Roper Redux!

Remember this Mrs. Roper inspired swimsuit cover-up?  I recently provided this as a wardrobe piece at a photo shoot, with the model wearing jeans.  I think it works quite nicely!

Roper Redux!

Remember this Mrs. Roper inspired swimsuit cover-up?  I recently provided this as a wardrobe piece at a photo shoot, with the model wearing jeans.  I think it works quite nicely!

Private Benjamin: Judy's Military Glam Punk

Okay, I will admit this outfit is on the VERGE of being trampy, and the hotpants are very dangerous, and there is a LOT of skin showing, but there is something about this outfit that I totally love!

I wanted to try out a new technique of twisting a pattern to create a starburst.  Now, you know what a problem I have morally with people who take stretch fabric and gather it here and there and call it a dress, but my  gathering and draping on this hooded halter is completely drafted and intentional, meaning all the gathers and all the lines are exactly where I told them to be.

After choosing the fabric, I thought who better to bring out the dangerous curves than Private Benjamin.  She grew up in couture and would be the first to take a military uniform and turn it into something inappropriate.

The shorts are actually made out of an old pair of my jeans.  I loved those jeans so much that I literally wore holes into them, but didn't want to throw them away.  I think the distressed edges really make the piece.

Private Benjamin: Judy's Military Glam Punk

Okay, I will admit this outfit is on the VERGE of being trampy, and the hotpants are very dangerous, and there is a LOT of skin showing, but there is something about this outfit that I totally love!

I wanted to try out a new technique of twisting a pattern to create a starburst.  Now, you know what a problem I have morally with people who take stretch fabric and gather it here and there and call it a dress, but my  gathering and draping on this hooded halter is completely drafted and intentional, meaning all the gathers and all the lines are exactly where I told them to be.

After choosing the fabric, I thought who better to bring out the dangerous curves than Private Benjamin.  She grew up in couture and would be the first to take a military uniform and turn it into something inappropriate.

The shorts are actually made out of an old pair of my jeans.  I loved those jeans so much that I literally wore holes into them, but didn't want to throw them away.  I think the distressed edges really make the piece.

Tonight on a very Special "Blossom"

Hipster Raine says, "Wearing red on Valentine's day is SO mainstream..."

This outfit was not originally designed to look this tailored.  I first made a very blousy off the shoulder peasant blouse and a pink lace bubble skirt.  It looked wrong.  With those two pieces being very Summer/Spring and the vest's wool fabric being Fall/Winter, I once again was reminded the hard way that mixing seasons is a no-no!

So I went the colder route and tried a very cool elastic technique on the cuffs and collar of the long-sleeved tee underneath the vest and added some very bohemian handicraft touches to the edge of the collar to make it look more whimsical and less brown-wool stuffy.

I would like to say that this outfit is one that looks much better in person than in pictures for some reason, and I really like it!

Tonight on a very Special "Blossom"

Hipster Raine says, "Wearing red on Valentine's day is SO mainstream..."

This outfit was not originally designed to look this tailored.  I first made a very blousy off the shoulder peasant blouse and a pink lace bubble skirt.  It looked wrong.  With those two pieces being very Summer/Spring and the vest's wool fabric being Fall/Winter, I once again was reminded the hard way that mixing seasons is a no-no!

So I went the colder route and tried a very cool elastic technique on the cuffs and collar of the long-sleeved tee underneath the vest and added some very bohemian handicraft touches to the edge of the collar to make it look more whimsical and less brown-wool stuffy.

I would like to say that this outfit is one that looks much better in person than in pictures for some reason, and I really like it!

Thanksgiving special: Earthtone Warmness!

Okay, so I know it's been FOR EVA since I posted something new.  It hasn't been that I haven't been sewing anything.  It's just been that I haven't been sewing anything that I LIKE.  (To see my recent Phails, click here and here.  It's not that they are without merit, they are just not worthy of being on the front page of my blog.)

This interesting half-pilgrim/half-Indian combination is a simple tube dress with a demi-corset attached to a gauzey sleeved top.  It's just matchy enough for the three textiles to work together harmoniously and not be so obvious that they are so different in nature.

And this also goes to support my previous thought that Raine is the most racially ambiguous of my girls.  One day, she can look American Indian, but just a while ago, she was the All American Girl, and then before that. she looked Japanese.  That's taLENT...

Thanksgiving special: Earthtone Warmness!

Okay, so I know it's been FOR EVA since I posted something new.  It hasn't been that I haven't been sewing anything.  It's just been that I haven't been sewing anything that I LIKE.  (To see my recent Phails, click here and here.  It's not that they are without merit, they are just not worthy of being on the front page of my blog.)

This interesting half-pilgrim/half-Indian combination is a simple tube dress with a demi-corset attached to a gauzey sleeved top.  It's just matchy enough for the three textiles to work together harmoniously and not be so obvious that they are so different in nature.

And this also goes to support my previous thought that Raine is the most racially ambiguous of my girls.  One day, she can look American Indian, but just a while ago, she was the All American Girl, and then before that. she looked Japanese.  That's taLENT...

Wild Wild West: Bridal Punk

So, I settled the argument between the two models by letting Raine play Angie, but making a dress for Leonora first.

I remember in the opening of "The Wild Wild West," the part where the cartoon saloon girl gets punched out by the cowboy.  Punching a woman?!  That's so wrong!  But for some reason it also tickled me seeing her fall on her ass each time.

The concept of this dress is crossing an Old West look with Punk.  Leonora was engaged to a cowboy, but he left her, so she cut up a pair of his jeans and one of his shirts and turned it into a brothel jacket, took his underwear and made a top out of it, and used the white bedsheets that she got as a shower gift and turned it into a billowy skirt.  Then, she went out drinking all night.

I kind of hoped I would end up liking this one a lot.  I'm not used to making dresses made out of huge amounts of draped and folded fabric, but I figured, what the hell, I'm up for trying something unfamiliar.  For the mock up, I ingeniously used a miniature dressform to figure out how to create a bustle skirt with a curved drape front out of one piece of material with a straight hem like they did back in the 1870's.  Once I figured it out, (it ends up looking kind of like a speed bump with spikes on the side) it was actually not as complicated as I thought it would be, but I sure am glad that I was able to make a few miniature versions first while perfecting the technique!

The jacket, I think it's a cool concept, but I could have made it look more, "dirty."  It's far too clean and finished to be punk.  Not finishing seams and being sloppy may sound easier to do in theory, but I guess not for me!  It was a good exercise in playing with sleeve cap volume, though.  I already have an idea on how to improve in this technique for a future avant garde outfit.




In the end, I think that this turned out to be a great excuse to discover a few new techniques in photoshop.  And my sexy-tough girl Nora plays a Fierce jilted bride, doesn't she?

Taxi Tony Toni Townie

Alright, finally a completion to my Taxi Trilogy!  Raine gets to play the boy this time, and she's okay with it because I let her use her real hair.

Tony's "other" job on the show was an amateur boxer, so I wanted to add some boxer elements to this outfit.  The dark demin shorts were originally supposed to be baggy and more "ghetto," but I chickened out at the last minute.  I don't really do baggy... Besides, did you ever see Tony Danza wear anything but tight jeans?  I decided instead to use a cool piece of fabric to make "boxer stripes" as an accent.  I didn't have very much of it, so using it as trim worked out very well, EXCEPT for the fact that RIGHT there in the front, at the most visible area, the word, "Safari," looks like, "Fart."  How unfortunate and unchangeable...

Moving on, notice the cool hightop shoes that look like boxer boots.

For the upper part, I wanted to bring in the Taxi Driver element.  Under the red jacket, another piece made out of scrap fabric.  I had just enough to strategically cut out the front of a yellow and black print vest.

The jacket, I like.  It's a little on the simple side, but the fabric is a nice faux suede with a stiff body.  It behaved a lot like leather, i.e. it can't be ironed, which is why all the seams are topstitched as well for more than decorative purposes.

Taxi: Rocking Dirty Downtown Urban Glam

I've been wanting to do character ever since I bought this wig for Leonora.  It's her new "signature hair", and in addition, it makes her a dead ringer for Marilu Henner!

There is a lot to be inspired by in the show "Taxi."  The cab drivers (all but one) have dreams and aspirations that just seem within reach, and they consider working at Sunshine Cab a temporary job that they can leave behind after they succeed in their real careers.  Sound familiar?  Elaine Nardo (this character) wants to be in the field of fine art.

I had the shape of this garment in mind before finding the fabric.  I originally wanted to do a yellow/b-w checker combination thing to give her "taxi-colors", but I ended up using an aqua crepe for the undershirt and this cool patterned jersey material for the jacket instead.  The color brings out her eyes much better than yellow. compare/contrast.  (By the way, I found the picture of Elaine in that shade of blue AFTER I made the garment.  The fact that they are the same is just a wonderful coincidence that affirms I made the right color choice).

Since Elaine wants to be an Artist, and also Sunshine Cab is based in Lower Manhattan, I wanted to combine the two looks.  I wanted the whole thing to look a little dirty and wrinkled.  The under vest has permanent wrinkles ironed-in.  The grey trim on the jacket is made out of one of my old tank tops with paint stains.  I rubbed sidewalk chalk on the jeans to make them look dusty and worn.  But I also wanted her to look artistic and glamourous.  The vest is shiny.  The jacket is meant to resemble one of those oversized dramatic ponchos that a stereotypical New York female artist wore in the 70's.  The pants are super fitted and not sloppy.  I think I did a good job at mixing the two looks.

Taxi: Rocking Dirty Downtown Urban Glam

I've been wanting to do character ever since I bought this wig for Leonora.  It's her new "signature hair", and in addition, it makes her a dead ringer for Marilu Henner!

There is a lot to be inspired by in the show "Taxi."  The cab drivers (all but one) have dreams and aspirations that just seem within reach, and they consider working at Sunshine Cab a temporary job that they can leave behind after they succeed in their real careers.  Sound familiar?  Elaine Nardo (this character) wants to be in the field of fine art.

I had the shape of this garment in mind before finding the fabric.  I originally wanted to do a yellow/b-w checker combination thing to give her "taxi-colors", but I ended up using an aqua crepe for the undershirt and this cool patterned jersey material for the jacket instead.  The color brings out her eyes much better than yellow. compare/contrast.  (By the way, I found the picture of Elaine in that shade of blue AFTER I made the garment.  The fact that they are the same is just a wonderful coincidence that affirms I made the right color choice).

Since Elaine wants to be an Artist, and also Sunshine Cab is based in Lower Manhattan, I wanted to combine the two looks.  I wanted the whole thing to look a little dirty and wrinkled.  The under vest has permanent wrinkles ironed-in.  The grey trim on the jacket is made out of one of my old tank tops with paint stains.  I rubbed sidewalk chalk on the jeans to make them look dusty and worn.  But I also wanted her to look artistic and glamourous.  The vest is shiny.  The jacket is meant to resemble one of those oversized dramatic ponchos that a stereotypical New York female artist wore in the 70's.  The pants are super fitted and not sloppy.  I think I did a good job at mixing the two looks.