Three's Company: The Guru Dress in Black and White

Photography by Victor Ciccarelli  for Erynz.com

The Guru Dress in Black and White

Photography by Victor Ciccarelli  for Erynz.com

CTW, Ready to Romp: Not-So-Juvenille Hipster

I hesitate to say, "Romper Room," because in the service industry, that is the term used when there are too many families with children in the restaurant.  So I'm just going to bundle any juvenile educational programming inspirations into "Children's Television Workshop."


I wanted to make a dress quick quick quick.  I have a record of making a lot of separate pieces.  Even the gown that I did most recently was a two-piece, and wanted to challenge myself to do something speedy and easily constructed without being too simple-looking or boring.

So sleeves and pants were out, and a halter neckline and a skirt was in.   I can't say that this romper dress is Simple.  I can't just put out a potato sack with a belt!  But the whole thing, including designing, drafting, and mocking, took less than 12 hours, which is really fast even considering I also re-drafted and mocked the skirt after a first failed attempt.

I have learned in the past that adding too many extras, like pockets and buttons, to a garment made with fabric that has a busy print on it, the details disappear, so I found a way to make this busy print work for me rather than against me.  See how the pleating has made the stripes look like they are changing direction?  That's because I used my new fascination with drafted pleating to give the printed pattern a new dynamic without having to cut and sew on a new piece of fabric.

CTW, Ready to Romp: Not-So-Juvenille Hipster

I hesitate to say, "Romper Room," because in the service industry, that is the term used when there are too many families with children in the restaurant.  So I'm just going to bundle any juvenile educational programming inspirations into "Children's Television Workshop."


I wanted to make a dress quick quick quick.  I have a record of making a lot of separate pieces.  Even the gown that I did most recently was a two-piece, and wanted to challenge myself to do something speedy and easily constructed without being too simple-looking or boring.

So sleeves and pants were out, and a halter neckline and a skirt was in.   I can't say that this romper dress is Simple.  I can't just put out a potato sack with a belt!  But the whole thing, including designing, drafting, and mocking, took less than 12 hours, which is really fast even considering I also re-drafted and mocked the skirt after a first failed attempt.

I have learned in the past that adding too many extras, like pockets and buttons, to a garment made with fabric that has a busy print on it, the details disappear, so I found a way to make this busy print work for me rather than against me.  See how the pleating has made the stripes look like they are changing direction?  That's because I used my new fascination with drafted pleating to give the printed pattern a new dynamic without having to cut and sew on a new piece of fabric.

Flipper: Le Porpoise Parisienne

If you pronounced the above title, "Luh Pour-Pwah," extra points for you!

I have a lot of days off this week, so I decided to speed sew and make one garment each day. This is the second. It's actually less stressful, I have found, since I don't have something unfinished hanging over my head when I go to bed at night. Who would have thunk it!

This little creation is a little unusual, I admit, but that is not necessarily a bad thing! Yes, it's meant to look like a combination of a Parisian evening gown, a dolphin, and a scuba diving outfit. I say Parisian because when I think of black/white/gray mixed with a bold red, I think Parisienne. The dolphin and scuba should be pretty apparent.

I really wanted to make a formal dress with a hood. It's not something that you see every day and not everyone can pull it off. You have to have a really strong face to basically have no hair. But for the woman that can do this, it can look amazing.

The bodice is pretty simple, made out of stretch fabric and fit snugly to the body. There are pleats at the shoulders. The little spray of tulle at the shoulder came later, when I realized that the black of the waistband needed to be balanced with something black higher up. If I had actually planned to put it there, I would have made the shoulder pleats gather up into the spray rather than equal at both shoulders. But even if I wanted to start over, I couldn't. I used up EVERY bot of material I had of this shiny grey mini-argyle. A skirt like this takes a lot of material!

Speaking of the skirt, it obviously is the Pièce de résistance, no?  Even with the hood and super tight bodice that shows every curve of the woman's body, the red lining is what people would remember, I think.

Gilligan's Island: Profess Your Love for Leonora

I was excited to make something for The Professor.  Along with the Skipper, he was always one of my favorites.  I used his white shirt and khaki pants combination as inspiration for this combo.

As I mentioned last post, I am doing an exercise in swimwear since finding a great site on how to draft patterns for stretch fabrics.  I'm quickly becoming a fan!

I knew I wanted to try to make a one-piece suit that looked like she was also wearing a very professorial vest.  The small problem was, how would I do that without making the waist look bulky with the extra layer of horizontal-laying fabric on it?  The answer was to do a twisty, high placed ditty withangular lines running through it.  I love the way it turned out!  

In addition to making the otherwise simple-ish suit look more interesting, notice how the placement of the bands on the side sections also add cleavage-creating bra-like support.

And of course, I couldn't simply make a one-piece and let it stand alone, so I made a flowy (yes, a flowy, unstructured top!  Can you believe my boldness to explore the unfamiliar?!) blouse as a cover-up.  While it doesn't really cover anything, it sure would look great billowing in the sea breeze.  I was not only taking from the Professor's white shirt, but also was inspired by coconut "fuzz" and the the palm frond thatched huts, which is why I added the detail of the frayed edge ribbon I created from the shirt fabric.

Gilligan's Island: Profess This!

I was excited to make something for The Professor.  Along with the Skipper, he was always one of my favorites.  I used his white shirt and khaki pants combination as inspiration for this combo.

As I mentioned last post, I am doing an exercise in swimwear since finding a great site on how to draft patterns for stretch fabrics.  I'm quickly becoming a fan!

I knew I wanted to try to make a one-piece suit that looked like she was also wearing a very professorial vest.  The small problem was, how would I do that without making the waist look bulky with the extra layer of horizontal-laying fabric on it?  The answer was to do a twisty, high placed ditty withangular lines running through it.  I love the way it turned out!  

In addition to making the otherwise simple-ish suit look more interesting, notice how the placement of the bands on the side sections also add cleavage-creating bra-like support.

And of course, I couldn't simply make a one-piece and let it stand alone, so I made a flowy (yes, a flowy, unstructured top!  Can you believe my boldness to explore the unfamiliar?!) blouse as a cover-up.  While it doesn't really cover anything, it sure would look great billowing in the sea breeze.  I was not only taking from the Professor's white shirt, but also was inspired by coconut "fuzz" and the the palm frond thatched huts, which is why I added the detail of the frayed edge ribbon I created from the shirt fabric.

Dynasty: Nouveaux Alexis Carrington

I found this fabric tucked away in my "stretch" collection.  I usually don't do a lot of work with jersey material because I like making things that are a bit more structured as opposed to drapy.  I know it seems strange to not like fabric that by nature molds to the body shape, but I guess all my years of doing period costuming and corsets has made me preferential to fabrics that can stand up by themselves with a body underneath or not!

Anyway, my last many outfits have all been very darted and tailored and form-fitting, so I decided that I wanted to excercise my alternate skills and do a drapy outfit.  Once I discovered this long lost material, I knew I had my Alexis Carrington, and she was going to go on a trip on one of her yachts, and she was going to definitely look bitchy.  Oh, God.  Raine was almost jumping off of her mannequin stand to do this one...




My parents liked watching Dynasty when I was a kid.  I should ask them why, because I never really did. I get kind of jealous/disgusted when I see shows about rich people and their problems, even today.  Regardless, Alexis (as well as Crystal) Carrington still today remain rich-bitch icons and are so fun to recall fighting and slapping each other silly.

Surprisingly, this dress only took about five hours to make from start to finish, much less time than usual.  This is because I wanted to focus all the drapy attention to the just-this-close-to-being-nasty cowl draped back.  The sleeves are attatched to the main bodice, so I did't have to do much work there, and the hemline between the top and the skirt is simply pulled into a metal piece from an 80's belt that I got from a collection of old belts that I bought sight unseen from craigslist.

I ALMOST didn't finish this dress because it was looking a little bit sloppy until I did the finishing stitches!  I took a chance and didn't do a mockup of this garment before cutting into the main fabric because it's not fitted.  So when it was just in the stage of simply the main seams being sewn, it just looked like it was hainging there and messy.  I'm glad I finished and I like the way it turned out!

Dynasty: Nouveaux Alexis Carrington

I found this fabric tucked away in my "stretch" collection.  I usually don't do a lot of work with jersey material because I like making things that are a bit more structured as opposed to drapy.  I know it seems strange to not like fabric that by nature molds to the body shape, but I guess all my years of doing period costuming and corsets has made me preferential to fabrics that can stand up by themselves with a body underneath or not!

Anyway, my last many outfits have all been very darted and tailored and form-fitting, so I decided that I wanted to excercise my alternate skills and do a drapy outfit.  Once I discovered this long lost material, I knew I had my Alexis Carrington, and she was going to go on a trip on one of her yachts, and she was going to definitely look bitchy.  Oh, God.  Raine was almost jumping off of her mannequin stand to do this one...




My parents liked watching Dynasty when I was a kid.  I should ask them why, because I never really did. I get kind of jealous/disgusted when I see shows about rich people and their problems, even today.  Regardless, Alexis (as well as Crystal) Carrington still today remain rich-bitch icons and are so fun to recall fighting and slapping each other silly.

Surprisingly, this dress only took about five hours to make from start to finish, much less time than usual.  This is because I wanted to focus all the drapy attention to the just-this-close-to-being-nasty cowl draped back.  The sleeves are attatched to the main bodice, so I did't have to do much work there, and the hemline between the top and the skirt is simply pulled into a metal piece from an 80's belt that I got from a collection of old belts that I bought sight unseen from craigslist.

I ALMOST didn't finish this dress because it was looking a little bit sloppy until I did the finishing stitches!  I took a chance and didn't do a mockup of this garment before cutting into the main fabric because it's not fitted.  So when it was just in the stage of simply the main seams being sewn, it just looked like it was hainging there and messy.  I'm glad I finished and I like the way it turned out!

Dynasty: Hello, Krystle Carrington. I hate you!

Okay, people, don't expect to see this post up front for long.  I hate this one!

Combine creating an outfit for a Krystle Carrington, a character that I never really connected with, simply because I felt it necessary to create a pair for Alexis, and giving myself less than 12 hours to create it, plus making several stupid mistakes, equals Phail!

Okay, I like the skirt.  I'll probably use it again sometime with a different outfit.  But the top makes me so disgusted.  I thought about making something with immense shoulder pads, but then twisted it by instead creating volume in a collar instead.  It would have turned out better except I committed the ultimate cardinal sin when it comes to making ruffles.  I IRONED it.  The ruffles as well as the supporting collar stand underneath were leaning in instead of out, so stupidly, I ironed the base of the collar to make it lay outwardst, and in turn, irreversibly ruined a rich ruffle effect in exchange for a forever flat looking raggedy mess around her neck.  I know better, but I still did it!

But in addition to the iron travesty, there are also other flaws that I can't even bring myself to point out that I will NEVER do again.

So, enjoy the pictures while you can, because very soon, I am hiding Krystle away where she belongs!

Dynasty: Hello, Krystle Carrington. I hate you!

Okay, people, don't expect to see this post up front for long.  I hate this one!

Combine creating an outfit for a Krystle Carrington, a character that I never really connected with, simply because I felt it necessary to create a pair for Alexis, and giving myself less than 12 hours to create it, plus making several stupid mistakes, equals Phail!

Okay, I like the skirt.  I'll probably use it again sometime with a different outfit.  But the top makes me so disgusted.  I thought about making something with immense shoulder pads, but then twisted it by instead creating volume in a collar instead.  It would have turned out better except I committed the ultimate cardinal sin when it comes to making ruffles.  I IRONED it.  The ruffles as well as the supporting collar stand underneath were leaning in instead of out, so stupidly, I ironed the base of the collar to make it lay outwardst, and in turn, irreversibly ruined a rich ruffle effect in exchange for a forever flat looking raggedy mess around her neck.  I know better, but I still did it!

But in addition to the iron travesty, there are also other flaws that I can't even bring myself to point out that I will NEVER do again.

So, enjoy the pictures while you can, because very soon, I am hiding Krystle away where she belongs!