sewing

+ & –

by Lara on October 28, 2010

in + & -

  • Oh dear I love these shoes called the Robot by Ruthie Davis for Dennis Basso ss2011!! (via)

  • I finally brought my sewing machine, box and spool holder from my parent’s house! I never thought we had the space here but I made space. My mom kept her machine in a closet and just sewed at the kitchen table when I was kid. That’ll do! I need to be able to work on projects here in the evening or I will go crazy. Sewing is the only craft hobby I’ve stuck with since I was a kid. Now… do I need an adjustable dress form?
  • Hey! If you like edgy fashionable DIY projects, you should be reading Outsapop. Really. Would I wear these feather shoulder epaulettes? Hell yes I would!

Dmetal

  • Soooo Marie Claire posted an article about how people feel uncomfortable watching overweight people on TV kissing or whatever. It got a bit cruel, garnered a TON of pissed off comments and media attention, and the author had to update and apologize (weakly). There has been a lot of fat-acceptance talk on the blogs lately and I think it’s great. NO, it’s not great to be unhealthy but it is great to not hate yourself because of how you look. I think some of the anti-fat-acceptance comments have been missing this point. It’s not “Yay fat! I love fat! Let’s all love fat!” It’s about still being strong and confident when you’ve put on some poundage. Appearance and self-worth are two completely different things that a lot of people get confused in darker moments, including myself. Something about morbid obesity that makes me incredibly sad though: Every morning when I commute like clockwork, I see a very large woman with a few small children about to cross 4 lanes of traffic to get to the school bus stop. The children dart across the road and she has a terrible time keeping up with them. I think about how she probably can’t play with her children as much as they would like, and how tired she must feel all the time. Growing up with a disabled parent, I can empathize with the kids.

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+ & –

by Lara on September 22, 2010

in + & -

  • I really like this scarf concept by Symmetry which consists of doubled up wool fabric, 6 grommets and what looks like a 20″ length of chain with toggles at the ends. The scarves are selling for $200 at Richmond’s own Need Supply but I’m not a fan of the price or the fabric choices. This would be a great DIY project! It looks like they’re long wide rectangles (measurements?) with the grommets at each corner and at the centers of the longer edges.

  • This post about t-shirts that glorify sleeping with/raping wasted drunk women pissed me off so badly. I left a comment on the site showing the first tee and I filed 3 formal complaints with and started a discussion on Amazon for the second tee. I’m hoping Amazon will quit allowing their Marketplace sellers use of the site to peddle garbage. What the hell is wrong with people?! I am all for freedom of speech. I’m also for the good old-fashioned boycott.
  • Topshop? Am I missing something here?
  • Hoodies. There has been a bit of talk about the horror of hoodies lately. There comes a time in every woman’s life where she’s dressing herself for a casual Fall day and instead of reaching for the beat up hoodie, she grabs the blazer or cute jacket instead. I just cleaned out my closet again and got rid of about 10. Ten hoodies. I’m still hanging onto a few for those days where I just don’t give a damn.

  • Super serious talk – my mom got her first bedsore. Considering she has been bedridden for over a decade, it’s a miracle that it’s taken this long. I called her nurse practitioner who came over, who then sent over a wonderful wound care specialist who will be coming a few times a week to help me until this is cleared up. I cried in front of both of them. There is so much guilt involved with being someone’s caregiver. I was reassured of the good job I’ve been doing, was given 2 long hours of great advice, and I now have access to professional supplies and techniques that are going to fix everything. She’s going to have to get a special bed to prevent this from happening in the future. I’m also having to step up my game on being a hardass with her getting a ton of protein to help the healing process. She’s having to stomach crappy tasting protein shakes and just generally eat more when she’s not hungry. I’ve also had a huge talk with my dad about what he needs to do in the evenings and on weekends. He’s being surprisingly receptive. Honestly, it was his casual attitude combined with my mom’s stubbornness when I’m gone that caused this crap. They’re both on notice.

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Embroidery

by Lara on August 21, 2010

in crafty

Thanks again to MJ for tweeting this awesome piece of embroidery by Rosie Geissler from her very new blog. This is one of my all-time favorite quotes. (via Craft)

Here’s one more piece of her work. Love love love her messy style!

Her etsy shop is empty at the moment but keep an eye on it!

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pillows

by Lara on June 15, 2010

in crafty,decor

The floor pillows are done! I made them yesterday and it took less than 1.5 hours! I’m not going to give you a huge tutorial on making pillows because it’s the easiest thing on earth to sew (next to curtains).

I did not make removable covers. A lot of people are using pillow forms inside covers these days and a small 12″x12″ form will run you about $7. (Enough polyfil to stuff two 12″ pillows is about $5.) Making pillow covers is also more complicated than simply sewing two pieces of fabric together and they don’t make forms big enough for what I was doing. I simply bought poly-fil and stuffed the hell out of them and finished the hole under the sewing machine.

Home decor fabric comes rolled up on a tube and not folded on a bolt like most garment fabric. You get a piece that is usually 54″ wide with upholstery fabric and about 44-45″ wide (folded in half on the bolt) with normal fabric. Get your measurements straight and give yourself about 3-4 extra inches of both length and width for uneven cuts at the store, selvage (the finished edge by the manufacturer that could interfere with your print) and to give yourself a 1″ edge away from your stitch (seam allowance).

My pillows are rectangular because for each pillow I got 1 yard of 54″ fabric = 1 pillow a bit under 36″ x 27″ (I only had to pay for 1 yard for each pillow = $24 total)

I didn’t use pins because the fabric was heavy and I didn’t iron because I’m lazy and really didn’t need to.

After I had sewn all the edges with a 1″ seam allowance, leaving about an 8″ hole for stuffing, I trimmed the corners so they wouldn’t bunch up and turned them right side out.

via 

I poked the corners out from the inside with the tips of my scissors so they would be clean. Now, this is the part where most people would stuff and finish the hole and be done but, I wanted finished flange edges so, with the pillows right side out, I ran the edges under the sewing machine again, about 1/3″ in. This also gives the edges some extra reinforcement.

So then I stuffed and stuffed and stuffed some more and closed them up under the sewing machine, which was a pain in the ass and really should’ve been done by hand, but whatever.

Here they are! They’re super puffy right now but the bf is already lounging all over them so, they’ll flatten out a bit soon enough.

 

If you have any sewing questions, please feel free to ask!

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+ & -

by Lara on June 15, 2010

in + & -

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  • Putting some more color in my life. My wardrobe mainly consists of black, white and grey. I’ve been making a concentrated effort to choose the colorful version of something cute I see, instead of the standard neutral. It can always be paired up with a neutral I already have. Still can’t get into prints though.
  • I finally went to u-fab, a fabric discounter in the city, this past weekend and holy cow it’s awesome! There is no other store in Richmond that has so many contemporary prints at such great prices. The $2.99 remnants in the back were very basic. Most of the gorgeous prints (in all types of weights) were about $10-$15 a yard. I bought 2 yards of heavy duty fabric for two large floor cushions for my livingroom. The mod print for the bf and the floral for me. I think they coordinate pretty well, in a funky kinda way. $24!!! All I need is some patience to cut it, a few easy swipes through the sewing machine, and hopefully I can get my hands on a heavier natural fiber filler so they have some weight. I will post pics of the finished product soon! Washed out phone pic:

  • Rediscovering DnB. A looong time ago in a land far far away, I dabbled in the rave scene here in Richmond. The first big party I went to, I wandered around to the different rooms until I found music that hit me. That was Drum & Bass. A local DJ was spinning and I was mesmerized, watching the subtle movements on the records and mixer, feeling the build-ups, being blown away. I became friends with that DJ and all his other friends and for a while, Richmond was  a lot of fun for me. Then as my circle of friends got bigger, drama and drugs got a bit too much for my liking and I had to move on. Either way, the music is still important to me, even though I don’t listen to it as often as I should. I would much rather go to a DnB night to dance than a hipster dance night. I forgot all about BassDrive. Click on the “web player” and listen to DJs spinning sets from all over the world!
  • I really enjoy Sarah Von’s blog Yes and Yes. She has recently shared two awesome things. First, THIS BLOG of Japanese cats. Second, is this great reminder to keep things in perspective:

  • Removable/repositionable wallpaper! Transform a wall in your rental without your landlord having a fit! Check it out!

 

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  • I had been putting off getting my car inspected 10 days past the end of the month, because I had a bad feeling I was going to have some expensive repairs. I was noticing some subtle changes and they didn’t feel good. So of course, this past Thursday, I got a ticket for an expired inspection sticker. Two hours later, I was at the mechanics and sat there for over 3 hours as they collected $700 from me. In addition to a lot of minor maintainance things, a ball joint was cracked and it was pretty major. (Thank you Richmond pot holes!) Trying to look on the bright side, the car is over 8 years old and this is the first real repair I’ve had to perform. I always wanted to take a class in auto mechanics and have done quite a bit of car repair in my lifetime and I’m good about taking care of my car so, I’m counting my lucky stars and knocking on wood that it wasn’t worse.
  • I came about 3″ from catching a wee kitten last Friday. I was driving through my parents’ neighborhood and saw a tiny kitten sitting on the side of the road. I stopped and started walking towards it. It mewed a few times then took off to a house and hid under shrubs. After about 10 minutes of crawling around on my hands and knees under bug filled bushes with the kitten darting from one bush to another, it took off again and I didn’t see where it went. It was one of those brown stripey wild kitties and that’s exactly the kind I’ve wanted! Kinda like this:

yeah

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+ & -

by Lara on October 30, 2009

in + & -

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  • Comments! I love them! Leave one and introduce yourself! When you comment, I get to see YOUR blog if you have one, and this my friends, is how great relationships begin! I just recently received a comment from Sarah whose blog yes and yes, I had never seen before and well… it’s awesome… and I’m mentioning it here! So there you go!
  • The Botany of Desire was on PBS this week and I loved it. It’s a documentary based on the book by Michael Pollan. It talks about how 4 plants that have satisfied humans (apples, potatoes, tulips and marijuana) have thrived and expanded across the world because of our efforts. If you’re into plants, into history, into genetics, into evolution, into the world, check it out. You can watch it online.
  • This is both a plus and a minus – I’m not dressing up in a costume this Halloween. It’s a plus because the planning, expense, and usually the sewing can get to be a little overwhelming. It’s a minus because costumes really bring out the nut in me and they’re soooo much fun! Here are some pics from Halloweens past -

This was a zentai tiger suit I ordered off of eBay in 2006. I cut the face out of it but was constantly having to readjust. This costume got a lot of milage at a lot of super fun parties. The nose was a pain but I loved the annonymity. It was skin tight and some chick came up and told me I was “really brave” for wearing it. Compliment? I hope so.

In 2007, I repurposed an old bridesmaid dress  and made the Bjork swan dress. Such a pain to sew! Miles of various types of white tulle strips and at the last minute I magically found a yard of white feather ribbon edging for the bodice part. That really made it.  It was great going to parties and everyone running up to you knowing who you were.

Last year, I finally made a super cuddly hamster costume after talking about it for forever. It was beyond comfortable and I loved wearing sneakers all night. I also made a blinding pink bunny suit for a friend out of the same pattern at the last minute one evening. We took over the town. Everyone wanted to hug me and I wanted to hug them back!

  • I have had this first pair of Givenchy shoes from the Spring 2010RTW collection bookmarked for almost a month but hadn’t had the time to look at the rest of the collection. The clothing (and those god-awful hats) didn’t do a thing for me but holy cow these wedges!  So ideal. Have I told you before how much I love a wedge? Like a million times! I wish affordable amazing wedges were more readily available!

via style.com

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  • Grilled Romaine lettuce just seems so wrong to me! I hear it’s very good though.
  • After getting my laptop back from being repaired, my external hard drive (that I backed everything up on) won’t work. (Something about partitions and all this other computer garble that I don’t plan on teaching myself.) Well, I tried to hook it up to my folks’ desktop and it too is saying that it needs to be reformatted – meaning I will lose everything. So, I downloaded a freeware version of a data recovery program and everything was working well. The items on my external were being recognized, I could see it all in front of me, then the error reports started popping up (something got corrupted which explains why it wouldn’t work on the desktop either) and just when I was ready to transfer all the items I had painstakingly hand clicked on… the “freeware” program directed me to a website to pay $50 to complete the transfer. What a flippin crock!
  • Twinings African Rooibos red tea tastes like bug spray. It seriously tastes like Raid!
  • Zombieland was a huge waste of time. The previews were incredibly misleading. There was hardly any zombie killing. Who goes to a zombie movie not wanting to see excessive zombie violence? The female characters (I hate to say it) were unnecessary - very cunning at the beginning, emo in the middle, and pathetically stupid and needing a man’s rescue at the end. The awkward emo guy was obviously cast as some poor excuse for a Michael Cera wannbe.  Bill Murray’s bloated self-indulgent cameo was terrible. Weak. So weak.

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an appreciation

by Lara on October 27, 2009

in art,fashion

In March, I was dying to see the documentary on the designer Valentino’s career, Valentino: The Last Emperor. Last night I finally saw it and I watched it again today with my mom. Just incredible.

The most touching moment that got me teary was when one of his seamstresses from 1964(?) came to his monumental 45th anniversary career retrospective and she and Valentino were both brough to tears. I looooved watching the women sew and construct his visions for his final critique. He was such a graceful man, treating the ladies with such reverence, giving due credit to them for their masterpieces. Without them, he would be nothing.

In the Oct 2008 issue of Vogue there was an article about the seamstresses of haute couture, explaining the process of turning a designer’s drawing and idea into a reality… what an integral part they play in high fashion. It was a fascinating read and has stuck with me over the past year (I had a hell of time digging that article up… thought it was W magazine). While my mom and aunt had explained a lot of it to me when I was a child, I really had no idea. These women’s talent, patience and expertise is unrivalled. Every tiny stitch done by hand, each bead, each sequin, each minute rolled hem on the finest silk chiffon, all of the excessive basting and complex pattern making and cutting – all by hand. Watching the documentary made my respect for haute couture all the more palpable. Growing up around two serious sewers and sewing a bit myself, an appreciation for a talent like that swells in my heart but now it’s about to burst.

Check out this video on “The Making of a Chanel Haute Couture Outfit”

Recently I got into a bit of a tiff on a little goth blog about Steve Madden ripping off a pair of Alexander McQueen shoes that really tickeld the fancy of the goth scene. (Steve Madden ripping someone off? Can you believe it? McQueen is suing!) I stood firm in my belief that fashion is art and that an artist has rights to their intellectual property. Just because you can’t afford it doesn’t give you the justification to buy what is essentially stolen goods. I would rather do without and fortunately there were a few other commenters who felt the same way. The argument went on and on and well… I really don’t care because as I pointed out, it’s not about a desire to achieve a certain look that you feel unjustly entitled to have, it’s about ETHICS. Someone threw around a comment about the couture designers having enough money to afford some loss to (everyone’s new euphemism for theft) “inspired by” pieces… like that makes it okay. What a bunch of commie bullshit. Oh! It gets me so mad! Even the large companies that have stood the test of time have financial burdens, investors attempt to ruin long standing reputations for the sake of the bottom dollar (even Yohji Yamamoto recently filed for bankruptcy), and at the end of the day there’s a designer, an artist, who simply wants to see their vision realized and appreciated when they share it with the world.

I really wish anyone who has a love for fashion, is new to this whole thing of fashion blogging, or just loves a good documentary will see this film. If it doesn’t instill in you the realization that fashion is art and an appreciation for the excruciating hard work involved, then I don’t know what will. (You can watch it on your computer on Netflix.)

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satin

by Lara on October 27, 2009

in fashion

A while back I posted this pic. It was from Topshop. I loved the entire look but it was an old pic I found online and the pants were no longer available.

I received an Alloy catalog in the mail this weekend and check out these pants! While they aren’t sheer, I am loving the satin and the elastic ankle especially. One fashion blog that has been so rewarding and refreshing for me to check out lately has been Karla’s Closet. The feminine sensuous fabrics and silhouettes, less structure, classy comfort… I’m really feeling it.

At any price, I always wonder if I can make something myself. These would be a breeze with all the cheap satin pajama pants out there (and more color options)… just narrow the legs out a bit and add some elastic to the hems… but at $29.90, I wonder if it’s worth the trouble to diy. I think these will be mine.

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maps

by Lara on September 21, 2009

in art,crafty,decor,fashion

If you follow any design blogs, you surely saw Emily Fischer’s “Soft-Maps”, which are maps that have been embroidered into quilts. I can’t imagine the labor involved in her commission-only designs but the prices certainly reflect an enormous amount of work. Her stitches remind me of Sashiko which is simple but does take some getting used to so that it speeds along nicely. You have to be a special type of person to do this kind of work. Quilting is one craft I never got into since the traditional designs and old-fashioned fabric choices really don’t do it for me. It’s so nice to see an old art get a modern twist. Maybe it will inspire younger people to try their hand at it. Cold weather is creeping upon us and it’s the right time to think about starting a quiet evening/weekend project. This could easily be done in the form of a throw pillow or embellishment on a t-shirt, or something bold like your neighborhood slanted and incomplete at the hem of a blazer. Some embroidery needles and thread and a white or blue washable chalk pencil (to draw your outline) would cost less than $5.

I have been subscribing to the Hand Drawn Map Association for a while. They remind me of my childhood, when I would make up imaginary lands and draw detailed maps. Here is an interview with artist Shane Watt who also creates imaginary maps.

There are also companies that sell old aeriel photographs in various sizes to frame and hang in your home. You can find your hometown or a place you’ve always wanted to go.

This is one of many dresses by artist Elisabeth Lecourt. I don’t believe these are sold for wear though.

Totally wearable, I was turned onto Christian Francis Roth’s fun line of clothing Francis by gorgeous jewelry designer Wendy B. (her jewelry and her hilarious blog). She also writes for the Francis blog. Wendy helps the lost find their way in her map dress! This dress is too cute! (on sale right now!)

An etsy search for “map” revealed thousands of items.

Isotope makes awesome tees. I really like the graphic nature of maps on clothing. It’s a random geometric pattern that could be paired with just about anything and look chic peeking out from under a blazer or cardi.

Have you heard of Dream Heels? What an awesome concept! They are a take on Threadless where instead of tees, people submit and vote on which pattern of pumps they will make. This Parisian map concept is currently a contender!

This handmade decoupage plate can easily be recreated with some diy help.

Maps are also finding their way into jewelry. This pendant by XOHandworks is special to me since my dad is from Serbia.

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hemming and hawing

by Lara on January 14, 2009

in crafty,fashion

I won a turquoise blue shantung silk (really polyester) pencil skirt on eBay months ago. I think, with shipping, I paid $3 for it. It’s in pristine condition, from some professional clothing line called Kasper. Whatever. It’s really decadent and reminds me of a bit of trashy Versace. I am planning on wearing it with black opaque tights, suede heeled ankle boots and a fitted black top – just a small burst of color for the heck of it.

I’m short. (5’1″ of pure terror, actually.) Typical pencil skirts for normal women are always too long for me and rarely do I get lucky and find a perfect length. Because this skirt had a muti-layered effect at the hem and a slit that I didn’t feel like messing with, I finally got the energy today to just go ahead and hack 10.5″ inches off the sucker. I tried it on and with a safety pin, marked how short I wanted it to be and then got out a trusty ruler and tailor’s chalk and marked my cutting line, about 1/2″ below where I actually want the hem to end.

Okay… this 1/2″ thing is pretty crucial. I have a serger which allows me to finish edges and only have to fold up an edge once when hemming. So, it’s up to you to assess how many times you plan on folding up your hems. The thicker the fabric, the wider the hem – is the common sewing rule. Think about these things when your measuring out your hem allowance and before you cut! You can always make things shorter but not longer after you close the scissors.

This skirt also has a lining which I kept in tact so I went ahead and cut it the same length but planned on hemming the lining about an inch and the actual skirt was hemmed about a half inch – this way there would be no accidental peeking out of the lining.

Sergers require 4 large spools of thread and I only have white and black at the moment. No one will be seeing the black serged edges, as long as I don’t slip and land with my ankles behind my head. Here are some pointless serging pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

After I did the edges, I fired up the iron and folded up the hems, pressing them in place. I cannot stress to you enough how much an iron will help you in all of your sewing projects. I prefer it to pinning if I can get away with it. (There are some things a serger can’t do and even though I could do a blind hem stitch and serge all at once, I have yet to master that technique and wasn’t in the mood for ripping out seams over and over to prove something to myself this afternoon.)  If you don’t have a serger, don’t fret! Just fold up twice, iron in place and sew once!

So here I am sewing away on a regular machine. The gauge plate on the machine is also your friend. I just lined my ironed up edge to the 4/8″ mark and really didn’t have to think anymore after that!

And here she is… all done.  Yay for color! Yay for a $3 skirt finally making it out of my to-do sewing pile!

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