Sunday, March 27, 2011

A Man's Shirt.....

It was before I started. I got this silk shirt from the thrift store for $3.99. After cutting it apart, it made it easy to reuse the buttonhole and button edge. I used some crepe silk in brick red for the collar and sleeve edges. I used Connie Crawford's Butterick pattern.
I used the extra buttons on the sleeves and the tag on the neck for detail on the sleeves. The silk is so light weight, that it will be nice and cool for this summer.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A vest of sorts

I attended a lecture and workshop of Linda Lee's last weekend up in San Jose at the wearable art group PenWag. I bought this pattern. It is very interesting as it is actually made from a square.
I had a piece of old silk I had gotten at a estate sale. It was discolored and had some spots and some holes in it. I soaked it three times and got it to come back into a beautiful light peach, but there was still one spot that would not come out. So I dyed it with colorhue dye. I tried to cut around the holes. There was one I couldn't avoid. I also made the mistake of laying the fabric next to where I was mixing the dye and it splashed onto the fabric. So that is where the little roses I made of the same fabric to use for a cover. It is interesting how mistakes and holes force one to be creative and add a new dimension.

This one was done with 14" wide kimonos silk pieces sewn together. Added beads at the points to hang down.


Sunday, March 6, 2011

Another Shirt

I am enjoying making this shirt in several different ways. This one is in a sheer rayon fabric and has covered buttons. I think I have one more version of this pattern in mind I want to make up. Then perhaps I will have this one out of my system.

Friday, February 11, 2011

New Shirt

Really been enjoying this pattern of a big shirt. This is a kimono that I bought at a sale for three dollars It was cream with orange flowers and green leaves. I over dyed with red wine. Then I ripped it a part and pieced it back together for the blouse. I used black thread for hand stitching and black sequins, beads and covered buttons.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Awhile

I know that it has been awhile since i posted, but I have been busy working on this. A friend of mine gave me a beautiful old kimono. It had several spots and holes. I took it on as a challenge to see if I could make a shirt with the good parts. I had to piece the pocket with three pieces to get a pocket. The left front I had to use another kimono in black. There just wasn't enough. The design and colors in this fabric was just so beautiful. The feel of the silk was wonderful.

It was a long kimono and was lined with another beautiful print fabric. So now I am working on making a shirt from this lining. I can't wait to see how it comes out.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Saved a Shirt


This was my favorite colored shirt. Then I got pink dye on the bottom of it. It covered nicely with a dip in brilliant blue. So glad to have my shirt back.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Interesting piece


This is a piece of sateen cotton that I decided to experiment with this summer. I put it in a jar of water and added avocado pits. It sat all summer. It didn't do anything that exciting, but turn grey. Then I rusted it to make it more interesting. Then I dyed it with safari grey. It looks pretty good now. A long process, but fun to have a challenge.