Posts Tagged ‘drawitsewit’

Sewing: Leather and Knit Tuxedo Skirt Tutorial

16 Comments

This is the last of the pieces I made for Alt Summit. And sadly enough, I’ve barely used my sewing machines for basic mending since mid January. It’s time to get my rear in gear and sew some more! I’ve got a few great ideas for clothes for Penelope and me. Penelope is finally at a point where she’s not destroying her clothes, so I’m excited to start sewing for her again.

Here was the basic vision that I had for the first day of Alt Summit. It was something simple with the letter lover sweatshirt and skinnies (blogged here), but then kicked up a notch for the evening with a blazer and leather skirt.

wednesday-alt-summit

The outfit pictured below isn’t what I actually wore the evening of the event, but it’s something I’ve been doing a lot lately: mixing neutrals. I’ve been mixing browns and blacks a lot lately. I find that it can be easily done, if browns and blacks are the only “color” introduced into the outfit. It’s much harder to mix neutrals (for me at least) when other colors are introduced into the palette.

melissaesplin-sewing-leather-tuxedo-skirt-tutorial-4

Instead of going for a black leather like I had originally sketched out, I went for an oatmeal/white leather. It breaks up the brick pattern nicely and it’s a little more casual.

melissaesplin-sewing-leather-tuxedo-skirt-tutorial-5

Constructing this skirt after my last leather skirt was a BREEZE. I didn’t insert any invisible zippers on leather. The fact that it’s mostly ponte knit allows for more wiggle room when moving around.

melissaesplin-sewing-leather-tuxedo-skirt-tutorial-6

Between the knit and the yoga waistband, I can wear the skirt lower or higher depending upon how I want the overall look to come across. It’s nice to have flexible, comfortable pieces in the wardrobe.

So I’ve been meaning to write up this post for some time, but the biggest hang-up has been the tutorial. It’s so easy to make your own, I thought I would include a tutorial in the post. Click “read more” below to view the instructions.

melissaesplin-sewing-leather-tuxedo-skirt-tutorial-9

Outfit Details:

  • earrings: c/o Ardor
  • necklace: Ann Taylor Loft
  • watch: c/o Feral
  • bracelets: handmade, gift
  • top: Forever 21
  • skirt: handmade
  • shoes: c/o Sole Society

 

 

 

Leather and Knit Tuxedo Skirt Tutorial

melissaesplin-sewing-leather-wiggle-skirt-tutorial-01

Supplies:

  • 1 yard ponte knit (heavy knit with 50-65% 4-way stretch, see here)
  • garment weight leather (see measurements below for amount)
  • bulldog clips, or paper clips
  • large paper
  • pencil
  • ruler
  • measuring tape
  • regular sewing machine
  • universal sewing needle

(more…)

Sewing: Chiffon Top

23 Comments

 

Friday’s Alt Summit ensemble took on a different look as well. The skirt I started to make totally bombed. Instead of freaking out at the last minute, I simply adjusted my expectations. Chris was so proud! I grabbed my floor-length chiffon skirt and kept on going.

friday-altsummit-outfits

The floor length skirt paired with the light pink fabric I had planned for the top top ended up looking horrible under natural and artificial light. They were just the wrong pinks that they just vibrated against each other. More expectations adjusted. I wasn’t about to go out and buy more fabric to match, so I looked to my stash to see what I could work with.

istillloveyou-melissaesplin-floral-chiffon-top-1

Et voila. I didn’t add any leather details on the shoulders as planned. In fact, I don’t know why I didn’t! I think I was in such a rush to finish something that I just forgot that plan altogether. I modified my basic tee pattern to include very drapey sleeves.

istillloveyou-melissaesplin-floral-chiffon-top-2

I think the overall vision worked great.

15-secretgardenparty-2

It’s not necessarily my “style”, but it was exactly the piece I needed to bring the whole ensemble (live floral crown included) together. It also worked perfectly with the vision I had of our Secret Garden Party.

istillloveyou-melissaesplin-floral-chiffon-top-3

Now I can’t quite tell if I still like the top or not. I LOVE the print, but I’m not entirely sure the colorway is flattering on me. Sometimes I feel like there’s not enough contrast between my skin tone and the fabric so I look semi-amorphous while wearing it. It’s also sheer, which means I have to wear layers underneath. I don’t like wearing layers if I don’t have to.

istillloveyou-melissaesplin-floral-chiffon-top-4

I need to give this top a chance. But I may end up just giving it to someone who will wear it more than I will.

istillloveyou-melissaesplin-floral-chiffon-top-5

I LOVE the fit, though. The flutter sleeves are so fun to wear. I have plans to sew more tops like this in the future. Maybe a dress like this would be fun in the summer months? I can’t think about summer now. We just got about 3 inches of sloshy snow. And I think it’s going to keep coming. Must. Make. More. Winter. Clothes!

istillloveyou-melissaesplin-floral-chiffon-top-6

Outfit details:

 

 

Sewing: Alt Summit Look Thursday

10 Comments

This look didn’t come together quite like I had envisioned. I opted for more neutrals than florals, but I still mixed prints like I had originally wanted.

altsummit-thursday-looks

I couldn’t find a floral blazer like I had in mind, so I ended up finding this really cool textured blazer from H&M, then busted out some really rad geometric stretch fabric I scored in LA way back when.

istillloveyou-sewing-zigzag-pencil-skirt-1

Since I bought the fabric, I knew I wanted it to be a pencil skirt, but I was just too lazy to sew it up. I already have a pattern (that I use ALL THE TIME), it’s not like I had to draft up a new one! It was just a matter of changing the thread colors on my serger. My machine is actually really easy to thread, but I do find myself dragging my feet on projects just because I’d have to change threads. Anyone else do that?

istillloveyou-sewing-zigzag-pencil-skirt-2

I wanted this outfit to be comfortable, yet very business-like. The heels were the perfect balance of height and comfort. The skirt the perfect balance of something I could easily wiggle on just minutes before the first sessions of the day and still look put together.

istillloveyou-sewing-zigzag-pencil-skirt-3

I feel like in some ways this outfit was a little bit of a cop out. I wasn’t particularly creative with the silhouette and I had already made the top back in September. Just because this was a low-stress ensemble to pack, I felt I had less ownership over it. Maybe it was the fact that the blazer was clearly not self-made.

istillloveyou-sewing-zigzag-pencil-skirt-4

No matter. I was stoked to have squeaked out a midi pencil skirt out of the 3/4 of a yard I rummaged from LA and managed to match up the side seams. Those side seams are glorious, if you ask me!

istillloveyou-sewing-zigzag-pencil-skirt-7

I also perfected my machine serged blind hem. It’s my favorite binding to use on hems that will get a lot of stretch. I don’t have a coverstitch machine (yet?), but this is easily done with my serger with just a few tweaks to the settings. It’s cleaner than an overlock stitch on my regular machine and lot less time consuming than a hand-stitched blind hem. Also, did I mention the threads don’t break with stretch and movement?

istillloveyou-sewing-zigzag-pencil-skirt-6

Outfit details:

 

Sewing: Pussy Bow Blouse & Skinny Jeans

14 Comments

I finally feel like I’m back in the land of the living! I started laundry today (first time in 3 weeks), so I expect each and every one of you to give me an enthusiastic pat on the back. Just kidding! Chris has been picking up a lot of slack lately, so I’m glad to be taking back some of my household responsibilities.

I’m also back to sewing. Well, blogging about sewing. I haven’t touched my sewing machine since before Jan 21st. I’m aching to get back in the saddle. Too much pretty fabric just sitting, doing nothing.

friday-altsummit-outfits

This year with Alt Summit, I wanted to sew even more of my outfits (last year it was usually one thing, whether it was a piece of jewelry or a top or skirt). And this year I wanted to make pants. Like real pants. So I sketched up plans for outfits for each day (see above for Friday day and evening looks). My friday day look turned out nearly as planned (the oxblood leggings didn’t happen, obvi, but that’s okay). The Friday night look turned out completely different, but in a good way. More on that one later.

The limitations for Alt Summit:

  • I didn’t have time to go out and buy fabric or notions, so I was going on what I had.
  • I wanted each of my outfits to be *mostly* interchangeable in case I changed my mind about an outfit last minute. This meant a simple color palette.
  • I wanted clothes to be comfortable.
  • I didn’t want to spend too much time testing out a new pattern or fussing with zippers and enclosures.

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-9

That said I went pretty simple with my ensembles, but little special touches here and there. My wardrobe paled in comparison with Merrick’s and Leanne’s amazing duds. Seriously. Equal parts jealous and in love with their creations. Those ladies inspire me to push my sewing further.

For Friday’s look, I wanted a sweet and romantic pussy bow top with bishop sleeves. It turned out almost exactly how I envisioned it. Almost. I sewed everything up and was going for a final press when I forgot that my iron was set to the cotton setting! Unfortunately I melted half of a sleeve onto my iron. I’m thankful it was the bottom half so I could salvage the sleeves without much hassle.

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-1

I used Jessica’s Simple Blouse pattern (another variation here). It’s a very simple sew, perfect for variations. I used a rayon jersey print I got at Mood for the bodice and a polyester chiffon for the arms and necktie detail. Often times synthetic chiffons are a little scratchy to the touch, but this stuff is magically soft!

Attaching the neck to the top was easy, easy. I made the necktie first (sew wrong sides together, turn and press) then sandwiched it between the neckline and biased tape when I bound the neck. It was a lot easier to put together than I thought.

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-5

Because of the drape and cling of the jersey, I opted for a banded hem to give the bottom some structure. I was afraid this would date the shirt too much, but because of the light weight of the fabric, it still allows to be tucked in and styled differently unlike most shirts with hem bands.

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-7

Now for the pants. I found this awesome tie dye print at Michael Levine Loft in LA. I was stoked to figure out a project for one of my favorite LA fabric finds! This stretch denim has about 40% stretch, so I figured if I loosened up the seam allowances on my self drafted leggings, I’d have a perfect fit.

I made the mistake of cutting the first pant leg on the wrong grain so there was no stretch horizontally. Thankfully I had enough fabric that I could re-cut the pattern pieces on the right grain, no problem. The pattern worked out perfectly, except in the knees. The knees were too loose in comparison to the tightness in the calves. I thought it wouldn’t bother me, but minutes before walking out the door to Alt Summit, I decided to fix it. I’m SO glad I did.

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-2

Too lazy/intimidated to try and figure out how to put in a fly zipper, I opted for a yoga band. This actually works to my benefit as I’m CRAAAZY baby hungry right now. At some point down the road (no announcement, yet) I want to have another baby, so it’s nice to have pieces that will stretch with me. I’m at that awkward point where I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get pregnant. I don’t want to jump the gun on maternity clothes, but I also don’t want to invest serious time into making something I love if I can only wear it once or twice.

Beyond my future plans, having a yoga band pant was awesome at Alt Summit. I was incredibly comfortable while sitting at sessions and running around decorating our party.

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-3

There’s a lot going on here with the two patterns, but I think they work really nicely together. Kinda how stripes and dots just work. The neutral color palette makes it easy for me to mix and match each piece with just about anything.

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-4

Sewing these pants together made me think that I should try even more woven pant variations. Maybe have another go at Harem Pants?

Outfit Details:

istillloveyou-sewing-pussybow-top-skinnyjeans-6

Next year, I think I’m going to clear my plate a little more before Alt so I can spend a ton more time designing and sewing clothes. ‘Cause that was my favorite part of prepping for the conference!

Check out the links above for similar tie dye pants (all under $50).

Making Handmade Buttons from Polymer Clay

9 Comments

Polymer clay buttons are so much fun to make. I’m thinking a three-buttoned henley is in order for these little buttons.

istillloveyou-handmade-polymer-clay-buttons

Wait, wait, wait. . .

istillloveyou-handmade-polymer-clay-buttons-1

Or what about using them as the detail on some shoulder epaulets? I better have coordinating fabric in my stash, it’s ridiculous how much fabric I’ve accumulated in the last 6 months!

What would you do with three hot pink buttons?

mobile site