven like muslin:

See how the stay runs seam to seam? Basically this is the same technique, just using a firm, woven fabric for the stay. The pattern copied from RTW had the stay & pocket lining from the muslin and the stay was straight across the bottom of the pocket, instead of curved like a regular pocket – this made the pocket a little shallower. Et Voila!

Here’s a pic scooped from e-bay of the actual jeans:

Apparently the red cover stitching is part of their branding and does not add any function to the garment.

Kathy Ruddy – the Creative Festival

I spent a happy morning yesterday at the Creative Festival, I specifically went to see Kathy Ruddy speak about “Tummy Tuck” jeans.  I thought I would do a series of blog posts with her techniques.  You can go to her website and buy a CD which is a powerpoint presentation with audio over with the instructions for $15.  Kathy Ruddy’s Website

If you get a chance to see her, she’s a hoot!  What other person would strip down to a leotard to demonstrate how her pants fit!! Here’s a video from her youtube channel:

Here are some of her non-tummy tuck hints and tips:

Summer Vogue Patterns

After some dissapointment with Vogue Patterns which didn’t arrive (and have been reshipped but still not here yet) I have bitten the bullet and ordered from the new crop of patterns which appeared today on the tail end of a very good BMV sale.  I also renewed my subscription to Vogue Magazines as they are publishing a 6 part feature on constructing a couture-quality Chanel jacket.  Here are the patterns that I’ve ordered:

Peplum Top V8815

 

Chanel Style Jacket V8804

New Issey Miyake top & pants V1309

I also ordered this one after seeing a great version of made up in hot pink linen:

Elizabeth Gillett V8721

So lets see if they’ve improved thier mailing service this time round!

New Colette Pattern and BMV Rant….

First the good news; I purchased the download pattern for the new Iris short by Colette yesterday.  I think I shall store my download patterns in a binder in plastic sleeves.  Here’s the pattern, for a really cute pair of shorts.  Unfortunately my legs while relatively slim are unflatteringly cottage cheesy – so these may need to be lengthened a bit; anyway here’s a pic of their kinda retro cuteness:

 I like the button detail.  Super fast download, the pattern was $12 – however it’s a hefty 30 pages to print!

Now the rant.  On March 20th I joined club BMV to take advantage of a very good sale.  The club memberships were also discounted.  However, I still don’t have any patterns!  It’s been 4 weeks; and the distribution centre is probably a 10 minute drive from my house.  I have had answers from customer service, but no explanation as to why it takes 4 weeks to process and deliver an order from a large company.

I’ve ordered from them before, and it’s consistantly taken this long.  Other Canadian Pattern Review members have found quicker service – about 2 weeks, so it looks like its the distribution centre that services my area that sucks at it’s job.

I also sent a message to Fabricland telling them that I’m buying patterns online now (and they’re not getting my pattern money any more) but they just said “they can no longer offer pattern sales”  Huh?  Perhaps there is a Pattern Embargo?  Pattern Markdown Strike? general Philosophic differences?

Anyway, here are the patterns I’ve been waiting for:

 

I’m excited to go to the Creativ Festival next weekend; I think I’ll take a half day off Friday so I can attend Kathy Ruddy’s seminar, who could resist this description?

Tummy Tuck Jeans & Slacks ‘Magic’ fabric that stretches and special pockets team up to flatten your tummy and lift your bum making you look 10 lbs. slimmer and 10 years younger. See how to adjust and fit the pattern for woven fabric with lycra, make leg style changes to best suit your shape, build special pockets and install a fool-proof fly zipper. Let’s also explore belt loops, top stitching and seaming techniques… everything you need for the best fitting jeans you have ever owned!

Salme Loose Fitting Pleated T-shirt

This is a downloadable PDF pattern, I’m not even sure how I stumbled on it, but her patterns are available here on Etsy: Salme Patterns.  It was $7.18 Canadian.

This is a quick pattern to make up and went together very nicely.  It can be made in wovens or knits, and I chose to make it in a sheer re-embroidered ivory mesh knit which has been in my stash for a long time!

The pattern itself is well drafted, there are 4 front tucks and a nice short sleeve.  You need to tape the pattern pieces together, and like Burda add the seam and hem allowances.  I like that the sleeve is drafted with a symmetrical cap, and it was easy to set in flat.  (For a woven, you would probably have to set the sleeve in in the round)  The neckline has a facing, I turned it under, using my twin needle to stich it down then trimmed off the excess.  I hemmed the sleeve and hem with a twin needle – grrrr which I broke on the last quarter of the hem, so I used two parallel stitches to finish it off before I get a replacement.  It was a new needle too!!

In the photo you can see the sheerness of the fabric (I’m wearing a cami under it) & also a wierd face!   Pants are Burda originally blogged about here and jacket is red linen Vogue Anne Klein 2896 OOP:

Sewing Adventures

I’ve been working on getting my Real Estate Licence, taking off a week in between exams.  I have one more set of exams to go before I can buy & sell!!  In progress I have a capsule wardrobe consisting of this skirt in cobalt blue stretch sateen (I finished the skirt on the weekend):

And these tops, the New Look view C in a taupe slub rayon knit (remnants from my Issey Miyake dress):

And this pattern in a gorgeous silk/cotton voile in a bright watercolour print:

I also have an interesting downloadable pattern cut out in a sheer, embroidered polyester knit. The pattern is available from Etsy if you’re interested here’s a link:
Salme Patterns.

Meanwhile, I found that DSD is getting to go on a trip to Hawaii with her Mom.  To celebrate, I told her I would make her a couple of special outfits.  The first will be a simple tank-style dress made from blue ruffled fabric similar to this, bound in fold over elastic:

And also the outfit below in knits for both top and bottom (view D); a coral/pink stripe on top and a coral bamboo knit for the leggings.   DSD is so skinny she’s almost 7, but is in between the sizes 3 & 4 measurements! I might try some embroidery on the bodice for fun (and I haven’t used my embroidery maching for a long time!)